young stagg, mad swagg

yeah, boy! check this, all up in some rekkid fair action today. for i, it’s been the best year yet. lotta records carried home by this crnknd.

singles

cheap trick: “oh boy” bw “if you want my love”. both are demo versions. both are outstanding. esp the b side. o man. who can deny cheap trick? looks good, feels good, tastes good. sure as hell SMELLS good, too.

make up: “r u a believer”. love the make up. haven’t cracked open this particular dub narcotic disco plate yet, but i’m sure they won’t let me down.

v/a: “railroad songs”. took a chance on this one. looking forward.

unwound: “totality” bw “mkultra”. whoo. my unwound 45s collection is gettn pretty damn formidable. that’ll help me get the ladies: “hey lady, i’ve got a pretty big unwound 45 collection back at home” yknow?

love of everything/joan of arc/owen/make believe: “association of utopian hologram swallowers”. love the joanfrc family so farking mach.

shellac: “the guy who invented fire” / “rambler song” / “billiard player”. yes. yes i did get this.

mecca normal: “forlorn” bw “he didn’t say”. one of my favorrite punk bands. no kidding. jean smith is the female equivalent of hr to me.

tortoise: “gooseneck” bw “mosquito”. can’t lose with this band. there’s no such thing as a tortoise defeat.

circus lupus: “pop man” bw “let’s talk about luck”. whoo man. borrowed this from someone for awhile then gave it back. thought i’d never hear “pop man” again. such a great song. these dudes were an early nineties dischord band, after the fashion of the crownhate ruin. thing’s probly wrth some money . . .

joan of arc: “many times i’ve mistaken” bw “eventuall, all at once”. this one’s an ultimate act of indulgence on my part: i already own the album these cuts’re from. it’s worth having it on the seventh inch, tho.

ted leo / fiery furnaces: “i’m looking through you” bw “norweigian wood”. it’s awesome. rubber soul cubbers.

elton john: “goodbye yellowbrick road” backed with “young man’s blues”. oh, elton!

wreckless eric: “take the cash” bw “let’s go to the pictures”. this was the find of the day, i think. found it in an ootherwise hopeless looking one dollar bin. it’s really good. from the stiff rcrds days.

ok and then here’s the long players i got:

th guess who: “wild one”

don caballero: “what burns never returns”. havnt hurd much “don cab” but this double elpy was only eight bux, so i decided to go with it. funny, this is the most i spent on a record today. good shit, no?

songs ohia: s/t. havent heard this alby yet, but i love me some molinage. “it’s really good” says my buddy blast wagon, “sounds like he’s sixteen”. awesome.

ronny james dio: “holy diver”. hell. fucking. yes.

buck owens: “open up your heart”

stones: “some girls”. needed a copy of this on vinyl.

ahmad jemal trio: “but not for me”.

total dollars spent? sixty eight. not too shabby, huh?

black candy

i’ve been missing this one. i’ve known it for a long time, but never owned it. it’s been getting to me. luckily and by accident i found it on THE INTERNET recently and now am not without. it’s a good thing to be when it comes to this one. thanks, internet. i knew i could count on you for all those times when i wanna be a terrible person and shaft indipendant record labels that have brought nothing but joy to me.

 

is this my favrite beat happening record? this past week or so’s been telling me yes. tho jamboree and you turn me on are both tough to beat in their own special ways. i’ve always had more of a penchant for the happy pop beat happening (indian summer, tiger trap) than the dark ones (if you could call them that) (bad seeds, pinebox rock). this one’s bulk is of the former ilk, and in top form. tv girl (writing letters to the moon / too many asking questions) other side, cast a shadow. all excellent. all send shivers down my spine. then there’s fucking ponytail. like here come the warm jets, this song will probably make it onto every summer lovesick mixtape i ever make for myself or any girl. ever. i can’t explain. it’s the purest pop. it’s perfection. ah! the fucking swelling in the breast, the tears welling up, that acute and painfully abstract yearning that it invokes with it’s huge wall of ascending guitar and calvin’s singing and the velvet underground drumming. it’s too much. i need to watch it with that one.

disregard that link up there. the one where YOU STEAL THE ALBUM YOU CUNT YOU THIEF. though this may be “lofi”, it still works best on a turntable. especially that last cut. OOH THAT SONG.

