They’re from Australia, which means it’s actually winter right now. Maybe they spell it “wintre”? Enquiring minds want to know.
All the songs are pretty short, and they have a lot of indie rock energy. It seems that they would be quite good live, but in the studio, the jury is a bit out.
“Fulton Gurls” is harmless fun, but it feels as if something is missing. There are backing vocals, but they don’t add anything to the song. “In June,” however, puts it all together. The music is reminiscent of the Blake Babies, although the singing is not as prominently focused (but then again, there’s only one Juliana Hatfield).
“Wild Rice” has keyboards at the beginning, and it sets the tone for another fun and catchy song. Why can’t all the tracks sound like this? I hope Summer Cats can make it out here. It’s definitely about the live show with these guys. It’s just got to be the case.
The keyboards in “Christopher Wren” stick around a little longer, and guess what? It’s the best song on the album. Funny how that works. Also good is “Waking Up.” It has that older Heavenly or Manifold Splendour sound.
The album is very inconsistent, but the gems are truly great. Pick and choose, and you can’t lose.
Archive for July 2009
Summer Cats “Songs for Tuesdays”
July 19, 2009The Verbs “Trip”
July 19, 2009You can tear through these 10 tracks in little more than half an hour. Much less of a “trip” than it is running errands. The Verbs know how to do dusty rock ‘n’ roll. There’s no question about that. And if the lead singer sounds familiar, it is because she was in The Poptarts and The Antoinettes. It’s not readily apparent that such punk roots are hers, though.
The fast tracks are definitely better, though. “Hey, Hey, Uh-huh!” sounds like something Pat Benatar would do, if she ran out of things to say. It’s a good song, but it wears thin pretty quick.
“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” is a cover, but it has a country tinge to it. Although it’s never a good sign when one of your best songs is a cover, it’s still a pleasure to listen to.
“Love Is Calling Your Name” has a better melody than most of the tracks. The whispering in the background is a bit distracting but not detracting. I recommend this one and “Fooled by Rock and Roll” for Michelle Shocked fans.
I don’t know what I was expecting, but this is merely a solid effort. I really wanted it to hold my attention, but it did not.
Various Artists “The Present (The Soundtrack From the Surf Movie)”
July 19, 2009A lot of these tracks are instrumentals. And I have to say that I want to see the movie now. Someday I shall sneak it into my girlfriend’s Netflix queue.
“New Wedding” by Bonnie “Prince” Billy has lyrics. However, I can’t say that it’s good. I can’t tell whether he is manipulating his voice to be a dork or if he really sings that way. The music itself is fine, but it is on the instrumentals, too, so you might as well just go that route.
“When the Bible Was Wrote” is the reason to listen to this record and maybe even see the movie. Cass McCombs must be beside himself with how good of a job he did with this subdued number. It’s very controlled and precise and, like, totally belongs on a surf movie soundtrack.
“Spendin’ Days” by Japanese Motors is chock full o’ power pop goodness. It reminds me of Supergrass.
The album is worth buying because instead of liner notes you get pictures of surfers doing neat shit. One shows a person on a Nordic Track while on a board. Let’s see you download that!
Christina Courtin “Christina Courtin”
July 19, 2009The first thing I noticed about this well-sung singer/songwriter contraption was that it was very polished. Oh, no wonder. It’s on Nonesuch, a Warner Bros. imprint. (Did I say that right?) I suppose I should thank them, for it is unlikely she would have crossed my path otherwise. It’s a big world out there.
“Green Jay” sounded like something Catatonia would have done, high praise indeed. And so it goes throughout the album; plus singing with plus accompaniment. Nothing really stands out in a bad way, and you get a bit captivated by Courtin’s voice, which is entirely because it’s good, not because it’s distracting. I mean, people that think they like Nelly Furtado because of her voice should listen to this. She knows where her home is.
Play “Foreign Country” and the women will be all over you. She channels KT Tunstall here in terms of rhythm, and again with that voice. Put that thing away before all are smitten before thee. It’s really quite good.
