Quote :

"1372 Overton Park?"

we went to see lucero when they toured with Black Joe Lewis last year and Ben kept talking about how great BJL was... then some months later 1372 Overton Park comes out with horns and stuff, couldn't help but think there was some influence there.

but yeah, good album.

7/20/2010 12:25:34 PM

Don't know if it's been talked about yet, but I love the new Big Boi album. It's just plain fun. 99% of the hip-hop I listen to now is "underground/backpack" type music because most of the mainstream stuff put out in the past 5-7 years is straight garbage. But this is not. Two thumbs up.

7/20/2010 12:54:06 PM

thoughts on the new Hold Steady? i know they're a polarizing band in these threads, curious to see what people think about this one? I'm just so-so on it right now, in the middle of probably my third listen.

7/21/2010 3:10:26 PM

i am an enormous fan of the hold steady, they're one of my favorite bands, but i was not that into heaven is whenever. it isn't BAD, but it isn't good, either. i'm still behind those guys 100%. going to see them in asheville in september. one of the best live bands around.

7/21/2010 3:18:11 PM

TWW does not approve of The Hold Steady

7/21/2010 3:20:34 PM

well, they should

great band

7/21/2010 3:34:31 PM

I really liked Separation Sunday. Everything before or since is garbage, though. And the way Craig Finn sings doesn't bother me much.

7/21/2010 3:50:12 PM

oh come on Boys and Girls in America isn't terrible

7/21/2010 3:51:22 PM

GARBAGE I SAY

7/21/2010 3:51:39 PM

i did not know that their keyboardist left.

thanks wiki.

making luigi jokes was like, 1/3rd the of the fun of going to see them

7/21/2010 3:53:30 PM

boys and girls in america is an awesome album, as is stay positive.

i will agree that their first and most recent albums aren't very good, but those three in the middle are all truly great albums.

finn is one of the premier lyricists of our generation. i feel fully confident in making that claim.

also ^ lol at the luigi jokes, i bet he got pretty sick of people yelling out "YOUR MUSTACHE RULES!" and stuff of that ilk. but, yeah, i think they were missing franz nicolay pretty badly on heaven is whenever

[Edited on July 21, 2010 at 3:56 PM. Reason : .]

7/21/2010 3:54:46 PM

except it kinda creeps me out how much he seems to write about high schoolers

7/21/2010 3:55:30 PM

true, but it kinda fits in with everything else

7/21/2010 4:00:41 PM

apparently its a common complaint, but yeah his voice... i can't take it.

7/21/2010 4:56:35 PM

Quote :

"finn is one of the premier lyricists of our generation. i feel fully confident in making that claim."

backed

7/21/2010 7:02:28 PM

yes to the Hold Steady

but the new album is only so-so for me

7/21/2010 7:59:36 PM

pre-order for the new whatever brains 7" is up at http://funnynotfunnyrecords.com/
you can also stream two of the tracks there. vinylbandit is basically in our band, so you should love it.

7/22/2010 10:23:42 AM

the new cherry ghost didnt grab me at all

i kinda liked the last one in a "i can take this in small doses" way

7/22/2010 10:35:03 AM

new deerhunter single is a++

7/23/2010 12:25:37 AM

AF leaked!

hxxp://depositfiles.com/en/files/vsmopdrm3

7/23/2010 12:08:16 PM

came in here to post that. not really expecting much from this album, hopefully they prove me wrong.

7/23/2010 12:23:49 PM

not going to listen

7/23/2010 1:20:05 PM

listening

a third of the way in, it's definitely arcade fire-y

but it's very '80s springsteen-y, which is what i worried about

with that said, the extremely springsteen-y parts so far are not shitty like "month of may" is

that's all i got

7/23/2010 1:24:57 PM

Quote :

"came in here to post that. not really expecting much from this album, hopefully they prove me wrong."

early reviews have been very positive

7/23/2010 1:25:48 PM

did not enjoy

7/23/2010 3:03:14 PM

it's not bad

i don't particularly care to listen to any of it again right now

so i will listen to big boi for the third time in 24 hours

w00t

7/23/2010 3:05:57 PM

definitely wasn't bad by any means

only a few tracks really stood out though. the rest was just kinda meh

7/23/2010 3:10:13 PM

reserving judgment until i hear it a few more times (or at least until the pitchfork review comes out, jk)

one thing i can say for certain, i will not be describing it as "springsteen-y" no matter how much it is influenced by the boss. sorry, vb

7/23/2010 5:29:01 PM

definately getting a big ol' meh....

