Reconsiderations

Polygon Dropout Media: What we do.

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 08:58:37 -0400

Polygon Dropout Media: What we do.

We don’t usually do reposts, but this is just fucking...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:45:00 -0400

Ballad of a Thin Man

Something is happening, but you don't know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?

How does it feel to be such a freak?

You're a cow. Give me some milk or else go home.

you don't know what it is. Do you, Mr. Jones?

by Bob Dylan

We don’t usually do reposts, but this is just fucking cool!

roseaposey:

My tribute to one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Bob Dylan.

Paul McCartney- "Band On The Run"

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:43:02 -0400

I would like to recommend for your reconsideration what I seem to remember as Sir Paul’s first post-Beatles effort. And while I’m not sure that this record meets Mikey’s criteria (was it maligned when it was released?) I distinctly remember it being compared unfavorably to the rest of the Beatles’ ouevre as well as John Lennon’s IMAGINE, which came out a couple years before.

At any rate, it boasts some pop classics, with lush, complicated arrangements and Paul’s powerful, dynamic voice. Some of the tracks - Band on the Run, Jet, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five - are as good as anything the Beatles put out. Pure musical genius.

Richard Sloane

Teenage Fanclub- Thirteen

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:57:09 -0400

Instructions!

Play this track while your read;

Every band has a great album inside them. Problem is, in order to get to that killer album, the listener usually has to follow the band as their baby steps of badly-advised cover versions and cringe-inducing lyrics ripped in whole from the singer’s 17 year old diaries set to 3 chords with collective crossed fingers somehow progresses to giant steps and artistic greatness before the genuine classic emerges. This can take a while. Some bands never manage it at all. Some bands go on to fluke it as much as twice in their lifetime. A select few manage a trio or more. The truly great, at some point in their life, will go on an amazing run of 3/4/5 defining albums. The Beatles between Rubber Soul and Sgt Peppers. The Stones between ’68s Beggars Banquet and ’72s Exile on Main St. David Bowie, in his majestic run of ’70s albums tops the lot. Era-defining, trend-setting and truly brilliant, every one of them.

Teenage Fanclub do not fall into this category.

However, had they had the decency to provide us with a shinier, radio-friendly follow up to the bubblegum grunge of Bandwagonesque (Spin magazine’s Album Of the Year in 1991, the year of Nevermind lest we forget), they might have been on to something. Sandwiched betwixt and between Banwagonesque and the sun-kissed, chiming beauty of ’95s Grand Prix and its ‘97 doppleganger Songs From Northern Britain, Teenage Fanclub saw fit to release Thirteen. Not a bad album. Not a bad album, at all. But, when compared to the TFC’s ridiculously high standards, it’s something of an accepted let down, the band included.

It’s in the production. Not for Thirteen the radio-friendly high-gloss grunge of Bandwagonesque (Marshalls turned up to 11 and recorded inside cupboards) nor the ringin’, dingin’ Big Star-isms of Grand Prix (Fender Deluxes, no distortion), but a sludgy, muddy, lo-fi production that can’t decide if it needs the Marshall stack or the Fender Twin. And there’s yer problem. The band didn’t know if they wanted to be the long-haired slackers of Bandwagonesque or the four-geography-teachers-with-slightly-cool-haircuts-do-a-band of Grand Prix. The songs are there. Good songs. Great songs, even. The band take equal writing shares, play as a band and step up to the mike in glorious 3-part harmony. Gene Clark. Norman 3. Radio. Hang On. The Cabbage. Escher. All truly great Fanclub classics, forgotten in time for appearing on the wrong Fanclub album. It’s time to reconsider, baby.

