LPTJ Best of 2008 Thread

[alistarr*]

i once passed up the opportunity to see him play (my lame excuse was that it would have involved a train journey) and have regretted it ever since. i don't really have the powers of the drop but if i'm near the internet at the weekend i'll definitely try and hook you up (not certain but possible). unless in the meantime anyone else can help out...

[edison]

Also, as a longstanding fan of both Nick Cave and BPB, I'm a bit surprised by the consensus on these two records (general consensus in Cave's case, on this board for BPB). I thought Lazarus was a fun but ultimately lazy and forgettable record, and I like Lie Down In The Light just fine, but "best since I See A Darkness" I don't really see (I have a huge soft spot for Ease Down The Road and quite liked The Letting Go).

Oh, and for the BPB fans - the latest live album Is It The Sea is really worth a listen.

edit: x-post with al

[alistarr*]

i agree with you about nick cave but i've never been a fan so haven't previously made known my thoughts. but yeah, i thought it was fun and pointless. the first song is great.

[edison]

i once passed up the opportunity to see him play (my lame excuse was that it would have involved a train journey) and have regretted it ever since. i don't really have the powers of the drop but if i'm near the internet at the weekend i'll definitely try and hook you up (not certain but possible). unless in the meantime anyone else can help out...

Thanks. Sorry you missed him, we all make silly decisions from time to time (not taking the train to see Mikami being my most recent one). Of course, if anyone feels like schooling me on his entire career + Modern Lovers at some point in the next few months, I'm not going to say no...

[alistarr*]

pop me a PM with your email address and maybe i can send you a mix cd primer sometime in the new year...

[dieblucasdie]

This:

For me, my main thing at this point is that the album was a little too heterogeneous for me, it didn't stick together as an album.  I can listen to it and think 'oh I like this song and this song and this song', whereas for The Dirty South I think, 'man I fucking love this album', even if there are a few songs that I consistently skip over.

is the answer to this:

I don't understand the Hold Steady thing, just as you said, Stay Positive was 10 times the album that their previous one was, replacing retch-inducing filler like "Chillout Tent" with a few merely unexceptional songs.  I'd even quibble with you on the singles--"Yeah Sapphire" -- "Both Crosses" -- "Stay Positive" is as good a three-song sequence as The Hold Steady has ever recorded.

once you just sub in tHS album titles. 

[Andrew_TSKS]

I'm not making any changes to my top 20 list at this point, it's too late, but I did want to state one thing for the record.

Back when there was that whole hubbub over Amanda Palmer's belly in her video and Roadrunner acting like jerks about it, I downloaded "Who Killed Amanda Palmer", because I liked the song that the video was for. Before I could listen to it, though, Greg Nog did the same thing and stated on the board that he hated every other song on the album. This discouraged me from ever actually listening to it for about a month. But last night, I did finally listen to it, and damn--I really like it. I've got a Dresden Dolls album, "Yes, Virginia...", on my computer, and it's OK, but it does not connect for me that well. Well, I like the Amanda Palmer solo record quite a bit better.

OK, bring on the haters.

[ellaguru]

If anybody out there ain't seen The Dresden Dolls live, do. They bring it.

[coldforge]

I have seen the Dresden Dolls live. I wanted to throw bottles.

[ellaguru]

Bottles of love?

[coldforge]

Bottles of absinthe and vermouth, distilled during the Weimar Republic and kept in the crawlspace above a Café Des Artistes for the intervening century, and then cracked over the head of some punk rock extra from _Cabaret_.

[donblood]

I was talked into seeing the Dresden Dolls live just as they were getting their start in Boston.  I thought they were the most terrible cheesy shit and foresaw a bright moneyed future for them.

[maggiego]

I never play lists, but I must say that Frida Hyvonen's new record would be high on such a list if I made one, if only for the song 'Shanghai'.

