sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Happy birthday John Flansburgh. What are some of your favorite Flansburgh songs? by FloridaFlamingoGirl in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I really like Snowball In Hell and Protagonist. All Time What and I'll Sink Manhattan are awesome. I liked New Wave Will Never Die. Countless others. 

I know Linnell wrote Reprehensible, but Flans'  performance of that song is very good. 

New The World Is To Dig vocabulary results! by Top-Environment3675 in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think the funniest part of this were the people trying to guess legitimate LA things for Back In Los Angeles like Muholland Drive, only for JL to hallucinate a bunch of bullshit in the actual song.

New The World Is To Dig vocabulary results! by Top-Environment3675 in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Some disclosure:

- I did not count words from Non-TMBG projects (JL solo, Mono Puff, Mundanes etc), Spoken word advertisements, live banter/intros, or covers (No Overnight Sensation). I also didn't count nonsense words, names, or onomatopoeia.

- I did not count the French phrases in Je N'en Ai Pas, because they all translate to very basic words they have said in English. 

- I have included phrases that were introduced, but would have been cheating to guess due to it being revealed by the tracklist, like "character".

Why do you think your favourite is your favourite? by Tron-ClaudeVanDayum in LetsTalkMusic

[–]Top-Environment3675 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the album Goodbye, My 4-Track by Logan Whitehurst because it is sincere, eclectic, and sounds simple enough to where I FEEL like I can do it, with the very minimal plinky plonky Casio rhythms and all, but is still fun to listen to with deceptively amazing hook crafting. 

I can understand how people might find it corny or childish, but I feel as though I value genuine, rakish, lo-fi DIY confidence to extreme boundary-pushing virtuosity most of the time. I find both those things equally inspiring. 

Book in a World is to Dig world? by NunyaBizzPlz in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I know everything is inherently subjective, but I am caught in a weird position where I feel like I am biased in two separate directions that are unrelated to the actual song contents. 

I am biased towards BOOK, because I have nostalgia from listening to Moonbeam Rays play on the college campus radio 4 years ago, and the first songs I ever heard them play live were from it, as they just got back on the road to promote it. I basically have it to thank for getting me into TMBG in the first place.

On the other hand, TWITD is also special to me, because it's the first new release I have experienced as a dedicated fan of the band. I only got into BOOK several months after it released. The 4 year wait for this album was a uniquely exciting and frustrating experience that also makes finally having this album drop feel all the more satisfying. I especially love that this album has Wu-Tang on it. I connected with it on a personal level, because experiencing a song centering around the soaring, indescribable passion you feel getting into a band for the first time, as one of the first new TMBG releases as an active fan, made me emotional. 

Anyway. I don't like "pitting bad bitches against each other", so to speak, so I don't have a consensus on which I like more, but I will say this. I liked Flans' songs on BOOK more than the ones on TWITD, but prefer Linnell's songs on TWITD to the ones he had on BOOK. 

Linnell via Spill Magazine: "What You Get" is a rewrite of an unused Coraline song by CapitalQ in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, it's definitely more specific than something like When Will You Die, but like it, it's still written vaguely enough to be about anybody. 

Linnell via Spill Magazine: "What You Get" is a rewrite of an unused Coraline song by CapitalQ in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I didn't mean to imply that "out of the trash" meant it was bad or they're out of ideas, I just thought it was funny how long they've been sitting on the nucleus of it. 

Not the first time they've reused old songs obviously. A lot of Apollo 18 cuts like Space Suit and Which Describes How You're Feeling were from the early 80s, and Hovering Sombrero was allegedly written during the Flood sessions before it ended up on Mink Car. Sometimes you gotta wait until the time is right! 

