Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 Sessions

This is, i think, B-sides and rejected songs and mixes for songs included on the full length Baby 81 Album. I can see why most of the songs were rejected but, overall, still quite good. The mixes are slower, they're darker and they're deliciously muddier. The vocals get thrown to the back of mixing board and the growling, rumbling guitars and drums come to the forefront and dominate. It has the feel of a b-sides album, but it still has 7 tracks and about 32 minutes or so. MK Ultra is easily the best song on the release and it is a remix of an earlier song.

BRMC Continues to be one of the best pure "rock" bands out there.

If Your Life Had A Soundtrack

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?

So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button

Opening Credits:
Lali Puna: Geography-5

Waking Up:
The Walkmen: Emma Get Me a Lemon (this is an awesome waking up song. It'd be a crazy scrambled mosh of images. Dig. It.)

First Day At School:
Radiohead: Let Down. (That is just... ironic.)

Falling In Love:
The Glands: Work It Out. (Perfect)

Fight Song:
The Eagles: Witchy Woman. (This would be one of the best fight scenes ever because it would be creepy and disturbing in a slow-mo, eat the curb, sorta way.)

Breaking Up:
Michael Andrews: Manipulated Living. (okay, seriously, that's honestly what came up there. That's amazing)

Prom:
White Rabbits: Kid on my Shoulders. (ouch. guess we know what kind of manipulated living there was)

Life:
The Ramons: Censorshit.

Mental Breakdown:
The Casket Lottery: Everyone Here is Wrong. (awesome)

Driving:
Johnny Cash: Understand Your Man. (Apparently it's a muppet style driving scene. where's the Studebaker?)

Flashback:
Bobby Darin: I'm Beginning To See the Light. (I think i've seen this movie)

Getting Back Together:
Republica: Holly. (Soooo, this is a Getting Back Together slash Angry Make Up Sex Scene. Hot.)

Wedding:
The Jayhawks: Stumbling Through the Dark. (Ominous or perfect?)

Birth of Child:
Indigo Girls: Midnight Train to Georgia. (Don't you judge me! You don't know me! Don't you judge me!)

Final Battle:
Brand New: Not the Sun. (Another awesome fight scene song. Yeah, more slow-mo punches and such. Man, my life has some awesome fight scenes.)

Death Scene:
Whitesnake: Here I Go Again On My Own. (Yeah... just... yeaaaaaah)

Funeral Song:
Black Eyes Peas: Let's Get Retarded. (What? I'm Irish.)

End Credits:
Billy Joel: And So It Goes. (okay, seriously, at this point the theater is bawling and you should just start handing out oscars.)

Sun Kil Moon - April

Easily Kozelak's best offering since the dissolution of the Red House Painters. These are simple songs on acoustic guitar that let you close your eyes and drift away to your happy or sad gooey middle. This is not good driving music.

Kozelak/Sun Kil Moon have drifted in the last few years, putting out cover albums, albeit good cover albums, but this is the first offering of new music in a couple albums. Tiny Cities, their previous offering, was covers of Modest Mouse songs. They were interesting re-interpretations of indie scenster classics, but ultimately were unfulfilling because they left me wanting new Sun Kil Moon. Now I've got it and the wait seems to be worth it. There's no let down. There really aren't even any stinkers on the album. There are a few gems and then the remainder rest comfortably at around a B/B+. I'm sure there's a song or two about his cats in there, but i didn't notice and i didn't mind.

Lucky Man, Heron Blue and Blue Orchids steal this album. Maybe they just speak to me right now and came into my life at the right point, but they resonate with me and i think that is ultimately the highest praise anyone can give a song or album.

Artist: Sun Kil Moon
Album: April
Released: 2008
Best Tracks: Lucky Man, Heron Blue, Blue Orchid
Play if you like: Sad songs that lodge in your brain

Nick Cave

I take back what i said. He is 50% shit, 50% gold.

The live Abbatoir Blues/ Lyre of Orpheus cd/dvd set is phenomenal. It is music that will leave you smiling while you walk down the street.

Check out:

The Ship Song
Red Right Hand
Easy Money
The Weeping Song
Sweetheart Come

DVD quality sound doesn't hurt either

Favorite Bands, Part 1

I figure it is worthwhile to toss down some favorite (in context XYZ) lists. They're useful to give others some perspective on my musical tastes. Calibration, if you will.

