Lo-Fi Audio
Lo-Fi Audio
Track Listings
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1. Martian Tribal Beat
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2. Beneath The Stars
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3. Do Not Let Love Pass You By
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4. Space Rock
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5. Its Our Destiny
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6. Martian Strings
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7. We Will Never Get In Space
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8. Blackhole
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9. Wake Up The Moon
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10. Interstellar Love
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Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
Female Vocal and Instrumental Pop, Electronic Crossover
Product Description
Lo-Fi Audio is the third national release by my band KMB and our fifth overall release. Lo-Fi Audio is really more of an extension of our last album For Now & Forever Remixed, than a new independent album. It was the release of For Now & Forever Remixed in 2002 that really defined our band for the first time and marked the beginning of our move toward more electronic music rather than psychedelic pop, which made up most of our first national release in 2000 called For Now & Forever. Lo-Fi Audio uses the same structures as For Now & Forever Remixed did and just enhances them. In Lo-Fi Audio, compared to our other releases, the electronic aspect of our bands music is just amplified even more and is more a part of each songs basic structure. The highlights of Lo-Fi Audio includes track three Do Not Let Love Pass You By, track five Its Our Destiny and track nine Wake Up The Moon, along with many others. I hope this album is as enjoyable to listen to as it was for us! to make. Ken Wells KMB KMB Records
Lo-Fi Audio,KMB,The Orchard,Dance Music,Electronic,Pop
Average customer rating:
- worth buying but not the best...
- Genius
- Don't fall in love with me yet
- Battle Cry of a Generation
- Ingenious
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69 Love Songs
Magnetic Fields
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: B00000JY1X
Release Date: 1999-09-07 |
Tracks:
- Absolutely Cuckoo
- I Don't Believe In The Sun
- All My Little Words
- A Chicken WIth Its Head Cut Off
- Reno Dakota
- I Don't Want To Get Over You
- Come Back From San Francisco
- The Luckiest Guy On The Lower East Side
- Let's Pretend We're Bunny Rabbits
- The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be
- I Think I Need A New Heart
- The Book Of Love
- Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long
- How Fucking Romantic
- The One You Really Love
- Punk Love
- Parades Go By
- Boa Constrictor
- A Pretty Girl Is Like...
- My Sentimental Melody
- Nothing Matters When We're Dancing
- Sweet-Lovin' Man
- The Things We Did
Tracks:
- Roses
- Love Is Like Jazz
- When My Boy Walks Down The Street
- Time Enough For Rocking When We're Old
- Very Funny
- Grand Canyon
- No One Will Ever Love You
- If You Don't Cry
- You're My Only Home
- (Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy
- My Only Friend
- Promises Of Eternity
- World Love
- Washington, D.C.
- Long-Forgotten Fairytale
- Kiss Me Like You Mean It
- Papa Was A Rodeo
- Epitaph For My Heart
- Asleep And Dreaming
- The Sun Goes Down And The World Goes Dancing
- The Way You Say Good-Night
- Abigail, Belle Of Kilronan
- I Shatter
Tracks:
- Underwear
- It's A Crime
- Busby Berkeley Dreams
- I'm Sorry I Love You
- Acoustic Guitar
- The Death Of Ferdinad De Saussure
- Love In The Shadows
- Bitter Tears
- Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget
- Yeah! Oh, Yeah!
- Experimental Music Love
- Meaningless
- Love Is Like A Bottle Of Gin
- Queen Of The Savages
- Blue You
- I Can't Touch You Anymore
- Two Kinds Of People
- How To Say Goodbye
- The Night You Can't Remember
- For We Are The King Of The Boudoir
- Strange Eyes
- Xylophone Track
- Zebra
Amazon.com's Best of 1999
Singer-songwriter Stephen Merritt's ironically morose lyrics, Tin Pan Alley stylings, sugary melodies, and idiosyncratic sound have earned his band the Magnetic Fields cult status and the adulation of grad students everywhere. The ambitious, genre-hopping, and intensely heart-tugging three-disc set 69 Love Songs probably won't gain Merritt the wider recognition he deserves, but the clever misanthrope likely wouldn't have it any other way. --Mike McGonigal
Amazon.com
Initially conceived as 100 love songs arranged in alphabetical order for theatrical revue performance, Stephin Merritt--indie-pop songsmith and Magnetic Fields spearhead--downsized his ambitious concept project to 69 Love Songs, his first recording under this moniker in four years. Parleyed into three volumes, Merritt, as on other outings, is joined by a rotating cast of musicians including manager Claudia Gonson. These players take on the role of orchestra and cast to Merritt's madcap composer, librettist, and performer, augmenting his lo-fi electronic-based rock with sparkling instrumental touches and narrative vocals for a portion of his absurdly wondrous ditties. Endlessly intriguing, the Fields revisit not only earlier themes of love both shunned and requited, but continue to forge a seemingly impossible synthesis of country-tinged Euro-pop and old-school musical theater. No stranger to melancholy, Merritt's twinkly music-box world, in shades of resplendent violet, is beautifully peopled with incurable romantics who drop pop-culture references and shed gender identity as often as most folks change their underpants. Not surprisingly, 69 Love Songs is delicious defeat on the romance front while pulling ahead as Merritt's most coherently engaging listen. --Paige La Grone
Album Description
1999 and first new material in four years by Stephin Merrit 's main band (his side projects include Future Bible Heroes, Gothic Archies and The 6ths). Limited three disc set f eaturing more wonderful, yet cynically skewed, pop songs as only Merritt (and a midi) can do 'em! Features all three volumes of '69 Love Songs' (also sold separately), as well as a76 page booklet only available in this box! Each disc comes in a separate standard jewel case & together they come in a colorful CD-sized slipcase box. 69 tracks.
Customer Reviews:
worth buying but not the best..........2007-02-09
many people i know consider this to be the best magnetic fields, i disagree. while i enjoy this album(s) quite a bit, i still feel there's something missing. it seems that master-mind stephin merritt seemed to focus more on the concept (writing and recording 69 songs) than on any sort of consistency (lyrical or musical). this is not necessarily a bad thing, as most of life lacks a lot of consistency. in that respect, the album is very honest. still in many moods, i find it a difficult listen. i believe this album is an essential for any fan of magnetic fields, or fan of intelligent indie-pop in general, but if you're a new listener, i suggest 'holiday' or 'i' before '69 love songs'. i think you should have previous appreciation and understanding for stephin merrit as a musician/songwriter.
-- i suggest this mainly because i do have friends who listened to this album first and were completely turned-off to magnetic fields.
Genius .......2007-01-10
Not since Cole Porter has music of such high caliber been written for the masses...i look forward to future works by Mr. Stephen Merritt.
Don't fall in love with me yet.......2007-01-04
69 Love Songs is the best trip you can take and still keep it legal.
Battle Cry of a Generation.......2006-09-15
The lyrics are incredibly clever and persuasive, with some of the lilt and good humor of Ogden Nash, the poetaster of the 30s, 40s and 50s who wrote ONE TOUCH OF VENUS with Kurt Weill. And Merritt's tunes, though some are rudimentary, occasionally reach for and pull down the high branches of Weillian angst and poisoned romance. To listen to the whole of 69 LONE SONGS you'd have to have a big appetite for irony, and another whole set of immunity to purposely "corny" music, and if you didn't get your fill of banjo, Hawaiian, lounge and Americana music from the last couple of Van Dyke Parks LPs you listened to, you might be hungry all over again for the nutty richness of this compilation.
It hasn't left my turntable in four years, for by the time I finish one of the three LPs, it's always time for the less familiar second one, and to gear up anticipation for the already forgotten third.
One thing I don't like is the booklet that comes with the box set. It marks a platinum standard in self-aggrandization. Remember the Rolling Stone Interviews that used to glorify even the most unlikely interview subject (say, Axl Rose or whoever). Imagine then if Axl Rose re-packaged the interview some flunky did with him, and tried to sell it to you with his LP, except a hugely expanded edition which tried to say that he was the best songwriter and in fact genius of all time. That gives you a taste of the booklet's effrontery. It's kind of not cool, but what do I know. I've seen it on the nightstands of a dozen young hipsters who have memorized all of the questions and all of the answers and whose mouths lipsync the whole 28,000 words in their sleep.
Ingenious.......2006-08-07
It would be tough to name another indie album that features a more expansive array of musical styles or more ingenious, heartbreaking and funny songs about love.
Stephen Merritt is the sort of lyricist -- like Leonard Cohen -- who is a poet first and musician second, though it would be possible to tag 20-some songs here that are wonderfully listenable as pure music.
The Magnetic Fields have captured every nuance of courtship and every facet of romantic absurdity as in, eg. "The Night You Couldn't Remember (is the Night I'll Never Forget."
