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Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia

The Dandy Warhols - Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia Audio CD

A fair review of the The Dandy Warhols "Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all The Dandy Warhols reviews here, or go back to the The Dandy Warhols tabs.

Band: The Dandy Warhols
Title: Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia
Rating:

Release Date: 2000-08-01
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Godless 2: Mohammed 3: Nietzsche 4: Country Leaver 5: Solid 6: Horse Pills 7: Get Off 8: Sleep 9: Cool Scene 10: Bohemian Like You 11: Shakin' 12: Big Indian 13: The Gospel

It's the music, Stupid.
I had no prior experience with them, except maybe a couple of videos on MTV. This band was recommended to me by my buddy David in the Czech Republic. I played samples from all of their albums, and I chose this one to buy. The first time I listened to it, I complained, "There's not enough lyrics. " David replied that all the lyrics that were needed were there. I wondered if I had understood him correctly, but on the second listen, I GOT IT. On just this one album, The Dandy Warhols manage to "do" The Beatles, The Stones, The Byrds, The Offspring, David Bowie, REM, Beck, Franz Ferdinand and Marilyn Manson (and others, I'm sure) - all of this with very hip coolness. It is done so skillfully and so enthusiastically, and combined with so much of their own originality, that it doesn't come across as imitation. I cannot stress enough how good this music sounds. The lyrics are sparse, but they are cryptic, sly and/or funny. (Not really laugh-out-loud funny, or acidly-biting funny, but giggly, stoner funny. ) And they reflect aspects of the alternative American cultures. I found this band, and particularly this album, to be a revelation, and I owe one to David for turning me on to it.

really not all that good
I like the first few songs alright and "Get off" and that's about it. this album is way overrated. "The Dandy Warhols Come Down" is a much better record than this. Get that one first.

Good music.
If all cuts were as good as "Bohemian Like You", then it would deserve even a 6 star rating. . but not all songs are like it, which doesn't mean you'll find a really bad one in here; it's just you won't find any better.

However it's still a well crafted and carefully produced album, worth listening and recommended for any Dandy Warhols' newcomer and fan.

Good music.

Has their best song and it's maybe their best album
Gave the earlier cd 4 stars too.
I bought this cd after buying their earlier one "Come on down", which I quite liked. It's pretty much the same story again for this cd: has one excellent single to pique your interest, and then delivers some solid songs throughout the cd. In fact, this cd may have more contenders for songs worthy of inclusion in any future Dandy Warhols' compilation album. In the notes I took for this cd, before submitting this review here, I pondered whether "Thirteen tales" was a concept album. It has, as bookends, songs with titles and themes that go from belief in a god to atheism. A couple of other songs, and maybe more, seem to be paired, in some way (e. g. I'm not exactly sure if "Solid" is a reply to the earlier song "Country leaver").

Anyway, I'll give you a rundown of the songs I like the most on this album. Not sure if the "Come on down" cd did what this album does, namely, have songs bleed into eachother, such that there isn't any real demarcation between songs. It works well, in any case.

"Come on down" had "Not if you were last junkie on Earth" as the standout song/single from the cd. This album has "Bohemian like you". I probably first heard snatches of this song when it was used to advertise a car or something or other. On cd, listening to this song in its entirety, you really appreciate it that much more. To me, this is a song in a The Rolling Stones' style/sound. In fact, if the Stones had recorded this song, it would be one of their best ever. . . it's that good. I suppose the guitar sound most reminds me of the Stones "Brown sugar". That's not a favourite Stones song of mine in any case, so the Dandy's have way surpassed the Stones on that front. The intro to "Bohemian like you" has a cool drum intro, nice organ sound and a cool, bassy synthesiser. The lyrics are amusingly chatty (he sings things like you would hear uttered in a conversation). A great song.

Next best songs:

Godless- has accoustic guitar and the riff reminds me of George Harrison's classic song "My sweet lord". That probably isn't a coincidence!

Mohammed- has some Middle Eastern vocal touches and some nice multiple accoustic guitar sounds. A pretty song.

Get off- perhaps the second best song on this album. It reminds me of something, but that something must be a song which I don't really hear very often. In any case, this song sounds sort of Western (as in 'country and western music'). It's the vocal rhythm which reminds me of something. The song has catchy singing and also has accoustic guitar.

