early reports are ... not good. The film Neil premiered was basically a 60-minute music video for the new album. I'll just say the lyrics make "hip-hop haircut" seem deep. Musically it was by-the-numbers electric Neil and the lyrics were probably the worst I've ever heard.
― tylerw, Thursday, 23 April 2015 17:37 (nine years ago) link
I dunno, I'd be genuinely surprised if Neil's filmmaking skills suddenly blossomed at this stage of his, er, "development" as a "filmmaker."
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Thursday, 23 April 2015 17:43 (nine years ago) link
(But I liked Greendale.)
is warner bros actually going to put out an album named THE MONSANTO YEARS?
― da croupier, Thursday, 23 April 2015 17:47 (nine years ago) link
apparently Warner Music isn't owned by Time Warner anymore but by Access Industries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Access_Industries
curious just how far up the chain an artist's decision to make an album calling out another corporation goes
― da croupier, Thursday, 23 April 2015 17:51 (nine years ago) link
xp maybe Neil told them that Darren Monsanto was this killer guitarist he used to play with at his zuma beach house or something
― Bookmark No Bingus Permalink (Sufjan Grafton), Thursday, 23 April 2015 17:53 (nine years ago) link
xpost and Access Industries owns 14% of LyondellBasell, another enormous chemical company.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 23 April 2015 18:02 (nine years ago) link
Shakey's still "got it," cuz the first hour of Human Highway is quite a pain.
― the increasing costive borborygmi (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 23 April 2015 18:06 (nine years ago) link
I'm not hearing the awesomeness in the Nelson's boys back-up band artistry based on the clips I have heard, frankly. Maybe if they played harder and bopped less, they'd sound better.
― Three Word Username, Thursday, 23 April 2015 18:23 (nine years ago) link
hey nice, godspeed:http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-neil-young-stephen-stills-autism-benefit-april-25-20150423-story.html
― dow, Thursday, 23 April 2015 22:42 (nine years ago) link
You can download the secret gig here: http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=2297
― satans favourite son, Saturday, 25 April 2015 05:24 (nine years ago) link
Thanks! BigO still has the Neil x Willie x Lukas & POTR set from Harvest of Hope, the anti-Keystone XXL show excerpted upthread, in that 10-minute jam (those Neil & Lukas YouTube posts aren't showing up in my Firefox this morning, but they are in Chrome)Here;s the HoH set:http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=1989 Looks like they've also still got a bunch of other Neil and Neil-related sets.
― dow, Saturday, 25 April 2015 14:19 (nine years ago) link
new song - "Big Box" on spotify
lyrics are clunky to say the VERY leastum i dunno sometimes it kind of works despite itself, as do many of neil's songs
production is sort of grey and odd in places
overall reminds me of, natch, something off Mirror Ball
― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 3 June 2015 21:13 (eight years ago) link
We are as far now from Mirror Ball as it was from Zuma
Let that sink in.
― Love, Wilco (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 3 June 2015 21:19 (eight years ago) link
da croupier rates every Neil album:
http://anthonyisright.tumblr.com/
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 3 June 2015 21:21 (eight years ago) link
sad to see him rate Dead Man so low - just dug that CD out the other day and love it
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 3 June 2015 21:28 (eight years ago) link
yeah wish there were at least three more zoned out instrumental neil records like that...
― tylerw, Wednesday, 3 June 2015 21:30 (eight years ago) link
I SAID it'd make a great podcast!
― da croupier, Wednesday, 3 June 2015 21:53 (eight years ago) link
love Dead Man as well. this could be a terrible idea, but has anyone ever tried playing a few copies of it at once, in different spots of the same song, at a low volume? a lot of the songs have a meandering quality to them and stick with the same key, so it might actually sound kinda cool.
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 3 June 2015 21:55 (eight years ago) link
tylerw otm!
― niels, Thursday, 4 June 2015 17:28 (eight years ago) link
from da croupier's tumblr:
Neil’s topical commentary now swung more clearly left, and his guitar solos (as foreshadowed by an import EP of feedback freakouts) were returning to showoff form.
What is this? Is this "Arc"?
― Jim Gillette's unused octave (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Thursday, 4 June 2015 21:39 (eight years ago) link
I do this sort of thing all the time and it's always depressing. For example, we are as far away now from Smells Like Teen Spirit as it was from Sgt. Pepper.
― kornrulez6969, Thursday, 4 June 2015 21:41 (eight years ago) link
given all the turmoil in his personal life lately - divorce/aneurysm/quitting weed etc. - and given the often nakedly emotional/confessional mode of a lot of his material, it's really weird how his last few projects really don't reflect or address any of that. folk song covers, songs about starbucks, saving the environment etc. it's like his work is now a process of denial or escape
― Οὖτις, Friday, 5 June 2015 15:34 (eight years ago) link
guess it could be a similar thing to those early 80s genre experiments, where he was burying a lot of his inner turmoil. that said, Storytone has some very personal songs alongside the save the world stuff.
― tylerw, Friday, 5 June 2015 15:38 (eight years ago) link
maybe he found writing about this painful stuff didn't ultimately help alleviate the pain he suffered. but yeah, i reckon it's more a case of escapism. maybe the confessionals are still to come - perhaps he has another ditch triolgy recorded but not ready to release.
