PRE-X-MAS BUY
In addition to the big second big Tower shopping spree, I got a few more CDs and DVDs. This really needs to stop though. I've got Christmas prezzies to buy.
Regular buys:
The Long Blondes Weekend Without Makeup CD Single
The Long Blondes Giddy Stratospheres 12" Single
The Long Blondes Someone to Drive You Home CD (see below)
This was probably the fastest "try before you buy" turnaround. I bought the Weekend Without Makeup single on Sunday, liked what I heard, downloaded the album the same night, like what I heard and went out and bought the CD. I actually had planned on getting something from The Long Blondes for a while because the single had been produced by Steve Mackey from Pulp. I then read descriptions of their music saying they were sort of like Pulp but with a female lead singer so that appealed to me. As thenextlife mentioned, Kate Jackson's voice has pretty damn sexy. And, to me, she does sound a little like Justine Frischmann of Elastica.
I also bought they're sole US single, Giddy Stratospheres, which is an e.p. of their early UK singles. It was put out by a small indie label in New York. Limited to 500 copies, apparently. Yowza.
Pixies loudQUIETloud: A Film About... DVD
Okay, seriously, this is truly the last Pixies DVD I buy. No really.
Actually, this was a pretty good doc. It was interesting to see how the band interacted during the first reunion tour. I didn't know that Kim Deal had gone into rehab. I thought it was her sister, Kelley, that had the drug problems. There's a really cool deleted scene where Kim and Black Francis go to Sigur Ros' recording studio in Iceland and Orri from SR shows them a rough mix of their song Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do. Overall, I'd recommend watching this if you're a Pixies band and know a little bit about their history (when they first broke up, all the animosity, etc.)
Movie This is Spinal Tap DVD
I bought this as a replacement. It would seem that somewhere along the line during my move out of my parents' house, my first copy of this DVD got cracked. No idea what happened but I definitely could not NOT have a copy of this movie in my possession so a new one was ordered.
The Tower stuff:
¡Forward Russia! Give Me a Wall CD
I had a passing interest in ¡Forward Russia! but was kinda sorta turned off by them because they sounded a little bit like Crap Your Pants, Say Yuck. But after listening to album a handful of times, I think they are a pretty decent band. The lead singer's voice is kind of annoying (like Brian Molko) but the music if good enough to overshadow the annoyance.
Mystery Jets Making Dens CD/DVD
Another band that I had been hearing good things about but never bothered to check out. They had connections with The Futureheads (same record label, they've done F'Heads remixes). I definitely like Mystery Jets more than Field Music. It's more rocking.
Various Artists Dance to the Radio: What We All Want CD
This is a comp of some of the newer bands from the UK. I really bought it for three bands: Komakino, ¡Forward Russia!, and Kubichek but some of the other bands are pretty good as well. I'll have to check some of them out at a later date.
McFly Wonderland CD
3 McFly albums down. One more to go. I was waiting to buy this one from Tower. It was priced at the utterly ridiculous price of $33.99. Only because it was an import CD and the limited edition version. So I waited until the discounts were 70% off and got it for a tenner. Not bad considering a new regular version of the album is $12 on Amazon. It's essentially the same album as Just My Luck but with a couple of songs that were omitted from that US release.
Various Artists (John Peel Tribute) Ever Fallen in Love With Someone CD Single
I always hesitated to buy this because I liked the original so much. But this "all-star" cover version is really good. Although Roger Daltrey's vocal are kind of lame. But the song still rocks.
The Only Ones Why Don't You Kill Yourself? CD (x2)
I'd always heard about The Only Ones. Tons of bands cite them as an influence. I heard Another Girl Another Planet at Amoeba once and I really liked it. This CD pretty much has all everything they've done--their 3 albums, b-sides and a few outtakes. Some of it good. Some of it isn't. The faster paced power pop songs dated better than the slower rocky ones. Good stuff though.
Mojave 3 Puzzles Like You CD
I bought this because I thought I'd give M3 another chance. I didn't like their first album and I didn't follow them afterwards. I took a listen to this album and I just couldn't get into it. I guess I'm just too big of a Slowdive fan and that's the only band I can listen to Neil and Rachel in. So off to the trade in bin with this one.
Luna Best of Luna CD
I tried to get into Galaxie 500 when I was going through my initial shoegazer phase but their music didn't impress me. I decided to give Luna a chance though. I haven't listened to this one just yet though...
