The Best of Radiohead

Yeah, I gave the labels money. But I bought it through BMG, so I didn’t give them much …

Okay, my conversion to being a Radiohead fan is now complete. Wait, no, I still have the best-of album to check [stupid labels and their stupid money-grubbing ways], plus singles for B-sides, but … yep. Everything in its right place.

source: Schoeps mk4 > kc5 > cmc6xt > Sound Devices 702 (24/96)
location: Sec A, Row Z (Left of center)
transfer: 702 > firewire > Spark XL 2.82 > xACT > .flac (16/44)

2008-08-03: Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA (disc 1) and 2008-08-03: Verizon Wireless Music Center, Noblesville, IN, USA (disc 2).

I have the need to rock out tonight.

Let me be clear: I’m cheating and using iTunes here. Specifically …

• Date is in the range: 01 Jan 2008 – 31 Dec 2008
• Kind does not contain AIFF [to filter out unprocessed bootlegs and demos].
• Grouping does not contain Extant [to filter out where I migrated my library off of my old Mac to my new one]; I then did a manual check of the Extants with a similar list and my Musiclogging archives.
• Album Rating is greater than three stars.
• Genre does not contain Concert Bootleg. If desired, I’ll cover the best of the best concert bootlegs in a separate post, probably no earlier than Friday because I’m still adding bootlegs. [I am not adding any more studio releases at this point.]

This list is unoptimized; it’s actually done in alphabetical order by artist. At the end, I’ll give a best-of list, countdown style. Because I like embracing constraints, I’ll give a one-sentence statement about each album as to why it’s just so darn good. If you’ve ever talked to me for longer than 90 seconds, you know that one sentence is an unreal constraint.

• Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha, grabbed in January. Intelligent, charming folk/pop … with whistling.
• Blind Faith, Blind Faith, grabbed in August. It’s too bad that these guys couldn’t keep it together, but I’ve come to the conclusion that one-off groupings for albums can be a killer thing.
• Tom Brosseau, Late Night at Largo, grabbed in February. Recorded after everyone left the bar that night, it’s a live record without an audience that showcases Brosseau’s brilliance as a songwriter.
• City and Colour, Bring Me Your Love, grabbed in May. Dallas Green’s writing is enough for me to forgive him for using his Canadian ou.
• Matt Costa, Songs We Sing, grabbed in December. Just when you think that you’re done with singer/songwriters, someone like Matt Costa comes along.
• Matt Costa, Unfamiliar Faces, grabbed in December. Oh Miss Magnolia … oh Mr. Pit, oh Mr. Pitiful.
• Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs, grabbed in May. I would lock Ben Gibbard up in Dick Cheney’s “undisclosed location” if he’d make another killer record like this one.
• Death Cab for Cutie, Transatlanticism, grabbed in July. It’s a good thing that emo bands like this weren’t big when I was 15.
• Deb Talan, A Bird Flies Out, grabbed in April. I would ask Deb Talan to marry me if Steve Tannen hadn’t done so first.
• Deb Talan, Sincerely, grabbed in May. Even if her voice is a bit … unique.
• Alejandro Escovedo, Real Animal, grabbed in September. I had read No Depression rave about Escovedo for some time, and dammit, they were right.
• Five O’Clock People, Temper Temper, grabbed in March. Now if they can only go less than half-a-decade before putting out another disc.
• Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple, grabbed in August. I’m still picking up pieces of my mind blown apart by this record.
• Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere, grabbed in August. Gnarls Barkley makes me want to buy a bunch of old soul records, which I’d argue is a good thing for my musical self-education.
• Randall Goodgame, Bluebird, grabbed in November. If you ever wanted Randall Goodgame to stop playing the guitar all the time, these tracks are for you.
• Andy Gullahorn, Reinventing the Wheel, grabbed in November. Gully’s ability to have you laughing in one verse and hating yourself in the next is still with it; it feels like he’s got a Greg Maddux-like songwriting career ahead of him.
• Iron & Wine, The Shepherd’s Dog, grabbed in August. I used to sorta like Sam Beam, and this record made me love him.
• Jackopierce, Promise of Summer, grabbed in September. This is a NoiseTrade success story, and it turns out my friend David manages them, too, which is fun.
• Matthew Perryman Jones, Swallow the Sea, grabbed in August. There is a reason that MPJ started getting his songs played on TV, and it’s because the man cuts deep into his soul and bleeds all over your ears … in a good way.
• Carole King, Tapestry, grabbed in April. Thank you, Gilmore Girls, for making me feel like a natural woman … I think.
• Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin, grabbed in January. I am of the opinion that great blues/rock bands have a shelf life, but man, these guys hit it hard early, eh?
• Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II, grabbed in January. And then they followed it up with a record at least as good as the first one.
• Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin III, grabbed in January. Hats Off (to Led Zeppelin) for making another killer record.
• Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV, grabbed in February. Been a long time since rock and roll sounded like this, but hey, paying homage to this would sound weaksauce.
• Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti, grabbed in February. For “Kashmir” alone, but the rest of the record is really fucking good.
• Nathan Lee, Down at the Rutledge, grabbed in February. If you stuffed the soul of The Boss and The Piano Man into a muscled, keyboard-banging dude who lights up Nashville, you’d get Nathan Lee.
• Sandra McCracken, Red Balloon, which I had in August, long before it came out, neener neener neener! I still feel like Sandra’s best record is yet to come, which is both a compliment and not, if you think about it.
• Nirvana, Nevermind, grabbed in August. I can’t believe I didn’t have a copy in the 1990s; I had the plaid shirt jackets from Eddie Bauer, dammit.
• Over the Rhine, Live From Nowhere, Volume Three, grabbed in August. I don’t care that there are great tapers for Over the Rhine: I will buy every damn one of these yearly records if only to support Karin and Linford as they continue to make beautiful music.
• Andrew Osenga, Letters to the Editor: Volume Two, which I helped distribute in September. I am admittedly quite biased, but hey, he didn’t play my guitar on this one, so back off.
• Andrew Peterson, Resurrection Letters, Volume Two, which, um, I never blogged, apparently. Looks like I got it in mid-August according to iTunes metadata. Not as good as previous AP albums, but still very good.
• Portishead, Third, grabbed in December. From everything I read, it’s like Portishead and Trent Reznor had a baby, but it’s one beautiful, industrial baby.
• Radiohead, The Bends, grabbed in December. It’s good enough that I’m overcoming my “don’t put the shiny new bauble on the year-end list” sentiment.
• Radiohead, Hail to the Thief, grabbed in December. Wacky song titles, impenetrable lyrics, and a shitload of rock and roll.
• Radiohead, In Rainbows, grabbed in July. You could have had this for free, and you don’t still have it?
• Alli Rogers, The Silent Stars EP, grabbed in December. Iowan singer/songwriter makes a homespun Christmas record.
• Alli Rogers, You and the Evening Sky, grabbed in March. I really feel like Alli gets lost in the sea of Midwestern-bred female songstresses, which is a damn shame.
• She & Him, Volume One, grabbed in March. I don’t like this as much as Paste does [really, #1, guys? REALLY!?], but it’s a fun listen.
• The Soft Drugs, Get Back – Side A, which I never blogged because I downloaded this one on the recommendation of one of the music blogs I read. And, of course, now I can’t find it. Who cares where I got it, it’s four tracks of fun pop/rock.
• Steven Delopoulos, As If Love Was a Sword, which I also appear to have never blogged, nor have any URLs for. Sad. You either love Delopoulos’s ethnic-tinged songwriting and fingerpicking, or you don’t; I do.
• Waterdeep, Heart Attack Time Machine, which is a NoiseTrade download, and as such, is something I can’t link to here something I have now linked to since Derek was the bus driver and drove me to school. John Wilson, you were right to pimp these guys to me all these years.
• Derek Webb and Sandra McCracken, Ampersand EP, grabbed in February. I think I’m contractually bound to put them on there for making a record I’d wanted them to make for at least 18 months.
• The Weepies, iTunes EP, which I never blogged but love. And before you fuss, that’s an iTunes Plus link. These exclusive EPs are fun ways to get into a band’s history, as this does in bringing songs from both Deb and Steve’s solo careers into The Weepies’ sphere of influence.
• The Weepies, Happiness, grabbed in February. This is not the record to start with, but it’s good.
• The Weepies, Hideaway, grabbed in April. I would call this a bit of a major-label sophomore slump, but it’s still good; shame they didn’t tour it.
• The Weepies, Say I Am You, grabbed in January. This record makes me want to be in love, which is the best compliment I can think of to give it.
• Wilco, Kicking Television, grabbed in April. I’ve got bootlegs that are better than this, but it’s pretty damn solid, and I’m a completionist.

