Re: (TV) My Review (from memory) of New Cds r / RE: We Need More MM Lister s' Reviews!

["Rex Broome" <rexbroome@gmail.com>]

On 5/11/06, Casey, Leo J <Leo.J.Casey@volpe.dot.gov> wrote:
>
> Amilcar wrote:
> >leo, you send a complete review ? ,maybe i missed it ,
> >looking forward to listers opinions ...
>
> Not only am I not a R. Thompson fan, I'm also a ffffin'
> hypocrite.  I had only written a very short review to the
> List about a week before the cds were officially released.
>
> So here's some thoughts.
>
> "Songs and Other Things": I'm mildly disappointed.
> Depending on the day of the week, I either give it
> a B- or a B ---although the more I listen to it, its
> grade goes up a notch, somewhere between B to B+ .


Good observations-- I'm on my second-and-a-halfth listen and feeling
slightly more positive overall, but a few quick notes:

-Closest analog in the catalog is "Television", to my ears.  Although a few
songs in the first half seem to be based on the rhythmic figures that
dominated "The Wonder", it sounds nothing like that record.  On several
levels it makes "The Wonder" look pretty bad, in fact.  I think that over
the years I've been too forgiving of that record... I still like things
about it, but it sure does sound both stiff and unfinished, demo-ish.  This
one breathes, it seems.
-Points for taking more risks on almost every front than anything since... I
dunno, "Cover"?  Hopefully I'll be able to clarify what I mean by "risks"
later.
-Don't hate "Littleton" but I don't like it being the opener.  Whereas I
think "Heavenly Charm" would've done just fine.
-I was all excited at the unprecedented helping of 14 tracks, but would now
admit:  prune it back by 4 songs and it'd be damned near perfect.  Sure does
finish strong.  I actually like "All Weirded Out" pretty well... sounds to
me closer to Tom's '60's psych roots than he's gotten for a while (although
for sure "The Day On You" blows it out of the water).

I also like "Around".  But it really shouldn't be listened to on crappy
little bass-less monitor speakers like I'm doing right now... sounded
infinitetly better at home last night.  But I'm getting more of a handle on
the individual pieces this way, at least.

-Rex
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