Boston Spaceships: Our Cubehouse Still Rocks

     I decided to tackle Robert Pollard's non-GbV material by starting with my favorite album, Boston Spaceships' Our Cubehouse Still Rocks. And, indeed, it does rock. Boston Spaceships were a side project which also included Chris Slusarenko (GbV) and John Moen (Decemberists' drummer). Leave it to Pollard to name a band after an iconic 70's rock album cover. When I was in middle school, I used to draw the spaceship from Boston's debut album on all my notebooks. Anyhow, Boston Spaceships started out promisingly with their first cd Brown Submarine, but regressed on their next couple albums. When Cubehouse came out I was on the fence about buying it, but my completist nature kicked in. I'm glad it did, because this is one of Pollard's most solid efforts ever. There are 16 songs, no fragments and only a couple tracks that I'd classify as turds (Trick of the Telekinetic Newlyweds and The British and the French).
     Cubehouse is guitar heavy and it starts right off with the opening track "Track Star". It probably should've been titled "Bet He Runs" because he sings that lyric dozens of times, including the Daltrey-esque conclusion to the song. The vocals are especially strong and he has a classic line "he runs from the clowns and he's wearin' 'em out". The next track, "John The Dwarf Wants To Become An Angel" is classic GbV, power pop goodness. Great melody, awesome hooks and chiming guitars! They bring down the tempo, but not the power, on the next track "I See You Coming". The lyrics are very repetitive, but it's still a good song. "Fly Away" is a British Invasion inspired rocker with crazy lyrics like "rat fink kangaroo" and "like a dogfish in sunshine". It doesn't really matter what it means though, it just sounds awesome. "Saints Don't Lie" is a straight-up mother of a guitar rocker. It's also Pollard's strongest vocal effort on the album. "Unshaven Bird" is a slow burner with some great guitar feedback. The next track, "Come On Baby Grace" is the strongest track on the album and features Doug Gillard on guitar. And personally, I like the line " I saw a moon that was coated in ice in the Motor City". I like to think he came up with that line when I saw him at St. Andrews. "Freedom Rings" is a good homage to 70's metal, but it just makes me think of freedom fries. If "Bombadine" had been released in the late 60's it would be a classic track that still gets gets played today. "Airwaves" is my second favorite song on Cubehouse. It's an instant handclap classic, inspired by glam era Bowie. "Dunkirk Is Frozen Again" begins with Pollard dicking around with an acoustic guitar, then explodes into a high velocity rocker. "King Green Stamp" is another track that is classic GbV (could've been on Propeller). The album is wrapped up nicely by "In The Bathroom (Up 1/2 The Night). I don't want to know what it's about, but it rocks.
     If my kids are intimidated by the daunting task that is my Pollard collection, they at least have to listen to Cubehouse. In fact, here are the Pollard must listens. Peace.

* Our Cubehouse Still Rocks
* Keene Brothers- Blues and Boogie Shoes (with Tommy Keene)
* Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department (with Doug Gillard)
* Not In My Airforce
* From A Compound Eye
* Crickets- Best of the Fading Captain Series 1999-2007

Springsteen and Mellencamp; Ain't That America

     They should be added to baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet as American icons. At least in my lifetime, no other songwriters have chronicled American life as vividly as The Boss and John Mellencamp. They write about hometowns, downtowns, uptowns, escape, longing and the American Dream. They sing about the everyday struggles and the small victories that make up a life.
     As I've mentioned several times before, I grew up in rural mid-Michigan. My hometown was Farwell. When I lived in Detroit and people asked me where Farwell was I would say "go North 'til ya smell it and West 'til ya step in it". That was partly a joke and partly the truth. I loved growing up out in the country and wish my kids could have that same experience. When I was younger, I identified with Mellencamp's songs much more than Springsteen. Farwell was a small town in the middle of farm country. My dad was a long time part's manager for a John Deere dealership. In the summers I'd sometimes hang out at the dealership with him and hit him up for money for a bottle of grape Nehi. They had one of those old pop machines where you open the door and pull the pop bottle out. It was the most awesome thing in the world. I'd watch the farmers come in and out all day with their sunburnt faces and calloused, grease stained hands hoping my dad would have the part they needed so they could get back to work. I basically grew up in a Mellencamp song. However, he wanted to die in a small town and I wanted to get the hell out. I never really fit in. I wasn't interested in hunting or fishing or tearing apart cars. And I figured out by 3rd grade that I had no use for religion either. I switched from Mellencamp to Springsteen; born to run.
     Screen door slams, Mary's dress waves /  like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays. Those, of course, are the opening lines to "Thunder Road" by Springsteen. I would argue "Thunder Road" is the greatest song in the entire American songbook. It's from the album Born To Run which really spoke to me as a young man. It was all about escaping to somewhere better and living the American Dream. It's a romantic idea when you're young and I did a lot of running. But when you get older you realize you can't run from yourself. I've moved at least a dozen times in my life. One time, I fit all my worldly possessions in a Monte Carlo ( I had one box that didn't fit, so I just dumped the stuff in the car and left the box). In the past 8 years my wife and I have moved four times. It's winter in Ohio and I want to move somewhere warm. So I guess part of me still wants to run somewhere better, or at least warmer.
     I've lost some of my Springsteen and Mellencamp over the years (and moves). Right now, the only Mellencamp I have is The Best That I Could Do and my only Springsteen is Born To Run and Magic. I obviously recommend these to my kids. I also recommend they don't spend their lives trying to escape themselves. Peace.
    
