I Rediscovered The Beatles Today, Oh Boy...

So I'm in my car with the iPod in it's "shuffle" mode and my musical mindset is not jivin' with what's shufflin'. I'm fast forwarding so much I almost run off the road and then "Help" by the Beatles comes on and I stop my finger twitching long enough to listen.

I mean really listen.

I enjoy it so much that I stop the random shuffle and go directly to a Beatles mix that I created when I first got my iPod a couple of years ago that, albeit very edited, lists selected tracks from this amazing group in chronological order.

I mean, MY GOD, was there ever a band that evolved so fast in so little a time frame and will there ever be another? Everyone reading this knows the answer to that question. If you don't then you're either a Menonite or a deaf mute. Just listen to Love Me Do, Paperback Writer, Tomorrow Never Knows, A Day In The Life, Helter Skelter and Hey jude all in a row sometime. It's freakin' evil that's afoot, I'm tellin' ya!

Was it the competition between McCartney and Lennon (and George and Ringo to a lesser extent), or was it something else? Was it George Martin's production? A combination of all the above coupled with excellent timing?

What did these four lads have to sign over to the devil in order to become...well...what they became?

I don't know and quite frankly I don't care, but what I do know for certain is that I don't make a point to listen to them nearly enough. That's possibly due to the fact that I am so ubber familiar with their body of work that it slips my mind. It's tough to really appreciate their influence and brilliance when you've heard it so many times, but every once in a while I can pretend that I've never heard the White Album and be absolutely blown away.

Again.

Prefab Sprout's 'Steve McQueen'

Although Prefab Sprout never made much of a splash stateside, it’s 1985 album “Steve McQueen” remains a landmark of 80’s songwriting and production prowess.
The lush production is courtesy of one Thomas Dolby who adds space and air to songwriter Paddy McAloon’s dense, sometimes obtuse pretensions.
The first 6 songs are absolute classics, and although the techniques Dolby uses are utterly of their time the songs themselves remain oddly timeless. ‘Faron’ is a rockabilly shuffler and a great way to start the album but is not quite representative of the remaining tracks which have a connection through the lyrics primarily that deal with the human conditions of loss, regret and redemption.
‘Moving The River’ is truly a wonderful song and the lyrics are some of the finest of McAloon’s career.

“You surely are a truly gifted kid
But you're only good as
The last great thing you did
And where've you been since then
Did the schedule get you down
I hear you've got a new girlfriend
How's the wife taking it ?

If it's uphill all the way you should be used to it by now

You must know me, Father it's your son
And I know that you are proud of everything I've done
But it's the wonders I perform,
Pulling rabbits out of hats
When sometimes I'd prefer
Simply to wear them

Movin' the river, money for jam, and it takes such an effort to stay where I am…”

‘Bonny’, ’When Love Breaks Down’ and especially ’Appetite’ are standouts of pure sophisticated pop music, and the remaining, while perhaps not immediately as affecting, are no less gems in their own right and grow on you like a fungus.

This album has spawned numerous fan sites and inspire a fanatical following worldwide. I myself have owned this album in it’s vinyl form, on cassette, cd (two copies!) and in MP3 format.
Paddy recently released a re-mastered edition of “Steve McQueen”, which was re-titled
“Two Wheels Good” in North America due to legal issues with the actor’s estate, with a generous helping of gorgeous acoustic editions of some of the tracks. I would definitely recommend you hunt down this edition. It’s really worth it.

GUILTY!!

Every once in a while the rock snob in me takes a sabbatical and is replaced by the 12 year old boy that was discovering his cousin’s record collection. Bear in mind I was born in 1968, so that would make the year 1980. My cousin was older than I and his collection was pretty much dominated by the classic rock of the 1970’s which is, you’re soon to find out, where the majority of my “guilty pleasures” originate. I have no real fear of any retaliation (except maybe Philbert--he knows where I work!), but just in case I think I’m going to invest in some Kevlar body armor.

So here’s some more guilty pleasures. Let the snickering begin!


The Alan Parsons Project, I Robot
I had this really hot drama teacher in public school who used to use this album as a “warm up” for our interpretive movement sessions. If I can be totally honest, the fact that she was a hottie is only part of the reason for my affinity towards the APP. Listening again with unprejudiced ears I have to say that the dude knew how to build a mood. In addition, I think I could make a pretty good case for the guy as an electronic pioneer! He would soon sink into mediocre balladry, but this…THIS…was a fantastic record for it’s time.

The Steve Miller Band, Fly Like An Eagle
So I had this really hot French teacher who…just kidding. I think Steve Miller’s stuff has stood the test of time…really. Maybe it’s that blues foundation that’s the backbone of most of his songs, but I think a primary reason is that he just knew how to write a really good hook!