INXS Switch DUALDISC
Okay, yes, it's post-Michael Hutchence INXS. AND it's with the guy that won Rock Idol, JD Wentworth or whatever. But the fact of the matter is, INXS is still a good rock band. I've been an INXS fan since Listen Like Thieves. They're one of the few bands from my childhood that I'm still into. This is a pretty strong comeback album and Pretty Vegas is a great song.
The Soundtrack of Our Lives A Present from the Past CD (x2)
Another bargain for $5. This collects all of TSOOL's non album singles and b-sides. And it pretty much has all the TSOOL songs that I really like including Galaxy Grammophone, Avenger Hill Street Blues, and Dow Jones Syndrome. Now I can trade in all my old TSOOL singles and keep this.
Tortoise and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy The Brave and The Bold CD
I only had a chance to listen to a couple of songs from this pretty collaboration between Tortoise and Will Oldham. The cover of Elton John's Daniel is pretty cool though.
The United States of America The United States of America CD
After having this on vinyl for years, I now have the CD from the band that inspired Portishead. Great psych rock album.
Robbie Williams Intensive Care CD/DVD
I actually bought this CD earlier this year but couldn't resist getting the limited CD/DVD version. So in the trade bin goes my old copy.
Pop Will Eat Itself PWEI Product CD (x2)
I liked a few Poppies songs back in the day. Def.Con.One, There is No Love Between Us Anymore, RSVP, Ich Bich Ein Auslander, etc. All the hits are here. And for $5, how can you argue?
The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster The Royal Society CD
I have the first 80sMBD album and liked a handful of songs on it. I like some of the singles of this album as well so I picked it up. This band is a pretty weird band though. They're not straigtforward rock. They kind of remind me of a cross between the Stooges and Beefheart. Definitely not an accessible type of rock.
More Tower stuff (see above):
Goldie Lookin' Chain Half Man Half Machine/Self Suicide Double A-side CD Single
Goldie Lookin' Chain Your Mother's Got a Penis CD Single
Couldn't resist getting these two GLC singles for 50 cents a piece. The former has a clean version of Half Man Half Machine that I can listen to at work while the latter has a non-album b-side.
Regular buys:
The Long Blondes Weekend Without Makeup CD Single
The Long Blondes Giddy Stratospheres 12" Single
The Long Blondes Someone to Drive You Home CD (see below)
This was probably the fastest "try before you buy" turnaround. I bought the Weekend Without Makeup single on Sunday, liked what I heard, downloaded the album the same night, like what I heard and went out and bought the CD. I actually had planned on getting something from The Long Blondes for a while because the single had been produced by Steve Mackey from Pulp. I then read descriptions of their music saying they were sort of like Pulp but with a female lead singer so that appealed to me. As thenextlife mentioned, Kate Jackson's voice has pretty damn sexy. And, to me, she does sound a little like Justine Frischmann of Elastica.
I also bought they're sole US single, Giddy Stratospheres, which is an e.p. of their early UK singles. It was put out by a small indie label in New York. Limited to 500 copies, apparently. Yowza.
Pixies loudQUIETloud: A Film About... DVD
Okay, seriously, this is truly the last Pixies DVD I buy. No really.
Actually, this was a pretty good doc. It was interesting to see how the band interacted during the first reunion tour. I didn't know that Kim Deal had gone into rehab. I thought it was her sister, Kelley, that had the drug problems. There's a really cool deleted scene where Kim and Black Francis go to Sigur Ros' recording studio in Iceland and Orri from SR shows them a rough mix of their song Ba Ba Ti Ki Di Do. Overall, I'd recommend watching this if you're a Pixies band and know a little bit about their history (when they first broke up, all the animosity, etc.)
Movie This is Spinal Tap DVD
I bought this as a replacement. It would seem that somewhere along the line during my move out of my parents' house, my first copy of this DVD got cracked. No idea what happened but I definitely could not NOT have a copy of this movie in my possession so a new one was ordered.
The Tower stuff:
¡Forward Russia! Give Me a Wall CD
I had a passing interest in ¡Forward Russia! but was kinda sorta turned off by them because they sounded a little bit like Crap Your Pants, Say Yuck. But after listening to album a handful of times, I think they are a pretty decent band. The lead singer's voice is kind of annoying (like Brian Molko) but the music if good enough to overshadow the annoyance.