    

Uncle Tupelo: Still Feel Gone

     When Uncle Tupelo released their debut album, No Depression, in 1990 the genre of alt-country was officially created. Well, it wasn't official at the time, but it was. The title track was a cover of an old Carter Family song. In 1995, a magazine was started that covered alt-country and was named No Depression. Of course, there were influential artists that paved the way for alt-country; the Carters, Woody Guthrie, Gram Parsons, Michael Nesmith, Steve Earle and R.E.M. I would also contend that Neil Young and Crazy Horse were a major influence, especially the song "Powderfinger". I'll post about Neil Young another time, though. I've mentioned before that I grew up on Hee Haw and my dad's country music 8 tracks, which is probably why I've been drawn to this genre.
     For me, Uncle Tupelo is like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. It's an awesome combination of chocolate (Jay Farrar) and peanut butter (Jeff Tweedy). Separately they are alright, but together they are fantastic. I don't really know why they broke up, but they were much better together. I know that's blasphemy, because everybody loves them some Wilco. Don't get me wromg, I have the first two Wilco albums and they're alright, but I don't like them as much as Uncle Tupelo. And I don't even own any Son Volt. I guess my thing with Wilco is that they are to Uncle Tupelo what Kenny Chesney is to Merle Haggard. Wilco can put all the bangos and dobros and mandolins and pedal steel guitars they want on an album, but it doesn't sound authentic. It sounds like marketing. That said, I do like a few songs from those Wilco albums like "Box Full of Letters", "Shouldn't Be Ashamed", "Passenger Side" and "Outta Mind (Outta Sight)". I would recommend that my kids listen to them and decide for themselves. Anyway, back to Uncle Tupelo.
     I own Still Feel Gone and 89/93 An Anthology and I strongly recommend both of them. Still Feel Gone opens with the track "Gun" which has the great line: my heart, it was a gun /but it's unloaded / so don't bother. Other standout tracks are "Still Be Around", "Watch Me Fall" and "If That's Alright". My copy also has some bonus tracks. My favorite is "Sauget Wind" (also on the anthology), which has the line: the weatherman says "fair", but he looks like a lie / nothing's free in this country and there's no place to hide no more. There is also a fabulous cover of the Soft Boys' "I Wanna Destroy You". The anthology also has a couple stellar tracks from Anodyne, "The Long Cut" and "Chickamauga", which are probably my two favorite Uncle Tupelo songs. I plan on buying the rest of their albums in the near future. Hopefully at least one of my kids inherits my alt-country gene.
     On the future cd release front there is some good news. Guided by Voices (stunner) and Flaming Lips have new albums coming out this spring. Plus there's the new Bowie and MBV to look forward to. The best news, however, is that Captured Tracks has a deal with Flying Nun to reissue a ton of old Flying Nun albums. Please see my post on Flying Nun and you'll know how exciting this is to me. Peace.
    

Michael Hedges

     Most fans of rock music have a guitar hero. For many it's Hendrix, for others Jimmy Page or Clapton or Eddie Van Halen. My guitar hero is Michael Hedges. I'm hoping most of you know who he was, but for those who don't I'll tell you.
     In a previous post, I mentioned going through a New Age phase. This was during the late 80's, early 90's, when hair metal was dying and alternative hadn't quite taken over yet. I dabbled in meditation and Buddhism and started buying New Age tapes. I listened to Shadowfax, Kitaro, Nightnoise, Mannheim Steamroller and Windham Hill samplers. It was on one of these samplers that I discovered an unusual guitarist named Michael Hedges. He sounded like no other guitarist I'd ever heard before. His playing style was very percussive and his tunings were all over the map. I went out and found a cassette called Live From the Double Planet and a cd called Taproot. I played the hell out of them. I bought a guitar and wanted to learn how to play like him. However, I still suck at guitar and could never get the tunings right. Besides his violent strumming style, he also had an amazing ability at finger picking. And he had that crazy Harp Guitar. He started out as an instrumentalist, mainly because he was on Windham Hill. He railed at being called a New Age artist, preferring "New Edge" or "Heavy Mental". However, he really was kind of new age, yoga hippie.
     As his career went on, he added more and more vocals to his songs. Sadly, he died in 1997 when his car slid off a cliff in California. He wrote many brilliant songs, such as, Because It's There, Rickover's Dream, Aerial Boundries and Ragamuffin. He also performed dozens of covers, the best of which are All Along The Watchtower, Gimme Shelter and Come Together. If you've never heard him please check him out on Youtube. If for no other reason, do it to see him play the Harp Guitar. The term genius is thrown around quite liberally, including by me, but he really was. I would recommend Live From the Double Planet to my kids.  As long as I'm on the subject of guitar heroes, here's my list of favorite guitarists. Peace.

