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