Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't be so hasty to judge....., 23 April 2004
By A Customer
OK, so neither of Lambchop's new long players evoke the same kind of magic as the lush country soul of "Nixon" and "What Another Man Spills" or the sparse melancholy of "Is A Woman" but given time they reveal themselves as fine albums in their own right. It just takes time and a bit of effort, as with all Lambchop music!Of the two, I'd say "Aw C'mon" is the stronger album- gorgeous tunes all over the shop, my personal favourites being "Something's Going On", "I Haven't Heard A Word I've Said", "Nothing But A Blur From A Bullet Train" and the amazing "Steve McQueen". Melancholy masterpieces, each and every one. Other highlights include the faltering lounge jazz of "Women Help To Create The Kind Of Men They Despise" and the damn funky "I Hate Candy". "No You C'mon" is a lighter affair than the fairly bleak "Aw C'mon"- the tunes are looser on the whole, the lyrics slightly more humorous and heck- even a bit of heavily distorted guitar creeps into a song or two ("Nothing Adventurous Please" being the main example of this- it rocks hard! Track 10, "The Gusher" even cobs the riff from the Black Sabbath standard "Paranoid"!). At the mellower end of the spectrum we get gems like "There's Still Time" and "The Problem". It seems a lot of fuss has been made over the inclusion of instrumental material on the albums, which I can't really understand. Admittedly, some of these tunes veer a little too closely to 'elevator music' or whatever you want to call it, but on closer inspection the likes of "The Lone Official" and "Sunrise" reveal themselves as great pieces of music. The key to enjoying these albums is to not be overwhelmed by the huge amount of material on offer- like I said, it takes a bit of time to fully appreciate everything here! Get used to one disc at a time, whatever it takes but please don't write them off as disappointing so soon- they're a pair of gems!
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28 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great double-set of prime Lambchop..., 3 Mar 2004
Aw C'Mon/No You C'Mon is in many ways the ultimate statement from Kurt Wagner & co- career peak thus far Nixon (2000) is advanced on, alongside the minimal-production of Is a Woman (2002)- co-producer Mark Nevers (Bonnie Prince Billy, Silver Jews)gives these two albums a wonderful sound. Wagner is rejoined by the complete Lambchop-band line-up (which was restricted on Is a Woman)& the odd Pernice brother as a guest. Setting himself the target of a song a day, Wagner has come up with a vast-set that takes a while to appreciate- due to length- but I think it's the strongest thing they've done so far (& I like their early material also- incidentally David Byrne has recently covered their song The Man Who Loved Beer!). Essentially this is Lambchop, we know what they sound like & they're one of those bands like Sonic Youth or Stereolab who don't really surprise...Or do they?- both these albums contain great instrumentals (Being Tyler, Sunrise) & more experimental material (Nothing Adventerous Please, Jan 24, Listen). There are too many tracks to really go into, I can assure you it's a grower and best appreciated at night- pretty much every Lambchop record has been a grower for me, songs like Grumpus and Caterpillar suddenly just capturing me a few listens in. Aw C'Mon is the darker album of the two- plenty of highlights as far as I'm concerned: Steve McQueen, Women Help to Create the Kind of Men They Despise (title!), Something's Going On...No C'Mon sees them employ serious guitar-assault (Nothing Adventerous Please) & offer up strange catchy-pop in the form of Shang a Dang Dang (the hit that Up With People should have been?). Plenty of great tracks, highlights so far include Listen, Slow Ambition, Sunrise & About My Lighter... Perhaps it would be fairer to do a more in-depth review in a few months time, this album is sinking deeper in with each subsequent listen. The musicianship, arrangements & production are great- & Kurt Wagner remains one of the greatest lyricists in these times. Those that loved Nixon, but found Is a Woman a bit too minimal should be pleased by the happy balance & progression from those two albums. I don't find either of these albums boring, they're packed with great songs that remind you how great Lambchop were, are and will be in the future. The double-set is great value at this price & I think this is going to be one of the great albums of 2004. So, C'mon and buy it!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing, 5 Jul 2004
Every bit as good as all their other albums, but in a different way which, if you love Lambchop because of either Nixon or Is A Woman, might take a number of listens to appreciate. I love both the aforementioned, but I also love all their earlier stuff (I Hope You're Sitting Down, How I Quit Smoking, Hank, Thriller, What Another Man Spills, (don't miss Vic Chesnutt collaboration Salesman & Bernadette)). Even Wagner's Morcheeba collaboration (on their "Charango") is exquisite.Don't be put off. As ever, a little effort with Lambchop will reap rich rewards. Just listen to Neihaus's sweet sweet pedal steel on Sunrise, if you think instrumentals don't work! As ever, Kurt Wagner is miles ahead of everyone, including us poor listeners, who need to Listen (!) to catch up.
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