I think my New Year's resolution for 2015 will be to stop posting about The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's a laudable goal. I should have the serenity to accept the things I can not change. The Rock Hall Foundation will continue to nominate and induct whomever they see fit and no amount of complaining by anyone will change that fact. They thrive on the publicity and controversy. Sadly, like all my previous resolutions, it probably won't be kept.
First, congratulations to the Class of 2015: Green Day, Lou Reed, SRV and Double Trouble, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Bill Withers and Paul Butterfield Blues Band. They are all talented musicians with loyal fanbases. In essence, the Rock Hall is about the fans. I'm sure the artists are honored by the recognition, but the fans receive validation for their taste in music. That's also why there is so much outrage and vitriol every year when individuals favorite bands aren't nominated or inducted. For my friend, John, it's Motley Crue. For millions of people it's Deep Purple. Sound Mind readers know I was one of those people until Rush were finally inducted a couple years ago. Hell, if I were the Gatekeeper bands like Dinosaur Jr., The Pixies, Guided by Voices, The Flaming Lips and Teenage Fanclub would all be in the Rock Hall. However, that would make about 100,000 people ecstatic and everybody else in the world would be spewing venom about it on the interwebs. That's the nature of music fandom. It's subjective and arbitrary and the Rock Hall Foundation voters are certainly not immune. But, as The Stones said, "It's only rock and roll, but I like it". I like the concept of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and I'm blessed to live in the city where it's located. So, despite all my past complaints and wishing that just one year they wouldn't induct anyone, I'm glad there's a Rock Hall. Having said that, here's my take on the Class of 2015.
I didn't feel any of the nominees this year were crucial additions to the Hall of Fame, although I did vote for Green Day in the fan balloting. They have a strong resume through American Idiot and I don't have a problem with their induction. I will defer to the committee on Bill Withers and Paul Butterfield, because I know virtually nothing about either of them. I've stated several times in past Sound Mind posts that I don't get the whole Lou Reed thing. He's already in with The Velvet Underground and I think that's more than adequate. SRV was a tough call. I was a big fan thirty years ago, but his music hasn't aged very well in my opinion. I thought Joan Jett had a better case with The Runaways. With the Blackhearts she was more of a middle of the road, one hit wonder. Bottom line; not a great class.
I guess my main complaint is if they've decided old bands like The Zombies, Deep Purple, Cheap Trick, Yes, The Smiths and Duran Duran aren't worthy of induction then, going forward, they should only consider newly eligible artists. If that means there are a few years where no one is inducted, so be it. I'd prefer that to forced quotas every year with marginal nominees. Other than Pearl Jam, Radiohead, The White Stripes and Foo Fighters, there aren't really anymore locks for induction.
Finally, I want to give some love to Ringo Starr, who is receiving some kind of lifetime achievement induction. Ringo should have gone in as a nominated solo artist like John, Paul and George before him. He certainly has a better catalog than anyone who was inducted in this class. He has been unfairly written off as a bad drummer ("he's not even the best drummer in The Beatles"). He has never been taken seriously due to his goofy, happy go lucky personality. If I had been his manager over the past 25 years, I would have surrounded him with a talented group of musicians, like McCartney did, and perform that catalog all over the world. The All Star band thing just contributes to the idea that he's not a legitimate solo performer. I'm tempted to attend the induction just for Ringo. If I do, I'll definitely be breaking my resolution. Peace.
A Living Will For My Music Collection
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Third Annual Things I'm Thankful For Post
In a moment of clarity during my haze of tryptophan and Lions' victory, I realized I hadn't written my annual Thanksgiving post. The past year has been pretty good, so here's what I'm thankful for...Go Lions!
* My family
* My friends
* Sweet Moses ice cream shop
* The Roderick on the Line podcast
* Judge John Hodgman
* Seeing John Hodgman perform
* John Hodgman signing my copy of "Areas of My Expertise"
* The Trews by Russell Brand
* Record Den
* Lucky Records
* Square Records
* Centro-matic reissuing Redo The Stack on LP
* Arrow- the TV show
* Franz Kafka
* Bacon
* Not being killed by a cop
* those stupid quizzes on facebook
* Miguel Cabrerra
* Megatron
* Andre Drummond
* Pavel Datsyuk
* Guided by Voices
* Centro-matic
* Courtney Barnett
* MST3K Turkey Day Marathon
* Tanqueray No. 10
* My wife who loves me despite all my non-sense and record buying. And she makes a mean Tom Collins.
Seriously, meeting John Hodgman was both the most exciting and most mortifying thing that happened to me this year. I've posted before about my anxiety regarding asking someone for their autograph and how I've only done it once in my life. When it was my turn to have him sign my book, I froze up and mumbled incoherently about liking his podcast and thanked him for introducing me to the Roderick on the Line podcast. He couldn't have been nicer, but it was awkward. At least I didn't ask him what he thought of the hobo name I came up with; Tom Collins the Setlist Spoiler. Peace.
* My family
* My friends
* Sweet Moses ice cream shop
* The Roderick on the Line podcast
* Judge John Hodgman
* Seeing John Hodgman perform
* John Hodgman signing my copy of "Areas of My Expertise"
* The Trews by Russell Brand
* Record Den
* Lucky Records
* Square Records
* Centro-matic reissuing Redo The Stack on LP
* Arrow- the TV show
* Franz Kafka
* Bacon
* Not being killed by a cop
* those stupid quizzes on facebook
* Miguel Cabrerra
* Megatron
* Andre Drummond
* Pavel Datsyuk
* Guided by Voices
* Centro-matic
* Courtney Barnett
* MST3K Turkey Day Marathon
* Tanqueray No. 10
* My wife who loves me despite all my non-sense and record buying. And she makes a mean Tom Collins.
Seriously, meeting John Hodgman was both the most exciting and most mortifying thing that happened to me this year. I've posted before about my anxiety regarding asking someone for their autograph and how I've only done it once in my life. When it was my turn to have him sign my book, I froze up and mumbled incoherently about liking his podcast and thanked him for introducing me to the Roderick on the Line podcast. He couldn't have been nicer, but it was awkward. At least I didn't ask him what he thought of the hobo name I came up with; Tom Collins the Setlist Spoiler. Peace.
Friday, November 7, 2014
Led Zeppelin: Houses of the Holy
When it was announced that the Led Zeppelin catalog was being remastered and reissued on 180 gram vinyl I was annoyed, but not surprised. It was inevitable during the great vinyl revival of the 2010's that record labels would cash in on this opportunity to resell albums by classic artists. Hell, The Beatles have already done it twice with the releases of the 2009 stereo remasters on vinyl and then the recent mono versions. Now don't get me wrong, I love that there is a resurgence in vinyl sales and I'm glad this stuff is available. I'm mainly annoyed with myself. I knew I could be strong and resist buying the Led Zeppelin reissues...until they reached my Zeppelin wheelhouse of Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti and Presence. Here's the thing. When I was a kid, I bought all the Zeppelin albums on cassette through the Columbia House record club. This format lasted me until last year when our basement flooded and my cassettes were destroyed. My friend Mike came to my rescue and sold me his old Zeppelin CD box sets, so it was all good. The cool thing about the box sets is they aren't in album order. So it's like having the Zeppelin catalog on shuffle. The drawback is sometimes you want to listen to Houses of the Holy. So, when this announcement was made, I knew Houses of the Holy would be Tom's Last Stand and I'd be buying buying their catalog again.
My other minor annoyance is with the marketing. Why can't they just reissue the albums as they were originally intended? But no, let's have Jimmy Page dig through the vault for any never before heard demos and alternate versions so we can sell deluxe editions. Well, I don't play that. I was at the record store shortly after the first batch of reissues came out and they were playing the deluxe edition of Led Zeppelin I. What I heard was Zeppelin songs where Jimmy Page hadn't worked out the solo yet and the lyrics hadn't been finalized. Jimmy crack corn and I don't care. But if you're the guy who's into that sort of thing then free market capitalism wins again.
So, after a few moments of hesitation over buying an LP with bare-assed Aryan children climbing around on rocks on the cover, I picked up the Houses of the Holy reissue. When I dropped the needle on "The Song Remains The Same" and Jimmy, Bonzo and John Paul Jones kick in it sounded exquisite. I seriously can't stress enough how good Zeppelin on 180 gram vinyl sounds. Admittedly, I'm weird, but Houses of the Holy is my favorite Zeppelin album. Physical Graffiti makes a strong case, but suffers a little from double LP syndrome. If it were distilled down to the best ten songs it would possibly be the best album of all time. When I was younger, ZOSO was my favorite, but like most people I developed a severe case of "Stairway" fatigue. Tremendous song, but I can go a long time without hearing it. I won't bore you by rehashing the songs on Houses. They are all classics that anyone reading Sound Mind knows inside out. I love the great moments though, like Page's strumming on "Over the Hills and Far Away", the lyrical imagery of "No Quarter" and the opening riff of "The Ocean". My favorite song in the set is "Dancing Days" which includes the fantastically bizarre line "I saw a lion, he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar". Great line, but if anyone knows what that means, please let me know.
I really feel that Houses of the Holy captures Zeppelin at the zenith of their songwriting prowess. Every member of the band delivers the best performance of their career, especially John Paul Jones. Not only is he a monster on bass, but his keyboard and arranging skills are unearthly. I can hardly wait for the releases of Physical Graffiti and Presence. Now, where's that confounded bridge? Peace.
My other minor annoyance is with the marketing. Why can't they just reissue the albums as they were originally intended? But no, let's have Jimmy Page dig through the vault for any never before heard demos and alternate versions so we can sell deluxe editions. Well, I don't play that. I was at the record store shortly after the first batch of reissues came out and they were playing the deluxe edition of Led Zeppelin I. What I heard was Zeppelin songs where Jimmy Page hadn't worked out the solo yet and the lyrics hadn't been finalized. Jimmy crack corn and I don't care. But if you're the guy who's into that sort of thing then free market capitalism wins again.
So, after a few moments of hesitation over buying an LP with bare-assed Aryan children climbing around on rocks on the cover, I picked up the Houses of the Holy reissue. When I dropped the needle on "The Song Remains The Same" and Jimmy, Bonzo and John Paul Jones kick in it sounded exquisite. I seriously can't stress enough how good Zeppelin on 180 gram vinyl sounds. Admittedly, I'm weird, but Houses of the Holy is my favorite Zeppelin album. Physical Graffiti makes a strong case, but suffers a little from double LP syndrome. If it were distilled down to the best ten songs it would possibly be the best album of all time. When I was younger, ZOSO was my favorite, but like most people I developed a severe case of "Stairway" fatigue. Tremendous song, but I can go a long time without hearing it. I won't bore you by rehashing the songs on Houses. They are all classics that anyone reading Sound Mind knows inside out. I love the great moments though, like Page's strumming on "Over the Hills and Far Away", the lyrical imagery of "No Quarter" and the opening riff of "The Ocean". My favorite song in the set is "Dancing Days" which includes the fantastically bizarre line "I saw a lion, he was standing alone with a tadpole in a jar". Great line, but if anyone knows what that means, please let me know.
I really feel that Houses of the Holy captures Zeppelin at the zenith of their songwriting prowess. Every member of the band delivers the best performance of their career, especially John Paul Jones. Not only is he a monster on bass, but his keyboard and arranging skills are unearthly. I can hardly wait for the releases of Physical Graffiti and Presence. Now, where's that confounded bridge? Peace.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
With A Little Help From My Fwends
History tells us when The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in 1967, it blew everyone away. Jimi Hendrix covered the title track live the next night. The Fab Four had answered Pet Sounds. The critics, who claimed that The Beatles were done, were silenced. However, in the 21st Century, there has been some hipster revisionism asserting that Sgt. Pepper is not only The Beatles worst album, but a horrible album in general. Regardless of where the truth lies on that spectrum, Sgt. Pepper is an iconic album that would seem to defy a wholesale reinterpretation by another band. Luckily, someone forgot to tell The Flaming Lips and their intrepid band of "fwends".
Obviously, The Beatles have been covered thousands of times. The Smithereens have recorded whole album covers. Cheap Trick performed Sgt. Pepper, in its' entirety, in Las Vegas for a run of shows. Robin Zander's uniform is even in the Rock Hall as proof. This week, the Flaming Lips had the audacity to re-imagine Sgt. Pepper as an offhand charity project with the help of a variety of guest artists; including Miley Cyrus, Moby, My Morning Jacket, Tegan and Sara, Dr. Dog, J Mascis and Foxygen. It probably comes as a surprise to loyal Sound Mind readers that I'm even writing a post about this album. I've been on the record as not being a fan of Wayne Coyne's antics over the past couple years. I'd had it with gummy vaginas, zip drives in human skulls, Wayne's naked junk in videos, 24 hour long songs and album covers like Dark Side of the Moon. One could cynically argue that it's just another in a string of gimmicks design to garner publicity for the Flaming Lips. Until recently, I would have been one of those cynics. This change of heart is the actual point of my post. but first the music.
