tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69002823276229815632025-01-04T13:38:51.174-05:00venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.comBlogger82125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-71603939224189880542008-03-26T09:45:00.003-04:002008-12-09T22:59:17.825-05:00

Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stone Magazine's #31exile staff consensus: Awaiting Votesthe breakdown: Awaiting Votesthe essays:None Yetsome of the album (covered):the introduction:When one of our esteemed colleagues Dr. Ancient Scientist told us he was using Bringing It All Back Home as a part of one of his college lectures we thought "What a perfect time to feature this classic

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-89118149712405628502008-03-22T11:13:00.003-04:002008-03-22T11:21:45.783-04:00

The year was 1988. Summer had been spent swimming, staying up late to watch 120 Minutes on MTV, and trying to figure out the lyrics to “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.” But now it was the beginning of high school freshman year and there were much more important things to figure out.Like what to wear. I mean this in all seriousness. After 8 years of catholic school uniforms I finally had

polchichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10762492880623690643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-54255855235463272402008-03-19T12:00:00.001-04:002008-03-20T11:01:36.960-04:00

In the past three weeks I've become completely immersed in Murmur. I can't stop listening to it. I can't stop humming its tunes. Its choruses are in constant rotation in my head. My dreams contain its melodies. It's a new discovery, a revelation and acceptance of a group and a sound that I never wanted to understand or spend any time with. What was my problem(s)?Let's recap Murmur first. The

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-62838543362993871002008-03-14T11:28:00.005-04:002008-03-22T12:21:05.124-04:00

I don’t know about R.E.M.’s Murmur being the best album of 1983, but I do believe it is an extremely important album for an underrated music decade. At least, it is an essential text for understanding the American independent music landscape that bustled with energy below the thick layer of high selling pop of the day.Part of the importance of the album is how borrows partially from the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-13644027690454894112008-03-08T14:27:00.011-05:002008-03-22T12:15:18.550-04:00

My one previous submission to this blog is a testament to my specific musical tastes. Surely, dozens of artists I’ve avoided either purposefully or not would interest me, but I am more than content with having only one occupy the majority of my listening time. R.E.M. is my touchstone, that to which all else musical is compared. I relate at least one life experience each day to an R.E.M. song,

jsulbyrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00121691073253882729noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-90179252432258795052008-03-03T11:02:00.011-05:002008-12-09T22:59:17.963-05:00

Murmur, R.E.M., Rolling Stone Magazine's #197exile staff consensus: awaiting votesthe breakdown:4.0 cannons - venerableseed3.5 cannons - eurowagsthe essays:3/19 @ noon - what took me so long to like R.E.M.?3/14 @ noon - eurowags unexpectedly takes a Southern journey with R.E.M. and Murmur.3/8 @ noon - jb makes perfect (circle) sense of Murmurthe album (minus two songs):the introduction:25 years

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com236tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-63550998836381738162008-02-27T13:51:00.001-05:002008-02-27T16:25:20.985-05:00

Quite frankly, I have never had much of an appreciation for live albums, or at least not enough to feel compelled to include them in any best-of rock and pop lists. My lack of enthusiasm for this type of album stems from various considerations and prejudices: they inevitably seem more geared for die-hard fans; they appear more as filler or fan-appeasement material during extended album

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-14522397995646930222008-02-27T01:51:00.003-05:002008-12-09T22:59:18.410-05:00

Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963, Sam Cooke, Rolling Stone Magazine's #443exile staff consensus: Top 400 albumthe breakdown:3.5 cannons - eurowags2.0 cannons - venerableseed1.5 cannons - polchicthe essays:NEW POST (scroll back up)2/27 @ noon - Sam Cooke makes Wags sweat. Just try and listen to the album without perspiring. We dare you.2/19 @ 9 a.m. - Sam Cooke, the sixties, and segregation.

