I am listening to this record for the third time, and about to talk about it on my music anniversaries podcast, and I’m wondering why the hell I bothered. I don’t like it, nobody requested it and it isn’t really a big deal, is it?
Tag: Alternative Rock
Leitmotif (1998) by dredg
Apparently these guys were Nu Metal once upon a time. You can sometimes hear that in the vocals – without actually knowing anything about Linkin Park, I’d say I hear a similarity in the way this guy sings – but on the whole the idea that this was a Nu Metal band on their EPs …
A Thousand Leaves (1998) by Sonic Youth
The first track makes me think of their early music, even though I haven’t heard anything earlier than their earlier than their fourth album, so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. But anyway the opening makes it sound like they’ve gone more experimental. (Actually a few tracks do.)
Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart (1988) by Camper Van Beethoven
Perhaps for the first time they acknowledge their debt to Kaleidoscope by covering a song Kaleidoscope covered (“O Death”). If I didn’t think these guys were the ’80s College Rock Kaleidoscope before, I do now.
Songs of Faith and Devotion (1993) by Depeche Mode
At this point I have heard enough synthpop (and enough Depeche Mode) to understand how this record breaks from that tradition (much like the previous record, Violator, also does), and so I feel like I might actually have something decent to say about it, unlike when I first listened to Violator.
Porno for Pyros (1993)
I don’t love Jane’s Addiction. One reason for that is that I had just heard way too much about how great they were before I ever heard more than a couple of songs. The other reason is Farrell’s voice, I don’t love it.
Life’s Too Good (1988) by The Sugarcubes
For Bjork fans coming to this after listing to her solo career, this album feels like a bit of glimpse into Bjork in utero: her voice is already fully formed and distinct but much of the other stuff that make Bjork Bjork seems missing or replaced by a rock band which sometimes has a male …
Hootenanny (1983) by The Replacements
This is a bizarre, jokey mess of a record, as much of a transition record (in hindsight) as any record I’ve heard by an American band.
Green Thoughts (1988) by The Smithereens
This is one of those records that basically just fails to move me. I understand that it’s all very competent and I do not dislike the aesthetic, really, but something here is missing for me.
Where You Been (1993) by Dinosaur Jr
There’s a part of me that listens to this and thinks “it’s another Dinosaur Jr. record, you shouldn’t rate it this high!” I have this obsession with artists who evolve. When artists don’t evolve (enough) I used to dock them points (as if they cared). The older I get, the less I care about this, …
The Lion and the Cobra (1987) by Sinead O’Connor
I get why this record was such a big deal when it came out: in 1987 it seemed rare that someone with such a distinctive voice comes along, who writes her own songs, and who seems like her artistic personality is already fully formed.But I think that, in retrospect, that view says more about 1987 …
nimrod. (1997) by Green Day
People tell me this is Green Day’s diverse, experimental record. There’s some humour there in that description but from everything I’ve read, it is relatively diverse compared to their other ’90s albums. (I myself have only ever listened to Dookie.)
So Much for the Afterglow (1997) by Everclear
I don’t know this band save for “Wonderful” so I cannot tell you whether the Beach Boys-esque opening to the title track is a giant left turn or not. If it is, that’s brave of them. But, for those of us who do not know this band, it’s the wrong note to start the album. …
Tubthumper (1997) by Chumbawamba
If you were alive in 1997 you heard “Tubthumping.” You’ve probably heard it even if you weren’t very old then. It came out of nowhere and, unless you were in the UK, the band then vanished from the public eye soon after.
