788. The Cure - High (Single)

That thing looks like a chicken no? I remember being at home in Rio in the kitchen doing the dishes with the radio on and the dj played this b-side - I wrote the name of the track down and was lucky enough to find it here when I came for a visit (but didn't pick up the album until I moved here and lifted it off of Jorge). I love the two b-sides here, especially "This Twilight Garden", it's the Cure at its lushiest best.

7.8 out of 10

The Twilight Garden

787. The Cure - Wish

I love 'Wish' - mainly because I stumbled upon it... I had heard the 'Friday...' single but didn't really think too much of it. Then one night at Jorge's I saw the disc and put it on... I was blown away because first off, Jorge has the worst taste in music, so he never had anything good to listen to, and that 'Open' is such a great opener. I took the disc home and never brought it back (it wasn't really his it turns out - and don't worry Chad, I've never stolen a cd from you)... anyway, this album has some great, epic moments that hop between apocalyptic and sugary pop... all of that makes it one of my favorite Cure cds.

9.4 out of 10

786. The Cure - Disintegration

"Disintegration" is such a strong album it almost doesn't sound good anymore... it is so well crafted that many may not appreciate it - in other words The Cure make putting an album like this together easy. The other small issue with this LP is that it's the one that almost everybody has - and there's nothing worse than seeing it in somebody's collection stuck in between Dave Matthews Band and Macy Gray, but that's the price every great album must pay. It's an obvious classic that sounds perfect from beginning to end.

9.4 out of 10

785. The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me

I love formats - LPs, EPs, tapes, CDs, 7 inches, hell even the CS (cassette single), and I strongly believe that all formats have their pluses and minuses...

I recently bought this CD on LP for a couple of reasons... first, I clearly remember Fiona walking around school with this LP - she had no way of playing it there but she was for some reason carrying it around - and record looked great under her arm, with the mouth at blown out at a perfect size.

I was also curious to hear it as a double LP... as a CD the album plays as a kitchen sink of Cure songs, but as a double LP, with breaks and pauses the album feels more episodic where the mood swings feel more natural and less wild.

9 out of 10

784. The Cure - The Peel Sessions

I had the privilege of seeing Cure for the first time a few weeks ago, and two things really stuck with me after the show, first how loud a four piece can sound (I wish every band could sound that good) and secondly how great, and relevant their older songs sounded... two of them can be found on this John Peel show recording from 1978, listen to it below.

9 out of 10

10_15 Saturday Night (Live)

783. New Order - BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert

When I got this I was unaware of its companion CD, the BBC sessions for Joy Division - I wish I had gotten them together, but... this is an interesting live document. It's short, and the quality is average... some of NO's songs come across as flat as possible but there a few that have a live charm that is so distant from the polished original. The newly written "True Faith" debuted at the show and was played perfectly... once I started singing "Bizarre Love Triangle" the same way that it is on this cd (with a low growl) and Ellen started cracking up saying I sounded like a muppet.

6.8 out of 10

Bizarre Love Triangle

782. New Order - Get Ready

I was really into this album when it came out. The heavy use of guitars made the sound was less New Ordery, but it was still great. I particularly enjoyed "Turn My Way" which features Billy Corgan on guest vocals... is the song writing as it used to be? No. The lyrics at times are a bit bland, the use of excessive backing vocals is a bit uninspired and I did miss their iconic synth sound - but as I said, I still liked it a lot.

8.1 out of 10

781. New Order - Substance

Here's another example of this band's catalogue existing mainly on vinyl and tape for me... "Substance" is an interesting greatest hits album - it's much more of a collection than a best of really. NO have released many of their best tracks as singles only, never committed to a specific LP - Substance gathers these singles and places them all on disc.1 - it also grabs all the besides from these singles and places them on disc.2 - it sounds as if you are playing the same album almost but an alternate version. NO are an amazing band that truly have withstood the test of time - tracks such as "Blue Monday" and "True Faith" sound absolutely perfect still, and ahead of their time.

8.8 out of 10

Blue Monday

summer song

So for my two, maybe three readers, here's a random post with my favorite song so far this year.

See you next week.

Touch Me I'm Going To Scream Pt. 1

780. Depeche Mode - The Singles 86>98

So as I mentioned, a lot of DM's stuff I have on LP and CS, so I wasn't running out to re purchase them... then in 2001 they were touring again behind Ultra (I think) - Chad, Natalie and I went to go see them and I was very eager to listen to them again in cd's clean, crisp air, thus the greatest hits disc.

As compilations go, this double cd has a decent survey of the band's material, but as with every great band the songs are so much stronger within their original context.

7.2 out of 10

779. Depeche Mode - Songs of Faith and Devotion

I remember listening to this tape so many times with my brother, driving around in his crappy Nissan Sentra during the summer - I was on college break I think and he'd drive me around so I could smoke without my dad seeing.

