In the Frame Film Reviews: Building nothing out of something

As promised when I revealed my Top 5 Modest Mouse songs, here is the final post in the series. I want to take a look at how the releases would be ranked if I assign points based on the position of each song. Next, I will compare this year's ranking to the smaller series I did for the Top 25 last year. I also want to mention a couple of unreleased songs that would have made the Top 100 if I had considered them eligible.

But first, I have something to say to Isaac Brock:

Message for Isaac Brock

Isaac, if you're somehow reading this, I want to sincerely thank you for all the music. For the past 18 months or so, it's been hard for me to play anything else, even by other bands that I love. Whenever I am having a bad day at work, on go the headphones and my choice of Modest Mouse albums. Your music enables me to get through anything and it almost instantly improves my mood.

Your lyrics are incredible, as well as the music. There is so much insight and intelligence in your writing. It astounds me that so many of my favorite lyrics and songs come from things you created 20 years ago at such a young age.

I'll definitely be going to any future concert within 500km of Toronto. It's obvious that you give everything when you play and I have never detected any performance that is less than one hundred percent effort. Well, it's more like you are possessed than making any kind of effort.

My most recent concert was London Ontario on September 10, 2015. I grinned like an idiot when you went into the break with the message that you were going to "play as long as we fucking can" for the second part of the show. And what a show that was.

It impresses the hell out of me that a show could contain almost anything from your catalog. I think around 70 different songs were played on the latest tour? No other band does that.

I wouldn't presume to mess with your creative process. I want you to play exactly what you want to play instead of turning shows into a performance. However, I have to wonder whether you would ever do a Lonesome Crowded West 20th anniversary tour. The first part of the show would be that album, then whatever you felt like playing in the second part. It would be incredible to hear all of those songs played live on the same night.

Other dream scenarios would be a studio release of Beta Carotene and a lot more new music. I hope that the new album surfaces in 2016. If we're really talking dream scenarios, I would love to write your biography.

I've wasted your time long enough. I appreciate you acknowledging my efforts by liking my Twitter posts. I hope that you keep recording and playing for a very long time. I'll be listening and attending.

---

Let's continue by ranking the albums and other various releases. I will allot 100 points for the top song in my rankings, right down to 1 point for song number 100. Some songs appear on more than one release, so I am going to assign points from songs on Interstate 8 to Building Nothing Out of Something or This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About (two bonus vinyl tracks) as applicable for the purposes of this ranking.

Rank	TRACK TITLE	Pts	RELEASE TITLE	Pts
1	Teeth Like God's Shoeshine	100	The Moon & Antarctica	872
2	Doin' the Cockroach	99	This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About	825
3	Spitting Venom	98	The Lonesome Crowded West	819
4	Heart Cooks Brain	97	We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank	677
5	Dramamine	96	Good News for People Who Love Bad News	542
6	Exit Does Not Exist	95	Strangers to Ourselves	524
7	The Whale Song	94	Building Nothing Out of Something	363
8	Cowboy Dan	93	No One's First and You're Next	204
9	Trailer Trash	92	7" Single	81
10	3rd Planet	91	Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks	57
11	Dark Center of the Universe	90	The Fruit That Ate Itself	47
12	Never Ending Math Equation	89	12" Single	34
13	Lounge (Closing Time)	88	Sad Sappy Sucker	5
14	The Stars Are Projectors	87
15	Steam Engenius	86
16	Fly Trapped In a Jar	85
17	Bury Me With It	84
18	The Tortoise and the Tourist	83
19	Parting Of the Sensory	82
20	White Lies, Yellow Teeth	81
21	Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes	80
22	Truckers Atlas	79
23	Broke	78
24	Edit the Sad Parts	77
25	Breakthrough	76
26	Invisible	75
27	Novacain Stain	74
28	Ocean Breathes Salty	73
29	Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset	72
30	Black Cadillacs	71
31	I Came As a Rat	70
32	Grey Ice Water	69
33	A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy	68
34	A Different City	67
35	Life Like Weeds	66
36	Convenient Parking	65
37	Paper Thin Walls	64
38	Tundra/Desert	63
39	Gravity Rides Everything	62
40	The Best Room	61
41	Head South	60
42	The World at Large	59
43	Interstate 8	58
44	Night On the Sun	57
45	Be Brave	56
46	Lampshades On Fire	55
47	King Rat	54
48	Float On	53
49	Alone Down There	52
50	The Ground Walks, With Time In a Box	51
51	What People Are Made Of	50
52	Bukowski	49
53	Education	48
54	Dashboard	47
55	Sugar Boats	46
56	Custom Concern	45
57	Ansel	44
58	The View	43
59	Shit In Your Cut	42
60	Satin In a Coffin	41
61	Little Motel	40
62	Shit Luck	39
63	Bankrupt On Selling	38
64	Beach Side Property	37
65	Lives	36
66	Wicked Campaign	35
67	Whenever You See Fit	34
68	The Cold Part	33
69	Missed the Boat	32
70	Florida	31
71	Guilty Cocker Spaniels	30
72	The Waydown	29
73	People As Places As People	28
74	Ohio	27
75	Satellite Skin	26
76	A Life Of Arctic Sounds	25
77	Perfect Disguise	24
78	The Good Times Are Killing Me	23
79	Blame It On the Tetons	22
80	Coyotes	21
81	March Into the Sea	20
82	All Night Diner	19
83	Sunspots In the House Of the Late Scapegoat	18
84	Pups to Dust	17
85	Might	16
86	Polar Opposites	15
87	One Chance	14
88	Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In	13
89	Other People's Lives	12
90	She Ionizes & Atomizes	11
91	Dance Hall	10
92	Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice On Ice Alright	9
93	Space Travel Is Boring	8
94	Of Course We Know	7
95	Strangers to Ourselves	6
96	Out Of Gas	5
97	Dukes Up	4
98	We've Got Everything	3
99	Fire It Up	2
100	Birds vs Worms	1