so go here and buy it, pretty girlies and steedly ladsies. wait. it looks like they don’t do it on vinyl. i guess. try cassette! they sound GREAT on cassette! do it! WOO! YEAH! I JUST FOUND ALL THE COFFEE AND NOW IT’S IN ME AND IT’S ONLY NINE EIGHTEEN IN THE NIGHT AND I’M SO PUMPED FROM THAT PONYTAIL SONG, WHICH ITUNES SHHFFLE TRANSITIONED STRAIGHT INTO HEADPHONES AND IT WAS GREAT. maybe it’s time to do a mixtape thing. it’s been months. i don’t think the current lady friend has any of my mixtapes. hm . . .

ps the last trains are fucking so cool. you should come see them play with my band this friday. 

i wish i didn’t have to write some bitch assed essay . . .

oh yeah, one more thing. spencey dude. check up on the song “i won’t cheat on you”. get it stuck in your head and sing it all day. i swear.

we might do a show with them soon. if i and bass lady can play at that bar. we’re minors, you see. but even if we can’t make it, you should still go. if you’re, like, twenty one and stuff. that is.

ok. i’m out for real this time.

ZOOOOOOOOOOOP 

just rediscovered one of my ALL TIME FARVORITE records: dis one. i don’t know what happened, i was simply sitting around the house wasting a time as usual when a flash of nigh on divine inspiration hit me and i was like “SHIT I NEED THE CORCRANE SECRET NOW.”

back in the winter of der freshman year, patrick gave me a tape of this record and i played it do death. evry day i brought that thing to school. it distracted me during photography class. at some point i lost touch with it, then forgot about it entirely.

i still couldn’t fully say what sets polvo apart from the likes of unwound, seam, sst era sy, et al, nor what sets this record apart from their other, arguably more advanced and objectively just as good records. part’v it is the recording quality, the vocals way back in the mix, and double tracked in a grifters sortv way, guitars having their respective speakers. it sounds thin and week in this way that makes in twenty times tougher (the only other example of this phenomenon i can think of being judas preist’s _sad wings of destiny_).

i guess they did get a bit wankier and more boring as their albums progressed. still, the other ones are great, just a bit more distracted and a bit less excited than the corcrane secret.

i’d recommend the hell out of this for anyone who geeks out on guitar rock from the nineties. and who doesn’t? it was a grand time in american history.

YEAH!

dickl3

last trains again

last night went out to the wandering goat to see the last trains. it was really comforting, seeing a band that’s good like that. it just sort of centers you. you go “ok, so this is exactly what rock should be, without any pretense or concept-heavy experimenting or showoff moves.” it’s straight from the goddamn soil, people, and it’s awesome. i was in a pretty terrible mood before they came on (thanks, armitage shanks for playing for like six hours, jesus) and they managed to have me beaming within the first few notes. the songs on that myspace page don’t do their live toughness justice, but they give you an idea. and plus the songs themselves are damn good.

there are many, many things i could say about this band. i could deconstuct their awesomeness and present it in fragments of information embellished by whatever words my faltering diction cann grab a. but i feel my attempts would be in vain, and that it would be more suitable to give an impression by this statement alone: they’re everything i like in a rock band. i couldn’t give them a higher recommendation, people, being somebody who will always love rock first and foremost amongst musics. if you get a chance to see them, do so. if your twnny one or over, you could see them at tiny’s next thursday. if not, why not start forging an id card now, instead of wasting your time on the internet?

thin lizzy’s first three records

this is gonna be a long one, fellas. bout to get down with one of my alltime favorite bands.

lotta time people write thin lizzy off as “the boys are back and town” type riff rock. i mean, that stuff’s damn good, but they had this thing going with the first three records that absolutely are up there with all that great, smart sixties rock that people are always creaming themselves over.

they were totally this tight freaking power trio, all experimenting and advanced and stuff. their original guitar player, eric bell, is underrated as hell and by far one of my favrite guitar players out there. brian downey had mitch mitchell style chops and did some really interesting drum moves that you don’t see in his later drumming for the band. and phil lynott is arguably at his best on these, songwriting wise. in those days he was deep into being poetic and introspective and irish and storytelling. he kinda got whack with that storytelling type character stuff in the later albs, but he’s right on most of the time with the early lps.

so i’m gonna talk about these fine albums, one at a time, because they’ve had a huge impact on me and not enough of my record geek acquaintances out there seem to really dig on this stuff.

