Prince covers Radiohead's Creep at Coachella '08.
Download Creep_Radiohead_Cover_.mp3
This is getting some major speed on the 'net, with Prince's peeps freaking out on YouTube doing whack-a-mole with the videos.
Give it up, O Purple One. Once that cat was out of the bag, there was no way you were gonna get it back in. Let it be.
I’ve spent the better part of a week trying to come to grips with how I was going to write about Bob Dylan. Dylan is a difficult subject at the best of times, and far better writers than me have expended countless words attempting to wrap themselves around some aspect of Dylan, only to see it slip away into meaningless twaddle.
Well, here goes nothing.
The Lady and I went to see the man himself last Thursday at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville. Billed as the Bob Dylan Show, Bob was preceded by a superb set from Amos Lee and a phenomenal set from Elvis Costello. Talk about warming up the crowd! We were all pretty stoked by the time the lights went down for Bob’s set.
I guess that was part of the problem. With two outstanding performances behind us, we were carrying high expectations that were disturbingly not met on so many levels.
Let be start out by saying that the Never Ending Tour is a well oiled machine that has become a little too slick and greasy for its own good. There’s an obvious carny thing going on here, from the hawking of merchandise to the intro music when Bob takes to the stage; whirling carnival music with a barker making the introduction over the PA system. Bob and the band pick up their instruments and begin to perform.
People have a soft spot for carnivals in their collective memory; usually associated with childhood. Being children, they don’t really see the darker side of it all, blinded as they are by the lights, clowns and cotton candy. As you get older, you begin to realize that no matter how much the barker works up the sideshow tent, you always feel a bit let down when you get in. Usually, it’s just not what it was cranked up to be. A degree of acceptance follows you out of the tent; when they ask, you tell your friends how cool it was. Who wants to come across as a rube? Besides, it’s the carnival and you don’t want to be a bummer about it. The carnival is counting on this attitude.
I really want to be enthusiastic about seeing Dylan. I’ve seen him so many times in the past, and I’ve enjoyed myself immensely most of the time. Oh, sure, he would have the occasional off night where things just didn’t come together, but you always sort of brushed that off and waited for the next show to come around.
But now I’m wondering if Dylan shouldn’t give it a rest.
His band is amazing. They always are; Dylan is Dylan, after all, and he can pick from the cream of the crop as far as musicians are concerned. When they tore into the first song, with Bob on electric guitar, you couldn’t help but be carried away; they were roaring into it, as tight as a band could be. It was encouraging to see Bob on guitar; one of the complaints I’ve heard of late is that he’s become a keyboardist (and he did switch to keyboards after the 3 song.). Which, quite frankly, is not how people see Dylan, or why they come to see him in the first place. I’ve come to accept it of late, so I was quite happy to see him pick up a guitar and tear into, well, something. Whatever it was, it was rocking out.
And then Bob started singing.
I once had a friend who told be that Dylan never sang a song the same way twice, because he didn’t want people singing along while he performed. It sure seems reasonable to me. Bob is nothing if not eclectic in performance, constantly reworking songs, music and his style and approach to them. People who count themselves as fans of Bob Dylan take the time to learn the songs and the lyrics, and I usually have no problem following him through a song.
This time, he was midway through the second verse before I realized that he was groaning out Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat, on of the more distinctive and recognizable songs in Dylan’s repertoire. And groaning he was. Or something. You really couldn’t call it singing. Making out individual words was nigh on impossible; his voice was a staccato monotone spitting out syllables like gravel against a sheet of galvanized steel.
His voice sounded completely shot. I don’t know whether it’s age catching up with him or what, but any trace of sweetness or nuance in that voice is long gone.
Don’t get me wrong; he can work this voice into certain songs with great effect. Bob snarled his way through a version of A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall that was brutally potent, slamming you in the gut with the punch of a glass of moonshine. But it’s not a voice suited for a song like Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.
