From the Black Mountain Hills of Dakota: Rocky's Log - Music Diaries

RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

So I've been trying to catch up on as much 2022 listening as I can before we get to the year's end and came across this album:

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Heart Under by Just Mustard

And what a brilliant album!

One of my favorite things about listening to new music is picking up an album that I know nothing about by a band I know nothing about, only that it was either recommended to me by a friend or I saw a good review of it or something, and loving the album. That happens plenty with bands I know and love, and I enjoy that too, but there's just something really fun about an album sort of coming out of nowhere and really clicking with me, and Heart Under does just that.

It's a really really interesting sort of shoegaze album? I think? I guess you could call it shoegaze, though I don't know if it fits in the traditional sense of the word. But man, it's just an album that is sonically interesting if that makes any sense at all. The vocals are kind of creepy in a really cool way, and the guitar work and all is really cool. Overall there's definitely kind of an early Radiohead vibe to it (or at least, that's what I clocked).

But yea, definitely an album worth a listen if you haven't heard it yet
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MadhattanJack
I mean, metal is okay, but...

Gender: Male

RockyRaccoon wrote:

It's a really really interesting sort of shoegaze album? I think? I guess you could call it shoegaze, though I don't know if it fits in the traditional sense of the word. But man, it's just an album that is sonically interesting if that makes any sense at all. The vocals are kind of creepy in a really cool way, and the guitar work and all is really cool.

I think most people who are into this stuff actually spell it out as "shoegaze/trip-hop crossover," which I assume is because "shoetrip" and "tripgaze" aren't considered clear enough as subgenre names for most people to get what they refer to. (It's also very important to ensure that nobody accidentally gets the impression that these are Goth acts.)

There are lots of bands in this particular subgenre with fairly distinctive-sounding female singers (No Joy, Pencey Sloe, White Flowers, maybe Japanese Breakfast or even Still Corners just to name a few), but AFAIK only Just Mustard has a singer who sounds almost exactly like the Cranes' Alison Shaw. I guess that makes them fairly distinctive by itself, except that the Cranes are supposedly still around, which might lead some people to think they're "derivative." The Cranes haven't made a record since this one in 2008 though, so we're probably safe. Wink

That said, there are other bands who also had (or maybe still have?) Alison Shaw soundalikes. Orange is a good example (and not to be confused with the LA indie band of the same name). And Alison Shaw herself could be said to be a soundalike for Clare Grogan of Altered Images, who made their first LP all the way back in 1981 but are definitely still around, as they came out with a new album just a few months ago.

RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

MadhattanJack wrote:

I think most people who are into this stuff actually spell it out as "shoegaze/trip-hop crossover," which I assume is because "shoetrip" and "tripgaze" aren't considered clear enough as subgenre names for most people to get what they refer to. (It's also very important to ensure that nobody accidentally gets the impression that these are Goth acts.)

There are lots of bands in this particular subgenre with fairly distinctive-sounding female singers (No Joy, Pencey Sloe, White Flowers, maybe Japanese Breakfast or even Still Corners just to name a few), but AFAIK only Just Mustard has a singer who sounds almost exactly like the Cranes' Alison Shaw. I guess that makes them fairly distinctive by itself, except that the Cranes are supposedly still around, which might lead some people to think they're "derivative." The Cranes haven't made a record since this one in 2008 though, so we're probably safe. Wink

That said, there are other bands who also had (or maybe still have?) Alison Shaw soundalikes. Orange is a good example (and not to be confused with the LA indie band of the same name). And Alison Shaw herself could be said to be a soundalike for Clare Grogan of Altered Images, who made their first LP all the way back in 1981 but are definitely still around, as they came out with a new album just a few months ago.

Oh this is cool stuff! I'll definitely have to check out some of these other bands!
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MadhattanJack
I mean, metal is okay, but...

Gender: Male

RockyRaccoon wrote:

Oh this is cool stuff! I'll definitely have to check out some of these other bands!