What I like about With A Little Help From My Fwends is the way they respect Sgt. Pepper, but give it the Lips treatment. They preserve the sequencing and basic song structure, while using modern recording technology that was not available in 1967. For the most part, I could have done without the "fwends". I feel this would have been a better album had the Flaming Lips done it themselves. The one exception would be Miley Cyrus. Granted, she was given the best material in "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life", but she did a fantastic job. Her performance on LSD was uncanny and she also did the McCartney part on "A Day in the Life". Oddly, my favorite songs from Sgt. Pepper are my least favorite on Fwends and vice versa. For instance I love the title track on Sgt. Pepper, but tolerate the Ringo vehicle "With a Little Help from My Friends". The Lips version of the title track is really weak, but they show their sense of humor by auto-tuning Wayne on "Friends". I was also disappointed with "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite", which was speak-sung by Maynard Keenan of Tool and Puscifer. This track is only saved after the line about Henry the Horse doing the waltz, when they perform a brilliant instrumental section. I'm a bit conflicted about "Fixing a Hole", which is performed by Steven Drozd and Wayne Coyne's project, Electric Wurms. I prefer the energy of The Beatles version, but I like the quiet, floating in space take on Fwends. My least favorite Sgt. Pepper song is the melodramatic "She's Leaving Home", but I love this version which features Phantogram. This track seems to benefit from being sung by a female artist and her delivery is fantastic. Likewise, "Within You, Without You". "When I'm Sixty-Four" is unforgivably boring and ill-conceived. Despite the warts, Fwends is an interesting take on The Beatles' iconic album and is well worth a listen. It also makes you want to go back and listen to Sgt. Pepper again with fresh ears.
Ok, here's the part where I may lose some of you. I wrote a post over a year ago about Wayne Coyne and how the Flaming Lips album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots changed my life. Toward the end of the post, I lamented the direction Wayne seemed to be heading in artistically. I had reached a breaking point when he began hanging out with Ke$ha and pressing records with their combined blood mixed in them. Then came Miley Cyrus. I'll admit, I never watched Hannah Montana nor have I heard any of her music, but I have a knee jerk reaction to not like her based on nothing, except what I hear from talking heads. I came to this realization from listening to Episode 98 of the Roderick on the Line podcast. John Roderick told the story of getting free tickets for a Miley Cyrus concert and his experience at the show. All he knew about Miley Cyrus was he didn't like her. All of his middle-aged male friends refused to go with him because they had this same knee jerk reaction. John admitted during the podcast that he intended to live chat during the show and make fun of it on social media. He abandoned that plan once he arrived at the show. It was a visual spectacle. The atmosphere was positive and empowering. Miley was in complete control. She fed off the crowd of entirely 20 year old young women and they fed off her. I listened to this podcast about the same time Wayne was getting a lot of blowback from his fans about performing and recording with Miley Cyrus. At this point, it occurred to me, "Who am I to tell Wayne Coyne, or anyone else who to collaborate with or how to live their life". I have my hands full with my own life. Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to start buying gummy vaginas or not have an opinion about him firing Kliph from the band. It does mean that I'm going to try to be more open-minded, which is the point of this post. One more thing though Wayne; please stop using "fwends" instead of friends. It's dumb. Peace.
Obviously, The Beatles have been covered thousands of times. The Smithereens have recorded whole album covers. Cheap Trick performed Sgt. Pepper, in its' entirety, in Las Vegas for a run of shows. Robin Zander's uniform is even in the Rock Hall as proof. This week, the Flaming Lips had the audacity to re-imagine Sgt. Pepper as an offhand charity project with the help of a variety of guest artists; including Miley Cyrus, Moby, My Morning Jacket, Tegan and Sara, Dr. Dog, J Mascis and Foxygen. It probably comes as a surprise to loyal Sound Mind readers that I'm even writing a post about this album. I've been on the record as not being a fan of Wayne Coyne's antics over the past couple years. I'd had it with gummy vaginas, zip drives in human skulls, Wayne's naked junk in videos, 24 hour long songs and album covers like Dark Side of the Moon. One could cynically argue that it's just another in a string of gimmicks design to garner publicity for the Flaming Lips. Until recently, I would have been one of those cynics. This change of heart is the actual point of my post. but first the music.
What I like about With A Little Help From My Fwends is the way they respect Sgt. Pepper, but give it the Lips treatment. They preserve the sequencing and basic song structure, while using modern recording technology that was not available in 1967. For the most part, I could have done without the "fwends". I feel this would have been a better album had the Flaming Lips done it themselves. The one exception would be Miley Cyrus. Granted, she was given the best material in "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life", but she did a fantastic job. Her performance on LSD was uncanny and she also did the McCartney part on "A Day in the Life". Oddly, my favorite songs from Sgt. Pepper are my least favorite on Fwends and vice versa. For instance I love the title track on Sgt. Pepper, but tolerate the Ringo vehicle "With a Little Help from My Friends". The Lips version of the title track is really weak, but they show their sense of humor by auto-tuning Wayne on "Friends". I was also disappointed with "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite", which was speak-sung by Maynard Keenan of Tool and Puscifer. This track is only saved after the line about Henry the Horse doing the waltz, when they perform a brilliant instrumental section. I'm a bit conflicted about "Fixing a Hole", which is performed by Steven Drozd and Wayne Coyne's project, Electric Wurms. I prefer the energy of The Beatles version, but I like the quiet, floating in space take on Fwends. My least favorite Sgt. Pepper song is the melodramatic "She's Leaving Home", but I love this version which features Phantogram. This track seems to benefit from being sung by a female artist and her delivery is fantastic. Likewise, "Within You, Without You". "When I'm Sixty-Four" is unforgivably boring and ill-conceived. Despite the warts, Fwends is an interesting take on The Beatles' iconic album and is well worth a listen. It also makes you want to go back and listen to Sgt. Pepper again with fresh ears.
Ok, here's the part where I may lose some of you. I wrote a post over a year ago about Wayne Coyne and how the Flaming Lips album Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots changed my life. Toward the end of the post, I lamented the direction Wayne seemed to be heading in artistically. I had reached a breaking point when he began hanging out with Ke$ha and pressing records with their combined blood mixed in them. Then came Miley Cyrus. I'll admit, I never watched Hannah Montana nor have I heard any of her music, but I have a knee jerk reaction to not like her based on nothing, except what I hear from talking heads. I came to this realization from listening to Episode 98 of the Roderick on the Line podcast. John Roderick told the story of getting free tickets for a Miley Cyrus concert and his experience at the show. All he knew about Miley Cyrus was he didn't like her. All of his middle-aged male friends refused to go with him because they had this same knee jerk reaction. John admitted during the podcast that he intended to live chat during the show and make fun of it on social media. He abandoned that plan once he arrived at the show. It was a visual spectacle. The atmosphere was positive and empowering. Miley was in complete control. She fed off the crowd of entirely 20 year old young women and they fed off her. I listened to this podcast about the same time Wayne was getting a lot of blowback from his fans about performing and recording with Miley Cyrus. At this point, it occurred to me, "Who am I to tell Wayne Coyne, or anyone else who to collaborate with or how to live their life". I have my hands full with my own life. Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to start buying gummy vaginas or not have an opinion about him firing Kliph from the band. It does mean that I'm going to try to be more open-minded, which is the point of this post. One more thing though Wayne; please stop using "fwends" instead of friends. It's dumb. Peace.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Courtney Barnett: A Sea of Split Peas
In my brain
I re-arrange
The letters on the page to spell your name.
Those, my friends, are lyrics from the song "History Eraser" by Melbourne, Australia's Courtney Barnett. Earlier in the song, she modestly sings "In my dreams I wrote the best song that I've ever written...can't remember how it goes". She must have remembered long enough to record it, because it is in fact "History Eraser". The song begins by channeling Nirvana's "About A Girl", which is appropriate since she fronts a three-piece band and plays guitar left-handed. The song recounts a night out partying and goofing around. The second verse starts out, "I found an Ezra Pound and made a bet that if I found a cigarette I'd drop it all and marry you. Just then a song comes on: "You can't always get what you want"- The Rolling Stones, oh woe is we, the irony!" The final verse closes out with another great line: "You said, 'I guarantee we'll have more fun, drink till the moon becomes the sun and in the taxi home I'll sing you a Triffids song'". I have no idea who The Triffids are, but that line is fantastic. And she says "home" with that awesome Australian accent.
I've meant to write a post about this album for a few months, but I dropped the ball with Sound Mind this summer. Technically speaking, this isn't an album. A Sea of Split Peas is actually comprised of two EP's; 2012's I've Got a Friend Called Emily Ferris and 2013's How To Carve a Carrot Into a Rose. Tracks 7-12 are from the former and 1-6 the latter. Back in the Spring, I randomly heard a few of these songs on WRUW and each time I'd think to myself, "That's a cool song". Then I'd forget about Courtney Barnett until the next time they played one of her songs. Then one night, Courtney Barnett was the musical guest on Jimmy Fallon and blew me away with her performance of "Avant Gardener". She was rockin' out on a left-handed Telecaster and I was hooked. The next day, I went out and bought the CD and she has quickly become my favorite new songwriter. Her greatest strength as a lyricist is clever wordplay. For example, the song "Avant Gardener" is about Courtney having an asthma attack and has the following lines:
* I'm breathing, but I'm wheezing. Feel like I'm emphysem-in
* The paramedic thinks I'm clever cos I play guitar. I think she's clever cos she stops people dying
* I take a hit from an asthma puffer. I do it wrong. I was never good at smoking bongs. I'm not that good at breathing in
Courtney is a unique songwriter, but she does have some obvious influences. "Don't Apply Compression Gently" has a decided Flying Nun vibe; David Kilgour in particular. "David" is a blues-y rocker that lifts the riff from Bowie's "The Jean Genie". However, the overriding influence is Nirvana. This is especially evident on the track "Lance Jr". It begins with that same "About A Girl" structure and the lyrics could be interpreted as being about Kurt Cobain.
The most personal song in the set is "Are You Looking After Yourself?" It's about her family worrying about her trying to make it as a musician. She sings, "I don't want no 9 to 5 telling me that I'm alive". Then she's asked, "Have you got some money saved...just in case you fail?" I think the moral of the story is if you have a passion for something don't have a backup plan...just do it. I hope it works for Courtney and she continues to write amazing songs that connect with people. Peace.
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Marketing For Dummies by U2
Let me preface this post by saying I love U2. I've loved them since "I Will Follow" and "Gloria". I knew my wife completed me when I realized I had all the 80's U2 and she had all the 90's U2. We've since spent the 2000's adding to our U2 collection. A few years ago, we finally saw them live at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan. Over the years, I've managed to compartmentalize Bono's activism and religion and ZOOTV and (red) and everything from the music. With the release of their latest album, Songs of Innocence, I may have finally reached my breaking point on a few counts.
I feel a bit sheepish about discussing Songs of Innocence on Sound Mind, because it's not technically in my collection...yet. However, since U2 released it for free, after getting paid up front by Apple, I'll forge ahead. Unlike many people who go out of their way to be offended, I had no problem with U2 downloading their album to iTunes at no charge to the user. U2 still have enough clout to get a company like Apple to pay them millions for digital content to, in turn, provide free to their customers. Then U2 can turn around and sell physical Cd's and LP's to old-timers like me. It was a clever plan, but no good deed goes unpunished. People in the First World have made a choice to give up countless privacy concerns for connectivity. Somewhere in the back of their minds they know they have no privacy and are being monitored, but they don't want to be reminded. It's like when you eat at a restaurant or buy food that's been canned in a factory. You know there's a certain amount of rodent hair in the can. You know there's a chance someone in the kitchen has a cold or didn't wash their hands after hitting the head. But we still eat out and we still buy processed foods. So, when a new U2 album just shows up in iTunes without their permission, they freak out and feel violated. Well, except my wife who didn't realize until I asked her about it.
My problems with Songs of Innocence mainly revolve around the musical content. I've finally come to the realization that U2's best music is behind them. It happens to every artist if they hang around long enough; The Stones, The Who, Bowie, Neil Young, Elton John, etc... U2 are a brand now that puts out middle of the road, slickly produced music. Maybe it struck me more with this album, because of the TV commercial that featured the track "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)". It starts out with a part of the song where The Edge is playing the only guitar riff on the whole album. Then you see images of The Ramones and The Clash. Wow, maybe this new U2 album is going to rock out. Why else would they conjure images of punk bands to promote Songs of Innocence? But no. The first time my wife listened to the album she asked, "Where's that song from the commercial"? I told her it was the first track. See, she has this annoying habit of listening to five seconds of a song and then skipping to the next one. She thought the song started with the guitar riff and, in fairness, it should have.
