Mansun - Attack of the Grey Lantern (1997)
Bonnie Prince Billy - I See a Darkness
(1999)
Twilight Singers - Twilight as Played by the
Twilight Singers (2000)
R.E.M. - Reveal (2001)
Mansun - Attack of the Grey Lantern
1 - the chad who loved me
we've got strings, all strings. strings are good. we like strings.
hello guitar. this string thing underneath is kind of cool, has
this little echoy part that's nift. bad stuff happening to "your
desperate icon." sounds a bit like sunny day, except not nearly as
dirgey. strings cut out for "am i a god or am i jesus." can't wait
for them to kick the fuck back in. "do i feel love or just
possession" nice. strings make their glorius return. hmm "you can't
deny that your shit just tastes as sweet as mine, sweet jesus."
well alright. great song if the lyrics are a bit on the creepy
side.
2 - Wide Open Space
sounds like the portishead chick mixed with jeff buckley, oddly
enough. semi-engaging song. nothing spectacular. i like the "la la
la" leading into the choruses. whoa, weird backgrounds here, kinda
funny. like a bunch of guys going "ba ba ba" in weird voices.
"you'll never get to heaven with a smile on your face from me."
huh? the choruses are good. solid song.
3 - she makes my nose bleed
sounds like the last song. that's a bad trap to fall into, boys.
he's singing a lot lower here. "bring her on down from heaven." 3rd
time god/heaven's been mentioned. "bring her on down by the soles
of her feet / slapping her 'round and making it bleed." yeesh.
guess she doesn't want to leave heaven. i know i read the
comparison in the pitchfork review, but i am getting a smiths vibe,
that kind of rock music with a dance beat to it with out being
obnoxiously either. speaking of the smiths, i want some smiths
albums. yeah yeah, last chorus rules, strings came in and the beat
picked up. doesn't sound so much like the last song
anymore.
4 - Naked Twister
eww. see this sounds like the last song now. it's like the album's
one long song with different parts. and then at the chorus the song
defines itself. but it's still in the same vein. each of these
songs has run out of lyrics halfway, except for the first song i
think. still getting a fair amount of more listenable sunny day
real estate. what does this chorus sound exactly like? shit. can't
place it. oops, pretend ending. real ending.
5 - Take it easy, chicken
doesn't so much sound like the others. each line is like 3 words.
example: "mam's got cake / belly ache / feeling sick / through
kuwait / stole a tank" etc. kind of rocking out though. whoops,
crashed a call and killed Star. now he's dodging pigs. there's
something abotu this music, that brink on dance sounds that's
making me thing it'd be great in certain situations. i can just see
me wanting to hear this stuff at certain times, but probably not an
everydayer.
6 - you, who do you hate?
i could write a book. lots of harmony action on the lines. ooh,
just built up and rocked out all over me. back down. "how can i
expect you to believe / when i don't even believe in me." heh just
happened again, reminds me of the joydrop song "beautiful." quite a
lot actually. neat. i like that song. short song at 3 minutes.
7 - mansun's only love song
"if my melody should fail / the tune is unimportant as i said
before / or should i say it was the words." with that kind of
doubt, no wonder it's their only love song. yet another song that
runs out of lyrics with 3-4 minutes left. not a bad song, there
really haven't been any. but like before, not an everyday
song.
8 - taxloss
seven minutes. oh dear. wtf is a taxloss lover? hmm, first track
on the album that i just don't think i want to hear. oh dear, out
of lyrics with 5 minutes to go. time to repeat shit over and over.
dunno what this is, but it's annoying me. sounds like the beatle's
taxman with some blur and annoying shit in it. oooh, nice beat at 4
and a half. this helped the song out a great deal. oops, it's
gone.
9 - disgusting
hmm, someone's bitter. "it's so disgraceful, you're disrespecful /
you are disgusting." the album certainly hasn't been of a very
happy note. but it's got dance beats, and cool choruses and shit.
in the past 2 songs the album has become decidedly more
britpoppy.
10 - Egg Shaped Fred
yep, definitely blur style britpop.
11 - Dark Mavis
I wonder who this mavis is. it's the 3rd song he/she's been
mentioned. "his lipstick's running / his dress is stunning...
mavis, what will he wear." hmm. guess it really is a he/she. and
there go the lyrics, with 6 minutes left. i'll be keeping this
album, i grew tired of it, but the beats throughout mixed with the
other shit make me want to keep it around, cause i'm sure i'll be
happy to hear this shit sometime. after the first track, i don't
remember anything ever standing out really. it's pretty similar
all, and the lyrics never really did too much for me.
