NSC Easter Bunny CD 2015

[Staly]

Definitely Staly - not winsome or reflective enough for Pevenseagull.

Er, is that a compliment? I can do winsome and reflective as well as the next man if I'm trying to impress someone pretty...

 

[tinycowboy]

Er, is that a compliment? I can do winsome and reflective as well as the next man if I'm trying to impress someone pretty...

I'm sure that's true, but what would happen when they discovered the Staly who revels in the Dog Faced Hermans, Subhumans and the greatest hits of Bogshed? It would be really confusing.

 

[Albumen]

*in my best NMTBCocks impression*

Staly, reveal yourself: Was it you?

 

[Staly]

I'm sure that's true, but what would happen when they discovered the Staly who revels in the Dog Faced Hermans, Subhumans and the greatest hits of Bogshed? It would be really confusing.

Ask the wife. When we were courting it was all Nick Drake and Belle and Sebastian. Last week she managed three quarters of the Minor Threat album before she complained.

 

[tinycowboy]

Ask the wife. When we were courting it was all Nick Drake and Belle and Sebastian. Last week she managed three quarters of the Minor Threat album before she complained.

That's quite impressive. These days, my wife wouldn't even put up with 3 Talulah Gosh tracks in a row without complaining. That said, since the invention of the iPod, it's unusual for her to listen to 3 tracks in a row by any artist. Still, when she's driving, I quite enjoy being in charge of the in-car disco.

 

[Staly]

*in my best NMTBCocks impression*

Staly, reveal yourself: Was it you?

Oh, ok then. Yes that one was mine. Thank you Happypig for a very fair review, and I'm glad you enjoyed the majority of it. Thee Mighty Caesars are definitely worth further investigation.

Couple of things in your review I'd take issue with. Firstly, there is no way on earth that cds sound better than vinyl. Never have, never will. Anyone with a decent record player knows this to be true.

Secondly, you say it was "lucky" that it was the kind of music you enjoy, but it was sort of intentional in that I looked at your Twitter profile where you describe yourself as a left wing, atheist punk rocker and tried to tailor the CD in that direction. Ironically it sems to be the left wing, atheist punky bits that you liked the least, so hey ho. I had to put Dog Faced Hermans on after earlier discussions on this thread.

 

[Staly]

That's quite impressive. These days, my wife wouldn't even put up with 3 Talulah Gosh tracks in a row without complaining. That said, since the invention of the iPod, it's unusual for her to listen to 3 tracks in a row by any artist. Still, when she's driving, I quite enjoy being in charge of the in-car disco.

I once put a Throbbing Gristle live cd on in the car when she was driving. She made me turn it off before the first song even started because she found the amp noise too scary

 

[tinycowboy]

I once put a Throbbing Gristle live cd on in the car when she was driving. She made me turn it off before the first song even started because she found the amp noise too scary

We should transfer across to the C86 thread: music that sounds BAD in cars...

 

[Mellotron]

I'm sure that's true, but what would happen when they discovered the Staly who revels in the Dog Faced Hermans, Subhumans and the greatest hits of Bogshed? It would be really confusing.

They all sound like bands Baldrick would be in.

 

[happypig]

Re: NSC Secret Santa CD 2013

Oh, ok then. Yes that one was mine. Thank you Happypig for a very fair review, and I'm glad you enjoyed the majority of it. Thee Mighty Caesars are definitely worth further investigation.

Couple of things in your review I'd take issue with. Firstly, there is no way on earth that cds sound better than vinyl. Never have, never will. Anyone with a decent record player knows this to be true.

Fair enough. I never had the money to buy a decent record deck until CD was becoming popular, so I started investing in CDs.

Secondly, you say it was "lucky" that it was the kind of music you enjoy, but it was sort of intentional in that I looked at your Twitter profile where you describe yourself as a left wing, atheist punk rocker and tried to tailor the CD in that direction. Ironically it sems to be the left wing, atheist punky bits that you liked the least, so hey ho. I had to put Dog Faced Hermans on after earlier discussions on this thread.

I never thought of my twitter profile...

It was lucky, though, in that you have a record collection that you could fit to my tastes; had you been into dub step (whatever that is) or hip hop it might have been difficult.