Now, I'm not saying this is a horrible album. If you like their last few albums you'll like Songs of Innocence. I will probably buy the LP at some point, because I'm a completist. There are even a few high points. My favorite track is "California (There Is No End To Love)". It starts with a Brian Wilson-y bit where they repeat "Santa Barbara", then it kicks in to a nice groove propelled by Larry Mullen Jr. It's also one of the few tracks where the band doesn't retreat to the background when Bono sings. "Sleep Like A Baby Tonight" is another interesting track. Most of the song is typical U2, but at the end The Edge plays a guitar part that is very similar in style to Steven Drozd circa The Flaming Lips album The Terror. Otherwise, The Edge just sounds like The Edge.
I know U2 don't need advice from me, but I would love to see them go into a studio for two weeks and just bash out a ragged, raw album. On some level it has to suck to carry the mantel of being "The Biggest Band In The World" for 25 years. You naturally lose your edge (pun kinda intended) and stop taking chances. Maybe they should let Foo Fighters or somebody else carry that weight and get back to the music. Peace.
I feel a bit sheepish about discussing Songs of Innocence on Sound Mind, because it's not technically in my collection...yet. However, since U2 released it for free, after getting paid up front by Apple, I'll forge ahead. Unlike many people who go out of their way to be offended, I had no problem with U2 downloading their album to iTunes at no charge to the user. U2 still have enough clout to get a company like Apple to pay them millions for digital content to, in turn, provide free to their customers. Then U2 can turn around and sell physical Cd's and LP's to old-timers like me. It was a clever plan, but no good deed goes unpunished. People in the First World have made a choice to give up countless privacy concerns for connectivity. Somewhere in the back of their minds they know they have no privacy and are being monitored, but they don't want to be reminded. It's like when you eat at a restaurant or buy food that's been canned in a factory. You know there's a certain amount of rodent hair in the can. You know there's a chance someone in the kitchen has a cold or didn't wash their hands after hitting the head. But we still eat out and we still buy processed foods. So, when a new U2 album just shows up in iTunes without their permission, they freak out and feel violated. Well, except my wife who didn't realize until I asked her about it.
My problems with Songs of Innocence mainly revolve around the musical content. I've finally come to the realization that U2's best music is behind them. It happens to every artist if they hang around long enough; The Stones, The Who, Bowie, Neil Young, Elton John, etc... U2 are a brand now that puts out middle of the road, slickly produced music. Maybe it struck me more with this album, because of the TV commercial that featured the track "The Miracle (of Joey Ramone)". It starts out with a part of the song where The Edge is playing the only guitar riff on the whole album. Then you see images of The Ramones and The Clash. Wow, maybe this new U2 album is going to rock out. Why else would they conjure images of punk bands to promote Songs of Innocence? But no. The first time my wife listened to the album she asked, "Where's that song from the commercial"? I told her it was the first track. See, she has this annoying habit of listening to five seconds of a song and then skipping to the next one. She thought the song started with the guitar riff and, in fairness, it should have.
Now, I'm not saying this is a horrible album. If you like their last few albums you'll like Songs of Innocence. I will probably buy the LP at some point, because I'm a completist. There are even a few high points. My favorite track is "California (There Is No End To Love)". It starts with a Brian Wilson-y bit where they repeat "Santa Barbara", then it kicks in to a nice groove propelled by Larry Mullen Jr. It's also one of the few tracks where the band doesn't retreat to the background when Bono sings. "Sleep Like A Baby Tonight" is another interesting track. Most of the song is typical U2, but at the end The Edge plays a guitar part that is very similar in style to Steven Drozd circa The Flaming Lips album The Terror. Otherwise, The Edge just sounds like The Edge.
I know U2 don't need advice from me, but I would love to see them go into a studio for two weeks and just bash out a ragged, raw album. On some level it has to suck to carry the mantel of being "The Biggest Band In The World" for 25 years. You naturally lose your edge (pun kinda intended) and stop taking chances. Maybe they should let Foo Fighters or somebody else carry that weight and get back to the music. Peace.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Rock Hall Nominees 2015
I think it's time for The Rock Hall to take a page from Cooperstown and change it's induction policy. Baseball's Hall of Fame inducts members based on "merit" and not an annual quota system. A couple years ago, they didn't induct anyone into Cooperstown. One can still argue who merits induction, but there are very few undeserving players enshrined. The Rock Hall has come to a point in history where almost all the no-brainers (except The Zombies) are already inducted and there just aren't five acts every year who merit induction. That being said, I can list five acts who should be in and weren't nominated this year; The Zombies, Cheap Trick, Electric Light Orchestra, Duran Duran and Yes. Anyhow, I voted this morning in the fan ballot and only voted for two groups, The Smiths and Green Day.
In the 80's, The Smiths weren't in my wheelhouse. I was mainly listening to Sabbath, Priest and Maiden and couldn't wrap my head around "This Charming Man". Even today, Morrissey is a walking, talking nonsense machine. However, over the years I have grown to like much of The Smiths' catalog and recognized their vast influence on alternative music. I still don't like "This Charming Man". In fact, I'm probably in a small minority who prefer Moz's solo albums to The Smiths. Bottom line, they are way overdue for induction.
At the risk of losing my hipster cred, I like Green Day. It's true. Three of my favorite albums are Dookie, Nimrod and American Idiot. My only gripe with them is they seem to have been an influence on horrible bands, such as Blink-182. However, based on their own merit, I feel they deserve to be inducted.
After some consideration, I decided to pass on Sting and Stevie Ray Vaughan. While I love The Police and secretly wish I were more like Sting, I don't feel his solo material merits induction. I give him some credit for having the balls to release a lute album, but that's not a ticket to The Rock Hall. And he wrote "Soul Cake". Sorry Mike. As for SRV, that was a tough call. Back in the day, I was all about Stevie and even got into the Blues because of him. I still love "Pride and Joy" and "Cold Shot", but overall his music hasn't aged well for me. He's an interesting nominee but I don't feel he merits induction.
I can lump the rest of the nominees into two groups; those I hate and those I wonder why they were even nominated. The latter group includes The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Marvelettes, N.W.A., The Spinners, War and Bill Withers. Rounding out the nominees with those I hate are Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails and Lou Reed. In fairness, I strong case could be made for all three of them, but not by me.
In the future, it's hard for me to conceive of five acts that are locks for The Rock Hall, period, let alone five every year. Other than Pearl Jam, Radiohead, The White Stripes and Foo Fighters I'm stumped. Consider Cooperstown. Peace.
In the 80's, The Smiths weren't in my wheelhouse. I was mainly listening to Sabbath, Priest and Maiden and couldn't wrap my head around "This Charming Man". Even today, Morrissey is a walking, talking nonsense machine. However, over the years I have grown to like much of The Smiths' catalog and recognized their vast influence on alternative music. I still don't like "This Charming Man". In fact, I'm probably in a small minority who prefer Moz's solo albums to The Smiths. Bottom line, they are way overdue for induction.
At the risk of losing my hipster cred, I like Green Day. It's true. Three of my favorite albums are Dookie, Nimrod and American Idiot. My only gripe with them is they seem to have been an influence on horrible bands, such as Blink-182. However, based on their own merit, I feel they deserve to be inducted.
After some consideration, I decided to pass on Sting and Stevie Ray Vaughan. While I love The Police and secretly wish I were more like Sting, I don't feel his solo material merits induction. I give him some credit for having the balls to release a lute album, but that's not a ticket to The Rock Hall. And he wrote "Soul Cake". Sorry Mike. As for SRV, that was a tough call. Back in the day, I was all about Stevie and even got into the Blues because of him. I still love "Pride and Joy" and "Cold Shot", but overall his music hasn't aged well for me. He's an interesting nominee but I don't feel he merits induction.
I can lump the rest of the nominees into two groups; those I hate and those I wonder why they were even nominated. The latter group includes The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Chic, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Marvelettes, N.W.A., The Spinners, War and Bill Withers. Rounding out the nominees with those I hate are Kraftwerk, Nine Inch Nails and Lou Reed. In fairness, I strong case could be made for all three of them, but not by me.
In the future, it's hard for me to conceive of five acts that are locks for The Rock Hall, period, let alone five every year. Other than Pearl Jam, Radiohead, The White Stripes and Foo Fighters I'm stumped. Consider Cooperstown. Peace.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Kasabian: 48:13
Since today marks the U.S. release of Kasabian's new album, 48:13, I thought I'd post about my second favorite band of the 2000's. I've been a fan for a decade, so when I got on social media I began following them. I was confused by all the hype for the release of 48:13 back in June, because I could find nothing about it's release in the States. I finally broke down in August and ordered it as an import. Perhaps it's late release in America was a record label decision to coincide with their short tour of the States, but I took it as an indictment on the U.S.
Let me preface what I'm about to say by pointing out I'm not usually a fan of things that are popular with the masses. However, how is it that Kasabian can headline Glastonbury 2014 and sellout stadiums all over the U.K. and Europe, but in the States...crickets. Kasabian were just in America and played a handful of shows at clubs like The Metro in Chicago. I just don't get it. Luckily for them, they seem to be successful enough in the rest of the world that they apparently don't need to be big in America. Selfishly, I wish they were on a 50 date U.S. tour and were playing The Quicken Loans Arena with their full show.
Before I get to 48:13, let me backtrack a bit. My introduction to Kasabian was the use of their song "Clubfoot" in a commercial for a TV show. I don't remember the show, but I had to check out the band behind that song. At the time, my wife had a job interview in Georgetown and I tagged along. While I was killing time during her interview I happened across the Kasabian album at Barnes and Noble and picked it up. That CD is still our "go to" when we're in the car together or want to just listen to music at home. It is a perfect combination of rock and British club music. There is not one bad song and there are several standout tracks, like, "Clubfoot", "I.D.", "L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)", "Reason Is Treason" and "Test Transmission". If my kids decide to check out my Kasabian collection I recommend they start with that album.
48:13 is another strong set from the band that builds on their previous albums. Kasabian are one of those bands with a charismatic lead singer, Tom Meighan, who doesn't write the lyrics. Those duties fall to multi-instrumentalist and producer Sergio Pizzorno. At this writing, the tracks that stand out to me are "Glass" and "Stevie". "Glass" is a song about how the media tries to control us. We are urged to "turn off everything" and warned that "we are taught to watch the puppets, not the hands controlling". There's also a good class warfare rap by guest vocalist Suli Breaks. "Stevie" is about gun violence. The title character is a kid with problems who's off his med and get his hands on a gun. He's urged to resist violence and live to fight another day. Part of Kasabian's appeal is sexual energy. It's not particularly what draws me to their music, but I enjoy in the song "Bumblebee" when they sing about being in ecstasy and imploring "all you pretty things get on board this mothership". If you aren't familiar with Kasabian and you like high energy rock music with a groove check them out. Peace.
Let me preface what I'm about to say by pointing out I'm not usually a fan of things that are popular with the masses. However, how is it that Kasabian can headline Glastonbury 2014 and sellout stadiums all over the U.K. and Europe, but in the States...crickets. Kasabian were just in America and played a handful of shows at clubs like The Metro in Chicago. I just don't get it. Luckily for them, they seem to be successful enough in the rest of the world that they apparently don't need to be big in America. Selfishly, I wish they were on a 50 date U.S. tour and were playing The Quicken Loans Arena with their full show.
Before I get to 48:13, let me backtrack a bit. My introduction to Kasabian was the use of their song "Clubfoot" in a commercial for a TV show. I don't remember the show, but I had to check out the band behind that song. At the time, my wife had a job interview in Georgetown and I tagged along. While I was killing time during her interview I happened across the Kasabian album at Barnes and Noble and picked it up. That CD is still our "go to" when we're in the car together or want to just listen to music at home. It is a perfect combination of rock and British club music. There is not one bad song and there are several standout tracks, like, "Clubfoot", "I.D.", "L.S.F. (Lost Souls Forever)", "Reason Is Treason" and "Test Transmission". If my kids decide to check out my Kasabian collection I recommend they start with that album.
48:13 is another strong set from the band that builds on their previous albums. Kasabian are one of those bands with a charismatic lead singer, Tom Meighan, who doesn't write the lyrics. Those duties fall to multi-instrumentalist and producer Sergio Pizzorno. At this writing, the tracks that stand out to me are "Glass" and "Stevie". "Glass" is a song about how the media tries to control us. We are urged to "turn off everything" and warned that "we are taught to watch the puppets, not the hands controlling". There's also a good class warfare rap by guest vocalist Suli Breaks. "Stevie" is about gun violence. The title character is a kid with problems who's off his med and get his hands on a gun. He's urged to resist violence and live to fight another day. Part of Kasabian's appeal is sexual energy. It's not particularly what draws me to their music, but I enjoy in the song "Bumblebee" when they sing about being in ecstasy and imploring "all you pretty things get on board this mothership". If you aren't familiar with Kasabian and you like high energy rock music with a groove check them out. Peace.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
10 Most Influential Albums
Last week, Lucky Records Dave posted his personal 10 most influential albums, so naturally I had to reciprocate. I have posted about some of these albums in the past, so I beg your indulgence. Just a reminder, these are my personal top 10 influential albums, not necessarily my favorites or the albums I perceive to be the best. Here goes...
