Merge

merge

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
New solo album by the Bachman Turner Overdrive frontman featuring a 10 minute epic collaboration with Neil Young entitled 'Made In Canada' that was recorded in Young's ranch/ studio in California and will also be the first single from the album. Other 10 tracks: 'Born To Ride', 'There Ain't Nothin' Like It', 'Bad News Travels Fast', 'I Play The Fool For You', 'Nothin's Gonna Bring You Down', 'Anthem: For The Young', 'Please Come To Paris', 'No Reason To Cry', 'Can't Go Back To Memphis' & 'Burnin' Up The Floor'

Merge,Randy Bachman,True North,Album Rock,Popular Music,Rock/Pop

Merge

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Limited Edition Bonus Disc)

Average customer rating:

Oh Baby!!!
Where's the Spoon of old?
Masterpiece!
Buy it. For the betterment of yourself...and all of humanity.
Again, They Don't Disappoint

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Limited Edition Bonus Disc)
Spoon
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Icky Thump
Our Love to Admire
Easy Tiger
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Zeitgeist

ASIN: B000RGSOQO
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Tracks:

Don't Make Me A Target
Ghost Of You Lingers, The
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
Don't You Evah
Rhythm And Soul
Eddie's Ragga
Underdog, The
My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
Finer Feelings
Black Like Me

Amazon.com

Something happened to Spoon between records five and six--they got big. It's not as if these unprepossessing Texans were unpopular before, but after Gimme Fiction, their music was everywhere. There was Britt Daniel, who has since moved to Oregon, singing karaoke on cult favorite Veronica Mars, there was his soundtrack for deadpan Will Ferrell vehicle Stranger Than Fiction, and then there were the countless times their tunes, especially 2002's "The Way We Get By," appeared in other movies and TV shows. The irony is that they hadn't signed to a major label (they tried that in the 1990s; it didn't take). Nor had they given their sound a major overhaul. Maybe it was a change of publicist, or maybe the times had simply caught up with these "faux punks/gentlemen dudes." In any case, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is the mark of men confident enough to give their album one of the world's goofiest titles (at least it's an improvement over Queen's "Radio Ga Ga"). If Gimme Fiction was a transitional work, record number six moves even further away from the angularity of Wire and other early influences. "The Ghost of You Lingers," for instance, is downright dreamy, while "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" is brass-bedecked power-pop (with chimes!). Open-minded listeners will surely find this Beatlesque song cycle irresistible. Fans of the Spoon's darker, more dramatic material might want to check their expectations at the door. They'll be glad they did. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Album Description

This record starts with "Don't Make Me A Target", a song that builds on Spoon's familiar minimal rhythmic piano/guitar vamp popularized on earlier hits like "Small Stakes" or "The Way We Get By". The album quickly moves into uncharted territory with the atmospheric "The Ghost Of You Lingers" and moves through several different stylistic changes from the explosive "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" to the wall-of-sound horns of radio single "The Underdog". Their most heartfelt batch of songs since 2001's "Girls Can Tell".

Customer Reviews:

Oh Baby!!!.......2007-07-13

They found it in commercial appeal this time. Spoon is a band of singular vision whose idiosyncracies should actually make them one of the biggest bands in the States. Sadly, another straight classic will largely be ignored by the public. "The Underdog", "Finer Feelings", and "Don't You Evah" are hooky singles that deserve heavy radio rotation and ringtone ubiquity. Do us all a favor, buy, listen, love.

Where's the Spoon of old?.......2007-07-11

With success from songs such as "The Way We Get By" and "I Turn My Camera On", Spoon has decided to take the pop route. I liked it in small doses but not for an entire album. It felt like this album could be played to any given episode of the O.C. How unfortunate that the band that gave us gems like "Lines in the Suit" and "Change My Life" would resort to cheap commercialism. I can't wait to count how many of these songs will soon be in commercials for cars, cola, jeans, etc...

Masterpiece!.......2007-07-10

This is far and above the best record that Spoon has recorded yet! In a career full of steller records, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga exceeds my expectations completely!

Buy it. For the betterment of yourself...and all of humanity........2007-07-10

Swinging and sleek, sharp, minimal and sweet, Spoon is the best rock and roll band on the planet.

Although they started out loud and angular, Spoon has mellowed into fine and precise pop craftsman, in the best tradition of mid-60s Beatles and Rolling Stones. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga--at 'round about half an hour--crams in Motown rhythms, power-pop melodies, experimental flourishes and even a Mariachi band without ever sounding overdone.

Again, They Don't Disappoint.......2007-07-10

(Ga X 5)offers a logical progression in Spoon's already impressive discography. If critics level any criticism at this new album, most likely it will involve damning Spoon's consistency because there aren't any geniune surprises on this album. Well, so what? I consider their ability to put out one satisfying album after another surprise enough. They've found their niche---oblique, angular, and aurally textured pop-rock---and I think they're wise to stick to it.

(Ga X 5) successfully offers a hybrid of the sounds from the last few albums (Kill the Moonlight and Gimme Fiction) and as usual you can detect the often-noted influences ranging from the Kinks to Wire to, yes, Van Morrison (give "The Underdog" a spin to hear the VM influence.) Granted, the disc is short, clocking in at just over 30 minutes, but this is also in a way a sign of the band's restraint. They know what they do well, and here they're at the zenith of their powers. Even the odder, more difficult and cubist tracks in the record's middle dintinguish themselves as worthy slow-burners after repeated listens.

In short, definitely one of their best discs. You won't be disappointed. I hope they continue making discs like this for many years to come.