That’s the frustration of it all. Dylan is a mythical beast, and you screw with those at your own peril. Throughout the set, there were flashes of brilliance, where his voice happened to fit the material. The whole arena exploded as he went into Highway 61 Revisited, barking and blasting his way through that amazing piece of apocalyptic genius. Other times, the arena just sat there, this big question mark in a balloon hovering over us; a feeling of disorientation that seemed to fall over the crowd. Highway 61 was the ninth song in the set, and was followed up with Spirit On The Water. By this point a trickle of people were leaving. Midway through Stuck Inside of Mobile, With the Memphis Blues Again, the trickle became a rupture, as people began leaving in droves.
The next day, so people we know told us they left early; one couple had an early plane to catch. Another couple was tired from a long day. But it’s Dylan. A living legend performing. This is something that should energize you and make you want to stay until the arena people kick your ass out onto the curb. We’ve all been to shows like that, where you wouldn’t dream of leaving early, no matter what. People were blowing off Dylan left and right. You could feel something; not so much disappointment but something more subtle than that. Perhaps regret. Not regret for having come to see Dylan, but a regret of memory of a time when Dylan meant something else to you.
Bob Dylan has had an enormous impact on our culture of an order of magnitude that will keep musical historians busy for years to come. He is always larger than life, even when you’re sitting in the nosebleed seats of a huge stadium; his aura would always reach up there to you. He obviously still has the energy of a man half his age, and can still rock with the best of them, oft times surpassing anyone out there.
I fear, however, that he’s being subsumed by that carnival he runs, his voice ground down to an eventual hoarse whisper as he begins to fade into the dusk. I don’t want Bob Dylan to become a sideshow attraction that people walk by, while exclaiming in hushed voices, “Remember when?”
(crossposted at Daily Pundit)
Ok, so it's my birthday. How about a playlist for today? Here's what I'll be listening to...
Our Breath Shall Intermix ~ Symbion Project
New Kind Of Kick ~ The Cramps
She Sells Sanctuary ~ The Cult
Pretty Vacant ~ Sex Pistols
Sister Ray ~ New Order
Shanty Town ~ Desmond Dekker
M.E. ~ Gary Numan
Jolene ~ The White Stripes
Inside Out ~ Mighty Lemon Drops
Flood of Sunshine ~ The Posies
Long Black Limousine ~ Gram Parsons with The Flying Buritto Brothers
Flying North ~ Thomas Dolby
Temple Of Love ~ The Sisters Of Mercy
Wicked Game ~ Giant Drag
Ahead (II) ~ Wire
Lips Like Sugar ~ Echo & The Bunnymen
Santeria Shakedown ~ Eli Cook Band
Gates Of Eden ~ Bob Dylan
There She Goes, My Beautiful World ~ Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
Cuts You Up ~ Peter Murphy
Dust My Broom ~ Elmore James
Flower to Hide ~ Catherine Wheel
Loaded ~ Primal Scream
Goodbye ~ Steve Earle
Birthday ~ Sugarcubes
Nothing much to read into.
Right?
I was on my way home from work yesterday, listening to the radio, when the strangest thing happened.
I had it on the local AM station, listening to end of the Rush Limbaugh broadcast. Cut to commercials. The usual stuff.
All of a sudden, there's a commercial for the new Queens of the Stone Age album. Talk about your things that make you go WTF? And then it was on to the station PSAs.
QOTSA advertising on AM radio during Rush? I'm still trying to twist that one around my brain.
Funny thing is, it worked.
You see, I didn't know that QOTSA had released a new album. Now I know, and I'll order it.
Another observation. Is it just me, or have CD prices tumbled down drastically of late? Amazon has this album at $9.99, which is what you'd pay for it on iTunes. If this is now the case, then iTunes looks a bit less attractive. I would much rather have the hard copy in the case of music. And why download an inferior sampling, when I can load the CD in at a higher rate?
If you're into Nick Cave, these are good times.
