Rock on TV

As a music fanatic and geek, I can't help but get excited when my love for music is shared by others and expressed through the all mighty television. I have spent countless hours listening to and dissecting songs. Imagining their origin, or place in the world. And even where they don't belong in the world. It thrills me when that same enthusiasm reveals itself in some less than expected places.



I love this clip from the Simpsons. I think the actual song is about 16 minutes in when the organist finally faints.


All I have to say is MORE COWBELL.

I wasn't able to find an online clip of this portion of the first episode of Flight of the Conchords, but I was able to grab a transcription. It's not quite the same, but will have to do. The scene takes place in a friend's pawn shop and Jermaine is now dating Bret's exgirlfriend. Bret isn't too keen on the idea. Their inept band manager, Murray, is none to happy about the situation and trying to resolve it...

Murray: When you're in a band, you don't get with your bandmate's girlfriend - past or present.

Jemaine: Yes, well thanks for that.

Murray: You get a love triangle - you know? Fleetwood Mac situation... Well, there there was four of them, so more of a love square. But you know, no one gets on.

Jemaine: Okay, I see.

Murray: Mind you, they did make some of their best music back then.

Bret: Rumours.

Murray: No, that's all true.

Reading it is a little dry, but trust me, the show is hilarious. I highly recommend it. They work songs with videos into the plot of each episode. Perhaps this will entice you from the same episode:

What's been up...

40 cds in chronological order with release year in 1 minute with Eyes closed.

Here's a guy that I think I could put to shame. I am missing one live album and single that he mentions though. He does leave off in 2004 with the self titled album and doesn't even delve into the singles off of that one.


In Dust

I've been mining through a lot of my old industrial catalogue lately. That was such a huge part of my life for so long! It has been many years since I've really been moved to listen to that kind of music. This has been such a great reminder of why I hold on to so many cds. Most of these artists were from small indie labels that are now gone and so is the music. Many of these artists are forgotten by time (and some with good reason). I've actually been looking for literature on the genre and am amazed at the complete lack of any. If I had the time and the chops, I would love to be the first to assemble the Industrial Music text book.


... here's my favorite halloween themed song

Coolest Wedding

Way back when my wife and I were nearly married, we used our pre-marital bliss to our advantage at a Depeche Mode show. The show was a Jones Beach and took place two days before our wedding. We approached a radio station that was there and told them our situation out of mere joy. The DJ used us in a station promo and upgraded our nose-bleed seats to the center of the front row. It was such a cool experience to kick off the string of wedding celebrations that would follow.

This Norwegian couple out did us by leaps and bounds. Proposing to someone at a concert is pretty cool, but getting them to come to your wedding and perform for you out of the kindness of their hearts is unreal. I have been quite taken by Band of Horses of late and this just makes them all the cooler.



Great sound recording too!

Cat-2883 Nine Inch Nails

an overview of the Nine Inch Nails catalogue:




Essential

The Downward Spiral(1994) – The masterpiece. Trent Reznor found himself in a position of artistic freedom and major label backing. Noisy and bold, TDS was an unlikely success. In the age of grunge flannel and garage band rock, Reznor defied the odds with keyboards, static, fishnet stocking and becomes a household name. TDS was the pinnacle of Reznor’s emotional decent. Each album took his doubt and angst a little farther. TDS is extreme and deals with themes of suicide, rejecting religion, complete loss of self, and a hit single with the chorus, “I Want To F*#k You Like An Animal.” The album is so intense and sincere, that it left him nowhere to go from there. How do you follow up an act like that? Closer

Year Zero(2007) – When it seemed that NIN had run it’s course and reached a point of being an act that had offered up the best of what they had to offer early on and were costing on good material and nostalgia, Year Zero erupted. YZ is perhaps the most brilliant artistic and business move that Trent Reznor has made. Once your demons are confronted with the ferocity of TDS, facing them again felt old and tired on the follow ups. Reznor must have put a ton of thought into his approach for this album that largely veered from the rock numbers of With Teeth and built his songs around an imagined future. Each song is from the perspective of different characters in an elaborately imagined future America. Even beyond the freshly charged music vision, YZ is bigger than a group of songs. There was an entire alternate reality created online and in the packaging that immersed and engaged in the unfolding and revelation of the experience. More here and here


Great

Pretty Hate Machine(1989) – Another fantastic album. The promise of what Trent would have to offer is there even though it not fully realized yet. This was the soundtrack to my high school years. I don’t think there was a single day during that span of four years that I didn’t listen to this album. The production is naïve, but Trent squeezes more life and passion out of keyboards and synthesizers than most artists can out of conventional instruments. HLAH

Broken(1992) – In the midst of a career starting to take off came a label dispute that nearly ended his career as a musician. The anger and frustration of this time for Trent is more than evident on his hardest and shortest release. Broken is a 20 minute bombardment of guitars and pounding beats driving the “fuck you” attitude Reznor clearly had towards his old label. Wish


