vovat | Oct. 5th, 2006

In this entry, I review three albums I've recently listened to.

1. The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics

This is only the second Flaming Lips album I've heard all the way through, the other one being Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. I didn't have the instant like for Mystics that I did for Yoshimi, though. It seems like Yoshimi did ambient, spacey, avant-garde stuff while still maintaining pop sensibilities, but Mystics has less of a pop feel to it, and is more full-on ambient on some of the tracks. I already knew and loved "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song," and I also like "Free Radicals" a lot. On the other hand, some of the songs just kind of drag, "The Sound Of Failure" being a good example of this. I mean, that's not really a bad song, but I lose interest in it part of the way through. Even "It Overtakes Me," which a like quite a bit overall (especially the line "it master-slaves me") starts to drag a little towards the end.

2. Sloan - Never Hear the End of It

Sloan (sort of like the Posies) can be somewhat hit-or-miss for me. When they're on, they're really fucking on, but they also have some songs that don't do much for me. I wasn't really that thrilled with either of their last two albums, but this one is a definite improvement. "Light Years" is a really good song, which kind of reminds me of some earlier Sloan stuff, including "I'm Not Through With You Yet" and "Pretty Together" (the song, not the album). Other songs that stand out for me include "Who Taught You To Live Like That?", "Fading Into Obscurity," "Right Or Wrong," "I Understand," "Set In Motion," "Hfxnshc," and "Last Time In Love." And "Someone I Can Be True With" deserves mention for the rhyming lyrics, including "someone to watch Gremlins 2 with, and someone to not watch The View with."

3. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife

This album, which just came out on Tuesday, has more in common with The Tain than with Picaresque. It includes two three-part epics, one appearing somewhat out of order. While a good album, it doesn't really have any songs that are as immediately ear-catching as "July, July!", "Billy Liar," or "16 Military Wives" (to name one from each of their other albums). After a few listens, my favorites are "Yankee Bayonet," "Summersong" (which would have been a shoe-in for my summer mix if it had been out a few months ago), and the closer "Sons & Daughters."

This might be about all for me as far as new music in 2006 goes, with a few exceptions. I'm still waiting on the final two Fuzzy Warbles discs, and there's that Lemony Snicket tie-in thing coming out next week. I wonder whether I'll be able to buy that at a music store, or if I'd be more likely to find it at a bookstore. There's always Borders, I suppose. Speaking of which, Borders used to always send me coupons, and now they don't anymore. What happened to you, Borders? You used to be cool! Anyway, is there anything else that has been or will be released this year that I really should listen to? Recommendations for stuff NOT released this year are also welcome, but I'm especially interested in new stuff. It probably results from when I'd see posts on Internet forums asking about the best albums of 1998 or whatever, and I'd have only heard, like, three new albums within the year. I've definitely heard more than ten this year, though.

And finally, happy birthday a few days late to