sabberworm's Last.fm Journal

en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices sabberworm's Last.fm Journal http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal The Last.fm journal for sabberworm. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. Bad songs in 2011? No Thanks http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2013/01/10/5pvuju_bad_songs_in_2011%3F_no_thanks Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:17:55 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2013/01/10/5pvuju_bad_songs_in_2011%3F_no_thanks As promised here’s the track list of last year’s best-of mixtape that I sent out to friends and family. It was called “Bad songs in 2011? No Thanks”

As you can imagine, not all songs fit the CD. The outtakes were:

]]> 2012 – Music for the end of the world http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2013/01/09/5puktg_2012_%E2%80%93_music_for_the_end_of_the_world Wed, 9 Jan 2013 12:05:04 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2013/01/09/5puktg_2012_%E2%80%93_music_for_the_end_of_the_world Last year I’ve started a tradition of sending out mixtapes of my favourite newly-released songs of the year to my friends, family and colleagues.

This year’s collection is called “2012 – Music for the end of the world” and I’m mocking a campaign that ran last year for the AXE body spray.

For anyone interested, the track list is as follows:

I did have to cut a few minutes off the end of the last track but I doubt it will adversely affect Bob Dylan’s self-esteem.

The original playlist was, of course, a lot bigger (and that one was already filtered according to my various criteria of inclusion). Here are the “outtakes”, the tracks that didn’t fit the CD.

I might post last year’s track list later on.]]> Not-so-great albums of 2012 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2013/01/09/5puk59_not-so-great_albums_of_2012 Wed, 9 Jan 2013 11:26:52 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2013/01/09/5puk59_not-so-great_albums_of_2012 I’ve been wanting to do a worst-of list in addition to my annual best-of lists for a long time now but I never got around to doing it. To make it happen this time, I’ve decided to keep things short and restrict myself to one sentence of criticism per album.

Note: These are not (necessarily) bad albums, just disappointing ones: the ones I had higher expectations of.

Lana Del Rey – Paradise

It’s a sad state of affairs when the standout song on a record is a cover.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Best tracks

Blue Velvet

La Gale – La Gale

I just don’t like rap songs.

Rating: ★★½☆☆
Best tracks

Comptez vos morts

Madonna – MDNA

Actually has a couple of fine songs but I expected better from Madonna.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than the Driver of the Screw and Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do

Many of the songs are just annoying as hell, especially Hot Knife.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Joshua Radin – Underwater

Very repetitive after only a few songs.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Björk – Biophilia Remix Series

Most of the versions on this series are actually better than the originals on Biophilia but still not interesting enough.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Anastacia – It’s a Man’s World

What the hell was she thinking?

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Best tracks

Alicia Keys – Girl on Fire

Another huge step away from Songs in A Minor, sadly.

Rating: ★★½☆☆
Best tracks

Alanis Morissette – Havoc and Bright Lights

A solid record, way better than So-Called Chaos but way, way worse than Flavors of Entanglement or Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Everlast – Songs Of The Ungrateful Living

Missing the vocal distinctiveness of earlier records, has some downright embarrassing lyrics.

Rating: ★★½☆☆
Best tracks

Long Time

Kate Nash – Death Proof – EP

Too much grunge for my tastes.

Rating: ★★½☆☆
Best tracks

Maroon 5 – Overexposed

Like any Maroon 5 record: incredibly fun to listen at first but gets tiring really soon.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Melody Gardot – The Absence

Still a wonderful voice but musically not my cup of tea.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Nelly Furtado – The Spirit Indestructible

Ok, I guess, but very mainstream-friendly.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

A Fine Frenzy – Pines

Boooooring.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Best tracks

Ellie Goulding – Halcyon

Sounds all very familiar for those who know Lights.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Jackie Evancho – Songs From The Silver Screen

Trying way too much to sound all grown-up…

Rating: ★★½☆☆
Best tracks

Joss Stone – The Soul Sessions, Vol. 2

Joss Stone does not make it easy for me to like her.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Best tracks

No Doubt – Push and Shove

Settle Down is like little children asking the same question over and over again even after you’ve repeatedly tried your best to give a complete and thought-out answer: annoying as hell, why this gets as much airplay as it did, I’ll never know. The rest of the album is not much better, unfortunately.

Rating: ★★½☆☆
Best tracks

Norah Jones – …Little Broken Hearts

Again an ok album but with not much to keep me interested.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Patti Smith – Banga

It pains me to see this here, maybe it will grow on me like earlier albums did.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Rachael Sage – Haunted By You

Continuing the long streak of moderately interesting Rachael Sage albums.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Santigold – Master of My Make-Believe

Would have expected a lot less mediocre songs on this.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Scissor Sisters – Magic Hour

The mediocre and the really bad songs occupy this record, leaving almost no room to the really good ones.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Nena – Du Bist Gut

An unfathomably cheesy record, the cover artwork isn’t even the worst part.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Tony Bennett – Viva Duets

Worse than previous Duet albums because of a lack of interesting duet partners.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Best tracks

Suzanne Vega – Close-Up, Vol. 4 – Songs Of Family

I suspect the original versions are better but I don’t know a lot of them (am trying to, though).

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Christina Aguilera – Lotus

This is the place where I repeat my review of Bionic (something about being a “strong collection showcasing Christina’s versatility, even if not under any kind of coherent umbrella”) and drop everything except for the “umbrella” part.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Amy Macdonald – Life In A Beautiful Light

The evolution of Amy Macdonald albums seems to have reached an impasse.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Aimee Mann – Charmer

Lots of boring, repetitive songs on here, unfortunately.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Brandi Carlile – Bear Creek

Would be a great album, had not expectations been so high…

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Bob Dylan – Tempest

What’s with the prevalence of annoying songs on this year’s albums?

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

The Cranberries – Roses

Where are the songs that are supposed to get me hooked?