― NotKnowPotato (stevie), Friday, 5 June 2015 15:38 (eight years ago) link
Never really saw Neil as confessional diary-based artist, he has his moments of that but even the albums that are supposedly statements about his life or whatever have plenty of symbolism escapism and abstraction.
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 5 June 2015 16:56 (eight years ago) link
if you mean the EP, it's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eldorado_%28EP%29
― da croupier, Friday, 5 June 2015 17:29 (eight years ago) link
I don't consider him diaristic either, he's too canny and slippery for that. His recent material just seems largely divorced from - I don't know how to put it - personal feelings, maybe? Like I don't need to know who specifically "I Believe in You" or "Such a Woman" is about but it's clear they are heavy songs about personal emotions etc. and for a guy who is capable of that kind of material, and to the extent that it's a vein he's mined deeply over the course of his career, to go through a bunch of shit but then not have it come out in his work seems noteworthy, it's unusual.
otoh maybe there's some hidden emotional history buried in his anti-Starbucks screeds idk
― Οὖτις, Friday, 5 June 2015 18:03 (eight years ago) link
neil kind of addresses these concerns in one of the new monsanto tunes -- live version here: http://www.bigozine2.com/TRKSA/NYsanluis/NYsanluis102.mp3
― tylerw, Friday, 5 June 2015 18:06 (eight years ago) link
haha ok ya got me Neil lol
― Οὖτις, Friday, 5 June 2015 18:18 (eight years ago) link
neil young, ilm lurker
― tylerw, Friday, 5 June 2015 18:20 (eight years ago) link
recording is pretty murky but i think he's singing"aint got time to deal with Οὖτις / Can't even pronounce his name / Gotta save the planet / da croupier is lame"
― tylerw, Friday, 5 June 2015 18:25 (eight years ago) link
i can't hear that because i only listen to pono now
― da croupier, Friday, 5 June 2015 18:33 (eight years ago) link
The thing is, his '80s genre experiments have songs as good as any of the earlier putatively autobiographical material.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 5 June 2015 19:24 (eight years ago) link
Just keeping you on your toes.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 5 June 2015 19:29 (eight years ago) link
The thing is, his '80s genre experiments have songs as good as any of the earlier putatively autobiographical material.i'm as much of an 80s neil apologist as anyone, but ... which songs are you thinking of here?
― tylerw, Friday, 5 June 2015 19:35 (eight years ago) link
Psychedelic Pill has songs about relationships, though not up-close confessional; Storytone uses layers of imagery too, but the sound of regret, belated insights, etc. comes through. Also, his Storytone Chicago blues song talks about early shows in Chicago, and is otherwise personalized, like other tracks---he's not gonna spill his guts all over the place, but I don't find his recent approaches to be too distanced. Seems like he really does care about the environment, for instance.
― dow, Friday, 5 June 2015 19:43 (eight years ago) link
I'll assume "the '80s Young" stops with Eldorado.
ShotsLike an IncaThis Old HomesteadSouthern PacificGrey RidersTransformer ManSample n HoldPrisoners of Rock 'n' RollHippie DreamPressureMideast Vacation
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 5 June 2015 19:54 (eight years ago) link
that's a helluva playlist and I'll put them against any '70s classic.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 5 June 2015 19:58 (eight years ago) link
yeah those are all good (though technically shots and old homestead are 70s songs), but wouldn't trade any of them for his earlier stuff. but opinions vary!
― tylerw, Friday, 5 June 2015 19:58 (eight years ago) link
was listening to the Unplugged version of Transformer Man earlier, that really is up there w his best imo
― Οὖτις, Friday, 5 June 2015 20:02 (eight years ago) link
Forgot "T-Bone."
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 5 June 2015 20:14 (eight years ago) link
Ain't got no t-bone
― ©Oz Quiz© (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 5 June 2015 20:14 (eight years ago) link
it's a cold bowl of chili when love lets you down
I love when neil sings about food
― Οὖτις, Friday, 5 June 2015 20:18 (eight years ago) link
i love "coupe de ville" from this note's for you.
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 5 June 2015 20:19 (eight years ago) link
I love "Around the World". What a bizarre bridge (for Neil): as lusty as he ever got in lyric? except tbone obv
― droit au butt (Euler), Friday, 5 June 2015 20:31 (eight years ago) link
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, June 5, 2015 2:54 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
some of these weren't written in the time period though, they were 70s songs...."Shots" for sure was kicking around since mid 70s and I think "This Old Homestead" and "Like an Inca"
― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 5 June 2015 20:45 (eight years ago) link
it's kind of amazing how long he mined that 70s peak, even as late as Le Noise for "Hitchhiker"
and I'd argue the "80s" part of "Shots" isn't what makes it great anyway unless you like the "pew pew pew" laser gun sound efx record shit, this is the definitive version imo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMnljgJRiz8
― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 5 June 2015 20:46 (eight years ago) link
and "Too Far Gone" one of the best songs off Freedom is just an inferior version of original on Chrome Dreams which I hope will be released soon
― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 5 June 2015 20:48 (eight years ago) link