F-Measure

Roseanne Cash - "Seven Year Ache" (forgotten song)

2012-01-14T09:41:00.001-08:00

This has been driving me crazy for quite some time... Katy Perry songs are featured regularly at the Y (about the only place where Danette and I hear pop music). Although it makes me a little ashamed, I have to admit Perry writes some strong hooks, with her 2010 single "Teenage Dream" probably being my "favorite". But the thing that always struck me was part of the song reminded me of what I thought was a 70s song; specifically how she sang the following lines, first occurring at 2:27--2:43 and repeated again at 3:23--3:40:

I'ma get your heart racing in my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight
Let you put your hands on me in my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

Last night at the Y I think I figured it out: I believe I'm thinking of "Seven Year Ache", the country/pop cross-over single from the 1981 LP of the same name by Roseanne Cash. Yeah, so 1981 isn't quite "70s", but it is close enough. I'm not claiming a copy or ripoff, just similarity: listen to the phrasing and structure of lines like (0:32--0:48):

Girls in the bars thinking who is this guy
But they don't think nothing when they're telling you lies
You look so careless when they're shooting that bull
Don't you know heartaches are heroes when their pockets are full

as well as the chorus:

Tell me your trying to cure a seven year ache
See what else your old heart can take
The boys say when is he gonna give us some room
The girls say, God, I hope he comes back soon

and then compare to the Perry lines. Danette confirmed that they were similar and said it was a good pull, but she may have just said that so I would shut up about it. Anyway, I think I've uncovered the similarity that's been a pebble in my shoe every time we'd hear this song while working out. And while it has been probably 10 minutes since you've heard a Katy Perry song, when was the last time you heard a Roseanne Cash song?

Roseanne Cash -- "Seven Year Ache"
Katy Perry -- "Teenage Dream"

Negativland - "U2" (LP Review)

2012-01-07T08:36:00.001-08:00

Where would Negativland's career be without "U2", the 1991 two song EP that took aim at Casey Kasem and the band U2? On one hand, the resulting legal firestorm from Island Records (U2's label) and SST (Negativland's label) nearly ruined the band financially. On the other hand, the accompanying attention greatly increased the profile of the band, as well as giving them a nearly limitless source of future material. Perhaps the wreckage was the inevitable conclusion for the band that invented the term "culture jamming".

Island Records claimed that the cover art was intended to confuse buyers, who would think it is a release from U2 entitled "Negativland". Negativland countered that the band U2 doesn't have exclusive rights to the letter U and the numeral 2. Island was also unhappy with the extensive sampling of U2's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". Negativland countered that this was covered under fair use. The fight is documented in an LP and magazine from Negativland, but here's the short version: Island has a lot of $, and Negativland and SST don't. Island wins.

The EP was withdrawn from SST's catalog (surviving copies can bring big $) and hastily replaced with the EP "Guns", whose cover art continues the commentary on the situation. The two songs themselves are freely available on the band's web site, and in 2001 the band re-released the songs (along with live versions and other situational commentary) on the LP "These Guys Are From England and Who Gives a Shit" (the quote is from Casey Kasem's abusive and profane rant about the "death dedications", the band U2, and Kasem's confusion about Ireland vs. England; the shock value is much higher for those familiar with Kasem, American Top 40, and their squeaky clean image). As far as I know this LP (released on Seeland Records, Negativland's own label) generated no controversy; I guess Island and SST no longer thought it worth their while. You owe it to yourself to get TGAFEAWGAS, but in the mean time you can find the two original mp3s directly from the band. Lost in the story about these songs is the fact that the songs themselves are quite entertaining.

Standout songs: "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (1991 A Capella Mix)" (negativland.com, YouTube); "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Special Edit Radio Mix)" (negativland.com, YouTube).

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 9/10. Snuggles.

Bonus Link: A YouTube playlist of Mark Hosler at the 47th Ann Arbor Film Festival, talking about Negativland. I'm going to eventually review some of their full-length LPs...

Ice-T - "99 Problems" (the song remains the same)

2011-12-29T09:45:00.001-08:00

Twice was interesting, but upon hearing the third "version" of this song convinced me there was something afoot: three completely different songs, sharing only the memorable chorus and nothing else.

"99 Problems" was made famous in 2004 by Jay-Z as a single of his LP "The Black Album" but it was originally a (different) song by Ice-T. Ice-T never released it as a single, but instead was a B-side from the "That's How I'm Livin'" single (from his 1993 LP "Home Invasion"). Guesting on the Ice-T version is Brother Marquis from 2 Live Crew, and the song is typical of both their styles at that time: juvenile sex rhymes. The "bitches and hos" misogyny is so over the top, I tell myself it is like the cartoon violence in Kill Bill -- you shouldn't be offended because it isn't meant to be taken seriously. Regardless, the song gave us a memorable chorus with a great hook.

Jay-Z must have agreed since he lifted the chorus for his 2004 single. He replaced the sex stories with autobiographical stories about police, music critics, the street, etc. Rick Rubin is the producer of this song, and while Jay-Z obviously raps, Rick's influence turns this into what has to be one of the heaviest metal songs ever (see also: Rick Rubin and Johnny Cash in "God's Gonna Cut You Down"). As Jay-Z says at the end "You're crazy for this one, Rick".

Ok, so Jay-Z reworking an Ice-T song isn't that much of a stretch... But this summer, Danette's sister, Julie, played a bluegrass version of "99 Problems" by Hugo. Julie was unaware of the prior versions and that is what convinced me that the song (or at least the chorus) was on its way to becoming a traditional song (or at least a musical version of "The Aristocrats"). I don't know that much about Hugo, but there is a connection since he is signed to Jay-Z's label Roc Nation.

What will be the next installment in the series? Where do you go from rap, to rap/metal, to bluegrass?

Ice-T: "99 Problems"

Jay-Z: "99 Problems"

Hugo: "99 Problems"

Bonus links:

Danger Mouse: "99 Problems" (A mashup of Jay-Z's version with "Helter Skelter" from the semi-official LP "The Grey Album".)

Trick Daddy: "99 Problems" (From his 2001 LP "Thugs Are Us"; this version is basically part 2 of the Ice-T version. Not really a cover, but neither is it a new version like the others listed above.)

Jay-Z and Phish: "99 Problems" (Not all combinations work well...)

Ice-T: "That's How I'm Livin'" (The original A-side of the single.)

Liz Phair - "Juvenilia" (LP Review)

2011-12-28T15:16:00.000-08:00

The 1995 EP "Juvenilia" was basically an extended single for the song "Jealousy" from Liz Phair's excellent 1994 sophomore LP "Whip-Smart". In addition to "Jealousy", there are two new songs and five "old" songs from her fabled Girlysound demo tapes (nearly impossible to get in 1995). Liz mined those demo tapes for a majority of the material on her first three LPs, but the LP versions were always re-recorded with full-production, band members, etc. To the best of my knowledge, "Juvenilia" was the first time she released songs straight from Girlysound.

As such, their sound is pretty bare: just Liz strumming a guitar and a few multi-tracked vocals. No bass, no drums, just Liz with her attitude & guitar. Honestly, that's really all you need.

Do you need this EP? Well, how big a fan are you? "Jealousy" is a great song, but this is the same version that is on "Whip-Smart". Of the new tracks, she does a decent cover of "Turning Japanese" (originally by the one-hit wonders, The Vapors) but I never really cared that much for the original. The other new track, "Animal Girl", is not really bad, but isn't memorable either (foreshadowing for later material).

Of the Girlysound tracks, "California", "South Dakota", "Batmobile", "Dead Shark", and "Easy", only "Dead Shark" is close to being weak. The first two tracks are excellent, and I wonder why were never re-recorded for inclusion on later LPs. "California" was re-released on the 2nd half of 2010's "Funstyle", but I believe "Juvenilia" is the only in-print option to get the other four Girlysound tracks.

Standout songs: "Jealousy", "California", "South Dakota", "Batmobile", "Easy".

Skip 'em songs: none.

Other songs: "Turning Japanese", "Animal Girl", "Dead Shark"

Final score: 7/10. This one is hard to score. If you're a big fan, you already have this. If you're not a big fan, then her demo tapes isn't the place to start. I settled on a "7" since any serious collector should have this.

Zomes - "Zomes" (LP Review)

2011-12-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

Quietly working its way up my iTunes playlist is the 2008 self-titled LP "Zomes". Zomes isn't actually a band, but an alias for Asa Osbourne, the guitarist for the punk-band Lungfish. I'm not familiar with Osbourne, Lungfish, or some of the other various related projects, so I'm reviewing this LP without the context of Osbourne's prior work (two good reviews of the LP by someone familiar his oeuvre can be found at "dusted" and "hardcore for nerds").

This LP is a mesmerizing, minimalist, fuzzy, drone record that features a lot heavily processed guitar. Knowing what I know now about Osbourne, it makes sense to me that this is basically electronic music as envisioned and executed in a decidedly organic, DIY-punk aesthetic. If Kevin Shields, Brian Eno, and Phillip Glass listened to a bunch of Ramones and Iggy Pop LPs and then went on a weekend recording bender, it would sound like this. Butch turned me on to this LP, I love it, and I turned Herbert on to it. If you've been reading this blog regularly, you'll know that's a good indication of the breadth of interests to which this LP appeals.

Stand out songs: Although it has 16 tracks (owing to its punk roots, none stick around that long), this is not the kind of LP for which you have favorite tracks. Listen to the whole thing at grooveshark. Some representative songs include: "Crowning Orbs", "Clear Shapes", "Colored Matter".

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 9/10. Deceptively simple, you'll be surprised how often you replay this.

The Cribs - "Ignore the Ignorant" (LP Review)

2011-12-24T15:29:00.000-08:00

I've been putting this one off for almost two years now... Here's the short version: The Cribs' fourth LP, 2009's "Ignore the Ignorant", is a good LP, but the addition of Johnny Marr in 2008 ultimately hurt them more than it helped.

It is ok to speak of this now, since in April The Cribs announced that Johnny Marr had left the band amicably. While I respect Marr & The Smiths, and The Cribs have a history of working with a number of alt-rock veterans (e.g., Lee Renaldo on "Be Safe", Jon Slade on "Advice From a Roving Artist"), I'm first and foremost a Cribs fan. And although I liked the idea of an extended collaboration with Johnny, it just didn't work as well as it might have. I'm glad they tried it; the Jarman brothers are cool with it, Johnny is cool with it, so I can be cool with it too.

The primary problem with this LP is the song writing is not as crisp as it was on their previous releases. Perhaps that reflects the presence of Johnny Marr upsetting the song writing dynamic of the Jarman brothers: either his input didn't always mesh with them, or maybe they changed their style to accommodate him (Marr is about finesse, while The Cribs, let's be honest, are at their best just bashing it out). Or maybe it is just The Cribs are no longer "sixteen and really bored" (I lifted that association from someone, but I've forgotten where) and they're not going to have that earnest urgency of their youth. Whatever the reason, it seems like there are fewer Cribs trademarks: sing-along choruses, hooks and memorable riffs, and vocal trade-offs between twins Gary and Ryan.

The secondary but still critical problem with this LP is its production. Producer Nick Launay should be shot. Yes, Alex Krapanos's entry in the "loudness war" from the previous LP is gone, but in its place Launay appeared to have recorded the band from a building next door to where they were playing, with the music piped through a muddy tube. He's managed to find the no man's land between the (overly) bright loudness of the prior LP and the endearing lo-fi sound of their first two. Please work with Edywn Collins again.

Because of the addition of Marr and his influence on the song writing, I'm going to break with my typical review structure and instead go song-by-song (all songs are listed as co-written by all four band members):

We Were Aborted: Wow, what a strong start. Although not officially released as a single, the band made this song a free download prior to the release of the LP. Lyrically and musically, this song rawks as hard as any of their earlier material (i.e., it sounds pre-Marr).

Cheat on Me: This was their first single from the LP and it is a great song. I hear a small Marr influence in the guitar riffs, but it works great and if the entire LP sounded like this I'd have no complaints.

We Share The Same Skies: Their 2nd (and last) single sounds like a long-lost demo from The Smiths. If Morrisey ever did a cover of this song, you'd swear it would belong on "Louder Than Bombs". It is actually a good song, but it doesn't sound like The Cribs at all.

City of Bugs: WTF?! Where did this Sonic Youth sound-alike come from? It is also a pretty good song, even though it doesn't "sound like" The Cribs until the break about 3 minutes in.

Hari Kari: An almost classic Cribs song. All the pieces are there, but they just don't come together.

Last Year's Snow: Similar to "We Share The Same Skies"; Gary belts this one out, but it would be easy to imagine Morrisey singing.

Emasculate Me: Like "Hari Kari" above; it sounds like someone else (Marr?) trying to write a song that sounds like The Cribs. Skip.

Ignore the Ignorant: The title track is strong, sounds like The Cribs, and is a primary exhibit for what a bad job Launay did.

Save Your Secrets: Another song that appears to have all the elements, but they never come together. It treads dangerously close to piano ballad territory. Skip.

Nothing: This sounds like an outtake from "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever". Hooks, scream-along chorus, the whole thing. Great song.

Victim of Mass Production: On any of their other LPs, this would be considered a weak song. The influence of The Replacements can be heard here ("we're not supposed to be here anyway!").

Stick To Yr Guns: A pretty good song, similar to pre-Marr songs like "Shoot The Poets" and "Haunted". This is the song that "Save Your Secrets" (above) wanted to be but failed.

All of the above adds up to a good, solid LP that should be in your collection. And if you've never heard of The Cribs, you'll probably even like this more -- at least until you discover how excellent their prior work is. Yes, I realize going on about how much better their earlier LPs are is so cliche that it deserves its own song (cf. "Our Bovine Public"). On the other hand, NME & Pitchfork rate this LP highly because their trying to make up for completely whiffing on their earlier LPs.

Hopefully their future work will return to their lo-fi roots and we'll just think of "Ignore the Ignorant" as a curious collaboration that lasted 2+ years and produced over one LP's worth of material.

Final Score: 7/10.

Bonus links:

* In typical Cribs' fashion, there are plenty of bonus tracks and b-sides from these sessions. The ones I know of are: "Is Anybody There?", "Curse This English Rain", and "So Hot Now".

* In August 2010, the 4-piece Cribs released a one-sided 7" single, "Housewife". It's not a bad song, but it is so different I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.

States - "Picture Me With You" (forgotten song)

2011-11-22T18:29:00.000-08:00

While reminiscing with friends about Norfolk's Boathouse being torn down, I was poking around YouTube and uncovered a song which I had completely forgotten about: "Picture Me With You" by Norfolk's own States.

Released in 1981, I recall hearing this pretty frequently on the radio in middle school but I don't think I realized at the time that they were a local band (was this song ever played outside of Hampton Roads?). This was their second and final LP; I have no idea what happened to them after that.

Squarely in the late 70s / early 80s new wave mode (check out the shirts in the video!), this song still sounds pretty good.

"Picture Me With You" -- live version (@ Rogues in Va Beach), studio version.

Mayer Hawthorne - "A Strange Arrangement" (LP Review)

2011-10-20T08:35:00.000-07:00

Mayer Hawthorne (hip-hop / blue-eyed soul's version of Rivers Cuomo) released 2009's "A Strange Arrangement" on Stones Throw Records.

This is the best Hall and Oates LP in 30 years.

Standout songs: "A Strange Arrangement", "Just Ain't Gonna Work Out", "Maybe So, Maybe No", "I Wish It Would Rain", "One Track Mind", "Let Me Know", "I Can't Go For That (No Can Do)"

Skip 'em songs: "Your Easy Lovin' Ain't Pleasin' Nothin'" (I didn't like in 1982 either).

Final Score: 8/10.

Deathprod - "Treetop Drive 1-3, Towboat" (LP Review)

2011-10-10T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here's another one for Butch @ Squealer Music. I see Butch once or twice a year and we use the time to catch up on music. Our interests overlap in the areas of ambient, doom, drone, stoner -- basically all the sub-genres that Black Sabbath spawned (see my review of "Vol. 4"). One of the artists that Butch turned me on to is Deathprod (aka Helge Sten).

After hearing Deathprod from Butch, I bought the eponymous 4-CD boxset (released in 2004). I wasn't sure at what granularity that I wanted to review the music: 4 LPs in a single review? Instead, I review them separately starting with my favorite LP from the set, 1994's "Treetop Drive 1-3, Towboat" (yes, the LP title is simply the listing of the LP's four tracks).

Reviewing this LP is actually rather hard -- Sten is generally credited on LPs with "Audio Virus", and that's about as good an explanation as you'll find. There is almost no percussion, just swaths of looped, foreboding sounds. Here's a string of words I'd associate with the music in general: dark, powerful, repetitive, nightmarish, mesmerizing, plodding, haunting, homemade, menacing, stalking, Giger-esque. Similar in a sense to Plastikman's "Consumed" in results, but far more organic and, well, viral.

I'll attempt another comparison: on the "Time" episode of Radiolab, they describe "9 Beet Stretch", which is Beethoven's 9th Symphony stretched out to 24 hours in length. "Treetop Drive 1-3, Towboat" could easily be excerpts of MBV's "Loveless" with the same stretch treatment.

Treetop Drive 1 sounds like an interpretation of a series of looped, slow-motion car wrecks. Treetop Drive 2 sounds like warring, maniacal channel buoys. Treetop Drive 3 sounds like a plague of locusts, and features a narration of:

So there's a strange affinity with death. Many school districts today are teaching a death education, where they take first graders, second, and third graders and acquaint them with death: Not in the concept of life after death, but with death itself. And, kids are being taken to mortuaries and are allowed to see, and even touch, dead bodies. There is this fascination with death, to desensitize us to death.

This is the only thing that passes for vocals in the LP, and I have no idea where this is sampled from. But my favorite song is the LP closer "Towboat". It starts off pretty minimalist, then slowly builds an aural description of a conflict, closing with what sounds like (abstracted) machine gun fire in the last 4-5 minutes of the track. This could easily be the dream soundtrack of Willard / Kurtz going up the river.

Standout tracks: Treetop Drive 1, Treetop Drive 2, Treetop Drive 3, Towboat.

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final Score: 8/10. Not light background listening, but powerful and important.

Blink-182 - "Josie" (forgotten song)

2011-09-27T08:11:00.001-07:00

For Danette's birthday... last year it was "Punk Rock Girl" and we might as well continue the punk theme this year too, in part because I think pop-punk band Blink-182 has written the world's best love song -- "Josie". A single from their 1998 LP "Dude Ranch", it received a good deal of airplay when it came out, but it seems to have fallen through the radio genre cracks: not new enough for progressive rock, and certainly not quite classic rock.

The world's best love song? Absolutely, and here's why: Blink-182 has a sharp sense of humor (unlike, say, Green Day), but in this case they've laid bare the unvarnished truths of the male psyche, which are too simple for Cosmo, Sex and the City, et al. to explain:

Yeah my girlfriend takes me home when I'm too drunk to drive
And she doesn't get all jealous when I hang out with the guys
She laughs at my dumb jokes when no one does
She brings me Mexican food from Sombrero just because
Yeah, just because

And my girlfriend likes UL and DHC
And she's so smart and independent
I don't think she needs me
Quite half as much as I know I need her
I wonder why there's not another guy that she'd prefer

And when I feel like giving up like my world is falling down
I show up at three a.m. she's still up watching Vacation
And I see her pretty face it takes me away to a better place
And I know that everything's gonna be fine

Yes, that's pretty much it. From Blink-182's perspective "Josie" is fictional (the name comes from the neighbor's dog), but that's only because Mark Hoppus doesn't know Danette.