Average customer rating:

Disappointing follow-up
Sophomore Slump
average
Damn this is good!
Just a notch below Funeral

Neon Bible
Arcade Fire
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
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The Crane Wife

ASIN: B000MGUZM0
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Tracks:

Black Mirror
Keep The Car Running
Neon Bible
Intervention
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Ocean Of Noise
Well & The Lighthouse, The
Antichrist Television Blues
Windowsill
No Cars Go
My Body Is A Cage

Amazon.com

For their second full-length, the Montreal-based seven-or-eight-piece Arcade Fire show themselves capable of Big Rock, as original, and as potentially marquee-topping as TV on the Radio and Sigur Ros. Regardless, the intentional murkiness of these pleasantly anthemic New Wave dirges makes it sound as if the music has already reverberated through a crowded cement stadium. Named after cult author John Kennedy Toole's first novel, Neon Bible is smart and subtle enough to present itself as a personal discovery for every listener, every word to be pored over by fans (as with those of Tori Amos, Pavement, and Radiohead). Surely, lines like "The sound is not asleep/ It's moving under my feet" have already been scribbled onto the margins of countless textbooks. Such words are delivered with less intensity this time, but no less import. For vocal influences, lead singer Win Butler seems to have traded his '80s Bowie in for an '80s Springsteen, at least on the songs "Antichrist Television Blues" and "Windowsill" (though "Intervention" sounds an awful lot like '80s era Go-Betweens). The kitchen sink arrangements include the use of an Eastern European orchestra, pipe organ, hurdy gurdy, and a military choir. --Mike McGonigal

Album Description

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing follow-up.......2007-07-09

It's a good CD, but compared to Funeral, it's not great... I don't blame them, I was expecting the second coming of Christ since their last one was so great. Still a fan, though.

Sophomore Slump.......2007-07-06

I agree with the previous review that "No Cars Go", "Intervention", and MAYBE "Keep the Car Running" are the best songs on the album, but that is not saying much. The rest of the songs just drone on into oblivion. "Subtle" is certainly the word for the opener, "Black Mirror". It sets the tone for the entire album. Listening to Butler whine "Blaaack Mirrooor" and "I don't wanna do _____ no more" for 3 songs is not inspirational in the least. Where are the danceable, 50's diner style rhythms of "Funeral"? Why are the intricate string arrangements barely audible? The straight, endless 4/4 beats of this recording and buried strings are unacceptable, no matter how much they "planned it."

The more I listen to this album, the more I realize how good the Arcade Fire's first album was. I love Funeral, but it was the death of this band. And yes, that makes me want to cry. "I don't wanna listen to Arcade Fire no more."

average.......2007-07-05

I have to admit that it took me a while to warm up to Funeral, but I have grown to love it. I'm still waiting for that to happen with Neon Bible. Most of the songs seem pedestrian and repeated listening hasn't uncovered the "wow" factor that Funeral offers. I'm hoping that changes, but for now I can only say that Neon Bible is just okay.

Damn this is good! .......2007-07-05

I hadn't heard a lot of Arcade Fire before I got this CD but I'm definitely getting their other releases now. I think I like them so much because Win Butler sings a lot like Ian McCulloch from Echo and Bunnymen who I love. If you're that kind of thing, you'll like Neon Bible.

Just a notch below Funeral.......2007-07-04

It was inevitable that the Arcade Fire wouldn't be able to live up to the hype. Not that they were incapable, but that the expectations were at a staggering height (like "Phantom Menace" big). But that doesn't qualify it as a disappointment. Instead, the band changes up their dynamic and forgoes the frequent epics in favor of sturdier songs and suites. The emotion is far darker this time and while the passion hasn't ebbed, the sound is more frequently but not always streamlined. It's a tighter record on the whole, and its lesser moments are never dull (admit it: "In the Backseat" on Funeral could be pretty wearisome). The biggest surprise is the lack of slow and great builds, towering crescendos, swells and releases, and sudden explosions. There are tempo and melody changes to be sure, but they're much subtler, far more natural. As a result, while there are only one or two songs on here that aren't great even after the first listen, none have the towering scale and intense drama of epic crowd-pleasers like "Neighborhood #3" and "Rebellion."

But there are plenty of gems here: "Keep the Car Running" is one of their catchiest and most straightforward rockers, "Intervention" rolls and rumbles for a while before soaring, "No Cars Go" gives the listener the passionate release they've been expecting (and the best place to go for Funeral fanatics who whine about the new sound), and "The Well and the Lighthouse" is a compact epic, running the gamut of sound and emotion in a tidy four minute package. Most glaring flaw: just as Funeral closer "In the Backseat" is lacking, so is this album's final track, "My Body Is a Cage." Why didn't they just end it after the cathartic "No Cars Go"?

Best cuts: "The Well and the Lighthouse," "No Cars Go," "Keep the Car Running," "Intervention," "Black Mirror," "Ocean of Noise," "(Antichrist Television Blues)," "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations," "Windowsill"

Average customer rating:

God Bless Arcade Fire
So *this* is what everyone's raving about?!
Loved It
Necessary, uplifting, emotional, bombastic eulogy rock - I guess we'll just have to adjuuuuuuuust
Worth the Wait...

Funeral
Arcade Fire
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Plans
The Crane Wife
You Could Have It So Much Better
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Get Behind Me Satan

ASIN: B0002IVN9W
Release Date: 2004-09-14

Tracks:

Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
Une Annee Sans Lumiere
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)
Crown Of Love
Wake Up
Haiti
Rebellion (Lies)
The Backseat

Album Description

Montreal's Arcade Fire brings a theatricality, an intensity, an insanity, and a penchant for amazing hooks to their debut full-length. You've never heard such energy, beauty, and emotion from such a young band. Fans of Neutral Milk Hotel, Broken Social Scene, and Roxy Music's first two albums will have a new favorite band.