Here's another one I just ran into today, released about a month ago — I wouldn't mention it, but I'm listening to it right now and it's a total fuzzpedal bliss-out experience that everyone should at least be aware of, just in case total fuzzpedal bliss-out experiences are what one is into.

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A Fusion Of Two Hemispheres by Sphere (JP Shoegazers)

I put "(JP Shoegazers)" in there because there are 35 other bands named "Sphere" on Discogs, which means there are probably about 3,500 that simply exist in some form or other on Planet Earth alone. It's always sad when good bands give themselves overly-common names that will prevent them from achieving mass recognition due to brand-confusion, but alas these are the times we live in.

RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

MadhattanJack wrote:

Here's another one I just ran into today, released about a month ago — I wouldn't mention it, but I'm listening to it right now and it's a total fuzzpedal bliss-out experience that everyone should at least be aware of, just in case total fuzzpedal bliss-out experiences are what one is into.

Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.

A Fusion Of Two Hemispheres by Sphere (JP Shoegazers)

I put "(JP Shoegazers)" in there because there are 35 other bands named "Sphere" on Discogs, which means there are probably about 3,500 that simply exist in some form or other on Planet Earth alone. It's always sad when good bands give themselves overly-common names that will prevent them from achieving mass recognition due to brand-confusion, but alas these are the times we live in.

Sweet! This is great! All stuff I've never heard of so I'm excited to check it out. Also I kinda dig simple band names, even if it makes it hard to find them sometimes lol
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RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

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Young Girl by Gary Puckett & The Union Gap

Popped into the record store the other day and found this album for $2 in the used bin and figured, hey, why not? Every now and then I'll snag one of these old 60s pop albums where I know a couple of the singles whenever I see them in the $1-$3 bin in a record store.

I was raised listening to a lot of 60s pop, and that included a good amount of Gary Puckett & The Union Gap, and I've always thought they get unfairly forgotten because man they had some killer tunes, and Gary Puckett can absolutely sing his ass off.

This album is fine, it's helped by Gary Puckett being a great singer, it's mostly just pop covers (they do Lady Madonna and an old Glen Campbell song, "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" which, let me tell you, has not aged particularly well), but the album is heavily anchored by the title track, which was a massive hit for the group.

It's a great song, but sweet jesus is it creepy, even by 60s "Only Sixteen/Little Bitty Pretty One/She was just 17 you know what I mean" creepy standards.

I mean, these are some of the lyrics:

"Young girl
Get out of my mind
My love for you is way out of line
Better run, girl
You're much too young, girl"

or how about this?

"Beneath your perfume and make-up
You're just a baby in disguise"

or maybe this?

"Get out of here before I have the time
To change my mind
Cause I'm afraid we'll go too far"

How did no one stop the recording session and go "Hey uhh Gary? What are we singing about here? You sure you wanna record this and release it? Like put this out in the public?"

Jerry Fuller wrote the song, and he said he wrote it about his own experience when "14-year-olds look like 20-year-olds" which DOES NOT HELP.

Still, the song's a jam. A creepy jam. But a jam.
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RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

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Canned Wheat by The Guess Who

This was also in the bargain bin at the record store and I figured I'd snag it. I love The Guess Who, and this album is pretty good, if a bit uneven.

I had actually totally forgotten there was a different version of No Time on this album, and I'll be honest, I really dig this version (maybe better than the popular one? I dunno). Randy Bachman's guitar solo (which wasn't in the single) is pretty sick, and this version just feels like more of a rocker than the re-recorded version.

Meanwhile, both Laughing and Undun are among my favorite Guess Who songs ever. Burton Cummings is such a fantastic singer and there are few better examples than Undun. His vocal control is ridiculous. And Garry Peterson's drumming too! Undun does not sound easy to play, that's a tough song on the drums, and Peterson makes it sound so smooth and easy.

