what are you listening to?

[ewok20t3]

I know, right? I keep trying because it's a genre I'm generally affable toward, and some of the songwriting is interesting. But they have a bad habit of not knowing how to make the song dynamics work, so everything comes out like they're trying to brute force an emotion. They are also cringe-inducingly didactic at times.

I've always thought Aaron Sprinkle could make any band that plays this style sound great, but he's produced both of their albums and they sure don't sound great.

[murlough23]

I've always thought Aaron Sprinkle could make any band that plays this style sound great, but he's produced both of their albums and they sure don't sound great.

He's also produced Kutless, so I don't think we should take it for granted that he can make just any old band sound good.

[ewok20t3]

He's also produced Kutless, so I don't think we should take it for granted that he can make just any old band sound good.

I didn't know that. That's kind of a bummer. I consider him my favorite producer, but I'll be re-evaluating that now.

[murlough23]

I didn't know that. That's kind of a bummer. I consider him my favorite producer, but I'll be re-evaluating that now.

He's also done Anberlin, Eisley, Copeland, Falling Up, Mae... lots of bands whose records sound pretty darn sweet in my opinion. I think it's just because he's a hired gun for a lot of CCM rock bands (generally in the Tooth & Nail/BEC camp) that he sometimes ends up with the crap bands who are beyond help. Maybe not his fault. He's capable of doing good work if he's given something good to work with. But the man isn't Midas. For every good band he gets to produce, there's a Jeremy Camp or a Thousand Foot Krutch lurking on his to-do list.

In Ivoryline's case, an awesome production job on a band whose sound lacks dynamic range isn't going to make them sound much better. Unless he wants to be one of those pushy producers who actively meddles in the songwriting process.

[bloop]

Favorite producer . . . hmm. Easy answer is Nigel Godrich for his work with Radiohead, but I can't name a lot he's done besides that (Beck's Sea Change was wonderful, too). I still have a soft spot for the big 90s producers like Steve Albini and Butch Vig. I like a lot of Steve Lillywhite's work, and Brian Eno's (thinking of U2 stuff).

[ewok20t3]

He's also done Anberlin, Eisley, Copeland, Falling Up, Mae... lots of bands whose records sound pretty darn sweet in my opinion. I think it's just because he's a hired gun for a lot of CCM rock bands (generally in the Tooth & Nail/BEC camp) that he sometimes ends up with the crap bands who are beyond help. Maybe not his fault. He's capable of doing good work if he's given something good to work with. But the man isn't Midas. For every good band he gets to produce, there's a Jeremy Camp or a Thousand Foot Krutch lurking on his to-do list.

In Ivoryline's case, an awesome production job on a band whose sound lacks dynamic range isn't going to make them sound much better. Unless he wants to be one of those pushy producers who actively meddles in the songwriting process.

Very true. I'll keep him as my favorite.  

Have you heard Phantoms by Acceptance? They've had a sound that's pretty similar to Anberlin's. Aaron Sprinkle produced that album, too.

[ewok20t3]

I still have a soft spot for the big 90s producers like Steve Albini.

I knew Albini did grunge and Chevelle's first album, so I just looked to see what all else he's produced... Chevelle sticks out like a sore thumb on that list.

I do think Point #1 is their best album, though.

[murlough23]

Have you heard Phantoms by Acceptance? They've had a sound that's pretty similar to Anberlin's. Aaron Sprinkle produced that album, too.

"Sounds Like a Band You Like" is starting to become the kiss of death in terms of the impression that new bands leave on me.

[ewok20t3]

"Sounds Like a Band You Like" is starting to become the kiss of death in terms of the impression that new bands leave on me.

Haha, I understand. They're actually not a new band, if that helps. They broke up a few years ago, and their guitarist is now a member of Anberlin.