Craig McAllister

Urge Overkill- Saturation

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 07:49:00 -0400

Is it possible to get overshadowed…by yourself? Just one of the many strange possibilities in Rock & Roll. Urge Overkill formed in Chicago back in 1985. Their first few releases built up their reputation in the Chicago scene, and eventually led to them getting opening spots on tours with Pearl Jam and Nirvana, during the peak grunginess days of the early 90s. In 1993, they released “Saturation”. While it had some critical success, a couple of singles (“Sister Havana” and “Positive Bleeding”) and some airplay in the “Alternative” music scenes, they quickly became known for their cover of “Girl, You’ll be a Woman Soon” from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack (which was actually from an earlier EP of theirs). Their next album (“Exit The Dragon”) didn’t chart very well, and following some internal issues and the arrest of their drummer on drug charges, the band soon broke up. Later in the 2ks, they did start gigging again, and released a new album in 2011.

But in all that mid-90s commotion, “Saturation”…an album deep in quality songs, slipped through the cracks, and into the used Cd bins of the world. Besides the singles mentioned, tracks like “Stalker” (my favorite), “Crackbabies”, “Woman 2 Woman”, and “Bottle of Fur” showed their ability for heavy rock, humor, and general strangeness. When you listen to this album, you’ll soon be transported back to the early 90s and with the catchiness of all the music, you’ll forget you had a skip button as the album finishes up. This album was never far out of regular rotation for me, and giving it a second (or first) listen my get you hooked as well.

Jeff Smith

Video for “Sister Havana”

Video for “Positive Bleeding”

Supergrass- "Life On Other Planets"

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 11:07:00 -0400

Tooling around my library and rediscovered this gem.

This is was the 4th record from the power trio from Oxford, who officially became a power quartet with this release with the addition of Rob Coombes and his keyboards.

This album benefits from its juxtaposition in the Grassie’s canon. The self titled 3rd record was such a disappointment that it felt like that may have been all she wrote for them. But they pull themselves up by the bootstraps with “Life On Other Planets”

There’s something about this album for me that represents a shift for Supergrass. I’ve never been able to put my finger on it exactly, it could be the keyboards, it could be the clear maturity bump in songwriting, it could be the new producer Tony Hoffer but it all amounts to a fine, tight, satisfying collecting of songs here.

And about those songs…

“Can’t Get Up” remains my most favorite Supergrass track to this day. Fantastic lead vocal and a great sing along chorus. They channel their inner Marc Bolan with “Seen The Light” and the pop ditty “Grace” is bright and excellent.

If you’re looking for something to re-listen to this week, you can do much worse than this! Give it a go!

Mike Patterson

Devo- "Duty Now For The Future"

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:32:00 -0400

Glad to see we’re back…

Devo’s second effort, ‘Duty Now For the Future’, may be my favorite by the boys from Akron. Released in 1979, it took on a decidedly more electronic tone then ‘Are We Not Men?’ Produced by Ken Scott (one of EMI’s engineers who worked with The Beatles in their later years), this collection did not receive rave reviews at the time as some scribes thought they were playing catch-up on their demos to rush a new album out. This may or may not be the case, but either way there are some gems here. All 13 tracks off the original release are strong, and the remaster throws an additional 5 at us. Definitely a Synth-Pop watershed. Enjoy Spuds!

Click on the image above to listen to “Duty Now For The Future” on Spotify

Bruce Wheeler

Simple Minds- "Sparkle In The Rain"

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:32:00 -0400

Simple Minds are the kind of band that come along with shitloads of preconceived notions/prejudices when cursorily mentioned today.

They are part of the phenomena of the 80s where established, influential artists had the unfortunate happenstance of a breakthrough top 40 smash that ultimately ended up “propelling” them to “one hit wonder” status rather the the vaunted and much more deserved status of “seminal”.

These Scots had quite a run between ‘80 and ‘82 virtually defining The New Wave with the triumvirate of “Empires and Dance” (‘80) “Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call” (‘81) and “New Gold Dream” (‘82). In ‘85 the smash happened with “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” from the OST of “The Breakfast Club” and the bands fate was sealed. But in between they collaborated with the Phil Spector of the age, producer Steve Lillywhite to put out a shining piece of loud, kick ass guitar rock called “Sparkle In The Rain” in 1984.

So, Lillywhite was on fire in 1983, here a few of the records he’d produced around that time:

“Black Sea”- XTC

“Talk Talk Talk”- Psychedelic Furs

“War”- U2

“The Crossing”- Big Country

“Script of the Bridge”- The Chameleons

Yeah, right? Pretty damned hot!

