l0u1s jagg3r's 23 Best Songs Of The Decade!

So far.... he has a taste for the flamboyant dunt he? Although the Spiritualized is relatively down-to-earth compared to the first two.

Anyway ... I'm never going to hear any of these, but on the strength of these reviews and their titles it's between 'The Terse Crimp' and 'Black Metal Valentine' - the former takes my vote, basically because it made me think of a tense shrimp.

I'm listening to the Spiritualized song where God appears... I guess He isn't what He used to be. Otherwise this is an okay tune though; if only they'd gotten rid of the irritating rock hero guitar, and hired someone who can sing properly to do the lead vocal instead of the monotone-voiced dude who does it now, I might've actually liked it.

He's supposed to sound like he's on the verge of death, that's kind of the point.

God, when I'm on the verge of death, I hope I don't sound like the dude from Metallica!

lol

I mean, why get a "gospel" choir to back you up, if you can't sing gospel yourself? That's why I don't like this type of rock singing: it's so colourless and lacking of passion.

Ulver - Christmas

This tune has a nice and pretty intro, but then the "headbanging" part starts. What a waste of a good intro! Based on the title and intro I was expecting this to be a solemn Christmas tune, so I'm disappointed.

I mean, why get a "gospel" choir to back you up, if you can't sing gospel yourself? That's why I don't like this type of rock singing: it's so colourless and lacking of passion.

You've answered your own question here.

Super Furry Animals - (Drawing) Rings Around The World

This quite okay! It's like 90s Britpop but funkier, and some psychedelic 60s stuff in it too. Definitely not Christian doom metal! I'm glad I voted for it.

I have to go now, but I'll try to listen to the rest of the songs later on.

This tune has a nice and pretty intro, but then the "headbanging" part starts. What a waste of a good intro!

based on this, I was eagerly awaiting the "headbanging" part. it never came. are we listening to the same song?

I would love a thread where Tuomas liveblogs listening to Status Quo for the first time.

Yeah, it starts like it could be a pretty Christmas tune, but then it gets all of aggressive, a "grunge" voice begins to sing and there's some heavy guitars. Plus there's a bad, over-the-top usage of synth strings.

(x-post)

really? what I'm listening to is awash with david arnold-esque synth strings, but no heavy guitars or "grunge" vocals. the voice is more 80s synth pop, all clean throat and swooping falsetto.

starting to feel like I'm in rashomon.

Ulver - Christmas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKc-GtnF7HU

this track = think Depeche Mode if they went avant-garde industrial with increased sonic art complexity.

glory be, this foetus track is great.

welcome back, LJ... can get one blog maybe?

only know 'On My Own' (amazing) and 'Rings Around The World' (MEEEEH) but will check the others out

would like Tim F to do a thread/poll like this

WB LJ, I was looking for something interesting to read whilst munching my Pret Artisan Baguette, nice work.

Will vote for LL of course, they deserve to be heard. Also I'm reminded that Ivnever sent you the demos disc! Sorry,
I will dig the thing out and send yer a copy, promise.

Free - http://www.lapsuslinguae.co.uk/mp3.htm
Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/You-Got-Fraiche-Lapsus-Linguae/dp/B00005U0KD/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1257770083&sr=8-1

I had an awesome time watching Lapsus Linguae once but found the album rather pale in comparison, possibly because unlike the live show it did not offer the opportunity to see the band members' boxers through their held-together-with-peeling-duct-tape leather trousers

in honour of this list I will try to give it another blast this evening

welcome back Mr J

I'm surprised they wore that much. the one and only time I saw lapsus linguae the gubbins were on full display almost before a note had been played.

wb sir.

Gut feeling says Kayo Dot but I probably need to relisten to the lot before deciding. Then forgetting to vote, as usual.

would like Tim F to do a thread/poll like this

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^this

Would like to wholly endorse the above sentiment.

Thanks for the feedback and encouragement guys, and especial props to the people checking these out! Keep going! They're all sleepers, I swear. (Quite a few of you, I believe, would especially enjoy that Shining track.) I will provide links if you're especially keen!

Tonyte FTW

the shining track is indeed superb. new album due in january, apparently...

Yes, I'd like more people to do this! Then I would not be embarrassed to do it too.

Welcome back Louis!

I will try and hear lots of these.

Awesome!

Struggling to work out where the 'rock hero guitar' in that Spiritualized tune is. Sure you're not confusing sax with guitar, Tuomas? :p

I know what a sax sounds like. I'm at school and can't listen to it now, but I'm pretty sure there was "rock" type of electric guitar in that song, even though it wouldn't have required any - the rest of the song wasn't "rock" at all (except maybe for the guy's vocal style). I think this is often the problem with rock people experimenting with other genres - they just can't give up the rock guitar noodling, even if it makes the tune worse.