_self titled_

the first one is very, very much unlike any other band i’ve heard. it’s not like they’re way out there or anything, it’s just rock music for the most part, but still it’s destinct enough to where i can’t immediately draw any comparisons. eric bell throws down some really excellent lead guitar lines, and proves that the wah pedal can be a massive freaking bomus. he covers enough ground with overdubs on there to encompass the skills and ideas of three lesser guitar players (makes clapton and crew look like babies). not only is he really nimble and skilled, he’s tasteful as hell and has really great tones.

the songs on here are for the most part really great. the dynamics work perfectly, and the sentimental moments hit hard. this is the kind’ve morose poetic-but-earnest-and-not-cheesy irish songwriting that doesn’t show up enough, one of the few other places i’ve heard it being van morrison’s _astral weeks_. it’s a vibe that i can’t very well explain, but that also shows up in great irish literature.

this one has probably the best “band playing as a band” type stuff, the second one being more based on the songwriting and the third being a mix of the two. they play really, really well together. ah, but how can i explain it? they’re tight, they’re not afraid to try new things, they’re fresh into the world and all raucous and ready. solid gold/god, this one.

_shades of a blue orphanage_

the second one has the most ups and downs. it’s got, like, “baby face” and a ridiculous trying-t-be-elvis song, which are terrible, but it’s also got songs like “chatting today” and “brought down.” like i said, it’s really song-based, so has more departures into overdubs of strings and such. it’s also way mathier than the other two. however, the mathiness is more intentional and forced seeming, and therefore not as good.

all in all, the quieter moments on here are the best. i’m gonna have to say this is the weakest of the holy trinity. still, the good songs make it very much worthwhile. i’d recommend checking it after the other two.

_vagabonds of the western world_

for a while i swore this was the best album ever created (although now i think it’s far from it, still). we named our old band (vagabonds) after it. this one was the first of the three that i heard, and it hit me real hard.

it’s by far the most accessible, because it’s the most complete. like, they needed the first two to figure out what they were doing, and then they got to a point where they could do whatever they wanted and decided to make a great rock record.

it’s got an excellent beginning: “mamma nature said.” comes in with some nicely distorted slide guitar and proceeds to rock in a most tasteful manner. eric bell, while not playing things as interesting as the first lp, is definitely at top form here. his solo on “the hero and the madman” is one of my alltime favorites, as are the ones on “the rocker” and “little girl in bloom.” his solos in general totally have plot and tension/release and all that great stuff that you don’t hear often enough in guitar solos. in fact, the only other guitar solos structured this well that i can think of are richard lloyd’s on _marquee moon_.

the lyrics are maybe a bit less advanced/interesting/engaging. you can kind’ve see lynott going in the songwriting direction that permeates the later, cheesier stuff. but still, this one is damn solid.

guess that’s all i’ve got to say on this matter. a good place to start on these would be _vagabonds_. there’s also a good early years best of called _the hero and the madman_. so if yer not one of my few good friends who knows all this stuff already, i suggest you check it. it’s really good summer/fall music, and i haven’t come close to describing the impression it makes on me, or the way it sounds like no other rock music.

a word on chavez

sorry, i’m not talking the mixed-socialist venezuelan president. nor am i talking the californian migrant labor hero.

i’m talking the rock band from the nineties, in all their incredible freaking glory. they seem a bit . . . overlooked maybe. for me, they are very, very important.

first off they rock in the classic sense. energetic. the drumming is responsible for this in a large sense: sort of rolling in that mitch mitchell way, but more like if mitchell could hit as  hard as buddy miles.

sweeney’s singing is the greatest. totally sort of pretty and whispery, over this blowout freaking rock, huge drums, droning bass, noisy guitars. they do that particular style of nineties indie rock better than most.

to those reading this who maybe are not so familiar with this chavez: both of their albums are great. you couldn’t go wrong, really. gone glimmering is less complete feeling than ride the fader, but still has almost nothing but great songs.

just thought i’d pay a little homoage

Jets to Brazil – Orange Rhyming Dictionary

i think this’ll be good summer music. these guys were on jade tree, just like evrybody’s favrite: joan of arc.

