August 2007 Archives
- namelessnumberheadman
, wires reply
- gudrun gut
- the new pornographers, challengers
- m.i.a., kala
- trembling blue stars, the last holy writer
- piano magic, part-monster
if i had to pick the worst album i’ve ever listened to, it would be the jesus & mary chain’s darklands. it’s entirely possible i’m being unfair, what with its predecessor, psychocandy, being the greatest rock album in the 20th century and turning the velvet underground, the greatest rock band ever, into choir boys; so the expectations for the 2nd album were big (sort of like waiting for episode iii multiplied by 1000).
after psychocandy instantaneously turning them into the greatest rock band ever, the reid brothers must’ve gotten scared and decided to go out to buy some records and get some fresh air. only this can explain the musical poverty of darklands. not that the lyrical poverty is any less, listening to 45 minutes of love drivel that could have been written by a pimple-ridden 13-year old was something no one could be expecting. the only good thing to come out of it was the b-side of april skies, the fabulous kill surf city.
after this sad chapter, they went back to doing what they did best (rock), and all the albums released until the end confirm them as the greatest rock band ever (the pixies, the greatest rock band ever, recorder a cover of head on, and they wouldn’t cover a crap song).
i remembered all of this when, on a recent trip to dublin, i picked up an issue of hotpress (an irish rag about music, lifestyles and that sort of thing) that sported a huge photo of arcade fire on the front page, along with the question are arcade fire the greatest rock band ever? well, if you record something like neon bible, the greatest bruce springsteen record ever, what are you if not the greatest rock band ever? of course the arcade fire are the greatest rock band ever.
- the concretes, hey trouble
- sir richard bishop, while my guitar violently bleeds
- simian mobile disco, attack decay sustain release
- the mary timony band, the shapes we make
- bodies of water, ears will pop and eyes will blink
- okkervil river, the stage names