On the other hand, are many songs that will bring tears to your eyes without warning because they are so tender and empathetic. Stephen Merrit is like an alternative, lo-fi therapist who, in 69 totally varied songs, appears to understand anyone -- male or female -- who has ever loved, or tried and failed.
It's also rare to find an album with a playlist so complex that you never tire of it. I've had my copy for over two years and still discover new material to love with each listing: a riff, an arrangement, a phrase, even a title.
In a country where people of all ages are more isolated, I can't think of another album that gives us the courage to connect with other people. These quirky songs honor our tenacious efforts to reach out -- and the rewards and consequences of trying.
While some listeners might be a bit disappointed in the fair dynamic range of the production, that quality is a choice the group made with intent. Love is ultimately rough around the edges, even when it is deep. It is occasionally a complete bore. It embraces routine even as it rebels against it. It is impossible to perfect because we can't change other people.
At it's core, that's what so many of these wonderful songs address and it is a balm to the ear, the mind and the heart that the Magnetic Fields invested so much in this terrific, well-loved album (now available in three separate releases as well as the boxed set.) For my money, Volume 1 is the best of the bunch musically, while the lyrics of Volume three are laugh-out-loud hysterical.
Warts and all -- five strong stars, and a great deal at this price.
Average customer rating:
- A Little-known Masterpiece
- Blonder Tongue Audio Baton rocks!!!
- How Did the World Miss This?
- Unsung Heros of the 90's
- MBV? Nah.
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Blonder Tongue Audio Baton
The Swirlies
Manufacturer: Taang Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: B000000ET0
Release Date: 1993-03-26 |
Tracks:
- Untitled
- Bell
- Vigilant Always
- His Love Just Washed Away
- His Life Of Academic Freedom
- Pancake
- Jeremy Parker
- Park The Car By The Side Of The Road
- Tree Chopped Down
- Wrong Tube
- Wait Forever
Customer Reviews:
A Little-known Masterpiece.......2006-03-26
This album typifies nineties indy rock. The Swirlies were way ahead of their time when this album came out in 1993. Sonic Youth's spacier tendencies collide with The Pixies' male-female vocal harmonies in a back alley full of angry guitars.
Blonder Tongue Audio Baton rocks!!!.......2005-08-27
Out of all of my favorite albums, this one would be around my top five. I bought this album here from this website for about (...) from someone selling it. It is the best (...) I EVER spent on a CD. If you are feeling apprehinsive for buying this CD because at the price it is now and how long it will take for it to get to you, believe me, it is worth the wait and the money. At first listen, it did not pass through because I had a migraine. Second listen, I never stopped listening to it since. Unlike most albums, this one does not wane off and weaken like some do after listening to it after awhile, it intensifies and becomes stronger. Most of what I have to say has been said by most the reviews here. This album is unbelievably incredible. I'm still absolutley shocked that this band never became as well known as My Bloody Valintine, or even slightly popular. The Swirlies are the best next to MBV. Their styles are very different but they have that same magical allure. Buy this album. If you like shogaze, indie rock, lo-fi, dream pop, or noise, you will love this album. I have just a few words just to describe this album the best way I can: whir, whoosh, haze, and yeah swirl. The Swirlies rock.
How Did the World Miss This?.......2004-12-23
This could be your next favorite album. I randomly saw BlonderTongueAudioBaton at a record store and decided to listen to it due to the amazing (and very indie rock!) cover art. The unique cover is an excellent reference point for the music, sharp and bent sounds all come together to form catchy, impressive, and cohesive songs. As it has been said already, it really is one of those seminal albums, the kind that challenge you, and then reward you for accepting it. For some reason (I'm going to blame the label) this album just stayed off the radar and now only a select few know of it. Swooning Distortion is laced with spontaneity, and somehow the brilliance of the swirlies make it work. After a few listens, these will be some of the most memorable and catchy rock songs you will hear. "Bell" is the best opener ever, at first a tight experimental shoegaze rock song, then an odd bridge that leaves you waiting (rather excitedly) for what will happen next. "Pancake" has been said to have been the other brilliant pop song that came out of the city of Boston, along with The Pixies "Gigantic." "Jeremy Parker" and "Wrong Tube" are the pinncales of the shoegaze aesthetic, distorted walls of sound that defy words. "His Love Just Washed Away" has some beautiful guitar haze, and "Tree CHopped Down" uses crunchy rythms that match any Sonic Youth tune. All of the songs have beautiful vocal swoons that give the album a pop song feel that is irresistable. I will always remember that day in the record store, when I found this, my new favorite album, by my new favorite band.
If you like this, I also recommend the Swirlies first collection of early EPs called "What To Do About Them"
Unsung Heros of the 90's.......2004-09-12
If we lived in a just world, this band would be famous and fabulously wealthy. That's also assuming musical talent and authentic creativity were rewarded.
I am a fairly ADD type who loves to listen to complex music like Polvo, MBV, King Crimson, Yes... and the Swirlies fit right in.
As a lover of organized 'wall-of-sound guitar', just the intro to the song 'Jeremy Parker' is worth the price of the album. It's still stunning to me after a decade of listening to it.
MBV? Nah........2004-07-16
The Swirlies were an excellent band, whom idolised My Bloody Valentine and have often been compared to them, yet I have a hard time putting them together, mainly because the Swirlies just have a cleaner sound and the vocals are more pronounced, but they definitely have that MBV sound to them. I dont know, judge for yourself, but all I can say, is this is an excellent CD that anyone could enjoy. Its a great driving CD and youll never get tired of it.
Average customer rating:
- shut up and listen already!
- Underwhelming early material paired with fantastic outtakes disc
- Ready to take the plunge?
- Searching for a heart of gold? Look here...
- The Wonderboys from Dayton, OH...
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Box
Guided by Voices
Manufacturer: Scat Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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- Fast Japanese Spin Cycle
- Propeller
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ASIN: B00000236B
Release Date: 1995-02-08 |
Tracks:
- Old Battery
- Discussing Wallace Chambers
- Cyclops
- Crux
- Portrait Destroyed by Fire
- 3 Year Old Man
- Dog's Out
- Proud and Booming Industry
- Hank's Little Fingers
- Artboat
- Hey Hey, Spaceman
- Tumblers
- Bread Alone
- Captain's Dead
- Lips of Steel
- Visit to the Creep Doctor
- Everyday
- Barricade
- Get to Know the Ropes
- Can't Stop
- Drinking Jim Crow
- Trap Soul Door
- Common Rebels
- Long Distance Man
- I Certainly Hope Not
- Adverse Wind
- Future Is in Eggs
- Great Blake Street Canoe Race
- Slopes of Big Ugly
- Paper Girl
- Navigating Flood Regions
- Earful O' Wax
- White Whale
- Trampoline
- Short on Posters
- Chief Barrel Belly
- Dying to Try This
- Qualifying Remainder
- Liar's Tale
- Radio Show
- Airshow '88
- Order for the New Slave Trade
- Hard Way
- Drinker's Peace
- Mammoth Cave
- When She Turns 50
- Club Molluska
- Pendulum
- Ambergris
- Local Mix-Up/Murder Charge
- Starboy
- Blatant Doom Trip
- How Loft I Am?
- We've Got Airplanes
- Dust Devil
- Squirmish Frontal Room
- Tricycle Looper
- Crutch Came Slinking
- Fantasy Creeps
- Sopor Joe
- Crunch Pillow
- Indian Was an Angel
- Don't Stop Now
- Bite
- Greenface
- Deathtrot and Warlock Riding a Rooster
- 2nd Moves to Twin
- At Odds With Dr. Genesis
- Please Freeze Me
- Scissors
- Postal Blowfish
- Crocker's Favorite Song
Album Description
Box compiles GBV's first four albums from the 1980s, along with a disc of rarities from that era as well as Bee Thousand. These albums were originally released by the band on vinyl only in editions of 300 to 1000 copies, with nearly every one on a different invented record label (Schwa, Halo, Rocket #9). Each LP takes a varied approach, but all are marked by Pollard's trademark melodicism. The first LP, Devil Between My Toes, is a favorite of Pollard's and many fans.
To preserve album integrity, each LP is contained on a single disc, making this a 5 disc set. The discs are housed in jewel boxes, which are contained in an outer board sleeve. The booklets feature Pollard's original art as it appeared on the original LPs.
Customer Reviews:
shut up and listen already!.......2007-03-31
When you listen to this you must realize that these albums were recorded for the fun of doing it. There was no record deal or pressure from the public. No one outside of Dayton even new who these guys were.
I think this shows in the music. A fuzzy sounding 4 track recording from this band is so much better than the polished crap that todays groups take three years to release.
My personal favourite is "Self-Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia". I don't think there is a lousy one in the bunch. This is a good place to see how it all began.
Underwhelming early material paired with fantastic outtakes disc.......2005-07-27
If you like "Propeller" and "Bee Thousand," this set is worth purchasing just for the surprisingly excellent "King **** and the Golden Boys" disc, which is largly made up of outtakes from those sessions, including a demo of the best song Robert Pollard's ever written, "Don't Stop Now."
