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.
A Living Will For My Music Collection
Thursday, September 25, 2014
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.
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