“Mulberries” takes some great piano work and leaves one thinking of Tricia Concepcion. Or maybe the Mister Rogers theme song. Either way, it’s something to marvel. “One Man Down” gets everything just right and is the most memorable track. The drums are mixed a little higher, and it causes me to desire a glass of lemonade.
Tiny Vipers “Life on Earth”
July 19, 2009Tiny Vipers are not quite folk, but they definitely approach it. Really, the band is just Jesy Fortino. She sings long and slow songs about stuff, and they just meander about. It’s no surprise this has been released on Sub Pop. It’s way below the radio.
“Eyes Like Ours” starts out and clocks in at nearly six minutes. It’s heartfelt, like Lisa Germano, but the music is less rhythmic. You get the impression that we’re flies on the wall when listening to the album. That is to say this music doesn’t sound like it was made for anyone other than Fortino herself.
The title track stands out a bit, although in general the songs all sound the same. There’s plenty of passion and heartfelt rendering. I wasn’t sure at first my graphics card could handle all the rendering. The last track, Outside, has harmonizing backing vocals, and it makes all the difference. It is the most listenable song on the album.
This music is best suited for the background of your modest ranch-style home that you cashed in your 401(k) to buy (on a first-time home buyer’s exemption). There’s certainly nothing wrong with it, and it’s very good at what it’s trying to do. But it sure sounds a lot better with bruschetta and a glass of pinot noir!
Episode 1092 is up
July 19, 2009Family Circus vs. The Simpsons
July 18, 2009Yes, Family Circus is finally relevant. In the Sunday comics tomorrow, the 19 July 2009 edition will show the kids, Barfy and Sam lose interest in Daddy’s storytelling to go watch TV. But they’re not just watching any show. If you look carefully, you will see that they are in fact watching The Simpsons. Considering Jeff and Bil Keane (obviously it’s only Jeff) still draw cars the same way they were drawn in the 1960s, it’s (pardon the pun) comical to see the kids doing anything modern.
Lowball offers
July 18, 2009One of the advantages to selling on eBay with a fixed price format is you never get surprised by an invisible auction. What I mean by that is you never have an auction that receives no bid or, worse, sells for the opening bid. All that money you “saved” by using a lower starting bid has been replaced by the loss you incurred by selling that $10 bill for 99 cents.
Nothing’s ever that simple, of course. It’s always a good idea to accept best offers if you list at a fixed price, especially if you’re selling several of the same thing. If someone wants to buy more than one, you want to be able to offer a price break. This used to be done by discounting shipping, but in this day and age of free shipping on eBay (which you have to do if you want good DSRs), you have to find other, more creative methods. So you tick the box that says you will accept best offers.
There are options to automatically refuse offers below a certain amount. You can even have it auto-accept offers over a certain amount, although this is a slippery slope that I refuse to go down. It doesn’t take long to accept an offer. But even the auto-decline option is one that I stay away from.
I have more than 100 listings going at any time on eBay, and as my consignment business continues to grow, that number will grow as well. I cannot take the time to individually tweak the listing prices of my items, and if I have something overpriced, I want to be able to start accepting lower offers than I’d otherwise choose to. But how low is too low?
I am selling some NASCAR shoelaces on eBay. They’re listed for $4.99. I probably should not even bother, because even my time is worth more than that, but the owner is a nice guy, and I am listing other, more lucrative stuff for him too, so it’s worth it in the grand scheme of things. But oh those lowball offers.
Someone offered me $2 this morning for one of them. I had to decline, and I left a note saying how much it costs to ship, plus the fees eBay and PayPal charges. All told, I would have been paying the user to take the shoelaces from me. (Why can’t I have it set up to auto-decline at $2? Well, if someone bought all of them for $2 each, that would be fine.)
So about an hour later, I receive another offer: $2.50. Looking at it from an isolated point of view, it definitely is not worth my time, but like I said, this owner has other stuff I am selling that makes it all worthwhile. I guess it’s like that “free phone” I got from Verizon.
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