Confessions of a Fanboy

“Traces” is the excellent second song from Built to Spill’s You In Reverse. It’s an easy song to overlook because of the dramatic way “Goin’ Against Your Mind” opens the record.
On “Traces,” Martsch’s the piercing squalls and elliptical layers are stripped away. Acoustic guitar and drums are the first sounds we here, cleansing [...]

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »

I got some work done tonight, not that any of you lot are going to notice- well, not at first. I got another installment in my You In Reverse series finished, which pleases me. I started working on my (late) review of Ryan Adams’ Cardinology but didn’t get much further than listening to the record [...]

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »

I never forget a CD but I have been known to lose track of one from time to time. One CD I lose track of more than any other is Built To Spill’s You In Reverse. This album astonishes me every time I listen to it. Music of this [...]

Filed under: Artists | 2 Comments »

Leeds was a marathon.  Edinburgh was classic.  Birmingham?  Not bad at all.  I’d probably give those other shows the edge, but there’s nothing wrong with this one at all.

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »

I had fallen down on the job with some of these Ryan Adams set lists but remembered last night as I was listening to Cardinology, etc.
We resume our trek with our lad RA now in Europe, specifically Edinburgh, Scotland.  This show drew heavily from the amazing Cold Roses record, with “Magnolia Mountain,” “Meadowlake Street” and [...]

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »

If you paid to go to the Newcastle show, don’t look at this set list until you’ve called your lawyer because you got fucked.  Newcastle got 18 fucking songs.  Leeds got 29, ending with “Desire.”  If that was the last song I heard at the end of this kind of marathon set, I’d have burned [...]

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »

Wow, this one is a bit of a disappointment, being trimmed down to a rather lean 18 songs.  Our boy had played the night previous in Manchester.  Maybe that took something out of him and the band, because this is really short on songs.

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »

Don’t you love it when some dope slaughters a language in an attempt at humor?  I hear you, Mexico City!  Wow.  This is a stout list!  Let’s skip right to the encore trifecta of “I Believe,” “Country Feedback,” and “Life and How to Live It.”  “Life” has only been played three other times on this [...]

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »

Okay, here’s a Cold Roses song I fuckin’ love that doesn’t get dusted off often enough.  Let’s hear it for “How Do You Keep Love Alive?”  That’s a good one.  Otherwise, this set draws pretty heavily from the fine Cardinology record.
“Fix It” is still my favorite song on that record.

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »

There are a lot of great songs on this set list and I’d have enjoyed it but there is only one song on here that stops me dead in my tracks.  The heavens would open and time would stop when “La Cienega Just Smiled” was played.    Okay, strike that.  They would have opened for “Desire.”  [...]

Filed under: Artists | No Comments »