The Listening Project - All Hands on the Bad One - Sleater Kinney

Part 14 - All Hands on the Bad One - Sleater Kinney (2000, Kill Rock Stars)

I love this album.  I'm totally surprised that I hadn't originally put it on the old iPod, which means that I hadn't listened to it outside of my car in . . . 3 years? 4 years?  Weird.

I want to say that I got this CD way back in the back day when I listened to a lot of dyke rock (a little acoustic Ani, a little Melissa Ferrick, some . . . you know . . . Indigo Girls) but it's also totally possible that I picked it up from Hypatia's Ex (a person you can blame for most of my music) (not the Indigo Girls tho).  Who knows.  I do know that I saw them on their last tour and that was pretty great.

So - they're fun.  A little gritty.  13 tracks wrap up in just over 36 minutes.  You get in, you get out.  You have a fun time while you're there.  It's kind of great.

I've been packing all day.  I got nothing.

Favorite Track - "You're No Rock and Roll Fun" - totally awesome
Least Favorite - "The Swimmer" - the only really slow song on the album. Kinda boring.

Next up - Amethyst Rock Star - Saul Williams (2001) (and then we're all caught up and can go back to strict alphabetical listening!)

The Listening Project - Apple O' - Deerhoof

Part 13 - Apple O' - Deerhoof (2003, Kill Rock Stars)

You know, I have absolutely no idea what I think about this one.  (To be truthful, another album I listened to while pretending to get back in shape, so, there you go)

On the one hand, it seems totally listenable, really fun (well, a little more laid-back than that) and maybe a little quirky.  On the other hand, I can't shake the sense that it's the sort of album that takes a lot of effort to listen to.  There are like melodies and harmonies and shit.  Weird.

I don't know if I've really talked about my musical laziness yet, but, I've got lazy ears.  Like, some of my favorite music ever is French Polyphony. It's just that touch more complex than chant, but without a. the douchiness and b. difficult instruments.  Also mid-nineties rock.  I am willing to bet you a dollar that absolutely no one ever broke a sweat over Inside Out, and yet, I love it.  Lazy ears.  Lazy, lazy ears.

So I think that's part of my ambivalence.  I also have never been a fan of high register voices, and the singer's voice has that high, kind of nasally quality that must make indie-music folk swoon, like ironically.  Not a huge fan.  In short, not an album I'd put on, but not one that I'd click over were the old iTunes on shuffle.

I feel so ambivalent about this, that I'm not going to do a favorite/least favorite.

Next up - All Hands on the Bad One - Sleater Kinney (2000) (I know it's out of alphabetical order, but, it's new to the iPod, and I love it, and didn't want to skip it.)