Music – Page 2

Q101

July 15, 2005 by Dave!

Normally, I’m pretty strictly NPR when it comes to radio during my commute. However, during a story I don’t care about (or a pledge drive) I would normally flip over to WXRT… but lately, I’ve found myself flipping between XRT and Q101.

I used to hate Q101–I can’t stand Mancow (he’s just not funny) and the music format used to blow. But something’s changed… they switched formats or something, because in the past week I’ve caught some really great stuff. In addition to the standard new “alternative” stuff, like the White Stripes and the Postal Service, in the last week I also heard old school stuff from the Violent Femmes, the Jim Carroll Band, and Ween. It was the first time I ever hear Ween on the radio. It was cool.

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: chicago music

The Musical Baton

June 12, 2005 by Dave!

Well, Raymond passed me the music meme baton… I’ve been asked to address the following topics, related to my musical interests:

Total Volume of Music
Last CD I Bought
Song Playing Right Now
Five Songs I Listen to a Lot or That Mean a Lot to Me
Five People to Whom I’m Passing the Baton

So here goes!

Total Volume of Music
Okay… I have no more tapes or LPs because a few years ago, I converted them to electronic media, and I haven’t looked back. As for CDs, physical CDs, I had a little over 1250 when I got married, and my wife had somewhere on order of 350–so that puts us at about 1600… I’m not going to go back and count them all, sorry! 🙂 (As an aside, we’re over 350 DVDs now, too.) I still buy CDs occasionally, but I also get a lot of music electronically (I love iTunes) and all but a hundred or so CDs (which I’m working on) have been converted to electronic format. I just did a quick check and we have about 2000 electronic albums total.

Last CD I Bought
Hmmm… The last CD I bought was Louis XIV The Best Little Secrets Are Kept. The last CD my wife bought was Tegan & Sara So Jealous which I currently have in heavy rotation.

Song Playing Right Now
Tegan & Sara “I Know I Know I Know”

Five Songs I Listen to a Lot or That Mean a Lot to Me
Damn, this is a tough one… I don’t know if I can come up with five specific songs… how about five albums and I will nominate a song from each album? That sounds fair, don’t you think?

The Queen is Dead – The Smiths
I am 33 years old. Anyone my age who grew up in the skater/punk/alternative scene and didn’t listen to the Smiths… well, c’mon, fess up. Johnny Marr’s ambling, layered guitar tracks and Morrissey’s self-conscious, pity inducing voice are the soundtrack of my youth. I think most of their stuff still holds up as brilliant pop song/teen angst anthems today, but I will never be able to listen to the Smiths without thinking about high school. It’s nearly impossible for me to pick one Smith’s track–it was hard enough to pick one album! But if you pressed me, I think I would say, “There is a Light That Never Goes Out” which just captures my mindset at the time pretty well.

Under Towers – Arson Garden
If the Smiths embodied my high-school experience, Arson Garden is college. They are the best band to never make it that I know. From the moment I first saw them at a show in my dorm, to the last time I saw them play at Rhinos (the local all-ages club) Arson Garden is my college band. I will always remember jumping up and down, singing along to “Lash” at Second Story.

Still Feel Gone – Uncle Tupelo
I don’t link Uncle Tupelo with any particular time frame in my life… but this album is really inspired. There’s something about the desperation but resignation in all of their music which just really gets to me. Yes, they are the band that gave birth to indie powerhouse, Wilco, but I think the old Uncle Tupelo stuff stacks up against anything Wilco (or Son Volt) has done since. “True to Life” is a pretty apt track.

Exit the Dragon – Urge Overkill
When my friend Kate first recommended this album, I popped it in the CD player and promptly hated it. Funny how some of my favorite albums started out that way. I swear, I said to myself, what the hell is this crap?! And then I shelved it for a good four months. Then, one day, “Honesty Files” popped into my head, and I pulled the album back out… this time, I was smitten. It’s rock-and-roll. The sheer audacity and ego of Urge Overkill are fantastic, and this is one of my favorite albums.

