Say Something Once, Why Say it Again?

Traveling Wilburys - Vol. 1
Considering I love the only two Wilburys songs I knew ("End of the Line" and "Handle With Care", naturally), and considering Bob Dylan is my favourite artist, and George Harrison is in my favourite band, and Roy Orbison's voice makes my tear up like a little girl, I'm not sure why I never actually sought out this album. When Chris sent it, I figured I'd enjoy it a marginal amount. As it turns out, this is a pretty great album. The songs for the most part are good, though unspectacular, but it's the loose, care-free feel of the album that really makes it such a joy to listen to. Instead of five rock stars getting together to make a record for some extra cash, you really get the sense that they're just five friends who are having fun in the studio writing and playing together. It's an accomplishment that it's so light-hearted considering the potential for ego-clashes among such rock n' roll titans (and Jeff Lynne).

It's an album I enjoy listening to front-to-back, but the inddividual songs are great too. My favourites being the aforementioned two, as well as en epic Orbison ballad "Not Alone Anymore", which is one of the only ballads on the album. But really you can't wrong with many of these (the Dylan penned "Congratulations" being perhaps a notable exception). Solid from front to back, and an album I can guarantee I'll still listen to 10 years down the road. Can't ask for much more than that.

Rating: 4.5/5

Everclear - World of Noise
After a few listens, I still don't really know what to make of this one. On the one hand, it clearly has a lot of the elements that I like about Everclear, but on the other it sounds like they haven't really honed their style yet. It's obviously a bit unpolished (which is the point I guess), and while that on its own doesn't bother me, it still seems to be lacking a certain undefineable quality that say "Sparkle and Fade" possesses. Maybe it's emotional resonance - these songs are fine, and I don't hate them, but they don't really inspire any real feeling in me. On their next album, that's probably the quality that I like the best - the songs are all working around the same theme, and tell a story while incorporating good, dirty rock instrumentation. You can see their potential here anyways.

Most of these songs are ultimately throwaways to me I guess. "Fire Maple Song" is the only one I'd ever really heard, and perhaps predictably it was my favourite. The rest of them are loud, sloppy, screamy rock songs that are obviously more up Chris and Ed's alley than my own. I'll keep it around, since I feel like familiarity might lead to more appreciation, but it won't be in any kind of rotation for now.

Rating: 2.5/5

Shout Out Louds - Our Ill Wills
How do you evaluate a band that sounds SO derivative of another (in this case, "The Cure"), but still writes songs that are fairly high-quality? In a vacuum, I could see getting into this album more, but all I could think of while listening to this was how badly the singer wants to be Robert Smith, right down to the mopey-ass lyrics. They can certainly put together good enough melodies ("South America" was my favourite), but the feel of this album (especially if you're following along with the lyrics) is so gloomy and glum, that I found it hard to enjoy it, per se. Now I'm not opposed to this sort of woe-is-me music, but I guess I just feel that I've got that market covered between The Cure and The Smiths. This also seems to be lacking the subtle humour that makes Morrissey a little more well-rounded.

A little background research has led me to believe that their one previous album was much more upbeat and poppy, so I'm thinking that might be a better one to start with. So I guess the jury might still be out: they're a little like a talented basketball prospect to me - the fundamentals are sound, but I don't think they've really put it all together enough to be tremendously effective at this point. Bad analogies aside, we'll see as time passes if this carves out it's own identity in my mind or remains a (admittedly skilled) Cure appropriation.

Rating: 2.75/5

Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
I liked this album immediately. Ed's main complaint with Elvis Costello seems to be that he's undeserving of his canonized status in rock history, while others like Nick Lowe and Graham Parker, who are arguably equal (or superior), languish in relative obscurity. After listening to this one album anyways, I have no beef with that complaint (I do, however, think using the injustice of one artist's lack of mainstream success to discount another similar artist is inherently flawed logic). That being said, if this WAS an Elvis Costello album, and not a Nick Lowe album, it'd be my second favourite record by him. The comparisons are apt - the songs have the same melodic, poppy, not-quite-punk sound, however I guess the main difference lies in the feel of them. While Elvis Costello comes across as more sneering and contemptuous in his style, Nick Lowe seems to put the attitude aside a bit more, at least in his delivery. Which is not to say the lyrics are happy or innocuous, songs such as "Little Hitler", or "Marie Provost" (about a freshly-deceased,formerly-famous actress eaten by her pet dog) are not the stuff of standard radio-pop.

In fact, if Chris appreciated EC's general sound, but didn't like the attitude and delivery, Nick Lowe might be a nice alternative. My favourite song was "So it Goes", which is short, catchy and infectious - all qualities that my favourite Costello songs possess. I hate to harp on the comparisons, but both artists just capture a sound I very much enjoy. Since they're often lumped in to the pack as well, I fully intend to delve deeper to Graham Parker and Joe Jackson, while also checking out more Nick Lowe. Very good album, that I will keep listening to regularly.

