Hey Jon, just catching up on this. Great work here. The random photo commentaries bring the lolz.

I, for once, really like the Aqualung album when I listen to it but am not often in the mood to choose it. Better in the background.

np: Aereogramme, and so far your Snow Patrol comment is right on

Ryan Adams Easy Tiger I really haven't given a good listen to any of his stuff since Gold. I have Cold Roses & 29 on my computer somewhere and I think I've heard most of Demolition & Rock & Roll before deleting them. None of the songs seem to grab me the way his songs on Heartbreaker & Gold did. I found the vocals on Goodnight Rose pretty atrocious and Halloween Head was pretty much all around crappy. There were a few good songs on here but not enough to justify keeping the album. Best song - I Taught Myself How To Grow Old Toss





Battles Mirrored So I was all set to like this even though I hated their previous ep's and just assumed that they'd step up like !!! did on Myth Takes. Nope. I guess I'm just never going to be into the math rock noodling stuff. It just seems like they're all trying to show how technical and awesome they are but it really just bores the fuck out of me. There's some interesting vocal stuff going on here, even though it sounds a bit chipmunks/willy wonka to me, and maybe if they'd kept some of the songs shorter I'd be more open to it but songs that stretch past the 6 minute mark tend to lose me if they're not coming up with interesting ideas. I'll probably keep it on here just to check it out again but it's most likely just going to end up getting deleted. Best song - Leyendecker Keep, for now

glad this thread is back. nice work.

go thread go! wait we're only on the b's? this could take forever.

yeah i can't see this ending until sometime next year. at least i have no more room on my iriver to add more files though.

Well, you would if you tossed the old ones, but then the whole alphabetical approach gets kinda hosed.

The Battles Tomorrow's Eager Hands Ehhh. Pitchfork compared this to Destroyer, among others, who I've never really listened to. It just didn't really do much for me. The singer's voice was kind of boring and there were some nice musical moments but not enough for me to like this or save it from the trash bin. Best song - Changes Toss





David Bazan Fewer Moving Parts I like Pedro The Lion enough, though his lyrics can get kind of preachy/annoying as in the first track here, Selling Advertising.

You're so creative
With your reviews
Of what other people do
How satisfying that must be for you
Am I a christian?
Are you a jew?
Did you kill my Lord?
Must I forgive you?

Ugh. Maybe that's a dig at Pitchfork? I don't know why he's going under his own name now because this is just the same sound as PTL. The songs are decent enough and I enjoy his voice. One thing though, I don't really need to hear acoustic versions of the songs so I just deleted them. Problem solved! Best song - How I Remember Keep





Be Your Own Pet s/t Yeah Yeah Yeahs Jr. They're obviously not as good as them but that's what they sound like and it's semi-enjoyable though it gets a bit same-y over a whole 15 song album. This was a crap review but I'm tired. Best song - Adventure Keep





The Beatles Love I thought this was going to be super shitty but how bad could you fuck up The Beatles? It sounds really cool though I'm not sure how serious fans of them feel about this (Phil?). All in all, it's just a new way of hearing these songs again and it works out well though I doubt I'd be caught dead going to the Cirque du Soleil show of this. Best song - Strawberry Fields Forever Keep

I actually really dig this album. I stumbled across it while perusing emusic, and took the chance on it. The reviews that take this and draw it to Daniel Bejar's other projects are just lazy.

I'm sure people have tried...

Beck The Information I'm pretty meh on Beck nowadays. I guess I'm just bored with his "electronic album this year, acoustic album next" output. This album actually sounds like he got confused as to what type of album he was supposed to put out and made a mish mash of the two, though it falls more on the electronic side of things. I've started to like his more mellow stuff lately, the nonsensical lyrics of his other albums are kind of annoying. This album is okay, nothing I'd rush out to buy, but I've heard worse. Best song - New Round Keep





Big Business Here Come The Waterworks I'd never heard them before this album but from what I read about them, they seemed like a more metal version of Lightning Bolt. I was kind of disappointed that they're not. I think Big Business needs to work on their recorded output. It's not bad but it doesn't have the same kick to it as their live show. It might be the addition of a guitarist but Jared's bass is so fucking loud. I could feel the floor shaking from it when I saw them last month. Anyways, this is pretty decent but I'd recommend checking them out live instead. Best song - Hands Up Keep

Still haven't heard that Beck. hmm....

see below.

You fucking tease...

Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha Confession: I don't think I ever listened to his last album when I was asked by no beer for a review of it on the 2005 year end lists. I guess I'm actually going to have to go listen to that now because this was a pretty enjoyable album. He reminds me of a more consistent Rufus Wainwright but the music is more experimental. I mean, it's not Liars or Animal Collective out there but doesn't seem to be as commercial based as Rufus' stuff. This could actually have a chance of making my top 20 of 2007. Yay! Best song - Heretics Keep





Black Devil Disco Club 28 Later, Disco Club I really wanted to like this because their name is awesome but this is more like Old Shitty Minor Demon Disco Club. There's nothing here that's very original and hundreds of other electronic bands do this stuff much better. The 28 Later album is named so because that's the length of time between it and the self-titled album. He probably should've just stayed away. A couple of beats on the s/t are recycled through 3 different songs and it just seemed lazy but I could forgive that since it was made 28 years ago but the new album does nothing to expand on his ideas except better production and updated equipment. Best song - I Regret The Flower Power Toss





Black Keys Magic Potion When I first listened to this last year I thought it was probably the weakest of their albums. I wasn't really a fan of the Chulahoma ep though I liked the idea behind it and maybe that clouded my judgment of this. It seemed like they'd run out of ideas with the jump to a major label and that it was going to be sub-par songs from here on out. Thankfully, after listening to this again, that's not the case. It's still not my favorite of their albums (That would be 2002's The Big Come Up) but there's some great songs here and they do the blues better than anyone. Best song - You're The One Keep





Black Lips Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo In light of all the "Black" bands out there that I like, Black Lips just kind of fell through the cracks for me. Not as cool as The Black Keys, not as loud/exciting as Black Eyes, not as weirdly experimental as Black Dice. I'd heard one of their albums before but it seemed like bland garage rock. So apparently, their live show is not to be missed and what better way to showcase that than a live album, eh? Well, seeing as how I'm not big on live albums, I don't think that this is the album to make me a fan. It just sounds to me like generic garage/punk that's rehashing other, better bands. When stacked up against a band like The Deadly Snakes, this just seems flat and boring. Maybe I'll go see them live sometime to see what all the fuss is about, but their albums aren't going in my want list. Best song - Sea Of Blasphemy Toss





Black Moth Super Rainbow Dandelion Gum This album started off really nicely. It sounded like a cross between Beck & Daft Punk. Stoner Electronic, maybe? Now, I don't mind some vocoder once in awhile but a whole album? And not even a regular 9 or 10 song album, we're talking 17 fucking songs here. I like this but only in small doses. I probably wouldn't mind hearing a track or two now and again but there's a better chance of me debating the merits of a Young Jeezy album with Loogar than listening to this whole album again. Best song - Lollipopsichord Keep, but just barely

I think I'm gonna start this up again tomorrow.

Aw, you bastard! I thought that picture review of yours was hilarious, even though I loved that album. It kinda ruins my enjoyment of it knowing you didn't even listen to it.

I actually think I just skimmed through a couple of tracks real quick.

A Place To Bury Strangers s/t This is pretty badass. The Pitchfork review mentioned Joy Division meets Ministry which sounds close. I kinda hear some Sisters Of Mercy in there too. I've been wanting something loud and noisy like this for a couple months now and this doesn't disappoint. Hopefully I can go catch them when they play here next week. Best song - She Dies Keep

Nicole Atkins Neptune City I've been enjoying the hell outta this album for the last couple of weeks. She sorta sounds like Stevie Nicks on some songs but I can hear some Neko Case on others, though more in her voice than the music. It's certainly not groundbreaking but it's done pretty well and that suits me just fine. Best song - The Way It Is Keep




fyi, i still have the whole album uploaded if anyone wants it.




Band Of Horses Cease To Begin This is disappointing but not totally unexpected. This is just average all around. Their debut was good but seriously, they're a less countryfied My Morning Jacket, and they've got a long way to go before they're up to that bands standards. I'm keeping this but it's probably not going to get a lot of listens from me and may eventually get deleted. Best song - No One's Gonna Love You Keep






Black Dice Load Blown I've decided that I don't like Black Dice. I usually pay no attention when Loogar goes on about that Poo Poo Tickle Bear crap BUT THIS IS EXACTLY THE SHIT HE'S TALKING ABOUT! I kept looking at my IRiver hoping this would be almost over and it wasn't and was dragging on forever. WAY TO TOTALLY LOSE YOUR BALLS GUYS! I'll listen to some Wolf Eyes instead. I'd pick a least favorite song but I deleted the fucker. Toss




