4/1?

this man does not make it easy

(from pitchfork) The first of almost certainly many Robert Pollard releases this year finds the former Guided by Voices star overdubbing vocals over instrumentals discovered on old cassettes.

what next? adding harmonies to out of print toby sprout records?

dyslexic piven?

stumbled on this while googlin' gen. patton's offspring on imdb (we's funny that way). blame this on entourage becoming utterly unwatchable over the last couple seasons, but mainly, we do it for the people. ari gold, bring back the wacky guy ... LLOYD!



1:25 if yer really interested.

is that conan at 3:18?

popmatters?

ran across this article at the kiko jones spot. four of my top 10 '07 are in the popmatters' most overlooked of the year category (which ... cough ... also includes britney's latest-- and you thought irony died in the 90s!!!). considering 3 of my four came out on major (or near) labels, and 4 of the 4 have played lollapalooza or something near it, i don't feel like there's an 'i told ya so' needed ... i'm just sayin.

here's to not killin trees

just bandwith ...

glad to know that creepy shit-journalism knows no stylistic boundaries. the folks at pitchfork deserve one of those "blog of the day" jpgs. hope this tantalizing spin provides his daughter some solace when she's googlin pop's name in 15 years.

you don't think if i die soon, somebody'll drag out that michael hutchence tape i made? that last step wuz a doozy.

shuffle du jour

bob dylan, blood on the tracks (the new york sessions (BOOTLEG)

won't get into the details, but i'd have to say, this is probably the best find i've made in the last decade. buddy of mine turned me onto it and i've been spreading it to anyone who vaguely gives a shit about dylan. as spectacular an album as BOTT is, this is simply better. rawer, more meditative, closer. when i first heard him sing "the conversation was short and sweet, it nearly knocked me off my feet", i felt like i'd been punched in the nose. the released version sounds overproduced by comparison.

money quote: "a lot of people tell me they enjoy that album. it's hard for me to relate to that. i mean, it, you know, people enjoying the type of pain, you know?"

% listened to before either skipping/turning off/deciding to never listen to music again: 10

revisionist rating (out of 10): !!!!!!!!!!

rating after original purchase (ed note, possibly as made up as revisionist): !!!!!!!!!!

Shuffle du jour

(ode to tha shuffle ... an ongoing series of real-time bloggings to songs/albums that randomly come up on my zune)

joe strummer & the mescaleros, rock art and the xray style (hellcat)

think I may be in the minority, but I really liked the mescaleros (that sed, doubt anyone really thinks about em-- as no one really paid much attention to CPR either). looking back, i'm bummed that the one time i saw em (rock art tour), i'd heard nothing save tony adams and yalla yalla. the first 5 cuts on rock art are really strong. guns out, eyes-wide, fittin for new boots, with typ strummer lyrical flair. but restraint is name of game on these. funny hearin strummer hold back. one thing he never been able to do before ... one thing you never wanted him to do before. these beg for live performance. he's makin sure the band isn't going to fall behind. his mind's a year ahead of the recordings.

they didn't find their groove til global a go go, and sadly went a little too rock with streetcore. streetcore was still a great record, though posthumously collected (say 75% realized). about as fine a send-off as you could ask for (up there with joey ramone's finale).

i met mick jones once in the hallway of the old 9:30 club in dc. there seein a band, ducked out for some reason, and he walked in through door hood over head-- through a cloud o smoke. just me and him. we talked for several minutes. i usually say nothing in such encounters, but he was unbelievably easy to talk to (ed. note: gay-o-meter just hit 17). told him i lost my virginity to the clash (though i think it may have actually been the kinks), he laughed. he asked me what was going on in town that night ... i felt like ed grimley.

second half of "rock art" is kinda mailed in. see where they're trying to go, but the more straight-ahead material sounds as forced as the same on shane macgowan's solo debut (see "victoria", "haunted"*). no need to go there. "the road to rock & roll" is as dumb as it sounds and "nitcomb" actually sounds like joe's singing about a girl. a thought that's about as tantalizing as a fugazi sex tape.

i fucking miss joe strummer.