* Michael Hedges
* Alex Lifeson
* David Gilmour
* Jack White
* J. Mascis
* Pete Townsend
* Ronald Jones (Flaming Lips)
* Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers)
* Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick)
* Mark Knofler (Dire Straits)
* Steve Hackett (Genesis)
* Steve Howe (Yes)
* Peter Buck (R.E.M.)
* Ritchie Blackmore
* Chuck Berry
* Brian May (Queen)
* Rik Emmet (Triumph)
* Jimmy Page
* Tony Iommi
* The Edge

Wire: Pink Flag

    In the late70's, I was in junior high and listening to album-oriented rock radio. So I was into Cheap Trick, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Boston, Styx and Kansas. Maybe I'll post about that another time, but my point is punk rock wasn't on my radar in middle school. I never knew anybody who listened to it until 1983 when my friend's older brother let us listen to Never Mind the Bollocks. It blew my mind. Looking back now, it was just pop music with a sneer but I still love it. Nobody mentioned Wire. Later, everyone carried on about how awesome and politically relevent the Clash were. All I knew was "Should I Stay or Should I Go", "Train in Vain" and "Rock the Casbah", so I didn't get what the big deal was. A couple years ago, I bought London Calling and was amused that in the title track they slag Beatlemania, then in the next song "Brand New Cadillac" they sound like The Beatles in their Cavern Club days. Still nobody mentioned Wire.
     The first time I heard of Wire was when they were listed as an influence for Guided by Voices. Then in 2008, Wilson Neate wrote a 33 1/3 book about Pink Flag. I decided to take a flyer and bought the cd. That was the best chance I ever took on a cd. It's an amazing album. It's hard to believe that it came out of the British punk movement of the late 70's. Punk's essence was still conventional rock song structure of verses and a chorus. Much of the subject matter was conventional as well. It's easy to see why Wire's Pink Flag is mentioned more as an influence on GbV than as a contemporary punk album with Never Mind the Bollocks. The album consists of 21 songs that clock in at 36 minutes. Several songs aren't much more than fragments. And the subject matter is unconventional. Ironically, the lyrics are more subversive because they are more clever. There are no straight forward lyrics like "God save the Queen / We mean it man / There's no future / and England's dreaming". Colin Newman's vocals are often borderline indecipherable and the lyrics are more nuanced. And unlike Punk, the songs don't all sound the same. There are punk songs, but there's also power pop, hardcore and even slower tempo songs. However, the most amazing thing about Pink Flag is that if it were released for the first time today, it would still be relevent. It's a timeless album. I do have to make one confession though. I just assumed that "Strange " was a R.E.M. song and was surprised when I heard it on Pink Flag. Anyhow, this has quickly become one of my all-time favorite albums and I highly recommend that my kids listen to it.
     Here's a list of my favorite Pink Flag songs. Peace.

* Three Girl Rhumba (Think of a number, divide it by two / something is nothing, nothing is nothing)
        - Elastica probably owes their entire career to this song
* Ex Lion Tamer (Stay glued to your TV set)
* Start To Move
* Pink Flag
* 106 Beats That
* Fragile
* Mannequin
* Champs ( R.E.M. owe some of their early sound to this song)
* Strange (I like this more than the R.E.M. cover version)
* Feeling Called Love

