Nashville
― rip van wanko, Friday, 30 November 2018 15:39 (five years ago) link
I think my only major criticism of the album is sonic in nature, namely...can we check the levels on those vocals, guys? Her voice gets lost every time she hits a low note, such that I still occasionally pick up on lyrics that had eluded my ears for decades.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:39 (five years ago) link
The 'Shane'/'Nashville' 1-2 is pretty unimpeachably all-time.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:40 (five years ago) link
We can POLL and watch TV
― very legal & very cool (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:41 (five years ago) link
I did almost go with '...he POLLed me how to drive him home' but it wasn't quite as obnoxious as what I ultimately settled on.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:46 (five years ago) link
I love this record and will defend it with every weapon at my disposal. When I ranked her catalog recently, I was struck by how haunting "Shane" and "Crater Lake" remain.
― I like queer. You like queer, senator? (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:47 (five years ago) link
"Shane, " I said, "You've gotta watch your ass."; "and I'm starting to actually feel it seep through the slick divide"she was on fire
― rip van wanko, Friday, 30 November 2018 15:48 (five years ago) link
I appreciate this incentive to revisit the album; it’s been a while. “Support System,” “Dogs in L.A.,” and “May Queen” stand out on my memory — but I already know I’m voting for “Jealousy,” as it’s all-time.
― very legal & very cool (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:49 (five years ago) link
Alice Springs for me, short and perfect
but this whole record is great
― sleeve, Friday, 30 November 2018 15:49 (five years ago) link
Just have to say real quick that I did a double-take the first time I (mis)heard 'May Queen':
Where have I been?Have I got an Ewok?
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:56 (five years ago) link
I still don’t know the line... is it, “Have I got any ones ($1’s)”?
― very legal & very cool (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:58 (five years ago) link
Encountering these first two albums in my teens was very good prep work for adulthood, life experience being the key to unlocking lyrics that were once cryptic and now feel all-too-familiar.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 15:59 (five years ago) link
xpost 'Have I got any what?' with implied incredulity, I believe.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 16:00 (five years ago) link
tons of great deep cuts and growers but it's gotta be "jealousy"
― |Restore| |Restart| |Quit| (Doctor Casino), Friday, 30 November 2018 16:08 (five years ago) link
She is one of a very select number of songwriters whose process just absolutely eludes my imagination. Like, I don't know how she does what she does. It just feels like magic to me.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 16:11 (five years ago) link
Like the way 'Crater Lake' just slooooowly powers up from this laconic crawl into a hollered 'YOU BETTER ROLL ME HOME' over a driving beat within the span of a scant two minutes. What.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 16:18 (five years ago) link
My thinking at this point is basically:
whitechocolatespaceegg is the best album of someone who never made the two preceding albumsWhip-Smart is the best album of someone who never made GuyvilleGuyville might just be the best album, like ever, it's entirely possible
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 16:22 (five years ago) link
When I saw her back in September she did only did Supernova and Cinco de Mayo (you can't play in Ohio and not do that one) off this album, despite my screaming for Shane and X-Ray Man. She did do Blood Keeper, though.
Anyway, I think maybe Shane? Or Cinco de Mayo?
― Plinka Trinka Banga Tink (Eliza D.), Friday, 30 November 2018 16:34 (five years ago) link
I let the playlist roll on into whitechocolatespaceegg and...man, does that ever make the earlier stuff sound even better. Kinda can't stand the production on that album, so dated and, I dunno, tinny? All the warmth and intimacy is gone.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 17:07 (five years ago) link
I go the other way — some of the cool indie songwriting “moves” are gone, making the songs all the more direct & affecting!
― very legal & very cool (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 17:11 (five years ago) link
agreed -- fabulous album, especially the back half
― I like queer. You like queer, senator? (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 30 November 2018 17:12 (five years ago) link
This outtake is pretty ace:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDon8T-bkEI
She wrote it with Jim Ellison of Material Issue who committed suicide pretty soon afterwards.
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Friday, 30 November 2018 17:33 (five years ago) link
It's a good pop album with some ace tunes, it just isn't terribly representative of the qualities I most appreciate about the first two albums.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 17:37 (five years ago) link
i treasured Whip-Smart and don't think I even made it through WCSE
― rip van wanko, Friday, 30 November 2018 17:40 (five years ago) link
Yeah, it's...not easy going atm. Aurally, all it needs is some autotune and maybe Moby sampling a couple old blues songs to cement it more firmly as a product of its very particular era.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 17:43 (five years ago) link
The same is true of that slightly de-tuned Brad Wood production on the other albums, tho! It’s not a bad thing in any of these cases...