That’s 47 albums. Yowza! About one a week … that’s a very, very good year.

Now, I’m gonna take it to 11 … and be a bit more verbose.

1. Radiohead, In Rainbows. There is nothing that I can add to all that has been said about this album, from the distribution to the music itself. I didn’t buy this until it came out on a physical disc [I'm a curmudgeon and have this problem, which I'm hoping to lick in 2009], but this is the album that made me a Radiohead fan, much as Yankee Hotel Foxtrot made me a Wilco fan. Favorite Tracks: “Nude”, “Reckoner”, “Jigsaw Falling Into Place”.
   
2. The Weepies, Say I Am You. 2008 was a weird year for me; I spent a lot of it pursuing a relationship that didn’t ultimately work out, and a lot of this album was my soundtrack. This is right in my wheelhouse, to be sure—singer/songwriter-y, acoustic guitar-driven, solid melody and harmony. In a world where In Rainbows doesn’t exist, it’s my best album of the year. Favorite Tracks: “Painting By Chagall”, “Riga Girls”.
   
3. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha. I bought this album on a lark, because it was well-regarded. Some of my best musical purchases are done that way, and this is definitely one of them. I think what gets me about Andrew Bird is that he’s a self-comfortable artist who is willing to experiment and do big things with his sound. The analog to an artist I’m friends with is the amazingness of Jeremy Casella’s Recovery [and if Jerry ever sees this, he's gonna hit me for putting him and Bird in the same sentence]. This is one of those albums I find myself singing often, and there is no greater tribute to me than that. Favorite Tracks: “Darkmatter”, “Plasticities”, and “Scythian Empires”. I never will forget whistling the last as I was walking through the Nashville airport on my way back from Philly after a whirlwind, 20-hour trip to see Caedmon’s Call play.
   
4. Five O’Clock People, Temper Temper. I was a big fan of 5OCP when they were making music in the 1990s, and so I grabbed this as soon as I heard it came out. It was … nothing like their old sound, in a lot of ways, but man, it frickin’ rocks. Favorite Tracks: “Gold Rush”, “Aftermath”, and “February”.
   
5. Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple. I had heard all this buzz about Gnarls Barkley, but just … dismissed it for whatever reason. I do that; I’m dumb. But then one day “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul” was highlighted on NPR, and I almost had to pull over to the side of the road, I was so blown away. Favorite Tracks: “Who’s Gonna Save My Soul”, “Run (I’m a Natural Disaster)”.
   
6. Death Cab for Cutie, Narrow Stairs. Like with Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago, a lot has been made about this record coming out of Ben Gibbard taking residence where Jack Kerouac did at Big Sur. I’m of the mind that creative pursuits are often terribly lonely affairs, so I think this was a good idea. This record brought the lyrical brilliance and nose for melody that Death Cab’s always had, but they also exhibited their musical chops on it, too. For whatever weird reason, I want to draw parallels to this and Elliott Smith’s Figure 8. Favorite Tracks: “I Will Possess Your Heart”, “Cath…”, and “Long Division”.
   
7. Iron & Wine, The Shepherd’s Dog. I simply did not think that Sam Beam had this much awesome within him. I am very glad to be wrong. Very, very glad. Favorite Tracks: “House of the Sea”, “Wolves (Song of the Shepherd’s Dog”, “Peace Beneath the City”.
   
8. Tom Brosseau, Late Night at Largo. At this point, you have to mail a check to Tom Brosseau’s management to get a copy. It is worth your time in doing so. I’ve written about Brosseau before, but here he is in a nutshell: North Dakota boy moved to LA that writes about home because he both misses it and hates it, in a way. If you grew up in a cold climate and have moved to warmer latitudes, you know where he’s coming from. His music has a sense of ironic detachment, but it’s also just plain good. Also, he sings so high that he makes Thom Yorke in falsetto sound like Barry White. Favorite Tracks: “Rose”, “Broken Ukulele”, and “Young and Free”.
   
9. Matt Costa, Unfamiliar Faces. Okay, I’ve got a thing for young guys who write songs about not getting the girl, or getting the girl and losing the girl, but … dude, this guy can rock it up. Favorite Tracks: “Emergency Call”, “Heart of Stone”, and “Miss Magnolia”.
   