WNRN is holding it's Spring fund drive right now, and The Lady is going for the premiums. There's an Abattoir Blues Tour CD+DVD in addition to Nick's new side project, Grinderman. I'm looking forward to having these in hand.
Grinderman looks real good. In fact, go check out the Amazon link. There's a vid for Grinderman. Just click it and go. Tim, this is your video. Nick Cave at his darkest and a green, red-eyed, psycho dancing monkey? Hells yeah.
Also, if you're into independent, non-corporate radio, please consider making a pledge to WNRN. It's commercial free and as cutting edge as it gets. Plus, The Lady works there. If you're not in the C'ville area, you can listen online. But you don't have to be in C'ville to catch them on the air; Richmond, Staunton, Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, Lexington and Amherst all have repeaters. Check the site for the frequencies. It's great radio.
So. Since I became aware of David Bowie back in 1974 or '75, I've been singing along with the song, Ziggy Stardust.
I always loved this part:
Making love with his ego, Ziggy sucked up into his mind
Like a leather messiah
When the kids had killed the man I had to break up the band
One problem. I've been screwing it up for the last 32 years. The Lady pointed out to me that it's:
Like a leper messiah
Boy, was I mortified. 32 years of thinking how deep the concept of leather messiah was, and a few moments of lyric searching on the 'net blows it away.
Makes me wonder what else I've been screwing up, lyric wise...
...for years. Ever since I first heard Buffalo Soldier, by Bob Marley.
So. Which came first? Buffalo Soldier? Or the Banana Splits Theme Song (The Tra-la-la Song). No, really. This has been bothering me for a long damn time. For the first time in my relationship with The Lady - that's over 13 years, kids - I fessed up to this bothersome problem. That she knew what I was talking about is simply living proof of our belonging together.
Those of a certain generation might know what the hell I'm talking about. Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snork. I guess that's two things those songs have in common; the other being that some really tripped out people wrote them.
I was just a kid when Stanley Kubrick released 2001: A Space Odyssey. I'm not quite sure when I first saw it, but I was mesmerized by it. I was too young to have the faintest notion what Kubrick had managed to do; I just absorbed it.
One of the fascinating aspects of the movie is the use of established classical music to create the soundtrack. Eventually, the LP made it's way into the household, and I pretty much wore out that vinyl. I think Dad was bemused at my sudden interest in classical music. And who could not be, at that point. Also Sprach Zarathustra was everywhere! It slid seamlessly into the ever evolving popular culture of the time, becoming ingrained in everyone's mind and forever associated with apemen tossing bones into the air and awakening star children.
But mixed in there with Also Sprach Zarathustra and The Blue Danube was something darker and mysterious that really drew me in for reasons I can not explain. There were three pieces that filled me with wonder and dread; Atmosphéres, Lux aeterna, for 16 unaccompanied voices and Aventures, for 3 voices & 7 instruments, all by Györgi Ligeti. I think they were the most amazing sounds I had ever heard up to that point in my life. They were nerve jangling works of art that could set my hair on end in a dark room with the headphones on. Initially, this music imparted a sense of bewilderment, even fear, in me. But with time, I found that this music was what meant the most to me outside of the context of the movie. Much later in life, I came to know Ligeti's music on a much broader scale and to learn something of his very interesting life.
Sadly, today I learned he had passed away at age 83. And thus passes a source of wonder in my youth.
Man, do I love CAMPHEATWOLE. I sin horribly when I do not visit daily. Tim and Tod do come up with the most amazing and profound...stuff. I mean, it's all over the map.
I went there this morning while I was at work, and I've been itching to get home to check out this. This is performances of various Pixies songs done in the voices and stylings of various "famous" artists. The Lady just about fell off the sofa when she heard Prince start funkin' into Hey. It's pure genius and very well done. Download them all and load them into your iTunes and immerse yourself in an alternate universe where Frank Sinatra, Jimi Hendrix, The Beach Boys, Tina Turner, The Bee Gees, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley and, yes indeed, Prince all perform Pixies songs. Truly twisted inspiration...