1) Kind of Blue- Miles Davis: This is cliche, but true. I attempted Bitch's Brew first and wasn't ready. I almost wrote Miles off at that point, but I took a shot on Kind of Blue and it blew my mind. After devouring all the Coltrane and Second Quintet releases, I returned to Bitch's Brew and was finally prepared.
2) Night at the Opera- Queen: In junior high we were divided into two camps; Team Bohemian Rhapsody or Team Dream On. I was squarely in the Bohemian Rhapsody camp. That single opened my mind to the possibilities of music. As a kid it seemed like such an epic song. It wasn't verse, chorus, repeat. There were movements. There was the crazy Galileo part that I didn't even understand, but it amazed me nonetheless.
3) Greatest Hits- Elton John: I don't know if greatest hits albums count, but I played the hell outta this record. I was a rural white kid who couldn't make out most of the lyrics, but I treasured these songs. Even though it's preposterous to imagine Elton John (or even Bernie Taupin) as the protagonist of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", I smile every time I hear that opening riff. Maybe a couple of the sounds Elton John really likes are indeed switchblades and motorbikes. Part of me likes to think it's true.
4) Reality...What A Concept- Robin Williams: I was a huge Mork and Mindy fan, so when Reality...What A Concept came out I was all over it. I was young and didn't get the vibrator references, but this album really helped me through an awkward adolescence. I was timid, lacking in confidence and hadn't formed much of a personality when this album came out. I was amazed at how fast Robin Williams' mind worked and how much people loved him because he was funny. I realized humor was a viable alternative to being a jock or popular or good looking. His comedy was a life line. R.I.P.
5) Permanent Waves-Rush: I was already aware of songs like "Working Man", "Fly By Night" and "Closer To The Heart", but Permanent Waves completely sucked me into Rush fandom. I will love Rush till the day I die.
6) In The Aeroplane Over The Sea- Neutral Milk Hotel: My most read post, by a wide margin, is the one I did for this album. Go ahead and read it again:)
7) Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots- The Flaming Lips: This album did two things in my life. It got me through my divorce from my first wife and it got me back into rock music at a time I'd pretty much given up on it. In the near future I'm going to post on Wayne Coyne again, but in many ways he has changed my life. This is by no means my favorite Flaming Lips album, but it means the most to me personally. Hopefully that makes sense.
8) Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot-Sparklehorse: My favorite album and the one that speaks to me on a spiritual level. If you are interested read my Sparklehorse post, as well as my Cracker post which ended up being mainly about Sparklehorse.
9) Reckoning- R.E.M.: This is my favorite R.E.M. album. When it came out, I was in heavy metal. Still, something about their combination of rock, country and jangle spoke to me. In the late 80's, I had no use for G 'n' R or Metallica or hair metal anymore and I returned to Reckoning. Since then I've listened almost exclusively to alternative and indie rock.
10) Never Mind The Bollocks- Sex Pistols: I grew up in rural mid-Michigan and never heard this album until my senior year of high school (1983). My friend Kyle's brother let a few of us hang out in his basement one night. It was my first time drinking. We sat around talking about girls and listening to Kyle's brothers records. The two records that blew my mind were Joe's Garage and Never Mind The Bollocks. It woke me up to the fact that there was more music out there than what was played on AOR radio stations. No offense Journey.
Since I didn't post anything this summer, I will be playing catch up for awhile. I will be getting around to Courtney Barnett, Parquet Courts, Popstrangers, Kasabian and many more. Peace.
1) Kind of Blue- Miles Davis: This is cliche, but true. I attempted Bitch's Brew first and wasn't ready. I almost wrote Miles off at that point, but I took a shot on Kind of Blue and it blew my mind. After devouring all the Coltrane and Second Quintet releases, I returned to Bitch's Brew and was finally prepared.
2) Night at the Opera- Queen: In junior high we were divided into two camps; Team Bohemian Rhapsody or Team Dream On. I was squarely in the Bohemian Rhapsody camp. That single opened my mind to the possibilities of music. As a kid it seemed like such an epic song. It wasn't verse, chorus, repeat. There were movements. There was the crazy Galileo part that I didn't even understand, but it amazed me nonetheless.
3) Greatest Hits- Elton John: I don't know if greatest hits albums count, but I played the hell outta this record. I was a rural white kid who couldn't make out most of the lyrics, but I treasured these songs. Even though it's preposterous to imagine Elton John (or even Bernie Taupin) as the protagonist of "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", I smile every time I hear that opening riff. Maybe a couple of the sounds Elton John really likes are indeed switchblades and motorbikes. Part of me likes to think it's true.
4) Reality...What A Concept- Robin Williams: I was a huge Mork and Mindy fan, so when Reality...What A Concept came out I was all over it. I was young and didn't get the vibrator references, but this album really helped me through an awkward adolescence. I was timid, lacking in confidence and hadn't formed much of a personality when this album came out. I was amazed at how fast Robin Williams' mind worked and how much people loved him because he was funny. I realized humor was a viable alternative to being a jock or popular or good looking. His comedy was a life line. R.I.P.
5) Permanent Waves-Rush: I was already aware of songs like "Working Man", "Fly By Night" and "Closer To The Heart", but Permanent Waves completely sucked me into Rush fandom. I will love Rush till the day I die.
6) In The Aeroplane Over The Sea- Neutral Milk Hotel: My most read post, by a wide margin, is the one I did for this album. Go ahead and read it again:)
7) Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots- The Flaming Lips: This album did two things in my life. It got me through my divorce from my first wife and it got me back into rock music at a time I'd pretty much given up on it. In the near future I'm going to post on Wayne Coyne again, but in many ways he has changed my life. This is by no means my favorite Flaming Lips album, but it means the most to me personally. Hopefully that makes sense.
8) Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot-Sparklehorse: My favorite album and the one that speaks to me on a spiritual level. If you are interested read my Sparklehorse post, as well as my Cracker post which ended up being mainly about Sparklehorse.
9) Reckoning- R.E.M.: This is my favorite R.E.M. album. When it came out, I was in heavy metal. Still, something about their combination of rock, country and jangle spoke to me. In the late 80's, I had no use for G 'n' R or Metallica or hair metal anymore and I returned to Reckoning. Since then I've listened almost exclusively to alternative and indie rock.
10) Never Mind The Bollocks- Sex Pistols: I grew up in rural mid-Michigan and never heard this album until my senior year of high school (1983). My friend Kyle's brother let a few of us hang out in his basement one night. It was my first time drinking. We sat around talking about girls and listening to Kyle's brothers records. The two records that blew my mind were Joe's Garage and Never Mind The Bollocks. It woke me up to the fact that there was more music out there than what was played on AOR radio stations. No offense Journey.
Since I didn't post anything this summer, I will be playing catch up for awhile. I will be getting around to Courtney Barnett, Parquet Courts, Popstrangers, Kasabian and many more. Peace.
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Facebook and Social Media
I've confessed in previous posts that I am loathe to embrace technology. I don't have a smart phone. I don't text. I don't download music. I'm not on Twitter. You name it...I'm not doing it. Unwittingly this Spring, my wife gave me her hand-me-down Samsung tablet and my descent into the time suck of electronic gadgetry began.
At first, I viewed the tablet in much the same way I would a rattlesnake. I didn't touch it and only looked at it warily from a safe distance. After considerable coaxing on her part, I finally began playing around with it. I quickly came to the realization that this device could free me from the shackles of a desktop computer. I was able to go on the interwebs while sitting in the family room with my family. That was the moment the rattlesnake became a crack pipe. My wife realized too late what she had unleashed. I was, and still am, on it all the time.
On April 21st, I had a brilliant idea for Sound Mind world domination. I would set up a personal Facebook page, then create a page for Sound Mind and promote it on social media. I was not deterred by the fact that when I started Sound Mind I was required to create a Google+ account and have never figured out how it works. Anyhow, I set up my Facebook page and began liking the hell outta shit; bands, authors, comedians, TV shows, restaurants, blah, blah, blah. Then I began receiving friend requests from family, friends, co-workers and ghosts from my past. I was bombarded with electronic stimuli. However, there was one person who I liked that lead me down a rabbit hole...John Hodgman.
I've been a fan of Hodgman for quite awhile, going back to his appearances on The Daily Show and his commercial role as the PC. Then he wrote three hilarious books of fake world knowledge; Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require and That Is All. I was not aware at the time that he also hosts a podcast called Judge John Hodgman. In his podcast, he solicits people to bring their disputes to his internet courtroom and submit to his rulings. The complaints are usually funny, as are the proceedings. Occasionally, the case is a heartfelt concern on the part of one party and the judge's ruling is very poignant. Unfortunately, I enjoy the podcast immensely and there are over 170 episodes. I've probably listened to about 120, much to my wife's chagrin. To further compound this problem, Hodgman lead me to another podcast hosted by his friend John Roderick of The Long Winters called Roderick on the Line. RotL is co-hosted by Merlin Mann and is basically a 90 minute B.S. session between two friends who talk about music, life, philosophy and history. It's very funny and thought provoking. Unfortunately, there are over 120 episodes. of which I've listened to about 100. Needless to say, I spend considerable amounts of free time dicking around on my tablet, rather than blogging, writing or socializing with my family.
Not surprisingly, I still haven't created a Facebook page for Sound Mind. I determined that Sound Mind was not ready for prime time and needed some sprucing up before going on Facebook. I intended to go back and insert videos and links into old posts and incorporate them into future posts. I was also slightly concerned about feedback from Facebook friends to particular posts. Another result of the Facebook time suck was I went months without writing a post. It felt ridiculous to put Sound Mind on Facebook when I hadn't been actively posting. Now that I'm posting again, I plan on creating a Sound Mind Facebook page very soon. Now I just have to get going on the Sound Mind book. Peace.
At first, I viewed the tablet in much the same way I would a rattlesnake. I didn't touch it and only looked at it warily from a safe distance. After considerable coaxing on her part, I finally began playing around with it. I quickly came to the realization that this device could free me from the shackles of a desktop computer. I was able to go on the interwebs while sitting in the family room with my family. That was the moment the rattlesnake became a crack pipe. My wife realized too late what she had unleashed. I was, and still am, on it all the time.
On April 21st, I had a brilliant idea for Sound Mind world domination. I would set up a personal Facebook page, then create a page for Sound Mind and promote it on social media. I was not deterred by the fact that when I started Sound Mind I was required to create a Google+ account and have never figured out how it works. Anyhow, I set up my Facebook page and began liking the hell outta shit; bands, authors, comedians, TV shows, restaurants, blah, blah, blah. Then I began receiving friend requests from family, friends, co-workers and ghosts from my past. I was bombarded with electronic stimuli. However, there was one person who I liked that lead me down a rabbit hole...John Hodgman.
I've been a fan of Hodgman for quite awhile, going back to his appearances on The Daily Show and his commercial role as the PC. Then he wrote three hilarious books of fake world knowledge; Areas of My Expertise, More Information Than You Require and That Is All. I was not aware at the time that he also hosts a podcast called Judge John Hodgman. In his podcast, he solicits people to bring their disputes to his internet courtroom and submit to his rulings. The complaints are usually funny, as are the proceedings. Occasionally, the case is a heartfelt concern on the part of one party and the judge's ruling is very poignant. Unfortunately, I enjoy the podcast immensely and there are over 170 episodes. I've probably listened to about 120, much to my wife's chagrin. To further compound this problem, Hodgman lead me to another podcast hosted by his friend John Roderick of The Long Winters called Roderick on the Line. RotL is co-hosted by Merlin Mann and is basically a 90 minute B.S. session between two friends who talk about music, life, philosophy and history. It's very funny and thought provoking. Unfortunately, there are over 120 episodes. of which I've listened to about 100. Needless to say, I spend considerable amounts of free time dicking around on my tablet, rather than blogging, writing or socializing with my family.