The rest of the material, comprising the four pre-"Propeller" Guided by Voices records, is hit-and-miss and pretty underwhelming overall. It wasn't really until the "Vampire on Titus" album that GBV really found their signature sound. On these discs, Pollard mostly sounds like he's worn out several copies of R.E.M.'s "Murmur" and is striving to recreate it as closely as possible. There are some minor gems like "Liar's Tale," "Captain's Dead," and "How Loft I Am?", but most of the songs fail to make much of an impression. It's an interesting but ultimately not-so-compelling look at a young band yet to hit upon the distinctive sound and style that would make their later albums so iconic.
So, this is a 5-disc set with one or maybe two discs' worth of material that's really worth getting excited about, even for a big Guided by Voices fan. But since it can be found new for around $30, it's still a worthwhile purchase if only for "Golden Boys." (Heck, "Indian was an Angel" is worth $30 all by itself!)
Ready to take the plunge?.......2003-04-29
This is a big investment, and not one to be taken lightly. There is just not a ton of music in this package. The first four albums, each on a separate CD, average about 30 minutes a piece. The outtakes album is a little longer, but nowhere near the possible 80 minutes. Overall, we are talking well under three hours of music.
The first album, Devil Between My Toes, starts off really well, surprisingly well. Bob knew what he was doing from the beginning. The songs are quirky and charming at the same time. The second half gets a little dull however.
The second album, Sandbox, is typical sophomore fare, with fewer memorable songs but nothing particularly distasteful either.
The third album, Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia, gets more interesting. The band starts to take advantage of the studio with tape effects, noise, etc. Things start getting more experimental. When you first hear it, you will probably have a quizzical look on your face from time to time, but this one will grow on you just like any of the other best GBV albums.
I don't care for the fourth album, Same Place The Fly Got Smashed, at all. It is a concept album about drinking. Yippee. While it is the antithesis of everyone's favorite whipping boy, the Do The Collapse album, it is just as bad. I find it sloppy, rambling, and unfocused. For this reason, I suppose it is a good thing the CDs were kept separate instead of being combined together.
The fifth CD is a bunch of rarities from 1988, 1991, and 1993. The two 1988 songs compare favorably with anything on Sandbox and are as good as the best songs on Devil. The five 1991 songs are okay but I wouldn't go as far as to call them essential. The Bee Thousand outtakes from 1993 are really interesting. Some of the songs are good but might have sounded repetitive on the album. Some of them you will recognize as being cropped and spliced into other BT tracks. This is usually for the better. The songs do not quite hold up as well on their own. It was really a masterstroke by Bob to do it that way on the final version.
At the price being charged here, I would hardly consider this to be a gift to fans. It is just too expensive. However, if you have and like Propeller and Vampire on Titus, and are ready to take the plunge, go right ahead. Even if you are not getting your money's worth, you will still find some really good music that isn't available anywhere else.
Searching for a heart of gold? Look here..........2002-07-06
This is simply a must have set,GBV fan or not. It gives you 6 albums of great music AND points the way to even more GBV triumphs yet to come. This collection contains the band's independantly released albums right up to Vampire On Titus plus it adds a disc of cuts that you can only get with this set. There are more valuable gems that exist here than in all of the diamond mines in the world. I choose this vinyl version,which has been like a best friend to me since 1995, only because you get Propeller as a bonus. 6 lp's of the finest music you will ever hear...yes Virginia there is a God!
Devil Between My Toes is Gbv's first full length release. Dropped in 1987 (!),this is the sound of a band searching for it's voice. Still, "A Portrait Destroyed By Fire","Dog's Out","Hank's Little Fingers" and "Captain's Dead" point to the ground the band would mine in the future. Listening to the band create their sound out of scratch is something any fan should hear yet it's a compelling listen in it's own right.
Sandbox was also released in 1987. "Every Day" and "I Certainly Hope Not" are the cream here but "Lips Of Steal","Drinking Jim Crow","Trap Soul Door","Long Distance Man" and "Adverse Wind" are among the other solid tunes. A fine lead into....
Self Inflicted Aerial Nostalgia is among the 5 best GBV album's yet released. "Paper Girl" and "Liar's Tale" never fail to find the express way to my heart. There are too many other good songs to list here but the band got it good here. I would have loved to hear this album in 1989 but I was a mid-teen convinced that Motley Crue and Aerosmith spoke to me. I doubt I could have found a copy had I tried but I sucked so much during this time that it's a moot point. Classic GBV.
Released in 1990, The Same Place The Fly Got Smashed is a concept album about drinking. Anybody who's seen GBV in concert knows that Bob likes his beer. As concept album's go, this is one of the best. It's a drunken Tommy. The down side of alchohol (and the craziness it can produce) run wild here: "Airshow '88","The Hard Way","Drinker's Peace","Mammoth Cave",When She Turns 50","Pendulum"(one of my faves from this set),"Blatant Doom Trip" and "How Loft Am I?" are the strongest tracks on a very solid album. It's not trying to tell you what to do, it's just telling a very good story. Listen and learn and just like Bob grab a beer and rock.Great stuff...
Propeller is included on this vinyl version but not on the cd set. It's jam packed with outstanding tracks but "Weedking","Particular Damaged","Exit Flagger","14 Cheerleader Coldfront" and "On The Tundra" stand out. If you get the cd version you HAVE to get Propeller on cd as well. You must...
How good was GBV during this period (1987-93) that lead up to it's 2 best albums (Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, the best in my humble opinion only-mind you)? Check out King S*it And the Golden Boys, a record of previously unreleased tracks from 1988,1991 and 1993. This record of "table scraps" is better than most group's greatest hits collections. "We've Got Airplanes","Crutch Came Slinking"(a great song),"Sopor Joe","Crunch Pillow","Indian Was An Angel","Don't Stop Now","Greenface","Death Trot and Warlock Riding A Rooster","2nd Moves To Twin","Scissors"(which makes a serious claim as being the best Tobin Sprout song of his GBV stint),"Postal Blowfish" and "Crocker's Favorite Song" are all songs that would have fit well on regular GBV albums. This is not an album of toss away's-it's an album of stuff they had no room for.
If you are building a collection of this band's work, then get this excellent box set to see the whole picture. Any fan will tell you that this is good,good stuff. This early GBV stuff paved the way to bigger exposure and a bigger sound (Do The Collapse and Isolation Drills) and as such it's a crucial document in the career of arguably the best rock and roll band that America has produced in the last 20 years. Steal it,harm people to claim it or prostitute yourself to own it.....just get it. Most (if not all) of your record collection will cower in it's shadow.
The Wonderboys from Dayton, OH..........2000-03-08
GbV may never garner the excessive successes of stadium rockstars or be household names, but no band deserves it more. These are honest and pure pop songs; gritty, lo-fi nuggets of sound; 2 and half minutes of soul; music to drink and smoke and drive and foos to. You don't have to live in Dayton to hear the city...it's all right here on vinyl. Long Live Rockathon.
Average customer rating:
- More frustrating greatness
- It's Not Too Late
- Hardcore UFOs delivers the goods
- Contact the Buzz
- Yes. Yes.
|
Hardcore UFOs Box Set: Revelations, Epiphanies and Fast Food in the Western Hemisphere
Guided by Voices
Manufacturer: Matador Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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Similar Items:
- Box
- Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft
- Fast Japanese Spin Cycle
- Calling Zero
- Get Out of My Stations
ASIN: B0000DIZSV
Release Date: 2003-11-04 |
Tracks:
- Captain's Dead (courtesy of Scat Records)
- Drinker's Peace (courtesy of Scat Records)
- Exit Flagger (courtesy of Scat Records)
- 14 Cheerleader Coldfront (courtesy of Scat Records)
- Shocker In Gloomtown (courtesy of Scat Records)
- Non-Absorbing (courtesy of Scat Records)
- Tractor Rape Chain (courtesy of Scat Records)
- Hot Freaks (courtesy of Scat Records)
- Echos Myron (courtesy of Scat Records)
- I Am A Scientist - Single Version (courtesy of Scat Records)
- A Salty Salute
- Watch Me Jumpstart
- Game Of Pricks - Album Version
- Motor Away - Album Version
- Hit
- My Valuable Hunting Knife - Album Version
- Cut-Out Witch
- The Official Ironmen Rally Song
- To Remake The Young Flyer
- I Am A Tree
- Bulldog Skin
- Learning To Hunt
- Teenage FBI - Demo Version
- Things I Will Keep (courtesy of TVT Records)
- Surgical Focus (courtesy of TVT Records)
- Chasing Heather Crazy (courtesy of TVT Records)
- Twilight Campfighter (courtesy of TVT Records)
- Glad Girls (courtesy of TVT Records)
- Back To The Lake
- Everywhere With Helicopter
- My Kind Of Soldier
- The Best Of Jill Hives
Tracks:
- Motor Away
- Color Of My Blade
- My Valuable Hunting Knife
- Game Of Pricks
- Mice Feel Nice (In My Room)
- Not Good For The Mechanism
- Kiss Only The Important Ones
- Dodging Invisible Rays
- Deaf Ears
- Why Did You Land?