Sleep- a gentle, dreamy song built on a pretty two part accoustic guitar melody. Later on, there are are male and female vocals which have an airy sound to them. . . like they are singing in a cathedral. This is totally by the by, but this song's title is also the name of one of my favourite Midnight Oil songs, from the equally good as this album "Red sails in the sunset". The Oils are one of my top 5 musical acts of all time.

Some other notes on songs I made before posting:

Nietzsche- has a very heavy and fuzzy and electric guitar sound-perhaps the synth contributes to this sound as well. The riff reminds me of The Troggs' classic "Wild thing".

Country leaver- another country sounding song from this album.

"Solid" and "Horse pills"- both have vocals not unlike Lou Reed or, say, Iggy Pop. The former song has a simple, catchy keyboard riff which is a little bit catchy. Vocals are in the softer sounding mode of the lead singer. The latter song is another song where there is a fuzzy sounding electric guitar.

Shakin- this song brings to mind the following types of songs/acts: The Vines' classic "Ride with me" along with Iggy Pop sounding vocals. Features some hip-hop widgy-widgy turntable effects.

Big Indian-features a steel string accoustic guitar, I think.

The Gospel- another country flavoured song. Utilises some lyrics from the spiritual song "Sweet chariot" (I think that that is the name of the song). The guitars sound twangy, in a country kind of way.

A really good album.

If you like this album, you might want to check out these equally good albums:

Midnight Oil-Red sails in the sunset.

The Vines-Highly evolved.

Patti Smith-Horses

I've reviewed all of these albums here.

Their best so far; a good choice for Dandy's newbies
"13 Tales" is much more solid than the previous "Come Down" and consistently better songwriting. I think this is the best Dandy Warhols album so far, and I like the band a lot. If you don't know their music, this album is a tasty starting point.

It is a rockin' album, but it is very dynamic - from quieter and melodic tunes to 'balls to the wall' blasts of fuzz and distortion intended to annoy neighbors. Song-writing varies from fairly simple and repetitive (Nietzche) to clever songs with hooks, complex chord structure, and intricate harmonies. At times dissonant, at others sweetly harmonious, and sometimes a bit of both. Harsh fuzz guitar sounds are mixed with clear, ringing acoustic guitars.

The album's sound is basic alt-rock, but draws from a variety of classic bands (Stones, Iggy Pop, Velvet Underground and others). They add a unique sound, sensibility, and tongue-in-cheek attitude that makes it refreshingly their own. There even hip-hop beats on one track. Some tracks are deliberately dissonant, others with sweet harmonies. It is the musical variety here that makes this one fun to listen to from top to bottom, meriting many listens without getting old or sounding the same.

What makes this album great is the wide range of sounds and styles, and the fact that there's not a bad track on it. The songs are seg'ed together to give a nonstop music experience, great for listening to the whole album. The seg transitions make for disruptive transitions on mix tapes, unless you do some editing. . When you play the entire album on most mp3 or computer music players, there is a brief gap in the transition as the player switches from one to the next track, unless you have gapless playback capabilities (like foobar2000, or are playing directly from the CD). For that reason I ripped the mp3s both separately and altogether as one track.

Tracks:

The first three tracks ("Godless", "Mohammed, "Nietche") are a powerful opening, starting slow and gaining strengthy until finally bursting out all over with "Nietchzhe". . . a splendid trio. "Country Traveller" comes next. It's a great country-ish song on its own, but in terms of the mood it's an about face from where they took us with the first three.

The most obvious pop singles are "Bohemian Like You" (which got some airplay) and "Get Off" (which I have not heard on the radio). "Solid" and "Horse Pills" are hilarious snarky tunes that would be more at home on college radio.

The closing track, "The Gospel", is my least favorite, because it is slow and somber, and because it marks the end of a great album. But overall, there isn't a bad track on the album, though of course some are stronger than others.

There are various CD singles you can get from Amazon delears featuring tracks from this album. The title cuts on the singles are identical to the album tracks, so it is the alternative versions that are the reason to buy them. "Godless (mix)," from the "Horse Pills" single, reworks the song considerably. I like the result a lot - not better than the original, but as much as I like the song it's fun to hear a reimagined version.

I would give the album 4 1/2 stars if it were available. I usually reserve 5 stars for one of the best albums of all time. Objectively, I don't think that it is, because the quality varies; subjectively, it is certainly one of my essential favorite albums. . . . so 5 stars here.
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You can see a complete list of all The Dandy Warhols discography, or go back to the The Dandy Warhols tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.