Pillar Bands (bands that form the framework around which you listen to all music)

• Sunny Day Real Estate (specifically, Every Shining Time You Arrive, off of Live. This song opened my ears)
• Tom Waits: Rain Dogs, Ghost of Saturday Night, Real Gone
• Interpol: Turn on the Bright Lights, Antics
• Radiohead: OK Computer, Kid A
• The Notwist: Neon Golden
• The Getup Kids: All of it
• Sparta: Wiretap Scars
  
• Godspeed, You Black Emperor: Lift You Skinny Fists..., specifically the first 3 minutes of Dead Flag Blues.
• Better than Ezra: Deluxe, Friction, Baby, How Does your Garden Grow, Live at the House of Blues.
  
• 10,000 Maniacs / Natalie Merchant (specifically MTV Unplugged and Tigerlily)
• Guns 'n Roses: Use Your Illusion Pt 1 and 2
• Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings
• Weezer: Blue Album. That's it.
  

So a bit on each of these guys and why they matter to me.

Sunny Day Real Estate's Every Shining Time You Arrive is the song that opened my ears up to a whole different genre of music my freshman year of college. I heard that song on my 6am radio show (tuesday mornings, yeah, it was Grrrrreat) and it made me realize a few things: first, music is music and despite what music labels and mainstream radio tells you, they are a business and their business is telling you what to like. You don't have to like what they tell you to like. Second, things that they don't like are sometimes good, sometimes bad and sometimes amazing--frankly, just like everything else on the radio (or not). Third, it made me realize that there was a shit-ton of music out there i hadn't heard. Like i said, this song opened my ears.

Tom Waits is a visionary. Disagree at risk of sounding like an idiot.

Interpol is probably my favorite or second favorite band from the last 10 years. I like dark driving beat-based songs with lyrics that makes you feel something. Refer back to Mr. Tom Waits.

Radiohead is genre defining and genre creating. They have changed the game of how people sell and market music. They have introduced and removed musical elements. And they've done so while continuing to craft beautiful, complex songs that keep me interested and challenged.

The Notwist would be my other contender in favorite band from the last 10 years. Neon Golden is a top album of a decade--maybe 2 or 3.

The Getup Kids were making pop-punk before there really was pop-punk. My sophomore year of college roommate still belts out the whiney, LAST NGIHT ON THE MASS PIIII-III-IIIIKE when i see him. He's a dick.

Sparta is four fifths of At the Drive-In. Well... was. it is now 3/5th. Anyway. It is solid rock. It is the shining beacon of achievement of what can happen when a band "goes on hiatus" and people do their own thing... together. minus the guy who was the problem. Whatever. They're great. They're solid rock with texture and layers and a certain sonic blending that does it for me.

Godspeed, You Black Emperor is what the Polyphonic Spree were good. They compose orchestral rock anthems and they are mind blowing.

Better than Ezra is a band i have seen no less than 7 times. They were the second concert i paid to go to (Bush was the first). I would drive down to Providence and Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel and see them play there. They were fantastic. It's sad to see where they're at now.

10,000 Maniacs, slash, Natalie Merchant. Listen to the albums listed. They're beautiful sad songs played by talented artists. They are what happen when you have a magical night as a group and you then realize you can never again achieve that level. You burn out. You sink. You're done. You have to go your own way. It is sad, but it generated two fantastic albums.

Guns 'n Roses is the definition of anthem-focused stadium rock. Period.

Sumuel Barber's Adagio for Strings is the single most heartbreaking work of music i have ever heard. Sorry Jeff Buckley, you're a distant second.

Weezer. The Blue Album. It is a perfect Album (capital A). It was made by teenagers and it is full of simple songs played perfectly. I cannot think of a better single album. They did themselves a disservice (musically, but, uh, obvioulsy not financially) in making any albums after Pinkerton that were not financially irrellevant. This is easy for me to say, but, just saying, the Green album onwards have been commercially successful and soulless, uninteresting rehashes of everything they did on the Blue Album. It's like listening to rehashed war stories from a grandparent as they fade into senility; the words are there but every time you hear the story it's a little fuzzier, a little less well fleshed out, a little emptier, and every time you hear it you feel awful that your grandparent has been reduced to this.

Well that's an up-note to end on!

Rock Band / Guitar Hero

I got into a conversation today with someone, let's call him Horace, regarding whether Rock Band and Guitar Hero can measurably increase one's appreciation for music. Horace purports that mimicing someone doesn't lead you to appreciate them more and that it may in fact lead a lesser appreciation because things which were previously unknown are now known.

This argument is shit.

Yes, mystery is a good thing (to a degree) and yes i do have a great deal of respect for other's skills when it comes to being able to do things that i cannot--for instance, i cannot play nice with others when they say stupid things--but there is a world of difference between mimicry and creation and, being unable to play an instrument with any real skill yet being able to "wail" on my "axe" in GH/RB, to say that i appreciate what a guitar player can do less because i can play their song in RB/GH is ridiculous. Do actors appreciate Shakespeare less when they're in a Shakespearean play because they're mimicing and reproducing his words?

