Comment on May 15th, 2007.
That Sigur Ros album is such a disappointment when held up against the hype. The first long track ("Svefn G Englar" I think it's called) is magnificent, but the rest is just dull. I like the concept behind all of it, but they don't really do anything that Magma didn't already do better 30 years ago.
Comment on May 15th, 2007.
Late comment here....
I think to really give the Sigur Rós a fair chance, you need to listen to it on a real stereo. It needs open spaces. (Which is not to say that I don't think the record is wildly overrated; I haven't listened to it in ages.)
I agree with you that the Mos Def record is excellent.
I have never been able to understand what people are so excited about in the Flaming Lips.
Comment on May 15th, 2007.
I now have listened to The Soft Bulletin enough to feel like I've absorbed it, and it's a meh album. I'm not sorry I have it, but it doesn't come close to hitting me dead center. At War with the Mystics, though, I am liking a lot.
I have very limited opportunity to crank up the music at home, so Sigur Ros isn't likely to get a fair try until we move. I don't have a good record of liking stuff that has to be appreciated for the sound more than the structure, though.
Comment on May 16th, 2007.
Totally feel you on having a limited opportunity to crank up the music at home.
On sound v. structure... for me, sound always comes first. Which is to say only that if the sound is off-putting in some way, it is difficult for me to be able to even notice the structure. If I have trouble with the production (and there is no set rule on what the trouble might be), or the sound of a singer's voice, that is a major barrier to enjoyment, no matter how good the "songs" may be. Sometimes I certainly can get past that, but it takes time, time I don't always have (or give).
Comment on May 18th, 2007.
I listened to "The Soft Bulletin" again recently myself. I don't like it as much as I did when I first heard it in 2002, but I do think the songs on an individual basis hold up better than the ones on "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots." I like a lot of what I've heard from "At War With the Mystics," too. ("Clouds Taste Metallic," however, is a bit dull. And that's far as I've gotten into the Lips' back catalog.)
Comment on May 18th, 2007.
Oh yeah, that Mos Def album is great. I just heard it for the first time last year. From what I've read, it's all been downhill from there, but I think Mos Def has only made two albums since '99.
Comment on May 18th, 2007.
Welcome.
Yeah, I've been meaning to check out the second Mos Def album, but the mixed reception it got has pushed it down the list a bit for me.
Comment on May 21st, 2007.
Lips..
The Soft Bulletin was the first F'Lips album i ever bought. i loved it, for a while, then forgot about it. Yoshimi was OK, but it sounded too much like the previous record (all slick and electronic, retro-futuristic). the i don't like the new one at all. but, i've gone back to their earlier stuff, which i missed when it was new, and i love it - Transmissions and Clouds, especially. the songwriting's not all that different, just the presentation - i just like their feedback and distortion stuff better than their electronics and strings stuff.
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