[lestercrawley]

Thought I'd revive this thread just to say that I've been excited about Agent Ribbons all over again since the release of their Family Haircut cassette. They were planning to head into the studio sometime this winter to record their next full album, but drummer Lauren Hess suffered a hand injury recently while they were on tour, so it's possible they'll have to postpone their plans while she's healing.

Another band I'm excited about is The Bastards of Fate, although I can't say I've heard much of them yet. Everett True and a buddy of his raved about their debut album Who's a Fuzzy Buddy?, which I haven't been able to obtain just yet. In the meantime, I've really been enjoying this insane video for their song "Huge Magic".

[jittercam]

My playlist leans toward extreme, almost schizoid diversity, from Judee Sill to Loretta Lynn and the Slits. I had a Claudine Longet craving a while back. Right now, I can't stop listening to/watching this demented deconstruction of Ms. Stevie Nicks by Dicey and Paprika: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um6q_j40Pl0

[lestercrawley]

Thought I'd follow epinephrine's lead with a DID list of my own. Actually, I think I'll offer two lists, one with general favorites and a separate one that's purely femme-centric. I actually did the latter for Tower Records' Pulse magazine, but that was about two decades ago and I think it's time for a serious update. In no particular order and subject to change at a moment's notice.


1. Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
2. The Beatles: Revolver
3. X: Wild Gift
4. Stephen Sondheim: Into the Woods
5. Nick Drake: Five Leaves Left
6. R.E.M.: Automatic for the People
7. Belle & Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister
8. The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
9. Anton Barbeau and the Joy Boys: The Horse's Tongue
10. Van Morrison: Astral Weeks
11. XTC: Skylarking
12. Various Artists: Nuggets boxed sets (10 hours of music covers this one entry alone!)


1. Liz Phair: Exile in Guyville
2. Joni Mitchell: Blue
3. Milla Jovovich: The Divine Comedy
4. Patti Smith: Horses
5. Kate and Anna McGarrigle: Kate & Anna McGarrigle
6. Agent Ribbons: On Time Travel and Romance
7. Shonen Knife: Shonen Knife
8. Dusty Springfield: Dusty in Memphis
9. Kate Bush: The Dreaming
10. Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams
11. Rickie Lee Jones: Pirates
12. X-Ray Spex: Germfree Adolescents

[auralpoison]

Ooooops!

[auralpoison]

I can't stop listening to Mark Ronson & Co.'s Somebody To Love Me.

[epinephrine]

Currently getting my angst on to some Modest Mouse. I think The Moon And Antarctica will always be one of my favourite albums. I've never listened to any album that felt as cohesive as this one - the whole thing functions as a whole, not just a succession of songs that can be separated into a bunch of independent singles (or a couple of singles padded with a bunch of filler). There's such a range in the mood and texture of each song, shifting constantly from slow to fast, melodic to raw, meditative to furious, whimsical to desolate. They somehow managed to make it all flow smoothly together and the result is this incredible depth, and a rhythm that feels like something that's alive. It creates more than a musical landscape for me - it creates this whole little world, and I just fall into it. For the first few songs I'm just listening and enjoying the music, and somewhere around the third or fourth song something shifts and I can feel my heartbeat speeding up with the tempo of the songs. After I listen to it I feel kind of drained, like I just watched a really intense movie or had an acid flashback or something. I remember reading a review of this album that had the opposite take on it - the reviewer thought it was inconsistent and choppy and dragged in parts, and seemed to view the shifts in mood and tempo as the album's weak point. It's easy to remember Modest Mouse for their whiny suburban emo schtick, which really turns a lot of people off, but whenever I dig this album out I remember what a kick-ass band they can be.

Just for the hell of it, since there's not much else going on in the thread these days, here's a list, in no particular order, of my top 10 essential albums (the desert island collection, if you will):

The Pixies - Surfer Rosa
Joy Division - Disorder
Modest Mouse - The Moon And Antarctica
The Cocteau Twins - Treasure
David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World
Tom Waits - Rain Dogs or Frank's Wild Years (it's down to a coin toss on that one)
The Stooges - The Stooges
The Cure - Disintegration
The XX - The XX
The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

Well, I think that's it, anyway. I may have to come back to edit that list again. I'm bored and don't wanna do homework, so I'm making lists.

[epinephrine]

The Cocteau Twins' Treasure is my album du jour. Nearly all of my favourite albums kind of weirded me out at first and took me a while to like, but the same things that weirded me out about them in the beginning end up being the things that keep them sounding fresh after years of heavy rotation. To me, most arty music sounds too avant-garde to be really pretty or too pretty to be really avant-garde, but Treasure somehow does both. It's got a vivid sort of texture...I always have pretty pictures in my head when I listen to it.

