I want to discuss Geir's top 50 albims of 2008 with him in relative calm, k?

FFS that should be 2007.

Well, they did. :)

good thread

"discuss"

geir hongro does not 'discuss' anything. he's a fucking retard. lock thread? please?

Fuck off. This is an open board, you're not the arbiter of what's worth discussing.

I'm surprised at some of these choices though! I know you love power pop and that, but "Traffic and Weather" just lacks a lot of sparkle to me - please recommend some songs to revisit considering the only one I half liked was the single and I love the first three records to death.

Is Frost the same Frost that once covered "I Buy American Records' by Saint Etienne?

Don't you think the Pleasure album is a bit patchy, i.e. the singles, plus "Uptown" and "Finest Thing" are essential, but the rest of it strikes me as being a bit boring.

Do you really like MIA and LCD? They seem so incongruous to your persona - esp MIA which I thought you would hate (and I do!).

"Tillbaka till samtiden" might be Kent's best album, directly following on from their worst. Agree?

I didn't know Erasure put out a new album last year, how is it?

Also, for Norwegian/other Scando pop albums, please recommend accessible tracks with which to "sample" them via Youtube or similar.

What's so great about "X", in your opinion? It sounded like mostly filler with only two good songs on it - but with you AND Marcello (weird!) rating it so highly, I think I must be wrong.

Lastly, for now, I clicked on Magnet and it said "related artists: Libido". I own not one but TWO copies of Libido's excellent "Overthrown" single which got a fair bit of airplay in Australia (I bought one, then saw it cheap about a year later and forgot I already owned it) and never heard from them again. If I adored that song ("Overthrown" is the summery pop Dodgy wished they could have written) will I like Magnet?

I LOVE LOVE LOVE "Uptown" by Pleasure but haven't been able to get the whole album. Is the rest as good???

Where are you Geir, I thought we just had to say your name in a mirror and you'd be here!

Spencer, have you heard "Out of Love" and "Finest Thing"? Those two are nearly as brilliant.

The rest of it is kind of dull but worthy, as if it's missing something. For a few of the songs, that thing is obviously Bertine Zetlitz, with whom (Uptown aside), Pleasure does his best work with.

I know you love power pop and that, but "Traffic and Weather" just lacks a lot of sparkle to me

It's a matter of just another dose of something I know I like. No, it isn't quite up there with the previous one, but I tend to like them when they sound like that anyway.

Do you really like MIA and LCD? They seem so incongruous to your persona - esp MIA which I thought you would hate (and I do!).

MIA I find slightly better than most R&B, sort of more imaginative in her arrangements. But still, I think the bottom of the list is about how I haven't heard much more than 50 2007 albums at all. I try to listen to the most critical acclaimed albums, and those that I don't actively dislike will then end up in the bottom end of my Top 50. This is also the case with "Neon Bible" and that Klaxons album.

Is Frost the same Frost that once covered "I Buy American Records' by Saint Etienne?

Not certain. It may be on her 1998 debut, which I didn't like at all. She is a Norwegian electro act, the girlfriend of Norwegian techno wizard Mental Overdrive, and she has done the production on this album and her previous one.

Speaking of Norwegian electro I find the Pleasure album less patchy than his debut, really. And "Back To You" is the best thing Brett Anderson has been involved with since "Coming Up".

"Tillbaka till samtiden" might be Kent's best album, directly following on from their worst. Agree?

I would have hadn't it been for their first two albums, "Kent" and "Verkligen". I am no big fan of either. I like "Du Och Jag Döden", but it was slightly weaker than everything else they have done since "Isola" in 1997.

I didn't know Erasure put out a new album last year, how is it?

Slightly faster and livelier than the last one, but still great. They are going through a great artistic (and somewhat commercial) comeback now.

As for Scando pop, some of the albums are a bit too obscure for too many video clips to appear, but this Superfamily song was a radio staple in Norwegian radio (and I have probably rated the "Warszawa" album to lowl, it belongs in the Top 30 at least)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxKTgCiRBH8

Lastly, for now, I clicked on Magnet and it said "related artists: Libido". I own not one but TWO copies of Libido's excellent "Overthrown" single which got a fair bit of airplay in Australia (I bought one, then saw it cheap about a year later and forgot I already owned it) and never heard from them again. If I adored that song ("Overthrown" is the summery pop Dodgy wished they could have written) will I like Magnet?