Rating: ★★½☆☆
Best tracks

Tori Amos – Gold Dust

Flavor deserves some attention as it was a great song all along. But none of these versions sound really better than the originals or even at all different.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Χάρις Αλεξίου – Η Τρίπλα

Not a song on there that I could rate after the first few listens. Not necessarily a bad thing but in this case I think it is.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Τώρα Τι Κάνω

Katie Melua – Secret Symphony

Also not a bad album but not one I’ll be listening to for a long time.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

]]> Great albums of 2012 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2012/12/28/5pgtgz_great_albums_of_2012 Fri, 28 Dec 2012 11:12:38 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2012/12/28/5pgtgz_great_albums_of_2012

Elton John vs. Pnau – Good Morning To The Night

This rework of some old Elton John songs is really nicely done and features not the usual suspects but some of the more obscure songs off Caribou and other albums in Elton’s back catalogue (which I recently happened to acquire in its entirety as it was on sale on the Amazon MP3 store).

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Marina & the Diamonds – Electra Heart

The biggest surprise this year came with the new Marina & The Diamonds which I happened to like a lot. Yes, it’s very pop-friendly with lots of simple hooks and yes, sometimes it goes down almost a little too easily but overall, it’s more than solid work and – with the exception of Girls – even more so than the previous record.

Rating: ★★★★½
Best tracks

Sinéad O'Connor – How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?

God how I love Sinéad. I’ve missed last year’s release of Lay Your Head Down, her contribution to the Albert Nobbs soundtrack, which was just superb. When I finally discovered it in late January of this year, I was even more thrilled about the impending release of the new album. It pleases me to say: I was not disappointed: Some of these songs even harken back to Sinéad’s greatest album of all, The Lion and the Cobra, like Reason With Me does with Drink Before the War or Queen Of Denmark with Mandinka.

Rating: ★★★★★
Best tracks

Antony and the Johnsons – Cut The World – Live With The Danish National Chamber Orchestra

It’s rare for me not to disqualify live albums upfront for the “Great Albums” compilation but I thought the fact that Cut The World features an entire orchestra accompaniment would merit its inclusion. On top of that, some of the versions featured are better to the studio recordings. Also, Future Feminism is a great manifesto (that I happen to wholeheartedly agree with).

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Céline Dion – Sans Attendre

Any new album by one of my top-ten artists is a huge deal to me and I’ve repeatedly stated how much I prefer Céline’s French recordings over her English ones. Sans Attendre is a wonderful album and more along the lines of what I happen to like and have come to expect from a French album by Céline than D’elles was. However, the experience of listening to it is still somewhat… ahem, lacking. This album seems to err more on the cheesy side of things, with rampant hello-kitty-cuteness (also see the packaging for an example of this). I would have like a little more sincerity in the songs. Searching for something to listen to at comfort-seeking hours? This is it!

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Börni – Yeah We Cool

Börni’s two studio albums have both disappointed me but this EP kind of fun and also well-produced. With only seven songs, it seems to be easier not to create something the listener feels to be a constant loop and I’m glad to say it doesn’t. Not something I’ll be listening on repeat for years to come but a nice distraction from time to time.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Emeli Sandé – Our Version of Events

Not unlike Adele the previous year, Emeli’s got the voice that can move mountains (and the hearts and minds of the listener) as well as the songwriting skills to wrap everything in a very appealing package. I could listen to Daddy all day long…

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Garbage – Not Your Kind of People

Garbage were always the kind of band I happened to love intellectually (because of their great style, outspokenness and the Androgyny video) but never actually listened to. That didn’t change even after purchasing their records a few years ago. Sure, I had some favourite songs like their 007 theme, Bleed Like Me, Milk or Cherry Lips (Go Baby Go!), but I really felt their music was too heavy for my tastes without ever really trying… That changed with this year’s release of Not Your Kind Of People. I’d since seen Shirley Manson in S.C.C. and, somehow (don’t ask me why), that persuaded me to give her music another try and I must say I was wrong… a bit. Or at least my tastes have changed and I’ve become less of a softie. Either way I found the new album to be full of pleasant surprises with quite a few catchy tunes.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Gossip – A Joyful Noise

Oh my (in a George Takei voice), what a joyful collection of songs! Really, there is not one bad tune to be heard. Everything is crazy catchy with strong hooks, very dance-able but never boring. I could imagine someone not liking this for lack of a mental challenge but for me, it’s exactly right.

Rating: ★★★★★
Best tracks

Amanda Palmer – Theatre Is Evil

I love backing Kickstarter projects and when I heard of AFP’s new album plans, I immediately signed up. The result is astonishing in complexity, intricacy as well as expansiveness. I only signed up for the lowest tier that got me vinyl and it got me a HUGE package that included heavyweight-paper artwork prints. The music itself is something I have to be in the mood for as it’s a bit on the heavy side for my (main) tastes (see above) but, knowing Amanda Palmer, I was expecting nothing less. Also please check out the awesome videos for The Killing Type, Do It With A Rockstar and Want It Back (all NSFW).

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

First Aid Kit – The Lion’s Roar

I guess my best album of the year™ award goes to First Aid Kit. I admit it, I could not have been more wrong two years ago when I wrote about The Big Black And The Blue that I wasn’t sure it would “stand the test of time”. I’ve listened to that record like crazy and this one’s even better. It’s the kind of revelation I’ve had some years ago with Brandi Carlile’s Give Up The Ghost. Listen to Emmylou if you’re not convinced, I beg you!

Rating: ★★★★★
Best tracks (it war hard to find anything to exclude)

Jenny Owen Youngs – An Unwavering Band of Light

My main source of upcoming releases never contained any mention of Jenny Owen Youngs’ new record and I only heard about it by accident – about half a year after it had been released. I guess Jenny Owen Youngs needs a better publicist. But other than that, I’m not sure she needs anything: this is a solid release that builds on Transmitter Failure and demands your undivided attention while you listen to it but once it’s got that, it manages to engulf you completely with its raw and feisty sound.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Kylie Minogue – The Abbey Road Sessions

These days, it seems like every artist and their dog is coming out with acoustics or orchestral versions of their classics but no-one of these re-recordings have managed to garner much of my enthusiasm (Sting’s Symphonicities perhaps being the most convincing attempt this far), with the exception of Kylie Minogue, interestingly enough. This may stem from the fact that her re-makes, for the most part, are radical departures from the originals. And I can’t say which version is better, they’re just… different: the originals with their danceable disco sound or the new versions in staggering simplicity (while remaining somehow luscious).

