The car stereo works again. The Daily Tuneage blog returns tomorrow.
Fear it!
Our next president
May 24, 2008Been a long time since the last post. Explanation as to why and new posts coming real soon. Exciting, I promise!
But until then, listen to one of the best songs I’ve heard in my life. Just heard it for the first time about half an hour ago. The song asks but one simple question: What if a song could be president? Don’t think I’ve ever heard a better question.
For my money, a good song is the most primal and honest representation of the human mind and all the things it controls (i.e., everything). Things would be a lot better if a song could actually be president, don’t you think? Just imagine if your favorite song was president. Feel better? I thought so.
If a song could be president
We’d hum on Election Day
The gospel choir would start to sway
And we’d all have a part to play
The first lady would free her hips
Pull a microphone to her lips
Break our hearts with Rhythm and Blues
Steve Earle would anchor the news
We’d vote for a melody
Pass it around on an MP3
All our best foreign policy
Would be built on harmony
If a song could be president
We’d fly a jukebox to the moon
All our founding fathers’ 45’s
Lightnin’ Hopkins and Patsy Cline
If a song could be president
If a song could be president
We could all add another verse
Life would teach us to rehearse
Till we found a key change
Break out of this minor key
Half-truths and hypocrisy
We wouldn’t need an underachiever-in-chief
If a song could be president
We’d make Neil Young a Senator
Even though he came from Canada
Emmylou would be Ambassador
World leaders would listen to her
They would show us where our country went wrong
Strum their guitars on the White House lawn
John Prine would run the FBI
All the criminals would laugh and cry
If a song could be president
May 20, 2008
Saw She Wants Revenge in Dallas Friday night. Interesting show, great venue if not a bit prefab. The extra bars outweighed the preponderance of Baz Luhrmann-inspired fixtures and faux artifacts.
Impressions: If Depeche Mode waged war on New Order and Dave Gahan and Bernarnd Sumner were killed in the melee and John McCrea inexplicably agreed to front the remaining uninjured members they would be She Wants Revenge…Far less actual synth was used, ohhh I love technology, but not as much as you, you see…Small but spirited crowd. Also caught a little of Be your own Pet. The post-synth shoegazing, knee-bouncer set wasn’t quite ready for a full-on punk assault. Pet’s pretty tame per youtube compared to the raw, explosive performance I saw. Sounding like a slightly less stable X, who is touring right now with Detroit Cobras, they blew the place up. There were few survivors, so the Billy Idol-topped pixie lead singer tossed her mike, and left in disgust. Made me we want to fling a booger toward the stage. Sorry to wax on and on, here’s the list a mix of CD, Ipod and radio from last night through this morning’s commute…
Sultan – What Made Milwaukee Famous
Don’t get the title, but somebody’s trying to get some radio play.
The Warrior – Scandal
I think Rod Argent wrote this weird-ass song that somehow got really popular… bang bang
Come as you are – Nirvana
Is it just me, or are they starting to get more air play? I think Grunge is the next new retrorock. Hell, The Toadies are touring again.
Summer of ’69 – Bryan Adams
Music is my hot, hot sex – CSS
I Hate it here – Wilco
Love this song.
Whole lotta something
May 12, 2008In honor of the RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY - Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love” – I offer a whole lotta tiny thoughts about today’s songs.
Queens of the Stone Age – “Do It Again”
Whole lotta ego.
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – “Monsoon”
Whole lotta drugs.
Elvis Costello – “Lip Service”
Whole lotta sass.
The Flaming Lips – “Buggin’”
Whole lotta kick drum (and bubbles).
Wilco – “In a Future Age”
Whole lotta dreaming.
John Lennon – “Working Class Hero”
Whole lotta repitition.
Mute Math – “Picture”
Whole lotta lost love.
Albert Hammond Jr. – “Hard to Live in the City”
Whole lotta nothing. Must delete this album immediately. Sucks to an embarrassing degree after first listen.
The Beatles – “Good Day Sunshine”
Whole lotta keys.
The Minus 5 – “Great News Around You”
Whole lotta harmony.
The Darkness – “Blind Man”
Whole lotta spandex.
George Harrison – “I’d Have You Anytime”
Whole lotta romance.
Metallica – “Ride The Lightning”
Whole lotta power chords.
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: Led Zeppelin – “Whole Lotta Love”
Whole lotta Plant-o-gasms.
Creeper Lagoon – “Keep From Moving”
Whole lotta hope.
Bob Dylan – “Pledging My Time”
Whola lotta harmonica.
Clearlake – “It’s All Too Much”
Whole lotta purgatory.
David Bowie – “Rebel, Rebel”
Whole lotta lipstick.
Injected – “Only Hurts Awhile”
Whole lotta rhymes.
Incubus – “Diamonds And Coal”
Whole lotta snap.
Stars – “Ageless Beauty”
Whole lotta X chromosome.
Skybombers – “6 a.m.”
Whole lotta snarling.
Breakdown: 22 songs, three places
If anyone knows how to prevent my cell phone from interfering with my car stereo, I’ll give you some gum. I’ve about had it with the incessant buzz-hum-crack interruptions.
If it’s far out, was it ever far in?