Adam And The Ants, Kings Of The Wild Frontier
I’m not talking about the “Goody Two Shoes” era (although, I have to admit, a damn fine pop moment!), but the era where the Burundi drums were a real innovation in Western music. Malcolm McClaren and Bow Wow Wow would later steal that unique sound but it doesn’t take away from this wonderful early 80’s pop gem of a record.

Bobby Darin, Mack The Knife
How can I , or anyone with a soul for that matter, press the skip button when a Bobby Darin song comes on the old ipod? Mack The Knife, Dream Lover, Beyond The Sea…good stuff. It doesn’t hurt that Beyond The Sea was used to great effect in a memorable jail scene in Goodfellas, either.

AC/DC, any album with Bon Scott & Back In Black
The best damn disco-heavy metal band EVER! Tell me who out there hasn't shaken their thang to at least one AC/DC song? They were bad boy boogie with a penchant for discofied rythms, killer guitar riffs and double entendres. "Big Balls". Need I say more?

The Cars, The Cars and Candy-O
They were terrible live (reproducing their songs perfectly, no enthusiasm or energy, no crown interaction), but the first two albums are pure new-wave pop tasty goodness.

Gordon Lightfoot, Gord’s Gold
I got no excuse for this one. Except that I’m half Canadian…and Sundown contains one of my all time favorite lyrics in "Sometimes I think it's a shame/ When I get feelin' better when I'm feelin' no pain.” Poetry. Sheer Canadian, hockey luvin’, tuke wearin’ drunken poetry.

I Freakin' Knew It!

I've always said I thought AC/DC was the best disco-metal band on the planet and now my rant has been justified by the band shooting up the Billboard dance charts with a cut from their new album("Rock N Roll Train"). Not just background music for stripers anymore, AC/DC have now officially graduated to the disco mainstream.

Isn't this one of the signs of the apocalypse?

Read more HERE

A One-Hit Wonder Twofer!

The best song ever from a Dutch quartet about a California road trip, “Sausalito Summernight” on Diesel's "Watts In A Tank" LP reached #25 on the US charts in 1981. Almost unclassifiable, this song was wrongfully pegged as “New Wave” (wasn’t everything?) by the rock critic elite of the time. Lead vocalist/guitarist Rob Vunderink’s (I can hear the laughter from here, Phil/ Dave!) guitar solos echo early Mark Knoffler and the drums and bass pound away in perfect unison for the full 5:08. I know what you’re thinking. “A great rock song from the Dutch? No waaayyyyy, maaan. Not possible!”

But it’s true, I tells ya!

It’s the lyrics, I believe, that make the song truly unique. For a Dutch band they sure have the whole California road trip thing down pat.

To wit:

“We left for Frisco in your Rambler
The radiator running dry
I've never been much of a gambler
and had a preference to fly

You said "forget about the airline,
let's take the car and save the fare."
We blew a gasket on the Grapevine
and eighty dollars on repairs”

Anyone who’s ever traveled the Grapevine above Los Angeles will be able to sympathize with “blowing a gasket” on that infamous pass. I’ve traversed it many times, once in a U-Haul trailer, and I can tell you I worried about that very thing as I sputtered to the top going 15 miles an hour! It goes on:

“Hot summer night in Sausalito
Can't stand the heat another mile
Let's drop a quarter in the meter
and hit the sidewalk for a while

I'll have a burger and a root beer
You feed the heap some of the grape
A shot of premium to boot, dear
We'll get across the Golden Gate

Another mile or two to the frisco
200 gallons from LA
the engine stompin' like a disco
we ought to dump her in the bay”

And the following is extremely appropriate given today’s California gas prices:

“Cashing all my checks
Sweeping out my bank
Spend it on a Rambler
With a whirlpool in the tank
Look out over here
Watch out over there
Can't afford a blowout
'Cause we haven't got a spare…”

I don’t know, maybe it’s the ‘been there, done that’ connection, but I truly think this is one of the lost great songs of the last three decades, right up there with “I Got You” by Split Enz, “Drivers Seat” by Sniff ‘n’ The Tears and “This Beat Goes On/ Switchin’ To Glide” by The Kings. Instantly memorable, both lyrically and musically, without an ounce of pretension. It's just plain FUN. Guilty pleasure? Maybe. It never won any awards, but that's never how I've measured musical talent. As a matter of fact I usually watch the Grammy's to see who to avoid.

There’s a great line from one of the Austin Powers movies where Austin’s father says, “There are two things I hate in this world: people who are intolerant of other people’s cultures….AND THE DUTCH!”

He obviously hasn’t heard this song.


Sniff 'N' The Tears: Drivers Seat

Fellow blogger and newspaper colleague Thom G over at Surface Tension (link on the right rail) once posted a video of The Kings new wave Canadian classic “This Beat Goes On/Switchin’ To Glide”, and it got me thinking of British band Sniff 'N' The Tears and their song Drivers Seat, simply the best "one hit wonder" song of the 1970's. I personally think that this is one of the best songs of any decade, and it's a damn pity the album it came from is long out of print.

It was used to great effect in the film Boogie Nights (that P.T. Anderson knows how to pick the songs for his movies, doesn't he?), but the song and band are largely and unforgivably wasting away in the overflowing "where are they now" files.

The drummer is a metronomic maniac and the guitar never lets up it's mannered ferocity throughout the entire song. Steady bass playing and terrific keyboard/ synthesiser riffs by Alan Fealdman round out the sound.

The full album, with an unfortunately abbreviated version of Driver's Seat is now available on Amazon, iTunes, etc.

Oasis: Dig Out Your Soul

Does anyone really care about a new Oasis record anymore? I mean, I'm curious, a little, but not so curious as to throw down $10, which is saying something. I previewed some of the tracks, read some of the reviews (mixed, but mainly positive) but aside from The Shock Of The Lightning the album seems a mile away from their joyous beginnings. I mean, Definitely Maybe was a fantastic album, and the folow up (What's The Story, Morning Glory?) was pretty great as well. Their blatant riff rips and Beatles piracy seemed like a good thing at the time, especially when combined with Liam's Johnny Rotten sneer, but it's old now. Really old.
However, they went downhill fast after the bloated mess that was Be Here Now and I lost interest and haven't really regained it. I bought Don't Believe The Truth, and enjoyed it somewhat, but it's not received regular airtime in quite a while. Nothing they've done since the mid-90's has stayed with me for more than a month or so. Damn shame, the lads had so much promise...

Fleet Foxes

Well I finally pulled the trigger and bought Fleet Foxes. The massive critical hype made me instantly nervous, as I have been burned more than once (TV On The Radio's "Return From Cookie Mountain" was touted as "the album of a generation", and I thought it overblown and pretentious) by the Pitchforians and their ilk.
But hey, I had $10 burning a hole in my pocket so I did it.
Here's what some of the critics had to say about it when it was released in June of this year:
From Delusions Of Adequacy: "With their self-titled debut, Fleet Foxes have attained this and have delivered one of the best albums of the year."
From The Guardian: "It all adds up to a landmark in American music, an instant classic."
From MOJO: "The sense of wonder in Fleet Foxes' songs is matched only by the discipline and talent that created this adventurous, evocative record. One which is already shaping up as an album of the year."
From Dot Music: "Ironically, though defined sartorially and sonically by this short window in history, the songs on their debut album are mostly timeless. Few better will be released in 2008."
From The Austin Chronicle: "A number of contemporary indie bands attempts to strip-mine mountain ballads in the service of indie pop, but none has melded the impulses as effortlessly and captivatingly as Fleet Foxes manage on "Blue Ridge Mountains" and "Oliver James." Sublime."

...and the list goes on...and on...and on. Even some of you reading this have touted the magnificance and significance of this album on your music blogs.
I've listened to it only a couple of times and I think I really dig it! A great late night album, for sure, with excellent harmonies and great musicianship. But it's the melodies that keep me interested, something that is sorely lacking with many of today's bands. Not bubblegum teeny-bopper type melodies, but strong ones that help define the song, give it heft. It's telling that the list of people they thank in the liner notes include Bob Dylan, The Band, Brian Wilson, John Lennon, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Charles Mingus, Harry Nillson, Marvin Gaye, Arthur Lee and Townes Van Zandt. They are students of music, but good music, and even though their influences betray them somewhat I find solace in the fact that they coul have picked worse.
I don't have the history with this album yet to give it a song by song review; they're many great sites that do a much better job at that sort of thing than I. Is it a great album? I think so, but will it top my "best of list" this year? I don't think so. So far it's been tough to beat Nick Cave's Dig Lazarus Dig!, but you never know. Excellent albums have a way of sneaking up on you. Stay tuned...

Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg

"Combat Rock was originally planned as a double album with the working title Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg, but the idea was scrapped after internal wrangling within the group. Mick Jones had produced the first cut, but the other members were dissatisfied and producing duties were handed to Glyn Johns at which point the album became a single LP. The original cut has since been obtained and subsequently bootlegged."(from wikipedia)

Ok, WTF!?!?!

I consider myself a fairly huge Clash fan and I knew zip about this. I'm embarassed but at the same time pretty excited that I found some new Clash tunes! Managed to get my hands on a copy, and it seems that the aforementioned Glyn Johns did a bit of a hatchet job on Combat Rock. Extended intros/ outros and whole songs were cut from Combat Rock, and whether or not this was a good idea will depend on who you ask. In addition to the editing of the tracks, some on here are alternate takes, and although a couple are fairly muddy the majority are of really decent sound quality! And, in some cases, these versions eclipse the released version, and in the case of Should I Stay Or Should I Go eclipse the Combat Rock version by a freakin' mile!

