The Official Needles and Grooves 1001 Album Generator Project

Lee Newman said:
This week is mostly shaping up to be Lee you are a bad music nerd week. Sparks, King Crimson, and now Beta Band all music I should be more familiar with than I am.
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My biggest regret from the one time I saw Radiohead was relying on a friend for a ride who was always notoriously late, which led to us missing the entirety of Beta Band's opening set. 😢
 
Lee Newman said:
Seems like a chilled out version of The Books. DJ Shadow for the indie set.
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The 3 EPs were just brilliant. Came from nowhere and blew everyone’s collective minds. The high fidelity scene was spot on. I never felt that they ever quite managed to repeat that alchemy on an album.

The books are shit. That album was boring people trying to sound interesting.
 
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TenderLovingKiller® said:
Nah. The Books are brilliant. Wonderful comedown ambiance.
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We’re going to have to agree to disagree there.

I remember first coming onto the old forum and it being this weird album that was revered and hated in equal measures for how zany and original it was and then I listened to it and just didn’t understand either point of view. It felt like the musical equivalent of a geography teacher.
 
Joe Mac said:
We’re going to have to agree to disagree there.

I remember first coming onto the old forum and it being this weird album that was revered and hated in equal measures for how zany and original it was and then I listened to it and just didn’t understand either point of view. It felt like the musical equivalent of a geography teacher.
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Oh man I am with you on the geography teacher. Just never clicked and luckily it also never stayed in my brain.
 
I remember that I got swooped up in the hype around the Beta Bands first e.p:s (which I loved), and I taped the first two e.p:s from a friend who actually had a turntable and had them on vinyl back then. Then, after "The 3 e.p:s" cd, the band just disappeared from my radar. I remember downloading "Hot Shots II" from Napster or Soulseek or whatever when it came out, but I actually don't think I've even listened to it before today.
It is okay I guess. But like a lot of other electronica/indie rock from that era, it feels a bit underwhelming. Espicially after Radiohead took a blowtorch to that whole genre combination with Kid A/Amnesiac and changed everything.
 
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I haven’t listened to this in a very long time. There’s a bit of writing I should do some day self examining why I am fine with some artists (GNR, Marilyn Manson - although less so now with him since it turns out he was actually a creep) and not others (Eminem) when they present despicable acts and thoughts. There’s a lot to unpack, a lot confronts my white priveledge.

Anyhow, I’ve never really liked Eminem. He is for sure a talented rapper, seriously. Dre brought it on the beats but Eminem just takes it all too far in my opinion.

It’s just too angry and that should be saying something coming from me.

I had other thoughts but I lost them because I realized I was listening to a censored version. Why is there a censored version? Like it’s not just the cursing that is problematic here.

Anyhow, it’s complicated. I respect the talent and skill here, but it’s not for me.
 
Lee Newman said:
1/12/24

View attachment 192626
Eminem - The Slim Shady LP



www.allmusic.com

Eminem - The Slim Shady LP Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic

Discover The Slim Shady LP by Eminem released in 1999. Find album reviews, track lists, credits, awards and more at AllMusic.
www.allmusic.com www.allmusic.com
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I think Eminem is very talented and Dr. Dre’s production is top notch. My biggest issue with Eminem is a “me” thing. I was in high school when Eminem blew up. My issue wasn’t so much with Em but with large percentage of Midwestern rural/suburban kids that idolized him. These were not the best and brightest these were mostly dumb loudmouth assholes. This made the enjoyment of his music difficult in that it wasn’t really something I wanted to be associated with, his music was inescapable during the late 90s/early 00s so I am very familiar with this album even though I never owned it myself. I don’t know if I could ever be fully objective in listening to this album but I understand why it’s well loved by many to this day.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
I think Eminem is very talented and Dr. Dre’s production is top notch. My biggest issue with Eminem is a “me” thing. I was in high school when Eminem blew up. My issue wasn’t so much with Em but with large percentage of Midwestern rural/suburban kids that idolized him. These were not the best and brightest these were mostly dumb loudmouth assholes. This made the enjoyment of his music difficult in that it wasn’t really something I wanted to be associated with, his music was inescapable during the late 90s/early 00s so I am very familiar with this album even though I never owned it myself. I don’t know if I could ever be fully objective in listening to this album but I understand why it’s well loved by many to this day.
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I have similar issues with him today, although the "dumb loudmouth assholes"-thing was less prominent in Sweden, at least with his first few albums. It is today, though.

This album came out when I started to explore popular culture more intellectually as I enrolled at the university and studied film, art, culture and media. Here was an artist who played with identities and personas in a pretty innovative way, and who satirised the double standards in our culture of violence and fame, while being painfully honest about his personal issues as well. In that way it fits perfectly in the cultural upheavals of the late 90s/early 2000's next to "media texts" like Charlie Kaufmans films, Fight Club and the first The Sims games.

I got fascinated by the whole act. Yes, he is a great rapper, and Dre's beats are awesome, but this album (and its' follow up) is more interesting as a media text to be analysed and discussed than musically for me. The song "Brain Damage" is a perfect example of this, as he blends autobiographical details about being bullied at school with scathing social satire about an indifferent adult world. In the last verse he then mixes in an outlandish revenge fantasy and seemingly turns it into an origin saga of his Slim Shady-persona. It's brilliant! But I do think most of his white angry young male suburban fans just didn't get the layers and underlying sense of humour on display here, and Em got shuffled away as just another "controversial" pop phenomenon.
 
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I'm familiar with this week's albums.

Lee Newman said:
Taylor Swift - 1989
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Fun. I admit, some tracks I really enjoy when they come on ("Style," "Wildest Dreams" "This Love").
There's filler here, like with any of hers ("I Wish You Would," "How You Get the Girl").
Probably rating this higher than I should...

Rating: 3/5 [Good]

Lee Newman said:
Sparks - Kimono My House
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A quality instance of early art pop.

Rating: 3.5/5 [Great]

Lee Newman said:
King Crimson - Lark's Tongues in Aspic
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I'm done with prog at this point. This is hard to tolerate now.

Rating: 1.5/5 [Bad]
Lee Newman said:
The Beta Band - Hot Shots II
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Fine.

Rating: 2/5 [Mediocre]

Lee Newman said:
Eminem - The Slim Shady LP
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Echoing the statements from Lee above. Used to like Eminem. No longer. His lyrical bent hasn't aged particularly well. With my recent exposure to the sea of hip hop past and present, there's far more compelling MCs.

Rating: 2/5 [Mediocre]
 
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