"We are retiring from the game. Gettin’ out. Movin’ on." ~from the LCD Soundsystem website.
Open Letter To LCD Soundsystem:
Three full albums, a handful of EPs, three grammys, and a ton of great singles are what you James Murphy and your project LCD Soundsytem is going to leave behind. You were arguably my favorite dance punk band over the last ten years and you are calling it a day. I'm glad to see you're bowing out in style with a sold out show at Madison Square Garden which is reportedly going to be over three hours long. That is one sexy looking dance party happening up in the city this Saturday night. I also see you're in the middle of four warm up shows, the first one last night, at Terminal 5. It is really a week long extravaganza and tribute to how fine and consistently great of a dance band you have been.
First off, I'm presenting your last video...which features drunk Muppets Cookie Monster and Animal as well as puppy love between Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. The video for "Dance Yrself Clean" is well worth the eight plus minute running time.
And lastly, a big thank you to you, Mr. James Murphy, for creating a soundtrack of smart dance rock that kept my body moving through long distance runs and kept my mind wandering through your cerebral beats and fun dance grooves. I know you'll probably be around doing something else soon. And I can't wait to hear the drum fills that were bizarrely abundant in your music. Good luck in your future endeavors, and may you bring fans at the Garden on Saturday night down to their sweaty knees from dancing themselves clean.
Wye Oak. Named after the former state tree in the state of Maryland. Also known as the "Quiet Giant" of trees. I can't think of a better way to describe this two piece band from Baltimore, Maryland whose music can at first be quiet, but grows mightily into giant proportions. After multiple listens to their third album "Civilian", there are certain strange bursts of energy, feedback, reverb that come at you from from a lot of different directions, but the undercurrent of feeling blue still keeps the main frame. It's an album that somehow embraces cold and desolate themes but yet in textures and atmosphere is very warm. It's a tightrope to walk, but for the most part, Wye Oak succeeds.
On the musical surface, comparisons can be made to Beach House in that both bands are two piece who use guitar, drums and keyboards to invoke a whole lot of emotion. But really, these two bands are polar opposites. While Beach House's "Teen Dream" soared to new heights in every song, "Civilian" takes the approach of dragging you down every opportunity. It feels like someone grabbing at your ankles in a deep lake and pulling you into the dark, murky waters around you. And There's no bottom in sight. Lead singer and exceptionally underrated guitarist, Jenn Wasner, croons in every song like Sarah MacLachlan on Quaaludes. It could be a tiresome formula, but the songs are way too smart and consistently good to matter. Like the album cover, your diving into desolation....feet first.
The album starts with the intimate "Two Small Deaths" centering on a jittery guitar line and later adds eerie keyboards to help heighten the cozy atmosphere. It leads into "The Altar" which jumps along on a simple keyboard lick, some great mid song guitar work, and Wasner's ethereal voice which by this point, already sounds resigned, like she's barely able to keep her head up to get the words out of her mouth. By the time "Holy, Holy" rolls out (my favorite song here as of now) there's no swimming out of this hole. Wasner sings "Holy, Holy, Holy, there is no other story" over Thurston Moore like guitar beaks and bleak atmospherics. Over three minutes into the song, it breaks into something huge and wonderful as Andy Stack's backbeat and Wasner's guitar take on a full assault as the song becomes fully realized. It's moments like this on "Civilian" that are few, but precious. Elsewhere, comparisons could be made to Pavement on "Dogs Eyes" in song structure, "Civilian", the title tack, is another winner as Stack shines again with percussion and Wasner's guitar comes in at the end with Neil Young Crazy Horse guitar licks and truthful lyrics "I wanted to give you everything, But I still stand in awe of superficial things...Civilian" and "Hot As Day" has an almost breezy feeling of hope rising through it. Perhaps the only real faults I can find is the two enders "We Were Wealth" and "Doubt" don't match the intensity and coziness of the rest of the "Civilian", but they are small faults.
If you're looking in to an excellent down trodden but extremely good batch of warm songs, "Civilian" delivers in spades and I would highly recommend it. If you aren't into the feeling of bittersweet and hypnotic songs and don't like the feeling of emerging yourself into deep, dark,desolate places, "Civilian" is not going to work for you.....at all. Here's to hoping this duo's star continues to rise through the year, they deserve some recognition for "Civilian".
Grade: A-
JHO Picks: The Altar Holy, Holy Civilian Hot As Day
If you heard the Strokes first single "Under Cover Of Darkness" when it was released a few weeks ago and thought, "Oh...this is gonna be like 2001 again, they're going back to their roots", you're going to be thoroughly disappointed in their fourth album "Angles". "Under Cover.." was a red herring. "Angles" instead finds the band searching for anything that works through, well, different angles of music.
And while it can be fun at times to watch a band explore different avenues for their band to delve into next, it can be a bit frustrating to listen to an album that has absolutely no musical compass. It's like the cliche of the band has come to a fork in the road and could go back down the street to the roots from where they started or take a whole new approach to their sound. Hey, either/or is fine with me. Instead, it seems they haven't made up their mind yet and have decided to keep it parked at the crossroads and maybe go fishing for eighties new wave vibes and bossa nova guitar licks.
