MUSIC THREAD

Wilco in Durham, two weeks from today. YA FEEL ME?!!!

 

So back to DBT. Anyone got the new album and how must-get worthy is it?

 

I have it. After four or five listens, I'm fairly comfortable ranking it below everything they've done since Southern Rock Opera. It's not that it's terrible -- it's just that there's only one or two of the blow-your-mind tracks you're used to hearing four or five of on every other record.

That being said, I should point out I've always been a much bigger fan of Mike Cooley and Jason Isbell than of Patterson Hood, and there's lots of Patterson on this record. He's a workmanlike songwriter and an enthusiastic frontman, but almost all of my favorite DBT songs are either Cooley or Isbell material.

And as usual, Cooley is responsible for the best lines on the new album:

"The pretty girls from the smallest towns/get remembered like storms and droughts that old men talk about for years to come.
I guess that's why they give us names/So a few old men can say they saw us rain when we were young."

 

Been listening to it for months. I have most of the clips on my desktop. If you want them, MM, let me know. It's on par with Brighter Than Creation's Dark and better than A Blessing and a Curse. Per the previous post, I like the songwriting of Cooley and Isbell better, but Patterson's stuff is very good on this record. In fact, he saves it. Cooley's stuff is lacking, IMO, and Shonna's stuff is boring as usual. The best songs are Birthday Boy (Cooley), Drag the Lake Charlie (Hood), The Wig He Made Her Wear (Hood), This Fuckin' Job (Hood) and Fourth Night of my Drinking (Hood). The Flying Wallendas (Hood) isn't that great on the album, but it's an awesome song live. Eyes Like Glue and Get Downtown (both Cooley) are possible growers.

 

Now for something BYH and Bubbler will surely hate: An indie pop group (The Bird and the Bee) releasing an album of Hall & Oates covers.

Here's "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" ...

(I don't think it's half bad. Then again, I was in diapers when H & O hit their peak, so the emotional attachment just isn't there)

 

This is pretty much exactly how I feel. When ever they have a new album out, I find myself appreciating it more if I make a CD and put it in my car for a few weeks or months just forcing myself to listen to the album as a concept, and there are definitely aspects I like and ones I have to force myself to listen to, no matter how much I want to skip them. Shonna's stuff will always be in the skip category, and I happen to like her songs on this record more than the ones on the previous record.

Birthday Boy is a really good song with really good imagery. I like Sante Fe, Drag the Lake, This Fucking Job. I understand that the band probably couldn't exist without Patterson because he makes things work. He's the brains behind the operation, and he has the soul of a true front man, but this album is a little Patterson heavy. That's fine, I just prefer Cooley (and Isbell, sniff) for the most part. I'm still soaking in The Fine Print a little as well, so the fact that this album wasn't as good as the previous three didn't break my heart. I've had two truckers albums come out in the last six months, and I'll be seeing them live in a month or so. Even with Jason gone, it's still a good time to be a Truckers fan.

But as Dedo pointed out, that line in Birthday Boy is classic Cooley. Just beautiful.

 

I've heard rumors of a Cooley solo album (not a dragon headed straight for Muscle Shoals). I'd love to see that. I think he could make a country record that would make Waylon proud. Where you seeing DBT, DD?

 

It's not an album, but saw Robert Cray's show tonight. Tremendous show, and free. Good combination. Glad I went.

Also, I came to the conclusion after this and a Smokin Joe Kubek/Bnois King show that I DON'T hate guitars. I only hate rock guitars.

 

I dig a few of the Bird and the Bee's own songs. But that sounded . . . perfunctory.

 

If Patterson Hood was an NBA point guard, he'd be Mark Jackson. If he was a starting pitcher, he'd be David Wells. If he was an NFL quarterback, he'd be Jake Delhomme.

There's nothing wrong any of those guys. All have unquestioned heart, a long history of reliability, and the capacity for occasional moments of brilliance. But you pretty much know what you're going to get from them every night. And what they do best is make things possible for Reggie Miller, or Mariano Rivera, or Steve Smith, or Mike Cooley.

Cooley is Barry Sanders -- eternally leaving us wanting more, and yet perfectly content just to watch from the sidelines.

 

Really like the new Ted Leo album and Broken bells album.

Got a few songs from Frightened Rabbit that I like as well. Waiting for the New Pornographers album in May.

 

Lollapalooza lineup is set. I'm pumped about it.

http://2010.lollapalooza.com/

I'll gladly drop $215 for a 3-day pass.