The Oasis vs. Blur Thing

     You've probably figured out from my blog that I'm a bit of an anglophile. I love The Beatles, Monty Python, The Prisoner, Black Adder, The Young Ones, Fawlty Towers, Little Britain, Martin Clunes, Tolkien, Michael Moorcock and Yuck, to name a few. I'm also a huge Doctor Who fan. In fact, I was in the Doctor Who Fan Club of America thirty years ago (Tom Baker was my first Doctor). As an American, I never got the Oasis vs. Blur thing. Over here Oasis were everywhere and Blur weren't. The only song or video I remember by Blur in the 90's was Song 2. Oasis were always on the radio and their videos were on MTV in heavy rotation. I own most of Oasis' cds and "Supersonic" is one of my all-time favorite songs. Until last year, I didn't own any Blur. Maybe these bands had genuine animosity toward each other. Maybe it was a load of rubbish to get them in NME. Maybe both bands were consumed by wanting to win British music awards. At any rate, I never got it.
     Last year, I decided to buy Midlife: A Beginner's Guide to Blur, which is a 2 disc best of collection. I loved the song "Beetlebum" straight away and the rest of it was good too. Then my friend Mike played the self-titled cd at work one day and I liked it, so I bought it. Recently, he bought the big whoopty-doo Blur boxed set and gave me a bunch of his old Blur cds. So I've been listening to them the past few days and now I have some thoughts on the Oasis / Blur thing. I know the last thing the world needs is someone elses opinion on this topic, but they are in my collection so it can't be helped.
     Oasis seem to be a working class band with a Beatles obsession, which is right in my wheelhouse. Their songs are straight forward rock songs with traditional structure. Blur seem to be more art school-y and their songs are very diverse. You can't really say that they copped someone elses sound. Their songs are more hit or miss for me, but that's alright. Sometimes I need to be pushed musically and maybe some day I'll like Blur more than Oasis. But not today. You even notice this difference with the Gallagher brothers solo albums and Damon Albarn's project Gorillaz. Beady Eye (Liam's band) and High Flying Birds (Noel's band) both play straight forward rock with a traditional band structure and still sound like Oasis. Gorillaz is a cartoon band that sounds nothing like Blur.
     So, it seems to me that Oasis and Blur weren't fighting over the same piece of ground. They were just fighting for attention and awards. Musically, they weren't really doing the same sort of thing as each other. They were just two good bands who were popular at the same time. But, NME needed stories and they were glad to provide them. I think it worked out well for everyone. As for my collection, I recommend Definitely, Maybe and Morning Glory as jumping off points for Oasis. For Blur, I'd start with the self-titled album, then Parklife, Great Escape and the best of cd. Thanks again to Mike for the Blur cds. He also gave me a bunch of Smiths cds when he got the boxed set of those. Finally, the playlist in my car is; The Refreshments The Bottle and Fresh Horses, The Vines Winning Days and the Essential Michael Jackson. Peace.

Tobin Sprout

     If you're familiar with this blog, you know I'm a GbV fan. I've already posted about their best songs and their releases from 2012. Today I thought I'd tackle Tobin Sprout's solo and side project material since it's less daunting than Robert Pollard's catalog. I don't own as much Tobin Sprout as I'd like, because it's hard to find. I have Moonflower Plastic, Live at the Horseshoe Tavern, Lost planets & Phantom Voices and The Bluebirds of Happiness Tried to Land on My Shoulder. I don't like ordering things online, so that limits my collection. I also have two cds from his side project Eyesinweasel; Wrinkled Thoughts and Live in the Middle East. Before I give my recommendations, I'd like to give a little background about Tobin.
     He has an unusal role in GbV. On one hand, he is the George Harrison of the group. He writes great songs, but only gets a few on an album. Pollard, of course, is the Lennon AND McCartney. Not that there's anything wrong with that. On the other hand, he is like McCartney in that he tends to write mainly "pop" songs, whereas Pollard is more of a risk taker musically. Anyhow, the great thing about his solo albums is that you get a bunch of his songs instead of three or four. He is also an author and artist and lives in a quiet town in Northern Michigan.
     My favorite Tobin Sprout album is Moonflower Plastic. It was released by Matador Records in 1997 and features many of his best songs. In fact, here's my list of favorite Tobin Sprout songs, the first five being from Moonflower Plastic.

* Get Out of My Throat
* Paper Cut
* Beast of Souls
* All Used Up (all-time fav)
* Hit Junky Dives (possibly about GbV's breakup, in my opinion)
* Crawling Backward Man
* The Last Man Well Known to Kingpin
* To My Beloved Martha
* Inside the Blockhouse ( the Live at the Horseshoe Tavern version)
* Slow Flanges
* E's Navy Blue

     Of the live albums, I like the set from the Horseshoe, but the energy is better on the Eyesinweasel show. The great thing about the live albums is that there are several GbV songs, as well. I have to confess that I've only listened to Lost Planets and Bluebirds once each, so I don't have opinions on them yet. Tobin Sprout is truly one of the geniuses of power pop songcraft, along the line of Tommy Keene, who I may post about in the future. I hope my kids give him a listen. I promise I'll take on Pollard, but it might not be for awhile. Peace.

