Posted 3 years, 1 month ago around lunchtime by oso
El Moreno and I share three and only three things. They are
- Radiohead
- Modest Mouse
- His Girlfriend
OK, just kidding … my devotion to Radiohead could never match his, but we are both sufficiently enamored by number two that I know he’s gonna just drop his hula hoop when he sees I’ve written about this first. While Moreno’s love for Modest Mouse stems from his unhealthy and ever-present fetishizing of white trash from Issaquah, Washington (myself and Isaac Brock included), my own fascination comes from a deep geographical intimacy with the working-class foothills leading to Snoqualmie Pass which have obviously figured into the band’s extraterrestrial prose. Which is to say, I used to be a cornbread baker in Issaquah while living in an Airstream trailer.
Now, Mark Kozelek, the founding member of Moreno’s other favorite band, the Red House Painters, is putting out a CD of acoustic Modest Mouse covers under the moniker Sun Kil Moon. So far I’ve only heard one song, Never Ending Math Equation, but judging from Kozelek’s last album, Ghosts of the Great Highway, these covers will pull Isaac Brock’s often under-appreciated, raw lyrical observations out from the emotional power of a Modest Mouse song that would take any trained therapist 30 years to dissect. (Brock needs at least 40)
Radiohead sucks…just like Morenos girlfriend…I don’t know him well enought to be saying that do I?
Does she ever, which is why we share her. Just kidding Priya!!! (I’m gonna get smacked hard upside the head next time I’m in LA) Radiohead rocks.
Radiohead and Modest Mouse are both great. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Franz Ferdinand and the Killers lately. I can’t say much for the gal pal though as a) I don’t know here and b) well, ya know.
BTW — quit saying you feel old .. that would make me damned ancient, youngster.
Priya is a premium lady.
And hey, I don’t write the lyrics.
Radiohead sucks. That is all there is too it. They are an overated, sucky, band. I can’t think of any music i dislike more. If trapped on an island and being forced to choose between Kris Kross and Radiohead, I’d beg for Kris Kross. Man, I’d beg for Pee Wee Herman singing over Radiohead. They can ok this computer right here (lifts middle finger). Radiohead sucks.
True.
Radiohead rocks!!!!!!! But guys, please check out Panico. Chilean rock. Subliminal Kill (Panico’s latest album) is awesome. You like the Rapture?? Kinda like it but not really.
what the hell happened here? im gonna break against this thread and talk about something no ones talked about yet: oso’s post.
Isaac Brock deserves a lot of recognition, and i think he’s getting it but maybe not enough. as much as anyone hates, the last Modest Mouse album was excellent. I know, they got songs on commercials and The OC, but i dont thikn anything could discredit Brock’s writing. Lonesome Crowded West is almost too good to comprehend. Moon and Antarctica I really like too. man just thinking about all this makes me want to listen to modest mouse nonstop.
however, there is one band that i would say is consistently better than Modest Mouse: Ugly Casanova. This is Isaac’s “side project”., Theres only one album and its unfuckinbelievable. Isaac has said that Ugly Casanova is the direction hes taking modest mouse in and that its what modest mouse would sound like ideally to him. check them out. Barnacles = so sad.
I’ve never been a modest mouse fan, just haven’t been attracted to their music. However, everytime someone has shared a song, I tend to like it. They definately sound better than Yo La Tengo–I like Yo La Tengo, but I still think they’re overrated. Moreno, Oso, any suggestions on what album to start with?
Keep sharing those West coast bands, ‘cos I’m digging them.
The only thing I’ll say about Radiohead is that they were good when they focused on lyrics and made melodic pop–anyone ever heard “How Can You Be Sure?” or “Lozenge of Love”? I miss that about them.
EMC - seeing as how you like those Radiohead songs, i’d say the best album for you to start with is the most recent one, Good News For People Who Love Bad News. Its definitely the most accessible out of all their albums but still great in its own right.. then i’d suggest listening to the album before Good News, Moon and Antarctica, and then when you really think you can handle the wonder that is Modest Mouse listen to Lonesome Crowded West. Lonesome might be a bit much if youre the kind of guy that doesnt dig radiohead bleeps (the best kind of bleeps). Lonesome is very raw, bursting with eager energy, and simply put: beautiful. Check out the song Trailer Trash and if it doesnt bring a tear to your eye then you might not be a human, which would warrant a whole other post in itself.