Despite it's haphazard "let's try this" approach, there is still some things to like about "Angles". Albert Hammond Jr. works his guitar to a frenzied calculated winner on the choruses of "Two Kinds Of Happiness" even if the verses are a little too close to late Cars like material. Julian Casablancas' vocals on "Taken For A Fool" take a ride through eighties new wave into a wonderful chorus "You get taken all the time for a fool...You're so gullible but I don't mind" and even the bossa nova like guitar and flourishes of keys on the end song "Life Is Simple In The Moonlight" is enjoyable, if not entirely memorable. Where things work best is when the band just lets loose like on the cool strut of "Gratisfaction" or they show how to be a too smart band for rock 'n roll on "Under Cover Of Darkness" as Casablancas blatantly states the fact "Everybody's been singing the same song for ten years."
But the lesser moments on "Angles", the b-side ready "Metabolism" or "You're So Right", the drum machine and wimpy keyboards that engulf "Games", or the really sparse and unmemorable "Call Me Back" are the Strokes on the too cool to care cruise control. Even when opener "Machu Picchu" tries to draw you in with its Haircut One Hundred type of attitude, you eventually just step back and think, "This is the Strokes, they really shouldn't be doing Haircut One Hundred like songs."
It was said that everyone in the band contributed in one way or another on "Angles", a free for all. And the ideas on "Angles" are abundant and much more interesting than their previous "The First Impressions Of Earth" which just fell flat all around. But it would've been nice for someone or anyone to take the reins here and say, you know, this is what we should focus on. Because listening to an album that doesn't gel and is simply a band trying to find out what works best as it goes along can be a bit of a drag. "Angles" is not terrible, but totally unnecessary. They said their already recording their follow up. Let's hope the Strokes can pinpoint what they want to do next time out. That way everyone can love it or hate it. Not say "What's Up With That?"
Grade: C+
JHO Picks: Under Cover Of Darkness Two Kinds Of Happiness Taken For A Fool Gratisfaction
1. DJ Shadow-Entroducing.... 2. Belle & Sebastian-If You're Feeling Sinister 3. Beck-Odelay 4. Weezer-Pinkerton 5. R.E.M.-New Adventures In Hi-Fi 6. Wilco-Being There 7. Tool-Aenima
Random Quote From A Song From 1996: "When I Wake Up Tomorrow/Will You Still Feel The Same?/When I Wake Up Tomorrow/Will You Have Changed?/'cuz I Still Feel The Same" The "I Still Feel The Same" song
Random Thoughts On A Song From 1996:
Yes...it is the Fun Lovin' Criminals. Bringing New York style urban rhymes about Bombin' The L, John Gotti, Crime and Punishment, and Bear Hugs. Their biggest hit in the U.S. came to them because of three main reasons. A) They named their song Scooby Snacks. B) They used snippets of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs throughout the song. C) It's the most fun song about robbing a bank and the hi-jinx that ensues afterward....EVER! Singing about "hurting my lower lumbar...riding around in a stolen police car" and reminding you they are fun loving: "So, we pull these jobs to make a little money/no one gets hurt if they don't act funny." In the end, they head to a yacht, and take off to Bermuda. It's a happy ending to a ridiculously rambunctious song that for some reason right now best reminds me of the summer of 1996. FLC actually were HUGE overseas and have gone on to release several more albums. And 1996's "Come Find Yourself" is a big guilty pleasure in my catalog. But the one thing every one will remember the most about these bank robbers is that they're "Riding around, robbing banks, all whacked on Scooby Snacks." Oh the life of a fun lovin' criminal....
Ever wonder how J Mascis would sound on an album of down home, light acoustic based numbers? "Several Shades Of Why" offers exactly ten in this vein and is available right now. Kurt Vile stops by to help on much of the album and the two of them are touring this spring together. So it's no "Freak Scene" or "Start Choppin'", but turning down the energy doesn't demote Mascis songwriting skills which shine through on a few of the numbers I've heard. Here's "Not Enough" which is soft, cuddly, and reminiscent of Neil Young's "Harvest" in many ways.
Produced by the Black Keys' Dan Aurebach for a second time, Mayfield's sophomore album, "Tell Me", is currently available for your listening pleasure. If you dig the Black Keys, you're probably going to enjoy this second offering from Kent, Ohio's newest sensation. And at twenty-one, Mayfield sounds like she's growing even more comfortable with her role as a candidate for alt-country queen with a lot of strong songs from what I've heard so far on "Tell Me". "Our Hearts Are Wrong" is a nice song for a serene spring drive so dive in and take a listen below.
