The One & Only Official Music Geeks' Thread

[Henk de Gier]

their debut "the keyword is exitement" is also a great album :yes:

Also recommended

Relax - Live at Panama website
Racoon - Till monkeys fly website

Racoon became hot with their latest album, but I like Till monkeys fly better.

and if you're into rock

The Untuned - Kings of cool website

[Blind3]

X and The Henry Rollins B and on tour. A punk bill , or post-punk punk bill, from heaven. Can't wait.Catching 'em tonight in Philly. :xyxthumbs:

[Blind3]

Also , don't know if anyone outh there has the documentary channel on their cable tv, but they're now playing documentaries on The Clash ("Westward Ho!" ) :worshippy: , The Pixies :worshippy: , David Bowie, and the punk era. Great stuff .

[Kowalczyk]

I think I witnessed my best Pearl Jam show ever yesterday evening, at the Gelredome in Arnhem. Wow. The power. The passion. The energy. The setlist!

Release
Why Go
Save You
Corduroy
Severed Hand
Better Man
Wordl Wide Suicide
Insignificance
Jeremy
Do The Evolution
Given To Fly
Even Flow
I Got ID
Lukin
Spin The Black Circle
Rearviewmirror
-----------------------
Man Of The Hour
Daughter
State Of Love And Trust
Comatose
Porch
-----------------------
Bu$hleaguer
Leash
Alive
Rockin' In The Free World
Yellow Ledbetter

I checked the setlists for the previous nights in the U.K. and it seems like they gave us the special treatment!

K.

[Amol]

I saw them in New Jersey in June. I think it's a safe bet that if PJ plays yellow ledbetter, they're having a really great show. I think they played black for about 15 minutes at the NJ concert...it's was completely insane.

This was in a a stadium too. So for one song, all the band-members turned around...even Cameron had a smaller set of drums which he played while facing the audience behind them. It was awesome.

The scary thing is - Eddie twice said that this might be their last time here....that was some scary shit.

Set 1
Severed Hand
Corduroy
World Wide Suicide
Hail Hail
Animal
Love Boat Captain
In Hiding
Even Flow
I Am Mine
Whipping
Gone
Comatose
State Of Love And Trust
Rats, Garden
Inside Job, Porch

Encore 1
Army Reserve
Hard To Imagine
Last Kiss
Black
Crazy Mary
Last Exit

Encore 2
Wasted Reprise
Life Wasted
Lukin
Leash
Don't Gimme No Lip
Why Go
Leaving Here
Alive
Yellow Ledbetter

[martijn401]

I think I witnessed my best Pearl Jam show ever yesterday evening, at the Gelredome in Arnhem. Wow. The power. The passion. The energy. The setlist!

Release
Why Go
Save You
Corduroy
Severed Hand
Better Man
Wordl Wide Suicide
Insignificance
Jeremy
Do The Evolution
Given To Fly
Even Flow
I Got ID
Lukin
Spin The Black Circle
Rearviewmirror
-----------------------
Man Of The Hour
Daughter
State Of Love And Trust
Comatose
Porch
-----------------------
Bu$hleaguer
Leash
Alive
Rockin' In The Free World
Yellow Ledbetter

I checked the setlists for the previous nights in the U.K. and it seems like they gave us the special treatment!

K.

I second that, it was a magnificent show yesterday. So much better than I expected, and what a difference compared to the boring show of 1996 in the Rai!
The set list was amazing, I’m glad they did not play a lot of the news songs , but instead some classics like Leash and Spin the Black Circle with so much energy.
The extended versions of Even Flow and Rearviewmirror where a highlight as usual.

They only thing that bugged me was when somebody turned the regular lights on , 3 songs prior to the end…

[Kowalczyk]

They only thing that bugged me was when somebody turned the regular lights on , 3 songs prior to the end…

That's something they always do: on many of the live bootlegs you can hear Eddie Vedder asking the light guy to switch the houselights on. They want to see the people bounce up and down during the last songs.

K.

[martijn401]

I see , but still it bugged me ;)

What do you think about Gelredome ? I was pleasantly surprised; the sound wasn’t all that bad and the flat screens where top quality.

[Kowalczyk]

What do you think about Gelredome ? I was pleasantly surprised; the sound wasn’t all that bad and the flat screens where top quality.

I've been there many times and yeah: I quite like it as a music venue. In general I don't like stadium concerts, but if it has to be a football stadium the Gelredome is as good as it gets, if only because it is pitch dark inside when the roof's closed. Turns the stadium into a room, in a way.

The prices for drinks are a f**king disgrace, though. 2.70 for a beer... F*ck that.

K.

[Amol]

What do you think about Gelredome ? I was pleasantly surprised; the sound wasn’t all that bad and the flat screens where top quality.

I've been there many times and yeah: I quite like it as a music venue. In general I don't like stadium concerts, but if it has to be a football stadium the Gelredome is as good as it gets, if only because it is pitch dark inside when the roof's closed. Turns the stadium into a room, in a way.

The prices for drinks are a f**king disgrace, though. 2.70 for a beer... F*ck that.