May 5, 2008Friday May 2
The Flaming Lips – “Free Radicals”
Ryan Adams – “Halloweenhead”
Yeah, I’ve been alone on the highway late at night and proudly butchered this song at the top of my lungs. What of it? Mindless idiot-rock from Ryan Adams, of all people. Still, he managed to turn this into a piano ballad when I saw him at Cain’s a few months ago. Unreal.
Hey Mercedes – “Eleven to Your Seven”
The Feds – “Angels & Devils”
Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – “Magnolia Mountain”
Low – “Closer”
Jesse Malin – “High Lonesome”
Islands – “Jogging Gorgeous Summer”
Elbow – “Fugitive Motel”
Mute Math – “You Are Mine”
Watched a couple Mute Match videos on YouTube before a party this weekend (a party at which I am rumored to have set myself on fire, even if I dispute it). Somehow, I think I managed to see Mute Math play a less-than-stellar show at Cain’s a few months back. This isn’t to say I wasn’t floored at that Cain’s show – it was easily one of the most extraordinary and original things I’ve ever seen. That rhythm section is alien, I swear. I only say less-than-stellar now, after seeing the madness that ensues at other shows. This band might just take over the world with its next record, or it might just fade away. Either way, at least I got to see it.
Stars – “The First Five Times”
Guster – “Two Points for Honesty”
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: Injected – “Burn it Black”
Tom Waits – “Blue Skies”
June 23 – Dallas at Palladium
June 25 – Tulsa at Brady Theatre
The Who – “My Generation”
Ben Folds Five – “Your Redneck Past”
Breakdown: 16 songs, two places
I’ll be working out of the paper’s Capitol Bureau from now until next Friday. This means little-to-no time for tuneage at work. Instead, I’ll be listening to the music of conference committee reports, filibusters, partisan pandering and engrossed bills. May God help us all.
Short playlists ahead, but big news music news for yours truly will make up for it. Stay tuneage-d.
Don’t die
May 5, 2008Thursday May 1
Son Volt – “Medication”
Lucero – “Anjalee”
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: The Beatles – “Helter Skelter”
Rolled into the OPUBCO parking lot with this song blaring and the sunroof down. One of the grizzly maintenance workers flashed some rock horns at me. I normally wouldn’t consider a Beatles song for Rawk Sawng of the Day, but there’s no way to ignore it thanks to grizzled maintenance man. Clearly the highlight of the day.
Sloan – “Back Stabbin”
Jet – “Eleanor”
Foo Fighters – “See You”
Smashing Pumpkins – “Window Paine”
Centro-matic – “Upton to Riverhead to Mastic”
The Dresden Dolls – “My Alcoholic Friends”
If not for the armpit hair, I might find Amanda Palmer as fresh and sexy as her voice. Oh well. Voice will do just fine.
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead – “Naked Sun”
Stone Temple Pilots – “Tumble in the Rough”
Pretty interesting Weiland interview here.
BEST BAND YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD: Chris Whitley - “Rocket House”
He’s dead, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give the man a chance. Another great ATO Records signing, and one of the few who never took off like they should’ve. Sounds like what David Gray would probably sound like if he was from Texas and had balls.
Jimmy Eat World – “If You Don’t, Don’t”
Ryan Adams – “Bartering Lines”
Jeff Buckley – “Demon John”
Ours – “Fallen Souls”
Big Star – “September Gurls”
Ben Folds Five – “Mess”
The Minus 5 – “You Don’t Mean It”
The Flaming Lips – “Yeah Yeah Yeah Song”
There’s not a band on the planet other than the Lips that could pull off a song as ridiculous as this one. ‘Tis a compliment. Rumor has it a circus tent stage setup will replace the UFO this summer. How appropriate.
Clearlake – “Neon”
Black Helicopter – “Head of Steam”
Kula Shaker – “K”
Breakdown: 23 songs, four locations
The iPod battery died today. I slipped into a pathetic bout of depression when I heard the same Nickelback song on three different rock stations during the 10-minute drive home. This should be outlawed.
Cooked
April 30, 2008RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: Jet – “Come On, Come On”
Stereophonics – “Rooftop”
Coldplay – “Everything’s Not Lost”
The Soundtrack of Our Lives – “Heading for a Breakdown”
Incubus – “Beware! Criminal!”
My wise comrade SG made a comment about Incubus while we were sitting in downtown Austin traffic listening to S.C.I.E.N.C.E. at SXSW 2008. He pointed out that Incubus got popular because they were a “movement” band that happened to be somewhat talented. Then they just turned into a really damn good band – period. They ditched the dreadlocks and got serious.
Ah, what a coincidence. The SG man himself just called me up. Here’s what he has to say about Incubus as of 9:55 p.m tonight: “I think those have been the most successful bands in history: The ones who come up with an original sound who push it as a movement more than a mainstream style, and then do whatever they want as far as songwriting and developing into songwriters for the rest of their careers…Once you have their attention, it’s all about how smart you are as a songwriter.” This song is a good example of that. Well said, Goldschmithey.
Wilco – “Reservations”
Of all the brilliant lines Tweedy has churned out over the years, this song has an opening verse that’s among the most honest and memorable any artist has ever written: “How can I convince you it’s me I don’t like / And not be so indifferent to the look in your eyes / When I’ve always been distant / and I’ve always told lies for love.”
