DJaser

Whilst I agree with much of what is said in this review, I think it's worth an 8 at least. I don't think it's so far removed from Leave Home as you suggest; yes it's more melodic as a whole, but Animal and Cube rock as hard as anything from that record, whilst the last two songs show the band's love for Spacemen 3 remains undiminished. Just like Leave Home, I think it crosses different strands of punk and indie rock quite expertly.

Especially when you consider the list of albums people have included here which didn't make the cut, a truly mind-boggling array of brilliant albums across all genres. The album which stands out most for me though is Perfect From Now On by Built To Spill; for me, it's the definitive indie-guitar record. And then you've also got The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse.

is just how well it recaptures the sound aesthetic of classic-era GBV, without sounding like it's trying too hard. With that said, it's not up there with the albums of that period, but there are enough gems there to make me genuinely excited about May's Class Clown Spots A UFO. I reviewed it a little while ago:
http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/review-guided-by-voices-lets-go-eat.html

http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/do-you-remember-first-time-4-grandaddy.html. Glad to see this re-release getting such high praise across the board, and that people's fondness of it remains undiminshed.

and as you rightly say, this, along with Under The Western Freeway, is right up there with The Soft Bulletin and Deserters Songs as a modern Americana classic. I miss Grandaddy.

I think is greatly inferior to Seek Magic personally. Far too airy-fairy, no real substance, and bringing his voice to the fore was in my opinion the worst thing he could have done. Extremely disappointing.

Tying these four albums together is indeed difficult, other than their consistent brilliance. This period of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds just highlights their amazing versatility, both with Cave's (sorry to sound academic) songwriting, and the musicianship of the Bad Seeds.

Saw him live at an ATP festival a few years ago and he blew me away. Great to see that this album is more widely available.

is that they never seem to exceed the sum of their parts. A technically very competetent band who know how to go through the post-rock motions, and release consistently good albums, but don't seem to have the imagination to take it to the heights of Mogwai, Do Make Say Think et al

Having listened to it a couple of times, it's definitely on a par at least with ICS. Music Tunes is an absolute killer of a song.

And whilst it's not quite as good as Ice Cream Spiritual, 3/10 is a shocking rating.

Was wracking my brains to think who Dan Friel's vocals reminded me of, and you've hit the nail on the head.

Really enjoying this, much more so than Receivers even though they essentially sound the same. Here's my review:http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-parts-labor-constant-future.html

Well done for not being rushed into a review. As a music blogger who always gets his music on release day, I don't have the luxury of time to put together reviews, but I think a minimum of three full listens is required to put together anything like a well-reasoned opinion of an album. Here's my two cents on TKOL anyway: http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-radiohead-king-of-limbs.html

which could be regarded as it's Dog On The Sidewalk equivalent. You're right though, Deerhoof do relatively little "dicking around" these days. Despite that, I think Deerhoof vs Evil is one of their least immediate records of recent times, not that that's a complaint. Here's my review for anyone interested http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/review-deerhoof-deerhoof-vs-evil.html

But it just sounds like a band trying to recapture former glories, and they sound a shell of their former selves. Here's my review: http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2011/01/review-gang-of-four-content.html

and sum my stance on BSS perfectly; I consider myself a fan and yet I've only listened to Feel Good Lost once and don't have the KC Accidental stuff. I'll be checking them out now though, thanks to this (comparisons to DMST don't hurt their cause either).

#20 in my top 20 Albums of 2010; any other year and it would definitely have ranked higher.
http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/albums-of-2010-20-16.html

but not Record of The Year material for me. I concur that the absence of Titus Andronicus from yet another end-of-year list (see also NME) is a travesty. I'm in the process of compiling my top 20 albums for my blog, and rest assured it will be there.

Tomboy will get all the attention, but I really like the more low-key, intimate feel to this record. Here's my (fairly similar) take on it if anyone's interested: http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-avey-tare-down-there.html

And a very good one at that. I agree that it's tough to draw comparisons with anyone else (though that doesn't stop me from trying: http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-phantom-band-wants.html)

At its best, it really is awe-inspiring. A lot to take in, but worth the effort. Here's my take on it: http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/review-sufjan-stevens-age-of-adz.html

and that's to the band's credit; each of their albums, this one included, could legitimately be regarded as someone's favourite. Good review, here's my take on it: http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/review-deerhunter-halcyon-digest.html

I find False Priest to be a bit of a middling affair, although not without its share of great moments. Here's my review:
http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/review-of-montreal-false-priest.html

Good call on this - possibly my favourite Bad Seeds record. I've just written an article on how good music artists adapt to stand the test of time, citing Cave as a prime example:
http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/grow-up-how-to-mature-as-music-artist.html

This is a tremendous album, actually makes Businessmen & Ghosts sound bereft of ideas, which I didn't think was possible. Here's my full take on it:
http://keepitlikeasecretblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/review-working-for-nuclear-free-city.html