sugar

a forgottten classic by a really great band. sugar gets maligned (of course) cuz it's bob mould's post-husker band. but i defy anyone to deny their debut record's first 4 songs on any level. and this off their followup EP, is a friggin drum clinic, courtesy of my bud malcolm travis.

gabba too

never been able to find this. gotten to the point i thought i'd dreamt seeing it BITD. i must remember to remind myself that i'm always right.

gabba

being a giant ramones fan, i find it odd that i never knew of the existence of this live footage from the 1982 us festival. even odder is the fact that i didn't even know they played the damn fest. this is really interesting as it's a vastly different set than any i ever saw em play live or on any taped form. they're actively pushing current material. despite a tech glitch with joey's mike early on, they are in scorching form ... but there's still that issue with johnny. i guess it's comforting to know he's mere months away from getting his skull bashed in. enjoy

phranc

as i seem to be on a rock film thing, i caught the pixies reunion tour doc loudQUIETloud on the hulu. it's streaming there for free right now.

this is a really bizarre band.

them pixies seem to exist in a vaccuum. other than the obligatory cobain quote at the top of the movie, there's nary a mention of other music anywhere. there are no testimonials-- no why we do this, why did we do this, no awkward or funny backstage visits from rock stars. not that standard rock doc stuff needs to be there, but it's oddly weird. understandably, it's a tour doc, and not a bio, but still.

charles thompson is cast as a sort of affable hitchcock character, and that's fine. he plays "the man". the guy that needed to say, "yeah, we're getting back together". nevermind that kim deal is arguably a bigger rock star, but the pixies do begin and end with him. their deference to him is deservably up front. the band's vaunted complete lack of communication is pretty well documented in the film, and makes the tweedy/bennett passive-aggressive salvo seem almost thoughtful in retrospect.

everyone seems slightly shell-shocked ... deal's emerging from rehab and takin baby steps ... loverling is soft kind of mess (but he's got nothing on dozens of casualties) ... santiago is just a working dad missing his kids ... but the lack of joy is palpable. on a level, i get it's about money (the WHY ARE WE DOING THIS is pretty up front), but the approach given alot of the time is a bunch of peeps who just happened to be successful at something that happened at the right time. i got the thought occasionally that one of em being nabbed from the masses and bein named "head car salesman for the northern quarter" woulda sufficed. i'm not tryin to be an idealist here, but juxtapose this against something like the townes van zandt "be here to love me" pic. this dude was a disaster on so many levels, but you knew his raison d'etre every fuckin frame.

i've always contended the pixies were a pretty mediocre live act, but this is a muted version of the late-80s/early-90s. balance that with audience members LITERALLY losing their freakin minds. deal seems to get that, and those are many of the flicks best moments. her meeting with fans. to me, deal in the real pixies years was the only thing that worked onstage.

thompson's admission that no one really gives a damn about his solo career, and his talking about playing his new songs for bandmates hoping a spark will be lit to initiate some new work, gives the flick some pulse towards the conclusion. i don't even knew if he meant it, and, in the end, nothing comes of it, and thus ...

mojo's list of best rock docs ever

i can't really argue with mojo's list of greatest rock docs ever (with GIHYB comments).

1. Don't Look Back (1967)

as i get older, dylan, who is clearly the MAN in the movie looks sillier. not entirely silly yet, but sillier every view-- though i still rewind the donovan KILL-- that's still awesome.

2. DiG! (2004)

mesmerizing every second. if you'd told me i would watch a doc by two bands i could not give a shit about (and didn't after i watched them and listened to their stuff), would be this great? i wouldn't have believed you

3. The Last Waltz (1978)

genius? just fucking workmanlike diligence.

4. Gimme Shelter (1970)

watchable, and stil reeling that the band let this be released. as a teenager, i got to understand jagger's a pussy, and the stones sucked live in the late '60s (though not in the mid-60s or early 70s).

5. No Direction Home (2005)

the bomb

6. Fearless Freaks (2005)

fun as hell, and the first one i felt a part of. i once saw the lips in '87 with about 25 other people in c'ville, va. they had a light show that would've made the crue wince

7. Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten (2007)

said here. i loved joe strummer. could watch this on a loop. too many campfire interviews??? go fuck yourself.

8. The Devil And Daniel Johnston (2005)

actually was at the premiere of this. i'm a somewhat johnston fan and kinda met the director a few times. a great movie, on many levels. compelling. you get through the airplane thing unscathed???

9. The Beatles Anthology (1995)

like every other beatles fan, was all about this. triumphant, it's great, incredible, but in a smaller scope, "let it be" was better.

10. End Of The Century: The Story Of The Ramones (2003)

as a ramones freak, learning to hate johnny ramone was not on my agenda, now it's part of the class. great movie.

death, taxes, 'n hatin new leaked tracks by DBT

every year and a half or so i get a hold of a new track or 2 by the drive by truckers pre-album release. i hear em and don't like. as it turns out, i'm always wrong (aftermath usa-- WTF was i thinkin???). this year, same deal ... though "this job" is growin on me. fuckit. DBT is the best band standing. the new one march 16. order now.