These results surprise me. I would have guessed that with 6 songs in my Top 10, The Lonesome Crowded West would dominate overall. However, it places third behind The Moon & Antarctica and This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About. I have counted Edit the Sad Parts and A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy as tracks from This Is a Long Drive as they appeared as bonus tracks on the vinyl version. I suppose I should have weighted tracks that appear higher in the rankings, but I am happy to see two other albums in the same discussion as The Lonesome Crowded West.

The results don't mean that the other releases aren't worth hearing. I am comparing excellent albums to my absolute favorites. If I ranked all of my music collection and included every band, Modest Mouse releases would completely dominate the list. There are quite a few unmissable songs that didn't even make the 100. Three that immediately come to mind are Dirty Fingernails, Baby Blue Sedan and Jesus Christ Was An Only Child. There is no Modest Mouse song that I would ever want to skip.

As promised, let's compare the rankings from this project with my much smaller effort from last year. The Lonesome Crowded Quest was written as my love of the band was soaring, but I only ranked the Top 25. I talked about 59 songs overall, but some did not receive a final ranking. It was written 15 months ago, so Strangers to Ourselves had not been released. Here's the comparison to show where the Top 25 from 2014 would fit in these current rankings:

PREV	NOW	TRACK TITLE
1	1	Teeth Like God's Shoeshine
2	2	Doin' the Cockroach
6	3	Spitting Venom
8	4	Heart Cooks Brain
7	5	Dramamine
4	6	Exit Does Not Exist
3	7	The Whale Song
21	8	Cowboy Dan
13	9	Trailer Trash
5	10	3rd Planet
11	11	Dark Center of the Universe
-	12	Never Ending Math Equation
-	13	Lounge (Closing Time)
14	14	The Stars Are Projectors
20	15	Steam Engenius
-	16	Fly Trapped In a Jar
16	17	Bury Me With It
-	18	The Tortoise and the Tourist
-	19	Parting Of the Sensory
-	20	White Lies, Yellow Teeth
10	21	Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes
-	22	Truckers Atlas
18	23	Broke
15	24	Edit the Sad Parts
-	25	Breakthrough
24	26	Invisible
-	27	Novacain Stain
17	28	Ocean Breathes Salty
9	29	Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset
22	30	Black Cadillacs
23	31	I Came As a Rat
-	32	Grey Ice Water
-	33	A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy
-	34	A Different City
-	35	Life Like Weeds
-	36	Convenient Parking
-	37	Paper Thin Walls
12	38	Tundra/Desert
-	39	Gravity Rides Everything
-	40	The Best Room
19	41	Head South
25	42	The World at Large
-	43	Interstate 8
-	44	Night On the Sun
-	45	Be Brave
-	46	Lampshades On Fire
-	47	King Rat
-	48	Float On
-	49	Alone Down There
-	50	The Ground Walks, With Time In a Box

I think the above comparison shows just how futile a project such as this can be. My own rankings from just over a year ago are significantly different from how I currently rate the songs. I wonder how it would look if I attempt this kind of thing when the next album is released?