% listened to before either skipping/turning off/deciding to never listen to music again: 100

revisionist rating (out of 10): !!!!!!!

rating after original purchase (ed note, possibly as made up as revisionist): !!!!!

*before you bitch, listen to the pogues version with cait o'riordan on vocals off the sid n nancy soundtrack. blows it away

45 du jour

jason isbell, hurricanes & hand grenades (off of spirits of the ditch)

my apologies for not hearing this one sooner. spiritual heir to eagles version of "bells will be ringing"

how does this appear on the same album as "dress blues"?

thumbs removed

gimme a f*ckn break (aka, things must be going REAL smoothly in the USA)

not about to get into this election BS, but this shit is gettin old real fast:

"A Greeley businessman apologized Wednesday after a joke about Illinois Sen. Barack Obama fell flat during the National Western Stock Show's annual Citizen of the West banquet. William R. Farr was pretending to read telegrams congratulating this year's award recipient, University of Colorado President Hank Brown, when he pulled out a piece of paper and said, "I have a telegram from the White House."

Then he added, "They're going to have to change the name of that building if Obama's elected."

Witnesses said they could hear people gasp in the ballroom of the Adam's Mark Hotel.

"I gasped," said Gov. Bill Ritter, who was sitting at the table with Farr.

Mayor John Hickenlooper said, "I don't think he (Farr) intended any mischief or malice, but it was inappropriate."

Afterward, Farr said he regretted making the remark and apologized to anyone offended.

"I apologize for that," Farr told a reporter as soon as the banquet ended.

"I mistook it to be humorous, but it was something I shouldn't have said."

Farr, a member of a pioneering Colorado ranching family, also said he regrets detracting from an evening intended to honor Brown, a longtime friend.

"All that I can say about that is that it was unfortunate and most inappropriate," said Albert Yates, a former president of Colorado State University, who is black (ed. note-is there anything funnier than reading that???). "Even though Bill Farr is a friend, there's just no way to defend what he said.

"I think it was uncalled for and atrocious," said U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar, who was also in attendance."

things that should actually make you gasp:

-watching a baby eat glass
-kim jong il buzzed on oxycontin
-espys
-xmastime blogging about losing money

How Many CDs Clemens Sell?

This story cracks us up more than anything. From the Voice story on music stars implicated in steroid purchasing, with a great nod to the best show on tv:

“Anyway, as Idolator pointed out, the funniest thing about the story is the use of fake names. 50 Cent's shipment was supposedly mailed under the name Michael Jordan, which, I mean, come on. Blige, meanwhile, allegedly received at least one shipment under the name Marlo Stanfield, the cold-blooded drug kingpin from The Wire. In a vaguely related story that's probably not interesting at all to anyone who doesn't work in the Village Voice offices, Jamie Hector, the actor who plays Marlo, was spotted walking past the Voice offices this afternoon. Voice senior editor and rabid Wire fan Ward Harkavy is right now walking around this office showing off a cell-phone picture of himself and Marlo, making it completely impossible for me to think of a decent ending to this post.”

shuffle du jour

(ode to tha shuffle ... an ongoing series of real-time bloggings to songs/albums that randomly come up on my zune)

black flag, live 1984 (sst records)

i spent the better part of 3 years going to see every black flag show i could. not gonna get all nostalgic-- these were the rollins years, not without merit, but overall towards the end, a slow sickly decline. i'm not going to regale with tales of dez vs whatever (johnston v. mcdonald?), it was what it was, punk rock coming to my locality. i bought all of the records, including latter day ones (ok, not minuteflag or family man, but i did get process of weeding out-- was i rich at 20 or something?).

typical highlight, watching some 38 lb dude challenge and get shit kicked out of him by hank. predictable as the gabba gabba hey dude coming out for "pinhead", and equally as enjoyable.

