Who's Listening To The Stream?

[Manchalivin]

Odette is awesome. It's even better on the second or third listen. Could be very close to best on record.

 

I like the line "unemployment line stretched to the desert".

Edited July 2, 2007 by Manchalivin

[anitanium]

I love The Boy Come Home

 

perfect road trip song

[jc25]

This is too good, I have discovered that Matt simply doesn't upset

i gotta stop listening though

[AnOceanPearl]

Am I the only one who really likes A Single Explosion? I mean I know it's the first track Matt streamed from the site, but I still can't get enough of it.

 

I've listened one time all the way through and about halfway through here at work. An mazing album, can't wait for it!

I love that song so much.

[timotheory]

I don't understand how people can't like "Metal Airplanes." It's probably one of my favorites.

[Crusader]

hospital music just dropped to #4 again ;)

[Prometheon]

IMO, this album would be perfect if we could do

 

-Metal Airplanes, + Breath of a Nation

-True Love Will Find You In the End, +Hurt

-Firebird, +Tidal Wave

+Can't Get Shot

[Monochrome Rainbow]

hospital music just dropped to #4 again ;)

It's now #3!

[Gomo]

IMO, this album would be perfect if we could do

 

-Metal Airplanes, + Breath of a Nation

-True Love Will Find You In the End, +Hurt

-Firebird, +Tidal Wave

+Can't Get Shot

I disagree with every one of those points. Tidal Wave is ok, but it doesn't really fit the scheme of the album in my opinion. Can't Get Shot is a b-side through and through. People seem to hate taht Hurt cover around here, and I was never enthralled with Breath of a Nation.

[LordBimbly]

I kind of like it. I think lyrically it's pretty great, but musically it's uninteresting. Which Matt has bordered on for awhile anyway. I wish he would challenge himself musically, I find a lot of the melodies just sound like stock Matt Good.

 

Edited to add there are certain exceptions. Born Losers and Devils In The Details are a bit more engaging then some of the others. I'm A Window as well.

Edited July 4, 2007 by LordBimbly

[Shiri]

I tend to agree with that.

[Some Random]

i'd like to trade the two cover songs for two originals, please.

[ChadyzGroove]

i'd like to trade the two cover songs for two originals, please.

moon over marin is great, true love will find you in the end on the other hand...

 

although it is a great title for a song right after she's in it for the money to bad it couldn't have been something orignal

[Shiri]

I understand why he wanted to put True Love Will Find You In The End as an album closer and the end statement after the bitterness that lies in some of the other songs' lyrics, it's really kind of sweet when you think about it. But that still doesn't make it a good song or a cover. To be honest, I never liked any cover Matt ever did, they tend to be sort of boring. So yeah, I agree with Chris, two covers for two originals.

[Gomo]

I always thought he improved greatly on Enjoy the Silence. The tempo of that song is just so much better in Matt's version imho.

 

As for the covers on this album, I agree that True Love is an appropriate way to end it and while it may not seem spectacular we all know that Matt's kinda finding truth in music through simplicity these days so....it's what he wanted and it'll probably grow on us.

 

I like Matt's Moon Over Marin, but the original is indeed better. They're so different I'm not sure it's worth comparing them though. The inclusion of it on Hospital Music seems extremely random, but I'm not all that upset about it or anything.

 

If anything I was a little surprised that he chose to include a song that was 2 years old on HM, that being Black Helicopter. It's a good song, but it obviously wasn't very new.

Edited July 5, 2007 by Gomo

[Vance]

I'm really surprised to hear as much criticism on here. I'm usually one to be critical and I think this album is amazing. Sure there are a few songs that might take some getting use to, but if you focus on a few of the ones that are great right from the start like odette, 99%, Black hellicopter, champions of nothing, she's in it for the money, I think this is clearly some of his best work ever.

[Some Random]

i think his songs are great. i'm just greedy. i'd rather hear two more of his own works than a decent cover of a dead kennedy's song [no cover of that could ever be great, just cuz biafra's voice, and east bay's 'voice' (his distinct guitar sound) is part of what makes the original so awesome], and a cover of a shit song by a shit composer (my opinion, remember...i'm not stating johnston's shittiness as fact).