Magnet is actually Even Johansen, who was the singer of Libido (and Chocolate Overdose before that). Musically it's kind of different, Magnet is considerably more laidback, but if you like his voice, then check out Magnet.

and she has done the production on this album and her previous one.

He (Mental Overdrive), I mean

The appearance of the Klaxons in there is possibly more surprising than MIA.

Also what the Polyphonic Spree are still together? I thought they got dropped because no one could afford the overheads of that band.

They'll probably appear all nude on the next album cover as they cannot afford stage clothes anymore ;)

I've been listening to "Out of Love" all night, love that shit!

http://data3.blog.de/media/059/2108059_0fd9b70262_m.jpg

"I want to discuss Geir's top 50 albims of 2008 with him in relative calm, k?"

Geir actually listed M.I.A.? (Jaw drops to floor.)

Nice to see someone besides me repping for Hey Venus! and Challengers.

MARILLION

geir, you rated that flower kings album pretty high. why?

Brett Anderson solo album, lol.

geir,

wtf is going on with that crowded house cover?

also good to see somebody else was feeling the air joint

That Air joint rules.

i know, right! only ONE dude voted for it on idolator >:(

I came very close to voting for it and in retrospect probably should have, since I replaced it with the fucking Shins.

ha

i dont listen to enough indie rock to know what was poppin last year but i do know the only shit from that i was feeling was pocket symphony & "hearts on fire" and that practically nobody voted for that on pazz n jop or idolator >>>:[

Hm, Amazon recommended Porcupine Tree to me. I've still never heard them and I was a bit put off by the cover art. Is it anything like White Willow?

I'll check out the Air.

Geir, good to see Superfamily in your top 50 !

MySpace.com - SUPERFAMILY - Oslo - Rock / Pop / Punk - www.myspace.com/superfamilynorway

mostly their success is confined in Norway - if they were promoted in the UK and USA they would have a significant following. I am still surprised that a significant independent label or indeed a major label hasn't picked them up for an international release.

euphoric melodic pop rock - they probably released the best melodic pop rock album of it's kind in Europe in 2007

write good memorable songs and entertaining videos

great production

pocket symphony got no love from webzines which probably effectively sunk it

i guess ppl could have not voted for it bcuz it's not v good (i havent heard it) but it had nooo press behind it

Oh, sounds like it could be my kind of thing: Blank Planet sounds like Wilson spent about half of his studio time on the guitar; it's full of buzzy, meticulously distorted solos that you can easily picture him folding into the prototypical Porcupine Tree amalgamation of drum machine, organ, and synthesizers during many long hours in front of the sound board.

xposts

its good, jordan sargent

i'm aware of your opinion ethan padgett

i'll listen to some songs on hype machine later today

im kind of surprised at how much shit on geir's list i haven't heard of

Pocket Symphony was maybe my favorite album of 2007 to get stoned to.

^^panda bear- person pitch ftmfw

actually the only time i actively enjoyed that shit save "i'm not" and maybe "bros"

http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/4841/1covermt8.jpg
^^^ mine

Pocket Symphony was maybe my favorite album of 2007 to get stoned to.

Yessssssss.

Yeah, the lack of press on this one was very strange. Every Air album before it seemed to be an EVENT, and half of my friends don't even know this exists.

Good to see that someone else had time for that Athlete album (a classic example of an album I rate from a genre I hate, as I think I might have said before on another thread).

Geir, have you heard Ungdomskulen? They're a Norwegian thrash-prog trio with a f**king awesome drummer. Maybe too heavy for your tastes... I'm not sure.

Good to see this love for Geir. Shame he likes Travis and Athlete that much :((((

geir, you rated that flower kings album pretty high. why?

Because I love 70s Genesis and 70s Yes.

also good to see somebody else was feeling the air joint

I feel that Air has gained a lot musically after they started working with Nigel Godrich. They were too muzak for my taste back when everybody loved them, that early 2000s "prog" album was kind of interesting but still partly missed. Those two last Godrich have both been excellent pop albums, even though I don't rate "Pocket Symphony" quite as highly as I do "Talkie Walkie".
I prefer to enjoy Air without any kind of drugs though :)

Geir, have you heard Ungdomskulen?