"Josie" (unofficial video with lyrics; watch this one)
"Josie" (official video; it's funny but the video's story has absolutely nothing to do with the lyrics)

R.E.M. - "Superman" (the song remains the same)

2011-09-26T15:45:00.000-07:00

Less than a week ago, R.E.M. decided to hang it up after 31 years. Drummer Bill Berry had already retired 14 years ago (!), so I suppose they did the right thing in calling it quits before attrition whittled down the three remaining original members.

Here's where I have to confess that although I like R.E.M. well enough, I never loved R.E.M. Sure, I have a handful of their LPs, I enjoy most of their stuff, and I recognize their centrality in defining the 80s college rock sound. And thanks to the late Carol Taylor (FM99), everyone in Hampton Roads heard them before most did (she was playing "Radio Free Europe" in 83/84). I remember Earl Lindford's band (I don't recall their name) playing "Can't Get There From Here" at the 86 or 87 Denbigh Jam (see also: Tone Deaf). In short, unless you're from Athens, GA I probably heard about them before you.

But it was much later in life (mid-90s?) that I was surprised to discover that my favorite song by R.E.M. was actually a cover. "Superman", the second and last single from 1986's LP "Lifes Rich Pageant" (arguably their last truly alternative LP), was actually originally released in 1969 by The Clique, as the b-side to their single "Sugar on Sunday". Furthermore, the lead vocals on the R.E.M. version are from bassist Mike Mills instead of lead singer Michael Stipe. That's right, my favorite R.E.M. song is not written by R.E.M. and has Michael Stipe on just background vocals.

So while I was never the biggest R.E.M. fan, their retirement is too important to ignore. I might eventually review some of their LPs, but for the near-term this will have to do.

R.E.M.: "Superman"; (a YouTube version with bad sound quality, but you have to love the I.R.S. 45rpm single)

The Clique: "Superman"

Bonus Links:
R.E.M.: "White Tornado" (b-side to the 7" single).

The Clique: "Sugar on Sunday" (a-side to their 7" single).

Bruce Springsteen - "The Ghost of Tom Joad" (the song remains the same)

2011-09-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

A Labor Day special...

Here's the condensed version of the conversation I've had dozens of times with some of my European friends: Bruce Springsteen is an activist / protest singer in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, but his songs are written with such a distinctly American, individualistic perspective that the message of struggle, hope & despair, and identity is often obscured, if not completely misunderstood.

In contrast to some of his more indirect songs, "The Ghost of Tom Joad", the title track from the 1995 LP of the same name, is one of Bruce's most overtly political songs. The blistering message is tamed by Bruce's muted, acoustic delivery; it was Rage Against the Machine two years later that realized the inherent, well, "rage" of the narrator against forces so complex and overwhelming that individuals must succumb. In Bruce's songs, the hero can often overcome through sheer force of will (e.g., "Badlands", "The Promised Land", "Thunder Road", "Born to Run") -- or at least believes he can. In "The Ghost of Tom Joad", the hero is bleakly aware of his futile state:

Men walkin' 'long the railroad tracks
Goin' someplace there's no goin' back
Highway patrol choppers comin' up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin' round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin' in their cars in the southwest
No home no job no peace no rest

The highway is alive tonight
But nobody's kiddin' nobody about where it goes
I'm sittin' down here in the campfire light
Searchin' for the ghost of Tom Joad

Tom Joad is of course the main character and anti-hero in Steinbeck's 1940 novel "The Grapes of Wrath", which tells the fictionalized story of the Joad family's travels from Oklahoma during the dust bowl to California in search of a land, jobs, and a better life. Instead, they find California is controlled by corporate farmers, in collusion with each other as well as local law enforcement to ensure an ample supply of cheap, unorganized labor. In short, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's dream.

Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there's a cop beatin' a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there's a fight 'gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I'll be there
Wherever there's somebody fightin' for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin' hand
Wherever somebody's strugglin' to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you'll see me."

Bruce Springsteen: studio version, live in the studio 2009

Bruce Springsteen & Tom Morello: live 2009

Rage Against the Machine: 1997 single version, 2000 LP version, live 1999 version, fan video

"The Grapes of Wrath": New York Times Review, ReThink Review

Lissy Trullie - "Self-Taught Learner" (LP Review)

2011-08-20T08:35:00.001-07:00

I've listened to this EP enough times to render an opinion: despite how much we (the collective we) want Lissy Trullie to be the next Lissy Phair / Lissy Ramone / Lissy Hynde, she's not quite there. She's got the style, but not (yet) the substance. Released in 2009, her 6 track EP "Self-Taught Learner" generated a lot of buzz (e.g., reviews in altsounds, Rolling Stone), but ultimately this emperor has clothes, but not fully matured song-writing chops. The neo-punk attitude's there and the production is clean enough not to inhibit mainstream appeal, but I guess there is a reason why the record labels have been riding this first release for the last two years.

The version I have was actually re-released later in 2009 on Downtown Records and features slightly different cover art (and no, that's not Lissy on the cover) and an additional 4 songs: 2 new songs, an unreleased demo, and a phoned in version of Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" (with Adam Green). If you have the 6 track version, you're fine -- the 4 new tracks don't add much. None of the 10 songs are really bad, but only a couple really stand out. Here's hoping her song writing improves, she hooks up with a better partner, or does more inspired covers like her version of Hot Chip's "Ready for the Floor".

Standout songs: "Boy Boy", "She Said" (live version), "Ready for the Floor"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final Score: 5/10. "Lissy Ramone can't take your call now, please leave a message."

Perfume Tree - "Tides' Out" (LP Review)

2011-08-18T13:19:00.001-07:00

Perfume Tree's 1997 EP "Tide's Out" was a sign of things changing for the band. For one, up until this point they had followed the standard formula of releasing an LP, and then a remix EP to complement that prior LP. "Tide's Out" is not really a remix EP for 1996's "A Lifetime Away" (that LP never received a remix release (edit: I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that; 1995's "Fathom the Sky" was the remix EP for "A Lifetime Away")), but is actually a remix EP for the "Feeler" LP that was released in 1998. More importantly, this EP signals an almost complete shift toward electronic music, a shift that "Feeler" would complete. Previous releases had always retained an organic feel, but that is almost entirely gone on this release.

In my prior review of "A Lifetime Away", I covered the story of Perfume Tree, their members, and their unfortunate lack of the success they deserved. Vancouver-based radio DJs, toiling in obscurity on the small label "World Domination Recordings", and prior to that the even smaller "Zulu Records", their sound is as fresh today as it was in the mid-1990s. The CDs are out of print, but most can be found used for decent $ (right now "Tide's Out" is going for less than $5 on Amazon).

I actually think the songs here are stronger than on "Feeler". The EP features 6 tracks (~55 minutes), but really only 3 distinct songs: 2 versions of "Blink", 3 versions of "Saturate", and "Too Late, Too Early" (which would be significantly reworked as "Too Early, Too Late" on "Feeler"). "Blink" is a rather fast, up beat song compared to most by the band. The "Black and White" version actually rocks pretty hard, complete with a hammond organ sound that the original version lacks. All three versions of "Saturate" are good, with the "20,000 Leagues" sounding, well, like it is under water. The "Full Steam" version is appropriately titled as well, driving almost as hard as "Blink (Black and White)". All six tracks are amazing.

"Tide's Out", like "A Lifetime Away" the year before, showcases the band at its creative peak. As before, the band is great, but Jane Tilley's vocals really separate the band from its peers. No connect-the-dots, formulaic electronica here. You owe it to yourself to hunt a copy of this EP, as well as the rest of their canon.

Standout songs: "Blink", "Saturate", "Too Late, Too Early", "Saturate (20,000 Leagues)", "Blink (Black And White)", "Saturate (Full Steam)"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final Score: 10/10.

Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle - "Ultra Orange & Emmanulle" (LP Review)

2011-08-17T14:32:00.000-07:00

While watching the excellent film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", a great song came on that both Danette and I immediately liked but were unfamiliar with. Watching the credits, we found that it was "Don't Kiss Me Goodbye", by Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle, which is basically a now permanent collaboration of the group Ultra Orange and actress Emmanuelle Seigner (who also starred in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"). A French actress singing pop music -- you're thinking Bridgette Bardot, Serge Gainsbourg, and "Bonnie and Clyde", right? Somewhat, but in this case you need to also think David Roback & Kendra Smith (i.e., "Opal") or David Roback & Hope Sandoval (i.e., "Mazzy Star").

"Don't Kiss Me Goodbye" was great in the context of the movie, and I made a point to buy the LP. Unfortunately, the LP is disappointing. DKMG is the best song on the LP, and on repeated listening it became apparent that why we like that song is because we're both fans of Mazzy Star. Take equal parts "Halah" and "Bells Ring" and you have a good idea of what DKMG sounds like: fuzzy dream pop with breathy, half-spoken female vocals. The LP cover art nicely captures the sound.

Some songs are ok, some are really bad, but most are just very derivative and simple. If the band down the street sounded like this, it would be ok, but the expectations are higher here. If you don't listen too closely, they sound better: perhaps the banal lyrics would sound better in French. The good songs are good enough to give some diversity to a playlist or mix cd, but as a collection of 11 songs this LP just doesn't hold together. Mostly its make me appreciate David Roback more. Emmanuelle sings better than Scarlett Johansson (e.g., her cover of "I Am the Cosmos") but she's clearly no Hope Sandoval.

Standout songs: "Sing Sing", "Don't Kiss Me Goodbye" (movie montage version), "Lines of My Hand"

Skip 'em songs: "Bunny", "Touch My Shadow", "Won't Lovers Revolt Now"

Final Score: 4/10. Mazzy Star keeps saying they'll release a fourth LP; in the meantime we have this...

Bonus Link: Bardot & Gainsbourg -- "Bonnie and Clyde"

Arctic Monkeys - "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not" (LP Review)

2011-08-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

What's the appropriate soundtrack for the recent UK riots? "Anarchy in the UK" by the Pistols? "London's Burning" by The Clash? All good choices, but they're 1) dated and 2) rather literal.

Instead, I thought of "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not", the 2006 debut LP by the Arctic Monkeys, a colorful collection of songs that depict the bleak, feckless lives of working class youth in the UK. For example, listen to "Riot Van", and it becomes apparent that lead singer / guitarist / song writer Alex Turner is writing about (and in the process, somewhat glamorizing) a general malaise, not about riots themselves. Take Springsteen's "Nebraska", update it by an entire generation, transplant it to the UK, speed it up, and you have WPSIATWIN.

While I had seen Arctic Monkeys on a TV show (SNL perhaps?) and enjoyed them, it took me a while to actually get this LP. The hype machine for the band was in full swing (yet another Britpop band: The Strokes, Oasis, etc.), so I wasn't sure what to think. The LP really is as good (or nearly so) as the hype: stripped down, lo-fi, catchy garage punk. Similar to The Cribs, and while not quite as good as them, they easily belong in the same discussion. Although if pressed, I might admit that the lead single from the LP, "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", rawks as hard as anything The Cribs have written.

Standout Songs: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor", "The View From the Afternoon", "Fake Tales of San Francisco", "Riot Van", "Perhaps Vampires Is a Bit Strong But..", "When the Sun Goes Down".

Skip'em Songs: none.

Final Score: 9/10.

Husker Du - "Everything Falls Apart and More" (LP Review)

2011-08-13T12:14:00.001-07:00

"Everything Falls Apart" was Husker Du's first studio LP, originally released in 1983 on Reflex Records and then re-released as "Everything Falls Apart and More" in 1993 on Rhino Records. The "and More" part refers to including Husker Du's first two 7" singles, 1980's "Statues / Amusement" and 1982's "In a Free Land", as well as two unreleased tracks a studio version of "Let's Go Die" (a live version appears on 1982's "Land Speed Record"), and the previously unreleased"Do You Remember?" (which is the English translation of "Husker Du"). The original LP clocked in at under 20 minutes, but the bonus material takes it to 42 minutes. Yes, in 1982 20 minutes was considered a full length LP for punk bands.

I got this LP sometime well after college, so it doesn't have the same nostalgia for me as "Flip Your Wig" or "New Day Rising". And this LP doesn't show the depth, complexity or variety that other LPs would; this is straightforward, hard-core punk. The production is thin & biting (courtesy of Spot, who produced most of the bands on the early days of SST Records) and the songs are short, furious, and rarely last much over two minutes. I wish I had heard this LP when it came out, it would have made a huge impression on me then.

But even still, this is a surprisingly good LP to listen to today. It is mostly angry punk music, but a few glimpses of their future, more melodic sound peek through in a few songs, like "Everything Falls Apart", "In a Free Land", and "Do You Remember?". So while this LP stays well within its genre, it is a genre that Husker Du helped create. Many fans think Husker Du began with "Zen Arcade", but if you're in the mood for a ferocious blast of energy, then give this LP a listen.

Standout Songs: "From the Gut", "Punch Drunk", "Bricklayer", "Afraid of Being Wrong", "Everything Falls Apart", "Target", "In a Free Land", "Do You Remember?".

Skip 'em Songs: their awkward cover of Donovan's "Sunshine Superman".

Final Score: 8/10

Thanks to HUSKERchout for the super-rare concert videos.

Husker Du - "Eight Miles High / Makes No Sense At All" (LP Review)

2011-08-09T18:19:00.001-07:00

I recently rediscovered this one out of my stacks of CDs and put it in my iTunes collection. Released in 1990 on SST Records three years after Husker Du had broken up, this 4-song EP is really just two earlier 7" singles combined and re-released: 1984's "Eight Miles High" and 1985's "Makes No Sense At All".

"Eight Miles High", their cover of the The Byrds classic 1966 song, is a non-LP single. Covering a song by The Byrds was quite a stretch for a punk band in 1984, and Husker Du turns out an appropriately heavy, buzz-saw version. The B-Side is a live version of "Masochism World", one of the heaviest songs on the acclaimed double LP "Zen Arcade".

"Makes No Sense At All" is the best song in Husker Du's catalog, and quite possibly the best punk song ever. It is the only single from their outstanding 1985 LP "Flip Your Wig". The B-Side is a cover of Sonny Curtis's "Love is All Around". That's right, as if to prove they could stretch further than The Byrds, they covered the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show (opening credits).

So do you need this EP? If you already have "Zen Arcade" and "Flip Your Wig", then there are only two new songs: "Eight Miles High" and "Love is All Around". The latter is just a novelty, so the former is really the only new song. If you're a hard-core fan (and don't already have the two 7" singles!), then get this EP since it is still in print and reasonably priced (I think the individual singles are out of print). But if you're not familiar with Husker Du, then start with "Flip Your Wig" and "New Day Rising" instead.

Standout songs: Eight Miles High (live 1983, live 1985, live 1987), Masochism World (studio version), Makes No Sense At All / Love Is All Around (in a single video).

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final Score: 6/10. All good songs, but necessary for hard-core fans only.

Bonus Link: The Byrds - "Eight Miles High"

Bruce Springsteen - "For You" (the song remains the same)

2011-07-31T12:25:00.000-07:00

I recently reviewed "Blinded by the Light", the song from Bruce Springsteen's first LP, "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." that was made famous by Manfred Mann's Earth Band. For MMEB's 1980 LP "Chance", they went back to well again, recording "For You" from Bruce's 1973 debut LP. (Bruce never released "For You" as a single, so I chose MMEB's covert art.)

I don't recall ever hearing Bruce's version on the radio, only occasionally for the MMEB version, and nothing on classic rock radio in I don't know how many years. Which is too bad, since this is quite a good song. MMEB used the same formula they used on BBTL: increasing the production complexity and greatly simplifying the lyrical complexity (three stanzas to 1.5 stanzas), even to the point of removing half of the chorus. The LP version clocked in at almost 6 minutes, but the 7" version is just under 4 minutes. Bruce's version:

I came for you, for you, I came for you, but you did not need my urgency
I came for you, for you, I came for you, but your life was one long emergency
and your cloud line urges me, and my electric surges free

MMEB's version:

I came for you
I came for you
I came for you
For you
I came for you

Eliminating the urgency/emergency portion significantly changes the meaning of the song; explore the original version and the MMEB version for additional changes.

For You: Bruce Springsteen (studio version, 1978 live version), Manfred Mann's Earth Band (7" single version, LP version, 1986 live version).

And for completeness, I suppose I should mention the 2005 release by The Disco Boys, based on the MMEB version: Radio Edit version, Freemasons Remix version.

Cowboy Junkies - "The Trinity Session" (LP Review)

2011-07-30T12:57:00.001-07:00

I was recently extolling the virtues of this LP to Herbert, and I've given/recommended it as a gift several times before so I decided I should go ahead and review it. Simply put, the Cowboy Junkies 1988 sophomore LP, "The Trinity Session", is one of the best LPs of all time. The story of the actual recording session is now legendary: on a shoestring budget, the group rented the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto (they're Canadian) for one day and recorded the entire LP live with one mic (ok, technically they forgot to record the a capella "Mining for Gold" during the weekend and recorded it a few days later in the church during the lunch break of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's recording session). The warm acoustics of the church, the intimate, spare production, the lonely, hazy songs -- it all combines to transport you to the session itself, like you helped the band move their gear and watched and listened to the LP unfold.

But what is less well-known but more interesting to me is that this LP is a love letter to & reinterpretation of country music. On the band's website they have extensive notes about their experiences touring the American South in support of their previous LP and being introduced to country music:

[W]e had spent a lot of time in the Southern States, especially Virginia, Georgia and the Carolinas. ... Those were the days when having to spend a night in a hotel room would mean the difference between eating the next day or paying for the gas to get us to the next town, so we spent a lot of our time sleeping on the floors of friendly promoters, fans, waitresses and bartenders. One of the best part about being "billeted" was that each night we were exposed to a new record collection and each night we'd discover a new album or a new band or a whole new type of music that was springing up in some buried underground scene somewhere in America. ... A style of music that we were heavily exposed to at that time was country music. It wasn't like everyone we ran into was a country music freak, but growing up in the South, most people had been exposed to a lot more of it than we had growing up in suburban Montreal. There would inevitably be in every collection one or two great country music records that had been lifted from their parents as they moved out. Sitting there between the latest Death Piggy single and Coltrane's Giant Steps would be something like Waylon Jennings' Honky Tonk Heroes, or Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits, The Louvin Brothers, The Carter Family, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard and the list goes on. We drank it up.

Sometimes you don't really understand something that you take for granted until it is processed and presented to you by someone from another culture or background (cf. my discussion of Robbie Robertson's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"). In doing so, the Junkies helped revitalize/define the genre of alt country, infused from their lo-fi, hazy, barroom blues sound from their first LP, "Whites Off Earth Now!!" (see also: "Me and the Devil Blues").

On this LP, the CJs don't simply cover country songs, but reinterpret them, and let the attitude infuse their other songs as well. For example, they do a slow, aching version of "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" that I think Hank Williams would approve of. Ditto a six minute blues jam version of Patsy Cline's "Walkin' After Midnight". They also strip down "Dreaming My Dreams With You" by Waylon Jennings, and do a surprisingly upbeat version (for them) of the traditional song "Working On a Building".

They go beyond straight covers with their version of "Blue Moon", mixing an original song with the Rodgers & Hart standard to yield "Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)". The result is genius; acknowledging the presence of Elvis without overshadowing the rest of the collection.

Despite my high praise for the above songs, the star of the show is without question their rolling, relaxed cover of The Velvet Underground's "Sweet Jane". One doesn't normally associate the Velvets with, say, Patsy Cline or Hank Williams, but the CJs figured out how to make it work. Lou Reed himself has said that the Cowboy Junkies version of "Sweet Jane" is "the best and most authentic version I have ever heard" -- you're not going to find higher praise than that.

