This was like two sides of a mix tape, with the classic stuff on the first side and the contemporary stuff on side 2. Five of the first seven songs were released in the '80s, and the other two were mid-'90s. Also notable, three of these were released as b-sides (the other two from the Stone Roses). Finally, Art Brut followed Billy Bragg, and the song 'Fight' repeats the variations on the lyric "Some things are really best left unspoken but I prefer it all to be out in the open", which is lifted directly from Billy Bragg's hit 'Sexuality'. Funny coincidence.
I'm going to throw a change up today and post the Smiths' version of Jean.
See yesterday's post for details. Here's today's stuff:
Good Weekend - Art Brut
303 - Kula Shaker
Give 'Em All a Big Fat Lip - the Whigs
Timorous Me - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Evil - Interpol
Going to Hell - Brian Jonestown Massacre
Mary Anne - Spacemen 3
The Holy Ground - the High Dials
The Ballad of Elton John - Simple Kid
A Good Man is Easy to Kill - Beulah
Jeepster - T. Rex
Pretty decent showing today. Good stuff to listen to on the train. I've seen eight of these bands live (8.5 if you give half credit for Spiritualized in place of Spacemen 3). Three of them this year. Here's some TL/Rx, who I just saw at the brand spankin' new Lincoln Hall about a week and a half ago. He played this song.
It's rare that an album comes completely out of nowhere to impress me this much, but it happened twice this year, Panda Bear being one, this being the other. I first came across this before he opened for BRMC a few months ago, and I wanted to know whether I should get there in time for the opening act. It sounded good, I went, and was blown away. I immediately (legally) downloaded the album and couldn't stop listening to it for the next two weeks.
Virtually all self-recorded, he walks the line between traditional (Ballad of Elton John) and experimental (You); Bluegrass (Little King Kong), and metal (Mommy and Daddy); Folk (Old Domestic Cat), and Indie (Serotonin). Yet somehow, this has generated almost no buzz whatsoever. Not a single mention on Pitchfork. The new album doesn't even have an Amazon review. It's like I'm in some alternate universe where I'm the only person that's heard of this guy.
Start to finish, this album is a masterpiece. Some tracks stand out more than others, but they're nicely placed so that the album doesn't really reach a crescendo until the penultimate track, Mommy and Daddy, where Ciarn McFeely shows off his metal chops, no small feat for a one man act. Within the first week of owning this, I knew it was the best album of the year. It's simply fantastic.
Here's Serotonin, Ballad of Elton John, and Self Help Book.