Naive Harmonies - Latest Comments

Re: STACKS: Glen Campbell, "Guess I’m Dumb"

JLM452 — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:25:58 -0000

Absolutely love this beautiful recording. Had read about it in numerous Brian Wilson bios but never heard it till YouTube.

Re: Fine Tune Friday won’t remember

pscan — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:20:01 -0000

Am I the only one who finds Ms. LeBon's "early experience with pet death" and Xtian's new employment venture ironical and stuff? Or maybe I'm the only one in the world with enough love in their heart to consider dockside rats to be pets.

Re: Fine Tune Friday won’t remember

Reid — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:51:31 -0000

According to my best friend Wikipedia,
Le Bon claims that "Early experiences with a string of pet deaths had a profound lasting effect on me," and inform her self-admitted "abnormal fixation with death."

She sounds fun!

Re: Fine Tune Friday won’t remember

RavenAndCrow — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:51:00 -0000

Love this stuff. Also, love this from her bio—
"Disheartened by the constant stream of dead animals she found herself burying in her parents farm in Penboyr, West Wales, and inspired by her father's impeccable record collection (The Velvets, Neil Young, Pavement et al) Cate packed her things and begrudgingly set sail for the neon lights and ample rehearsal space available in her country's capital."

Odd start to a career, neh?

Re: Fine Tune Friday won’t remember

Reid — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:39:31 -0000

I wanted to make sure that your new business venture got plenty of press.

Re: Fine Tune Friday won’t remember

xtianDC — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:58:49 -0000

HA! Thanks for the mention!

Re: Blur vs Oasis, Fifteen Years Later

Daniel — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:30:54 -0000

I don't understand why everyone seems to think that 1996 was Oasis their year and that What's the Story Morning Glory was their best album... Definitely maybe was by far better than WTSMG and even better than the Blur albums. Noel made brilliant songs like live forever, supersonic and slide away, while the songs weren't that difficult. Oasis strength is that they combine brilliance with ease. Artistically is Blur the better band, but Oasis is more likely to love. Conclusion: Blur is a band you like and admire by their intelligence, and Oasis is the band that you love with your heart and sends shivers up your spine.

Re: Mull Historical Society, “Animal Cannabus”

Reid — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:00:19 -0000

The first two were amazing, the third was a snoozer. Turns out that the main guy has actually had a couple albums released under his own name (Colin McIntyre) and there's supposed to be another MHS record out this year.

Re: Mull Historical Society, “Animal Cannabus”

pscan — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:47:41 -0000

Boy did I love those first two MHS records. I haven't heard anything since then, have you? Unfortunately, those records are lost to the mists of periodic record purges, but I never knew I missed them until now. Thanks?

Re: Mull Historical Society, “Animal Cannabus”

Hans Meyer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 19:30:31 -0000

I was just listening to this yesterday.

Re: Saint Etienne, “Woodcabin”

dlee — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:51:40 -0000

You're not sure why you gave Good Humor a chance? Mr. Meyer probably had something to do with it.

While I agree that Fairfax High sounds like a collection of extras, it shouldn't be dismissed. "4:35 in the Morning" is a magnificent song, and "Zipcode" is another favorite of mine..

I find most of their catalog to be hit-and-miss, but I really love the Good Humor/Fairfax High package. Don't miss Foxbase Alpha (1991), either.

Re: Saint Etienne, “Woodcabin”

Reid — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:26:05 -0000

I do have Fairfax High, but I haven't been as blown away by it as most other people. I think it sounds like a really good collection of extras, but it still sounds like a collection of extras.

Re: Saint Etienne, “Woodcabin”

Les Talusan — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:18:33 -0000

Funny you posted this - I was just listening to Good Humour. Such a great album! I was still in Manila when this came out & played it out a bunch when I DJ'd there. Do you have the 2 disc version of Good Humour, the one with Fairfax High?

Re: They say that the world was built for Fine Tune Friday

Reid — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 22:00:28 -0000

...and right there, I think you hit on why so many people are so bothered by it: because it gets so fawned over, and there's really nothing that exceptional about it.

That said, I do find that the "is that true" line doesn't leave my head for days at a time.

Re: They say that the world was built for Fine Tune Friday

Annie D. — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:13:05 -0000

I don't find it offensive and I don't dislike it; I just think it's kinda boring. This sounds like a melody that I start humming in the shower and try to make it into a song afterward until I remember that I can't play any instruments or write any songs.

