Galaxie 500 [Box set] [Enhanced]

"The Portable Galaxie 500" is a nice selection, but like all other fans of the band, I do have my quibbles about some of the omissions, especially "Temperature's Rising," "It's Getting Late," and "Isn't It A Pity." The compilers also missed a golden opportunity by failing to include "The Other Side," a magnificent track with Naomi singing lead, which as far as I know is only available in the boxed set (a virtually impossible-to-find item right now--at a reasonable price, that is). Furthermore--and I may be completely alone in this opinion--I can't stand the saxophone version of "Blue Thunder" included here, while the "straight" version of that song (from "On Fire") is my favorite Galaxie 500 song.

So if you're looking to test the waters with this great band, go straight to the original releases. Other reviewers on this site have already provided some wonderful descriptions of the Galaxie 500 sound, so no need for a recap here.

nice collection of Galaxie 500's stuff.......2002-03-06

some good trax on here..most notably "Tugboat" and the sax version of "Blue Thunder" but that vid for Blue Thunder is great...one of my favorite vids...but i recommend starting off with the On Fire lp or the Box Set..

My First Exposure..........2000-04-30

I did the Dean Wareham thing backwards. I started with Luna and figured I couldn't go wrong with Galaxie because I LOVE Luna. However, the style of Galaxie is different. The lyrics weren't quite as clever, and the tunes weren't as satisfying as any of the Luna stuff I have (expect perhaps Pup Tent). However, I do have the distinct feeling that Galaxie is music that grows on you. If you're a Luna fan, give Galaxie a spin, but don't expect instant gratification.

Sure, this CD makes you fly..........2000-03-14

...but this compilation is far from doing justice to the mindblowing talents of Dean, Damon and Naomi. There are so many injustices in the selection of songs considered "best of" G500 that this record should be illegal in 48 states. Please! Where's "King of Spain", "Oblivious", "Hearing Voices", "Melt Away" and, at least, half of the songs from "On Fire"? Please! Don't tell me they didn't fit the CD! Ask Robert Pollard how many songs he used to put in a compact disc! Nevertheless it's an amazing band performing amazing songs, all soulful, melodic and so simple it makes your heart ache and your head slip away for a few minutes. Just damn beautiful. "Blue Thunder" is something out of this world. Although, if you want some ALL THE GLORY of Galaxie 500, do yourself a big favour and buy all three albums (or the G500 Box-set). Newcomers can begin with "On Fire". But it's all good. You won't be making a mistake if it's your heart that's still beating in your chest. You got the idea, right? It's a great LP, I only gave it 3 stars for the many songs missing.

small, grey and quiet-- perfection.......1999-08-29

This "best-of" of the wonderful Galaxie 500 does them more than justice by wisely pulling off all of the high points from their three albums. the alternate version of "Blue Thunder" is especially affecting, what with the addition of devastating saxophone-- the broken-apart climax that Galaxie 500 always hinted around without ever tipping over that edge. Blue Thunder is worth your hard-earned money as it is. The somber "Flowers" follows, giving you that feeling of watching someone you're totally enamored with live their life apart from you-- all in the snow, of course. Other high points include the cover of Yoko Ono's "Listen..." and "Another Day," their best song, in my opinion, shich again nearly breaks down with it's trying-to-keep-it-together vocal harmonies. I get misty-eyed just thinking about it. "Tugboat" ends this set, centering around the line "there's a place I'd like to be." Thanks to Dean and crew, we're there with him.

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This Is Our Music

Manufacturer: Rough Trade
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0009A3IGY

Product Description

Original pressing 9 track CD from Rough Trade US. Songs are: 1. Fourth of July 2. Hearing Voices 3. Spook 4. Summertime 5. Way up High 6. Listen, the Snow Is Falling 7. Sorry 8. Melt Away 9. King of Spain, Pt. 2

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Peel Sessions
Galaxie 500
Manufacturer: 20/20/20
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Uncollected
On Fire
Today
Luna - Tell Me Do You Miss Me
Copenhagen

ASIN: B000BOH93Q
Release Date: 2005-11-22

Tracks:

Submission
Final Day
When Will You Come Home
Moonshot
Flowers
Blue Thunder
Decomposing Trees
Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste

Average customer rating:

Good music, but drags on a bit.
the dream continues...