10. Matthew Perryman Jones, Swallow the Sea. Unlike most years, this is the only time when an artist I personally know appears on the list. I think that most of that is because I’m becoming harder on my friends’ more recent albums, honestly. But MPJ made a killer, killer record here, a worthy followup to Throwing Punches in the Dark, which I was afraid that he wouldn’t be able to top. He topped it, though. Favorite Tracks: “Save You”, “Motherless Child”, and “Feels Like Letting Go”.
    
11. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV. There is nothing I can add to this that hasn’t been said, eh? This is my favorite Zep album, even if it doesn’t have all of my favorite songs. Favorite Tracks: “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”, “Stairway to Heaven”. I mean, duh.
    

What about you? Do you have some of these records and violently disagree? Did I overlook something to the point that you’re ready to shake me for not listening to it? I wanna know.

When I write up a record of the music I have enjoyed this year, I’m gonna comment that 2008 was the year I came to love Radiohead. I know, I know, I’m like a fuckin’ decade late, but at least I made it, eh? Gimme a break.

And if I judge the number of mentions of this record from Chris’s Twitter feeds, well … this is his fave.

This one’s not available anymore, but I’ll reseed if asked.

Source Info: >Sony D-8 DAT recorder (44.1kHz) > Custom Mics > S/PDIF opical IN (PC) > Cool Edit Pro

additional info: Recorded From Main Floor GA Standing Right Side Very close

running time: 1h:50m:451s

2006-05-15: Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, UK

Source 1: Sony ECM TS-125 mic > MD JVC XMR-700SL > 3.5mm OFC > Genius 5.1 PCI > Audacity > WAV > FLAC

Source 2: SP-CMC-16 > SP-PREAMP-11 > Edirol R-09 (48kHz 24 bit) (48Khz 24 bit) bass frequencies only

Source 3: Shure PSM700 > Sharp MT877MD

Mmmm … matrices.

2008-06-25: Victoria Park, London, England (disc 1) and 2008-06-25: Victoria Park, London, England (disc 2).

Sadly, no art or seeding link. I’ll reseed as requested in the comments.

Taper: JB
e-mail: radioheadusa AT comcast.net
DC++ screenname: radiohead8989
date of seeding: May 28th 2006

Source Info: >Sony D-8 DAT recorder (44.1kHz) >Custom Mics >S/PDIF opical IN (PC) >Cool Edit Pro

additional info: Recorded From Main Floor GA Standing Right Side Very close

running time: 1h:48m:47s

2006-05-13: Empress Ballroom, Blackpool, UK

Falling in love with In Rainbows made me have my a-ha moment with Radiohead, so now I’m going back through their back catalog to fully appreciate their immense talent. [Or be disappointed. But I'm betting not.]

[And yes, this means I powered through a listen of the Pumpkins already.]

Well, uh, you see … it’s been kinda crazy for me the last couple weeks, so I just … didn’t get to the music. But now I have …

• George Strait’s Strait From the Heart.
  
• Nirvana’s From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah.
  
• 5 Sep 1993 [Copenhagen, Denmark] concert bootleg of Uncle Tupelo. 1993-09-05: Cafe Rust, Copenhagen, Denmark.
  
• Wilco’s Summerteeth Demos. Summerteeth Demos.
  
• 17 Dec 2005 [Cincinnati, OH, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. 2005-12-17: The Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OH, USA (disc 1) and 2005-12-17: The Taft Theatre, Cincinnati, OH, USA (disc 2).
  
• 17 Mar 2006 [Nashville, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. 2006-03-17: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN, USA (disc 1) and 2006-03-17: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN, USA (disc 2).
  
• 25 Aug 2008 [Hollywood, CA, USA] concert bootleg of Radiohead. 2008-08-25: Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, USA (disc 1) and 2008-08-25: Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, USA (disc 2).
  

The last week of music was above average:

• The Velvet Underground’s VU. Poppy and melodic, but still definitely a VU record. Three stars.
  
• George Strait’s Strait Country. It’s classic early 1980s country music—you either like it or you don’t. I do, but that’s because I love George Strait’s voice. Two-and-a-half stars.
  