Not surprisingly, I still haven't created a Facebook page for Sound Mind. I determined that Sound Mind was not ready for prime time and needed some sprucing up before going on Facebook. I intended to go back and insert videos and links into old posts and incorporate them into future posts. I was also slightly concerned about feedback from Facebook friends to particular posts. Another result of the Facebook time suck was I went months without writing a post. It felt ridiculous to put Sound Mind on Facebook when I hadn't been actively posting. Now that I'm posting again, I plan on creating a Sound Mind Facebook page very soon. Now I just have to get going on the Sound Mind book. Peace.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Farewell GbV and Centro-matic
Maybe Gene Simmons is right and rock is dead. At least it feels that way to me as my two favorite bands, Guided by Voices and Centro-matic, decided to shut it down this past week. I shouldn't be upset. Both of these bands are prolific and have left behind an amazing catalog of music that I will treasure for the rest of my life. Hopefully, my kids will discover my hoard some day and be touched by these bands as well. Selfishly, I am upset. Guided by Voices' breakup was perhaps the most abrupt thanks to social media. When I checked my Facebook feeds the other day (more about that in a future post), there was a post about GbV adding shows in Detroit and Columbus. I wasn't particularly interested because I already had a ticket for their upcoming show at The Grog Shop in Cleveland. I couldn't believe what I was reading a few posts later when they announced their breakup and cancellation of the remainder of their tour. It really sunk in when I received a refund notification for my ticket. I didn't want a refund, I wanted an effin' rock show! What the hell could have happened in a couple hours where you go from adding shows to breaking up? I'm sure Kevin Fennell can attest that Pollard is a hothead and a loose cannon, but come on. Apparently, there isn't a straight forward explanation coming from Uncle Bob anytime soon. However, he did seem to leave open the possibility of reuniting another iteration of GbV in the future.
If you are a loyal Sound Mind reader, you know Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout are two of my favorite songwriters of all time. Tobin has a true gift for pop song craft, whether as Pollard's "George Harrison" or as a solo artist. If you aren't familiar with his work check out some of his songs, such as, "Atom Eyes", "It's Like Soul Man", "Scissors", "Dodging Invisible Rays", "E's Navy Blue", "All Used Up" and "Paper Cuts". I've recently had to wrap my head around the fact that he has political views that I don't agree with, but I've managed to compartmentalize that from his music.
Robert Pollard is a savant who seems to hold the entire history of rock music in his brain. His unique gift is word collage. I'm confident he will continue to churn out music at an alarming rate with his various side projects and solo albums. I do have to admit one thing though. Back when I did a post on his best non-GbV songs, I realized that with the exceptions of Not In My Airforce and From A Compound Eye his solo albums are not very good. I much prefer him in the context of GbV and hope he revives one of the Doug Gillard lineups in the future.
Then there's Centro-matic. Loyal Sound Mind readers also know Will Johnson is my favorite songwriter, bar none. He is also very prolific, but Centro-matic is my preferred Will Johnson vehicle. Their breakup is more gradual as they opt for the farewell tour approach. Sadly for me, they will not be coming to Ohio. As much as I love them I can't drive to Buffalo in the middle of December. I saw them once and they played to a very small crowd at the Beachland Tavern. Not to be that guy again, but it's discouraging that a band like Centro-matic couldn't breakthrough on even a Kings of Leon or Death Cab For Cutie level. Ironically, I probably never would have heard of them except they came up on a search I did for similar bands to Guided by Voices. Redo The Stacks is every bit a lo-fi masterpiece as Bee Thousand. I wish I had the ability to quantify why Will's songs mean so much to me. It's an emotional, soul level connection that defies explanation. Yet, you can't even walk into an independent record store and find a copy of one of their albums in stock. Well, maybe in Austin.
I hope Gene Simmons is wrong. I hope kids still work out their chops in the garage and dream of making it big. Gene has probably never listened to "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" by The Mountain Goats, but John Darnielle wrote a line that he may want to heed. "When you punish a person for dreaming his dream don't expect him to thank or forgive you". Even if their dream will likely never come true. Peace.
If you are a loyal Sound Mind reader, you know Robert Pollard and Tobin Sprout are two of my favorite songwriters of all time. Tobin has a true gift for pop song craft, whether as Pollard's "George Harrison" or as a solo artist. If you aren't familiar with his work check out some of his songs, such as, "Atom Eyes", "It's Like Soul Man", "Scissors", "Dodging Invisible Rays", "E's Navy Blue", "All Used Up" and "Paper Cuts". I've recently had to wrap my head around the fact that he has political views that I don't agree with, but I've managed to compartmentalize that from his music.
Robert Pollard is a savant who seems to hold the entire history of rock music in his brain. His unique gift is word collage. I'm confident he will continue to churn out music at an alarming rate with his various side projects and solo albums. I do have to admit one thing though. Back when I did a post on his best non-GbV songs, I realized that with the exceptions of Not In My Airforce and From A Compound Eye his solo albums are not very good. I much prefer him in the context of GbV and hope he revives one of the Doug Gillard lineups in the future.
Then there's Centro-matic. Loyal Sound Mind readers also know Will Johnson is my favorite songwriter, bar none. He is also very prolific, but Centro-matic is my preferred Will Johnson vehicle. Their breakup is more gradual as they opt for the farewell tour approach. Sadly for me, they will not be coming to Ohio. As much as I love them I can't drive to Buffalo in the middle of December. I saw them once and they played to a very small crowd at the Beachland Tavern. Not to be that guy again, but it's discouraging that a band like Centro-matic couldn't breakthrough on even a Kings of Leon or Death Cab For Cutie level. Ironically, I probably never would have heard of them except they came up on a search I did for similar bands to Guided by Voices. Redo The Stacks is every bit a lo-fi masterpiece as Bee Thousand. I wish I had the ability to quantify why Will's songs mean so much to me. It's an emotional, soul level connection that defies explanation. Yet, you can't even walk into an independent record store and find a copy of one of their albums in stock. Well, maybe in Austin.
I hope Gene Simmons is wrong. I hope kids still work out their chops in the garage and dream of making it big. Gene has probably never listened to "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton" by The Mountain Goats, but John Darnielle wrote a line that he may want to heed. "When you punish a person for dreaming his dream don't expect him to thank or forgive you". Even if their dream will likely never come true. Peace.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Mr. Roboto, Steve Perry and Bowling
Are you intrigued? Wonder where I'm going with that post title? Me too, so grab a house ball, slip on some gently used shoes and I'll try to keep it out of the gutter.
So, last Friday the family and I trekked down to Columbus because my daughter was in a state junior bowling tournament. Had I written this post that night it would have been an unhinged diatribe about bowling culture and the Columbus freeway system. Luckily for you, dear reader, I've had a few days to cool down. Let me just say Mapquest is powerless against Columbus. We spent an hour going around in a circle while attempting to get from The Columbus Zoo to the bowling alley. The previous week my wife had to travel to Columbus and I spent over an hour on the phone with her looking up directions on Mapquest and Bing. Eventually she had to stop somewhere and ask for directions. Then at the tournament, there was this obnoxious little boy who kept getting in my face between his turns bowling and I wanted to punch him in the head. And the crowd at the tournament reminded me of a certain Wilco album title. Think about it for awhile and I'll reveal the answer at the end of the post.
Anyway, we had planned on going somewhere for dinner before the tournament, but due to our "side trip" we didn't have time. So, we ended up eating at the bowling alley while we waited for the festivities to begin. As I sat there eating a turkey, bacon and Swiss wrap, Chili-cheese Fritos and a Pepsi-Cola, I was listening to classic rock playing overhead. I don't know if the music was curated by someone on site or if it was piped in, but suddenly I heard "Mr. Roboto" by Styx. Back in middle and high school I was all about Styx, Foreigner, REO, Boston, Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult, Journey; basically the staple bands of album-oriented rock radio. One of the first 45's I bought was "Lorelei". I had Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight and Paradise Theater on LP. I had 45's of "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man". I still love all of those bands, except Styx. Looking back, I think it was Mr. Roboto that destroyed my love of Styx. It was at least the first domino to fall. I suppose Dennis DeYoung's subsequent descent into insufferable d-baggery and Tommy Shaw's musical association with the reprehensible Ted Nugent were the final death blows. But Mr. Roboto opened my eyes to what had been there all along; Dennis DeYoung's propensity toward pomposity and melodrama. I had somehow managed to rationalize songs like "Lady" and "Come Sail Away", but Mr. Roboto was a bridge too far. And WTF was the Kilroy thing all about? And I want to kick DeYoung square in the nuts everytime I hear the lyric "I am the modren man". MODREN! Then he claimed he couldn't perform live because of the stage lights, then sued the band when they moved on with a replacement. Then he went on to continue a performing career, presumably with stage lights.
I say all of this about Styx because I still have those 45's in my collection. I'm not sure why, because I'll never play them again. The LP's were among those that vanished during my multiple move years. Occasionally, as I paw through the used record bins, I'll stumble across Grand Illusion or Pieces of Eight and briefly consider replacing them in my collection. Then I remember it was bloated nonsense and continue digging. Anyhow, my kids probably don't need to bother with "Blue Collar Man". Now Journey is another story. Journey are an easy target for crapping on and sometimes I'm as guilty as anyone. Especially now with all of Neal Schon's shenanigans and the horrendous Steve Perry replacement clones. However, my mind was blown yesterday when I went on Facebook and saw Steve Perry come out of seclusion and perform with Eels. Of all the bands in the world, Eels would be one of the last I'd think of for a Steve Perry comeback and "It's a Motherfucker" one of the most unlikely songs. But there it was on the webs. Whatever you think of "Open Arms" or songs about dudes "born and raised in South Detroit", which doesn't exist, early Steve Perry Journey is awesome. Wheel In The Sky. Lights. Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'. Anytime. Feeling That Way. Anyway You Want It. I love "Wheel In The Sky", even though it always reminds me of the time my dad dragged us to the Isabella County Fair. I hate fairs, carnivals, circuses, amusement parks and rides. This time I was guilt tripped into riding the tilt-a-whirl and had a panic attack will listening to Journey. Unfortunately, there isn't a good hits collection with just their early stuff, so the only thing in my collection is a LP of Infinity. I whole-heartedly recommend my kids listen to that and if they want to hear more it will be on them, not me. So, to finish the bowling story, the kids had a great time at the Zoo and my daughter enjoyed the bowling tournament. My wife and I drank a lot the following night. Here's a link for the Steve Perry video. Peace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip4F9fGHZ00
SUMMER TEETH
So, last Friday the family and I trekked down to Columbus because my daughter was in a state junior bowling tournament. Had I written this post that night it would have been an unhinged diatribe about bowling culture and the Columbus freeway system. Luckily for you, dear reader, I've had a few days to cool down. Let me just say Mapquest is powerless against Columbus. We spent an hour going around in a circle while attempting to get from The Columbus Zoo to the bowling alley. The previous week my wife had to travel to Columbus and I spent over an hour on the phone with her looking up directions on Mapquest and Bing. Eventually she had to stop somewhere and ask for directions. Then at the tournament, there was this obnoxious little boy who kept getting in my face between his turns bowling and I wanted to punch him in the head. And the crowd at the tournament reminded me of a certain Wilco album title. Think about it for awhile and I'll reveal the answer at the end of the post.
Anyway, we had planned on going somewhere for dinner before the tournament, but due to our "side trip" we didn't have time. So, we ended up eating at the bowling alley while we waited for the festivities to begin. As I sat there eating a turkey, bacon and Swiss wrap, Chili-cheese Fritos and a Pepsi-Cola, I was listening to classic rock playing overhead. I don't know if the music was curated by someone on site or if it was piped in, but suddenly I heard "Mr. Roboto" by Styx. Back in middle and high school I was all about Styx, Foreigner, REO, Boston, Kansas, Blue Oyster Cult, Journey; basically the staple bands of album-oriented rock radio. One of the first 45's I bought was "Lorelei". I had Grand Illusion, Pieces of Eight and Paradise Theater on LP. I had 45's of "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man". I still love all of those bands, except Styx. Looking back, I think it was Mr. Roboto that destroyed my love of Styx. It was at least the first domino to fall. I suppose Dennis DeYoung's subsequent descent into insufferable d-baggery and Tommy Shaw's musical association with the reprehensible Ted Nugent were the final death blows. But Mr. Roboto opened my eyes to what had been there all along; Dennis DeYoung's propensity toward pomposity and melodrama. I had somehow managed to rationalize songs like "Lady" and "Come Sail Away", but Mr. Roboto was a bridge too far. And WTF was the Kilroy thing all about? And I want to kick DeYoung square in the nuts everytime I hear the lyric "I am the modren man". MODREN! Then he claimed he couldn't perform live because of the stage lights, then sued the band when they moved on with a replacement. Then he went on to continue a performing career, presumably with stage lights.
