Today, instead of an entry focused on one album, I'm going to give some thoughts on a few albums that I got from the public library this week. And the entry is largely negative! Enjoy.
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV - I couldn't get into this one. The album was just too sparsely populated, and there wasn't enough going on to interest me at most points through I-II, so I didn't make it to III-IV, presumably. Not awful, I just couldn't see myself listening to it again.
Jethro Tull - The Very Best Of - in between the high moments, such as "Aqualung" and "Locomotive Breath", is a lot of flute-based crap that seems like it was cut from the Monty Python and the Holy Grail (or whatever the official title is) soundtrack for being too over-the top. So, yeah. Some interesting songs but mostly moments of 'how am I supposed to take this seriously?'. (Note: I initially made a typo and had written 'flute-based rap', which might actually be great. Who would do something like this? Are The Roots busy right now?)
A Fine Frenzy - One Cell in the Sea - now this wasn't half-bad. Unfortunately, the disc was scratched all to hell and I only got to listen to the first five or six songs. It seemed pleasant with a chance of interesting, though I can't say I was intrigued enough to run out and buy it.
AIR - 10,000HZ Legend - I didn't care for this one much, either. It seemed to be borderline easy listening, and just kind of mediocre. Maybe it's just that AIR's Talkie Walkie was very good and this, well, isn't so much.
Spinto Band - Moonwink - This one had a little bit of potential, maybe, but it was derailed by what I call 'Clap Your Hands Say Yeah' syndrome. By that, I mean that there was one aspect of the record - specifically in both cases, the vocals - which was so grating that it negated the other positive aspects of the record. Some of these songs might have been okay, but the singer seemed intent on just wailing through every one of them, and the entire album suffered for it. (Note: maybe these songs aren't so great, but 'horrendous' trumps 'mediocre' every time.)
So there you have it! A little ray of sunshine for your otherwise dreary Monday.
In Other News:
This is going to be a busy week. But hopefully a 'good busy' week.