My Amazon Music divorce, Part Five
Looking over my spreadsheet, with some new additions, I think I'll be looking at seven parts, maybe 8 if I keep buying new CDs. Been loving this, but I also look forward to filling out the spreadsheet, so some mixed feelings on the end.
But, onward to new reviews!
Wincing the Night Away by The Shins
The Very Best of Emmylou Harris by Emmylou Harris
You would think I would love this. Beautiful voice, mopey love songs, things I love in my music. But, yeah, I don’t. She’s a 70s folk artist, and while she’s dripping with talent, the production of the songs is just not engaging. I did like “Beneath Still Waters,” but that’s as far as it goes.
When I Was Cruel by Elvis Costello
I’m a longtime fan of Elvis Costello, but I’ve really just stuck with his early albums (My Aim is True, Get Happy!). I’ve had this album for a while, but never really gave it a chance, and while I don’t love it as much as his early ones, there’s some good stuff here. Costello has grown, but he’s still the gifted songwriter he was in his youth.
Recommended songs: My Little Blue Window; Alibi; Radio Silence
Tallahassee by The Mountain Goats
A while back, The Mountain Goats had a sale on Bandcamp Friday, where they sold a lot of their early albums for $1 each. Now, I knew a few songs from them (This Year, Duke Ellington), so I grabbed three of them, including this one (the other two are also on the listening spreadsheet), but at first, “No Children” was the only song that really stood out.
But this album about a doomed, toxic relationship is just so good, Elvis Costello’s “Wave a White Flag” expanded to 14 songs. Will need to listen more, but hell of a ride.
Recommended songs: Game Shows Touch Our Lives; No Children; Peacocks; Old College Try
Forty Licks by The Rolling Stones
I like a handful of Stones songs, some on this collection, some not, but I think this confirms I’m never gonna be more than a casual fan. The guys really want to get laid, and really don’t seem to like women, and I’m too old for this nonsense.
This seems like music I should love, but bless my fickle heart, I just don’t. It’s like a bunch of things I love (opaque lyrics, odd melodies, style hopping from song to song) put to eleven and I’m not that interested in the results. I could see this growing on me, (I do like Where It’s At and High Five) but I have my doubts.
I’ve been a fan of Pulp for two decades, but despite owning this album for 10+ years now, I never gave it a chance, and yikes. I do not remember Pulp being this mean-spirited (and if I’m honest misogynistic) in their lyrics. Guess I’ll be sticking with “This is Hardcore” and “We Love Life.”
Inside the Human Body by Ezra Furman & The Harpoons
Way back when, I got “We Should Fight” as a free single from this album, and after falling hard and fast for that song, I bought the CD, but never gave it a solid chance, and I can see why. The yearning lyrics, the styles of music, it’s quarter-life crisis coded, and I’m past that. Younger me would have probably loved this, and she missed out.
Meat is Murder by The Smiths
I am a longtime Smiths fan, and I’ve had this album for 20+ years, but I had this idea of saving for a rainy day when I needed new Smiths content. Well, it didn’t rain today, but finally giving this album its chance, and I like it.
It’s not great, but you can hear that this is a band almost at greatness (there’s a direct line from “What She Said” to “I Won’t Share You”, and “Nowhere Fast” sounds like a first draft of “I Know It’s Over”). It would take one more album to get to greatness for this band, but there are gems along the way.
Recommended songs: I Want the One I Can’t Have; What She Said; That Joke Isn’t Funny Anymore; Nowhere Fast
A Rush of Blood to the Head by Coldplay
Ooof. I really liked Parachutes, but this one was just too dour for me (although once I saw the year it came out, 2002, it made sense). The songs are way too long, they lack punch, just a bum time all around. Fingers crossed X&Y can be better.
