An Album per Week: An Experiment in Listening Habits

[miscorrections]

I'll blame anyone I feel like blaming. BRB TO LISTEN TO TWEEDY CROON HE'S TRYING TO BREAK MY HEART.

[TommyboyUNM]

Would you like to join me in the steam room as well?

Only if you let me rub your beard.

[pocket]

ill join in the wilco discussion. if you are listening to YHF you need to find the 2 disc original demo for it, the songs that were not included on the album and the original versions were much better. if you cant find it PM me and ill upload it.

[apostle2]

also, I'm joining in on this for all the albums that I'm not already familiar with. because it's important for people to know that.

[JelloPuddingChat]

I agree with YHF. That is pure win.

[JelloPuddingChat]

Also I find this experiment intriguing and personally hard to accomplish. This mainly being that so much music is already out and everyday you get a new release or leak that its hard to keep up let alone catch up.

[fiyahhh!]

I'm glad you're absorbing A Ghost Is Born. It's one of my top 10 favorite albums of all time by any artist. When listening to Spiders (Kidsmoke), try to envision Glen Kotche trying to kill his drum kit by beating it to death.

[TomAz]

SD - this thread is a really good thread idea.

Starting Wilco with AGIB is not such a good idea, though, in my opinion. I don't find it nearly as adventurous or creative or fun as Summerteeth or YHF. It's not bad, but it's not the greatness of those other two.

Also, for future reference, since you have asked for recommendations for classics, I suggest you seek out the greatest rock and roll album ever -- The Clash's London Calling.

[mountmccabe]

Even with my disagreement on the final choice, A Ghost Is Born is a great album. I will listen to it at least once this week in solidarity. Though I will be skipping "Less Than You Think" and I won't look down on you if you start skipping it after the 4th or 5th time, too.

[TommyboyUNM]

I just finished my first listen of A Ghost Is Born and I had to skip the last 7 minutes or so of "Less Than You Think." Hope you're not looking down on me right now.

[Alchemy]

These are some albums that I feel warrant a week of listening each:

Pulp - Different Class
Suede - Coming Up
Blur - Parklife
Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power
Supergrass - I Should Coco
Doves - Lost Souls
Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast
Oasis - Heathen Chemistry

[mountmccabe]

I just finished my first listen of A Ghost Is Born and I had to skip the last 7 minutes or so of "Less Than You Think." Hope you're not looking down on me right now.

You're going on ignore, buddy.

[fatbastard]

Wonder Boys just finished. TV will be turned off and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot will be played very loudly in 34 minutes.

[SoulDischarge]

So far a few spare parts of the album are sticking (hello Krautrock inspired jams!) but most of it hasn't really sunk in yet. And for the record, I'm listening to all of "Less Than You Think." They made a choice to put that song where they did and make it as long as they did, so it deserves full consideration in terms of flow. Whether I'll feel like it was a good choice or not we'll find out at the end of the week, but it's a cop out to skip it during the initial evaluation.

I'm familiar enough with London Calling for it to make the veto list, for future reference.

[thestripe]

So far a few spare parts of the album are sticking (hello Krautrock inspired jams!) but most of it hasn't really sunk in yet. And for the record, I'm listening to all of "Less Than You Think." They made a choice to put that song where they did and make it as long as they did, so it deserves full consideration in terms of flow. Whether I'll feel like it was a good choice or not we'll find out at the end of the week, but it's a cop out to skip it during the initial evaluation.

I'm familiar enough with London Calling for it to make the veto list, for future reference.

You went with the wrong album. YHF is the album I would recommend starting with. But for me Wilco is not a band that sticks with the first listen. You really have to take the time and absorb their albums (all of them). Wilco doesn't really sound like they did on YHF anymore so I understand the AGIB recomendation, but do yourself a favor and listen to YHF when this is all said and done. Also, Summerteeth is a GREAT album and needs to be on your queue at some point.

[bballarl]

Summerteeth is their best album. I think it does the best job of balancing who they are at the core (a great rock band) with their more experimental impulses. To me, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot seems too careful to warrant best album status, but it is a great one.

[seandlr]

im not a big wilco fan, but jeff tweedy doing "is that the thanks i get" (for loving you?) solo and live just blew me away when i first saw it

[TommyboyUNM]

These are some albums that I feel warrant a week of listening each:

Pulp - Different Class
Suede - Coming Up
Blur - Parklife
Super Furry Animals - Phantom Power
Supergrass - I Should Coco
Doves - Lost Souls
Badly Drawn Boy - The Hour of Bewilderbeast
Oasis - Heathen Chemistry

I'm barely listening to this Doves album for the first time today and it was released 9 years ago. It's been a LONG time since I thought an album was so good upon first listen. It's pretty fucking brilliant.

SD, I highly recommend this album after your Wilco immersion.

[Alchemy]

I'm barely listening to this Doves album for the first time today and it was released 9 years ago. It's been a LONG time since I thought an album was so good upon first listen. It's pretty fucking brilliant.

SD, I highly recommend this album after your Wilco immersion.

Indeed! I listened to this album around late 2004 or early 2005, and I was completely blown away. "Darker" and "Sea Song" are what introduced me to Doves courtesy of LAUNCHcast's Britpop station.

[chiapet]

Hrm.. I might have to give that Doves album another try.

I think this is a great idea, but have trouble actually doing it. I'm not sure I find time on a daily basis to listen to even one album, which is sad.

[rskapcat]

Whenever I download a new record, I try to listen to it a few times in order to absorb it (as opposed to just throwing it on my ipod and waiting for it to come up on shuffle). My ears prefer familiar stuff, so I know that I would skip the unfamiliar if I were shuffling.

[amyzzz]

I like everything I've heard by Doves.

