Williammunny11

No...I'm up in Cleveland...so it's really a matter of Pittsburgh or Detroit and the date works out better for Pittsburgh...love the art museum there as well. I just looked this place up and it seems like a bit out in the suburbs?

Listening now...thank-you so much for posting!

I’m there at Pittsburgh!

Just to add a different perspective on this: I run a music store where 55 musicians all make a very good living teaching and such. Almost every single one plays out professionally and teaches to help subsidize their income. Most are doing very well for themselves. Going into music 'for the money' is a very do-able thing, provided you stick with it and see it through. If your goal is to play to stadiums full of people, then of course it's a 'one in a million' thing. No different then if your goal as an IT person is to be Bill Gates right hand man. But if your goal is to 'make a living' and provide for your family, being a musician is just as a viable route as any. I say this is as someone who is doing it and who is surrounded by people doing it.

This is well said. Couldn’t agree more.

Some good points there and no worries, you are not coming across as anything other than a passionate person...which I respect. But, with that being said, I think we will just have to respectfully agree to disagree. Plenty of artists that I love have made music with fame/money/women as the primary motivation and I LOVE their music. Does not necessarily mean anyone has 'lost the plot'...it is simply a classic case of 'to each his own'. As a lifelong musician, writer and artist, I can honestly say that while my definition of success has certainly changed over the years, so has my motivations....but the simple act of writing and recording is the only thread that connects my present to my past...I like that a lot.

I'm not sure that I agree with that, but it might be more of a philosophical discussion than anything else. Without getting too political I will just say this: if you write a book; if you make an album; if you paint a picture...anything that you have done that you feel is worth sharing has an intrinsic value to it. That's not to say you should expect to get rich, but expecting fair compensation for something you have done is a core tenet of any society...I feel that if you say your art is free, then you are essentially saying it is worthless. I happily will pay for what I feel is worth paying for. An artist should expect compensation for something they have created...especially if they stand behind it. To that point, I feel like the 'enjoyment' of something being payment enough for doing it is what separates a 'hobby' from a 'profession'. There is a distinction there; one is not necessarily better than another, but I don't fault someone who has chosen art as a profession for expecting compensation. Whether or not they deserve or receive said compensation is a matter of capitalism, but the expectation is sound (in my opinion) nonetheless. Ok...enough side-tracking from me...:)

Always an alternate way to end a song there. Live concerts in the 80's (at least for major Pop artists) were a spectacle unto themselves and often feature unique and clever ways to segue from one track to another. That being said, I think when Matt refers to 'fadeouts' and the 80's he's more speaking to New Wave and Pop artists. Metallica and Black Flag sure as hell weren't fading out songs...but that might say more about the 'looseness' of a rock recording vs. recording with a drum machine. Either way, I am sure Matt and Co. will figure it all out just fine.

There is definitely a Winter association for me. Not really sure why, because I've got memories attached to those records for all year long, but something about most of his catalog just meshes perfectly with the way it feels to be in Northern Ohio in the dead of Winter.

Just finished watching this on Sunday (where have I been???) and it might be the best Sci-fi I have seen in over a decade. Riveting, thought-provoking, visually arresting...I can't say enough good things!

Anyone have any concrete info on a new record? The two singles from a while back are interesting but seem to be stand-alone songs?

It's kind of crazy to look back. There was a point in time when I passed on seeing APC because I had just seen them the year before and I had seen Tool the summer before that. When you had 2 APC albums and Lateralus all released within a few years of each other, it kind of felt like that was going to be the norm. Who could have imagined how sparse releases would become after that. Forever kicking myself now.

I was with you at first as well...this song did nothing for me upon first listen. But the droning, monotonous nature of the progression works effectively well when paired with the lyrics. It's actually become one of my favorites now.

I've always maintained that 'Rabbits' is my favorite song but "Bullets in a Briefcase" may be close to overtaking that spot.

This! It's a purely subjective thing with no 'right' or 'wrong' answer, but to me I would always rather NOT hear the album performed perfectly...might be my punk rock roots flashing here but I am all for re-interpretations live. And synthesized strings and such don't really bother me...but again, as a huge Nu Wave fan, it all makes sense to me. I think Tears for Fears have produced some of the most amazing albums of all time and there's so much processing and manipulation (especially on those early records) that it's hard to tell where the computer ends and the human begins. That might have played into the production choices this time around.

That's just what I needed to hear! Firing it up tonight...fitting Halloween viewing!

Hey man, if all we ever did was praise Matt's work unequivocally then there would be little point to visiting here...a discussion requires varying points of perspective. To that point, I hear what you are saying: perhaps some of the songs on Something... wouldn't hold up to the 'does it sound good on just a single guitar' test...but I would counter that much of Avalanche doesn't pass that test...nor does a huge chunk of Queen's catalog (a band whom I feel has no equal). The point is that some artists use the studio to simply 'capture' a moment, others use it almost like an instrument itself. Matt has done a good job of doing both throughout his career in my opinion. I agree that this latest album definitely works best when consumed as a whole (which I struggled with as well bc I was not big on any of the first three singles), but if I'm being honest, most of the music that I still hold dear didn't necessarily grab me from the getgo. Be it Radiohead or Miles Davis or what have you, the records I hold most dear are not necessarily easily digested. But perhaps that is more a matter of my change in taste over the years aligning somewhat with Matt's change in approach. I still maintain that had he not made LOES I might not be still checking him out. But that record, the dense, brooding, indulgent piece of art that it is endeared me so much to him that nearly a decade later his cds have never left my car.

I had no idea this existed but it is pretty amazing.

I think that it fit the vibe of what they were going for though, a 'stripped down' approach to the material. I enjoyed that release quite a bit actually. My only gripe is that there wasn't 'more' to it...more strings...more production...more overdubs...especially with songs like Born To Kill. But, I suspect it was recorded very quickly and was more intended to approximate Matt Good the live singer/songwrite, as opposed to being a 'full-band' release.

I kind of see Radiohead as a band with a few distinct and different eras (which is a common thread running through most of my favorite artists). I place at the very top of the pile Ok Computer and In Rainbows (which I think is their best work), and a Moon Shaped Pool is right underneath those two. A wonderful return to from after the underwhelming King of Limbs (which I felt was a bit Thom Yorke heavy).

This! I will never understand this. If it isn't a period piece or a historical biography, then why does it matter? The audience has no expectation of an accent, so if the actor can't do it convincingly, then just don't do it.

The 'big' drum-sound on both the title track as well as "Bullets" is also nice to hear. Tight, dry drums seems all the rage these days but I much prefer the kind of drum mix Matt and Warne settled on here.

I concur as well. I would easily swap another four solo-releases for the 4 MGB albums...I might be in the minority there, but to me Matt really came into his own (and thus became the artist that I gravitated towards) with Avalanche. 8 more albums in the vein of Audio of Being might not have sustained my interested the way his solo career has.

I want to comment for a second on the production from this last record: I feel like Matt and Warne have outdone themselves. I LOVED Chaotic...felt like it was lush and nuanced without ever sounding over-labored...Something Line A Storm continues this trend and then some. Everything from the drums to the vocals is beyond perfect. It has been a pleasure to listen to at high volume.

I have that manifesto somewhere...I think I need to dig it out for a re-read.