Liz Phair - Live 2003-08-09 (concert)

For another installment in Women's History Month, I turn to Liz Phair, one of my favorite artists.  I've been meaning to get to her landmark LPs "Exile in Guyville" and "Whip-smart", but that's going to have to wait as well.  Also, as a preview, her 2010 LP "Funstyle" was pretty good too. She's scheduled to be in Va Beach this summer, but we'll see if coronavirus has other ideas (update: they're being rescheduled).  We saw her in 2011 when she was at the Norva and it was a great show (I found this version of "Nashville" from that show -- not my video).

Last week I also finished reading her memoir "Horror Stories" (reviews: NPR, NYT, Pitchfork, CBS This Morning).  When I saw that she was releasing a book I added it to my Christmas wish list and was happy to receive a copy.  I had not read that much about it before I started it -- I knew it was about Liz Phair, and that was all I needed to know.   As a result, I was rather surprised to learn that the choice of title was not arbitrary -- her collections of stories are more about personal loss, conflict, and "horror" than the Liz Phair-meets-Spinal Tap rock & roll war stories I expected (the chapter "sotto voce" being a notable exception).  I read the first three chapters in one sitting and decided it wasn't the soothing "escape-from-coronavirus" experience I was looking for, but I recalibrated my expectations and enjoyed the rest of the book.

I eventually determined that the stories reminded me of Ray Bradbury's "Dandelion Wine", one of my favorite books.  Even in Bradbury's childhood nostalgia, there is a fantastical and dark spectre (e.g., the "Lonely One") that hangs over the stories, and I connected that to the "horror" which glues Phair's stories together.  I posted this observation on Twitter and got a reply back from Liz, which made my day as well as making me the envy of Danette and my "cool" friends.

High praise indeed! Thank you 🙏

— Liz Phair (@PhizLair) March 24, 2020

To celebrate the book as well as Women's History Month, I decided to post about this lovely video I found on YouTube.  There are many Liz Phair videos online, but the lo-fi intimacy of this set (13 songs, limited instrumentation) shot in a record store some 17 years ago seemed to capture the spirit of "Horror Stories" better than a professionally shot video.  The video doesn't provide a set list, but it's:

• 6'1"
• Polyester Bride
• Rock Me
• Divorce Song
• Extraordinary
• Fuck and Run
• Perfect World
• Johnny Feelgood
• (a small segment of Patrick Park's "Thunderbolt")
• Why Can't I?
• Uncle Alvarez
• Glory
• Little Digger
• Supernova

 

Apparently this is the only photo I took from the 2011-01-27 show at the Norva in Norfolk.  It was a great show.

I'm not a great photographer.

Yo La Tengo - Yellow Sarong (the song remains the same)

photo credit

Continuing with the previous theme of Yo La Tengo and Women's History Month, today I'll focus on one Yo La Tengo's great cover songs: "Yellow Sarong", originally by The Scene Is Now.  My first experience with the song was Yo La Tengo's 1990 LP of covers, "Facebook".  The original version was from The Scene Is Now's 1985 LP "Burn All Your Records".  I prefer the YLT version over TSIN version: that could be because I heard YLT's first, but I also just love YLT and how they remake all the covers in their own idiom.

When Johan and I were practicing for our DJ premiere (ca. 2003), I always tried to find a way to work this song into the set list.  It never worked with what we were shooting for (Thievery Corporation-style, downtempo, coffeehouse jazz), but I kept trying because the song is that much fun.

The live 2015 version on soundcloud (from acidjacknyc) features a good shot of Georgia Hubley, so I chose that as the main image for this post.  I don't know that much about The Scene Is Now, but they do have a female member as well (Sue Garner), so much like my work with Johan, I'm going to shoehorn "Yellow Sarong" into Women's History Month, whether it fits or not, because the song is that much fun...

The Scene Is Now - "Yellow Sarong"
Yo La Tengo - "Yellow Sarong" (studio version), live 2015-10-10, live 2016-09-09

Yo La Tengo - Live KEXP 2013-01-18 (concert)

In the first installment for Women's History Month 2020 I'm going to feature Yo La Tengo, a band that I'm quite fond of but so far have only mentioned in passing.  At the core of YLT is husband and wife team of Ira Kaplan (guitars, piano, vocals) and Georgia Hubley (drums, piano, vocals).  Active since 1984, their discography includes 15 LPs and countless other releases.  Although Ira is the front man, singing most of the songs and playing guitar, Georgia also sings, and their combination really defines the sound of the band.

