Brattleboro Mon Amour

This is re-post from my LiveJournal blog. I'm reposting it here on the off chance someone reads it and contributes.

Music posting to resume later...

So Vermont has been an important part of my families life and mine.

My Dad and his sister went to University of Vermont. It was one of the best times of his life. The way the school reached out and embraced him as his classes' 50th reunion came about was equally gratifying.

As a little kid, I remember fondly vacationing there a couple of times, going up for my dad's 25th or 30th reunion. Vermie, the stuffed mouse I got from the Vermont book store was a star of my menagerie for years.

My sister went to Middlebury, and it was there on one visit that wee James became known as "Who's the little dude puking off house porch?" and first had Olympia Beer. (Motto: "It's the Water." More like "It Is Water.) It was also in these visits I had my first aware glimpse of a winter Vermont sky. I saw more stars in one night than I'd had seen in all my life up to that point.

I think my first glimpse of the Milky Way was there.

Plus, I'm pretty sure I saw an early Phish tape or two laying around people's dorm rooms.

For me, my time in Vermont was in the winter of '93. I got a role in the Whetstone Theater's Christmas Carol, playing young Scrooge and Bob Cratchit. The company was an amazing mix of characters.. Green mountain natives and transplanted New Yorkers, and me showing up after my Mon saw an add in a Amherst news paper.

The town itself.. was brilliant. I'll admit to forgetting a lot of names.. I man, we're going on 20 years since I was there. But the Latchis Theater featured mainstream movies and an amazing women's film festival ( I saw "Wayne's World 2," "Adams Family Values" and "Ruby in Paradise" in this same theater. "Ruby..." was better than the other two, by the way.)

The cast was great. I crashed in a house with one of the staffers for a couple of months, and was really welcomed. And tolerated at points. Hey... new actors can suck some in rehearsals before things come together.

I left, lost touch. Heard some people in the company passed.

And then the Hurricane.

Folks, we are all broke beyond human belief and all have causes to help, towns in need. Fellow Empire staters need help as well.

But on behalf of old friends and old memories in Vermont, and some newer ones, I'm asking folks to consider giving some to the Green Mountain State.

Here's a link to a great web page- http://7d.blogs.com/blurt/2011/08/after-irene-how-you-can-help-vermont.html

Cut, paste, and give a little.

Afro Celt What the Hey is this?

Let’s talk about “World Music.”

At the old Virgin Megastores (miss those gigantic, corporate bastards oh so much) somewhere near the back, was a rack or two of music from all over the world, at least a quarter of which were from Peter Gabriel’s Real World label.

“World Music” is not always a bad thing. Sometimes, it’s about people learning about different music, and appreciating other cultures native sounds. Sometimes, it’s about western pop types getting really funky and partnering with non-western types to rock the fuck out.

Sometimes, it’s an aging English rock start making an embarrassing documentary about drumming in Africa. Sometimes, it’s a weapon the more pretentious use against the less pretention to prove their music tastes are superior.

Sometime’s it’s just a mess of what the fuck that your ears can bleed.

Afro-Celtic Sound System, Vol.3 piqued my interest based on the regular airplay of a song featuring  Peter Gabriel, “Falling,” featuring a man falling from the sky, through the Earth, and out the other side. I saw it for cheap at a little CD store in the Pavonia Newport Mall in beautiful Jersey City, right by where I lived for a bit.

I have rarely had such a serious “WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST PAY FOR?” reaction as I’ve had with this. I love Celtic music, I dig most African sounds. Hell, I actually liked a lot of Deep Forest’s stuff.

Don’t judge me.

But this is just such an indulgent, ready to be background music in a 1990’s English chocolate commercial mess, I have no idea what they were thinking, or intending. It must be like being trapped at a weekend long Phish show without being a fan or being stoned off your ass.

The actual CD was thrown back to the winds of fate years ago. I still have it on  MP3 in case I need to hear “Falling” or scare animals and small children.

World music doesn’t automatically suck. But ohmygod, Afro Celt Sound System, Vol, 3, most surely does.