Overall though I did enjoy it and can see I'll be making a couple of purchases that I previously wouldn't have known about.
Thanks

 

[Staly]

It was lucky, though, in that you have a record collection that you could fit to my tastes; had you been into dub step (whatever that is) or hip hop it might have been difficult

Yes, still waiting to see what I get

 

[Staly]

They all sound like bands Baldrick would be in.

He'd have fitted right in to Bogshed, no problem.

 

[CorgiRegisteredFriend]

Looking forward to an updated summary of who has received what and who has guessed correctly! Some of the traclkistings on display so far are pretty creative and reflect remarkable good taste.

 

[catfish]

I've now listened to my disc so here goes: It came with a simple but effective blue & white striped front cover.

Tracks:

Whiskey Lullaby - Brad Paisley (feat.Allison Kraus). A pleasant, melancholy number to start off with.
This Hard Land - Bruce Springsteen. This one will definitely stay on my ipod.
Colder Weather Zac Brown Band. Has a West Coast feel to it which I rather like.
Drops Of Jupiter -Train. Could have been written by Jeff Lynne with that string section .50/50 on this one.
Hard Times Come Easy - Richie Sambora. Not really my cuppa.
Devil And The Cross - Halfway To Hazard. Too country for my taste.
Lightning - Eric Church. Same as above.
Copperhead Road - Steve Earle. Good anti-Vietnam rocker.
Flowers - Chris Young. Country weepy which doesn't do it for me.
In Colour - Jamie Johnson. My baby left me & my doggy done died - you get the idea.
Let Her Cry - Hootie & The Blowfish. A good chillax with a cold beer song.
Always Gonna Be You - Kenny Chesney. Same as above.
Who'll Stop The Rain -John Fogerty (feat. Bob Seger). Haven't heard this before & really like it.
Keep Me In Mind - Zac Brown Band. Has a real Jackson Browne feel to it - excellent.
Death Of A Married man - Brad Paisley (feat. Eric Idle). !!
Harvey Bodine - Brad paisley (feat.Eric Idle). Made me laugh.
Dixie Lullaby - Pat green. Not for me I'm afraid.
Chances - Five For Fighting. Pleasant easy listener.
Walkaway - Cast. Find this song very annoying!

Only two of theses artists feature in my music collection - Springsteen & Fogerty - & there are several I'd never heard of. I like the fact that it is almost entirely made up
of American artists but there is too much country for me I'm afraid. Highlights are the Springsteen & Zac Brown tracks. As to the identity of my Santa - I don't have a scooby.
Whoever you are though I thank you.

 

[tinycowboy]

My last seven tracks:

I Am The Resurrection - Codeine Velvet Club: they're on a bit of a hiding to nothing here, but anyway. Chorus is better than the verse. Not too bad, but stone cold classics are best left alone. My wife would be FURIOUS if she heard this. Even angrier than when I played her a Never Gonna Give You Up/Smells Like Teen Spirit mash up.
She Fell Into My Arms - Ed Harcourt: reminiscent of One Of These Days by Gaz Coombes, which it predates, but with a more frivolous chorus. Pleasing and restful.
Animal Arithmetic - Jonsi. I saw Jonsi in a cafe with the rest of Sigur Ros in a cafe in Camber once. He was not eating, but ordered a pint of milk and a bottle of brown ale. Even then, he understood the concept of rock star otherness. He looked ill. This song has a nice pace and energy to it. Not that much to it, but welcome across my threshhold nonetheless.
European Me - Johnny Marr: not a cover version of the lumpen Six By Seven track, but, bizarrely, a rip-off of Penelope Tree by Felt. Give it a listen if you don't believe me. Starts off a bit like What She Said. Luckily, Penelope Tree is one of the shiniest stars in our constellation, so this song is pretty good with a lush expansive guitar sound. Good song.
Natalie - Stephen Duffy: fine quality Baroque-ish pop, with an Elliot Smith-like tendency for multiple chord changes in the chorus. A fair amount of strings - was Nigel Kennedy - the pride of Portslade - involved?
Sound Of Love - Husky Rescue: more Scando drama, mild electronica that recreates the creepy atmosphere of Missing by EBTG. Diverting, good mood music.
Reste Avec Moi - Codeine Velvet Club: voila, encore un chanson par CVC. Actually in English. An air of raffish drama here, perhaps a Sunday night detective mystery. A song with raised eyebrows and perhaps a cigarette holder, but definitely a whodunnit. Enjoyably OTT, almost louche. Loungey, to be enjoyed with a long drink.