- June Salutes You!
- Delayed Reaction Brats
- He's The Uncle
- The Key Losers
- Postal Blowfish
- Unleashed! The Large Hearted Boy
- Some Drilling Implied
- Systems Crash
- Catfood On The Earwig
- The Who Vs. Porky Pig
- A Life In Finer Clothing
- The Worryin' Song
- Subtle Gear Shifting
- Finks
- The Finest Joke Is Upon Us
- The Singing Razorblade
- Now To War (Electric Version)
- Mannequin's Complaint (Wax Dummy Meltdown)
- Do They Teach You The Chase?
- (I'll Name You) The Flame That Cries
- The Ascended Master's Grogshop
- My Thoughts Are A Gas
- Running Off With The Fun City Girls
- None Of Them Any Good
- Choking Tara (Creamy Version)
Tracks:
- I
- Back To Saturn X
- H-O-M-E (Matador)
- You're The Special
- Perhaps We Were Swinging
- Mother & Son
- 7 Strokes To Heaven's Egde
- Fire 'Em Up, Abner
- Harboring Exiles
- Still Worth Nothing
- Never
- Slave Your Beetle Brain
- It Is Divine
- They
- I Invented The Moonwalk (And The Pencil Sharpener)
- Fly Into Ashes
- The Various Vaults Of Convenience
- Thrashed Aircraft
- Running Off With The Fun City Girls
- Bulldog Skin (Mag Earwhig! Demo)
- Portable Men's Society (Mag Earwhig! Demo)
- Choking Tara (Mag Earwhig! Demo)
- Man Called Aerodynamics - Concert For Todd Version
Tracks:
- intro by Randy Campbell -- The Paradise, Boston, MA, June 20, 1995
- I Am Produced -- Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH, July 25, 1997
- Why Did You Land? -- Fox Theatre, Denver, CO, April 10, 1995
- Zap -- Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC, April 16, 2002
- Little Lines -- Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH, July 25, 1997
- 14 Cheerleader Coldfront -- The Paradise, Boston, MA, June 20, 1995
- Everywhere With Helicopter -- Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC, April 16, 2002
- Quicksilver -- Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH, July 25, 1997
- James Riot -- Bernie's Bagel Shop, Columbus, OH, March 28, 1998
- Pretty Bombs -- Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC, April 16, 2002
- Far Out Crops -- unknown
- My Impression Now -- Phantasy Club, Cleveland, OH, April 26. 1997
- Look At Them -- The Metro, Chicago, IL, February 24, 1996
- A Salty Salute -- unknown
- Melted Pat -- The Metro, Chicago, IL, February 24, 1996
- How Loft Am I? -- The Metro, Chicago, IL, July 11, 1998
- King And Caroline/Motor Away -- First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN, February 22, 1996
- Trap Soul Door -- unknown
- Cheyenne -- Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC, April 16, 2002
- Make Use -- The Metro, Chicago, IL, July 11, 1998
- Burning Flag Birthday Suit -- The Metro, Chicago, IL, February 24, 1996
- Weed King -- The Metro, Chicago, IL, February 24, 1996
- Town Of Mirrors -- Bimbo's, San Francisco, CA, February 27, 1999
- Over The Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox -- The Paradise, Boston, MA, June 20, 1995
- Dragon's Awake -- 40 Watt Club, Athens, GA, January 22, 2000 (courtesy of TVT Records)
- Shrine To The Dynamic Years -- Bernie's Bagel Shop, Columbus, OH, March 28, 1998
- Game Of Pricks -- unknown
- Tractor Rape Chain -- Melkweg, Amsterdam, Holland, July 10, 1997
- Key Losers -- Fox Theatre, Denver, CO, April 10, 1995
- Now To War? -- Melkweg, Amsterdam, Holland, July 10, 1997
- Johnny Appleseed -- Crocodile Club, Seattle, WA, April 17, 1995
- Drinkers Peace -- -- unknown
Tracks:
- Land of Danger
- Let's Ride
- Like I Do
- Sometimes I Cry
- She Wants to Know
- Fountain of Youth
- The Other Place
Tracks:
- The Original "Watch Me Jumpstart" documentary by Banks Tarver
- The original live footage that followed "Watch Me Jumpstart" (1994-1997)
- "Beautiful Plastic" 8-minute film by Banks Tarver, 2003
- I Am A Scientist (Music Video courtesy of Scat Records)
- Auditorium/Motor Away
- My Valuable Hunting Knife
- The Official Ironmen Rally Song
- Bulldog Skin
- Glad Girls (courtesy of TVT Records)
- My Kind of Soldier
- Echos Myron (Live at Warsaw, June 2002 )
- Tight Globes
- Cut-Out Witch
Customer Reviews:
More frustrating greatness.......2004-02-24
Okay, 6 disks here so there is a lot to cover.
Human Amusements At Hourly rates is the greatest hits CD. It has 32 songs, many of which are GBV's best songs. Of the 32 songs, there is only one I can't stand, "Drinker's Peace" from the wretched concept album "Same Place the Fly Got Smashed." Everything else on there is top notch. There are certainly dozens of other songs that could go on here, but a CD is only 80 minutes long. This is the CD you lend to your friends.
Demons & Painkillers is the B-sides and rarities CD. There are a lot of really good songs here as well as some truly awful ones. I can make a strong case for several of these songs belonging on the greatest hits CD (more on that later).
Delicious Pie & Thank You For Calling is the demos and outtakes CD. Eh. It is a mixed bag for me. I'd put it in the bottom 25% of the GBV releases I've come across. With so much else to choose from, I can't imagine listening to this all that often.
Live at the Wheelchair Races is the live CD. The setlist is very strong. I can even tolerate Drinker's Peace in this setting (even more reason not to have it on the greatest hits CD). The flow gets broken up a bit by changing time periods, but it really is not that bad. I will probably listen to this quite a lot.
Forever Since Breakfast is their first EP. It harks back to a time long ago when GBV were more interested in sounding like REM than The Who. There are good songs and bad songs here which shouldn't surprise anyone. If you liked Devil Between My Toes you will probably like this, and vice versa. Personally, I put half of the songs from the two releases onto my humongous GBV playlist on my MP3 player.
The DVD is great. I'm not much of a video watcher, but it is nice to have all of that stuff together on one disk (hint, hint).
The book has a lot of old pictures and a few fun anecdotes. Oh, and a description of where all of the tracks come from.
So, why 4 stars?
- I am very happy with the live CD and the DVD. Those two are 5*. The early EP gets 4 stars and I'm glad Bob decided to release it.
- The Greatest Hits CD covers too much ground. Their sound changed quite a lot in 17 years. I just don't think it sounds right to listen to all of it on one CD. Perhaps the single-CD issue sounds better with its non-chronological order. I was trying to think of a good stopping point and decided Mag Earwhig would be better.
- There are not enough alternative versions on the greatest hits CD. The two are nice, but why not have the alternate versions of Motor Away, My Valuable Hunting Knife, and Game of Pricks from the rarities CD on there as well? This would give me more reason to listen to it.
- I think it is a travesty not to have Postal Blowfish on the greatest hits CD. With the extra room on the greatest hits CD, I'd throw in a few more tracks from the rarities CD such as Unleashed! The Large Hearted Boy and Dodging Invisible Rays.
- I'd pick the best of the outtakes and add them to the rarities CD. We know there are other outtakes and demos lying around. Since the outtakes and demos CD is mostly filler anyway, I don't think it really matters to me what else goes on there.
So, in summary, there is a lot to like about this box set, but there are enough frustrations for me to keep my rating at 4*. If you are a big GBV fan, you either have gotten this already or are wondering why you haven't gotten it yet. If not, there are plenty of other CDs for you to choose from as you continue your journey towards becoming a big GBV fan.
It's Not Too Late.......2004-01-03
It is somewhat embarrassing to admit that for years I completely missed the boat when it comes to Guided by Voices-even though I've always interested in finding some of the most obscure bands out there. For reasons I'll never be able to explain, Guided by Voices has always flown just under my radar though I always knew that they were out there. Finding this box set for me is like finding one of the sources of the Nile because I can hear influences of their work on many of my other favorites. So while this johnny-come-lately kicks himself for missing out on this band for so long, I can give you one good piece of advice: go out and get the Hardcore UFOs box set and see for yourself. It is like everything, and nothing that you've heard before. My Christmas wish of receiving this box set has been fulfilled. Now I only wish that I'd been a fan all along.
