Christmas Present (In the Middle of May)
Here is the list of albums I have downloaded since the turn of the year. Legally, no less:
Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion
Big Pink - A Brief History of Love
Blur - Thinktank
Bombay Bicycle Club - I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose
Clientele - God Save the Clientele
Deerhunter - Microcastle
Deerhunter - Weird Era Cont
Delphic - Acolyte
dEus - Worst Case Scenario
Eels - End Times
Eels - Hombre Lobo
Elbow - The Seldom Seen Kid
Ellie Goulding - Lights
Empire of the Sun - Walking on a Dream
Foals - Antidotes
Flaming Lips - Embryonic
Flotation Toy Warning - Bluffer’s Guide to the Flight Deck
Florence and the Machine - Lungs
Gary Numan - Here in my Car: The Best Of
Glasvegas - Glasvegas
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven
Good, The Bad and the Queen - The Good, The Bad and the Queen
Hot Chip - One Life Stand
Johhny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around
Kings of Convenience - Versus
Kings of Leon - Only by the Night
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Leonard Cohen - Greatest Hits
Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium
Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Mogwai - Mr. Beast
Mogwai - Ten Rapid
Mumford & Sons - Sigh No More
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus, Dig!!!
NME The Album 2009
Richard Hawley - Truelove’s Gutter
Seasick Steve - I Started Out With Nothin and I Still Have Most of it Left
Sigur Rós - Takk
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust
Soundgarden - Superunknown
Spiritualized - Ladies and Gentleman We Are Floating in Space
Super Furry Animals - Rings Around the World
Temper Trap - Conditions
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures
Thom Yorke - Eraser
Tindersticks - Waiting For the Moon
Vampire Weekend - Contra
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg
Wolfmother - Wolfmother
And do you know how many of them are truly fantastic, start to finish? The list is short:
Flotation Toy Warning - Bluffer’s Guide to the Flight Deck ((although I believe I may have mentioned liking this album from time-to-time in the past). In fact, I only downloaded it because I wanted a digital copy and was too lazy to rip it from the source CD.)
Glasvegas - Glasvegas (One of the few ‘all new’ albums I downloaded after hearing about through word-of-mouth and loved. It helps that the track ‘Stabbed’ is set to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, a piece of music that holds a special place in my heart. I’ve mentioned that before, right? [Checks archives]. I haven’t! Mental note to reserve that one for my next writer’s block moment…)
Godspeed You Black Emperor - Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven (Wall of sound music, that builds up to a skull-crushing crescendo. Again, I’ve mentioned this album before.)
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular (And now I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. Even though this one fades badly towards the end.)
Mogwai - Mr. Beast (Although I’d heard the album before, as well as seeing them live (at the Royal Albert Hall, no less), so this one was a fairly safe choice for download.)
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend (Short and snappy. And pithy. I like pithy.)
But that’s it. Don’t get me wrong - the rest of the albums have their moments. The first track on the Hot Chip album is genius, although the overall quality takes a nosedive once it’s finished. The Johhny Cash album is hit and miss… his cover of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ is interminable. I don’t like Gary Numan’s Best Of as much as I thought I would. Mumford & Sons has some good singles, but the album drags on the filler. Ditto Florence and the Machine. Singles aside, I’m becoming sorely tempted to write off Richard Hawley and The Tindersticks as one-trick ponies. Biggest disappointment had to be the dEus album… ‘Hotel Lounge’ will be played at my funeral (in between the repeated plays of Procul Harum, and probably overshadowed by the spooky LED’s), but the rest is eminently forgettable.
Some of the albums need to have more of my time devoted to them - Delphic, Sigur Rós, Animal Collective, Mars Volta and Deerhunter, I’m looking at you. Others should be cast into the deepest darkest pit of hades and never mentioned again. That’s right, Ellie Goulding.
So… life lessons learned from my six month musical odyssey? I think I had some kind of point to make at the start of writing this article, otherwise it’s just saying ‘look at me, look at what I downloaded and how cool I am’. Probably the point was that most latter day albums have a couple of stand-out tracks and the rest is filler. But then, I seem to remember from my days of avid music consumption that this has always been the case. So, screw it. LOOK AT ME EVERYONE. LOOK AT HOW COOL I AM. I LISTEN TO DELPHIC AND EVERYTHINK LOL!!!1!
May 17th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Looking at the list of albums I actually have and listened to several times the only ones I’d disagree with you on is Leonard Cohen’s greatest hits. Though I’d be very surprised if I thought Glasvegas’ album was that great as even with some of the singles I’m a bit nonplussed about.
I will say that there are very few albums that are fantastic start to finish and there are plenty of good ones in the list you’ve got. Thom Yorke’s one and The Good the bad and the Queen were both good for me without being fantastic start to finish.
By the way which of the sigur ros albums needed ‘more work on’ as you’ve got two on your list?
Overall I’d say your little adventure into free music is further proof to me of the damaging effects on music that MP3 players have. In that it people will buy individual songs or only listen to a few placing more emphasise on musicians to make a few really great songs on an album and leave a lot of chaf amongst the wheat for an album. This will then stop production on albums that act amazingly well as a single body of work whereas the songs on their own don’t work as well. My best examples of this is the Nine Inch Nails remix album Rusty Nails or American Caesar by Iggy Pop. Both sublime as a whole but not so great seperated out.
May 17th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Oh and P.S. you should of downloaded The Ace of Spades album by Motorhead for an album that’s great all the way through. Ace of Spades, (We are) the road crew and jail bait are the stand out tracks but it’s classic Head at it’s best.
May 17th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
I agree wholeheartedly with the final paragraph in your first post.
I disagree wholeheartedly with the entirety of your second post. ‘Classic Head at it’s best’ is preferable to being slowly skinned with a blunt knife, but it’s borderline.
I know Takk fairly well, so it’s the other album that needs more listening.
May 17th, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Oh come on. Surely this song floats your boat at least?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBaYtcD1NEI
May 18th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Clicking that link will either be a Rickrolling attempt or a Motorhead song… either way I lose.
May 18th, 2010 at 2:44 pm
It’s for ‘Jack the Ripper’ by Motorhead.