Well that's it. Thank you once again (Buzzer? Or was it HKFC after all??). It's been a pleasure...

 

[JamesAndTheGiantHead]

Right, here I go.

The ratings are how much I enjoyed the song and are no direct indication of the quality of the music I was listening to;

1) Web in Front - Archers of Loaf - Not a huge fan of his voice, but the song picks up some good momentum towards the end. Sounds very Pavement-y to me. 7

2) Music Is Math - Boards of Canada - Finally got round to ordering a couple of their records on the back of this, lovely stuff. 9

3) Black Wax - Dananananaykaroyd - Not the sort of thing I'd normally go for, but pretty bouncy and a lovely loud end. 8

4) I Hear A New World - Rod Freeman & The Blue Men - I just don't get it. Not for me I'm afraid. 3

5) Fall From Height - The Honeydrips - Cracking bit of bass, nice electronic bits and bobs going on. I knocked a mark off for the people who seem to be having a conversation over the top of the song. Shhh, the band are playing. 7

6) The Shape Of Things To Come - The OK Social Club - Instantly made me thought of the Cribs, only Scottish sounding. A little too poppy for me. 6

7) Department Of Forseeable Outcomes - Lovely Sparrows - Never even heard of this band before, but this song had me grinning in front of my computer. One of those songs that does everything that you'd want it to in all the right places. Really enjoyed this one, thanks to Santa I will be looking into more of their stuff. Excellent. 10

8) Chick Habit - April March - Couldn't stop thinking of Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Fun track, effortlessly cool bass. 7

9) Everyone Choose Sides - The Wrens - Very crunchy guitars, which I'm a fan of, but the song didn't really grip me. 6

10) Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping - Grouper - Bloody lovely voice, jangly acoustic guitars. Made me day dream a little, in a good way. 8

11) Skeleton Man - Evangelicals - Really liked the way the song built up, wonderful guitar tones and a great ending. 9

12) Lust - Low - Was making me feel miserable until a sneaky key change at 3.45 somehow made it feel quite uplifting. Nice twist, but still a bit slow for my taste. 6

13) Slow Fade - Wheat - Painfully short, at 1.40. Short but sweet. 7

14) The Ice Storm - The Go! Team - Instantly worried by the sleigh bells at the beginning. Turns out to be a great little instrumental number that grew and grew. Pretty epic for a song with sleigh bells. 8

15) His Own Sense - Empress - Too much feedback/distortion to handle, not for me unfortunately. 4

16) You Made Me Realise - My Bloody Valentine - Having said that, MBV do it so well that its hard not to like. I've only ever heard tracks off of Loveless, so this one was new to me. Very, very good. Loses a mark for the white noise in the middle, however. 9

17) I Can Never Go Home Anymore - The Shangri-Las - Seductively old school story telling stuff. I want to kiss her voice. 7

18) Lowdown - My Morning Jacket - Feel good toe tapping complete with surfy sounding guitars. Nice. 8

19) Hunted By A Freak - Mogwai - One of those bands that I know and like without actually knowing any of their songs. This is a real slow burner, but an absolutely beautiful demonstration of composition, with so much stuff going on, but somehow still managing not to sound a mess. Great way to end the album, amazing track. 10

Finally, a big thank you to my Santa! A very exciting prospect for me to get stuck into so many known unknowns and unknown unknowns, a good mixture of styles and genres and you've also given me plenty of homework to be getting on with. I'm currently on my 4th play through

Oh and I'm afraid I'm going to have to open up the floor in regards to your secret identity. One of you CSS thread nerds can probably do a job

 

[hans kraay fan club]

I've got mine. I'll post the artwork tomorrow. Hitler is on the cover. As my political position is left of centre, I take this possibly as a suggestion that I am a musical fascist. Which may be true.

