But the debut album by United State Of Electronica, U.S.E., is certainly worth a listen. It's basically Daft Punk/Komeda gone Disneyworld (or at least their music has the "Disney Sparkle"), or (as noted by Ned in another forum) an album where every song sounds like the end of movie "Xanadu". In either case, there's this strange Kelly/Partridge Family sense of universal love and good times that is a theme in the tunes, but (thankfully) no actual musical relation at all. In fact, this album is not really that electronic after all -- most of the sounds are fleshed out on real instruments, just really tightly. All the Daft Punk vocoding elements are there, but with more guitar, and Komeda style melodies.
It's really hard to listen to the two tracks with rapping on them (given that the rapper sounds like a third-rate version of Stereo MC's... yes, a possibly fake British *rapping* accent.. I guess Mr. C of the Shamen did more damage than I thought), and having vocoder on track after track can be a little tiring, but the strength of this band shines through in the context of playing one of their tracks in a mix. It's so easy to find ways to pick on the group, yet I always come back to listening to this album anyway. Had they edited this album to just the first half, this would have been unstoppable.
Props and/or strikes for using the same debut album naming technique as Color Me Badd.
highlights: "Emerald City", "Climb the Walls (Umbrella Of Love)", "Open Your Eyes", "Takin' It All The Way"
― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:18 (twenty-one years ago)
there's this strange Kelly/Partridge Family sense of universal love and good times that is a theme in the tunes, but (thankfully) no actual musical relation at all
Yes -- this is a Polyphonic Spree that you actually want to listen to. If you will.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:23 (twenty-one years ago)
― Nick Sylvester, Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sean Thomas (sgthomas), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:31 (twenty-one years ago)
― Scott CE (Scott CE), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:32 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:33 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sean Thomas (sgthomas), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:37 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sean Thomas (sgthomas), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:38 (twenty-one years ago)
Arh arh.
― Evanston Wade (EWW), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:42 (twenty-one years ago)
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)
― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:48 (twenty-one years ago)
And I can deal with the crap band name, although I doubt I'll buy the t-shirt.
― Paul in Santa Cruz (Paul in Santa Cruz), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 17:57 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 18:04 (twenty-one years ago)
Hurrah for Maria! It's less the sound of that specific song per se as it is the splashy ridiculous and wonderful atmosphere of the end of the film, where it seems everyone goes collectively and beautifully insane.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 18:44 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sean M (Sean M), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:11 (twenty-one years ago)
oh, i know the movie. its one of my favorites. ive got it on betamax, vhs and dvd -- if anyone needs to borrow it. need the soundtrack? yeah, i got that too.
right now, USE sounds like that scene where they're trying to merge the 1940's bandstand with 1980's rock.
actually, plain parade was approached about doing a show of theirs. i hope we get to do it. then again, i kinda hope we dont, so i can actually watch it instead of working the door and panicking.
― maria tessa sciarrino (theoreticalgirl), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:16 (twenty-one years ago)
Hmmm...nah, a bit too formal. I'm thinking more the fashion store/pinball sequence, or the part where there's nothing but jugglers and roller skaters and tumblers in Xanadu itself. But we are splitting hairs, admittedly. ;-)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)
My Kneejerk Sense tells me that between Cornelius - Fantasma and Plus-Tech Squeeze Box - Fakevox, there's probably no need for me to ever hear this.
― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)
― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:51 (twenty-one years ago)
― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:58 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 19:59 (twenty-one years ago)
― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:11 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:16 (twenty-one years ago)
My new mantra: "6 Weeks Left".
― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:21 (twenty-one years ago)
― Barima (Barima), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 21:29 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 21:30 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)
― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 23:44 (twenty-one years ago)
― LC, Thursday, 6 May 2004 02:51 (twenty-one years ago)
"Emerald City" is great btw, is that the single?
― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Thursday, 6 May 2004 12:47 (twenty-one years ago)
http://www.vroom-sound.com/psb/image/bbc_001.gif
http://www.surla.co.uk/bands.asp?band=psb
http://www.vroom-sound.com/sound/VRCD3311.html
― Barima (Barima), Thursday, 6 May 2004 13:10 (twenty-one years ago)
Maybe not the greatest point of comparison. I wanted to use Tahiti 80, but a) they're just as recent as U.S.E., and b) they are FAR more boring than U.S.E.
― donut bitch (donut), Thursday, 6 May 2004 18:00 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Friday, 7 May 2004 20:32 (twenty-one years ago)
― bimble (bimble), Saturday, 8 May 2004 00:26 (twenty-one years ago)
― juiceboxxx (juiceboxxx), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 21:25 (twenty-one years ago)
1. The neighborhood roll call/ "We LOVE IT" thing. Pits LA in the summer against Seattle in the summer. The Winner? I think you know the answer.
2. The fact that it proclaims 2004 in Seattle as the summer of love. This is a welcome relief from the previous 5 summers:
1999: The Summer of Despair2000: The Summer of Rage2001: The Summer of Overly Ripe Cantalope2002: The Summer of Jigga Having Held it Down for Six Summers2003: The Summer of Pabst
As you can see, a summer of love is just what the doctor ordered.
