Built to Spill - Ancient Melodies of the Future

The weather has taken a little bit of an unexpected turn today...  the skies are grey and puddles are abound, due to non-stop-drizzles.

This type of weather is pretty uncommon in San Antonio...  the sun is typically out and if it does happen to rain, it doesn't really do so for hours on end.   I kinda like it because it sorta fits the gloomy demeanor.  

It also allows me to reach into the stacks and pick out stuff that you can soundtrack appropriately.   I've settled on Built to Spill's - Ancient Melodies of the Future.

Known to many as the album that came out after Keep It Like a Secret.   Is it as good as Keep It Like a Secret?   In a word... no.  But you'd be hard pressed to really find any examples of an album that is.

I'm of the opinion however that this album is sorely under praised....  its kinda hard to talk about this band without mentioning Modest Mouse.   Modest Mouse had released Moon and Antarctica the year before and the two bands had released albums that seemed to counter punch one another - reaching incredible new nights.

I think this one didn't connect like previous Built to Spill albums.   It does however have the finest pairing of songs to close out any album that I have ever heard.

Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss & The Weather

Two songs that insist be played in that order.

Artists: Built to Spill
Album: Ancient Melodies of the Future
Producer: Phil Ek, Doug Martsch
Label: Up Records (Warner Bros.)
Recorded: Bear Creek, Avast! Recording Co, The Manhouse

Dinosaur Jr. - Green Mind

I've been thinking a lot about high school in recent days, due largely in part to listening to a lot of stuff from the mid-90's in recent weeks.   One of my favorite albums from that time is Dinosaur Jr.'s major label debut - Green Mind.

A record that isn't really regarded as the bands high-water mark, but I've always had an incredibly soft spot for it.  Especially the album cover... which features a very young girl smoking a cigarette in a desert.

It's never occurred to me that I could possibly google search the identity of the person on the cover.   I've elected to no do so, only because I've spent countless hours staring and thinking about who that person could be in my head.   I mean, how crazy would it be to end up at a party and then be introduced to her and learn that she was the girl on the Green Mind cover.   

Come to think of it...  I'm going to start taking photos with people who have some semblance to her and hashtag it #greenmindgirl

Anyhoo, if you've never heard the album I can't recommend it enough.   It has a very 90's fuzz to it...  something that I've been hearing a lot in newer music acts.  It fucking kills me that they can't record something that sounds as good as "Puke and Cry" tho'.

Stand out tracks:

Artists: Dinosaur Jr.
Album: Green Mind
Producer: J. Mascis
Label: Sire, Warner Bros.
Recorded: ?

Gorillaz - Gorillaz

I wish I could describe the excitement I had when I discovered the Gorillaz in 2001.  I walked Switched on CDs and the shop owner Glen mentioned to me that a cartoon album was about to drop featuring Damon Albarn as a vocalist.

I had taken a really strong liking to a lot of later Blur stuff so I was intrigued to hear what his post Blur stuff would sound like.

I never expected however to hear the style hoppy goodness that turned out to be the Gorillaz. It was everything that I ever wanted in "virtual band".   They leveraged the available technology and mediums to the extremes at a time where everything was blurry.

This album is nearly 15 years old and I'm having a hard time trying to remember - how I became obsessed with the band.   I'm pretty sure that I spent a lot of time on the net visiting websites...  I just double checked the album and confirmed that it was an "enhanced CD".   For a brief period of time, a lot of albums came with multimedia you could drag and drop onto your computer.

My computer at the time wasn't particularly good, so I never bothered seeing the extended content.   I now have a better computer, but I wonder if the multimedia is obsolete.

Hmmm...  a potential weekend project.  Go thru my stack of CD's and find examples of multimedia material from albums I own.

Stand out tracks:

Artists: Gorillaz
Album: Gorillaz
Producer: Tom Girling, Jason Cox, Dan the Automator, Gorillaz
Label: Parlophone, Virgin, Warner Bros.
Recorded: Studio 13, Geejam Studios

Janes Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual

Señores y señoras 
Nosotros tenemos mas influencia
Con sus hijos, que tu tienes
Pero los queremos

Creado y areglado
De Los Angeles
Juana's Adiccion 

That my friends, is the introduction to Jane's Addiction's - Ritual De Lo Habitual.  An album I picked up after watching "been caught stealing" on MTV.  I haven't seen the video in ages, but I could provide a police sketch for about half of the people in the video.  

It was, visually one of the most stunning things I had ever seen.  My favorite part may actually be the line dancing that breaks out in the middle of the song during the guitar solo.

An oral history titled "Whores" came out several years ago about the band but I never got around to reading it.  I often wonder how well regarded they are in Los Angeles.  In my mind, they're possibly one of the most important bands of the late 80's...  rivaling the Pixies in many respects because they sorta led the charge into the early 90's before splintering into many pieces.

Artwork done by Perry Farrel

Artwork done by Perry Farrel

I haven't listened to this album in years and forgot how lopsided it was...  the first half (5 songs) of the album have a very distinctive sound.  The second half of the album is especially interesting to listen to.  There's a lot going on lyrically and if you pay close attention - it sorta explains the album cover.  

Stand out tracks:

Artist: Janes Addiction
Album: Ritual De Lo Habitual 
Producer: Dave Jerden, Perry Farrell
Label: Warner Bros.
Recorded: Track Record