Although I've spoken mostly of their covers, the LP features a handful of originals like "Misguided Angel" (a disturbingly beautiful song about an abusive relationship) and "200 More Miles" (a road song that appropriately namechecks Willie Nelson) that are excellent songs worthy of their placement in the LP. There are a few of missteps on the LP, for example Jeff Bird's harmonica on "I Don't Get It" and "Postcard Blues" is a little too shrill for my tastes, but these flaws are easily forgiven.

Conventional wisdom on the Cowboy Junkies is that "The Trinity Session" was their creative high point. I have most of their other LPs and I would agree that this is their best (though the others are quite good), but whereas many other critics blame them from not deviating from the formula they introduced on this LP, I think their fortunes waned when their sound became more polished and mainstream. I don't normally wish for bands to miss out on financial and critical success, but I kind of wish that it had avoided the CJs for a while longer and they could have made a few more LPs like this.

Standout Songs: "Mining for Gold", "Misguided Angel", "Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis)", "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry", "200 More Miles", "Sweet Jane", "Walkin' After Midnight". (The entire LP at grooveshark.com).

Skip 'em Songs: n/a

Final Score: 10/10. Perfection.

Bonus Links:

Elvis Presley - "Blue Moon"
The Velvet Underground - "Sweet Jane"
Patsy Cline - "Walking After Midnight"
Waylon Jennings - "Dreaming My Dreams With You"
Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys - "Working on a Building"
Hank Williams - "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry"

Julee Cruise - "Floating Into the Night" (LP Review)

2011-07-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

To most people, Julee Cruise will remind them of the TV series "Twin Peaks", but I didn't watch much TV in college when the series was on. But this music does remind me of my senior year of college, when I and my roommates Terry, Jason, and Frey would stay up all hours of the night drinking beer and playing Hearts and Spades. It didn't do much for our studies, but we became expert at shooting the moon and going under with almost any hand. Of course we'd listen to music as we played, and this LP was a constant favorite for all four of us. Individually we all had substantial CD collections and together we had maybe 15 linear feet of CDs, which was quite a lot at the time. I'm not sure who had this CD (Jason?), but I quickly purchased my copy after moving out.

Simply put, "Floating Into the Night" is one of the best LPs of all time, featuring the perfect collaboration between Julee Cruise (vocals), A ngelo Badalamenti (composer), and David Lynch (lyricist). Badalamenti has composed many soundtracks for Lynch, and the collaboration with Cruise actually began with the song "Mysteries of Love" for the film "Blue Velvet". That song lead to them recording a full LP's worth of songs, culminating in the 1989 release of "Floating Into the Night", prior to the release of Twin Peaks (90-91).

If you're familiar with Lynch's films, you know that they are surreal, dream-like, and often deal with dark, disturbing themes and images. Badalamenti's dream/lounge arrangements perfectly complement Lynch's imagery but the real surprise is Lynch's lyrics, which depict scenes which are best described as bittersweet, bucolic, Rockwellian, nostalgic, and child-like. The lyrics juxtaposed with the foreboding soundscapes makes the entire experience that much more powerful. Consider the closing lyrics to "Rocking Back Inside My Heart":

Do you remember our picnic lunch?
We both went up to the lake
And then we walked among the pines
The birds sang out a song for us
We had a fire when we came back
And your smile was beautiful
You touched my cheek and you kissed me
At night we went for a stroll
The wind blew our hair
The fire made us warm
The wind blew the waves
Out on the lake
We heard the owl in a nearby tree.
I thought our love would last forever.

Simple enough, but when combined with the music they become quite unsettling in an unexpected way.

With the possible exception of "Swans", all the songs on this LP are perfect, memorable, and distinct: the horn riff on "Floating", the bass on "Falling", the 50s-era "shu bobs" at the end of "I Remember", the swing sound of "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart", sweeping sounds of "Mysteries of Love", the musical surprise at ~3:28 of "Into the Night", the horns of "I Float Alone", the vocals of "The Nightingale", the solemnity of "The World Spins". "Swans" is not bad, but at 2:33 it does not add much to the LP.

Cruise, Badalamenti, and Lynch would all work together again on 1993's "The Voice of Love", and while that is not a bad LP it does not come close to capturing the magic of "Floating Into The Night". Danette says I'm too generous with my perfect scores, but this LP clearly deserves it. Whether it is evokes late nights playing cards, Twin Peaks, or simply nostalgia viewed through the twisted prism of David Lynch, once you've listened to it this LP is not easily forgotten.

Standout songs: "Floating", "Falling", "I Remember", "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart" (live), "Mysteries of Love", "Into the Night", "I Float Alone", "The Nightingale", "The World Spins" (live). (You can also find the entire LP listed at Grooveshark.) (Some of the live versions are from the concert film "Industrial Sympony No. 1".)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 10/10.

Red House Painters - Red House Painters (LP Review)

2011-06-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

What if you combined elements of 1980s goth/punk (e.g., The Cure, The Jesus and Mary Chain), alt-country (e.g., Cowboy Junkies, Mojave 3), and slowcore (e.g., Low, Codeine), and the result was... uninspiring and boring?

That would be Red House Painters, at least as I listen to their 1993 eponymous LP informally known as "Rollercoaster" (to differentiate it from their other 1993 eponymous LP known as "Bridge"). I generally like to become very familiar with an LP before I review it, but I actually haven't had this LP long. I read an effusive review somewhere online (Allmusic perhaps?) and purchased it without a lot of other research. Having just listened to it again tonight, the best thing I can say is there are no bad songs. Unfortunately, there are no good songs either. Just 14 unremarkable songs that evoke all of the influences listed above, but otherwise do nothing for me... and I really like this genre!

Perhaps I would have felt differently in 1993, or maybe if I gave it a few more listens, but I feel I've listened to it enough to render an opinion: there were many LPs released in 1993 and this is one of them. It reminds of Roosevelt's quote about "those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Standout songs: n/a

Skip 'em songs: n/a

Songs that appear: "New Jersey", "Strawberry Hill", (find more at Grooveshark)

Final score: 5/10. Suitable for background listening only.

Bruce Springsteen - "Blinded by the Light" (the song remains the same)

2011-06-19T20:57:00.000-07:00

How should I observe the passing of Clarence Clemons? An obvious choice would be "Jungleland", which is often cited as having one of Clemons' best solos (it occurs ~ 4:03 in this live 1978 version). Instead, I'm going with a song most people probably don't know was written by Bruce: "Blinded by the Light", the first (and ultimately unsuccessful) single from Bruce's first LP, 1973's "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.".

"Blinded by the Light" was later made famous by Manfred Mann's Earth Band as a single from their 1976 LP "The Roaring Silence". Whereas Bruce's version was still very much in Dylan's shadow, MMEB trimmed the voluminous lyrics (original lyrics vs. MMEB's lyrics), provided a slick 70s synth sound, and added some clever counterpoint at the end. The Manfred Mann version came in two versions, both of which you still hear regularly on classic rock radio: a 7 minute LP version and a 4 minute single version. And while it very much sounds like a mid-70s song, I never tire of it (see also: "Cruel to be Kind").

The various characters in the song (the drummer, diplomat, mascot, preacher, chaperone, etc.) are partially explained in the VH1 Storytellers DVD, but the interesting explanation is cut short by the video's editors! Danette bought this as a Christmas present a few years ago precisely because she knows I'm fascinated by this song's cast of characters and she thought all would finally be explained. Unless someone has an unedited version of this performance we'll never know who all these people are (though it is clear they are all real, or at least based on real characters). I've seen various explanations on the web, but none that I'd consider canonical. And if you're only familiar with the MMEB's version, you're missing out on the those that MMEB removed: the "hazard from Harvard", the "dude" from Scotland Yard, the shooting star, and the avatar.

While "Blinded by the Light" is probably not the first song you think of when Clarence Clemons is mentioned, I will point out that it is one of only two GFAPNJ songs on which Clemons appears and as such I consider it a fitting tribute.

Bruce Springsteen: studio version , 1974 live version, 2009 live version, VH1 Storytellers version (starts at ~9:00 into the video).

Manfred Mann's Earth Band: LP version, Single version, 1975 live version.

The Shelia Divine - "Hum" (forgotten song)

2011-05-31T20:24:00.001-07:00

I was driving in the convertible tonight, listening to a mix CD (ca. 2002) I keep in the car that I hadn't played in quite a while. Of course, it is entirely sing-along, road-trip music: Juliana Hatfield, Weezer, The Smithereens, Beck, Frank Black, etc. On came a song that I had entirely forgotten about: "Hum", a single from the 1999 LP "New Parade" by The Sheila Divine. Clearly it's a great song or it would not have made the road trip CD.

TSD were a 90s alternative band based in Boston that generated a buzz on college radio, but never quite turned the corner to mainstream success (or even sustained alternative success, for that matter). After 2 more LPs, they eventually broke up in 2003, but reformed in 2010.

I learned of them from "Hum", which received a bit of radio airplay in 1999. I bought "New Parade", but as I recall the rest of the LP did not measure up to the strong hooks of "Hum". I suppose I should give it a listen again (it has been a long time), but in the mean time see if you recall this excellent song. Sure, it sounds like most other 90s alternative bands (expertly working the soft-loud-soft formula in a way that would make the Pixies proud), but that's alright by me.

Hum: studio version, 2001 live version

Pink Floyd - "When the Tigers Broke Free" (forgotten song)

2011-05-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

I'll just assume that everyone has seen The Wall at least a dozen times and spare you the exposition on the cultural impact of the LP and film. I'll remind you that most of the songs on the 1979 LP and the 1982 film are slightly different, with many versions re-recorded, Bob Geldof (who played Pink in the film) singing lead on some, etc.

But do you remember "When the Tigers Broke Free", the only non-LP song in the film? It is split in two parts and interpolates "Another Brick in the Wall Part 1". The death of Roger Waters' father in WWII and his subsequent absence during his youth influences a lot of Waters' music, but this song is the most detailed and provides significant historical detail. For example, we can deduce that his father died in Italy during Operation Shingle. I don't often reproduce entire lyrics, but in this case they succinctly motivate the entire franchise that is "The Wall":

It was just before dawn
One miserable morning in black 'forty four.
When the forward commander
Was told to sit tight
When he asked that his men be withdrawn.
And the Generals gave thanks
As the other ranks held back
The enemy tanks for a while.
And the Anzio bridgehead
Was held for the price
Of a few hundred ordinary lives.

And kind old King George
Sent Mother a note
When he heard that father was gone.
It was, as I recall,
In a form of a scroll,
With gold leaf and all.
And I found it one day
In a drawer of old photographs, hidden away.
And my eyes still grow damp to remember
His Majesty signed
With his own rubber stamp.

It was dark all around.
There was frost in the ground
When the tigers broke free.
And no one survived
From the Royal Fusiliers Company C.
They were all left behind,
Most of them dead,
The rest of them dying.
And that's how the High Command
Took my daddy from me.

WTTBF was released as 7" single entitled "The Wall -- Music From The Film". As the name suggests, the single was supposed to be from a soundtrack LP for the film, to complement the 1979 LP. That soundtrack LP never materialized, but instead morphed into the 1982 LP "The Final Cut" (which did not contain WTTBF), the LP that pretty much ended Pink Floyd as we knew it. The 7" single was the only release for the song until the 2001 greatest hits compilation "Echoes" and then the 2004 re-release of "The Final Cut". Despite these belated re-releases, I'm guessing that most of us have only heard the song in the context of the movie.

While musically simple, it is a good song and suits the storyline of the movie/LP well. It also hints at the direction that the solo work by Roger Waters would take in the mid-80s.

When the Tigers Broke Free: (parts 1 and 2 from the film, spliced together): YouTube.

When the Tigers Broke Free, the B-side alternate version of "Bring the Boys Back Home": YouTube.

N.B. In case you did not know, a "tiger" was a formidable German tank from WWII.

K's Choice - "Not An Addict" (forgotten song)

2011-04-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

In case you ever wondered what the Indigo Girls would sound like if they played shoegazing, I'm pretty sure it would sound like K's Choice since lead singer Sarah Betten's voice is at least as husky and breathy as the Indigo's Emily Saliers. I remember when I first heard the song, I thought it was a new Indigo Girls song.

K's Choice hails from Belgium and scored a good amount of radio airplay in the US with their 1995 single "Not An Addict", from their second LP "Paradise in Me". Although they continued off and on since then with occasional hiatus and solo project, to my knowledge "Not An Addict" was the only radio play they received here. Discogs shows several different mixes and running lengths depending on the country where it was released. The link below is marked "European Version", but this is the version I recall hearing on the radio.

Although its sound is very much of its time (note the similarities to contemporaries like Smashing Pumpkins (the guitars in "Today") and Alice in Chains (the drums in "Would?")), this song still rawks in my book.

Not An Addict: YouTube. A surprisingly good audience recording (05/16/10).

Liz Phair - "whitechocolatespaceegg" (LP Review)

2011-03-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

When I last talked about Liz Phair, I was kicking around her 2003 self-titled LP, which is so universally reviled that it was a pretty cheap shot on my part. To make it more interesting -- and roughly working backwards through her discography -- I'd like to discuss her often overlooked third LP, 1998's "whitechocolatespaceegg".

This LP is frequently considered the beginning of the end -- it did not attract the commercial or critical attention that her two previous LPs did. Interestingly, whereas they featured numerous (re-recorded) songs from her Girlysound demo tapes, this LP features only two: "Shitloads of Money" and "Polyester Bride". Not coincidentally, they are two of the best songs on whitechocolatespaceegg.

Was Liz running out of ideas? As a thirty-something, was she no longer able to crank out the angst-filled anthems that came so easy when she was a twenty-something, no longer channeling her inner Corey Flood? Or, more likely, she had fallen to the bane of all female rockers: marriage & children. Seriously, that's when Pat Benatar lost her edge too. In fact, the title "whitechocolatespaceegg" is in reference to her child's head crowning during birth. Corey Flood would never use that as the title for her LP.

Whatever the reason, the song quality on this LP varies greatly. The best songs are as good as any of her earlier material, including the new material: "Girls' Room" (which perfectly captures the politics of middle school girls), "whitechocolatespaceegg" (a nice plodding song that sounds like Liz Phair meets Black Sabbath) , "Big Tall Man", "Perfect World" (how did this song not end up on Sex and the City?), "Johnny Feelgood", and "Uncle Alvarez". Only one song is really bad: "Baby Got Going" (her skiffle tribute). The rest of the seven songs are slightly boring and fail to engage, shock, or find a clever or catchy phrase / chorus. Liz (I pretend I'm on a first-name basis with her) has never been about technical proficiency; instead she writes terribly clever songs and packs them with attitude. If one or both are missing, they just don't work.

For example, "Perfect World" sets the bar pretty high:

I wanna be cool, tall, vulnerable and luscious
I would have it all if I'd only had this much
No need for Lucifer to fall, if he'd learn to keep his mouth shut
I would be involved, be involved
Be involved, be involved, I would be involved with you

She also nails it in "Girls' Room":

Here comes Tiffany, my best friend Tiffany
Wearing a size-too-small sweater
Me and Tiffany, dressing up pretty
We love to ride, we love to canter
My best friend Tiffany, she is so popular
We're going from site-to-site and pool-to-pool tonight
And we hear Terri say that Trisha's okay
But she ought to learn to shave her bikini line better
And Tauren was born, like her mother, in a storm
And Tracy's been away forever

In fairness, some of the "rejected mixes" are better than the more "radio friendly" versions that appear on the LP (this is also where the record labels start meddling with her LPs). For example, the rejected mix of "What Makes You Happy" is much better than the LP version.

So while some of the songs are great, as good as the material on her celebrated earlier releases in fact, whitechocolatespaceegg never quite comes together as a solid collection. It would have worked much better as a 30 minute EP (easily scoring a 9/10) rather than a 50 minute LP.

Standout songs: "Shitloads of Money", "Polyester Bride" (official video, 2003 live, solo version), " Girls' Room" (2010 live version), "whitechocolatespaceegg", "Big Tall Man", "Perfect World" (studio version, 1999 live version), "Johnny Feelgood" (studio version, 2010 live version), and "Uncle Alvarez".

Skip 'em songs: "Baby Got Going"

Final score: 6/10. Good, but not essential for casual fans.

Bonus Link: Liz in the studio, working on the LP.

P.S. I will eventually get to her first two LPs.

Gil Scott-Heron - "Me and the Devil" (the song remains the same)

2011-02-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

I didn't know that much about Gil Scott-Heron; sure I knew some of his more famous spoken word stuff, like "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" & "Whitey On The Moon", but I didn't realize he was a legitimate singer.

Herbert recently turned me on to GSH's 2010 LP "I'm New Here", which is a mix of songs and spoken word tracks. I'll review the LP later, but the center piece of the LP is GSH's version of the 1937 Robert Johnson classic "Me and the Devil Blues" (the title here is reduced to just "Me and the Devil"). Musically, instead of a standard blues arrangement, it is given the doom stomp treatment that reminds me of Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down", albeit with more of a synth/electronic sound. Vocally, GSH's leathery voice compares favorably with Robert Johnson.

As you surely know, this is Johnson's second song dealing with Faustian themes, the other being "Cross Road Blues", which is generally associated with him selling his soul for his guitar proficiency (of course, this is a great theme for musicians; see also: the 1986 film "Crossroads", Paganini, Tartini, etc.)

There have been countless covers of Johnson's song... Two more notable versions are Eric Clapton's, from his 2004 LP "Me and Mr. Johnson" and the Cowboy Junkies from their 1986 debut LP "Whites Off Earth Now!!". I'm a big Cowboy Junkies fan (even though this is their first mention here), but I think Gil Scott-Heron might have done a better version of this song.

Gil Scott-Heron: "Me and the Devil" (the official video incorporates ~1:45 of GSH's "Your Soul and Mine" from "I'm New Here")

Robert Johnson: "Me and the Devil Blues"

Eric Clapton: "Me and the Devil Blues"

Cowboy Junkies: "Me and the Devil Blues"

Air - "Cherry Blossom Girl" (LP Review)

2011-02-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

I hadn't planned to review this, but it came up in my iTunes playlist today... I really like Air and I absolutely love Hope Sandoval, so the combination of the two can't go wrong, right? Well, that's pretty much true. "Cherry Blossom Girl" is a single from Air's 2004 LP "Talkie Walkie", one of the few Air LPs I don't have. But as much as I like Air, I bought this single because of their collaboration with Hope Sandoval.

The CD single released on Astralwerks has four versions of the "Cherry Blossom Girl": a "radio mix" by Air, a version with Hope Sandoval, a mix by Simian Mobile Disco, and a demo version by Air.

I'm not sure what differentiates the radio mix from the LP version, but it is a typically good song by Air: smooth, airy, non-offensive, pop electronica. The version with Hope Sandoval is different enough to be an entirely different song: all the electronics are stripped out and Hope turns in a typical quiet, dreamy, breathy performance.

The Simian Mobile Disco version is entirely skippable. I really like nearly all the acts on Wichita Recordings, but SMD is one of their biggest artists, along with Bloc Party, and I just haven't liked anything I've heard from either of them. As far as the demo version... it is interesting to compare it with the final version, but it is skippable too.

So, whether or not you need this single depends on if you are a Hope Sandoval completist. Obviously, I am.

Standout songs: radio mix by Air, Hope Sandoval version

Skip 'em songs: Simian Mobile Disco mix, "Fanny (cbg demo)"

Final score: 6/10. Good, but necessary only for Sandoval fans.

