Thursday, August 26, 2004
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glisten: Blue CD 8
15. The Long Winters - "Blue Diamonds"
Juan - Much better. I don't know these guys. What does the LA times say about them? I like the contrast of the lead guitar with the organ.
I don't have the SLIGHTEST what the LA Times line means. All the lyrics are bizarre but I find myself shouting along to them nonetheless. "These chicken are fish in a barrel and the tall one is gonna be for sale" strikes me as a Ludacris line, really.
Brian - Ok gotta admit…I’m really tired of indie pop at the moment. When was the last time one of these bands was really exciting? Exciting in a Pavement kinda way…where you remember the exact moment you heard it for the first time? Most of these bands are forgettable, at best-same themes, same key, same sameness of guitar, and let’s add some processed laptop horns over the top so we sound like Apples in Stereo covering the Beach Boys (or at least one Beach Boys album…. people forget that the B.B.’s were responsible for quite a bit of generic music too). Maybe that’s the word I’m looking for…generic. Does this song suck? Well, no. Does it make me want to run out and buy the album? Nope. Wallpaper. Soon to be replaced by the next band trumpeted by Magnet or (insert fanzine of the moment). On a cd with so many hard hitters (Coltrane, Brown, Williams, Cash), just can’t get behind this.
I dunno Brian; this resonates pretty well with me. I understand what you mean about flavor of the month harderbetterfasterstrongernextbigthing music being exhaustingly boring, but this shit really moves me. Vive la difference, I guess.
I can see where you hear the Beach Boys connection but I think it's entirely cosmetic.
Rob - A little bit of a puck up here which I really enjoy. I like this song, makes me want to find more out about these guys. The vocalist almost sounds like Michael Stipe, a stretch maybe. Still, I can rock out to this song.
Pastor - I'm a sucker for that particular two chord progression that starts off the song (The Monkees' 'All of Your Toys' is another that uses it). It had me hooked immediately. Looks like I found another CD to track down.
This particular track comes from another musicblog... several in fact, as I'm pretty sure that it's appeared on both Teaching the Indie Kids AND Gramophone (S/FJ is guesting today!). Normally I'll steer clear of repeats, but I sure do like this track. It's got staying power; I've been listening to it for over seven months now and it still sounds fresh. Keith said he didn't understand the lack of buzz for these fellas; I'll second that wholeheartedly.
Buy "When I Pretend to Fall", the Long Winters second album, direct from Barsuk records.
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Visit the Long Winters website. They've got a bunch more MP3's for download so try em out and see if they're you're cuppa.
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Read this interview with Long Winters lead singer John Roderick.
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16. Janette and Four Vagabonds - "In The Blue Of The Evening"
Juan - Sounds like it belongs in the soundtrack of some
Woody Allen movie, which is not necessarily all that bad.
Pastor - I feel like I'm in a musty attic and I'm covered in dust - like somebody left me up there and forgot about me. But I like that feeling so this gets a thumbs up.
Brian - Have you ever driven alone, late at nite, on some country road? And you switched the radio over to a.m. ? Through the crackle and hiss comes a song…you have no idea where it came from, you’ll never hear it again, you can barely keep the station tuned, and you may be the only one listening. But for that small moment in time everything is all right, everything in it’s place. This is the song you heard.
Rob - From the pick up to the inevitable let down. This song falls shallow and makes me miss the rock that I just got teased with.
Rob, methinks you and Brian should talk this over.
Buy "The Complete Four Vagabonds: Volume Three" from Amazon.
This is one of several tracks that feature "Janette" a very, well, WHITE sounding female lead. I can really do without her to be honest with you. I'm all about the amazing human orchestra music.
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Read this Four Vagabonds retrospective.
In their own time, these guys were a real pop force.
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Learn about the unlikely originators of the "Four Vagabonds" nomenclature.