Customer Reviews:

God Bless Arcade Fire.......2007-07-04

Some people seem to be turned off in a big way by Win Butler's voice. Other bands around these days make me nauseous for the same reason even when their music is OK, the prime example being Modest Mouse, who I can't bloody tolerate for more than two seconds after "friends" insist on playing it. They, the Shins, and all the rest of their sorry bunch make up the new category of "Not-Rock". --Anyhow, for some reason it never occured to me that Butler's voice is in the same camp of the whiny/girly/limpwrist vocal style so sadly prevalent on the radio nowadays.

Therefore I write this simply to announce that Arcade Fire is the best band in the world right now and that's really all that needs to be said.

So *this* is what everyone's raving about?! .......2007-06-19

This is a simple case of an over-hyped record. It is not stunningly innovative or original, nor does it provide much in the way of emotional depth. It does possess some pretty cool qualities, but is also consistently hampered by numerous irksome ones.

The weakest link here is the singer. His voice sounds unattractive and annoyingly choked, like some spastic, sweaty adolescent who just got caught touching himself in the bathroom. He leaves me cold; I don't get any genuine feeling from him, just unintelligible energy. This unintelligibility, along with his irksome, affected warbly-ness, prevents him from conveying emotions with any real sincerity or depth.

The music fares better, but proves monotonous by the end. There are some genuinely nice moments, like the melodically pretty, low-key "Une Annee Sans Lumiere" (probably the best song), and the attractive, new wavey harmonic strumming in "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)." "Haiti" is also a nice song, if a bit too repetitive. "Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" sounded strangely familiar to me, and on the 2nd listen I realized that the chord progression totally cops the Pixies.

Many of the arrangements are quite nice, featuring strings, accordion, organ, and various forms of melodic percussion. At times it hints at the exotic or the baroque. But too often the band buries its best traits by devolving into pumping bombast. Rather than find a well-crafted resolution to a particular section or verse, they instead crank up the volume and start bashing away at some cliche arena-ready riff that could've been churned out by anyone with hands and a guitar.

So, while I've really tried to like his album, while I've tried hard to focus on the numerous good traits, the abundant negative aspects prove difficult to overlook (especially that singer's awful voice!). I can understand why this might appeal to a lot of people, but I fail to understand the "saviors of rock" tag the critics have bestowed on them.

Loved It.......2007-06-19

This is wonderful...If you have not heard it.. stop going without....

Necessary, uplifting, emotional, bombastic eulogy rock - I guess we'll just have to adjuuuuuuuust.......2007-05-23

This is a thoroughly unclassifiable album. It's a bombastic composition that REALLY REALLY works, and never FEELS like it's over the top, even though it really is over the top. It's TOTALLY over the top, and sometimes sounds like that the band members are singing and playing at the edge of their control, even though they're not. It's wild, unpredictable, and sometimes drifting over that cliff for a moment before wandering back...which simply adds to the experience.

How good is this album? When you're listening you wish it would never end, except that you NEED it to end so you can get off the roller coaster ride it takes you on, and get back to the real world.

Chamber music? Sing-along? A eulogy? Oooh-oooh-oooh's? Pounding drums?

Growling guitars & bass juxtaposed with violins and french horns that drift from beautiful harmony to uncomfortable discord and back again?

A night at the symphony? Rock anthems? An album about death that's not actually sad? Massive tempo changes? SCREAMED, not sung, lyrics, here and there? Lyrics that surprise you when you figure out the point? A lead singer who sounds like he might be on the verge of tears one minute and might end up smashing his mic stand through a bass drum the next???

Yes, all of the above.

Think, "what if the Beatles had put out Abbey Road as their first album?" (what if you set the bar so high you can't ever get there again?)

Does it rock? Yes, quite a bit.

Does it make you think? Yes, quite a bit.

Does it rip your heart out and stomp all over it, and then put it back while it's still beating? Yes, it does that too...all while you're stomping your foot or pounding the steering wheel. You get the feeling that with every listen, you'll pick up something new. This album is so sonically deep and sumptuous that it would be hard to not hear something new on each listen, unless of course you're just singing along with it, which you might very well be.

(and to think that everyone says that they're even better live)

The hallmark of a great album is that it gets better upon each listen. Give it FIVE spins. If you don't like it, just get rid of it because you'll never like it. If you like it, you'll probably love it.

If you can listen to Regine's impassioned and imperfect wails above the violins and horns during "In the Backseat," and not FEEL anything, forget it. Otherwise, enjoy.

Worth the Wait..........2007-05-16

This is a 2004 record that I got in early 2007 but it is still relevant today and will continue to remain relevant as long as people die! Yes, this is because "Funeral" is almost bound to make you cry and seems quite helpful in helping you get over a loved ones passing. It also features one of my new 'all time favourite' songs, the garguantan, "Wake Up". This album is for any true musick fan. It features now as one of my favourtie albums ever!