Hardcore UFOs delivers the goods.......2003-11-24
It's hard not to love this boxed set. It's got a ton of great music and video for the cash, and it's a nice balance of GBVs more noteworthy pop moments as well as some really cool obscure stuff. There's something in here for every fan, from acolytes to veterans.
There are five CDs and one DVD in the box. The CDs include the greatest hits disc (also available separately), a CD of outtakes and obscurities available for the first time (these aren't even on Suitcase), a live CD, and GBV's first EP available for the very first time--it'd been out of print for years. There's an excellent photo and essay book as well, which gives colorful insight into the history, personnel, and personality of the band.
Rumor has it that Robert Pollard hand-picked the songs for the greatest hits disc. I can't quibble with his selections, for the most part, though I bet just about every hardcore fan wishes his or her favorite song made it (I was a little surprised to not find "Gold Star For Robot Boy" from Bee Thousand, "Red Men and Their Wives" from Under the Bushes, "Stabbing a Star" from Sunfish Holy Breakfast, "The Brides Have Hit Glass" from Isolation Drills, and "Useless Inventions" from Earthquake Glue in there somewhere). With so many great songs, it must have been torturous to pare the catalog down to the final 32.
I was super stoked to see "Back From Saturn X" on the B-sides disc.
The strongest offering by far is the live disc. This pastiche of songs--also hand-picked by Bob with some help--pulls together songs that flat-out rocked live along with a mix of mellow or more obscure songs. The sound quality of these is pretty phenomenal considering they were all yanked from amateur DATs and the like. I'd buy the whole box set again for this disc alone.
If you're new to GBV and you want to immediately take a deep dive, I recommend starting here or with the greatest hits CD by itself. If you like this band but have doubts about the box, nix them now and lay your money down: Hardcore UFOs does not disappoint.
Contact the Buzz.......2003-11-21
How can you go wrong with 4 CDs of GBV and the wonderful Watch Me Jumpstart film on DVD? You can't go wrong. By and large, everything here is pure gold. The only reason [I] would give it 4 stars would be because of what songs didn't make it! As far as I can tell, the only drastic omisions on the Best Of CD are: Liars Tale, Quality Of Armor, If We Wait, Jane Of the Waking Universe, Your Name Is Wild, Don't Stop Now. Everyone has their favorites, but I just can't believe these particular songs don't appear anywhere in the boxset, not even in a live version! ... Aside from that, the live Cd itself is very cool. ... For some reason, the Cobra Verde line-up is heavily featured, which is not a bad thing, just a little odd. The "unreleased songs" cd is perhaps the best part. Most of it is actually home recorded demos and early versions of songs that later appeared on album with different titles. There's some really choice stuff on here. The "rare B-sides and Matador singles, etc" is great also, but the operative word here is *Matador*. There are plenty of other EPs and 7"s on other labels that are not represented at all (Fast Japanese Spin Cycle, Static Airplane Jive, Wish In One Hand, etc.)
Finally, the DVD is great, with some nice, albeit short, extras. The 2 Easter Eggs are actually the Back To the Lake & My Kind Of Soldier videos. Why these are "hidden" I have no idea, but poke around enough and you'll find em. ... This is a great boxset, and unquestionably THE X-mas gift of this year, or any year for that matter!
Yes. Yes........2003-11-05
Fantastic box-set. I don't like writing long reviews, so all I'll say is if you're a fan of GBV, this is definitely worth the dosh.
Average customer rating:
- not fair!
- More Like a Duffel Bag Than a Suitcase
- i've been dreaming in lo-fi lately.....
- Perhaps it's time for an editor
- At least 2 cd's worth of great stuff...
|
Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft
Guided by Voices
Manufacturer: Recordhead Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
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| American Alternative
| Alternative Rock
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Similar Items:
- Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow
- Box
- Selective Service
- Fast Japanese Spin Cycle
- Get Out of My Stations
ASIN: B00004Y33C
Release Date: 2000-10-17 |
Tracks:
- Terrible Two
- Bloodfeast
- Kissing Life
- Bottoms Up! (You Fantastic Bastard)
- Tear It Out
- Cinnamon Flavored Skulls
- Bunco Men
- Bad and Rare
- Dorothy's a Planet
- Pluto the Skate
- Let's Go Vike
- Sabotage
- Pink Drink
- James Riot
- It's Easy
- Dank Star Ground Control
- Spring Tigers
- Born on Seaweed
- Flesh Ears from June
- Driving in the U.S. of A.
- My Big Day [3 Versions]
- Have It Again
- Little Jimmy the Giant
- Taco, Buffalo, Birddog and Jesus
- Ding Dong Daddy (Is Back from the Bank)
Tracks:
- Supermarket the Moon
- Hold on to Yesterday
- Ha Ha Man
- Our Value of Luxury
- Bughouse [2 Versions]
- Rainboy Billy
- Shrine to the Dynamic Years (Athens Time Change Riots)
- On Short Wave
- I Can See It in Your Eyes
- Tobacco's Last Stand
- Shifting Swift Is a Lift
- Sing It Out
- Messenger
- Fool Ticket
- Mallard Smoke
- Mr. McCaslin Will Sell No More Flowers
- Shit Midas
- Blue Gil
- Invest in British Steel
- Spinning Around
- Let's Go (To War)
- Grasshopper Rap
- I'm Cold
- Damn Good Mr. Jam
- In Walked the Moon
Tracks:
- Long Way to Run
- Mr. Media
- Settlement Down
- Mr. Japan
- Kind of Love
- Meddle
- Big Trouble
- Good Circuitry Soldier
- Devil Doll
- Pantherz
- Cocaine Jane
- Exploding Anthills
- Perch Warble
- Medley: This View/True Sensation/On the Wall
- What Are We Coming up To?
- Scissors and the Clay Ox(In)
- Cody's Antler
- Once in a While
- Buzzards and Dreadful Crows
- Carnival at the Morning Star School
- Cruise
- Gayle
- Gift
- Flying Party
- Trashed Aircraft
Tracks:
- Trying to Make It Work Again
- Turbo Boy
- Chain Wallet Bitch
- Little Head
- Why Did You Land?
- Time Machines
- Farewell to Arms
- Best Thing Goin' Round
- Sickly Sweet
- United
- Unshaven Bird
- Black Ghost Pie
- Go for the Answers
- Rocking Now
- Excellent Things
- Static Airplane Jive
- Where I Come From
- Try to Find You
- Deaf Ears
- Good for a Few Laughs
- Raphael
- My Feet's Trustworthy Existance
- Eggs
- Wondering Boy Poet
- Oh, Blinky
Album Description
Full title 'Suitcase, Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft'. Four CD box-set for the American lo-fi indie act. Featuring 100 previously unreleased songs. Almost four hours of music. Four standard jewel cases with individual artwork housed in a slipcase. 20 page booklet contains rare photos, original lyrics sheets, set lists and more.
Customer Reviews:
not fair!.......2006-07-22
how can anyone write so many great songs? c'mon people, plunk down the forty-five stinking bucks and experience the unearthly genius of robert pollard. if you are already a fan, there is no excuse to NOT have this. as one might expect, this is not the starters place to look. bee thousand, alien lanes or the safer(more NORMAL sounding) isolation drills would be the best choices.
nice packaging, good booklet. excellent liner notes. pick your favorite 20 or 25 songs and make the ultimate GbV disc. what a joy the suitcase is.
More Like a Duffel Bag Than a Suitcase.......2006-06-02
How in the world can this package exist? These guys, leader Robert Pollard in particular, release something like 100 tracks in any given year, and most of them sound like they were rushed out without too much regard for polish or perfection, so how could there have been another 100 tracks sitting around unused? This 4-CD set comprises exactly 100 tracks, 25 per disk, of songs that were lying around, overlooked, tossed aside or didn't seem to fit properly elsewhere. Like I said, though, I just don't get the logic of it, since virtually all GBV disks sound like a random assortment of stuff that was, well, lying around. The main difference is that this box is even more disjointed than most GBV albums, as it contains leftovers and out-takes from what certainly must be one of the most haphazard catalogs of all time. The glue that holds it together (albeit tenuously) is the fertile mind of Robert Pollard, who tosses out song ideas and melodies like Keebler makes cookies. The point, though, is whether or not it's worth your time and money to invest in this and spend time with it. The answer is....maybe.
Guided By Voices are the real Not-Ready-For-Prime-Time Players. Their audience is limited to those who can sit through impossibly dense, apparently unfocused rants in order to locate the bits that penetrate through the fog. Not everybody can do this, or would want to bother. I buy and listen to things like this so that you don't have to. I suffer for you. As a fan, I was compelled to immerse myself in this box. I was hoping for an embarrassment of riches, but must say that an awful lot of this collection is simply an embarrassment. The box's subtitle can be taken quite literally and if nothing else, represents truth in advertising - "Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft." The quality ranges from the excellent to incredibly bad. On the bad side, half-baked ideas share space with horrendous, unlistenable trash; If I never hear "Hold On to Yesterday" or "Big Trouble" again, I will consider myself lucky. That's unfortunate, though, because they sit side by side with some truly great (although very raw) stuff, like "I'm Cold", "In Walked the Moon" and "Wondering Boy Poet". I'm convinced that some other band could make a good living simply by polishing up songs like these and re-releasing them. GBV could do it themselves, but it's all too obvious that they are far too busy just trying to keep up with themselves as it is.