So, yeah, I'm fairly stoked. It's all over the web, apparantly, readily available with the blessing of Mick Jones.

Did any of you reading this know about Rat Patrol?

Worthwhile Reading

Since I'm still computer challenged at this point I'm going to recommend you read the following bit of music minutae, an extremely engrossing essay on the late, great Lester Bangs. Music critic for Creem magazine and all around scuzzbag. Love him or hate him (I'm of the former camp), this is one interesting and insightful read.

Big Bangs Theory

In Almost Famous, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the late rock critic Lester Bangs onscreen. But the only way to get Bangs right is to get Bangs on paper.

By David Pulizzi

Late one evening about two years ago I was reading about one dead man, Elvis Presley, when I encountered the work of another, Lester Bangs. I was well into the endnotes of Mystery Train, Greil Marcus' popular treatise on rock music. Following a couple dozen pages of detailed notes on Presley, Marcus arrives at what he calls "the finest, or the most final, words of obituary spoken on the occasion of Elvis Presley's death. Lester Bangs was writing in the Village Voice, August 29, 1977, in a piece titled 'How Long Will We Care?'":

If love is truly going out of fashion, which I do not believe, then along with our nurtured indifference to each other will be an even more contemptuous indifference to each other's objects of reverence. I thought it was Iggy Stooge, you thought it was Joni Mitchell or whoever else seemed to speak for your own private, entirely circumscribed situation's many pains and few ecstasies. We will continue to fragment in this manner, because solipsism holds all the cards at present; it is a king whose domain engulfs even Elvis's. But I can guarantee you one thing; we will never agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis. So I won't bother saying goodbye to his corpse. I will say goodbye to you.

Those were the first words of Bangs' I had ever encountered and they numbed my brain for a while.
...read the rest HERE

Califone's Roots And Crowns

If that weird little banjo pickin' dude from Deliverance formed a band with Kurt Cobain, Nels Cline (from Wilco) and Steven Drozd from the Flaming Lips they would've sounded a lot like Califone. This is skewed Appalachian Americana at it’s best and most haunting. The musicianship and variety of instruments played on Roots and Crowns is impressive as well. Here, take a peek at the credits:

Tim Rutili (vocals, guitars, piano, electronics, field recordings, organ, synthesiser, banjo, loops, bowed balalaika)
Ben Massarella (pistons, Zuni rattles, counting stick, bronze fork, gourd shakers, glass, oak chimes, ribbon crasher)
Jim Becker (violin, banjo, bass, xylophone, cajun accordian, mandolin)
Joe Adamik (drum kit, bass clarinet, wurlitzer, piano and organ, vibraphone, Dr. Sampler, bells, melodica and prepared metaliphone)

This is one of those "damn glad I kept it" discs because even though I couldn't quite get into it at first it eventually grew on me and now it's a favorite with weekly spin honors.
The itunes review states that Roots And Crowns "sounds like nothing so much as the perfect experimental country rock band that Wilco And Sonic Youth have yet to get together and form", and they're pretty spot on. Except this isn't like the Sky Blue Sky Wilco, more like "I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" or "Ashes Of American Flags" Wilco. It's dark, organic and experimental all at the same time and I highly recommend you pick up a copy and see for yourself. If I wouldn't have been brain dead when I first picked this up in 2006 it would've probably ended up topping my year end lists.

A Brief Rant About Sandinista!

Why the hell does Sandinista! get such a bad rap?

The 4th album by The Clash, Sandinista! has always been my favorite by “The Only Band That Mattered”. I mean, come on! 3 slabs (2 on CD) of everything that made the Clash so enjoyable; dub experimentation without compromise, political musings with a punk edge, pure pop and loads of heart and soul. What more could you ask?

Most critics point out that this would have made a fantastic single disk, but I say “what the _____?” Sure, after the all-over-the-map sonic brilliance that was London Calling, Sandinista! may have seemed like bloated pretentious meanderings. Honestly though, the meanderings and experiments are what make it a favorite, of not just myself but legions of Clash fans all over the globe. But the only place I have ever seen this album top a list was in a “Best Of” 1980 in The Village Voice.

Damn shame, but all the better for me. I’ll let the punters have their London Calling and the eponymous first release and I’ll just sit back and play “Somebody Got Murdered” and “Charlie Don’t Surf” until the cows come home.