Anyway I love this album, "Walking In My Shoes" and "In Your Room" are classics. My only complaint is "Condemnation" - it seems like DM always have a song or two that are ballady or something which I can never get into.

9.1 out of 10

778. Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus

There isn't much to say about this cd except for two things:

1. the remixes are fairly standard, but I really liked the acoustic version of the title track and convinced Jorge to give this to me (I don't think it was really his to begin with)

2. on the back cover of this there is a girl that looks like Chad's wife (you said it Meadows, not me!)


5.5 out of 10


Personal Jesus (Acoustic)

777. Depeche Mode - Violator

I love Depeche Mode and I assume most people do as well. This album is pretty spectacular - it sets up a perfect mood and maintains it throughout. I have a lot of their stuff on LP but I picked the reissue of this on CD - it comes with a bonus dvd of the songs on dvd audio and a short film.

9.3 out of 10

776. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Honey's Dead

I love this album. When I first heard it I was blown away - I had also heard "The Mind is a..." by Ministry and "Pretty Hate Machine" around the same time I think and fell in love with the electronic noise that was coming out. "Honey's Dead" grabbed what they were already doing, added some shoe gazing noise and electronic to the mix and came up with something great. It was also a time when brit pop was going to different places I think, with Screamadelica by Primal Scream and Doppelgänger by Curve.

9 out of 10

Far Gone And Out

775. Echo and the Bunnymen - Live in Liverpool

I like this cd just fine. It does what you think it should and that's about it... the band are in Liverpool and the recording could be a bit better - it sounds like I am listening to a video playback of the band instead of a live recording if that makes sense. A bit of the mystique behind the band and their sound is lost.

6.9 out of 10

774. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

To me this has always been an odd (but still great) record. "I Wanna Be Adored" is one of the best songs written, and the album is bookended by another stellar track "Fools Gold", what happens in between is what I find odd. The tracks vary with such degree that they seem out of place in terms of mood and tempo. It reminds me a bit of "Revolver", where the tracks don't have too much of a common thread but still work overall.

8.1 out of 10

773. U2 - Electrical Storm

This song was an exclusive for their second part greatest hits cd (I think). The single is what U2 currently have become, tight ditty's with Edge's guitar grind and Bono's howl. The second track is a medley of "Bad/40/Where The Streets Have No Name" recorded in Boston. I'm not really into Boston.

3.8 out of 10

772. U2 - Elevation Tour CD

I don't remember how I even got this stuff, but I know I got it cheap. This is a Euro Tour edition CD. It features the 'Tomb Raider' version of Elevation, since the LP version was a bit slower. It also has live versions of 'New York', 'I Remember You' and 'I Will Follow'. The live tracks here are of much better quality than the other singles, both in recording and performance,

6 out of 10

771. U2 - Walk On Disc. 1

I actually saw this tour courtesy of my old bosses... what I was really happy about was that PJ Harvey was opening, but she was sick that night and I had to settle for the Corrs - that's like replacing Daniel Day Lewis with Eddie Murphy.

"Walk On" is also a bit too inspirational/choir/gospel like for me, but the Monday night football crew loved it.

The single also contains live versions of "Beautiful Day' and "New York" which are ok. Oh, and I got this for a buck too.

4.4 out of 10

770. U2 - Beautiful Day Disc 2

Unlike the rest of the country post 9/11 I wasn't in awe of U2's new album... everything I had heard sounded like a U2 rip off. The production was loud and compressed and the lyrics just too happy/hopeful/we can do it.

I got this single for 99 cents. It contains live versions of "Discothèque" and "If You Wear That Velvet Dress".

4.4 out of 10

769. U2 - The Best Of 1980-1990

I got this for two reasons: I didn't any of their early stuff on CD and the first pressings of this disc came with a bonus cd of b-sides, and I'm a sucker for anything that comes in a limited edition.

Disc 1 has the band's biggest (yet not best really) hits from 1980 till 1990. The selection, at 14 tracks is decent but you're left wanting more.

Disc 2 has 15 b-sides... most are weak (especially the covers), but some of the earlier ones are interesting. If they really wanted to release a greatest hits the two separate sets would have been sold as one.

7.4 out of 10

768. U2 - If God Will Send His Angels

I got this for one reason, the 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' live stripped down version. There are some odd but interesting b-sides: 'Slow Dancing' with lead vocals by Willie Nelson, a tribute to Frank Sinatra "Two Shots of Happy, One shot of Sad". The only stale piece is the single itself.