There are many fine tracks on this CD. I will post a fuller review in time. This CD would be much appreciated by Hans Kraay Fan Club - it contains many of his touches - female vocals, lots of Smiths-related stuff, some gentle melodic tunes, attention to detail in the packaging and folding. However, my hunch is that if it was HKFC, it would be a bit more indie in content, whereas these tracks lie on the outskirts of Indieville and in the surrounding villages. HKFC may be throwing a curveball to fox me, but I'm guessing it's his good friend Buzzer.

Some really excellent powers of deduction there, tiny. It was me, after all, but you are absolutely forgiven the indecision, as a full seven (I just counted) of the tracks are things that did originally come my way from buzzer, including most of the Scandinavian stuff.

As to the lack of indie stuff - i started work before the draw, and my original track list had plenty, but when I went and got you, I had to take it all out, to make it a bit less obvious (my own copy still has The End of the Affair as an additional final track). SIX tracks on the first go, were things that either you gave me, or I'd previously given you, so I was struggling to find enough that you wouldn't have heard before - the choice of opening track was my own little private joke!

Here's what I got. What does it all mean??

View attachment 49435

View attachment 49436

The front cover was also done pre-draw, so take no offence! The idea was simply to include something quintessentially NSC. What could be more so that HINEY ART!? (You HAD noticed that it wasn't just a picture of Hitler?)

Obviously the back cover, with a watermarked background of your avatar, was done later!

Happypig, if you think YOU are prententious, wait until I get into my stride...I might do this review in two, or possibly three, parts. Firstly, thank you to whoever did this - it's a very listenable collection that has accompanied me in the kitchen making the dinner as well as on the commute to work. It'll be a good CD for the car - nice, bright songs that travel well, unlike a fair chunk of my music which competes with the car engine in terms of noise and depth.

Anyway:
Stop Me If You Think That You've Heard This One Before - The Smiths: great start, one of the few highlights from Strangeways..., melodic, downbeat but breezy and a little bracing.
Sweet And Tender Hooligan - Nouvelle Vague: cover of fairly obscure Smiths track, typical Nouvelle Vague approach - loungey, laid back, slightly cute, but pleasing in its lack of irony. Tuneful and comforting.
Don't Need A Reason - Beth Orton: lovely Beth, lovely song.
Daisy - Hafdis Huld: unmistakeably Scandinavian, perky and jaunty, like Lykke Li with less attitude, but that's fine by me. One for a Spring day. Could be ruined by becoming part of a major advertising launch for an unfavoured retailer.
I'm Making Eyes At You - Black Kids: i thought this band only had one good song, but I quite like this. Pretends to be a Swedish indie song with its quirky keyboard bobs and male/female vocals. A nice way to spend four minutes.
I'll Stay With You - New Order: i'll admit I have nothing by New Order post Regret, but everything pre Regret. This is post, so a new song to me, and it's great. Starts like Enjoy The Silence, but moves on to be a pretty strong anthemic guitar/keyboard souffle.
I Am Down - Plastiscines: this French four-piece all girl band are a new one to me. The sender obviously is quite keen - the band are stars of the inner sleeve, each with a red felt tip Y (for "Yes", as in "Yes please"??) scrawled next to them. Nice, easy sound; tuneful and estival, good for a festival (do you like my rapping?). Could do with more of a pronounced French accent?
Right Here - The Go-Betweens: one of my favourite GB songs - once again, bright and airy, a summer dress in a picturesque yard blowing slightly on a washing line.
Sweetest Love Song - Simone White: nice voice, can imagine Jools Holland tinkling the ivories whilst gurning at Simone. In the wrong hands, this could be background music in Starbucks or used in an advert for hand cream. Pleasant, if one restrains such thoughts.
Shopping - The Jam: didn't know this one. Nicely meandering, like a walk down an urban high street. Laid back and restrained. Interesting.
Good Year For The Roses - Elvis Costello: I'm not as big a fan of EC as my wife, or my friends. It's nice enough. Musically, it's fairly unadventurous, but it's a good tune. Should probably read the lyrics to get a little bit more out of it.
The Happening - Supremes: short and sweet, perfect pop - no fuss, just gives you a little tickle and then clears off.
Sometimes - James. Not an Erasure cover. Has a driving force like The Arcade Fire writing an extra track for The Joshua Tree. Not overblown though, which is where James can come unstuck. A rutted downland path visible as far as the eye can see.