The Man In The Blue Mask

This sure has been a month for rediscovering old classics. OMD’s Dazzle Ships, Love’s Da Capo, Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True and now Lou Reed’s The Blue Mask.
The Blue Mask came out in 1982 and at that time it wasn’t too hip to be lovin’ Reed. He just came off a string of poorly reviewed albums (Growing Up In Public, The Bells) and was competing with bands that couldn’t hold a candle to The Velvet Underground yet, stylistically and lyrically, owed them and Reed a humongous debt.

The Blue Mask is notable in the fact that Lou was clean and sober for the first time in many years, and the songwriting is clearer and concise. That is to say there are actual songs on this record, unlike his abhorrent Metal Machine Music (I don’t give a rat’s ass if the Chemical Brothers and a host of ambient and sub-par industrial bands think it’s fantastic, it’s shit!) .

To be honest, I think it’s his best since the Velvet Underground, even one upping the magnificent glam artifact that is Transformer and two upping Coney Island Baby and Street Hassle. The fact that Reed’s playing guitar again helps as well. Just listen to the metal feedback of the title track, pure organized chaos. Robert Quine adds a healthy dose of the danger with his evil power chords and Lou’s singing is at it’s most nakedly emotional and angry.

The rest of the album, most notably the eerie The Gun and The Day John Kennedy Died, is equally great.

Just because I was in the mood I also downloaded Street Hassle, which is a mini horror opera that Pete Townsend would’ve killed to pen. It’s worth it for Bruce Springsteen’s short but extremely effective cameo in which he cribs his own lyrics from Born To Run.

Junk Or Junque, Part Deux.

Some albums start out as vinegar and end up the finest wines, don’t they?

Case in point: Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Dazzle Ships. The time was 1981 and OMD had just released their career and critical high point in Architecture + Morality, an inspired blend of electronic experimentation (not unlike their musical heroes Kraftwerk) and sublime humanity. It was an unqualified success on all fronts, and what does any successful band do after releasing such an album? Well, if you’re OMD you release an obtuse, abstract concept album on cold war tension as a follow up.
Unlike it’s predecessor, Dazzle Ships was critically derided upon it’s release and spawned only a minor hit in Genetic Engineering. Of course we all know how the story ends, right? The group quickly sold it’s artistic soul to filmmaker John Hughes, released If You Leave on the “Pretty In Pink” soundtrack and became one of the biggest bands on the planet.
But something happened to Dazzle Ships in the 25 years since it’s release. It became hugely influential.
Allmusic states,

“On its own merits it is dazzling indeed, a Kid A of its time that never received a comparative level of contemporary attention and appreciation. Indeed, Radiohead's own plunge into abstract electronics and meditations on biological and technological advances seems to be echoing the themes and construction of Dazzle Ships.”

I recently re-purchased the re-mastered “Special Editions” of Dazzle Ships, Architecture + Morality and Organisation (this misspelled title itself an homage to Kraftwerk; it’s their original name), and I was blown away by the sheer inventiveness and “freshness” these releases have maintained. Especially Dazzle Ships. It’s a brilliant record that has not dated in the least. The out of date electronics, the early 80’s cold war references and even the sound effects on This Is Helena (“Music for your tape recorder!”) sound like eerie reminisces and are extremely effective, and at times quite chilling. Dazzle Ships is the reason I don’t trade in my CD’s. Times change, taste changes.

This re-issue gets my #2 vote for best re-issue of the year, the number 1 slot reserved for, obviously, Jesus Of Cool.

Do you, dear reader, have an example like the one above? If so, please share.

The Elephant 6 Collective: You're Not In Kansas Anymore

The Elephant 6 Recording Company is a collective of like minded musicians and downright freaky individuals who have, since 1991, released some of the best independent albums of the last 15 years.
On the surface most of the music produced by the Elephant 6 bands focus on 60’s psychedelia coupled with the twee pop of that era. But beneath the surface there is always the feeling that something sinister lurks, something disturbing. It’s like a David Lynch movie; all waving firemen and bucolic summer settings, but dig a little deeper and you’ll find that it’s all an illusion. The reality underneath is something that’ll make your stomach turn and your mind reel with revulsion.
That being said, it’s very entertaining stuff! Although older musos will be able to play “spot the influences” (“hey, that’s the Zombies! That sounds like…”), it somehow flies above its forbearers adding enough modern twists to make it fresh and exciting.
Some of the bands and albums have achieved such regal cult status that it may be a let down when one first hears them. The discography is massive and intimidating, and if you don’t start with the right bands or the right albums you may find yourself saying “What the hell is all the fuss about with this Elephant 6 crap, Uncle E!?!”
So, being the generous sort that I am, I thought I’d attempt to point you in the right direction. I’ll start you at the beginning of the yellow brick road, point you in the right direction and hope you find your own way to the Emerald City. If you start with the following albums I think you’ll be ok.

