Okay, so I was at Tubachristmas last week in Baltimore. It was a good event… probably the most fun I’ve had at an outdoor installment of this concert. The event was co-coordinated by a Jewish guy who loves Tubachristmas. That was odd enough, but what took the cake was when he pointed to a tuba player in the back of the group who had fashioned a Star of David from blue tape on his bell and referred to it as a “Jewsaphone.”
Also, some links in honor of the anniversary of Frank Zappa’s birthday (Dec. 21) and death (Dec. 4):
http://blogs4brownback.wordpress.com/2007/07/16/398/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:ManAgainstWeasel.jpg
Last year, I was braving the wintry weather to get to Cleveland on Valentine’s Day. This one, I’m working. Here’s the top 10 most played songs in my iTunes library containing the word “love.”
10. Digital Love - Daft Punk - 10 plays
9. We’re in Love - Herbert - 13 plays
8. Do for Love - Tupac - 14 plays
7. Killing for Love - Jose Gonzalez -15 plays
6. Love Is - Common - 15 plays
5. Love of the Common Man - Todd Rundgren - 17 plays
4. If We’re in Love - Roisin Murphy - 17 plays
3. Do You Love Coffee? - Braid - 19 plays
2. Climb the Walls (Umbrella of Love) - U.S.E. - 27 plays
1. Who Do You Love? - Ted Leo - 37 plays
2007 was another year. It marked my fifth year in the Army, my third anniversary with Lindsey and a few other things that are less exciting. I worked away another year and found a few more gray hairs on my head. I had a great time seeing David (in Chicago) and everyone that came to Wooster during homecoming weekend. Some sad stuff happened, too; the father of a good friend of mine died. Despite the setbacks, it was a year of looking into the future.
I’ve been pretty sparse in my updates lately, and I’m not going to promise to be more diligent on adding things to it. I know I won’t get around to it. So, I’m just hoping I can get more into the habit of doing this; don’t hold out hope.
Okay. My real reason for posting is to talk about music, since it seems I do that more here than anything else. This year, my music prowess decreased quite a bit. I didn’t get out to a bunch of concerts and I didn’t spend a huge amount of time seeking out new music to dazzle myself and all my friends. I guess that’s a product of being a big kid and doing all that stuff. Anyway, I did search my iTunes and compiled a list of all the albums I picked up this year. I’ve made a list of the best few. Here it is:
12. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights (soul): This is a really decent soul record that is produced like they did it in the 60s. Jones is a gnarly lady with a big voice, and the Dap Kings do a good job backing her up. I wish there was a big hit on this record. Highlights: “Nobody’s Baby” and “Let Them Knock.”
11. Battles, Mirrored (math rock): This album defies any explanation. Listen for yourself.
10. Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (electronica/indie rock): I have never bothered to research this band, nor do I care to. With lyrics like this, there’s no reason to do anything but listen:
I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown
While living in Norway
I felt the darkness of the black metal bands
But being such fawn of a man
I didn’t burn down any old churches
Just slept way too much, just sleep
Joyous, electronic rock. Highlights are “A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger” (quoted above) and “She’s a Rejector.”
9. Kathy Diamond, Miss Diamond to You (electronic): I really like living room dance music. This is the best kept secret of the year. Listen to this as you mix up your nightly bloody mary. Enjoy. Highlights: “Over” and “Another Life.”
8. Common, Finding Forever (rap): A lot of people were turned off by this one, but it keeps finding its way back into my playlist. Of course, on “Finding Forever,” we find Common doing his normal act as that guy with a lot of stuff to say about Black people in the United States, but he still has that edge he never lost. “Black Maybe” is the best on here, followed by “Misunderstood” and “The People.”
7. The Field, From Here We Go Sublime (dance): The Field’s first album is sort of a soaring, ambient house record. Each song on this record seems to be leading you into a but-thumping world of dance music, but that’s deceiving because everything is shaped brilliantly. I can sit down and listen to this late at night as I’m winding down or when I want to dance. Highlights are “A Paw in My Face” and “The Deal.”
6. José González, In Our Nature (guitar/voice): This man’s from Sweden (name might say otherwise, but it’s true), and he can pick a mean guitar. There’s nothing earth shattering about this album. It sounds much like Veneer, González’s last record. But that last one was damn good, and this guy can really write music. He sounds like Stephen Stills with a little more direction. Highlights are “Down the Line,” “In Our Nature” and “Cycling Trivialities.”
5. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (rock): I have a weak spot for blue eyed soul, so you can understand my excitement when I heard “You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb” on this record. Just about everyone has heard Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by now, and they know the strong points. There’s not a moment of this thing when I am not having a great time listening. “Don’t You Evah” is another great one.
4. Pinback, Autumn of the Seraphs (indie rock): I’ve had a crush on Rob Crow for awhile. But after the first few Pinback albums, I wondered if there was anything left for Rob Crow to do with this group. I was wrong; this is by far their best. They’ve mastered the little vocal counterpoints at a level I never imagined. This is an easy album to listen to and like. Highlights are: everything.