Strangeways, Here We Come
To say I dislike The Smiths would be an understatement. I don’t hate them so much as I hate the aura around them and this idea that they somehow saved British music from itself (and synthesizers! don’t forget the synthesizers), almost like a younger, hipper Bruce Springsteen (because Springsteen saved rock music from disco, don’t …
Earth Sun Moon (1987) by Love and Rockets
I love Bauhaus and, initially, I think I found it hard to get into these guys simply because they are not Bauhaus, which is unfair. It’s unfair because these guys are very much their own band, particularly with the wind instruments. (By the way, that flute solo is hilariously Ian Anderson, who I would have …
Forever Now (1982) by The Psychedelic Furs
This is my first Furs record so I cannot comment on whether or not it’s some kind of sell out (doesn’t sound like it!) or some kind of compromise of their earlier sound, which I have never heard. I can comment on the music and try to comment on the context, as I am an …
The 2017 Wolfe Island Music Festival
After a year’s hiatus, the Wolfe Island Music Festival returned and I resumed my annual pilgrimage to the one and only music festival I go to. I think that, with one major exception, there was a general feeling among our group that this edition was better than the 2015 edition.
My Own Prison (1997) by Creed
I thought this was their big record until I listened to it. It was still (sadly) a pretty big record, but the big hits I was expecting are not here. That means I don’t know these songs. But that doesn’t make it any better.
OK Computer OKNOTOK 1997 – 2017 by Radiohead
I don’t normally review reissue editions of albums, whether or not I like them. And I wouldn’t review this either only I am going to record a podcast episode about OK Computer shortly and I was advised to listen to the rarities disk. So here goes…
Glee (1997) by Bran Van 3000
I love genre-bending. A number of my most favourite bands are bands that can play a wide variety of genres well, and make these genres sound like their own – or, alternatively, convince you they are an entirely different band. So I should like this. I should like this even though it is based in …
Sebadoh III (1991)
Without having heard the two previous Sebadoh albums, and not being familiar enough with the evolution of home recording releases in the 1980s, I still feel confident in saying that I think this album is a pretty big deal; its influence on 1990s indie rock, indie folk and the lo-fi/bedroom recording movement in general is …
The Reality of My Surroundings (1991) by Fishbone
When I first heard Mr. Bungle, it sounded to me like it had come out of nowhere – this crazy amalgam of ska, metal video games, porn, crass humour and, as I would learn later, Frank Zappa. I was 19 (I think), and so it really, really appealed to me.
(What’s the Story) Morning Glory? (1995) by Oasis
When I was 14, this album was relatively ubiquitous, but not to the extent of some other records I’ve listened to recently. I only know about 3 of the songs, I think. But those 3 songs never made me want to listen to Oasis. I never really had any desire. Other bands I ignored when …
The 2015 Wolfe Island Music Festival August 7-8, 2015
The annual pilgrimage to Wolfe Island Music Festival (WIMF) got off to a bit of an uneven start but ended up being one of the better festivals I have attended over the last half decade or so.
Rabbit Rabbit Radio, Vol. 3 – Year of the Wooden Horse (2015) by Rabbit Rabbit
The third edition of Rabbit Rabbit Radio is different in conception than the first two. This time out, Kihlstedt and Bossi asked twelve guitarists to submit riffs to them, and then they’d build the songs. The results are significantly different than the first two outings. If Volume 2 was “Rabbit Rabbit Goes Pop” then this …
The Alchemy Index: Volume III and Volume IV – Air and Earth (2007) by Thrice
Unfortunately “Volume III” takes the brief moments of Volume II that alluded to a sort of Post Grunge / “Modern” rock style and takes them to the logical conclusion. I guess some people would consider these songs “stronger” – they’re certainly catchier – but why neuter what your band does well? At least the rhythm …
Green (1989) by REM
When I first got into REM, my friends who got me into REM told me Green was the worst album. And so I didn’t listen to it for over 20 years. (Makes sense, right?) I do know a few songs from a mixtape a friend made me, but that’s less than half of the tracks.
Rid of Me (1993) by PJ Harvey
I have read about Harvey a lot, her albums are often in year-end best of lists and she’s been around long enough that everything that she releases gets a lot of coverage. But I’ve taken a really long time to listen to her.
White Lies for Dark Times (2009) by Ben Harper and Relentless7
I have long struggled with Harper. When I arrived at University at the beginning of this century, I don’t know what I was expecting, but what I found was that there was a remarkable amount of commonality in the “underground” music that was cool. In fact, looking back it seems really odd to me that …