jack's top 10 2007

1. Eleni Mandell - Miracle of Five (Zedtone)
This is my favorite record of 2007. The label, Zedtone, appears to exist solely to distribute her stuff. There are no other artists mentioned on the site.
Sounds like: Peggy Lee, Mama Cass, Leonard Cohen
Best track: Girls

2. Carolina Chocolate Drops - Dona Got a Ramblin' Mind (Music Maker Relief Foundation)
A traditional string band. This is the closest thing to Harry Smith's folk anthology that I've heard even though all 3 band members are in their 20s.
Sounds like: Etta Baker, Joe & Odell Thompson, The Carter Family
Best track: Little Sadie

3. Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime (Blue Note Records/EMI)
This one threw me. I've been effortlessly avoiding this woman's records for over 20 years. I asked some people about this one, and it turns out that I was the only person in America who didn't realize that she's been good for over 20 years.
Sounds like: Apparently, it sounds like her.
Best track: Frank & Ava

4. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends (French Kiss)
I wanted to hate this one. I typically don't like RISD Rock, and the song titles suggested that I was about to hear "Gargantua and Pantagruel" in CD format.
Sounds like: Not sure. Possibly New Order, Kiss and Cat Stevens.
Best track: Raging in the Plague Age

5. Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water (Kemado Records/Peacefrog Records)
More RISD. This record is spooky and precious, but you can get away with a lot if your voice is this good.
Sounds like: Mary Hopkin, Mazzy Star, Lys Guillorn, Sandy Denny
Best track: Diamond Heart

6. Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil (Vice Records)
An allusion to a song by The Shangri-las and my favorite regular rock 'n' roll record of the year. They are significantly more varied than most other garage bands of late.
Sounds like: Roky Erickson or a strange mixture of The Standells and They Might Be Giants. I guess that would mean that they sound like a more ornery Fleshtones.
Best track: O Katrina!

7. Future Clouds & Radar - (s/t) (Star Apple Kingdom)
The label appears to reference a poem that is as long as this 26 or 27 song double CD. This record is at least as good as Daydream Nation.
Sounds like: It's long so it sounds like a lot of stuff. I hear Karate, Robyn Hitchcock, John Lennon, ELO and a number of Elephant 6 bands.
Best track: Hurricane Judy

8. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights (Daptone Records)
She's 51 and sounds significantly healthier (and more soulful) than Amy Winehouse.
Sounds like: Otis Redding, Bettye LaVette
Best track: Tell Me

9. The Busy Signals - (s/t) (Dirtnap Records)
Great Illinois power pop - even the record cover looks like it was released in 1979. Like the Buzzcocks, the songs are very interchangeable.
Sounds like: The Buzzcocks, early Blondie, The Undertones, Nikki and the Corvettes
Best track: So Pointless

10. Caribou - Andorra (Merge)
Arty and pretty - it's hard to imagine that Handsome Dick from The Dictators could sue them (or even give a shit who they are), but allegedly that happened.
Sounds like: Damon & Naomi, A.C. Marias, Sparklehorse
Best track: Melody Day

this just in

you gotta love the RIAA. every chance they get to estrange themselves from their base, they grab with the fervor of a crackhead findin white powder in they shag carpet. not content to bust the downloadin malcontents, now they're claiming copying legally purchased cds onto your pc is against the law.

"In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.

The industry's lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are "unauthorized copies" of copyrighted recordings."

however, the RIAA's own website explains:

- It’s okay to copy music onto an analog cassette, but not for commercial purposes.
- It’s also okay to copy music onto special Audio CD-R’s, mini-discs, and digital tapes (because royalties have been paid on them) – but, again, not for commercial purposes.
- Beyond that, there’s no legal "right" to copy the copyrighted music on a CD onto a CD-R. However, burning a copy of CD onto a CD-R, or transferring a copy onto your computer hard drive or your portable music player, won’t usually raise concerns so long as:

* The copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own
* The copy is just for your personal use. It’s not a personal use – in fact, it’s illegal – to give away the copy or lend it to others for copying.

who's settin policy here? turns out that Jeffrey Howell has finally done what the RIAA didn't see coming, turned the table and sued them. this is purely speculation, but it seems as though, realizing Howell had done nothing illegal, they didn't want to back down and brought out the pc charge (kinda like gettin Capone on tax evasion charges, right???).

this got GIHYB thinking ... by extension, anyone with an ipod (er, walkman?), would be breakin same law? maybe the RIAA could contact local law enforcement to ticket offenders on a daily basis? even split fines with municipalities? tax coffers could explode. think about it. godblessamerica.

happy '08!

godweluvyourband

but jeezus, could there be a dumber photo? "hey, wear yr perty shirts and tape lead weights on yr hands, copy? ... kudos for gettin th buttons right."

take some notes from yr idols ... pockets, er crotch. (all apologies to the non-fans of airbrushed photo of skynyrd ... i have non-airbrushed LP so FU)

45 du jour

the hold steady "can i please crawl out your window" (bonus track) from the "i'm not there" soundtrack

the bruce can only take you so far. "boys and girls +" was a 1st or 2nd fave from last year (dependin on the ever changin take on 'big doe rehab'-- more later). we really do love this band, but their version of "can i please crawl out your window" (a dylan fave of gihyb) is nuthin more than karaoke. sadly, it exposes master finn's limited vocal range. he treats it as an early bruce excercise-- ok, that had its own dylan riff goin-- but that can't save bar band/LOOK AT ME treatment here. stick to yr gunz ... and don't accept th charges nxt time.