After a four year absence, the Foo Fighters are back with a new album on April 12th called "Wasting Light". I haven't been a Foo Fighters album listener or buyer for years finding their singles were always a bit stronger than album tracks. But the when the singles by Grohl and company are on, they are usually some of my favorite hard rock songs available ("Everlong", "Next Year", "Times Like These"). And looking at the track listing...Bob Mould plays and sings on a song "Dear Rosemary" on the album. Now you've got my attention. Grohl remembers where his roots came from. "Rope" sounds like a solid single and better than any of the singles from their previous album (honestly, their weakest batch of singles) so "Wasting Light" is off to a good start.
Well, when I saw TV On The Radio's Dave Sitek was heading off to join Jane's Addiction earlier this year, the last thing I thought I would see was an announcement from the band breaking their hiatus with a new album and tour announcement. But, here it is. "Nine Types Of Light" has a release day slated for April 12th and will be the fifth from the band. So when I heard the news, I went back and listened to "Return To Cookie Mountain" and "Dear Science" and remembered how much I loved both of those albums (two of my favorites from the past decade, easily). Their second release made available for free download, "Caffeinated Consciousness", a few days ago is below. We'll see if they keep their winning streak going when the full album is released in a few weeks.
Indie folk band, The Dodos, have returned with their fourth full length "No Color" which was released last Tuesday. The duo of Meric Long and Logan Croeber is joined by Neko Case on half of these pastoral tunes. From listening to some snippets on Soundcloud, there is definitely enough of a range of craftsmanship on this album to relegate above other indie folk outings of the past few years. Perhaps my favorite is the shuffling beat of "When Will You Go" which just jovially skips along with a nice acoustic guitar and top notch atmospherics with the guitar reverb in the breaks.
To speak where I am as a PJ Harvey fan, my favorite album is her 2000 release "Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea". The ballads are sweeping, her duet with Thom Yorke, "This Mess We're In" is engaging, the mid-tempo songs were spot on and the rockers "Big Exit" and "The Whores Hustle And The Hustlers Whore" rocked with strong conviction. "Stories" was almost a coming of age, joyful effort. "Harvey In The City". Here we have "Harvey In England...after the disasters of war." Not as fun, but the only comparison I can think of. Harvey is the number one chameleon at her trade. Each album is an album that stands by itself. Repeating herself is not in the vocabulary. In regards to her eight full length "Let England Shake", it's honestly one of her best pieces of work. Other artists would flounder when given the opportunity to narrate an album on what they see in the aftermath of conflict, tragedy and war. Harvey instead revels in the sorrow. The images and mood she paints "Let England shake, weighted down with silent dead" on the leadoff title track or the apocolyptic hoedown of "The Words That Maketh Murder" where Harvey states "I've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat" give the whole affair a hopeless feel, but her lyrics are the most thought provoking and disturbing she's ever penned.
Musically, "Let England Shake" remains consistent in tone with surprises ringing in here or there. Harvey sings in a higher octave than on past efforts (far from the "50 Ft. Queenie" days) kind of in tune with Joana Newsom or Bjork. And it works as it adds more depth to her narration. The auto harp continues to play a strong role and John Parrish takes up the male counterpart to Harvey's storytelling whether he leads the chant of "Gonna take my problem to the United Nations" from the standard "Summertime Blues" on "Murder" or their best duet on the aching "In The Dark Places". Harvey never puts the petal to the rock metal on anything, which would probably break the mood, but most of the songs still retain a rollicking backbone. Some good mood enhancers are the charging "The Glorious Land" where a bugle horn playing the "Regimental March" arrives literally out of nowhere off tempo and the sudden rush of guitars on the short but effective "Bitter Branches". A couple of the slower pieces "Hanging On The Wire" or "England" kind of fail to keep up with the moodier pieces that populate the rest of the album, but they're not stones. They're brief reprises from the horrors of young men hiding in the dirt, with guns, in dark places.
This is the soundtrack for the aftermath of the apocalypse and horribly ironic in the wake of what happened in Japan last Friday. It's pretty eerie slipping this on with a bit of uncertainty in the air with the aftermath going on right now. As the background chant of "Fire" and "Let it burn" repeat over and over during "Written On The Forehead", Harvey hits you in the gut portraying life after similar tragedies that have unfolded recently. "People throw belongings, a lifetime's earnings amongst the scattered rubbish and suitcases on the sidewalk." A gut-check album in every way and Harvey's most reflective and unsettling piece of work is a keeper for it's impeccable songcraft. It's easily near the top of her discography.
Grade: A-
JHO Picks: The Glorious Land The Words That Maketh Murder In The Dark Places Written On The Forehead
Moving further away from the folk sound that the band started with years ago, the full on direction to more of prog-rock style is almost in full swing on Akron/Family's latest album "S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT". Composed in a cabin near a volcano in Japan (hence the outstanding album cover which I'll get more to in a bit), the songs here range from furied prog goodness to provocative lullabies. When songs pick up on the energy, they sound bold and fresh. Opener "Silly Bears" and the wonderful gush of "Another Sky" simply soar along on unbridled energy and complex, optimistic vibes. They try their hand to good use on a slick guitar riff that sounds like the roughed up drunken brother of Squeeze's "Black Coffee In Bed" on "So It Goes" and it's cool and collected attitude works. And with lyrics like "I stopped giving my change to all the homeless people out on the street/ but I changed back/ I give my change again/ to anyone who asks so long as I have a pocket", it shows the band still retain a nice sense of humor in their demeanor. Lighthearted and polite. I mean, you're not gonna take a band inquiring "Where did you get that honey, so sweet, silly bear" that literal right? So some upbeat songs work wonders here.