Michael Jackson

     When I was reading the Sunday Arts section of the Plain Dealer the other day, there was a mention that the Complete Jackson Five animated series was being released today. At first, this news made me nostalgic for my childhood. I remember watching those cartoons. I remember Jackie (real name Sigmund) being my favorite Jackson. I don't really remember why; I was just a kid. I must have been into them, because my parents bought me a Jackson Five album, which unfortunately I no longer have. Then, I started thinking about Michael. I've never known what to make of Michael Jackson. When he was in the Jackson Five, he was this little kid with a huge voice that sang amazing songs like "ABC" and "I Want You Back". It seemed so strange to see a kid starring in a group with his older brothers. Then he was off my radar when I started buying my own records. I barely noticed when Off The Wall came out, I vaguely remember him doing songs with McCartney and I was into hard rock and metal when Thriller was released.
     It seemed like I was the only person that didn't own Thriller. Of course that's not true, but it seemed like it. It was a badge of honor. I was listening to awesome stuff like Def Leppard, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden. Alright, you can stop laughing now. Anyhow, Thriller was everywhere and it represented everything I hated about the music industry. So how is it that it's in my collection now? I inherited it. In my introductory blog post, I discussed how the idea for this blog came from people giving me inherited record collections that they didn't want. Out of the hundreds of horrible albums I managed to find a few gems. Thriller was one and I decided to keep it. In fact, here's a list of excellent albums that I got from these collections.

* Thriller
* Dark Side of the Moon
* Out of the Blue- ELO
* Rumors
* Double Vision- Foreigner
* Tapestry
* Journey
* A bunch of Buck Owens albums
* News of the World- Queen
* A bunch of Elvis 45's
     - I noticed that Elvis records were all in horrible condition. Probably because they belonged
       to young girls.

     Around the time of Thriller, Michael Jackson became Jacko the Whacko. He began buying monkeys and having his face hacked up. Then there were all his legal problems and strange marriages. Then after years of being out of the spotlight, he was trying to make a comeback. Unfortunately, it killed him.
     Now that I'm older, I can look back on his legacy and respect what he accomplished. A little kid from Gary, Indiana became the King of Pop. And his songs really were fantastic once you peel back all the other nonsense. Rockin' Robin. Rock With You. Beat It. Bad. Thriller... I intend to buy the Essential Michael Jackson cd and would recommend it to my kids. Peace.

Neutral Milk Hotel: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

     In a previous post, I mentioned that I have a goosebump albums list, which is, Soft Bulletin by Flaming Lips, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot by Sparklehorse and In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel. Aeroplane ( this is how I'll refer to it from now on) is the most difficult, rewarding and emotionally draining album I've ever listened to. I'm not a writer for Pitchfork, so I'm not going to try to breakdown Aeroplane or Jeff Mangum's mind in this post. However, I do want to recommend this album to my kids and offer them some guidance. But first a little background.
     I never heard this album until I moved to Cleveland. When we came down here to look for a place to live, I naturally checked out the radio dial. I began at the left of the dial, because that's where the college stations usually are. I landed on 91.1 FM which is WRUW out of Case Western University. They were playing "Just Like Heaven" by the Cure which isn't unusual, but I stopped to listen. Then they played the Dinosaur Jr. cover. I had found my station. Over the years I've discovered dozens of artists by listening to WRUW and one of them is Neutral Milk Hotel. There are three shows on WRUW that I'd like to plug since anyone can listen to them on the interwebs; Stone Cold Bikini ( hosted by Christine Saturday 9-11 AM), Chasing Infinity (hosted by Ed Sunday 8-10 AM) and Cream of Broccoli Radio Hour ( which is actually two hours hosted by Brandt Sunday 10AM-12PM).
     I'd also like to mention Kim Cooper's awesome 33 1/3 book on Aeroplane. In my opinion it's the best book in the series, so far, and a great resource for listening to the album. Most of the guidance I'll give my kids is taken from her book. As I mentioned before, this is an emotionally draining album and it really can't be listened to casually. You need to be in the right frame of mind and have time to listen to the whole album straight through. Aeroplane is an organic whole and listening to individual tracks out of their context diminishes their impact. That said, when I first heard "The King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1" on WRUW it was out of context, but I bought the album anyway. Also, I think it helped that I heard Aeroplane when I was in my forties. Had I heard this album twenty years ago I probably wouldn't have gotten it, especially "King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 2". Personally this is the most difficult song on the album. Mangum begins by wailing "I love you Jesus Christ". As someone who doesn't believe in Christianity this is a towering obstacle to get past when listening to a song. Twenty years ago I would have turned it off at that point. The way I rationalize it is I interpret him as telling someone he loves them and using Jesus Christ for emphasis. My older daughters are more religious than me, so maybe they won't have this problem and would enjoy Aeroplane on a different level than me.
     While I'm typing this post I put the final track, "Two-Headed Boy Pt. 2" on Youtube. It is my favorite song on the album and I instantly got chills. I don't even want to dissect it for this post, lest I might destroy it. If you're reading this you probably love this album and know what I mean. If you haven't heard it I appeal to you to give it a try. At the end of the album when he sings " but don't hate her when she gets up to leave" you are left emotionally devasted. Then you hear Mangum set down his guitar and get up to leave. I can only listen to this album once every few months, because of the emotional toll it takes. I really can't recommend it enough. Peace.

