CK

nod to joe g for the tip. just watch. oh yeah NSFW.

OMG

wow, i forever (stupidly) shortchange this guy and then this. however, at the time, my fave single. listen to this vocal:

a trend that needs to disappear

band reunions that feature replaying "classic albums"

i just saw a recent vid of the pixies on a late night show. they are currently on a tour featuring the totality of "doolittle", which i like just fine. a great rendition of 'debaser' occurred. i happened to see the pixies back in the day on the first ep tour as well as the trompe le monde tour, and i can happily say ... they've gotten alot better live.

is there any way to make the concert more unappealing than knowing exactly what's about to happen? hey, dvr?

required

and the end's great post got me to thinkin about my own upbringing. my dad fed us a steady diet of snl, steve martin (actually took the family to see him in vegas), carlin, and the prize, richard pryor. won't get into racial & family politics here, but my dad knew funny, and pryor was beyond funny. i idolized this man. come to think of it, my 2 biggest heroes growing up were pryor and ali.

but i digress. i found this last night. unfuckingbelievable. i knew pryor had a short-lived show on nbc. vaguely remember it. don't know if i ever saw it. it was an ill-affair between pryor and the network, and only 4 episodes aired. the 4th, hosted by paul mooney, is wild. a take-off on the dean martin roasts, it features pryor (mostly silent) and his cast just going about the bizness of the roast. money shot= 3 of the cast are robin williams, sandra bernhard & tim reid. watch all 5 episodes, pryor starts in episode 4.

i'm in love

... inneresting WFMU radio interview here with big star drummer (and xmastime BFF) jody stephens. some great stories b/w sometimes baffling lapses of thought-- bits of stephens anecdotal info seems to come purely from what he's read. he does finally provide a clue as to thought process behind the naming of the third record. anyhow, he's there supporting the exhaustive (and i'm not using that term lightly) big star box set collection "keep an eye on the sky", that GIHYB, the biggest big star fan ever, won't even buy (he's spent years and too much $$ accumulating it hisself already). no word whether it includes material from the truly dreadful reunion cd "in space" from a couple years back (well, the posies tracks were good). also on tap is a brooklyn performance by the band tonight at the masonic temple, which bizarrely, MS GIHYB will be attending sans life partner. if it's anywhere near as good as their '06 SXSW show, she won't be disappointed-- and ultimately, that's all that matters to me ... husband of the fucking year ...

VU

this is kinda weird. a semi-reunion of the Velvets at the New York Public Library (no Cale, probably smart on his behalf, no Morrison-- no pulse). There's no music planned, just a discussion between the band and writer David Fricke. Reed and Tucker are present, but then they're really the only two who have remained civil ... the weirdness is that Doug Yule is going to be there. Doug of the final two records that wasn't included on the reunion tour-- and not being included in the hall of fame induction (who fucking cares). always felt bad for Yule. got a shitty hand dealt. was part of 2 great records. yeah, he's never making my all-time velvets line-up, but he did sing some classic VU (that lou wrote).

yes VA

dylan kills! love it!

it's new to me

grant hart, hot wax

this pains me. i just saw an amazing show by this guy a couple months ago, he is one of my favorite singers ever, and i LOVED his last record, but, new albums are NEW albums.

my quick review:

1 awesome. 60s garage. great singing, great keys. no husker overtones
2 cool. awkward sequencing. too long
3 worst mixing intro ever. awesome. classic hart. amazing singing.
4 classic pop ... just weird, and not good weird
5 more nova mob roman nonesense
6 kinda cool, but kinda cool like wings, cool sounds, but nothing there
7 like an outtake from an early 70s beach boys record ... like, not making the cut of an early 70s beach boys record, which wasn't easy
8 cool, but in the sense that grant could sing the phone book and that would be cool
9 his thank you friends (big star's third). sings his ass off. but too little too late

by song 3 i was getting lofty thoughts. after song 7, i was hitting that alex chilton "thanks, but not nearly recently" button

the pips

growin up, i had a strange fixation with gladys knight & the pips. they seemed to be on every show constantly ... this was the era of the variety show. actually, it wasn't to gladys knight and the pips, it was the pips, and it wasn't the pips, it was this one guy in the pips. i'm not going to even try and figure out his name. it wasn't a sexual fixation, it was something along the lines of 'i kinda know you' (dude in the middle). anyways, i got over it i suppose, they stopped showin up on tv, and i stopped watchin.

anyways, michael shelley played this tune of just pips and funk bros on his WFMU show today and it's awesome (no knock on gladys-- midnight train is still one of my all-time faves)! i spend saturday morn's with the boy and we fire his most excellent show up every week.

for the love of god

can we put a stop to this endless parade of old white guys. i know it's the super bowl, lowest common denominator and all that, but do we really need to hear baba o'reilly/won't get fooled again/who are you another time???? i'm struggling to come up with a less inspired choice. hmmm, is the game on cbs this year? maybe all the csi cast members can join on stage

... shame on me, who am i to pass up a piss break?

try me

kickin myself for missing syl johnson's set at the music hall tomorrow night. resurrected by the eccentric soul series, he's on the road as part of their eccentric soul revue. this cut from '67 is tha bomb.

i don't feel like going into the whole eccentric soul thing now, but it's an amazing collection of records. try google.

wow

this is crazy! eddy fronted the amazing equals and had a hit in the 80s. this, is genius.

the new list

the mission:

to create a list of the best 25 albums of the 1970s.

why?:

in the tradition of the first godihateyourband list of the top 100 songs since 1950, we're now focusing on decades, starting with the 70s, cause frankly, after that initial 60s rout, i could care less about revolver vs. sgt. peppers. let's hit a decade when monster rockers started putting out CRAPPY records!

what?:

your list of the top 25 albums of the 1970s (1 being the best)

potential potholes:

a) aka, the "london calling quandary". the record dropped in britain in december 1979. US was in january 1980. use your best judgement. after many emails back and forth with the GIHYB braintrust, I've decided not to care. i mean, who releases a record in december???? fools!

b) compilations that include material from earlier decades. we're going to have to treat on a case by case basis. the sun sessions will be tough ... the red and the blue beatles albums will not be tough.

deadline:

monday, december 14

feel free to include comments with your selections, and pass on to anyone that isn't an idiot. submissions should be emailed to:

info@reeltoreelrecords.com

xoxo,

GIHYB

it's new to me

the low anthem, oh my god, charlie darwin

apparently this album's over a year old. nonesuch rereleased it over the summer. i heard my now favorite song of the year (take that personal and the pizzas!) "horizon is a beltway" on some radio station last week. "horizon" is the kinda song that made the first marah record sound so great. that wedding of banjo & exile pomp, but with a more dustbowl mentality. like the aforementioned marah, there's a shitload of different instruments on here. the trio apparently switch about alot-- but it ain't in some grand fucking orchestration, it's just kinda there. and i kinda dig it. now, i hate to sound like a jarhead dummass, but the rockers on this record are fucking great. they stomp, they bang, they've got a strain of shane in em (not anything in an overt sense, but the attitude's appreciated). it's the goddamn slow songs that are the confusing ones-- and it ain't a small problem, well over half the record is slow. in fact, the leadoff (almost) title track "charlie darwin" is an excruciating 4:33 of that WAY overused indie falsetto bullshit. had i not heard "horizon" before, there's some doubt I would have continued. the slowers are about 50/50 ("to ohio" & "omgcd" are standouts), but all n all, check it.

this

blows my mind that they played this (somewhat credibly) in '07, and forever trumps me in the ongoing beatles vs. stones argument w/ xmastime. check .... mate.