Neutral Milk Hotel: In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

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

My Rolling Stones Resolution

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

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

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

Surfin' U.S.A.

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

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

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

Queen

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

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

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

David Bowie

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

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

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

Miles Davis

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

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

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

New Year, New My Bloody Valentine...Hopefully

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

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