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Melanie C – Stages

Again, a little bit of a surprise here: Melanie C already made last year’s list with The Sea but I’d wager this year’s entry is even more solid (meaning I’ll still listen to it in ten years time). It’s a compilation of classic songs from various musicals (and a Joni Mitchell tune) and they all work incredibly well with Mel’s distinctive voice.

Rating: ★★★★½
Best tracks (again, almost everything. What can I say, I’m a sucker for musicals…)

Leonard Cohen – Old Ideas

Cohens last few albums all contained a few very good songs buried between lots of very bland tracks. This album follows along the same path but is a bit less on the bland side. Tuning down the female backing vocal choir might have had something to do with this development. Cohen is also infamous for his sometimes questionable taste in album artwork but this one’s actually pretty decent.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Kate Miller-Heidke – Nightflight

I was pretty excited for the new Kate Miller-Heidke release. Firstly because I’ve devoured all her previous material and secondly because I loved the detours she took last year with the record she put out last year under the name Fatty Gets A Stylist. She actually included two songs from that record here, The Tiger Inside Will Eat The Child and Let Me Fade, this time sung in her “normal” artsy voice (which I love). The other tracks are brand-new and they’re quite good as well. There is only one song below a three-and-a-half star rating. On the other hand, most songs are rated with three-and-a-half stars so the exceptional (The Devil Wears A Suit) is spread rather thinly. Nonetheless a lovely collection of songs.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

P!nk – The Truth About Love

P!nk seems to be the big exception in the mainstream pop business: she’s the one artist not scared of being true to herself™ (or at least she has managed to uphold the appearance) and I’ve stayed true to her music because of this. Apparently, it has paid off (for me – and for her, obviously) since The Truth About Love is one of her best albums, certainly better than Funhouse or Try Th!s. Call me imaginative, but I do hear the Janis Joplin influence.

Rating: ★★★★½
Best tracks

Race Horses – Furniture

Race Horses were Bat For Lashes’ support act on her recent tour (which might still be ongoing) and I really liked them live though they were pretty wild. The studio album is great as well, though quite different. This really sounds like something Syd Barrett might have composed in his better years. Mates in particular reminds me of early Pink Floyd tracks like Bike.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

The Pines – Dark So Gold

Speaking of newly-discovered artists. The Pines played on The mountain stage and I just fell in love with the vocals. I don’t usually fall for male voices but when I do, I fall hard, like I did with The Alan Parsons Project or Midlake. In this case, I’m still falling and there’s no ground in sight.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Ani DiFranco – ¿Which Side Are You On?

Since 1877, not a year had gone by without a release from Ani DiFranco when the streak suddenly stopped with 2009’s Red Letter Year. Loosening her tight release schedule certainly paid off: ¿Which Side Are You On? feels a lot more complete than Red Letter Year or Reprieve and, as always, it contains some pretty fierce songwriting.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Bat for Lashes – The Haunted Man

I saw the Bat For Lashes performance on iTunes Festival (the app, not the live show) and I thought the new songs were brilliant, even if Oh Yeah was a little bit on the cheesy side of things (I’ve later come to revise that view). When I got the album, I was disappointed at first as it starts out with a rather dull track (Lilies) and some of the other not-so-brilliant tracks (Marilyn, The Haunted Man, A Wall, or Deep Sea Diver) seem to stretch ad infinitum at first listen. But after a while, I’ve found that most tracks got consistent high ratings when listened to in isolation and it’s only the mixture that drags the album down with these aforementioned tracks. I really loved Fur and Gold and Two Suns was a complete letdown in comparison. The Haunted Man is somewhere in between but the songs are completely fresh and don’t feel like a rip-off of earlier songs (most tracks on Two Suns felt that way).

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Diamond Rings – Free Dimensional

I’ve never heard of Diamond Rings before I saw the album on sale on iTunes. Given the cover artwork, immediately reminiscent of Klaus Nomi’s albums, I had no choice but to try it. The Klaus Nomi comparison is apt, not only visually but also acoustically: both artists feature a versatile male voice, mostly accompanied by synthesizers. Klaus’ voice was just a little bit more versatile and Diamond Rings’ synthesizers are a just bit more “mostly”.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Diana Krall – Glad Rag Doll

I had heard the most scathing critiques of Diana Krall’s newest recording: it was supposed to be presumptuous, over-achieving, or “unnatural” (whatever that means). Apparently I’m not part of the consensus on this matter. I’ve found Glad Rag Doll to be engaging, uplifting and a back-to-the roots kinda thing after the strange departure from her usual style that Quiet Nights was.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Patricia Kaas – Kaas chante Piaf

Patricia Kaas takes it upon herself to impersonate the great Edith Piaf. Thinking about it, though, I’ve never really grasped what exactly it was that made Piaf so great. As for Kaas, however, I’ve always loved her powerful vocals and this record is no exception. It might take on a different meaning for fans of Piaf, but for me, it’s just a “regular” Kaas album.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Regina Spektor – What We Saw From The Cheap Seats

It’s hard to believe that Regina Spektor has been recording songs for over a decade now. Now she sorta comes full circle: the playfulness of 11:11 or Songs is back on this newest installment, combining that with the smoothness we’ve grown accustomed to by the songs on Far or Begin to Hope, though only on a per-song basis: songs like Oh Marcello or Don’t Leave Me (Ne me quitte pas) have decidedly a Gravedigger-y feeling while All The Rowboats or Ballad Of A Politician sound more Far-y. Only a few songs like Small Town Moon manage to be hybrids of the two eras.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Skye – Back to Now

I realised I had missed Skye’s second solo record, Keeping Secrets, entirely. I tried to rectify that quickly but did not find any access to those songs. With Back To Now, listening was a much more rewarding experience: those synthesizer sounds really suit her voice.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Patrick Wolf – Sundark And Riverlight

