Category: 18: The CD Project
By Jaimenacho
I liked Paco’s picture on the front of the Fanatic. I wish he had the technology to make it better.
Let’s get on to the review.
Track 1- its Saduhnaynight innnit’- HAHAH I always thought this was Ian Brown…but I guess I was wrong, still very funny.
Track 2- Ocean Blue…Good song, totally fired me up to listen to that album some more. Cerulean was a good album, and they were a good band, might still be, It was a ‘pleasant surprise’ as Paco likes to put it.
Track 3- Talk Show Host- Radiohead. My favorite B side they ever put out. Somehow though, the thought of Thom Yorke with a gun and a pack of sandwiches isn’t menacing. If you stayed on his lazy eye side, he’d have a hell of a time shooting you.
Track 4- The Godrays- one of my least favorite songs by them.
Track 5- Mr. Entertainment- American Girls…good old band that sadly jumped the shark after their main song writer left. This is a good song though.
Track 6- Gene- Not one of my favorite songs by them, but it gets better at the mid-point of the song where the piano kicks in.
Track 7- Modest Mouse…one of my all time favorite songs by them, 500 miles IS A REAL long drive in a car.
Track 8- Sunny Day Real Estate- Great album, good song off that album. I almost put something off of Diary on my CD.
Track 9- Secret Shine- This band for some reason was really good in the day, and I was going to put one of their songs on my album, had the CD in my pile to dwindle down, then it got worse the more I listened to them, and more and more homo sounding. It sounded less “good” and more like a homo MBV rip-off.
Track 10- Buffalo Tom- Enemy- Great song, reminds me of a lot of late night drives with Paco singing in a drunken haze.
Track 11- Old School Wheel B-side….anything by them is good, as long as it’s not off the last album, or Happy Days…this is one of the few bands that jumped the shark twice.
That’s worthy of an award.
Track 12- Luna song from an album that otherwise signified their jumping of the shark, the best songs off this album though. I haven’t heard their new album which may put them into a league of jumping BACK over the shark.
Track 13- Chapterhouse…good song, one of the catchiest songs they ever put out, sadly it wasn’t on the early versions of the whirlpool, like the version I had, but was later added with ‘Precious One’ to later releases of the CD. Bastards.
Track 14- Butterfly McQueen- Good bass line…real smooth, like the song.
Track 15- Built to Spill- Not one of my favorites by this band. Sometimes his voice gets to me, and he goes a little too overboard with it, in this song he totally does.
Track 16- Memphis- Push Kings- Great B-side one of their best songs, probably better than most of their album, but somehow, rendered to obscurity on a B side. My kids love this song, and both clap at the appropriate points.
Track 17- Stereophonics- One of the bands on here I never really got into for some reason, I like this song though.
Track 18- Sunny Day Real Estate- Guitar and Video Games- I love this song, except that this album was sad in that it was a total jumping of the shark for them. They were never the same after the pink LP. The singer tried to learn how to sing properly, they lost their bass player, and their sound went down with them. This song was great though.
Track 19- Ride- I like this song a lot, it was off that EP with the kids looking out the window, that whole EP was good. This was the last good thing they released before they started on the road to sucking.
Track 20- By far a HUGE highlight. This is totally hilarious every time I hear it, and always spawns a search for more lunch menu’s in NC, always without success.
I liked this CD for the fact it had a good variety. Paul had a knack for picking a lot of songs by bands right before they fell into a funk. It was odd to see which songs Paco picked; we had several bands we both picked. This album had me listening to old Ride more and Old Ocean Blue. I also can’t wait for the second edition. I almost made a part 2 to my CD strictly because I was so hard pressed to not leave certain things off. I took some songs over others based on stupid things like song length. I also tried to mix it up with thinking Fernando was participating, so trying to pick things he’d like as well. There were a couple of songs I really wanted but didn’t have the CD. Overall though, it was fun making the CD, and the cover. Part 2 should rip.
By Paco
In the interest of jump starting our blog, here is the review of the JaimeNacho CD. I am assuming that after weeks of this topic, it is time to get cracking. Sorry if you haven’t listened to Jaime’s cd yet Eduardo, if you haven’t, stop reading now, and pop this cd in and start listening to it.
First off, it is obvious that Jaime put more effort into his cd cover than I did. Granted, I didn’t have the proper equipment at my house to really make a nice cover, but still… mine looks pretty wack, and Jaime’s actually looks pretty good.
But you can’t judge a cd by it’s cover right?
1. Jack / Moose – Is it “Jackish” or “Cool Breezish”? I think this one is “Jackish”.
2. Half Life / Pale Saints – It has been a long time since I heard this song.
3. Dinosaur #2 / Adorable – Good Adorable song, I always liked “Sistine Chapel Ceiling” a bit more though.
4. Lost / Ropers – This was the first really pleasant surprise on the CD. This is from a 7″ that I have, and have always liked it, but I never get to listen to it any more since my turntable is dead.
5. Unfamiliar / Ride – Wouldn’t have been my choice for a Ride song, but still good. (anything from that album is)
6. Then / Charlatans – First song that I came across on this album that I don’t really care for all that much. The Charlatans have always been hit and miss for me, some stuff I really like, and other stuff just seems so so…
7. In My Arms / Chapterhouse – The early shoegaze trend continues… too bad these guys disappeared so quickly.
8. Velvet / Kent – Funny, this is my least favorite song on that Kent cd, and I really like Isola.
9. Drive That Fast / Kitchens of Distinction – The Kitchens song that everyone remembers…
10. One At A Time / Trash Can Sinatras – The first song on the cd that I don’t remember.
11. Left Behind / Bedhead – Second pleasant surprise of the cd, a really good song that I hadn’t heard in a long time.
12. The Cabbage / Teenage Fan Club – The only real Teenage Fan Club song that I liked, and remember… so this was a good one to hear.