Wonderful. This means that I only have to hear my staff going on about American Idol for one more day. As in, "omigod, Chef! You don't know what you're missing! It's soooo suspenseful!"
On the other hand, because Taylor beat out that "unworthy, posing Ella-Fitzgerald-mangling bitch Katherine", the threatened boycott of next season by Steph won't happen and I'll have to go through all this again.
Heaven help me.
Looking forward to Savannah in July and August!
Sex Pistols. Anarchy In The UK. Play it loud.
(tip 'o' the hat: INDC)
Whew. Thanks again for asking. It's been an interesting few weeks, music wise. The Lady and I went to see Thomas Dolby, so, of course, he's getting some heavy rotation of late.
But what else?
Well, we also caught Luka Bloom at Gravity Lounge in C'ville the other day. Fantastic show. Furious and tender folk music from an Irish perspective. Not, repeat not, Celtic music. More in line with late '60s English Folk Revival. If you like Richard Thompson, you should give Luka Bloom a listen.
Luka and his opener, Sabrina Dinan, where staying at the Inn. I had the pleasure of hanging with Luka over breakfast the day they left C'ville for Annapolis. Real nice guy; very laid back and great to talk to. We exchanged views on everything from immigration to traveling in America in the spring. I'm hoping he returns to C'ville soon.
So, here's the list:
Luka Bloom ~ Innocence, as well as Before Sleep Comes - What to say about the way Luka plays a guitar? At times, his hand is a blur, reminding me of a fine flamenco guitarist in full pasión. His songwriting is brilliant and understated. Standouts for me include No Matter Where You Go, There You Are, Gypsy Music, City of Chicago and I Am Not At War.
Sabrina Dinan ~ The Bondi Hotel EP - five great songs with A Bar On High Street being the standout.
Willie Nile ~ Streets of New York - This is an amazing CD. Came out of left field for me. Never heard of the guy until The Lady, bless her heart, brought it to my attention based on what she's been hearing at NRN. If you didn't know any better, you might think you were listening to Dylan at first. But Willie is very much his own being. Truly great songwriting and music. Check out the very chilling Cell Phones Ringing (In The Pockets Of The Dead). Roll together Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen and Charlie Sexton, and you might get a fair approximation of Willie Nile. Check it. Which leads me into...
Dion ~ Bronx in Blue - Dion does blues? Who knew? Not only that, he's damn good at it. A CD full of classic blues, leaning heavily on Robert Johnson, but with standouts like Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, Lightning Hopkins, Hank Williams and Blind Willie McTell. Just Dion on guitar with some unobtrusive percussion and occassional piano. Very good approach to some old favorites.
Various ~ Our New Orleans - Solid Katrina benefit CD that touches the soul like a warm breeze through spanish moss. So many styles of music fitting together so well. It's all good, but if you aren't crying by the end of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band doing Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans, there's something seriously wrong with your humanity.
Billy Bragg & Wilco ~ Mermaid Avenue - So sue me. It's taken The Lady and I this long to get this superb CD. I'm surprised the Denevan hasn't threatened us with bodily harm for lack of this CD. Words by Woodie Guthrie and music by Billy Bragg/Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett. After the Wilco show, it was a must-have. And yes, I'm loving California Stars. And that leads us into another purchase by The Lady; namely...
Uncle Tupelo ~ 89/93: An Anthology - Jeff Tweedy is a freakin' genius. Yeah, I know it's more than Jeff Tweedy, but Jeff Tweedy is a freakin' genius! So, there.
On deck...
Neko Case ~ Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
Lucinda Williams ~ World Without Tears
Kate Bush ~ Aerial
We're jammin'
To think that jammin' was a thing of the past
We're jammin'
And I hope this jam is gonna last.