But that only gets us halfway there--you don't appreciate music less because you can mimic it in a rhythm game, but that also doesn't mean you appreciate it any more.

Confession: i suck at guitars (i can play on medium and sometimes on hard) but i can sing on expert and i bang the drums like a champ. One of the best songs to play on the drums is Welcome Home, by Cohead and Cambria. Playing that song on drums on medium difficulty is a challenge. I can play it on hard if i've got some folks with me. Playing it on expert is just not happening. I love that song. I generally don't dig C&C (the nordic music factory) and i'm not a big fan of the wailing nordic rock anthems. (Fun Fact: Cohead and Cambria's songs are all part of a giant epic poem regarding two nordic heroes, Cohead and... Cambria... "and now for a song from our new album, NibelungelRöCK) (by the way, i would totally listen to that album). But that's my point; RB has caused and appreciable increase in my level of musical appreciation for a band because it has opened me up to music that i otherwise would have passed over, or, if i had listened to it, wouldn't have really dug into.

On a different level, playing the drums in RB has caused me to re-examine and re-listen to a number of songs. I can pick out the foot and hand parts and how it's syncopated. i dig that. That is a band-non-specific increase in my musical appreciation. Shiiiiit, come on, how can you argue with that?

Portishead - Third

Listening to it now. Initially underwhelmed but first listen-throughs are only skin deep.

They Call me William the Pleaser

Tom Waits is an acquired taste. When i first heard his dark growl i described it as, "Satan singing carny music." i still think that Tom Waits is what is played in the circus of the damned--no question--only now i think that it is just visionary, amazing music. He weaves simple blues progressions with bizarre instrumentation, dusty poetry and a voice that gargles with gravel and vinegar.

The last live album Waits put out was in 85 and he does not make frequent or very large tours, which makes live Tom Waits something previous and hard to come by. His current tour, Glitter and Doom, is only hitting cities in the south of US and parts of Eastern Europe. NPR recently came out with a live recording of a Waits concert in Atlanta and it is phenomenal and FREE. You can download it via their webpage or via the NPR All Song Considered podcast.

The concert begins with a mash-up of Lucinda (from Orphans: Brawlers) and Ain't Going Down to the Well. If this song does not get you pumped and get you in the mood for a 2+ hour spelunk into one of the best modern American artists, nothing will. Also, you should check for a pulse. And some musical taste.

It's not worth trying to describe Waits' concert because i assuredly lack the means to do so with any justice. Listen to it. Absorb it. It is the best that live music can be--free, energetic, fun, moving, engrossing, etc. The highlights? Waits' introductions to a few songs (WW2 Nazi swastika pasta known as Pastika, seriously wtf?!), 9th and Hennepin, Hoist That Rag, Make it Rain, Black Market Baby and Chocolate Jesus. They're not perfect renderings of the studio versions--they are perfect interpretations of those songs into something greater than their studio versions. The songs are transformed from studio recordings and given their true musical birthright as works of aural art performed for an entranced audience.

The Set List:

1. "Lucinda / Ain't Going Down to the Well"
2. "Down in the Hole"
3. "Falling Down"
4. "Chocolate Jesus"
5. "All the World Is Green"
6. "Cemetery Polka"
7. "Cause of It All"
8. "Till the Money Runs Out"
9. "Such a Scream"
10. "November"
11. "Hold On"
12. "Black Market Baby"
13. "9th and Hennepin"
14. "Lie to Me"
15. "Lucky Day"
16. "On the Nickel"
17. "Lost in the Harbor"
18. "Innocent When You Dream"
19. "Hoist That Rag"
20. "Make It Rain"
21. "Dirt in the Ground"
22. "Get Behind the Mule"
23. "Hang Down Your Head"
24. "Jesus Gonna Be Here"
25. "Singapore"

ENCORE

1. "Eyeball Kid"
2. "Anywhere I Lay My Head"

If you don't know Tom Waits, find him. Rain Dogs and The Ghost of Saturday Night are two of the most defining albums in American music in the last 40 years. They do not sound like they were recorded in the mid 80's and early 70's, respectively. His work has shaped songsmiths, balladeers and rockers. His songs have been recorded by the Eagles (and recently Scarlett Johansen (greeeeat)) and he's been nominated for academy awards for his soundtracks. The Walkmen point to him as a prime influence and if you can pop in Bright Eyes and not hear Tom Waits in there you aren't listening. He opened the door for non-psychadelic prog rock and danced his way through the door, singing songs about salesmen, whores and loss.