This is mostly a compilation of acoustic versions of tracks found on previous albums. However, I like listening to these versions much more than listening to the originals. I think the acoustic versions make it easier for me to really grasp the intent of the compositions, as they’re not as deeply layered.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Various Artists – Just Tell Me That You Want Me – A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac

This compilations features some well-known and lesser-known artists covering Fleetwood Mac classics. There’s not much holding this album together as a whole (except Fleetwood Mac, of course, but there wasn’t much holding them together, either), but some of the individual tracks are quite enjoyable interpretations of the original songs. Though, of course, I wished Antony Hegarty would have done Beautiful Child instead of Landslide.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Lana Del Rey – Born to Die

The “certainly best mainstream-y record of the year” award goes to Lana Del Rey. She somehow manages to coat pop songs with an artsy make-up that actually makes me want to know more of the song’s background.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Müslüm – Süpervitamin

Though sometimes a bit misogynist, the lyrics on Süpervitamin do their best to make audiences reflect upon their own views on immigrants and other social outcasts. Also, the melodies are reminiscent of world music, which makes for a very funny, albeit unexpected, mix with the german language lyrics.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Various Artists – Chimes Of Freedom: The Songs Of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years Of Amnesty International

I could say almost the exact same things for this as for the Fleetwood Mac compilation but that would be just a repeat so I’m saying instead what a staggering number of songs this compilation contains (70) and that it’s for a good cause (and, also, rather cheap considering – again – the amount of songs)…

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Sophie Hunger – The Danger Of Light

For you to have to get this album, it should be enough to mention that Sophie Hunger has finally recorded her version of the classic Ne Me Quitte Pas, which she used to only play live. The other songs are mostly great as well but they’re all very mellow, even more so than usual, so you might miss the edgier side of previous releases.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Hill & The Sky Heroes – 11:11

Finally, a note on Hill & The Sky Heroes: I first heard about this album when it made the top spot of snob’s best of 2012 list. Naturally, I had to check it out. The videos on the site and on YouTube sound great (especially Doctor, Doctor). Unfortunately it’s almost impossible to get your hands on this album from outside of Canada. It’s not even available on the U.S. iTunes Store, much less my local one. I’ve now ordered an import version on Amazon but I’m still waiting for it to arrive…

Rating: Unknown
Best tracks
???]]> Great albums of 2011 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2011/12/31/59o91d_great_albums_of_2011 Sat, 31 Dec 2011 20:39:06 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2011/12/31/59o91d_great_albums_of_2011

Baaba Kulka – Baaba Kulka

Gaba Kulka has always been great for a surprise (remember her changing her name from Gabriela Kulka?), now she’s out to get me hooked on heavy metal (and, thus, turn me into my brother, Thermoskanne) with this record full of Iron Maiden covers.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Tom Waits – Bad as Me

After having been completely overwhelmed with the quantity of material on his last two records, I was glad to see Waits back with a regular studio record. It does contain the usual mixture of melancholy and noise with songs erring on either side.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

R.E.M. – Collapse Into Now

I’m a sucker for R.E.M.’s catchy tunes and ÜBerlin reminds me a lot of the good stuff™ there like Imitation Of Life. Lots of one-star songs on there, too, however.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Tori Amos – Night of Hunters

When I first heard the prereleased snippets on Soundcloud, I was completely blown away by Carry and a little bit underwhelmed by Nautical Twilight. The album as a whole follows the latter more than the former but I’ve come to appreciate the tensely orchestrated tracks by focusing less on the voice.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Blondie – Panic of Girls

An densely-packed collection of great Blondie songs – and some wonderful experiments into new directions. They did great here and deserved better than to be given away for free with magazines.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Joan Baez – Play Me Backwards

Play Me Backwards isn’t actually a new album but it was re-released this year with a slew of bonus songs. I never quite understood other people’s fascination with this record that I’d always regarded mediocre. But I love these new tracks. I think the album would have been a lot better had some of these been used instead of the ones that are actually on the record.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Evelinn Trouble – Television Religion

The reason I loved Evelinn Trouble’s Arbitrary Act so much back in 2007 was mostly because I’d fallen in love with her emphasis on acoustics. Unfortunately, some acoustics had to make way for heavy instrumentation but, luckily, some still remain.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Cyndi Lauper – To Memphis, With Love

The award for the best live record of the year goes to our trusted Cyndi. I especially love the blues-y renditions of her classic songs. Some track are DVD-only, unfortunately but you’ll now how to get them onto your player…

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy R3c0nf1gur3d

This is what the Tron soundtrack might have sounded like if it had been a regular Daft Punk album instead of having been arranged to fit to the on-screen action.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Fatty Gets A Stylist – Fatty Gets A Stylist

Amazon sold this to me as Liberty Bell. They might have thought it would sell better if it was given some recognizable name like Kate Miller-Heidke’s. However I think this undermines the whole purpose of this project: to be a wonderful and intensely fun diversion from the main work of the artists involved.

Rating: ★★★★½
Best tracks

Melanie C – The Sea

The latest of Melanie C’s records is the first after the big Spice Girls reunion. It seems like she needed to get some rest afterwards and slow the pace of releases. A wise strategy that turned out very well. “The Sea” reminds me of the turn Alanis Morissette had taken when she released Flavors of Entanglement: more electronics but still decidedly Mel C. Not quite a Reason but a lot better than This Time.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Daughter – Demos – EP, His Young Heart – EP, and The Wild Youth – EP

Three wonderful little intricate EP’s that will pave the way for a lot of great stuff to come. I’m sure.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know

It seems like Laura Marling is trying to get me confused. I thought I had her figured out when she released Alas I Cannot Swim: light-hearted, fun, beautiful. Then came I Speak Because I Can which was completely inaccessible to me. And now this — exactly what I would have wished her second album to be: a progression towards the more sophisticated while retaining the basic qualities that made the first record so wonderful. It seems like Laura Marling really is “A Creature I Don’t Know”.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Beth Ditto – EP

Beth Ditto takes exatcly what I like about Gossip, adds some ’80s frills and out comes the EP I wished could have been a full album.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

PJ Harvey – Let England Shake

I’m not sure I could add anything significant to the slew of enthusiastic reviews out there.

