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Post by scoOter on Oct 14, 2004 8:06:04 GMT -5
who is "zboneman", because he is, well, sort of an idiot.
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Post by scoOter on Sept 13, 2004 21:00:11 GMT -5
great review, save for the "nay" vote on vomit!
on a related note, i have been waiting on pins & needles for some reviewer to call my dad the "emotional centerpiece" of the album. come on, reviewers! you're slippin' up.
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Post by scoOter on Sept 21, 2004 9:22:52 GMT -5
Man, I'm a little surprised by the mixed reviews. Granted, I'm no blind faith follower, but I actually enjoy Folker. It's not his best, but I don't think it's as bad as some people say it is. I dunno....  Again, my litmus test is this: are these songs better than the forced fed crap and playlists from my hometown's corporate rock radio? Are these songs better than or equal to the crap that my co-workers play on the radio at work? Sorry, I don't agree that this is "awful". These songs, these melodies, the chord progressions, are still better than most anything I can hear on my town's radio. i respecfully agree. |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 21, 2004 8:20:01 GMT -5
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Post by scoOter on Sept 18, 2004 9:06:19 GMT -5
**also, is Scooter the Scooter formerly known as Scooterboy on the Monolyth site?** the same! |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 16, 2004 8:19:19 GMT -5
Still haven't heard it. This thread's been a great lead up though.  In the meantime though, I listened to CFMT on a great car stereo today and was reminded how good it is. So if Folker is at all similar, I'll be happy. wow. prescient comment. i am listening to cfmt right now, and i am struck by how DIFFERENT these two most recent albums are. i have been listening to all folker all the time for the past couple of weeks, and i decided to throw in cfmt for a change... cfmt is a rollicking rock record ("rrr" - the next album title for paul?). i mean it flat out smokes in parts. pine box may be overly long, but damn if it doesn't scream. folker is MUCH, MUCH more subdued & even, doug. i predict that paul will continue on this lo-fi track ad infinitum, and the next album will be more like cfmt. |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 14, 2004 14:28:37 GMT -5
I'm surprised that some of the reviews are so over the top in their negativity. I would never presume to say that someone's opinion is wrong (that's not really possible) but the most I could relate to is mild dissapointment. Honestly, I think it's his best album in a long time and is eclipsed in the solo work, for me, only by Mono. It did take a bunch of listens for it to grow on me. Same with Village Gorilla Head. Some of the reviews of that are just boneheaded and dense. ! |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 11, 2004 10:37:45 GMT -5
I didn't make the record, no need to be say "sorry" to me. You're allowed your opinion, you expressed it without saying peple who do like the record are idiots so nothing to apologize for. Well, except that you should have posted it in the reviews section but I'll let you off with a slap on the writst  and even if you are wrong, no one is going to come down on you!  |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 9, 2004 8:52:53 GMT -5
I dunno what it is, but a lot of 'Mats songs and Paul's solo songs I kinda classify as "fall" songs - meaning the season, not the band. Summer just ending, leaves falling, the smell of burning wood in the crisp, cool air...daylight getting shorter... Anyways, Folker somehow fits into this train of thought for me completely. Even a song like Gun Shy doesn't sound like a summer rocker to me, it sounds like getting ready to go out on a crisp October night...23 Years Ago, What About Mine, Anyway's All Right - all perfect "fall" songs. Or maybe I'm just a friggin' weirdo, I dunno... no, i think you are on to something. kind of like how fountains of wayne is a summer band. |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 8, 2004 14:33:19 GMT -5
I don't have it with me, but there's one picture that looks like "serial killer paul" -- the one where you're like, hey did I spill soda on this...and then you realize it's supposed to look stained. Paul's dad was very handsome! that is the "centerfold" picture. and, you're not kidding about paul's dad. i may be a raging heterosexual, but that dude was a looker. |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 8, 2004 14:29:32 GMT -5
the "centerfold" picture looks like "gas station paul" or maybe "middleweight contender paul".
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Post by scoOter on Sept 8, 2004 14:20:10 GMT -5
you knew this was coming....
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Post by scoOter on Sept 18, 2004 9:10:28 GMT -5
I think some would argue that 23 years IS one of the tunes that is annoyingly long, self indulgent and bitter.  true 'dat! (but i am warming up to it) |
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Ouch.
