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ivan@stellysee.de
From | DanAbnrml9@aol.com |
Subject | Rocking My World |
Date | Sun, 24 Oct 2004 23:03:32 EDT |
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The following things are lovely:
Cloud Eleven - Terrestrial Ballet. For some reason, I found CE to be merely
okay before this. But I loaded this entire thing into my iPod and my goodness
this is fantastic stuff. Each time one of these songs came up I scrambled to
see what it was; it was always Cloud Eleven. A lot of their best songs are
here; not only "Serendipic Wheel", "Tuesday Letter", or "Ain't That Enough"
(which many of us know) but the sublimely brilliant "Apricot Ash", "December
You" and many, many more. Plus there are 23 tracks with liner notes! TOTALLY a
must-buy for fans of modern psychedelic pop.
Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself. Probably the best (and most
accurate) of the new groups aping XTC, but I'll be damned if this doesn't
sound like a "lost" record released between "English Settlement" and "Mummer".
Completely brilliant with incessantly catchy choruses. It's out in the US on
Tuesday; definitely give it a listen! My personal favorites: "Godhopping",
"Modern Woman", "I Love You 'Cause I Have To"
Jimmy Eat World - Futures. For the crowd who likes big, crisp, clean
power-pop (Jeff?), here's a good one. "Futures" is sonically a synethesis of the
straight-ahead rock of Jimmy Eat World's last album "Bleed American" and the
dreamier territory on "Clarity", mixed with a degree of bombastic studio sheen
not yet seen on a Jimmy Eat World album (and that's saying something!) Bonus
"very limited" version includes a second disc with the complete album in demo
version; interesting for fans since their finished product is always so shiny.
Seriously, the ballads here are TRUE power ballads (think Snow Patrol's
"Run") and the rockers sound like Bon Jovi with a higher IQ. Heresy to say, I
know, but it's sort of true. Favorites: "Work", "Pain", Just Tonight...", "Kill".
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Shake the Sheets. Liked the last one? You'll
love this one too. Brighter, catchier, even a little angrier. One of the most
shamefully overlooked modern songwriters. His sound is pitched somewhere
between Elvis Costello and Billy Bragg, but louder and more rocking than both.
Primal Scream - Dirty Hits. Good summation of their career; does a good job
grabbing good tracks from bad albums (it has every good song from "Give Out
But Don't Give Up") and misses only a little (the sublime "Star"). Truly one of
the best rock/dance crossover groups of the '90s.
--Jason
http://www.livejournal.com/users/danabnrml9/
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