I say all of this about Styx because I still have those 45's in my collection. I'm not sure why, because I'll never play them again. The LP's were among those that vanished during my multiple move years. Occasionally, as I paw through the used record bins, I'll stumble across Grand Illusion or Pieces of Eight and briefly consider replacing them in my collection. Then I remember it was bloated nonsense and continue digging. Anyhow, my kids probably don't need to bother with "Blue Collar Man". Now Journey is another story. Journey are an easy target for crapping on and sometimes I'm as guilty as anyone. Especially now with all of Neal Schon's shenanigans and the horrendous Steve Perry replacement clones. However, my mind was blown yesterday when I went on Facebook and saw Steve Perry come out of seclusion and perform with Eels. Of all the bands in the world, Eels would be one of the last I'd think of for a Steve Perry comeback and "It's a Motherfucker" one of the most unlikely songs. But there it was on the webs. Whatever you think of "Open Arms" or songs about dudes "born and raised in South Detroit", which doesn't exist, early Steve Perry Journey is awesome. Wheel In The Sky. Lights. Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'. Anytime. Feeling That Way. Anyway You Want It. I love "Wheel In The Sky", even though it always reminds me of the time my dad dragged us to the Isabella County Fair. I hate fairs, carnivals, circuses, amusement parks and rides. This time I was guilt tripped into riding the tilt-a-whirl and had a panic attack will listening to Journey. Unfortunately, there isn't a good hits collection with just their early stuff, so the only thing in my collection is a LP of Infinity. I whole-heartedly recommend my kids listen to that and if they want to hear more it will be on them, not me. So, to finish the bowling story, the kids had a great time at the Zoo and my daughter enjoyed the bowling tournament. My wife and I drank a lot the following night. Here's a link for the Steve Perry video. Peace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip4F9fGHZ00
SUMMER TEETH
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Centro-matic: Redo The Stacks
In my recent Record Store Day post I aired several grievances, one of which was Centro-matic's Redo The Stacks being a limited regional release. I was so amped when it was leaked as a RSD release. It was the only Centro-matic full length I didn't have and I'd only heard four songs from the album by scouring the interwebs. So, when it was announced as a limited release I thought I was screwed. Thankfully, more copies were produced and my friend Mike hooked me up. I've immersed myself in the record for a few days and it has cemented Will Johnson as my favorite songwriter of all time. It has also confirmed Redo The Stacks to be the lo-fi masterpiece I had long suspected it to be.
According to the liner notes, it was recorded in typical 90's lo-fi fashion at drummer Matt Pence's house in Denton in 1996-7 "on everything from tape recorders to machines with fancy L.E.D. displays". The opening track, "The Pilots On The Wall", could easily fit on GbV's lo-fi classic Bee Thousand. Pavement's influence is in evidence on the song "My Super-Model Girlfriend Gone AWOL". The rest of Redo The Stacks is vintage Centro-matic. It's fuzzed out and ramshackled with big drums and great lyrics. And there's plenty of ambient background noise for which I'm a huge sucker. Sonically, it's very similar to their 1999 rarities album The Static vs. The Strings, Vol. 1., which was comprised of songs recorded between 1996 and 1998. In fact, it included three songs from the Redo The Stacks sessions (Who's Telling You Now?, D. Boon-Free and Now That You Have Blown Away The Cards).
As I mentioned before, I knew a few songs from Redo The Stacks. "Am I The Manager Or Am I Not?" and "Fidgeting Wildly" are part of the Centro-matic canon and I found "Post-it Notes From The State Hospital" and "Rock And Roll Eyes" on You Tube. I love the lyrics of "Post-it Notes". The narrator of the song has been committed and is apparently deluded about how long his stay will be. "It's a new arrangement/ if only you'd arrange to get me out in a week/ now I stagger through halls and sleep in some room/ checking off calendars 'cause you're coming soon". Another stand-out track is the beautiful Will Johnson ballad "Starfighter #1479". It's apparently a song about playing a video game because he mentions bonus points, quarters and credits, but it sounds very epic and heroic. There are 23 songs on this album and they are all varying degrees of awesome. There is nary a turd to be found. I was already recommending Centro-matic to my kids, but they MUST begin with Redo The Stacks. If they don't love it I will have failed as a father:) I don't remember if I've already posted a list of my favorite songwriters, but this is my current list. Peace.
1) Will Johnson
2) Robert Pollard
3) Tobin Sprout
4) Mark Linkous
5) Stephen Malkmus
6) Neil Finn
7) Jimi Goodwin
8) Gerard Love
9) Tommy Keene
10) Glen Phillips
11) David Kilgour
12) Evan Dando
13) John K. Samson
14) J. Mascis
15) John Darnielle
16) Bill Janovitz
17) Jason Lytle
18) E
19) Bob Mould
20) Ray Davies
According to the liner notes, it was recorded in typical 90's lo-fi fashion at drummer Matt Pence's house in Denton in 1996-7 "on everything from tape recorders to machines with fancy L.E.D. displays". The opening track, "The Pilots On The Wall", could easily fit on GbV's lo-fi classic Bee Thousand. Pavement's influence is in evidence on the song "My Super-Model Girlfriend Gone AWOL". The rest of Redo The Stacks is vintage Centro-matic. It's fuzzed out and ramshackled with big drums and great lyrics. And there's plenty of ambient background noise for which I'm a huge sucker. Sonically, it's very similar to their 1999 rarities album The Static vs. The Strings, Vol. 1., which was comprised of songs recorded between 1996 and 1998. In fact, it included three songs from the Redo The Stacks sessions (Who's Telling You Now?, D. Boon-Free and Now That You Have Blown Away The Cards).
As I mentioned before, I knew a few songs from Redo The Stacks. "Am I The Manager Or Am I Not?" and "Fidgeting Wildly" are part of the Centro-matic canon and I found "Post-it Notes From The State Hospital" and "Rock And Roll Eyes" on You Tube. I love the lyrics of "Post-it Notes". The narrator of the song has been committed and is apparently deluded about how long his stay will be. "It's a new arrangement/ if only you'd arrange to get me out in a week/ now I stagger through halls and sleep in some room/ checking off calendars 'cause you're coming soon". Another stand-out track is the beautiful Will Johnson ballad "Starfighter #1479". It's apparently a song about playing a video game because he mentions bonus points, quarters and credits, but it sounds very epic and heroic. There are 23 songs on this album and they are all varying degrees of awesome. There is nary a turd to be found. I was already recommending Centro-matic to my kids, but they MUST begin with Redo The Stacks. If they don't love it I will have failed as a father:) I don't remember if I've already posted a list of my favorite songwriters, but this is my current list. Peace.
1) Will Johnson
2) Robert Pollard
3) Tobin Sprout
4) Mark Linkous
5) Stephen Malkmus
6) Neil Finn
7) Jimi Goodwin
8) Gerard Love
9) Tommy Keene
10) Glen Phillips
11) David Kilgour
12) Evan Dando
13) John K. Samson
14) J. Mascis
15) John Darnielle
16) Bill Janovitz
17) Jason Lytle
18) E
19) Bob Mould
20) Ray Davies
Friday, April 25, 2014
Bored Games: Who Killed Colonel Mustard
Many of you know I recently set up a Facebook account. I've put this off for quite some time, mainly because of my perceptions about Zuckerberg. While my perceptions haven't changed, nor has my disdain for social media, I am painfully aware that as an aspiring music blogger/writer I need to set aside my prejudices and embrace this technology. It has also become increasingly difficult to do many things I'd like to do online without a Facebook account, so I caved. As soon as I'm more comfortable with the technology, I plan to create a Facebook page for Sound Mind. The main drawback I see to doing this is it will make it easier for my wife to figure out how much I'm spending on CD's and records:) Anyway, I bring this up because Facebook has already paid off in regards to my music collection. The first couple days on Facebook, I spent some time "like"-ing things. The Detroit Tigers, Centro-matic, Parks and Rec, John Hodgman, Doctor Who, Flying Nun Records, Lucky Records, the Record Den and Square Records. The other day, Square Records shared that they still had some Record Store Day items in stock. You can probably guess from the title of this post that they had the Bored Games' Who Killed Colonel Mustard 12" EP. So, I trekked down to Akron yesterday to pick it up (along with a CD of Mountain Goats' Tallahassee).
The first thing that struck me when I got this home was these guys were kids. The whole EP has a board game theme. The front of the sleeve shows a hand of playing cards with cutouts of their faces on top of Sorry pawns. Lead guitarist Fraser Batts' picture appears to be him as a two year old. Of course, the band name is a play on words and the title is a reference to the game Clue. When I flipped over the jacket, there is an actual Snakes and Ladders game based on what could happen with their music career. Square #100 reads "Sell 3 million records". Here are some of the highlights of the game.
Snakes
* Space 15 to 9- Get drunk at first practice/Get grounded for a very long time, thus inhibiting bands progress
* Space 88 to 36- Never have money or parents permission to tour out of Dunedin/Become a cult band or more likely fade into obscurity
* Space 58-45- Argue with The Clean/ Become disowned by the hip set
* Space 48-12- Groupies/Decadence, sin and the ultimate depression
Ladders
* Space 27-56- Band reaches puberty/Contract strange diseases
* Space 79-98- Beat an aging heavy metal band in the Battle of the Bands/ Get hit by their lead guitarist
* Space 6-16- Drugs/A higher level of un-consciousness
Inside the jacket, there is an insert with pictures of the band at what appears to be a high school talent show. When this EP was recorded in 1982, lead singer Shayne Carter was 17 and he doesn't even look that old. Neither do the rest of the band.
The EP has a Marilyn Side which has a picture of Marilyn Monroe on the label and a Man Side which has a picture of DaVinci's man. The first song on the Marilyn Side is "Happy Endings". It's about Marilyn Monroe and the playing is really tight. Their harmonies during the chorus are fantastic. The second song is "I Don't Get It" which is mainly a Sex Pistols-y exercise for the bassist and drummer, but also really good. The strongest track is the opener of the Man Side, "Joe 90". It's aggressive, cocky, tight and replete with hand claps. It even has a competent guitar solo. The last song. "Bridesmaid", is a nice combination of punk and surf, but mostly punk.
I really love everything about Who Killed Colonel Mustard from the music to the packaging and I'm jazzed that I was able to find a copy of it. When my son becomes a teenager I may leave this record laying around and see if he takes the bait. Peace.
The first thing that struck me when I got this home was these guys were kids. The whole EP has a board game theme. The front of the sleeve shows a hand of playing cards with cutouts of their faces on top of Sorry pawns. Lead guitarist Fraser Batts' picture appears to be him as a two year old. Of course, the band name is a play on words and the title is a reference to the game Clue. When I flipped over the jacket, there is an actual Snakes and Ladders game based on what could happen with their music career. Square #100 reads "Sell 3 million records". Here are some of the highlights of the game.
Snakes
* Space 15 to 9- Get drunk at first practice/Get grounded for a very long time, thus inhibiting bands progress
* Space 88 to 36- Never have money or parents permission to tour out of Dunedin/Become a cult band or more likely fade into obscurity
* Space 58-45- Argue with The Clean/ Become disowned by the hip set
* Space 48-12- Groupies/Decadence, sin and the ultimate depression
Ladders
* Space 27-56- Band reaches puberty/Contract strange diseases
* Space 79-98- Beat an aging heavy metal band in the Battle of the Bands/ Get hit by their lead guitarist
* Space 6-16- Drugs/A higher level of un-consciousness
Inside the jacket, there is an insert with pictures of the band at what appears to be a high school talent show. When this EP was recorded in 1982, lead singer Shayne Carter was 17 and he doesn't even look that old. Neither do the rest of the band.
The EP has a Marilyn Side which has a picture of Marilyn Monroe on the label and a Man Side which has a picture of DaVinci's man. The first song on the Marilyn Side is "Happy Endings". It's about Marilyn Monroe and the playing is really tight. Their harmonies during the chorus are fantastic. The second song is "I Don't Get It" which is mainly a Sex Pistols-y exercise for the bassist and drummer, but also really good. The strongest track is the opener of the Man Side, "Joe 90". It's aggressive, cocky, tight and replete with hand claps. It even has a competent guitar solo. The last song. "Bridesmaid", is a nice combination of punk and surf, but mostly punk.
I really love everything about Who Killed Colonel Mustard from the music to the packaging and I'm jazzed that I was able to find a copy of it. When my son becomes a teenager I may leave this record laying around and see if he takes the bait. Peace.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Record Store Day 2014
Happy Easter, if you're into that:) I do enjoy any excuse to consume mass quantities of candy; especially Cadbury Creme Eggs. That's what my kids are doing as I type. They've been up since 5:30 A.M! Sorry about the liberal use of an exclamation point grammarians, but c'mon, 5:30 A.M. Thanks Easter Bunny. I am starting a weeks vacation today, so I guess I can suck it up for the children. I considered doing some kind of Easter post with a list, but there's a possibility that Eddie Rabbit might have been involved so I scrapped that plan. I do enjoy the occasional rainy night, though.
First, I'd like to congratulate my friend Dave on his first Record Store Day at Lucky Records in Wooster. I made the trek down to Wayne County to check it out and the place was packed. There were bands playing all day and everyone was having a great time. I picked up a Lucky Records t-shirt and Dave hooked me up with an LP of R.E.M.'s Dead Letter Office. I've been chasing that record for years. Now I have all the IRS stuff on vinyl.
