I went through a bit of an Elvis-adjacent hyperfixation last summer, probably because I really like the actress Riley Keough, who is his granddaughter. I watched the movie “Priscilla” and read the book “Elvis and Me”. Both were about his first/ex-wife Priscilla Presley, who he essentially groomed from a teenager and kinda held captive at Graceland while they were in a relationship. This album came out at the same time around the same time when Priscilla and Elvis’ daughter was a baby. Anyway, you can see why Elvis was a lauded entertainer of that era, but knowing his social history makes you think about his music with a certain lens, and the impacts his musical career and choices as an adult had on his music and the people in his life. I also knew the song “In the Ghetto” from New Girl, in the episode where they hire an Elvis impersonator for Nick’s dad’s funeral and then the impersonator gets drunk and can’t perform. Jess ends up dressing up as Elvis and performing a couple of Elvis songs, including “In the Ghetto”. Anyway, it’s a great episode IMO.

Legit never heard of this band or (so I thought) never heard a single song by them, but it turns out they have one song that went viral on TikTok/IG (Blue Monday) so I’ve heard that one. This album feels very quintessential 80s dance but IMO pales in comparison to other similar artists of the era. Regardless, it’s always interesting to listen to something brand new to you that isn’t remotely brand new but once was good for me!

This made me feel like I was at a daytime folk fest stage. What a good time! I liked that some of the album was in French and some in Lingala. Enjoyed the beats and at time, random sounds. Very fun. Would listen again.

Bitter Sweet Symphony is iconic but otherwise this one didn’t really resonate with me too much. I enjoyed that the last song “Come On” has a hidden track at the very end…. if you keep it playing, goes from silent to kind of an ethereal melody with a baby crying sound at around 13:45 for a little over a minute.

This was an interesting album. Lots of different sounds. It wouldn’t ever be high up on my list of favourites but I’d probably re-listen just to spend more time with the lyrics, like on Lazarus “Look up here, I’m in heaven.”

So clearly a protest album and I really enjoyed listening to it! Musically the guitar is very strong but it’s a bit repetitive in that sense. I feel like it gave a good picture of a certain subculture of that era and clearly influenced a lot of the rock I listened to in the 2000s

Good beats. Definitely not what I expected. Give the album’s Wikipedia page a read if you haven’t!

We were listening to this with some people staying with us for a few days and one of them kept asking, “which album is this now?” and we just kept saying, it’s still the same one. Maybe I should relisten to get a better sense but I think this one was just too varied and weird for me.

Great folk album! You can tell he was the inspiration for many folk greats that came afterwards

Hahaha this was fun. Nice high school throwback. Except I didn’t own this CD so I’d never heard many of the songs on this album, which I’d say overall is solid for what it is. In da club is obviously amazing but I also liked What Up Gangsta, and the baby seemed to like that one too so that was fun.

Super solid album

Not a fan. Super repetitive

I was a big fan of Brit rock in the early mid-2000s (think Arctic Monkeys, Frank Ferdinand) and other groups inspired by The Strokes (The Killers, etc.) so while I don’t think I’d ever actually heard this album by The Strokes, it felt super familiar to me all the way through. I enjoyed it a lot! Would listen again.

meh

Thought this one was interesting! Very lyrical story telling. Wish we could give half stars but I’ll round up.

First song I think, “oh this I a cover of jump on it. No wait, jump on it must sample it. Okay cool.” Me - going to the bathroom Kori, through the door: “this album is great” Agreed

Solid

Probably need a relisten but I think the vibes were good?

Beck played at the Interstellar Rodeo festival in Winnipeg in 2017. I didn’t go that year, I went in 2016. That was the last year of Interstellar Rodeo and the host cited the festival’s failure was due to free concerts that also took place at The Forks, which might be true but in the pandemic someone tried to host a boutique festival at The Forks in 2022 that also didn’t fare well. Maybe people just don’t want to pay for stuff at The Forks. Thankfully this album is better than the ultimate outcome of Interstellar Rodeo and my story. I liked the strings on Paper Tiger, and happily listens to this album twice today!

I liked the piano. Shameika sounds lovely.

This was hard to find to listen to, and then I didn’t really like it

Honestly I haven’t had the same ability to really focus on what’s been playing in the past few days so I think this was good

Kori’s review is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. He’s having technical difficulties. I wonder if it’s because we lost 7 hours of our lives in the past couple days. I have actually listened to this album before! It was mentioned in a book called “Messy” by Tim Harford. Keith Jarrett showed up to perform this concert and was faced with a piano that was out of tune or broken or something and this was the masterpiece he managed to create. You can actually hear him kind of moaning and expressing the effort he’s exerting to bang out the melodies on the keys. I give it five stars as well.

It’s just the same the whole time. If I was rating a single song I could maybe rate it higher but it’s not

“Sounds like Toy Story” -me

“ I don’t get jazz. It all sounds the same. I mean it’s nice. But it all sounds the same.” - Kori Agreed

This one didn’t really move me in any direction. We had it on in the car as we were driving around yesterday and it was fine. Likely won’t listen again but not a bad listen.

I liked the sound a lot. Would listen again

Good listen. I liked the first song a lot which was clearly sampled by George Thorougood!

Okay I guess? Didn’t really stick out in my mind.

Not a huge fan of this genre of folk music

Enjoyed this album from the least problematic Jackson.

I didn’t mind the beginning but then it got metally at some point and I was done