He’d really kinda perfected this huge ass drum/guitar sound in an age where tinny, thin drum machines and synths ruled the day.

Simple Minds took full advantage of this and it’s evident from the first bombastic sounds on “Sparkle”

The opener “Up On the Catwalk” sounds like a formidable pugilist taking out his frustrations on your face…with a beat. “Book of Brilliant Things” features the rockinest use of a violin sound since “Kashmir” The other singles “Waterfront” and “Speed Your Love to Me” are just excellent aggressive slices of pop majesty. The whole damn thing still sounds other worldly today in very much the same way that U2’s “War” does. Not much else sounds like it.

The thing that kills me is how they steered the ship away from the new Wave they’d mastered, to this huge sound so perfectly and how awesome it still sounds.

It’s one of the many rock an roll ironies that the band never quite this good again (although I can probably do another post on the subsequent full length “Once Upon A Time” which is very good but nothing like Sparkle)

The point here is, listen to it. Forget that it’s Simple Minds, turn it up loud, annoy the neighbors and rock out.

I can think of worse ways to spend 40 minutes.

Click on the image above to hear the album on Spotify!

Mike Patterson

The Old Romantic Killer Band- "The Swan With Two Necks"

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 19:08:00 -0400

In the late “aughts” there was an explosion of kick ass talent coming out of Leeds, England that seemed to take their cues and inspiration from the vaunted grunge era. It was pretty damned exciting. Kaiser Chiefs, Duels, Dinosaur Pile Up, Pulled Apart By Horses, all making a helluva racket!

One of those bands stood out for me from the rest, The New Romantic Killer Band.

They were a two piece Guitar/Vocals from Harry and Drums by Greg basically playing turned up blues inspired RAWK. They didn’t do the easy thing and ape the White Stripes. They crafted some really great songs and their debut “The Swan With Two Necks” captures the energy damned well.

I could never understand why no attention was paid, it could have just as easily been them instead of The Black Keys, who were really just regurgitating the blues. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that!)

TORKB were taking the elements and crafting some compelling stuff.

Check out the incendiary opener “Girl You have All The Fun” which comes over like a grungy Zeppelin. The single “Lover’s Pass” is just jumped up fun. “Your Girlfriend is A Drug Addict” is just as cheeky as you might imagine.

The thing that really takes this band over the top is Harry’s ridiculously talented voice which reminds me mostly of Paul Rodgers, and that’s damned fine “company” (sorry)

Anyway, its a short affair, the whole album clocks in at something like 22 mins, but its bliss from start to finish. The band broke up in late 2009 with very little fanfare. I always felt like it was unfair. So much promise and no chance to shine.

After playing bass with Dinosaur Pile Up for a while, Harry has just self released a solo record called “Post Breakdown Blues” under the name Harry George Johns. A dark EP recorded in the wake of an actual nervous breakdown, but tender and poignant. I can’t recommend it enough.

But for now enjoy “The Swan With Two Necks” and let me know what you think.

-Mike Patterson

Click on the album image above to listen to the record on Spotify

Robyn Hitchcock - Element of Light (Click here to listen on Spotify)

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:37:00 -0500

Robyn Hitchcock - Element of Light (Click here to listen on Spotify):

I had “Airscape” from this album pop up on my iPod while eating breakfast this morning, and figured ‘Element of Light’ would be a great candidate to reconsider. I’ve always been a fan of Hitchcock’s stuff, whether on his own or with The Soft Boys, and once I saw him live in the mid 80’s I was hooked. He was brilliant both musically and lyrically, but what really intrigued me was his between-song, stream-of-conciousness banter. Kind of like Henry Rollins (spoken-word version) with ADD and an amphetamine habit.

by Bruce Wheeler

Mr. Mirainga (Click here for their MySpace Page)

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 14:35:32 -0500

Mr. Mirainga (Click here for their MySpace Page):

Mr. Mirainga. During my student years I was given a college radio station promo cassette of this band, and for some reason listened the hell out of. It was only a couple of tracks, including Loaded and Waterdog, both of which were memorable - especially the one about the dog - well, memorable to me anyhow. Rockin’, fun, a little punky whiny and not too ashamed of it. In thinking about ‘reconsiderations’ I located their self-titled full-length on Amazon, released in 96 a year or two after the demo with both of those tracks, and I plan to give it a shot. Maybe you should too! It looks like they had a song in Ace Ventura II, but you should listen to them anyway. :)

by Martin DeRiso

We want YOU!!!