Though, to be honest, I think rock guitar makes every tune worse except for rock tunes.

I will try and hear lots of these.

how many times have you said this over the past few years greg!

There's some ambient drone-guitar wash, but it's really just part of the backdrop IMO. And I think it works really nicely! Synth, strings, horns and sax are the stars here, mostly. And I think that this kind of thing was what Spiritualized were always trying to do; this is essentially the most successful rendering (IMO) of their (Pierce's) musical principles.

Every single one of these songs 'rocks' to some extent! I like things that rock. Especially if they don't rock all the time.

I was in a pool hall on Saturday afternoon. There were lots of rockin' things coming out the jukebox, which some metal types had a monopoly on, but they sounded so drab that I realised I must be getting old. I put on some Phil Collins specifically to annoy those guys, and I did get some black looks, but to be honest 'Easy Lover' easily out-rocked any of their rockers.

I'm sure your rocking things would've slayed 'em too, l0u1s.

how unrockin' must some rock rock to be outrocked in a rock-off by something as unrockin' as 'easy lover'?

a summation.

most of the stuff I previously knew here is amazing (cardiacs, kayo dot, shining, deathspell, chrome hoof). not all though – I can't bear fiery furnaces any more, and the incredible oceansize live performance I saw a couple a months ago bears almost no relation to their recorded work, which I find ponderous in the extreme.

of the unfamiliar stuff I've managed to track down, foetus totally floored me, but the rest, not so much. 'come together' aside, I've never really been convinced by spiritualized. my computer was my idea of hell. sorry.

I'd normally expect cardiacs to claim my vote in any poll they're involved in, but 'ditzy scene' is for me not one of their strongest works - the sonics are beautifully dense and layered, but it's too plodding, too linear. cardiacs are at their best when they're very much neither of these things. this falls towards the relatively accessible 'is this the life?' end of their ouevre, rather than the vastly more enervating 'fiery gun hand'-type stuff. the b-sides to ditzy scene were better than the title track, imo.

much as I love kayo dot, they're almost too abstract for me to think about them in terms of SONGS, so their inclusion here is jarring. that said choirs of the eye is easily their most instantly accessible and least foreboding work. but even so, I can't divorce the song from the album, and I'm not sure it works that well in isolation.

this is tough. four-way tie. chrome hoof, deathspell, foetus and shining are all just stunning pieces of work. jim benefits from 'shock of the new' though, so maybe I should digest a little more before voting...

__olf is on Dowsing Anemone, not Choirs Of The Eye!

But cheers for the feedback! Glad you've made an effort. I can see your point re: Ditzy Scene, and the b-sides ARE phenomenal, but it's such a monumentally enormous-sounding piece of work, so fierce and driven, that I can only see it as a successor to Dirty Boy which might be my favourite song ever. Well, definitely one of. I think it's infinitely more soaring, complex and sublime a work than Is This The Life, a rare example of a band's worst song being their biggest hit.

Think you might enjoy LL muchly, although given your reaction to the similarly piano-involving My Computer, maybe I'm not so sure. The My Computer write-up is my best one IMO and I strongly believe it needs to be heard and understood by more people.

But yeah, that Foetus song. Jim found a moment there.

glad you are back LJ

yes great post tbh. i'm liking this kayo dot track. a lot to check out still. otherwise though im leaning to 'on my own' so far.

i can only post staccato style as im late for class right now.

'Fiery Gun Hand' enervating? The opposite surely.

xxp right you are, re: KD. got myself all confused there, as I was writing about 'the manifolfd curiosity', the replacement track on the spotify playlist.
oops.

piano is not a problem per se... I have liked what I've heard of lapsus linguae in the past, seen them live once, and at least one of their number has gone on to do great stuff with doneimagine and if you lived here you'd be home by now (and he has also got me drunk in his capacity as a cider slinger in a certain glasgow venue). haven't heard the song in question though. will redouble efforts to track it down.

xp YES! right you are. the opposite. fell into common linguistic trap there. this is not a good day.

Although that said, the mental chopped together guitar solo could wear you out!

Ooh, didn't see the Spotify playlist! When I get home from uni I'll check it out and praise/deride Nick accordingly ;)

Will maybe check out the LL spin-offs. That song will either explode your head or put you off your elevenses. Fiery Gun Hand is grugsome.