K.

Alright ...is 2.70 expensive?? We pay about 8-12 $ for a beer at concerts here which is crazy.

[Blind3]

And $8-$12 for urine-like Yank brew at that . Glad I gave up the drink. Glad you guys got to see PJ . 6 years is too long a wait. I've blathered on about them lots in this thread so I'll add only that they are in the penthouse of rock when it comes to their live show. AMAZING!! "Bushleaguer" is a real rarity live. Can't wait to see them again. "The waiting drove me mad".

[aveslacker]

Am I totally wrong here, or is Yellow Leadbetter a Kenny Wayne Sheppard song?

It is a great song, regardless.

[Blind3]

It's a PJ song from around the time "Ten" was being recorded, i.e. 1991. From Mike McCready , as written in the booklet accompanying the "Lost Dogs" cd, "A riff loosely based on something I had during the Ten sessions. I thought it was pretty. Eddie started making up words on the spot and we kept them. I still don't know what it's about and I don't want to! I love it. Fans like it too!" :xyxthumbs:

Just as with PJ shows, no two versions of YL are ever the same; including the amazing improv soloing. During the US first leg, Mike played a Hendrix-like "Star Spangled Banner" . I've heard him riff Led Zep, The Who. Black Sabbath,Creedence, U2, Status Quo, UFO and Iron Maiden...to name a only a few.

[Thibb]

The Gelredome gig was sweet: a long set with a few old friends, such as Leash and Spin the Black Circle, and a few first live acquaintances, such as Man of the Hour and of course the new songs. The band was on fire, but unfortunately the crowd wasn't, at least not beyond the first twenty metres. We were about 25 metres away from the stage and back there people were just standing and listening. No singing, no moving. Even Oor mentioned this in their rave review. We tried to get up front, but people were packed pretty densely and not very friendly, so in the end we gave up. Great set, good show, disappointing reactions.

The Sportpaleis show had long been waited for. Since PJ cancelled for Werchter in 1992, after Eddie lost his diaries and flipped out, Belgium has been waiting to be PJ-baptised. After learning my lessons through yesterday's happenings, I arrived well in time and secured a front row place. The band was playing with the same blistering intensity as yesterday, but the crowd was much more responsive. Only a couple of songs deep into the set, the whole place was on fire, with the thundering sounds of stamping feet rolling from the stands onto the cheers from the field.

This really showed during the guitar riff sing-along from Black, that just went on for minutes after the song had finished. The guys just stood there: amazed and happy. Afterwards they pulled out some special tunes, maybe to make up for all the years of absence. This may actually have been a disappointment for casual fans, but it was great for PJ-heads. Some of the highlights of the show were Present Tense, Crazy Mary, Hunger Strike (with that guy from Wolfmother butchering Cornell's lines), Baba O' Riley, Elderly Women, Indifference. Too much to mention, really.

Thanks again to PJ for two great nights and reminding us how great live rock 'n' roll can be. And Ko., if you run into that Rob Chevalier idiot, kick his ass for me. Hard!

[DanK]

2 recent CD purchases to try something different...
1. The Walkmen - A Hundred Miles Off
2. Yo La Tengo - I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass (album title of the year if there was one!)

Both take some getting used to. The lead singer from The Walkmen (Hamilton Leithauser) occasionally sounds like fingernails scraping down a blackboard. But there is some great work tucked away in there. Esp the first song Louisiana. I heard someone mention them in this way 'Bob Dylan going into the studio with The Strokes'...thats about half way there.

Yo La Tenga have been around for a while now. Very interesting CD. Its a blend of 'The Delgados, They Might Be Giants, The Ramones, The Magnetic Fields' to name a few. Add some psychedelic sounds and 60s folk and you get Yo La Tengo.

In a few weeks the new Beck CD...now THAT I am looking forward to :xyxthumbs:

[DanK]

Just picked up the new Beck CD 'The Information'. Only had a few listens so far, but based on this its seems pretty decent. Musically its probably the closest he has done to Odelay.

That man has some serious talent. Just weird enough to keep things interesting IMO.

Menno, just wondering if you have had a listen and what your thoughts are mate?

[Kowalczyk]

Menno, just wondering if you have had a listen and what your thoughts are mate?

I quite like it, but it's not his best work, in my opinion.

I personally thought that Guero was a little masterpiece. That one was right up there with Odelay. This one is... not quite as good. More like Midnite Vultures caliber (which is still 7/10, by the way).

K.

[DanK]

Menno, just wondering if you have had a listen and what your thoughts are mate?

I quite like it, but it's not his best work, in my opinion.

I personally thought that Guero was a little masterpiece. That one was right up there with Odelay. This one is... not quite as good. More like Midnite Vultures caliber (which is still 7/10, by the way).

K.

Yeah, I think i agree pretty much with you there (re: 7/10). The first half of the CD is outstanding and has some misses down the line. An interesting point I heard was that this was actually written before Guero, which may explain why it sounds more like past work.