25 years ago today, we lost one of the great musical visionaries of the 20th century.
But we're still jammin'.
Boy, this is pretty neat.
The Lady and I are sitting on the porch of William Page Inn, in Annapolis, after the Thomas Dolby show. We've got a wireless signal, so let's do a little blogging, shall we?
In a word, absolutely fantastic. I don't think I've had more fun watching someone create music. Dolby has taken the idea of an intimate lounge pianist act, and shot it into the future like nobody's business. We were all at tables, with waiters doing their thing, with Dolby about 10 feet away, running a one man show that defied belief. The Lady was in ecstacy. Swooning, I dare say. And through it all, she managed to keep a set list going:
Leipzig
One Of Our Submarines
I Live In A Suitcase
Flying North
Intro or demo for The Flat Earth
Budapest By Blimp
Windpower
Europa And The Pirate Twins
Hyperactive!
She Blinded Me With Science
Airhead ~ encore
The Lady was most excited to hear Dolby say that he would be touring again this year, but with new material. We will both be looking forward to that.
I think we'll leave it at that for now.
UPDATE: For a fascinating glimpse of what Thomas Dolby is doing on this tour, check out this short video of him building up the intro for one of his songs, The Flat Earth. You also get an idea of what the performance is like. Dolby is off to one side of a large projection screen. He has a military grade minicam attached to his headset and a number of other minicams scattered about his set. It's great to watch how he's making the music as well as hearing it.
Say, have you ever noticed that certain men really get into singing along with Aretha Franklin's (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman? I'm talking really getting into it. Like belting the thing out?
No?
Oh. Well.
Never mind.
That's right, kids. The Lady and I are turning the way back machine way back. We're heading to Annapolis this weekend to see Thomas Dolby live.
You have to understand. To The Lady, Thomas Dolby is second only to... Well... I don't know. But he's the absolute bomb. She has vinyl signed by him from the '88 Aliens Ate My Buick Tour. No lie. That's 1988, kids.
So. This Saturday, we are trekking to Annapolis to see the sights, eat some good food (hopefully), and check out Dolby doing everything himself at the Ram's Head, where, I'm told, they're releasing their Maibock this weekend.
So Stephen Green over at Vodkapundit has an interesting proposition: Come up with a song compilation representing each year since your birth. One song per year, for that year. No repeats of artist.
In my case, I have to start with 1960.
Damn. This should be interesting.
Readers of this blog should leave their lists in the comments, if they so choose. Bonus points for commentary.
Give it a shot, people.
UPDATE: Well, here's my list so far. I've only made it up to 2001.