My Rolling Stones Resolution

      When I told my childhood friend about this blog, he recommended that I watch a Rolling Stones documentary called Crossfire Hurricane. I didn't tell him, but I've never been a fan of Mick and the boys. Something about them never appealed to me. Maybe it was Mick's herky jerky dance moves, which have recently been immortalized by that jackass from Maroon 5. Maybe it was his goofy mugging for the camera. Maybe it's because I don't get the whole Keith Richards thing. Look at me, I'm a degenerate druggy and I'll outlive all y'alls. Maybe it's Charlie Watts' deadpan expression. Maybe it's that Ron Wood used to be in a band with Rod Stewart. Maybe it's because I hate "Paint It Black" and "Sympathy For The Devil". Maybe it's loyalty to The Beatles. Whatever it was, I've never been a fan. In fact, I had never owned anything by them until last year when I bought Some Girls. I bought it because it has "Shattered", which is my favorite Stones song. I've even made the contrarian claim that of the British Invasion bands they rank not only behind The Beatles and The Who, but The Kinks and Zombies. What can I say, I love The Zombies. I've even argued that The Beatles version of "I Wanna Be Your Man" is far superior, even though they let Ringo do it as a toss off. In short, I've been a real jerk about the Rolling Stones. But no more. I'm tired of being a hater. One of my musical resolutions this year is to give the Stones a chance.
     Maybe I'll watch that documentary. Maybe I'll start with a Greatest Hits collection. Maybe I'll try listening to Exile on Main Street. I do already like a few songs, and they are:

* Shattered
* Respectable
* Brown Sugar
* Gimme Shelter
* Jumpin' Jack Flash
* It's Only Rock and Roll
* Start Me Up
* Satisfaction
* When The Whip Comes Down
* Honky Tonk Women

     That's almost a whole album's worth already. I'll keep you updated on my progress throughout the year and make recommendations to my kids when needed. Wish me luck. Peace.

Surfin' U.S.A.

     Back in the mid-70's everybody, including me, had Endless Summer by the Beach Boys. Even though I lived in Michigan, the Beach Boy songs transported me to California. You could smell the sea air and hear the hot rods peelin' out down the street and imagine those California girls. It was a window to another world. Their success drew attention to California, hot rod culture and most importantly surf culture. Oddly enough, the members of the Beach Boys didn't actually live this lifestyle, but that's beside the point. They helped bring this subculture to the mainstream. The songs are legendary. Surfin' Safari. Surfer Girl. Surfin' USA. Catch aWave. Little Deuce Coupe. Shut Down. Fun, Fun, Fun. I Get Around. California Girls. Help Me Rhonda. Don't Worry Baby. Then there was the flood of Beach movies and surf rock groups. I have a collection of surf rock from Rhino called Surfin' Hits. It features classics like Pipeline, Wipe Out, Miserlou, Surf City, Surfin' Bird, Surfin' Safari and Surfin' USA. It's a fantastic collection that I recommend my kids listen to, as well as Endless Summer.
     I love Dick Dale who is the King of Surf Guitar. Like me, he is a left-handed guitarist. Unlike me, he's awesome. He is most famous for appearing in Beach movies and the song "Miserlou". "Miserlou" has been reintroduced by Pulp Fiction and "Pump It" by the Black Eyed Peas in recent years. I confess I have a soft spot for left-handed guitarists. In fact, here's a list of my favorite lefties (McCartney not included due to my #1 list rule- no Beatles on lists).

*Dick Dale
* Kurt Cobain
* Elliot Easton
* Jimi Hendrix
* Tony Iommi
* Jimi Goodwin

     I'd also like to mention Roger Christian. He was a DJ in California who co-wrote dozens of surf rock classics, mainly for his knowledge of hot rod slang. His credits include "Little Deuce Coupe", "Little Old Lady From Pasendena" and "Dead Man's Curve" by Jan and Dean and several songs for Beach movies. There are other groups in my collection that use the surf guitar sound that I'd recommend to my kids; Midnight Oil, B52's, Stevie Ray Vaughn and Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet. Shadowy Men... are a band who are famous for the theme song (Having an Average Weekend) to Kids in the Hall. If you've never checked them out and like surf guitar do yourself a favor.
     Alright, confession time again. I like early Beach Boys, but I've never listened to Pet Sounds and have no interest in all the machinations of Smile. Some day I'll get Pet Sounds just because I feel dumb for never having listened to it and half the albums I love are compared to it by critics. Also, awhile back I said I was going to do a segment about what's playing in my car, then I dropped the ball. Right now, I have Black Sabbath Black Sabbath, T Rex Electric Warrior and Doobie Brothers Greatest Hits. Kickin' it Old School. Peace.