Rating: ★★★★★
Best tracks

Joss Stone – LP1

Joss Stone has always had the perfect voice but the songs she used them on never quite fit. With the third record she finally seems to have found the right songs (or at least some). I don’t get, though, why this record got named in a way to suggest it to be her first (the same complaint applies to, Introducing… Joss Stone, which, as it happens, did not introduce Joss Stone)…

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Patrick Wolf – Lupercalia and Brumalia

I seem to be the perfect candidate to like Patrick Wolf’s music but up until Lupercalia and Brumalia, I never did. Most of it was just too unaccessible to me. I realise I should have invested more energy into getting to know the previous albums but, as they say, time is a virtue… I’m glad this album opened my eyes!

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

k.d. lang – k.d. lang And The Siss Boom Bang Sing it Loud

There were actually two k.d. lang releases this year: Sing it Loud and a 25th year anniversary edition of A Truly Western Experience. Like most, I prefer the wiser, more settled k.d. to the young, wild “westerner” of 25 years ago.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Feist – Metals

In 2007, The Reminder was one of four sophomore albums that had me hooked immediately and led me to later check out the corresponding debut releases which I’d liked even better (the other three albums being Ghosts, Back to Black and Overpowered). Feist is back and she’s gone back to what was so great about Let It Die and experimented from there (A Commotion in particular seems to be greatly influenced by Kate Bush’s more experimental period, mixing Hounds of Love (alternative) with Get Out of My House).

Rating: ★★★★★
Best tracks (With this album, it was hard finding any songs to exclude)

Maria Taylor – Overlook

I had actually missed Maria Taylor’s previous release, Lady Luck, as well as Azure Ray’s Drawing Down the Moon, so I had a bit of catching up to do, resulting in a slight Maria Taylor overdose. Still, I wasn’t at all put off by Overlook. A solid release, even if I think it falls short when compared to Lynn Teeter Flower.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Adele – 21

I like the fact that a record as stripped-down as this can have the commercial appeal it does.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Kate Bush – 50 Words for Snow

While I’m not too comfortable saying anything about a new record from my favourite artist ever™ until at least some years have passed, it’s safe to say this album is something special and will uplift me for many years to come.

Rating: ★★★½☆
Best tracks

Madeleine Peyroux – Standing On The Rooftop

Not the kind of music I’m very involved with when listening but great as an accompaniment to the more dull tasks of life.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Jessie J – Who You Are

This is the most mainstream-able music I’ll ever admit to liking… Jessie J has found a fun and fresh way of meddling with the pop audience.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Charlotte Martin – Dancing on Needles

In this – highly recommended – collection, you’ll find some of Charlotte Martin’s most engaging songs to date. I’ve always found her music to be best when listened to with headphones but Dancing On Needles really shines when allowed to engulf me completely.

Rating: ★★★★☆
Best tracks

Vanessa Carlton – Rabbits On The Run

I’ve been in love with Vanessa Carlton ever since I first saw the video for A Thousand Miles and have been collecting her releases since. However, I never got around to actually listening to them as closely as I could have. I did that with Rabbits On The Run, however, because once I listened to the first song, it was hard to let go.

Rating: ★★★★½
Best tracks

Marianne Faithfull – Horses And High Heels

Marianne Faithfull continues the path she started on with Easy Come, Easy Go. What’s missing is the drama that made Before the Poison so interesting. Yet, there are just too many beautiful songs here as to consider this a bad record in any sense.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Heidi Happy – Hiding With the Wolves

Having skipped Flowers, Birds and Home because of the unappealing cover, this time the poetic cover might have skewed my opinion towards the more favorable. I found this record to be highly diverse as it was hard finding the musical common ground for all the songs. Nevertheless, some songs are truly great and deserve a mention.

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

Stahlberger – Abghenkt

Dieselben witzigen Texte wie auf Rägebogesidlig, aber mit abwechslungsreicherer Musik unterlegt. Macht einfach Spaß…

Rating: ★★★☆☆
Best tracks

]]> 2011 is going to be a great year for music. http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2011/03/25/4ajhrf_2011_is_going_to_be_a_great_year_for_music. Fri, 25 Mar 2011 11:10:59 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2011/03/25/4ajhrf_2011_is_going_to_be_a_great_year_for_music. Wow, its only march and already I’m exploding with anticipation for some of the announced releases. With Fiona Apple, Paul Simon (So Beautiful or So What), Stevie Nicks (In Your Dreams), k.d. lang (Sing it Loud), Sinéad O'Connor (Home), Vanessa Carlton (Rabbits On The Run), and of course, Kate Bush (Director’s Cut) releasing stuff this year, I’ve hardly ever been more excited at the prospect of new music (even though I still have my massive CD backlog).
Adding to my excitement is some stuff that is out already like Let England Shake, 21, Horses And High Heels, Dancing on Needles and
Who You Are, which are all sounding great; as well as some less-but-still-anticipated albums from Lady Gaga (Born This Way), Joan As Police Woman (The Deep Field), Nelly Furtado (Lifestyle), Alice Cooper (Welcome 2 My Nightmare) and Patrick Wolf (Lupercalia).
Also, Björk is doing something (Biophilia) of which I’m not yet sure whether to categorize it as a new release in a sense fitting this journal entry or not but it sure does sound exciting!]]> Great albums of 2010 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2010/12/31/44sjse_great_albums_of_2010 Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:54:13 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2010/12/31/44sjse_great_albums_of_2010 I thought I’d re-immerse myself into the time-consuming process that is end-of-year album reviews. I can’t promise to be very exhaustive. Also, please keep in mind that these are just the albums I bought because I expected to like them and I’m in no position to claim knowledge of everything released this past year.

CocoRosie – Grey Oceans
I’m not sure what the bad cover artwork (complete with cheap effects and Microsoft fonts) is indicative of but it’s definitely not musical incompetence. CocoRosie can use this album to add to their long list of dreamy, wonderful, lusty songs that are a joy to listen to.