Listen if: You like music.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - The Lyre of Orpheus/Abbatoir Blues

Nick Cave + Bad Seeds is 75% shit. I'll say that up front. Three quarters is just awful, god, this is terrible, why am i listening to this, bad music. It's slow, dribbly and uninteresting to the point of almost being a talent.

25% is pure musical fucking gold. The songs combine old school dark jazz with modern rock stylings, mixing piano, baritone vocals, reverbed /distorted violin and syncopation to form a viscous whole that just sticks in the ears. Your ears are being assaulted by distilled Awesome, and you are a better person for it.

There is no in between. NC+BS is either On or Off. Which is nice, in it's own way--you pretty much know right away if this is going to be a song worth listening to. If it is, oh, hey, look at that, boom. It's good. I know that. Oh, this song... next.

NC+BS are good when they have all the instruments working for them. The mixture of piano, guitar and drums, when executed well, is magical, in my opinion--regardless of the artist. Folks who can't handle the three should never attempt it. It could lead to permanent injury. Now throw in velveteen vocals and voila: Alliteration! Actually, throw in the vocals and throw in a violin and you've got yourself the basic building blocks of any Nick Cave & Bad Seeds

But like i said, there is no "good" with these guys. They're either great or awful. So it really depends on what role the piano plays. When the piano take a step back and just dances and darts along the top of the song the songs transcend. Drums and guitar fade to form a back pallet, a kind of British Wall of Sound meets Jazz 4/4 canvas against which the song is contrasted.

Easy Money exemplifies this. The piano is unmistakable, darting out a leisurely 11 note trill that ties the song together and sets the tone. 11 notes. It expresses sadness, regret and toil. 11 notes. Freaking. Amazing.

So, yeah, i'm a fan. Simple songs that speak should be cherished--even if the other 75% of the album is utter shit.

Artist: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Album: The Lyre of Orpheus/Abbatoir Blues
Overall: 8
Best Song: Easy Money or Spell (tie)
For Fans Of: Good Music and Jazz (in that order)

Panic at the Disco - Pretty. Odd.

Look, I get it, it's been a while, you need to show folks what's going on in your head and where you've been for the last few years. That's cute. Unfortunately for the rest of us you've been sucking ass for the last few years, musically speaking, and it shows.

Pretty. Odd. is, alternately, pretty and just bad. Not odd. (D'ju see what i did there? I could write for Pitchfork.)

What made, A Fever You Can't Sweat Out, so good is that it was a different medley of pop power cords and "other" than any one else was doing--or doing well enough to warrant anyone hearing it. You had your west coast "punk", you had your straight up TRL pop, and you had your solo vocalist pop. Panic came along and combined Broadway musical composition and singing styles with pop music (which makes sense; 50 years ago, Broadway was effectively pop music.) They were 70/30 pop/showtune. It worked. There was foot tapping. There was singing along. There were embarassed sideways looks at stop signs. Those are three hallmarks of Good Pop.

Then they went and reversed the make up of the band and went 30/70, pop/musical and threw in some prog rock who-ha. We get the full show tune extravaganza. You get the country/folksy bits from an Oklahoma. You get the mildly dark, repeatable singalongs from Cats. You get the old timey, vaudvillian (sp?) voice modulation. Fully 10 of the 15 songs on the album conjure the mental image of people on stage in costumes, surrounded by sets and chorus's of extras. Some of them call to mind a curtain raise. These are not good things for a pop album.

Also, i hate it when musicians directly address their fans on albums. Look, i don't need a song telling me you've been away for a few years and that you've got an album out now. I'm listening to it. If i haven't put two and two together already, i don't think you pointing it out is going to help matters. Put on a b-side. Just say, Thank You. Record poop noises. Don't sing me a song about how you haven't been singing songs. Your metamusical immediately made me prejudiced against the album.

But, despite their valiant attempt to destroy the album, parts of it work. Really well. Many of their showtune songs work to a disgusting degree. There is foot tapping. There is singing. There are furtive stop sign looks. Dig. It.

Which just leaves me ultimately dissapointed in the album because i look at it and say, Guys, why did you reverse the ratio?! It was great. If you had tweaked it, altered it, hip bumped it, whatever, this album could have knocked my socks off. As it is... 6.5

Artist: Panic at the Disco
Album: Pretty. Odd.
Overall: 6.5
Best Song: That Green Gentlemen (Things Have Changed)
For Fans Of: Musicals and Pop (in that order)

Musical Junta

I've thought about doing it for a while and now i've "pulled the trigger". So, without further ado, here's another music blog to join the [insert number here] that already exist.

Hopefully mine will be worth reading.