From: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org (loud-fans-digest) To: loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Subject: loud-fans-digest V7 #403 Reply-To: loud-fans@smoe.org Sender: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-loud-fans-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk loud-fans-digest Friday, May 23 2008 Volume 07 : Number 403 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Re: [loud-fans] My notes on the first third (and yours?) ["Brian Block" <] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 22 May 2008 18:30:23 -0700 From: "Brian Block" Subject: Re: [loud-fans] My notes on the first third (and yours?) Haven't heard any of your faves of '08 so far, Andy, but I've been wondering about 13th STAR: What's it like? How does it fit in the Fish/ Marillion canon? And who the blazes are Pwrfl Power? The majority of my '08 faves should be familiar names on this list: * Joe Jackson's piano-centric RAIN is wonderful, I think, his best set of songs ever (although HEAVEN & HELL, his experiment in merging classical, Broadway, and rock into one kind of music, remains my favorite of his albums). * The Mountain Goats' HERETIC PRIDE is already my 2nd-favorite Mountain Goats album: Darnielle has re-upped the energy level from GET LONELY, and returned to singing stories, very very good stories, about other people instead of himself. * R.E.M.'s ACCELERATE is excellent, bringing back the band's long-misplaced rock energy and immediacy without losing their middle-aged habit -- which to my tastes has been a good habit -- of writing lyrics designed to communicate. * Eric Matthews's THE IMAGINATION STAGE is absurdly lush, something like a talented Brian Wilson imitator arranging Steely Dan melodies, and is almost too much for me, but in that "almost" is the margin for a record that I'm enjoying immensely. * Why?'s ALOPECIA is a gentle, highly literate blend of underground hip-hop with folk-rock. * Interference Sardines' SPOT DE RUE is a classically trained, eclectic, semi-avant-garde, yet still basically catchy album of 4-minute chamber-pop songs. Okay, now it's everyone else's turn, - - Brian >My favorite albums from the first third of the year: 13TH STAR by >Fish, JUKEBOX by Cat Power, PWRFL POWER by PWRFL POWER, and BREAK by >Dawn Clement, in roughly that order. I don't have AWKWARD ANNIE by >Kate Rusby yet, but it's on my list. The Scarlett Johannson disc >sounds fascinating from the Amazon samples. I'm getting into Sara >Gazarek's RETURN TO YOU, but that's from 2007, alas. Maybe I'll give >the new Charles Lloyd a listen... > >Other people's thoughts?

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