albums update pt. 1

First lemme note that I wasn't aware that the comments function was disabled unless you're also on blogger. I've fixed that, so anonymous types feel free to comment away now.

OK, album appraisals in handy capsule form. Alphabetical order:

Bodies Without Organs, Prototype - I was alerted to this by the invaluably trashy, dance-oriented freaks at popjustice.com. This is shameless, lurid dance-pop with lyrics like "If the angels let me try/For you I would climb the mountains high/And sing to the heaven in your eyes." Suck that up, champions of good taste. These boys go straight for the gusto with "oh-eeeee-oh" type choruses, sugary vocoder lines, etc. The result is a very potent if short-lived sugar rush - less consistent than the overhyped Annie, but more instantly invigorating. I like recommending these guys to people mostly for the outraged reaction. Also, I have no idea how much irony is involved: these guys named themselves after a concept popularized (if that's the word) by Deleuze. I'm not sure what this is supposed to tell us.

Brendan Benson live - Opening acts: Charlie Mars is pretty fucking awful, a skinny singer-songwriter doing an accoustic set in a leather jacket. His lyrics include a paean to Southern driving-around whose chorus is "The kids are alright in Mississippi, fuck yeah." He's not kidding. His allmusic entry claims that the album is actually arranged on the lines of the Verve, Coldplay et al. when you factor in the production, but I have zero desire to find out. Meanwhile, Liverpool's the Stands offer more undistinguished revivalist British fare, but they're clearly thrilled to be playing live, and their total lack of blase posing is endearing. Benson's an undistinguished live performer, hammering through his songs with little deviation; fortunately, the songs are still awesome (save an ill-advised attempt to rock out on "Tiny Spark" by adding a droning organ intro). This is the very model of an uninspired show though, save an unexpected cover of the International Submarine Band's "Strongboy" (i.e., Gram Parsons' first band), which allows Benson's guitarist to add some unexpected twang into the show. Also, Benson refuses to play his sad songs live, which are the best ones.

[FUCKING BLOGGER DELETED THE REST OF THE POST. I'LL DO THE WHOLE MOTHERFUCKING THING AGAIN LATER FUCK FUCK FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCKFADKUALKSCVJ]