Guided by Voices - Game of Pricks (Amoeba Records)

i have a confession. sometimes, when i'm alone, in my room, i pretend i'm robert pollard. i do the leg kicks and everything. it feels fucking great! you should try it sometime. this is the saddest song i've ever heard. check it:
I've waited too long to have you
Hide in the back of me
I've cheated so long I wonder
How you keep track of me

You could never be strong
You can only be free
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me

I've entered the game of pricks
With knives in the back of me
Can't call you or on you no more
When they're attacking me

I'll climb up on the house
Weep to water the trees
And when you come calling me down
I'll put on my disease

You could never be strong
You can only be free
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me
And I never asked for the truth
But you owe that to me

Elvis Costello - Good Year For The Roses

this is a cover of a george jones song. country is often confused with dumb, but, goddamn!, is there a better, smarter verse than the first of this song.
and 'the lawn could stand another mowing/funny i don't even care'? brutal. get it? got it.

Willie Nelson - Always On My Mind

i can't listen to the 'tell me that your sweet love hasn't died' without getting choked up. hurts so good! dig willies sweet solo.

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - No More Workhorse Blues

backup vocals by dave berman. video directed by harmony korine.
i'm not sure i'd want to be in the same room as these 3 guys.

Burnin' For You - Blue Oyster Cult

i've always loved this song. and i've been reading alot of meltzer lately. 'time to play b-sides'. one of the greatest lines ever.

don't try to read my mind, because it's full of disappearing ink

am i the only person who's favorite musical experience was seeing elvis costello perform 'all the rage' at jones beach in 1995?

am i the only person who remembers?

am i the only person who ever thinks about it?

why? why do i still?

The Mars Volta on Henry Rollins show Part 1

watch both of these. fucking unbelievable. they look how i feel when i listen to their music. this song seperates the men from the boys.

The Mars Volta on Henry Rollins show Part 2

Requiem pour un con - Serge Gainsbourg

the first serge song i ever heard. so great, so ahead of it's time. listen to those drums. they sound like a ping pong match. if folk implosion hadn't sampled it, i would have. and really, how cool is serge?

David Byrne - I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Live)

i've recently rediscovered david byrne. i remember seeing him do this on austin city limits. i had it on tape and stupidly let someone borrow it. never got it back. i really love this.

song of the week-guided by voices 'jar of cardinals'

somehow i missed this song over the years. you know, i know it, but... it never made much of an impact until today. then it hit me! wow. sad and funny. just really simple and pretty. i don't know what else to say. it's on 'vampire on titus'. 4-tracked. the best way to record a song. and those great intertwining vocals at the end. as gorgeous in their own way as 'god only knows'. take a listen to this one. it just might make your day.

Jar of Cardinals

Droves of growers rolling by

In the trees and way below

Simple factors foiling time

Never did we seem to know

She was high and I was low

Sitting in our bungalow

Eating something wonderful

Never ever getting full

Nests of crows are hoarding coins

In the competition zone

Hush now seedling, don't you cry

Maybe I'll be coming home quite soon for you

Quite sinful you...

The Smiths - There is a light that never goes out

one of the most beautiful songs ever written. it reminds me of a very special time in my life. cortland, ny, driving around with the most wonderful woman i'd ever met.
music is like a time machine that way.

Elvis Costello -

from when joan rivers hosted the tonight show. truly, this is the song of my heart.

Cat Stevens ( Trouble)

just felt like hearing this song.

Sinead O'Connor - Last Day Of Our Acquaintance

oh my god. i can't believe how unbelievable this performance is. i've got the chills. absolutely stunning.

syd barrett-dark globe

here it is, where half japanes, guided by voices, daniel johnston, sebadoh, etc. began. the most honest recording i've ever heard. it's like he had recording equiptment set up and he woke from a sad dream and described it before it faded from memory. so beautiful. i long to reach this level of purity. this song makes it hard to listen to anything at else.

The Kinks - Waterloo Sunset

i just can't keep this song out of my brain lately.
the kinks were better than the beatles. there, i said it.

lesson # 7: i believe the children are our future

i'm going to philly this summer to see a friend. he's got kids and wants us to grab the guitars and play a few for his little girls.

now, contrary to public opinion, i love kids. i just don't like what they grow up to be. and this has alot to do with how they're raised. parents don't expose their kids to anything beautiful. they take them to disney movies, sit them in front of a tv radiating them with mindless drivel. and worst of all they play them childrens music. as if kids couldn't handle the ugly truth of a capt. beefheart song, or the sublime beauty of the beach boys. so they get songs about tying their shoes. how is a kid not going to grow up to be a thug without these songs? so here are the songs uncle feeb chooses:

1: bike-pink floyd. bikes, mice, gingerbread men! this song has everything kids love! and it ends with a reference to the joy of music making, which is the one and only lesson a kid needs. that and hygiene.

2. love and mercy-brian wilson. besides having one of the most gorgeous melodies ever imagined, the song shows how a person can be compassionate, empathetic, caring, loving, and selfless. seems like something useful.

3. end of the rainbow-richard thompson. off of the fantastic 'i want to see the bright lights tonight'.

Life seems so rosy in the cradle

But I'll be a friend I'll tell you what's in store

There's nothing at the end of the rainbow

There's nothing to grow up for anymore

yea, i know it's a little harsh but, really, don't you wish someone had told you?

4. goodnight, my love-i'm referring to the alex chilton version. no dark message here kids, just a beautiful, comforting lullaby. and that's good for kids of all ages!

5. better things-the kinks. i listened to this song on my brothers ipod the other day while on a long drive and nearly cried. a song that acknowledges the sadness of life while offering hope. and that's one of the greatest things music can do.

so, yeah, i'll run these by my friend and see what he thinks. he's a good man. i think he'll approve.

David Bowie - I Can't Read

completely different reading of this great tin machine. tin machine were terribly underrated. i have both their albums and remain a big fan.
this video is fucking creepy.

Jay-Z - I Know (Live Performance) -American Gangster-

i rarely hear anything in the rap world that interests me anymore. last hip hop album i bought was ice cubes' debut. but i really like this song and this performance.

The Residents on Night Music - From The Plains To Mexico

i love when stuff like this gets on network tv. it's like terrorism.

Richard Thompson - Withered and Died

this song gets me every time. 'if i were a butterfly...'

bourgeois tagg - i don't mind at all

the shins owe bourgeois tagg as much as bourgeois tagg owe the beatles.

Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians

i love robyn hitchcock. he's like jonathan richman with a nod and wink. i like him in this setting too. so weird. the world will be ok as long as he's around.

David Byrne - Knee Plays - Tree

i bought this album about 3 hours ago. just listened to this opening track and decided it's one of the best songs i've ever heard.

FRANK BLACK - I WILL RUN AFTER YOU

best of 2007

yea, it's a few days late. sue me. i buy alot of music. however, i don't buy a whole lot of new music. mostly because it's uninspired claptrap. these are the few exceptions this year:

5. dungen-tio bitar- i like this album for the same reasons i like guided by voices. you hear the joy of people playing music and filtering their influences. slightly hippy? yea. overblown? sure. but it rocks like a motherfucker and i can guarantee you there's nothing on the u.s charts that's anywhere near as sincere. sweden rocks.

4.magic-bruce springsteen- i gave a pretty detailed review of this already. check it out. all i will say here is that it restored my faith in ROCK!!!!

3.wilco-sky blue sky-just pretty. what else? a great sunday morning album. 5 guys in a room playing. gentle, lovely and uplifting. just what i needed at the time. 'impossible germany' is the song of the year.

2.modest mouse-we were dead before the ship even sank- i was talking with mike the other day about how isaac brock is the greatest soul singer of our time. 'soul music' is too narrowly defined. to me, it's a style, a way of building a song to it's emotional conclusion. take a song like 'dashboard'. brock knows when to reign in his voice and when to let it go. no one else sings with such wild abandon. i find his voice touching, like i find sam cooke's voice touching. am i the first to compare the two? really, just beautiful stuff. and johnny marr is a marvel. his subtle touches add something timeless to the music.

1.frank black-bluefinger- i am old. people like frank black give me hope. he just puts out fantastic albums non-stop. every time he puts an album out i hesitate to buy it, thinking 'well, he's shot his load, he can't have anything new to offer', and i am always wrong. nothing this year rocked harder than this album. check out 'you can't break a heart and have it', my runner up for song of the year. this is as good as any pixies album and i declare it an instant classic and my 'ALBUM OF THE YEAR'. frank, all of your choices were pure.

so that's it. oh, and number 6 would have been scott walkers' 'and who shall go to the ball? and what shall go to the ball?' for it's staggering beauty and scope. in fact, we might want to swap it for dungen. tough call. you decide.

1) Lou Reed - Sweet Jane - live in Paris, 1974

what an asshole. so cool. i love lou reed.

Bob Dylan - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

seems like a good song to end one year and start another with.