Bonnie Prince Billy - I See a
Darkness
1 - in a minor place
light banjo in the background, a bass, and some piano chords every
now and then. kind of sloppy choruses from will oldham and i assume
one of his brothers. this song doesn't make me feel dirty at all.
hmm, missed a line about maggots. damn once more not being able to
find a lyrics sheet. an almost pretty song. wish i could see the
lyrics all at one pass.
2 - nomadic revery (all around)
drums and piano. very minimalist again. I hear a little of smog's
bill callahan in this, very little. guitar now. still sparse. ooh,
wow, 2:15 song got really intense and is really cool - "all around
your every curve / i hope to go tonight." well done. back to the
chorus, but bigger than the others. very good.
3 - i see a darkness
title cut. this guy is so bill callahan. "we've been out drinking
/ and we've shared out thoughts / but did you ever notice / the
kind of thoughts i got / well you know i have a love / a love for
everyone i know / and you know i have a drive / to live, i won't
let go." why did pitchfork say this was such a frightening album?
sure it's over a minor minimalist arrangement, but this is no smog
song about naked dying 17 year old girls. uhoh "but then i see a
darkness." oh wow, the passion in his voice on "did you know how
much i love you" almost brought me a tear. and when i say passion,
i mean honesty, this guy ain't no great singer, and it was quiet,
but so naked. this is really moving, but i wouldn't want to turn it
off if someone called because it didn't seem appropriate. wahtever
pitchfork.
4 - another day full of dread
interesting lyrics 30-1:00. not much to say on this one. maybe if
i had the lyrics all out in front of me. grr. hate this. "cause
dread and fear / should not be confused / by dread i'm inspired /
by fear i'm amused."
5 - death to everyone
uhoh. "death to everyone / is gonna come / but it makes
<something> / much more fun." these tracks are really really
minimalist. but it works, they aren't boring, for the most part.
"and since we know an end will come / it makes our living fun."
makes sense i suppose.
6 - knockturne
so i'm just sitting here listening to this simple song about fire
and with a nice piano background and i heard "blah blah blah / and
put my cock in." hmm, missed this song for the most part.
7 - madeleine-mary
harder beat than anything else. having trouble hearing the lyrics.
creepy last verse. the song is short and i like it's
sound.
8 - song for the new breed
back to minimalism after the one track break. this one's not doing
it for me at all.
9 - today i was an evil one
sounds like a country song. "tomorrow god will make me good / if i
allow her to." eww, that's a horrible thought, "the skin on all my
fingers split / and slowly began receding." not bad
10 - black
billy and his guitar. whoa, strong lyrics on this, "black you are
my enemy," and goes on from there, and i think it's pretty smart,
but i can't see the whole goddam song so i don't know for sure.
he's fighting black. liked it.
11 - raining in darling
2 minutes. the piano in this sounds exactly like a smog song.
oooh, nice at a minute ten. short but good.
ok, in no particular order, 2,3,7,10,11
The Twilight Singers - Twilight as Played by the
Twilight Singers
1 - the twilite kid
litely strummed guitar, little piano flourishes and some strings.
sounds real nice. little soft beat going. "rock steady baby, your
man is dead" this is good. vocals are a little soft, and that's
troubling without a lyrics sheet. sounds like the guitar riff in
"crash" the song has much of the same feel, but with bigger and
more uhh, moving sections.
great opener. "and if my love said 'i'm sorry' / would you believe
me / should i cry / hold me as i die" whispered... purty.
2 - that's just how that bird sings
sounds like csny in deja vu, in fact, sounds exactly like it,
layered vocals and stuff. now there are lyrics. pretty acoustic
guitar midtempo ballad. don't like the falsetto that one guy was
just singing in. this could so be a csny song. it'd be david and
graham. yeah, this guy's falsetto sucks. too bad, cause the song is
kinda nice.
3 - clyde
falsetto guy is back, but not annoying me so much here. the singer
sounds like dylan now. there's got to be 3 different guys who sing.
and they're all singing now, so i prove my point. falsetto guy
sounds like beck in parts of debra, but beck wasn't taking himself
seriously. the layering of this song is cool, i like when all 3 are
going. but the song itself isn't really grabbing me.
4 - king only
started out acoustic guitar ballad, then added a weird little
shuffle beat and got a little intense but still mellow. sax. seems
rather heavyish lyrically. like this better than 3 and probably
2.
5 - Love
piano's back, and there are strings, and people singing "love is
good" over and over. hello beat. still psuedo whispering. "3:15 i
heard you leave / where did you go" kind of really laid back david
grayish electric beats, with some breaks here and there. liked
it.
6 - Annie Mae
sounds like an extension of Love. little more upbeat though. voice
sounds weird. electric guitar for i think the first time. like this
too. the album has a definite feel thus far, but i can't really
describe it.