Foo Fighters - "Best of You" (the song remains the same)

2011-02-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

In honor of tomorrow's quasi-national holiday, Super Bowl XLV...

"Best of You" was the first single of the Foo Fighter's highly successful 2005 LP "In Your Honor". The song is excellent: it has hooks, emotion, power -- everything you want in power pop. Dave Grohl has a great rock/punk voice: raspy, powerful, and with range.

I'm always amazed at the success and longevity of the Foo Fighters: I would not have believed you if you told me in 1994 after Kurt Cobain's death that Grohl, Nirvana's drummer (insert Spinal Tap reference here), would 1) switch to vocals & guitar, and 2) have a 15+ year run of commercial and critical success.

This story really begins with the Foos doing a cover of Prince's "Darling Nikki" on the B-side of their 2003 single "Have it All". In fact, the B-side was originally available on only foreign versions of the single (Australia & UK), but it gained some airplay in the US. The story goes that although Grohl did the cover because he was a Prince fan, Prince was not too happy that the Foos covered his song ("No! I don't like anyone covering my work. Write your own tunes!"), and Grohl later apologized and asked radio stations to stop playing their cover of "Darling Nikki".

Fast forward to 2007 and Super Bowl XLI and Prince is the halftime show. How does one of the most prolific and influential artists of our times fill a 12 minute slot? It begins with the marching band doing "We Will Rock You"; ok that's surely some kind of marching band law, so that doesn't really count. He then does two songs from the Purple Rain LP: "Let's Go Crazy" and "Baby I'm a Star". Then two covers (a medley, really) of "Proud Mary" and "All Along the Watchtower" -- covers, but so well known that they're standards.

We were watching the Super Bowl at Terry's house, and I still remember my total surprise when Prince segued from "two riders were approaching / and the wind began to howl" to "are you gone and onto someone new?" -- was Prince really singing "Best of You"?! That's a rather obscure, recent, and heavy song for a Super Bowl halftime performance. Given all the songs Prince could have chosen, using ~2:15 of a 12 minute slot to cover a Foo Fighters song was a pretty bold decision. From "Best of You", Prince closed the show with the song "Purple Rain".

Some people seemed to think Prince's cover was a dig at the Foos, but that just doesn't make sense: you don't skip over your own songs like "1999", "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry", "I Would Die 4 U", etc. just to insult another artist. I prefer to think of it as a peace offering from Prince, realizing that he had been a bad sport about the whole "Darling Nikki" affair. For the record the Foo's were flattered, their reaction is covered in this story from mtv.com.

Is it too much to hope the Black Eyed Peas have a similar surprise in store? (edit: turns out it was too much to hope for -- I don't think it was the disaster that some claim, but it wasn't very good).

Foo Fighters: studio version, live version, live on Jools Holland, acoustic version

Prince: audio only version, full halftime show ("Best of You" begins at ~6:00).

"Darling Nikki" Bonus links:

Prince: studio version, "Purple Rain" movie version

Foo Fighters: studio version, live version

The Primitives - "Crash" (forgotten song)

2011-01-23T16:31:00.000-08:00

I was driving a rental car last week and enjoying satellite radio, mostly the channel "1st Wave" which plays mildly alternatively pop music from the 70s & 80s. On came a song that I only barely recognized, so I checked the display and saw that it was "Crash" from The Primitives.

I didn't recognize the band name or even the song title, but I could just barely remember having heard the song before. But where? I can't recall hearing it on the radio or MTV (the video is not familiar either). Investigating after I returned, I discovered it was a single from their 1988 LP "Lovely" and apparently charted very well in the UK and US. 1988 would have been when I was in college, perhaps it was on the radio, or someone down the hall in the dorm, or some random party.

I did discover that a slightly tarted up version was used in the 1994 film "Dumb and Dumber", but I've only seen that film once so I doubt I'm remembering it from the movie. Although the original version came out in 1988, the sound is more like 1982.

The song itself is harmless fluff that would be at home on a soundtrack to a John Hughes film; I'm more intrigued by my partial memory of it since it is unusual for me to not remember a song's context. Do you remember "Crash"? If so, let me know.

Crash: 1988 version

Crash: 1995 version

Slowdive - "Holding Our Breath" (LP Review)

2011-01-22T20:30:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of Slowdive and had thought I had the entire discography, but I recently discovered they had quite a number of singles and EPs prior to their breakthrough 1991 LP "Just for a Day". Eager to complete my collection, I recently acquired their 1991 4-song EP "Holding Our Breath". It is out of print, so I ended up purchasing the EP on iTunes since the going price for a CD is pretty steep. The EP appears to be the "Catch the Breeze" 7" single extended with two more songs.

The four songs showcase the band's sound firmly in the shoegazing genre: swirling guitar effects, dreamy vocals, slow rhythms; this EP is arguably more in the shadow of MBV than their later LPs. "Golden Hair" is a cover of a Syd Barrett song (actually a James Joyce poem Barrett set to music), "Catch the Breeze" (which appears on "Just for a Day") and "Albatross" are solid songs, but the standout is "Shine".

I love the vocal duo of Rachel Goswell and Neil Halstead, but "Shine" just reinforces what I think of every time I listen to an LP from Slowdive or Mojave 3 (a post-Slowdive band featuring Goswell & Halstead): Rachel should have sang more frequently/prominently. Her voice fits the genre perfectly. Nothing against Neil, but while he seemed to be featured of the duo, it was Rachel that really defined their sound. She is the primary (only?) vocalist on "Shine" and the result is an achingly beautiful song, maybe even Slowdive's best.

Standout songs: "Shine", "Catch the Breeze" (live version 1991), "Albatross"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 7/10. "Golden Hair" is nothing special, and "Catch the Breeze" appears elsewhere. I thought about giving it a 6/10, but "Shine" elevates it to the point that a serious collection should have this EP. I hope to eventually acquire a hard copy version in the future.

Jane Siberry - "When I Was a Boy" (LP Review)

2010-12-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

I first learned of Jane Siberry from the "Until the End of the World" soundtrack, which was released in 1991 and featured the exquisite duet with k.d. lang,"Calling All Angels". Two years later, it appeared on Siberry's LP, "When I Was a Boy". But as good as "Calling All Angels" is, it isn't even close to being the best song on this LP. This is an extraordinary, complex and mature LP. It is not quite perfect, but even the flaws are admirable: experiments and directions that just don't quite work. She sings beautifully, but has spoken word parts that remind me of Laurie Anderson. Ultimately, this LP delivers intelligent, unpretentious art-pop for adults.

The first five songs on the LP are the strongest and form a perfect sequence, covering multiple genres while retaining a sensual, spiritual feel: "Temple", "Calling All Angels", "Love is Everything", "Sail Across the Water", "All the Candles in the World". "Temple" and "Sail Across the Water" are produced by Brian Eno and are thus the strongest tracks on the LP. "Temple" and "All the Candles in the World" experiment with a dance / electronica beat, but do so without pandering.

Unfortunately, the flow is interrupted with "Sweet Incarnadine", which is the only song to skip on the entire LP. Things pick back up with "An Angel Stepped Down (And Slowly Looked Around)", but unfortunately that is the last excellent song on the LP. The remaining songs aren't bad ("The Vigil (The Sea)" is pretty good), but they fail to sustain the excellence of tracks 1-5 & 7. The LP closes with a "Harmony Version" of "Love is Everything", but the difference between the two versions is slight (and the non-harmony version is more intimate).

Speaking of different versions, there are apparently many different versions of "Temple". The discogs.com discography is incomplete, but there is a 5" promo CD lists three different versions ("Single Mix", "Alternate Single Mix", "Body and Soul Radio Remix", in addition to the LP version), and searching on the web uncovers references to an "Ambient", "Sanctuary", and "Orinoco" mixes. It is not clear if this adds up to 7 different versions or 4, but more importantly what's the point in all the different versions? Once Brian Eno has produced your song, everyone else can just go home because you're not going to do better than his version. I don't know which version is used in the video linked below, but it is greatly inferior to the stripped down, hard-hitting LP version.

Fortunately, you can download the entire LP, including the good version of "Temple", from Siberry's website. In 2006, she changed her name to Issa, sold nearly all of her possessions, and released her back catalog as MP3s. In 2009, she changed her name back but has retained the free downloads. You have to respect that, and now you have no reason to not listen to this LP.

Standout songs: "Temple" (not the good LP version!), "Calling All Angels" (live solo, studio w/o k.d. lang), "Love is Everything" (excerpt, live with band, live solo), "Sail Across the Water", "All the Candles in the World" (also not the good LP version), "An Angel Stepped Down (And Slowly Looked Around)".

Skip 'em songs: "Sweet Incarnadine".

Final score: 9/10. If Eno had stuck around for a few more tracks, this would have been an easy 10/10.

Bonus Link #1: Additional videos are on her YouTube channel, sheebatv.

Bonus Link #2: "Calling All Angels" sung by the cast of "Six Feet Under".

Bonus Link #3: "Love is Everything" cover by k.d. lang.

Bonus Link #4: Did you catch the nod to The Beatles "The End" at ~2:37 in "An Angel Stepped Down (And Slowly Looked Around)"?

Freddie Scott - "(You) Got What I Need" (the song remains the same)

2010-12-26T19:41:00.000-08:00

Here is an gem of a song that you probably won't recognize until you play it... Freddie Scott was a song writer turned performer that had a few hits in the 1960s, but never became really famous. In 1968, he released the single "(You) Got What I Need" on Shout Records (no, it's not Motown even though it sounds like it).

You probably recognize the song because Biz Markie built an entirely new song based on the the piano riff and 1/2 of the chorus of YGWIN for his 1989 single "Just A Friend". Some dismiss Biz as novelty rap, but I think he is hilarious and if he's good enough to guest for the Beasties, he's good enough for me ("The Biz vs. The Nuge"). Adam Green & Lissy Trullie must agree, since they did a loose cover of "Just A Friend", screwing around in what looks to be a back stage dressing room. They get most of the words right.

If Biz never borrowed from "(You) Got What I Need", the only place you would have heard it would be on the mix LP "Product Placement" from DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist, where they sandwich it between Kool & The Gang's "N.T." and James & Bobby Purify's "I'm Your Puppet" (~6:39 -- 8:33 in the studio version of "Part 1", starting at 8:34 in this live version, but it is cut off right as the song breaks).

Freddie Scott: YouTube

Biz Markie: YouTube (bonus link: the "literal" version of the video)

Adam Green & Lissy Trullie: YouTube

Perfume Tree - "A Lifetime Away" (LP Review)

2010-12-26T14:59:00.001-08:00

Perfume Tree might be the best defunct band you've never heard of. Formed by three Vancouver-area radio DJs and active during most of the 1990s, Perfume Tree compiled a significant discography that went criminally unnoticed, by both the radio and the critics as well. The former is not surprising, but I'm not sure how the critics so completely missed out on this band either (e.g., allmusic.com reviews only one LP from their discography, and completely whiffs on that review, giving it 3/5 stars).

Their third full-length LP, 1995's "A Lifetime Away" is probably the strongest LP in their canon. Whereas their first first two LPs were focused on a more organic sound, and their fourth and final LP as Perfume Tree was decidedly more focused on electronica. And while there are no bad releases from Perfume Tree, "A Lifetime Away" finds the perfect balance in their shifting musical influences.

Trying to describe their sound is difficult and frustrating, in part because their sound transcends music. By that I mean the sound is so mesmerizing and so unlike anything else, I actually forget that I'm listening to music. Off the top of my head, only The Orb's "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld" also has that effect on me. Labels like dub, trip hop and downtempo come close, but fail to really capture the sound. The allmusic review quotes another review comparing them to Bjork, but that is simply wrong; I don't dislike Bjork, but she only wishes she could make music this beautiful. I'd suggest that Perfume Tree is somewhere between Portishead, My Bloody Valentine, and Cocteau Twins.

The strength of the band (and the source of the Cocteau Twins comparison) is Jane Tilley's ethereal vocals. Pete Lutwyche is responsible for the beats, which are great, but never really overpower the more atmospheric aspects of the songs (and thus separating Perfume Tree from most of the trip hop artists on a label like Mo' Wax, for example). Bruce Turpin (samples & mix) rounds out the band.

The LP has a wide variety of sounds: "Virgin" & "See Me Smile" have a driving, organic beat, "Contact" has the distorted guitar that suggests the MBV influence, "Never Pass This Way Again" is nearly ambient, and "The Nightmirror" & "Crystal Tips" have a soundtrack quality to them. But my favorite song on this LP is the closing track "Late Light", with a strong beat and focus on Jane's vocals.

"A Lifetime Away" was originally released on the tiny label of Zulu Records in 1995, but was then re-released in 1996 on the only slightly larger (and ironically named) World Domination Recordings, making them label mates with Seattle's Sky Cries Mary, who are similar in aesthetic if not quite sound. Since it was released on World Domination it is not too hard to find, but the earlier releases on Zulu are difficult to find: if you see a copy of one, pick it up. (I actually had to email the band ca. 1998 for their help to replace lost CDs, but that's a story for another time...)

Perfume Tree eventually morphed into Veloce, who released one LP and then the various members seemed to drop out of the music business. There is a Perfume Tree myspace page, as well as a historical page hosted at Minimum Records (a label the band members started), but little information otherwise. ectoguide.org also has a nice, simple summary page for the band.

In a perfect world, Perfume Tree would have received the recognition they deserved. I'll eventually make my way through the rest of their catalog, but "A Lifetime Away" is their strongest release and a good place to start.

Standout songs: "Virgin", "So Far Away" "See Me Smile", "Contact", "Never Pass This Way Again", "The Nightmirror", "August", "Crystal Tips", "Late Light".

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 10/10.

Weezer - "Weezer" (LP Review)

2010-12-24T18:24:00.000-08:00

Weezer's eponymous third LP (generally referred to as "the green LP" to differentiate it from 1994's self-titled debut, "the blue LP") was released in 2001, after a long-term hiatus and shuffling of band members following the release of "Pinkerton" in 1996. As I stated in my review, "Pinkerton" is a solid LP but suffers from being slightly self-indulgent, incomplete and sometimes too smart for its own good. The green LP addresses those flaws and recaptures the magic and humor of the blue LP.

Simply put, this LP is a veritable textbook on how to write & execute power pop; few people write hooks as well as Weezer's front man Rivers Cuomo, who is arguable the GenX equivalent of Brian Wilson, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Paul Simon, et al. Three songs were released as singles from this LP ("Hash Pipe", "Island in the Sun", "Photograph"), but just about any of the ten songs could have been chosen.

The LP length, the humor, the song style & craftsmanship, even their "Flying W" logo: it is all reminiscent of Van Halen's first four LPs, updated of course with a nerdy, hipster, GenX attitude & sense of irony. And I mean that in the best possible way.

In contrast with "Pinkerton", the green LP features the return of producer Ric Ocasek (who also produced the blue LP), and Ric knows a good deal about catchy tunes as well. And whereas "Pinkerton" was modeled after "Madam Butterfly", there is no pretentious concept for this LP. The songs also don't overstay their welcome: the longest is 3:50, and the entire LP clocks in at less than 30 minutes. And while half an hour is might be a little short for an LP, the advent of the compact disc and its generous 74-80 minutes of storage led many bands & producers at the time to forget how to cull weak tracks. Sometimes less is more.

Standout tracks: Would it be cheating to say "all"? If forced to pick only some, I'd go with: "Hash Pipe", "Island in the Sun" (Spike Jonze version), "Photograph", "Don't Let Go", "Knock Down Drag Out", "Simple Pages", "O Girlfriend".

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 9/10. Two things keep it from 10/10: its modest length (could we have found more track, perhaps like the blue LP's "Say It Ain't So"?), and the blue LP's shadow of perfection.

Bonus Links: Several of bonus tracks & B-sides from the same sessions: "Oh Lisa", "Always", "Starlight", "Brightening Day", "I Do", "The Christmas Song". None are bad, but not including them was probably the right choice (yes, I realize that contradicts my nitpick above).

2011-10-09 edit: Mikey Welsh, who played bass on just this Weezer LP, died Saturday October 8.

Tony Carey - A Fine Fine Day (forgotten song)

2010-12-12T20:57:00.000-08:00

I first mentioned Tony Carey as the keyboardist for Rainbow Mk II (1976-1977; see my review of "On Stage"). Although his tenure with Rainbow was brief, he was (and still is) quite prolific as a solo artist, recording as Tony Carey and Planet P Project (among others). He scored a few minor hits along the way (e.g., "I Won't Be Home Tonight" and "Why Me?"), but never really turned the corner.

My favorite song of his is "A Fine Fine Day" from his 1984 LP "Some Tough City". I like songs with stories, and this one tells the story of Uncle Sonny's return from prison. The lyrics are ambiguous about how the reunion turns out, but the video and 7" cover art leave no doubt about Sonny's fate. I remember this one getting some airplay on MTV (and maybe radio) when it came out. My favorite work of his is still with Rainbow, but this song isn't bad and you might remember it from 25+ (!) years ago.

A Fine Fine Day: official video, lip sync version from Solid Gold.

Bonus Link: The YouTube channel "pinkwrld" is devoted entirely to TC/PPP videos.

Steve Hillage - Rainbow Dome Musick (LP Review)

2010-11-29T09:47:00.000-08:00

I first became aware of Steve Hillage by listening to and reading about Alex Patterson / The Orb, specifically their 1991 ambient house masterpiece "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld", which remains one of my favorite LPs of all time.

There is no way in this review I can cover the expansive career of guitarist Steve Hillage, an early (and again current) member of the space rock band Gong, which in its long run has ties to nearly every alternative UK musician. His partner, Miquette Giraudy, has been with him for most of his career, including time in Gong as well as side projects like System 7. In fact, although "Rainbow Dome Musick" is billed as just Steve Hillage, it is actually Hillage & Giraudy.

The 1979 LP features just two songs (albeit at 20+ minutes each): "Garden of Paradise" and "Four Ever Rainbow", the former written by Giraudy and the latter by Hillage. What separates this LP from its 1970s ambient / space rock contemporaries is that holds up well over time. It is very much an atmospheric, lush, swirling soundscape, but it is not cloying, repetitive, or modish. I have a slight preference for "Garden of Paradise", probably because it has a brighter, fuller sound that is closer to the songs by The Orb that I first heard. I want to say "Four Ever Rainbow" sounds more like "deep space", even though I'm not sure what that means.

There is a reason these two songs sound similar to songs by The Orb: if you check the liner notes of "Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld", you'll see that Hillage & Giraudy co-wrote & performed on "Supernova at the End of the Universe" and "Backside of the Moon". In particular, there is a strong affinity between "Backside of the Moon" and "Garden of Paradise". The Orb adds a rhythm, vocal samples, and other 1990s updates, but the essence of the songs remain similar (see also Hillage & Giraudy's work in System 7).

Although not entirely fair to the "Rainbow Dome Musick", due to my order of discovery I can't help but consider it in the context of post-"Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld". The LP still stands up well, but their work with The Orb did take it to the next level.

Standout songs: Garden of Paradise (part 1, part 2, part 3), Four Ever Rainbow (part 1, part 2). Thanks to occhiochecorre for uploading to YouTube and arranging in a playlist.

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10.

DJ Shadow - "Def Surrounds Us" (LP Review)

2010-11-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

Since 2010 is nearly over, so I suppose I should review something actually released in 2010...

The latest DJ Shadow single "Def Surrounds Us" / "I've Been Trying" was released in September 2010 in both digital and 12" formats (an interesting mix of new & old school). I was fortunate to get a official, free download (the window has now closed), and I've been listening to the two tracks and have been conflicted about them.