I began RSD 2014 at the Record Den. When I arrived at 7:45 A.M. there were already about 40 people in line. While that's great for the Record Den it sucked to be me. When I walked out of the store at 9:10 there was still a line of people waiting to get in. This is symptomatic of my growing problem with RSD. It's becoming like Walmart on Black Friday, except the prices are outrageously higher. However, the larger problem for me this year was the fact that the LP's I really wanted were extremely limited and regional. The prime example was Redo The Stacks by Centro-matic. If you're a regular Sound Mind reader you know how long I've waited for this album to be reissued, but they only produced 500 copies and I doubt any of them left the state of Texas. I'm sure if I were to go online today some a-hole is selling it for $150. Even something like Devo Live at Max's Kansas City was impossible to get. And I knew up front that no one would have the two Flying Nun releases, the Dunedin Double and Bored Games (featuring a young Shayne Carter). There were some things that I was on the fence about that I can probably still pick up next week because the quantities produced were greater; like Husker Du, Tame Impala, Frank Zappa and The Zombies. I did pick up a few things, but they weren't anything mind blowing. Here's the list.
* Oasis- Supersonic 12": I LOVE this song and it sounds awesome on heavyweight vinyl. There are two songs on the B-side and they're good too.
* The Cure / Dinosaur Jr- Just Like Heaven split 7": I wasn't going to get this, but I did for sentimental reasons (see my post on Neutral Milk Hotel).
* Rush / Love- 7 x 7 Is split 7": I only got this because I'm a Rush completist. Had I been able to get Centro-matic and Devo I would have held off on this, but I'm a sucker. I'm probably going to get the deluxe reissue of the first Rush album, as well, even though I already have an original copy. I need help.
* Silversun Pickups- Singles Collection: Technically this isn't a RSD release, but RSD was a good excuse to spend $40 on a Silversun Pickups boxed 7" collection. I'll discuss this more when I do a post on them in the near future. Yes, I'm an unapologetic fan of this band, thus proving I'm not a hipster. I think. Peace.
First, I'd like to congratulate my friend Dave on his first Record Store Day at Lucky Records in Wooster. I made the trek down to Wayne County to check it out and the place was packed. There were bands playing all day and everyone was having a great time. I picked up a Lucky Records t-shirt and Dave hooked me up with an LP of R.E.M.'s Dead Letter Office. I've been chasing that record for years. Now I have all the IRS stuff on vinyl.
I began RSD 2014 at the Record Den. When I arrived at 7:45 A.M. there were already about 40 people in line. While that's great for the Record Den it sucked to be me. When I walked out of the store at 9:10 there was still a line of people waiting to get in. This is symptomatic of my growing problem with RSD. It's becoming like Walmart on Black Friday, except the prices are outrageously higher. However, the larger problem for me this year was the fact that the LP's I really wanted were extremely limited and regional. The prime example was Redo The Stacks by Centro-matic. If you're a regular Sound Mind reader you know how long I've waited for this album to be reissued, but they only produced 500 copies and I doubt any of them left the state of Texas. I'm sure if I were to go online today some a-hole is selling it for $150. Even something like Devo Live at Max's Kansas City was impossible to get. And I knew up front that no one would have the two Flying Nun releases, the Dunedin Double and Bored Games (featuring a young Shayne Carter). There were some things that I was on the fence about that I can probably still pick up next week because the quantities produced were greater; like Husker Du, Tame Impala, Frank Zappa and The Zombies. I did pick up a few things, but they weren't anything mind blowing. Here's the list.
* Oasis- Supersonic 12": I LOVE this song and it sounds awesome on heavyweight vinyl. There are two songs on the B-side and they're good too.
* The Cure / Dinosaur Jr- Just Like Heaven split 7": I wasn't going to get this, but I did for sentimental reasons (see my post on Neutral Milk Hotel).
* Rush / Love- 7 x 7 Is split 7": I only got this because I'm a Rush completist. Had I been able to get Centro-matic and Devo I would have held off on this, but I'm a sucker. I'm probably going to get the deluxe reissue of the first Rush album, as well, even though I already have an original copy. I need help.
* Silversun Pickups- Singles Collection: Technically this isn't a RSD release, but RSD was a good excuse to spend $40 on a Silversun Pickups boxed 7" collection. I'll discuss this more when I do a post on them in the near future. Yes, I'm an unapologetic fan of this band, thus proving I'm not a hipster. I think. Peace.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Jimi Goodwin: Odludek
There's a great saying about trying to escape your past, "Wherever you go, there you are". I was reminded of this recently with the release of Doves front man Jimi Goodwin's solo album, Odludek. I'm a huge Doves fan. They're my favorite band of the 2000's, ahead of The White Stripes and Kasabian. It has been five years since their last album Kingdom of Rust and I've been waiting patiently for anything new from their camp. When I saw on the internets that Jimi Goodwin was releasing a solo album I was amped. Then I started reading interviews and advanced reviews and my buzz was killed. Goodwin described it as a "crazy mixtape" and talked about not wanting to be "pegged" as that guy from that band. After reading several reviews, I didn't know if it was going to be a hodge podge-y train wreck or a boring singer- songwriter album or a return to his club music roots or a combination of all the above. I even considered not getting it because I didn't want to be disappointed. But that wasn't really going to happen and I did pick it up.
If Goodwin thought he was escaping his past by recording a "crazy mixtape" solo album I'll just remind him of that saying "Wherever you go, there you are". You are Jimi-freakin'-Goodwin. You are going to write sonically powerful rock songs and layer them with your signature vocals. My fears of Jimi sitting on a stool with an acoutic guitar being James Taylor were assuaged the second I dropped the needle on Odludek. "Terracotta Warrior" immediately hits you in the face with the striking of an electric guitar chord which is repeated over a few bars. Then Goodwin comes in with an in your face, passionate vocal before slipping into a Roger Waters, Piper at the Gates of Dawn bass groove. The song then combines all these elements and rocks headlong to it's conclusion. The second track, "Didsbury Girl" is the first of several songs on this album that could have easily fit on the Doves album Lost Souls. In a previous post, I recommended Lost Souls to my kids and I would add here that if you've never heard that album do yourself a huge favor. The composition will blow your mind. But I digress. "Live Like a River" is the next track and it's the strongest of the set. It's powerful and sounds like a continuation of Kingdom of Rust. "Hope" is an alright song, but it's like middle of the road U2. The guitars even sound like The Edge. "Man V Dingo" is the craziest track off Odludek. It starts out with what sounds like the theme to a 70's game show. Then it becomes a weird oompah band thing with Goodwin ranting over top about current culture. It's probably the biggest departure from Doves, but it has grown on me after listening to the album twenty odd times. Side Two of the LP begins with the most Lost Soul-ish track "Keep My Soul In Song". It carries you away in a languid stream of sonic majesty. The first single in the UK is the track "Oh! Whiskey". It's the most singer-songwriter-y song on the album. It starts out with acoustic guitar strumming, but it does add piano and percussion and is far from boring. My favorite song, at this writing, is "The Ghost of the Empties". It also falls on the Lost Souls spectrum of Goodwin's sound. There's also a guitar section that sounds like Clouds Taste Metallic Flaming Lips Ronald Jones. My favorite line is "if you'd have opened up my skull that day you'd have found a supermarkets worth of useless junk". "Lonely At the Drop" is an up-tempo rocker and a diatribe about God. Many reviewers didn't like this track, but I quite enjoyed it. My favorite line is "it must get lonely on that cross, I mean shit you've paid your dues". The final track is "Panic Tree" and it's my least favorite. Oddly, it's the song that deals the most directly with escaping your past and the mistakes of your fathers, but I don't like the music. It's too old tyme music hall for my taste, but the content of the lyrics is good.
According to Goodwin, Odludek is Polish for loner or pilgrim. In fact, he wanted to call the project Odludek, but the label insisted he put his name on it. I understand the whole loner and pilgrim thing, but I hope he's gotten it out of his system and works with Andy and Jez again. You can't escape who you are. Peace.
If Goodwin thought he was escaping his past by recording a "crazy mixtape" solo album I'll just remind him of that saying "Wherever you go, there you are". You are Jimi-freakin'-Goodwin. You are going to write sonically powerful rock songs and layer them with your signature vocals. My fears of Jimi sitting on a stool with an acoutic guitar being James Taylor were assuaged the second I dropped the needle on Odludek. "Terracotta Warrior" immediately hits you in the face with the striking of an electric guitar chord which is repeated over a few bars. Then Goodwin comes in with an in your face, passionate vocal before slipping into a Roger Waters, Piper at the Gates of Dawn bass groove. The song then combines all these elements and rocks headlong to it's conclusion. The second track, "Didsbury Girl" is the first of several songs on this album that could have easily fit on the Doves album Lost Souls. In a previous post, I recommended Lost Souls to my kids and I would add here that if you've never heard that album do yourself a huge favor. The composition will blow your mind. But I digress. "Live Like a River" is the next track and it's the strongest of the set. It's powerful and sounds like a continuation of Kingdom of Rust. "Hope" is an alright song, but it's like middle of the road U2. The guitars even sound like The Edge. "Man V Dingo" is the craziest track off Odludek. It starts out with what sounds like the theme to a 70's game show. Then it becomes a weird oompah band thing with Goodwin ranting over top about current culture. It's probably the biggest departure from Doves, but it has grown on me after listening to the album twenty odd times. Side Two of the LP begins with the most Lost Soul-ish track "Keep My Soul In Song". It carries you away in a languid stream of sonic majesty. The first single in the UK is the track "Oh! Whiskey". It's the most singer-songwriter-y song on the album. It starts out with acoustic guitar strumming, but it does add piano and percussion and is far from boring. My favorite song, at this writing, is "The Ghost of the Empties". It also falls on the Lost Souls spectrum of Goodwin's sound. There's also a guitar section that sounds like Clouds Taste Metallic Flaming Lips Ronald Jones. My favorite line is "if you'd have opened up my skull that day you'd have found a supermarkets worth of useless junk". "Lonely At the Drop" is an up-tempo rocker and a diatribe about God. Many reviewers didn't like this track, but I quite enjoyed it. My favorite line is "it must get lonely on that cross, I mean shit you've paid your dues". The final track is "Panic Tree" and it's my least favorite. Oddly, it's the song that deals the most directly with escaping your past and the mistakes of your fathers, but I don't like the music. It's too old tyme music hall for my taste, but the content of the lyrics is good.
According to Goodwin, Odludek is Polish for loner or pilgrim. In fact, he wanted to call the project Odludek, but the label insisted he put his name on it. I understand the whole loner and pilgrim thing, but I hope he's gotten it out of his system and works with Andy and Jez again. You can't escape who you are. Peace.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Wig Out at Jagbags
You would probably assume that someone who has written four posts on Pavement would have bought the entire Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks catalog. Well, you would be making an ass of "u" and me, because I hadn't. Sometimes I'm negligent at getting around to the solo careers of guys who used to be in iconic bands. I didn't have any Malkmus. I don't have any Frank Black. I don't have any Thom Yorke or Paul Westerberg or Lou Reed or Phil Collins. I don't even have any of the KISS solo albums. Having said that, I'm jazzed about the Jimi Goodwin (Doves) album that's coming out next week. Anyhow, I hadn't bought a Jicks album until Wig Out at Jagbags. And truthfully, I only picked it up because I was going to see them live and wanted to be familiar with the new material. Before I discuss Wig Out, let me just say it's the best album I've heard, so far, this year and their show was possibly the best I've ever seen. They were loose and seemed to be having fun. Their playing was tight and they closed the show with a cover of the 70's hit Brandy (You're A Fine Girl), which was fantastic.
I grew up listening to the radio in the 70's and apparently Malkmus did as well (he's only a couple years younger than me). Wig Out definitely has a 70's vibe. I hear The Grateful Dead (Cinnamon and Lesbians), The Mothers of Invention (Planetary Motion), Wings (Chartjunk) and even Bacharach and David (J Smoov). He even name checks The Dead on "Lariat". Just as a side note, this will be the only time The Grateful Dead will ever be mentioned on this blog. "Lariat" has one of my favorite lines "I wouldn't jerry rig or candy coat your Latin kisses" and he manages to rhyme Tennyson with venison. I am confused, though, when he sings about growing up listening to the music of the best decade ever and he seems to say it's the 80's.
My favorite track is "Chartjunk", which reminds me of "Magneto and Titanium Man" by Paul McCartney and Wings. It has that same kind of rock shuffle structure and guitar sound. There are some classic Malkmus lyrics like:
In one ear and out of the other
If you feel the urge to share
Think again cuz you're not my mother
Actually I'm not contractually obliged to care
If you flood the lane on me brother
Watch out for my step back three
I put the "I" in team like no other
Actually I'm not contractually obliged to share
If you're a Pavement fan, don't despair. There are a few Pavement-y tracks like "The Janitor Revealed", "Houston Hades", "Shibboleth" and "Scattegories". There's also a track, "Rumble at the Rainbo", that sounds like Weezer. My interpretation is that it's a dig at Rivers Cuomo. If you recall from my Weezer post, I hate their music after the Green Album because it's Rivers whining about getting old. "Rumble at the Rainbo" is also about getting older, but it's much more clever and well written than a song like, say, "Pork and Beans".