[murlough23]

I might have to eat my words about the new Linkin Park. At least, some of my words. Thematically and stylistically, it's actually pretty interesting most of the way through. The problems are:

* When Mike Shinoda breaks from the theme to do the rappy bragging stuff about how they ain't what we thought they wuz
* Chester's absolutely horrendous over-singing on the final track
* A lack of actual songs (take out the six interludes and there are only nine of them)

That stuff aside, on the better tracks, I sometimes forget that it is Linkin Park. While I enjoyed their old style enough, I appreciate the growth here. They sound more grown-up when they're not making some hackneyed attempt to prove how grown-up they are.

Also, the interlude stuff isn't bad - it adds to the atmosphere and gives context to the overall theme. I just don't think stuff like that should be used to disguise a lack of content.

[bloop]

Yeah, I was puzzled with how to react to the Linkin Park album. My first reaction was that it's actually fairly listenable, if nothing spectacular. When you came down so heavily against it, I second-guessed myself a bit. It's still not likely to go much over a 4.0-5.0 with me, even after further listens (but, hey, that's progress).

[murlough23]

When you came down so heavily against it, I second-guessed myself a bit.

Didn't realize I had that much influence. My first reaction to Minutes to Midnight was similar, then I lightened up a bit. I think I tend to overreact when I hear a few tracks that reach new lows for a band, and the other stuff that's actually still pretty decent/good takes time to appreciate after that.

I really like the electronic/industrial influences here. I think it's really funny that some of their fans cried RUINED FOREVAR!!! when they first heard "The Catalyst" because it sounded like techno or something. Um, hasn't electronic music always been a component of their sound?

[bloop]

I rather like "The Catalyst".

If a long-time fan of a band (whose opinion matters to me at all anyway) reacts strongly negatively against an album from a group like this, a group that I have only occasionally thought worthwhile at all, I'm going to think about whether they have a point about the negative things they are saying about it.

[murlough23]

If a long-time fan of a band (whose opinion matters to me at all anyway) reacts strongly negatively against an album from a group like this, a group that I have only occasionally thought worthwhile at all, I'm going to think about whether they have a point about the negative things they are saying about it.

That makes sense. I don't know much of a "fan" I considered myself after Minutes to Midnight anyway. But now I see that this was an improvement over that.

I know that you and I have our differences about where profanity swearing ALL THIS DAMN CUSSING AND SHIT is appropriate, but I personally think it makes them sound rather childish. (Not that they didn't sound childish at times on their older, cuss-free material, but it was for different reasons.) It really hurts songs that would otherwise be quite good on a musical level - not just the choice of specific words, but the overall tone and how it breaks rather drastically from the rest of the album. (I also don't think there's ever an acceptable circumstance under which to call someone a motherfucker. Unless it's Oedipus, I guess.)

[bloop]

Well, that's not what bothers me about the record, but I agree that it seems at times that they've matured. Other times, not so much. It's still more in the "oh, they are so angsty and in existential crisis mode", but now they're angsty about the whole human race! At least they got past the teenage self-absorbed mentality they were stuck in before. Progress!

I also don't think there's ever an acceptable circumstance under which to call someone a motherfucker. Unless it's Oedipus, I guess.

If one is kidding around, I guess i.e. your friend gets in a good dig, and you're like "Look, mofo".

And with that, I am put in mind of U2.

[murlough23]

And with that, I am put in mind of U2.

Yeah. One of my favorite U2 tracks, actually. It wouldn't be nearly so much if actual references to doing one's mother were contained in the lyrics. (Given that it's about Bono's deceased mother, hopefully he has a bit more respect for her than that.)

Given the context, a much more appropriate insult for LP to use would be "sons of bitches". I bet it would be fascinating to listen to this album while playing Braid, actually.

[bloop]

Just wondering, is it true that the new Jimmy Eat World is good?

(I've heard as much anyway)

I've been considering pinning the 10.0 to Sufjan's new album, but I just can't commit to that just yet.

[ewok20t3]

Just wondering, is it true that the new Jimmy Eat World is good?

I think Jimmy Eat World's new one is one of their worst, but that's only after one listen.

