[MacDEF]

This sticky thread is where you should let everyone know what you got, from whom, and what you think about it!

 

[Odin]

We're suppose to have sent the CDs' by now??? I thought this is a chrismas thing so I was trying to make the receive date as close to christmas as possible.

 

[MacDEF]

No, the thread is just here so that when people *do* get them they know where to post

 

[mcbiff]

I mailed my CD out to Odin yesterday just to be sure, better safe then sorry.

 

[JMT]

I sent my CD to Onix today. He had mentioned some problems with the postal service in his country in the past, so I am hoping that he will receive his gift without any problems this time.

 

[acidtripwow]

Sent the holiday CD to Mcbiff. Man, postage was more than the CD!

Just kidding!

 

[huy_ha]

I got my CD from phoneprone (thanks, Rick!) last week. It was Alison Krauss - Forget About It. After a couple few listens, I'm still trying to decide what genre she's in. It's got mostly country influence, with some contemporary and folk thrown into the mix. The songs are written by a smattering of songwriters and Krauss does justice to all of them. The recording is well done - the instruments are clean and the vocal presentation is forward, so good thing she's got a sweet voice (it's extra sweet when she keeps her slight twang saying things like "forgit"). Overall, the album tends to lean toward the heartfelt and sentimental - good Sunday night music if you want to remind yourself that you're human before dealing with going back to work. It's a CD I wouldn't have picked up on my own, so I'm very thankful to phoneprone for introducing me to Ms. Krauss.

 

[MacDEF]

Thanks for the feedback, Huy Ha!

And just a reminder: this thread isn't to let us know when you sent out your gift; it's to let us know what you think about the one you receive

 

[dngl]

I cracked and I excitedly opened Moo's CD (he has great handwriting). It was Tracing Astor featuring Gidon Kremer (an excellent violinist!). Wonderful, moving music from what I now think is an underrated composer. I think Moo has better taste in music than I do. Thanks a bunch.

ps, I sent out phone's cd today.

 

[TerriblySorry]

Stuartr sent me Sam Prekop's debut album, a collection of post-post-modern-retro-jazz numbers, featuring Josh Abrams, Chad Taylor, Archer Prewitt and Jim O'Rourke. Cheers, Stuart!

This has got to be one of the most outrageous slacker albums of all time, often unintentionally funny, yet seldom inspiring. Perhaps there's an irony here I'm missing, perhaps a subtle joke I've yet to get. Whichever it is, I'm having a real hard time accepting that any serious effort went into the making of this album. It all seems so very amateurish, as though each of the instrumentalists wrote their parts during the bus-ride to the recording studio. Lyrically, there's no food for thought here. About the best Prekop can do is "well...hey...doo-be...buh-buh".

That said, the second half of the album is considerably better than the first, the last 30 seconds of the last track being what I can only describe as "brilliant". But maybe that's just Prekop's way of snubbing his nose at everyone, his way of saying "see, I can do it if I try, but I just can't be arsed, mate".

Right then, I'm off to listen to Hanson's This Time Around.

 

[stuartr]

Heh, another winner! Almost. This album is pretty hit or miss. It offends no one, some people go crazy for it, some people just don't care for it. I can appreciate terriblysorry's criticism, and think it is an insightful review. The album can seem like it was thrown together and the lyrics are not particularly profound. That said, I think for some reason it comes off for me. I really like the relaxed sound, described very well by terriblysorry as "post-post-modern-retro-jazz numbers". Next year I am sending you Undertow by Tool. If you play them at the same time, you should come up with a pretty comfortable mixture of laid back and in your face music.

Stuart

 

[TerriblySorry]

So I spent last night surfing the Web for Sam Prekop reviews. I couldn't find anybody who even remotely disliked it. Must be me, then. Still, track 6 Faces And People is beginning to grow on me, so maybe that'll be my way into Sam Prekop's soundworld. I'll keep listening. The penny will drop for me one day I'm sure.

 

[stuartr]

Ha, you are turning to the Dark Side Luke...That is funny...my favorite track was Faces and People at first too. It has wonderful development...it just keeps moving and growing. Then again, I liked the whole cd on first listen. My theory is that you are not a fan of Prekop's vocals...which is undertandable, given how, well, slovenly they can sound. Personally I have become a fan of his drawl.
People who do like Prekop should check out The Sea and Cake, which he sings for. Ok, enough, now someone else review something!

 

[ai0tron]

TerriblySorry sent his cd awhile back already.

He sent me the 'Pentateuch of the Cosmogony'. Music by Dave Greenslade and art by Patrick Woodroffe. It comes with an incredible booklet full of art by Patrick woodroffe and passages from the first five chapters of the bible. The combinations of the art, the music, and the dramatic style of the bible passages produces altogether a very unusual mood. It's not anything you experience through the normal course of ones life. I was afraid, annoyed, and in awe all at once. With the art, music, and passages taking varying roles as the purveyors of one of those emotions. However the music tended to be the annoying part quite often. It does have it's moments musically but all in all I think that the music doesn't stand alone very well without the art and passages. Musically it is not very emotive either, I feel like the musician is trying to hard to say something in a very literal fashion. This juxtaposes well with the included materials so as a whole it does work. I cannot listen to it and not try to derive some kind of meaning because of the music... But since this post will triple in size if I continue down that road I will spare you all.

Thanks Terriblysorry for the unusual experience.

 

[mcbiff]

I got my disc from acidtripwow today: Gov't Mule - LIVE... With a Little Help From Our Friends

I haven't had time to listen to the whole thing yet (it's almost two and a half hours long), but so far I like it. It sounds a lot like the big '70s hard rock acts like Zeppelin, Cream and maybe even stuff like Byrds sometimes. The songs are all very long and often break out into all-out instrumental orgies, again very '70s.

What I like most is the cool melodies and the crunchy guitar sound on a couple of the tracks. And a Sabbath cover is never wrong (War Pigs), at least not in my book. Oh yeah, the singer has a great voice too.

That's it for my first impressions, I'll write more as I hear the whole thing. But I would like to thank acid for setting me up with something I never would've found myself. I always like to broaden my musical horizons, and this sure was something new.