― very legal & very cool (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 17:52 (five years ago) link
Yes but you see musical sounds that I have a sentimental attachment to are just objectively and inarguably better than all of the other sounds, hope that clears things up.
― all lite up and very romatic (Old Lunch), Friday, 30 November 2018 18:04 (five years ago) link
I'm listening to "Supernova" now; don't think I ever noticed her tinny little secondary vox buried in the final chorus ("Angelll!"). That's the kinda thing I'm talkin' 'bout!
― very legal & very cool (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 18:06 (five years ago) link
"Support System" is a prime showcase of her trademark "slightly detuned gtr & vocals" combo; it's so great. Are there other examples of that particular "sound" which predate these records?
― very legal & very cool (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 18:09 (five years ago) link
not sure but the Shrimp Boat records might have some of that, given the Brad Wood connection
― sleeve, Friday, 30 November 2018 18:10 (five years ago) link
When ppl say that newer artists "sound like" Liz Phair -- e.g., Snail Mail or whoever -- I feel like that sound is basically what they're talking about.
― very legal & very cool (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 18:14 (five years ago) link
The gtr playing in "Go West" is excellent
― rand race lookin motherf**ker (morrisp), Friday, 30 November 2018 21:41 (five years ago) link
Voted May Queen, especially for the first 20-30 seconds.
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 03:01 (five years ago) link
(Runner up: Shane)
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 03:02 (five years ago) link
WCSE demos > WCSE, though WCSE has grown on me over the years.
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 03:09 (five years ago) link
I wouldn’t go that far
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 03:10 (five years ago) link
I would, but that's probably because I spent a few summer months living with the leaked demos before WCSE came out, at which point low-fi is magic me was....very bummed. (Partly because the demo is full of great songs that didn't make the album proper and wound, much later, on EPs and movie soundtracks and Youtube in produced form.)
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 03:13 (five years ago) link
“Stuck on an Island” is probably my favorite ever song by her. I may have said that already on this very thread
― underqualified backing vocalist (morrisp), Tuesday, 11 December 2018 03:28 (five years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Monday, 31 December 2018 00:01 (five years ago) link
i'm gonna lock my son up in a tower til he learns to let his hair down far enough to climb outside
― J. Sam, Monday, 31 December 2018 01:01 (five years ago) link
Almost missed this!
The (relatively) weakest of her amazing 90s trilogy--even though it was somehow the one I owned first--but there are days where I think "Nashville" may be the best thing she's ever done.
― Timothée Charalambides (cryptosicko), Monday, 31 December 2018 01:19 (five years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Tuesday, 1 January 2019 00:01 (five years ago) link
Missed it, would have voted for title track so no biggie
― Spirit of the Voice of the Beehive (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 1 January 2019 00:24 (five years ago) link
I can't believe "Shane" and "Support System" got no votes.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 April 2021 10:05 (three years ago) link
People who are accustom to living a fulfilled life tend to forget the struggles that others face and the fact that they are more common than what is it initially believed.
It's even more lo-fi than the debut.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 April 2021 10:10 (three years ago) link
― calstars, Thursday, 8 April 2021 10:19 (three years ago) link
well I would have voted “Shane”
― assert (MatthewK), Thursday, 8 April 2021 10:39 (three years ago) link
"Shane" is great, but more like "this album is starting to go deep" than "I've got to hear that song again right now".
― Halfway there but for you, Thursday, 8 April 2021 14:18 (three years ago) link
i'd still vote "Jealousy" or the title track, but every time i come back to this album, "May Queen" grows a bigger place in my heart.
― sgt. pepper's one-and-only bobo honkin' band (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 8 April 2021 14:36 (three years ago) link
I had side B on this morning and it sounded great
― calstars, Saturday, 15 July 2023 20:18 (eleven months ago) link
I was going to do a poll for this but this thread already exists!
Whip Smart doesn’t get the love its predecessor does
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 23 November 2023 16:34 (six months ago) link
For good reason!
― This field is required (morrisp), Thursday, 23 November 2023 16:39 (six months ago) link
Anyway, if I’d voted in this poll I probably would’ve gone for “Shane”.
― The Triumphant Return of Bernard & Stubbs (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 23 November 2023 17:38 (six months ago) link