| | They Might Be Giants Else CD They Might Be Giants Discography of CDs
 (3 Customer Reviews)
Initial Pressings Includes "Cast Your Pod To The Wind" Bonus Disc.
With 2007's THE ELSE, the alternative-pop duo They Might Be Giants adds yet another album to its remarkably prolific and varied career. Featuring gleefully odd artwork by lauded Canadian artist Marcel Dzama, the record presents a pleasantly assured batch of John Linnell and John Flansburgh's eclectic and quirky tunes, arguably making it the pair's best full-length outing since its early-1990s heyday.
In addition to working with frequent producer Pat Dillett, Linnell and Flansburgh enlisted the Dust Brothers (Beck) for some of these sessions, resulting in a fuller, edgier sound, as best exemplified by the electronica-tinged "Careful What You Pack" and the guitar-heavy "Feign Amnesia." While a number of THE ELSE's tracks are surprisingly straightforward, TMBG's signature whimsy is showcased on "The Cap'm," a harmony-laden tune, and the piano-led "Bee of the Bird of the Moth," a song that continues the act's fascination with both playful lyrics and the natural world. Essential for any devoted fan and thoroughly enjoyable for newcomers, THE ELSE reveals that Linnell and Flansburgh still have a bevy of tricks up their sleaves after more than two decades as They Might Be Giants.
They Might Be Giants: Dan Solder Miller (guitar); John Flansburgh (guitars); John Linnell (keyboards); Danny Weinkauf (bass guitar); Marty Beller (drums).
Additional personnel: Sharon Jones (vocals); Lyle Workman (guitar); Stan Harrison (saxophone); Jim O'Connor (trumpet); Dan Levine (trombone); Justin Meldal-Johnsen (acoustic bass); Mauro Refosco (percussion).Spin (p.109) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[With] witty lyrics and solid songwriting..."
Alternative Press (p.170) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "THE ELSE is a funky adventure in deliberate awkwardness."
Magnet (p.110) - "The Dust Brothers' production pushes the songs popwards with loops, textures and effects....The strongest songs here are seriously hilarious and hilariously serious..."
No Depression (p.104) - "Best of all is 'The Mesopotamians', which once again reveals the key influence of early '70s Saturday-morning cartoon theme songs." Else Music | List Price | $17.97 (You save $4.18) | | Category | Rock/Pop Albums, Rock CDs, Pop, Alternative | | Label | Idlewild / Rounder | | Orig Year | 2007 | | All Time Sales Rank |  37525  | | CD Universe Part number | 7446249 | | Catalog number | 431117 | | Discs | 1 | | Release Date | Jul 10, 2007 | | Studio/Live | Studio | | Mono/Stereo | Stereo | | Producer | They Might Be Giants; The Dust Brothers; Pat Dillett | | Engineer | Anthony Ruotolo; Yuki Takahashi; Patrick Billard; Jon Altschuler; Greg Thompson; Danny Kalb; Alan Ford; Pat Dillett | | Recording Time | 38 minutes | | Personnel | John Linnell - keyboards
John Flansburgh - guitars
Marty Beller - drums
Danny Weinkauf - bass guitar
Dan Solder Miller - guitar
Also: Sharon Jones, Stan Harrison, Lyle Workman, Justin Meldal-Johnsen, Dan "The Machine" Levine, Mauro Refosco, Jim O'Connor | | Additional Info | Bonus CD |
They Might Be Giants Else Songs Else Music Review Average Rating: (4.7 out of 5 stars)   It grew on me like the Spine and I got to love it
Musically this one is somewhat similar to the previous Spine CD, with a bunch of modern rock styles parodied, running from recent pop-punk to some late '60's rock. The lyrical targets this time range from political tyrants and conspiracy nuts to a wide gamut of mental delusions and illnesses. While the Spine loosely related topics to literal and metaphorical spines, this one seems to revel in poking fun at depression, amnesia, paranoia and delusion, not in a mean way but by pointing out the absurdities of life. And to top it all, there's one of their funny babushka doll within a doll type word play songs, bee of the bird of the moth, a total delight. All around a tour de force, but it took me about 5 listenings to get to like it. Once I got what they were up to this time, I loved it.
Submitted by Andrew M. (Santa Rosa, CA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
 TMBG are right on with this title
Like every TMBG disc this one really delivers classic sound we've come to expect.
Submitted by eris08 (Bath, ME)
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Classic TMBG
They're all great catchy very "TMBG" tunes. My fav in awhile.
Submitted by beege_man (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
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Purchase Else CD To buy, Click on price to add to cart | Chills Kaleidoscope World CD (1986) (Import) Import; Australia
Else album
 $23.75
KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD contains 10 bonus tracks and represents everything the band recorded through early 1986, including all of the LOST EP, and the I LOVE MY LEATHER JACKET/THE GREAT ESCAPE 12"
KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD, The Chills' 18-track compilation culled from The Chills early and mid-'80s EPs and singles, is highlighted by the song "Pink Frost."
The Chills' Martin Phillipps mixes up melodic pop with elements of garage rock and punk, creating songs with a sweet melancholy all their own. Phillipps has always been the focus of the Chills, writing and singing the band's songs. His group has also rivaled Menudo in its sheer number of personnel changes. In a just world, the Chills would have sold just as many records.
KALEIDOSCOPE WORLD showcases the shifting line-ups and many moods of the early to ...
| | Cure Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me: Deluxe Edition CDs (1987) Bonus Tracks; Remastered
Else CD music
$17.89  
| | Cure Head On The Door CDs (1985) Bonus Tracks; Remastered; Deluxe Edition
Else music CDs
$12.25
With THE HEAD ON THE DOOR Robert Smith and the boys achieve a distinctively Cure-like pop sensibility. These 10 songs combine the dreary dreamscape that is Smith's mind with melodies that are about as catchy as Goth music gets (just try not clapping your hands to "Close to Me"). Included on the album are "In Between Days" and "A Night Like This," each a successful single, and each a staple of the Cure's live show.
Also noteworthy are the haunting lyrics of "The Blood" and "Kyoto Song," which Smith sings in his trademark high-pitched howl. Despite the gloom, this album represents perhaps the Cure's first real pop effort. It also represents a transition from the sparse instrumentation that characterizes the early Cure sound, to the fuller, more complex incarnation typical of the almost psychedelic soundscapes of later albums.
After recording one of their darkest albums, ...
| | Danny Kirwan Second Chapter CD (1975) With Book; Limited Edition; Digipak
Else songs
$19.79
The first solo album from Fleetwood Mac singer/songwriter Daniel David Kirwan has the future producer for Human League and Buzzcocks, Martin Rushent, utilizing those skills here, as well as engineering. The sound is crystal clear, and a feather in the cap for Rushent as well as Kirwan. It starts off with an uncharacteristic "Ram Jam City," which has more Lindsey Buckingham sounds than one would expect, especially since the two guitarists come from two different musical worlds. "Odds and Ends" is more lighthearted, the kind of music Paul McCartney toyed with on The White Album's "Rocky Raccoon." What Second Chapter immediately sets forth is the importance of Kirwan as a pop artist, and how, despite Fleetwood Mac's success after he left, his sounds could still have been beneficial to that supergroup. "Hot Summers Day" is a fine example of that, a beautiful song that could offset Buckingham's ...
| | Legend CD (2007) (Import) With Book; Limited Edition; Digipak; Germany
Else album
$18.75
In some circles, Mickey Jupp is something of a minor legend, a roots rocker with excellent taste and a cutting wit, best heard on the songs "Switchboard Susan" and "You'll Never Get Me Up in One of Those," both covered by Nick Lowe. Basher's endorsement is a clear indication that Jupp is a pub rocker, a guy who specializes in laid-back good times, so it shouldn't come as a great surprise that his first band, Legend, was proto-pub, an unabashed celebration of old-time rock & roll, filled with three-chord Chuck Berry rockers and doo wop backing vocals. Nevertheless, listening to their 1970 LP is a bit of a shock, as it's completely disassociated with anything that was happening in 1970, even with Tony Visconti enlisted as their producer. Legend's sensibility is ahead of its time in its retro thinking, pointing the way to the rock & roll revival of the late '70s and not even that similar to the country-rock of Eggs Over Easy or Bees Make Honey, as this has little of the rustic feel of the Band: it's just straight-up ...
| | Crowded House Time On Earth CD (2007)
Else CD music
$10.69
| | 38 Special Flashback Best Of CD (2009) (Import)
Else music CDs
$15.05
| | Wonderland Follow Me CD (2004) (Import) Bonus Track; Japan
Else songs
$35.49
| | Summon Night 4-Vol 1 Radio CD CD (2007) (Import)
$47.29 | | Phathom Zombie Love CD (2007)
Else album
$11.49
There’s something about an outdoor live show that just doesn’t sound or feel like anything else. Put that show in New York’s Central Park, and now you’ve got a unique feel, a sound, an overall singular experience not quite like any other. New York’s own Jefferson Thomas has hosted an artist residency series in the park for the last two years now, and no one is more awestruck at the experience than the indie/twang/alt-rock singer-songwriter himself. Jefferson Thomas Live is his attempt to capture it. And more.“You do clubs, there’s a certain energy, and I like that. You do concerts, there’s that ‘huge’ thing, which is cool, too. You do acoustic listening rooms, there’s a purity and an intimacy there. The first time I did Central Park, it was all three. I was so ready for this ‘huge’ concert vibe, and it blew me away how wrong I was. Suddenly, it wasn’t about how much ass you and the band are kicking; there’s this vast frigging CITY out there. They gather around you, and there’s this whole community just buzzing, and if you try too hard to be the happening thing, you actually lose them. It’s like a Zen thing - if you try to dictate to them, you won’t get much out of it, but if you let them lead you, they’ll pull a show out of you that you never knew you had in you. What I love about the Central Park recordings is that ...
| | Dover Follow The City Lights CD (2007) (Import)
Else CD music
$35.49
| | Barbara Dickson Collection CD (2007) (Import) Import
Else music CDs
$11.29
| | Edan Primitive Plus CD (2009) (Import)
Else songs
$23.65
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