Artist: Afro Celt Sound System

Album: Vol. 3
Year: 2001
Date Listened in Tour: 7/17/08
Rating: *
Best Songs: Falling

In Brightest Day, In "Black Love" in the year “1965”

After the “Gentleman”, the Whigs kept on going ‘til ’98. The music continues to be big, the sound expands a bit.. but the steam starts to leak. Also, they were a little loss in the surge of Alt, as it started to fade away and we all began dithering over what "Alt" meant, who was really "Alt", and why the fuck would anyone buy "Backstreet Boys" or "N-Sync"

“Gentleman” is a CD that comes to mind, that you can imagine picking up out the blue and putting on again and again. “Black Love” and “1965” are both great, and having had replayed them very recently, are both great, but aren’t as high on the instant play.  They aren’t the OHMYGOD SO AMAZING that the first album is.

Another way to describe the two is a really good scotch or whiskey. Not the best ever, but one you have to remember you have, and are rewarded for playing again. After the first sip, after the it sinks into you, you remember why you keep a bottle or two of it in your liquor cabinet.

But. these are high recommends. I need to listen to more of Dulli and co’s non-Whig output, but if you like
“Gentleman” at all, these are must buys.

Artist: The Afghan Whigs.

Album: Black Love
Year: 1996
Date Listened in Tour: 7/15/08
Rating: ****
Best Songs: Bulletproof

Artist: The Afghan Whigs.

Album: 1965
Year: 1998
Date Listened in Tour: 7/15/08
Rating: ****
Best Song: Uptown Again

You’re No “Gentleman”

One thing I have to say bewilders me. Somehow, music that you’ve burned and listened to many a time, that has happily lived on your iPod or other lesser mp3 player, disappears from your hard drive.

HOW THE FUCK DOES THIS HAPPEN? I DON’T KNOW!

!!

!

Ok.. back to the music.

In the early 90’s, while New Wave was fading and Grunge and Alt where taking over, I was working in the music industry while starting acting. And, starting to really get into music. Like, REALLY. Like, learning credit cards are FUN FUN, into music.

Anyhow.

Not every band was trying to be Nirvana, thank god. An early stand was The Afghan Whigs. I heard them here and there, saw them onto MTV News way more than they were played on MTV, and I just liked their sound, and their lyrics. Look, no matter how good a person you are, part of you has some mildly to seriously  hateful thoughts in it. And guess what..  kick ass rock n’roll can be quite cathartic in that respect.

“YEAH! WORSE PEOPLE THAN ME EXIST! AND MAKE A GREAT NEW SOUND WITH IT! AND AREN’T METAL DOUCHEBAGS!”

Well, maybe not that extreme. But you get my point.

The Whigs never took over the world, and as stories go, and allegedly they broke up amicably. Seeing Greg’s interviews, it’s not entirely believable. But for some of the best of early 90;s alt, you can’t go wrong with them.

I’ll be hitting the other two LP’s separately, but I’m including the EP in this entry. “Gentleman” is an essential part in any cd collection. Great to either amp you up or get you through dark moods, worth listening to the words while doing the head bop, and of the moment it was produced in but not stuck in the moment.

“What Jail Is Like” is a great little EP. Not only does it feature another great song from “Gentleman”, but it shows some different angles of the band. They have some banjo, they show some of the love of soul and classic R&B which marked them as more diverse than your average rock band.

And, it allows me to cheat a little. “What Jail Is Like” is another great song from the “Gentleman” cd, and instead of bursting the Best Song category completely, I get to put it in with the EP.

THANKS, GUYS!

Artist: The Afghan Whigs.

Album: Gentleman
Year: 1993
Date Listened in Tour: 7/15/08
Rating: *****
Best Songs: Be Sweet/ Deboanir

Artist: The Afghan Whigs.

Album: What Jail Is Like
Year: 1994
Date Listened in Tour: 7/15/08
Rating: ****
Best Song: What Jail Is Like

Let’s Hear It For “About a Boy”

The early 2000’s. Wow. We were all trying to chill… either from too many club drugs ( not me, but those of you who were.. it’s cool. Why didn’t you share more?), 9/11 ( me and a lot of other fine folks,) and the whole buzzkill of Y2K.