Herbert turned me on to Yo La Tengo around 2000, right after "And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out" came out.  Herbert is a big fan of Yo La Tengo, but not a fan of Sonic Youth, which I consider strange since I find a lot of similarities in their respective sounds.  Sonic Youth might have a harsher, more aggressive, punk-influenced sound on some songs, but in my opinion if you like one band you'll the other.

This entry is from KEXP's excellent in-studio concert series, where they were supporting 2013's "Fade", one of the few LPs of theirs that I don't have.  Georgia sings on the last song, "Before We Run".

Gil Scott-Heron - "I'm New Here"

It's near the end of African-American History month (AKA Black History Month), and I've realized that I haven't posted anything acknowledging it.  I decided Gil Scott-Heron's 2010 LP "I'm New Here", his final LP before his death in 2011, was a good candidate.  I reviewed his cover of "Me and the Devil Blues" in 2011 and said I'd review the LP "later", so I guess it's time to get around to it.

As I stated in 2011, prior to this LP I didn't know that much about GSH other than his "hits" ("The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" & "Whitey On The Moon").  "I'm New Here" was his first LP since 1994 ("Spirits"), and his prior LP to that was 1982 ("Moving Target").  This means that while he was dormant, a lot happened in music, and his 1970s experimental jazz sound would have sounded dated in 2010.  Instead, his LP was produced by Richard Russell (of XL Recordings), who gave him a menacing and minimalist electronic soundtrack, arguably a "Witch house" sound (though that label is often disputed).  The shrill saxophones have been replaced with thin, dark drone, which to my ears is a perfect complement to GSH's weathered and weary voice.  On songs like "Me and the Devil", the combination is simply amazing.

How you feel about this LP will largely depend on how you feel about "songs" that are mostly spoken word with limited actual singing.  On the other hand, if you like Lou Reed and songs like "Dirty Boulevard", well... you should revisit Gil Scott-Heron.

Standout songs: "Me and the Devil", "On Coming from a Broken Home" (Parts 1 and 2), "I'm New Here", "Your Soul and Mine", "New York Is Killing Me", "Where Did the Night Go"

Skip 'em songs: none

Final score: 9/10

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Live KEXP 2019-08-18 (concert)

Terry recently turned me on to Australia's King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard.  In their 10 years they've amassed an extensive discography, far more than with which I'm currently familiar. What I have gathered is that their sound has explored various genres and sub-genres.  But based on Terry's recommendation, the first link I listened to was a KEXP concert from last summer while they were promoting their most recent LP, "Infest the Rat's Nest", which is apparently their foray into thrash metal, while retaining their space rock / psychedelic origins.

The best way I can explain their sound is to imagine if "In Search of Space"-era Hawkwind were cryogenically frozen, and after reanimation they asked "what did we miss in the last 48 years?", whereupon they quickly consumed the back catalogs of Iron Maiden and other NWOBHM luminaries, as well as the discographies of Metallica and friends, and then recorded "Infest the Rat's Nest".

It's certainly fun to listen to, and I'm about 99.99% sure it's not a well-executed parody.

Bruce Springsteen - "Born In The USA" (the song remains the same)

Super Bowl LIV is in the books and it was a good game, especially since I won $100 off my friend Drew.  Neither of us particularly cared who won, but the group of people we were with decided that a wager would make the game more entertaining.  I chose Kansas City simply because VT alum Kendall Fuller plays there, and there's no way I could bet against a Hokie.

The halftime show, featuring a double bill of Shakira and Jennifer Lopez, was well received by most -- or at least those who aren't afraid of sexy, middle-aged Latin women making a number of political points: kids in cages, a reversible Puerto Rican / USA flag, and a snippet of Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the USA".  Yes, that "Born in the USA".  I was going to riff on the segment of "Kashmir" they cleverly snuck in, but I can't pass up the opportunity to address the point that "Born in the USA", while patriotic, is not a jingoistic anthem.  Instead, it is a protest song, a bittersweet acknowledgement that for some the American Dream remains inaccessible.