Average customer rating:

bland
Spoon is an amazing band.
OK
My husband loved it
Brillant

Gimme Fiction
Spoon
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Z
Show Your Bones
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Plans

ASIN: B00082ZRN0
Release Date: 2005-05-10

Tracks:

Beast And Dragon, Adored
Two Sides Of Monsieur Valentine
I Turn My Camera On
My Mathematical Mind
Delicate Place
Sister Jack
I Summon You
Infinite Pet
Was It You
They Never Got You
Merchants Of Soul

Amazon.com

Gimme Fiction is Spoon's loosest, most eclectic effort yet. While still sounding like themselves, the Austin-based band manages to evoke a number of other artists on their fifth full-length. (It's a neat trick.) On proto-glam opener "The Beast and Dragon, Adored," Britt Daniels channels the David Bowie of The Man Who Sold the World. Then there's slinky jam "I Turn My Camera On," where he conjures up Prince or Mick Jagger, circa "Miss You," by singing in a higher register. As indicated by the title, "Sister Jack" sounds like early Who (i.e. "Happy Jack"), while "They Never Got You" sounds like Plastic Ono Band-era John Lennon. Do all these different styles hang together? For the most part: yes. After the triumph of Kill the Moonlight, Spoon could have easily rested on their laurels and issued another album just like it, but Gimme Fiction proves they would rather evolve than stagnate. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Album Description

Spoon make some of the catchiest, most confident rock 'n' roll of any group around. Their fifth full-length is nothing short of a dizzying, soulful masterpiece, easily the most expansive work in their career. "Gimme Fiction" is a sprawling, exhilarating, filler-free album of keenly focused artistic vision and ambition.

Customer Reviews:

bland.......2007-07-09

this was a pretty disappointing album for me...i think there is a drop in the quality of their hook writing. that spare sound is still there, and they are at least able to accentuate that side of their sound very nicely throughout this disc....but for most of these tracks, the melodies just aren't there. the tracks that can be considered pop songs, such as the first two tracks or "sister jack" are OK, but are pretty mediocre compared to what this band has done in the past ("plastic mylar", "advance casette", "chicago at night", etc...) most of the rest of this album is handed over to grooves that show how good this band has always sounded, and not much else... if that is good enough for you, then you will enjoy this album...however, i would definitely recommend picking up any of their earlier records first, as they all tend to combine their minimalistic rock sound with a much stronger pop sense.

Spoon is an amazing band........2007-07-06

I've had this album for a year, and it doesn't get old. The guitar hooks and the pop sound is incredibly addicting. Personally I like, "Girls Can Tell" better, but this doesn't fall to far from the tree. I can't wait to grab myself a copy of, "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga." I highly recommend this album!

OK.......2007-03-17

Not as good as I had hoped from the reviews. One good song and a bunch of OK ones.

My husband loved it.......2007-01-09

It was a gift..I have never heard it..then I got it for him, and he plays it everyday. Its a great CD.

Brillant.......2007-01-09

This has to be one of the best albums I own. Spoon goes beyone the bar in the album "Gimme Fiction." From the softer song "I Summon You" to the more upbeat tempo yet fresh lyrics for "I Turn my Camera on" this album is by far one of my favorite Spoon albums.

Average customer rating:

NOT TO MY TASTE...AN ABSOLUTE WASTE
God Send
Best of 2007: I hadn't been properly introduced...
Dream Pop with a Taste of 60s Retro Equals Vintage Clientele
I'm not over them yet

God Save the Clientele
The Clientele
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Reminder
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Sky Blue Sky
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Person Pitch

ASIN: B000OMD4GG
Release Date: 2007-05-08

Tracks:

Here Comes the Phantom
I Hope I Know You
Isn''t Life Strange?
The Dance of the Hours
From Brighton Beach to Santa Monica
Winter on Victoria Street
The Queen of Seville
These Days Nothing But Sunshine
Somebody Changed
No Dreams Last Night
Carnival on 7th Street
Bookshop Casanova
The Garden at Night
Dreams of Leaving

Amazon.com

God Save the Clientele has better manners than the London quartet's previous release Strange Geometry, with a little less reverb and tighter production. But it's a very similar record. The band continues to mine '60s-era British pop, drawing heavily on the traditions of Fairport Convention and the invasion rush of bands like the Zombies. It's a hard thing to do without sounding twee a la Belle & Sebastian or overtly literate like Pulp. The Clientele's secret is they don't try and reinvent or fetishize their influences, ending up with music that sounds free and forward-thinking. A love letter to London from the vantage point of a wide-eyed boy taking a stroll, the songs here are simple delights, hopping in puddles and gazing at the blue Hyde Park sky. Hints of autumn play around the edges of smiley songs like "Here Comes the Phantom" and "The Dance of the Hours," but the optimism competes with wistful melancholies. "Isn't Life Strange" and "No Dreams Last Night" prick the good vibes with a sense that heartache is never far off. Of course, that only spikes the hopeless romance the band excels at. You could do a lot worse than to waste a day listening to the Clientele and wandering aimlessly, letting the vapor of time slip through your fingers. --Matthew Cooke

Album Description

On their third full-length, The Clientele are setting free their inner Monkees with a lovely blend of Big Star twisted powerpop, Byrdsian country achin', and flashes of The Beatles at their most joyful and upbeat. The ghosts, half-light, and uncertainties remain, but included in this music is a newfound optimism. With the addition of piano and violin, the band paints from a broader palette, adding splashes of pedal steel and slide guitar to their already lush songs. Their most accomplished and triumphant record. Recorded in Nashville with Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Calexico, Silver Jews).

Customer Reviews:

NOT TO MY TASTE...AN ABSOLUTE WASTE.......2007-07-12

This album was recommended by AMAZON, if you like what I like - know that this music will not suit the soul. This album has nothing that I would say is genius or moving.

Like I say, NOT TO MY TASTE, AS I LISTEN IT IS AN ABSOLUTE WASTE.

God Send.......2007-06-08

An excellent record by one of the decade's finest, most consistent, and most enjoyable bands. This London group recorded thier newest album in Nasville and have really progressed as a band, expanding thier sound and more importantly thier tone, allowing room for more variety in themes and emotions. While I recommend almost everything released by The Clientele, this record is good as a starting point or for long-time fans.