[stargazer]

I went from Holly Golightly to Fabienne Delsol to April March and, now, I'm off to listen to Agent Ribbon or do I want to my best of Bardot...hhhmmm...

[foryoursplendor]

The Strange Boys - Be Brave

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hEQd-1XdIs

[pants]

New Sufjan Stevens and Corin Tucker albums are available on NPR First Listens right now

[lestercrawley]

I received my preordered copy of Chateau Crone this past Wednesday, which is much earlier than I expected it to arrive. Before I offer my opinion on it, I feel like I need to look back on what they were able to accomplish the first time they entered a studio. What I liked about Agent Ribbon's first album, On Time Travel and Romance, is that it so perfectly reflected their DIY approach to things. They've admitted that when they recorded it they just wanted to take a batch of Natalie Gordon's terrific songs and bang them out without much thought of what it would sound like. They weren't very proficient on their instruments at that time (with Natalie on guitar and Lauren Hess on drums), but they figured out how to compensate by creating a signature sound that supported their material but didn't overstep their reach. Natalie's vocals were up front and center, her tunes were simple but instantly memorable, and the chemistry she shared with Lauren was quite apparent since there was very little else competing for attention. A classic album, as far as I'm concerned.

Chateau Crone might possibly be a classic as well, but it's definitely another creature altogether. With a much fuller palette and considerably more ambition on display, I was quite impressed with how much work they put into this one compared to the first. I have to admit I was pretty surprised when I finally heard the leadoff song "I'm Alright" up close rather than from a distance. (I'd heard it in a park during the Labor Day Weekend as Sacramento concert promoter and Agent Ribbons groupie Jerry Perry played the new album repeatedly at a chalk art festival I was involved with.) Not exactly what I expected to hear from the ladies, but it sounds like they were born for it. Absolutely rockin' and yet so damn smooth . . . a hit single floating in from a much cooler time and place! What follows is generally more familiar for those accustomed to their older stuff, but with newest member Naomi Cherie adding violin and cello to the mix as well as the addition of background vocals and fancy effects, it does give them sort of a "Wall of Sound" compared to the minimal accompaniment they established before. That means you're gonna have to listen to it a few times before it really starts to sink in, but it's certainly worth the extra time it takes to sort it all out. Natalie's vocals are more subdued and less quirky this time, but she still sounds great. "I Was Born to Sing Sad Songs" actually got me a bit teary just cause of how beautiful her melodically melancholy voice sounds on that one. (Of course, your results may vary.) The album ends with popular concert favorite "Wood Lead Rubber," but I'd never heard it like this before! Naomi's violin runs are really quite thrilling . . . Yippee!! (Sorry, I couldn't help myself!)

As an unexpected bonus for me personally, I found my name amongst those receiving "Special Thanks" in the booklet. (If you can't find me there, it's cause "Lester Crawley" ain't the name I was born with. *wink*) I'd have to assume I was acknowledged because I donated to their emergency recording fund after tapes from their initial session were mistakenly erased by some idiot in the studio. Can you imagine the shock they must have felt when they discovered their trip to L.A. was all for naught?! Fortunately, they were able to recover from that setback quite magnificently, so I can rest now knowing my contribution wasn't wasted.

[auralpoison]

AR's Chateau Crone is supposed to come out Oct. 12th, but it already leaked. Heard it yet? So far I am liking it.

[totomoto]

I like Agent Ribbons.

[lestercrawley]

Almost two years to the day I posted about one of my favorite bands here in this thread:

http://www.bust.com/lounge/index.php?showt...bons&st=220


Well, this past Saturday I sent an e-mail to Mr. Everett True, and then three days later:

http://www.collapseboard.com/song-of-the-d...7-agent-ribbons


And then today my mind was further blown when I saw this:

http://www.collapseboard.com/the-10-most-r...ending-16-09-10


I always felt that Agent Ribbons and BUST were the perfect match. Pretty soon you will too.

[purpledaze5]

Im listening to Cut Copy, Glass Candy, and Kings of Leon!

[auralpoison]

That new Ra Ra IS fantastic!

New Grinderman, new Black Milk, new Walkmen, new Junip, new Underworld, the Dø, Isobel Campbell/Mark Lanegan, Wolf Parade, Fitz & the Tantrums, old Enon, old Miho Hatori, old Morphine, Phantogram, Trombone Shorty, etc.

[pants]

NPR is streaming the new Ra Ra Riot album for free on their website. It is really lovely.

[snarky7]

oops. wrong thread.

[hellotampon]

I've been obsessed with bossa nova lately. And Edith Piaf.

[epinephrine]

It's been raining all week here and I'm getting into my moody fall music already. Tom Waits' Bone Machine is a current fave album, and I also recently discovered Beach House, a perfect hybrid of Marissa Nadler and the Cocteau Twins. Dreamy gothic indie folk-pop, perfect for when the leaves (and raindrops) start falling.