First, although it is only two tracks, none of the flaws that made "The Outsider" such a terrible LP are present. Whereas "The Outsider" found Shadow exploring hyphy (but adding nothing new), the song "Def Surrounds Us" finds Shadow revisiting the well established genre of drum and bass as well as the relatively new genre of dubsteb (it was actually a tweet from Shadow that turned me on to dubsteb).

But like his flirtation with hyphy before, it is not clear that he's adding something new. As far as drums and bass, I don't hear anything that Plug (aka Luke Vibert) didn't do in the mid-90s (cf. "Drum 'n' Bass for Papa"). As for dubstep, Shadow's work is better than Skream (cf. "Midnight Request Line") but not as good as Burial (cf. "Southern Comfort"). The excellent vocal samples are unique to Shadow, but that's not enough to carry the song. The song does get more interesting from ~ 3:00-6:00, but I would have been more impressed if this had come out before "Drum 'n' Bass for Papa" (1996).

"I've Been Trying" is a totally different song, a slow, bluesy vocal track that sounds like an out take from "The Outsider" (cf. "Broken Levee Blues"). A nice contrast to the first song, but not necessarily a standout.

I'm trying to be optimistic... When the "You Can't Go Home Again" single came out in 2002, I didn't really know what to make of it. But it made more sense in the context of the following LP "The Private Press", and honestly that LP made a lot more sense only after the Japanese-only remix LP "The Private Repress". Ultimately, this single sounds like a vast improvement over "The Outsider", but as I said in that review, I liked it better when DJ Shadow invented genres instead of just participating in them.

~~Standout~~ songs: "Def Surrounds Us", "I've Been Trying"

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 5/10. I thought about a 6/10, but honestly that would be giving him a pass just because he's DJ Shadow.

Chris Bell - "I Am the Cosmos" (LP Review)

2010-11-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

Being huge fanboys, Johan, Lee, and I have had numerous discussions about Big Star, who rank with The Velvet Underground with respects to significant influence in the musical community without the corresponding commercial success (Johan even features Big Star in his technical presentations to illustrate the difference between importance and popularity).

The two main creative forces behind Big Star were Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, who were roughly comparable in their roles to McCartney & Lennon, respectively. And while the three Big Star LPs generally receive nearly perfect marks by most critics, I have to break with Lee, Johan, and other critics and confess I enjoy Chris Bell's "I Am the Cosmos" more than any of the Big Star LPs.

That is not to say that "I Am the Cosmos" is not a flawed LP; it is really just a collection of singles and demos that was posthumously assembled & released by Rykodisc in 1992. Prior to this, the only official solo Chris Bell release was the 1978 7" "I Am the Cosmos" (on the tiny label Car Records), right before Bell's death in an automobile accident. Prior to 1992, the unreleased Chris Bell recordings had acquired a mythic reputation, similar to "Smile", "Chrome Dreams", and other lost LPs.

Because it is a compilation the quality is variable, featuring a mix of artists (including appearances by Chilton and drummer Jody Stephens from Big Star), different studios, etc. The best tracks are sublime & achingly beautiful: the title track "I Am the Cosmos" (two different versions are featured) and its original b-side "You and Your Sister" (three different versions), "Speed of Sound", "Though I Know She Lies"; even spiritual: "Look Up", "There Was A Light". The weaker songs try to emulate Big Star-style, uptempo rockers (e.g., "Make A Scene", "I Got Kinda Lost", "Fight at the Table"), and on these songs the absence of Alex Chilton is noticeable. The slower, more introspective songs work best here. Perhaps the best way to describe them is to say the LP cover art perfectly captures their essence.

Since only bassist Andy Hummel fails to make an appearance, perhaps "I Am the Cosmos" should be considered the fourth Big Star LP. And if so, I would consider it to be the best Big Star LP. I don't understand how these songs could go unreleased for so long, but at least they're available now.

Standout tracks: "I Am the Cosmos", "You and Your Sister", "Speed of Sound", "Though I Know She Lies", "Look Up", "There Was A Light"

Skip 'em tracks: "Get Away", "Make A Scene", "I Got Kinda Lost", "Fight at the Table"

Final score: 9/10.

Bonus Links: YouTube is awash with amateur covers of Chris Bell songs. Here are some of the more well-known versions:

"I Am the Cosmos": This Mortal Coil, The Posies, Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson

"You and Your Sister": This Mortal Coil

P.S. No, I'm not ignoring the role of This Mortal Coil and Big Star / Chris Bell. I'll get to it.

The Ramones - Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio? (forgotten song)

2010-10-18T15:32:00.001-07:00

"This is rock 'n' roll radio. C'mon let's rock 'n' roll with the Ramones." You're not a Ramones fan if that phrase doesn't make you start pounding out a beat...

The first single from the 1980 LP "End of the Century", I remember this video getting some rotation on MTV but I don't recall much, if any, airplay on the radio (most stations seem to think the Ramones recorded only one song).

"End of the Century" was recorded with Phil Spector as producer. This change in sound alienated some fans, and the sessions were exhausting if not outright dangerous. I realize Spector is a murderer and a complete nut job, but I'd be lying if I said I did not love his Wall of Sound -- even with the Ramones, and even with The Beatles.

Some things that not a lot of people realize about the Ramones:

1. They set the template for punk, not the Pistols.

2. They were a reaction to the perceived excesses of 60s psychedelic rock, 70s prog rock, disco, etc. No fusion jams and no Tolkien lyrics.

3. They were heavily influenced by the sounds of late 50s and early 60s, including girl groups, The Beach Boys, etc. Sure, they played louder and faster than the originals, but they were basically pop songs.

"Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio?" made explicit all of their influences, most of which predate me so links are provided:

Rock 'n, rock 'n' roll radio Let's go
Rock 'n, rock 'n' roll radio Let's go
Rock 'n, rock 'n' roll radio Let's go
Rock 'n, rock 'n' roll radio Let's go

Do you remember Hullabaloo,
Upbeat, Shindig! and Ed Sullivan too?
Do you remember rock 'n' roll radio?
Do you remember rock 'n' roll radio?

Do you remember Murray the K,
Alan Freed, and High Energy?*
It's the end, the end of the 70s
It's the end, the end of the century

Do you remember lying in bed
With your covers pulled up over your head?
Radio playin' so no one can see
We need change, we need it fast
Before rock's just part of the past
'Cause lately it all sounds the same to me
Whoa whoa, oh oh

Will you remember Jerry Lee,
John Lennon, T. Rex and Ol' Moulty?
It's the end, the end of the 70s
It's the end, the end of the century

You won't find a better, more loving tribute to the era.

Do You Remember Rock 'n' Roll Radio: studio version; live version (for those who prefer their Ramones Spector-less).

"This is rock 'n' roll radio. Stay tuned for more rock 'n' roll."

Bonus link: 7" B-side "I Want You Around"

* = Presumably "High Energy" was a radio program of the 50s/60s. Link suggestions are appreciated.

The Dead Milkmen - "Punk Rock Girl" (forgotten song)

2010-09-27T20:55:00.001-07:00

For Danette's birthday: "Punk Rock Girl"... the single from The Dead Milkmen's 1988 LP "Beelzebubba". You'd be hard pressed to find a band more consistently clever and funny than The Dead Milkmen. The song and video form a wry, 1980's time capsule that celebrates and vilifies, as appropriate, the cool part of town vs. mall culture, Mojo Nixon, Poison, Sonny Bono, The Beach Boys (who neither wrote nor performed "California Dreamin'"), Minnie Pearl, and music video lip syncing (0:40 -- 0:47). In addition, it features an accordion and the world's worst guitar solo (1:37 - 1:53) -- what more could you ask for?

I didn't know Danette in 1988, but if I had, I'm sure I would have said:

...
Punk rock girl
You look so wild
Punk rock girl
Let's have a child
We'll name her Minnie Pearl
Just you and me
Eat fudge banana swirl
Just you and me
We'll travel round the world
Just you and me
Punk rock girl

Punk Rock Girl: YouTube.

Bob Marley and the Wailers - "Redemption Song" (the song remains the same)

2010-08-28T15:40:00.000-07:00

In the mid- to late-80s it was de riguer for every high school bedroom or college dorm room to have a Bob Marley and The Wailers poster (the image used on the LP "Legend"); you couldn't be alternative without it. So I'll consider the background on Marley as read since there's nothing I can add to it.

"Redemption Song" is the last song on 1980's "Uprising", the final studio LP from Bob Marley and The Wailers. With the possible exception of "No Woman No Cry", "Redemption Song" is probably my favorite BMATW song. The 7" version of "Redemption Song" had both the acoustic version (from "Uprising") as well as "band version" with The Wailers.

There are dozens of covers of "Redemption Song"; I won't even try to list them all. When Joe Strummer covered it on his 2003 LP "Streetcore", there was only one way to improve on it: a duet with Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash, from the 2003 posthumously released box set "Unearthed". Once again, you have to hand it to Rick Rubin for putting this together (see also: my review of "God's Gonna Cut You Down"). Honestly, does it get any better than Joe Stummer & Johnny Cash covering a Bob Marley song?

Bob Marley (acoustic solo): YouTube. This is closest to the version you're used to.

Bob Marley and The Wailers: YouTube.

Joe Strummer: YouTube.

Johnny Cash & Joe Strummer: YouTube.

(This is an obvious companion to my review for "Streetcore", but I felt it deserved its own entry.)

Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - "Streetcore" (LP Review)

2010-08-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

I have to confess that I knew little about Joe Strummer's career after The Clash until I saw the documentary "Let's Rock Again!". Despite the somewhat silly title, it is a quite good description of the modest circumstance of Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros on tour promoting their second LP, 2001's "Global A Go-Go". Sometime after seeing LRA, I also saw the documentary "Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten". Apparently I'm not the only one that wasn't clear what he had been up to: even strummernews.com refers to the period between The Clash and The Mescaleros as "The Wilderness Years".

I liked what I heard in those documentaries, so I bought "Streetcore", which was posthumously released in 2003. I'm trying to review this LP without both the nostalgia regarding Strummer's untimely death in 2002, and my own continuing appreciation for The Clash, whom (much like Joy Division) I understand and appreciate far more now than "back in the day".

So with every attempt to be objective, I can honestly say this is an excellent LP. Not just a collection of excellent songs, what I appreciate most is this LP sounds exactly like what an LP by a 50 year-old Joe Strummer should sound like. I'll try to describe what that means, and we'll see if Lee agrees with me...

Strummer was in his mid-20s when the seminal double LP "London Calling" was recorded, and its sound captures the righteous indignation of a young punk. On "Streetcore", Strummer doesn't try to sound like the angry, street preacher of his youth and The Mescaleros don't try to be "the only band that matters". On the other hand, the fire is still there: he's still angry and he hasn't given up the fight, but he's tempered with age, experience, wisdom, and perspective. He doesn't deny his origins either; for example, the song "Burnin' Streets" slyly incorporates the lyrics "London is burning", but without the urgency of The Clash song "London's Burning". In summary, "Streetcore" gives us a version of Joe Strummer that is like aged leather.

This LP was assembled after Strummer's death, so there is a mixture of producers (e.g., Rick Rubin is the producer of the cover of Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"), and the song "Midnight Jam" was unfinished when Strummer died so instead of vocals it features samples of Strummer's BBC radio show. As a result, "Midnight Jam" sounds a bit like "Death is a Star" from "Combat Rock". And as the name The Mescaleros suggests, there is a definite Tex-Mex sound on some songs, esp. "Coma Girl", "Get Down Moses" and "Long Shadow". They're mostly known for their world music influences, but it sounds more like punk-influenced rockabilly to me. The only song that doesn't work for me is "Arms Aloft".

It is tempting to rate this more highly than it deserves because it is Strummer's last LP. However, even if he was alive and still recording, this would still be an important LP that serves as a blueprint for aging rockers yearning to remain relevant. It reminds me of the scenes in "Let's Rock Again!" where Strummer is promoting his upcoming concert, talking to people on the boardwalk and then later to a DJ at a local radio station. He seems to take it all in stride, but the viewer is left to think "dude, you're talking to Joe F'n Strummer, and you don't even realize it..." It is unfortunate that this LP is not more well-known.

Standout songs: "Coma Girl", "Get Down Moses", "Long Shadow", "Ramshackle Day Parade", "Redemption Song", "All in a Day", "Midnight Jam", "Silver and Gold".

Skip 'em songs: "Arms Aloft".

Final score: 9/10.

The Cribs - "I'm A Realist" (LP Review)

2010-08-13T11:51:00.001-07:00

This is an odd sort of EP from The Cribs: I think it only exists for the public in digital form, although I've found some evidence on ebay that it also exists (under a different cover) as a promo-only 4 track EP (the discogs.com entry seems to support this theory as well).

In my quest to acquire the back catalog of The Cribs (see my other reviews), I tried to find a CD version of this EP. Failing in that, I broke down and bought it on iTunes, which I have to confess is very unsatisfying. Yes, I understand that I'm something of a fossil by continuing to buy hard-copy formats of music, but 1) the collector in me isn't satisfied if there isn't a physical manifestation, and 2) my professional interests in digital preservation make me more optimistic about the long-term viability of CDs over my iTunes library.

Should you buy this EP online? Or hunt up a promo version on ebay? The short answer is "yes". It is mostly a collection of songs that have appeared in other releases, but some of them have been difficult to get and/or have only been in 7" vinyl. And if you're a hard-core collector, then promo-only releases are gems in your collection (for example, I'm proud to have a copy of DJ Shadow's "One to Grow On" promo-only LP).

The title track is the final single from 2007's "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever" LP. It's not a bad song, but it certainly wasn't a standout track from the LP. This EP also contains a remix of "I'm A Realist" from The Postal Service, which I believe is the only track on this EP you can't find elsewhere. I'm a big fan of Jimmy Taborello (1/2 of TPS; see also my review of "Dumb Luck"), and while I really like the idea of a TPS remix of a song by The Cribs, I can't say it works that well. It is "interesting", and it sounds exactly like what a TPS remix should sound like, and while I'm happy to have it as a collector I don't really play it all that often.

However, the other two tracks on the EP I play all the time. "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" and "Kind Words From the Broken Hearted" first appeared as a 7" non-LP single in 2007 after the release of MNWNW. "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" is a blistering continuation of their previous songs like "Hey Scenesters" and "Mirror Kissers"; conventional wisdom says The Pigeon Detectives are the target of the band's wrath in this song. No one can do sneer and snarky like The Cribs.

"Kind Words From the Broken Hearted" would sound at home on either of their first LPs. This is in part because it was produced by Edwyn Collins (who also produced "The New Fellas") after his recovery from illness. There should be a law that requires Collins to produce every LP by The Cribs -- they simply don't miss when they get together.

The digital-only version closes with a video for "Our Bovine Public" from MNWMW. Not new material, but an excellent song and the video draws heavily from the DVD set "Live At The Brudenell Social Club".

Standout songs: "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant" (live version), "Kind Words From the Broken Hearted", "Our Bovine Public" (live version, Jools Holland).

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10, on the strength of "DYWBR" and "KWFTBH" and being the last release of the pre-Johnny Marr era.

Bonus Links: "I'm A Realist" (live version on Jools Holland; last.fm live version w/ Johnny Marr), "I'm A Realist (The Postal Service Remix)" -- these aren't good enough to be "standout", but they're not really "skip 'em" either.

Bonus Links #2: The B-side of the original 7" of "I'm A Realist" featured a cover of "Bastards of Young" by The Replacements: cover by The Cribs, original by The Replacements.

Bonus Links #3: Wichita Recordings has the official video for "Don't You Wanna Be Relevant", but the audio volume is very low. It's a great video, but you'll need to really crank your volume.

The Persuaders - "Some Guys Have All The Luck" (the song remains the same)

2010-07-30T15:14:00.000-07:00

If there is an award for most cover versions of song that never gets played on the radio, "Some Guys Have All The Luck" would win hands down. My first recollection of this song is from the Rod Stewart video on MTV. Although the video received a fair amount of play for a short while and was a single from his 1984 LP "Camouflage", I don't recall on it on any of the local radio stations. It has the dorky, casio-keyboard sound that I absolutely hated (esp. since I was in my metal phase), but I still kind of liked this song. I was sort of surprised that I liked it, especially considering that Stewart failed to make interesting music after 1981's LP "Tonight I'm Yours" (edit: once again, Danette has accused of being too generous; she says Rod Stewart ceased being interesting ca. 1977). I didn't realize at the time the song was a cover and that was probably the reason why I liked the song despite the modish production.

I can't quite remember when I discovered the Robert Palmer version. At first, I thought it was Palmer covering Stewart, but later I learned that Palmer's version came out in 1982 on "Maybe It's Live". It still has an early 80's sound, and there's actually a video for this version, but it is 1) bizarre and 2) NSFW. I'm not sure why in 1982 you would make a video that you know can't play on MTV. Furthermore, he really only borrows part of the chorus from the original -- it is almost more of a remix than a cover.

After doing a little poking around on the Web, I learned SGHATL is actually a 1969 single from the R&B group The Persuaders. It was a top 40 hit for them then, but I don't recall ever hearing it on an oldies channel. Knowing that Robert Palmer based a lot of his material on R&B covers (and to a lesser extent, Rod Stewart as well), this made sense. And their version is quite good, even if it sounds modish as well.

A little more poking around on the web and I found that Derrick Harriot release a reggae / proto-dance hall version in 1974; this version is quite good too. Maxi Priest released another reggae version in 1987, but this one doesn't do much for me.

Saving the best for last, I uncovered on YouTube a "live in the tour bus" recording by Camera Obscura (whom you may recall from my glowing review of "Let's Get Out of This Country") which is, as far as I know, not available on any of their official releases. No disrespect intended to original writer Jeff Fortgang, or Robert Palmer, but Tracyanne Campbell is always going to trump the others in my book.

The Persuaders: YouTube.

Derrick Harriot: YouTube.

Robert Palmer: Dailymotion, TOTP version.

Rod Stewart: Dailymotion.

Maxi Priest: YouTube.

Camera Obscura: YouTube.

Liz Phair - "Liz Phair" (LP Review)

2010-07-27T13:12:00.000-07:00

Danette has accused me of being too generous in my reviews, but I think I'm just reviewing my favorite stuff first. But just to be fair, I'll review something that's really, really bad: Liz Phair's fourth LP, 2003's self-titled "Liz Phair".

OK, so that's cheating a bit -- everyone knows this is a terrible LP. Liz Phair hit the scene in 1993 with "Exile in Guyville" and it was a critical blockbuster. Everybody loved Liz: the sexy, brash, irreverent, pottymouthed girl-next-door. The critics loved her so much, in fact, they could never quite forgive her for not continually re-releasing "Exile in Guyville". The analogy to M. Night Shyamalan is obvious.

But in 2003, she hit rock bottom. Eager to trade in her indie cred for something more tangible (she warned us, see: 1998's "Shitloads of Money"), she enlisted the production team The Matrix and strived to write more commercial songs. Not coincidentally, "Liz Phair" was the first LP to not feature re-recorded songs from her early Girly Sound demo tapes. The result is that she ended up imitating her imitators -- she became a 36 year-old Avril Lavigne. She simultaneously failed to gain significant cross over success and yet still managed to alienate her indie fan base. Where her earlier LPs were clever/funny/shocking, "Liz Phair" is stale/calculating/hollow. As David St. Hubbins tells us: "It's such a fine line between stupid, and clever."

The result was scathing reviews that were more clever than the LP itself: the NY Times called it "Liz Phair's Exile in Avril-ville" and Pitchfork Media gave it a 0.0. Ouch. On a 10 point scale, that's like going to 11 the bad way. I tried to think of my own witticism for this review, but the best I could come up with was a couple of Spinal Tap retreads. If she mailed it in, so will I.