1960 Only The Lonely - Roy Orbison
1961 Crazy - Patsy Cline
1962 Unchain My Heart - Ray Charles
1963 Ring Of Fire - Johnny Cash
1964 Viva Las Vegas - Elvis Presley
1965 Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
1966 Paint It Black - The Rolling Stones
1967 I’m Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground
1968 Piece Of My Heart - Big Brother and The Holding Company
1969 The Thrill Is Gone - B.B. King
1970 Layla - Derek and The Dominos
1971 Won’t Get Fooled Again - The Who
1972 All The Young Dudes - Mott The Hoople
1973 Get Up, Stand Up - Bob Marley and The Wailers
1974 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John
1975 Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
1976 Anarchy In The UK - Sex Pistols
1977 Heroes - David Bowie
1978 Sultans Of Swing - Dire Straits
1979 London Calling - The Clash
1980 Ace Of Spades - Motorhead
1981 Our Lips Are Sealed - Go Gos
1882 Back On The Chain Gang - Pretenders
1983 Synchronicity 11 - The Police
1984 How Soon Is Now - The Smiths
1985 Just Like Honey - Jesus and Mary Chain
1986 Suspicious Minds - Fine Young Cannibals
1987 Elvis Is Everywhere - Mojo Nixon & Skid Roper
1988 Jane Says - Janes Addiction
1989 So Alive - Love & Rockets
1990 Nothing Compares 2 U - Sinead O’Connor
1991 Alive - Pearl Jam
1992 Drive - R.E.M.
1993 Insane In The Brain - Cypress Hill
1994 Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies
1995 Hurt - Nine Inch Nails
1996 Counting Blue Cars - Dishwalla
1997 Hell - Squirrel Nut Zippers
1998 Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
1999 Find My Baby - Moby
2000 Feel Good Hit Of The Summer - Queens Of The Stoneage
2001 Man Of Constant Sorrow - The Foggy Mountain Boys
Those that know me are probably going, "Dude, where's the Dead on this list?" I'll just say that they're there in spirit starting in '75. But the Dead have always been a live thing for me, so... Well. There you go.
As per the Denevan; seeing Wilco live is just. That. Damn. Good.
That is all.
Glad you asked!
Marianne Faithfull - Before the Poison
Burning Spear - Our Music
The Duhks - The Duhks, Your Daughters & Your Sons
The Ditty Bops - The Ditty Bops
North Mississippi Allstars - Just about everything I've got of theirs...
Seu Jorge - The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions
Matisyahu - Live at Stubbs
Roger Waters - In the Flesh (Thanks for the heads up, Chris!)
Cracker - Greatest Hits Redux
R.L. Burnside - A Ass Pocket of Whiskey
Well, you gotta give them credit for consistency: The Sex Pistols turn down their invitation to appear at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.
(tip 'o' the hat: Chris)
Folks, I gotta tell you, it's been a rough week and it's been hard to jumpstart that holiday feeling.
Until now.
This really got me in the mood. Heavy Metal gods Karkis present their video of Secret Satan.
Let it load, play it loud and enjoy. Think of it as my early gift to you... mmmwwaaahaHAHAHAHA!!!!
(Tip 'o' the hat: Dorkafork at INDC Journal)
Ok, so I just noticed that the iTunes Music Store has a new feature called "Just For You," which seems to be based on the Amazon recomendations feature.
However...
How do they figure that because I purchased Angola Prisoner's Blues, I would want The Joshua Tree, by U2?
Or that I downloaded The Collected Works, by blotto and therefore would be interested in Don't Believe The Truth from Oasis?
I dunno. I think it needs some work.
Why. Does. Apple. Keep. Doing. This. To. Me?
It's the new iPod. 30 or 60 gig. White or black. In addition to everything else, it plays video on it's 2.5 inch color screen. The 60 gig version is 10% smaller than my 4th gen 20 gig. I thought that the Nano was pretty cool, but I've never been able to get over the pricing. A 4 gig Nano is $249.00. A 30 gig iPod is $299.00. The 60 gig clocks in at $399.00.
I want one.
UPDATE: Of course, James Lileks says it better:
You know what it’s like to have the Kool-Aid not only going in via feeding tube and IV, but shot through a catheter at volumes normally associated with pressure-washers?
The Rolling Stones have hit Charlottesville, where they are playing UVA's Scott Stadium this evening.
The Lady and I decided to sit this one out. Cheapest tickets were $99.00 (why not just round it up, guys?), and I didn't like the idea of shelling out that kind of money to watch Mick and the boys on the Scott Stadium Jumbotron. I'll wait for the DVD.
And it's raining. I mean, it's really coming down. We've been having a drought for most of the summer and early fall, and the Stones arrive and we're getting the deluge. It could turn out being a real mess this evening.
The Inn is completely booked. It was booked withing 20 minutes of the tickets going on sale. So, I get to look forward to going in to feed breakfast to a bunch of hung over and mind warped concert goers.
Huzzah!
UPDATE: Wow! Rain and bomb threats! The fun just never ends in C'ville!
Can his ego contain this?
