Jody Watley - Friends

i've been toying with doing a version of this song for years. i think the times about right.

Pixies - Head On/Bird Dream of the Olympus Mons

so many reasons to post this. cuz it's great. cuz head on is a jesus and mary chain song. cuz of the cd box dennis miller is holding. and cuz it made me fall in love with kim deal again. and the interview is hysterical.

Elliott Smith - 11 - St. Ide's Heaven

what a beautiful song. what a beautiful chorus. and it contains my favorite line. 'everyone is a fucking pro, and they've all got answers for troubles they know, and they all gotta say what you should or shouldn't do, tho' they don't have a clue.'
you fucking got that right elliott.

smoke

i've always admired the guys who give themselves completely to the art, and don't care about the consequences. benjamin smoke is a perfect example.

Beat Happening - Black Candy

this one's for lucy!

Sugarcubes - Birthday

you guys remember how absolutely fucking great this song was? is?

caguama@rotture: april 17, 2008

(this review is part fiction)

i don't really like to go out. i'll do it, mind you, cuz i'm kinda getting sick of sitting by myself too. but it takes alot to get me to move. but it was m.w.'s birthday, and i had promised her i'd come out to see her boyfriends band. that already sounds bad doesn't it? m.w.'s boyfriend is raul, and he's brilliant. but we'll return to that.
so it's a late show. like 10:30 or something. now, a man mine age should be 2 hours into an 8 hour sleep by then. but i'm sorta going through my mid-life, lost weekend, stumble around the city with 20 somethings kind of thing now so, what the fuck! (?)
jrod picked me up, and, and this is really cool, i was on the guest list. i think he was on the guest list and i was his guest, but, yknow, it was free.
rotture:smoky, dark. narrow but big. they served haams, which, i guess is cool for the kids. cooler than pbr? i dunno, i'm out of the loop.
so we get there and there is a god fucking awful band playing. don't know their name. don't care to. i guess they were supposed to be funny. like ween or something. but they just sound like tsunami. and tsunami fucking suck. really. i saw them in chapel hill and the janitor started sweeping up before they ended their set. sucked.
but the lovely j.s. shows up and she's always amusing. a hateful gal really, but good for a larf. so, y'know, here i am, the old man, surrounded by young(er) people, at some hip portland pit, chatting up a couple of lovely ladies. sher m.w. is taken, but still, i do love the company of ladies.
but jesus, it's almost 11. i'm fucking tired.
so i take a leak (the bathrooms were big and surprisingly empty! fellas, you know what i mean) (i actually considered sitting out the rest of the night in there!), and when i get back caguama is on stage.
oh, let me backtrack. i met raul before the show. totally humble, quiet guy. but something is up...something lurking...
should i also mention the ladies love him? oh! i'll get to that.
but the band. let me get the cliches out of the way. they don't sound like los lobos, alejandro escavado (or even rank and file).
i don't know...maybe the mexican pogues? is that racist? it's traditional mexican music filtered through a punk rock kids ears. nah, that's not it, but you get it. the three of you reading.
so they're playing. i had heard that raul had the voice of an angel. i don't think that's quite accurate. it's much better than that. it's rich. weathered beyond it's years. everything is sung in spanish which, to this gringos ears, gave it a deeper meaning. i don't know if the lyrics were good, but, fuck, they sounded beautiful.
at this point i should mention freddy trujillo, the bass player. m.w. told me he was from east l.a. (older, like 36. ouch.) and that he used to play with pat smear. bass hung real low, watt style. classic. beautiful harmony. danko like, warbly and high, sad, really gorgeous. he and raul were born to sing together. their was a keyboard player too, who sang, tho' his vocals got lost in the mix. jrod didn't like the keyboard but i did. i thought it kept the music more trad than punk. but that's me. (also, after the show, when i got back from the bathroom, the keyboard player was hitting on j.s. i mean, so was i, but really. not cool. i talked to him tho, and he was a really great guy. plus, i knew in advance i was sleeping on her couch, so no worries. and really, all i did was sleep on the couch, so we both ended up the same but i'm sure he slept better than me.)
jesus, i'm rambling.
caguama play mexican music. there are elements of punk, indie, whatever. some of their heavier stuff reminded me instantly of neutral milk hotels heavier stuff, strangely enough. y'know, that fuzzed out bombast ala 'holland, 1945'. during the heavy stuff i had m.w. and j.s. on each arm,swaying, both swooning over raul. bastard. have i mentioned the drummer? yeah, he was great too.

there's alot of people making alot of music for the wrong reasons these days. and not to sound like grandpa but alot of young bands are missing the point. caguama get it. they play the music they need to. the music that is pouring out of them it's honest and it's right. it's what is good about music. raul ugalde is a brilliant singer and songwriter. this may be the last time you hear his name, cuz he's not playing for the masses. he is an artist. caguama are unbelievably good. and when you start thinking too much of yourself listen to them. that's how it's done.

they're playing may 2nd at the cinco de mayo festival, and may 3 at berbatis pan. check them out.