First, borrowing the Wikipedia page, they managed to squeeze a lot into 14 minutes:

Shakira

1. "She Wolf" (contains elements of "Dare (La La La)")
2. "Empire" / "Ojos Así" (contains elements of "Inevitable" and "Kashmir")
3. "Whenever, Wherever"
4. "I Like It" (with Bad Bunny; contains elements of “En Barranquilla Me Quedo”)
5. "Chantaje" (with Bad Bunny; contains elements of "Callaíta")
6. "Hips Don't Lie"

Jennifer Lopez

7. "Jenny from the Block"
8. "Ain't It Funny (Murder Remix)"
9. "Get Right"
10. "Waiting for Tonight"
11. "Que Calor" / "Mi Gente" (with J Balvin; contains elements of "Booty", "El Anillo", "Love Don't Cost a Thing" and "Lento")^[52][53][54]
12. "On the Floor"

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez

13. "Let's Get Loud" / "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" (with Emme Muñiz; contains elements of "Born in the U.S.A.")

While the show was entertaining, outside of the hits I'm not really qualified to review most of their songs.  But the inclusion (at 12:14), however brief, of "Born in the USA" was genius.  The best way to understand the song is to remove the chorus and focus on the remaining stanzas:

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
'Til you spend half your life just covering up 

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man 

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "son, if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "son, don't you understand?" 

I had a brother at Khe Sanh
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone
He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms, now 

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Puerto Rico is part of the United States, to the surprise and/or dismay of some, and referencing Bruce in Shakira's and JLo's celebration was a great way to tap into the powerful history of this song, as well as provide a hat tip to a great 2009 halftime show.

Bruce Springsteen - "Born in the USA" studio version (from the 1984 LP of the same name), 1982 demo version from the "Nebraska" sessions. 

Black Sabbath - "The Eternal Idol" (LP Review)

Yesterday I was texting with Scott about "Family Favorites", a bonus EP of covers from Entombed and the subject eventually turned to different versions of Black Sabbath, where we both agreed that "Vol. 4" is probably our favorite LP, and both Ozzy Sabbath and Dio Sabbath are great, but we treat them like separate bands and don't compare between them.  I even stated that I'm a big fan of Gillan Sabbath (Scott may have agreed on that, it's not clear), but certainly "Born Again" should be enjoyed separately and not compared with the Ozzy or Dio.  Although we did not discuss it last night, I've stated before that I even kind of liked "Seventh Star", mostly because I appreciate Glenn Hughes's bluesy vocals. 

This discussion made me recall that my interest in Black Sabbath came to an abrupt end with 1987's "The Eternal Idol".  I still have the vinyl packed away somewhere, one of the last vinyl LPs I ever bought new.  If I remember correctly, I bought it in my freshman year of college and I'm pretty sure I haven't listened to it since.  Clearly I didn't like it, but I couldn't quite remember why.

I've since read that Tony Martin-led era of Black Sabbath (of which "The Eternal Idol" was the first LP) has developed a cult following.  Had I missed something?  My interest in metal was waning in college, so perhaps I did not give it a fair listen?

With that in mind, today I re-listened to the LP (via YouTube -- I did not dig up my vinyl) for the first time in ~30 years, and the verdict is... it's awful.  Tony Martin is not a good singer, he's not even interestingly bad: he's just bland, generic, and would be right at home at your local bar in a Queensryche cover band.  There are spots where Tony Iommi's playing still shines through, but the vocals (and the simplistic lyrics) sometimes make it difficult to even locate, much less enjoy, Iommi.

The next LP in the Tony Martin era, "Headless Cross", receives a lot of praise but I'm in no hurry to listen to it.  In 2010, the demo version of this LP with Ray Gillen singing was released, and after a few spot checks Ray might be a bit better than Tony Martin, but not enough to matter.  Neither Gillen nor Martin bring an interesting vocal interpretation like Ozzy, Dio, Gillan, or even Hughes.  The most interesting part of the LP is the cover, with a live model reenactment of Rodin's sculpture "The Eternal Idol" (for which the models were both hospitalized because the bronze paint was toxic; further expanding the suffering caused by this LP).

Standout songs: "Scarlet Pimpernel" (it's an instrumental)

Songs that appear: "The Eternal Idol" (this would be vastly better as an instrumental)

Skip 'em songs: the rest (full LP playlist).

Final score: 3/10.  Maybe I'll revisit it again in another 30 years.