13. Song 12 / Artist 12 – This should have been track 12… I have never heard of this band… I kind of liked it though.
14. Titch / Ned’s Atomic Dustbin – Another band where I was happy to hear from them, but I would have picked a different track.
15. Ciggarettes Will Kill You / Ben Lee – This was the highlight of the CD for me. I remember having this song on a tape way back when, and listening to it for a while, liking song, and then the tape, and memory of this song disappeared. This track seemed to capture the essence of the whole CD project for me, pleasant suprises are good! Bravo Mr. Nacho!
16. Bewtiched / Luna – Had to be a Luna track on here.
17. Spainyard / Boo Radley’s – I knew if a Boo song would be on here, Jaime would pick this one… good pick. Early Boo stuff is usually really good.
18. Only in Dreams / Weezer – Very good choice to finish the cd. For some reason I totally forgot about Weezer when I made my cd.
As far as the cd flow? I really like the 2nd half of the cd better than the 1st. Like I mentioned, I really liked hearing the more obscure stuff that I hadn’t heard in ages. While hearing the standard 90′s stuff was cool… I preferred hearing stuff like the Ropers and Ben Lee, to stuff that I can hear all the time like the Charlatans.
A few of the added random tracks were funny… a few didn’t quite fit, and one I don’t even know where the heck it came from. But you gotta love the Jesus!
I am looking forward to CD project II. And Jaime, I have listened to your cd quite a few times since I got it.
By Eduardo
I’ve just got to say that ORBVS TERRARVM is definitely one of the best albums of the 1990′s… at least in my opinion, anyway.
From an enlightened Amazon reviewer:
“This disc is more akin to an orchestral suite than a techno album. Its breadth and scope surpass ANYTHING that popular music could possibly bring you. Mix the tone poems of Debussy, motifs such as Ravel’s “Bolero,” and the abstract architectures of Bach. Throw in the pastoral setting of Beethoven’s 6th. Add in the timelessness of Indonesian gamelan music. Now, play it on synthesizers and samplers, adding just enough levity to keep the listener rapt and prevent it from becoming pretentious. The end result would be something like ‘Orbvs Terrarvm.’”
True dat.
By Paco
I wouldn’t sweat it Eduardo… we understand the needs of the Amigos pale in comparision to the needs of real life. I guess I am just the single Amigo with too much time on my hands and that is why it was easier for me to finish my cd within a week or so.
With that said, I am anxious to hear your cd, and to finally start seeing some talk about the different tracks that we selected. I guess we are kinda stuck any ways since Jaime is away from his computer for another week. Maybe you can mail the cds out next week and we can get onto the discussions… and get the MAL site rolling again in 2005!
By Eduardo
I’m sorry to report that my CD won’t be ready for this weekend, as I had previously planned. I’ve been extremely busy with other stuff all week, and haven’t had time to finish mixing everything down to something that’ll fit onto one CD. I’ve got enough to fill two discs, but am going to abide by the rules and cut out what I can to make it fit onto one.
This has proven to be one of the most challenging topics we’ve had. I never would have thought it would be so difficult to try and capture the best music of the 90′s for a single CD compilation. Jaimenacho was right; there’s far more good music from the 90′s than I initially remembered (even if 80% of it was from the UK).
It’s a shame that most Americans don’t know that while Trent Reznor screamed and Eddie Vedder gargled with gravel, they were still making good music over in England. Sure, there were definitely a decent number of good American bands that just said no to flannel and did their own thing, but by and large I think that most of what the Amigos Locos listened to during the 90′s hailed from the good olde British Empire.
In making this disc, I’ve felt like I’m packing a very small suitcase, trying to decide which items are important enough to include. I’ve done a lot of putting something in, then taking it out, then replacing it with something better. This project has forced me to delve into my CD collection and old MP3 discs like never before, and I must say that it’s been as fun as it’s been time consuming.
So, I’m sorry that I won’t be delivering my CD this weekend. I only need another few hours to work on it, but unfortunately free time is a commodity that I am in short supply of these days. We’re hitting the road tomorrow morning for New Year’s (and won’t be back until Sunday), so it’s not like I can just wrap it up over the weekend.
To make matters worse, I’ll be out of town (for work) half of next week – so my goal is to get these mailed out before I leave. You guys should have your copies by next Friday, and I promise that it’ll be worth the wait.
By Paco
So my understanding is this about the comments…
I guess I am still waiting for Jaime to mail his CD to Eduardo… like I said earlier… I can’t really post on Jaime’s CD since it would ruin it for Eduardo. So I need to know if/when Jaime has sent his out, and if Eduardo has gotten it or not.
Also… is there any reason to wait on posting my cd? What was the rules on that? I know both Jaime and Eduardo have my cd, and I assume have listened to it.
Anyways, just trying to clarify things, and speed along the CD project.
SIDE NOTE : This has been a pretty cool little topic, and I am looking forward to doing this again in a few months or so.
By Eduardo
My CD is nearing completion, and I hope to have copies mailed out within the next few days. I am eager to review Paco’s disc, but I’ll follow the rules and wait until he has heard mine. I haven’t received one from Jaimenacho yet, so send it on over if it’s ready!
