Alan's Weekly-ish Music Recommendations Thread!
Posted: 9/29/2004, 7:39 pm
The so-called "Commander in Chief of all assholes in the world" is making a new music thread because the old one was locked. I would properly apologize to Alex in there, but the problem is, it's locked. Therefore, it's rather impossible to say something to her in there, so here's a new thread! I'll try to keep the unlistenable music out of here, just so we don't have any problems like the last time.
I'm going to throw a more recent album at all of you people to check out. Hell, it actually came out this year, and not in the 1990s, so this is a rarity for me. The album I'll review is John Vanderslice - Cellar Door
Odds are, none of you here actually heard of Vanderslice's old band, MK Ultra, and that's cool, because they were very unknown outside of San Francisco, but I bet some of you have heard of him. In addition to having one of the better releases of 2004, he opened up for fellow Barsuk Records band Death Cab For Cutie, the current band of the week.
Cellar Door is one of those albums that doesn't have an amazingly catchy standout track, but more of a complete album. Vanderslice also believes in lots of extra sounds in his music, like a violin, cello, trombone, and the good old piano. In MK Ultra, they practically lived off all those extra sounds, but here, he's toned it down and everything blends together nicely.
In "They Won't Let Me Run," Vanderslice has the perfect mixture of strings and surprisingly emotive vocals to tell the story of one fucking his life up by getting a woman pregnant abdgetting married. It's a lovely little tale, I must say.
"Heated Pool and Bar" starts off with a crashing drums and slight trombone intro that leads into a rather standout track. John's restrained voice, perfectly in key with the music surrounding him, evokes emotion even though he tends to hold everything back for the arrangement's sake. The song, based around war. The way John puts himself in these stories and gets you to believe you're there, watching him enact his words, is uncanny.
"My Family Tree" is a somber tale of John losing his remaining family. The vocals, again, held back, paints the prettiest picture of his father's death and his absolute loneliness.
"Coming and Going on Easy Terms" places a man being called to identify what was believed to be his deceased son, sent home from a war. The way he expresses juibaltion in another child's death is mortifying, yet painfully realistic.
John Vanderslice has the amazing talent of being able to write a song and make it seem so realistic that you can't help but picture yourself in the scene. His creativity is only matched by the likes of Colin Meloy of the Decemberists. The singer/songwriter craft will never die!
Recommended songs: They Won't Let Me Run, Heated Pool and Bar, My Family Tree, Promising Actress, Coming and Going on Easy Terms.
Check it out. The album is rather short and capable of an entire listen, as everything flows together perfectly. "They Won't Let Me Run" is available here ( http://www.johnvanderslice.com/html/mp3 ... _door.html ) and if you can, download the entire album. It's worth the listen.
I'm going to throw a more recent album at all of you people to check out. Hell, it actually came out this year, and not in the 1990s, so this is a rarity for me. The album I'll review is John Vanderslice - Cellar Door
Odds are, none of you here actually heard of Vanderslice's old band, MK Ultra, and that's cool, because they were very unknown outside of San Francisco, but I bet some of you have heard of him. In addition to having one of the better releases of 2004, he opened up for fellow Barsuk Records band Death Cab For Cutie, the current band of the week.
Cellar Door is one of those albums that doesn't have an amazingly catchy standout track, but more of a complete album. Vanderslice also believes in lots of extra sounds in his music, like a violin, cello, trombone, and the good old piano. In MK Ultra, they practically lived off all those extra sounds, but here, he's toned it down and everything blends together nicely.
In "They Won't Let Me Run," Vanderslice has the perfect mixture of strings and surprisingly emotive vocals to tell the story of one fucking his life up by getting a woman pregnant abdgetting married. It's a lovely little tale, I must say.
"Heated Pool and Bar" starts off with a crashing drums and slight trombone intro that leads into a rather standout track. John's restrained voice, perfectly in key with the music surrounding him, evokes emotion even though he tends to hold everything back for the arrangement's sake. The song, based around war. The way John puts himself in these stories and gets you to believe you're there, watching him enact his words, is uncanny.
"My Family Tree" is a somber tale of John losing his remaining family. The vocals, again, held back, paints the prettiest picture of his father's death and his absolute loneliness.
"Coming and Going on Easy Terms" places a man being called to identify what was believed to be his deceased son, sent home from a war. The way he expresses juibaltion in another child's death is mortifying, yet painfully realistic.
John Vanderslice has the amazing talent of being able to write a song and make it seem so realistic that you can't help but picture yourself in the scene. His creativity is only matched by the likes of Colin Meloy of the Decemberists. The singer/songwriter craft will never die!
Recommended songs: They Won't Let Me Run, Heated Pool and Bar, My Family Tree, Promising Actress, Coming and Going on Easy Terms.
Check it out. The album is rather short and capable of an entire listen, as everything flows together perfectly. "They Won't Let Me Run" is available here ( http://www.johnvanderslice.com/html/mp3 ... _door.html ) and if you can, download the entire album. It's worth the listen.
