I forgot that the Avalanches existed, and that they were wonderful.
GIMIX mix
The Avalanches ~ Electricity (DJ Harvey Night Club Re-Edit)
Also, this is incredibly dorky, but I was really into it at the time.
There may be a little confusion about the "Useless CDs" series. This is not necessarily for shitting on CDs I own and hate. I'm getting rid of all my CDs and some of these I love and some of them I hate and most of them I totally forgot I ever even owned. Thus, this series is kind of a send off for them. Hmm?
TODD RUNDGREN "GREATEST HITS"
Rundy! The Runt! Todd Rundgren rules. I say this based on three songs by him that I like. Those songs are "Hello It's Me," "Couldn't I Just Tell You," and "I Saw The Light." Also, he's like the original Ric Ocasek: both are these enormous, loping Abraham Lincoln motherfuckers that are hideous Frankensteins. Remember what I said about judging people's music based on what they ended up looking like? Well, feast your eyes on this steaming bowl of amazing:
Right? Like, what? Also he produced Bat Out Of Hell, so everyone can sit down and shut up now.
UNKLE "PSYENCE FICTION"
LOL.
BEST SONGS: Celestial Annihilation, Unreal, Unkle Main Title Theme.
TORI AMOS "STRANGE LITTLE GIRLS" & "SCARLET'S WALK"
The reason I have these lesbian piano albums is because at one point in 1995 I had a huge crush on this girl who was a writer and she was way into Tori Amos, so of course I became way into Tori Amos. The funny thing is, once I decide I like something, I will follow my completist urges and buy basically everything they have ever recorded. I also will not apologize or flip-flop on liking it. So yeah, I'm a Tori Amos fan and saw her in concert, and also have opinions about what her best B-Sides are ("London Girls" and "Sandwich Song"). I really liked Little Earthquakes and Under The Pink, thought Boys For Pele was a bit overblown and gratuitous, loved Choirgirl Hotel, and basically stopped following her after that. Of course being an object-obsessed completist, I still duly bought albums like these -- Scarlet's Walk (which I never listened to), and Strange Little Girls: her covers album (featuring hideous versions of "97 Bonnie & Clyde" and "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" and an extremely unironic cover of Tom Waits' "Time").
THE BYRDS "FIFTH DIMENSION"
Kyle recommended this to me while we were working at the store together. I need to listen to it more, I currently have no opinion about it.
WILCO "YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT"
Nope!!! Sorry, white people, but Wilco is not cutting the mustard for me. It falls into the "Too White" category. I know no one is ever allowed to say anything bad about Bob Dylan, ever, but Bob Dylan is also too white. So is Bruce Springsteen.
Isn't this album revered by Pitchfork devotees as being the only worthwhile modern album not recorded by Radiohead? Also, is the character Richard Katz in the new Jonathan Franzen novel based on Jeff Tweedy?
"I know what I hate, and I don't hate this." -Mr Burns
Kyle and I are selling some records in Brooklyn. Come by and see what records we don't want anymore.
Beautifully shot/edited.
*via
I have boxes of useless CDs. It's funny to think that in the transition from analog to digital, I was like "ah yes, when I am done transitioning to CDs, I'll truly be a citizen of the future."
"Looks like I'm going to have to buy the White Album again!!!" -Tommy Lee Jones, Men In Black!!!Let's discuss.
I like Tropicalia. It's a totally soft, pleasant, psyche-lite genre that is completely unobtrusive, lilting, like a bath, and has flutes and sometimes fuzz guitars. At its best, like Caetano Veloso's "London London", it borders on Beatles/Jonathan Richman/man-child territory, but at its worst, it can just be an endless cacophony of clanging bells and screaming Portuguese. The fact that it is a genre with way intense sociopolitical roots is annoying but ignorable. I mean, I found out about this genre through Beck, I'm not about to go read Tropical Truth (which I actually bought and intended to read as a part of my "educate myself" initiative, but then I read the first 15 pages and used it in my "prop open my bathroom door" initiative). In any event, Tropicalia has tons of weird and beautiful songs/moments, my favorites of which came from either Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa. I never got into Os Mutantes for some reason, but I'm sure they have their moments in the sun too.
File under: Pleasant, along with BBQ, suntan lotion, and naps.