[ewok20t3]

I listened to the Jimmy Eat World album some more today, and it's starting to grow on me. Right now I'd still rank their albums 1. Futures 2. Clarity 3. Bleed American 4. Chase This Light 5. Invented 6. Static Prevails. I'm by no means saying it's a bad album, there's definitely a few quality songs on it. Static Prevails is the only album by them that I don't like much. If you just want to check out a couple tracks and see if you think you'd like it, I recommend "Littlething", "Movielike", and "Heart Is Hard Find". "Heart Is Hard To Find" doesn't sound much like a Jimmy Eat World song, so if you're not a fan of their other stuff, this may be the one to check out (The "F-bomb" being dropped in this song is only part of the reason it doesn't sound like a typical Jimmy Eat World song). 

[murlough23]

Blitzen Trapper's "The Tailor" was stuck in my head when I woke up this morning. Drove me nuts because I couldn't quite place the song or even the band at first, until I started re-listening to stuff I had on in the background while I was working yesterday. Love the bass and acoustic guitar runs in this sweet little song.

[Ian]

Emeralds - Do I Look Like I'm Here?

album is siiiiiick

[Brenden]

Third Day - Surrender

I'm enjoying this new album more than I expected to, certainly a lot more rocking than I've heard from Third Day in a long time.

[ewok20t3]

The Juliana Theory - Emotion Is Dead. This is so good. Way better than the other albums I've heard by them.

[Aaron]

The Juliana Theory - Emotion Is Dead. This is so good. Way better than the other albums I've heard by them.

It's their best album

[murlough23]

It's their best album

I enjoy Love as well, but yeah, Emotion is the best. The other two albums were middling.

[murlough23]

Third Day - "Sound of Your Voice"

Probably unintentional, but the acoustic guitar intro to this song is an almost exactly copy from Kevin Max's "On & On".

In general - this album is more rock, I guess, but the cut-and-paste lyricism seems to get worse and worse with every 3D album. Either that, or I just have the nostalgia filter on when listening to their old stuff.

[Brenden]

On subsequent listens, yeah, the upbeat songs are the only ones I really like. I find the slow songs fairly dull for the most part and the lyrics are weak, which I can kind of overlook on songs like Gone, which stands out as being a lot better than the rest of the album.

I'd still argue that this is better than the band has been in some time, which isn't saying a whole lot, but improvement is improvement.

[ewok20t3]

I can't stop listening to the Line 'em Up EP by States.

[plvarona]

Some thoughts on a few albums I've been checking out lately:

Michael W. Smith - Wonder:
I thought this was a largely average album, although it is an improvement over the dreck Smith has put out on his last few albums.  There are a few catchy songs here, but cheesy lyrics, dated production and Smith's voice in general scuttle this one.  On a few songs, I kept saying to myself, "nice intent, awkawrd execution."  There are still enough somewhat memorable points for this album to grade somewhat decently with me, but I can't really recommend it either.

Brooke Fraser - Flags:
I'll admit I hadn't been too impressed with her music prior to this, but I like what I hear quite a bit.  In a good way, she reminds me a bit of Sara Groves.  I'm really liking the instrumentation here, and a few songs at the beginning of the CD are extremely catchy.  I'll have to listen to it a few more times to digest the lyrics a little more, but during my initial listen I didn't hear anything overly awkward.  Pretty much, so far, so good.

Third Day - Move:
Musically, I like what I hear.  Lyrically, not so much.

[RedcoatJones]

Band of Horses - "Georgia" A cover of Cee-Lo that features the UGA Redcoat Band (which I'm an alumnus of).

Sufjan Stevens - Age of Adz

[Brenden]

John Reuben - Zappin: The Best Of

This tracklist sucks. There's almost none of Reuben's darker, more serious songs and a heavy focus on his overly repetitive party songs. And even out of those, some of the most irritating were picked for the album. Surely John Reuben fans don't go crazy for No Be Nah or Doin rather than better songs like Tryin' Too Hard, Follow Your Leader, or hell, even God Is Love.

[murlough23]

This tracklist sucks. There's almost none of Reuben's darker, more serious songs and a heavy focus on his overly repetitive party songs. And even out of those, some of the most irritating were picked for the album. Surely John Reuben fans don't go crazy for No Be Nah or Doin rather than better songs like Tryin' Too Hard, Follow Your Leader, or hell, even God Is Love.

