What you want with a cackling hen? - New NP thread

[Good Intentions]

I know my music listening and NP posts the past year have been 'last decade's news today', but Enslaved really fell off the wagon between Eld and Below the Lights, didn't they Post rock wankery. Luckily Below the Lights and Isa are imperious monsters of albums.

[elpollodiablo]

I heard Call Me Maybe for the first time yesterday, or at least like 45 seconds of it. I was expecting something like vaguely more singer-songwriterish, for some reason.

And that's my dose of contemporary pop music for the next six months

[davy]

L put that on a short, breezy summer mix tape she made for me this week. I'm ... well, the jury's still out, I guess.

[Thermofusion]

It's catchy, fun and stupid. I've gotten a little obsessed with Somebody That I Used To Know, though. It's the bitter epilogue to bouncy summer pop songs. 

[Thermofusion]

IMO we need to have a symposium on how awesome Somebody That I Used To Know is.

[elpollodiablo]

I've heard bits of that in stores, too! For a while I thought people were reposting some weird Aussie cover of an old Elliott Smith song.

[elpollodiablo]

Anyway I don't really have an opinion on either track, except that I guess I was expecting Call Me Maybe to be a little more remarkable given that I was seeing new versions of it posted on FB for like three weeks straight.

[davy]

IMO we need to have a symposium on how awesome Somebody That I Used To Know is.

I like it all right. It kind of reminds me of the buzz clip era, in a way. I'm happy when anything with a touch of weirdness gets widespread radio exposure like that. Doesn't happen too often anymore.

[elpollodiablo]

What's weird about that one?

[Thermofusion]

Yeah, right? A tune with good lyrics and an unusual, understated arrangement hits #1 on the pop chart, wha??? It's great.

[Thermofusion]

What's weird about that one?

It's weird by virtue of contrast to anything else on pop radio. Not many #1 pop songs nowadays have such a low-key minimal arrangement or feature a xylophone riff and flutes.

[Killdozersnakeboy]

Anyway I don't really have an opinion on either track, except that I guess I was expecting Call Me Maybe to be a little more remarkable given that I was seeing new versions of it posted on FB for like three weeks straight.

That's pretty much how I've felt. Over the last 6-7 years there has invariably been some girly summer hit in america that has made my winter a little better. Whether it be "Hot n Cold" or "Bad Romance" there's usually something I wanna hate but end up loving. "Call Me Maybe" is thin & catchy in the wrong way.

np:

Pan records strike again with Heatsicks' Déviation.

[mixed cats]

oh dude I'm gonna paint Linus like that Gotye video

[Killdozersnakeboy]

All Neil Young all day.

[justinh]

^ now that's a great record.

Lately playing:









Winterrrrrrrrrrr....

[Nick Ink]

Pan records strike again with Heatsicks' Déviation.

Also on PAN, Eli Keszler, a close friend of Keith Fullerton Whitman, plays a building. It's very pretty:

[ellaguru]

Okay, seriously, for last month - at least - my listening regimen has basically been:

• 1/3 The Horrible Crowes - Elsie
• 1/3 Anaïs Mitchell - Hadestown
• 1/3 things that aren't Elsie or Hadestown

These are very very good albums that more people should try.

[lucky strike]

this record is thoroughly crushing it

also, h town represent

[justinh]

It's one of my favorites of 2012 so far.  Kind of a Bowie in Berlin thing going on. 

They need to tour Australia!

[The_Tourist]

http://tumiferrer.tumblr.com/post/26503839448/not-a-huge-blondie-fan-but-mixed-with-philip

heart of phillip glass

[fishjim]

All Neil Young all day.

Dozer, you are my pusher-man for overlooked 70s dope LPs. First Some Girls, now On the Beach.

You all right.

[Killdozersnakeboy]

Chur Fish.
I'm not sure if it counts as overlooked but it certainly doesn't get the respect it deserves. I think this can be discussed within the context of both the Stones and Neil Young.
np:

Serious shit.

[RavingLunatic]

'What albums can't you help but chant the chorus of the title track to whenever you see it'

Yeah, that's gotta be my #1 album in that category as well. The only other one I can think of off the top of my head is Among Whom We Shine, by the obscure, but awesome power-pop band Poole. It's weird, but no one else in the world outside me and my brother seem to know of this band--a search on Soulseek turns up nothing--but they were reviewed by the Onion A.V. Club back in the day. They reviewed by far the weakest of Poole's three albums, so I suppose that didn't help. I once e-mailed a band member when their band website was still up, and he replied, saying, and I quote, "it's good to know there is one
fan out there." Woefully overlooked indeed. A snippet from the intro to that A.V. review:

Alaska Days, the 1995 debut album by the Virginia band Poole, contained some of the decade's most exhilarating and woefully overlooked pop music. Breathless and shimmering, Alaska Days was devoid of tension and testosterone, but its sugar came packaged with enough endearing hooks to render the album virtually irresistible.

All true. Alaska Days was basically a lo-fi power-pop album, and song-wise, it was their strongest album. Among Whom We Shine was more hi-fi, and it worked really well on about half the songs. The title track and two others are stunning slices of power-pop--a genre, incidentally, that I'm not overly familiar with or crazy about.

Looks like there is one of those great songs from Among Whom We Shine on youtube. Poole - "Feeling Ill Tonight" Listening to this for the first time in a while. Still amazing as ever.

[ellaguru]

I had always assumed that Don Juan's Reckless Daughter was sort of third-rate Joni, but now that I've actually listened to it, I think it's pretty good!

[fishjim]

Haven't tried that one - will give it a listen. I'm still so confused about Joni. Sometimes she's Joni the genius, other times Joni the third-rate.