U2 frontman Bono and singer/activist Bob Geldof are among the favorites to win the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. Bono and Geldof are favored by United Kingdom bookmakers and third on the Australian bookies' list with 7-1 odds, according to published reports. The two musicians are nominated for their work to relieve poverty and hunger in Africa, including the organization of this year's massive series of Live 8 concerts. The Nobel Peace Prize is selected in secret by a five-person committee and will be announced tomorrow.
If Bono and Sir Bob get the Peace Prize, then Bono's Path to World Domination will be swept clear of resistance. He will be unstoppable as we mere mortals are mesmerized by the light emanating from his perfect being. Sir Bob, on the other hand returns to being merely a pawn used to further Bono's Great Game.
U2 begins a five-night stand at Madison Square Garden tomorrow.
First he takes Manhattan...
The Denevan is going to kill me for posting this, but here goes...
Man, I had a hoot reading this review of Coldplay at the Nissan Pavilion on Friday. The writer J. Freedom du Lac (WTF is up with that name?), simply and thoroughly wipes up the floor with these guys with some of the most cring-inducing prose I've seen in awhile. Mr. J. Freedom du Lac does not like Coldplay very much:
As a vocalist, Martin -- who showed enough promise early on that he was considered the probable heir to the late Jeff Buckley's king-of-crestfallen-singers-with-soaring-voices throne -- has come to sound like an over-emotive version of the Birkenstock rocker Matthews. The singers have the same high register, and both have come to serve basically the same audience -- one that does not include indie hipsters who recoil at Martin's immodesty and hyper-pretension, as well as the strikingly familiar, middle-of-the-road quality of his band's music. Particularly on the new "X&Y." Coldplay and the Dave Matthews band generally appeal to medium-level dull people. They both create music to be played in new cars. Whereas true artists make music to be played in old cars.
Ouch.
Look, I'm pretty ambivilent where Coldplay is concerned. They're catchy as all get out and I can listen to them in my very old pickup truck without the tranny falling out or something. And I've always been suspicious of the hyper-indie mindset (Fugazi, anyone?) that tends to trash anything musical that might end up being commercially viable. But I also love seeing an occasional spanking delivered with skill.
Your thoughts, Denevan?
UPDATE: Here's the Denevan's take on the Nissan show. She was there! Looks like she was anticipating this very review.
I like my share of the hipster, indie, "difficult" music, but I also like shit I can sing to, a song that has a ginormous, singable melody that sounds fucking amazing when 20,000 people are singing along.
I hear you, girl.
...you have to be worried when a
guy with too much mascara and a snake wrapped around his neck has a
keener grasp of basic new millennium geopolitics than so many leading
lights of the Democratic Party. That really freaks me out. But that's ok. Rock on, Alice! (tip 'o' the hat: Instapundit)
Alice Cooper digs on George Bush, is a Christian, enjoys golf and is a pretty good cook.
So what have I been listening to lately, other than Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds?
~British Sea Power
~Kaiser Chiefs
(Shout out to the Denevan for the above!)
~22-20s
~Roy Orbison
~Jonathan Richman (with & without Modern Lovers...)
~k.d. lang
~Sparks
~Maria McKee
~John Lydon
~The Specials
~The Grateful Dead
Ain't we got fun?
You know, if I ever end up meeting the Devil at the crossroads, I'm pretty confident that he'll end up looking like Nick Cave.
Last week, The Lady - bless her! - purchased B-Sides and Rarities, a 3 disc retrospective from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Over the years, ole Nick has grown on us to the point that he's become integrated into The Soundtrack Of Our Lives. Which is understandable. Both The Lady and I enjoy noodling through the dark side, musically, and Nick Cave has got that area pretty much nailed down.
Just the first 3 songs are enough to put The Fear Of GOD into anybody and they work together as a very moody triptych. Deanna, The Mercy Seat and City Of Refuge in all their accoustic glory show Nick getting his holy roll on. And when Nick gets his holy roll on, we're not talking Shall We Gather By The River. We're talking streets running red with the blood of holy retribution sort of holy roll. Nick's more of an Old Testament kind of guy.