• 6 Dec 2002 [Long Beach, CA, USA] concert bootleg of Iron & Wine. I think Sam Beam’s career arc is similar to Elliott Smith’s, and that’s high praise from me. This is an early bootleg, and it reminds me a lot of old Elliott boots. Three stars.
  
• 1 Sep 2007 [Lexington, KY, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. I had heard very good things about this show, and it does not disappoint. Four stars.
  
• 9 Oct 2007 [Milwaukee, WI, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. A quite-solid recording, as you’d expect from Jerry Eaglebarger. Four stars.
  
• 19 Dec 2007 [Nashville, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Ben Folds. The mics aren’t up to the room [and I've recorded in there, so I know], but it sounds like it’s probably a stealth rig. Two stars.
  
• 24 Aug 2008 [Hollywood, CA, USA] concert bootleg of Radiohead. Solid, but unspectacular. I’ve never really heard a great recording from the Hollywood Bowl, probably because it’s a damn hard place to record without some SBD access. Three stars.
  

I’ve worked through a lot of the music backlog, so I’m gonna drop back to two-and-five this week…

• The Velvet Underground’s VU.
  
• George Strait’s Strait Country.
  
• 6 Dec 2002 [Long Beach, CA, USA] concert bootleg of Iron & Wine. 2006-12-06: Fingerprints Music Store, Long Beach, CA, USA
  
• 1 Sep 2007 [Lexington, KY, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. 2007-09-01; The Dame, Lexington, KY, USA (disc 1) and 2007-09-01: The Dame, Lexington, KY, USA (disc 2).
  
• 9 Oct 2007 [Milwaukee, WI, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. 2007-10-09: Eagle's Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI, USA (disc 1) and 2007-10-09: Eagle's Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI, USA (disc 2).
  
• 19 Dec 2007 [Nashville, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Ben Folds. 2007-12-19: Exit/In, Nashville, TN, USA (disc 1) and 2007-12-19: Exit/In, Nashville, TN, USA (disc 2).
  
• 24 Aug 2008 [Hollywood, CA, USA] concert bootleg of Radiohead. 2008-08-24: Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, USA (disc 1) and 2008-08-24: Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA, USA (disc 2).
  

Last week:

• Feist’s Open Season. I’m a sucker for remixes because they are new ways to hear familiar tracks. Plus, a couple of these are stripped-down, acoustic affairs, which show of Leslie Feist’s greatest asset—her voice. Four stars.
  
• Alejandro Escovedo’s Real Animal. I think I’m beginning to see what all the fuss is about … I like it a lot. This is a big sounding record, solidly out of a roots rock tradition but with a pleasing amount of crunchiness to catch the ear of a more modern listener. Four stars.
  
• The Velvet Underground’s eponymous album. A solid little record. It’s clear what era that VU records come from, but they’re great representatives of that time. Three stars.
  
• 15 Jun 2006 [Northampton, MA, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. Another fine OtR show. Four stars.
  
• 24 Jun 2007 [Northampton, MA, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. It’s kinda hard to tell that this is a bootleg, which I guess is a credit to the mics. Would that I had the bones to drop on those. The recording is quite clear, to the point that you’d have no idea that you were at an outdoor concert. If I have any complaint, it’s that there’s not much bass, but I bet that’s probably a function of the capsule set. Four stars.
  
• 29 Jun 2007 [Nashville, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Sandra McCracken, Derek Webb, and Bleu. Not my best recording, to be sure, but I was using my backup recording device. Three stars, but only because of the musicianship and the fact that Sandra played two songs off of Red Balloon.
  
• 6 Aug 2008 [Boston, MA, USA] concert bootleg of Gnarls Barkley. I am of two minds about using binaural mics for bootleg recordings: I don’t think they’re generally up to it, but sometimes, they’re the only thing that you can get past security. I just find that they make the whole thing sound too flat. As such, this gets just three stars.
  

Hallelujah and praise the Lord! I’m on vacation!

• Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism.
  
• Paper Route’s Are We All Forgotten, on the suggestion of Jeff.
  
• Gnarls Barkley’s St. Elsewhere. Yes, I am slow to the GB party, but Stephen got me there.
  
• 16 Aug 2001 [Jersey City, NJ, USA] concert bootleg of Radiohead. 2001-08-16: Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ, USA (disc 1) and 2001-08-16: Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ, USA (disc 2).
  