The Earth Is Blue
Damon & Naomi
Manufacturer: 20/20/20
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Today

ASIN: B00078XGMO
Release Date: 2005-02-22

Tracks:

Beautiful Close Double
A Second Life
Malibran
House Of Glass
Sometimes
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Ueno Station
The Robot Speaks
Araca Azul
The Earth Is Blue

Customer Reviews:

Good music, but drags on a bit........2005-08-15

When I got this, I was expecting indie rock mixed with a little jazz. I got what I expected, only it's a lot slower than I had hoped. By themselves, the songs are good, but I just can't listen to this album all the way through. 'Ueno Station' is a perfect example of how I feel about the album; good music that could drive me insane if I listened to it all the time.

the dream continues..........2005-06-02

Damon and Naomi's psych-atmospheric music cannot exactly be defined. However, their mood, emotion given to you can exactly be caught in every second of songs, of the albums. In the "Earth is Blue", this fact is more precise now. Their musical ability in the album is like flying at higher levels in the sky with the colaboration of Ghost guitarist Michio Kurihara as a virtual third group member, penetrated into Damon and Naomi's earth creating the most satisfying and sheerly transfixing work of the twosome's career...Naomi's cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", moreover, is going to weep you so high that the next song, "Ueno Station", with its melodramic and tasteful melody, becomes a definite classic in your brain. This album, in my opinion, is the peak of Damon & Naomi's career. Deserved to be bought.

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Good songs, poorly sequenced
ok... but could of been better!!!

Uncollected
Galaxie 500
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

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Portable Galaxie 500

ASIN: B0002JP2BG
Release Date: 2004-08-03

Tracks:

Cheese And Onions
Them
Final Day
Blue Thunder
Maracas Song
Crazy
Jerome
Song In 3
Oblivious
I Can't Believe It's Me
Walking Song
The Other Side
On The Floor
Rain/Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste

Amazon.com

Pete Townshend once opined that a Mod's worst sin was "bad timing," a notion that Boston's great alt-rock hope, Galaxie 500, seemed doomed to embody when they broke up on the eve of the Nirvana-spawned post-punk '90s gold rush. This 14-track compilation (plus a video for "Blue Thunder") of assorted demos, b-sides, and oddities was originally one of the highlights of the band's 1996 boxed retrospective and is available here as a stand-alone disc for the first time. The band's '87 demos capture G-500 at their most undistilled and insouciant, highlighted by Dean Wareham's jangly "Walking Song" and the fragile dreaminess of Naomi Young's "On the Floor." Wareham's weakness for tastefully snarky kitsch (which also seasons his droll modern collaboration with Britta Phillips) surfaces on the band's psych-fest cover of the Rutles' "Cheese and Onions," while the '90 outtake cover of Young Marble Giants' "Final Day" (one of the last tracks G-500 cut) offers a tragic example of his band's compelling, if largely unfulfilled promise. A live, '89 medley of the Beatles' "Rain" and Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste" further underscores the band's charms: a decidedly irreverent affection for pop history, wed to a noisy, psych-punk sense of boundless possibilities. --Jerry McCulley

Customer Reviews:

Good songs, poorly sequenced.......2005-07-01

Galaxie 500 only released three proper albums during its short life span, so this selection of outtakes and non-album tracks is especially welcome for those who crave that unique, hypnotic sound. It took me awhile to warm up to this CD, though, and I finally realized that the track sequencing had a lot to do with it.

The songs are arranged in reverse chronological order, which is always a bad idea because instead of listening to how a band's sound developed over time, you instead have to listen to it becoming more restricted. So what I finally did was I recorded these songs in a different order, chronological this time, onto one side of a 90-minute cassette tape.

When I listened back to it, suddenly the music all made sense. I should note that I eliminated "Blue Thunder w/sax" because it is an inferior version of the excellent song that can be found in unadulterated form on another album, and I also eliminated "Rain/Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste," because it is really a crime what they did to "Rain." To fill up the tape, I added "Here She Comes Now," the extra track on the CD version of "This Is Our Music," the album which I put on the other side of the tape.

So here's my running order:

1. Walking Song
2. The Other Side
3. On the Floor
4. Oblivious
5. I Can't Believe it's Me
6. Crazy
7. Jerome
8. Song in 3
9. Maracas Song
10. Cheese and Onions
11. Them
12. Final Day
13. Here She Comes Now

And here are the advantages of that running order, compared to the CD:

1. Instead of beginning with the amusing but awkward "Cheese and Onions," the album begins with "Walking Song," a stripped-down, uptempo number that is catchy and is the only track here that really sounds like a garage band.

2. The magnificent "The Other Side," with vocals by Naomi, is now prominently featured as the second track, instead of being buried toward the end of the compilation. This is the best non-album song by Galaxie 500, and is among their best songs ever. It amazes me that such a new band could put together a song that is so dynamic but at the same time so delicate.

3. "Cheese and Onions" takes its rightful place as a bit of comic relief toward the end of the album.