And I ain't down here for your money
I ain't down here for your love
I ain't down here for your love or money
I'm down here for your soul
These are bleak, despairing songs that probe the murky corners of the human soul. And that is, as another Child of Darkness would say, a good thing.
Over the holidays, I joined the Cult of the iPod. I walked into the Apple Store at Tyson's Corner, smacked down the debit card and walked out with a 20 gig iPod. A little later, I had a pair of headphones for it (earbuds? You've got to be kidding me...) and a silicon case for the thing.
I loaded the software on one of Dad's computers and started uploading from his rather huge CD collection, only to find out when I got back to S'ville that I couldn't reverse the process.
Well. I fixed that real quick. Googled the problem and got the freeware to solve that problem. I can now download from iPod to iMac. Apple doesn't make it impossible; just difficult.
So, life had been great with the iPod.
But I've been wanting to figure out a way to extract some music from a DVD. Kill Bill, Vol. 2 has some cool extras, including a live performance of director Robert Rodriguez's band Chingon doing a live version of Malagueña Salerosa from the soundtrack, and a piece called Mexican Spaghetti Western. The live version of Malagueña Salerosa blows away the one on the soundtrack, and I wanted that sucker on my iPod, dammit.
God, I love the internet. Downloaded 2 pieces of software: One to extract the sound stream and another one to convert it to MP3. iTunes converts that to Apple Lossless and I'm in business. And it's completely illegal, as far as I can figure.
iPod. A learning experience!
UPDATE:
So what's playing?
Since I switched on:
Malagueña Salerosa - Chingon
Sleeping In The Devil's Bed - Daniel Lanois
London Calling - The Clash
Joey - Concrete Blonde
Suspicious Minds - Elvis Presley
Just The Motion - David Byrne
Rescue - Echo & The Bunnymen
Tall Trees In Georgia - Eva Cassidy
Hotel California - Gipsy Kings
Sitting In Limbo - Jimmy Cliff
Levelland - James McMurtry & The Heartless Bastards
Jane Says - Janes Addiction
People Who Died - Jim Carroll Band
...and that's where I'm at. And it just keeps on going.
The Lady went and won me a promo copy of How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb yesterday while we were listening to Les Temps Perdue on WNRN (Shout out to our girl, Jaz!). When The Lady heard The Edge start in, she started dialing and got in first.
So I'm plugged into it now and I'm having a blast. This is good stuff. In short, this is the album they should have released instead of Rattle & Hum. They've managed to build themselves a way-back machine in order to jump back to the Strong Sound of the early days. It's a pleasure to listen to The Edge sound loose, relaxed and just a little mean. The sound is tight and familiar. It's not old or new, but a distillation of the years that find these guys at the right point in time.
While I enjoyed the whole CD, notables include Vertigo, Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own, City Of Blinding Lights, Crumbs From Your Table and Yahweh.
I now have a t-shirt that says, "Southern Culture On The Skids Hillbilly Surf Club."
That sort of sums up Southern Culture on the Skids, a band that the Lady and I have been going to see for a number of years now. We caught them at Starr Hill a couple of Fridays ago, I just never got around to blogging them. Which is a shame, because they are more fun than a jar of peach shine under a full moon in June with a passel of hounds and a couple of raggedy barn cats. After you step on the barn cats' tails.
For those of you not hip to them, SCOTS is a band out of North Carolina that goes in for a wild style of hybrid white trash glorifying hillbilly surf guitar.
Anyway, it was a hell of a show, as always. Rick started things off right by dedicating the first song to the Election Year of 2004 and tore into "Too Much Pork For Just One Fork." They were fired up and they seem to enjoy themselves when they come to Starr Hill.
I get the most fun when Rick goes surfin'. The man seriously channels Link Wray big time and obviously revels in it. They always put on a hell of a show. I mean, what's not to like; trailer trash culture and surf guitars? I'm there.