Good

With Teeth(2005) – A solid album with some high points. There are a few missteps that make you question whether or not Reznor’s rage had run its course (revisiting themes, a single lamenting the repetitiveness of daily life). Most importantly, this album put Reznor back on track after The Fragile. Doubters from the last effort could take comfort that Trent can still deliver. Everyday


Ok

The Fragile(1999) – The 1999 flop. Reznor waited five years to follow up his masterpiece and foolishly fell victim to expectation. He felt compelled to continue to top his own efforts and forced together an opus spanning two discs in an elaborate tri-fold package. Careers and genres of popular music came and went between albums and this grand gesture was delivered to an audience that had moved on. The singles were weak and the album was terribly disjointed. Like any other release of Trent’s, there are some fantastic songs, but 2 discs is asking a lot of listeners to sift through.

The Slip(2008) – It’s free! More or less, this one sounds like a compilation of songs not used on With Teeth and Ghosts. Still, it’s good and it’s free. FREE!

And All That Could Have Been(2002) – The live companion to The Fragile. I so wish that they had done this after TDS. That was by far the best line-up and tour that NIN has had. It’s good and kind of a best of for his earlier work. Oddly, the Fragile numbers mostly are the more forgettable ones especially placed among Wish and Head Like A Hole. The companion disc has some worthwhile stuff including “acoustic” versions of some older tracks and other tracks from the Fragile sessions.


Hard listen

Ghosts 1-4(2008) – Great instrumental collection. But it’s two discs of instrumentals.

Fixed(1992) – The partner to broken remixes the songs and clocks them in at more than twice the length of the original. Fixed clears up any fears that nin were turning into a guitar rock band. This is a noisy industrial powerhouse.


Fans only

The next three are remix albums and eps that work as companions to legitimate albums.
Things Fall Apart(2000) – companion to The Fragile
Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D(2007) – companion to Year Zero
Further Down The Spiral(1995) – companion to The Downward Spiral

Pancake Albums

A pancake album is an album that plays out like a plate of pancakes. They are all exciting at the beginning and by the end you're pretty sick of them. Sick of them is a little bit harsh. There are plenty of albums out there that the front end is so heavily loaded with great music that the back end is totally overshadowed.

The best example that I can think of is U2 - The Joshua Tree. It is a solid album through and through, but it is the first three tracks that make it memorable.

Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is another fine example of a heavily front loaded album. It is another fantastic album through and through, but I could be totally satisfied with the first six tracks alone.

Any other qualifiers out there?

SOTD - Heartbreaker-Dread Zeppelin

Campy, campy, campy! What a fantastic gimmick though!

To their credit, this song could be considered a pioneering move in the development of the mash-up.

Band of Horses - Infinite Arms

Infinite Arms is one fine example of rock music that is catchy, witty, and passionate. On their third album, Band of Horses seam to have perfected their sound. The vocal harmonies are to die for and they deliver simple sentiments in grand gestures. Neil young is a clear influence on them and the easiest way to classify their sound. Neil Young channeled by Death Cab For Cutie, perhaps.



The album opens with Factory, a sweeping and grand tail of looking back at time wasted longing for a lost love. Stings swoon and cymbals crash as the protagonist wanders through his lonely hotel. The tension rises with Compliments. The beat stomps and the amps and reverb jack up. That, and you have to love a song that starts with the line, “fixing a drink in the morning with the way things are.” The current single Laredo follows. Great guitar pop with visions of escaping it all conjures recollections of Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow at the Posies peek. Blue Beard grabs onto classic American rock. The chorus is 70’s Eagles worthy. The vocals take off even farther and dig deeper into the spirit of American rock on On My Way Back Home. This track could be a lost Beach Boys song. Infinite Arms is a gorgeous acoustic waltz with beautiful lyrics and vocals. The chorus of, “and my thoughts drift to you,” do exactly that. Dilly rebounds you from the dream space of Infinite Arms and gets you bobbing again with lofty pop. Suddenly the mood becomes very personal again with Evening Kitchen. It is the most bare bones track on the record delivered by two acoustic guitars and two voices. It is the reminder of the southern origins of BOH. The alt. country tinge persists through Older, a song that recalls their North Carolina brethren, Whiskeytown. Far Annabelle is another warm and sweet waltz. NW Apartment rocks out with some loud and catchy pop. Neighbors wraps things up with warm organs and a slow build to power chords at the end. It is important to know your place. BOH name check white trash wine so earnestly that it comes across as charming and not as silly as it should be, “Now if Bartles and James didn’t need no first names…”

Then at 45 minutes and 12 seconds I find myself satisfied, yet wanting more.

listen

I Love Summer

Summer. Longer days. Time off of work. Friends and Family. And a rekindled love affair with music.

