John Cale, what the hell are you doing? Wow, I really don't like this "acclaimed" rock album. It was touted as one of the best albums of the 20th century by Wire magazine, so I picked it up about 10 years ago. It recently found its way back to me... woof, it is a stinker! I love Cale for the most part, the best VU was with him and Nico and Nick Drake sure got hands up from him, but man! Come on, listen to the album before you put it out.
Tribute to Joni Mitchell
Well, you're all talented musicians (kd lang, Sufjan Stevens, Prince, Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, Bjork), but you know what? Joni is out of your reach! Of all these covers, only one comes close to rivalling the original: Caetano Veloso doing Dreamland. But then again, everything Caetano touches turns to musical gold. The guy has the spirit of a million Sufjan Stevenses and such alien humor and musical talent. I'm always intrigued by his songs. Does anyone know how I can link to songs so people can hear what I'm talking about?
Daydream Nation (Sonic Youth): this album is pretty rocking and if you haven't heard it yet you should check it out a little bit. I'm not the biggest Sonic Youth fan around, but every so often they hit the nail nice and hard and correctly. This album is full of those hammer hits. Special props go to Teenage Riot, Eric's Trip and Hey Joni. Listening to Hey Joni right now and... yes. "Hey Joni, put it all behind you... Hey Joni, now put it all behind me too... these times can't add up, your life's such a mess... tune out the pasts and just say yes." cue harmonic guitars. Love it. "Tell me Joni, am I the one to see you through, in this broken town can you still jack in, and know what to do? I remember our youth, our high ideals, I remember you were so uptight, that time in the trees, we broke that vice, we took some steps and now we can't think twice." I'm sorry but that shit is good.
some bad Guided by Voices album: Isolation Drills. These guys are constantly bumming me out with their half-baked music. Every now and then there's a gem, like that "I am a scientist" song.
a weird Donovan "greatest hits" thing that's pretty miss. What kind of a Donovan greatest hits album doesn't have Mellow Yellow and Hurdy Gurdy Man? Or Season of the Witch? I'm confused.
Free (Negativland) good for a few chuckles, these guys make dissent sound fun. It's not on this album, but I can't get their bastardizing of the My Favorite Things from the Sound of Music out of my head: "Wild, wild white girls that melt into nose cream", "ponies in dresses and warm, warm doorbells", "when the bee stings, I simply remember my dog bites and I feel sooo sooo baaaaaaaad"
laugh buttons
Zombies Greatest Hits (I love these guys for some reason!), Neu 75, Prefuse 73, Blood on the Tracks, On Fire (Galaxy 500), It's Very Stimulating (Paul Barman, funny ass shit, music by Handsome Boy Modeling School, ie: good), Mobius Beard by Copy (not nearly as good as the previous album, which has been in constant rotation at our house), Nassau (Sea and Cake, wonderful album, will play until I die), My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (about as close to perfect as an album can get, in my mind), Charm of the Highway Strip (Magnetic Fields, one of the Mag Field albums that I can listen to over and over again, brilliant), Tweez by Slint and a live Iggy and the Stooges bootleg called Open up and Bleed.
Can anyone top this list for eclecticism? Methinks not.
Pic for the day:
My buddy Hot Dog doing a funky ollie
No comments:
Post a Comment