tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10779294.post2198705330054199818..comments2024-01-08T14:21:37.465-08:00Comments on Infinite Art Tournament: The Library Book Sale CD Trove VIMichael5000http://www.blogger.com/profile/10148584819327475239noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10779294.post-63918509773266562332009-12-12T17:14:08.067-08:002009-12-12T17:14:08.067-08:00I agree with your assessment of Up. I find it dul...I agree with your assessment of <i>Up.</i> I find it dull. Maybe I'll make the time to listen again some time soon, but probably not. I'm pretty sure I feel the same about <i>Reveal</i> and <i>Around the Sun</i> but they are all so forgettable I cold not tell you if they are really all in the same style or not. <br /><br />Happily, their most recent studio album, <i>Accelerate</i>, is actually pretty good. I heard an interview with Michael Stipe in which he talked about the virtue of working in the studio with a single actual human being drummer for the first time in many years. He said it gave <i>Accelerate</i> more "muscle" than their previous couple of albums. Boy is that every right!<br /><br />And their most recent album <i>Live At the Olympia</i> is -- much to my surprise -- an ass kicker! It's heavy on the 80s stuff, most of it the songs that only former slavish fans like you and me would sing along with. It has only a few things from the last 10 years that mean essentially nothing to me. I'd love to listen to <i>Live at the Olympia</i> with you some day on some filthy carpets of student housing.mhwitthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01692644684366966097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10779294.post-89992773828425106732009-12-10T19:32:44.380-08:002009-12-10T19:32:44.380-08:00I've seen that painting. It's called A Do...I've seen that painting. It's called A Donkey Tries to Head Butt Plastic Man While Jesus and Marry Check It Out.Dr. Kenneth Noisewaterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06293248808640989299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10779294.post-53484952676178584122009-12-10T16:09:54.452-08:002009-12-10T16:09:54.452-08:00I think it did. Part of the strength of the first...<b>I think it did. Part of the strength of the first five records was the fragmentary images and bits of meaning you caught as the music went by, like glimpses of landscape seen from a moving train. It was as if an obscure document had been smudged or torn so that only bits and pieces were still legible, and was thus rendered into a kind of found poem. But, like, with rock guitar.<br /><br />La Gringissima?</b>Michael5000https://www.blogger.com/profile/10148584819327475239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10779294.post-32599228479109219392009-12-10T11:41:00.584-08:002009-12-10T11:41:00.584-08:00"Up" was their first album without a dru..."Up" was their first album without a drummer as I recall and I really liked the experimental nature of it when it first came out. However, I listened to it again about 6 months ago and thought "man, this album sucks! Why did I like it?" There are maybe four songs on it that I really like and the rest izzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......<br /><br />"Automatic" is by far their best album (of the ones I've actually listened to) since the 1980's but still not among their best efforts. I have not heard the most recent album so no comment there.<br /><br />The music lost something when you no longer needed to parse the esoteric lyrics.Dughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05787505045121628368noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10779294.post-10066020897231754912009-12-10T10:11:18.609-08:002009-12-10T10:11:18.609-08:00Out of curiosity, and general respect for DrSchnel...<b>Out of curiosity, and general respect for DrSchnell's taste in The Rock Music, I'm rivisting the track list for <i>Automatic.</i> I think I'll stick with my lukewarm assessment. I can't even recall several of the songs ("Drive", "Monty Got a Raw Deal", "Ignoreland", "Star Me Kitten", "Find the River") actively dislike one ("Everybody Hurts"), and remember that two are pretty bluntly filler material ("New Orleans Instrumental No.1", "Sweetness Follows"). That leaves me with a pretty good four-song EP ("Try Not to Breathe", "The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite", "Man on the Moon", "Nightswimming"), but I wouldn't trade it for <i>Chronic Town</i>. Matter of Taste, of course.</b>Michael5000https://www.blogger.com/profile/10148584819327475239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10779294.post-34538248963459175902009-12-10T08:27:11.099-08:002009-12-10T08:27:11.099-08:00From what I hear, the most recent album of theirs ...From what I hear, the most recent album of theirs is supposed to be a return to form of sorts, away from the tedium of the last three or so albums. Of course, "return to form" could mean uninspired revampings of old patterns, or could be really good. Let me know if you hear it.<br /><br />I've got to disagree with you on Automatic for the People, though - I find it to be one of my favorites of theirs - kinda dark and death-soaked, and a really solid album (though I could do without "Everybody Hurts").DrSchnellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13428753570121627382noreply@blogger.com