The truth is that most of this never should have seen the light of day, at least not for mass market release, but GBV aren't really for the mass market, so there's the conundrum. If the best bits were compiled onto one disk, this would be a great collection. But it's four disks, and the bad stuff is so f*&%ing horrible that it makes it impossible to recommend this box to anyone except fellow GBV obsessives and the socially deprived, especially since it retails at over $50.00. For that money, I'd suggest buying any three of their single CD releases instead. Either that or form a band, learn these songs by heart, and give them the attention to detail that they deserve.
B- Tom Ryan
i've been dreaming in lo-fi lately............2004-03-27
i will depart from the tone set by the reviewers before me. i will automatically assume that anyone interested in buying this box set is already a fan. why would someone shell out the money for this (slightly) pricey set if they didnt already love guided by voices?
that being said, all thats left to say is WOW. i am in lo-fi heaven. some songs make me jump up and down, and others make me cry. there are a couple of unremarkable songs, but i disagree firmly with anyone who says this box set could have been cut down to 2 cds. there are way more great songs than there are "bad" ones (i hesitate to call anything of robert pollard's bad) if youre thinking about buying the set, just do it. where is the risk? if you dont like it you can always sell it back on amazon.
by the way i am listening to it right now. i cant seem to listen to anything else since i got it a few weeks ago. *sigh* robert pollard plucks at the pleasure center of my brain with his hauntingly beautiful lo-fi melodies. was there ever a band that comes even close to the genius of guided by voices? no, of course not.
Perhaps it's time for an editor.......2002-10-21
"Suitcase" is, like everyone else said, not for newbies to GbV. It's probably not even for some diehards. A few too many of the "songs" are half-baked fragments that are too low-fi for even me, and I love GbV's earlier work represented in "Box" and pre-"Alien Lanes" albums. There are still many gems -- probably about half the songs here are typically bright and shiny pop gems -- but it could've easily been culled down to 2 CDs instead of 4. Don't expect greatness, and definitely try to find it marked down from its original price a little. An interesting artifact for GbV fans in the end.
At least 2 cd's worth of great stuff..........2002-04-26
...and maybe only a cd's worth of useless stuff. Definitely not for the beginning GBV fan, but plenty of fine material here. Every time I play these, usually one after another in the car, I hear some great songs I missed the previous times. There's quite a bit to slowly digest here! Necessary for any hardcore GBV fan.
Average customer rating:
- "Luxury or Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared"
|
Luxury or Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared
Captian Audio
Manufacturer: The Orchard
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Lo-Fi
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
- My Ears Are Ringing But My Hearts OK
ASIN: B00005NNK4
Release Date: 2001-08-14 |
Tracks:
- Lemon
- Los Pedasos
- Velvet
- Piano Robotico III
- Presentame A Tu Novio
- Piano Robotico I
- Take It Like A Pill
- Because Of You
- All In The Everything
- Star
- Piano Robotico II
- Goodbye Suite
Customer Reviews:
"Luxury or Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared".......2001-08-31
The catchy title may be lengthy, but the album, in three words: Don't overlook it!
"Lemon" and "Los Pedasos", the first two songs, are satisfyingly messy pop gems.
These two songs are a real joy. And, played in sequence, they continuously segue beautifully. Experiencing them for the first time kicked in all my love-of-first-discovery thrills.
Despite my love of the hook in "Lemon" ("Inside your head, behind your eyes"), I most respond to the production: the spots of thick, layered sound, the huge unpolished vocals that put teen-pooper stuff to shame.
"Lemon" has a beautiful gimmick to it: it adds musical elements (starting with street noises and a brief reverb-y guitar like a stray dog sniffing along the sidewalk) a bit at atime, breathtaking broad vocal harmonies rising atop a big, nearly-anthemic wave, cresting to a climax you only realize has been reached when elements start dropping away. I could swear a "gimmick" this good has to have been done before, but I can't recall anything exactly like it. (Only Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and The Intro and The Outro come close, but neither gets quiet like Captain Audio's. I imagine I once heard some orchestral European Classical piece with a similar method, or perhaps I'm just thinking of songs like the Iseley Bros' Shout!)
"Los Pedasos" reminds me of foreign language songs that used to chart Top 40 in the 1960s and '70s. I rarely cared to know what all the lyrics meant, because they were so fun and the hooks so good. This upholds the tradition (which fell apart when the hooks became all about the novelty factor, and not the song: a trap this song avoids). In addition, "Los Pedasos" contains the strangest - yet - most - wonderful tempo-slowing guitar breakdown I've ever heard.
To me, those first two songs are the highlight of the album.
The CD comes in an all-cardboard sleeve -- and yet, it's a gatefold! Like 12" albums of old! I'm impressed by the rare environmental sanity of that sleeve.
I leave the rest of it to you to discover.
RIYL: The Cranberries, The Breeders, Beatles, Brian Eno, R. L. Burnside
[My first real Amazon.com review, [my second, if you count the comment I posted about an album I've only heard on the radio] from August 2001, updated October 2004.]
Average customer rating:
- Beat Happened
- Sorry, just not that great
- it crashed through me
- The K Movement
- Minimalist Rock at its Fullest
|
Crashing Through
Beat Happening
Manufacturer: K. Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| American Alternative
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Lo-Fi
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
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ASIN: B00005NB2P
Release Date: 2002-05-07 |
Tracks:
- I Love You
- Cast A Shadow
- Calvin Chat
- Bad Seeds
Tracks:
- Angel Gone
- Nancy Sin
- Sea Hunt
- Look Around
- Not A Care In The World
- Dreamy
- That Girl
- Secret Picnic Spot
- Zombie Limbo Time
- Foggy Eyes
- Knock On Any Door
- Sea Babies
- Tales Of A Brave Aphrodite
- Polly Peregiunn
- I Dig You
Tracks:
- Bewitched
- In Between
- Indian Summer
- Hangman
- Jamboree
- Ask Me
- Crashing Through
- Cat Walk
- Drive Car Girl
- Midnight A Go-Go
- The This Many Boyfriends Club
Tracks:
- Our Secret
- What's Important
- Down At The Sea
- I Love You
- Fourteen
- Fun Down Stairs
- Bad Seeds (Live)
- In My Memory
- Honey Pot
- The Fall
- Youth
- Don't Mix The Colors
- Foggy Eyes
- Bad Seeds
- Let Him Get To Me
- I Spy
- Run Down The Stairs
- Christams
- Fourteen
- Let's Kiss
- 1, 2, 3
- In Love With You Thing
- Look Around
- Bonus Track 1
Tracks:
- Tiger Trap
- Noise
- Pinebox Derby
- Tennage Caveman
- Sleepy Head
- You Turn Me On
- Godsend
- Hey Day
- Bury The Hammer
Tracks:
- Me Untamed
- Left Behind
- Hot Chocolate Boy
- I've Lost You
- Cry For A Shadow
- Collide
- Nancy Sin
- Fortune Cookie Prize
- Revolution Come And Gone
- Red Head Walking
Tracks:
- Black Candy
- Knick Knack
- Pajama Party
- In A Haunted Hive
- Gravedigger Blues
- Cast A Shadow
- Bonfire
- T.V. Girl
- Playhouse
- Ponytail
Amazon.com
It's almost hard to remember just how utterly unique Beat Happening was when they started. They couldn't really sing, couldn't really play, didn't have a bass player, and flirted with childish imagery filtered through a young-adult perspective. Their live shows involved plenty of instrument switching and subtle confrontation. Ashtrays may have been thrown in their direction, but they took it in stride, following their own singular path over five albums. In time, everyone from Nirvana to the Vaselines to Bikini Kill cited the band as an influence. Crashing Through collects their five studio albums--from 1985's raw, plaintive Beat Happening to 1992's comparatively professional You Turn Me On--in one box. Many of the best tracks, including the wistful "Indian Summer" and the feedback-laden "The This Many Boyfriends Club," have become indie-rock standards. One disc contains odds and ends, including singles, compilation contributions, and EP refuse. Another contains three live tracks from the out-of-print Beat Happening/Vaselines cassette, videos for "Pine Box Derby" and "Hot Chocolate Boy," stunning live performance clips, and even footage of the Olympia Cake Walk from 1991's International Pop Underground convention. Topping the package off is a lavish booklet. --Mike Appelstein
Customer Reviews:
Beat Happened.......2007-02-24
I am everything but disappointed. Nothing could make this box set better :)
Sorry, just not that great.......2004-12-15
I'm totally for indie rock, and I gave this a chance, but it just plain isn't good. I had an inkling that it wouldn't when I realized one day that the songs (even by bands I love) produced by Calvin Johnson just end up sounding like crap. There's a Steve Albini kinda of raw, which I love; and his kind of raw, which is just not well thought out, lazy, unimaginiative, pretentious, technically inept, and basically without merit.
