Clean Up Clean Up, Everybody Do Their Share, Pt. 3

It's a regular fall-cleaning; I'm just about halfway through my music collection, getting rid of things I haven't listened to in a while and probably won't ever again.

Part 1 (A-F)
Part 2 (G-L)

Maroon Five, Songs About Jane -- This is another in the line of AAA-style songs that get stuck in my head. "This Love" is one of the best pop songs of the decade, but I don't need the album cluttering up my hard drive when I know I can turn on the radio and still, five years later, hear the song within the next hour or two.

Matmos, The Civil War -- Matmos is one of those artists that sounds very interesting, what with the unusual instruments and the working with Bjork and whatnot. But, you know, electronica. So out it goes.

By the way, I just spent close to an hour searching the web because I was sure that Matmos had done an album in the '90s where he commissioned songs at $1,000 a piece for inclusion on an album. But I couldn't find anything abut it! Then later I was idly surfing and happened upon a blog with a bunch of entries about The Replacements, and it turns out to have been written by someone I went to high school with! So I'm reading a bit more and he mentions Momus, who turns out to be the artist I was confusing with Matmos.

It's a strange and beautiful world.

Menomena, I Am the Fun Blame Monster -- Interesting experimental loop-based stuff that deserves a wider audience. Maybe someone will Google these guys someday and this page will come up, in which case I say if you're into this type of music, these guys may be among the best purveyors of it. Enjoy.

Mercury Rev, Yerself Is Steam -- As much as I appreciate The Flaming Lips, I rarely choose their albums when I'm looking for something to listen to. However, when their stuff comes up on shuffle (which it does more than I might expect, I listen and enjoy it. Still, I have little patience for bands influenced by them, since as a rule they don't have that certain something that the Lips have.

Ms. John Soda, While Talking -- A brief note to whoever it was who gave me all this electronica and electropop (I think it was Terri): I appreciate it, I really do. The fact that I'm getting rid of it should be no reflection on you or your musical tastes. I gave it all a nice, long time to see if I liked it, and I just don't.

Nouvelle Vague, Nouvelle Vague -- They're a gimmick band, though an interesting one. After you listen to "Too Drunk to Fuck" done bossa nova style, though, and say "that's interesting," do you really need to listen to it again? I don't.

The Pipettes, We Are the Pipettes -- I wanted to like this one, but as I said earlier I like my music as irony-free as possible. When I have the urge to listen to new retro 60s style music, I'll put on The Dap Kings.

Probot, Probot -- I only have this because it's a Dave Grohl project. I'm sure he had a blast recording with all his heavy metal heroes, but I'm not a big metal guy.

Propellerheads, Decksandrumsandrockandroll -- Maybe I just need to put together a mix of all the track ones of these electronic albums. "Take California" is a lot of fun, but I lose interest in the album about a minute into "Velvet Pants."

The Pussycat Dolls, PCD -- "Don't Cha" was written by Cee-Lo, based on a Sir Mix-A-Lot song, and features a verse by Busta Rhymes. As a result, it is awesome. The rest of the album has way too much pre-packaged girl group, and not enough Cee-Lo, Mix, or Busta. As a result, it sucks.

Shellac, Excellent Italian Greyhound -- Not nearly as interesting in 2007 as it was 1994.

Skye Sweetnam, Noise From the Basement -- This was supposed to be some sort of like-a-teen-idol-but-good record; apparently she wrote all the songs herself, you see, so she was so much more than your typical Avril Lavigne or Mandy Moore. Thing is, it's not very good, especially when put up against, for example, Nellie McKay's records.

Starflyer 59, Old -- No idea.