The more hushed approach on the precious "Island" and "Cast A Net" work spiritual spiderwebs as well. On "Island", an almost peaceful, tropical feel fills your speakers with muted slide guitars, pretty vocals, and lyrics about wanting to be on an island off Mexico. Even better is "Cast A Net" which works off a simply gorgeous, silent guitar refrain and some pitch perfect harmonies. But by the last three songs on the album, the quieter songs ("Canopy" and "Creator" especially) fail to leave much of a lasting impression, nothing on par with "Island" or "Cast A Net". And on two more buoyant efforts "Say What You Want To" and "Fuji I (Global Dub)", the prog tendencies tend to go overboard from rushing excitement to well...I think the tribal, overdubbed vocals culminating into a bomb sound (or is that a volcano exploding and bubbling over/who knows?) on "Fuji I" pretty much show a bit of an overstuffed turkey.
So "S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT" is worth a journey through, even if it is a wildly uneven effort and may be better to pick the songs you like the most and leave the other ones buried in volcanic ash. It's another smart album from their arsenal and will leave dedicated fans satisfied. Speaking of that album cover, the volcano spewing lava, the first thing I thought was they should have a dinosaur in there. Really. This could be a soundtrack for a Broadway production of Sid and Marty Kroft's "Land Of The Lost". But then, the lyrical matter of the album swims in present tense activities. So the real question "S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT" poses is "Are we living in the land of the lost today?"
Grade: B
JHO Picks: Silly Bears Island Another Sky Cast A Net
I don't have a definitive favorite band of all time. But if I was to name my upper echelon of favorites, R.E.M. would be there with five stars. They would be my trusty left handed starter in rotation of five.
Last Tuesday, R.E.M. released their fifteenth studio album "Collapse Into Now". As a sort of "Through The Years", we're going to spotlight the fourteen albums that have led one of the best bands of the past thirty years from 1983 to today. I could probably write a book like essay on one of my favorite bands and the history of the band here and there, and where I was the first time I heard "Fall On Me" or how every album between "Life's Rich Pageant" and New Adventures In Hi-Fi" has me automatically singing every word like it's old hat....but for this we're just going to touch base here and there. Keep it simple. Oh, and there's a poll over to your left...or right, I mean. Would love if you could leave a vote for your favorite albums
To make things more difficult, I'm only allowing two picks per album for a best of collection. What two songs from each album would make up your ultimate best of collection? I will try not to lose sleep over it, but I'm sure I will have bad dreams of "Begin The Begin" and "The Sweetness Follow" asking me "Why? Why would you leave us out?" So a brief look at the fourteen albums and the highlights I remember starting........(time machine flashback noise)......right........................now.
___________________________________________________________________________________ Murmur (1983) Brief Overview: After their "Chronic Town" EP, this is an exceptionally strong debut. "Murmur" helped pioneer the way for jangle pop and American Underground music scenes for the rest of the decade. There is something about it that is haunted and hushed all at the same time. It's probably one of their least immediate albums, but once songs like "Catapult", "Circle Of Friends" and "Radio Free Europe" do take shape, you'll want to keep going back and listen...over and over, which is what I did several years after its release. A winning, enigmatic debut.
Grade: A JHO Picks: 1. Pilgrimage 2. Talk About The Passion
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Reckoning (1984) Brief Overview: Their sophomore album is an often over looked set as they turned up the jangle and left the haunting mood behind from "Murmur". If "Murmur" seems a little spacey, then "Reckoning" with its sharp beats and Stipe's vocals coming more to the forefront feel a lot more vibrant. "Reckoning" contains several classics that are sometimes left off of best of compilations like "Harborcoat", "Seven Chinese Brothers" and "Camera", and it pains me to leave off "So. Central Rain" here. But I've always had a soft spot for the two listed below. One for a great melody and one for a great down home chorus.
Grade: A JHO Picks: 1. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville 2. Pretty Persuasion
___________________________________________________________________________________ Fables Of The Reconstruction (1985) Brief Overview: To me, R.E.M.'s weakest album of the 80's still stands high above a lot of output from the decade (What other bands has their sixth strongest album be something as good as "Fables"? Arguably the best band of the 80's argument number one.) The group went to England to record "Fables" to kind of break away from the sound of their first two albums. And it may not be as strong or immediately winning as those, but it does include "Driver 8", "Feeling Gravities Pull" and "Green Grown The Rushes". They grew in songwriting on "Fables" but the bigger rewards were yet to come.
