10 - yeah, that was kind of lame, in a TPM Cafe way. What I meant was, it's odd that you mentioned Prussian Blue, since they've occupied so much of my mindspace lately.
I'm with Joe, this is just shoddy material, and at a number of levels. The mixing: the vocals sound pasted-on, like a bad mashup. The lyrics: trite. The arrangement: total waste of a second voice. The voices have no contrast, so trading lines is pointless, and the unison bits are lifeless, not to mention their certain je ne sais Hitler. I'll pass over the performance, which transparently sucks in the manner of a karaoke duet.
Weiner, and/or anyone else who cares to, I'd appreciate a ranking (full or partial) of They Might Be Giants albums. Even though I first encountered them on Tiny Toons way back in the day, the only album I have is one I downloaded last night.
Hitler's artwork was better than he's been given credit for. Someone diagnosed it as "inhuman", but his classmate Wittgenstein's architectural design for his sister's house looked pretty godawful to me too.
It's now a Bulgarian embassy, IIRC. The need for a study is pressing, don't you think?
"The Bulgarian embassy, the Blue Book, and the Brown book as transitional stages in Wittgenstein's work."
What tom said. And after Apollo 18 or Lincoln, their first one (self-titled). It's more uneven than the others, but has some highly necessary songs ("She's an Angel", "Don't Let's Start", "Youth Culture Killed My Dog").
"The house that Ludwig built was not cosy. Wittgenstein forbade carpets and curtains. Rooms were to be lit by naked bulbs, and door handles and radiators were left unpainted."
They forgot to mention the dirty dishes and unbidentifiable rotting food substances in the sink.
I think it's pretty much required to get the first 4 TMBG albums (TMBG, Lincoln, Flood, and Apollo 18) although (and I'm probably in the minority) I don't think Flood holds up to repeat listening now that I'm no longer an oh-so-alternative high schooler.
I actually think the later stuff (John Henry, Factory Showroom) holds up pretty well.
37: I have a soft spot for John Henry as well. TMBG is a frustrating band. Their early stuff is brilliantly written, but the instrumentation is frequently irritating. The later stuff is a bit more blah but sounds much much better. That's why I'm really hoping that this project eventually goes on sale (even though I had my heart set on the Wrens covering "Birdhouse in Your Soul", as they were originally rumored to be).
Because that wasn't how the MT template came, and I am as a rule scared to mess with the templates. It happens that I rarely get enough comments for this to matter.
Their early stuff is brilliantly written, but the instrumentation is frequently irritating.
See from my point of view this is totally wrongheaded (also "Let Down" is the worst song on OK Computer. How's that again?). The great thing about the first album is that it's completely fragmentary and stripped down. The accordion-guitar-rhythm box instrumentation creates just the right kind of dementia. Flood and even Lincoln are more rationalized. That said, I think Apollo 18 may be my favorite--lot of fantastic songs on that. I guess the only definite opinion I'm willing to offer is Matt F's, I don't like Flood as much as the other three.
The worst song on any album is the one with the cowbell.
Patenly false. I've got a fever for more cowbell, and "He's My Thing" is the single best song that Babes in Toyland ever did, and they released multiple albums.
I am a Prussian, and I've always liked what that meant to me. But, like Jake, I hate Illinois Nazis, and of course, their Californian cousins. Icky. They besmerch my heritage.
They make singing in unison sound racist.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 9:51 AM
What is this, agitate the commenteriat day?
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 9:55 AM
I have to say, "Lamb and Lynx" is pretty awesome.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 9:56 AM
Unfogged: always controversial, always pervy.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 9:57 AM
Also, "Lamb and Lynx" are pretty awesome, but we don't want to venture too far into the land of perv, for fear that many will follow.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 9:58 AM
I'm in the middle of writing something related to Prussian Blue. More details soon.
Posted by Joe Drymala | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:00 AM
Catchy enough for white supremacist teen-pop, I suppose, but this is the shiznit.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:01 AM
We are the bold spelunkers of perv, Ogged, going where others fear to tread!
Posted by FL | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:02 AM
Listen to "Skinhead Boy" sometime.
I can't decide whether I'm more offended by their hate speech or their songwriting.
Posted by Joe Drymala | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:02 AM
Joe "Micah" Drymala.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:03 AM
I've heard there are people in the cave, Labs, and I'm going to bring them out.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:04 AM
Joe "Mama" Drymala.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:06 AM
10 - yeah, that was kind of lame, in a TPM Cafe way. What I meant was, it's odd that you mentioned Prussian Blue, since they've occupied so much of my mindspace lately.
