Various

Tracks And Fields (2004)

Jesse Raub

Well, this came out in April via Kill Rock Stars, and sent a barrage of boring indie rock our way in the form of a two-CD sampler featuring previously unreleased and rare tracks. I guess it's part of a trilogy, like one they put out in the 90s. Combined, there are a total of 41 tracks on this release. Get ready for a much too long bore-a-thon. A lot of you are going to hate this review. All capitalization is preserved from the press sheet.

TRACKS:
1)The Legend! - I'm Not Like That - boring.
2)Antietam - This Lush Life - boring.
3)his name is alive - peace in detroit - this is groovy old style soul shit, like Marvin Gaye, in fact, the vocal line follows the same rhythm as "Inner City Blues." Make me wanna holler, the way they do my life. This ain't livin' this ain't livin'. Just like this song isn't Marvin Gaye, so it's not worth listening to.
4)Superchunk - Everyone Gets Crushed - sounds like Blur. Boring.
5)Bro. Danielson - Our Givest - boring.
6)dos - Make Her Me - boring.
7)Gas Huffer - Release the Robots - with name like Gas Huffer, you better bring 100% rock. They bring 83% rock.
8)John Wilkes Booze - We've Got Room in Outer Space - the singer reminds me of the dude from The Frogs. Starts out fun. Gets boring.
9)The Capricorns - Steve and Tiffanie - inde/electronica is boring. The genre was murdered by The Postal Service. Deal with it and start a new band.
10) Cynthia Dall - Eric's Song - down tempo acoustic that sucks until the banjo comes in. Then it starts to suck when the banjo starts getting out of tune.
11) Lovers - Birds In the Sky - boring.
12)xiu xiu - clowne towne (live) - Finally, something good. Hearing Jamie play live is great. That boy is one wussy emotional dude, but in a good way. It's just singing and electric guitar. Still good.
13)GRAVY TRAIN!!!! - Ghost Boobs (LIVE at BATWADDICALS) - again with the fucking indie/electronica. It's not cool because it's ironic. It's not ironic. Boring.
14)The Buff Medways - Pink 14 - They try to rock, but they don't. Boring.
15)THE CHARADES - THE ONLY ONE - BORING.
16)The Wiretaps - TV Life - boring.
17)Brooke - inside out - Right, this is exactly what we need. A girl, and acoustic guitar, and a song titled "inside out." There's a reason why you're not as popular as Ani - you're not as good. Boring.
18)Young People - Version Valley - This shit is fucked up. And good. A lot of blank space and bells and noise with nice soothing female vocals singing something like an olde Irish tune.
19)Jucifer - Amplifier (live) - This tries to rock, but it doesn't. Boring.
20)total sound group direct action committee - wake me when i'm over - All I have to say is: jazz organ. And swagger. Jazz organ and swagger. I like it.
21)the king cobra - this town ain't big enough for the both of us - boring.
22)Semiautomatic - Search & Seizure - boring.
23)alaska! - R U Listenin - In response to the song title: No.

FIELDS:
1)SHOPLIFTING - HEGEMONY ENEMY - BORING.
2)Biography of Ferns proudly presents: John The Barber - What Belle and Sebastian would sound like if they got better. I dig.
3)RADIO BERLIN - Bright Things - this tries to sound like Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan." And that was a much better song. Good ol' Lenny.
4)Measles Mumps Rubella - Fantastic Success II - worst band name ever.
5)Slumber Party - Electronic Boots Remix: Brown Rice vs. Young Soul Rebels Sound System - fucking indie/electronica.
6)sleetmute nightmute- walking backwards - besides having an extremely awkward name to pronounce, these folks bring crazy freakout noise making. Crazy and enjoyable to a point. Then it becomes boring.
7)need new body- ggaannkk - noises and pianos and repetitive drumming recorded through a tin can. This might be even too pretentious for me. Nope, it's not. It's good.
8)Male Slut - industrial noise blues - sucks. AND boring.
9)the pAperchAse - i'm your doctor now" - eh. It's decent.
10)Devendra O Banhart - Poughkeepsi (Demo) - this is great. It's olde-timey 1920s crooning with acousitc guitar. Fucking amazing.
11)Laura Veirs - Icebound Stream - boring.
12)Thanksgiving - The "In The Lake" - never name your band after a holiday.
13)nedelle - begin to breathe - see: brooke above.
14)Sahara Hotnights - Rockaway Beach - it's like The Bangles on Speed playing a rip-off of "Rock n' Roll High School." Instead of "rock rock, rock n' roll high school" it's "rock rock, rockaway beach." Meh. I liked it better as a Ramones song.
15)Sweet Heat - Oh Johnny - boring.
16)C Average - Stalwart (Main Title) - boring AND long.
17)Dead Meadow - Golden Cloud (acoustic) - hippies suck.
18)The Decemberists - Everthing I Try To Do, Nothing Seems To Turn Out Right - like a dumbed down Death Cab For Cutie with an organ. He talks about dirty filthy sex in the song a lot. That's pretty cool.

And there you have it. 41 tracks, and only about three of them are worth hearing. This review took way too long to write, and these CDs took way too long to listen to.