Grade: B+ JHO Picks: 1. Maps and Legends 2. Can't Get There From Here
___________________________________________________________________________________ Life's Rich Pageant (1986)
Brief Overview: "Life's Rich Pageant" is a gem. An album that intertwines upbeat songs "Begin The Begin", "These Days", and "I Believe" with some of their most touching balladry yet "Swan Swan H" and "What If We Give It Away". Plus the harmonizing between Stipe, Berry and Mills as at all an time high here on "Fall On Me" and the Mills' led "I Am Superman". Plus Stipe is finding his environmental voice on the wonderfully written "Cuyohoga". So many treasures packed in 37 minutes, it was very difficult to pick just two. It's where everything plays out to near perfection.
Grade: A+ JHO Picks: 1. Fall On Me 2. Cuyohoga
___________________________________________________________________________________ Document (1987) Brief Overview: Their last album on an indepedent label (IRS) had to be one of the biggest indie hits of all time thanks to the breakout hit of "The One I Love". What makes "Document" so special is that they continue the same formula as on "Life's Rich Pageant" but with even stronger results. The guitars by Buck are more more prominent, Berry lends a great backbone to every song, the three continue to harmonize and their isn't a stinker in the bunch. "Document" has already made "The JHO Hall Of Fame", read here for the article. Many days, the one album I would need by R.E.M. for the rest of my life.
Grade: A+ JHO Picks: 1. Disturbance At The Heron House 2. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
___________________________________________________________________________________ Green (1988)
Brief Overview: Major label debuts can be difficult for bands to jump into and on "Green", R.E.M. stands to the test by delivering a little bit of everything with a new formula. Pop songs "Stand" and "Pop Song 89", Guitar driven workouts "Turn You Inside Out and "Get Up" and lovely ballads "Hairshirt and especially, "You Are The Everything". A couple moments make "Green" just a bit weaker than their last couple albums but anything with the two songs listed in my picks below helps overcome some minor nitpicking. I'll sing this whole album through and through every time.
Grade: A- JHO Picks: 1. Orange Crush 2. World Leader Pretend
___________________________________________________________________________________ Out Of Time (1991) Brief Overview: Most remembered for where Buck picks up on mandolin and delivers the band's biggest hit ever, "Out Of Time" is a bit of uneven album in retrospect. "Radio Song" and "Shiny Happy People", with all their charms, are a bit embarassing. And a couple moments work more on atmosphere than on actual songs "Endgame" and "Belong". But beyond those points, everything else on "Out Of Time" is material I've always loved. "Losing My Religion" and "Half A World Away" are absolute mandolin treats, "Near Wild Heaven" and "Texarkana" are strong Mills' songs and the two songs that end the album are my favorites. The first shows Stipe in his most naked and frustrated moment and "Me In Honey" with Kate Pierson, is the winning collaboration on this uneven album.
Grade: B+ JHO Picks: 1. Me In Honey 2. Country Feedback
___________________________________________________________________________________ Automatic For The People (1992) Brief Overview: R.E.M.'s most somber and well written material in their cannon. Most songs hang on desperately but the songwriting is the band at its best. It was a winner in fans' eyes and in critics' eyes, and every song is its own moment brought together with the common thread of sadness. It is also on my "JHO Hall Of Fame", more in depth of my feelings for this masterpiece, read it here. Picking two songs...not so easy, could change any day, depending on mood.
Monster (1994) Brief Overview: Taunted as the band's "rock" album, "Monster" crashes through power chord after power chord like they're the only arena band ready for the world in 1994. The anthems are replaced by standard, Buck driven guitar workouts that usually satisfy, but at times, seem a bit repetitive. It could be just me, but "Monster" is the album I feel that has aged least gracefully in their catalog, especially the second half. Plus I was never a big fan of the lighter "Tongue", the mid rocking "I Took Your Name" or closer "You"...all B-sides at best. But the strengths, "Frequency", "Crush With Eyeliner", "Star 69", and "I Don't Sleep I Dream" are all the band in good form....and fun.
Grade: B- JHO Picks: 1. What's The Frequency Kenneth? 2. Let Me In
___________________________________________________________________________________ New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996) Brief Overview: I remember working at the pop radio station in 96 and we were pushing for "Bittersweet Me" to be a hit, but it just wasn't meant to be. Nothing on "New Adventures" screamed radio hit. So it was seen as a commercial disappointment. However, it could be the album that you can reap the most rewards from in their catalog. Their is such an array of great songs, from flat out rockers "So Fast So Numb" and "The Wake Up Bomb" to mid-tempo gems "New Test Leper" and "Low Desert" that the album as a whole is really fantastic. After my three essentials, this falls in to fourth place rather easily. Pretty spectacular for an album written and recorded on the road, I'd say.
