Friday, March 4, 2011

Stuff I’ve been listening to for no reason at all…

Kind of liking the new Radiohead, though I’m not really enough of a fan to say where it fits into the band’s continuum or enough of an expert to review it. I guess what I’m enjoying, as an ex-drummer (a bad one, but still), is the complexity of the rhythms, and, also nothing to do with drumming, the different layers of temperature that co-exist in some of the tracks, the warmth of the bass in “Lotus Flower” for instance next to the chilly ethereality of Yorke’s voice.



I also got onto a mild Pretender’s obsession a couple of weeks ago, and listened to The Singles five or six times when I probably should have been hearing review CDs. What a voice that woman had, anyway, surprisingly sweet and pop even when she’s at her toughest. “Middle of the Road” is my favorite….not as crazy about the later stuff (like that painful “I Got You” cover she did with the guy from UB40, what a come down from sleeping with Ray Davies).



And finally, I reviewed the new Gang of Four, which, as Otis pointed out when I asked for it, is actually more like Gang of Two. It’s not terrible, and maybe I wouldn’t mind it so much if it was a Gang of Four wannabe like Glasvegas or Bloc Party or something rather than the remains of the actual deal. Still, I have to say that the absolute best part about reviewing it was listening to GO4’S Peel Sessions, if only to confirm the vertical drop.



Have a good weekend – and why not try listening to something you don’t have to? It’s fun.

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