I will say that I actually like the songs "Extraordinary" and "Why Can't I?". And I'm further ashamed to say those are two of the four songs that she co-wrote with The Matrix. Since The Matrix only contributed to four songs, two of which I actually like, I have to conclude that Liz bears most of the blame for this LP, where the other 12 songs vary between "bland" and "awful". I could call them out one by one, but what's the point? The less said about them the better. Finally, the video for "Why Can't I?" is terribly clever -- a must see, slightly anachronistic homage to CD jukeboxes and 1960s-era cover art.

Standout songs: "Extraordinary" (different version, from the movie "Raising Helen"), "Why Can't I?"

Skip 'em songs: all of the others. really.

Final score: 3/10. Tough love.

Weird Bonus Link: A video (from spinner.com) that appears to be an apology for the LP, conflating The Matrix production team and the film The Matrix. Maybe it seemed funny on paper, but it just makes things worse.

Honeymoon Suite - "New Girl Now" (forgotten song)

2010-07-23T14:05:00.000-07:00

So when is the last time you heard this one? I recall "New Girl Now" getting a small amount of radio airplay when it came out in 1984, but I can't recall it having a video on MTV. It was the first single from the self-titled LP by the Canadian band Honeymoon Suite.

Even though it came out in 1984, the sound is late 70s / early 80s new wave. Perhaps they were destined to be just a one hit wonder (at least in the US), or perhaps they were simply eclipsed by the emerging college / alternative sound.

YouTube: "New Girl Now".

Joy Division - "Atmosphere" (the song remains the same)

2010-07-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

"Atmosphere" might be Joy Division's best song, arguably even better than the popular "Love Will Tear Us Apart". The latter still gets airplay, but I don't recall ever hearing the former on the radio. JD fans know, of course, but the casual listener has probably never heard "Atmosphere".

A non-LP single, it was first released in 1980 as the A-side on a very limited release 7" "Licht Und Blindheit" and then later the same year as a double A-side 12" single: with the UK version having "Atmosphere" as the A-side and the US version having "She's Lost Control" as the A-side. Of course, most of us have it on 1988's compilation LP "Substance".

In many ways, "Atmosphere" sounds unlike any of their other songs. While still sounding desolate, it does not have the typical menacing, frenetic JD sound. As the name suggests, it has a soundtrack quality to it: slow, majestic, sprawling. The video evokes the same feelings, but I have to admit the hooded figures running through desert remind me of Jawas. I don't think that was JD's intent, but they can't claim prior art since the song came out three years after Star Wars.

The slowcore band "Codeine" does an excellent cover of "Atmosphere" which can be found on the tribute LP "A Means To An End - The Music Of Joy Division". Although I'll eventually review the LP, here's a spoiler alert: there are only a few gems on it, but Codeine's version is amazing. First, the slowcore sound allows Codeine to out-desolate JD: true to their name "Codeine", they have the Black Sabbath, slow-doom sound but without the distortion pedals. Second, although "Atmosphere" is best recognized for Stephen Morris's innovative drumming, the percussion is almost entirely removed in the Codeine version. I can only imagine the conversation went like this:

Q: "How do we honor the trademark drum work on this track?"
A: "We don't even try."
Q: "What do we do instead?"
A: "Play it even slower."
Q: "Do you feel sleepy too?"
A: "Yes."

Third, as if the above weren't enough, they slightly changed the lyrics. According to Shadowplay, in JD's version the third verse is:

People like you find it easy
Naked to see - walking on air
Hunting by the rivers
Through the streets, every corner
Abandoned too soon
Set down with due care
Don't walk away - in silence
Don't walk away

Codeine's version is:

People like you have it easy
Face like the sun - walking on air
Haunted by your face, every street, every corner
Abandoned too soon
Don't walk away - in silence
Don't walk away - in silence

Although I hesitate to go against Ian Curtis, I really think the Codeine version is better. I suppose it could have been a lyrical variation from Curtis himself, but the Shadowplay site would presumably mention if that were true. Codeine's changes to the song both expand and honor the original.

Peter Murphy (formerly of Bauhaus) and Trent Reznor (of NiN) also did a cover of "Atmosphere" on the "2006 Radio Sessions". And while I love the idea of a Murhpy & Reznor cover version, it is a pretty straight forward interpretation. More JD covers is a good thing, but their version doesn't push like Codeine's.

Joy Division: "Atmosphere"
Codeine: "Atmosphere"
Peter Murphy & Trent Reznor: "Atmosphere"

Bonus links:
"Dead Souls" (B-side of "Licht Und Blindheit" 7") (live version)
"She's Lost Control" (Alternate A-side of 12")

Black Sabbath - "Vol. 4" (LP Review)

2010-06-17T14:53:00.000-07:00

This review goes out to Butch @ Squealer Music. Butch and I share an interest in drone & doom music and he's turned me on to some cool bands like Earth, Sunn O))) and Deathprod. I plan to review LPs by those artists later, but first I thought I'd start with our mutual interest in the progenitor of doom, Black Sabbath.

Unlike most metal bands from my youth, I can honestly say that I enjoy Sabbath nearly as much now as I did then. And who doesn't, really? People who do not count themselves as fans probably sing along to songs like "Paranoid", "Iron Man" or maybe even "War Pigs". Ozzy-era Sabbath has a popular music legacy that is larger than most casual fans might imagine.

Having said that, Sabbath is probably best well-known for their great songs, not necessarily their great albums. For every "Paranoid"-quality song on an LP, there seemed to be something like "Planet Caravan". OK, so "Planet Caravan" is kind of cool in its own way, but check your iTunes play count and tell me how it rates compared to other Sabbath songs. Be honest.

Butch and I discussed our favorite Sabbath LPs one time, and while I think he went with "Master of Reality", I have to say their greatest LP is 1972's "Vol. 4". It has fewer hit songs (I'm not sure any get current radio airplay), but it is arguably the strongest start-to-finish LP they released (at least in the Ozzy era). I could make an argument for 1973's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", but the inclusion of keyboardist Rick Wakeman made for interesting songs, but ones that rawked less.

I'm not entirely sure why the songs from Vol. 4 don't get airplay on the classic rock stations: standouts like "Wheels of Confusion", "Tomorrow's Dream", "Supernaut", and "Under the Sun" are upbeat, have killer riffs and are very heavy. It might be that none of these songs have sing-along choruses like "Paranoid" and "Iron Man". For example, you can probably sing along with the guitar riff of "Supernaut" (which is at least as good as "Paranoid") better than you can remember and sing along with the lyrics ("I want to reach out and touch the sky / something something something / something something something..." -- there's actually no chorus).

Come to think of it, "Changes" is pretty much is the only song that you can sing along too. I also consider it the weakest song on the LP. It is not really bad, and you do have to give them credit (blame?) for basically inventing the metal power ballad genre, but it clearly not as enjoyable as the other songs. I'm ambivalent about the cocaine-themed "Snowblind", its neither bad nor good. The only truly skippable song is "FX"; 1:44 of electronics noodling which I guess seemed cool at the time.

"Laguna Sunrise" is the "pretty" instrumental Sabbath has on nearly every LP that serves as a vehicle to demonstrate Tony Iommi's guitar virtuosity. "St. Vitus Dance" is a nice example of Sabbath doing "hippie metal" -- it even has acoustic guitar in parts.

Another thing I like about this LP are the medleys: "Wheels of Confusion" leads into "The Straightener" and "Wheels of Confusion" interpolates "Every Day Comes and Goes" -- sort of a metal version of "A Day in the Life". The song writing and arrangement is at Sabbath's zenith here. This is the last LP where the drugs amplified their creativity instead of hurting it.

So despite the limited radio / single impact, I think this is their finest LP. They had recorded better individual songs before and after this, but as a collection of songs this is their high water mark.

Standout songs: "Wheels of Confusion / The Straightener", "Tomorrow's Dream", "Supernaut", "Cornucopia", "St. Vitus Dance", "Laguna Sunrise", "Under the Sun / Every Day Comes and Goes".

Skip 'em songs: "FX", "Changes".

Final score: 9/10. "FX" and "Changes" keep this from being 10/10.

2010-06-18 Edit: Butch insisted I include this link for "Snowblind". I'm surprised at how many high-quality, 1970s concert videos you can find on YouTube.

The Beat - "Save it for Later" (forgotten song)

2010-06-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

Continuing my tradition of interpreting contemporary artists through the lens of 1980s alternative / college radio... I've seen Vampire Weekend on SNL twice (2010: "Cousins", "Giving Up the Gun", 2008: "A-Punk" and "M79") and The Colbert Report once (2010: "Holiday"). I kind of like them because, and I don't mean this as a left-handed compliment, they remind me of The English Beat. Well, they were just known as the "The Beat" in the UK, but they were the "The English Beat" in the US to avoid collision with Paul Collin's (formerly of The Nerves) band "The Beat".

The Beat were a late 70s / early 80s ska band on the 2 Tone record label in the UK, the same label that gave us The Specials, Madness, and other staples of early MTV. The Beat recorded three LPs and then disbanded, with former members going on to form the mid- to late-80s MTV staples General Public and Fine Young Cannibals. I didn't really care for either of those bands but The Beat had several good singles, and they've all but disappeared from radio.

The most popular in the US was "Save it for Later", a single off their 1982 LP "Special Beat Service" which received a good amount of MTV exposure, although I'd have to say that 1980's single "Mirror in the Bathroom" (from their debut LP, "I Just Can't Stop It") is a better song (more ska, less pop). I've chosen to feature "Save it for Later" since it is the one that is closest to the Vampire Weekend sound. If Vampire Weekend would just add horns and maybe some toasting and they'd be right at home on 2 Tone, circa 1980. And that's not too bad...

"Save it for Later": YouTube.

Bonus Link (as per the double A-side single image above) : "Mirror in the Bathroom": YouTube.

Rainbow - "On Stage" (LP Review)

2010-05-31T12:29:00.001-07:00

So I've been wondering how to commemorate the passing of Ronnie James Dio... Anyone who knew me in high school remembers that I was a huge fan. I believe it was Chris Miller that gave me a tape of "Holy Diver" right after it came out in 1983, and from there I slowly worked my way backwards through Dio's canon: Black Sabbath, Rainbow, then Elf. That was back in the pre-Web days when working out a discography took a lot of research (time and $) in the record store. I was proud that I had eventually collected all of his LPs on vinyl, including the Elf LPs which, truth be told, aren't very good.

By college I had mostly outgrown my fascination with the D&D / fantasy / metal genre, of which RJD was a central figure, but he'll always be nostalgically significant and I was saddened by his passing. But which LP to review for F-Measure? "Holy Diver" and "Heaven and Hell" are obvious choices -- too obvious, IMO. The same argument could also be made for "Mob Rules", which is at least as good as the latter two but often overlooked.

But perhaps the most important to me was "On Stage", the mostly forgotten 1977 live double LP from Rainbow. For one, I really love Ritchie Blackmore's guitar playing: fluid, effortless, expressive. I'm a Deep Purple fan as well, but Blackmore seems more comfortable here than any of his previous or later LPs. The rest of the lineup features Rainbow at the their finest: Cozy Powell (drums), Tony Carey (keyboards), and Jimmy Bain (bass). Dio would work with most of these people again in later lineups (Dio/Sabbath/Rainbow/Purple/Whitesnake all regularly swapped members from LP to LP), but this lineup, the same as on "Rainbow Rising", is Rainbow's strongest.

The second reason this is a good LP to revisit is that Dio's latter fantasy themes are only partially developed here. Sure, songs like "Kill the King", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves" and "Man On the Silver Mountain" hint at the thematic direction for the rest of his career, but imagery is not quite as over the top here. Granted, I liked the fantasy themes 25+ years ago (cf. my review of "Queensryche"), but they seem silly now. At the time, I thought Blackmore's presence reined in some of the fantasy imagery, but ironically Blackmore's project of the last 10+ years, Blackmore's Night, is 100 times worse in its Spinal Tap cliches.

The LP itself features some of the excesses of 1970's live LPs: lots of patter with audience, long songs featuring extended solos of every kind, etc. Blame Frampton, the Grateful Dead, or maybe even Deep Purple: there was a template for live LPs at the time, and extended fusion jams is what you got. For some songs, it doesn't work: the medley of "Man on the Silver Mountain / Blues / Starstruck" would be stronger as two separate songs and without the "Blues" interlude.

On the other hand, the extended jams work in the case of "Mistreated" (a cover from "Burn" by Deep Purple, Mk. III), "Still I'm Sad" (a cover off the "Having a Rave Up" LP by The Yardbirds) and "Catch The Rainbow". The latter song is really the jewel of the entire LP; a 15:36 long workout of soft-loud-soft-loud-soft. Dio, Blackmore and Powell are all in exceptional form on this song. Occupying the entire side two of the vinyl, I used to listen to this song on maximum volume more times than I can remember. The soft->loud transition from ~8:15-9:40 remains one of my favorite musical passages. Listening to this version of "Catch the Rainbow" is an investment for me and is something that can't be done casually.

I've recently discovered that in 1990 Polydor reissued "Live in Germany" which appears to be recorded from the same tour as "On Stage", but perhaps without some of the editing required to fit "On Stage" to vinyl. I haven't brought myself to purchase this LP yet -- revisiting new/old RJD recordings isn't something I've been especially eager to do, "The Last in Line" was the last LP of his I really enjoyed even though I bought a few after that. Perhaps "Live In Germany" is actually a better LP, but I'm choosing to remember RJD with "On Stage" and in particular "Catch the Rainbow".

Standout songs: "Catch the Rainbow", "Mistreated", "Kill the King", "Sixteenth Century Greensleeves", "Still I'm Sad".

Skip 'em songs: "Man on the Silver Mountain / Blues / Starstruck" (or at least the "Blues" portion of this track; the link here is nicely just MOTSM).

Final score: 9/10. I've tried to adjust for the nostalgia factor, but it should be apparent from the above that is not easily done.

Johnny Cash - "God's Gonna Cut You Down" (the song remains the same)

2010-05-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

Both Johnny Cash and Rick Rubin had Hall of Fame careers even if they had never hooked up for Cash's American Recordings series. But they did, and the result was nothing short of amazing...

On the surface, Cash & Rubin would seem to be an unlikely pairing: Cash is a born-again Christian from Arkansas and Tennessee who is best known for singing gospel, folk and country; and Rubin is a Jew from Long Island who is best known for producing hip hop and metal bands and founding the seminal record label Def Jam Recordings (with Russell Simmons in 1984).

On further inspection, it is a perfect match: Sun Records was the Def Jam / Def American of its time and Cash certainly lived (invented?) the rock and roll lifestyle. Furthermore, Rubin is renowned for his powerful, stripped-down, spare production style that gets the most out of the artist; and Cash's career had been foundering, in part because the major labels were overproducing his records and trying to make him into something he was not. Cash and Rubin released their first record in 1994, American Recordings, and that was the beginning of a critically and commercially successful string of LPs each of which consisted of originals, re-recording of Cash's early songs, covers and standards.

Released as a single from 2006's posthumously released "American V: A Hundred Highways", "God's Gonna Cut You Down" is Cash's version of the traditional song generally credited as "Run On". The song has been recorded by many different artists and although it is a homily about abandoning sinful ways, it is generally presented as an up-tempo and joyful song -- a New Testament reading, if you will.

Not so with Cash and Rubin -- you could say they give an Old Testament presentation: dark, booming and vengeful. Changing the title from "Run On" captures the shift of emphasis -- "God's Gonna Cut You Down" was always in the lyrics, but it never seemed to be the main point of the song. Now it is, and the song sounds like the wrath of God.

You might (barely) recognize the song from Moby's 1999 LP "Play", where it was titled "Run On" and sampled a 1947 recording by Bill Landford & The Landfordaires (then titled "Run On for a Long Time"). I must have heard this song dozens of times before I even realized they were singing the lyrics "God will cut you down". This song is a typical example of Moby's gift for recontextualizing early recordings (folk, blues, etc.) in an electronica format.

Another notable version is from the Blind Boys of Alabama, from their 2001 LP "Spirit of the Century". This is a more conventional gospel arrangement, probably closer to Moby's source recording from Landford.

There are countless other recordings of this song but this should give a good sampling of the various versions. And as good as these other versions are, Cash and Rubin have pretty much closed the book on this song -- no one else is going to come close.

Johnny Cash: "God's Gonna Cut You Down"

Moby: "Run On", "Run On" (live acoustic version)

Bill Landford & The Landfordaires: "Run On for a Long Time"

Blind Boys of Alabama: "Run On"

Kate Bush - "Hounds of Love" (the song remains the same)

2010-04-20T14:14:00.001-07:00

Let's do one more Kate Bush cover song...

"Hounds of Love" is the third single released from Kate's 1985 LP "Hounds of Love" (the single came out in 1986). An ode to the fear of commitment, it is a great song but it took me a while to discover this in part because of the mid-1980s production techniques that worked well enough on "Running Up That Hill" don't really make the song "Hounds of Love" stand out.

It wasn't until a few years ago when Johan turned me onto The Futureheads and their 2004 self-titled LP where they do an excellent cover of "Hounds of Love" that I really appreciated the original. The Futureheads transform it from an art/prog rock song and strip it down to just a simple, new wave rock song. While busy channeling The Knack, The Futureheads speed up the tempo, replace the keyboards with guitars, and completely embrace the background vocals that otherwise sound a little awkward on Kate's version. And if that's not a solid formula for how to improve a rock song, then I don't know what is...

Kate Bush: studio version, TOTP version

The Futureheads: studio version, official video, live version, unplugged/live version

Kate Bush - "Running Up That Hill" (the song remains the same)

2010-04-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

Part two of my "please do more Kate Bush covers" series...

"Running Up That Hill" is probably my favorite Kate Bush song, at least as performed by Kate herself. This is probably in part due to the song coming out in 1985 (on the "Hounds of Love" LP) and trading in the production excesses of the late 70s for, well... the production excesses of the mid-80s, but at least those are more palatable to my GenX sensibilities.

People seem to have different ideas about what the song is actually about; Kate herself is quoted as saying it is simply about swapping roles (Male <-> Female) in order to understand the other. I tend to think there is more to it than that: despite the upbeat feel, the song seems to be a jumbled mess of sexuality ("do you want to know how it feels?"), codependency ("tell me, we both matter, don't we?") and possession ("let me steal this moment from you now"). Basically, Heathcliff and Catherine again.

I'm pretty sure Placebo agrees with my darker, more sinister interpretation. Available on some versions of 2003's "Sleeping With Ghosts" as well as 2006's "Meds", their cover of "Running Up That Hill" is sparse, menacing, desolate and desperate. Given that Placebo has made a career out of mining the androgynous / ambiguous sexuality thing (cf. 1996's "Nancy Boy" -- thanks to Johan for originally pointing me to this version), they were obviously destined to cover this song.

Placebo's video is edited together from the submissions of various fans lip synching; it adds an additional disturbing fanboy element to an already claustrophobic song. Kate's version features more interpretive dancing ("hooray!"), but at least it makes the meaning of the song that much more obvious as the couple are alternatively intertwined and then tackling each other when they separate.

In my review of "Wuthering Heights", I admitted that I like the Pat Benatar version better than the original Kate Bush version. That's not the case here: I like Placebo's version as a sinister, 20 year update to the original, but Kate's version remains my favorite.

Kate Bush: YouTube.

Kate Bush & David Gilmour (from The Secret Policeman's Third Ball): YouTube. (Obligatory "David helped `discover' Kate" reference).