Grade: A JHO Picks: 1. New Test Leper 2. Electrolite
___________________________________________________________________________________ Up (1998)
Brief Overview: When Berry left before this album was recorded, I was a bit disappointed. I liked what he brought to the band on drums and harmonies. But I wasn't prepared for his absence with "Up". The whole affair just sounded really flat, uninspired and like an album with no direction or purpose. Songs like "Diminished" and "Parakeet" just floated aimlessly working more on pastoral moods than songs and "Lotus" rocks out clumsier than anything on "Monster". I've gone back several times through the years and warmed up to "Up" but not to a point where I can give it anything better than a B-. In 1998, I probably would've thrown a D+ out. If not for the single "The Great Beyond" in 1999, I may have let this herd ride out to pasture. Grade: B-
JHO Picks:
1. Sad Professor
2. At My Most Beautiful _______________________________________________________ Reveal (2001) Brief Overview: Besides the two singles "Imitation Of Life" and "All The Way To Reno", I can honestly say, nothing on "Reveal" gets me excited...at all. I was beginning to lose a bit of patience here. All stars fade at some point....
Grade: C JHO Picks: 1. Imitation Of Life 2. Al The Way To Reno
___________________________________________________________________________________ Around The Sun (2004) Brief Overview: Their least satisfying effort. And besides "Fables" (which I haven't listened to in a while to be honest, I don't own a copy at the present time) the only album I don't own by the band. I gave it two free spins in 2004, didn't like it, thought one of my favorite stars had faded, and gave up on the band. I was surprised that they actually continued because "Around The Sun" was the sound of a band that lost the plot. My opinion may be different if I go back to listen again now, but I have no interest. It would be for completist reasons only.
Grade: C- JHO Picks: 1. Aftermath 2. Electron Blue
___________________________________________________________________________________ Accelerate (2008)
Brief Overview: Don't you hate when a band with a long history release a new album and what you hear about it and read about it is the phrase "Return To Form". Well here's one time I didn't mind hearing that phrase. It got my curiosity back up. And while it may not be their most essential recording, it still is damn fine album. Stipe found his swagger in his lyrics and Buck and Mills play with reckon abandon. It's the band having fun again, which is something that was refreshing and desperate for their survival. "Man Sized Wreath", "Until The Day Is Done", "Supernatural Serious" all fantastic slices of guitar driven rock. One of the few times an album, if not the band's best, got my back on board after the ship had already capsized. I was glad to have the guys from Athens back with new material I liked in my IPOD. Thirty four felt like seventeen to me.
Grade: B+ JHO Picks: 1. I'm Gonna DJ 2. Living Well Is The Best Revenge
___________________________________________________________________________________ Collapse Into Now (2011) Brief Overview: Review later next week! I just grabbed this off E Music the other day. JHO Picks: TBD
___________________________________________________________________________________ Essential: Life's Rich Pageant (1986) Document (1987) Automatic For The People (1992)
Recommended: Murmur (1983) Reckoning (1984) Green (1988) New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996)
Personal Best Of Collection DISC 1 1. Pilgrimage 2. Talk About The Passion 3. Don't Go Back To Rockville 4. Pretty Persuasion 5. Maps and Legends 6. Can't Get There From Here 7. Fall On Me 8. Cuyohoga 9. Disturbance At The Heron House 10. It's The End Of The World As We Know It 11. Orange Crush 12. World Leader Pretend 13. Me In Honey 14. Country Feedback DISC 2 1. Drive 2. Nightswimming 3. What's The Frequency Kenneth? 4. Let Me In 5. New Test Leper 6. Electrolite 7. Sad Professor 8. At My Most Beautiful 9. Imitation Of Life 10. Al The Way To Reno 11. Aftermath 12. Electron Blue 13. I'm Gonna DJ 14. Living Well Is The Best Revenge
We regret, sort of, that we never got to Maine when we lived in New England. We visited the other four states besides Connecticut where we lived for a few years, but Maine remained elusive. A place where people said they were getting away for the weekend on canoe tips or camping. We insisted chose to go to New York City or Boston when free time allotted. Like Even Dando once said, "I lied about being the outdoor type...." That ball falls in my court.
What I do know is they have lobster. No, I can't put in "Rock Lobster" here. We've got to have the state in the title of the song to stay consistent. Thank goodness their is an ex-fisherman from "The Pine Tree State" who got a record contract over the last decade and recorded a low fi experimental rap album. And mad kudos for JD Walker, the ex fisherman, who released a song about his state in 2005. We need more urban fisherman to release albums in the future. It's called "Maine Wharf" and it makes me want to go eat a lobster roll. Here's to JD Walker and Maine.
Former and original bassist of Alice In Chains, Mike Starr, was found dead in his home in Salt Lake City on Tuesday. He was 44 years old. With lead singer Layne Staley's death almost nine years ago, that leaves Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney as the two surviving original members of the band. As a tribute, here's a favorite of mine from one of the most popular bleak and druggy albums of all time, 1992's "Dirt". RIP Mr. Starr.