The Beat Happening vocals are horrible, off key, the guitars are minisucle in the mix, the lyrics are just plain bad. Only good for pretentious white-bred suburban kids who pray that enjoying something "different" (nonlistenable) will make them different from the other kids at school. If you are one of these people, enjoy this music made by one of your own.
it crashed through me.......2004-07-12
i haven't experienced a band like this so deeply and so enthusiastically since pavement. and that's saying tons. i had one beat happening album, the last one, but then they came out with this ass-kicking box set last month which ate away at my brain everytime i saw it in my favorite record store until eventually i took the plunge and bought it. oh holy god, that is the best 60 bucks i ever spent (and i only had to spend about 30, cause i traded in some old cds). if you like any band that is even remotely outside of the mainstream, then you owe beat happening your appreciation. kurt cobain often cited the olympia, washington trio as an influence. hell, they basically created the seattle scene. the frontman, calvin johnson (known for his deeper-than-hell baritone voice) also created K records, which released early nirvana and early beck, as well as countless other groundbreaking bands. look his name up at allmusic.com, and gawk at his credits. they go on and on. but he'll never top beat happening, man. all of their albums went straight to my heart. i've listened to very little else besides those six discs in the past two weeks. and it's been wonderful.
let's see, the first, s/t album gets a 4, really rough stuff, but irresistable... jamboree gets an easy 5, black candy a 5, dreamy a 4, you turn me on a 4.5, and the odds and ends compilation, music to climb the apple tree by_ is a 4 or so. but all together with the great booklet and video disc, the set is a wonderful treasure. thank you, K records.
The K Movement.......2003-09-21
Great box set and a true testament to the power of independent music. For the most part the band is a very lo-fi sort of new wave band. Very comparable to the Vaselines. The liner notes are very interesting and documents the rise of this very unique band and record label. Don't miss out on this important part of indie rock history.
Minimalist Rock at its Fullest.......2003-09-20
It is sort of crazy that only two people, including myself, have reviewed this set of enormously influential and important music. Beat Happening have been cited by everyone from Fugazi to Nirvana as makers of seminal American music, and to say the least they're one of the most original and endearing rock bands to ever be conceived in America. Calvin Johnson's voice--his deep, droning baritone, matched with his child-like honesty, is an absolute brilliant pairing. And let's not forget Bret or Heather either; Heather is even a modern-day Moe Tucker, the voice, the drum set and all.
Their music is often silly, always engaging, always so bright with honesty and affection that it should make any cynical musical snob bow his head in shame: music isn't about snobbery, it's about celebrating life, and that's exactly what Beat Happening represent to me: a celebration of music, of youth, of freedom, and of each other. Buy this collection. You won't regret it. It's the stuff you play in the morning and have bouncing in your head throughout the day.
Average customer rating:
|
My Ears Are Ringing But My Hearts OK
Captain Audio
Manufacturer: Crystal Clear Sound
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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- Luxury or Whether It Is Better To Be Loved Than Feared
ASIN: B00000JF6V
Release Date: 1999-06-15 |
Tracks:
- Put That Sweater On
- Driving, Riding
- Explode
- (Untitled)
- Often Mistaken For The Sun
- Know It All
Average customer rating:
- Mostly good collection of songs marred by digital flaws
- "Each one will be worse than the one before!"
- a second opinion
- Enough's Enough?
|
Suitcase 2: American Superdream Wow
Guided by Voices
Manufacturer: Recordhead Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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Similar Items:
- Bubble
- Guided by Voices: A Brief History: Twenty-One Years of Hunting Accidents in the Forests of Rock and Roll
- Guided by Voices - The Electrifying Conclusion
- Suitcase: Failed Experiments and Trashed Aircraft
- Zoom
ASIN: B000AYEIPY
Release Date: 2005-11-08 |
Tracks:
- This Ream
- Rocket Head
- Golden Pickle
- Your Charming Proposal
- Searing Tonight
- Somewhere, Sometime
- If You Think It's Easy
- His Spacetruck Is Strange
- Tin Can Laughter
- Sacred Space
- Soul Flyers
- Gods of Richard
- It's Only Up to You
- Dancing with the Answers
- Waiting for Your Touch
- Soggy Beavers
- Invisible Train to Earth
- Stingy Queens
- Something for Susan in the Shadows
- Sinister Infrared Halo
- Happy at the Dragstrip
- Arms
- Solid Gold Animal Collection
- Beach Towers
- Cosmic Clown
Tracks:
- I Am Decided
- Tainted Angels with Butter Knives
- What About the Rock?
- Pack of Rolling Papers
- Telephone Town
- Hey I Know Your Old Lady
- Headache Revolution
- Every Man
- Alibible
- I Can't Help But Noticing
- Mannequin's Complaint (Wax Dummy Meltdown)
- Zarkoff's Coming
- Supersonic Love Funky Love Gun
- Perch Warble
- You're Not the Queen Anymore
- Ivanhoe
- How Can You?
- Lodger Carried a Gun
- Metro XVI
- My Dream Making Machine
- Mustard Man
- Alone in Time
- Dusty Bushworms
- Free It
- Are You Faster?
Tracks:
- Proud and Booming Industry
- Two or Three Songs
- Little Games
- Daughter of the Gold Rush
- Color Coat Drawing
- Learning to Burn
- Minute Before the Evil Street
- I'd Choose You
- You're Killin' Me
- Old Friend
- She Don't Shit (No Golden Bricks for Me)
- I Have a Hard Heart
- Shoddy Clothes
- Sordid Forst
- Shake It Out
- Cowboy Zoo
- Soul Barn
- Phase IV (Rise of the Ants)
- Piece
- Lonely Town
- Do Be
- Boston Spaceships
- Drugs & Eggs
- That Ain't No Good
- Immediate Frozen Lookalikes
Tracks:
- Madroom Assistance
- Man of Dimension
- Nerve Gas
- Do the Ball
- Issue Presents Itself
- Leprechun Catfish Fighter
- Child
- Invisible Exercise
- All Around the World
- Late Night Scamerica
- World of My Own
- She's the One
- Daddy's in the State Pen
- Cox Municipal Airport Song
- Scare Me No. 3
- Grope
- Heavy Crown
- So Roll Me Over
- Home by Ten
- Come Make My Shadow
- Paper Girl
- Jimmy's Einstein Poster
- My Own Confection
- Groundwork
- Bye Bye Song
Amazon.com
Eleven months after his band Guided By Voices' final show, Robert Pollard releases four more discs of outtakes, one-offs, live tunes and ephemera, to complement the original Suitcase box set. The format's the same as the first one: four discs in a box with a booklet, each CD containing twenty five tunes. The songs are even numbered beginning with 101, leading the listener to believe there might be a third volume in another five years. The amazing thing is not that there are still so many unreleased tunes in the solo Pollard/ GBV vaults, but how engaging this stuff is despite fidelity that at times is atrocious. Pollard seems to be equally reviled and admired for his ability to write dozens of catchy and surreal pop ditties in one day, but it's clear he knows which tunes are the best. There is much here for fans, such as the late `80s tune "Rocket Head," which later evolved into "Teenage FBI," but this unbelievably strong box is worth it for the meticulous fake band ephemera included in the booklet alone. -Mike McGonigal
Customer Reviews:
Mostly good collection of songs marred by digital flaws.......2007-06-08
Another collection of basement experiments from the resident rock and roll genius of Dayton, OH Bob Pollard. Mostly good collection of songs with some real classics thrown in but seven or eight of the tracks have digital noise glitches (as in cracking, popping, and clicking) during the track which is very distracting. Don't let that stop you though- pick up a decent sound editor, run the tracks through a declicker, and they'll be good as new.
For the hardcode, it's 100 songs of Bob and can't be missed.
For the casual fan there are better purchases out there. Get SC1 first!
