“interesting music despite…always being a little distracting” is a great way to describe The Knife (the album, not necessarily the artist; it’s the only album of theirs I’ve heard so far)

Ditto, but it was also the first version of that song I heard, and I have a theory that the first version of a song you hear gives you a strong preference for that one that’s difficult for another version to overcome

That occurred to me—I noticed the similarities too—but I didn’t feel it was worth mentioning, personally. Glad I wasn’t the only one that noticed, though!

“You should do that math again”

I agree! Dylan’s voice works well for his songs, and if he were a more conventional singer I think many would, perhaps sadly, not give him as much credit for his lyrics (and I suspect I might be among them)

You’re not wrong

I’m starting to see this reflected in me personally. I’ve been a musician for a long time, and I’ve written some music I’m quite proud of, but I’ve never been a good lyricist. I feel like it’s not a coincidence that I’m mostly music over lyrics.

I’m enjoying Love and Theft so far but I can’t help juxtaposing Bob’s version of Mississippi with Sheryl Crow’s cover and I feel like this is yet another example of why I’m so at odds with a lot of this community 🤷‍♂️

I find this rather baffling personally, as I figured Old 97’s was pretty likely, if not a shoo-in. The Knife sounded like an artist on the verge of doing good things but mostly falling short so far, whereas Old 97’s seemed wheelhouse-adjacent for this contingent. 🤷‍♂️

I’m starting to think it’s not going to be our year

Don’t be fatuous, Adam

He once wrote a thing about how the age of consent was too high so forgive me if I conclude his priorities are fucked up

I’m beginning to think this is not going to be our year

Really Steve what’s it about

Totally get it, and you’re totally right about early-00s indie. Interestingly, it was around that time that I kind of went the opposite direction. I saw friends getting into lyrics-first artists like Dashboard Confessional (who I might pick on too much) and realized the music mattered more. Usually.

Bringing up Rashomon gives me the opportunity to bring up one of my favorite Simpsons jokes

I think I need to listen to the whole album to hear the contrast; thank you for inspiring me to do so

(In case you want to hear more of me soapboxing, I enjoyed RK’s album, especially Wires and Waves, August, and Always, but I voted Blink. Their album is pretty darn good, if rooted in a very specific time, whereas RK’s album sounds closer to era-agnostic, FWIW)

Both of these albums deserve to move on more than several that already have. RK’s album is fine but its dominance supports my hypothesis that the contingent taking these surveys, great people that they are, largely disdain overdriven guitar for ordinary music accompanied by introspective vocals

That’s definitely sad. I suppose if you’re looking for a cautionary tale about how fame isn’t always everything it’s cracked up to be, his is one.

Me neither! It’s not a bad song but I totally get how it probably hurts to think your legacy is reduced to a single song you wrote in a few minutes just because the right people thought it was good for $

Sounds like he was a pretty talented dude. RIP 🤘

This sounds like a rabbit hole I need to go down because I have no idea what you’re referring to here. Care to elucidate a little bit?

The “in between” thing makes more sense when you know that First Date and The Rock Show, two of the singles and probably the songs that sound the most like their previous albums, were written late in the process at the request of a label clearly hoping to cash in and wanting radio-friendly singles

I don’t understand this. We’re giving Israel $ and doing their dirty work. But we all know Trump operates transactionally, unless he’s being blackmailed. What’s he getting out of this? Is it just the $ from manipulating the stock market or whatever? That’s it?

The Way (Fastball song) - Wikipedia

If you didn’t know, that song is a sad story about a couple not far from here (the band is from Austin)

Looks like I get to be the first to remind everyone about Jenny Lewis’ acting career (IYKYK)

I’m not going to come at you, but I do appreciate your heading us off preemptively; it just seems weird to hear that they could be considered a one-hit wonder when they were so popular on rock radio for several years, and that’s mostly what I listened to

I’m decidedly introverted and mostly a homebody (although I do like to do things occasionally so that I don’t become a complete shut-in) and I thought COVID was awful. I’m with you.

Also, I’m pretty sure Appetite for Isolation was the original title for Guns N’ Roses’ first album

I’m surprised you don’t remember The Way, it was a much bigger hit

We got fucked over by what we’re assuming was a rage-quitting dasher and proceeded to eat an entire bag of Taco Bell. So how’s your night going?