[TomAz]

I'm familiar enough with London Calling for it to make the veto list, for future reference.

In that case, I suggest a Kenny G album for you.

[SoulDischarge]

And I suggest fucking yourself gently with a saxophone. VETOED.

[shotglass75]

Not sure what your tastes are but I say go soak your brain with these if you haven't already.

Local H - "12 Angry Months"
Cloud Cult - "Feel Good Ghosts" (you won't be able to stop listening to it)
The Secret Machines - "Ten Silver Drops"
Kasabian - "Kasabian"
Midlake - "Trials Of Van Occupanther"
Sea Wolf - "Leaves in The River"
Metallica - "Death Magnetic"

[rskapcat]

Blur - Parklife

Such a great record. "Badhead" is probably my favorite song, but I can listen to Parklife backwards & forwards without skipping anything.

[fatbastard]

I'm going to cheat this week and ask for a Wilco album because I had familiarizing myself with them in mind when I came up with this, but starting next week, I'll leave it wide open for anything.

Hey SoulDischarge.

I'm very much the same as you. Attempting to listen to 1 CD a week sounds like a reasonable task. I have 2 Wilco CDs and have never listened to either one. I listened to one of them this morning. Here's my feedback for what it's worth. I would be interested in hearing your comments on this CD if you do choose to listen to it.



I’m embarrassed to say that I have owned Yankee Hotel Foxtrot for a while and about to listen to it for the first time. It’s Sunday morning and there are stacks of paper to read: Spin articles, New York Times, LA Times, Mikal Gilmore, and all kinds of other crap. Half my screen has Windows Media open and the other has Word open. Here’s my attempt to type something about each song while reading.

I am trying to break your heart-The lead singer, Jeff, has one of those cool talking/singing voices. Though the lyrics don’t immediately resonate in my head, the combination of his voice, the piano strikes, and the bass were good enough to inspire me to start documenting in this format.

Kamara-Great song. If the first song was a doorbell to a door, then the second song was a walk into a foyer with a peek into the living room. I like very much when bands put an underlying link to each song. Voice tone in this song similar to Beck and lyrics remind me of Michael Stripe.

Radio Cure-Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum. Not an instant love but it reminds me of one of those Ryan Adams dark songs in between the melancholy and heart filled songs. The last minute ties everything nicely.

War on war-Great sounding song minus the wa wa petal sound. Do I hear a…what are those things called that has a flute with a keyboard on them? I enjoy the piano and guitar playing on this song. My hips are shaking. I just pulled a load of whites out of the dryer and am wiggling my hips to this one.

Jesus, Etc.-Just a song that does not stand out with the exception of the slide guitar, banjo or chello?, and violin. This is my first listen so lyrics usually do not kick in for me until after 5 or more listens. I am more of a sound guy.

Ashes of American Flags-A change in Jeff’s voice in this song. I would have believed someone telling me that this was on a Gomez b-side. Wait a minute…what the fuck was that ending? Hang on. I’m playing the end again. Ok, that last 50 seconds or so was quite nice. I’ll have to listen to the song again on another day to get the real feel of that one.

Heavy metal drummer- If a band could only be associated with one song, this should be it for them. I enjoyed the pace and intermingling of the instruments on this one. This is the first song that makes me want to listen and perhaps memorize the lyrics. Very fun and very dreamy. I’m replaying this one again because it brought a smile to my face for some reason.

I’m the man who loves you-The song initially does not work with the vocals then it does and vice versa with the music. Kind of like hearing two cars trying to up shift then downshift at the same time. It starts coming together at halfway. Well done. This is my second favorite song so far.

Pot kettle black-Ok, now this CD is really starting to come together quite nicely. I’ve heard the different angles that this band has to put out there. I’ve gotten a protein, a root vegetable and a starch. I’m hoping the last 2 songs are like port and cheese.

Poor places-Again with the wind machine-day in the life ending. I’m playing again to understand. Wait. I’m going back to the last 20 seconds of pot kettle black to do it right. Ok. The transition was from one song to the next was more transparent than what originally sounded like a clash of styles. Pretty song, especially at the 3:35 mark. Wait wait…here we go again with the feedback. This one was more more dreamy like Brian Eno’s here come the warm jets.

Reservations- Our birds are the ultimate music snobs. If they start chirping to a song, I really start listening. They are chirping to this last song. The stop and change at the 4 minute mark has me anticipating what’s coming next. Birds are still chirping. Ahhh…. That was enjoyable.

That was good CD. I initially started picking up CDs based on the book 1,000 CDs to hear before you die and this one was on it. The first listen worked perfectly with a Sunday morning on the couch.

[Astrid]

im shocked and alarmed that AGIB was selected over YHF.

yankee hotel foxtrot....that album changed my life.

listen to i am trying to break your heart coming down off of acid and you wont need a whole week. promise.

[Pixiessp]

Well hell. I do really like AGIB. Will give Yankee Hotel Foxtrot another spin though.

[victhebrick21]

Some ones that I loved/had never heard anything by the band before/had never heard anything beyond a single song by that band are:

TV On the Radio - Dear Science
Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power
Husker Du - Zen Arcade
Run-DMC - Raising Hell
Jimi Hendrix - Band of Gypsys
The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
The Mae Shi - Hlllyh
My Bloody Valentine - Loveless
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Bjork - Post
Fela Kuti - Expensive Shit
Pearl Jam - Ten
Nas - Illmatic


And many, many others. I love getting suggestions (even started a similar thread on it) so if anyone wants to add something to the list, just bump my thread or pm me or whatever. It's basically guaranteed that I listen to whatever you suggest.

Bjork-Homogenic is much better than Post and so is Vespertine. At least for me.

If you liked Illmatic than you'll probally enjoy the Untitled album which is a bit more political.