Best of 2007: I hadn't been properly introduced..........2007-05-21

Back in 2005, when The Clientele released Strange Geometry, I was mildly introduced to their music, but it wan't quite the appropriate time for me to listen to them or something... because this album is much like that one, yet it resonates with me much more. The Clientele is one of those bands, like The Postmarks, that will make you feel good every time you listen to them. Their nostalgic sound feels as it has escaped from the sixties pop scene in Britain (where they come from).

When you are done with "God Save the Clientele" you will probably agree it's one of the best and most refreshing albums released in 2007.

Dream Pop with a Taste of 60s Retro Equals Vintage Clientele.......2007-05-13

I've been smitten by The Clientele's dream pop for over 4 years now, have bought all their songs, and must say this is as strong as anything they've done. Consistent as usual with only one fast-paced track that doesn't work for me, this mostly mid-tempo album is vintage dream pop. Lovers of this nostalgic, melancholy music might also want to check out kindred bands such as Daysleepers, Blue Boy, Trashcan Sinatras, Beumont, Innocence Mission, Pink & Noseworthy, Belle & Sebestian, and Club 8.

I'm not over them yet.......2007-05-10

As proof the the world isn't a fair and just place in microcosm but only macrocosm, for every undeserving, over-hyped, vapid celebrity entity that occupies the public consciousness at every turn, there surely must be a counter-balancing yang. For every Britney, Tiffany, Little Jimmy Osmond and Davy Jones, there is a Alasdair MacLean, Graham Day, Nick Drake... you get the picture.

And this album only serves to rubber-stamp that theory towards becoming unassailable fact. The smart irony is, it cheekily and almost knowingly lifts a Monkees-esque upbeat feel in it's opening track, only to unfold into a piece of music of the stature that the prefab four never actually achieved (or in fact, their army of ghostwriters and performers to whom it should actually be credited).

The feel of the album has considerably shifted gears from 'Strange Geometry', but thankfully the lush string arrangements are still in place, albiet to much more soothing and laid back effect. This is the morning after the trip that produced tracks like 'Since K Got Over Me' and 'Impossible', with tracks like 'No Dreams Last Night' and 'Brighton Beach to Santa Monica', incorporating steel guitar that effortlessly weaves between the trademark reverb Telecaster and the dreamy vocal.

Still, the album has surprises up it's sleeve and shifts gear on the listener unto jolting aplomb - 'The Gardner At Night' takes the group into a new brand of dark, indie-stomp guitar intrigue, whilst the album's most commercial offering 'Bookshop Casanova' is a potent shoe shuffler. However, for those on comedown from their recent hypnotic offering, 'Isn't Life Strange' finds the band in more familiar territory.

In fact, overall the album is a friendly offering to invite old fans to develop their tastes and expectations rather than a brash and unrepentant change of gears; but you sense that this is a reflection of that fact that MacLean couldn't possibly sound any other way, and this sincerity is the key to the album's appeal, and most probably why followers of The Clientele are unswerving in their loyalty.

A quick flick through early reviews of the album pull out the Monkees comparison, but as far as I can see, don't understand the obvious point. Even though a diminutive squeaky child actor of limited musical ability might have occupied the headlines that The Clientele surely deserve more, artistry isn't measured in column inches. And they're taking back their yang.

Average customer rating:

YUM
Best Album Ever.
Meh.
Mangum's voice
What that previous review tells you

In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Neutral Milk Hotel
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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The Gulag Orkestar

ASIN: B0000019PA
Release Date: 1998-02-10

Tracks:

The King Of Carrot Flowers Part 1
The King Of Carrot Flowers Part 2 & 3
In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
Two - Headed Boy
The Fool
Holland, 1945
Communist Daughter
Oh Comely
Ghost
Untitled
Two - Headed Boy Part 2

Amazon.com's Best of 1998

Just from the opening seconds of Neutral Milk Hotel's second album, you know it's going to be special: the acoustic guitar strum is catchy beyond belief, and Jeff Magnum's intonation lends credibility even to a line like "When you were young, you were the King of Carrot Flowers." Listening to In the Aeroplane is like stepping through Alice's looking glass; you enter a fantastic new universe that, while it doesn't always make sense logically, feels like the home you never had. --Randy Silver

Amazon.com essential recording

Led by Jeff Magnum, In the Aeroplane over the Sea finds the Neutral Milk Hotel assemblage loosely performing a series of narratives backed by folksy acoustic guitar. But from that springboard, a quiver of instruments (horns, organs, accordions, saws, banjo, zanzithophone, etc.) are layered into a sometimes rootsy, sometimes lo-fi, and often psychedelic mix. Contrary to most pop experimentalists, NMH songs stretch way past the two-minute mark: "Two Headed Boy" transforms from a Guided by Voices-ish romp into a New Orleans big band funeral march, "The Fool" is as catchy as anything Poi Dog Pondering ever produced, and "Holland" builds up to a crescendo of saw, Uillean pipes, a chorus of voices, and fuzzed-out guitar. Simply irresistible. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews:

YUM.......2007-05-11

I cannot help but feel this is the most _indie_ album in my collection. Each song, in general, uses little more than an acoustic guitar and carefully paced vocals, yet each song attains an atmosphere and, in some cases, intensity not easily achieved even with more complex instrumentation. For instance, the first track 'The King of Carrot Flowers' begins with an oh-so simple acouatic guitar strum, yet the tight rhythm and easy flow of the chord progression is immediately enticing. Add to this the somewhat oblique lyrics (which fit the style of music and vocal delivery to a tee), and a brilliant building structure culminating in the second part of the track, and you have a veritable tour de force in the first two songs!