For me I rate his work probably in this order:
Sea Change > There is something extremely honest about this piece of work. I appreciate its not "out there" Beck, but this one just hits the right spot.
Guero > A brilliant blast up from the dark Sea Change
Odelay > All time classic. Up there with anything from The Beatles, Radiohead, Stones etc (IMO)

The others have their high points (Mutations and Midnight Vultures have some classic tracks), and some downers as well.

That was I love about the guy though, you never really know what to expect.

[Kowalczyk]

Midnite Vultures is definitely not his best album, but it does have one of my favourite Beck tunes on it: Sexxx Laws. I sometimes spin records at parties and stuff and that one is always in my set. What a fantastic, big fat funky dance track that is. Wonderful.

About the new album: is it just me or is his singing a little bit 'thin' and 'pale' on this one. I love the production of the album, but his voice just doesn't get through to me in many of the songs. Don't know why.

K.

[DanK]

About the new album: is it just me or is his singing a little bit 'thin' and 'pale' on this one. I love the production of the album, but his voice just doesn't get through to me in many of the songs. Don't know why.

K.

Hmm. Yep, I see what you mean. Esp some of the songs towards the end of the disc.

Something I really liked though was the blank cover with the stickers. This is the sort of detail that I miss from the old LP days.

[aveslacker]

About the new album: is it just me or is his singing a little bit 'thin' and 'pale' on this one. I love the production of the album, but his voice just doesn't get through to me in many of the songs. Don't know why.

K.

Hmm. Yep, I see what you mean. Esp some of the songs towards the end of the disc.

Something I really liked though was the blank cover with the stickers. This is the sort of detail that I miss from the old LP days.

Apparently that album cover was denied chart eligibility in the UK because of the stickers. Weird.

[DanK]

Recently purchased a new CD - Joanna Newsom - Ys (pronounced 'ees') - 5 Star CD (and I don't give that rating lightly)

I was a few months late on picking up this CD. For me last years was a HUGE disappointment musically. Augie March stood out alone until I picked this up few weeks back. If you can get past the unusual vocals, this would have to be one of the most beautifully, well written, musically stunning albums of the past decade.

Since picking it up and taking about 4 or 5 full listens to accept the style, I haven't been able to stop listening. It has totally engrossed me, which hasn't happened for a while from a CD. For a decent review check out:
http://www.uncut.co.uk/music/joanna_newsom/reviews/8992

While a lot of people would listen and hate it, then never come back. They do not know what they are missing out on.

If I had to do this, I would currently place it among my 5 favourite CDs I own...seriously.

For those brave enough, give it a listen or two. Pitchfork site ended its review this way: "The people who hear this record will split into two crowds: The ones who think it's silly and precious, and the ones who, once they hear it, won't be able to live without it".

Sums it up quite well for me.

[Tom_]

I also liked Moo, You Bloody Choir, but I reckon there were some other good albums this year as well...

My favourite was definitely The Drones - Gala Mill. I can't believe this band is from Melbourne. I suppose they'd be called 'garage' but they're far, far too smart for that. Sort of low-fi country-ish folk-ish garage-ish rock I guess. The recording has a really homely feel to it as well, you can hear the band chatting to each other etc. And I love the fact that he sings in a broad Aussie accent -- so many bands from Australia sound like they could be British or American. But most of all, some of the most incredibly good songwriting you'd ever come across. Check out Sixteen Straws or Words from the Executioner to Alexander Pearce if you want to see what I mean. Definitely the best band I discovered this year. Their previous album, Wait Long by the River and the Bodies of Your Enemies Will Float By, is good as well.

Can't be arsed writing more summaries, probably no-one will read them anyway. ;) But some other albums I enjoyed:

Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (actually might've been 2005... not sure)
Tom Waits - Brawlers
Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Calexico - Garden Ruin

[SE6Ajacied]

A good punk album I can recommend is Are You Punk Or Are You Drunk, by Malle Petje And The Bimbo's, a Dutch band from Amsterdam.

It came reccommended by Boudisque.nl after I signed up to their new release e-mail service thingy a while back.

I don't think Ko was too impressed when I emntioned them though ;) but I do like Punk music sometimes...and after AZ today I feel in a shouty mood :pukey:

[ajaxusa]

Ok, time for my annual "nerd" post to this "hip cat" thread... I don't know WTF you guys are talking about. And when you're as square as I am, it's hopeless, so I don't even try to listen to popular music anymore. But I did hear Fall Out Boy on a tv commercial recently. So...

Having said that, I thought I'd throw in a couple of great folk/rootsy American cd's I've picked up and really enjoyed recently. They're not new; just great.

The Be Good Tonyas: Chinatown (my favorite record in years)
Josh Ritter: Hello Starling (not his newest, but I like it better than Animal Years)
The Decemberists: The Crane Wife (everyone loooves this record, but I like it anyway)

Oh, and I haven't yet gotten Tom Waits Brawlers (I'm saving that for a special occasion).

PS: My 'fall out of seat' moment recently was... hearing The Pogues as the background music for a f*cking Cadillac commercial during the Oscars! WTF!? That HAS to be a sign of the End of Days or something.