Wilco – “Can’t Stand It”
LCD Soundsystem – “tired”
Eels – “World of Shit”
R.E.M. – “Exhuming McCarthy”
Guided By Voices – “Peep-Hole”
The Beta Band – “She’s The One”
Head Automatica – “Beating Hearts Baby”
Refused – “Protest Song ’68″
Uncle Tupelo – “Grindstone”
Against Me! – “Mutiny on the Electronic Bay”
Spoon – “Jonathon Fisk”
Kula Shaker – “Shower Your Love”
This song should’ve been hugh. HUGH, I say! But it was too good. George Harrison must’ve loved it, either way.
Wilco – “Jesus, Etc.”
Merle Haggard – “Hungry Eyes”
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Need Some Air”
Ryan Adams – “1974″
Hum – “Why I Like The Robins”
Candlebox – “Simple Lessons”
I liked Candlebox’s second and third records a lot more than their debut – the one with all the singles you still hear on “alternative” radio. The bummer is my Lucy disc is so scratched that iTunes will only import this song. Oh well. At least iTunes managed to swallow Happy Pills, the band’s best and most under-appreciated album. If you like good songs of any kind, you’ll like that record – regardless of what you think of Candlebox.
Willie Nelson – “On The Road Again”
BEST BAND YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD: The Tom Collins – “Cycles”
Ben Kweller – “Make It Up”
Breakdown: 27 songs, 4 places
My old pal David Cook has been bringing as much integrity to American Idol as that show’s ever seen for about three months now, but it’s just starting to sink in that the guy might actually win the thing. Crazy thought for those of us who’ve known David for years. He’ll be playing Tulsa’s new BOK Center this summer for the Idol tour and my gut tells me it’ll be a little bigger than than this Tulsa bar gig we put him on almost a year ago today when his solo record came out:
What a difference a year makes: Upside is broken up, Malan Darras is playing with a band called Born A Number and David’s hamming it up with Neil Diamond on FOX.
I finally gave in and voted for him this week. It was the first time I voted for a contestant on that blasted show, but I didn’t feel guilty about it at all. David’s the real deal, and he makes a mean whiskey-diet when he’s behind the bar! I think it’s safe to say he won’t be bartending again anytime soon. My liver is thankful for this, and my ears are pleased that a real singer is finally getting love at some place besides a smokey bar in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA.
Meat on a Monday
April 29, 2008Uncle Tupelo – “Gun”
Starting the week off right…
Doves – “M62″
Kenna – “Red Man”
Injected – “Dawn”
Pearl Jam – “Dissident”
Fifteen years after its release, Vs. remains one of the purest and most sonically pleasing albums I’ve ever heard. The engineering is just superb. That kick drum feel is so deep and heavy, but not too boomy. The snare drum cracks like a lightning bolt. Most engineers will tell you kick and snare sounds are two of the hardest things to master, and most good engineers will tell you Brendan O’Brien and Nick DiDia hit perfection on all cylinders with Vs. and most of the other records they’ve done. On Vs., they top the rhythm section with this jangly, open-ended guitar tone that’s as meticulous as it is loud and a purposefully raw, up-front vocal sound that makes it feel like Eddie’s sitting in the room with you. I find myself listening to this album more for the sonic value than the songs sometimes, and that’s a damn shame since most of the songs on Vs. are my favorite in the Pearl Jam catalog.
Bloc Party – “On”
The Minus 5 – “Desperate for Someone”
Eels – “Jungle Telegraph”
The Jayhawks – “Will I See You in Heaven?”
The Beatles – “A Day in the Life”
The Stills – “Helicopters”
Metallica – “Sanitarium”
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”
This the only song I can play on piano. I’m cool with that because I think ODB would be coo’ wit dat, 2.
Breakdown: 13 songs in three locations
Ate all the meat I could at the barbecue at Kody’s place in honor of Cooper’s birthday tonight. Didn’t keep track of every song that belted out of the monstrous mono speaker in the living room, but I feel totally comfortable and damn proud to report it was nothing but AC/DC, Airbourne and Lucero. At least until the whiskey and tequila took hold of Cooper and Co. That’s when I heard grown men getting down to Kelly Clarkson and realized I didn’t have enough booze in me to get down like that. Not on a Monday. So I left, being the occasionally responsible professional I am. What a shame!
Haiku brilliance
April 25, 2008For once, I’m thrilled to report that the music writers at the Dallas Observer are complete twats. Hats off to them for this brutal piece:
Poetry about the acts on Edgefest 17′s bill? It’s music to our ears.
By Jesse Hughey
Published: April 24, 2008
This weekend, Pizza Hut Park in Frisco will host Edgefest 17, an all-day, three-stage concert featuring some of the biggest names in alt-rock.If you like the bands that KDGE-102.1 FM plays ad nauseam, you’ll absolutely love this lineup. Your only problem will be convincing your parents to shell out $49.50 per ticket and drive you there.
Because this is the 17th year of Edgefest, we figured we’d preview the show by describing each act on the first and second stages in haiku form. Why haiku? Well, a haiku’s 5-7-5 scheme adds up to 17 syllables. And that sounded like as good a reason as any.