I mean, we passed both 2000 AND 2001 with out one robot trying to kill us all. Not counting Dick Cheney. I don’t think he was a cyborg yet.

And in to that mix, came all sorts of great, but chill things. Like “Chill Lounges” and “Chill Music.” New frontiers in folk and mellowness.

And Badly Drawn Boy. Another guy who I heard more about than heard, another Brit, his video with the kids’ braces stuck together spoke to a wholesome romantic wistfulness.

And then he did the soundtrack for “About a Boy.”

You may have figured out I’m a Nick Hornby fanboy. Yes, yes I am. And save for the fact that it’s impossible to make a decent film of “Fever Pitch”, the other movies based on his work have been purty damn awesome. Even better, “About a Boy’s” screenplay was written Peter Hedges, a former teacher of mine.

One of the nicest guys you could hope to meet. EVER. You read "What's Eating Gilbert Grapes?" Go back. Buy some of his other stuff.

Anyway,  BDB was a great choice for the movie, a fun mix of odd characters in odd situations, finding themselves in London.

And the CD was one of many found at an FYE in Kingston, NY, as we were rushing to find new cd’s to play in the rental car during a good but challenging recent vacation.

I was going to give this 3 stars, but a second listen bumps it up to 4.  BDB get’s some different styles in this cd, it’s not mopetastic at all. And it works brilliantly with the film.  

But I don’t often see listening to it for it’s own sake. Plus, where the hell is “Santa’s Super Sleigh?” REALLY! But it does stand out better as a CD for it’s own sake then I first realized.

Get this if you are a fan of the film or a Badly Drawn Boy fan. It won’t let you down. If you are looking to learn about Badly Drawn Boy, I’d say track down his other albums first, but swing back to this.

Artist: Badly Drawn Boy.

Album: 19
Year: 2008
Date Listened in Tour: 4/22/09
Rating: ****
Best Song:Silent Sigh

Oi, Adele, you got Soul?

You know, England never lost soul. I mean, Soul & R&B in the US have splintered into so many different directions and sounds… there is not a distinct modern US Soul Sound. Feel free to disagree with me… you are probably right.

But the English have held on to Souls circa mid-60’s on for much longer then the US has. Underground events when desperate souls cross the isle and join each others for dance ins’. Don’t believe me?

Evidence: Nick Hornby’s “Juliet Naked. Read it.

Then see “Blue Juice”- a 1995 Welsh Surf movie. Yeah.. you can stream it. No worries. You’ll notice that as time gone on, Sean Pertwee.. the actual male lead of the flick, has been pushed aside for Catherine Zeta Jones and Ewan McGregor.

That’s not the point. The point is you’ll see over the views there is an English soul scene that I just don’t think is here in the states. I know there are amazing soul musicians and bands… just not that lingering scene.

So when people are shocked by the waves of English Blue Eyed Soul singers ( never mind that the UK is racially diverse and has talented people of all backgrounds sharing music), they shouldn’t be. Save for their press and relations with contested territories, the Brits have had soul, and always had soul.

Now, Adele… she goes beyond the hype. And yes they’ve tried to hyper her up. And yes… they’ve likely been pressuring her some to fit the more standard image of a pop singer. Or just held pictures of Duffy in front of her saying “YOU SHOULD LOOK LIKE HER!”

No, she shouldn’t.

The fact that Adele is a singer and a writer who made two brilliant albums out of utter heartbreak give her cred. The fact that she sings with undeniable soul.. both in style and in practice,  give her cred. For the fact she gets’s so many different sounds as young artists in just two albums, give her cred.

AND FOR GOD SAKES! GET HER A GOOD MAN WHO INSPIRES HER AS MUCH AS EVERY ASSWHOLE WHO GAVE HER THESE TWO ALBUMS! SHE DESERVES IT!

4 out of 5. Damn fine, and you need to own her stuff.

Artist: Adele

Album: 19
Year: 2008
Date Listened in Tour: 4/22/09
Rating: ****
Best Song: First Love

Artist: Adele

Album: 21
Year: 2011
Date Listened in Tour: 7/18/11
Rating: ****
Best Song: Set Fire To The Rain (special praise for her cover of The Cure’s “Lovesong.”)

But How Do I Know What I Want To Know?

