---Stephen Brown <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 1)  Is there anyone on the list who DOESN'T like the Still Life
album? (I,
> of course, love the album, but I'd be curious to know how others
feel it
> falls into the album continuum). I'd love to hear some constructive
> comments, especially since the band is so jazzed about getting back
in the
> studio and making their next album (a sentiment they usually wouldn't
> express until 2-3 years later!)

someone posted right after it came out that it sucked and could never
sell more that 150,000 copies...  aside from that, I haven't heard
much negative stuff about it (certianly not of the magnitude after the
release of WFAD)

> 2) Is there anyone who can pinpoint 3-5 thematic elements that ring
true of
> any Connells song? For instance I often hear of the "chiming
guitars" and
> "melancholy, cynical lyrics put to a Southern jangle-pop beat" --
What else
> do people on the list find to be so compelling about Connells songs?

this sounds like a question from a lit class or soemthing... I pass on
the grouds that I would have to think about this

> 3) Is there anyone else who feels that, for better or worse, every
Connells
> album sounds completely different -- perhaps due to different
producers?
> (One Simple Word has so many different background instruments; Weird
Food
> incorporates a harder edge and sing-speak; Still Life has more of a
mellow,
> country feel to some tracks; Boylan has an evocative, almost Gallic
feel at
> times; sounds on Darker seem to come from a cavern of melancholy
with Doug
> and his deep voice; Fun & Games and Ring are pretty close in their
jangly,
> anthematic, guitar-based sound)

I think they all sound different... I'd have to go back and listen to
them in order to really pin it all down. Darker days definately has a
british feel to it. weird food really was a good move for the guys, I
think... all bands have to branch out, some experiments work, some
don't... I didn't think they moved all that far off the track... then
again, I'm a big fan of Pearl Jam's Vitalogy record too

> 5)  Is there anyone who, like me, can directly correlate life
experiences
> to particular Connells albums they played at that point in their
lives.
> (For instance, Ring reminds me of college, Darker Days reminds me of
a bad
> traveling salesman job I had for two weeks in which I listened to
the album
> every day on the road, Weird Food reminds me of my first job, etc.)

still life is reminding me of how great my life is right now... ring
reminds me of the girlfriend I had in the 10th grade that introduced
me to the connells (I don't care to elaborate :) ) fun and games
reminds me of the girl I pined over my entire 11th and 12th grade year
who had all of their records because her older brother went to school
with mike... damn, all their records do is remind of me of old
girlfriends... my fiancee wouldn't be too pleased to hear that :)

> 6) What does Mike Connell's twin brother do?

ok, how out of the loop am I... I'm been on the list 3 years and
nobody bothered to tell me mike had a twin?

> 7) Although I love them, does anyone feel that George Huntley's
songs on
> Still Life were more like his solo CD Brainjunk than anything the
Connells
> have ever done?

I agree with this and think that it is probably a product of george
finally finding a kind of song that he is confortable writing... and
his voice has gotten MUCH better in my opinion

> 8)  Does anyone have an explanation for each album's cover art? I am
> intrigued by why they have chosen certain images (including the New
Boy EP)
> and why both of their recent albums include photos of the band on the
> front.

I dunno... I was always happy they named one album ring... you don't
know how many people I have known who believed they named it after me.

> 10) What's your favorite and least favorite Connells song?

favorite right now might be either dull brown and gray or the leper...
least favorite would be tough... maybe pedro says right now... I don't
know why it hasn't grown on me yet, but it's just not as good as OT2


damn that's a long post

kevin
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