The stark and deliberately simplistic nature of the music could be offputing, but there is actually a fair deal of diversity and the unexpected present here. 'Oh Comely' my favourite track, does begin with the trademark acoustic strum, yet unfolds into so much more over eight minutes, with horns, vocal crescendos and sparse interludes all incorporated. Also, the suprisingly rocking 'Ghost', the excellent untitled instrumental (which revamps certain musical themes from throughout the album) and the dreamy psych of 'Communist Daughter' complement the more conventional 'Two Headed Boy' the title track, and 'Holland, 1945'.

What I want to get across then is the fact that, even though the musiacl approach is almost deliberately simplistic, and the lyrics rambling and nebulous, the sheer weight of songwriting here carries the whole thing through. The record is just unbelievably consistent, the melancholy, slightly deranged atmosphere is unique and interesting, and the songs have an insular, personal quality that ensures they are very endearing. So yes, I think it's a classic.

Best Album Ever........2007-05-09

The previous reviewer implies that when Mangum yells out "I love you Jesus Christ", he is making an ironic joke. This is not a joke for the listener to be in on, it is one of many challenges presented to the listener (the liner notes and other interviews make this clear). That Mangum does love Jesus Christ and is willing to put this on the line is a part of this album's genius. This album is wrought with metaphor, symbolism, surrealist imagery, fear, and compassion. One thing it does not contain in irony. Mangum, unlike some of his peers, is beyond this as a lyricist.
The first several times you may hear this album you may want to dismiss it. Many people dismiss the Diary of Anne Frank as some book you get assigned in [...]. Mangum did not dismiss it as such. The book made him immensely sad. He had many questions about the Holocaust and why it had to happen; why Anne had to die? It was with these questions that he sat down with his guitar to write this album. I think he got some answers...

Meh........2007-04-15

Neutral Milk Hotel's 1998 album seems to have gotten a second wind over the past two or so years. Judging by some of these elitist reviews, the culprit of influence is none other than our good buddies over at[...], every pretentious hipster's favorite website in the whole wide world.

I mean, just LOOK at some of these reviews. You'd think these people found Jesus or something. But, no. It's just a bunch of skinny nimrods with bed-hair collectively tainting whatever reputation this album had with their masturbatory essays. I agree with the reviewer below me: GET OVER IT, PEOPLE.

The truth is, this isn't a great album and it's not a bad album. It's just something good to listen to every once in a while. Hey, at least it's better than the Shins (who outright suck).

The thing is, if this is your favorite album, you desperately need to discover more music.

Mangum's voice.......2007-04-11

I just wanted to nitpick a little... though the reviews for ITAOTS are mostly gushing (as they should be), it surprises me how often people mention that Jeff Mangum "doesn't have a good voice," or somesuch. True, he doesn't have a voice I'd cast an opera around, but his phrasing, warbling (for lack of a better term), and intensity are superb, he's fun as hell to sing along to, and he has the lung capacity of a sperm whale (threw in that sperm reference just for you, Jeff). I just wanted to bring that up and make the point that the vocals are one of the album's greatest strengths, not its only weakness. As the featured review says, they become endearing after awhile.

What that previous review tells you.......2007-03-30

This album ABSOLUTELY BLOWS . . . in the ears of sad, soulless, empty human beings.

I'm sorry for that guy.

He can probably tell you a LOT about notes and chords.

He can probably tell you a LOT about music history.

I doubt he can tell you ANYTHING about the heart.

This album can tell you pretty much everything about it.

Average customer rating:

m ward rules
Post Wars
I can't grow up!!
loved it
Feels good

Post-War
M. Ward
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

The Crane Wife
Return to Cookie Mountain (with Bonus Tracks)
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Yellow House
Boys and Girls in America

ASIN: B000GGSMDA
Release Date: 2006-08-29

Tracks:

Poison Cup
To Go Home
Right In The Head
Post-War
Requiem
Chinese Translation
Eyes On The Prize
Magic Trick
Neptune's Net
Rollercoaster
Today's Undertaking
Afterword/Rag

Amazon.com

An enviable multitasker, M. Ward deftly charts the varied dusty soundscapes of Americana. Since 2005, he's toured with the White Stripes, coproduced the debut from Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis, compiled a John Fahey tribute, and relocated from Oregon to New Hampshire--and that's just to start. Somehow, he found time to knock out Post-War, his first full-band effort. Since 1999's haunting solo debut, Duet for Guitars #2, every Ward effort has been a departure from the one before. While 2004's Transistor Radio was inspired by the radio days of yore, it's clear in Post-War that Ward has modern times on his mind. Opening with an upbeat trio of songs, Ward launches across diverse musical territory before concluding with the slow blues of "Afterword/Rag." A driving rendition of Daniel Johnston's "To Go Home," featuring Neko Case, is an album highlight. Adding to Ward's cast of indie-rock luminaries, Jim James (My Morning Jacket)--who appeared on Transistor Radio--joins in on a couple of originals, the rollicking "Chinese Translation" and gospel hoedown "Magic Trick," which begins and ends with a burst of canned applause. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Album Description

The fifth M. Ward album and his most absorbing yet. Its songs unravel their world-wearied tales of life, love, and human kindness with an innate and special grace, helped in part by the very talented friends who join him on this record, such as Neko Case and Mike Mogis, as well as old "Monsters Of Folk" touring buddy Jim James (My Morning Jacket). Look for him on tour this fall.

Customer Reviews:

m ward rules.......2007-06-08

wonderful m ward - has a way with words and delivery even if he doesnt live in portland anymore

Post Wars.......2007-05-12

Didn't know much about this artist until recently, seeing him play with Spoon and Bright Eyes on ACL. It's been in the car's CD slot 1 for more than a month now. It's good - so I bought Transistor Radio and the Transfiguration of Vincent too.