3. The National, Boxer (indie rock): The National is are a humble group of fellows, or at least they sound like it. Boxer is a great album that doesn’t blow you away with a bunch of complex layering, sampling or anything like that. Matt Berninger has this deep, haunting baritone voice that complements the band’s straightforward approach that reminds me of a group somewhere between Springsteen and The Church. It’s just a really well done record. “Fake Empire” is the opener, and probably the most affecting piece on the album.
2. Róisín Murphy, Overpowered (dance/pop): I thought Murphy’s first solo effort Ruby Blue was a clever piece of pop production. Unfortunately, the public didn’t get producer Matthew Herbert’s play-everything-including-the-kitchen-sink technique, and the album kind of plunked. Murphy’s back with a lot more disco and accessibility. She picked up a few licks from some of her disco ancestors (Tracy Weber’s “Sure Shot” shows up in “Let Me Know.” Murphy improves on it.) and made this one of the better European pop/dance albums of the year. Highlights are “Let Me Know,” “You Know Me Better” and “Dear Miami.”
1. Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Living with the Living (rock): Ted Leo would be the next Springsteen if Springsteen would just hang up the bandana. If you look at my last.fm profile (see my sidebar application for a link to it), you’ll know I play the crap out of this album. In fact, it’s playing as I type this. His straightforward, punk/pop driven sound appeals to just about anyone, and I’ve never seen a guy who can garner so much cred from hipsters all the way to metalheads. Song highlights are “The Sons of Cain,” “La Costa Brava” and “Who Do You Love?”
The saddest songs: Watermelon In Easter Hay (Frank Zappa), You Never Give Me Your Money (Beatles), Molto Moderato, Symphony No. 3 (Copland), Water From The Same Source (Rachel’s).
The most empowering songs: Forget (Mission of Burma), Christie Road (Green Day), Help Save the Youth of America from Exploding (Less Than Jake), The City (The Dismemberment Plan), Last Respects (Nad Navillus).
I just watched Ohio State play like they belong in the Mid-American Conference, and that’s not even what I’m mad about. For anybody that cares, which I hope is fewer and fewer, the new Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class was released today (well, technically yesterday), and a few pretty good artists, deserving artists, got in. Patti Smith, the Ronettes, Grandmaster Flash and R.E.M. were all chosen to enter the hall. The fifth inductee…drum roll please… VAN HALEN!!!! I can hear the arena crowd cheering. Eddie Van Halen has got his guitar with the tiny strings out… he’s overplaying the worst “thank you” solo ever created to a crowd including Todd Rundgren, the Stooges and everybody else who deserves it more than him. We all own “1984″ and like “Hot For Teacher” but c’mon… it’s VAN HALEN.
I have no idea why I am so mad about this. There are plenty of dumb groups in the hall of fame that shouldn’t have made it off AM radio. If you walk through the hall museum in Cleveland, you can tell it’s only meant to showcase the superficial — gaudy teen pop costumes, Michael Jackson bobble heads, Jim Morrison’s dental floss and whatever else they can get their hands on — to cop a few bucks from people who happened upon Cleveland by luck or bad calculation. When it comes to music, the rock hall doesn’t need a museum, just a listening library. As far as I know, they don’t have one of those open to the public. But that doesn’t matter, because most of the people interested in something as arbitrary as the Rock Hall aren’t as interested in music. They do like Van Halen, though.
Still working. Still playing. I’ve got my first real cold in about three years, which is sort of a blessing because it forces me to re-evaluate how I live my life: I probably stay out too late every night, eat food that’s bad for me, and occasionally partake in the tobacco products. These are not best practices.
Listening to music, however, is a best practice. This I have done, and a lot. I found out recently the Knife had some amazing stuff out and that I really do like the Long Winters, especially this new record. It goes past the comparisons to R.E.M. into a new realm of creativity. “(It’s A) Departure” is a fitting opening. In other news, I’ve found that my job prevents me from getting on any sort of regular schedule. One day, I’ll work 14 hours and the next I’ll work 7. It’s jarring.
Chicago: To make a long story short, I saw the Mountain Goats, Mission Burma and a few others at Pitchfork. Though I would rather see all these groups in a club atmosphere, it’s hard to beat the price. The big highlight of the trip was that I got to hang out with David in his own territory. He showed Jon and I all the great places to hang out in his neighborhood (hat tip to the taco shop…those chile rellenos were clutch!). Though in great pain, we braved the heat and made it to sonotheque and saw A-Trak, Kanye’s touring DJ. A HOT time was had. The dancing was fun even though I move like I’ve got a metal rod fused to my spine. On the way out I was upset because Matthew Herbert was going to be at the club later in the month. No troubles: he’ll be in Cleveland a week from Tuesday. Reference:
Paulie told me earlier today that he’d listened to the new Phoenix disc, It’s Never Been Like That, “no less than 30 times since it was reviewed in P-fork.” I have to confess that I too am trying to curtail my listening habit when it comes to this album because it’s really that good. Phoenix has finally figured out how to take their excellent songwriting ability and blend it with something that’s unique but doesn’t leave you confused. It’s pure fun the whole way through. There’s no disco-pop on this one and no single like “Too Young” (one of my favorite songs in the history of my music listening career), but the rest of it is just so strong that it doesn’t matter. You have to get this one. NOW.