Placebo: Official version. Fan video version. Live version.

Kate Bush - "Wuthering Heights" (the song remains the same)

2010-04-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

Simply put, Kate Bush is an amazing song writer and more artists should cover her songs. To make this point, my next few entries will cover Kate Bush songs and exemplary covers by various artists. We'll begin with "Wuthering Heights", the first single from her 1978 debut LP "The Kick Inside".

The song is from the point of view of Catherine Earnshaw from the novel "Wuthering Heights", covering her tempestuous relationship with Heathcliff. Using Emily Bronte's novel as a song topic might seem unusual, even pretentious, but for late 1970s British progressive rock that was par for the course.

In 1980, Pat Benatar would cover "Wuthering Heights" on her second LP "Crimes of Passion". And as much as I like Kate Bush, I have to confess that I like Pat's version better: it is less modish and more conventional. As far as I know, Pat never released this as a single or made a video for it. The Kate Bush videos on the other hand... well, remember it was 1978 and interpretive dance was considered good. Regardless, the song is excellent.

Kate Bush: YouTube (red dress version); YouTube (white dress version); YouTube (live 1978).

Pat Benatar: YouTube.

And just for fun, Monty Python's semaphore version: YouTube (about 1:20 in).

Explosions in the Sky - "The Rescue" (LP Review)

2010-03-24T18:38:00.001-07:00

First, let's get this out of the way: "The Rescue" is nowhere near the tour de force that is "Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever". But it is still a fine EP and one that deserves to be in your collection. Clocking in at 32 minutes, it is more like an LP than EP, but that's what they call it. And since it is free, there is no reason for you to not download a copy. But we'll get back to that in a bit.

"The Rescue" is volume 21 in the "Travels in Constants" EP series released on Explosion in the Sky's label Temporary Residence Limited. Yeah, I hadn't heard of the series either, but some of the other artists in the series include Low and Mogwai, so that should give you an idea.

"The Rescue" was recorded in eight days (one song per day) and represents a slight departure for them. There are more instruments, a looser approach and even some singing. Well, background vocals only -- nobody sings a lead. The EP was recorded in the Michael James's (bass & guitar) house and has a decidedly more lo-fi, less produced feel. There are no bad songs on this EP, but some of the experiments are more successful than others (e.g., Day Five, in which their original goal was to make the "saddest dance record in the world"). There is a tentative sound to some of these songs that 1) reminds me of Dif Juz (e.g., "Day Eight" vs. Dif Juz's "No Motion"), and 2) is in stark contrast to the ferocity of TWTTTSD.

I could try to describe the tracks, but EITS has extensive notes on their web site about the recording of each song. Suffice to say that the entire EP is an homage to their early experience of being stuck in Syracuse NY for eight days while they awaited a transmission repair on their van. The story is made more explicit on the song "Day 3" through samples from videotapes the band recorded while awaiting the repair.

Originally only available via mail order or at concerts, the EP is now out of print. But EITS has all eight songs available for download from their web site, so there is absolutely no excuse why you don't have this in your collection.

Standout songs: Day Two, Day Three, Day Seven, Day Eight

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 7/10.

DJ Shadow - "Dark Days" (LP Review)

2010-03-13T08:09:00.000-08:00

"Dark Days" is an often overlooked single in the lengthy DJ Shadow discography. Released in 2000 while DJ Shadow was still enjoying the peak of his popularity with 1996's "Endtroducing....." and 1998's "Psyence Fiction", it is arguably the last recording he made in his "original style" and could easily be at home on any of his releases on the Mo' Wax label. After this point, he made a concerted effort to evolve his style: sometimes it worked (2002's "Private Press" and 2003's "Private Repress") and sometimes it did not (2006's "The Outsider").

"Dark Days" also serves as the soundtrack for the Marc Singer documentary of the same name. Technically, the movie featured previously released DJ Shadow music as well, but the "Dark Days" song was recorded especially for this film. The single has two versions of the song: one as an instrumental, and one with sampled dialogue from the film. The latter is especially chilling; it begins with:

When I first came down the tunnel, it lookin' dangerous man,
real dangerous.
Like, I'm scared.
You're on your own down here.

The film is a documentary about the homeless people that lived below ground in the "Freedom Tunnel" in Manhattan. The film is a moving, non-exploitative profile of the people that lived there and the resulting society of the tunnel, as well as their journey out when evicted. A mild spoiler: the film ends at a positive point, even if you suspect the longer story arc eventually won't.

The main sample for the song is Bill Osborn's single "Bamboo and Rice". I've scoured the web and I can't find the original source recording. Almost any thing you find about the artist and song derives from it appearing in "Dark Days". I don't even know when the single was released -- I would guess early to mid 60s given the surf-rock guitar sound. A nice pull from the king of crate digging. The DJ Shadow single itself is out of print and $20 and up is the going price.

Standout tracks: "Main Theme", "Spoken for Mix"

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 10/10

Bonus links: Dark Days trailer; Interview with Marc Singer, DJ Shadow (special feature from the DVD); first 10 minutes of the film.

Explosions in the Sky - "Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever" (LP Review)

2010-03-08T06:27:00.000-08:00

Imagine The Pixies walking into the studio, finding Black Sabbath's instruments and gear (ca. 1973) and then deciding to cover songs by Tortoise. Or maybe it should be Tortoise covering The Pixies. Either way, Explosions in the Sky triangulates somewhere between these three musical influences, with the additional regional influence of Austin, TX. I'm not sure I can describe the Texas, esp. Austin, sound (it is more of an attitude than a specific genre), but you know it when you hear it.

EITS are Mark Smith (guitar), Munaf Rayani (guitar), Michael James (bass and guitar), and Chris Hrasky (drums). As you can infer from the lineup, they play instrumental (taking their Texas laconism to the point of no vocals), guitar-oriented rock. But even with two, sometimes three, guitarists, don't look for any shredding here: they've completely transcended the conventional rock guitar solo and are firmly within the post-rock genre (hence the comparison with Tortoise). Structurally, it is clear they've also listened to their share of NWOBHM bands with their highly regimented, almost martial/marching band arrangements.

EITS is probably most well known for providing the soundtrack for 2004's "Friday Night Lights". A lot of people when first exposed to EITS find this an odd pairing, assuming that EITS represents the alternative, "too cool for sports" set. I get it though. For one, EITS clearly makes soundtrack-sounding music. Secondly, HS football is such a part of the Texas ethos that to have refused the opportunity when it arrived would have been self-negation. But I'll review that LP at a later date...

"Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever" is their 2001 LP, whose title even invites comparisons to Tortoise's 1996 LP "Millions Now Living Will Never Die". TWTTTSD is technically their second LP, although their 2000 debut "How Strange, Innocence" received very limited release. TWTTTSD gives us six songs and 50 minutes of vast, epic, open, organic instrumental music that works the soft-loud-soft formula to its maximum effect. Noise canceling headphones are the best way to listen to this LP: the quiet bits are so subtle and sweet that you have to really stop and pay attention to what they're doing. You'll be tempted to turn up the volume, but be careful. In a minute or two they're going to explode: a majestic, roaring, aural behemoth. And just after the reverberations have rearranged the objects in your room, EITS will be quiet again. Then you will know how apropos the band's name is and realize that they really could not have been named anything other than Explosions in the Sky.

In a band filled with guitarists (all of whom do an excellent job), I have to say the star of the show is drummer Chris Hrasky. Producer Trevor Kampmann certainly did him a favor and put Hrasky out front in the mix, and he is often playing more of a lead than rest of the band. For example, listen to 1:40--2:25 in "Yasmin the Light", 3:00-5:00 of "Have You Passed Through This Night", or 4:50--5:50 of "A Poor Man's Memory" -- you'll nearly forget the guitarists are playing.

The closest thing they have to lyrics is in "Have You Passed Through This Night" where they sample Private Witt's voice over from the movie "The Thin Red Line" (delivered with an appropriate drawl):

This great evil. Where does it come from? How'd it steal into the world? What seed, what root did it grow from? Who's doin' this? Who's killin' us? Robbing us of life and light. Mockin' us with the sight of what we might've known. Does our ruin benefit the earth? Does it help the grass to grow, the sun to shine? Is this darkness in you, too? Have you passed through this night?

Unkle would also sample this and other dialogue from "The Thin Red Line" in the song "Eye for An Eye" on their 2003 LP "Never, Never, Land", but EITS did it first as well as better.

There are no bad songs on this LP. An unkind critic could argue that the songs are interchangeable, but it is fair to say that if you like one you'll like them all. "Have You Passed Through This Night" stands out because of the movie sample, but honestly the song boundaries are almost arbitrary as each song consists of several movements and if it were presented as a single 50 minute track I would be hard pressed to cut it into six tracks.

Standout songs: all. You can find the LP at Grooveshark, but note that the track listing there currently has a lot of errors. You can find a better listing at lala.

Here are the tracks as sourced from YouTube: "Greet Death", "Yasmin the Light" (live), "The Moon is Down", "Have You Passed Through This Night?", "A Poor Man's Memory", "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept".

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 10/10. This is truly a genre-defining LP.

Slade - "Run Runaway" (forgotten song)

2010-02-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

So here's a guilty pleasure you probably haven't heard in a long time...

Slade was one of the original glam rock bands of the early 70s and while they were big in the UK, they never really became famous in the US. Kiss cites them as big influence, but they are probably best known in the US for being the writer & original artist of two of Quiet Riot's biggest singles: "Cum on Feel the Noize" and "Mama Weer All Crazee Now". Even in 1983 & 1984 I was never terribly fond of either song, though I will say the originals work better than QR's covers since Slade has a sense of humor that QR just can't pull off.

By the time of their 1983 LP "The Amazing Kamikaze Syndrome", they were about 40 years old and veterans of the music scene. The US version of that LP came out in 1984 and was titled "Keep Your Hands Off My Power Supply" and from it the single "Run Runaway" was released. For a short while it received moderate rotation on radio & MTV, probably because of the recent success Quiet Riot had with their songs.

The song itself is fun and shows Slade certainly knew how to write anthems. It also has the rock/folk sound (i.e., guitar + fiddle) of other early- & mid-80s UK bands like Dexys Midnight Runners and Big Country, so it should sound familiar even if you haven't heard it before.

Run Runaway: YouTube 1, YouTube 2 (slightly better audio).

N.B. You might enjoy some of the other songs from the YouTube channel "Back Porch Video". Apparently something of a real-life Wayne's World, it has a surprisingly good selection of alternative 80s songs.

Bonus Links: The Slade originals that Quiet Riot made famous: "Cum on Feel the Noize" & "Mama Weer All Crazee Now" (featuring the finest in 1972 video technology). Maybe I'm just projecting, but I think the difference between the QR & Slade versions is that Slade knows these are silly songs...

The Kinks - "Days" (forgotten song) (the song remains the same)

2010-02-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

Although I first heard it as performed by Elvis Costello on the the 1991 soundtrack "Until the End of the World Soundtrack", "Days" was originally a 1968 single from The Kinks (it also appeared on some versions of their 1968 LP "The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society").

Before Costello, Kristy MacColl covered the song in 1989 on her LP "Kite" with an arrangement pretty true to the original. But it's the Elvis Costello version that strips away the modish production of the original and reveals yet another excellent song from Ray Davies.

And while the original single apparently did well in 1968, I don't recall it receiving radio airplay on classic rock radio stations. The Kinks canon is filled with great songs, but here's one that you probably haven't heard before, or maybe haven't heard in a long time.

The Kinks: YouTube 1, YouTube 2.

B-Side Bonus Link: The Kinks - "She's Got Everything".

Kristy MacColl: YouTube 1, YouTube 2.

Elvis Costello: Lala, Grooveshark.

Elvis Costello & Chrissie Hynde: MSN, Metacafe.

The Chemical Brothers - "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" (LP Review)

2010-01-23T11:04:00.000-08:00

Although The Chemical Brothers originally began as producers and DJs, it wasn't until 1998 and after two successful studio LPs that they officially released their first DJ mix LP, "Brothers Gonna Work It Out". Ok, technically this mix is based on their 1997 "Radio 1 Anti-Nazi Mix", but that was a limited release on their own label, Freestyle Dust, and "Brothers Gonna Work It Out" was released on the much larger Astralwerks label.

I became a big fan of the Chemicals when singles from their 1997 LP, "Dig Your Own Hole", surprisingly received a fair amount of radio airplay (powered mainly by Noel Gallagher singing on "Setting Sun", although even "Block Rockin' Beats" made the playlist). After getting a copy of the then hard to find debut LP "Exit Planet Dust", I was hooked.

So in 1998 I got this LP as soon as it came out. I'm pretty sure it was the first DJ mix LP I bought, and I have to admit that buying an LP of people mixing other people's music seemed a little odd at first. Since then, I've become quite a fan of the genre and I've lost track of how many I've added to my collection. The expectations for a mix LP is to 1) tell a story and 2) recontextualize both the familiar and unknown in the DJ's own unique style.

"Brothers Gonna Work It Out" succeeds at both. First, all the songs are presented through The Chemical Brother's big beat filter; indeed several of them are either remixes of songs by the Chemicals or other people's remixes of their own songs. There are a few 70's era funk songs (mostly from soundtracks) thrown in the mix for variety, but mostly it comes from their contemporary mid 90's big beat bands. As such, the entire mix very much sounds like a Chemical Brothers LP, and that means it is as subtle as a sledgehammer. Thievery Corporation makes smoother mixes, James Lavelle/Unkle make more experimental mixes, DJ Spooky makes more abstract mixes, and DJ Shadow's mixes are like a textbook, but I'm not sure anyone rawks harder than the Chemicals in their mixes.

The mix also does a good job of taking the listener on the journey. They take their foot off the accelerator for a few short moments ("Gimme Some Love", "Mother Earth", "I Think I'm in Love"), but mostly it slams from one track to another because, well, that's what The Chemical Brothers do. They do a good job of foreshadowing upcoming tracks and referencing motifs from previous songs (e.g., "Mars Needs Women" and "Take That Motherf*ers!").

Here is the track list taken from Wikipedia, with links to the more obscure bands going to discogs.com if they don't have a Wikipedia entry:

Track 1
- Willie Hutch - Brothers Gonna Work It Out (1973)
- The Chemical Brothers with Justin Warfield - Not Another Drugstore (Planet Nine Mix) (1998)
- The Chemical Brothers - Block Rockin' Beats (The Micronauts Mix) (1997)
- On the House - This Ain't Chicago (1998)
- The Jimmy Castor Bunch - It's Just Begun (1972)
Track 2
- Kenny Dope presents Powerhouse 3 - Makin' a Living (1991)
- Badder Than Evil - Hot Wheels (The Chase) (1973)
- Unique Three - The Theme (Unique Mix) (1989)
- Love Corporation - Gimme Some Love (1991)
Track 3
- The Micronauts - The Jazz (1995)
- The Serotonin Project - Sidewinder (312 vs 216 Stomp Mix) (1995)
- Carlos "After Dark" Berrios - Doin' It After Dark (D-Ski's Dance)
- Freestyle - Don't Stop the Rock (1990)
- Metro L.A. - To a Nation Rockin' (1995)
Track 4
- The Chemical Brothers - Morning Lemon (1997)
- Meat Beat Manifesto - Mars Needs Women (1994)
- Renegade Soundwave - Thunder (1990)
- DBX - Losing Control (1994)
- Dubtribe Sound System - Mother Earth (1994)
Track 5
- Barry De Vorzon and Perry Botkin, Jr. - The Riot (1970)
- The Ultraviolet Catastrophe - Trip Harder (1992)
- Manic Street Preachers - Everything Must Go (Chemical Brothers Remix) (1996)
- Spiritualized - I Think I'm In Love (Chemical Brothers Vocal Remix) (1997)

I think tracks 1-3 are the strongest, or at least sample from songs I like better. Track 4 starts off strong with "Mars Needs Women", but "Losing Control" and "Mother Earth" are a bit weak. Track 5 echoes the psychedelic final two tracks on "Dig Your Own Hole", and while it is strong (and points are awarded for integrating Spiritualized into the mix), it doesn't standout as much as the first three tracks.

Standout tracks: Track 1 (YouTube, Grooveshark), Track 2, Track 3. (N.B. the tracks make more sense in the context of the entire LP).

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final Score: 9/10. There might be some nostalgia for this being my first mix LP, but the bottom line is if you like The Chemical Brothers, you're going to like this LP.

Galaxie 500 - "This Is Our Music" (LP Review)

2010-01-16T10:06:00.000-08:00

First post of 2010 and time to complete the Galaxie 500 hat trick...

Released in 1990, "This Is Our Music" was Galaxie 500's third and final studio LP. The name of the LP is a nod to the Ornette Coleman LP of the same name. That alone should tell you that the band is simultaneously 1) clever, 2) ambitious and 3) just a bit pretentious. I mostly like the reference, but sometimes it is seems a bit much for a garage rock band.

The short version: "This Is Our Music" is a very good LP, but pales in comparison to their first two LPs, "Today" and "On Fire". I'm not sure if they were running out of ideas, becoming worn down by touring, or perhaps their initial unassuming -- almost timid -- sound was unsustainable.

The LP represents a continuation of direction that was introduced on their second LP, "On Fire". But some of the ideas don't work. For example, the opening track, "Fourth of July", is a good song, but is lyrically awkward. Prior songs found the poetry and beauty of quotidian events, such as this from "Snowstorm" on "On Fire":

Well I listen to the weatherman
He's changed his tone of voice
And he can see it on the radar
Only seven hours away
Well there's gonna be a snowstorm
When the t.v has gone wild
And they got nothing else to think of
And they're letting me go home

"Fourth of July" tries to be too clever for its own good:

I wrote a poem on a dog biscuit
And your dog refused to look at it
So I got drunk and looked at the Empire State Building
It was no bigger than a nickel
...
I stayed at home on the Fourth of July
And I pulled the shades so I didn't have to see the sky
And I decided to have a Bed In
But I forgot to invite anybody

"Snowstorm" is precious; "Fourth of July" is affected.

Perhaps I'm being too critical... There are no bad songs on this LP, and some are excellent. But more so than the first two LPs some are nondescript, such as "Hearing Voices", "Spook" and "Way Up High".

The excellent songs include bassist Naomi Yang singing the Yoko Ono song "Listen the Snow is Falling", "King of Spain, Pt. 2" and "Melt Away", which is perhaps the best song on the LP. The 1997 Rykodisc reissue includes an outstanding cover of "Here She Comes Now" by the Velvet Underground (originally a B-side to the "Fourth of July" single). Galaxie 500 had always borrowed heavily from the Velvet's aesthetic and this cover just makes it official.

"This Is Our Music" is a strong LP that deserves to be in your collection. And while it would be a remarkable LP by almost any other band, it just doesn't quite live up to the standards set by their first two LPs. Dean Wareham left the band in 1991 after touring and went on to form Luna. Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang would eventually form Damon and Naomi. Both bands would release decent LPs, but neither band would capture the magic of their original band. For those whose are interested, the site "Head Full of Wishes" expertly covers Galaxie 500 and their various post-1991 bands.

The Galaxie 500 discography would be posthumously extended with a live LP, Peel sessions LP, B-Sides LP, etc. But "This Is Our Music" is an appropriate coda for a band that was criminally undiscovered while they were active.

Standout songs: "Fourth of July", "Listen the Snow is Falling", "King of Spain, Pt. 2", "Melt Away", "Here She Comes Now". (Many of the above are live versions; the studio versions can be found on Grooveshark.)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 8/10.