I am very pleased with my handiwork in moving my music archives out of my son's bedroom and to a place where they are all together and on display in our family room in their very own built in shelves. Carpenter Brad was on the job. There is even room to grow at the bottom. Of course my wife brought up the issue of what is to happen when that space is filled. Her disks will be the first to go (elsewhere in the house that is).



I've been able to spend so much more time listening to and enjoying music this summer. It has been wonderful. New finds, and old rediscoveries alike. More to come soon.

Countdown to Disintegration

The re release of Disintegration is less than two weeks away and there has been quite a few goodies dropped to wet the whistle. The re release comes with two extra discs. One that is out takes and rarities from the recording sessions and the other is the entire album played live in 1989 at Wembley Arena. There site has posted free streams of an alternate rarities disc and alternate live version of the album from Dallas. So good!!!

unHappy Anniversary Ian!

Thirty years ago today Ian Curtis had decided that he had enough with life and hanged himself in his home for his wife (that had thrown him out for the affair that he insisted on not ending) to find after work. It is a pathetic and tragic ending to an artist about to see his greatest success. Curtis' death fell near the release of the song that his band, Joy Division, would come to be known for, "Love Will Tear us Apart." Perhaps it ended a fledgeling career or solidified his place among legends. I like to think both.

There is an unusual tribute to him under development to coincide with this anniversary that I find a little disturbing, yet fitting.

SOTD - Roxy Music - Editions of You

Editions of You is off of my favorite Roxy Album, For Your Pleasure. I don't even remember how I came across this footage, but it is just awesome. Forget Bowie, these guys were glam. John Travalta totally stole his look for Saturday Night Fever from Bryan Ferry. Not only that, but I love getting to see Brian Eno, not only rocking the tambourine and moog, but what is that outfit he is wearing. I think Jim Henson's Dark Crystal copped some imagery from that attire.

SOTD - The Crazy World of Arthur Brown - Fire

As I dig back through rock's history, I am amazed at how many landmarks I come across that just surprise me. The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's Fire is definitely one of those landmarks. I have been familiar with the song for some time, through samples and the original, but I never had the proper context to hear it through to appreciate it for how awesome it was. Thanks to those cable music stations that give you facts about the artist as music plays, I have begun to appreciate this gem for more than the campy, psychedelic, blasphemous funk that it is.

The song opens with the line, "I am the god of hell fire and I bring you. Fire." And the song became a number one hit in the UK and Canada in 1968. I learned some things from that fact. The UK was way cooler than the US. Can you imagine a number one single in the US in 1968 that starts like that? This was the original shock rocker. Alice Cooper, Kiss, Ozzy, Marilyn Manson, you all owe a nod to this guy. That video is from 1968 as well. In 1968 that was on Top Of The Pops on British TV! If they had tried to air that in America then, the religious right would have gone nuts.

Hats off to you Arthur Brown and your crazy world. You rock!



By the way, these cable music channels are such a great invention. They are not the be all, end all, but I love the variety and tid-bits of information about the music and artists. It makes me think, "Hey, remember when MTV was cool like this?" And then I think, "No. I don't remember MTV being cool like this."

Gearing Up For Summer

Ah, summer music. I earmarked some of my favorite summer albums last July. After having a small taste of nice weather a few weeks ago and having a forecast of sunny days in the upper seventies for the coming weekend, it's time to get back in that mode. This spring has not fallen short in delivering some new albums that are sure to join the list. First up is a frequent flier in our home. Josh Rouse has just put out an album entitled El Turista that is just dreamy. The once Americana-pop troubadour has become a citizen of Spain and has been living there for five years now. Regional influences have been creeping into his music for some time now. With this album, he blends those influences with Brazilian stylings. The result is unique, but familiar.

Along those Brazilian lines, I have also been enjoying Antonio Carlos Jobim Songbook. The Girl From Ipanema is a fantastic collection of Brazilian Samba and Bossa Nova coolness. Thanks Greg.

And I have been way into the indie take on sixties beach music stylings. Real Estate have somehow managed to capture the melodic essence of the Beach Boys and deliver it as if it were played by Mogwai or Death Cab For Cutie. That is quite a feat, especially for a band for Jersey.

I was going to skip making a summer mix disc this year, but with this crop, I may have no choice but to.

Rock and Holy Rollers!

What does the Pope rock out to? Alright, I don't know the answer to that, and I probably don't want to. However, a Vatican newspaper has gotten us as close to the answer to that question as we may ever get. When I came across the news link reporting that this newspaper listed what Vatican City claims to be history's ten most essential rock albums, I couldn't resist. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised.