The A side is dope, the B side is much less dope. Key kind of meanders for some of its 11-minute runtime, and the rest of the tracks are fine if unspectacular.
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RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

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Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan

This is one of those albums where, the more I've listened to it, the more I've come to appreciate it for what it is. This isn't even close to the best thing Dylan ever put out, but what it is is a fascinating snapshot into Dylan at his start.

The vast majority of the songs on this album are tunes Dylan was playing at local coffeehouses in New York City in the midst of the early-60s folk revival. And these are songs that everyone was playing, I mean, the arrangement of House of the Rising Sun that Dylan does here is one he picked up from Dave Van Ronk, so if you went to a coffeehouse show in the 60s in New York City, you were likely to hear a good handful of these songs.

And that's what's really cool about this album for me. It's a quick glimpse into what you probably would have heard had you wandered into Gerde's Folk City or Cafe Wha? or the Gaslight, any of those NYC coffeehouses, and seen Bob Dylan onstage.

But the other thing I find about this album that I think is really cool is the two originals that are on here: "Song to Woody" and "Talkin' New York". Song to Woody is among the earlier songs that Dylan wrote on his own, and it's cool to hear the difference between the way that song feels compared to the rest. It's not the greatest song, but it's pretty good, and it's a slight glimmer of what was to come.

And if that isn't, Talkin' New York certainly is, because it's very similar to the other sorta goofy, Bob Dylan talk-singing funny stories that he did later in his life, like Bob Dylan's Dream (or his 115th Dream).

When I first heard this album, I kind of dismissed it because I hadn't really dove too far into Dylan yet and knew there was better out there. But the more I've listened to this album, the more I like it because it's a cool snapshot into Dylan's early career (and because he does some pretty good arrangements of some old folk tunes). It's definitely not the first Dylan album you should listen to, or even the fifth, but it's definitely a good one.
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Repo
BeA Sunflower

Location: Forest Park

RockyRaccoon wrote:

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Bob Dylan by Bob Dylan

This is one of those albums where, the more I've listened to it, the more I've come to appreciate it for what it is. This isn't even close to the best thing Dylan ever put out, but what it is is a fascinating snapshot into Dylan at his start.

The vast majority of the songs on this album are tunes Dylan was playing at local coffeehouses in New York City in the midst of the early-60s folk revival. And these are songs that everyone was playing, I mean, the arrangement of House of the Rising Sun that Dylan does here is one he picked up from Dave Van Ronk, so if you went to a coffeehouse show in the 60s in New York City, you were likely to hear a good handful of these songs.

And that's what's really cool about this album for me. It's a quick glimpse into what you probably would have heard had you wandered into Gerde's Folk City or Cafe Wha? or the Gaslight, any of those NYC coffeehouses, and seen Bob Dylan onstage.

But the other thing I find about this album that I think is really cool is the two originals that are on here: "Song to Woody" and "Talkin' New York". Song to Woody is among the earlier songs that Dylan wrote on his own, and it's cool to hear the difference between the way that song feels compared to the rest. It's not the greatest song, but it's pretty good, and it's a slight glimmer of what was to come.

And if that isn't, Talkin' New York certainly is, because it's very similar to the other sorta goofy, Bob Dylan talk-singing funny stories that he did later in his life, like Bob Dylan's Dream (or his 115th Dream).

When I first heard this album, I kind of dismissed it because I hadn't really dove too far into Dylan yet and knew there was better out there. But the more I've listened to this album, the more I like it because it's a cool snapshot into Dylan's early career (and because he does some pretty good arrangements of some old folk tunes). It's definitely not the first Dylan album you should listen to, or even the fifth, but it's definitely a good one.

Nice! I LOVE this album! Very Happy

RockyRaccoon
Is it solipsistic in here or is it just me?

Gender: Male
Age: 33
Location: Maryland

Moderator

Repo wrote:

Nice! I LOVE this album! Very Happy

Yeah, it's definitely one I've grown to appreciate! Far from Dylan's best, but I do love it for what it is.
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