Silver Jews - American Water (1998)
Destroyer - Streethawk: A Seduction (2001)
Silver Jews - American Water (1998)
1 - random rules
"in 1984 i was hospitalized for approaching perfection." I need to use that. Malkmus is "Steve" on this album. mmm horns. "but before i go i have to ask you dear about the tan line on your ring finger." heh. good song.
2 - smith and jones forever
should i know who smith and jones are? looks like an old western show. "are you honest when no one's looking" ooh, nice dirty westernish chorus. sure guys, smith and jones forever, i'm feeling it. this song makes me want to be a cowboy. now it's about an electrocution: "when they turn on the chair / something's added to the air forever"
3 - night society
the lack of lyrics in the book lead me to think it's an instrumental. and oh boy, it's rocking. nice guitar work from malkmus i believe.
4 - federal dust
malkmus is helping out on vocals here. a slow and gritty little jam. ha. just rhymed "here comes the coda" with "south dakota."
5 - people
a little poppier here. this album has yet to dip.
6 - blue arrangements
ha. "i love your amethyst eyes, your protestant thighs / you're a shimmering socialite jewel." this one's a lot of fun. this is a band. the instruments are perfectly playing off each other. that's awesome.
7 - we are real
"and like background singers they all come in threes." so true. this album is such a lazy drive across the lower half of america. we've had texas, federal dust was coast to coast in it's lyrics. this one mentioned virginia, and there's tons of talk about driving and roads and stuff. "myh ski vest has buttons like convenience store mirrors / and they help me see that everything in this room right now is a part of me." that works. lyrics have been really smart all throughout.
8 - send in the clouds
"i am the trick my mother played on the world / seventeen doctors coulnd't decide / whether i should be allowed in the game." there's some wild stuff going on in these lyrics. something well thought out and such. and he keeps saying "soi disantra" and i don't know what that means. and the internet isn't helping. yet another great song.
9- like like the the the death
hahah "do you believe in MGM endings? .... (and the west has made a deal with the sun)." another great song. the lyrics are just so literate. yay mr. dave berman.
10 - buckingham rabbit
pavement's lyrics were obscure, these are obscure, but whereas it seemed like pavement lyrics ere obscure for the sake of obscurity, these are obscure because i'm just too fucking dumb. they just seem brilliant. and the songs, so catchy.
11 - honk if you're lonely tonight
i want a bumper sticker that reads "honk if you're lonely." now. haha "I smile and i wave and i hide all my pain / but the sign on my bumper gives me away."
12 - the wild kindness
umm this is good. this album has just been good followed by more and more good. i want to road trip across middle america and play this album. or maybe just listen to it a lot more.
Destroyer - Streethawk: A Seduction (2001)
1 - streethawk I
dan bejar of new pornographers fame. and new pornographers music this ain't. lyrics would be nice. this isn't quite poppy, but it has pop elements. and it ended with this bizarre 10 seconds a cappella spoken part.
2 - the bad arts
just dan on guitar now. this dude has one weird voice. the lines starting "god damn your eyes" are neat. very fractured chords and stuff. now at a minute and a half we've got this bass groove and some laid back rhythm going. there's something really unsettling about this song. the music is nice, dan's voice just gets outright creepy sometimes and the lyrics just seem evil. interesting transition at 4:30. good stuff, 7 minutes that didn't get stale.
3 - beggars might ride
i've getting a pavement feel here. it's the wild unstructured sound, except sounds graceful and calculated.
4 - the sublimation hour
"so you've got the best legs / in a business built for kicks" sounds like this is about corporate restructuring. hmm, something about "isn't that what rock n' roll is all about" this song is real cool. parts of it sound like something on mass romantic, jackie i think. he's spitting the lyrics faster than i can catch them, especially since they're big words. taking it back a bit with a slow guitar solo. ha "so put your hands together / i hear it's a must / until this phony beatlemania has bitten the dust." this song rules. i want to play it real loud. but i'm wearing headphones and i don't want to break my ears.
5 - english music
hot on the trails of the "phoney beatlemania" line. acoustic guitar and piano driven. a nice little take it easy groove. nice transition into the piano after the cut.
6 - virgin with a memory
"she wanted blood all she got was sacrifice." this set over a kinda of island/tropical guitar part. eeeee. there's so much going on in these lyrics and i'm so fucking lost.
7 - the very modern dance
title made me giggle. see previous statement about lyrics. but at least the music is holding on to me tight. uhh, 1:35-1:45 was really cool, but as usual it's right over my head. ooooh kickass piano around 2:20. this outro is rocking.
8 - the crossover
intro reminds me of u2's "red hill mining town." well, until 20 seconds. "men make sense when they prevail" digging the militaryish snare drumming kind of keeping the song in a perpetual build. and the piano is working it too. great use of piano on this album.
9 - helena
"so throw the old furniture in the fire / as the children go barbaric behind the wire / they're just children" eeee. this at an unexpected explosion of sorts. just the nylon guitar and piano and this little flute thing, but it's still building a great deal.
10 - farrar, straus & giroux (sea of tears)
eh? getting that pavement feeling again. maybe there's something in common with the vocal stylings. nice piano solo at the end.
11 - strike
whoa, it's the melody at the end of jaws or michael jackson's heal the world. that, and pretty piano chords under scary lyrics and singing. wow, that's one huge fucking explosion there at 2 minutes. goes from soft piano chords to full out rocker. no transition, just the switch. pretty cool.
12 - streethawk II
i can't remember if this sounds anything like Streethawk I. ANd i haven't been particularly seduced by this album, although it is really good and i want to hear it more. 2, 4 big time,
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