7/23/2010 8:16:52 PM

^^ i know, such colorful language is reserved only for masters of rhetoric such as myself

also, it stops being that way after track 5

7/23/2010 8:48:20 PM

haha gg brian

7/23/2010 8:56:31 PM

after 3-4 listens at schoolkids, it's starting to grow on me. my favorite track is "half light II (no celebration)" and i think the middle third of the album is the strongest

also, the jangly riffs on "suburban war" remind me of "weird fishes/arpeggi" by radiohead, but slower and more reverb-y (see, i can turn nouns into adjectives, too )

sorry for the dp

[Edited on July 23, 2010 at 9:55 PM. Reason : .]

7/23/2010 9:40:09 PM

I don't see what the complaints are about. The Suburbs is great. Is it safe to say that this is a concept album? If no, please defend.

7/24/2010 2:13:00 AM

I think it's a really, really good, maybe even great, record. There is a problem, though...a 16-song album is extremely hard to pull off (not 16 tracks, mind you, 16 songs). If there is one current band that should be giving a 16-song album a try, it's probably Arcade Fire. But, 4-6 songs on this record feel a lot like "filler" songs and they are easy to go unnoticed and unremembered. The rest of the songs are pretty awesome, though. I think they could've shaved it to 11-12 songs and it would've been much more consistent and engaging throughout the life of the record.

As far as whether or not I think it's a concept album, I don't think I would say that it is. I think there is certainly a theme that ties all the songs together, as there always is on Arcade Fire albums (in this case, it seems to be change through industrialization, "suburban wars," etc.), but since there's not necessarily a plot so much as a series of songs about the same sorts of things, I wouldn't call it a concept record. But that all depends on how you define that term.

7/24/2010 10:14:07 AM

Yeah, I can think of six songs that I really enjoyed, and if you add the intro and outro plus some stuff for emotional transition, that comes out about right. Basically, it'd be much better if it were 20 minutes shorter.

It's only a concept album if Funeral is a concept album. I'd say no, but if you want to call them both that I won't argue.

7/24/2010 10:32:29 AM

Agreed about Funeral. I wouldn't call either of them concept albums, either, but can see why one would.

7/24/2010 10:58:19 AM

i like Sprawl II

sounds like Blondie

7/24/2010 11:51:47 AM

^first thing I thought as well

7/24/2010 12:10:54 PM

I'm enjoying the album, but it certainly isn't as good as Funeral

7/24/2010 3:12:01 PM

favorite suburbs tracks so far?

mine: "ready to start" (my favorite of the four early releases), "rococo", and "suburban war".

7/24/2010 5:55:02 PM

So far I really fucking love this album. Definitely better than Neon Bible.

Favorite tracks after only a few listens:

The Suburbs
Ready to Start
Modern Man
Half Light II
Suburban War
Sprawl II

Okay that's a lot but I really do like a lot about this record.

7/24/2010 6:10:48 PM

Quote :

"The Suburbs Ready to Start Modern Man Half Light II Suburban War Sprawl II"

that's my list as well. not tryin to dickride.

7/24/2010 8:53:08 PM

My favorites so far are "The Suburbs," "Rococo," "City with No Children," "Half Light II (No Celebration)," "Suburban War," and "Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)."

7/24/2010 9:01:50 PM

each listen is better than the one before

7/24/2010 9:04:31 PM

i like this Lower Dens album

7/25/2010 12:29:35 PM

they're really good

plus i think my amp is on this record, wooo

7/25/2010 12:34:35 PM

Quote :

"i like this Lower Dens album"

yes. pre-suburbs, this album was getting heavy play in the rotation. sorry i missed them opening for future islands.

[Edited on July 25, 2010 at 3:11 PM. Reason : ,]

7/25/2010 3:10:50 PM

they'll be at the 506 on 9/16

7/25/2010 3:29:36 PM

I'm still somewhat disappointed.

I definitely don't hate it, though. I'm only through one listen. I'll give it another go tomorrow.

Really like "Rococo" and "City w/ No Children" quite the most.

7/25/2010 4:31:29 PM

I've listened to the AF album 7 or 8 times, and I'm reaaaally not digging it. I'm pretty disappointed.

7/25/2010 7:20:08 PM