Thursday, February 17, 2011

Music Library: Mills Brothers, Minmae, Minor Threat, Minus Story, Minus The Bear



Mills Brothers - "Cab Driver." Swingin' vocal track with a nice country-style guitar lead.

Minmae - My Quiet Life (2002), True Love (2003), and ya te vas? (2004).  Tasty indie rock from Portland, OR. The standout track is True Love's "It's Easy The Way I Care," which my pal Jon Bernhardt introduced me to years ago.

Minor Threat - Complete Discography (1981-1985). Ah, to be 16 and pissed off. Barring the need for a soundtrack for articulate rage, I have no need to ever revisit this album, but I'm glad that it's in my collection.  The cover to my CD is red, but the blue picture is the main one that comes up with an image search.

Minus Story - A Minus Story Compendium (2007). I'm unable to find an image of the cover for this.  It's an eMusic compilation of tracks by a rather obscure indie rock band.  They're an ok band, somewhat in the poppy-psychedelic-Flaming Lips-circa-1997 vein.  Nothing really blows me away (unlike the Flaming Lips circa 1997), but they provide a pleasant soundtrack to a drive.

Minus The Bear - Menos el Oso (2005). Sometimes hook-filled indie rock, sometimes math rock, sometimes post-rock.  While I like Minus The Bear's capacity for surprise, I'm not really all that taken with their melodies.  I like the parts that surprise me, but the parts that are supposed to smooth all the shifting time signatures and jarring repetition into something easier for a large audience to digest are all a bit dull, unfortunately.

3 comments:

Wm 4:06 PM, February 17, 2011  

Hi Hayden. I find that Minor Threat and hardcore of the early 80's in general serves as a nice energy boost when I need one, without really having to connect with being young or pissed off. Then again I'm going senile, so what do I know.

Hayden Childs 9:19 AM, February 18, 2011  

Ha! Well, although I suggested that I had heard my fill of Minor Threat for a lifetime, I ended up putting on this album yesterday after I finished the post and I listened to the whole thing. The moral of this story is that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Wm 9:06 AM, February 21, 2011  

Not at all, your take on them is accurate, they were young and pissed off. I don't really get their anger or the politics of the DC hardcore scene but the energy of the music under the right circumstances can give quite a kick.

My photo
Cary, NC, United States
reachable at firstname lastname (all run together) at gmail dot com

About This Blog

From Here To Obscurity, founded ca. 2003, population 1. The management wishes to emphasize that no promises vis-a-vis your entertainment have been guaranteed and for all intents and purposes, intimations of enlightenment fall under the legal definition of entertainment. No refunds shall be given nor will requests be honored. Although some may ask, we have no intention of beginning again.

  © Blogger templates Brooklyn by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP