it's new to me

paul weller
22 dreams

after a semi-promising start, this settles in a hazy (lazy) MOR mush (i'm not gonna say "dad rock", but I'm gonna think it-- maybe "dad with grown kids rock"). i'll be honest, i think the friggin Jam are wildly overrated (save a few classic singles). i do remember diggin the first couple Style Council records. i'd never listened to a paul weller solo album before ... (file next to scissor fighting)

retread

not our fave dino jr song (but top 10), righteous nonetheless (kinda funny bein picky) ... note to murph, (think) bill ward wears shirts.

courtesy of pitchfork

oh yeah

the gnarls. always a good watch. still ain't totally lovin the record, but the vid is great.

paul (was) a dead man

paul westerberg
49:00


if you'd asked me yesterday what i expected from a new paul westerberg record, i'd probably begin with 'not a listen from me'. his last release "folker" was so tepid, half-assed, and generally unlistenable, that i still stare in scorn at the cd when i pass it. but hell, yesterday, i didn't even know about this new westerberg release.

i don't know the origins of this record. i have an inkling. apparently he gave a bunch of songs to his manager (recorded god knows when). according to the "liner notes", he plays everything. guess mr. epstein said "PRINT"!

leave it to westerberg to release his most exciting record in eons for 49 cents (money quote-- "worth every penny"). fuckit, 2nd money quote, "it's the most 'mats-like record he's released since 1987" (grandpaboy?, save "lush and green", that stuff was garbage). and i'm not one of those who was wishing for a 'mats like experience. i thought "stereo/mono" was fuckin brilliant, but just got tired of that 'hit record, play something' template. was gettin tired.

the format works for him. 49 minutes ... one long mp3 file. his slapped together tunes sound like a great (well, good) college radio show. tunes meld into others, overlap at times ... appear for seconds (p dub as GBV?). and on some of the tunes, he's TRYING. he's really going for some amazing angles. on most post-mats records he's doing the same thing over and over, this one, he's taking chances vocally ... sometimes for seconds ... but, i'll take it.

the last few minutes are awe-inspiring, endin classic rawk montage is hilarious. and we finally get a definitive (half) take of the partridge fam's "i think i love you". finale with his kid is great.

the good news is we haven't heard him shred on the guitar like this in a while. always forget what a great gtr player he is.

i'll be honest, there's alot of crap on here. singer-songwriter BS that he's been farting with for 20 years. this should probably be called "20 minutes". in true westerberg fashion, alot of the greatest hooks are in the song snippets.

BUT, i like this record alot.

we'll end with paul's money quote from the record

"i'm on the brink today of writin somethin memorable"

nuf sed.

why they (should) hate us ...

or, one blog's alternative for waterboarding:



an inner hatred for clapton aside ... what's worse, the leroy neiman custom strat, or his shorts???? 'clapton is god'? let's hear it for atheism.

i'm your fan

know nothing of this band (no age). seein the name alot, everytime thinking it's 'no trend' (from dc days). great tune/vid ... yeah, it's basically a superchunk/'late 80s flying nun thang ... is that a bad thing??? nada

it's new to me

the hold steady, stay positive

recipe: guitar to piano ... woody allen (you know, same as the last 2 records).

thoughts:

-really hated this record on first 2 listens, then came around a little. some hooks really emerge: "constructive summer", "stay positive", hell, "sequestered" is DBT worthy-- though ... don't recall them writing hooks.

-harpsichord nod to "two sisters" in "one for the cutters" is rad, but actually found the characters and storyline in "two sisters", uhm, interesting.

-write a new song already. the constant use of "OH OH OH" choruses nailed on previous record reminds me of a bad brains' record that will come out some time in the next 3-4 years (ed. note: the hold steady's "boys and girls in america" was GIHYB's 1st or 2nd fave record of '06). the attempts at stretching fall a little flat.

-question? self-referencing band lyrics work best when referring to a) being an american band, b) being a cowboy on a steel horse, c) believing you are a walrus, or d) bein' down wit OPP?

-the bruce homage (see recipe) is getting really tired (ed note: GIHYB gets squeamish during operatic brawls that don't feature ghostface, bobby darin, or david geddes).

-don't hate this record, finn's a stud and they got another one in em, just a little underwhelmed.

smitten

necrophilia is the new 20 ...

athens ga. circa late 80s

a flick. i'll admit, i walked out of in a theater a bunch a years ago, but for what it is, a document of a pretty fertile scene. fuck, it's got dexter romweber (a major talent, and a transplant), who steals it.

gotta give props to pitchfork tv. minin' some cool shit lately (cept for that narcissist beyond wild liz phair 'exile' doc) ... and we love that album.

i shit you not ...

overheard weds night, round 7pm at mccarren baseball field while watching two adults throw an inflated rubber ball back and forth. "fuck you, I'M the best 2nd baseman in the kickball league!"

it's new to me

beck, modern guilt

dangermouse meets the end of the world. cee-lo mighta thrown a party ... meanwhile beck's bangin some serious demons ... concisely.

feelings

know i've made a point previously about reunion shows (if you think i'm finding the post, you haven't read this blog), but the feelies are the fuckin feelies. and for once, high expectations gave way to higher results. for starters, the sound at battery park was incredible, they opened with the 2 starting tracks from "the good earth", add in the overlooked "doin it again" and a bunch of other GREAT ones (did i just slight their BEST record???) ... the new songs didn't suck. and jesus were they tight.

story:

my first trip to my now home NYC was in the spring of '86. understandably overwhelmed as hell. ended up on st. marks pl. at sounds. picking through records-- many of which i'd only read about at the time. as we were leaving the checkout guy gave us passes to a coyote records release party at the limelight that evening. i knew coyote had a relationship w/ twin-tone so we decided to go (like we had anything else to do). turns out the release was for "the good earth" by the feelies- who were playing. it was the closest thing i can imagine to seeing the velvet underground blindly. a complete mind-fuck of percussive tension. took me 6 more years to move here, but that sealed the deal.

(as that sage eminem sed, 'back to reality') the 7/4 show. "raised eyebrows" live was one of the coolest things i've ever seen. again, i can't honestly believe how tight they were. their encore cover of wire's "outdoor miner" (nice call halling-- a song i'd completely forgotten about from "chairs missing") was way cool. and the closer "fa ce la"? give it up. go jersey.

*shout out to todd f. for the tix.

jesse helms rip

you find out the weirdest shit in obits ... "a state champion tuba player in high school" ... and a fucking sweetheart ... will wait patiently for that box set

45 du jour

the hold steady, stay positive, (off the upcoming album stay positive)

remember vividly as a kid listening to some follow-up to a hit song that sounded exactly like the hit. thought to myself, "that's brilliant, everybody will instantly love it" ... then she cheated on me ...