The Circle of Sound (np: K.O.D. by Tech N9ne)

'Tis no longer but a dream, my friend! I really should have posted here earlier, I hope that you’ll forgive me. I’ve listened to Born In The USA around four times now, and have come to an interesting conclusion: I’d rather listen to the songs on the album separately instead of all together. I mean – and it’s sort of funny, you’ve taught me to listen to music in full albums, taught me the real value of listening to every song as one – with this album it’s different. I think what got me the most is the continuous use of that characteristic drum beat in most of the songs. It’s a funny thing to get annoyed with… It was usually the same beat, the “1 drum 3 drum” sort of thing. It’s really noticeable in the first track, continuing to some of the next ones, and it gets to me.

And when I say “annoying”, it’s not that I don’t like the songs on the album. Like you said, it’s a solid piece of work. It’s just that if given a choice, I would rather listen to a track every once and a while than all in a row. That’s all. I don’t really have much else to say about it because I’ve heard these songs my entire life: my mom likes country quite a bit, growing up in the south. Coincidently, she also likes the boss - more than a bit. So it goes.

I’ll start listening to Blue tonight. It’s funny, every time a new album starts in this thread, I’m leaving on a trip! This weekend I’m going to the Olympic Peninsula to backpack up the coast. I’ll listen to the album on the drive there, maybe.

Hmmm, so we agree on one thing: It can be difficult to listen to the album in it’s fullness. I have trouble with it, mainly because I’ve heard Born in the USA (the song) so many times now, and so I struggle a bit to get a full listen on it. It’s not a bad song - in fact I think it’s a very good one, it just is a little annoying. And Dancing in the Dark, despite being utterly fantastic and mind-blowing as it is, is not as good as it would have been to discover it when the album came out, rather than hearing it 50 times on the radio before doing the full album. It’s sort of like Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty. I’ve heard all of the best songs on that album, and so once I got around to hearing it, it wasn’t nearly as good had I not listened to those other great songs before doing the album. Usually, when I listen to the vinyl for Born in the USA, I just skip the first half entirely and go straight on to the second side, despite the fact that I think the first half is way better than the second.

I will say though, after hearing Born in the USA 20 times, it does get easier to listen to in it’s fullness. I think this is because once the songs, other than the initial great songs, are liked, then there is more incentive to hear the first half, rather than skip over it entirely.

Alright, well I was completely wrong in my initial description of Joni Mitchell’s Blue. It is not really sad at all. It’s actually a very happy album I find - just extremely personal from her, extremely deep into what was going through her at this particular moment of her life. Like, the only example of a somewhat sad song would be Blue, but other than that, it really is upbeat and happy for the most part. I especially like Carey and River right now, but my favourite track will probably emerge after 10 - 15 listens.

After around 6 listens, I’ve started to like this album - a lot. Joni Mitchell’s voice has definitely grown on me, at times she can be a little over the top, but the grand majority of times it really is great to hear her sing like she does. Apparently she lost her voice somewhat because she smokes - a shame really. There is one part on the album, where she holds a high note for around 8 seconds and it’s utterly incredible to hear.

Well, another album of the month has gone by! I’m starting to think that one month for one album isn’t long enough, so I think we should do one for every month and a half type thing. Anyways, in a few days, barring anything negative happening, I should be flying to Australia for 3 weeks. And so, I’m putting this on auto-pilot for a little while with a summer-esque and upbeat album, Abraxas, by Santana, one that I have already done. It is just one of those albums that most people like (unless you’re like my dad and don’t like vocals to any extent). It’s substantial enough to enjoy it without doing anything else, and loose enough to be put on for the background sound during a party, or just having a few friends hanging around. It’s quick moving, the guitar is very good, (Santana is amazing on the guitar), and I particularly dig the smoothness of the vocals within the album. Pretty suave stuff. The cover of the album is pretty cool too:

Anyways, I won’t be going till Monday. I have a few thoughts on the past albums that we’ve done already. The thing with Born in the USA that is odd, is that I really like the album, but every time I go to put it on, I either want to skip the first half, or just skip the first song and go from there. I suppose the synth on the first song is a little overpowering.

One thing with Blue by Joni, is that it is sad, but at the same time, she is sort of breaking free of darkness and becoming positive again. Examples of this are Carey, This Flight Tonight, and A Case of You. I was wrong in my second thought of the album, because it is most definitely sad. It just wasn’t the type of sad I was expecting, so I didn’t really notice it as much as I thought I would. I was expecting something more like Nick Drake on Pink Moon, a somewhat of a depressed artist than a sad one.

Anyways, Abraxas is a very positive, quick moving album, and is definitely worth doing in warmer type weather. Happy listening everybody! hahahaha.

Alright! So I hope all of you enjoyed Abraxas by Santana. All none of you. crickets

This month, I say we get into some Bob Dylan, something sorely lacking in all of our lives. I try to listen to him every day, but it’s kind of hard to remember sometimes. Sort of like some sort of vitamin, he’s needed in that way. So: here we are, Planet Waves.