No. Heard the name, but nothing more than that. Norway is crowded with proggy metal/hard rock bands, though, and I don't like any of them.

As for Superfamily, they are about to get some love in Norway now. The last album didn't do too bad at all, and they get a lot of airplay. Next time around, unless the next album sucks, they will probably sell loads here.
I agree they'd be perfect for the UK market. Although the thing they are truly alone about is that they are so obviously and blatantly influenced by German 80s synthpoppers Alphaville. A band that made a huge impact on my generation here in Norway, and whose "Forever Young" album is still a very steady back catalogue seller in spite of no critical backing.

And Travis and Athlete are of course great ;)
(Even though the latter's album was slightly disappointing this time around when compared to their first two)

I've got to say that I'm amazed by your #1 ranking for Time on Earth. I like it a lot, but it really becomes quite maudlin about halfway through, making it a turgid listen for me. How do you feel it compares with CH's other albums?

Alphaville made a huge impact here in Hungary too, and perhaps everywhere in Europe.

How do you feel it compares with CH's other albums?

It's better than their debut. The other three ordinary studio albums are a good bit better, but then, they are all in my all-time Top 20.

Robert Fripp and Alex Lifeson are on the Porcupine Tree album! I'll check it out.

Heh, I can't disagree with that. The debut is very strangely produced, and some of the songs aren't terrific (the Split Enz version of I Walk Away is loads better).

Also I agree on Memory Almost Full, but it's decidedly patchier than his last 2-3 albums. The production is a bit distorty/noisy in a bad way, too.

The patchiest of his last 2-3 I would say is "Driving Rain". (Plus I don't like those 2-3 "back to the rock'n'roll roots" songs on "Flaming Pie" either). "Memory Almost Full" is good but not "Chaos & Creation..." As for the production, I think the main problem is compression rather than production. And I don't see why it's so important for a man in his 60s to compete with Arctic Monkeys, RHCP and Oasis as far as that goes.

The patchiest of his last 2-3 I would say is "Driving Rain".

RONG. Driving Rain is a superb album, apart from that boring Magic song and the horrible dreck that is Freedom. Dude seriously rocks out here, especially toward the end. Putting young musicians on this was a master stroke by whomever it was who thought of it.

The blues numbers on Flaming Pie make me reel as well. The whole Jeff Lynne sheen is a little bit vomit-inducing. You has to be in the right mood, I think.

Chaos & Creation is grebt. Some of his best ever writing is on this one imo.

"Chaos & Creation" also sounds as slick as good McCartney albums should. IMO his best albums are the ones with the most perfect and hi-fi-oriented productions: "Tug Of War", "Flowers In The Dirt" and "Chaos & Creation In The Backyard". Godrich was partly picking up from George Martin and Mitchell Froom/Trevor Horn in that respect, although he also added a bit of darkness that couldn't have come from the others.

Fountains of Wayne: probably the best band of the last 10 years.

IMO his best albums are the ones with the most perfect and hi-fi-oriented productions: "Tug Of War"

*shudder*

Although, Twin Freaks turned What's That You're Doing into a supersong.

Echoing DJ Martian, I'm glad to see somebody else (albeit Norwegian, but on the internet all the same) gives two shits about the Superfamily record. It was my #1 of the year.

Why didn't you just email him and avoid the robot jpegs?

Seriously, they're not funny.

Geir, what's the Air album like? I always hated them, found them precious and annoying, but "Talkie Walkie" was exceptional - anything like that on the new one?

Why the love for "Change"? It's crap! And "X" better than "Blackout"? Come on, man.

Geir isn't trying to impress anyone which elevates him to Godlike status

Why the love for "Change"? It's crap! And "X" better than "Blackout"? Come on, man.

It all has to do with electro. And preferrably an 80s kind of electro without too many oughties elements. The Britney album is onto something (and is light years better than anything she has ever done before) but is still too R&B. "X" is better because it has more proper songs, and 4/4 beats instead of those annoying staccato R&B beats.

Geir, what's the Air album like? I always hated them, found them precious and annoying, but "Talkie Walkie" was exceptional - anything like that on the new one?

It sounds like "Talkie Walkie" way more than any of the earlier stuff. "Talkie Walkie" was still better though.

Geir OTM on "X" vs "Blackout"