Galaxie 500 - "On Fire" (LP Review)

2009-12-28T15:53:00.001-08:00

As I said on my review of "Today", Galaxie 500 "sounds like college" to me, even though I did not learn of them until nearly 10 years later. If there is ever a movie made of that time of my life, songs like "Blue Thunder" or "Snowstorm" should serve as the soundtrack.

"On Fire", Galaxie 500's second LP, is considered by many to be their finest LP. As I said before, I might give that nod to "Today" because it was first, but one could certainly make an argument for "On Fire". "On Fire" continues the sound and concepts introduced with "Today", but with some small advancements such as expanding their minimalist arrangements with additional instruments on some of the songs, as well as bassist Naomi Yang singing on "Another Day".

I would say the quality of the songs of "On Fire" is a little more variable: the best songs are better than anything on "Today", but there are a few songs that while not bad, are also not quite as magical as the others. Every song on "Today" is a gem, but even though none of the songs on "On Fire" are bad, they're not all gems either.

However, the first five songs of "On Fire" is without a doubt their best five song sequence (that's "side 1" if you're rocking the vinyl):

"Blue Thunder"
"Tell Me"
"Snowstorm"
"Strange"
"When Will You Come Home"

Each is a tour de force, but since "When Will You Come Home" is very similar to "Tugboat" (their first single) thematically and structurally, it deserves special attention:

When, when will you come home?
Watching TV all alone
Watching Kojak on my own
Staring at the wall
And waiting for your call
When, when will you come home?

This is clearly by/for the same person as "Tugboat"...

Past side 1, only "Another Day" and the cover of the George Harrison song "Isn't it a Pity" achieve the same level as the first five, the latter being the closing song on the original release. Fortunately the Rykodisc reissue of "On Fire" includes three excellent bonus songs from the 1990 "Blue Thunder" 12": "Victory Garden", "Ceremony" and "Cold Night". "Cold Night" is a Galaxie 500 original, while the other two are covers: "Victory Garden" is a cover of a Red Krayola song and "Ceremony" is a cover of the Joy Division / New Order song which I have already reviewed.

Standout songs: "Blue Thunder", "Tell Me", "Snowstorm", "Strange", "When Will You Come Home", "Another Day", "Isn't it a Pity", "Ceremony", "Cold Night". (Many of the previous links are live versions; find all the studio LP versions on Grooveshark.)

Skip 'em songs: none.

Final score: 10/10. The original 10 song release would have merited a 9/10, but the three excellent bonus songs push it to a 10/10.

Galaxie 500 - "Today" (LP Review)

2009-12-24T14:06:00.000-08:00

Prior to discovering The Cribs 3-4 years ago, Galaxie 500 was my favorite lo-fi, garage-rock band. And while the two bands are not directly comparable, Galaxie 500 remains a close second.

Active from 1987-1991 (corresponding exactly with my college years), I did not discover Galaxie 500 until about 1999 or 2000. Despite not knowing about the band while I was in school, their sound so perfectly captures the sound of the era that it invokes nostalgia for the late 80's, even though I learned of them nearly 10 years later.

Formed by Dean Wareham (guitar, vocals), Damon Krukowski (drums), and Naomi Yang (bass, vocals) while all three were at Harvard, the band took their name from the Ford Galaxie owned by one of their friends. The magic of their sound is not virtuoso performances (though they are certainly more than adequate), but through excellent song writing and hazy, dreamy production quality. Similar to but generally softer and quieter than most shoegazing bands, their sound invites the inevitable comparisons to The Velvet Underground. Although on one hand, their sound is very much of their time, on the other hand they sound nothing like the stable of 4AD artists, nor the Athens, GA sound. By default, they become the Cambridge, MA sound. Credit to producer Mark Kramer for generating such a unique sound.

"Today" is the band's first LP, released in 1988 after their "Tugboat" 7" single from earlier that year. While many critics consider their 2nd LP, "On Fire", to be their best, I have to give the nod to "Today" since 1) it establishes their sound and 2) has no false steps -- every song is a gem, even the aptly named "Instrumental". The LP was initially released on the tiny Aurora Records, but was later re-released by Rough Trade, and then ultimately re-released by Rykodisc. Although the original release had only 9 songs, both re-releases have the B-side to the "Tugboat" single, "King of Spain", on them.

"Tugboat" is a fitting song to discuss, since it was their first single and may actually be their most representative, if not best song. The song features sparse, reverberating, haunting sound, with distant, and almost apologetic vocals from Wareham with the lyrics:

I don't wanna stay at your party
I don't wanna talk with your friends
I don't wanna vote for your president
I just wanna be your tugboat captain
It's a place I'd like to be
It's a place I'd like to be
It's a place I'd like to be
It's a place I'd be happy

After repeating the above, the the song closes out with an extended instrumental portion. After admitting "I just wanna be your tugboat captain", there's really nothing left to say. While Galaxie 500 has many, many excellent songs, this has to be their definitive song.

Standout tracks: All. Sure, that's a cop out, but here are links to the entire LP: lala, last.fm, Rhapsody. If forced to select just a few, I'd settle on: "Tugboat" (studio, live 1989 - from their "'87-'91" DVD), "Flowers" (studio, live -- from their "Peel Sessions" LP, live 1990 from "'87-'91"), "Pictures" , "Parking Lot", "Temperature's Rising".

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 10/10

The Pretenders - "Stop Your Sobbing" (forgotten song) (the song remains the same)

2009-12-20T18:43:00.000-08:00

Sure, this was originally by The Kinks, on their 1964 eponymous debut LP, but they never released it as a single so I'm going to credit it to The Pretenders. The take away lesson here is that Ray Davies is such an incredible song writer that a "filler song" for The Kinks can be a hit single for any other band.

"Stop Your Sobbing" was released as the first single by The Pretenders and was also featured on their 1979 debut LP, Pretenders. Despite doing well for their first single, few people probably remember this song because 1) there was no video for MTV (to the best of my knowledge anyway), and 2) "Brass in Pocket", also from their debut LP, pretty much overshadowed the rest of the band's songs, at least by The Pretenders Mk. I.

That's too bad, because "Stop Your Sobbing" is easily the band's best, or second best song (some days I think "Talk of the Town" deserves that honor). Ray Davies writing, Nick Lowe producing, and Chrissie Hynde singing... well, it is just hard to improve on that. This is one of the few cases where the cover surpasses the original.

The original lineup of the band produced two excellent LPs, and then bassist Pete Farndon and guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died of drug overdoses during a three day span in 1982. The Pretenders recruited new members and found greater commercial success with 1983's "Learning to Crawl", but I never cared as much for this version of the band. Hynde was always the principal song writer, but the sound just wasn't as good.

But none of that matters -- "Stop Your Sobbing" is a brilliant song and a testament to both The Pretenders and The Kinks.

The Pretenders: 1980 on the Kenny Everett Show, 1987 on the David Letterman Show.

The Kinks: "Stop Your Sobbing"

B-Side Bonus Link: "The Wait" (live version from the 1981 LP "Concerts for the People of Kampuchea")

2010-11-15 Edit: A cover by Pete Yorn & Scarlett Johansson.

Obligatory Hynde/Davies fact: well after this song was recorded, they began a relationship (~81-84) and had a child together. This has no bearing on the song, of course, but I think there is a rule somewhere that states this fact must be repeated when discussing "Stop Your Sobbing".

Queensryche - "Queensryche" (LP Review)

2009-12-02T18:18:00.000-08:00

This one goes out to my HS friend Robert Gordick, the person who originally introduced me to Queensryche when the self-titled EP came out in 1983. He had it on vinyl and I had a tape copy of it (which I probably still have somewhere).

Most people probably didn't know much about Queensryche prior to their 1988 LP "Operation: Mindcrime" or their 1990 LP "Empire" and the singles from that LP, "Silent Lucidity" and "Jet City Woman". By then they had firmly established themselves in the prog metal genre; aspiring to be a sort of a metal version of Pink Floyd. But back in 1983, their sound was firmly rooted in the speed metal / NWBOHM and they had an almost Spinal Tap level of cliches: heavy metal umlaut? Check. Stylized, neo-gothic font? Check. Nazi-exploitation reference? Check. D&D / Manichean themed lyrics? Check. All those things seem silly in 2009 but boy, were they cool in 1983. We wore out our respective copies of this EP.

The production is high-quality (for the time, and especially for a low budget first release) and the songs are very heavy -- much heavier than their later material. In retrospect, "The Lady Wore Black" is an indication of their future sound, but at the time I just thought it was a really heavy power ballad, similar to Metallica's "Fade to Black". And how about the first 30-40 seconds of "Queen of the Reich"?! Great stuff. Of course, the lyrics the begin with "In the dead of night / She'll come and take you away / Searing beams of light and thunder / Over blackened plains / She will find her way". You can't help but think of Marty DiBergi quoting the review of "Intravenous de Milo": "...they are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry."

In 1984, Queensryche's first full-length LP, "The Warning", came out and it was good (I bought the cassette of that), but it was clearly moving away from the NWOBHM sound and toward prog metal. Although it was not as heavy as their first EP, it was still pretty good. Then "Rage for Order" came out in 1986 (I still have that on vinyl) and it **sucked**. Whew, it was a-w-f-u-l. And that was pretty much the end of my Queensryche era. I recognized that "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Empire" were decent LPs, but I was done with them. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't still enjoy "Queensryche".

Standout tracks: "Queen of the Reich", "Nightrider", "Blinded", "The Lady Wore Black".

Skip 'em tracks: none. (Note: when the EP was reissued in 1989, a "Rage for Order" outtake, "Prophecy" was included, but there were no skip 'em tracks on the original four song version.)

Final score: 9/10. In the mid 80s, I would have given this a 10/10. I still think it rawks, but I don't think it is ground-breaking enough to deserve top marks.

(Anti-)Bonus Links: There are official videos for "Queen of the Reich" and "Nightrider". I don't recall these videos from back in the day -- or perhaps I've just blacked out that memory. The videos are terrible, and I'm pretty sure I would have even thought they were terrible in 1983. You will regret watching them.

Queen Latifah - "U.N.I.T.Y." (forgotten song)

2009-11-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

OK, having recently reviewed BDP, let's take a quick look at another hip-hop song that no longer gets the attention it should. Queen Latifah's 1993 single "U.N.I.T.Y." (from the "Black Reign" LP) did well when it first came out, but I can't remember when I last heard it on the radio, TV, or even at the Y.

I first heard this feminist paean featured prominently in the soundtrack for the excellent 1996 indie film "Girls Town". Queen Latifiah raps with authority: you don't doubt it when she says "I punched him dead in his eye" or "who you calling a bitch?" While I don't begrudge her for her crossover success (film, TV, book, modeling), it is unfortunate that it leaves her less time for powerful anthems like this.

Like "My Philosophy", this song features an excellent saxophone sample; this time it is "Message From the Inner City" from the 1973 LP "2nd Crusade" by The Crusaders. However, you really have to listen carefully to the nearly 9 minute long song to pick out the riff used for "U.N.I.T.Y." A good pull for Queen Latifah and co-producer Kay Gee of Naughty By Nature.

Link: YouTube.

The Caretaker - "Persistent Repetition of Phrases" (LP Review)

2009-11-27T08:20:00.000-08:00

"The Caretaker" is one of the many pseudonyms of James Leyland Kirby, who is perhaps slightly more well known as "V/Vm". The Caretaker project began in 1999 as an attempt to musically reproduce music from the haunted ballroom scene in The Shining. Although I get the reference now, the first thing it reminded me of was the opening scene in The Wall, with Vera Lynn singing "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot". Both movies repurpose big band recordings from our collective nostalgia for a disturbing effect. I could speculate as to why this is true, but there is no denying the results. Band music, complete with the technological defects of pops and hisses and hazily reduced to sound like it is coming from the other room (or some other world), makes for spooky music. I could go on, but instead I'll quote from The Caretaker's site directly, in his own words:

Dusty and forgotten memories, echoes and vibrations from the past. Using as source, recordings from the 1920's and 1930's era of Ballroom music. Often painful and desolate memories, recalled and replayed from beyond the grave of our senses. In amongst this darkness lies the solace of a semi-recognisable melody or phrase, a beacon of light in this often dark and distant ocean of haunted recalled audio.

The Caretaker's 2008 LP "Persistent Repetition of Phrases" has been steadily climbing my iTunes playcount since Herbert turned me on to it a few months ago. And since you can't stay at the Overlook Hotel forever (!), this LP deals with the more real (and more disturbing) concepts of memory, speech, aging, (loss of) identity and Alzhiemer's. Like Elvis Costello's Veronica, slowly and gauzily retold without words.

Standout tracks: Given the nature of the LP, individual songs are hard to single out, but I'll go with: Lacunar Amnesia, Long Term (remote), Poor Enunciation, False Memory Syndrome.

(The rest of the LP -- and other Kirby songs -- are available on the V/vm YouTube Channel. It is worth checking out.)

Skip 'em tracks: none.

Final score: 10/10. Part of me thinks I'm being too generous and maybe it warrants only a 9/10. But on the other hand, I don't know how this LP could be better.

Bonus Links: Ballroom Music from The Shining (YouTube), The Ballroom Scene from The Shining (YouTube).

BDP - "My Philosophy" (forgotten song)

2009-11-09T12:38:00.000-08:00

"So, you're a philosopher?"

"Yes, I think very deeply."

Danette and I don't really consider ourselves big hip hop fans, but growing up when & where we did, you just absorb a certain level of knowledge and appreciation. When we lift weights at the Y (3-4 times a week), the music selection is invariably on some kind of soft rock, vapid pop, ballad / slow jam snoozefest. In short, the worst possible music for working out.

If none of the staff are around, she sneaks in and changes the channel. I believe they have "Music Choice", and although we've sampled a variety of appropriate loud, alive & upbeat channels, we almost always select "Hip Hop Classics". It's perfect workout music, and somewhat surprisingly we know maybe half of the selections (despite some deep cuts on the channel). The beats are good and the early stuff mostly avoids the misogyny and other hobgoblins of contemporary hip hop.

Having said all that, on that channel I've yet to hear one of my favorite old school hip hop songs: "My Philosophy", from the 1988 LP "By All Means Necessary" by Boogie Down Productions (BDP). BDP and MC KRS-One (aka Lawrence Parker) have always been a study in contrast. Their first LP, 1987's "Criminal Minded", set the musical template for gangster rap that would eventually overrun the scene (e.g., "9mm Goes Bang"). Then in 1987 BDP's DJ, Scott La Rock, was shot and killed while trying to break up a fight. Not surprisingly, BDP's second LP abandoned gangster rap for the socially conscious brand of hip hop typically associated with acts like Public Enemy. Also, while BDP and KRS-One gave us the first (?) hip hop rivalry with the "Bridge Wars", he also founded the Stop the Violence Movement (cf. the single "Self-Destruction") to address the violence plaguing hip hop.

But none of those details really matter... "My Philosophy" is a great song and features KRS-One at his lyrical and vocal best. But the secret ingredient is the sample of Stanley Turrentine's "Sister Sanctified". Knowing what to sample is half the battle in hip hop, and with a sax riff that good, you can't go wrong.

"In about four seconds the teacher will begin to speak..."

Radio Edit: YouTube. (Gotta love the 30 second a capella break starting at about 0:40; it's not present on the LP version).

LP Version: YouTube.

Scott Hardkiss Presents God Within - "Crucial Introspection Parts One And Two" (LP Review)

2009-11-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

This one is going to be harder to explain than "Bunky's Pick"...

But first a story: It was my 30th birthday, and some folks were hanging out at the house where Terry and I lived. Seth Littman, an accomplished DJ and one of Terry's friends, was playing some excellent music at our house. Seth always had great music, but this one song was just captivating me. I inquired, he told me it was Scott Hardkiss, and then gave me the newly released CD and said "happy birthday". Thanks Seth.

You'll frequently see mistakes made in listing the metadata for this EP, so I'll break it down for you. Scott Hardkiss is a DJ and one third of Hardkiss, along with brothers Gavin and Robbie. "God Within" is a pseudonym that Scott also uses (introduced for the first time with these songs, I believe). "Crucial Introspection Parts One And Two" is a four song EP that collects the two prior releases: 1998's "Crucial Introspection" and 1999's "Crucial Introspection Part Two" (note how the cover art for the former two releases is merged for "Parts One and Two"). The EP is released on Sunburn Records, which is loosely affiliated with Hardkiss (see also the Hardkiss label).

"Part One" has the two songs "Why, Why, Why? (Technosoul Remix)" and "Indian Summer". Both songs are unremarkable: neither bad nor good. But "Part Two" is what makes the EP great: "Why, Why, Why? (Olympic Terrorist Original Mix)" is a very good song (much better than the "Technosoul Remix"), but "Infinitely Gentle Blows (Infinite Aural Hallucination Remix)" is an amazing song. This is the song that prompted Seth's gift. 9:28 minutes of pure bliss. If you like electronic music, you must listen to this song. And if you don't like electronic music, well... maybe this will change your mind.

But the story doesn't end there... Scott Hardkiss only remixed "Infinitely Gentle Blows"; the original is a 3 minute version by Alte)ring, of whom I know almost nothing. The original version of the song (said to sample "Little Red Corvette", but I'm not sure I hear it in the Scott Hardkiss remix) appeared on the obscure compilation LP "The Event Horizon Tau". I've never even heard the Alte)ring version -- Googling turns up only the 9+ minute Scott Hardkiss remix, even when the metadata credits say it "Alte)ring". The Scott Hardkiss version was also featured on the sound track to 2000's "Groove".

Standout Tracks: "Infinitely Gentle Blows (Infinite Aural Hallucination Remix)" (Grooveshark, lala), "Why, Why, Why? (Olympic Terrorist Original Mix)"

Skip 'em Tracks: None.

Final Rating: 8/10. Part One would rate a 10/10, but Part Two would probably rate a 5/10. Round up the average based on the strength of "Infinitely Gentle Blows".

P.S.: Unencumbered versions of the tracks are hard to find on line, but you can sample them at last.fm and Rhapsody.

Willis - "Take You High" (LP Review)

2009-10-18T10:50:00.001-07:00

Willis (aka Hayley Willis) is a little-known UK alt-folk singer that has released one LP (2003's "Come Get Some") along with several singles and EPs. In support of that LP, the 2003 4-track EP "Take You High" was released, featuring "Take You High" from the LP as well as 3 non-LP tracks.

The Willis originals "Take You High" and "Haunt You" are forgettable tracks, with the latter being slightly better than the former. What makes this EP interesting at all are the two covers. Her cover of "Old Time Religion" is interesting and upbeat, but her sparse & slow cover of Cameo's "Word Up" steals the show.

I have to admit that I never liked Cameo, and I hated "Word Up" when it originally came out in 1986. And while "Word Up" has been covered numerous times (e.g., Korn's version), Willis performs the definitive version; far better than the original in my opinion. But it is not just me: Danette loved Cameo back in the day and she thinks the cover is inspired.

CSI often features engaging music selections during the episodes (although Danette and I agree that the last couple of seasons have not featured the music as prominently), and I first heard this song in the CSI episode "Post Mortem" (video). I often know most of the music featured in the episodes, but this is one of my favorite discoveries (the other being Sigur Ros with the song "Svefn-g-englar" (video)).

I'm not sure how active Willis is currently -- at the time of this writing her website's "news" section has a last entry of 2007. Although her covers are good, the two originals here are not impressive.

Stand out tracks: "Word Up", "Old Time Religion"

Skip 'em tracks: "Take You High", "Haunt You" (find the other tracks at last.fm).

Final score: 5/10. "Word Up" is amazing and "Old Time Religion" is interesting, but the originals only serve to drag down the final score. Skip the EP and get just "Word Up" on iTunes or elsewhere.