Posted by Joe Drymala | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:07 AM
Good one, apo.
Posted by Joe Drymala | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:08 AM
I have trouble understanding the words, but I liked the song. Catchy!
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:10 AM
I'm with Joe, this is just shoddy material, and at a number of levels. The mixing: the vocals sound pasted-on, like a bad mashup. The lyrics: trite. The arrangement: total waste of a second voice. The voices have no contrast, so trading lines is pointless, and the unison bits are lifeless, not to mention their certain je ne sais Hitler. I'll pass over the performance, which transparently sucks in the manner of a karaoke duet.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:44 AM
And their eyes aren't Prussian Blue–blue. They're going for Phthalo Blue or potentially Phthalo Torquoise.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:49 AM
their eyes aren't Prussian Blue–blue
Yes, but that can be influenced by the clothes a person is wearing. We'd really need to see them naked to make a solid judgement on this.
we don't want to venture too far into the land of perv
Ooo, sorry 'bout that. Habit.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 10:58 AM
They seem like a replay of that Russian teeny-bopper lesbo twosome from a year or two back.
ash
['No-hit wonder.']
Posted by ash | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:03 AM
T.a.T.2.u.O., or something.
Posted by Joe Drymala | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:09 AM
17: The band name is primarily a gas chamber reference, I believe. That their eyes are blue is just gravy.
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:28 AM
Weiner, and/or anyone else who cares to, I'd appreciate a ranking (full or partial) of They Might Be Giants albums. Even though I first encountered them on Tiny Toons way back in the day, the only album I have is one I downloaded last night.
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:32 AM
Hitler's artwork was better than he's been given credit for. Someone diagnosed it as "inhuman", but his classmate Wittgenstein's architectural design for his sister's house looked pretty godawful to me too.
It's now a Bulgarian embassy, IIRC. The need for a study is pressing, don't you think?
"The Bulgarian embassy, the Blue Book, and the Brown book as transitional stages in Wittgenstein's work."
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:38 AM
the only album I have
The rest all sound like that one.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:39 AM
21, yeah, mine was a dumb art joke. "Prussian blue" refers to a pseudoscientific hypothetical cited by Holocaust deniers. Charming, girls!
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:41 AM
I'd appreciate a ranking (full or partial) of They Might Be Giants albums.
The first one is best.
"Prussian blue" refers to
Isn't Prussian Blue actually a paint color name? That said, they obviously have a 'manager' who has assembled a 'band' to fit his artistic 'vision'.
ash
['Harmless Teenyboppers for Der Fuhrer.']
Posted by ash | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:46 AM
nevermind then!
re TMBG: Flood, then Apollo 18 or Lincoln.
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:47 AM
John Emerson, Do you have a link to Wittgenstein's house? It was for Gretl, right?
Posted by bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:50 AM
ash: Prussian blue is the cyanide, Prussian Blue is the paint. Hilarity ensues.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:53 AM
The house that Wittgenstein built. Also: Klimt did a portrait of Gretl, sez Google.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:57 AM
I believe I saw it in the Janik / Toulmin "Wittgenstein's Vienna". Before the internet I actually read the things.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:57 AM
What tom said. And after Apollo 18 or Lincoln, their first one (self-titled). It's more uneven than the others, but has some highly necessary songs ("She's an Angel", "Don't Let's Start", "Youth Culture Killed My Dog").
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:59 AM
I take it you guys love making perverted comments.
Sounds like the file at the official site is a bit messed up. Here are some cleaner sounding mp3s.
http://savefile.com/projects/855320
Posted by Vacuous | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 11:59 AM
"The house that Ludwig built was not cosy. Wittgenstein forbade carpets and curtains. Rooms were to be lit by naked bulbs, and door handles and radiators were left unpainted."
They forgot to mention the dirty dishes and unbidentifiable rotting food substances in the sink.
Posted by John Emerson | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:01 PM
Damn, the track is broken. You guys broke it.
with a guitar figure stolen from Uncle Tupelo.
Jay or Jeff?
Posted by ogmb | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:18 PM
I take it you guys love making perverted comments.
I don't know what you're talking about.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:18 PM
I think it's pretty much required to get the first 4 TMBG albums (TMBG, Lincoln, Flood, and Apollo 18) although (and I'm probably in the minority) I don't think Flood holds up to repeat listening now that I'm no longer an oh-so-alternative high schooler.
I actually think the later stuff (John Henry, Factory Showroom) holds up pretty well.
Posted by Matt #3 | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:21 PM
ash: Prussian blue is the cyanide, Prussian Blue is the paint. Hilarity ensues.
