RIP Hilly Kristal

Talking Heads - Live in Rome 1980 - 10 Born Under Punches

don't you miss it? don't you miss it? some of you people just about missed it.
i wish i could've been one of the people on this stage.

the rainbow connection

i see pil was too much for you pussies to handle. this song prepared me for 'here comes a regular'. the saddest song ever written. and lucy, the second verse is the killer, not the third.

PIL-MEMORIES

this person, too, has had enough of useless memories. sex pistols were great. pil were genius. at least for a short while. and john lydon was much cooler than johnny rotten. and they're both cooler than you.

Do You Realize?? (David Letterman)

i love this song, and i love this performance. wayne coyne looks like i want to feel for the rest of my life.

Lesson #4: Is any song worth singing if it doesn't help?

i'm tired, boys. i'm weary. yer old pal needs a boost. anyone?

1.wishful thinking-wilco. on a ghost is born (great title). the title of this piece came from this song. but mostly i love this song 'cuz of this:

open your arms as far as they'll go

take off your dress

an embarrassing poem was written when i was alone

in love with you.

i read an interview with tweedy where he said on his new album he wanted to write nice, peaceful songs because he had never written an album that didn't make his wife worry. that's nice. i wish ida thought of that.

2. Tower Song-townes van zandt. and if you don't know the song or if you don't know the artist there is something lacking in your life. just so beautiful it takes your breath away. then it gives it back. a little shallower.

3. Parting of the Sensory- Modest Mouse off of the great "we were dead before the ship even sank". far and away the album of the year. and this is the best song on the album. "Aw fuck it i guess we lost". isaac brocks voice is a thing of beauty. all raw and wild, like a pit bull on a rope leash. one of those guys i have a tough time listening to because he makes me think i may be right about the world. god, i hope i'm not.

4. Goodnight My Love-alex chilton. i love when someone knows how to close an album. the sweetest goodnight i've ever heard. i've always thought of chilton as a less naive johnathan richman. where johnathan really likes people, alex really wants to. i think of my nephews when i hear this song.

5. A Pair of Brown Eyes-the pogues. god damn! can words express how great this song is? no, they can't.

i don't know. listen to the songs, really. as i get older it becomes clearer that music is the only beautiful thing man is capable of. fuck it. i'm tired. i'm weary. i going to sleep. just ...one...more...song....

Nina Simone - When I Was In My Prime - 1961

can you imagine being in the same room as this song was being played? how does the guitar player hold on to his guitar? imagine a world where people actually have the patience and fortitude to sit through a performance like that.
so. how'd YOU like it.

Jeff Mangum - I Love How You Love Me - Live at Jittery Joe's

Roky Erickson - the right track (powell st. john)

i was reminded today of how petty and ugly and small people are.
i posted this to prove to myself that that's not entirely true.

The Walker Brothers - The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore

i've recently declared this the best song of the 60's, if not of all time. so dramatic. and scott walker is so fucking cool. i loved this song long before i knew who scott walker was. i remember hearing it in the car with my mom, who also really digs this song. she's a hip lady.
just great songwriting. when the chorus comes out of the bridge my heart always skips a beat. how come spector never produced these guys?
p.s. the opening lines are:
loneliness is a cloak you wear, a deep shade of blue is always there.
shit.

I'm gonna turn on you, before you turn on me

that'll be how i sign off on all my xmas cards this year. great song. i remember vividly the 1st time i saw this video. scared the shit out of me. i bought it the next day. could be the best band of the 90's. definitely the best singer. listen to the way he phrases "oh my love, we can still be friends". so good. talk about shitting in yer mouth and calling it a sundae! god bless gregg dulli! he taught me everything i know about women!

Modest Mouse - Satin in a coffin (live at Letterman)

a fearless band at their peak. enjoy them now. i love that they picked this song for a network gig. isaac brock is the best rock singer since dulli. intense with almost no control of his voice, like it's a sickness he's spitting out. "are you dead or are you sleeping? god, i sure hope you are dead!". that line instantly makes me think of at least 3 people. hint: one of them is me!!

The Dawn Don't Rescue Me No More

if you could feel music the way danko feels this one you'd do heroin too. this is a performance that has haunted me for years. his voice sounds like it's about to crack in half. listen to when he sings the lines "i love you so much, it's all i can do, just to keep myself from telling you, that i never felt so alone before". i swear there's blood in his throat. rick danko is in heaven now. high as fuck.

guilt, revenge, and the sleep of the just

elvis costello once said, earlier in his career, that all of his songs were about guilt and revenge. and really, isn't that why we all love him? guilt is the hole in our sinking ship and revenge is the bucket we uselessly try to save ourselves with. or something like that.

then there's "sleep of the just" off of king of america. one of the saddest songs ever. a song that has elements of guilt and revenge, but is, ultimately, about forgiveness and a bitter acceptance.

king of america always felt like and old timey record to me. it has a soft, country feel to it. songs about lost people fill the album. immigration seems to be a minor theme of the album. but more like emotional immigration (if i may invent a psycho-babble term). people thrust into a situation they're not prepared for. surrounded by strangers and longing for home. it's a complex album and when i got it when i was 13 i had no idea what it was about. now i know a little better.

