DEAR

the string quartet tribute to secondhand stupidity

people I sort of know


RICHARD BUTLER
RICHARD BUTLER
He should've called it Dick Butler. Har. Hardy har. Now, what differentiates this from Psychedelic Furs or Love Spit Love, I do not know. But it's not bad at all, it reminds me of Ian McCulloch's solo albums back in the day.

CARPATHIAN FOREST
FUCK YOU ALL!!!
Dude, yes. This is AWESOME! Unapolgetically raw & brutal death thrash. "Submit to Satan!!!". Do you know, I think I might do now. "Start Up the Incinerator (Here Comes Another Useless Fool)". "Shut Up, There's No Excuse to Live". Awesome.

CRAIG DAVID
THE STORY GOES
I hate this guy. Pre-digested R&B pop. And "Thief in the Night" isn't a KISS cover. That would've been cool, a crappy pop cover of an obscure Gene Simmons song from the 1987 album 'Crazy Nights'. But no.

THE DIVINE COMEDY
VICTORY FOR THE COMIC MUSE
On the one hand, I love everything they did on 'Father Ted'. On the other, a big bunch of smug, lame, fake big-band. The jury is still out on this batch. But I can already tell you it's no "My Lovely Horse".

FLEETING JOYS
DESPONDENT TRANSPONDER
Wow, they don't make 'em like this anymore, do they. It's so rare that any new music reminds me of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Ride, Idaho. AWww. I'mma just soak this one up now. Fucking gorgeous! & "Young Girls' Fangs". Nice.

GORELORD
NORWEGIAN CHAINSAW MASSACRE - THE FINAL CUT
Piano ballads? What do you reckon? "Dying or Dreaming" starts with someone firing up a chainsaw. Then it's.... wow. Brutal death metal. Sweet syncopation & fingers crossed, no wimpy fucking clean vocals. AW yeah. That bit was almost like Meshuggah, but not quite.

HEAD AUTOMATICA
POPAGANDA
Ick. Just, ick. I can't even explain why. American guitar pop rock emo horseshit? With the now-requisite snarky song titles. Which I'm not going to spell out.

KORN
LIVE & RARE
Is this even a real album? I don't know. Y'know, Korn is one of those bands that I've always avoided because their music seemed stupid, their image seemed stupid & their fucking fans were inbred retards. I guess the music isn't horrible, but I also don't see what the big deal is.

PHOENIX
IT'S NEVER BEEN LIKE THAT
Unamazing indie rock.

Q MAGAZINE BEST OF 86-06
Artists I've never heard covering songs I've never heard. Fascinating.

RADIO 4
ENEMIES LIKE THIS
More Strokes/Interpol/Editors babies. Welcome aboard, lads.

REBEL MEETS REBEL
REBEL MEETS REBEL
Too bad I can't stand this shit, I think this guy just lives up the street. Pantera is fine but this just underlines how big of a deal the lead vocals are & how much they can change the whole vibe of what would otherwise be a normal metal album. & a decent one at that.

THE RED JUMPSUIT APPARATUS
DON'T YOU FAKE IT
These pop punk emo metal pop bands just seem to fall out of the sky fully formed. I don't get it. This shit makes me feel old, especially since I haven't heard a single thing in the whole 'movement' that I want to hear a second time. Is it me?

THE RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS
TO THE CONFUSION OF OUR ENEMIES
Damn, I really wanted to like this. The music is pretty cool, but the singing & vocal melodies are on the wrong side of pop punk.

STORM OF CAPRICORN & PARANOIA INDUCTA
JAMA (split album)
Storm of Capricorn = droney dark ambients (plural).
Paranoia Inducta = droney euro folk with dark ambients (plural) in the back. Neat.

THURSDAY
A CITY BY THE LIGHT DIVIDED
This week's Interpol/Editors offspring. For the most part. Too bad the prefab emo choruses suck so bad. The quiet parts are sweet.

TOOL
10,000 DAYS
When did Tool get so popular? Headlining this year's Download festival, along with the likes of Guns N Roses and Metallica? I had no idea. You Tool-tools are really protective aren't you. Bunch of deranged c0ck monkeys. Nah, I think it's just stoner music. & Pink Floyd isn't making albums anymore. & some people need music to take drugs to, don't they. Rush. Cool that they're bringing big words like "Vicarious" to their escapist, drug-taking fan base.

KANYE WEST
LATE ORCHESTRATION
Is this a joke? I've never heard anything else of his. Live & with an orchestra. I thought only washed-up heavy metal bands did the Live Symphony thing. Strangely, I don't hate this.