Will 2004 be a great year for music?

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:21 am

So far it has, and apparently Beck, Elliott Smith, Elvis Costello, Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, and U2 all have new albums coming out in the next few months. Yay!

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:30 am

Beck has a lot to make up for. Let's hope he hasn't gotten his heart broken recently.

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:31 am

Yeah, I haven't really been impressed with one of his albums since Mutations. Midnite Vultures was a bit too tacky, and Sea Change was boring! Apparently the Dust Brothers are producing though, so it'll probably be more like Odelay

SoLikeCandy · Post by **SoLikeCandy** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:35 am

Sea Change was good if you were contemplating suicide. Other than that, I haven't been terribly impressed with anything he's done.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:38 am

Oh man, I loved Midnite Vultures! Like early Prince, but more absurdist.

cosmos · Post by **cosmos** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:39 am

I'm a "Midnite Vultures" fan as well. One of the best party albums I've heard.

Bob And Charlotte · Post by **Bob And Charlotte** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 1:15 pm

Beck is a great artist and of all his records, 'Midnite Vultures' is the only one that i don´t like...

my fave. is Odelay (though Sea Change is aging very well and i know someday i´ll rank it above any other Beck album).

BTW, 2004 has been a shitty year (not just for music, but for all kinds of arts as well)

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 2:13 pm

Bob And Charlotte wrote: BTW, 2004 has been a shitty year (not just for music, but for all kinds of arts as well)

What a ridiculous statement. You have obviously only been focusing on the mainstream. Didn't you post a while ago saying nothing good had come out in the last 10 years or something?

cosmos · Post by **cosmos** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 4:24 pm

My rock/pop history professor in college was convinced that rock/pop music had run its course by 1980. In other words, nothing after the early 80's was relevant because everything had been done already. I subscribed to that theory as well for a long time. What a shitty line of thinking, especially in his profession (music theory, rock/pop history, and music composition instructor). All music is derivative of other music...there's nothing really original. But there is a lot of good music being made out there. You just have to dig a little bit deeper. It's worth it, in my opinion.

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 4:48 pm

I have not been posting much lately, but I have to defend Sea Change. I think its a classic, a really provocative album that flew against some of the sillier stuff that made Beck popular to the MTV crowd. I like most of his work, but Sea Change is the only one so far that would land in my top 20. Carry on.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 5:52 pm

Did Nigel Godrich produce it? Him or someone like him to redeem it. I haven't heard it, but the live TV performance of it was truly dire. It's easy to dismiss songs on first hearing, especially if they're sung solo, but really, I could have done better (I only know about 6 chords, probably 2 more than Beck was using). Nothing remotely original, impressive, appealing, or powerful anywhere. Real 18-year-old attempts to sound meaningful and not having a clue how to make a song memorable. I must listen to the LP to see if it really could be as bad as that.

Yes, 2004 is looking pretty good. Some great new stuff like Franz Ferdinand and The Streets, stuff I ain't heard but which fans of the artists dig, like Wilco, the above heavyweights bringing out new stuff, Bjork too, we were told yesterday. Ron Sexsmith doing well.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:21 am

Franz whooom?

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:40 pm

'Franz Ferdinand' is all I've been hearing in the last week as they're on tour here. They were pretty good on the TripleM (radio station) garage sessions and brought the house down with a tight, charged Take Me Out on Rove Live. But do they motivate me to buy their album? No.

Richard · Post by **Richard** » Fri Jul 23, 2004 10:56 pm

2004 is proving to be a satisfying year for buying music.

A lot of great stuff already mentioned. I enjoy Franz Ferdinand, but even as I listen to them I don't see them having a long term place in my listening. Nothing wrong with that, some of the best music is nothing if not disposible.

Best new band?

Fiery Furnaces. Their second CD Blueberry Boat is just out.

Plenty of the old favorites putting out some great music.
PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
Beta Band - Heroes To Zeros

even Patti Smith's - Trampin' has some great moments.

Have been enjoying Beastie Boys - Ch-check it out. Haven't heard the album.
Morrissey may not be able to put an album's worth of listenable material, but how can you not love - First Of The Gang To Die!

Best album of the year so far?

The Fall - 50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong, 39 Golden Greats.
Ok so it is a compilation & it is not perfect, but I have been waiting with baited breath for a comprehensive Fall collection, & flawed as it is, it may be the best I ever see.

Now Otis, I always look forward to your posts & appreciate your taste & knowledge. So when I hope you do get a chance to live with the complete Sea Change. Not just listen a couple of times, but give it a fighting chance! Don't let one crummy TV appearance taint what is the finest release from Beck to date. A beautiful record that doesn't make you wallow in the self-pity that may have inspired it, but lifts you up and makes the bleakness seem almost fleeting.
The kind of reaction that Joy Division or The Smiths or any of those other designer downbeat deities of doom can have on the soul.

King of Confidence · Post by **King of Confidence** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 12:00 am

Richard, I'll second the Fiery Furnaces, although I haven't heard Blueberry Boat. Gallowsbird's Bark is a 2004 purchase for me and one of the best ones. With the caveat that if I'm not in the mood for it, it's especially irritating, and if I am, it's especially fun.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 5:14 am

Respect to Richard and our often overlapping venn diagram of muscial taste, will check out Sea Change with open ears.

Don't know the Fiery Furnaces, but can their really be two great FFs abroad? I think the scottish FF have the potential to do lots of great stuff, and do find the LP is one to return to over and over. The homoerotic Michael, for example, that's fantastic (and gives me a great reason to sing 'So come and dance with me Michael' to my three year-old son Michael.

Boo: is it too late to go and see them? You must, if not. I wish I had. Tickets were impossible to come by for their UK tour.

I think Wilco's A Ghost Is Born was mentioned earlier. I got sent it as a present, and haven't had a chance to listen yet, but have very high hopes. I'm not well up on Wilco, but have enjoyed some of their stuff in the past.