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."