[andronicus]

This:

For me, my main thing at this point is that the album was a little too heterogeneous for me, it didn't stick together as an album.  I can listen to it and think 'oh I like this song and this song and this song', whereas for The Dirty South I think, 'man I fucking love this album', even if there are a few songs that I consistently skip over.

is the answer to this:

I don't understand the Hold Steady thing, just as you said, Stay Positive was 10 times the album that their previous one was, replacing retch-inducing filler like "Chillout Tent" with a few merely unexceptional songs.  I'd even quibble with you on the singles--"Yeah Sapphire" -- "Both Crosses" -- "Stay Positive" is as good a three-song sequence as The Hold Steady has ever recorded.

once you just sub in tHS album titles. 

Fair enough, hater.

[edison]

I never play lists, but I must say that Frida Hyvonen's new record would be high on such a list if I made one, if only for the song 'Shanghai'.

Ah, a friend of mine has been saying good things about this for a while. I have to check it out.

[maggiego]

It is a formidable record. Kind of Kurt Weill-y and more than just swedish girl sings pretty pretty.

[Thermofusion]

Hey, so my choice for disc of the year and classical release of the year, Hilary Hahn performing the Schoenberg & Sibelius concertos, didn't make it to ClassicsToday's ultra-conservative top ten list. Unsurprising since David Hurwitz's 10/10 review of it was possibly the single most backhanded glowing review they've ever posted. I've always kind of loathed Hurwitz in the coldforgean sense, but now it's straight up hatred.

[davy]

i once passed up the opportunity to see him play (my lame excuse was that it would have involved a train journey) and have regretted it ever since. i don't really have the powers of the drop but if i'm near the internet at the weekend i'll definitely try and hook you up (not certain but possible). unless in the meantime anyone else can help out...

Thanks. Sorry you missed him, we all make silly decisions from time to time (not taking the train to see Mikami being my most recent one). Of course, if anyone feels like schooling me on his entire career + Modern Lovers at some point in the next few months, I'm not going to say no...

I saw him a few years ago and it was one of the best shows I've been to since the 90s. I had crossed paths with him in a parking lot that afternoon and given him directions to the place where he was doing an in-store, and he was friendly and grateful and I got to go to the show for free! Highly recommended.

[davy]

Also, as a longstanding fan of both Nick Cave and BPB, I'm a bit surprised by the consensus on these two records (general consensus in Cave's case, on this board for BPB). I thought Lazarus was a fun but ultimately lazy and forgettable record, and I like Lie Down In The Light just fine, but "best since I See A Darkness" I don't really see (I have a huge soft spot for Ease Down The Road and quite liked The Letting Go).

Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! is probably the first Nick Cave album I've listened to that I have appreciated without reservation. (I haven't heard a lot of the early stuff, though, so...)

I'm surprised it didn't place higher on Pitchfork's list.

[Nick Ink]

In my view, Nick Cave put nary a foot wrong up to and including Tender Prey, and there isn't an album since then that's less than a 7/10.

But I'm kind of biased since he stole my name for his book.

[Danen]

My God, you NEED the early Nick Cave records - especially the Birthday Party stuff and I'd say everything to "Henry's Dream." After that it's all good, but some of the more recent ones have been either a bit stuff ("Abbatoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus") or underdone ("Nocturama," the only album I'd give a 5 out of 10 to). So I'm not saying "Lazarus" is near perfect, just a return to 8/10 territory.

[Doctor Bob]

But I'm kind of biased since he stole my name for his book.

Which are you- the ass or the angel?

[Andrew_TSKS]

Hey, so my choice for disc of the year and classical release of the year, Hilary Hahn performing the Schoenberg & Sibelius concertos, didn't make it to ClassicsToday's ultra-conservative top ten list. Unsurprising since David Hurwitz's 10/10 review of it was possibly the single most backhanded glowing review they've ever posted. I've always kind of loathed Hurwitz in the coldforgean sense, but now it's straight up hatred.

Did you end up reposting that list?

[narlus]

My God, you NEED the early Nick Cave records - especially the Birthday Party stuff and I'd say everything to "Henry's Dream."

i would definitely include _Let Love In_, _Murder Ballads_ and _The Boatman's Call_ into must-haves.

[Thermofusion]

Did you end up reposting that list?

Nope, and the idea leaves a bad taste in my mouth because I spent at least an hour and a half preparing the original post.