The Kinks - Muswell Hillbilly

one of the many shames of radio is that they ignore so many great kinks songs.

New York Dolls-Personality Crisis

i love the stones, but the faces and the dolls were both much better bands. and they ended on time.

The The - This is the day

yep, i got into this song because it was in a commercial. sue me. they're like a sulky they might be giants!

into the morning

i woke up this morning with van morrison's 'into the music' on my mind. more specifically the song 'and the healing has begun'. this is better than what i usually wake up with. thoughts of (names and situations deleted) and (actions deleted) and how i'm gonna (more actions deleted).

no, this morning i awoke gently, almost, dare i say, hopefully, with a song in my head. more like a series of songs, a culmination of the entire album swimming through my brain. songs rubbing my shoulders and legs, easing me out of bed, into the cold air. i heard horns, violin, crisp drums, a clean bass, a choir of women, and a voice unlike any other in the library of rock.

maybe it was the easy stop and go of 'steeping out queen' that got me rolling.

or maybe it was the downright buoyant 'bright side of the street' that sent the shadows running.

oohhh, the female chorus breakdown at the end of 'stepping out queen' is playing. beautiful.

i bought this album for 3 bucks. hardly seems fair now. i should have had to pay alot more. this is the van i like. full on irish poet, gypsies, days of yore, troubadours, etc.

no one else could get away with these lyrics. they'd sound trite. only coming from this well know curmudgeon could these words sound so romantic and sincere.

pt.2

just took a break. know what i mean? now my head is swimming in notes again. glad i got this on vinyl. i wonder if 'angeliou' would have the same impact if it were just track no. 7, instead of side 2, track 1. it sounds like a side 2, track 1.

some of the music i like, i like because i don't understand it. guys like scott walker, or pere ubu, where i just can't get my head around how someone can compose music that way. with van morrison i understand. it's pretty basic stuff. beautifully done, but basic. with van, it's the summoning of emotion i can't understand. how do you summon and control such overpowereing emotion. how do you sing the lines:

and we'll walk down the avenue again

and we'll sing all the songs from way back when

and we'll walk down the avenue again

and the healing has begun

: without becoming overwhelmed? with the gospely music swirling behind you, with the ring of a ride cymbal chiming in your ears? and how do you call up the melancholy required for the vocal blowout during the mid-section? and how do you do this over and over again for decades, without losing your mind? or your spirit?

and i see where the hopefulness i woke with came from.

The Sweet - Ballroom Blitz

kevin dubrow of quiet riot died on sunday. that made me think of slade. than i thought of sweet for some reason. then i got this song stuck in my head all day. it's a good one, too. now, maybe, it'll be in your head. this one's for you mr. dubrow!

totally wired-the fall

the mighty fall.
coolest...
band...
ever.

Rod Stewart and the Faces. Maggie May

i'm posting this for four reasons:
1. great song
2. the faces are so fucking cool
3. ron wood's ridiculous attempt at faking a guitar solo.
4. the guy pretending to play the mandolin is john peel.

Minutemen - King of the Hill

i love the minutemen. i love them more with a trumpet!

Billy Childish - 'Joe Strummer's Grave...'

CAPTAIN BEEFHEART - Ashtray Heart (1980)

you know, i realize i haven't posted any capt. beefheart stuff. for shame!
he's in full on preacher mode in this clip from snl. i can see why the punks loved him. sax solo at the end is fucking incredible. the audience seems stunned. does someone shout 'shit'?

Pere Ubu - Birdies (Urgh! A Music War)

get to know them.
i'm going somewhere...

for those about to rock: take 5

i love rock. love, love, love rock. i'd hang myself from the beams in the basement if i didn't have it. but once in a while you need a break. so i listen to artists that, although you may find them under rock in the record store, aren't exactly that. brian eno, robert wyatt, you know, guys like that. but most importantly scott walker. i admire his integrity. if he wanted to sell some albums he easily could. do an oldies tour with the walker bros. record in the style of scott 3. you know, take the easy way out. instead he chooses to challenge himself and the listener. with provocative and fascinating results.

today i bought his new album, 'and who shall go to the ball? and what shall go to the ball?' it's a score written to accompany a dance piece in England. i'm not an expert on dance but i'm not really sure how one would dance to this piece. not as heavy as 'tilt' or 'the drift' it is still harsh, noisy, minimal, and patience testing. there are electronic throbs, shrill string swirls, slow steady bass drum beats, and long silences. there are also beautiful string flourishes, moments of pure grace. all in all, a moving (get it?) work of art.