Right, I'll stop there for now. More tomorrow probably - seven tracks more.

My last seven tracks:

I Am The Resurrection - Codeine Velvet Club: they're on a bit of a hiding to nothing here, but anyway. Chorus is better than the verse. Not too bad, but stone cold classics are best left alone. My wife would be FURIOUS if she heard this. Even angrier than when I played her a Never Gonna Give You Up/Smells Like Teen Spirit mash up.
She Fell Into My Arms - Ed Harcourt: reminiscent of One Of These Days by Gaz Coombes, which it predates, but with a more frivolous chorus. Pleasing and restful.
Animal Arithmetic - Jonsi. I saw Jonsi in a cafe with the rest of Sigur Ros in a cafe in Camber once. He was not eating, but ordered a pint of milk and a bottle of brown ale. Even then, he understood the concept of rock star otherness. He looked ill. This song has a nice pace and energy to it. Not that much to it, but welcome across my threshhold nonetheless.
European Me - Johnny Marr: not a cover version of the lumpen Six By Seven track, but, bizarrely, a rip-off of Penelope Tree by Felt. Give it a listen if you don't believe me. Starts off a bit like What She Said. Luckily, Penelope Tree is one of the shiniest stars in our constellation, so this song is pretty good with a lush expansive guitar sound. Good song.
Natalie - Stephen Duffy: fine quality Baroque-ish pop, with an Elliot Smith-like tendency for multiple chord changes in the chorus. A fair amount of strings - was Nigel Kennedy - the pride of Portslade - involved?
Sound Of Love - Husky Rescue: more Scando drama, mild electronica that recreates the creepy atmosphere of Missing by EBTG. Diverting, good mood music.
Reste Avec Moi - Codeine Velvet Club: voila, encore un chanson par CVC. Actually in English. An air of raffish drama here, perhaps a Sunday night detective mystery. A song with raised eyebrows and perhaps a cigarette holder, but definitely a whodunnit. Enjoyably OTT, almost louche. Loungey, to be enjoyed with a long drink.

Well that's it. Thank you once again (Buzzer? Or was it HKFC after all??). It's been a pleasure...

The pleasure was all mine.

 

[tinycowboy]

I feel I'm more Dr Watson than Sherlock Holmes. I did notice the "officer" behind Hitler. Good work with the "Now" logo - hours of work, no doubt. I did wonder about the relevance (or not) of the title of the opening track.

Have a few comments on JatGH's CD, but I'm currently in Sainsburys, so it'll have to wait...

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Looking forward to an updated summary of who has received what and who has guessed correctly! Some of the traclkistings on display so far are pretty creative and reflect remarkable good taste.

Very much this.

I've now listened to my disc so here goes: It came with a simple but effective blue & white striped front cover.

Tracks:

Whiskey Lullaby - Brad Paisley (feat.Allison Kraus). A pleasant, melancholy number to start off with.
This Hard Land - Bruce Springsteen. This one will definitely stay on my ipod.
Colder Weather Zac Brown Band. Has a West Coast feel to it which I rather like.
Drops Of Jupiter -Train. Could have been written by Jeff Lynne with that string section .50/50 on this one.
Hard Times Come Easy - Richie Sambora. Not really my cuppa.
Devil And The Cross - Halfway To Hazard. Too country for my taste.
Lightning - Eric Church. Same as above.
Copperhead Road - Steve Earle. Good anti-Vietnam rocker.
Flowers - Chris Young. Country weepy which doesn't do it for me.
In Colour - Jamie Johnson. My baby left me & my doggy done died - you get the idea.
Let Her Cry - Hootie & The Blowfish. A good chillax with a cold beer song.
Always Gonna Be You - Kenny Chesney. Same as above.
Who'll Stop The Rain -John Fogerty (feat. Bob Seger). Haven't heard this before & really like it.
Keep Me In Mind - Zac Brown Band. Has a real Jackson Browne feel to it - excellent.
Death Of A Married man - Brad Paisley (feat. Eric Idle). !!
Harvey Bodine - Brad paisley (feat.Eric Idle). Made me laugh.
Dixie Lullaby - Pat green. Not for me I'm afraid.
Chances - Five For Fighting. Pleasant easy listener.
Walkaway - Cast. Find this song very annoying!