Yeah, I agree with Moreno, what’s happened to this comment thread? Didn’t you guys catch the part about me being a professional cornbread maker? I mean, I’ve been offered serious cash to dish out the secret recipe (not like I would) and here it doesn’t even get a mention. Pretty pathetic. And really, I lived in an Airstream trailer. Maybe you guys don’t recognize how badass that is. More Issaquah stories to come later … like how Abogado drove hundreds of miles searching me out at my cornbread making headquarters only to drive back and watch Ben Harper play a show by himself.
I also agree with Morenito about Ugly Casanova … word is he even named the project after me. (Issaquah’s a pretty small town) I actually fell asleep listening to Sharpen Your Teeth last night. Which might explain the dreams.
Davo,
We don’t like the rapture. But thanks for the Panico!!! recommendation. I haven’t listened to the tracks yet, but I do appreciate their album cover.
Cheeser,
I was first introduced to Modest Mouse with Lonesome Crowded West. I had always thought it was their first album until I just now checked. When I first heard it I thought that seattle emo kids had been listening to too much Ween. But then I couldn’t stop listening to it. Really. Every track. Over and over and over and over again. Here in SD it was considered skater rock, but for me it was pure musical genius … the same feeling I got when (hides head in shame) I first heard Under the Table and Dreaming by DMB.
I agree with Oso, Modest Mouse’s are the best. I currently use the Hewlett Packard (no relation) mouse, but here at work, people use all sorts of extravagant mouse’s, ranging from the three finger ‘Logitech’ mouse, to the more showy ‘Kensington Pro’, I never understood why and I just stick with what works, a Modest Mouse.
ohh HP, you got me. im serious man, i actually laughed out loud reading that one. didnt think you had it in you. props
Moreno, don’t get me wrong, I love the Radiohead’s bleeps and blops, but I think other artists have done it much better. You see, I think Radiohead mirror the error that U2 did in the 90s. They reinvented themselves from an anthemic rock band to a band that was culling from the dance floors in Britain and the rest of europe. “Achtung Baby” is an incredible rock record, but it’s those elements which drove them to do two audacious records like “Zooropa” and “Passengers: Original Soundtracks I” (the latter with Brian Eno)–then they did the mistake of doing “POP,” a record that would have rocked if it wasn’t too blatantly overbloated with electronic music that was done much better by other artists. In the same sense Radiohead has done the same thing, “The Bends” and “OK Computer” together proved there was more than a Brit pop band. “Kid A” was a giant leap forward but was “Amnesiac” really necessary, when it was just sounded like a collection of b-sides utilizing tired electronic bleeps and blops. “Hail to the Theif” felt (at least to me) sonically boring. Like I said before, I want to hear more adventurous pop music and I think Radiohead can do it, they just don’t want to.
So, don’t be afraid to recommend the less accessible Modest Mouse.
Os, that’s exactly what I thought the first time I heard Modest Mouse! This was back a couple of years ago, so I may have been listening to that exact record. I was sitting in a mini-truck with this hipster, indie rock girl and she was driving me home (cause i walked to school and work and back) and she was rocking out to a bunch of yelling fools. And I asked, “What is this?”
“It’s Modest Mouse, aren’t they fantastic?” she said.
“They sound like Ween,” I said.
And she looked at me like, who’s Ween. And I was very close to jumping out of the truck.
However, friend, do not hide from me because you like DMB. DMB came to the music scene at the right time that the majority of people are age connected to the music. Shit, Dave sang about sex–what else connects to us men? But for me, DMB got tiring, it was too hippie for me. Until they did “Before these Crowded Streets” which was much darker and more daring. And it contained the best use of Alanis Morrisette, like, ever.
I’m such a geek. I’m glad to see I’m in good company.
again …radiohead sucks.
damn, this is better than reading Rollingstone!
ok computer, the bends, and kid a are excellent. amnesiac and hail to the thief basically suck.
I just got me “Lonesome Crowded West” and “The Moon and Antartica.” =)
I just want to make sure it is clear…and I am not kidding, Radiohead sucks.
Poor Elenamary, no ones paying attention to you. i’ll give you the reaction youre trying to incite:
(ahem)
WHAAAT!???! RADIOHEAD IS AWESOME!!! YOU DONT KNOW WHAT YOURE TALKING ABOUT
how was that?
Moreno, awww I love you. Moreno, you think I can come live with you and go to concerts all the time? Awww, don’t worry Priya as nothing to worry about, I just want you to maintain the standard of living to which I’ve become accustomed.