Saturday, August 20, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011: Dave Matthews Band - Crash Into Me (Live)
Here is a song I never get tired of listening to.
And also never get tired of thinking about: Is it a love song? A song about stalking? Is it about a former lover, a stranger, kinky sex, yearning and desire, sweetness and hope, dark passion and light hopefulness?
Driving down the road at night, clearing up the dishes after dinner, sitting relaxing on the couch or working late at the office, here is a song that provides your perfect soundtrack.
Have a great weekend, everyone, and make it a cool one
Friday, August 19, 2011
Friday, August 19, 2011: Question Mark & the Mysterians - 96 Tears
Remember Monday, when you took a sledgehammer to your cubicle, punched your boss in the face and drove 100 miles per hour down a freeway while swigging Jack Daniels straight from the bottle?
If that is actually how you started your week, then I'll bet by Friday you'll be crying 96 tears
Or more.
C'mon, let me here you cry now
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011: Dwight Yoakam - An Exception To The Rule
Here's a song that's just at home in 1954 as it was in 2003 when it was released, as it still is today.
It's just at home in Bakersfield, California as it is Savannah, Georgia, as it would be in Bedfordshire, England.
Ok, it would be horribly out of place in Bedfordshire, but that's not the point.
The point is that county music speaks to the human condition far more than most any other music.
Somewhere, there is a guy who is miserable, who's been hurt by life and love, who's down on his luck...but then he sees that girl. That one hope, that last chance.
Somewhere, whether it's Bakersfield or Bedfordshire, somewhere there is a guy who totally understands where Dwight Yoakam is coming from.
And, for the record, nowhere is there anyone who does country music better than Dwight.
Including
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011: Fool's Gold - The World Is All There Is
From Amazon.com:
"Fool’s Gold is a Los Angeles collective that weaves together western pop aesthetics with African rhythms and melodies. The group started as a side project of two young LA musicians, vocalist/bassist Luke Top and lead guitarist Lewis Pesacov, who set out to explore their shared love of various forms of African music (specifically Congolese, Ethiopan, Eritrean and Malian), Krautrock, and 80s dance influenced pop music."
And, from Obscure Sound.com
"The LA-based Fool’s Gold use their adoration for Afro-pop quite prominently, but not to the flawed extent where it comprises the entirety of their audible appearance. What separates them from the rest is their designed usage of differing influences; Afro-pop is used more prominently than Akron/Family’s diversified material, but it is not as in-your-face as Vampire Weekend after they turn from cutely adorable to durably obnoxious. In fact, “world music” might fit more aptly for Fool’s Gold, as they combine everything from middle-eastern folk to jazz fusion. The Afro-pop influence is most prominent, but it is not cloaked under generic shades of Americanized pop music. Fool’s Gold is a collective that is too eclectic, experienced, and ambitious for something like that."*
From their MySpace page:
http://www.myspace.com/foolsgold
And, from my heart: These guys are amazing, get to know this wonderful group!
*God in Heaven, I totally LOVE good critique - and that whole article is outstanding. The level of writing constantly strive for, and totally fail at.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011: How Cool Are: XTC
For today's How Cool TWOfer selection, Ladies and Gentlemen:
If you are around music journalism for any length of time, whether it's reading small fanzines, music blogs or one the big publications like Rolling Stone, you will eventually come across the phrase "criminally underrated". It's one of those shorthand phrases that music writers toss out periodically. More than anything, the phrase "criminally underrated" establishes the street cred of the author by making it seem like he or she is privvy to a cool band or type of music that everyone else should be listening to but aren't. Somehow, the author implies, I know about this band/group/artist/whatever, and only a couple of other really tuned in people do as well.
The obvious problem with the phrase, "criminally underrated", is that its bollocks. It's garbage, and usually just plain wrong. As I have argued before, most obscure bands are obscure for a reason. Usually, because they suck. Therefore, they can't be underrated. I truly believe most band are exactly where they need to be.
That said, most bands aren't XTC. XTC are one of the very few band who are, indeed, criminally underrated.
While the drive for getting this blog going came from going through a rough patch in my life, the actual idea sprung up when a few months before I posted three songs in a row by XTC on my facebook page.
People post songs all the time on facebook, sometimes they are cool, but often not. And, for whatever reason, I just got fed up with songs that suck, and wanted to show people what really great music sounded like. And the band I chose was XTC.
I mean, just listen to Mayor Of Simpleton, just listen to it. That is about as perfect a pop song as it gets, right up there with I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles. Yes, I said it. XTC is up there with the Beatles.
They get that a lot, being compared to the Beatles. For better or worse. It's another thing rock journalists do, compare an exemplary band to the Fab Four, especially if they're from England. Never mind that XTC are from Swindon, probably one of the furthest reaches from Liverpool anyone could imagine.