Welcome to the Beautiful South – The Beautiful South
It all started with the Housemartins, who I just adored. It was fun pop, with an occasional edge and some clever lyrics. Then, the Housemartins disbanded, and P.D. Heaton formed the Beautiful South. If you thought I was a cynic, you should listen to some of his lyrics… when they are set against the pure pop and melodic vocals, it’s just a fantastic mix: catchy, utterly singable songs about murder, domestic violence, lies, bad relationships, thievery, drunkenness and debauchery. I like just about every song on every one of their albums, but on Welcome to… there’s “Song for Whoever” and “You Keep It All In”.

That was really hard. And if I had to do that again in another 3 hours, I’d probably pick different albums and different artists. I mean, I didn’t include and Beatles, but god knows Magical Mystery Tour and Rubber Soul should be in there… no Elvis Costello, but damn, that would be so hard to narrow down to one album. Or Pop Will Eat Itself… I mean, my blog is called Preaching to the Perverted and my tag line is “Wise Up Suckers!”
There were a lot of very close runner’s up… including The Beastie Boys, Belly, Bjork, Kate Bush, Cake, Nick Cave, Ornette Coleman, Dag Nasty, Disposable Heros of Hiphoprisy, Thomas Dolby, Dragon Ash, East of Eden, The Fall, Peter Gabriel, Game Theory, Goldfinger, The Housemartins, Husker Du,Interpol, Los Lobos, Aimee Mann, Modest Mouse, New Order, Oingo Boingo, Op Ivy, The Pixies, Primus, REM, Radiohead, Soul Coughing, Supergrass, Talking Heads, They Might Be Giants, Toy Dolls, Veruca Salt, Voice of the Beehive, Ween, Weezer, Lucinda Williams, Wire, X, and XTC.
And there will probably be countless more!
Five People to Whom I’m Passing the Baton
This was also tough to come up with… but I chose these people because 1) they blog regularly and 2) I’m interested in seeing what they have to say. So, tag! You’re it!
Kate
Ken
BEB
Ambivalent Imbroglio
In Limine

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: mp3 music personal

Scent of a Robot

February 19, 2005 by Dave!

Wow. If you haven’t seen Scent of a Robot then I suggest you check it out, posthaste. Not only is it an infectiously catchy song, it’s got an incredibly well done video. I haven’t seen a video this good, well, since the days when MTV actually used to show videos!

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: film music video

Robbie Fulks

October 16, 2004 by Dave!

You just have to love Robbie Fulks:

“Every different kind of professional entertainer is ultimately the same kind: a stripper. You rev up the fake fun machine night after night, you lay yourself before an endless, asinine parade of driveling half-wit fans, excelled in their native loathsomeness only by the crooked promoters, managerial slime, hired muscle, simpering ultramontanists, magazine writers, and miscellaneous nocturnal fauna that surround you constantly in your offstage hours, and soon the world begins to take on a dismal cast indeed. In fairness, though, it must be stipulated that going around the country as a stripper or a second-rate BTO act is not the best way to meet interesting people while preserving your idealism.”

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: chicago music

Chris Isaak

July 26, 2004 by Dave!

My wife and I went to see Chris Isaak last night at the H.O.B. here. I have to say, that man is quite an entertainer. I’m not the biggest “rockabilly” fan in the world, actually, quite far from it. But he (and his band) really enjoy themselves on stage… they have a good time, and consequently the crowd has a good time. It was a really good show, and I would recommend catching him if he comes through your town.

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: music

Summer Music

June 30, 2004 by Dave!

ambivalent imbroglio has some summer music recommendations, so I thought I’d chime in with my latest purchases…

Good News for People Who Love Bad News – Modest Mouse

I know you’ve heard “Float On” since it’s everywhere at the moment. It’s good pop tune, but not the best on the album… I like “Ocean Breathes Salty” and “Dig Your Grave” but “The View” has to have some of the catchiest pop licks on the album. Overall, the whole album is a good listen, but my fav Modest Mouse offering is still Lonesome Crowded West.