Re: They say that the world was built for Fine Tune Friday

Reid — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 14:24:31 -0000

Maybe? But for every line that might be read as a critique, there's four others that show that it's clearly just a song that's a string of meaningless observations with a "everything I do, I do it for you"-style chorus. And if she's really pointing out the "stunted emotional capacities of men", then the song also says that she's REALLY into the stunted emotional capacities of men.

I really do love this song, but I constantly have to remind myself that it's a dumb pop song. Not that I have a problem with picking at the bad points about it, obviously...

Re: They say that the world was built for Fine Tune Friday

ivaner — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:27:37 -0000

I really like the version Kasabian did on BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge.

Re: They say that the world was built for Fine Tune Friday

xtianDC — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 16:15:26 -0000

Lyrically, maybe it's like a fight-fire-with-fire kinda thing? As in a vapid attempt to cast a light on the vapidness of men? Would that be giving it too much credit? That's the sense I get from what the Pitchfork writer was saying anyways. IE, what's the use in trying to actually commuicate to you; I give up, let's play video games.

I dunno...that's like the second time I've heard the song. I don't feel compelled to go out of my way for a third. I don't mind it. I dig the music, but the vocals less so.

I bet someone has already made a really great hip hop track with the instrumental though?

Re: They say that the world was built for Fine Tune Friday

Chris Barth — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:19:14 -0000

Avoided this song for the longest time because of this very debate. Finally listened a few weeks ago and, sorry to say, I find it quite catchy. But your analysis is dead-on. The lyrics are mostly vapid and ascribing some sort of deep meaning to the song is a fool's errand. It's a pop song in indie clothes.

As for the music, I prefer Joy Orbison's remix of "Video Games." Gives it a little more spirit than the woozy original. Hear it here: http://soundcloud.com/alanheat...

Re: The Eight Best Albums of 2011

Jonathan — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:43:18 -0000

Excellent work, Reid! (As always.) A refreshing change of pace from many of the other year-end rankings out there. Plus, I'll get behind any list that features Slow Club so prominently.

Re: I can never leave the Fine Tune Friday behind

Reid — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 12:21:21 -0000

Thanks! Yeah, maybe I was hasty in taking down that question, but you're the only one who answers them, so...this will work just fine.

I really liked the Handsome Furs record, though it made me want to DJ again. I never got around to checking out the DEJJ album, so I'll put them in my library. Thanks as always for the recommendations...

Re: I can never leave the Fine Tune Friday behind

Jonathan — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:25:22 -0000

Yeah, it's hard to not completely surrender to that chorus!

Abrupt segue: I'm full of regret for not responding to your Facebook post about 2011 albums, so I'll do it here. I'm not sure I would classify them as "not to be missed," but I kept returning to "Sound Kapital" by Handsome Furs and "It's a Corporate World" by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. back in the summer. (While listening to the latter, I recommended ignoring the fact that their name is Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr.)

Re: Fine Tune Friday is just a window

Hans Meyer — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:09:14 -0000

Hey man, listen, I think the Horn Swells are great, okay? I mean I'm probably the biggest Horn Swells fan in the world. If it were up to me, it'd be Horn Swells all the time. But unfortunately it's not up to me, it's up to the kids buying the records, and I gotta tell ya, as sad as it is to say, the kids just don't like the Horn Swells. They just don't. I think they're crazy too, but they're the ones buying the records, and they don't like the Horn Swells, so the Horn Swells have got to go, capiche?

Re: A reflection/review/rambling on Achtung Baby

WJPurdy — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 06:49:30 -0000

"This was a time when “Funky Drummer” was being sampled on every other song"

...so true. And to no greater effect than on The Mekons' "Having a Party," which simultaneously prefaced and mocked the trend. But that would be another column, another time.

As for U2, the turning point in their career was "Bad," which in video game terms was the puzzle that needed to be completed before access to the next room was granted. Without it, none of this (this stuff of which you write) could've happened, and U2 would have soldiered forth on a similar path as, say, Big Country.

Re: A reflection/review/rambling on Achtung Baby

xtianDC — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:15:33 -0000

In addition to my grammar and typing sucking, I should consolidate my comments into one!

Anyways, I think you really did a fantastic job of distilling what makes the album so amazing. I remember being alternatively befuddled and disappointed by The Fly, when I first heard it as a pre-album single. It took hearing it in context of the album to realize that it was not only genius, it was very possibly a top 5 moment in the life of a band full of very good arguments for top 5 moments.