Here they are listed in the chronological order of their release:
"Revolver" by the Beatles, described as more innovative than any of their successive albums.
-definitely one of their best, but Sgt. Pepper is possibly the most innovative album ever
"If I Could Only Remember My Name" by David Crosby. Its songs used experimental musical forms to express an "existential fragility," the article said.
-uh, sure
"The Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd, which the newspaper called an "amazing" and eminently enjoyable milestone in the history of rock music.
-I'm still picking my jaw off of the floor that this is a list from catholic central
"Rumours" by Fleetwood Mac, which the article said mixed the sounds of blues, pop and country.
-hell yeah!
"The Nightfly" by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan. A niche album, but "brilliant and ironical," according to the Vatican newspaper.
-Is ironical even a word?
"Thriller" by Michael Jackson. The article described this album as "the masterpiece of the king of pop" and said its original approach went against the stereotypes of black music.
-great, no doubt. I don't tend to think of it as a rock album.
"Graceland" by Paul Simon, who used South African music with his own to create a multiethnic album that marked the birth of "world music," the newspaper said.
-why did he want to be called Al?
"Achtung Baby" by U2, a disk that stands out for its music and lyrics, and remains a symbol of the '90s, it said.
-hmmm? Flip a coin with Joshua Tree
"(What's the Story) Morning Glory?" by Oasis. The group picks up the great tradition of the Beatles, but with a harder edge of punk and rock, it said.
-wtf?
"Supernatural" by Carlos Santana, seen as an avant-garde mix of blues, soul, salsa and rock.
-an extra big wtf?

Rumours I flat out agree with. The rest wouldn't make it on my personal list, but for the most part it is a pretty comprehensive list with very notable and interesting recordings. Well, for the first 8 anyway. the Oasis record is great, but the ten greatest? Even their own justification discredits it's historical merit. And Supernatural described as avant-garde? I think someone got lazy with that one. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed, given our current Pope, that there was no krautrock present. Perhaps Kraftwerk - Radioaktivitat should have taken the avant-garde spot.

I'm forming my list, but would love to hear what other people have to say. What was missed?

It's a mad, mad, world

First up. "We are the World" was a great idea. Let's pool together some real star power to draw attention to a serious problem and raise money to help the cause. When it was USA for Africa in the 80's, great. They raised some money and brought the plight of African nations into people's thoughts. Mission accomplished!
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for helping Haiti in their time of need. I just think that this effort is bewildering. In the 80's the song served the mentioned purpose. It made people aware. However, in 2010, you would have to be deaf, blind, and locked away in a sound and light proof box on a deserted island to not be aware of the tragedy that has befallen Haiti. Next comes the money. The original version happened in a day when music made real money and included artists that were as current and big as you could get. MJ, Sting, Bruce, Stevie, etc. these were artists with real selling power at the peeks of their popularity. Not only that, but you had to buy a record. You paid a handsome sum and had the record and the twelve inch glossy photo on the cover that you could look at with friends and play name that pop star. The current version is a mere $1.29 on iTunes and what do you get for it? Nick Jonas may be at the top of his game, but he is by no means in the same league as The Boss. A digital copy of an inferior version of the song with contributions from "big" stars of the disposable music era. I'm sorry, but without the original line-up and novelty of it being a new song, "We are the World" is a glorified Sunday school choir song. What perplexes me the most is that there are so many outlets to contribute aid to the cause that are easy more substantial. You can donate ten bucks by sending a text message and having the bill be part of your cell phone bill.
With that said, I do respect anyone willing to use their notoriety and talents to help those in need. There are some cool compilations and such with the proceeds going to help Haiti. For what it's worth, great! Here is a very cool song with an outstanding cast of rocks seediest characters worth purchasing. I Put A Spell On You

Jibber Babber

I keep debating letting this site dissolve and then I find myself here again.

I realize that there is a very small reader base, but I actually enjoy looking back on my thoughts and when I was listening to what, so I guess there is still some purpose to the site.

I am very excited for the Retribution Gospel Choir show in two days. The new album is such a departure from the Low stuff. For the week, RGC 2 is up on Spinner and worth a listen. I'm not looking forward to the ride home from Milford at 1 in the morning however.

I've also been in a huge Beatles kick. It's pretty new for me. I've always been a fan of the White album and I love Abbey Road, but I've never been inspired to dig deep into the context that brought it all about. That is until last summer when Rolling Stone ran an article about the Let It Be sessions and the beginning of the end for the Beatles. For the first time they were real people and not just pop icons for me. Subsequently, my in-laws gave me a copy of Let It Be-Naked (the intended version of the album that was scrapped forty years ago). It is absolutely amazing. Such great songs in such raw form. I've even been reading "The Love You Make" one of many books that traces the history of the band. It's like watching a perfect storm. Unbelievable talent and timing and luck and hard work. It's really tempting to order the box set off of Amazon.

Tom Waits - Glitter and Doom was another Christmas gift that I've been hooked on lately. If you are a fan of Tom, it's must have.