The Scrabbled: Making Fun of Each Other since '99

Perhaps the most notable thing about Bad As Me is simply that it’s any good at all. For all intents and purposes, this album should suck. Waits is a 61 year old songwriter who relies heavily on well-worn formulas with twenty-three previous albums under his belt. If rock history has taught us anything, it’s that he should be well into his stagnant-and-trying-to-recapture-what-made-him-popular phase, churning out shitty albums that only Rolling Stone magazine is clueless enough to give a shit about. But when the albums that made you popular are collections of expertly crafted songs that sound timeless and ancient, getting old can only help.

When it comes down to it, it’s another great Tom Waits album in a long line of great Tom Waits albums. If you like his stuff, you’ll love Bad As Me. And while it’s perhaps it’s his most accessible, rock-and-rolly album in a while, if you’re one of those stupid jerks who doesn’t like him cause of his voice or or cause he’s weird, then this album isn’t going to change your mind. And also I hate you. Either way, if you want to listen, you know where to find it.

My new favorite record of the week/month/year/whoknows.

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The album has leaked, in case you haven’t already gotten it. While it’s been described by some (sam’s a huge jerk) as “hipster muzak,” I’m totally obsessed with it and can’t stop listening. Fun to work to, fun to drive to, fun to ride my bike to, fun to drum along to.

I was worried that the loss of their vocalist, Tyondai Braxton, might ruin their sound, but it seems to have only solidified it. It makes me wonder exactly what Tyondai brought to the picture. Guest vocalists Eye (from the Boredoms), Gary Numan, the chick from Blonde Redhead, and some spanish guy do a fine job filling in when needed (and, it seems, aren’t needed more often then not.

Listen to the single here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAbc5yhbBFQ or grab the whole album you-know-where.

Remember Big Country? That band who had a hit song of the same name? Ok, well take Big Country and replace half their band with The Boredoms. Or maybe you don’t remember Big Country and you’ve never heard of The Boredoms. Just take a triumphant moment from a classic John Hughes movie. Now make the drums bigger, the keyboard squelchier, and essentially turn the volume up. That’s Parts & Labor’s Contant Future. And there’s really not a skippable song on it. Definitely worth a listen.

Listen to the first track on YouTube or grab the whole album you-know-where.

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Tonight was a catch-up-on-music night. Run through all the blogs, check some relevant labels, read through reddit’s listentothis and music subreddits, download anything that sounds interesting. And oh my god did I find something interesting.

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Emeralds is a noise band. A gorgeous noise band. And I don’t mean to say that the dudes in the band are particularly attractive, though I’m sure they’re all quite fetching in their own way. No, Emeralds creates beautifully noisy electronic soundscapes that are just the best goddam thing in the world to sit and relax, work, read, or flat-out lay the floor with a pair of headphones and listen to.

(Ok, “the best” is probably a bit much, but it’s really good stuff.)

So I’m at a wedding last weekend and talking to a friend and she’s talking about this once-in-a-lifetime show she saw after The Dirty Projectors and Bjork expressed some sorta mutual admiration. So Longstreth wrote seven songs specifically as a collaboration between her and them and they played said songs in a library charity show thing in new york and that was that. My friend, Missy, mentioned that they’d promised a release, but it had been months and months and no news.

Three days later, they announce they’re releasing a CD. Which I got. And it’s pretty amazing. Mostly vocal, with very sparse instrumentation. Some almost sound like exercises in vocal composition, but I sorta dig it for that. Definitely worth checking out. You know where to look.

Read more for a few short reviews on some albums I’ve been listening to. What have you guys been into?

I’m tired and it’s late. So this is not going to be where you expect it to be.

My friend mentioned this band months ago and said, “I can’t believe I had to tell you about this band.” I never acted on it. Until just now. There’s some reeaal funky sax going on in the intro. Though the next tracks become more band-like, I’m definitely interested in finishing this.

This band is like Arcade Fire, as in, they both have band names that somehow aptly (and strangely) describe the music.

Hmm… and now it’s slow, sweeping, and synthy.

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Has leaked! I’m hearing a lot of “best thing they’ve done since Around the Fur.” I’m sort of in doubt about that, but I’m always interested in what these guys are up to. Though some of you might be as well. Note the topics.

Just grabbed this the other day. I’m curious to see what you guys think of it, especially the pre-existing liars fans (and I know there are at least a couple of you). On my first listen through, I noticed a few cool moments, but on the whole, it didn’t really grab me. Wondering if this was anyone else’s experience or if you guys are loving it.

Note the topics.

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Check these things out because you will like them. Behold links inside!

Hey I FTP’d my band’s(Tachyon Radio) EPfor your listening pleasure, or not.

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Ten sleepy, wistful tunes about suburban Jersey summers. I can’t stop listening to it. As soon as the last track is over, I start it right back up again. Grab it and put it on tonight.

I haven’t like a Flaming Lips album since the Soft Bulletin. Both Yoshimi and At War with the Mystics were unbelievably grating; the melodies too saccharine, the production too over the top and compressed. I love a band that sounds like they’re just teetering on the edge of chaos and noise, but the Flaming Lips seem to have lost their balance several times now. Mostly, they trigger my gag reflex and they give me a headache.

So imagine my surprise when I found myself loving almost every single track on their new album, The Embryonic.

I’ve dug Converge for their past few albums, but aside from the incredible and semi-out-of-character Phoenix in Flight, nothing really stood out to me as being all that exceptional. They were just a pretty good technical metal/hardcore-y kind of band that made a few mixes. But I kept hearing about their new album, Axe to Fall, and finally got around to picking it up over the weekend and OH MY GOD. No exaggeration, my jaw dropped 15 seconds into the first track. Completely blown away. And it just kept getting better and better. Goosebumps and crazy knee shaking and losing it all by myself in my office.

So if you’re even remotely a fan of fast, technical, aggressive music, by all means, grab this one.

I’m still finding a few songs. Great turnout, though. I closed up with something a little weird, since my number one choice was mentioned by Travis (and technically Christina); I blame Hutch for reminding me about video game music.

Scrabbled Comp #2: Outta This World

Best submission, in my opinion, is Mandy’s “Laika” for mere reference power. I haven’t even heard the song yet. I wish I thought of it first for Arcade Fire’s “Neighborhood #2 (Laika)”.

I wish I was at home and I could just copy/paste the conversation from my chat log, but when I first put on this album, I had a conversation with Sammy that pretty much started “Ever put on an album for the first time and know within the first five seconds that you’re going to like it a lot?” Well, maybe it wasn’t the first five seconds cause track one takes at least thirty to kick in, but I was pretty sure that if the first song was this good and sounded this good, I was going to like everything that was to come. And I did!

So that music site that no one talks about is doing a list for the aughts (2000-2009) of the top 200 albums.

Tomorrow they list the top 20. I thought we’d have a little predicting fun tonight. Actually, I could probably name everything Pitchfork will select. These are more selections that I would like to see.