My friend, Mike, loaned me the rest of The Jicks CD's, so I will be playing catch up with their catalog. I've really come a long way with Stephen Malkmus. I used to dismiss him as a smart ass hipster who thought he was cooler than thou. Now he's one of my favorite songwriters and performers. He's a reminder to me to try and keep an open mind despite my curmudgeonly nature. Peace.
I grew up listening to the radio in the 70's and apparently Malkmus did as well (he's only a couple years younger than me). Wig Out definitely has a 70's vibe. I hear The Grateful Dead (Cinnamon and Lesbians), The Mothers of Invention (Planetary Motion), Wings (Chartjunk) and even Bacharach and David (J Smoov). He even name checks The Dead on "Lariat". Just as a side note, this will be the only time The Grateful Dead will ever be mentioned on this blog. "Lariat" has one of my favorite lines "I wouldn't jerry rig or candy coat your Latin kisses" and he manages to rhyme Tennyson with venison. I am confused, though, when he sings about growing up listening to the music of the best decade ever and he seems to say it's the 80's.
My favorite track is "Chartjunk", which reminds me of "Magneto and Titanium Man" by Paul McCartney and Wings. It has that same kind of rock shuffle structure and guitar sound. There are some classic Malkmus lyrics like:
In one ear and out of the other
If you feel the urge to share
Think again cuz you're not my mother
Actually I'm not contractually obliged to care
If you flood the lane on me brother
Watch out for my step back three
I put the "I" in team like no other
Actually I'm not contractually obliged to share
If you're a Pavement fan, don't despair. There are a few Pavement-y tracks like "The Janitor Revealed", "Houston Hades", "Shibboleth" and "Scattegories". There's also a track, "Rumble at the Rainbo", that sounds like Weezer. My interpretation is that it's a dig at Rivers Cuomo. If you recall from my Weezer post, I hate their music after the Green Album because it's Rivers whining about getting old. "Rumble at the Rainbo" is also about getting older, but it's much more clever and well written than a song like, say, "Pork and Beans".
My friend, Mike, loaned me the rest of The Jicks CD's, so I will be playing catch up with their catalog. I've really come a long way with Stephen Malkmus. I used to dismiss him as a smart ass hipster who thought he was cooler than thou. Now he's one of my favorite songwriters and performers. He's a reminder to me to try and keep an open mind despite my curmudgeonly nature. Peace.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
It Was Fifty Years Ago Today
It's hard to remember now that there used to be a time without 200 cable channels and the internet and smart phones. Fifty years ago today, 70 million Americans crowded around their black and white TV's to watch four kids from Liverpool on the Ed Sullivan Show. The world literally changed that night. I'm working on the Beatles' chapter of my Sound Mind book right now and it's entitled "Beatles Exceptionalism". The Beatles were the perfect storm of talent, looks and personality to popularize rock music. They created the template for future rock bands. After a few years of playing covers and internalizing their influences, many of whom were American, they began writing their own songs. Prior to The Beatles, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly were among the few artists who wrote their own songs, but they didn't make teenage girls scream and pass out. Before The Beatles, bands like the Crickets, the Comets and the Buckaroos were backups to a featured artist. The Beatles were an actual band with three (and sometimes four) singers who wrote their own songs. They popularized the band configuration of lead guitar, rhythm guitar, bass and drums. After The Beatles' appearance on Ed Sullivan, kids began growing their hair and went to the garage to figure out the chords to "I Wanna Hold Your Hand". Sometimes I wish I'd been a teenager in 1964, but it would be a month after Beatlemania hit America before I was conceived.
In all the hype about the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' Ed Sullivan appearance, I found something preposterous and shockingly it was from Fox News. They put out a list of 11 bands better than The Beatles. I shit you not. I was only aware of this list because Rush is on it and it was featured on the Rushisaband site. Anyhow, I thought I'd share the list and comment on it's absurdity since that's how I roll. Peace.
1) Led Zeppelin- Great band, but they spawned Whitesnake, Kingdom Come and Bonham.
2) The Rolling Stones- While I've come around to The Stones, I'll remind you of my "I Wanna Be Your Man" argument. The Beatles' version was vastly superior and they even let Ringo do it.
3) Velvet Underground- Many bands I love cite them as an influence or are compared to them, but I don't get it. I can't stand VU or Lou Reed. I'd rather listen to a bag full of cats.
4) U2- Are they serious?! I love U2, but c'mon.
5) Radiohead- See my Radiohead post, but not better than The Beatles.
6) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- I love the Heartbreakers and on any given day I might argue they are the best American band, but not better than The Beatles.
7) Rush- You all know how much I love Rush, but this is laughable.
8) The Band- I couldn't even name you a song by The Band. Didn't they do something with Zimmerman?
9) The Clash- I mentioned The Clash in my post on Wire. I don't get the big deal.
10) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band- This is straight up New Jersey bias.
11) The Replacements- Great band and very influential, but I could argue GbV is better than The Beatles before The Replacements. And none of these bands, other than The Stones, would have existed without The Beatles. Can't something be done about Fox News?
In all the hype about the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' Ed Sullivan appearance, I found something preposterous and shockingly it was from Fox News. They put out a list of 11 bands better than The Beatles. I shit you not. I was only aware of this list because Rush is on it and it was featured on the Rushisaband site. Anyhow, I thought I'd share the list and comment on it's absurdity since that's how I roll. Peace.
1) Led Zeppelin- Great band, but they spawned Whitesnake, Kingdom Come and Bonham.
2) The Rolling Stones- While I've come around to The Stones, I'll remind you of my "I Wanna Be Your Man" argument. The Beatles' version was vastly superior and they even let Ringo do it.
3) Velvet Underground- Many bands I love cite them as an influence or are compared to them, but I don't get it. I can't stand VU or Lou Reed. I'd rather listen to a bag full of cats.
4) U2- Are they serious?! I love U2, but c'mon.
5) Radiohead- See my Radiohead post, but not better than The Beatles.
6) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers- I love the Heartbreakers and on any given day I might argue they are the best American band, but not better than The Beatles.
7) Rush- You all know how much I love Rush, but this is laughable.
8) The Band- I couldn't even name you a song by The Band. Didn't they do something with Zimmerman?
9) The Clash- I mentioned The Clash in my post on Wire. I don't get the big deal.
10) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band- This is straight up New Jersey bias.
11) The Replacements- Great band and very influential, but I could argue GbV is better than The Beatles before The Replacements. And none of these bands, other than The Stones, would have existed without The Beatles. Can't something be done about Fox News?
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
The Best of The Move
Hello again. Yes, I'm still alive and nobody has inherited my music collection yet. I could list a bunch of excuses as to why I haven't posted in almost a month, but they would just be excuses. I recently read an interview with Robert Pollard where he was asked if he ever suffers from writer's block. He simply replied, "Writer's block is for pussies". That is my new mantra for 2014. That being said, let's talk about The Move. My kids gave me a gift certificate to the record store for Christmas and one of the CD's I picked up was The Best of The Move. As you know, I'm a huge fan of the Electric Light Orchestra and Cheap Trick. Yet for reasons I can't explain I'm just getting around to checking out The Move.
I had never heard of The Move until a few years ago when I learned that "California Man" by Cheap Trick was actually a cover of The Move. However, that fact didn't spark my intellectual curiosity enough to check them out. Then even more recently, I learned that the Electric Light Orchestra was an offshoot of The Move. That finally put them on my radar, so when I received a gift certificate for the record store picking up a CD by The Move was priority #1. I went straight to the liner notes before I even listened to the CD. You may remember me complaining in the past about great UK bands that never get a sniff in the United States, such as Doves, Kasabian and Elbow. Apparently, The Move were one of the original bands to suffer this fate. They had several hit singles in the UK from 1966 to 1971, but couldn't make a dent in the States.
The majority of The Move's songs were written by eccentric co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood. I assumed that a band which would one day become the Electric Light Orchestra would be heavily influenced by The Beatles. However, it seems the only influence they had on Wood was to inspire him to start his own band and perform original songs rather than playing in cover bands that had no interest in his songs. Just from what I can tell from a Best of collection, the Beatles influence enters the band with the arrival of Jeff Lynne in the 70's. I also had no idea that Roy Wood bailed on E.L.O. early on to start the band Wizzard. I had never heard of Wizzard, so I checked them out on You Tube. Apparently, they did that now famous Christmas song, "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". The video is awesome. Roy Wood is dressed up like a glam Santa. Wizzard consisted of two drummers and horn players and guitars. I checked out a few videos and they seemed like a fun pop band. Their wardrobe, however, was crazy. Wood looked like a combination of Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Ozzy from the Diary of a Madman album cover. One of the guitarists was dressed as a "gumby" from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Between Wizzard and The Move, Wood was responsible for more than 20 UK hit singles and he's virtually unknown in America.
As I listened to the CD, I was struck by a few things. Cheap Trick's version of "California Man" is actually a combination of two songs by The Move, "California Man" and "Brontosaurus", the later which provides a guitar riff that Rick Nielsen uses and builds upon. The song "Chinatown" which was written by Wood and sung by Lynne is straight up George Harrison, complete with slide guitar. For me, the most interesting song is The Move's version of "Do Ya", which would later become a hit for the Electric Light Orchestra. I think Christopher Walken produced this track, because somebody had a fever for more cowbell. This version doesn't include one of favorite lyrics, "I heard the police playin' with their guns". It also sounds like Lynne says "long black veil" instead of "long black hair". They also had a couple fantastic Who inspired songs, "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" and "Lemon Tree".
The Best of The Move is a great collection of songs by a tragically unknown band. The music runs the gamut of late 60's rock from The Who to The Stones to The Zombies to Syd Barrett Floyd. Based on this collection, Roy Wood seems like a very gifted lyricist and songwriter. I intend to investigate his catalog further. I definitely recommend that my kids listen to The Move, as well as all my Electric Light Orchestra. Peace.
I had never heard of The Move until a few years ago when I learned that "California Man" by Cheap Trick was actually a cover of The Move. However, that fact didn't spark my intellectual curiosity enough to check them out. Then even more recently, I learned that the Electric Light Orchestra was an offshoot of The Move. That finally put them on my radar, so when I received a gift certificate for the record store picking up a CD by The Move was priority #1. I went straight to the liner notes before I even listened to the CD. You may remember me complaining in the past about great UK bands that never get a sniff in the United States, such as Doves, Kasabian and Elbow. Apparently, The Move were one of the original bands to suffer this fate. They had several hit singles in the UK from 1966 to 1971, but couldn't make a dent in the States.
The majority of The Move's songs were written by eccentric co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood. I assumed that a band which would one day become the Electric Light Orchestra would be heavily influenced by The Beatles. However, it seems the only influence they had on Wood was to inspire him to start his own band and perform original songs rather than playing in cover bands that had no interest in his songs. Just from what I can tell from a Best of collection, the Beatles influence enters the band with the arrival of Jeff Lynne in the 70's. I also had no idea that Roy Wood bailed on E.L.O. early on to start the band Wizzard. I had never heard of Wizzard, so I checked them out on You Tube. Apparently, they did that now famous Christmas song, "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". The video is awesome. Roy Wood is dressed up like a glam Santa. Wizzard consisted of two drummers and horn players and guitars. I checked out a few videos and they seemed like a fun pop band. Their wardrobe, however, was crazy. Wood looked like a combination of Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Ozzy from the Diary of a Madman album cover. One of the guitarists was dressed as a "gumby" from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Between Wizzard and The Move, Wood was responsible for more than 20 UK hit singles and he's virtually unknown in America.
As I listened to the CD, I was struck by a few things. Cheap Trick's version of "California Man" is actually a combination of two songs by The Move, "California Man" and "Brontosaurus", the later which provides a guitar riff that Rick Nielsen uses and builds upon. The song "Chinatown" which was written by Wood and sung by Lynne is straight up George Harrison, complete with slide guitar. For me, the most interesting song is The Move's version of "Do Ya", which would later become a hit for the Electric Light Orchestra. I think Christopher Walken produced this track, because somebody had a fever for more cowbell. This version doesn't include one of favorite lyrics, "I heard the police playin' with their guns". It also sounds like Lynne says "long black veil" instead of "long black hair". They also had a couple fantastic Who inspired songs, "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" and "Lemon Tree".
The Best of The Move is a great collection of songs by a tragically unknown band. The music runs the gamut of late 60's rock from The Who to The Stones to The Zombies to Syd Barrett Floyd. Based on this collection, Roy Wood seems like a very gifted lyricist and songwriter. I intend to investigate his catalog further. I definitely recommend that my kids listen to The Move, as well as all my Electric Light Orchestra. Peace.
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