BEST SONG: Gilberto Gil "Bat Macumba"
This is the 2nd Clash LP right? Can I get a confirmation, Fletcher? This is I believe the "stripped down, back to basics, no-nonsense, not unlike getting your balls served to you with eggs benedict etc" album with only 10 songs. I still prefer the first album and London Calling over this one, but the album opener "Safe European Home" still stands among the best of the Clash poppy/anthem songs, also because it's basically about their going to Jamaica because they love reggae, but then being terrified of it because of the drugs/violence and running away back to England and being like "phew! We may have terrible dental hygiene and horrible food options in our soccer-obsessed monarchy, but at least there's no scary Jamaicans around." Ha ha, the Clash. The Jamaicans they met must have been like the Santeria-practicing George Clinton-looking ones from Predator 2.
I never really listened to this. Is it good? "Velouria" is good, as is "Is She Weird." Anything else? I honestly don't know.
Ha ha! Yup. And by yup I mean NOPE. In a shark-jumping moment of "I must force myself to like this in order to be a well-informed citizen of the world," I have probably spent a cumulative 2 hours of my life listening to these swirling, 7+ minute skronkaphone bleatings. A Love Supreme is possibly the most punishing musical experience I've ever subjected myself to, not only because it is "difficult jazz," but also because Coltrane's sax solos are headache inducing. Yes, Coltrane was a smackie and yes, he found God and recorded this, but no, that does not make it enjoyable to listen to.
What the Christ is this. Is this band Australian or something? And this album is supposed to be the "indie Rumours," because there was all kinds of inter-band humping/breakups during the recording sesh? GTF outta here. Does this gaggle of clownbirds look like it belongs next to Fleetwood Mac in any capacity?
You wanna get the Rumours comparison, you gotta at least have an insane drummer.
BEST SONG: Dreams, by Fleetwood Mac, which is what I'm listening to, instead of this.
Farewell, my entire CD collection!
Am I a Christ-damned philistine for not being super into Ennio Morricone? I guess it's basically ignorance. This is one of those things like I should have a friend who's super into Morricone and makes me a mix CD of his best stuff. Also, this friend should be a cute Italian chick, and I should be conflating my affection for her with Morricone's compositions. Then Jay and Mark Duplass will write a go-nowhere mumblecore film about my story. Until this happens, I'll be glad to listen to Morricone Lite like this song or Henry Mancini. BTW? If you ever need to hear the ultimate Mancini jam, it's either "Experiments In Terror" or "Lujon." Those tidbits are offered freely into the internet, all you have to do in return is tell me 1 song I should listen to by Morricone (no corny Spaghetti Western nonsense!).
What up, Beatnuts sample! Also, remember the HD versions of CDs that existed for a little while? They had like gold discs, and "SuperDiscs" or some such nonsense, and albums like this, which were released with "MOST PERFECT SOUND technique (192 kHz/24 BIT)!" I'm pretty sure I bought this just to get the Beatnuts sample, and also because Ernest Ranglin had a ska/jazz CD called "Below The Bassline" that was really good.
BEST SONG: Love & Happiness
Hey, Lady Day. How did Namond from the Wire describe you? "Pretty but sad"? I think I purchased this to function specifically as make out music. It's nice but also a little intense. Like, when you're making out casually and a heroin addict from the 50s is singing in the most emotionally naked way about how these foolish things remind you of her. In general, music during romantic times is a little iffy. I used to make out to Portishead and DJ Shadow, which is no less intense in the case of the former, and significantly less timeless in the latter. Also, never have relations to dance music. As a rule in general, I think people should avoid doing repetitive tasks to dance music.
A girl I was seeing made me a mix, and she put the song "The Saturday Boy" on it, and that song is both amazing and inextricably linked to her in my mind now. It is weep-worthy, notable also for its inclusion of a completely emotionally-mismatched-but-somehow-fitting trumpet solo.
This comp is the reason I got really into funk. You gotta hand it to Rhino comps, they are remarkable at the repackaging game. Despite the ridiculous cover for this CD, which is one note shy of the SouthernPlayalistiCadillacMuzik CD, the linear notes are always informative, and are perfect for you if you are me and I am in High School. That's when you should be listening to this! That's actually when you should be listening to all music, for reasons of emotional purity. But also because Rhino is basically your cooler older brother. They know most of their shit, and are democratic about handing that information off to you.BEST SONGS: "Express Yourself," "Groove Me," "I'll Take You There," "Me And Baby Brother."
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