You Are the Quarry – Morrissey

Yes, I am a child of 80s alternative rock. C’mon. I was weaned on The Smiths, I had to buy this. The single, “Irish Blood, English Heart” is a decent song, and the rest of the album doesn’t disappoint… it’s some of Morrissey’s most biting and cynical lyrics yet… but man, the music on his solo works have never held up… where’s Johnny Marr when you need him?

Van Lear Rose – Loretta Lynn/Jack White

Wow. If you thought country sucked (and “radio” country generally does) then pick up this album and hear what good country music sounds like. I was worried that this would be a White Stripes album with Loretta Lynn but it’s not… it’s Lynn through and through, and Jack White does an amazing job as her producer… even his appearances on the album are appropriate and add quite a lot.

Chutes Too Narrow – The Shins

I’m still trying to decide if I like The Shins or if I’m ambivalent about The Shins. One minute, they sound like a well-polished pop band, and another they sound all whiny and moody. I dunno. I think this is a “listen to it a few times in a row until you get it kinda album. I know a lot of people who are way into them though, so you know. But then again I know a lot of people who were into the Flamming Lips… puke.

A Ghost is Born – Wilco

Obligatory. First, I freakin’ loved Uncle Tupelo. Second, I live in Chicago. I think there’s a city ordinance that you have to buy every new Wildo release. That said, I actually like the album… and I actually liked Being There, Summer Teeth and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot too, so who am I kidding? But I still think Tweedy was the lesser song writer from Uncle Tupelo… Jay Farrar was amazing, and the first Son Volt album, Trace is better than anything Wilco’s done. But I’m getting off on a tangent…

I think I’m also going to pick up Franz Ferdinand’s album, because I can’t get “Take Me Out” outta my damn head… what a catchy, well crafted pop tune… and I’m super psyched to hear Interpol’s followup to Turn On the Bright Lights I’ll get that as soon as it’s released…

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: music personal

Ray Charles

June 10, 2004 by Dave!

Ray Charles passed away today… I can honestly say I didn’t know that much about his life, other than being familiar with his “hits”. Of course, I knew that he was a huge influence on soul music as well. But on NPR they were playing clips of interviews with him over the years, and one thing really struck me as being truly astonishing, not just for his time, but as also being virtually unheard of today as well:

Ray Charles owned his own music.

Not just the publishing. He owned the master recordings too. Apparently, when he first signed with Atlantic in the late 1950s, they built him a state-of-the-art recording studio in his home, but he paid for it. He retained complete creative control over his music. Atlantic told him “You worry about the music, we’ll worry about the marketing.” Amazing. Now that is how the music industry should operate.

Filed Under: Music Tagged With: music

Beatallica

April 20, 2004 by Dave!

Okay, there is a Beatles cover band called American English which my wife (a total Beatles nut) likes to go see. I have to say, being Beatles fan myself these guys are quite good. They even do period costume changes. Hey, it’s not the Beatles, but these days, real Beatles seem to be dwindling in number.

Anyway today, my friend Ken sent me a link to Beatallica. These guys are hillarious! You have to check out Got to Get You Trapped Under Ice.

Filed Under: Humor, Music Tagged With: humor music

Voluntary Collective Licensing

February 26, 2004 by Dave!

The EFF has published a “Let the Music Play” whitepaper which outlines their suggestion for Voluntary Collective Licensing of Music File Sharing. It’s a very well reasoned and workable idea. So the music industry will reject it out of hand. But it’s worth a read, because to me, it’s the most reasonable suggestion I’ve heard to solve the “filesharing” issue.

Filed Under: Law, Music, Technology Tagged With: law

Music Plasma

February 12, 2004 by Dave!

Check out the awesome visual music mapping interface musicplasma.com. Type in your favorite bands and it maps out funky relations with others of similar style or musical influence.