7 - verti-marte
is this the beginning to "love is?" nope, no xylephone. too bad.
unusal vocal samples. "what is salvation / i obviously don't know
what it means." i think i heard that in the ryuichi sakamoto album
the other day. someone said "goodbye motherfucker." i love these
beats. and that was french. nice song going on underneath all of
this. ha, weird "if you want it / i got it / what you need / i
have" little babylon in there. this song is great. nice groove.
"goodbye motherfucker."
8 - last temptation
sounds like chrono cross music. "everytime i think of you / i get
the same old sinking feeling." the songs haven't really been up.
it's the guy talking to girl after things went to shit. that's this
album's theme. ooh, this rules. bet there's some catholic shit in
here, no lyrics sheet, hard to keep focus of the entire lyrical
body. nice.
9 - railroad lullaby
some smooth organ action. not picking up any of these lyrics. the
song itself seems nothing special. ok, getting lyrics now. still
nothing special.
10 - east 17th
big string opening, with pitches getting wavered around. oh, that
was the song.
11 - into the street
damn there being no lyrics online. weird back and forth going
between two of the guys. song has these scary dark parts then these
nice major sections. ok, that was nice.
12 - twilight
reminiscent of the first track. "everything's gonna be alright /
just wait and see." really really want to look at the entire song's
lyrics, i can't fit shit together just by hearing them a line at a
time. this one's cool. album has for the most part been quite good.
2-3-4 were dips, as we
R.E.M. - Reveal
so here's the new r.e.m., 96 kbps, but i'll take what i can get
until the official release
1 - the lifting
ok, this is what i like to here. piano and atmospheric guitar
light rock and michael. kind of a great beyond feel. "we're only
what our minds assume and rationale is leaving you." a good opener,
this album could be some fun.
2 - i've been high
weird processed beats keyboard chords, sounds like some 80's song.
wow, after the first verse we're getting some wild electronic
beats. it's pretty though. each chorus is adding more weird
electronic stuff. nice pretty words and shit at 2.5ish. yay r.e.m..
can't place this chord progression, talking heads maybe? ooh "make
my make believe / believe in me."
3 - all the way to reno (you're gonna be a star)
hmm, cowboy music. twangy guitars and jingle jangle shit. "you
know what you are / you're gonna be a star." whatever, not really
into this one. "your achilles heel is the tendency to dream." that
was ok, but it's setting in the song was not. barely half
over.
4 - she just wants to be
bring it back boys. little acoustic guitar intro. acoustic over
bass now. a little bit of a drive feeling? other instruments at
1:20. big chorus. very wordy verses, they seem very smarty r.e.m.
like. "now is greater and she knows that." little guitar solo. i
miss the acoustic guitar, i really dug that. this is cool though. i
wonder if it'll go back to the guitar at the end. woohoo it did.
"it's not like if angels could truly look down." "now is greater
than the whole of the past. very cool song.
5 - disappear
urgh verses sound like another r.e.m. song that i can't place.
this song is good too. not as good as 1,2,4.
6 - saturn returns
not to be confused with return of saturn. "easy to poke yourself
square in the eye / harder to like yourself / harder to try." there
was just a whistle, like the whistle in the brilliant song i
composed for adam's birthday. kind of a downer song, dark and
gloomy with it's weird noises in the back and piano chords
everywhere. beat just picked up.
7 - beat a drum
nice pretty song. cheery like a summer day. these songs have all
had pretty rigid structures. ok, good song.
8 - imitation of life
once again, wordy, vague lyrics. "like a goldfish in a bowl / i
don't want to hear you cry" ? crazy fucks. ha, "the greatest thing
since bread came sliced." never seen it worded like that. this mp3
although at 192 sounds worse than the others at 96. head bobbing
chorus.
9 - summer turns to high
this is weird. "summer's here but night is raising hopes and
dragonflies." heh. this isn't great. ooh, just had a weird fill and
i thought the song was kicking into overdrive. it didn't. i will
say that most of these songs could work just as well with a minute
shaved off of them.
10 - chorus and the ring
scary verse at a little past two minutes. this song is ok, nothing
special.
11 - i'll take the rain
more acoustic guitar fun. man, i can't wait for a decent rip of
this. the quality here blows. i like it. missed the lyrics in the
part i'm listening to now, sadly. man, there's been a goddam guitar
solo on every song, enough is enough. hmm, the song ended, but it
didn't seem an appropriate end.
12 - beachball
i'll be honest, i got distracted. sounds nice enough though. i'll
give the album another go when a high quality encode comes in. ooh,
i like this part i'm hearing now.
overall sounds good. 3 blew. 6 and 9 and 10 were nothing special.
11,4,2,1 are tops
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