Haven't received Jes' discs, but I don't think that's any cause for alarm yet. Here's some haphazard feedback on umfum's and dcom's. Not listening to the discs at the moment so I'm sure I'll forget some things I wanted to say.
Wombat Songs
This one gets high marks indeed. All of the tracks sound like the artists had a good time recording them.
Silverchair -- back in high school I didn't like these guys because someone told me they had no talent. Now that I don't have to care what anyone thinks, I can allow myself to enjoy this song. Still probably wouldn't buy the album, though.
Frenzal Rhomb -- never heard any of their stuff before. I like it.
Greg Champion -- such a matter-of-fact way to dis somebody. Excellent.
Machine Gun Fellatio -- a highlight.
Custard -- the irony of singing that music is crap is just icing. The cake is a kick-ass tune.
Illergic -- I also have problems with this track. The CD player in Windows stops at the beginning of it and shows "-1:59". If I skip forward a few seconds, the timer displays correctly and the rest of the track plays normally. Haven't tried it in other players.
Tripod -- it's funny 'cause it's true.
Scared Weird Little Guys -- probably also funny 'cause it's true, not that I would know. Anyways I like it.
The Whitlams -- just a fun song.
Rapestry
Here's the thing. I feel about rap songs the same way I feel about people. I like them in theory, but most of those I've met suck. That is, I think rap is a really cool style of music, but I'm not at all interested in hearing people brag about their hos, money, drugs, guns, cars, etc. Most of the tracks on Rapestry either avoid doing this or do it well enough that I don't mind. So I like this disc. And the extra tracks for flavor definitely add to the experience.
Sugarhill Gang -- never heard this before but I understand it's a classic. Very catchy.
Grandmaster Flash -- I don't like the song so much, but I think it's probably a good portrayal.
Run-DMC -- I like pretty much every one of their songs that I've heard. There's a good possibility that I like this group.
Sir Mix-a-Lot -- liking this song is required by law. Now that I give it a close listen, it's very good technically as well, I think.
Ice Cube -- another classic in its genre. One of the ones that talks about the stuff I don't like in a way that I do.
Arrested Development -- have this album on cassette somewhere. I prefer their other single, Mr. Wendell, but this one's good too.
S.N.A.W.
This one doesn't avoid the things I don't like about rap as well. Still some good tracks, though.
Vanilla Ice -- had no idea it was him. He's good at, um, hiding the fact that he used to be a poser, I guess. Well, maybe he's still a poser. I don't care. This track is alright. I much prefer his new incarnation.
2 Dope -- this is one of the guys from Insane Clown Posse, right? I've heard bad things about them, but this track seems alright. Got to appreciate the message in the refrain.
Roots Manuva -- skillful.
KRS-One -- I'd heard good things about him; seems they were justified.
Yukmouth -- this one certainly has its moments, but ultimately I had hoped for more from the marriage of opera and rap.
Track 15 -- I don't really see that it's better or worse than the rest of the disc.
The tracks near the end have something I like that the others don't, but I can't put my finger on it. A funk influence, perhaps.
Twang, Violence, and Chicken
Another fine umfumdisi production.
Uncle Tupelo -- seems like a band I could get to like. Preferred their track from the last swap, though.
Johnny Cash -- I'm going to take a deep breath and commit heresy. I've heard several Johnny Cash songs over the course of these CD swaps, and I think the verdict is that I just don't like Johnny Cash. His covers sound like bad jokes. His originals are better, but not a style that I like. Some people seem to think highly of him but he just doesn't do anything for me. Please follow all fire safety regulations when flaming me.
Hole -- brings me back to high school.
Drowning Pool -- perhaps not surprisingly, my favorite song from this disc. What's funny is that, like one of my favorite songs from umfum's previous swap contribution, this track reminds me of Incubus, who umfum says he doesn't like. I'm not fanatical about them myself, but I'll probably get around to putting one of their songs on a swap disc one of these days.
Metallica -- Not really a Metallica fan, but this song's alright. Like the title.
Family Guy -- gotta love it.
Lyle Lovett -- don't gotta love it.
Dixie Chicks -- I can see why they're popular. Not a fan of the advocating murder thing, but, you know, it's just a song.
Velvet Underground -- a short story spoken over music. Good stuff, but the only problem is it loses something with repeated listening.
Definitely feel like I'm forgetting stuff I want to say. May be back with additions later.
On the whole I definitely enjoyed these discs. Thanks for sending them, guys.
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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!
