You're the Indian in the cougar's nest

[vovat]

Why do people always seem to post more entries in the middle of the week? I have all of these posts to go through, but I can pretty much guarantee you that, once I finish reading them, there will be hardly any more posts until the middle of next week. You'd kind of think people would update MORE often over the weekend, but oh well. Let's get this show on the road, as they say.

I got the Rilo Kiley album More Adventurous today. I had wanted to get The Execution of All Things, since that has the two songs of theirs that got me interested in the band in the first place (the title track and "A Better Son/Daughter"); but I wanted to use the Circuit City gift card that my brother had given me for my birthday, and the local Circuit City only had Adventurous. I still have $1.23 on the gift card, so I guess I'll use that next time I buy something there. Anyway, I like the album. The only song on it I already knew was "Portions For Foxes," and that and the title song are probably my two favorites. There are some other pretty cool tracks, though. "I Never" is country-ish, which is pretty cool. I'd seen mentions in the past about Rilo Kiley having country influence, which kind of confused me, since the songs I'd heard were no more country than Antarctica. Now I suppose I know what they mean.

It seems like a while since I last got into a new band. I guess I did get into the Ditty Bops and the Dresden Dolls last year, but I'd like to expand my musical horizons a little more. Any suggestions?

Hmm, all three of the bands that I've mentioned so far in this entry have female vocalists. That's kind of cool, since my music collection around five years ago was made up pretty much entirely of male artists. Not that I'm officially pursuing an affirmative action policy in the music I listen to, but still.

And finally, to mention a band with a male vocalist, Hypnotic Clambake is having a clearance special on their albums. I already have all of them, so I'm not going to be taking advantage of it, but it sounds like an excellent deal for anyone who wants them and doesn't have them (which probably isn't anyone who'll be reading this, but I still wanted to spread the news).

Comments

[revme.livejournal.com]

The new Goldfrapp album is pretty good. I was really impressed with My Favorite (and at phancy.com I posted a cut of theirs a little while ago, so you can give them a taste). The Model Rockets are pretty cool, but I had to warm up to them a little bit. I've only heard the new single, and I don't even know if the record's out (it was supposed to be out on the 7th, but no one had it that day), but Bitter:Sweet's "The Mating Game" was an AWESOME song. Hm. Trying to think of other stuff, too, but kinda drawing a blank.

Peter Mulvey is really good. We got his "Knuckleball Suite" album at work, and I was real impressed with it. Also, the new Hank Williams III is really good, too.

[revme.livejournal.com]

OH, the EP that Calexico/Iron & Wine just put out, "In The Reins" is really good, too. I might post a cut from that this week, depending.

[revme.livejournal.com]

I've just sent off my favorite cut from this, so it should show up at phancy.com probably tomorrow.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I've heard of Peter Mulvey before, but I don't know anything about his music. I heard his name mentioned by people who were into folky stuff, so I figured his music was also of that variety, but I could be wrong.

[revme.livejournal.com]

Pretty much -- my sorta touchstones that came to mind were Mountain Goats and Jon Langford's solo stuff, mostly. Maybe a touch of Handsome Family and the Pogues, but very slight touches of those. But, yeah, "folky" isn't too far off.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Speaking of which, the Mountain Goats are actually another band I've been considering getting into. I downloaded Tallahassee from eMusic some time ago, but I never really listened to it much. I'm playing it now, though, and it's pretty cool. I've always liked "No Children," and I've now come to appreciate "Southwood Plantation Road" and "Idylls Of The King." I wonder if I should invest in any more of their albums.

[revme.livejournal.com]

I'd recommend it. I'd probably go with any/all of:

• We Shall All Be Healed
• All Hail West Texas
• The Sunset Tree

for starters. Those are probably my favorites. For what it's worth, K. Thor Jensen recommended starting with any/all of:

• Nothing For Juice (his favorite)
• Full Force Galesburg
• All Hail West Texas

.

Also, archive.org has scads of shows in mp3 format, so you could always poke around in there, getting shows/songs. The cool thing with the Mountain Goats is that since most of their records were recorded on a boombox, live recordings aren't too terribly much different, fidelity-wise. So, y'know, you're USED to hearing, say, "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" all crappy, so it doesn't matter that the boot of it sounds like it was recorded from the restroom, say. (though actually most of the boots they have are pretty good quality, sometimes better sound-quality than the records.)

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Why do people always seem to post more entries in the middle of the week?

this is so true. Except on the weekends when I actually have to do stuff, then suddenly people are posting on the weekends. But otherwise, it's all in the middle of the week.

[obsessical.livejournal.com]

WHOOOO RILO KILEY! I'm pumped. I have More Adventurous as well, but I think I like The Execution better. But I also think that I haven't given More Adventurous a fair chance, because I can't normally get far past Portions For Foxes.

Does He Love You? is amazing live (or so I've heard). My friend told me that they did it with all the violins and it was completely crazy. There are some great songs on their initial EP that they don't press anymore. My friend burned it for me, and if you're interested, I can copy it for you. Just let me know.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I plan on getting Execution soon. How many other albums do they have? I remember looking it up on those little database thingies they have at Circuit City, and it listed those two and one other, but those sometimes leave things out.

I also think "Portions" is probably the best song on Adventurous, but all of the songs I like almost as much are AFTER it on the album (which isn't surprising, since "Portions" is the third track).

And yeah, I'd definitely be interested in the EP.

[little-octagon.livejournal.com]

Why do people always seem to post more entries in the middle of the week?

Because it's better to waste your employer's time than your own.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, I haven't been working much during the week as of late. And weekends are when I have access to high-speed Internet, so that's more conducive to reading and writing entries.