Record Day Store 2011 is taking place April 16th, 2011. Been awhile since you've been to your local independent record store? Yeah, me too. This digital age is making it easier, cheaper and lazier to pick up music. Which has its benefits but you can't find EVERYTHING you want. And you don't get the satisfaction of rummaging through CD's, vinyl, imports, used, just to pick up a John Cale or New Pornographers album that was recommended on a website you read. There are tons of bands (around 240 releases) participating including Gorillaz, My Morning Jacket, Foo Fighters, Big Star and an album I haven't seen since its cassette days, The Cure's "Entreat" (a concert from their Disintegration tour released in 1990...double packed as a 2 disc LP). I may just venture down to Luna Music on the 16th of April to show some support. To find local record stores particpating and for more information on the event, check the website below.
Foreigner is a #15 seed, the Arkansas Pine Bluff of the tournament
Do you have some fever for March Madness starting next week? Do you like music? Over on espnradio's website, Colin Cowherd has put together an interesting showdown between sixty four bands head to head in bracket format. Some match ups are interesting (#8 Motley Crue vs. #9 Weezer. #6 Bob Marley vs. #11 Beastie Boys, #7 Nine Inch Nails vs. #10 The Grateful Dead) some bands included are head scratchers (Creed, Nickleback?!?!?!?!) and the ommisions of some artists are criminal (Neil Young, R.E.M., Bruce Springsteen, Depeche Mode, The Strokes....they ain't here). But it's good fun nonetheless to try and decide if Boston is more worthy than Aerosmith to move on to the second round. Should make a nice Sweet 16. Had fun with Troy at work picking these tonight. If I have the time and can figure out how to do something on station to station next year, I will try to do something similar...with Springsteen as a two seed at least, c'mon. Go ahead and vote with the rest of America below:
Herd Rock Band Bracket ___________________________________________________________________________________
In a matter of around fourteen minutes and a total of four songs, this little sampler serves as a nice appetizer for anyone who found a lot to like about the Dum Dum Girls debut album "I Will Be" from last year as well as bringing in some new listeners who may not be familiar with the band. Lead vocalist and bandleader Dee Dee (Kirstin Gundred) is no longer recording four tracks from her bedroom as she did on the debut and the production value helps let her songwriting on three originals shine through. Her delivery is very reminiscent to Chrissie Hynde leading a sixties girl pop group. If the sound is a bit cleaner than before, the Jesus and Mary Chain influenced guitar buzz is still in tact, just more controlled. And it works.
The three originals tell of a quick tale of falling, being, and losing love which is highly commendable in such a short set. Lead off "Right Feels Wrong" charges along with shimmering guitars and a mid section of fuzzed out guitars with Dee Dee portraying the feeling of someone first falling in love. Second track "He Gets Me High" then portrays the feeling of being deep in love "So much weight upon your voice, I have no choice...He gets me by, he gets me high". It's perfect updated sixties guitar rock in every sense of the term. The third song wraps up the trilogy of love with a very tender ballad "Take Care Of My Baby". It may be the weakest of the three, but Dee Dee's vocal delivery is both bittersweet and unbelievably intimate, each line being delivered by someone leaving her love...for better and worse.
Odd, but still kind of delightful, is the way the EP wraps up with a Smiths' cover "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" which is more sped up and guitar heavy than the original. While the breathtaking strings from the Smiths' version is gone, it still stays true enough to form to be an enjoyable conclusion. In this context, it's the encore for Dee Dee who after leaving here love is looking to just ...get away, I guess.
It will be nice to see what the next stepping stone will be for Dum Dum Girls on their next output. "I Will Be" was an intriguing debut (review from last year here) and this EP solidifies things even more that Dee Dee has got the know how to become even more of a force with a solid set of material. The future looks bright, third time may be the charm for her all around focused classic. It's just a hunch.
Grade: B+
JHO Picks: Wrong Feels Right He Gets Me High There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
This is a great chance to cross promote a relay team I'm taking part in Pittsburgh in May called "Five Against run". You can visit the blog and learn about the runners right here. The inspiration for this top ten is from my Q & A when Dirty Frank asked my favorite pop hit guilty pleasure. For some reason Huey Lewis and the News popped in my head. Why not? Almost every hit they had was a guilty pleasure. And for credentials, a lot of the band took part as session players in Elvis Costello's early material...which is some of my favorite stuff of all time.
The time is ripe for a comeback. Christian Bale has won an Oscar and in American Psycho, he loved Huey Lewis. I feel an onslaught of Huey Lewis this summer at rib festivals across America. If that's the case, I may have to make a point to go....or hold out for Journey with Huey Lewis and the News. There's a magical evening waiting to be captured.
I go to the CD rack the other day to pull out my favorite Beasite Boys album "Paul's Boutique". I was in the mood for "Lookin' Down The Barrel Of A Gun" and the "B-Boy Bouillabaisse" suite which I heard on my IPOD at the gym a couple weeks before. Looking at the CD case, it's cracked in five places, there is some sort of haze from condensation, and inside the CD simply falls out because the fastener is busted in three places. It gets me thinking of the history of one of my favorite hip-hop albums of all time. It's been through nine addresses with me, five states and who knows how many to work sessions in the car. And I picked up this particular copy in the summer of 1996 after I graduated college because my roommates always had a copy handy so I never needed my own. Listening to it on my way to work (because my car is from the stone age of 2002), I'm chanting along about Chuck Woolery, Ben Franklin, Son Of Sam, and Wonder Bread bag shoes like it's an old habit. But what a fun habit to have. It seems logical that "Paul's Boutique" needs to go in the JHO Hall Of Fame.
Because there are so many references and samples littered throughout the Beastie Boys landmark album, I'm not going through them all. There's a website I found a few years ago which will give you everything you want to know about the album. Paul's Boutique Website, everything you need to know about the album is....here.
When I first remember hearing the album, it was in the summer of 1989 riding around with friends. The album was an astonishing step up from their breakthrough "Licensed To Ill". Lyrically, MCA, Mike D and Ad-Rock were rapping about everything...in a completely intelligent way. In retrospect, the growth in maturity is astronomical between albums. Without it, they would have undoubtedly wallowed in self parody by 1993, if they even lasted that long. There were characters you were familiar with and characters you learned about (Saduhara Oh comes to mind first).The way the three interacted with each other throughout the album brought a whole new definition to the definition of carefree. But yet it was complex and ever so sprawling at the same time. The insertions of pop culture icons and other song lyrics throughout their songs were fantastic, done like no one ever had before or rarely have since. It was the cornerstone to a decade that followed it that swam in pop culture references. We have three emcees to thank for that.
photo courtesy: magnetmagazine.com
Musically it was a kaleidoscope of songs that we all remember hearing on FM radio going to little league baseball games or basketball games. Familiar songs from the Eagles to Sly and The Family Stone to Black Oak Arkansas to the Beatles. The band got together with the Dust Brothers, moved out to California to write and record (for some reason, I picture it being like Zuckerburg and company moving into the house in California in The Social Network type atmosphere) and samples were a free for all. This was before the damn Turtles ruined it by suing De La Soul in 1990. It was a free for all and no album has ever mixed the past with the new style so well together in so many different directions.
From what I remember though, the album was a major commercial disappointment at the time of its release. The record company was hoping for "Licensed To Ill" type numbers and the album didn't fare anywhere near as well as its predecessor. It instead weeded out a lot of the jocks and sorority girls who loved the party anthems on "Licensed To Ill". And let's face it, the party jams on both albums are stellar, but "Paul's Boutique" was much more diverse and challenging to wrap your head around on first listen. This was an album that required dedication from the listener and those who finally got it stand by it religiously for many good reasons.
courtesy: thedaysoflore.com
In college, it found its way in the background for endless nights of card games, Nintendo standoffs and pre-bar workouts. In a way it took three full years of working in to the faithful's mindset that by the time "Check Your Head" came out in 1992, the commercial disappointment was forgotten as "Check Your Head" was a top ten hit. After college, it was one of the first Compact Discs I picked up because I couldn't imagine my collection without it. And ever since I get the tremors to want to hear the thing top to bottom on occasions just because I miss it.
That's pretty much the history as I see it. But if you are a faithful, I'm preaching to the choir...or the congregation...or however that saying goes.
Here are some of my favorite moments and lyrics on the album: Shake Your Rump: "Got more rhymes than Jamaica got Mango Kangols" and "Like Fred Flintstone driving around with bald feet" Johnny Ryall: "Sleepin' on the street in a cardboard box, He's better off drinkin' than smokin' the rocks" Eggman: Curtis Mayfield's "The Pusherman" in the verses, Sly and the Family Stone's "Dance To The Music" in the break, just wonderful. High Plains Drifter: "Bust a Travis Bickle when I feel that I'm getting pushed" Sounds Of Science: "Dropping science like when Galileo dropped his orange" and the Beatles "The End" Hey Ladies: "Sucking down pints till I didn't know, Woke up in the morning with a one ton hoe" Looking Down The Barrel Of A Gun: "Ultra violence running through my head, Fuzzy navel y'all making me see red." And of course, the two second sample of Mountain's "Mississippi Queen. What Comes Around: "Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair, So I can climb up and get into your underwear" Shadrach: Figuring out the beat was "Hot 'n Nasty" from Black Oak Arkansas, a rare album my dad owned was awesome. "More Adidas sneakers that a plumber got pliers, Got more suites that Jacoby & Meyers" B-Boy Bouillabaisse: The whole suite. Favorites are "Stop That Train" and "Hello Brooklyn".
Plus the bookends of "To All The Girls" and the two very short skit/instrumentals (the way a hip hop album should operate) are great too.
So this weekend, make it a "Shadrach" weekend. Savor the rich moments which made "Paul's Boutique" one of the best hip/hop albums of all time. If you've got the deluxe edition bust it out. Or if you've got a rough old copy like I own, bust it out. Or bust it out on your digital music player. Because musically, life would be a lot more boring if this album was never created. Essential in every way.