As I mentioned earlier, the 100 songs that I ranked were all official releases. Some were singles, but you could go to the Glacial Pace store or Amazon and track down every release if you are missing any. But Modest Mouse has other songs that I did not deem eligible for this project.

Two cassettes were produced, with about 100 copies being made for each, of the band's early songs. The quality is poor, but it's more than interesting to see how Modest Mouse's sound originated:

Tube-Fruit, All Smiles and Chocolate consists of 25 tracks. If you listen to Tossing Your Weight, Super Saver Day, or Crow Bar, you know that you're listening to Modest Mouse.

Uncle Bunny Faces' Useless Analogy Involving Distance, Freight Trains, and Half Ripe Limes (It Doesn't Matter, Limes Are Sour Either Way) consists of 22 tracks. You can see where the tendency to choose long album names originated. As On, Vandetta and Problem really starts to show us the Modest Mouse sound. I would love to hear a studio version of that with today's lineup. The structure that I love now is present in that song for sure.

Those early releases aside, I want to share three songs that any Modest Mouse fan should have the chance to hear. Two would probably feature somewhere in the second half of my Top 100, while the third would be in the Top 20, or perhaps even the Top 10.

This one is from 1995 or so:

Dead End Job At The Dead Letter Office (Wrong Decision)

Get a job at the dead letter office
I said I was sore, but I am so sick, so sick
Bad life with a bad plan, Brad's here
I'm doin' bad, but I'm doin' the best I can

I know I made decision
I am wrong

I know I made that wrong decision
I am wrong

You say you wonder, wonder how
How I get here, got here now
Well I put on my shoes and socks
Goddamn If I walked here tiff or tock
You say you wonder wonder how
How I get here, got here now

Get a job at the dead letter office
I said I was sore, but I'm so sick, so sick
Bad life with a bad plan, Brad's here
I'm doin' bad, but I'm doin' the best I can

I know I made decision
I am wrong

I know I made that wrong decision
I am wrong

You say you wonder, wonder how
How I get here, got here now
Well I put on my shoes and socks
Goddamn if I walked here tiff or tock

I know I made that wrong decision
I am wrong

I know I made that wrong decision
I am wrong

Next up is Calculus Man with that incredibly catchy bass:

And the stars
Shine on
Get On
The Planet

The stars
They shine on
They shine on
This planet

The stars are projectors
Projectin' our lives on down to this planet

The stars are on
And projectin' our lives on to
This planet
Fine
I know everything

And the stars
They're projectin' our lives on down to
This planet
Oh yeah
The films we're watchin' is you
And said "How?"
You get on your knee
Your mouthin' my mood
If you were talking out loud
You'd say a "Howdy do"

And I get my mouth
And my words
They can't make use
To my mouth out of or my brain
And you say what you do
When you do what you said
You're talking out of to
You're talking out of threat
I want what
I get on
I get off
I get the things you don't want

And I walk to my head
And I walk through my hell
And I walk through my head
And I know I ain't goin' nowhere
And I talk myself
And I talk to my hell
And I'm walkin' round

The planets they revolve around themselves
They evolve
You were talking to god
You were talking to mom
And you were sayin' things loud
And I was doin' out loud
You said "I can't"

And the planets projectin' their selves around

And the stars
They're projectin' our lives on this earth

And the stars are projectors
Projectin' our lives on to this earth

I watch you playin' out
You move your mouth and you said what you were worth

I'm not sure why Calculus Man never saw a release. Perhaps The Stars Are Projectors idea was deliberately confined to one song? I still think that this is a great song in its own right.

I've saved the best for last. I bet a lot of Modest Mouse fans dream of hearing this live:

Beta Carotene

I got myself the means
I got myself what I call the Beta Carotene
Despite from all the string
I never had enough, enough to keep you dreaming along

And by the poolside
I watch the summer and the thought of the life ends in fire
Sometimes we get so many lifts well
Sometimes you know you're gonna have to gonna get around

And all your friends know that you know, you know you're right and
Cuz they all know you know, you know, you know, you know, you know you're right

I got myself the things
I got myself what I call the Beta Carotene
Despite from all the string
I never had enough, enough to keep you dreaming along

And by the poolside
I watch the summer and the thought of a life ends in fire
And some, so many lifts you know, know, know, know, know, know, know
You're gonna have to go and get a ride
You're gonna have to go and get a ride
Have to go and get a ride
Gonna have to go and get a ride
Gonna have to go and get a ride

I'm never anywhere
I never feel somewhere, don't you know
You know I never feel somewhere, don't you know
Oh no, I never

Oh no, I know
Oh no, oh no
What was, what was
Oh no, I don't, I don't
No, I know
I know, don't go
You go, oh no
Hell, we'll pay

Heaven as a collection agency
One, two, seven
Heaven collection agency
Dot I, I, I, I, I, I, I
All the pages

Yeah, definitely close to my Top 10. Maybe in there if a great quality recording was released.