"sleep of the just" is a gorgeous song. it is, to my ears, costello's most affecting vocal. the lyrics seem so strange. soldiers and poets and homesickness....

well it was a powerful day, and there were black crows in the road...

ever have one of those days? where things seem too much, like every inch of you is a raw nerve? the black crows in the road line always bothered me. why are they in the road? why aren't they flying away?

and i kept my strong opinions to chest...and that never ends well

i suppose i should have told them that i was on fire for you/as the bus burst into flames outside some place, "the poets rest"....when what you have inside affects everything. the whole scene is strange. who are "them"? a rock band? missionaries? what is "the poets rest"? a bar? an oasis? it'ss all so dream like.

and now you say, that you've got to go

well if you must you must

i suppose that you

need the sleep of the just

is he talking to someone on their deathbed? a lover leaving? the way he sings it says it all. and you really have to hear it to know. i can't describe it.

and then "just" trails off and we're left with a gentle strumming of an acoustic guitar. and then the "whap" of brushes on a snare drum. and some beautifully doctored piano.

and then it feels like we've all been forgiven.

rock and roll ghost

i'm gonna be offlinefor a couple of weeks now kids. but don't fear! i'll be buying lots of records while i'm away, and when i get back i'll let you know what's cool. til then absorb all the things i've told you. it'll be ok, promise.

Antony singing If It Be Your Will

yeah, i know i put up another antony clip earlier, but this one is too gorgeous not to share. i don't know if i've ever been so moved by a performance. and that's saying something. the ending makes me believe in god.

You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory

johnny thunders probably wasn't a real smart guy. he was a junky. a bad one. but god damn if this isn't one of the most beautiful songs ever. where the soft side to every rock and roll bad boy came from. and that title...this song, this feel, is what i've been trying for since i started playing music. i hope i never feel bad enough to even come close.

Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues

i bought this album because i liked the cover. one of the luckiest days of my life! a beautiful, rich album. they never did much else i cared for but it doesn't matter. one of my all time favorite albums. means more to me than most people do! no offense...

Lee Hazelwood

Lee Hazelwood died yesterday. you know him best from his production work on "these boots are made for walking", but you should know him better from "some velvet morning" or the "requiem for an almost lady" album. he was a mans' man, in the best way. freedom is where you think it is...

John Cale - Hallelujah

sometimes i should just shut up and listen.

Lesson #3; don't the sun look angry through the trees?

just random shit i've been listening to. or is it? does our subconcious dictate our personal playlists.?or does our playlist dictate our moods? spooky!

1. Idiot Wind-Bob Dylan from Blood On The Tracks. "you'll never know the hurt i suffered, nor the pain i rise above, and i'll never know the same about you,your holiness or your kind of love and it makes me feel so sorry". i mean, jesus, how do you write that. and how come i can't come up with those words when i need them? stupid brain...

2. If Only You Were Lonely-The Replacements. unreleased gem. sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom and that's only part of the charm. no one writes about the lovable loser like westerberg. "i ordered a scotch as i bust through them doors, spilled half on my shirt the other half on the floor". pathetic. so sad and pretty. but what makes this song so great, and what makes pw such a great writer is this: the name of the song is 'if only you were lonely' but a few times he says 'if only you WAS lonely'. and if you have to ask why that's so great you've never been lonely.

3. Desperados Under The Eaves- Warren Zevon. Zevon is one of the great american writers. and i'm not just talking music. if you don't agree you're an asshole and have no fucking taste. here's why. "I was sitting in the hollywood hawaiian hotel/i was listening to the air conditioner hum/it went hmmmmm..." and then he imitates the air conditioner with some overlapping vocal harmonies rivaled only by "god only knows". gorgeous. really. and all kidding aside, check it out. get a copy, put some headphones on and close your eyes. jesus, i'm practically crying now listening to it.

4. Love Hurts-Gram Parsons/Emylou Harris. the most breathtaking duet ever recorded. i don't know how tape can hold it. the weakness of his voice and the strength of hers makes this song so good. each vocal is on a different speaker so check out each one by itself. then together. unbelievable.

5, Leonard Cohen-Death Of A Ladies Man, from the album of the same name. why?

"so the great affair is over

but whoever would have guessed

it would leave us all so vacant

and so deeply unimpressed

it's like our visit to the moon

or to that other star

i guess you go for nothing

if you really want to go that far"

that's why.

Replacements - Talent Show

i sent this to a couple of you a while ago. this clip has everything that i absolutely love about rock 'n' roll. abandon, sincerity, sadness, and humor. love how after he gets beeped for the pills line in the first verse he slips it in at the end. best fucking band ever, without a doubt. a big FUCK YOU to the beatles, stones, zep, etc. you never came close.