So how are the best ways to get a clue about music besides spending too much money for it? True, it’s a touch easier with the internet these days. But what you get in access, you lose in the sheer flood of data. Best ways are to know about music:

1)     Work in it.

2)     Have family in it.

3)     Have a friend in it.

I’ve been lucky enough to have all 3 apply. And while I need to be vague on some details, I recommend spending some time in the industry.. or at least putting some time in supporting an artist or two, or getting in good at a local bar with a good schedule of performances. There is just too much volume of music out there to not have one or two means of getting more than you normally would, or getting access to bands you won’t normally here.

Now, you may not get to hear the biggest in the business. Nor will you love everything you hear. But, you will find some gems to treasure, some bronze trinkets you won’t mind having seen, and some bits of zirconium.

And then there’s Starcode. OH FUCKING GOD THEY SUCK. If you see them run, run as fast as you can.

Seth Adams is a decent singer/songwriter with his band I caught through a club friend. I’m giving them a two for the CD. Which I am struggling over, because they weren’t bad, just didn’t light me on fire. They did a good live show, were great guys, and if you see them on a bill, give them a try.

So don’t take this as a don’t give a try.. just take this as me passing on decent enough artists in the night.

Artist: Seth Adams

Album: Amplify
Year: 2010
Date Listened in Tour: 7/18/11
Rating: **
Best Song: Vermont

 

You've Got The Look, But Do I Want to Know It Better?

ABC was another beneficiary of being an early MTV band. HEY, THEY LOOK GOOD! HEY, THEY GOT VIDEOS! PLAY THE FUCK OUT OF THEM!

One of Trevor Horn’s demon spawn, they seemed English, elegant, oh so New Romantic.

But one thing that I only found out… they were straight out of Sheffield, and they sold out ( or bought in)  for success so hard it makes David Bowie’s early 80’s and 90’s look downright punk.

And by the way, if you aren’t familiar with Sheffield, I can’t say I am, either. I lived in London, where they joke about the rest of the UK far more vehemently than New Yorkers do about all but the most inbred of our fellow Americans. And they take the piss out of Sheffield like you would not belive.

But so much of the English music we swallowed whole in the US came out of Sheffield bands. Don’t believe me? Go see “Made In Sheffield” http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325767/

It’s on cable. It’s on Netflix, DVD only. You’ll thank me.

So, ABC, by the time we saw them on our MTV were the synthtastic, smoove mother’s working the slap bass like you would not believe. “Posion Arrow” and “Look of Love” are the stand outs, and their retro-50’s,40’s look made them stand out on the screen. They had a second go at the States later, but they were one of the bands of very brief moment here.

The album succeeds on more than just nostalgia and drum machines. Great music, dramatic lyrics and singing. And yes.. it’s got some mild, funk. Very white funk. But funk nonetheless.

Artist: ABC

Album: The Lexicon of Love
Year: 1982
Date Listened in Tour:7/17/07
Rating: ****
Best Song: Posion Arrow

Sure, it’s Scandinavian Vanilla. BUT WHO DOESN’T LOVE VANILLA?

ABBA has been in the background of my life, for most of my life. I remember hearing them as a wee lad in County Bergen, hearing them on the radio, and of course seeing them on TV, especially once or twice on Casey Kasem’s America’s Top 40 show on WNYW.

Then came new wave and the disco back lash. Which, I was swept up in, and gratefully so. Yet.. yet there was some collateral damage. As the over produced, soulless dance music and Osmondization of 70’sa culture was being rebelled against, some acts were caught up in the blast wave of scorn. ABBA and the Carpenters were cast aside. Spit upon, as it were. Fleetwood Mac went popular, and survived the 80’s, arguably, but ABBA was on the dustbin of history. To be mocked at.

They stayed in the subconscious. But it took a couple of things to tip them back into music fans good graces. One, of course.. AUSTRALIA!

“Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.” started the wave of Aussie movies using ABBA joyfully and without shame. And well, those queer gender bending indie Aussie bloke’s and shelia’s seemed to be having so much fun. Speaking of Gay’s Advocating ABBA, real life and incredibly Gay Men Erasure released their “ABBA-Esque “ cd in 1992. Now, if the Kings & Queens of 80’s Dance Pop & New Wave were in on how much fun ABBA was, maybe there was something there.

