My CD Collection (5)

CDs for March 17, 2004 – Toad the Wet Sprocket, Soul Asylum, Radiohead, Toad again, Idlewild

Toad the Wet Sprocket, In Light Syrup – This is a compilation CD of B-sides and rarities. A lot of the time releases like this are throwaways, but this CD has some excellent songs included. The first four tracks – "Brother" (which I would play at my wedding reception, should I ever deign to get married), "Little Heaven" (from the soundtrack to the movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer) "Good Intentions" (from the Friends soundtrack), and "Hobbit On the Rocks" – are all great, but my favorite is "All In All":

The interweaving vocals by Glen (lead singer) and Todd (guitarist) on this song are just fantastic. You know, every time I listen to Toad, I'm reminded of how good they were and how much I love their music.

Soul Asylum, Hang Time – I bought this Soul Asylum CD after I had purchased Grave Dancers Union and was going back through the band's earlier releases. It's a harder, rougher sound than GDU, but not bad. I don't think it's nearly as strong from beginning to end as GDU, but tracks such as "Sometime To Return" (Hours and hours of turning and tossing and looking and listening to you and all the fucked up things you do), "Cartoon," and "Ode" are very strong. Actually, I've got "Sometime To Return" on right now, and it's truly excellent.

This CD is also noteworthly because I loved the song "Marionette" so much that I co-opted it for use as my early online name, with a slight change (to "Marianette" as the correct spelling was already taken on AOL). And again I must state, as I do every time I listen to a Soul Asylum CD, that I HATE WINONA RYDER for leading Dave Pirner down the Path of Suck.

Radiohead, OK Computer – I miss how Radiohead used to actually play, you know, SONGS. This CD and The Bends are both favorites. I think this release, although still comprised of songs, marked the beginning of the band's more "experimental" phase. *stabs Kid A*

I used to think Thom Yorke was attractive, too. Not sure why, because he's got that one eye that's all jacked up, but there's just something interesting and magnetic about his face. I almost wrote "visage" there, but jesus, how pretentious would that be? So anyway, I pretty much always skip the first track, "Airbag," because it bores me. Plus I like to get right into the brilliance of "Paranoid Android." What are "unborn chicken noises," anyway?

I used to use "When I am king, you will be first against the wall" as my newsgroup sig when I was posting on alt.music.tragically-hip a lifetime ago.

I could listen to this song over and over, and you should too! I love the lyrics.

I also love "Let Down":

And from "Let Down" we go right into "Karma Police." I know this song was played to death, but it's still one of my favorites. Also another song where I cribbed lyrics for my newsgroup sig ("This is what you get when you mess with us").

I also greatly enjoy "Electioneering" and "No Surprises."

Toad the Wet Sprocket, Fear – This was a Roo choice:

This is right behind Coil as my favorite Toad release. It was the second Toad CD I bought, the first being Pale, but the singles for this CD were the first I had ever heard on mainstream radio. In fact I distinctly remember being in Tower Records in Atlanta and hearing "All I Want" (my favorite song on the CD) come over the loudspeaker, and thinking, "That's it. Now everyone will know."

"All I Want" was also the first Toad video I ever saw. I was shocked that Glen had cut off his beautiful long hair.

Fear is solid all the way through, but I will admit to occasionally skipping "Butterflies," "Pray Your Gods," and "Stories I Tell." And I LOVE the song "In My Ear" just because the bridge always makes me chair dance.

Idlewild, 100 Broken Windows – I don't even remember how I got into Idlewild. Hmm. HMM. Maybe I just read about them in a magazine or something? I don't know. But I like! Oh yeah, I think I had read about them in a magazine and then when I was at Circuit City picking up something else I saw that this CD was only $9 or so, and took the plunge. So glad I did.

I have a schoolgirl crush on the lead singer, Roddy Woomble. Yes, "Woomble." Stop laughing! He's Scottish, it's normal there. I like Roddy because he's unwashed and likes to lay on the floor.

But I digress. It's all about the music, man. The band's guitarist and drummer are quite talented. I'd tell you their names except I've always been so fixated on Roddy Woooooooooooomble that I've never bothered to learn who anyone else in the band is! I'm sure they love that.

My favorite tracks are (the links are to audio RAM files):

• "Little Discourage" (I ran away from my own telephone)
  
• "I Don't Have a Map" (a song for the directionally-challenged, I guess)
  
• "Roseability" (You've always been DISSATISFIED)
  
• "Idea Track" (Pretend it works awhile ... you don't try)
  
• "Let Me Sleep (Next To the Mirror)" (For every word that you write, they won't mean as much as barricades)
  
• "Actually It's Darkness" (Why can't you be more cynical?)
  
• "Mistake Pageant" (I know what it feels like to have bad luck)
  
• "Quiet Crown" (I'm meant to be unhappy, I've realized)
  

Posted by Highwaygirl on March 17, 2004 07:03 PM to the category Stuff About Me