So their first record will be called 'Zyklon Bee'?
ash
['Oh so tasteful.']
Posted by ash | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:22 PM
They claim it sold six million copies, but it was probably only one or two million, tops.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:25 PM
37: I have a soft spot for John Henry as well. TMBG is a frustrating band. Their early stuff is brilliantly written, but the instrumentation is frequently irritating. The later stuff is a bit more blah but sounds much much better. That's why I'm really hoping that this project eventually goes on sale (even though I had my heart set on the Wrens covering "Birdhouse in Your Soul", as they were originally rumored to be).
Also, apo wins.
Posted by tom | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:38 PM
A Dogme 95 house.
Posted by ben wolfson | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:43 PM
I have a soft spot for John Henry, but a hard spot for Factory Showroom. (Why no permalinks on comments, em-dub?)
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 12:55 PM
Why no permalinks on comments, em-dub?
Because that wasn't how the MT template came, and I am as a rule scared to mess with the templates. It happens that I rarely get enough comments for this to matter.
Their early stuff is brilliantly written, but the instrumentation is frequently irritating.
See from my point of view this is totally wrongheaded (also "Let Down" is the worst song on OK Computer. How's that again?). The great thing about the first album is that it's completely fragmentary and stripped down. The accordion-guitar-rhythm box instrumentation creates just the right kind of dementia. Flood and even Lincoln are more rationalized. That said, I think Apollo 18 may be my favorite--lot of fantastic songs on that. I guess the only definite opinion I'm willing to offer is Matt F's, I don't like Flood as much as the other three.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 1:55 PM
Am I really alone in my opinion in 24? In my experience, comparing different TMBG albums is like trying to rank different tins of Peppermint Altoids.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 1:59 PM
Apostropher, this is a property common to philistines.
Posted by Standpipe Bridgeplate | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:05 PM
No, no, the worst song on OK Computer is the one with the cowbell. The worst song on any album is the one with the cowbell.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:06 PM
Fair enough, SB, and in support of your thesis I'll add that I can rank all of the makeup-era KISS albums off the top of my head.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:09 PM
That is surely not true of the album that contains "Mississippi Queen."
(Also, I was trolling Tom, aggie.)
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:10 PM
That Election song is pretty dumb.
Posted by Joe Drymala | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:12 PM
The worst song on any album is the one with the cowbell.
Patenly false. I've got a fever for more cowbell, and "He's My Thing" is the single best song that Babes in Toyland ever did, and they released multiple albums.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:12 PM
I've got a fever for more cowbell
I'm talking the sound that a cowbell makes when it's played by a band, not whatever personal associations you're bringing to the discussion.
Posted by Armsmasher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:28 PM
While I was alluding to the SNL sketch, I was serious about the latter half of my comment, which was intended as definitive disproof of your axiom.
"Don't Fear the Reaper," while it won't ever be listed in my favorite songs list, is still probably the best song on the B.O.C. album it comes from.
I'd like to pull together a reasoned argument about all this, but I'm not invested enough to actually do so.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:32 PM
probably the best song on the B.O.C. album
"Tattoo Vampire," yo.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:37 PM
the only definite opinion I'm willing to offer is Matt F's
It's like he can read my mind!
Posted by Matt F | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:39 PM
All your base are belong to the HiveMatt.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:41 PM
the dirty dishes and unbidentifiable rotting food substances in the sink
Unbidentifiable?
Posted by Matt F | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 2:43 PM
I am a Prussian, and I've always liked what that meant to me. But, like Jake, I hate Illinois Nazis, and of course, their Californian cousins. Icky. They besmerch my heritage.
Posted by Mr. B | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 3:30 PM
But what about the non-German Prussians?
Posted by eb | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 3:35 PM
I think my two favorite TMBG albums are the original EP and "No."
Posted by bitchphd | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 3:46 PM
My TMBG List
Flood
Apollo 18
No
Lincoln
Posted by Mr. B | Link to this comment | 11-30-05 4:39 PM
By and large if I had to spend any money on TMBG today I'd rather divert it to buying the Miracle Legion albums I don't already have.
Posted by ogmb | Link to this comment | 12- 1-05 12:52 AM
I think you should start with Fables of the Reconstruction.
Posted by Matt Weiner | Link to this comment | 12- 1-05 6:21 AM
How pissed am I that I actually listened to the linked song, and now three days later it's stuck in my head?
Answer: so pissed. Stupid racist hook.
Posted by Chopper | Link to this comment | 12- 2-05 3:56 PM
Excellent work, and awesome links! Hope you don't mind me linking you!
Posted by Work at home | Link to this comment | 12-18-05 5:22 AM