• 17 Nov 2006 [Dayton, OH, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. 2006-11-17: Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH, USA (disc 1) and 2006-11-17: Canal Street Tavern, Dayton, OH, USA (disc 2).
  
• 13 Oct 2007 [Kansas City, MO, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. 2007-10-13: The Crossroads at KC, Kansas City, MO, USA (disc 1) and 2007-10-13: The Crossroads at KC, Kansas City, MO, USA (disc 2).
  
• 12 Apr 2008 [Norfolk, VA, USA] concert bootleg of Spoon. 2008-04-12: The Norva, Norfolk, VA, USA (disc 1) and 2008-04-12: The Norva, Norfolk, VA, USA (disc 2).
  

Last week was pretty disappointing.:

• Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy. Okay, so the Led Zeppelin that I love is the rockin’, bluesy stuff. And to quote Wikipedia on Houses of the Holy, “This album was a stylistic turning point in the lifespan of Led Zeppelin.” And, well, on “The Song Remains the Same”, I was confused for a minute, thinking that maybe Geddy Lee had replaced Robert Plant or something. [I'm sure that several people broke things after reading that sentence.] Admittedly, it gets back to sounding a little more like Led Zeppelin as the album progresses, and I am the person that did say, just two weeks ago, “I’m a firm believer that bands have to experiment lest they [and/or their fans] become totally bored with the thing.” But that doesn’t mean that I have to like it. So, yes, I should rate this now, right? Three stars, mainly on the strength of “Dancing Days” and “D’yer Mak’er”.
  
• The Cardigans’ Super Extra Gravity. The phrase that I was going to use for this album was “solid, but boring” until I got to “I Need Some Fine Wine and You, You Need to Be Nicer”. I have a lot of friends who are excellent singer/songwriters, so I say this with a bit of trepidation, but … man, The Cardigans rock way too damn much to try to do the singer/songwriter+backing band thing. Sadly, that and a fusion of quasi-country stuff [although it felt like Nina Persson was channeling Sixpence's Leigh Nash for the first few tracks] made for a boring start. But it picks up in the second half of the record, which is good. Three-and-a-half stars.
  
• Coldplay’s Viva La Vida. Egad. Jacob said this about Coldplay on a forum I run: “The best way I can put it is that I like simpler Coldplay. It just feels like they’re trying to be something that they’re not right now. The indie-rock/prog-rock (good call Adriene) feel just doesn’t fit what Coldplay was. Sure that sounds like the old fan wishing their band hadn’t grown up and changed their sound…I’ll cop to that. But some of their earlier songs made me want to cry. Now their new stuff does that but for different reasons.” I can’t say it any frickin’ better. One-and-a-half stars, and if any of my friends wants it, I’ll give it to them. I don’t want it back. One-and-a-half stars. I haven’t bought an album that I’ve actively hated in quite some time, but … this is it. Gah.
  
• 25 Oct 1997 [Utica, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Blues Traveler. I’m surprised that a SBD sounds this poorly-mixed, but then I probably shouldn’t be. Sound board operators don’t have time to give tapers jacking into their boards the time to give perfectly-mixed feeds. The mix is very definitely pushed towards the treble and towards John’s voice standing out above all others. For people that crap on me wanting to do SBD/AUD matrices, well, suck on this. Two stars. [Sad, because Bob Sheehan was really on this night. And before Chris Smith says crap to me ... suck on it, LC.]
  
• 1 Sep 2007 [Denver, CO, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. Gah. Another week of getting burnt by a stealth rig. Venues that don’t allow tapers suck. This sounds pretty good despite being stealthily done. Two-and-a-half stars.
  
• 26 Apr 2008 [Dayton, OH, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. It’s a rare case when I’m disappointed by a matrix [well, other than my own, heh], but I am by this one. Karin’s vocals are too hot in the mix, but I fear that’s probably a fault of the sound board op [which shocks me, because this typically isn't the case with CST shows] than the taper. [After all, if she's too hot in the SBD feed, she's probably too hot in the mains, and you can't compensate with the AUD part of the feed to get more of the band.] I mean, it’s still a decent recording, but I only give it three stars. I expected four-plus.
  
• 27 May 2008 [Milan, Italy] concert bootleg of Feist. Feist bootlegs are hard to come by, so I was willing to chance it on a recording made by a Zoom H2’s internal mics. [Hey, I own and use a Tascam DR-1, so I'm understanding. It's just that internal mics aren't going to get a big band's sound, especially not in a room like that.] So it’s not terribly surprising that the recording is muddy and distant, but hey, it’s free, right? Two-and-a-half stars.
  