Queen

     I was channel surfing tonight and Palladia was showing an old Queen concert, so I stopped and watched for awhile. They were a few lines into "Bohemian Rhapsody" which is still my favorite Queen song. I was ten years old when it came out and it was the first song that opened my mind to what music could be. It was EPIC. To a kid, it seemed like a ten minute song with all those different parts and dynamics. It grabs you right away with the lyrics; Is this the real life / is this just fantasy/ caught in a landslide / no escape from reality. And Freddie Mercury's piano underneath is beautiful. Then my favorite line, I don't wanna die / sometimes wish I'd never been born at all, leads into the crazy Galileo mid-section. Then there's the part where they rock out and then Freddie gets behind the piano again to slow it back down. And then the gong. It really is a brilliant song. I still have my 45 record that I played the crap out of.
     After that they played "Tie Your Mother Down", which is a straight up rocker that soon had me playing air guitar. Then I started to think of all the great songs they recorded. Killer Queen. You're My Best Friend (I still have that 45 as well). Somebody To Love. We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions. Hammer To Fall. Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Fat Bottom Girls. They also had Under Pressure, the amazing collaboration with Bowie. And then there were the great soundtrack songs; "One Vision" from Iron Eagle, "Flash" from Flash Gordon and "Princes of the Universe" from The Highlander. Besides those 45's, I own the Greatest Hits I & II and News of the World. I recommend all of these to my kids.
     Not to be that guy that tells other people what to do with their lives, but... Queen died when Freddie Mercury died. I don't want Queen with journeyman Paul Rodgers or glorified talent show freak Adam Lambert. Sorry. Freddie Mercury was arguably the greatest singer in rock history and irreplacable. You can probably tell from my disdain of TV talent show singers and the bands I blog about that I don't prize trained singers. In fact I'm drawn to the Neil Young, Wayne Coyne, Will Johnson, Mark Linkous type. However, there are a few singers whose voices I enjoy listening to and they are:

* Freddie Mercury
* Jackson Browne
* Joe Jackson
* David Gilmour
* Ian Hunter
* Sade
* Donald Fagen
* Boz Scaggs

     Sorry about the rant, but don't continue to call yourself Queen. Peace.

David Bowie

     Today is David Bowie's 66th birthday and he has given the world a terrific gift. He released a new single today entitled "Where Are We Now?" and Columbia Records announced that he'll be releasing his 30th studio album, Next Day, on March 12th in the US. No tour plans were announced, but keep hope alive. You may remember from a previous post that Bowie is the one person I've never seen live that I wish I could still see perform. Anyhow, it's great that he is still writing and recording after a nine year hiatus. In light of this announcement, I decided to do my David Bowie post today.
     I don't want to spend this post rehashing Bowie's career since that has been done to death. Most people are aware that over the years his look and sound have constantly evolved. I'll stick to the premise of my blog and discuss my collection and make recommendations to my kids for when it becomes their collection. I'll admit up front that I like certain manifestations of Bowie more than others. The albums that are in my wheelhouse are Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Diamond Dogs. When I first heard this music on the radio, I was a kid growing up in rural Michigan. This was before MTV and cable television so I didn't know what he looked like other than seeing his album covers at the store. Had I seen him in his Ziggy Stardust costumes before I heard his music I may have been put off. I'd like to think that the music would still have gotten through to me. The Jean Genie. Ziggy Stardust. Life on Mars. Rebel Rebel. Changes. Starman. Watch That Man. Panic In Detroit. Hang On To Yourself. Diamond Dogs. Suffragette City. That is an amazing run of songs.
     Many of my friends, however, like the Berlin albums and Scary Monsters. Those aren't my favorites, but I acknowledge that they are great albums as well. My favorite is Aladdin Sane. I also like Let's Dance and the song "Blue Jean" is another of my guilty pleasures. I also liked the first Tin Machine album with "Under the God". He lost me for awhile, but I liked his last two albums, Heathen and Reality. I would recommend that my kids listen to Best of Bowie, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane at a minimum. I have noticed that when I have VH1 Classic on and they play a Bowie video, my son is mesmorized. I hope that's a good sign.
     Since my favorite Bowie manifestation is during the Glam period, I thought I'd recommend some albums from other Glam artists that are in my collection.

     * Sweet- Best Of
     * Sweet- Desolation Boulevard
     * T Rex- Electric Warrior (great hand clap album with Jeepster and Bang a Gong)
     * Mott the Hoople- All the Young Dudes

     Happy Birthday David Bowie! And thanks for the awesome gift. Peace.
    