I can't grow up!!.......2007-04-24

Post War is a another great CD. Just when I think I'll get too old for this music, along comes M Ward, Wilco or Cat Power and I realize I never want to grow out of this. I've read reviews that M Ward is someone your parents will like. Now that I'm in that category, I'd like to think I'm not alone. You owe yourself a listen.

loved it.......2007-04-11

a very good album from start to finish. It will definately get into your heavy rotation.

Feels good.......2007-04-10

My introduction to M. Ward. I don't care what he's done before. The album is awesome, that's all I have. I choose to over-think in other areas of life.

Average customer rating:

Catchy and straightforward
Kill the Moonlight, Hit the Beat
Spoon's Best? (A Series Of Sneaks?)
Looking For Hidden Gems?
Incredibly underrated gem

Kill the Moonlight
Spoon
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

The Crane Wife
Stranger Than Fiction
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
You Forgot It in People
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

ASIN: B000069DOH
Release Date: 2002-08-20

Tracks:

Small Stakes
The Way We Get By
Something to Look Forward To
Stay Don't Go
Jonathan Fisk
Paper Tiger
Someone Something
Don't Let It Get You Down
All The Pretty Girls Go To The City
You Gotta Feel It
Back To The Life
Vittorio E

Amazon.com

Life has gotten so much easier for these guys ever since Pavement broke up. After all, how many flannel-shirt wearing, floppy-haired, Fall sound-alikes can the average person swallow? Oh well, now that the playing field is theirs alone, Spoon do not disappoint. Kill The Moonlight is their most melodically accomplished work to date, shimmying through the primal tambourine shakes of "Small Stakes," breaking a sweat with the spiky lo-fi swagger of "Stay Don't Go," and getting all starry-eyed on the three-and-a-half minute acoustic epic "Don't Let It Get You Down." So good, you'll even forgive them for blatantly Malkmus-derived song titles like "Paper Tiger" and "Vittorio E." --Aidin Vaziri

Customer Reviews:

Catchy and straightforward.......2007-04-02

I started listening to spoon with Gimme Fiction. After enjoying that, I decided to go back in time and get Kill the Moonlight. Kill the Moonlight comes across as a more pure version of the same artistic vision. The rhythms and overall feel are quite similar, but here the sound is a bit sparser and cleaner. I am happy not to hear the feedback-riddled guitar scratchings that I consider the primary flaw in Gimme Fiction.

Kill the Moonlight, Hit the Beat.......2006-11-04

Spoon's Kill the Moonlight has to be one of the best rock 'n' rhythm CDs around. Minimalists, like the White Stripes, these guys put all of their instrumental talent into creating a pulse unique to each song. The melodies are highly accessible; you won't need to listen to this album twice to "get it." I really love it.

Spoon's Best? (A Series Of Sneaks?).......2006-09-02

Well, this is just another example of Spoon's stripped-downed rock. Because they do not confine their rock into neat and tidyness, they can often create some quality music with some excitement.

Although Spoon continues with a similar style there is a difference about this album. This is Spoon's beginning to break away from the extremely tight and cohesive albums where one song could rarely be distinguished against another. You couldnt love just one song, it was either liking the album or hating it.

This strategy does open Spoon up to more creativity but also allows more room for failure. But in this album Spoon gets it right. I love every song, it is just fun, stripped-down rock.

Looking For Hidden Gems?.......2006-07-18

I don't know why I bought this CD except that Spoon was getting a lot of critical praise in some of the rags. One reviewer below said he listened to this record obsessively for a couple of months. I did the very same thing. I buy a ton of music and I tend to buy CDs for a given band in bunches. I bought Gimmie Fiction and Kill Moonlight in the same emptying of the bucket I do each month here at Amazon. Sometimes they sit for a month or two until I get to them, but when I get to them I give them fair play as they say in the UK. I'll probably get skewered by this from somebody, but I liken this record to The Dandy Warhols' Welcome To The Monkey House (great CD, check it out if you don't own it); it's good clean foot tapping fun across the board. The sweet spot on this record for me is from track four "Stay, Don't Go" through track eight in "Don't Let It Get You Down." They are all catchy, well written, and remind me of some other band somehow. I definitely do not mean that in a negative way. I'm now a fan for sure. I have over 3400 CDs and many of them are in and out of the carousel in one or two listens after the initial surge, but this one I keep skipping as I replace the other CDs. I can't quite explain it. I always seems to want to hear it one more time before I file it. That's when I know I've hit on something. I'm always in constant search of great records that nobody knows that are good all the way through and this one qualifies. Recommended. Good job Spoon if you are out there somewhere reading.

Incredibly underrated gem.......2006-04-11

This fine band does wonders with the small stuff, light piano strokes and mad guitar riffs abound, Jonathan Fisk is their greatest song, period. I know now they sold their soul apparently to advertising world, but these songs are so strong, you can forget about that blunder. Again, I would think that all their proper CD's are essential, if you own one or more and are missing some, get them now. Their first release is OOP, so forget it.
Great band, great album - thanks Britt.

Average customer rating:

The Ward Highway: The Wellspring

Duet for Guitars 2
M. Ward
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

End of Amnesia
Easy Tiger
Icky Thump
Atlantic Records: The House That Ahmet Built
Daydream Nation (Deluxe Edition)

ASIN: B000RGSOSM
Release Date: 2007-07-10

Tracks:

Duet For Guitars #2
Beautiful Car
Fishing Boat Song
Scene From #12
Good News
Crooked Spine, The
Look Me Over
Who May Be Lazy
It Won't Happen Twice
He Asked Me To Be A Snake And Live Underground
Song From Debby's Stairs
It Was A Beautiful Car
Were You There?
Not A Gang
Duet For Guitars #1

Album Description

This is M. Ward's first record, originally released by Co-Dependent Records in 1999, then re-released in 2000 by M's friend Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) on his Ow-Om label. It has been out of print ever since. Now Merge is offering this re-mastered version with three bonus tracks.