3. Because, dammit, the days ARE getting longer and love IS getting stronger. Can't you feel it?
― Scott CE (Scott CE), Friday, 4 June 2004 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Friday, 4 June 2004 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sean Thomas (sgthomas), Friday, 4 June 2004 22:16 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Friday, 4 June 2004 22:17 (twenty-one years ago)
― Sean Thomas (sgthomas), Friday, 4 June 2004 22:21 (twenty-one years ago)
― chaki_burger (chaki), Saturday, 5 June 2004 00:34 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Saturday, 5 June 2004 00:36 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 5 June 2004 00:37 (twenty-one years ago)
― strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Saturday, 5 June 2004 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 5 June 2004 00:39 (twenty-one years ago)
― Matos W.K. (M Matos), Saturday, 5 June 2004 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)
― Mike Dixn (Mike Dixon), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 04:07 (twenty years ago)
I talked to Craif Finn today. The Hold Steady and U.S.E. are touring the West Coast together, cuz they're both 'party bands'.
AW SLIME!
― donut debonair (donut), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 04:15 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 04:19 (twenty years ago)
― donut debonair (donut), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 04:36 (twenty years ago)
Matos, did you hook this up?!?!?!?!
By the way, I totally expected the U.S.E. album to shrink on me in the past couple months, kinda like M.I.A. has, but it's a thing of timeless beauty.
― Pete Scholtes, Tuesday, 19 April 2005 14:57 (twenty years ago)
I was about to say, he gonna be the MC?
"Matos here! ENJOY THIS BAND! Yeah!"
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 14:59 (twenty years ago)
― Scott CE (Scott CE), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 15:10 (twenty years ago)
And Peter: the album is fucking MAGNIFICENT (though I don't feel like M.I.A. has shrunk at all for me).
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:03 (twenty years ago)
― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:46 (twenty years ago)
― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:48 (twenty years ago)
― Tom (Groke), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:53 (twenty years ago)
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:53 (twenty years ago)
― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:56 (twenty years ago)
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:58 (twenty years ago)
wait, i was with you up until this point. how is that possible?
― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 22:02 (twenty years ago)
Jaymc, I find good lyrics in bad songs to be frustrating. It makes me think that the effort in the writing was misplaced, or that the lyricist should not be writing songs but instead writing poetry, fiction, or whatever else. Bad songs with bad lyrics are easily dismissed, and the complication of good aspects to bad or mediocre work is aggravating to me.
― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 22:07 (twenty years ago)
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 22:09 (twenty years ago)
― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 22:53 (twenty years ago)
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 23:09 (twenty years ago)
hold steady + U.S.E. tour looks like the best thing ever; really wish the US wasn't as, feasibly, as far away as the moon.
― etc, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:07 (twenty years ago)
I'll have to see this tour so I can finally digest the Craig Finn Experience.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:09 (twenty years ago)
― donut debonair (donut), Saturday, 14 May 2005 21:40 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 May 2005 22:14 (twenty years ago)
Hey wait, did Matos use this as a guide for the Jukebox Jury, then?
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 May 2005 22:18 (twenty years ago)
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:10 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)
― jergins (jergins), Saturday, 14 May 2005 23:18 (twenty years ago)
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Sunday, 15 May 2005 00:37 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 15 May 2005 05:36 (twenty years ago)
― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 15 May 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)
― keith m (keithmcl), Sunday, 15 May 2005 16:47 (twenty years ago)
― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 15 May 2005 19:42 (twenty years ago)
― etc, Sunday, 15 May 2005 23:21 (twenty years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 May 2005 05:41 (twenty years ago)
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 16 May 2005 05:46 (twenty years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 May 2005 05:49 (twenty years ago)
Hahah. I love how small the world is. Did they get all excited you recognized them?
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 16 May 2005 05:55 (twenty years ago)
― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 16 May 2005 06:04 (twenty years ago)
― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Monday, 16 May 2005 08:59 (twenty years ago)
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 28 August 2005 22:48 (twenty years ago)
― huell howser (chaki), Tuesday, 20 September 2005 20:17 (nineteen years ago)
― Mr Deeds (Mr Deeds), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 03:23 (nineteen years ago)
― tylero (tylero), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 03:33 (nineteen years ago)
― Vinnie (vprabhu), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 17:31 (nineteen years ago)
― billstevejim (billstevejim), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 21:17 (nineteen years ago)
― ken taylrr has gone off the internet because of you (ken taylrr), Wednesday, 21 September 2005 21:19 (nineteen years ago)
Anyone heard the new album, Loveworld?
― M. Grissom/DeShields (jaymc), Monday, 26 October 2009 23:28 (fifteen years ago)
'It Is On' came on random today. Had completely forgotten about that one.
― monoprix à dimanche (dog latin), Tuesday, 16 September 2014 09:44 (ten years ago)