Aggressive isn't the word for it, yeah. But I get a lot of pent-up emotion and defiance beneath her laconic delivery.
― juggulo for the complete klvtz (bendy), Thursday, 26 March 2015 11:57 (nine years ago) link
shout out to anyone else who rides the 96 to work; kinda decided i loved the album after she dropped that line
― bae sremmurd (monotony), Thursday, 26 March 2015 12:09 (nine years ago) link
i like the whole thing but "pedestrian at best" stands way out to me. i get that her appeal is as a lackadaisical chronicler of the quotidian but when her delivery is louder and fiercer and more like that of an inspired pulpiteer she becomes way more exciting to me (i mean, way to make lines like "I'm a fake / I'm a phony / I'm awake / I'm alone / I'm homely / I'm a Scorpio" sound like gospel)
― bae sremmurd (monotony), Thursday, 26 March 2015 12:13 (nine years ago) link
just realised i already posted about how much i love "pedestrian at best" about 30 posts ago, sorry all
― bae sremmurd (monotony), Thursday, 26 March 2015 12:14 (nine years ago) link
Wow, this is good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqP3ICzc7eg
― jmm, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:08 (nine years ago) link
"Numbers stand for routes of buses" as an argument for the importance of numbers :D
― jmm, Thursday, 26 March 2015 14:09 (nine years ago) link
i used to take the 96
didn't see CB on there tho
― don't ask me why i posted this (electricsound), Thursday, 26 March 2015 21:37 (nine years ago) link
this new album is great, thank u ILM
― sleeve, Friday, 27 March 2015 01:38 (nine years ago) link
i must confess, i've made a mess of what should be a small success
^^
― j., Friday, 3 April 2015 20:59 (nine years ago) link
i like her a lot
― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 3 April 2015 21:07 (nine years ago) link
pretty great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKQ5P7vBIwc
― that's not my post, Saturday, 4 April 2015 04:53 (nine years ago) link
cambridge show was fun, although shame we had to leave early to catch a train :-/
― but then again, who really cares? I don’t. (dog latin), Thursday, 9 April 2015 10:35 (nine years ago) link
Among the things I do now is perform a bar quiz every Wednesday evening. One of the nicest parts of the gig is I get to play music from my library when I'm not reading questions or answers. Last night I got into the sound system early and treated my patrons to the first three tracks from Sometimes I Sit... I walked around the place to make sure the speakers were working, and to hear those songs coming out loud and clear in a suburban Texas yuppie bar felt so damn good.
― Love, Wilco (C. Grisso/McCain), Thursday, 9 April 2015 20:33 (nine years ago) link
"she looks him up and down with a botox frown"
really looking forward to (slowly) learning the lyrics on this album, she is so good
― sleeve, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 00:33 (nine years ago) link
this was #1 on my CMJ Core station last week
― sleeve, Wednesday, 29 April 2015 00:34 (nine years ago) link
… with death
― j., Tuesday, 2 June 2015 14:42 (nine years ago) link
More raucous live, with slightly quieter moment being solo encore take on You Am I's "Heavy Heart." They also did a sloppy fun take on Breeders "Cannonball"
― curmudgeon, Monday, 15 June 2015 13:52 (eight years ago) link
For those who thinks she sounds like Sheryl Crow, Sheryl would put her fingers in her ears for much of the set and head out quickly if she ever saw Courtney live. Much more Nirvana-eque
― curmudgeon, Monday, 15 June 2015 15:20 (eight years ago) link
yeah i remember her being a lot rockier live than on record
― don't believe me, just wash (dog latin), Monday, 15 June 2015 15:22 (eight years ago) link
I don't think you're giving Sheryl Crow much credit, curmudg.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 June 2015 15:56 (eight years ago) link
The frequent Sheryl Crow comparisons make little sense to me either, though the (as frequent) ones to Nirvana are only a bit more understandable. Likely this is because so much of what defines Barnett, for me, is her off-kilter phrasing, and I don't here any such analog in either Crow or Cobain.
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Monday, 15 June 2015 16:17 (eight years ago) link
She's closer to the pop side of the spectrum, which is why she's more fun than Nirvana.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 June 2015 16:22 (eight years ago) link
Mostly it's the "All I Wanna Do" conversational phrasing that overlaps between the two. And that, in the same way that Vampire Weekend reached college kids who heard Graceland in the car in their first years, now it's Tuesday Night Music Club infants reconnecting with that style.
― ... (Eazy), Monday, 15 June 2015 16:26 (eight years ago) link
otm
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 June 2015 16:27 (eight years ago) link
Huh. Didn't even think of "All I Wanna Do" (mostly because I try not to ever think of that song). But yes, otm indeed.