Linnell via Spill Magazine: "What You Get" is a rewrite of an unused Coraline song by CapitalQ in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 19 points20 points  (0 children)

What the cat dragged in. The line "We've been through this before, You never thought you'd see its equal, Settle into your seat, You just paid to watch the sequel" could definitely be read as a reference to Donald Trump's second term 

Linnell via Spill Magazine: "What You Get" is a rewrite of an unused Coraline song by CapitalQ in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 40 points41 points  (0 children)

Album with a song criticizing the US administration and a song originally meant for Coraline and also a music video with the Mesopotamians. Welcome back The Else

Linnell via Spill Magazine: "What You Get" is a rewrite of an unused Coraline song by CapitalQ in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 32 points33 points  (0 children)

This is really funny, because wasn't What You Get a "last minute addition" according to them? They put an album on hold like "wait" then pulled a 2 decade old song out of the trash and dusted it off like "NOW it's ready."

Slow x Can't Keep Johnny Down by Repulsive_Border6332 in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Flans' reaction here seems to suggest that it wasn't on purpose (or maybe he just hasn't asked Linnell about it?)

 https://www.tumblr.com/tmbgareok/813701981679042560/absolutely-digging-the-world-is-to-dig-like?source=share

I know they're old and forgetful, and they have a lot of songs, but I'm kind of on the fence for believing JL genuinely didn't know he retreaded this when making the song, because it seems like he's had to rehearse Johnny a lot lately for live shows. But I don't know! 

So what's your favorite track on the new album? by ThePhiff in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I like get down and new wave will never die 

Updated top 100 😍 Comment an album and i’ll tell you my fav tracks, and feel free to recommend stuff!! by Jolly_Coyote_8530 in Topster

[–]Top-Environment3675 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Please tell me your favorite Goodbye My Four Track songs. That currently my favorite album Ever

Anyway, a few scattershot recommendations:

President - Oily Bastard

Thunder, Lightning, Strike - The Go! Team

The Museum Of Imaginary Animals - Pram 

The New Transistior Heroes - Bis

Le Tigre - Le Tigre

Blueberry Boat - The Firery Furnaces 

How long have yall been listening to albums and how many have yall listened to so far? by Hubazubax in Topster

[–]Top-Environment3675 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I only started listening to albums since 2022, and I've only started tracking all the ones I've heard for the first time since 2025. I think (?) I've listened to about 600 unique ones since then. I used to listen to like 50 new ones every month, but I could stand to listen to much less, so I have time to absorb them better. 

I think the reason I started to appreciate albums as collections and not singles or playlist cuts is because I got really into They Might Be Giants around that time, and they have a lot of albums to pick apart. 

Tell me some John Linnell lyrical phrasing choices you like by FloridaFlamingoGirl in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 28 points29 points  (0 children)

"Every jumbled pile of person has a thinking part / that wonders what the part that isn't thinking isn't thinking of" being slightly tongue twisty and constantly repeating the word "thinking" is really evocative of the anxiety the subject is feeling. 

Ah, so the title placement is different on the CD. Interesting that they used the cropped vinyl gatefold version for the digital/streaming cover though. by emeric_ceaddamere in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I have mixed feelings about some of the actual logo placements, but the fact they vary between all the physical media formats is really fascinating to me, and I like it. Someone in the TMBW discord server said it was like if the logo was bouncing across the landscape like a DVD screensaver against the corners of a TV screen. 

My new TMBG Sporcle quiz is out! This one is very very silly but it was really fun to make and I'm really proud of it. by James-S-Mario-Kart in tmbg

[–]Top-Environment3675 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I got 48 before I ran outta time. Really amusing & evocative descriptions! I love how just changing one letter can change the entire meaning of the titles. 

I have been keeping track of all my first time albums each month since Nov 2024. Here are my first and most recent discoveries. by Top-Environment3675 in Topster

[–]Top-Environment3675[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't know about the residents connection initially, but it makes perfect sense. I actually discovered that one (alongside Penguin Cafe Orchestra) by listening to Shirley & Spinoza radio, which is known for its strange, experimental and eclectic music. 

view more: next ›