Bloc Party A Weekend In The City I think I listened to this once when it came out and just put it my stack of cd's to put away, barely to be listened to again. I'm glad I kept this on my IRiver because I think this probably has a good chance of making my top 20 list at the end of the year. There's probably not a lot on here that would do well as singles but as an album it just gels together really nicely. Best song - On Keep



Also, pertaining to earlier posts, I've deleted All Smiles, Adam & The Ants, Aqualung, Bark Bark Bark and Black Moth Super Rainbow. They were just not good enough to keep on here at the expense of other albums. There's a bunch of albums I've listened to out of order (Spoon, John Vanderslice, Jens Lekman, Radiohead, etc) and have deleted some of them (Little Brother, Trae, Fabriclive.36, Good Shoes) but I'll just get to them when I get to 'em.

Blood Brothers Young Machetes I've never really given Blood Brothers much of a chance before. I know Burn Piano Island, Burn was supposed to be really good but I just kinda assumed it was some emo offshoot and was going to be horrible. I think I liked a few songs off Crimes but again, I never gave it much of a listen. Their voices still grate a bit but I've definitely heard worse and some of the songs actually have some weird r&b sound to them. I could see myself listening to this again. Best song - Spit Shine Your Black Clouds Keep






Blue Scholars Bayani It's not a good sign when 2 tracks in you check to see how many songs there are left. This is just pretty average all around. It's cool that they're trying to be positive and not talk all about gunz 'n hoes but jesus, is it ever boring. Gimme some 2 Live Crew over this anyday. Best song - 50K Deep Toss

Bon Savants Post Rock Defends The Nation This is pretty cool seeing that I went to their first ever show and they didn't sound nearly as good as they do now. I'm still not the biggest fan of Thom's vocals but they work well with this music. When 91 came on I thought it was a totally different band and had to check my mp3 player. I really like the guitar on this album and it's even more impressive live. I'm glad these guys are getting all the success they deserve. This isn't my favorite album ever or anything but I usually notoriously dislike Boston bands and it's nice to hear something I'd actually want to hear again from Boston. Best song - Between The Moon And The Ocean Keep






Bonde do Rolê Gasolina, Solta O Frango They're much more enjoyable live than on record, mostly because you get to see Marina dance around. There's some good remixes on here with the Gasolina remixes mostly being dance-oriented and the Solta O Frango ones sampling metal/hard rock songs (Judas Priest, Blue Oyster Cult). I think I like them more than CSS only because that band seems more sedate compared to BDR. Best songs

Gasolina (Scottie B & King Tutt Remix)

Melô do Tabaco (A-Trak Remix)

Keep

Every time this thread is bumped I am reminded at how much good music there is out there and how I'll never have time to get to everything I'd like.


Shiv, I'm really surprised you didn't like that Band of Horses disc more.

also a favorite thread of mine. and also surprised about the band of horses. i totally get all the mmj comparisions, but i think there is a greater stylistic difference than you gave them credit for. incidentally, we have the same favorite song on it.

yeah, i guess it just seems like a step backwards for them. mmj has pretty much progressed with every new album and i'm not saying this has to be the case for every band (ramones, ac/dc) but i just don't think these songs hold up as well as the older ones. didn't one of the guys leave the band? maybe he was the key ingredient in the band ala dante decaro in hot hot heat, who now suck.

Bonde do Rolê With Lasers This is like the Reign In Blood of baile funk, mostly in that it's over too quickly. I seriously think this is maybe 24 minutes long, if that. It's super fun while it lasts though. There's better production here too than on their ep's, from which a few tracks show up here in slightly remixed form. I don't think this would make a year end list for me, mostly because a lot of songs sound somewhat alike, but it's enjoyable for what it is. Best song - Divine Gosa Keep






Mick Boogie & Terry Urban Unbelievable (Biggie Tribute Mix) I'm not a huge fan of Biggie. I don't even own Ready To Die. I always thought he was just an average MC and a little too mush-mouthed for me. I enjoy a few of his songs though and this mix had enough guests on it to justify me actually wanting to listen to it more than once. The backing tracks for some of these are pretty dope and sound like old soul/r&b songs and some of them are straight bites of other artists songs. Never Been is done over Black Moon's Who Got The Props, which is cool. I guess it's better than Duets but I think I'll take it off for something I'd enjoy more. Also, if you have it, check out Mister Cee (Kane's DJ) being a money-grubbing crybaby bitch on Let It Go. Best song - Live At The BBQ (w/ Black Rob & Ness) Toss