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-6665673883307642502008-02-26T13:15:00.002-05:002008-02-27T16:19:48.911-05:00

Beck’s Odelay is pure 1990s southern California (or at least what I imagine it to be since I only first stepped foot in the state in 2007). It’s innocuous Hollywood strip or Venice Beach hipsterness with its mélange of self-professed freaks, aimless troubadours, and skateboard thrashers painting the laidback horizon. It’s the thrift store threads with a collage of artistic allusions to choose

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-32690930111667684642008-02-25T12:00:00.005-05:002008-12-09T22:59:18.769-05:00

Odelay, Beck, Rolling Stone Magazine's #462exile staff consensus: Top 200 albumthe breakdown:3.5 cannons -eurowags, lenbarker3.0 cannons - venerableseedthe essays:2/27 @ 9 a.m. - Beck brings eurowags back over the pond to California. With today's record euro conversion rate to the dollar his money will go far.2/13 @ noon - Odelay is hip and not edgy? How could that be?2/8 @ 2 p.m. - Nonsense

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-11056733741550892082008-02-18T10:22:00.013-05:002008-12-09T22:59:18.922-05:00

A live album must capture a point in time and make that point both specific and eternal. The album sounds and vision must be a perfect representation of that year but the crowd, its mood, and their excitement must be universal and immediately understandable. You must be transported in time and say "That was an amazing show. If that concert happened tomorrow in my hometown I would be there and

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-13079676732684388612008-02-13T12:14:00.012-05:002008-12-09T22:59:19.045-05:00

Odelay is an absolutely loveable album. Sure, there are some funny, goofy lyrics that might be about weird or dark things or emotions but on the whole it's adult contemporary radio-ready. Would my mom like it? Not as much as she likes Lauryn Hill's Miseducation or Joni Mitchell or Linda Ronstadt but yeah. At the same time Odelay is lo-o-o-o-ved by your hipster friends, the pitchforkerati. The

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-42266197693817346832008-02-08T13:43:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:59:19.148-05:00

So Beck has finally admitted that Odelay's lyrics were "utter nonsense". We all suspected it; we all probably even wished it were true. Now if only Michael Stipe would admit the same thing. Or Bob Dylan. Or (posthusmously) John Lennon. Or Stephen Malkmus. Or Ghostface Killah. Or (posthusmously) Arthur Lee. Or (posthusmously???) Jim Morrison. Or George Clinton. This list could go on on and on and

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-16173388404653699732008-02-06T10:32:00.000-05:002008-02-06T13:40:21.085-05:00

Odelay's bright sing-songy choruses. The spontaneously planned and fun Dust Brothers samples. The hip-hop beats and alt-country melodies. Diminutive Beck at the MTV Video Music Awards decked out in playful cowboy gear strumming his guitar on top of Radio City Music Hall. They all seemed so contrived so obvious so fake and so boring at the time. 1996 wasn't supposed to be Odelay.These were the

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-54958880418648035062008-01-29T10:24:00.001-05:002008-12-09T22:59:19.399-05:00

Here, My Dear, Marvin Gaye, Rolling Stone Magazine's #462exile staff consensus: awaiting votesthe breakdown:2.0 cannons -eurowags1.0 cannon - venerableseedthe essays:1/28 @ 9:00 a.m. - Marvin and Anna. I take sides.the album:the introduction:Just found that love of your life? Thinking about getting married? About to walk down the aisle? Are you happy on account of love?Then DON'T LISTEN TO THIS

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-16570588625742562542008-01-28T08:46:00.001-05:002008-12-09T22:59:19.626-05:00

Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, and the Notorious B.I.G. It's not just a murderer's bullet that they share. No, they all made creepy, name naming, self-exploitative "soul-bearing" opuses that the Rolling Stone honored in their Top 500. I guess people are supposed to relate to their confessional nakedness but I don't. Why would I want to take Lennon's primal scream-ing psychotherapeutic ride? Why would

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-47183596106602377792008-01-19T05:42:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:59:20.625-05:00

War, U2 Rolling Stone Magazine's #221exile staff consensus: Top 400 albumthe breakdown:2.5 cannons - venerableseed, eurowags2.0 cannons - the angry young man, lenbarkerthe essays:1/16@ 9:00 a.m. - What's my favorite U2 song? It must be on War, right?1/6 @ 12:00 noon - I wonder whose War is it anyway?Christmas is over and we all know what that means...New Year's Day.On War, U2 tells us that "