Miles Davis

     In a previous post entitled "Some Background Music", I briefly mentioned Miles Davis. Since that was a couple months ago and there were only a few pageviews, I thought I'd review what I wrote and expand on it in a full post dedicated to Miles. In the late 90's, I was burnt out on rock music and started checking out jazz cds from the library. I was into jazz a little when I was in high school, because our band would go to the jazz fest at Central Michigan University. We didn't perform because we didn't have a jazz band, we just went to watch the other schools. I continued to go when I went to CMU and saw Phil Woods and Freddie Hubbard. I had tickets to see Buddy Rich, but he cancelled. Shortly after that it was announced that he had died.
     When I was interested in jazz again I decided to start with Miles Davis. There are two things about Miles that made him the best bandleader in jazz. First, he always wanted to play with the best players and he was secure enough in his abilities to let them share the spotlight. The list of musical geniuses that were in his bands is staggering: John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea and John McLaughlin to name a few. Second, he wasn't afraid of silence. Many musicians feel the need to fill every space with sound, but he was able to express himself with silence as well.
     However, I made the mistake of starting with Bitches Brew. I was not prepared for that experience and decided to try Kind of Blue instead. It floored me on the first listen and remains one of my favorite albums. The secret weapon on that album is Bill Evans. He's not on every song, but when he is his piano playing is breathtaking. And, of course Miles and Coltrane are amazing. I tried the Gil Evans stuff and the Prestige material, but I was mainly drawn to his first two classic quintets. As I said before, his second quintet with Hancock, Shorter, Carter and Williams is in my opinion the greatest band of all-time in any musical genre. A thousand years from now they still will be. I wish some of those performances were on dvd. Eventually, I worked up to Bitches Brew and his other electric albums and love those as well. I wish I could afford the Complete Columbia Records boxed set that was released a couple years ago.
     I got into other jazz musicians, such as Charles Mingus, Thelonius Monk, Sonny Rollins, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz and "Cannonball" Adderley. I would recommend the following jazz albums from my collection for my kids to listen to.

     * Kind of Blue- Miles
     * All the Second Quintet stuff- Miles
     * Miles and Coltrane
     * Very Best of- Coltrane
     * Monk's Dream- Thelonious Monk
     * Ah Um- Charles Mingus
     * Best of Blue Note Years- Michel Petrucciani

     There are also two jazz albums that aren't in my collection that i ewould recommend. The obvious one is Time Out by Dave Brubeck. The other one is Money Jungle which featured Duke Ellington in a trio with Max Roach and  Charles Mingus. I'm not a big Ellington guy, but this album is awesome. I honestly don't know why I don't own it. Peace.
    

New Year, New My Bloody Valentine...Hopefully

     Good bye 2012. Thanks for "Call Me Maybe" and "Condom Style" ...NOT! 2013 has got to be better, especially if My Bloody Valentine actually release their long awaited follow-up to 1991's Loveless. Loveless not only set the standard for the shoegaze scene, it is also one of the great albums of all-time. It has been immortilized with a 33 1/3 book and continually tops polls of best albums of the 90's. It was the album of the year during the greatest year of album releases since the 60's.  Apparently the problem for Kevin Shields was how to follow it up. Well, according to Shields, via Pitchfork, he has finally done it. He is finished mastering the new album and there is actually hope that it will be released sometime this year. Woo-hoo!
     I got into My Bloody Valentine the same way many people who missed them 20 years ago did; the movie Lost in Translation. I thought I'd like the movie, because it starred Bill Murray and Scarlet Johansen, but I hated it. However, I loved the music in the background and decided to investigate who it was. That's how I discovered Kevin Shields and MBV and shoegaze. The great thing about finding new music that you like is it leads to more. In this case it lead to Ride, Slowdive, Boo Radleys and Chapterhouse. I recommend that my kids listen to Loveless, Nowhere by Ride, Giant Steps by Boo Radleys and The Brit Box.
     The Brit Box is a box set by Rhino that covers shoegaze, brit-pop and UK indie rock. It's a fantastic collection, although I wish they'd have represented Oasis with "Supersonic" instead of "Live Forever". Here is a list of my favorite songs from the Brit Box.

     * Just Like Heaven- The Cure
     * Crash- The Primitives
     * Vapour Trail- Ride
     * Only Shallow- MBV
     * I Want To Touch You- Catherine Wheel
     * Star Sign- Teenage Fanclub
     * Duel- Swervedriver ( another awesome band)
     * Lazarus- Boo Radleys
    
     The whole box set is great though. I strongly recommend it to anyone who missed this stuff when it came out and doesn't already own most of it. Hope everyone has a great 2013. Peace.