This week has two new studio releases: one that everyone has, and the other one that BMG sent me when I missed the chance to reply no. Hey, I’ll take the chance.

• Radiohead’s In Rainbows. No, I didn’t buy/download this.
  
• Angels & Airwaves’ I-Empire. Fully prepared to hate it.
  
• 18 Jul 1990 [New York, NY, USA] concert bootleg of Uncle Tupelo. 1990-07-18: Live on Heat, National Public Radio, New York, NY, USA.
  
• 4 Aug 1997 [Atlanta, GA, USA] concert bootleg of Counting Crows. 1997-08-04: Chastain Park Amphitheater, Atlanta, GA, USA (disc 1) and 1997-08-04: Chastain Park Amphitheater, Atlanta, GA, USA (disc 2).
  
• 6 Jul 2002 [Bushnell, IL, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. Jeff thinks he’s who recorded this, but I can confirm that he took the photo that I used for the cover art. 2002-07-06: Cornerstone Festival, Bushnell, IL, USA.
  
• 16 Oct 2007 [Montréal, QC, Canada] concert bootleg of Spoon. 2007-10-16: Le National, Montréal, QC, Canada.
  
• 2 Mar 2008 [Nashville, TN, USA] concert bootleg of Wilco. A show I wish I’d seen live. 2008-03-02: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN, USA.
  

Last week was a very good return to form:

• My Brightest Diamond’s A Thousand Shark’s Teeth. Nothing on A Thousand Shark’s Teeth ever grabbed me like “Golden Star” off of Bring Me the Workhorse did, but “Ice & The Storm” comes close. There’s no doubt that Shara Worden is quite ridiculously talented, but it feels on this one that she’s so there and I’m so … here, with little connection. All in all, it’s a solid effort, though. Three stars.
  
• Sigur Rós’s Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust. Brad asked me what I thought of the new Sigur Rós pretty quickly after GNM went up last week, so I sat down and listened to it on Sunday night [which watching baseball, which was quite the dissonant experience, I assure you]. It’s … definitely quite different from what I have of their catalogue to date. I understand the criticisms of it in terms of why people don’t like the more straightforward pop direction this album took, but I’m a firm believer that bands have to experiment lest they [and/or their fans] become totally bored with the thing. Style changes notwithstanding, it’s still very much Sigur Rós—I’d recognize Jónsi’s vocals anywhere—and that’s a good thing. Bands that don’t experiment don’t grow, and bands that don’t grow die. [Unless, of course, you're the Rolling Stones, but then Keith Richards has to be pickled from all the crap he's ingested over the years.] Three-and-a-half stars, and it could grow on me even more.
  
• 21 Apr 2002 [Toronto, ON, Canada] concert bootleg of Wilco. The set starts off with “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”, which is weird given their current sound. It’s also pre-Glenn and pre-Mikael, so it’s just an overall different feel—more straightforward than present-day Wilco [my favorite incarnation of the band]. This is a fine-sounding audience recording, which is great given its age [and how blessed we Wilco fans are with the fine rigs folks bring to shows these days]. I give it three stars.
  
• 14 Nov 2003 [Los Angeles, CA, USA] concert bootleg of Death Cab for Cutie. Thin, reedy, and distant. Two-and-a-half stars.
  
• 22 Apr 2005 [St. Paul, MN, USA] concert bootleg of M. Ward. The show starts out slow, and the recording is about a B-, but it’s enjoyable. Three-and-a-half stars.
  
• 5 Nov 2005 [Dayton, OH, USA] concert bootleg of Over the Rhine. The Canal Street Tavern is where I first saw OtR live, in a city I used to call home, so all those shows hold a special place in my heart. [I want to see a CST OtR show in 2008 or 2009 with Lara if she's still in Ohio then.] This is a fine, fine recording. Four stars.
  
• 4 May 2008 [Birmingham, AL, USA] concert bootleg of Derek Webb & Sandra McCracken. I wish that I’d gotten a board feed of this show, because the AT2021s don’t really get lows. Of course, this works fine for acoustic singer/songwriter-y stuff, but the end result still sounds a little thin. But it sounds pretty great. Three-and-a-half stars.