now, i know, we can't all agree on scott walker. i suspect his music would make 98% of the population walk out of a room. that's one of the reason i like it. art should challenge you. it should make you think. anyone can make you hum a tune. not everyone can make you ruminate on life, death, and the in between. there is music and there is art and sometimes there is both.

joy division

saw 'control' today. i don't do movie reviews, but it's good and you should see it.
this is the real joy division performing 'transmission'. one of the great songs of all time.
and, yes, that IS the magnificent john cooper clarke at intro and outro. so really, this is a 2 for 1 blog!

things been a little tight, but i know they're gonna turn my way

last week this girl at work brought me in a copy of the new springsteen album, "magic". as she handed it to me she said, "i don't like it".

curious.

i've known her for a little while and have found her taste in music pretty good. she declared 'nebraska' was her favorite springsteen album.mine too.so, i brought the new one home already a little skeptical.she was dead fucking wrong.the album is a masterpiece. the best e street band album since 'the river'. it's a new direction, and also a return to form. his voice has definitely become more expressive, more restrained, not a wasted note. no 'whoops' or hollers.the e street band has become more of a guitar band. 3 guitar players will do that. but there is room for clarence's sax, used more effectively on this album than anything since 'born to run'.did i mention this album is, sonically, a natural successor to 'born to run'. there's a very produced sound to it. this ain't 'the river'. they worked on this. when i put this into the cd rack i'm putting it before 'darkness'. fuck chronology.

'radio nowhere' is his best single since 'dancing in the dark'. an all out guitar assault on modern radio. but also on the cheapening of art, and beauty, and all that makes life more than just a march towards death. '' i was spinnin' 'round a dead dial /Just another lost number in a file/Dancin' down a dark hole/ Just searchin' for a world with some soul". and know what the best part of the song is? the way the harmony on the 'mystery train' line lingers a half beat too long. yea, that's it.

there are references to past albums. songs like 'you'll be comin' down' and 'i'll work for your love' wouldn't sound out of place on 'darkness on the edge of town'. 'Livin' in the future' references 'cover me' and '10th avenue freeze out', (two songs i never really cared for) and bests them both. 'terry's song', the hidden track, is a tribute to a friend who died this year. it's machismo and sensitivity combine to make one of springsteen's most personal, and pretty, songs.

sounds good, right?

but, why is it a classic?

because of two songs. 'your own worst enemy' and 'girls in their summer clothes'. two of bruce's finest songs. ever. seriously. up there with 'born to run', 'hungry heart', etc.

'your own worst enemy' is, sonically, springsteen's masterpiece. if the walker brothers had recorded this it would be their 2nd best song. like all his best songs it mixes the political with the personal. fingerprints left at the scene of a crime, insomnia, the world 'falling apart' ( a theme he returns to on the album more than once). 'you closed your eyes and saw her/ you knew who you were'. 'your world keeps spinning round and round/ now everythings turned upside down'. 'once the family felt secure/ now no ones very sure'. economic crisis? divorce? death? it's abstract, but all encompassing. and he summons the bruce of 'asbury park' with a gorgeous, clean vocal. sounding, seriously, like scott walker. and max weinberg gets to live out his hal blaine fantasy.

now, whoa....'girls in their summer clothes'. and this is why i mentioned the girl at work. not just to show i talk to girls. this song may show why i love this album so much and she was not so impressed. this song makes me wish i was 19 again, sitting in johnny p.'s backyard, polishing off a beer ball with the mineola girls. in many ways a traditional springsteen number. 'the girls in their summer clothes/in the cool of the evening light/the girls in their summer clothes pass me by'. almost seems trite, no? if the melody wasn't so gorgeous it might be. the song summons all that is beautiful, and sad, about being a young man. the struggle between being 'a guy' and the longing for love. the melancholy of 'the rubber ball smacks', and the bravado of 'My jackets on, I'm out the door/And tonight I'm gonna burn this town down'. and it all sound like a stroll down memory lane with 'the wrecking crew' holding your hand for the trip. than the last verse hits. the kids grown up, weathered and tired, but not finished. 'She went away, she cut me like a knife /Hello beautiful thing, maybe you could save my life /In just a glance, down here on magic street /Loves a fool's dance /And I ain't got much sense, but I still got my feet'.

and this is where i'm gonna get in trouble. there is no way a woman can understand this song. because they don't know how they affect men. especially meeker men. there's a difference in the longings of men and women. ladies, you may love the melody, it's bruce's finest, but you will never, ever, really get this song.

i said some of these things to the girl at work. well, i glossed over the last part, and here's what she said to me:

'wow, you've got alot to say about this album'.

yes. yes i do.