6 out of 10

Sunday Bloody Sunday

767. U2 - Please

I have a weird gap in my U2 collection: I have Rattle and Hum on lp, but skipped over Achtung Baby (1991), Zooropa (1993) and Pop (1997)... I'm not sure why, I guess none of it really appealed to me when released. In 2000 though I went out and got some old singles mainly for the b-sides... which brings me to Please off of 'Pop'... the song is good, but expected. The reason I got this was for the four live versions of 'Please', 'Where The Streets Have No Name', 'With Or Without You' and 'Staring At The Sun' all live From Rotterdam.

These live tracks catch U2 doing what they do best.

7 out of 10

Please

766. U2 - The Joshua Tree

Full disclosure: I still have this on vinyl and I stole this cd version off of my dad's old boat back in the 90's... somebody must have left it there and he'd never want to listen to it anyway. There isn't too much to say about this album - we all know it and have certain memories associated with it. I remember hearing it with my buddy Emil and his parents while driving up to their country house, and I actually wasn't crazy about it, mainly because I was crazy about metal back then. The album is a soild rock/pop album, played with real instruments but produced with an abstract atmosphere by Lanois and Eno.

8.8 out of 10

765. Tears for Fears - The Seeds Of Love

"Songs from the big chair" is a classic and you can hear it today and it still feels very relevant... this album though has not aged well. I will always love the single "Sowing The Seeds Of Love", and remember the exact moment I saw the video and the first time I heard it on the radio (last day of school, half day, heading to the beach ready for summer vacation (winter here)), but the balance of it sounds like modern adult jazz. The polished recording, the soulful, gospel like backing vocals and excessive high notes plague the pop genius that lies beneath. Still, I can't part with it.

5.2 out of 10

Famous Last Words

NOW SERVING: BRITISH INVASION

Sure the British Invasion started with the Beatles and company, but for me growing up in Rio and going to a British School it started with Tears for Fears, New Order, U2, the Cure, etc back in the early 80's. What we'll look at next is really just a sampling since the bulk of this genre I have on LP and cassette.

764. Flying Saucer Attack - Further

I'm not sure why I have held on to this for so long. Maybe I thought Chad and I would have some sort of film project that would require some really abstract, ambient music. FSA do write songs but in a very loose way - there are vocals but they are hushed and hard to decipher - it's just really not my thing...

4.5 out of 10

763. Film School - Alwaysnever

This four track EP (the band's first release, I think) is very cinematic - the sort of music that can make a menial task seem somewhat profound or important... while the ep never takes off you don't really expect it to since it is so short, but it makes a lot of promises that I'm not sure subsequent releases kept.

6.4 out of 10

762. Mogwai - EP + 2

This is just an ep but it sounds like a full length. The songs are slow, methodical and detailed begging for repeat listens. While I prefer the band's 'heavier' sounds, this soundtrack to nothingness has its high moments too.


7.4 out of 10

Small Children In The Background

761. Low - The great Destroyer

Roughly around the same time Sub Pop signed two established bands late in their careers, Sleater Kinney and Low. Oddly enough the two bands are polar opposite in tempos but were both produced by Dave Fridmann. The fuzz suits this trio very well. Low used to remind me of another Sub Pop band, Codeine - so slow that I could barely get into, but with the Great Destroyer things have sped up. Even cheery songs have a certain edge to them given the great production by Dave Fridmann.

I picked the song below because it is a great combo of the cheery/noise thing I mentioned, but also because I hate walking on Broadway because it is so packed.

7.4 out of 10

Broadway (So Many People)

760. Blonde Redhead - misery is a butterfly

Blonde Redhead have a perfect sound for 4AD - I know I've said that before, but back in the day when labels, and their individuality mattered, you could trust a label for a certain sound, level of quality and art. Nowadays Beck can have Sting as a labelmate... although BR didn't join 4AD a few years back they sound as if they created the label.

Their sound is a bit layered, fluttered, and hyssoppy.

Oh, and it was produced by Guy Picciotto...

7.3 out of 10

Melody

759. Dead Can Dance - Toward The Within

Granted this has Lisa Gerrard in it but it's still wtf was I thinking moment... not that any of it is bad, by no means, but it's just not what I'm really into... not even a little. DCD on this live disc are mixing middle eastern vocal rhythms, with keltic sounding instruments and new age speak.

It also shifts to some basic folk/classic rock songs like "I Can See Now", "American Dreaming" and "Don't Fade Away".

For lunch I had a lot of baba ghanoush - that coupled with Dead Can Dance has me feeling a bit ill.

3.9 out of 10

758. CRANES - LOVED

Boy I buy a lot of junk. I often wonder how much I have spent on music over the years... even being as thrifty as I am I must have spent a fortune on tapes, lps and cds.

This was the first Cranes cd I got - I'm not sure why I liked it so much, maybe it worked back in 96 or so, but now the vocals are just too annoying, and the songs overly dramatic.

Listen for yourself:

Paris And Rome

4.7 out of 10