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-6367064291881051242008-01-16T09:51:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:59:20.820-05:00

What's my favorite U2 song? War's "Sunday Bloody Sunday". It's got nothing to do with Bono's out-of-control out-of-tune passionate vocals, the Irish jig guitar solo, the arching overwrought string section, or the Jesus-freak, passive resistance-promoting lyrics. I can't stand any of that shit.I love the drums. The eight-second drum break that opens the song, that opens the album. They speak

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-64114582268133821262008-01-15T09:11:00.000-05:002008-02-19T08:21:30.717-05:00

U2's third album was called War. But who is the War with? What is the War about? Which War and when?In a compelling 1983 New Musical Express article and U2 interview entitled "War and Peace", writer Adrian Thrills states that "(War) is different in that U2 are now facing out rather than inwards; they are now coming to terms with the outside world, and that means coming to terms with the horror

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-63326204167821830752008-01-12T01:41:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:59:21.239-05:00

The Battle of Los Angeles, Rage Against the Machine, Rolling Stone Magazine's #426exile staff consensus: Top 200 albumthe breakdown:5.0 cannons - polchic4.5 cannons - venerableseed2.0 cannons - eurowags1.5 cannons - the angry young manthe essays:1/18@ 9:00 a.m. - The Fire in the Master's House is Set1/10 @ 9:00 a.m. - I rage about Rage.Christmas is over and we all know what that means...New

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-17499307867519377822008-01-11T13:53:00.000-05:002008-02-19T08:21:12.827-05:00

For over a decade I scoffed at Rage Against the Machine. I called them posers, spoiled Ivy leaguers, misguided, opportunist in their anger. I repeated the easy phrase: "oh you're so anti-establishment yet you're signed to Sony" dismissal.And why? Because I read an article in SPIN saying much of the same after their 1993 silent protests on stage at Lollapalooza against the the Parents Music

polchichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10762492880623690643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-22854266523515912302008-01-10T07:21:00.000-05:002008-01-13T09:49:07.257-05:00

I'd read about the video for "Testify" long before I had seen it. I was living in Chile at the time; we didn't have a TV let alone cable. The article explained that the Michael Moore-directed video juxtaposed George Bush quotes and video clips with Al Gore quotes and video clips. The novelty was that there was no juxtaposition at all. Bush and Gore said and did exactly the same thing. They were

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-40292899992765811052008-01-01T09:17:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:59:21.551-05:00

A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector, Various Artists, Rolling Stone Magazine's #142exile staff consensus: Top 1000 albumthe breakdown:2.0 cannons - venerableseed1.5 cannons - lenbarker and the angry young man1.0 cannons - polchic and eurowagsthe reasoning:"Just because an album sets a precedent that doesn't mean the precedent needed to be set" - polchicthe essays:12/31 @ 9:00 a.m. - I

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-39995869806210375732007-12-31T10:57:00.000-05:002008-01-06T12:44:29.070-05:00

A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector was released the day John F. Kennedy was shot. I'm not gonna blame Phil Spector for that. I'm not blaming him for commercializing the Christmas song; that distinction has to go to Bing Crosby's 1945 White Christmas or Elvis' 1957 Christmas Album, both of which better deserve a place on the RS list than A Christmas Gift... , at least in an historical

venerableseedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11064796361990709586noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900282327622981563.post-86833960655381392892007-12-29T10:28:00.000-05:002008-12-09T22:59:22.543-05:00

Gifts, indeed! The images and sensations that this album evokes for me are purely commercial. Instead of sugarplums, I start visioning malls, chain stores, poorly planned parking lots, bags of goodies in my back seat, stacks of receipts….And that’s ok. You see, I don’t really buy into the True Meaning of Christmas as the birth of baby Jesus. I’m not dissing baby Jesus; I just think that folks

polchichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10762492880623690643noreply@blogger.com2