I like "No Be Nah" and "Doin'", but I would certainly overdose on obnoxiousness with this tracklisting. That's kind of how I felt about Sex, Drugs and Self-Control, though, so maybe that's just where Reuben's at these days. Stuff like "Do Not" might have made me notice Reuben, but stuff like "No Regrets" (which I see also isn't here) is what really got me into him.

[Brenden]

I haven't heard Sex, Drugs, And Self-Control yet, but I kind of liked Jamboree and Town Folk was pretty nice. I don't think I really ever heard anyone say anything about that album, actually.

[murlough23]

I haven't heard Sex, Drugs, And Self-Control yet, but I kind of liked Jamboree and Town Folk was pretty nice. I don't think I really ever heard anyone say anything about that album, actually.

Some of it's clever, but I found getting through the album to be a real chore. The only song that stood out to me enough to make me go "I love this song!" was "Radio Makes You Lonely".

Past Reuben albums have always taken a bit of growing on me, but this one just never grew.

[murlough23]

KT Tunstall - Tiger Suit

Wow. LOVE the new sound. She almost went techno, but in a way that seems like a logical extension or her experiments with live looping. This stuff should translate well back to a live setting - presumably much of it will be re-built from the ground up rather than pre-recorded, but who knows.

That said, it's going to be a shock to the system for those who liked Drastic Fantastic. But it's a vast improvement in my mind - at least, as far as into the album as I am thus far.

[bloop]

Getting into Meshuggah. I'm not in the mood for metal much, but when I am, I can usually find something pretty special.

[ewok20t3]

Getting into Meshuggah. I'm not in the mood for metal much, but when I am, I can usually find something pretty special.

One of the most technically proficient metal bands in existence. I enjoy them quite a bit, but I don't own any of their albums yet.

[murlough23]

Getting into Meshuggah. I'm not in the mood for metal much, but when I am, I can usually find something pretty special.

I've read a lot about Meshuggah. They sound like the kind of band I'd have crazy respect for even though I probably wouldn't enjoy listening to their music all that much.

[murlough23]

A whole bunch of new stuff, in addition to the Tunstall record mentioned above (which met or exceeded expectations all the way through):

Yoav - A Foolproof Escape Plan: Adds the occasional splash of drums and stringed instruments to his previous approach of "pure acoustic guitar sounds with a looping pedal and little else." Good stuff, for much the same reason as KT's album.

Brandon Flowers - Flamingo: All the ridiculousness of The Killers, minus the solid rhythm section. This confirms my suspicion that Flowers was the weak link of the band.

Jimmy Eat World - Invented: It seemed different enough at first that I thought, "Is this really Jimmy?" But then it settled into a bit of a predictable pattern. In general, I have a hard time getting excited about this band.

Michael W. Smith - Wonder: Smitty's voice has not aged well. He seems to try to stage a return to the pop hits that made him a big name in the 80's and 90's every few albums, and gets off a few good songs each time, but for the most part, snoozeville.

Michelle Branch - Everything Comes and Goes: More like one half of The Wreckers than her earlier solo stuff. That ain't a bad thing.

Steven Page - Page One: First solo album after leaving the Barenaked Ladies. His cynicism comes on a bit strong when it's not tempered by Ed Robertson's more wry/subtle lyrical style. Bitter, much?

Zoo Seven - Lifesaver: Fono's lyrics were never Pulitzer prize-winning, but they made fun, back-to-basics alt-rock. Del Currie's songwriting skills seem to have gotten worse in the intervening years, making most of this album "So Okay It's Average".

And the entire rest of the R.E.M. discography that I hadn't already downloaded, from Automatic for the People on back to the beginning. I'm just getting started on this stuff.

[NewDimension]

Michael W. Smith - Wonder: and gets off a few good songs each time, but for the most part, snoozeville.

This. I listened to the majority of the album when it first came out, and for the first time in ages I finally discovered music that I thought would make great background noise for sleeping. But my attention span faded before I could reach the end of the album, which is a rarity for me.