Comments on: Worst so far….

By: DrJimmy

DrJimmy — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 12:27:21 +0000

Yeah, I agree with Solace about Illinois.

WAAAY better than Michigan, my #1 of the year, and has topped Seven Swans as my favorite Sufjan album.

I wish you liked it more.

By: solace

solace — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 21:14:34 +0000

i like Illinois WAAAY more than Michigan, in fact behind Andrew Bird it’s my fave record this year, that and Aimee Mann still

i still probably prefer Seven Swans to the rest of his stuff though, but i see that changing to Illinois soon.

the stuff before Michigan blows ass.

the Decemberists record is good, but you are correct, not as good as the other 2 full lengths. i’ve always been a bit so so on them anyway, fun live, but i dunno, i can only listen to them so much.

the Mag studio record reminded me why i never really got into Songs:Ohia in the first place. not bad, just doesn’t come close to the magic of the live show or Trials. i kinda figured that might be the case before Blues came out, but kept my hopes up anyway.

as for Coldplay, i’ve only listened twice, and while it wasn’t that great, save for 2-3 songs, i did enjoy it. i doubt i’ll like it more than Rush, which i genuinely did like, not in a guilty pleasure sorta way. and other than Shiver and maybe one other track i didn’t like Parachutes much.

By: nmm

nmm — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 20:17:19 +0000

While I think a lot of people are disappointed in the DMB CD’s, I still like it. It is definitely not what they were putting out a few years ago, but I think as they, and their key demographic, are getting older they are gearing more towards the ‘adult contemporary’ side almost.
I don’t think Stand Up is a great CD, but there are a few songs that I can appreciate, such as ‘Stolen Away on 55th and 3rd’ and ‘Steady as We Go’. Again, it is not even close to the same caliber of music they were putting out a while ago, but it’s not bad.

By: uwmryan

uwmryan — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 19:52:22 +0000

point taken. There is no convincing me about DMB and Coldplay though!

By: whb

whb — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 16:26:36 +0000

I know this conversation has happened before, but I can’t disagree any more about Illinois. I think that there are two songs reusing the 5/4 time Charlie Brown style for the melody, but the musicianship on “Come On Feel the Illinois!” especially is miles above Michigan. The time signature change, melody switch and arrangements there are top notch and huge leaps forward for a guy who was using trumpets playing the scales on Michigan.
As for the rest of the record, songs like Gacy, Predatory Wasps and Concerning a UFO are some of the most gorgeous songs from the last couple of years. And Zombies, man his voice on Zombies?!?
Yes, Pulaski, Chicago and Tallest Man resemble Michigan, but I think that can’t be held against him when he achieved so many other high points.
I guess I’d give it a couple more listens. You may never love it, but I think you might be discounting it a bit early.

By: uwmryan

uwmryan — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 15:32:41 +0000

I never have liked Weezer too much, so I haven’t even heard their new one. Same thing goes for Malkmus. I hated the Beck when it first leaked, now I’m indifferent.

By: Dodge

Dodge — Thu, 23 Jun 2005 14:48:56 +0000

i agree, but have not said, I really feel everything on Illinois is just a continuation of Michigan…maybe that’s bad, maybe not.

DMB is terrible, I can’t believe he put it out.

I don’t really agree on The Decemberists or Coldplay.

I think Weezer is by far the most disappointing album of the year. Steven Malkmus hasn’t really blown anyone’s doors off either, but I haven’t heard all of it, so I can’t comment.

Beck is interesting here…not on a lot of best ofs, but not worst either…where does it rate?