Best tracks

Evelyn Evelyn – Evelyn Evelyn
Amanda Palmer’s works are always enjoyable and this adventurous tale of conjoined twin sisters is no exception, though the thought of those fictional characters playing those songs might take some getting used to.

Best tracks

Morcheeba – Blood Like Lemonade
I have so far put up with all the changes in Morcheeba’s lineup and never found it absolutely necessary for Skye to return: I happen to like The Antidote as well as Dive Deep and the two Morcheeba records I can’t stand are Fragments of Freedom and Who Can You Trust?, both of which feature Skye. But still I was fairly excited when I heard the news of her return. The result is a fairly decent record with only a few top-notch songs but no low points whatsoever.

Best tracks

Rachael Sage – Delancey Street
The problem with Rachael Sage’s releases has always been, that they had to compare to the great debut, Morbid Romantic and the stellar sophomore recording, Smashing The Serene and always faltered. Every next record she put out was more of the same tracks as the previous, just with a little less spice. This time around, she turns this around completely and awaits with quite a lot of songs I didn’t think we’d ever hear from her. Special gimmick: A remix of Too Many Women was featured in the recent remake of “Fame”, where it was ridiculed in the dialogue. So she decided to in return cover the theme song of the original movie, which turned out great.

Best tracks

Marina & the Diamonds – The Family Jewels
After attending concerts of two artists that I had not much prior knowledge of, Imogen Heap and Florence And The Machine, I thought I’d give it a rest and skip on Marina & The Diamonds. What a mistake that was! Quite possible one of the most wonderful albums I own. Will be listening to this for a long time to come. This is what Katy Perry would sound like if I was her target audience.

Best tracks

Kelis – Flesh Tone
I liked Kelis Was Here but i love this. Most likely, it’s the danceablility that turns me on.

Best tracks

David Byrne & Fatboy Slim – Here Lies Love
Apart from Weapon of Choice, I have no knowledge of anything Fatboy Slim has done and apart from his TED talk, I’d never heard of David Byrne until this album was released. I took notice because Tori Amos was listed as a collaborator and after seeing the other list of collaborators, many of which are favourites of mine (the likes of Santigold, Cyndi Lauper, Róisín Murphy, Natalie Merchant, Steve Earle, Nellie McKay, Florence Welch), I was hooked.

Best tracks

Nellie McKay – Home Sweet Mobile Home
Just a year after her Doris Day tribute, Normal as Blueberry Pie, she’s back with material of her own. And what material it is! Ranging from sad–melancholy (The Portal) through ukulele–sentimental (Adios) and reggae–après-ski-party (¡Bodega!) to trip-hop–political (No Equality), nothing’s missing.

Best tracks

KT Tunstall – Tiger Suit
I’m still not sure what to think of KT Tunstall. But at least after this album, I’m sure what to think of her music: versatile, intelligent and fun.

Best tracks

Amy Macdonald – A Curious Thing
I’m a sucker for all things british accent. And Amy Macdonald really has me hooked onto her accent. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that her voice is great as well. A Curious Thing is a worthy successor to This Is The Life, even though it doesn’t bring much new to the table, musically.

Best tracks

Christina Aguilera – Bionic
Apart from some songs you thought you’d already heard in the ’90s, Bionic really is a strong collection showcasing Christina’s versatility, even if not under any kind of coherent umbrella. It’s no Stripped but I’ve long come to the conclusion that that was the blind hen’s corn.

Best tracks

Christina Aguilera & Cher – Burlesque OST
OK, I admit I fancy Cher. In every way possible. And her two songs on the Burlesque soundtrack really stand out. None of Christina’s songs do. But I guess they sell better so they packed the album with her songs. Or Cher doesn’t get to sing more in the movie, which would be a crying shame.

Best tracks

Daft Punk – Tron: Legacy OST
Not your momma’s Daft Punk. Rather this sounds like the natural extension of what Vangelis did with the Blade Runner soundtrack. Brilliant and to be enjoyed as a whole.

Best tracks
Can’t say. They’re all too alike. It really is just one long song. One long symphony.

Sting – Live In Berlin
This is much like Symphonicities, but actually contains songs that I like to hear symphonic versions of.

Best tracks

Leonard Cohen – Songs From The Road
This is similar to the Live In London recording released last year (albeit it contains less songs) but this features recordings from the whole tour as opposed to just the London tour stop. Also contains some songs not present there. You can skip this if you already have the London recording but if you haven’t got either, get this one.

Best tracks

Natalie Merchant – Leave Your Sleep & Leave Your Supper
I was very excited when I first heard about this project of poetry by and for children made into songs. I was certain that Natalie Merchant would understand the fact the good children’s music (like good children’s films and books) are not a special kind of music but in fact just good music, marketed to parents (for another example affirming this theory see Jewel’s Lullaby as opposed to, for example, Meredith Brooks’ If I Could Be…). And sure as hell, she does.

Best tracks

Laurie Anderson – Homeland
Mesmerizing as always. Bringing up important issues, presenting them in wonderful soundscapes. Just undescribably Laurie.

Best tracks

Antony and the Johnsons – Thank You For Your Love – EP
If this is what Swanlights was going to be, I would have loved it. Unfortunately, I still haven’t warmed to Swanlights. But all the more do I love this EP.

Best tracks

Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me
The process of acquiring these songs is a tedious, tiresome but very rewarding one. And while I still haven’t worked thoroughly through the whole album, previous attempts have left a trail of five-star ratings.

Best tracks

Cyndi Lauper – Memphis Blues
Cyndi did not completely manage to change my mind about the blues but she turned it around at least a little bit: I don’t write it off completely anymore. That is a HUGE achievement and takes a genius like her!

Best tracks

Shakira – Sale el Sol
The best thing I can say about this album is that it’s in Spanish. Which makes it a lot better than all her English records. When its Shakira we’re talking about, this is enough. But I’d say it’s the weakest of her Spanish records. And by this, I mean all her Spanish records, even including The Remixes, Peligro and Magia.

Best tracks

Elton John & Leon Russell – The Union
Elton John did his new album with some guy named Leon Russell, whom I’d never heard of but whose voice I won’t forget. They did great together. Not quite as good as The Captain and The Kid but close.