First Stage
3 DOORS DOWN
Post-grunge should be banned
“Kryptonite” is aptly named
It drains my life force
MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE
Started out emo
Then tried to turn into Queen
At least they’re sincere
BLUE OCTOBER
Boring frat-rock failed
So they bought some eyeliner
Their fans are suckers
SEETHER
“Can’t fight the Seether”
Remember Veruca Salt?
Forget this band too
PUDDLE OF MUDD
Extra D for “Dumb”
More regurgitated grunge
Nickelback meets Creed
Read the rest here!
Bombed
April 21, 2008After finishing one of the best records I should’ve known about three years ago, today’s playlist was:
Rose Hill Drive – “Cross the Line”
Ears were ringing for days after I first saw these guys. I didn’t mind a bit. I’m sure the other 20 people there felt the same way and would gladly brave the sonic assault once again. As badass as the show was, I kept wondering and cursing how a band can open for The Who at Ford Center and be named one of Rolling Stone’s top bands to watch in 2007 only to play for 20 people at Conservatory. Especially when they’re as good as Rose Hill Drive. I blame these clowns, who clearly represent all that is wrong with the universe.
LCD Soundsystem – “give it up”
Hey Mercedes – “A-List Actress”
The Feds – “Juliet”
Wilco – “Misunderstood”
One of the most underrated – and “misunderstood” – choices Wilco ever made was selecting this song as the opening track to Being There. It was a proverbial middle finger to everything everyone ever thought they were, and it pissed off a lot of folks. I’ve always thought the sign of a great artist is the willingness to risk their reputation for art, even if it alienates people. Many of my favorite records have that quality to them, and Being There is a perfect example.
Guided By Voices – “Gold Star for Robot Boy”
The Flaming Lips – “Goin’ On”
Guster – “Fa Fa”
Foo Fighters – “New Way Home”
Eels – “Teenage Witch”
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: AC/DC – “Back in Black”
Could there logically be any other choice? Absolutely not. Anyone who disagrees gets ten minutes alone in a room with no windows with the maniacs below:
The Land Down Under brings us the RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY from AC/DC and today’s BEST BAND YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD: Skybombers. These guys don’t have a record deal in the U.S. yet, but they’re lighting fires in Australia. I bought their five-song EP a few minutes ago after hearing one verse and one chorus online. Anyone who knows me knows I don’t make up my mind that easily 99 percent of the time. That’s how good these Aussie rockers are. The song that grabbed me isn’t on the EP, but it’s called “Always Complaining” and has more hooks than a tacklebox. After a first listen, the best track on the EP is this ferocious freakout called “Russian Roulette” that’s the RAWK SAWNG I’ve been waiting to hear all year.
Plenty of bands like to brand themselves as Clash / Kinks / Stooges hyrbids, but more often than not those bands are putrid embarrassments. Not Skybombers. They can actually claim those three as peers without sounding like pompous hipster knobs. The songs on this EP swagger and swing with that confident recklessness the aforementioned bands had, only the hooks are bigger. That’s a dangerous cocktail and I love it. Hell of a find for a Monday night.
Point of the gushing is: Don’t be surprised if Skybombers blow up like Hiroshima.
Digital domination
April 17, 2008Ben Folds – “Fred Jones Part 2″
Bizarre way to start off the day. There’s a lot of doom and gloom talk in the newsroom I work in about “the future.” Cost-cutting. New missions. Solutions. Transformations. These are all corporate psycho-babble terms for layoffs and putting the veterans out to pasture and such. I shivered a little when this song about a guy getting fired from a paper started playing. I’ll just let some lyrics talk:
Fred sits alone at his desk in the dark
There’s an awkward young shadow that waits in the hall
He’s cleared all his things and he’s put them in boxes
Things that remind him: ‘Life has been good’
Twenty-five years
He’s worked at the paper
A man’s here to take him downstairs
And I’m sorry, Mr. Jones
It’s time
There was no party, there were no songs
‘Cause today’s just a day like the day that he started
No one is left here that knows his first name
Lucero -”What Else Would You Have Me Be?”
First Lucero song I ever heard. Played a 30-second clip of it on iTunes and was hooked. Still my favorite song they’ve done.
The Fags – “Rockstar”
Big Star – “Thirteen”
Valve – “Part of the Catch Phrase”
What the hell happened to Casey Diiorio, anyway? I heard he was helping Zac Maloy engineer records, but that’s all I’ve heard. Ah, Google says he has a studio in Fort Worth. Cool. His old band (Valve, for those who don’t know) is one of my favorite DFW bands of all time. This song and “Upper West Coast” are legendary to a few dozen of us, I’m sure.
The Jayhawks – “The Eyes of SarahJane”
Head Automatica – “Lying Through Your Teeth”
Shuggie Otis – “Not Available”
Pete Yorn – “Committed”
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY / BEST BAND YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD: J Roddy Walston and The Business – “Rock and Roll the Second”
The night before SXSW 2008 kicked off, this band knocked us on our asses at Andy’s in Denton. I was drowning Amstels with caffeine king Matt Holmes downstairs when we decided to labor up the staircase to see who was making all the noise. We were met with what sounded and looked like Angus Young rocking great balls of fire with Jerry Lee Lewis. Two dozen faces were melted that night. Band name is hot, too.