[AnOceanPearl]

i think his songs are great. i'm just greedy. i'd rather hear two more of his own works than a decent cover of a dead kennedy's song [no cover of that could ever be great, just cuz biafra's voice, and east bay's 'voice' (his distinct guitar sound) is part of what makes the original so awesome], and a cover of a shit song by a shit composer (my opinion, remember...i'm not stating johnston's shittiness as fact).

Daniel Johnston is most definitely an acquired taste in my opinion.

[haircut-rabbit]

I kind of like it. I think lyrically it's pretty great, but musically it's uninteresting. Which Matt has bordered on for awhile anyway. I wish he would challenge himself musically, I find a lot of the melodies just sound like stock Matt Good.

 

Edited to add there are certain exceptions. Born Losers and Devils In The Details are a bit more engaging then some of the others. I'm A Window as well.

I couldn't disagree more.

 

I doubt that he did, but if there were any songs added to Hospital Music at the request of the record label because of a lack of single-worthy material, it'd be those three.

To me they would be the epitomy of "stock Matt Good melodies", if there is such a thing. That's not to say I don't think those songs are amazing... but they don't seem to hold a candle to the other stuff on the album.

[AnOceanPearl]

I couldn't disagree more.

 

I doubt that he did, but if there were any songs added to Hospital Music at the request of the record label because of a lack of single-worthy material, it'd be those three.

To me they would be the epitomy of "stock Matt Good melodies", if there is such a thing. That's not to say I don't think those songs are amazing... but they don't seem to hold a candle to the other stuff on the album.

I don't think there was any request from the label for more "single" type songs. Born Losers and I'm A Window were both on the teaser picture Matt took of the original tracklist for the album.

[Emu]

I kind of like it. I think lyrically it's pretty great, but musically it's uninteresting. Which Matt has bordered on for awhile anyway. I wish he would challenge himself musically, I find a lot of the melodies just sound like stock Matt Good.

I tend to agree with this. Anyone here who plays guitar and knows a handful of MG songs will likely be more inclined to feel the same way, I'd think.

 

Matt Good formula: Play the chords Am, C, G, F in some random order. Add an F# for good measure if the song is supposed to be sad. Then have a piano solo of the same 3 notes, or a guitar solo of hammer-ons and you're done.

 

I'm just being over-sarcastic obviously, the album is growing on me like crazy... but still, I'd like to see him learn some new chord progressions for his next album.

[timotheory]

The album's growing on me like crazy. Every song has it's moments, in my opinion. And at first I thought the order of the tracks was way off, but after a few listens, I think it's perfect. "True Love..." at the end is awesome. It really is a very sad and emotional album. I'm liking it a lot.

[cweb]

the album has its moments. i've listened to the whole thing through about 4 times, and bits of it more than that. it really does grow on you.

 

"True Love..." is a good end note for the album. it really isn't that flashy of a song on it's own, and it's not something i would play out of context- but it does seem to tie everything together on a complex end note, the kind of ambiguity you'd expect from Matt.

[haircut-rabbit]

I don't think there was any request from the label for more "single" type songs. Born Losers and I'm A Window were both on the teaser picture Matt took of the original tracklist for the album.

I wasn't implying that they did.

[LordBimbly]

I couldn't disagree more.

 

I doubt that he did, but if there were any songs added to Hospital Music at the request of the record label because of a lack of single-worthy material, it'd be those three.

To me they would be the epitomy of "stock Matt Good melodies", if there is such a thing. That's not to say I don't think those songs are amazing... but they don't seem to hold a candle to the other stuff on the album.

I see what you're saying in a way. Still, I don't see how being musically interesting is synonymous with 'selling out' or whatever.

 

What I mean by stock is uninspired. As great as a lot of the songs on this record are lyrically, they bore me musically. I don't mean they all have to be up beat though.

 

I really like Elliott Smith, and he frequently coupled great words with musically interesting progressions or what have you. He certainly couldn't be described as upbeat, and he pulled it off.

 

I think Matt can pull it off too, but I wish he'd challenge himself. Like, the F-AM (or whatever it is) in Champions of Nothing for 10 minutes doesn't do a thing for me, no matter what he's saying. I'd rather read it as poetry.

Edited July 7, 2007 by LordBimbly