My brother has gone through literally all of the Bob Dylan there is up to this point, (he’s waded through some ahem, sub-par music), and he says it’s the album he has liked the most out of any Bob’s of recent memory. I’ve heard Planet Waves around four times, and I like the thing a lot. There isn’t a bad song on the album. Plus, it has Forever Young, a truly awesome piece of music that needs to be heard to be appreciated, when Bob still had the lungs to raise his voice to make the song as good as it is. The lyrics are fantastic, though somewhat sad, in my opinion, that he wishes people to be young, but it seems that everyone is still getting older in physicality and in spirit . It has Dirge, a lament for wasted love on an undeserving woman. Those are the high points on the album, but still, every song on the album is solid. The album has few weaknesses, and deserves to be listened to by anyone who likes Bob, or music in general.

I know what you mean when you say it’s hard to remember to listen to Dylan. I like the music, but it’s never in the front of my mind when I think of something to listen to. I’ve been sporadically listening to Blood on the Tracks for the last week, but nothing serious. I’ll give this album a try now.

Dylan is SO hard to interpret. Nonetheless one of the greatest songwriters, if not THE greatest, of all time.

Ahh. Who is to say there is something to interpret though? Perhaps what he’s says in his lyrics should just be taken as face value, not looked into for hidden meanings. I think that would be the most brilliant of all possible things Dylan could’ve done, to create a following which thought he was saying something intricate, thought provoking, but then in fact he was just saying nothing really different at all, to create people who found their own meanings in the songs, rather than him creating a thought bubble for them to follow. Hard to say if there is anything to interpret at all.

I like the theories behind Ballad of a Thin Man, though. Some think he’s making references to homosexual oral gratification, while others would disagree. Hard to really say. The only person who really knows isn’t telling, so who is to say? Me? I’m just a kid from Canada.

It’s hard to know where to being with Dylan. Regardless he is a lyrical genius.

I love Desolation Row especially…

dylan wouldn’t want us to interpret his music…

I don’t really understand your point. What do you mean?

He didn’t leave hidden messages in his lyrics, he didn’t like being “labled” either.
He was constantly changing his style and behaviour and music. He played his own game.

Yep. He was both loved and hated for it too.

Like when he went electric in '65
He lost a whole legion of fans, and gained a new one

Yep. People were pissed about that.

I know the thing has been out for almost a month now, but no matter. The album of this next little while will be Modern Guilt by Beck. It is short, only 33 minutes, and Beck had help producing it from Danger Mouse. I am only listening to it now for the first time, and is very interesting, in that it’s different from other music. It is more electronic than his other works, but seems to be a cool think to listen to.

Happy listening folks

Hello faithful listeners. crickets

Having only three listens on Modern Guilt, I can only say a few basic thoughts that I have about the album. I think it’s pretty good stuff. I find the first 7 songs to be pretty solid, but feel that the album trails off a little bit after that. Walls is a pretty solid song, I like the sound the drum makes on that track. I do only have 3 listens on the thing though, it could be that the last 3 songs on the album are only challenging songs, and that I just haven’t discovered how awesome they are as of yet. On Sea Change, also by Beck, I didn’t like two songs on the album for about 50 listens, then I really liked them afterwards.

So basically, what I’m saying is, that it’s a decent album, at least I think it may be, though I’m not sure

EDIT: Though I will say, Soul of a Man is awesome.

Gotta say, this is basically a practice of masturbation of sorts, but no worry, I enjoy it.

Modern Guilt was bloody great. Saw Beck in concert. As did wnvoss, and we both really loved it. Great times. Grand album, etc, etc.

Now, for this months album: That Lucky Old Sun by Brian Wilson.

Collaborating with Van Dyke Parks once again for a very positive album. It’s a song cycle, with spoken word tracks in between songs. After hearing it once, I feel it’s in the same vein as Smile, my favourite all time album. It’s really a refreshing thing to listen to, in that it’s so different from everything else that’s considered “music” these days. It’s sad that it probably won’t even place on the charts, but then again, that helps me feel much more elitist than I already am…probably a bad thing, all things considered. Anyways, hopefully one of you listens to it. Only problem is, it can’t be downloaded via torrents for some reason. If need be, I can send it if you give me your email address. Happy listening folks.

Ah, a new album!

/me doesn’t know much about Brian Wilson, and didn’t know that he was still making albums.

I’ll give it a try this next week and beyond, and report back.

hmmmmmmm. I’ll say, I had trouble listening to that album. wasn’t a favourite of mine, that’s for sure. well, that’s not entirely fair. i had about 4 listens of it, and i liked it twice, but i listened two more times and had subpar listens. i’ll probably be back in 5 months saying how brilliant it is, but still, i don’t really like it as of right now.

anywho, new album for the month! It is Ram by Paul McCartney. I’ve listened to this one once, and i’ll tell you i really like it. it’s much rockier than McCartney’s first solo album, McCartney, with very little in common. the main difference between the two albums is that i actually really liked the album cover for McCartney. the album cover for Ram however nearly scared me off, almost diverging me to one of his later albums with less, ahem, “colourful” covers.

anyways, to all my canadian brethren, have a happy thanksgiving