And, well, all these grunge and indie rock artists started mentioning how much they liked the music of their youth.. the early to mid 70’s.

The era… of ABBA.

I’m not saying it was the final moment, but just as Pope John Paul II finally forgave Galileo, Elvis Costello also redeemed ABBA, citing their great harmonies and intricate melodies. And that was it.

ABBA was forgiven. For their own music. Argue amongst yourself about whether CHESS deserves acclaim or condemnation. Don’t own it, never seen it, won’t say.

My interest was piqued by “Priscialla” and “Murielle’s Wedding,” and when I got ABBA “GOLD”, well I was instantly converted by the sheer pop joy. Yeah, it’s cheese. Yeah, it’s Eurovision Crack. But it’s the finest of cheeses, and the finest of European crack.

The drug, not the… never mind.

ABBA could get points off, because after you a buy one of their best of’s, you probably won’t feel the urge to buy the actual albums. But you need ABBA in your collection.And with the amount you will replay even their best of... 5 stars, all the way.

Artist: ABBA

Album:Gold
Year: 1992
Date Listened in Tour:7/15/09
Rating: *****
Best Song: Knowing Me, Knowing You

Where The HELL did I get this Nu Groove From?

You know, people tell me a lot that I should rip all my CD’s, sell ‘em, and let the wonders of modern technology keep my music easily accessible.

Plus, think all the space I would open for hats and shoes.

WELL, THEY ARE SO DAMN WRONG.

I mean, I am backing up my CD’s, obviously. But as with photography, digital music is more easily lost, misplaced, and harder to sort. A physical CD, even one that ain’t important, can still be placed in order, and played in order.

Digital only songs, you have to wait about 3 years into a your Grand Tour before realizing, OH CRAPPE! I forgot “AAC Savoy’s Savoy Nu Groove Sampler!”

This is a small EP disc. Focuses on the mellow, some remixed  jazz classics and some St. Etienne. ( And I don’t care how dance music for old people St. Etienne can be, you DO NOT MOCK ST. ETIENNE!)

I think I grabbed it at a Housing Works street fair. CD dumpster diving is one of my favorite things.. and why I mourn the passing of Tower Records AND Virgin Megastore in NYC. Yes… there are a lot of great indie and smaller owned record shops to go to.

But swimming in row upon row of discounted CD’s for me was like being Scrooge McDuck swimming in his money. OH THE FEEL OF THEM UPON THE SKIN! OH, THE JOY OF FINDING THAT IMPORT CD FOR LOW, LOW PRICES!

Anyway.  If you see this, grab it, burn it, and then donate it to your local library or charity, and give someone else the joy of finding this nice little find.

Artist: AAC- Savoy

Album: Savoy Nu Groove Sampler
Year: 2006
Date Listened in Tour:6/20/10
Rating: ***
Best Song: Basement Boys Present Mudfoot Jone - Everthing's Gon' Be Alright

Something’s inside. It might be on Fire, it might be a parasite, but I like it.

One of the nice things about being into music, but not living in it, is seeing bands, liking them, but being able to ignore most hype and possible bullshit surrounding them. 

As well as the full on devotion of their fan armies. 

AFI, or A Fire Inside, are a band I’d heard bits of, but never really heard. I knew some people dug them, didn’t know why. Then I think I saw them on the American Music Awards.. some where on TV they didn’t quite belong.

And they genuinely rawked. At least a bit.

Do I have a yen for Goth? Uhm.. have you seen the amount of black I own beyond what I need to work?

Do you know the preponderance of Goth chicks I have whirled around like a black moth to a dark flame?

And add in a little pop sugar, cyanide or aspartame if you want it a little poisonous, and oh mi god!

Are you ready to see how much I dig Evanesence when I get around to them?

A.F.I’s music has an energy that can’t be denied, and they work the fan base like few do. They take themselves just seriously enough, because they know there are people who need to take them way more seriously.

Am I converted? No. I haven’t grabbed more of their albums since I got these two. But if you are looking for a little meat ib your emo, I recommend them. If you are looking for a safe cult to be part… you could do worse. AFI won’t take all your money and tell you to leave your family.