Neutral Milk Hotel, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea: This album has achieved similar status to My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless over the years and is a real trip. A cross between peak-era Donovan and a marching band on acid is the easiest way to describe it.
Of Montreal, Satanic Panic In The Attic: Surreal lyrics, a trademark of Of Montreal’s brain trust Kevin Barnes, and a stripped down sound and damn fine songwriting makes this the most accessible of the Of Montreal albums. Lysergic Bliss is a real wonder of a song.
Olivia Tremor Control, Dusk At Cubist Castle: The White Album of it’s time. Schizophrenic yet tuneful, epic yet intimate. Beach Boys, Krautrock, folk and Velvet Underground all wrapped in one wonderful package.
Apples In Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder: Vocoders, Mellotrons, backwards guitars and a heavy dose of Something/Anything era Todd Rundgren thrown in for good measure. Funnyman Steven Colbert has championed them from the beginning, which is an endorsement of the highest order.
Ladybug Transistor, The Albemarle Sound: If The Olivia Tremor Control want to be The Beatles, then Ladybug Transistor on this album want to be Burt Bacharach. Sounding like it could’ve been released 40 years ago, it’s more of a direct replication of their influences that the rest of E6 it’s still a fine, fine listen in it’s own right.

In It For The Money...Not On Your Life!

Supergrass are nothing if not consistent. Since 1995, during the height of Britpop, these guys have put out a string of great and really great albums starting with the giddy I Should Coco. The difference between Supergrass and their contemporaries during this time was their utter lack of pretension, even though their skills were apparent from the get-go. Blur were trying to re-invent the serious character studies of Ray Davies, Oasis were all faux snarls and The Happy Mondays were football hooligans with heroin habits. But The ‘Grass were just plain fun, idly side stepping the trappings of fame with gusto and conviction. Case in point: Steven Spielberg famously offered the boys the chance to star in their very own Monkees style TV. show, reportedly for a boatload of cash, which they promptly declined.
They followed up the debut with one of the finest albums of the 90’s, the sardonically titled In It For The Money (Hah! Take that, Mr. Spielberg!). This was a sprawling album which contained a veritable cornucopia of genre exercises. You would think that an album this schizophrenic wouldn’t work, but it does. From the psychedelic title track to the adrenalin rush of Richard III and Sun Hit’s the Sky to the introspective and beautiful Late In The Day, this is an album that blows away the English tradition of following up a great debut with a sub par sophomore effort.
They stumbled slightly with 1999’s self titled long player, but it still contained some of Supergrass’ finest songs in Jesus Came From Outer Space and the summer driving classic Pumpin’ On Your Stereo.
Life On Other Planets was a great album and one of my personal favorites, although by this time I think I was one out of about 100 fans still interested. It’s a shame really, ’cause LOOP is one helluva fine LP full of their patented power pop pleasures.
They followed with the subdued but effective and “punningly” titled Road To Rouen (just to prove their sense of humor was still intact, I suppose). It’s a slight but focused 35 minutes and it’s the bands most musically consistent effort to date with each song possessing a similar ‘feel’ which gives this album a great flow from start to finish.
I just got their latest entitled Diamond Hoo Ha Men, and so far I’m impressed. It won’t top my best of list for 2008 (that is being reserved for the new Mercury Rev), but it’s probably going to make the top 10.
Consistency is important and increasingly rare, especially these days, and it’s nice to know that every 2 or three years Supergrass will release another really good album. What other bands can you say that about?

Not too many, I’ll wager.

Dickie Goodman, Original Sampler (O.S.)

Who out there has heard of Dickie Goodman?

No one?

Well, that’s kind of my point. While Weird Al Yankowhatizface and Dr. Demento are often attributed as being pioneers in the music parody business there’s no doubt in my mind that they owe a debt of gratitude to Dickie Goodman. His shtick was that he would act as a "reporter” and ask questions and the responses from the "people" he was interviewing would be lines taken from the pop songs of the day. His fist release entitled “Flying Saucer” in the 1950’s was a minor hit and for his efforts he was sued by 17 different labels for his “inventive” sampling techniques and actually won the case, the judge citing that he had indeed “created a new, unique work of art”. I can remember back when tape recorders were fairly new my cousin and I would spend entire days making our own cut'n'paste versions of Goodman's recordings. It was painstaking! Coming up with the 'script', voicing each bit and then adding the appropriate "musical answer", hitting pause, voice another bit, add another sample of music, etc etc. It was a lot of work, but when it was done we were proud little 11 year olds, let me tell you!
He continued to make novelty hit after novelty hit (come on, you MUST remember “Batman And His Grandmother” from the 60’s) eventually reaching his creative and commercial peak with 1975’s “Mr. Jaws”, which parodied such acts as 10cc and WAR among many others. It sold over 500,000 copies and was Goodman’s only certified Gold record.
He made one other worthwhile recording (1977’s “Kong”), which was his last single to chart. After that he disappeared and didn’t reappear until his death in 1987 of an apparent suicide.
Thankfully the wonderful Rhino Records has started releasing compilations of Goodman’s works, and such unlikely celebrities as Howard Stern has continued to keep his memory alive with similar parodies on his radio shows over the years. Sure, upon reexamination his stuff now seems quaint, but back then it was subversive...and a little bit naughty.