Sept 6, 2004 21:44:43 GMT -5
Post by scoOter on Sept 6, 2004 21:44:43 GMT -5
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/09/05/PKGIJ7P4DP1.DTL&type=musicAbout 1/2 way down. PAUL WESTERBERG Because Paul Westerberg was the lead singer and songwriter of the Replacements, the only good band to come out of the '80s, give or take a Spandau Ballet, it hurts to watch him stumble. But the fact that he hasn't made a great record in the past decade hardly softens the full body blow that comes with hearing "Folker," an album made up of half-sketched melodies ("What About Mine?"), tossed-off lyrics ("How Can You Like Him") and rotten production ("Looking Up In Heaven"). Yes, those were all the things that made his former band great. All that's lacking is a beating heart this sounds awfully "critical". you know what i mean, too, so don't ask. in the past decade he released stereo/mono, and those albums were pretty much universally praised. maybe the reviewer didn't get grabbed by folker. that's fine. but i would contend that in tone alone, this reviewer has an axe to grind. either with paul himself, or with his/her hipster credibility. |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 3, 2004 11:02:33 GMT -5
I don't quite see how these albums make the Mats break-up a good thing, but maybe he's just riffing on the opening quote from "Someday." And I'm surprised it's Tommy's "acoustic-based, down-tempo songs" that "put it in a league of greatness," making Tommy's album "actually a little better than Westerberg's." Are those the same songs from the middle of Village Gorilla Head where scooter for one finds the album a bit saggy? was that a shot?! hee hee... here is where the albums sags for me: tracks 5 - 7 (and maybe 8). i don't think it is an issue i have with the "acoustic based songs" because i LOVE hey you (although i was a late comer to it, admittedly). light of day is track 8, and it is also acoustic based, and i think i am coming around to it. 5 - 7 are just boring to me. that's all. someday is one of the best songs ever as far as i am concerned. for the record, tommy's album is leaps & bounds better than paul's in terms of production, and just plain flow. to me, that counts for something. i know others here have different opinions. i don't think the songs are affected by production. so sayeth led zeppelin, "the song remains the same". the songs i find "boring" on tommy's album would still be "boring" if they had been recorded in paul's basement. and the songs i love on folker, i would still love if they had been recorded in frank black's studio. i think that tommy has proven that he is interested in both bash and pop; whereas paul is ok with just bash (in recording technique i mean). one isn't more right than the other. they are what they are. i would love to have paul adopt some of tommy's style of recording, and love to have tommy adopt some of paul's. actually, just have them collaborate once & for all on an entire album. |
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Post by scoOter on Sept 9, 2004 8:51:47 GMT -5
I once read an article in AP called "unessential essentials" and the first 2 things i saw made me want to scream... bob dylan - blood on the tracks, elvis costello - "entire catalogue"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Worst magazine ever. ok, now this just pisses me off. |
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Post by scoOter on Aug 28, 2004 8:09:12 GMT -5
ha ha. that's funny.
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Post by scoOter on Sept 6, 2004 21:07:48 GMT -5
you know, i think i have put my $.02 in before the "official" date, but i asked the lackey at best buy to go get me a copy today (one day early). there were none out (indeed, no westerberg section at all!).
he complied, and i must say that even though i have been hearing this for a month or so, it sounds A LOT better to have it officially with the packaging & everything.
sonically, i don't think it DOES sound any different, but 23 years ago has been skipped from day one, but it is really growing on me. the electric work reminds me a lot of swinging party on this tune for some reason.
i LOVE folk star, but i think gun shy is now my favorite "rocker" ("folker"?) on the album.
all the other songs i have talked about in the past are still just as good to me now as the first time i heard them: my dad, heaven, how can you like him?, etc. etc.
my dad still moves me, lyrically.
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Post by scoOter on Sept 2, 2004 15:08:09 GMT -5
"my dad" is fvckin' amazing.
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Post by scoOter on Aug 30, 2004 22:47:01 GMT -5
i've been WAITING to chime in here.
if this album were priced at $1000, and "my dad" was the only song on it, it would be worth it.
i tear up while laughing every damn time.
fortunately, there are other songs on the album. "gun shy" & "folk star" are both cracking little numbers, and he howls in a way he hasn't howled in a long time on "folk star" (although at times he sounds unsure whether or not he SHOULD be howling).
"as far as i know" is impossible to get out of your head.
most of us have already heard "lookin' up to heaven", but this really IS a gorgeous song.
i like "how can you like him".
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