 I gave both CD’s three stars originally, because while, good, I just don’t see my self re-listening to them much. And that is the key to the Grand Tour’s ratings. It’s not just how good an album is… it’s the odds of me having a sudden yen to put it on again and play through. Having replayed AFI while writing this..  no. They’re there, they’re good, they got some great longing in their lyrics, but I guess they just don’t reach the “eternal teenager suffering for the girl with too much eyeliner” in me as much as they do other folks.

Artist: AFI

Album:Sing The Sorrow
Year: 2003
Date Listened in Tour:7/16/07
Rating: ***
Best Song: Silver and Cold

Album:December Underground
Year: 2006
Date Listened in Tour:7/17/07
Rating: ***
Best Song: Prelude 12/21

An Album Less Ordinary

Original Soundtracks, or OST’s as you will see them referred from this point on, are another potential sticking point. Do you them file them under the film title? Muscial Coordinator/Conductor? Director’s name? What if it’s a TV show instead of a film?

After all, Wes Anderson, Sophia Coppola, and Cameron Crowe have given us albums as important, and sometimes better, than their films. Their music are part of their movies from the ground up. Other movies bear the mark of great coordinators and writers. Alan Silvestri has touched so many OST’s, lifted some moneys up by his writing, or at least got paid trying to, he could have a good dozen or so titles organized if his name alone.

YES…. I WILL KEEP AN ALAN SILVESTRI COUNT! LET IT BE WRITTEN!

Oh.. I’m the one writing it. Good to know.

Anywhoo.. I’ve chosen to keep it simple. OST’s will be sorted by their titles, if in a series (film,tv or otherwise) chronologically.

And now… A Life Less Ordinary.

Like most alternadudes, I was pulled into Danny Boyle’s work early on. I saw Shallow Grave  at the Warner Theater in Ridgewood, NJ, at a late night showing with my dad, and loved this shit. Trainspotting…. OH MY FAHKING GOD WHAT AN AMAZING MOVE!

Then.. hey, Ewan was a star! He was doing a movie with Cameron Diaz, who was still CAMERON FUCKING DIAZ, and it was in UTAH! And there were cool articles about it in Rolling Stone.. and then it disappeared. I finally saw it while visiting friends in Boulder, CO taking a down day and marveling at their new fangled digital cable. It was heavily pixilated, required constant changing of channels, but it was the future.

And this movie… it was good. Not great. I could have done without the claymation. But it had Cameron Diaz, Ewan AND Holly Hunter. (Who I’ve had a crush on since Broadcast News, and whose awful TNT show I will ignore.) But it stuck to it’s off kilter feel, looked great, and fit in nicely with his previous flicks.

And the soundtack… ah, sweet, sweet soundtrack. One that has travelled with me either on CD or on iPod almost everywhere for years, to travel to or to get some exercise on. One that has so many different styles, plus that nice late 90’s heavy bass/not quite club ecstasy music feel. Boyle always has always had great music woven into his films. In this case his team Debra Mannis-Gardner doing clearances and David Arnold doing great orignal music. (thanks the cd booklet and IMDB!) And this was no exception.

True, it’s not the 2 CD wonder of Trainspotting 1&2, nor the worldmusic smash hit of Slumdog Millionaire. But like the movie that spawned it, it was a unique gem that you want to go back to.

Again, and again.

Artist: OST

Album:A Life Less Ordinary
Year: 1997
Date Listened in Tour:7/4/07
Rating: *****
Best Song: either “Deeper River” by Dusted, or “A Life Less Ordinary” by Ash. Honestly, there are so many amazing songs on this CD, fighting over which one is best would be an eternal war.

And a worthy one

Tripping down the Trail of the Dead.

… And You Will Know Them By the Trail of The Dead are kind of like Guided By Voices, or Mission Of Burma. They are a band you are more likely to have heard of, than most likely heard. They are most likely listened to by people cooler and more in the know than you.

Not necessarily hipsters… just people more in the scene.