Here's his most famous 'bit' for your listening pleasure:

Someone Else's Record Reviews

Just because I'm a little busy (coupled with the fact that nobody reads blogs on the weekend--right?), I'm gonna cut and paste some reviews straight out of allmusic.com for some new music that caught my ear and should catch yours. Forgive me, original content to resume on Monday.

Alpacas Orgling, by L.E.O.
"If those three letters look familiar, that's entirely by design: LEO is an unabashed re-creation of the sound of vintage late-'70s Electric Light Orchestra on an indie rock budget. The ELO lifts are subtle but unmistakable, with direct nods to tunes like "Telephone Line" and "Mr. Blue Sky" mixed in with bits that cleverly nod to Jeff Lynne's creamy pure pop goodness without actively ripping him off. It could possibly be the most clever album-length evocation of an established band's sound since the Rutles. "But that's all it is, right?" sneer the non-believers. "It's nothing but a baldfaced ripoff of the sainted Jeff Lynne, and with a silly album title besides!" Alpacas Orgling is the single best album any of its major participants have ever taken part in. And yes, that includes the hugely overrated Jellyfish, a band much more interesting in concept than in practice. Given the self-limiting task of channeling their own pop sensibilities through those of an earlier generation of craftsmen causes all concerned to step up their game: the songs are gorgeously arranged, with instantly memorable melodies and lyrics generally far less pretentious than the sort of claptrap Jeff Lynne himself often came up with. Of course, the most logical next step is for McAuley, Viola and company to take the lessons learned from this project back to their primary careers, but as long as one is clear on the album's artistic intentions and is willing to approach this kind of wholesale imitation on its own playful level, this is an album any true lover of '70s AM radio pop fluff should treasure."

Future Clouds And Radar, Future Clouds And Radar
"A hefty two-disc set, Future Clouds & Radar features 27 tunes which demonstrate Harrison's gift for crafting gorgeous psychedelic-tinged pop songs has only grown stronger during his lay-off from recording, and his band of compatriots who helped him commit this to tape navigate his stylistic twists and turns with the élan of a Formula One racing team. While Harrison's voice splits the difference between John Lennon and Glenn Tilbrook, melodically Future Clouds & Radar hops from one approach to another throughout its playing time, from the acid-drenched electronic meandering of "This Is Really a Book" and the stripped-bare blues figures of "Devil No More" to the high-spirited rock & roll of "Holy Janet Comes on Waves" and the bittersweet simplicity of "Christmas Day 1923," with plenty of solid hook-infused power pop and up-tempo rock along the way, all presented with just the right degree of polish and played with skill and spark throughout. It's telling that the more relaxed numbers such as "Build Havana" and "Green Mountain Clover" are as effective as the high-energy tunes, and Harrison can play goofy and sincere with equal impact. As strong as Cotton Mather's best work was, Future Clouds & Radar suggests Robert Harrison's best music still lies ahead of him, and this is an accomplished and thoroughly enjoyable calling card for his new enterprise that discerning fans of smart pop will want to hear."

