Yoko Ono - "Listen the Snow is Falling" (the song remains the same)

In my final installment for Women's History Month 2020*, I'll conclude with Yoko Ono's "Listen the Snow is Falling".  I have limited knowledge of Ono's discography, as well as Lennon's non-Beatles discography, and how they intersect and overlap, but it appears that "Listen the Snow is Falling" was first released as a B-side to the Plastic Ono Band's 1971 single "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)", and then later as bonus tracks on re-releases of 1969's "Wedding Album".

My introduction to this song is from Galaxie 500's 1990 final studio LP "This Is Our Music", and bassist and occasional lead vocalist Naomi Yang turns in an understated but powerful cover; one of the LP's highlights to be honest.  Galaxie 500 made incredible, genre-defining music but part of their appeal to me was their impeccable taste in choosing cover songs (see also: the posthumously released "Peel Sessions" LP).  Thanks to Galaxie 500 for choosing this obscure but delightful B-side, almost 20 years after its release, and thereby furthering my education.

Yoko Ono - "Listen the Snow is Falling"
Galaxie 500 - "Listen the Snow is Falling"

* This post was begun in March, but events delayed it until April.  

Galaxie 500 - "Rain" (the song remains the same)

The last release from Galaxie 500 before they broke up was the single "Rain",  recorded live in 1989 at NYC's iconic CBGB and then released in 1990.  Galaxie 500's choice of covers were always impeccable (see my review of their "Peel Sessions" LP), and their version of "Rain" is no different.  "Rain" is probably the most famous B-side (the A-side was "Paperback Writer") from The Beatles canon, and was recorded during the "Revolver" sessions (the non-LP single came out a few months before "Revolver" was released).  With backwards vocals at the end of the track, "Rain" nicely captures the band in transition from their earlier jangle pop to their later psychedelic sound.  They also recorded three different "promotional films" for this song (what we now call "music videos") -- quite an investment for a B-side. 

Galaxie 500 successfully captures the essence of the original, albeit with a heavier sound courtesy of the live recording.  Their original 7" single was limited to 500 copies and featured "Rain" as the A-side and the B-side featured a live version of "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste", the Jonathan Richmond/Modern Lovers cover from their first LP.  Given the rarity of this single, you're more likely to have heard the concatenated version from the posthumously released LP "Uncollected".  Unfortunately, I'm not aware of a studio recording of "Rain" by Galaxie 500.

Galaxie 500: "Rain / Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste"(mp3)

The Beatles: "Rain" -- video 1, video 2, video 3 (link suggestions welcome)


N.B.   I've been meaning to feature this song for a while, but the rainy start to our time at Ocean Isle Beach, NC has made this especially appropriate.  A rainy day at the beach still beats a sunny day at work...

I can show you
That when it starts to rain
Everything's the same
I can show you
I can show you

Rain, I don't mind
Shine, the weather's fine

Galaxie 500 - "Peel Sessions" (LP Review)

I think I've run out of words to describe how much I love Galaxie 500, the hazy, dreamy, nearly-shoegazing Boston band whose existence completely overlapped with my college years (1987-1991).   Unfortunately, this short career left us with only three studio LPs and a posthumously extended discography, most of which I would recommend only to hard-core fans such as myself. 

But that's not true for the 2005 LP "Peel Sessions", which collects two, four song sessions from 1989 and 1990 for the legendary BBC Radio 1 show by John Peel.  This live-in-the-studio LP has excellent sound quality (unlike the live LP "Copenhagen"), offers three "new" cover songs not available on other LPs, and subtly different arrangements of some of their classic songs.  I don't think these sessions were available previous to be released in 2005.  Peel Sessions are an interesting format: you have four songs (or about ~20 minutes) to showcase yourself, and this limited amount of time forces you to economically pick representative songs.  On the other hand, if you just do your "greatest hits" then haven't offered the audience something new.  Galaxie 500 understood this: notice how their quintessential song, "Tugboat", does not appear?

The real highlight here are the three "new" songs.  Galaxie 500 always had a tradition of showing how smart they were with their meticulous selection of covers.  Of course their standard Jonathan Richmond cover "Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste" is present (I think few would argue that Galaxie 500 now owns this song, not Richmond), but they also turn in inspired interpretations of "Submission" (Sex Pistols), "Final Day" (Young Marble Giants), and "Moonshot" (Buffy Sainte-Marie).  Sure you've heard of the Pistols, but "Submission" is an inspired choice; YMG was influential but not famous, and ask your hippie parents about BSM (the Pistols *and* Buffy Sainte-Marie?!  genius.).

I'm going to break with the standard LP review format and just list all eight tracks and claim them all as "standouts" (and obviously there are no tracks to skip).  The first four are from the October 1990 session and the last four are from the September 1989 session:

1. Submission
2. Final Day
3. When Will You Come Home
4. Moonshot
5. Flowers
6. Blue Thunder
7. Decomposing Trees
8. Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste

Bonus links to the original versions:

• Sex Pistols: Submission
• Young Marble Giants: Final Day
• Buffy Sainte-Marie: Moonshot
• Jonathan Richmond & the Modern Lovers: Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste

Final score: 9/10.  While there are only three "new" songs, this is an LP I can easily recommend to those not already familiar with Galaxie 500. 

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

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)

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):

1. "Blue Thunder"
2. "Tell Me"
3. "Snowstorm"
4. "Strange"
5. "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)

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 just listen to the entire LP.  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

New Order - "Ceremony" (the song remains the same)

In my review of New Order's first LP, Movement, I stated that I especially liked New Order's early, post-Joy Division sound. Of all the songs to come out of that era, "Ceremony" is my favorite. It was written while Joy Division was still active, but Ian Curtis died before JD could do a proper studio recording of it. Two JD versions of "Ceremony" exist: a badly recorded live version (which appears on 1981's posthumous collection "Still") and a rough rehearsal version (on the 1997 box set "Heart and Soul"). The JD versions are of interest only to collectors and hard-core fans and these versions are not recommended for those unfamiliar with the New Order version and subsequent covers.

New Order's first single and its B-side, "In A Lonely Place", were both songs originally written by Joy Division. NO itself released two versions of this "Ceremony": the March 1981 version, which has a more raw, heavy sound; and the September 1981 version, which has a cleaner sound and a slightly faster tempo. The September 1981 version also features Gillian Gilbert, recently promoted to a full member of the band. The September version is the one that appears on the 1987 compilation "Substance" while the March version was not reissued until the 2005 compilation "Singles".

Perhaps the most well-known cover version of this song is on Galaxie 500's second LP, "On Fire". Galaxie 500 was well known for their excellent choice of cover songs (in addition to writing excellent original material). For their treatment of "Ceremony", they slowed it down to the point where it sounds like Black Sabbath covering New Order. Galaxie 500 was an amazing band that never got the recognition they deserved.

Radiohead* also covered "Ceremony" in their 2007 "Thumbs Down" webcast (the full 2.5 hours of which has been uploaded to Google Videos). The do a lovingly sloppy, garage band version of the song (which is obviously not indicative of their studio sound).

New Order: March 1981 version, September 1981 version, live 1981-02-06.

Joy Division: Live version, Rehearsal version (note: neither version has good sound quality).

Galaxie 500: Studio version, live version.

Radiohead: Thumbs Down Webcast version.

New Order B-Side Bonus Link for "In A Lonely Place": Original 7" version, 1981 Berlin live version, 1984 BBC Radio 1 version.

2023-05-24 edit: This 2017 cover by Chromatics is excellent. 


* = Despite all of Radiohead's accolades, they'll never be as good as Gooey.