Yann Tiersen - Amélie soundtrack. I don't usually go for soundtracks—if music is designed specifically to serve a film, it rarely hits the same way when I'm just hanging out in my living room. Plus, I have a massive allergy to anything purely instrumental or "instrumental-adjacent"—you know, those tracks with choirs or vocals that basically act as background noise—like the Lord of the Rings stuff or all those Vangelis scores. On paper, this soundtrack should have been a total miss for me, but it’s actually beautiful. It's my track of the week, mostly because the fact that I love it this much caught me completely off guard.
Album of the week - Grandaddy, Sumday Yeah, it dropped back in 2003, but I just picked it up last week. Spotted it by chance at Target—I already loved their first two records, so I figured—why not take the risk on $43? Since I’m not out here blowing cash on designer shoes or skincare crap, I might as well spend my money on something worthwhile. And man, I love it. I have a massive soft spot for this kind of thin, lo-fi sound 😍 😍 😍
Song of the week - Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose. Honestly, it hits right in my wheelhouse. It's enough to make the glasses shatter at home. 🙂
Roger Jones5 said:So, is the new Modest Mouse actually any good? Honestly—I'm still undecided. I only stumbled upon them a few years back—shoutout to Frank Howard79—and honestly, I was hooked instantly. Lonesome Crowded West is easily my favorite, and most of their other stuff hits the spot just fine, but this new material? Boring, man. It’s just flat—at times it actually sounds like some generic, modern nu-metal derivative. Or maybe that's just me? 😁
I think *Good News for People Who Love Bad News* is alright... a bit hit-or-miss, honestly. It starts off strong, but by the middle, I usually lose interest—I end up staring at the clock wondering when it’ll actually wrap up or if my office mate is going to snap at me to put my headphones on—but then it clicks again toward the end. Maybe it needs a little more polish, but I just don't have the energy to care right now. Besides, I don't have anything else of theirs. 😳 If anyone feels like they owe me a little compensation for that—hey, I definitely won't be complaining.
As for the other albums I've listened to—*A Ghost Is Born* feels kind of uneven to me—it’s not bad, per se. It just wasn't quite good enough to make my list. Plus, I don't have anything else from them. 😳 😳 (Should I just start embarrassing myself now?) That last cave was incredible—I totally missed mentioning him (yeah, I’m embarrassed). Franz Ferdinand is also totally great—why don't we actually get up and dance for once instead of just rotting on the couch listening to something incredibly pretentious? Interpol - Antics is fine, I guess, but that’s about it. I actually really dug Random Harvest when I picked it up back when Bill Elm was touring around—honestly, if I were a guy, I’d definitely be coming out as gay right now. Not that it matters—being gay is fine by me. Yep, I picked up Loretta Lynn - van Lear Rose today—so if anyone’s asking, I'm basically one step closer to crowning my Album of the Year. Haven't actually popped it into the player yet, though—I grabbed four CDs at once and I'm working my way through them alphabetically. So, stay tuned. n/p Django Reinhardt - It Don't Mean a Thing
I can't believe it—it's December 26th and you guys haven't already flooded the forum with year-end lists—albums, tracks, artists, gigs, videos, best of 2004, breakthrough artist of the year... etc., etc...
I honestly can't keep up with music on an annual basis. In 2004, I spent most of my time digging through records from '74, '84, and '94. As for what was actually great in 2004? I'll probably catch up when I retire—but there were a few albums that totally floored me that came out this year (assuming they weren't actually 2003 releases and I've just lost my mind). To kick things off: Real Gonifs' Aw Cmon / no you Cmon, and then Bubblegum by Mark Lanegan. God, I want to cook meals for that man, buy him a dog, open a savings account in his name—just all those typical ways I express affection. Alright, your turn—remind this forum what actually mattered in 2004.
p.s. Oh, and Morrissey released You Are the Quarry. It might not be in my top xy albums of the year, but I'm sentimental about it... I'm just glad the old bastard hasn't retired yet; makes me feel less out of touch. Plus, it's a solid album.
Had to drive my kid all the way across town to the speech therapist—thirty minutes each way—so I just threw on some In Utero and went for it (it’s basically all I own from them anyway). Once again, just like the first two times I listened, I've come to the conclusion that Nirvana is just... meh. Look, there are good tracks—Frances Farmer will have her revenge on Seattle and all that—but honestly? Not enough for me. Without getting into any deep sociological stuff—because let's face it, I'm totally unqualified—or even musical analysis (I'm clueless there too, but whatever)—there are really only two ways to look at this: 1) Nirvana fans tend to ignore the fact that The Stooges were killing it back in the sixties, not to mention Pixies 2) I just don't get Nirvana And I'm perfectly fine with "not getting it" being a totally valid stance. It's like how I don't understand ballet—that doesn't make ballet any less valuable. Not everyone has to "get" everything.h
It’s all just one big mess because people keep blurring the lines between "music" and the "entertainment industry." Maybe Nirvana wasn't some massive musical revolution—personally, they never really clicked for me—but they became huge names in the entertainment business, basically becoming household names like Madonna. Is that where the actual scale and influence come from? They blew up in the industry while staying true to their sound? I don't know, but that's how I see the Beatles (who I absolutely adore) when people try to compare them... So why did that happen with Nirvana but not Pixies? Honestly, I think the Pixies are a hundred times better, but Nirvana didn't become such a hyped-up band solely because of their music—it was a specific set of circumstances... probably the end of the century (I spent most of the nineties in total hibernation anyway, so who knows)
Rachel Jones11 said:Yeah, Terry Lee Hale is playing tomorrow... and honestly, regarding posters—I’m convinced they have way less impact now thanks to the internet, so I figured I'd test that theory... Plus, I'm seeing about half as many posters this season compared to before, yet concert crowds seem twice as big...
