Death Cab for Cutie - You Can Play These Songs with Chords
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Free Music Notes for You Can Play These Songs with Chords
Free Music Review: DCFC's Best Album
Hit: 5 Stars
I might get a lot of negative responses from this review, but in my opinion this is the best album Death Cab has produced. It is very complete, well thought out, and each song says something. I have been a Death Cab fan for a long time, and have every single album they have produced, listened to each one countless times, and this one strikes me as their best one. Maybe this doesnt get the appreciation it deserves because not every fan has this album. Give this cd a chance and listen to each song carefully, and you will see what i'm talking about. Trust Me.Free Music Review: DCFC really does have something for everybody.
Hit: 5 Stars
This album takes you on a ride just as the other dcfc albums do...you are mesmerised from track 1 until the end. my personal favorites are "president of what", "champagne from a paper cup", "pictures in an exhibition", and "amputations" (although i like the "something about airplanes" versions of these songs more). But, to speak of favorite songs with this band is irrelevant for most true fans because every song is enjoyable in one way or another. I haven't heard one that I don't like.Free Music Review: Great album for fans or newbies
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm fairly familiar with DCFC, having seen them live three times and hearing most of their songs.This is one of my favorite Death Cab albums. It's raw and fun. It feels like the band is having fun as they play the music. It has a garage jam session feel yet sounds great. If you like Death Cab, you should have this album.
Whether or not you've heard this band before, I strongly reccommend this album!
Free Music Review: Death Cab presents excellent B-sides/demo collection
Hit: 4 Stars
A preliminary note: like the other reviews mention, You Can Play These Songs With Chords isn't the best place for a new Death Cab fan to start. Regardless, it is an excellent collection of songs that pinpoints a band from their infancy to most recent.The opening eight tracks are a re-release of the demo recordings singer/guitarist Ben Gibbard did in 1997 (released with the same title as this compliation). Playing all of the instruments himself, the bulk of these demos resurfaced a short while later on Death Cab's first proper album, Something About Airplanes (then played with a full band). For the most part, the sound quality is awfully lo-fi, which recorder/future DCFC guitarist Chris Walla was obviously aiming for. As for the music, most of the songs are close enough to the final product, which is two-thumbs-up material. The few demos that didn't make it, like "Hindsight" and "That's Incentive" (with its limber bassline) show that not all songs cut were bad.
The rest of the material is a collection of B-sides from DC's history. Some, like "TV Trays" and the original version of "Song for Kelly Huckaby," are on the verge of being subpar. Others, like the pretty "Army Corp of Architects," the quasi-Built to Spill-ish "Prove My Hypotheses" and the Something About Airplanes misfire "State Street Residential," are some of the best tracks the band has recorded. Some, like the hilarious cover of the Smiths' "This Charming Man" and the 'European Dance Hit' "Tomorrow," just don't fit into any catagory.
For the most part, this is a great collection of songs Death Cab fans will be eager to get ahold of. For the newcomer, this may prove to be a confusing assortment of tracks.
Oh, side note: the CD insert is a great help: I was always interested in who plays on songs, and this delievers in addition to the amusing notes provided by the band members.
Free Music Review: Proving once again that demos can rock
Hit: 4 Stars
Death Cab for Cutie is a band known for both its mellow, down to earth beats and for it's incredible, easy to relate to lyrics. They are also known to rock out on occasion, on such past tracks as "Company Calls" from the "We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes" LP. Here, with "You Can Play These Strings With Chords," the band offers its fans a rare look into its early days, putting their original 8 track demo tape onto a CD. Now, while many may consider this as merely filler until their next album is released in 2003, it is much more than that. While by no means a masterpiece, it is a wonderful window into the band's beginnings. They excel the most with songs not recorded on their first album, as I am a big fan of the re-recording of "Pictures in an Exhibition," while this version seems to be missing something. On "Hindsight," "Two Cars," and "That's Incentive" however, we see that not all demos are bad things, as if not for this album these excellent tracks may very well have been lost to the fans of this wonderful band.The B-Sides are another great added bonus. The only B-side Songs I had heard before this CD were "Wait," "Song for Kelly Huckaby(an extra on my Facts import)," and "Army Corps For Architects." By far, the best song here is "Army Corps," churning out sweet melodies and lyrics which are noticeably absent form most other music these days. This album helps me see how much better the "underground" music is as compared to "mainstream" as not once have Death Cab been on radio in NYC, yet they deserve all that and more. So, when you feel ready to buy this CD, buy "Facts" or "Something About Airplanes" first. It will get you ready for this, and what is to come from the band known only as Death Cab For Cutie.