I remember hearing about them in the 90’s , but never really hearing them. And then, a Trail of the Dead album mysteriously appeared amidst a huge trove of Jazz and Roots rock my LJ and RL friend, RockRadar, bestowed on me.

And finally, I knew them.. ok, you can guess the rest.

Psychedelic, distortion, very sort of 90’s sound. You might think of Mercury Rev as similar sounding, and worth listening to if you dig them. And they are good.. only problem is, as with a lot of psychedelic jam masters, the album merges into one giant mood swing which you can’t really pick songs out of.

I’ll have to listen to them deeper to really pick out a favorite song. Will they be in my more immediate replay list? No. But I can assure you this Trail of Dead smells sweet, and is worth going down if you want to explore some more modern prog/psych rock that by no means sucks.

And yes… it’s out alphabetical order on the blog, but deal.

Artist: … And You Will Know Them By The Trail of The Dead
Album: The Tao of The Dead
Year: 2010
Date Listened in Tour:10/18/10
Rating: ***

Best Song: to be determined.

Ratings on The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour, as you may guess by the lurches and u-turns, by the way it has sprawled over the years, is hardly scientific.

It doesn't have a rigorous review system.

But a rating system there is.

All albums are rated by stars, 1-5.
1- awful, likely to be deleted from my collection, physically AND digitally.
2- Pretty damn bad. Kept only for archival value or so I can say, see this really bad album I have it.
3- Meh to Ok, meh.
4- Pretty darn good. Honestly, most of my collection, I expect to be four stars.
5- Amazeballs. Stand out album, really feel it.

 If a CD is SO DAMN AMAZING I CAN'T CONTAIN MYSELF, it goes up to 6. Well there be more stars?

A key factor is "Will I listen to the album again?." So albums that are not... shall we say, considered as good or actually not as amazing others, but are more likely to be listened, will be higher rated than some of the most important albums in all of history.

Feel free to disagree, in fact.. I hope you do. People disagreeing will be well enjoyed.

And don't worry.. the East Germans will not be allowed to skew ratings to favor Russian artists.

Though Zvuki Mu and t.A.t.u. will be will reviewed. We love those rocking Slavs.

Calling London, Come in.. +44

+44 presents  fun challenges for a music listener, collector.

Firstly, how to alphabetize. As you can see, well, it goes after (500) Days of Summer.

Secondly, how do you feel about the band issues?

You see, I was always an unapologetic Blink-182 fan. Why apologize? Sure, they were part of the pop machine that ate punk, but they never portrayed themselves as the saviors of punk.

They were a fun band, with just enough soul. And they were always in on the joke. If the joke overwhelmed the music, so fucking what?

So when +44 ( a reference to the London area code, and the bands stated intention to be a little more New Wave) and Angels & Airwaves came out, it took a sec to decide which way to go.

Actually, it didn't. Angels & Airwaves will be skewered when I get to their CD. It was awful. But +44... it was good stuff. Blink 2.0, but good stuff. They tried a little bit, got a slightly different couple of songs, and quite frankly, rocked.

Album: +44
Year: 2006
Date Listened in Tour:10/18/10
Rating: ****
Best Song: Make You Smile

Alphabetization and (500) Days of Summer

When maintaining a large music collection, the first thing you have to do is decide on how you are going to organize it. I might have touched on this a while back in my LiveJournal blog, http://j-bkl.livejournal.com/. The most important discussion of how to organize music in literature ever?

High Fidelity, by Nick Hornsby. If you are reading this, you likely know this. If not, you need to a) read the book and b) see the movie.

But how do I do it?

Simply put

Alphabetically, then Chronologically. In other words, Abba before Erasure, and within Abba, in order of release.

If it's an artists name.. last name first.

The dangerous bit? "The."

How do you alphabetize "The".

Think about "The Who," "The Pink Floyd", "The Jimi Hendrix Expeirnce," "The Jam," and of course "The The."

Now, not having any serious training in the library sciences... I wing it. For movie titles, and when appropriate, I use "The." Most of the time, ignore it. "The Who" belong in the W's, not T's.

This will lead to inconsistency, and people trying to move cd's in your collection when you aren't looking, but hey, it's your damn collection.


Now, let me mention an album in my collection that completely fucks up any and all alphabetization.

