Music Banter - Urban's Journal Of Half Assed Ideas

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http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...blackdove2.jpg
Cruelblackdove - Dirt & Heat E.P.

Starts off with a promising opening track and then descends into breathy jangly indie cliche hell.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...H/697d79b1.jpg
No Age - Nouns

I have to say listening to this has been a really hollow experience.

Basically everybody has heard this album already. If you heard it in 2000/2001 it was probably dripping in Beatles & Beach Boys like harmonies & melodies. If you heard it in 2003 it was probably a dance punk album. If you heard it in 2005 it was probably a folk album. If you heard it in 2007 is was probably a Nu-Rave album. In short this isn't a music album, It's a soundtrack to a trend and the music on it is secondary.

Now there's nothing wrong with that. I'm all for making statements over musical content, but where are they on here?
This album has nothing to say, I get the impression that this album was made by a bunch of spoilt middle class kids that somehow lucked themselves a record deal and now they're desperately clinging on to the latest bandwagon in an attempt to divert attention from their total lack of originality & talent.

That's not to say the album is bad, I mean how can it be bad. They've not even attempted to do anything original to get wrong. This album is about every safe cliché done safely, which in the end means a pleasant nice safe album which bores you to death once you've heard it 3 or 4 times. But then I get the impression that was what they were aiming for anyway. We all know that No Age are one of those bands who are just around to make a bit of noise before their well-off parents finally lose their patience with them attempting to be 'artists' and find them some corporate job in middle management.

Don't think for one second you'll be remembering this album in years to come.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger (Post 528928)

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The Cult - Love

I think Love is one of the best albums ever released in the 80s and sadly one of the most overlooked.
It's strange to look out how things develop over time. Back in the late 80s The Cult were virtually unique in that they had enough post punk / goth background to appeal to your average NME / Melody Maker indie kid AND at the same time enough chunky riffs & rock god posing to appeal to your average Kerrang reader. The only other two bands I can think of who had this cross appeal around that time were Nirvana & the Manic Street Preachers , and even then they came a few years later.
And yet if you look at them now both sets of fans have virtually disowned the band. Rock & Metal got more extreme over time , a typical 80s metal fan could probably find something to like about The Cult , something that would be inconceivable in 2008. And of course give a Cult album to and indie fan in 2008 and they'll probably be put off by the AC/DC like riffs and just dismiss it as hair metal. Funny to think that what initially was a plus point came back to haunt them in the end.
Regardless of what other people think The Cult were the first band I ever made a concious decision to fly over to London and see live. In fact I remember when ordered the tickets I didn't even bother asking my boss for the weekend off , I just told her I was going :laughing:

I still listen to this album a lot. It was recorded just around the time that they were just about to ditch the goth stuff and develop a more 'rock' sound (I.E. Copy AC/DC) so in other words it's a bit like a goth album but a goth album by someone in tight trousers who'd fuck anything in a skirt as opposed to being miserable & arty and hang around in boring black & white music videos.

It's just a shame after this album they decided to jump on every musical bandwagon going (See The Cult go industrial around 1991 and the less said about the self titled 'grunge' album the better) and Ian Astbury's Jim Morrison fixation got more & more ridiculous to the point they just became a parody of themselves is just sad really. But no matter how much shit they try & taint this album with none of it sticks , I just love this record too much.

Oh and that wah-wah pedal ..... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm :D

hmmmm......you've intrigued me Urban, i'll check that album out

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger (Post 686776)

No Age - Nouns

Now there's nothing wrong with that. I'm all for making statements over musical content, but where are they on here?
This album has nothing to say, I get the impression that this album was made by a bunch of spoilt middle class kids that somehow lucked themselves a record deal and now they're desperately clinging on to the latest bandwagon in an attempt to divert attention from their total lack of originality & talent.

Have you heard Wavves yet? I think that would describe Wavves more so than No Age.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gone Sugaring (Post 686791)

Have you heard Wavves yet?

I've been doing my best not to :D

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l9...H/697d79b1.jpg
No Age - Nouns (Supplimental)

I think on reflection I may have been way to easy on this album yesterday.
I was trying to rack my brains to think of an analogy to explain just what I feel about this band. To me they are the indie Sugarbabes or the indie Atomic Kitten.
You know how you get these girls who when they are growing up want to be in pop bands. Singing in front of mirrors with hairbrushes to ABBA songs. They don't really have any interest in music they just want to do that. Well that's No Age , there's no difference. They're not artists, they're just posers with guitars.

Just like one of those pop singers will rattle off the same old names when talking about the pop they grew up on, you just know that No Age would do exactly the same thing if asked. Where as with the pop stars you'll get Jackson , Madonna , ABBA ....and so on. You just know that No Age would do exactly the same... VU , Psychocandy , Slanted & Enchanted .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Every safe indie cliche basically which is what their album is.

So the next time you're picking up an album from the latest trend just imagine that you're buying an Atomic Kitten album instead, I mean you may as well be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Urban Hatemonger (Post 686906)

I've been doing my best not to :D

I dare you to listen. The only reason I ask is because of what you said about a spoilt middle class kid who lucks himself into a record deal is exactly what happened to Wavves.

Quote:

You just know that No Age would do exactly the same... VU , Psychocandy , Slanted & Enchanted .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

I think My Bloody Valentine is the "influence" thrown around more often.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gone Sugaring (Post 687400)

I think My Bloody Valentine is the "influence" thrown around more often.

I think that falls under safe indie cliché.

I left out the word influence on purpose because that wasn't really what I was getting at.

What I meant was I think if you asked them which bands they grew up on you'd be able to predict they'd probably choose every safe indie classic of the past 20-30 years much in the same way some Simon Cowell sock puppet would name the same pop bands.

I can't say I agree with you at all and that's perfectly fine. To me, No Age are one of the most genuine bands I've heard lately that play music they are passionate about. Go on and tell me I'm just buying into the trend or whatever but I'm going to be listening to Nouns for years to come.

There's nothing wrong with buying into a trend if thats what makes you happy.

As trends go I just think it's an extremely boring one. I mean how many more times do the 80s need to get raided this decade?