Only two of theses artists feature in my music collection - Springsteen & Fogerty - & there are several I'd never heard of. I like the fact that it is almost entirely made up
of American artists but there is too much country for me I'm afraid. Highlights are the Springsteen & Zac Brown tracks. As to the identity of my Santa - I don't have a scooby.
Whoever you are though I thank you.

Frutos!

Right, here I go.

The ratings are how much I enjoyed the song and are no direct indication of the quality of the music I was listening to;

1) Web in Front - Archers of Loaf - Not a huge fan of his voice, but the song picks up some good momentum towards the end. Sounds very Pavement-y to me. 7

2) Music Is Math - Boards of Canada - Finally got round to ordering a couple of their records on the back of this, lovely stuff. 9

3) Black Wax - Dananananaykaroyd - Not the sort of thing I'd normally go for, but pretty bouncy and a lovely loud end. 8

4) I Hear A New World - Rod Freeman & The Blue Men - I just don't get it. Not for me I'm afraid. 3

5) Fall From Height - The Honeydrips - Cracking bit of bass, nice electronic bits and bobs going on. I knocked a mark off for the people who seem to be having a conversation over the top of the song. Shhh, the band are playing. 7

6) The Shape Of Things To Come - The OK Social Club - Instantly made me thought of the Cribs, only Scottish sounding. A little too poppy for me. 6

7) Department Of Forseeable Outcomes - Lovely Sparrows - Never even heard of this band before, but this song had me grinning in front of my computer. One of those songs that does everything that you'd want it to in all the right places. Really enjoyed this one, thanks to Santa I will be looking into more of their stuff. Excellent. 10

8) Chick Habit - April March - Couldn't stop thinking of Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction. Fun track, effortlessly cool bass. 7

9) Everyone Choose Sides - The Wrens - Very crunchy guitars, which I'm a fan of, but the song didn't really grip me. 6

10) Heavy Water/I'd Rather Be Sleeping - Grouper - Bloody lovely voice, jangly acoustic guitars. Made me day dream a little, in a good way. 8

11) Skeleton Man - Evangelicals - Really liked the way the song built up, wonderful guitar tones and a great ending. 9

12) Lust - Low - Was making me feel miserable until a sneaky key change at 3.45 somehow made it feel quite uplifting. Nice twist, but still a bit slow for my taste. 6

13) Slow Fade - Wheat - Painfully short, at 1.40. Short but sweet. 7

14) The Ice Storm - The Go! Team - Instantly worried by the sleigh bells at the beginning. Turns out to be a great little instrumental number that grew and grew. Pretty epic for a song with sleigh bells. 8

15) His Own Sense - Empress - Too much feedback/distortion to handle, not for me unfortunately. 4

16) You Made Me Realise - My Bloody Valentine - Having said that, MBV do it so well that its hard not to like. I've only ever heard tracks off of Loveless, so this one was new to me. Very, very good. Loses a mark for the white noise in the middle, however. 9

17) I Can Never Go Home Anymore - The Shangri-Las - Seductively old school story telling stuff. I want to kiss her voice. 7

18) Lowdown - My Morning Jacket - Feel good toe tapping complete with surfy sounding guitars. Nice. 8

19) Hunted By A Freak - Mogwai - One of those bands that I know and like without actually knowing any of their songs. This is a real slow burner, but an absolutely beautiful demonstration of composition, with so much stuff going on, but somehow still managing not to sound a mess. Great way to end the album, amazing track. 10

Finally, a big thank you to my Santa! A very exciting prospect for me to get stuck into so many known unknowns and unknown unknowns, a good mixture of styles and genres and you've also given me plenty of homework to be getting on with. I'm currently on my 4th play through

Oh and I'm afraid I'm going to have to open up the floor in regards to your secret identity. One of you CSS thread nerds can probably do a job

Yours is quite hard. I'd GUESS at Albumen himself.

 

[Albumen]

Loses a mark for the white noise in the middle?! It's the best of all breathers, much needed before the final onslaught. In my top 5 tracks ever. (Great review though!)

But it wasn't me.