Travis – “Safe”
Bush – “Letting the Cables Sleep”
Don’t hate.
Jeff Buckley – “New Year’s Prayer”
So good it’s scary. I don’t like listening to this song in the dark. Not one bit.
Sloan – “Step on it, Jean”
Paul McCartney – “Feet in the Clouds”
Breakdown:
14 songs
all during commute (dropped someone off at airport during rush hour. Idiotfest on the highway)
So I bought The Magpies CD at their gig Tuesday. Today I put it in the Powerbook, imported the songs and put the disc back in its sleeve. Then I stared at the sleeve for a few seconds, picked it up, stared at it some more and put it back down. Then I stared some more. I sighed and dropped a depressed F-bomb when it hit me that I’ll probably never pick that disc up again. After years of resistance, I’ve been dominated by the digital revolution. The hundreds of CDs on the rack in the living room just collect dust. No use for them anymore. I really don’t know what to think about it. I mean, I once managed a damn CD store. I’ve had thousands of CDs manufactured for bands I’ve worked with. Sold them all across the country. Now it’s all obsolete. I’m reminded of the wise words of a hillbilly philosopher: “Tough titty, said the kitty, but the milk is still good!”
Pour me a pint
April 16, 2008Bob Dylan – “Like a Rolling Stone”
David Bowie – “Starman”
British.
Bob Marley and the Wailers – “Roots, Rock, Reggae”
Starsailor – “Four to the Floor”
British, even though this song was produced by America’s favorite afro-maniacal murderer / producer: Phil Spector.
Minus The Bear – “Michio’s Death Drive”
The Used – “The Taste of Ink”
Dirty singer Bert got dirty with Ozzy’s Brit daughter.
Against Me! – “Rice And Bread”
Van Halen – “I’m The One”
Starsailor – “Talk Her Down”
Still British.
Radiohead – “Nude”
British.
Upside – “Something More”
The Beatles – “For No One”
Rumored to be British.
Built to Spill – “Don’t Try”
Clearlake – “Keep Smiling”
Bri-ish.
Billy Bragg and Wilco – “Stetson Kennedy”
Bragg is one the craggiest British wankers of all time. That’s why I like him so much. The guy’s got an album called England, Half English with a song called “Take Down the Union Jack,” fercrissake! Strangely, one of America’s best songwriters, Woody Guthrie, and the best American band of my generation, Wilco, are the meat on this song. Bragg’s just the sauce.
Lucero – “Coming Home”
Josh Rouse – “Sad Eyes”
Bernard Butler – “Smile”
British badass.
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers – “Loco to Stay Sane”
Coldplay – “Everything’s Not Lost”
Best song these British bastards have ever done.
Jet – “Rip it Up”
Flickerstick – “All We Are is Gone”
Texans that wannabe British.
Built to Spill – “Broken Chairs”
Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Commotion”
Big Star – “Back of a Car”
Jet – “Shiny Magazine”
Breakdown:
23 songs
all during commute (assignments on opposite ends of city)
Not that it has anything to do with, well, anything, but Boddingtons is perhaps the tastiest beer on the planet. Boddingtons is British.
Bill O’Reilly might see this playlist and call me a treasonous ex-patriot. I’d pour Boddingtons on him and call him a bloody treasonous ex-patriot motherwanker.
A pistol-whipped criminal
April 16, 2008Elefant – “Now That I Miss Her”
Radiohead – “Faust Arp”
Doves – “N.Y.”
Whiskeytown – “Under Your Breath”
Tom Waits – “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
Led Zeppelin – “Houses of the Holy”
Big Wreck – “Inhale”
The Thrills – “You Can’t Fool Old Friends With Limousines”
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: Refused – “Refused Are Fuckin’ Dead”
Breakdown:
9 songs
3 during commute to work
6 at work
0 during commute home (cell phones are Satan)
We’ll save today’s BEST BAND YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD for a band that didn’t make the iPod playlist, but kept my feet tappin’ all night at Belle Isle Brewery. Don’t take my word for it – come hear The Magpies with your own two ears next Tuesday, suckas! The Clevelandites will be in Oak Shitty again, this time at Speakeasy (Yes, it has a stage. Yes, it sounds better than Conservatory). If we’ve gotten around to actually “launching” this little blog experiment by then, you trendiest-of-trendy readers should invite all your friends and enemies for a night of some of the finest American songwriting, accordion playing and twangy rock and roll around. Goes good with Whiskeytown, Jerry Lee Lewis, beer, The Boss, Cash and the roots rock side of Rolling Stones. Try this opening line on for size: ”Here comes the night and I’m feeling like a pistol-whipped criminal.” Righteous! I told some folks in the bar that I’d die a happy man if I could listen to bands like The Magpies every night, and that wasn’t just the Belle Isle booze talking – I really meant it. Guess I could be in for an early death if they keep playing here so much. So it goes.
ACL This!
April 15, 2008
The ACL lineup is out. Check it out. www.aclfestival.com It was the inspiration for my jams on imeem.com today.
“Bag Lady” — Erykah Badu — Timeless jam. The guitar riff in this song is probably a sample, bum-pa-ba, has been put every where and everytime I’m listening to the hot jams station it’s always playing in the background when the DJ is talking. It’s disappointing when they go straight to the Lil’ John songs.