this record sounds really beautiful, as far as production and instrumentation goes. it’s hard to explain the way the production style matches the artwork (pictured above) but it does, and it’s great. instrumentation-wise, they get a lot out of a little, ie: relatively sparse arrangements sound really full. i like that a lot. it’s like they have it figured out so every sound is necessary, kind of like zen painting or something.

i like the singing and lyrics, but have to be pretty forgiving in order to do so. the guy’s voice sometimes kind of, i don’t know. a bit gravelly and reminds me of the slobberbone guy at times (who i hate). it also reminds me of moments in bob pollard’s singing, though (who i love).

the lyrics are damn lyrical, but kind of cheesy. they’re kind of cheesy in the way where it sound like they are overly conscious of themselves as writing. it’s hard to explain it in any other way, but it’s kind of like the guy maybe says to himself “im a writer, i’m a be all clever now.”

so yeah. they’re one of those bands that i could easily love or hate, but loving them is rewarding. because of that, i’ve been listening to this record a lot.

by the way, did anybody else have a total crush in the joan of arc character in _bill and ted’s excellent adventure_? discuss.

screaming beat trees

i was worried when i first learned about the beat happening/screaming trees ep. beccause, mind you, it’s the two bands playing _together_ and this seemed strange. i mean, it took, arguably, until _you turn me on_ for beat happening to get good in the traditional sense, you know. so how would they play with a band that was quite good in the traditional sense?

the answer is: damn well. it’s not like some super pooper group where they go “ok clapton, throw in a signature lick there.” these two bands are actually playing together. screaming trees is all like “look at us, we’re really into the 13th floor elevators” and beat happening is all like “look at us, we’re beat happening.” the more beat happening-y songs are made even more awesome by the screaming trees laying down keyoboard and cool droney acid guitar lead stuff. calvin sings on two songs, heather on one and mark lanegan  on the other.

my favrite one on there is “tales of brave aphrodite.” it’s a calvin johnson singing one, and the lyrics are obviously his. what i love bout that dude is his incredibly poetic use of casual/simple type english. by poetic i mean “effects me emotionally.” for instance: when he says, in aforementioned  song, “the day you cut your hair i thought / there’ll never be another head of hair that soft” i totally get all misty eyed.

in other news: i just made a nice little 60 minute summer compilation tape, to which i am now listening. it’s got some early seger, some t rex, some can, some moby grape, some faces, some mecca normal and a lot of other stuff. do you all love making mix tapes as much as i do? i and a few others with whom i have spoken believe it to be legitimate form of artistic self expression. thurston moore even compiled a book on the subject. discuss.

rediscovery!

don’t yall just love it when you listen to a record that you had a totally elaobrate love affair with and then forgot about? you’re all like “oh yeah! this record is great!” and it brings back strangely profound feelings and smells that were very specific to that point in your life.

THE CAN – MONSTER MOVIE

around this time two years ago, this album hit me real hard. the first time i heard it was in a car driving home through northern california. the sun was beating down in that lethargic midafternoon way and there was a really strange insect on me [i think i hallucinate bugs sometimes, ever since i had the chikn pox as a little kid] and i thought to my self “what is this desolate fucking music?” throughout the course of that summer i proceeded to get really, really into it. like whitelight/whiteheat, it’s one of those albums that should be totally dark/depressing, but usually just fires me up/makes me happy.

anyway, i’m listening it right now for the first time since. so good! malcom mooney is unbelievable. his voice and delivery can’t be stopped. he’s got that chanting style repititition that really gets me. hats of to damo, but he’ll never get me the way malcom mooney did.

and the guitar excels. i will always, always have a soft spot for the sort of trebly, riffy style. it’s hard to explain, but you know, the same kind of guitar as the velvets and modern lovers and early television. and then there’s the stuff layered over it. the “grrrrrrwweehhhhhhhhaaaaaaagh” wailing type stuff that is usually spot on, despite it’s overt “experimental” qualities. it’s particular powerful on “mary, mary” [which might be my favorite song on there].

now that i think about, that was a strange summer of listening: gbv bee thousand director’s cut, whitelight/whiteheat [which is what made me want to learn guitar], monster movie and here come the warm jets. all of these were very, very advanced obsessions that i developed. weird music to fall in love to, but fall in love i did.

don’t let anybody ever tell you that art can’t change a person’s life, because it has mine many times over, and will continue to do so.