I want to thank everyone who read this mammoth series. The 22 installments took me about 50 hours to write. There was also a lot of hidden time spent playing the songs that I would potentially choose for each set of five to determine what to include and in which order. I will miss writing this series, but I feel closer to this wonderful music than ever before.

I'll leave you with one last thing. My latest playlist and ultimate setlist for a concert. Thanks again for reading:

3rd Planet

Never Ending Math Equation

Dark Center Of the Universe

Lounge (Closing Time)

Parting Of the Sensory

Bury Me With It

White Lies, Yellow Teeth

Trailer Trash

Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes

Fly Trapped In a Jar

Dramamine

Beta Carotene

The Tortoise and the Tourist

The Stars Are Projectors

Teeth Like God's Shoeshine

Spitting Venom

Cowboy Dan

Steam Engenius

Heart Cooks Brain

Exit Does Not Exist

The Whale Song

Doin' the Cockroach

And here is my Top 100 with links to the rest of this series:

100. Birds Vs Worms
99. Fire It Up
98. We've Got Everything
97. Dukes Up
96. Out of Gas
95. Strangers to Ourselves
94. Of Course We Know
93. Space Travel Is Boring
92. Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice on Ice, Alright
91. Dance Hall
90. She Ionizes & Atomizes
89. Other People's Lives
88. Whenever You Breathe Out, I Breathe In (Positive Negative)
87. One Chance
86. Polar Opposites

85. Might

84. Pups to Dust

83. Sunspots in the House of the Late Scapegoat

82. All Night Diner

81. March Into the Sea

80. Coyotes

79. Blame It On the Tetons

78. The Good Times Are Killing Me

77. Perfect Disguise

76. A Life of Arctic Sounds

75. Satellite Skin

74. Ohio

73. People as Places as People

72. The Waydown

71. Guilty Cocker Spaniels
70. Florida
69. Missed the Boat
68. The Cold Part
67. Whenever You See Fit
66. Wicked Campaign
65. Lives
64. Beach Side Property
63. Bankrupt On Selling
62. Shit Luck
61. Little Motel
60. Satin in Your Coffin
59. Shit in Your Cut
58. The View
57. Ansel
56. Custom Concern
55. Sugar Boats
54. Dashboard
53. Education
52. Bukowski
51. What People Are Made Of
50. The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box
49. Alone Down There
48. Float On
47. King Rat
46. Lampshades On Fire
45. Be Brave
44. Night on the Sun
43. Interstate 8
42. The World at Large
41. Head South
40. The Best Room
39. Gravity Rides Everything
38. Tundra/Desert
37. Paper Thin Walls
36. Convenient Parking
35. Life Like Weeds
34. A Different City
33. A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy
32. Grey Ice Water
31. I Came As a Rat
30. Black Cadillacs
29. Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset
28. Ocean Breathes Salty
27. Novacain Stain
26. Invisible
25. Breakthrough
24. Edit the Sad Parts
23. Broke
22. Truckers Atlas
21. Tiny Cities Made of Ashes
20. White Lies Yellow Teeth
19.Parting of the Sensory
18. The Tortoise and the Tourist
17. Bury Me With It
16. Fly Trapped In a Jar
15. Steam Engenius
14. The Stars Are Projectors
13. Lounge (Closing Time)
12. Never Ending Math Equation
11. Dark Center of the Universe
10. 3rd Planet
9. Trailer Trash
8. Cowboy Dan
7. The Whale Song
6. Exit Does Not Exist
5. Dramamine
4. Heart Cooks Brain
3. Spitting Venom
2. Doin' the Cockroach
1. Teeth Like God's Shoeshine

Building nothing out of something (overview)

Building nothing out of something - songs 100 to 96
Building nothing out of something - songs 95 to 91

Building nothing out of something - songs 90 to 86

In the Frame Film Reviews

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Building nothing out of something - final thoughts and statistics

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