Best tracks

Midlake – The Courage Of Others
I’d never even heard of Midlake before receiving one of their songs as a gift from iTunes for liking the iTunes page on Facebook (which is a strange kind of promotion, but who cares) and I immediately went to Amazon MP3 and bought the whole album. What I like about these songs is the same thing I always liked about The Alan Parsons Project’s songs: a deeply melancholic voice with music that is irritatingly slightly optimistic in tone and even the musical quality is quite similar.

Best tracks

First Aid Kit – The Big Black And The Blue
Some blog alerted me to this release and I was immediately convinced that I needed to have it. Which is not quite true. But almost. It’s a good album and I loved listening to it. But I’m not sure it will stand the test of time. First Aid Kit will end up like Blue Roses and A Fine Frenzy before; with a lot of four star rated songs that I never listen to due to declining interest.

Best tracks

Wir sind Helden – Bring mich nach Hause
Die Helden sind wieder da! Soundso hat mir nicht besonders gefallen, doch bei „Bring Mich Nach Hause“ konnte ich mich gleich wieder zuhause fühlen. Und das obwohl verschiedene Songs drauf sind, die man so von den Helden nicht erwartet hätte. Und eine Unplugged-Versions-CD ist auch noch dabei. Was will man mehr?

Beste Tracks

Sophie Hunger – 1983
Auch wenn ich aus dem Coverfoto nicht schlau werde, und wenn es Wochen als meine Zubettgehmusik brauchte, so kann ich doch nicht anders, als 1983 zu lieben. Im iTunes hat es Songs mit bloss einem Stern bis hin zu solchen mit deren fünf. Hier gilt was sonst eher selten Erfolg verspricht: die Mischung machts.

Beste Tracks

Dota und die Stadtpiraten – Bis auf den Grund
Dota ist immer schön zu hören. Sehr feinfühlig und feinhörig zu sein wird vom Hörer erwartet. Der Fokus auf das Leise, das Feine ist sehr wohltuend!

Beste Tracks

]]> My secret of artist discocvery… http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2010/05/02/3lws6z_my_secret_of_artist_discocvery%E2%80%A6 Sun, 2 May 2010 22:30:03 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2010/05/02/3lws6z_my_secret_of_artist_discocvery%E2%80%A6 Looking through my ever-growing pile of unlistened CDs (unlistened does not mean that I never put it on, it just means that I haven’t yet had the opportunity to really listen to it all the way through a few times), I asked myself whether it would be possible to pinpoint exactly what makes me want to buy a CD. The point being here that most of the time I only get to love CDs after having bought them already and most of those CDs I eventually end up liking. Of course the fact that I obsessively collect all available records of the artists I like helps. This means that the question is reduced to the following: how do I discover new artists? And which means have provided me reliably with the artists I’d surely love? Decisive for what category to put an artist in is not how I first heard their song but what got me hooked (I’m only including artists I’m still hooked on as of today but since I can’t remember ever having gotten tired of an artist, this is a given).

For ever and for always

There are some artists whose music came to me as a child and will always stay with me no matter what. My mom used to have quite a few LPs, yet I only ever listened to two of them: Janis Joplin’s Antology and a recording of Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. I must have been about five or six years old at the time. Shortly thereafter, my mother was given a mixtape of Kate Bush songs for her listening pleasure. I must have overheard it, was hooked immediately, and annexed the tape (I even still listen to it from time to time; the dust and noises let me relive memories long thought forgotten). Kate Bush has remained my favourite artist since. I absolutely love her music which has been guiding me for so many years of my life. A fourth artist I remember from my (later) childhood is Sinéad O'Connor: her album “Universal Mother” came out when I was nine and my mother’s boyfriend at the time got it and it, too, became one of my most cherished music artifacts.

Most favourite of the bunch: Kate Bush, of course
My rating of this channel: The music’s great but the variety is limited: ★★★★☆

Radio & MTV

I remember countless nights of listening to the charts as a tween. This was at a time when my music taste was the most mainstream. Later, this line of music discovery shifted to MTV and still persists today in the form of some TV shows I still watch and some music-related radio podcasts I still listen to. Artists discovered this way include the Spice Girls, Christina Aguilera, Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Jan Delay, Céline Dion, Anastacia, Sugababes, The Cranberries, Shania Twain, Tracy Chapman, Sophie Ellis-Bextor.

Most favourite of the bunch: Undecided because the reach is so far
My rating of this channel: Great variety of artists, little variety of sound: ★★★☆☆

Artists that are common knowledge and I happen to like them

The Beatles
ABBA (this is actually another one for the first category but I never really, really liked them until I got to some of the lesser-known songs)
Bob Dylan

Seen live

I don’t usually go to concerts where I don’t know what to expect. But there are still three possible circumstances that could cause this to occur:

A friend drags me with them
The concert is an open-air with a mixed line-up
The artist is the supporting act

I happen to have an example for each of those cases:

Nellie McKay (Case 3)
Alanis Morissette (Case 2)
Sohodolls (Case 1, where the friend was actually my father)

Best live discovery: Alanis Morissette
Rating: ★★★★☆

Artists suggested to me by the local record store

Unfortunately, Rock On closed its doors for good last October but I will always remember how they got to know my music taste in a matter of weeks… Artists discovered there include:

Where Róisín is of course my most cherished discovery of all
Overall rating: ★★★★☆

iTunes

Sometimes I browse the iTunes store and discover great stuff that way. Only downside is that once I started a music collection by an artist digitally, I can’t continue it physically because that would (by some psychological condition) violate my principle of the order of things… case in point: I don’t have any of these artists physically in my record collection.

Best of iTunes: Amy Macdonald
Rating: some crummy boundaries prevent me from getting all I want but the quality of service is excellent: ★★★☆☆

Last.fm

Discoveries on last.fm are not what you think they’d be: iamstevienicks3 gave me a shout asking “AND you also like Celine and ABBA!!! Have u tried any Stevie Nicks? I am sure you would love her :-)”. And he was right, I did love her! Once I posted a journal entry named “Great albums of 2007” where hdsander posted a comment reading: “Nice list! I found albums to agree to, some to look at and some I would not mention, but I could not find Brandi Carlile - The Story ;)”… And whoops now, there she is now in my library, never again to be forgotten. Lastly: Lene Lovich. I took a more active approach there and asked my last.fm neighbours who listened to her to recommend her to me and they did.