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:06:00 -0500

We want YOU!!!:

To tell us all about your favorite over-looked under-hyperd, most-ignored bands and records. Join out Facebook Group “Reconsiderations”

Or drop me a line here at the blog!

The Edsel Auctioneer - The Good Time Music of... (Click here to listen on Spotify)

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:51:05 -0500

The Edsel Auctioneer - The Good Time Music of... (Click here to listen on Spotify):

Another great, under-hyped band. Check out the album “Simmer”. “Slouch” is my favorite track. These guys rocked live: loud, great harmonies. Like mixing Wedding Present with Dinosaur Jr or something…Really great.

by Dan Tedesco

(I realize he called for a different album, but I could only find a link to this one. No one said this blog was perfect, get off’n my back!!! -Ed.)

The Hair And Skin Trading Company - Over-valence (Click here to listen on Spotify)

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:34:44 -0500

The Hair And Skin Trading Company - Over-valence (Click here to listen on Spotify):

(Our in-house counsel is short on words! Here’s what he had to say! - Ed.)

One of my favorite, under appreciated albums.

by Dan Tedesco

Prefab Sprout - Jordan: The Comeback (Click here to listen on Spotify)

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:44:00 -0500

Prefab Sprout - Jordan: The Comeback (Click here to listen on Spotify):

Here’s an album that I always thought lived a little to far below the radar here in the US. Released in 1990, it’s DDD (digitally recorded, mixed and mastered), produced by Thomas Dolby, who had previously worked with the band on their second album ‘Steve McQueen’ (released in the US as ‘Two Wheels Good’ after a C&D from McQueen’s estate).

As an exercise in how good something can sound this album is in the upper strata. Tight, crisp, lush, full are just a few of the terms that fit. Plus, if you’re a fan of flowery, sometimes sappy lyrics you’ll love this record. “We Let the Stars Go” can easily raise goose bumps. A true Pop gem.

by Bruce Wheeler

Join in the conversation

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:26:59 -0500

Hit us up on Facebook at our Reconsiderations Group or follow us on Twitter. Pick a forgotten record and we’ll all listen again!

The Thrills - 2002-2007 (Click here to listen on Spotify)

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:05:48 -0500

The Thrills - 2002-2007 (Click here to listen on Spotify):

I had a different record slated for my next post but by pure chance I took a listen to this compilation album this morning while I was working out and as a result I offer a slight departure in that rather than an overlooked album, I present to you an overlooked band…The Thrills.

Dublin’s The Thrills put out 3 records between ’03 and ’07. It was weird, that an Irish band was recreating the Beach Boys in a way that suggested early 70’s independent cinema. Take a listen to a song like Santa Cruz or Big Sur and you’ll see what I mean. It sounds like sunny, beachy, California, definitely not dizzily old Dublin town.
There’s a real cinematic quality to what they guys did too. “Hollywood Kids” sounds like Ali MacGraw’s face looked in “Love Story”. You love it, it touches you but you can’t touch it! It’s the aural definition of longing.

They really were on to something. You can tell from the songs that represent the second album “Let’s Bottle Bohemia” this dichotomy of sunny tunes about aging and loss continues. “Not For All The Love In The World” has a devastating opening line (You show your age when you drown your rage, but I see past those laughter lines). Faded Beauty Queens and The Irish Keep Gate Crashing are two other particular faves of mine, again sun drenched beauty over a twinge of sorrow.