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Monday, 15 June 2015 16:36 (eight years ago) link
hoping she goes for a Globe Sessions vibe on this one.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 June 2015 16:38 (eight years ago) link
*on the next one.
So she'll solicit an unheard Dylan song?
― Love, Wilco (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 15 June 2015 16:47 (eight years ago) link
and date Don.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 June 2015 16:49 (eight years ago) link
I like her weird noun-verb compounds (or whatever you want to call this).
"Fair evades his way down the 96 tram line"
"Headphone wielding to the Nicholas building"
"Big business overtaking, without indicating"
― jmm, Monday, 15 June 2015 17:11 (eight years ago) link
Dog latin and I were emphasizing that LIVE she is much more rock than pop. She speeds her tunes up, mumbles the words, and puts her guitar near the amp shaking it and creating feedback. As far as I can tell, Crow doesn't do that. I also don't think Crow has ever covered the Breeders "Cannonball".
― curmudgeon, Monday, 15 June 2015 17:21 (eight years ago) link
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2015/06/14/australian-guitarist-and-singer-courtney-barnett-gets-grungy-and-gnarly-at-930-club/
But onstage Saturday, the first of two sold-out nights at the 930 Club, Barnett and her band were more gnarly and grungy than sly and subtle. Barnett’s electric guitar tangled with bassist Bones Sloane and drummer Dave Mudie in a hour-long set that channeled burly 90’s alt-rock as much as it followed up on the buzz surrounding her latest album.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 15 June 2015 17:25 (eight years ago) link
If I were to trace the influence of "All I Wanna Do" on popular music, I'd locate it more within the realm of "bro country" than Barnett. Like, I get where she got the conversational phrasing from the earlier song (as Easy ID'd above), but her phrasing is a lot knottier than Crow's. And her words are infinitely less banal.
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Monday, 15 June 2015 17:27 (eight years ago) link
Mostly it's the "All I Wanna Do" conversational phrasing
great comparison... and also a little disturbing
― skip, Monday, 15 June 2015 17:28 (eight years ago) link
y'all are way too sensitive about this comparison
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Monday, 15 June 2015 17:31 (eight years ago) link
Eh, not being sensitive. Just wondering why this awesome, punkish, wordy new record that I like keeps getting compared to Sheryl Crow.
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Monday, 15 June 2015 17:33 (eight years ago) link
Like, I *really* could not fathom it until today's discussion, and now I'm just like, "oh, *that's* why!"
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Monday, 15 June 2015 17:34 (eight years ago) link
I was thinking her studio voice was more Liz Phair than Sheryl, but whatev.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 15 June 2015 17:42 (eight years ago) link
A Sheryl Crow comparison is a compliment!
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 15 June 2015 17:51 (eight years ago) link
Though I do loathe "All I Wanna Do," I'm by no means a Sheryl hater--I owned the self-titled once upon a time. It was just puzzling to me to see that this was the comparison that was coming up most often w/r/t this record (and as I mentioned above, I don't wholly get the Nirvana one, either).
― The New Gay Sadness (cryptosicko), Monday, 15 June 2015 17:54 (eight years ago) link
Watching left-handed guitarist Barnett turn and twist with her axe, slur her vocals and crank up the noise last night reminded of Nirvana; plus even a few quieter ones had a Nirvana Unplugged feel.
I understand the Crow mention is meant as a compliment, and I like some of her stuff ok, I just don't hear it as strongly. Barnett is still seemingly developing her sound, so we can all be right--different songs are drawn from different sources.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 15 June 2015 18:03 (eight years ago) link
wow this record rules... my brother is a huge fan and now i'm bummed i didn't go with him to see her a couple weeks ago. "an illustration of loneliness" and "depreston" stand out but the whole thing is so fucking good. shit, "dead fox" too
― flappy bird, Saturday, 27 June 2015 21:15 (eight years ago) link
"Small Poppies" is a bit overlong and meandering, but there's a bunch of great tunes on this album. I overlooked her debut.
― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Saturday, 27 June 2015 22:50 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAn3JdtSrnY
― Treeship, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 01:57 (eight years ago) link
eff
meant to post this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NVOawOXxSA
― Treeship, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 01:58 (eight years ago) link
i like the whole album, but this track is especially excellent in my opinion
― Treeship, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 02:00 (eight years ago) link
She was terrific at Pitchfork yesterday! She sounded even more like "If It Makes You Happy"-era Sheryl Crow.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 21 July 2015 02:02 (eight years ago) link
She was terrific at a festival in Minneapolis a few weeks ago, too. Her soloing and vocals on "Small Poppies" were really heavy. Was Sheryl Crow ever such an intense performer?
― geoffreyess, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 05:21 (eight years ago) link
How do the festie crowds react? She a hit?
― Adam J Duncan, Tuesday, 21 July 2015 05:53 (eight years ago) link