Peter Morén, The Last Tycoon
My review of this album pretty much says it all. The Last Tycoon is not a bad album, but it’s not a good album either. It is a perfectly mediocre album—3/5 stars from beginning to end, no exceptions. And in a way that’s a more offensive crime than a bad album.
Enon, Grass Geysers… Carbon Clouds
I got this album the same day I picked up The Last Tycoon, and I feel more or less the same. Though the music is wildly different—it’s spazzier indie rawk—it’s still pretty straight down the middle in terms of what it’s trying to do. Nothing groundbreaking, nothing essential.
Harry Nilsson, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night
I have so much Harry Nilsson on my iTunes library—thirty-five songs or so—yet I own no proper album. It’s all greatest hits packages and stray mp3s when I come across ’em. As with what I said about Lovin’ Spoonful yesterday, Nilsson is right up there—top of the list, actually—of songwriters I can’t wait to share with my (currently nonexistent) kids. His stuff is just unabashedly happy, even when he’s down. That said, A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night was not the first proper album I should’ve picked up. It’s all syrupy standards—Nilsson doing things Sinatra-style, drenched in strings, etc.
Carolyn Hester, s/t
This album is notable for exactly one thing: young Bobby Dylan, new to New York and without a record contract, was invited to play his harmonica on just about every track. That aside (or not), this is a pretty mediocre folk record. Lots of standards (“I’ll Fly Away,” “Dink’s Song”) done in a not particularly interesting, sometimes quite irritating, way.
Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
I hate to be "that guy," but what do people see in Bon Iver? His songwriting skills are average—he makes me wish I was listening to Matt Pond PA instead, which is kind of a strange thing to wish for—and his vocals are just irritatingly bad. He does the same schtick that TV on the Radio does, which is to overlay really grating falsetto harmonies over the vocals. Easily the worst album I've picked up all year. Well, maybe neck and neck with Carolyn Hester, but at least she's got Bob Fucking Dylan on her record.
« My Listening Hours: The Rest of April–June | Main | My Listening Hours: Looking Forward (and Looking Back) »
June 24, 2008
Comments
You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.
The comments to this entry are closed.
I would recommend Aerial Ballet as the best Harry Nilsson record to start with.
Posted by: Paul | June 24, 2008 at 08:47 AM
Agreed; never cared much for Touch of Schmilsson. Try to find Aerial Ballet (or Aerial Pandemonium Ballet), The Point!, then Nilsson Schmilsson. The rest should go down easy after those. Also, be wary of Son of Schmilsson this early on. I don't think it's quite as great as it's made out to be.
Posted by: Brendan | June 24, 2008 at 12:05 PM
oh woops, didn't see Paul in there! HAllo
Posted by: Brendan | June 24, 2008 at 12:05 PM
I should say that I'm not too disheartened by the fact that I don't like the one I picked up. I've got enough Nilsson in my collection to know that he's classic all the way... he's one of those artists that I will patiently pick up just about everything as I see it (used, preferably).
Posted by: scott pgwp | June 24, 2008 at 12:11 PM
wow... something new i've heard... i thought the first song on the bon iver disc was pretty good (i like the ebow..), but nothing else worth a crap on it... as for you being brave enough to buy a disc because dylan played harmonica on it... gee what a surprise it's bad... i would've thought for sure it would be amazing... har har har... you should've known better. that nillson record sounds like a lot of otis redding records, where you have two or three great tunes, and then some really badly arranged covers. i think it's one of the great music tragedies that otis never did a really amazing record, just a bunch of great songs. too bad he didn't live long enough to get teh right producer....
Posted by: sroden | June 24, 2008 at 05:34 PM
Well, for the record... I checked the Hester album from the library, and my brilliant wife picked it out for the album cover (it's easy to take a chance when it's free...) - we didn't realize Dylan was on it until after we'd got it home.
I'm shocked--shocked!--that you heard something released in 2008!
Posted by: scott pgwp | June 24, 2008 at 06:52 PM
yes... it was a gift! i would like to reply with a giant list of others, but i don't think i've heard anything else that came out after 1927...:-)
Posted by: sroden | June 25, 2008 at 02:41 PM
You can get every one of Nilsson's albums (and tons of rarities like demos he recorded for the Monkees at For The Love Of Harry.
http://fortheloveofharry.blogspot.com/
Posted by: Sam | November 30, 2008 at 11:52 PM