Best on last.fm: Stevie Nicks, with Brandi Carlile being a close second
Rating: not many but all top shots: ★★★★☆

Ectoguide

A web site with the complete title “the ectophile’s guide to good music” is a collection of artist that could be of interest to anyone who likes Happy Rhodes’ music. The most effective source of new discoveries:

Ectobest: Laurie Anderson, Ani DiFranco, Joanna Newsom, Jewel (sorry, can’t decide)
Rating: fabulous: ★★★★★

Artists who draw comparisons to Kate Bush

Most of them I discovered on Kate-Bush web sites, through web searches or by accident in other media articles.

Most Kate-like: Happy Rhodes
Rating: limited, but great: ★★★★☆

Specifically: the Kate Bush Google Alert

Best here: Bat For Lashes
Rating: many journalist seem to connect all sorts of music to Kate… so there are lots of false positives here: ★★★☆☆

Artists who draw comparisons to Tori Amos

Sometimes sounds exactly like Tori: Charlotte Martin

Suggested by family members

Best: Björk
Rating: sometimes wonky, mostly cool, often quite good: ★★★☆☆

Suggested by friends

Best: Sally Oldfield
Rating: sometimes wonky, mostly cool, often quite good: ★★★★☆

Got to know in school

(Suggested by a teacher, not a classmate)

Best: Cyndi Lauper
Rating: ★★★★☆

Off compilations

Marianne Faithfull (Paul Simon Songbook)
Sting (Two Rooms)
Joe Cocker (Two Rooms)
George Michael (Two Rooms)
Joni Mitchell (Love… Actually OST)

Best: Sting, followed by Joni Mitchell
Rating: does not often yield good results: ★★☆☆☆

Because some artist I liked did a cover of their song

Leonard Cohen (Joan Baez covered “Famous Blue Raincoat”)
Ismaël Lô (Marianne Faithfull covered “La Femme Sans Haine (Toutes Les Femmes)”)
Cher (Sophie Ellis-Bextor covered “Take Me Home”)
Peter Gabriel (Happy Rhodes covered “Here Comes The Flood”)
David Bowie (Happy Rhodes covered “Ashes To Ashes”)
Joe Jackson (Tori Amos covered “Real Men”)

Best: Leonard Cohens
Rating: funny way but most are lucky guesses: ★★★☆☆

Because they did a cover of a song I liked

Tori Amos (covered Leonard Cohens “Famous Blue Raincoat”; yes, really, that’s how I first got in touch with her music, not the obvious Kate-Bush-like connection)
Julie Felix (covered Simon & Garfunkel’s version of “El Cóndor Pasa”)
Julie Covington (covered Kate Bush’s “The Kick Inside”)
Roberta Flack (covered Joan Baez’s Jesse)

Best: Tori Amos
Rating: apart from Tori not a big yield: ★★☆☆☆

Because one of their song’s titles contained the name of an artist I liked

Tabitha Monet

Solo stuff by bands I liked

Best: Siobhan Donaghy
Rating: strangely few…: ★★☆☆☆

Bands of people whose solo stuff I liked

The Sugarcubes (via Björk)
Azure Ray (via Maria Taylor)
Moloko (via Róisín Murphy)
Fleetwood Mac (via Stevie Nicks)

Best: The Sugarcubes, closely followed by Moloko
Rating: mostly great: ★★★★☆]]> Delicious Library 2 online http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2008/07/30/23eftd_delicious_library_2_online Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:06:27 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2008/07/30/23eftd_delicious_library_2_online Delicious Library comes with two great web export templates. I took the one which allowed me show off my CD collection all at once and – thus – searchable.
sabberworm’s Library.
One odd thing I noticed, however, was that barely readable text at the bottom, “Springfield, State zipflap congrotus delicious library Schweikert, Raphael”. The middle part, “zipflap congrotus”, seems to be present on every DL2 export. A quick Google search for "zipflap congrotus" (including the quotes) yields only delicious web libraries. Maybe the developers built them in to be able to quickly google how often the export feature is used… I would never without reason accuse Wil Shipley of spying on his users but I just can’t imagine what other purpose those words would serve.]]> Céline Dion is a Fucking Ignorant Bitch http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2008/06/26/21j99c_c%C3%A9line_dion_is_a_fucking_ignorant_bitch Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:53:56 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/sabberworm/journal/2008/06/26/21j99c_c%C3%A9line_dion_is_a_fucking_ignorant_bitch Tue 24 Jun – Céline Dion World Tour 2008

Why did everyone seem to like the concert so much? It was fuckin’ awful. I paid an insane amount of money for the worst concert I’ve ever been to. Everyone knows that every single French Céline Dion song is better than all of her English songs combined. Then why on earth would she consider singing only one of them, “Pour que tu m'aimes encore” (which she even introduced with the exact same phrase she used on the “Live at Las Vegas” DVD) a track which will always be remembered as her single biggest French hit. Ending the show yet again with My Heart Will Go On (her biggest english hit) just proves that she is nothing but a sucker for fame and is willing to do anything (including singing the same song every night for thousands of times) to please the masses.
Why the hell does she neglect the fans of her French songs so much, expects them to visit her concerts in Paris or Montréal? Even in a country like Switzerland where a big part of the population is actually French-speaking and everyone else has had French lessons in elementary school, even if she’s released a French record (D'elles just last year, she would only do that one (old) French song and not speak French at all during the introductions.
God I love Céline Dion but I hate her dividing the world into French and Non-French (thus – English), as if everyone who’s not speaking French would prefer English.
The concert was not entirely bad, though, there was one incredible highlight: She sung my favourite Queen song “The Show Must Go On” in same way as most of her great cover songs are done: as close to the original as possible.
The Show Must Go On]]>