What are you listening to right now?

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 8:22 am

"Maybe Not" - Cat Power

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:20 am

miss buenos aires wrote:"Maybe Not" - Cat Power

What do you think of that record? I'm still so infatuated with THE GREATEST, I haven't even thought about working back through the older stuff.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:22 am

King Hoarse wrote:

Helluva combination, ain't it! I've heard a bit of that, including the Richman song. Love it.

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 10:24 am

Mechanical Grace wrote:
miss buenos aires wrote:"Maybe Not" - Cat Power
What do you think of that record? I'm still so infatuated with THE GREATEST, I haven't even thought about working back through the older stuff.

The Greatest is truly the greatest. I've lived in bars, and danced on tables.

invisible Pole · Post by **invisible Pole** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:32 pm

Nick Cave doing a slowed-down version of Pulp's immortal "Disco 2000"

followed by .........

Pulp doing a slowed-down version of immortal "Whiskey In The Jar"

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:11 pm

Fuck it - Eamon

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:28 pm

invisible Pole wrote:Nick Cave doing a slowed-down version of Pulp's immortal "Disco 2000"

Any good. Agree that is immortal. Was blown away recently by how good that LP is.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 7:30 pm

invisible Pole wrote: Pulp doing a slowed-down version of immortal "Whiskey In The Jar"

This one's a bit harder for me to imagine, frankly!

ice nine · Post by **ice nine** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 9:37 pm

My Life In the Bush of Ghosts - Brian Eno/David Byrne. Sent to me by Chrille. Thanks for broadening my musical horizons, Chrille!!

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 11:42 pm

MuG: I haven't heard The Greatest, so maybe I will change my mind, but right now I think You Are Free is her best album...

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 6:38 am

The Jam - Extras

I am currently listening to the three artists who played the most influence in my life in the 1980s ie Elvis, The Jam and Billy Bragg.

Chrille · Post by **Chrille** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:08 am

I never got it because I thought it was just a compilation of singles and b-sides, songs I already had anyway. But since it was part of that New Rock Classics list thingie (http://www.elviscostellofans.com/phpBB2 ... php?t=5054) I read some more about it and realised the recordings I thought I already had were BBC-recordings and decided to get it after all. It really is great.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 8:49 am

miss buenos aires wrote:Mug: I haven't heard The Greatest

Well, that must be remedied!! Late birthday present... hmm...

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:17 pm

Sly And The Family Stone - There's A Riot Goin' On

guidedbyvoices · Post by **guidedbyvoices** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:53 pm

Mechanical Grace wrote:
miss buenos aires wrote:"Maybe Not" - Cat Power
What do you think of that record? I'm still so infatuated with THE GREATEST, I haven't even thought about working back through the older stuff.

I'm a Cat Power fan since I heard Nude As The News on a Matador sampler in 1997. HOWEVER, other than the title track and maybe Where Is The Love, I don't like this new one. It's very clean and sterile and for all this talk of a stax slow jam type band, it doesn't feel like a late 60s band, it feels like a late 60s soul cover band, no rough edges. The Greatest (the song) though is fantastic.

That said, I've seen her twice live and both count as the 2 worst shows I have ever seen in my life. I always heard she could be brilliant or fall apart on stage, but the shows I saw, she just didn't give a shit at all. Huge disappointment.

Old stuff - The Covers Record is a must. Her ability to take familiar songs and make them completely her own, but taking only the pieces she wants, is amazing. Satisfaction is my all time favorite cover by anyone - first time I heard it, I went back to the original because I couldn't believe those words were in the original. She takes only the verses (I'm driving in my car, how white my shirts can be, etc), played to a bluesy strum, and makes it a song of tired desperation & resignation instead of the original's "fuck it" attitude. She does something similar to the Velvet Underground's I Found A Reason, just taking the bridge and wrapping it around a gorgeous sparepiano part.

Moon Pix is really good too, What Would The Community Think is great indie rock, but quite different from what she is now (the tortured singer songwriter).

An amazing voice, and can be absolutely brilliant at times.

Looks like I'll be playing the Covers Record next!

as a side note - there's a peel session of more covers, and she strips Freebird down to 30 seconds, so she's got a sense of humor that makes me think her wacko act is just that, an act.

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 3:27 pm

I dont get the thing for Cat Power - I have Moon Pix and it totally bores me to tears, to the point of irritation - her voice reminds me of a watered down Beth Orton who is twice the singer and twice the songwriter. Makes me wonder if its her looks and the whole weirdo shtick that gets peoples attention.

guidedbyvoices · Post by **guidedbyvoices** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 4:56 pm

For me, it's the sound of her voice, very smoky, etc, so when she does have a good song, she can make it better. To me, there are a lot of same-sounding songs on Moon Pix, and only the ones that are any different stand out - Cross Bone Style has a nice groove, Color & The Kids, love that one.

But to me, even Cat Power haters would probably love the Covers Record as a nice rainy night by the fire kind of album. And have you heard the song The Greatest? It's free at the matador records site, I love that song too. And I'm a Beth ORton fan too, so I know where you're coming from.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 5:55 pm

Mike Boom wrote:... Cat Power ... reminds me of a watered down Beth Orton who is twice the singer and twice the songwriter.

Well I sort of agree with you there, although I think they're mining different veins. From the CP I've heard, it's all about the atmosphere and mood, and like, say Mazzy Star or Portishead, you like 'em or you don't. I love Beth Orton but I've heard more of a range of her stuff-- and maybe that range is bigger, I don't know! She certainly has an amazing voice. I saw her live about 8 years ago, touring around the release of Trailer Park. Amazing.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:57 pm

Mike Boom wrote:her voice reminds me of a watered down Beth Orton who is twice the singer and twice the songwriter

I was quite interested in hearing CP till I read this! Beth Orton sends me to sleep.

Chrille · Post by **Chrille** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 10:37 am

Although it's a compilation I still like to think of it as an regular album since only 2-3 tracks are already available on other albums and even then the versions on Substance are much better than the album versions (save for Sub-Culture).

Favourite tracks: The extended version of Perfect Kiss, In A Lonely Place and Lonesome Tonight.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 3:37 pm

Great choice. I can only listen to:

The combination of Dear God, Please Help Me, one of the most beautiful things Moz has ever recorded, and the classic single hooks of You Have Killed is almost too much excitement for one day. A few of the songs are more ignorable, but generally it's very good.

Mechanical Grace · Post by **Mechanical Grace** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 3:54 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:...A few of the songs are more ignorable

Yeah but I bet at least one of those turns out to be a sleeper fave, no? That's what made YATQ such a grower, I think. Do you think this one will go similarly?

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 7:37 pm

No doubt. I really didn't think that much of YATQ at first, now I love it all. A quality The Smiths nearly always had and that a lot of Moz has is the way each song is its own little world. It's a sense of completeness, intensity, originality and perfection. I guess all good songwriters have this, and it's one of the reasons very little of EC's output seems to me a waste of time, likewise my other faves Ron and Lloyd, but this is at its purest on Hatful of Hollow.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 1:28 am

Eventually the time would come to pull out... The Kundun Soundtrack. It's remarkably good especially the haunting Chinese Invasion.

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:21 am

Picked this up at Other Music in Manhattan this weekend, along with that Jens Lekman album pole recommended. Very different albums - this one sort of drunk and raucous pop and the Lekman more subdued and idiosyncratic (reminds me a bit of Stephin Merritt).

BTW, Other Music is a must for anyone record/CD shopping in New York. My favorite shop by a country mile - just across East 4th St. from the abysmal Tower Records (who in the world would shop there?)...

http://www.othermusic.com/