Then why doesn't the Kset website include a quick blurb about the artist anymore? It used to be there—now it's just the date and "Buy Tickets." You basically have to tell redcrane28 to Google who the act is, what they sound like, and if it's even worth showing up. It's too much work. Not to mention, I can't just easily scan the full December lineup on Nov 28th—I have to click through that tiny little calendar in the corner day by day just to see what's happening. Apologies in advance if my whining is just me being tech-illiterate and struggling with your high-powered website. So, according to the poll, where was the user experience most messed up? 😉
I’m pretty sure 'Bottoms Up' isn't just recordings from a single show—it feels more like a multi-night run—but honestly, I can't be bothered to fact-check it, nor do I really care... I just have this nagging feeling I read somewhere that it was a series of shows.
Last week was basically just me looping the new Nick Cave stuff (Abattoir/Lyre...) and the new Cohen (Dear Heather) on repeat—weirdly enough. Honestly, I’m not even a big Nick Cave fan (which, yeah, I know, sounds criminal and totally unexplainable)—so I probably wouldn't have even given this new stuff a shot if it hadn't just landed on my hard drive. But man, it blew me away. Maybe it’s finally time for a "Nick Cave Revisited" phase—go through my collection, listen to everything I own, and actually buy all the albums I've been ignoring until now? As for Cohen, I love him, but Dear Heather feels a little tedious. I've spun it maybe three or four times already, which is a lot for one week considering I'm barely ever home—and when I am, I'm basically fighting my family for control of the player while they're busy watching Cartoon Network or whatever.
Kevin Long20 said:So you're telling me you have no clue how the sung version of the Hedgehog House goes????????!!!!!
It adds a whole new layer to the story—I can't just see it as words on a page.
Well, now I know—damn—but I'm 33 now and I only belt it out when I'm drinking with friends, alongside the Star-Spangled Banner, Child in Time, and those other classic Americana anthems. But honestly? Before I hit adulthood, I had zero idea how it was actually sung.
Honestly, I didn't even know vinyl was a thing until I was way too old to care—though that book? Pure gold. Even now, that "hedgehog rock and roll for December" vibe sounds totally fake, kind of like the stuff hollowseal33 is always pushing with his records. I’m not saying the record doesn't exist, just that it wasn't even on my radar.
One night, a ladybug felt absolutely miserable someone had swiped the spots right off her wings she sat there crying all alone on a fragrant blossom honestly, nobody in the world was feeling more blue than her
but when the morning sun hit the branches, she was over the moon those little spots were back where they belonged
roughly speaking I feel like I’m missing something—the rhythm feels a bit short
My mom probably still has an old VHS tape somewhere of me reciting this as a kid, stumbling over the word 'ladybug.' One day it’ll end up on some deep-cut compilation—'redcrane28: B-sides, Outtakes, and Other Rarities.'
But seriously, what’s the big deal? It’s just a dumb bug with black dots. She wakes up in the middle of the night, can't see them, and panics thinking they're gone. Then the sun comes up, she sees them, and everything's fine. That's basically how I felt as a kid—only my little bug wasn't stupid, obviously, she was precious and sweet.
Maria Morris5 said:Just a reminder—BUGS BUNNY DOESN'T DIE!!! 😛 The song isn't sad—it's actually happy, because spring comes along later, the ice melts, and little Bugs Bunny is happy again. 🙂
That's just some extra fluff your parents made up... kind of like how people tell kids their dog went to live on a beautiful farm with nice people just so they can put the pet down...
I’ve been diving deep into the Verve catalog lately—someone mentioned they were revisiting the unremixed stuff, so I decided to tackle the remixes instead... and oh my god, what a disaster!!! Look, I usually love hearing tracks reimagined, but this felt like straight-up torture of perfectly good music. I actually forced myself through almost the entire thing until I hit the Billie Holiday track—that’s where I finally snapped. Leave Billie alone! My ears just couldn't take any more. On a brighter note, I spent the last week listening to a Lightning Seeds compilation, and man, it was nothing but hits. I’ve been swamped with work, so I needed something easygoing—stuff I already knew by heart that didn't demand my full attention while I tried to decompress from the grind. It wasn't mindless or cheesy, either. Naturally, since I was multitasking, I wasn't really focusing on the lyrics, so I can't pull a single line out of thin air.
The whole "urban music" thing isn't even new—it's just being exploited like crazy everywhere now. Like most labels, the meaning has totally shifted over time. Back in the 80s, urban music was more like Dorian Gray, but nowadays people use it for rap or dance tracks, and God knows what Alka Vuica thinks of it (I actually read the article > posted, by the way). For the longest time, I honestly thought urban music meant something like house? Now I have no clue. It actually caught me off guard when I realized that when Americans say "younger urban male," they’re usually referring to Black men?!?!?! Ugh. Then there's my colleague who moved from some tiny rural town to Chicago; he thinks living in a high-rise makes him "urban"—as if living in a house would be somehow peasant-like, even if it were a massive mansion. If I asked him what he listens to, I bet he'd call it "urban" too... What really fascinates me on this forum is how often people use the phrase "quality music"—as if music is some three-ply perfumed toilet paper where quality is guaranteed, and if you aren't satisfied, you can just return the used product for a full refund...