"(500) Days of Summer" is the soundtrack of the 2009 movie of the same name. I have a special love for good soundtrack cd's. You get good buried tracks, introduced to artists you never heard of, and sometimes you get this album 10 million times better than the movie that spawned them. You get raw material for mixes... and when there is dialog snippets? JOY!!!!

"(500)" as an album is brilliant. Don't fear the hipster, don't fear the drama over whether the writer/director is a self centered douchebag completely twisting his failed relationship for our enjoyment and his vengeance. You get a swath of songs that capture the feel of the movie, obscurities that make you feel like a musical Indiana Jones, and good choices without irony.

And, with the parensthesis, it shoots to the front of your collection.

And, maybe... the front of your heart.

Album:(500) Days of Summer
Year: 2009
Date Listened in Tour:1/11/10
Rating: *****
Best Song: There Is A Light That Never Goes Out

First That I Remember

We all hold the firsts in our life dear to our hearts.

No, I'm not talking about THAT first. This is a music blog, and I don't blog about that part of my life. I'm not a 20 year old using sexual history to get noticed on the internet, and then using her regret about that for a career after that.

But I thought I'd get a couple of firsts out of the way. These are not accurate, some go WAY BACK,  but just some first.


First '45 I ever owned/was given: Elton John's Island Girl. True, about the same time I got the Marvel play along cd/comic for "Spider Man VS. Man Wolf", but the first '45, the first album I recall being given specifically to me was this little gem of a woman facing a world with gender, race, AND culture against her.

LETS DANCE!!

First Bands I Dug: The Beatles, Monkees, and of course, The Wombles. You can see the Wombles in "Breakfast on Pluto." They were a bunch of dudes in funky monster suits with tartans, who Wombled about.

First CD I ever bough: "Love and Rockets". By the band of the same name. This was back when all CD's came in ridiculously huge cardboard boxes, and at the tail end of goth/new wave. "So Alive" was such an amazing sultry song, the entire CD had to be amazing? Right? RIGHT?!?!?!




Eh. Was worth it for the song.




First Radio Station I regularly listened to: WNBC. They used to play music on the AM radio. Lots of it. I probably heard "Jackie Blue" two billion times until I was the age of 12.

First Radio Station that mattered: WNEW. They always had an amazing spread of rock, and while you might not hear Duran Duran on them, they embraced a lot of the new while keeping the old. The day Opie and Anthony threw out their amazing LP collection was the day New York radio died.

And, to close it off, a Last.

Last Radio Station that mattered: WLIR/WDRE.  This was a new wave station out of Long Island, which folks across the NYC/NJ area would bend their antennas in the most bizarre ways to get. They were incredibly innovative, low budget enough to have a slightly punk air, and were willing to stretch beyond their boundaries. Their Scream/Screech of the weeks were hotly contested battles to see which was the top song of the week, and they fought as long and as hard as they could.

Then one day, it may have been April Fools in fact, they went to Latin broadcasting without warning. I had just been talking with a programming director about their overplaying the Darkness before hand.

And now they were  gone.


So yes, a lot of pop music memory will be bitter sweet or saccharine, but it will still be memories.

Have a good day, y'all!

Roll Up, Roll Up For The Grand Tour

Welcome.

Do you know me? If you are an LJ member, you may know me from http://j-bkl.livejournal.com/. I'll still be over there, but felt ambitious.

I felt the need to have TWO formal blogs I don't post enough to.

The Grand Tour started a bit back, as I looked at my CD collection, and despaired. I've got a lot of friggin' cd's. Partly from having had family in music, having worked in music, having friends in music, and having spent WAY TOO DAMN much on music. The only solution? To listen to my collection, alpha/chronloglically.

As life and other things get in the way, this is taking time. Since officially starting in July, 2008, I've listened to 613 albums, ep's and downloads, posting and twittering about it on and off.

While I'll see about copying these to LJ, my goal is to have a relatively coherent music chat up here, whether it be the Grand Tour, live shows, or music as hits me on a day to day basis. LJ will be the broader ranging rants, and we'll see how the two go.

So, Roll up for the The Grand Tour, STEP RIGHT THIS WAY!!!