4. "Final Day" is now the last song (almost). What could possibly be more appropriate? It's a great song (I've never heard the Young Marble Giants' original), but is rather dark, so my addition of "Here She Comes Now" lightens the mood.

So if you are a Galaxie 500 fan, buy the album and dust off that old cassette player so you can place these songs in their rightful order. Or maybe you can somehow record them this way onto a blank CD. (I'm unfamiliar with the technology.)

Whoever decided on this backwards running order must have been the same person who decided to put the exact same liner notes in the reissues of all the Galaxie 500 CD's. So what the heck, maybe you can print off my review and use it as liner notes while you're at it. Happy listening!

ok... but could of been better!!!.......2004-09-08

whether you are a fan or not, galaxie 500 remains as one of the best, unknown bands of the last 20 years. their style remains unchallenged with the durability to remain timeless. however, in this latest album, "500" seems to take a step back in their meloncholic, progressive style that their fans have grown uccustomed to. their first two albums were great, but this one seems to need some work.

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This is a truly talented woman!
Chill Up The Spine Indie Folk Psyche Beauty!

One Two Three Four
Linda Draper
Manufacturer: Planting Seeds Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Long Island Shores

ASIN: B0007OPIVA
Release Date: 2005-01-18

Tracks:

Super Zero
Big Blue Sky
Baby Inchworm
The Broken Muzzle
Needlessly
Jezebel
Parasite
Seven Black Crows
Lifeboat
The Sleeping Giant
Candle Opera
One Two Three Four

Album Description

One of the many rave reviews of New York City singer-songsmith Linda Draper's third album PATCHWORK proclaimed: "The strength of her output increases with each record and it's obvious that she's on the brink of achieving something great…" (Splendid ). Now with her much anticipated fourth album, titled " One Two Three Four" (PSRCD-033), this prediction is clearly evident. Joining forces once again with legendary downtown icon and music producer Kramer (Galaxie 500, Low, Sonic Youth, Urge Overkill, and founder of Shimmy Disc Records ), "One Two Three Four" is from start to finish, a truly divine and timeless listening experience, presenting Linda Draper's atmospheric space folk style.

The overall atmosphere of Linda Draper's latest LP flows with a subtle grace as well as its steady timing and deliberate pace, hence the title, "One Two Three Four." From the outset, the warmth and directness of Linda's voice draws you in - what makes you stay is the sincerity and integrity of her lyrics - and what keeps you coming back for more is the timeless quality of the music. "One Two Three Four" was recorded in downtown NYC at Tribeca Recording as well as in the more intimate setting at Noise New York. Apart from producing and engineering, Kramer contributes his unique musical style with his own lush and harmonious instrumental arrangements - accentuating the purity and brilliance of Linda Draper's angelic voice, lyrics, and her accomplished distinct guitar-playing style. Acoustic and bass guitar lines ebb and flow on songs such as the opening track, "Super Zero" with it's waltz-like tempo and catchy sing-along quality. The album also includes the haunting "Baby Inchworm" where Draper's choir-like vocals are sprinkled with bits of accordion sounds - truly elegant but chilling. "Needlessly" a sad yet hopeful love song, will inevitably stick in your head, with it's simple vocal/acoustic guitar arrangement. "Candle Opera", the penultimate number, where gentle drums rolls and church bells provide an irresistible intensity and epic like quality. "Seven Black Crows", has been described as a beautiful song to a dying loved one and a person's soul journeys to unfathomed places beyond this world. It's a moving piece with its passion and eloquent grace. In between, the LP features 12 beautifully crafted songs. The title track closes the LP with its counting off of One Two Three Four…

Customer Reviews:

This is a truly talented woman!.......2006-04-26

I accidentally came across this CD while reading a review of Linda Draper, I sent for it and have played it about fifty times. She has an amazing voice, is a great writer, and the whole delivery of the music is wonderful. I think this is a multigenerational CD, and a great collection of songs. You should get this CD, She is terrific.

Chill Up The Spine Indie Folk Psyche Beauty!.......2006-03-13

It's hard to define that certain something in music that makes it feel a certain way instead of just sounding a certain way. Whatever that essence or spirit is, Linda Draper definitely possesses it- the feelings brought by this cd I can liken to first listening to Vashti Bunyan, Nick Drake, etc- artists who have that abillity to take you in, envlope you in song form. Linda's songs could loosely be filed under the psyche/folk category that is pretty popular lately, but there is something here that transcends the trends of the moment. To those that live in a city and have a heart that beats in a less frantic way, this will resonate- the lyrics both speak to the defenses of living in such an area and the yearning for something that illuminates all the chaos (at least they do for me). In any case, I just felt this cd deserved some praise on Amazon- it really is something special.

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