Albums Revisited

I've managed to procure several of the albums I listed earlier, so if you are looking for something new, I'll give you the rundown. Here is the list from before with notes about which I have now. iTunes proved unnecessary, Steve Jobs deserves a kick in the junk for the level of self-righteousness in his commencement speech at Stanford, even if it was inspiring.

1. Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic or Skittish/Rockity Roll [got both]
2. Phoenix - Alphabetical [got it]
3. Herbaliser - Blow Your Headphones [got different album: Very Mercenary]
4. Nightmares On Wax - Carboot Soul [not yet]
5. The Decemberists - Picaresque or Her Majesty [got the former, and another: Castaways and Cutouts]

I'm one of those weirdos who really like Doughty's scratchy voice and irreverent lyrics. Contrary to some opinions, I think he has come up with some really solid stuff since going solo [from Soul Coughing]. Rockity Roll is definitely my favorite set. It's quite sparse [vocals, acoustic guitar, and synth beats,] and really highlights the intricacies of the vocals. Haughty Melodic is much more poppy as there's a full band. Unfortunately one of the better songs on the album, "Tremendous Brunettes", is slaughtered by Dave Matthews who also sings on the track and sticks in his standard "hey, hey, hey" a few times, which pisses me off royally. It's funny that this song is a topic of discussion here given the comments to the post below ["Picky."] Tremendous Brunettes indeed.

The Phoenix album is really just basic electro-pop at its core, but with a hint of disco, a dash of R&B, and a twist of goofy French accents. It's the kind of funky pop that is fun to listen to, and it must be cool, since they don't get any radio play. I just like it because it's the type of music you can use for both chilling and dancing.

The Herbaliser is just straight up dope stuff, but I knew that before I got this album. 'Nuf said.

I do like the Decemberists, though I suspect they will be one of those alterna-pop hipster bands that will fade out quickly. They are reasonably popular at the moment, which generally spells trouble for that type of band, because they often flip out and rebel against their popularity by producing a craptastic follow-up. What I really like about their albums is the kind of linear story-telling some albums have. It's not a blatant plot or anything, but the tracks have a distinct progression which doesn't work as well when taken out of order. This is a quality I love discovering in albums, and this is the reason I'm kind of a full-album snob. I usually avoid having just a handful of songs from an album. It's kind of an all or nothing deal for me. A recent discussion suggested this was a gender thing, but I think it's just a matter of personal preference. If you see musicians as artists though, it's only logical that you have to have the whole album, otherwise it's just an unfinished installation. Even if you have all the better pieces at hand, you just aren't getting the whole experience.