Tyrone (Live) — Erykah Badu
“You better call Tyrone and tell him to help you come get yo’ shit.” This is a slow sexy jam about a woman kicking her old man to the curb. Say Badu…it’s makes you feel like a hot bad-ass.
“Back in the Day” — Erykah Badu
I’m sort of a poseur Badu fan. I like Mama’s Gun. I know it, the other stuff I like and need to get to know. This little disco-esque song is good. Badu could sing about cleaning litter boxes and I’d still be bobbing my head in approval. “Soul flower take me flying with you.” Yeah.
“Love of my Life (ode to Hip Hop) — More Miss Badu. Not sure who she’s meeting in this song. ‘Dre 3000? Is Common picking up sloppy seconds? Maybe she’s talking about God? Or is Hip Hop the love of her life? Catchy chorus gets me each time. Common’s voice slow and deep….uh I digress.
“Cleva” — More Badu. “This is how I look without makeup….but I’m cleva, win it by surprise.” Empower me and all that stuff. The marimba in the song also rocks. And I like that Badu calls her breasts ninnies. Classy. Her dress ain’t cost nothing but $7, but she made it fly, because she clever. Makes me want to dance around the house and drink a vodka tonic with a lime twist.
“Learn to Fly” — Foo Fighters. Good radio friendly tune. Catchy. Who knew a drummer had such great guitar skills. Was Kurt Cobain even in Nirvana…or was it just Dave? All Dave? This song sort of bores me into thinking these sort of thoughts.
Weekend starts when?
April 15, 2008Hey Mercedes – “Our Weekend Starts on Wednesday”
Jay Farrar – “Damn Shame”
The Clash – “Clampdown”
The Clash – “Lost in the Supermarket”
The Feds – “Tonight Inside”
Jay Farrar – “Vitamins”
Ryan Adams – “29″
The Fags – “Greatest Movie Ending”
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: Big Wreck – “The Pleasure and the Greed”
Kenna – “Out of Control (State of Emotion)”
The Used – “Sound Effects and Overdramatics”
The Coral – “Spanish Main”
U2 – “Trip Through Your Wires”
BEST BAND YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD: Elbow – “Not a Job”
Best song on this band’s second record, A Cast of Thousands. Patient, moody Brit-rock. Anyone who can make a harmony out of dreary lines like this gets my respek: “The dream again nobody understands / Walking through the long grass on your hands / It’s not a job to do today / Sleep it off.”
Kill Radio – “Do You Know (Knife in Your Back)”
See below.
Kenna – “Hell Bent”
Strange pairing of Kenna and Kill Radio. A couple years back, some major label types convinced the band I once worked with to drive out to Los Angeles for a showcase at The Viper Room. Being the naive little bastards we were, we accepted and blew all the money we had to get out there. The band Upside played with at Viper Room was Kill Radio. The other act Upside’s manager at the time managed was Kenna. Both went largely unnoticed, but are two of my favorites to this day. Another strange connection: the guy who signed Kill Radio to Columbia Records was former MTV VJ Matt Pinfield, who seriously considered signing Upside to Columbia after the band once again blew all their money to make a trip to New York to showcase for more label types at Knitting Factory. A good line from the Kill Radio song in today’s playlist: “In the night they stole it, left you skin and bones and a knife in your back.”
Bernard Butler – “Smile”
The Stills – “Changes are No Good”
Sloan – “Back Stabbin’”
Queens of the Stone Age – “Do it Again”
Queens of the Stone Age – “Go With the Flow”
Spoon – “This Book is a Movie”
The Arcade Fire – “Crown of Love”
Bloc Party – “Banquet”
Islands – “If”
The Thrills – “Whatever Happened to Corey Haim?”
Ben Kweller – “Family Tree”
Built to Spill – “The Weather”
Ryan Adams – “Magnolia Mountain”
First time I saw Ryan Adams at Gypsy Tea Room in Dallas, this was the only song he played that could’ve passed for an actual performance. The man was a complete and utter disaster. I couldn’t listen to him for months. Luckily, Daily Tuneage comrade Redbee and her man convinced me to see him again at Cain’s a few months ago. Like night and day. I can’t even remember if he played this song. I just remember everything was perfect.
Breakdown:
29 songs
3 during commute to work
25 at work
1 during commute home
Short on time. No diatribe today.
Pier 1
April 14, 2008The first stop on this random music train must begin at Pier 1. Yes. I work at Pier 1 on the weekends. No satellite radio for us. Piped in cds, that repeat. Over and Over. The good news is that whoever is making these little mixes likes music, albeit a little too much Mariah Carey. The author of these mixes can’t help that the cds are played for days on end.
And there I’m introduced to Fink. Blueberry Pancakes was the first song. Layered and lonely and awesome. “Sitting at the table where it all began for us…”
Turns out the rest of the Fink collection is rad too. I couldn’t figure out why Imeem’s random play kept sending me to random techno after the Fink playlist. Come to find out the dude is a DJ from Brighton (love that town) and has just recently discovered guitars and his own voice.
Tracks from the 2007 Distance and Time are supa. Add a little angst that comes with being British and not seeing a lot of sun…and you’ve got melodic, beat driven, radiohead inspired. Check it out.