143

beyond lame

realized recently that i hadn't gone record shopping for real in a long while. decided the boy and i would make it a saturday ritual. let ms. gihyb sleep in after a hard week of fighting crime (i know, husband of the year). where the fuck was i?

we're up and rollin hard by 8am. i realize it's a little early for the twee hipster (though it would be easier to appear indignant with less sleep) and figure on a more reasonable time of 10:30. we've got some other errands to run, so we're in no rush. we finally roll up to bedford ave. at 11. desolate. you could literally shoot buckshot both ways and only hit tommy from the nest (doable at any hour). i had an inkling before i eyed the big chain on soundfix's gate that it would be closed, but it still sucked. boy, wrapped up in his bundle-me, wide-eyed, sniffin for vinyl. me, card in hand, itchin to spend $$$ on anything REMOTELY interesting. ended up strolling him around the block feigning lost keys just to pretend i had business to attend to.

en route home we passed all the other options. shuttered, shuttered, shuttered. 11:30. WTF? strollin the cd section at best buy ain't exactly what i had in mind.

mailbox

several questions posed by xmastime

-"The 80s was a surprisingly good decade for Christmas music."

GIHYB doesn't give a shit about xmas music. we don't mind hearing it around the holidays, and while there's the occasional good tune ("war is over", "marshmallow world"), there's always maroon 5 or some studio full of douchebags completely ruining it 30 years later. is there anything worse than a various artists rock xmas comp? ok, maybe a new ryan adams ep, but you get the drift.

- "Appetite for Destruction is completely overrated; to hear people talk about it now you'd think it was Revolver times Highway 61. It's a pretty good album, but that's it. Hey, you were better than Poison. Congratulations."

GIHYB doesn't give a shit about GnR. we're much more interested in the headlines surrounding axl's replacement scott weiland. and thank you jesus, this week there was another doozy!

- "200 words on why I should give 2 shits if Wilco's tour bus falls off a mountain and explodes in a ball of fire. No survivors."

GIHYB doesn't give a shit about Wilco. we give TWO shits! one shit for three really good records (being there, teeth, ghost) and one classic (ok foxtrot). and one shit cuz nels cline is a BEAST! ... and think about it dickhead, if their bus did fall over a cliff they'd be twice as big as they are now. are you willing to let jeff tweedy become the new buddy holly, and the little elf that plays bass richie havens?

- "Did rap peak with Public Enemy and has it spent the last 17 years basically saying the same stupid shit over and over? Yes, you're rich. I get it."

GIHYB doesn't give a shit about answering questions by "bloggers" who obviously have never listened to tony starks.

- "Who's the next band nobody cares about today but will break up and come back in 20 years somehow bigger than the Beatles, a la the Pixies?"

the yoko

- "Am I a bad American for thinking Gram Parsons is WAAAAAAAAY overrated, his "genius" only created by mythology and great timing of his own death?"

GIHYB has a confession to make. while we do agree there are some great songs, and that his whole marriage of muzak was a great idea, gp generally gets the "NEXT" button on the ole zune. his weak-ass voice don't help. that bein sed, sweethearts is badass.

-" Why aren't Pete Doherty and Amy Winehouse married?"

why don't you work at mcdonalds?

- "Lenny Kravitz is a current day version of TheDoors: he completely sucks but every female on the planet would stab you in the neck for saying so."

did we just see "lenny kravitz" in that last paragraph? angel heart ... denise!

- "Will Dave Grohl ever be able to write another song that mentions a person, place or thing without everyone wondering if it's about Kurt Cobain? And does it even matter since he's in the most boring band in ther world anyway?"

we're getting stoned

- "If Robin Givens and Tyra Banks ever exchange bicycle seats can I be there?"

(scrapped title 'deadskins')

following yesterday's redskins loss i could not stop thinking of the scene in jaws where mrs. kintner approaches brody. her son has been killed by the shark. she finds out following the death that it had killed before, brody knew about it, and kept the beaches open anyway. i always envisioned the late/great jt walsh playing joe g (wit an oscar nod in the works for gibb's private maniacal side-- a la grifters), but scheider will do just fine. infer what ya want re: the lady in black.