Mystery Jets Making Dens CD/DVD
Another band that I had been hearing good things about but never bothered to check out. They had connections with The Futureheads (same record label, they've done F'Heads remixes). I definitely like Mystery Jets more than Field Music. It's more rocking.
Various Artists Dance to the Radio: What We All Want CD
This is a comp of some of the newer bands from the UK. I really bought it for three bands: Komakino, ¡Forward Russia!, and Kubichek but some of the other bands are pretty good as well. I'll have to check some of them out at a later date.
McFly Wonderland CD
3 McFly albums down. One more to go. I was waiting to buy this one from Tower. It was priced at the utterly ridiculous price of $33.99. Only because it was an import CD and the limited edition version. So I waited until the discounts were 70% off and got it for a tenner. Not bad considering a new regular version of the album is $12 on Amazon. It's essentially the same album as Just My Luck but with a couple of songs that were omitted from that US release.
Various Artists (John Peel Tribute) Ever Fallen in Love With Someone CD Single
I always hesitated to buy this because I liked the original so much. But this "all-star" cover version is really good. Although Roger Daltrey's vocal are kind of lame. But the song still rocks.
The Only Ones Why Don't You Kill Yourself? CD (x2)
I'd always heard about The Only Ones. Tons of bands cite them as an influence. I heard Another Girl Another Planet at Amoeba once and I really liked it. This CD pretty much has all everything they've done--their 3 albums, b-sides and a few outtakes. Some of it good. Some of it isn't. The faster paced power pop songs dated better than the slower rocky ones. Good stuff though.
Mojave 3 Puzzles Like You CD
I bought this because I thought I'd give M3 another chance. I didn't like their first album and I didn't follow them afterwards. I took a listen to this album and I just couldn't get into it. I guess I'm just too big of a Slowdive fan and that's the only band I can listen to Neil and Rachel in. So off to the trade in bin with this one.
Luna Best of Luna CD
I tried to get into Galaxie 500 when I was going through my initial shoegazer phase but their music didn't impress me. I decided to give Luna a chance though. I haven't listened to this one just yet though...
INXS Switch DUALDISC
Okay, yes, it's post-Michael Hutchence INXS. AND it's with the guy that won Rock Idol, JD Wentworth or whatever. But the fact of the matter is, INXS is still a good rock band. I've been an INXS fan since Listen Like Thieves. They're one of the few bands from my childhood that I'm still into. This is a pretty strong comeback album and Pretty Vegas is a great song.
The Soundtrack of Our Lives A Present from the Past CD (x2)
Another bargain for $5. This collects all of TSOOL's non album singles and b-sides. And it pretty much has all the TSOOL songs that I really like including Galaxy Grammophone, Avenger Hill Street Blues, and Dow Jones Syndrome. Now I can trade in all my old TSOOL singles and keep this.
Tortoise and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy The Brave and The Bold CD
I only had a chance to listen to a couple of songs from this pretty collaboration between Tortoise and Will Oldham. The cover of Elton John's Daniel is pretty cool though.
The United States of America The United States of America CD
After having this on vinyl for years, I now have the CD from the band that inspired Portishead. Great psych rock album.
Robbie Williams Intensive Care CD/DVD
I actually bought this CD earlier this year but couldn't resist getting the limited CD/DVD version. So in the trade bin goes my old copy.
Pop Will Eat Itself PWEI Product CD (x2)
I liked a few Poppies songs back in the day. Def.Con.One, There is No Love Between Us Anymore, RSVP, Ich Bich Ein Auslander, etc. All the hits are here. And for $5, how can you argue?
The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster The Royal Society CD
I have the first 80sMBD album and liked a handful of songs on it. I like some of the singles of this album as well so I picked it up. This band is a pretty weird band though. They're not straigtforward rock. They kind of remind me of a cross between the Stooges and Beefheart. Definitely not an accessible type of rock.
More Tower stuff (see above):
Goldie Lookin' Chain Half Man Half Machine/Self Suicide Double A-side CD Single
Goldie Lookin' Chain Your Mother's Got a Penis CD Single
Couldn't resist getting these two GLC singles for 50 cents a piece. The former has a clean version of Half Man Half Machine that I can listen to at work while the latter has a non-album b-side.