Another band on my list for today: The Kills.
I checked out the playlist on imeem today. Really good. This band is simple and dirty and I like it. They don’t mess around with studio stuff. I saw them live back in the day. A girl on a stool with a guitar, a man with a drum machine and a bass. Nothing else needed.
The new album is called Midnight Boom. Driving, dark and melodic all at the same time. The band wants the concept of an album to catch on…as if it ever left me. (Still have a tape deck in the car.) But there’s is artwork that goes with it and a 20-page booklet. Too bad I’ll have to go to Best Buy to find it.
Little League Friday
April 11, 2008Queens of the Stone Age – “You Got a Killer Scene There, Man…”
Stereophonics – “Caravan Holiday”
Blue October – “James”
Cold War Kids – “Hang Me Up to Dry”
The Who – “Squeeze Box”
RAWK SAWNG OF THE DAY: Priestess – “Blood”
I’m thinking I’ll start a daily feature here on Daily Tuneage. I’m thinking I’ll call it Rawk Sawng of the Day. I’m thinking Priestess is the perfect band to kick it off.
Pull off shameless lyrics like “It all started because / she wants to drain his blood” and “Before you can rip into his veins / you’d better take the reins / ’cause he’s riding into the sun,” and there’s just no way to go wrong! Fawk! Rawk!
I’m a fan of “Blood” because it really sticks out on the Hello Master album. It has a more controlled tempo, layered texture and subdued mood than the fist-to-the-face pace of the rest of the album. Wonder if this is the direction the next Priestess album takes? Wouldn’t mind, but I wouldn’t mind more rock-knuckle sandwiches, either.
BEST BAND YOU’VE PROBABLY NEVER HEARD: Clearlake – “Good Clean Fun”
I’m thinking I’ll start another daily feature here on Daily Tuneage. I’m thinking I’ll call it Best Band You’ve Probably Never Heard. I’m thinking Clearlake is the perfect band to kick it off.
Just go to the Clearlake page and check out everything you can. If Blur was more organic and focused on honest songwriting instead of quirky gimmicks, they’d sound a lot like Clearlake – one of the few bands I can call “charming” without feeling like a giant vag.
This song is one of Clearlake’s best and its off the Amber album. As far as a new album goes, the Clearlake page brings this news: “Your correspondent has been reliably informed that the new stuff sounds fantastic and is not inclined to argue…” Glad to know!
Varnaline – “Indian Summer Takedown”
Ryan Adams – “Do Miss America”
George Harrison – “I’d Have You Anytime”
Bloc Party – “Waiting for the 7:18″
Little League Hero – “I-35″
Might be my favorite LLH song. Fitting, considering what’s in store this weekend. See below.
Albert Hammond Jr. – “Bright Young Thing”
He is Legend – “The Creature Walks”
Ben Folds Five – “Sports and Wine”
I always think of the two years I lived in Ben Folds’ native North Carolina when I hear his music. You know how there’s often that unique attachment to artists from your town or state? I’ve felt that with Folds ever since “Brick” blew up when I was in eighth grade at Alexander Graham Middle School in Charlotte, N.C. I’m a fan of plenty of artists from Carolina, but I don’t feel like a hometown fan to any of them but Folds. Strange. Almost as strange as “Sports and Wine.”
Spoon – “Everything Hits at Once”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers – “Billy the Kid”
Stars – “He Lied About Death”
Refused – “New Noise”
Breakdown:
18 songs
7 during commute to work
9 at work
2 during commute home
Tonight is the first night we say goodbye to Little League Hero, one of the best Oklahoma bands of their time.
About seven years back, I spent some late nights at Tony Romanello and Steve Gooch’s rent house in Tulsa stuffing bubble-wrapped manila envelopes with CDs by Little League Hero and the rest of their little record label’s stellar roster. Those nights wound up being the building blocks of why I feel the way I feel about music today. I never would’ve started my own label or managed bands if it wasn’t for Tony and Gooch and Engine Shed Records. Needless to say, I’d be a very different person today if they hadn’t had me over to stuff envelopes when I was just a kid working at a record store and writing sloppy album reviews for local rags.
(I can’t continue without giving props to Joe Cinocca and Yawn Records for hooking me up with the Engine Shed dudes in the first place. So, props to Joe!)
Stuffing those envelopes was a romantic adventure for me. It was noble and just and ridiculously exciting. I was giving people a chance to hear music I felt simply had to be heard. I was part of something bigger than myself.
I’ve seen how hundreds of labels work in the years since then. There’s no doubt Tony and Steve did it up right for their bands, even without any money, a staff or many connections in the industry. They cared and they loved the music they released. That’s rare.
Cool thing about them was they had some of the best ears around. Just check the Engine Shed catalog – it’s chock full of some of the best albums ever made in this state. Few albums have lived up to Engine Shed releases like Look! by The Pistol Arrows, Start by Little League Hero, Counting Stars by Tony Romanello and Shades of Grey by his band, TRB.