Bruce Springsteen-One Step Up

'when i look at myself i don't see, the man i wanted to be.' i hear you, bruce. this is from the album i never wanted to understand.

Nick Cave - People Ain't No Good

people are awful. they are disapointing. i am a people. i wish i wasn't. he says it better than me.

happy independent record store day!!

today is national independent record store day. i hope you got and supported you favorite local record store. me? i went to music millenium and dropped some cash. got the new black francis and the new ray davies. also got a re-issue of 'raw power' and a great ronnie lane collection.
you all know how much i love record stores. i get lost in them. there are so many choices. and any one you make may change your life. like, what if you never heard 'pet sounds'? or 'tim'? or 'little'? or 'rock bottom'? or... or... or the thousands of others i've never heard of? what if you picked them up on a whim today? wouldn't that be amazing?
so go. go buy yourself some music.
before you can only do it online.
ugh.

Springsteen - Sandy

RIP Danny Federici.

Wussy - In the Studio

you should get to know wussy.

Vic Chesnutt - Supernatural

that voice. my god.

what's going ahn

i'm sure you've all been curious as to what yer old friend the feeb has been up to lately. well, this is it. my latest purchases. some are 3 buck finds some i paid the full monty for. here goes:

1. j. geils bamd-love stinks
2. various artists- instrumental music of the southern appalachians
3. ornette coleman- skies of america
4. the gutter twins- saturnalia
5. robert pollard- superman was a rocker
6. bonnie 'prince' billy- ask forgiveness
7. nick cave & the bad seeds- dig!!!lazarus dig!!!

recomended: ornette coleman, nick cave, and bonnie 'prince' billy.
really good: instrumental music of the southern appalachians, j. geils band
average: the gutter twins
disapointing: pollard

sorry, bob, but i've put up with alot.

XTC-Dear God

this one is for pete.

i got a message for you

and it's an apology. the other day i slighted the beloved pavement. today, in a reflective mood, i put on 'slanted and enchanted'. it's fucking great. who am i kidding? i love pavement. true, i love the fall more, and pavement does indeed owe them a tremendous debt. but i was unfair. malkmus is a genius songwriter. listen to 'trigger cut' if you don't believe me. and 'slanted' and 'crooked rain, crooked rain' are two of the best albums ever. shit, they're better than 'code:selfish'. sorry kids.

R.E.M. - Nightswimming

sometimes i feel like i'm copping out by posting videos and not writing something. but really, what can i say that this song doesn't say a million times better? i know that if you're at work you can't listen to this, but you should find the time. don't even think about the words. just listen to his voice. how it quivers, how it pines for the moon.

The Clash - Magnificent Seven - Tom Synder Show 1981

the clash's disco song. remember lucy? happy anniversary sweetheart.

THE FALL on the tube channel 4 - 1983

i haven't posted nearly enough fall material. over the last 2-3 years they've become one of my favorite bands. yeah, i'm late to it, so what? what are you listening to?
the only bad thing about the fall is that they've made it hard for me to listen to pavement. for those of you not in the know, pavement ripped off, then watered down, EVERYTHING, from the fall.

Squeeze - Up the Junction (TOTP)

i'm putting this up cuz you never hear it anywhere and it's their best song. but, no, the radio can only play 'tempted'. so i guess it's up to me.

Love Stinks - J. Geils Band

one of my favorite songs ever. the guitar/drum breakdown at the end is classic. peter wolf is one of the great frontmen of all time. i can't wait for the 'lights out' reissue!

lesson #53: gloomy thursday

it's been cold here lately. snow. in march. bullshit.
sometimes i wanna bundle up and curl into a ball on the couch.
these are the songs i do that with:

1. annie-ronnie lane and pete townshend. off of the great 'rough mix'. i am a recent convert to ronnie lane. just a beautiful man. everything he sings relaxes me. this song is a gem. a gorgeous lullaby. lucy said it sounded irish. i guess it does. maybe that's why i like it. one of those songs where when you hear it for the first time you feel like you've always known it.

2. tonight will be fine-teddy thompson. richard's son does a fine version of this leonard cohen song. so understanding and steady. 'if i've got to remember that's a fine memory'. ah, if only...

3. a long way from home-the kinks. man, i love the kinks almost as much as wes anderson does. i think hearing ray davies tough but weary voice as a kid prepared me for the replacements. a song of compassion with a touch anger. complex and subtle. and mick avory is a somnabitch!

4. on and on and on-wilco. tweedy's best song? debatable. but the one that moves me more than any of his others. i guess it's about his father and the loss of him mother, but it could just as easily read as a relationship song. a resigned musing on death. 'please don't cry/we're designed to die'. not nihilistic at all. just accepting. and loving.

5. be not so fearful-bill fay. 'be not so fearful, be not so pale. someone watches you, you will not leave the rails.' 'be not so sorry for what you've done, you must forget them now they're done'. 'and when you wake up you will find you can run'.
haven't you waited your whole life for someone to tell you that?
well, he's telling you now.

music.
i fell so much better now.

Elvis Costello covers

every parent should play this for their children. or is that not a good idea?