"Each one will be worse than the one before!".......2006-07-28
That's *almost* an exact quote from Bob Pollard about the Suitcase series. I thought it was just a joke at the time, but there's definitely some truth there! It could be argued that each Suitcase will be more *amusing* than the previous one, but we'll have to wait for #3 to make that distinction. Personally, I really like about 50% of the first Suitcase, and closer to about 20% of what's here. I don't regret the purchase though- "I am Decided", "Your Charming Proposal", "Invisible Train to Earth" and the versions of "Perch Warble" and "Dusty Bushworms" here are all really, really good. Plus there seems to be a good recording of a very early (Forever Since Breakfast early) live show spread throughout, with songs that haven't appeared elsewhere. But the large majority of "songs" here are just complete throw-aways: weird (sometimes cool) tape collages, solo (sometimes interesting) guitar instrumentals, noisy and inebriated jam sessions with Bob improvising lyrics, etc etc. Don't get me wrong, I'm not one of these people who says Pollard "needs an editor"; a talent like his should not be censored or compromised in any way, imo. But with this, the whole point is that it's scraping the bottom of the barrel as it were, so it shouldn't be too surprising that much of this falls into the "somewhat amusing" category rather than the "simply amazing."
a second opinion.......2006-01-16
i actually dig this release a lot more than suitcase 1. though suitcase 1 had many amazing songs, including my favorite GBV song ever ("sing it out"), suitcase 2 is entirely more listenable. there are many highlights and not as many that drag (which makes suitcase 1 a rather spotty listen for me). the bulk of this set is stuff from the 80's that tends to eclipse the tracks that ended up on GBV's 80's albums. the only songs i could do without are most of the 2005 demos, which sound like they were intended for the suitcase (that defeats the purpose, right?).
favorites include two from 1992: "drugs and eggs" is an infectious little ditty with such a beautiful melody it's astounding that it was never released. "heavy crown" is a hard rocker that sadly lacks a band (another acoustic gem). a bit of melody from the latter song later showed up on the GBV hit "everywhere with helicopter" but this song is ten times better.
my advice is that if you don't own suitcase 1, get 2 first. 2 is more accsessible. both are fine purchases for a GBV nut, and provide hours of listening. the fun is sifting through the wreckage and discovering the good stuff.
Enough's Enough?.......2006-01-13
Look...I really love Robert Pollard! I REALLY do! I have dozens of GBV/Pollard discs. They're/He's easily my favorite artist of the past twelve years or so. And I truly enjoyed the first Suitcase. I still listen to it on a fairly regular basis. But this new collection truly seems (to me at least) to lend credence to some critics' belief that Pollard is in serious need of an editor. I know...as even Bob says, if ya don't want it then don't buy it. But I did want it and I did trust Bob that my $45 would buy lots of good stuff. For the first time ever, I feel more than a little let down with a GBV/Robert Pollard release. Very few of the songs on Suitcase 2 have caught my interest, even after repeated listens. It's not a matter of atrocious sound...I love lo-fi and in fact, would rather listen to 'old-skool' GBV, Pavement, Book of Kills, Rob Christensen, Daniel Johnston, et al...but this four disc set comes perilously close to scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel. That said, there are still some really good songs scattered throughout, but nothing as good as the best stuff on Suitcase 1. The most interesting thing about Suitcase 2 are the several tracks which are clearly early blueprints for later GBV classics, most notable being "Rocket Head" which later morphed into "Teenage FBI". In the end, though I don't think this is a very good collection, I'd still buy it if you're a big GBV fan. While it won't set your world on fire, there's probably a few tracks on it that will make you smile and the package is pretty cool as well.
Average customer rating:
- where is the real, everything is nice, a classic seattle hip hop cd released in 97
- Matador Comp #2
- Great music for really cheap
- "Everything" really IS nice
- Matador does another one
|
Everything Is Nice Matador Records
Various Artists
Manufacturer: Matador Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: B00000JITP
Release Date: 1999-09-14 |
Tracks:
- Stereo - Pavement
- Count Five Or Six - Cornelius
- Talk About The Blues - The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
- Cross Bone Style - Cat Power
- Flight '96 - Chavez
- Fire In The Middle - Nightmares On Wax
- Refuse To Lose - Non Phixion
- Pitbull - Jega
- NO TECH! - Unwound
- Cosmic Rays - Helium
- Maximum Sunshine - The Lynnfield Poineers
- Fujiyama Attack - Guitar Wolf
- Heart Cooks Brain - Modest Mouse
- Flux - Bardo Pond
Tracks:
- Xmas Steps - Mogwai
- Sugarcube - Yo La Tengo
- The Official Ironmen Rally Song - Guided By Voices
- Banned From The End Of The World - Sleater-Kinney
- Our Louder Solex - Solex
- The Banjo's Categorical Gut - Matmos
- Here We Go - Arab Strap
- Booker To Hooker - Khan
- Image Of You - Red Snapper
- Blaze - Arsonists
- Roygbiv - Boards Of Canada
- Do The Strand - Burger Ink
- Tanzen - Pole
- X-Factor - Void
Tracks:
- Windblown - The Lynnfield Pioneers
- Naked - The Jon Spencer Blues Explotion
- Sleewalkers - Non Phixion
- Universal Skills - Arsonists
- One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight Nine Ten Barbie Dolls - Pizzicato Five
- Oh Cripes! - Solex
- Body Dump (Super-8 Mix) - Khan
- Schtumm - The Wisdom Of Harry
- Sugarcube (Live) - Yo La Tengo
- Grounded (Crooked Rain Version) - Pevement
- Choking Tara (Creamy Version) - Guided By Voices
- Aging Astronauts II - Mary Timony
- Long Ride - Bardo Pond
- Hugh Dallas - Mogwai
- Sea Of Love - Cat Power
Customer Reviews:
where is the real, everything is nice, a classic seattle hip hop cd released in 97.......2007-06-13
anyone reading this should try to get their hands on a 10 year anniversary copy of the real "everything is nice", released in march 97.you know they bit that title!
Matador Comp #2.......2005-11-30
The second of Matador's compilations features 2 CDs of old material and 1 CD of previously unreleased songs from great artists like Pavement, Cat Power, Chavez, Modest Mouse, Mogwai, Yo La Tengo, Sleater Kinney, Guided by Voices and Boards of Canada. The best two new songs from Disc 3 made it onto subsequent Pavement and Cat Power releases, respectively. All three of the Matador comps are packed with dozens of good songs at a single CD price and strongly recommended for new fans.
Great music for really cheap.......2005-08-12
The tracks on this look like a collage radio play list!!!!! You got THE best in underground rock/Folk/Pop all in One cd. If YOU like good underground (Not that stuff that passes for rock these days) Then buy this.
"Everything" really IS nice.......2005-04-17
I owe a debt to Matador Records' "Everything Is Nice" compilation,. It was through these three discs that I was originally introduced to many of my now-favorite bands, including Solex, Nightmares on Wax, Pizzicato Five, Pavement, Yo La Tengo, and many others.
But enough of reminiscing. "Everything Is Nice" was a tenth anniversary collection of many of their best bands, originally released in 1999. (They've since released a fifteenth anniversary collection. Only four more years til we get a twentieth). It's not only a good cross-section of the best and most timeless work here, but also a fun listen, and a good introduction to some good music.
Several indie-rock staples were signed onto Matador over the years, and they are given places of honor: the gone-but-never-forgotten Pavement, excellent Guided by Voices and Modest Mouse, as well as other outstanding bands like Mogwai, Cat Power, Sleator-Kinney and Yo La Tengo. Often these bands get more than one song.
But Matador also gives the spotlight to lesser known bands and artists. For example, the ultra-creative Cornelius and Japanese pop band Pizzicato Five, the swipping beats of Jega, fuzzed-out chords of Bardo Pond, and chilled-out grooves of Nightmares on Wax. There's also the quirkiness of Solex, electronic tsunami of VOID, sped-up hip-hop of the Arsonists and Non Phixion, the mellow keyboard of Mary Timony, and the danceable beats of Khan.
Okay, sprinkled here and there are a few duds. I have to admit that Chavez is not my favorite -- I can only take a few explosive chords at a time, unless Billy Corgan is playing them. However, those few songs are overshadowed by the excellent -- sometimes ingenious -- music that surrounds them on all sides. Pop, electronica, rock, hard-rock, experimental -- it's all here.
While Matador plays it safe to some degree, with a little of everything (as well as their best bands) that has been most popular for them, they also include some less conventional songs, such as Cornelius's dizzying "Count Five or Six," or the grimy, bare rock of Unwound's "NO TECH!" Neither is really pretty or catchy, but they are definitely compelling.
I'll admit it -- I have a soft spot for this tenth-anniversary collection, since it kicked me into my present love of music. And for those investigating the best bands never (or at least rarely) seen on MTV, this is an ideal springboard.
Matador does another one.......2002-08-08
As a follow up to the first Everything is Nice - this newest of Matador compilations features some pleasant new music to enjoy. Running the spectrum from Pavement with two quite nice songs (including an alternate version of Grounded which is, in many ways, better than the original) to the always pleasing Boards of Canada hit Roygbiv and the flash in the pan Burger/Ink - there is almost certainly something for everyone here. And with three discs for under twenty dollars, it's hard to go wrong with this purchase. I could have done without some of the Arab Strap and Bardo Pond songs - but once again, something for everyone.
Music Review:
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Music Review
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