Engine Shed also put out a record by a band called Standing on Zero that never really did much outside Tulsa, but they did manage to write a few of my favorite indie pop songs to this day. The songwriter, Mike Taylor, was a regular customer at the record store where Gooch and I worked. When Standing on Zero’s bass player left after its Engine Shed release came out, I somehow wound up having a hand in helping my buddy Jarrod Major replace the departed bassist. Jarrod and I were 17 or 18 at the time, and these guys were all in their mid-20s. That was kind of a big deal for us, as ridiculous as it sounds.
And I never thought about it until now, but SOZ was one of the first bands I was involved with outside of writing about them. That’s pretty monumental considering I spent most of my college years trying to help artists of all types by doing more for them than just writing an honest review of their music. So, for what it’s worth, thanks SOZ.
Anyhow, back to this weekend’s farewell Little League gigs at The Speakeasy.
I’ve thought about Engine Shed at each of the dozens of Little League Hero shows I’ve seen since the label folded. I think they’re the only ones, aside from Tony, who are still playing as the same entity that was part of that special Engine Shed adventure.
I’ll clap for all the Engine Shed bands when LLH walks off the stage for the last time this weekend. All good things end sometime. I’m just glad I had a small hand – even a pinky – in it.
An olive sky
April 10, 2008The Stills – “Gender Bombs”
Jeff Buckley – “New Year’s Prayer”
Radiohead – “The National Anthem”
The Coral – “I Remember When”
The Coral is one of the rare bands that’s dominated the UK charts in recent years without making that all-too-predictable blogger-driven splash on our side of the pond. Considering the track record Brit bands have had here lately (the over-hyped, one-and-done special) – it’s probably a good thing The Coral never caught on in America. Seems it gave them a chance to blossom into the band most people thought they’d become when they released this self-titled debut six years ago. To me, this album always sounded like some sea-shanty version of The Doors that was bizarre enough to freak you out to the point that it impressed the hell out of you.
The records between now and then haven’t lived up to the promise of the debut, but the band boasts that a new album on the way this year is the one they’ve wanted to make since they formed a decade ago. They say they’re all about the songs now and less about the frantic psycho-rock that had seemed to consume them lately. Sounds fine by me. The new single is damn impressive, and I wouldn’t have sought it out and heard it unless this old gem showed up in the playlist today. Woohoo!
Golden Smog – “Long Time Ago”
The Beatles – “Revolution 1″
U2 – “Red Hill Mining Town”
David Bowie – “Oh! You Pretty Things”
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – “Took Out a Loan”
Not a dull moment on this record. A diamond in what was mostly a rough rock year in 2007.
Breakdown:
9 songs
2 during commute to work
7 at work
0 during commute home
Dust Bowl 2008 hit the OKShitty metro today. I was too freaked out to listen to music on the way home because I couldn’t see the skyline. Guess that’s one reason to be glad I didn’t move to Los Angeles, where kids ask: “Mommy, why is the sky olive?”
A sewer song
April 9, 2008Ryan Adams – “Is This It?”
The Beatles – “Honey Pie”
To quote a regular customer at the record store where I once worked: “Listening to album tracks by The Beatles is like discovering your woman has another hole to stick it in.”
I’ll never forget that line no matter what degree of Alzheimer’s I suffer from or what type of anvil dents my skull.
Elvis Costello – “Tear Off Your Own Head”
The Clash – “Brand New Cadillac”
Blue October – “Into the Ocean”
Led Zeppelin – “No Quarter”
Jimmy Eat World – “Kill”
Injected – “Misunderstood”
And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – “Homage”
The Feds – “Face Down”
Stone Temple Pilots – “Daisy”
They’re back. Screw Slash. Long live DeLeo.
And You WIll Know Us By The Trail Of Dead – “Days of Being Wild”
Starlight Mints – “Pulling Out My Hair”
Flickerstick – “Catholic Scars and Chocolate Bars”
Ryan Adams – “The Drugs Are Not Working”
The Flaming Lips – “Free Radicals”
Radiohead – “Sulk”
This was once my favorite song. I tried to remember why this afternoon and failed. The Bends remains one of the ten best albums ever made, even if I’ve divorced “Sulk.”
Uncle Tupelo – “Grindstone”
Wilco – “Hummingbird (live)”
Didn’t care much for A Ghost is Born the first time I heard it. Or the second. Or third. I pretty much gave up on the album for about six months until I heard some bootlegs of the songs live. This was one of them, and it completely changed everything. Now I worship Ghost just as much as the rest of the Wilco catalog.
Led Zeppelin – “The Songs Remains the Same”
Clearly the best opening songs in the history of rock and roll. If you want to argue about it, I’ll sick the hounds on you.
Shuggie Otis – “Happy House”
Rewake – “Homeless Genius”
Stevie Wonder – “You’ve Got It Bad Girl”
Wilco – “I’m Always in Love”
The Fags – “Rockstar”
Paul McCartney – “Only Mama Knows”
Never cared much for Wings, but this song is what I wish they would’ve sounded like.
Golden Smog – “5-22-02″
Breakdown:
27 songs
8 during commute to work (had a morning assignment)
16 at work
3 during commute home
I spent most of the morning with a city sewer worker for a profile story. Once we got all the sewer chatter out of the way, we wound up talking tunes. It was refreshing to hear such a simple man talk so passionately about the music he’s loved his whole life. There wasn’t a bit of pretense or cynicism coming from this guy. He loves music unconditionally. Wish I knew more like him.