By “Teenager” the final record it becomes clear that The Thrills really have only one gear. That’s the sad thing. They never took any chances outside of doing what they’d already done, which while bold at the start, eventually became safe. But they still did what they do fantastically. “I Came All This Way” and “Restaurant” are really excellent tunes. My wife even likes “Restaurant” and she hates everything I listen to!

The bottom line is, sure The Palace Brothers did a similar thing, and to a lesser extent Girls do it now (although they throw in a bit more Pink Floyd in the mix) but if you’d really like a good slice of California sunshine via Ireland, you could do a crapload worse than The Thrills.

Give it a shot!

by Mike Patterson

Todd Rundgren - Faithful (Click here to listen on Spotify)

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:57:54 -0500

Todd Rundgren - Faithful (Click here to listen on Spotify):

Here’s a mid-70’s release from Todd where on the A-side he attempts to somewhat “faithfully” reproduce 6 of his favorite songs from Hendrix, Dylan, the Beach Boys and others, and on the B-side he presents 6 of his own new tracks (a few of which are now considered Rundgren classics).

Todd always has and still tends to confound his fans and the critics by pretty much doing whatever he feels like at any given time. Critics seemed to like the B-side but couldn’t understand why the A-side was all covers that seemed to have no collective theme. Todd had supposedly approached these covers in the way a classical conductor might approach a symphonic piece: something known to the audience that had been performed many times before and figuring how to interpret the piece without changing it. Enjoy!

by Bruce Wheeler

Geggy Tah - Sacred Cow (Click here to listen on Spotify)

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 07:50:03 -0500

Geggy Tah - Sacred Cow (Click here to listen on Spotify):

Sometimes having a (semi) hit single can shift focus away from the album that song comes from. Released on Luaka Bop in 1996, Geggy Tah’s “Sacred Cow” featured the song & video for “Whoever You Are” (aka “You let me change lanes, while I was riving in my car”), a funky tribute to the rarely-seen courteous driver. But whether you found that song danceable or irritating (It received a second gust of life in a car commercial years later), the album that contained it slipped under the radar of a lot of people. The second release by Geggy Tah ( singer/writer Tommy Jordan and keyboard/guitarist Greg Kurtsin…later of Action Figure Party, and currently in The Bird and The Bee) was a better produced record improving on their lo-fi funky debut “Grand Opening”. Besides the single, the album was a fun, lighthearted mix of song styles, silly lyrics, with some excellent musicianship (drummer Daren Hahn joined the line-up for the record). From Funky (“Whoever You Are”) to pop-punkish (“Lotta Stuff”), from quirky love songs to pets (“Gina”) to pushing out towards prog-rock (“Sacred Cow”, “Century Plant 2000”) to mixing up all of the above (“Las Vegas With The Lights Out”). Sacred Cow is a unique record that is definitely worth giving a few follow-up spins.

by Jeff Smith

The B-52's - Bouncing Off Satellites (Click here to listen on Grooveshark)

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 13:56:00 -0500

The B-52's - Bouncing Off Satellites (Click here to listen on Grooveshark):

This album is not on Spotify (though you can get it on iTunes) (and we found it on Grooveshark as as well - Ed.) and definitely isn’t as “rock” as any of these other records, but I was thinking about this one this morning and think it deserves a mention. Strangely, this was the first B-52’s I ever heard - I was in high school, visiting some older friends in Indiana and they played it constantly. I thought it was bliss. Released in 1986, it never got any attention and, in fact, many B-52’s fans have never heard of it, all due to tragedy. Ricky Wilson, the guitarist for the band died of AIDS during the recording of it, never having told his bandmates that he was even sick. They were so devastated that they never toured for the record and so it never made a blip on music’s radar. And yet, this record has some absolute gems on it - the first track (“Summer of Love”) sometimes gets some play, and then the next two, “Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland” and “Housework” are just pure, goofy, B-52’s. The second side was not my favorite, but the final track, “She Breaks for Rainbows” is a beautiful one. It’s still - and probably always will be - my “go-to” record when I need to do some cleaning around the house and just bop around with my mop and broom and it’s the last of the original B-52’s sound before they became overplayed on pop radio and over-performed by bad karaoke singers.

by Susan Perkins