Customer Reviews:

The Ward Highway: The Wellspring.......2007-07-14

If you are reading this, then you are in big, big trouble. It may mean that you have discovered M Ward and are tracing him back to his roots, to his beginnings. It further implies that you may have already heard something he did and are curious about this M Ward fellow. Either way, brace yourself because you are in for a rare musical treat. What awaits you is genius, pure unfettered genius, and you are going to find it here at the beginning (in its incipient stages) or growing stronger with "End of Amnesia" or bursting forth with "The transfiguration of Vincent" or simply exploding everywhere all over the place in "Transistor Radio". Whatever direction you are travelling on the Ward Highway, get ready to be in a big musical wreck. Nobody does anything near to music what this man does. There ought to be a law against him for making so much beauty so fast and so soon (he is only 31 and just put out his fourth CD) but who's going to vote for it? Not me, that's for sure, and pretty soon, not you either. Listen and see. After hearing this one, you have the best collection of the four waiting for you next at #2 Ward Highway. The ride on this road only gets better and better as it heads for the musical hall of fame. This man is making once in a lifetime music and you are standing at the spot from which it all began. You need to drink the Kool-Aid from the wellspring immediately and when you do you'll understand what all the fuss is about. The Ward highway is an incredibly beautiful and remote yet immediately present place laced with sounds and sights often imagined but rarely encountered

Average customer rating:

Disappointing
Another Brilliant Album
Arcade Fire-- the best of the best
Not like Funeral, but still Great!
An even more complex Arcade Fire

Neon Bible
Arcade Fire
Manufacturer: Merge Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
The Good, the Bad & the Queen
Sound of Silver
The Crane Wife
Sky Blue Sky

ASIN: B000MGUZMU
Release Date: 2007-03-06

Tracks:

Black Mirror
Keep The Car Running
Neon Bible
Intervention
Black Wave/Bad Vibrations
Ocean Of Noise
Well & The Lighthouse, The
Antichrist Television Blues
Windowsill
No Cars Go
My Boby Is A Cage

Amazon.com

Album Description

The second album from Montreal's Arcade Fire exceeds all expectations. With string and orchestral arrangements by two of the band members, "Neon Bible" is full of both half-assed punk rock mistakes and meticulously orchestrated woodwinds. Processed strings and mandolin. Quiet rumbles and loud rumbles. But mostly just eleven songs that the band thinks are really good. The deluxe CD version is packaged in a hinged box with two 32-page flip books designed by the band. The LP is double 180-gram audiophile quality with three sides of music and an etching on the fourth side. The LP also includes a coupon for a free MP3 download of "Neon Bible". Arcade Fire's 2004 debut "Funeral" has scanned over 300,000 copies and is certified platinum in Canada.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing.......2007-07-03

I actually purchased this cd after watching "Sunday Morning on CBS". The band I saw on the show was entertaining and eccletic. I found the cd to be filled with talent, but it lacked the interesting energy I anticipated.

Another Brilliant Album.......2007-06-08

Happy to say that Neon Bible is just as satisfying as Funeral. In other words, this will be the album of the year for most discerning rock fans.
It is unusual for a new band to follow up on such an excellent debut without the old sophomore dip.
Neon Bible lacks some of the intense moments of Funeral but makes this up in consistency.
Everyone us right about the silly packaging: flimsy, indulgent and wasteful - nothing like being irritated before you manage to get to the disk.

Arcade Fire-- the best of the best.......2007-05-29

Like the first Album, I had to listen to it a few times to really love it... then, it's gold.

Not like Funeral, but still Great!.......2007-05-26

Funeral was an excellent album so it took me a while to get into Neon Bible and really appreciate it. This album is just as good as the Funeral but for different reasons. The band has progressed it's sound and taken a positive step forward (not sticking to same formula).

The biggest difference bwtn both albums was the drums. The drums are hard, loud, intricate on the Funeral. On Neon Bible, they seem to be more in the background (maybe bc of the mixing) and seem to be more complementary rather than driving the songs' direction. Now it's the strings, brass, keys, guitars, singing that seem to guide the songs and take over the drums.

That said, this album is great. It took a few listens to appreciate it but this one is up there with Funeral.

An even more complex Arcade Fire.......2007-05-23

When buying this CD, I had my expectations. However, this album is fantastic. As all Arcade Fire songs, it takes a couple of listens to really appreciate it and once you're hooked, there is no turning back. As a die-hard Arcade Fire fan of the EP and Funeral, I hoped Neon Bible lived up to the hype. The truth is that upon the first track (Black Mirror) you can immediately notice the extinsive layers that the band has put into the album. Win Butler, the lead singer is pitch perfect and his lyrics are absolutely beautifully written. The album, granted, does not as much of an "indie appeal" as Funeral being that it's not all over the place, but yet is a must have album for music lovers everywhere. I am fortunate enough to have seen this band a couple of times live and the live versions of neon bible are identical to the album and just as complex. The new version of No Cars Go is amazing and Keep the Car Running, Intervention, (Antichrist Television Blues), and Window Sill, are all huge additions to the album. You may not find as down-right "ball busting" songs as Wake Up or Power Out, but you will find the same passion and even more terrific melodies in this one.

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