But, then again, it really isn't such a stretch. Listen again to Mayor of Simpleton, or Generals and Majors, or Dear God, or Making Plans For Nigel, or Senses Working Overtime, or any of the dozens of singles and dozens of albums XTC has put out. Pure pop genius in every drop, I'm telling you.
And yet, even today, it really is only journalists and fellow musios like myself that really, honestly, passionately have any sort of recognition for this band at all. Most people don't even have XTC on their radar, but for me, they are pretty close to the epicenter.
The second song I've chosen for our XTC TWOfer Tuesday is one off their 1999 release Apple Venus Volume 1, their first album since 1992's Nonsuch. The seven year hiatus was filled with medical drama, contract drama, label drama, and a whole bunch of generally negative vibes. This wasn't helped any with long-time guitarist and keyboardist Dave Gregory leaving the band during the recording of AV1.
And that's the other thing you can do with XTC which is similar to the Beatles, which is to just get lost in the history, politics and drama of the band - at the expense of the music. If you want to read about Andy Partridge's breakdown or stage fright, knock yourself out. If you want to read about their battle with Virgin Records, go right ahead.
But, before you start to load up Google, do yourself a favor and just listen to I'd Like That. and then Mayor of Simpleton again.
Then wonder to yourself why isn't XTC on the playlist of every single music lover around?
That's the crime in "criminally underrated"
How Cool Are: XTC
If you are around music journalism for any length of time, whether it's reading small fanzines, music blogs or one the big publications like Rolling Stone, you will eventually come across the phrase "criminally underrated". It's one of those shorthand phrases that music writers toss out periodically. More than anything, the phrase "criminally underrated" establishes the street cred of the author by making it seem like he or she is privvy to a cool band or type of music that everyone else should be listening to but aren't. Somehow, the author implies, I know about this band/group/artist/whatever, and only a couple of other really tuned in people do as well.
The obvious problem with the phrase, "criminally underrated", is that its bollocks. It's garbage, and usually just plain wrong. As I have argued before, most obscure bands are obscure for a reason. Usually, because they suck. Therefore, they can't be underrated. I truly believe most band are exactly where they need to be.
That said, most bands aren't XTC. XTC are one of the very few band who are, indeed, criminally underrated.
While the drive for getting this blog going came from going through a rough patch in my life, the actual idea sprung up when a few months before I posted three songs in a row by XTC on my facebook page.
People post songs all the time on facebook, sometimes they are cool, but often not. And, for whatever reason, I just got fed up with songs that suck, and wanted to show people what really great music sounded like. And the band I chose was XTC.
I mean, just listen to Mayor Of Simpleton, just listen to it. That is about as perfect a pop song as it gets, right up there with I Want To Hold Your Hand by The Beatles. Yes, I said it. XTC is up there with the Beatles.
They get that a lot, being compared to the Beatles. For better or worse. It's another thing rock journalists do, compare an exemplary band to the Fab Four, especially if they're from England. Never mind that XTC are from Swindon, probably one of the furthest reaches from Liverpool anyone could imagine.
But, then again, it really isn't such a stretch. Listen again to Mayor of Simpleton, or Generals and Majors, or Dear God, or Making Plans For Nigel, or Senses Working Overtime, or any of the dozens of singles and dozens of albums XTC has put out. Pure pop genius in every drop, I'm telling you.
And yet, even today, it really is only journalists and fellow musios like myself that really, honestly, passionately have any sort of recognition for this band at all. Most people don't even have XTC on their radar, but for me, they are pretty close to the epicenter.
The second song I've chosen for our XTC TWOfer Tuesday is one off their 1999 release Apple Venus Volume 1, their first album since 1992's Nonsuch. The seven year hiatus was filled with medical drama, contract drama, label drama, and a whole bunch of generally negative vibes. This wasn't helped any with long-time guitarist and keyboardist Dave Gregory leaving the band during the recording of AV1.
And that's the other thing you can do with XTC which is similar to the Beatles, which is to just get lost in the history, politics and drama of the band - at the expense of the music. If you want to read about Andy Partridge's breakdown or stage fright, knock yourself out. If you want to read about their battle with Virgin Records, go right ahead.
But, before you start to load up Google, do yourself a favor and just listen to I'd Like That. and then Mayor of Simpleton again.
Then wonder to yourself why isn't XTC on the playlist of every single music lover around?
That's the crime in "criminally underrated"
Monday, August 15, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011: Stone Temple Pilots - Wicked Garden
Here's one of those songs that just want to make you take a sledgehammer to your cubicle, punch your boss in the face and drive 100 miles per hour down a freeway while swigging Jack Daniels straight from the bottle
Or, you know, maybe that's just me
Happy Monday
Sunday, August 14, 2011
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