The Black Cab Sessions. Chapter Six: Daniel Johnston

such a great song. in a perfect world all the james taylor songs you hear on the radio would be replaced by daniel's songs. it's not a perfect world.

check out blackcabsessions.com

Waterboys • The Whole of the Moon • 1985 Concert

saw them last night. now i'm awful tired. i won't bore you with details but it was great. moving and sincere and mike scott is very cool. when they played this i, well, swooned...

Sam Cooke - Nothing Can Change This Love

know who's a better singer than sam cooke?
nobody.

The Primitives - Crash

i remember i was huge into the ramones when this came out. i think this is the first song where i could pick out an influence. great, great song, and if i'm not mistaken 'lovely' was a pretty solid album.
oh, and i want to start a band with tracy louise cattell.
shit, i think i want to start a family with her.

tom petty, i forgive you for stealing from paul westerberg

just finished watching the new tom petty documentary "runnin' down a dream" directed by peter bogdanovich. you know, the feller with the kerchief.

i've owned some petty albums, always been a casual fan. but watching this really made me appreciate the uniqueness of his career. truly a rebel, and it's not just a persona. he really didn't take shit from anyone. he may be, in fact, the most punk major label recording artist of all time. it's a wonder he was never dropped and banished by the 'biz'.

several things pointed out in the film will make me listen with fresh ears. the main one was when someone (i forget who) mention the sadness of his voice. i suppose i've always had the image of t.p. as a 'take it as it comes' semi-hippy. the man does love his weed. but when i think about out it, his songs are very melancholy. 'southern accents'? i've rarely heard a lovelier song. that line about his mom kills me.

and let me mention this: when he performs 'the waiting' with eddie vedder, it's just unbelievably moving. vedder looks like he's about to jump out of his skin with excitement. they then cut to an interview where he talks about how songs are so important, and how he can remember where he was when he heard specific ones, and how they made him feel. he wonders whether artists really appreciate how important their work is to people. young people. music is there when they need it most.

i remember i bought 'the waiting' single at a garage sale. it's my fave t.p. song.

so thanks to tom petty for always being around. for not making to much of a fuss about it. and thanks for being (arguably) the most punk mother fucker on the planet.

p.s.- and who knew benmont tench was such a bad ass?

p.p.s- the doc is also worth watching, if for nothing else, the recording of the song "keeping me alive", an outtake from 'hard promises' that is one of his best songs.

Wire -another the letter/the 15th

great twofer from the mighty wire. i fucking loved wire the first time i heard them, which was when i borrowed mike's 'pink flag'. i loved them more when i heard 'chairs missing' an album so absolutely perfect that guitar bands should've stopped putting out albums after it. everything since has been an echo.

Scott Walker - Loss Of Love (Theme from 'Sunflower')

get the feeling he hated every minute of this performance? great song, tho'...

Black Francis - Captain Pasty

from his new album 'bluefinger'. far and away the album of the year.

Bruce Springsteen - My City of Ruins (WTC Benefit)

i remember crying like a baby when i saw this. it still gets me. it's like a hymn. and when the chorus stops and bruce is left singing alone, he seems like the last man alive.

all i want's a pepsi

sometimes people ask me, "feeb, how are you?". i want to spit in these peoples faces. no one tells the truth, especially me! if you ever want to know how i'm doing just leaf through the stack of albums i have piled up on my stereo. they usually reflect my current mood. so to anwer your question, you nosy bastards, here's how i'm doing:

1. frank black-honeycomb

2. faust-faust IV

3. robert pollard-coast to coast carpet of love

4. leonard cohen-songs of leonard cohen

5. david bowie-low

6.bruce springsteen-tunnel of love

7. the pogues-red roses for me

8. christy moore-the box set 1964-2004

9. emitt rhodes-emitt rhodes

10. repo man soundtrack

there. now leave me alone.

rip

the best music is the late night, spontaneous music. this is beautiful. just some guy.
mike p. died two nights ago. tho' i haven't seen him in almost 9 years he was a friend and a good man. he would have appreciated this.