Songs In A and E, Spiritualized
"Who would have thought that Jason Pierce's Spiritualized would have had any life in them after the rather uninspiring Amazing Grace in 2003? In the intervening five years, Pierce nearly died from double pneumonia. Near death experiences by their very nature are life-changing events. The music on Songs in A&E were recorded in that aftermath, but most of the album was written two years before he got sick; with so much of it about near death and survival, it feels like life imitating art. From the first notes of "Sweet Talk," it's obvious that a very different Spiritualized is up and about; an acoustic guitar, a sparse drum kit, the voice quartet, a few horns, and a minimal bassline fuel it. Pierce sweetly croons to a loved one in waltz time; his words are simultaneously appeasing and accusatory. The gospel chorus isn't as overblown as it was on Amazing Grace or Let It Come Down. They are in a support role, offering Pierce's reedy voice a fullness and authority it wouldn't have otherwise. The arrangement is lilting but powerful. How strange, then, the sounds of a ventilator that usher in the next track "Death Take Your Fiddle": "I think I'll drink myself into a coma/And I'll take every way out I can find/But morphine, codeine, Whisky, they won't alter/The way I feel/Now death is not around..."Death take your fiddle"/And play a song for me." Minor-key acoustic guitar and ghostly bass frame Pierce singing a mutant folk-blues that evokes Gary Davis' "Death Don't Have No Mercy." The backing vocals float wordlessly like death angels, hovering around the vocalist and giving the tune an otherworldly quality. But this isn't a song about dying; it's a song about coming close and cheating it; it's eerie. The proof? The next two tracks: "I Gotta Fire," and "Soul on Fire." The former is a taut, "Gimme Shelter"-esque rocker, the latter, a lush, uptempo love song. "Sitting on Fire" is a beautifully orchestrated love song: it's an admission of weakness and codependency but celebrates both of them at the same time: "Baby, I'm sitting on fire/but the flames put a hole in my heart/when we're together we stand so tall/But a part of me falls to the floor/Sets me free /I do believe it'll burn up in me for the rest of my life." Strings, vibes, marimbas, and drums crash in to the center of the mix carrying the protagonist into oblivion. "Yeah, Yeah" is a scorching rocker that feels like the Bad Seeds meeting the old Spacemen 3. "You Lie You Cheat," crashes in Velvets style with acoustic guitar and screeching feedback. The chorus sings atop a flailing drum kit, distorted strings, and wailing electric guitar. The marimbas and strings that power "Baby, I'm Just a Fool," sweetly underscore a very dark pop song, complete with "da-do-da-do-dat det-det-do's". It descends into beautifully textured chaos led by a loopy violin solo over seven minutes. Songs in A&E is the most consistent recording Spiritualized has issued since 1997's Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space. It contains the best elements of the band's signature sound, and paradoxically hedonistic yet utterly spiritual lyric themes. That said, newly focused energy, willfully restrained arrangements, and taut compositions give the set a sheer emotional power that no Spiritualized recording has ever displayed before, making it, quite possibly, their finest outing yet.

Record Review Week: One Line Record Reviews, Part II

Guster, Ganging Up On The Sun: A band moving beyond the hippy drum circles and embracing their inner pop star.

James Brown, In The Jungle Groove: My God, you can actually smell this music it’s so funky!

John Prine, Bruised Orange: Your bitter uncle serenading his daughter with an acoustic six string after downing a bottle of Jack Daniels.

The Kinks, Low Budget: The Kinks finally breaking through to American audiences and with the fabulous title track catapults them into the arenas.

The Monkees, Headquarters: Come on, they were good!

The Psychedelic Furs, Talk Talk Talk: One of the best albums of the 1980’s and before John Hughes got a hold of them and ruined their career.

Record Review Week: One Line Record Reviews, Part I

Neil Diamond, Home Before Dark: Everybody’s guilty pleasure has-been teams up (again) with bearded muso-guru Rick Rubin and releases a little gem of Americana.

AIR, "Moon Safari": Groovy, blissed-out cocktail electronica for aging hipsters and nu-ravers alike.

Johnny Cash, "American Recordings": Stark acoustic beauty and the smell of death.

A3, "Exile On Coldharbour Lane": I “woke up this morning” and found myself grooving to their particular blend of country-gospel-acid-house-techno-blues music.

The Alan Parsons Project, "Tales Of Mystery And Imagination". The tales of Edgar Allan Poe as sung through...ahem...a vocoder.

CCR, "Cosmos Factory": 80% humidity, plenty of mosquitoes, swampy guitar riffs and one hell of a rhythm section.

Future Sound Of London, "Dead Cities": Bladerunner on speed.

Gang Of Four, "Entertainment!:: The sound of 2004 released in 1977.

Record Review Week: Funkadelic's "Maggot Brain"

Can psychedelic drugs really make a difference?

One listen to the 10 minute incendiary guitar solo on title cut Maggot Brain by the tragically underrated Eddie Hazel and I feel confident you’ll agree with that statement.
Maggot Brain starts off with an eerie voice (probably George Clinton) stating that "Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time, for y'all have knocked her up”, and then the song is handed over to Hazel for 10+ minutes of technically proficient fuzzed out psychedelic pyrotechnics. George Clinton apparently told Hazel to “play like your mamma just died”. It must have worked; the emotions and sounds this cat squeezes out of his electric six string are simply mind bending.
Keyboard genius Bernie Worrell delivers the goods on Hit It And Quit It, and the rest of the guys sound like they’re having the time of their lives, especially on last song Wars Of Armageddon, a 9:48 jam that sounds like Hendrix backing Santana at the Apollo Theatre on magic mushrooms. When the cuckoo clock sound effects come in at 4:39 into the song you’ll be convinced that some sort of weird voodoo high priests of funkydom have unleashed their masterpiece.

And you’d be right on the money.