Rating: 4.25/5

The Kinks - Muswell Hillbillies
I think that maybe I take in music differently from Ed and Chris; despite having listened to this album four times, I can't really say definitively that I have a handle on it, or what I think of it. It's enjoyable in the way that all Kinks music is to me on first listen (solid always, spectacular seldom), but I feel as though this one could go either way. Half the times I listened to it I felt like I was starting to "get it" and that each subsequent listen would unveil another layer (which is generally the path I take to true appreciation of an album), and the other half I felt as though I had a hard time paying attention, and I was tuning it out. Much like The Kinks two other albums I have ("Arthur" and "Village Green"), it has a distinct sound that connects all the tracks to a certain degree; usually this is a positive for me, but sometimes with the Kinks it can turn dull. For example, Village Green Preservation Society is full of good songs, but when consumed all together they can easily bleed into one another and get dull in a hurry. This album is more varied on a song to song basis though, which is why I can see it being something I'll grow to enjoy.

I agree with Ed on the three best songs, surprisingly. "Twentieth Century Man", "Complicated Life" and "Here Come the People in Grey" are the tracks I'd recommend for a taste. The weird vaudevilley, old-time-American, yet still clearly British sound is interesting anyways. My inability to really delve much deeper at this point kind of sums up my problems with album swaps like this, and why I'd be a shitty music reviewer: I just feel like I often need to let an album soak in, and listen to it 7-10 times before I really get a strong sense of what it's all about. Some albums leap at you immediately, but the best ones (in my experience) change a little with each listen until FINALLY it all comes together for you. Is that going to be the case with this album? It's definitely possible.

Rating: 3/5

Cockney Rebel - The Human Menagerie
I think this album is to me, as Wolf Parade or The National are to Ed. In the same way he has a hard time with what sounds to him like a generic indie-band, this sounds to me like your typical weird, 70's quasi-glam album. Not to say there aren't any songs I enjoyed, the opening track "Hideaway" quite a bit and "Mirror Freak" is actually a really sweet groove. On the flip side however, there are songs like "Sebastian", which evidently is the main single/centrepiece of this album, and really sucks. I guess the album is at least unique, there appears to be little-to-no guitar, however plenty of violin and keyboards.

I'll probably keep this all around for awhile, as I don't like to give up on albums until I'm thoroughly convinced they don't stand a chance, though I strongly think this might be the sort of record I'll pluck 4-5 tracks off of and toss the rest. It'll probably be a pretty solid 5 song playlist, if nothing else.

Rating: 2.5/5

Bob and I recently agreed to do a sort of livejournal book club, similar to him and Ed both reading "The Human Stain" a few weeks back. Being constantly at a loss for what to read next, I agreed to a Bob pick: "Revolutionary Road" by Richard Yates. We haven't really discussed how to do this, but I guess I'll give my thoughts on it, and then he'll comment on the thread with his. So here goes:

Firstly, I must congratulate BK on the great selection; this may be one of my favourite books I've ever read. Coming fresh on the heels of "What is the What" which I absolutely loved, I gotta say Bob's stock as a book-chooser is sky high with me right now. I'd be willing to tackle RL Stine with an open mind at this point if it came with the Kotyk seal of approval.

The plot revolves around Frank and April Wheeler, two Connecticut suburbanites in their late twenties struggling with a lack of fulfillment both in their marriage, and more importantly in their lives. Both aspire to greatness and feel a vague sense of superiority to their peers with their cookie cutter homes and lack of aspirations to loftier things, and thus they hatch a scheme to up and move to France (how romantic), where no doubt they will be freed of the shackles of uniformity in mid-1950's America. I won't waste anymore time on a synopsis, as it doesn't do justice to the novel's brilliance. What separates this book from what seems like numerous other similar stories is the vividly realized characters; the story is set in the 1950's (and many aspects of these characters are certainly a product of their generation), but every person in this novel--especially some of the secondary characters--seems complete and real, in the sense that you could easily meet people exactly like this today. In this sense I feel like the book transcends generations in a way, and is just as vital today as it would have been when it was published (1961 I think). It's difficult to craft characters that the reader can simultaneously empathize with, look down upon and totally relate to. The portrait of the unhappily married couple reminded me more than once of a Raymond Carver story, even if the writing style may not be all that similar. One other aspect I enjoyed is that this book can be really funny in parts, I enjoyed that it didn't take itself too seriously to allow us a few laughs. So I'm left trying to decide if this is an indictment of living the generic middle-class life with a family, house and kids, or if it's something more than that. Bobby?