they seemed to exist in another dimension. no regard for other bands except the (generally) awful ones they brought with them. coming in when I did, i didn't get the minutemen or meat puppets, i got twisted roots and tom troccoli's dog. swear to god, as good as SST was for a brief moment, they had more bad bands than all the majors combined. henry was the creepy constant throughout. hanging in the fringes of the crowd pre-show, staring holes through people. i found him very entertaining from a distance, hell, i even watch his ifc show from time to time, but he's one of those dudes i have no desire to ever converse with. roger clemens comes to mind. they both seem like major dickheads.

what is a remarkable listening back is what a tight rock band they were. i suppose i knew this at the time, the playing is no less ferocious but way more precise and workmanlike than i'd realized. hell, i didn't even realize there were backup vocals.

live 84 was originally release on cassette only. i wore out my copy. great year for cassette only release. mat's 'shit hits the fans' also came out then. i came upon this cd version about 4 years ago in a salvation army bin. it had been safely tucked away in my studio until tuesday night. oh fuck, "my war" just came on ... !!!!!!!!!!

% listened to before either skipping/turning off/deciding to never listen to music again: 68

revisionist rating (out of 10): !!!!!!!

rating after original purchase (ed note, possibly as made up as revisionist): !!!!!!!!!!!

st. nick

song title of the year

video of the year

stache of the year

woulda made an awesome dan dority

hohoho

rrthur's top 10 2007

lesson never learned, never let jack go in front of me. i haven't even heard 8 of his 10, and only cuts off of the black lips and sharon jones (both of which i liked!). when i started to make my list i even wondered if i'd heard 10 albums that i'd put up for best of year. turns out i had. no REAL order, suckily written reviews (i don't like writing these all of the sudden).

Beat the Devil
www.myspace.com/beatthedevil
honestly, i don't even know if their release came out in '07 or if it's even a legit one, but randomly hearing Shilpa Ray's ragin blues-addled voice on WNYC's Soundcheck was my fave music moment of the year. band was great live when i caught em this summer ... Mishka Shubaly's bass runs the show, and i apologize that i haven't gotten round to his solo joint.

Amy Winehouse "Back to Black"
i'll take the sharon jones argument over her, but without sounding like jim farber, this was a fantastic album. modern, backward & all that shit.

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists "Living with the Living"
teddy's london calling if ya will ... pop/punk driven anti-war sprawl, earnest with a capital N. somebody needed to say this. few did. that fucking sucks.

Grinderman
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck ... nick the pillager back for a long overdue visit.

Ticklah "Ticklah Vs. Axelrod"
dig his instrumentals way more than the vocal treatments, but i love this record. this dude is onto something.

Oakley Hall "I'll Follow You"
suffice, these dudes get better with evry release. bent ass smart country/rawk. great singin, great nasty gtrz. righteous

White Stripes "Icky Thump"
used to dismiss em. then i saw em live. fuckin jack white's got more talent in his left pinkie than the whole lot a bedford ave. there's some annoying shit on this record, but the highs are worth every shrill ass note white shreds.

Wu Tang "8 diagrams"
don't understand the in-house fighting on this one. rza's put together a mini-masterstroke. doped out/driven and outplayin ghostface's pretty decent but ridin on fishscale fumes "big doe rehab".

Thurston Moore "Trees Outside The Academy"
I'd like to have told you 20 years ago that this was what Sonic Youth would sound like today. following SY's reachin back and pretty great "rather ripped", this amalgam of acoustic drone and petty melody rings

Radiohead "In Rainbows"
15 step put hair on my neck hairs. kudos for puttin major labels on watch. kudos period.

single of the year:

Rehab
oh really? ... fuck you

Most disappointing:

Rilo Kiley "Under the Blacklight"
Was never a fan of the band, but after Jenny Lewis's great album (me top 10 last year), I had high hopes. This pop drivel with an ear to the mainstream was borderline nauseating.

Wilco "Sky Blue Sky"
I tried. I really did.