'08's Music to Love More Than Music: Love, Pt. 10

Love (<)
Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia
A B-sides collection that is nothing to be snubbed at. I've always felt a little guilty liking the Dresden Dolls, because, in the end, their existence is 1/2 great music, 1/2 gimmick. To some extent, I don't like that they do what they do in the way they do (gimmick), but it would be wrong for me to say that I don't respect their ability to play out the characters they do. The main reason they're a guilty pleasure is because back in high school a lot of kids thought they could gain popularity by having certain problems with their mental stability. In short, they thought crazy was cool. Crazy is not cool, it's sad and painful for everyone involved, so to glamorize it is ignorant and offensive. I think that the Dresden Dolls could be accused of doing just this, and banking on teenagers who feel they can compare. I do not think that the Dresden Dolls actually do this. I think the lyrics that talk about painful things are actually coming from a very genuine place. This release is not filled with very many stellar songs, but the few that are amazing just blow me away. (see original review)
The Dresden Dolls - Lonesome Organist Rapes Page-Turner

Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
I liked this album a lot more when I first heard it. I found myself skipping to the tracks I liked most than just letting it ride through. Like, I said before, it's a dark album, and it's very smart. (see original review)
Spiritualized - Death Take Your Fiddle

The Flaming Lips - Christmas On Mars
Soundtrack to the best Christmas movie ever. I'm certain you've heard too much about this by now, so I'll keep it short: It is ambient and nothing like the Flaming Lips other albums. It's a soundtrack, thus incidental music. If it's interesting to you, go for it. I liked it.
The Flaming Lips - The Distress Signals Of Celestial

Crystal Castles - Remixed Rewired
Just like "best of"'s, I feel awkward rating Remix CD's, but less so than with "best of"'s because Remix CD's, if they're good enough, can basically be considered their own album. This Remix CD is a compilation of Remixes by Crystal Castles, so it makes it easier to think about as it's own album. Thing is, I still have to consider the original pieces while listening to the remixes, so the album comes off as kind of a cop out. The songs are great though. And it's nice to have all of them in one place.
Crystal Castles - Waist War [Aries Noise vs Crystal Castles]

The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
Man, there are certainly people out there that are bigger fans of The Magnetic Fields, but I can plainly claim that I absolutely ADORE the Magnetic Fields. That said, I was underwhelmed by this album. When I'm used to the soul crushing spectacular that was 69 Love Songs, I ought to have known there would be nothing to compare, but I didn't see this one coming. It's a heavy album, full of sound (as the title would suggest), but it falls short. Fun tracks, but just not what I would have wanted.
The Magnetic Fields - California Girls

The Dears - Missiles
I think I said it pretty well in the original review. (see original review)
The Dears - Missiles

"I Know You're On To Something"

The Dears - Missiles
Verdict: Love (<) +

At times bringing to mind images of Radiohead and Joy Division, but also my mind draws connections to Elliot Smith (especially on Crisis 1 & 2), The Dears have sculpted a painful romp through what it must be like to destroy everything you know to make a piece of art. Um, okay even I'm not sure if that last sentence makes any sense, but it's staying ... what I meant by that was that the album is DARK. For me the entire album rides on the title track which has just about some of the most painful lyrics on the LP (maybe you will think differently, but I guess that's what it's like, isn't it?). That's not to say the rest of the album can't stand on it's own, it certainly has more than a few legs to stand on ... though ... about 8 legs less than it did before the recording for the album started (that's me trying to cleverly allude to the fact that 4 memebers quit the band before the completion of the album).

Again, the album is Dark, but it's that beautiful kind of dark.

The Dears - Missiles
The Dears - Lights Off
The Dears - Crisis 1 & 2

Og yeah, and check them out their on Tour

Last Monday I made a trip over to the Bluebird, a venue which I've slowly been gaining respect for for a while now. It's got an amazing sound set up which rarely produces a bad mix, though this could also be the work of a the Bluebirds soundperson. Either way, I've seen a myriad of shows here and every time I walk away fairly pleased. Last Monday night was, thankfully, no different.

I was not familiar with the Secret Machine's (The Dear's tourmates) new album (I hadn't actually realized they'd put one out in a while), but I was hella familiar with The Dear's new album (which, as a side note, is spectacular), and I was anticipating a good showing.

Again, I was not disappointed. The Dears were, physically, a little cramped on the stage, but that didn't come through in their performance, which was smooth and energetic. They played the upbeat songs from their albums, keeping the energy at least a little hoppin, but every once and a while it would get a little heavy. I enjoyed the really sad songs from their album the most, so I was a little disappointed to not hear the title track from their new album, but it made sense that they didn't play it, because it's a pretty sad song.

The smaller crowd grew as their set progressed, but it wasn't really a packed room, which is a shame, because this band really puts their soul into their music (it seems), and it would have been nice to see them getting more recognition. That said, the crowd that was there seemed to react in a way that related that this was the first time they'd heard the band, and that the Dears were beginning to capture their interest, which I suppose is the point of touring, isn't it?

I had a very good time at this show. Kudos Dears, kudos.

If you're interested in hearing some of the Dear's music, check the post that will be up in a little bit, it'll have some tunes for ya :)

Monolith Sampler 6

It's come to my attention that there have been some new additions and subtractions from this list. I'll have updates with new mp3's and links when I find out there have been changes. As far as subtractions, I'm not certain on any of them yet, but here are some new additions to the line up:

(note: none of these mp3's are in the .rar'd collection posted above)

White Rabbits - The Plot
Little Ones (daytrotizlle set)
The Dears - Ballad of Human Kindness
3oh!3 (myspace)
Ian Ball of Gomez (Gomez - Notice)
Via Audio (mysprocket)
Tim Barry of Avail (Avail - Subdued and Arrested)
Nathan & Stephen (virb site)