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.
A Living Will For My Music Collection
Friday, April 25, 2014
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.
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