If you're 15 and hear "Black Girls" for the first time, your shit will be freaked out. That's a fantastically jarring song, even today.

Maybe this guy doesn't like American Music, though.

Same. They always put on a solid show. Play the hits, play expanded versions with new arrangements, play with intensity.

whoa. WHOA. Thank you, kind internet stranger.

Wait, what's the Grand Mal collection? I thought I was a Smith obsessive, but apparently not.

His earliest solo albums seem kinda ponderous/drifting to me now. But going back and relistening to XO and Figure 8, you find him figuring out complex arrangements and playing with pop song structures. I don't know how I never noticed a song like "Tomorrow, Tomorrow" before, but holy hell. That's a complex and…

I'm waiting for the day that the full Basement on the Hill tapes get a proper release. There's a lot more out there that his estate is sitting on. Until then…yeah, New Moon is impossibly good for an album full of unreleased material.

I was lucky enough to see him once in 2001, in support of Figure 8. From what I gather, it was probably among the last spate of shows he performed without trouble (ie, forgetting words, cutting songs off, etc). It was one of those rare shows where the audience just shut the fuck up and took in the music. I wish I…

One of Smith's best. And he never even released it in his lifetime. Just one of the many stunning songs he had sitting around.

To Hell With Good Intentions is the most eviscerating song of the 21st century. You hear it and you're like WHOA. FUCK ME, THEN.

"I Know It's Over" just kills. Just about a perfect song.

This album cover. It is not good.
The album it contains? It is one of the best of its era.

Pretty Pimpin' is a fascinating mobius strip of a song structure. This guy's quite a songwriter.

This is the best, most appropriate Hatesong ever done. You nailed it, Dan Andriano. Also, Maybe I'll Catch Fire is fucking wonderful.

I'm trying to put into words why both the Bachelor and this show are terrible, but this one is moreso. Maybe because it's trying to be something Important, while the Bachelor knows it is just pabulum and is ok with that?

"Really, then i must be an idiot"

Thank you, sir. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

Did you know their singer's name is Roddy Woomble? That's an amazing name. Roddy Woomble.

"American English" was always my favorite Idlewild song. Just putting it out there.

I've always loved "Joyride" from their singles collection. It's totally incongruous with the rest of BTS' catalog, but it's a lovely slice of fun, catchy, creative pop punk. I can't resist the part where he sings what chords he's about to play.