Music Library: Acid Mothers Temple, Adam Ant, Adverts, Aerosmith, Aesop Rock

Picking up on the music library review from yesterday:

Acid Mothers Temple - Starless and Bible Black Sabbath. Yeah, that's just too heavy for work. I love AMT, but man, it's hard to focus on anything else while you've got a full-on sonic assault over your headphones.

Adam Ant - "Goody Two Shoes". I think this is from a mix CD exchange from a few years ago. Great song! As you probably know, assuming that you aren't accessing the Internet from under a rock.

The Adverts - Peel Session, April 25, 1977. I'm not a big fan of listening to recorded live rock music, generally. Unless the band has a virtuoso musician or two, they're typically far more interesting in the studio than on stage. In the studio, bands can bring out textures in the songs that often translate to flat bashing. That said, Peel Sessions are the exception. Something about playing for John Peel seems to bring out the best in bands, and the tracks on this session - "Quickstep," "Gary Gilmore's Eyes," "One Chord Wonders," "Newboys," and "Bored Teenagers" - actually provide a new way of hearing each of the songs. This may also be because The Adverts are awesome.

The Adverts - Crossing The Red Sea With The Adverts. I did mention that the Adverts are awesome, right? This remains true. This is the version with bonus live tracks, which are muddy and lacking in nuance enough to lead me to reiterate how great the Peel Sessions were.

The Adverts - Punk Singles Collection. Many of these songs are on Crossing The Red Sea. The rest sound like everything that indie rock became in the 1990s, and they were recorded in 1978.

Aerosmith - Toys In The Attic. This is big dumb rock. "Toys In The Attic" and "Sweet Emotion" are great songs. "You See Me Crying" is utterly awful, the first song so far (and that includes ABBA!) that I could not finish.

Aesop Rock - Labor Days. That's better. Hip-hop for indie rock nerds.

Aesop Rock - "Fast Cars". This is the only track I have from the Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives EP. Killer.