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Post by Jeff on Feb 17, 2006 14:26:43 GMT -5
Kyle,
I have new respect. Fight the power. Wait, this was a joke, right?
Jeff
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Post by kyle on Feb 17, 2006 15:14:24 GMT -5
I heard thy're putting out a new edition to The Joy of Lesbian Sex in '09...I can't wait to get back to the library!
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Post by jtmx1 on Feb 17, 2006 16:03:50 GMT -5
Wow. Now I have something to look forward to on my 40th birthday.
Jeff
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Post by Tyler on Feb 20, 2006 16:08:06 GMT -5
That story is an obvious fabrication. I own that book, and most of the lesbians already have mustaches in it.
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Post by rickus on Feb 24, 2006 12:43:02 GMT -5
Checked out from the library last night.
David Bowie - Ziggie Stardust
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Post by Betterout on Mar 8, 2006 17:57:43 GMT -5
Hey, Rick, I just saw this. What an excellent album! The final track, Rock & Roll Suicide, is one of my favorite Bowie tunes. Not exactly that version of it, though. The live version from Ziggy Stardust the Motion Picture (or whatever it's called) is so freakin' awesome that I don't have enough words at my disposal to adequately describe how it makes me feel. At any rate, the rest of the album you checked out is tops, too. I find that I hum Hang on to Yourself probably once a week.
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Post by Betterout on Mar 8, 2006 18:29:27 GMT -5
So, I bought another Stooges album when we were hanging out with the McKenzies in Our Fair City, MA. I picked up a used copy of Funhouse. This album is great--I can't believe I hadn't heard it until now. There's already a fair amount written about the Stooges elsewhere on the board, but just in case Tyler and I haven't emphasized this strenuously enough, let me add that the Stooges rock nuts, man. They rock freakin' nuts. 1.) Down on the Street The best track on the album, in my opinion, happens to be the opener. It sets the stage for what follows: Molten grooves with lots of incoherent yelling. The groove is the key point here. The riffs are extremely simple, but they keep rocking without losing intensity. Quite the opposite, actually; they become just that much more intense as the song goes on. I can really see my former bar band .44 Reasons having a fun time covering this. It's a shame we never did. 2.) Loose Not as tight and rocking as the first (nothing else on the album really is) but still a fine example of rock-ala-Stooge. Iggy's lyrics are every bit as offensive as they are adolescent, and I love them! It's a delightful song to crank way up. 3.) TV Eye I first heard this song as a cover while watching Velvet Goldmine. To this day I can't hear it without thinking of Ewen McGregor's flopping member. He really sang that version, actually, with Ron Asheton on guitar. The Funhouse version is much better of course. It kicks off with that intense howl by Iggy, followed by the droning guitar riff that basically goes unchanged for most of the song, that is, until the tightly rockin' ending. Listening to this track, I can definitely hear the seeds of Spaceman 3, who basically copied this song and changed the name to OD Catastrophe. 4.) Dirt The band slows it down here to churn out some seriously brooding blues. For almost ten minutes they keep it going, sounding a whole lot like a more fiery version of the Doors (an obvious influence). The guitar tracks, while still simple and heavily distorted have a very modern sound to them. This song wouldn't have sounded too out of place if it was released sometime post-Nirvana pre-Limp Bizkit. A great cut. 5.) 1970 Wham!!!! This song burns it up. Is Iggy trying to document his times? Who cares! This song just offers a short and sweet sonic ideal: Simple, fast, intense, juvenile, loud. 6.) Funhouse The last two songs on the album are the weakest. This one is a little too self-conscious. Whereas the saxophone at the end of 1970 is more of the same welcome cacaphony, here it's just annoying. Another long one, too. At almost eight minutes, it's about fie minutes too long. Not bad, but not great. 7.) LA Blues Crap. You know that part at the end of a rock song where the band goes wild waiting for that final big stinger note? You know, the part that every bar band (my own included) thinks is essential to show the audience how bad it really could sound, and then ends with a big unison BAM? You know that one? Yeah. That's the whole song. It's awful. I don't know why they included it here. It sounds a lot like the annoying END of Velvet Underground's European Son off VU&Nico. But somehow, this manages to sound even less focused... Hmmmm. How is that possible, you might ask. Well, give it a listen. Here's what www.allmusic.com has to say about Funhouse: Review by Mark Deming
The Stooges' first album was produced by a classically trained composer; their second was supervised by the former keyboard player with the Kingsmen, and if that didn't make all the difference, it at least indicates why Fun House was a step in the right direction. Producer Don Gallucci took the approach that the Stooges were a powerhouse live band, and their best bet was to recreate the band's live set with as little fuss as possible. As a result, the production on Fun House bears some resemblance to the Kingsmen's version of "Louie Louie" -- the sound is smeary and bleeds all over the place, but it packs the low-tech wallop of a concert pumped through a big PA, bursting with energy and immediacy. The Stooges were also a much stronger band this time out; Ron Asheton's blazing minimalist guitar gained little in the way of technique since The Stooges, but his confidence had grown by a quantum leap as he summoned forth the sounds that would make him the hero of proto-punk guitarists everywhere, and the brutal pound of drummer Scott Asheton and bassist Dave Alexander had grown to heavyweight champion status. And Fun House is where Iggy Pop's mad genius first reached its full flower; what was a sneer on the band's debut had grown into the roar of a caged animal desperate for release, and his rants were far more passionate and compelling than what he had served up before. The Stooges may have had more "hits," but Fun House has stronger songs, including the garage raver to end all garage ravers in "Loose," the primal scream of "1970," and the apocalyptic anarchy of "L.A. Blues." Fun House is the ideal document of the Stooges at their raw, sweaty, howling peak.Get this album.
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Post by Thanin on Mar 8, 2006 19:17:39 GMT -5
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Post by Jeff on Mar 8, 2006 19:19:38 GMT -5
He looks like a burn victim in that photo.
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Post by Tyler on Mar 9, 2006 12:17:22 GMT -5
That burn victim, that vomitous mass of a human, is what we're missing on this board.
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Post by Thanin on Mar 9, 2006 15:37:06 GMT -5
We need more burn victims and vomitted people? I mean I don't necessarily disagree, but that's a fair bit of whacky.
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Post by ryan on Mar 10, 2006 4:53:56 GMT -5
I recently made a nice round of music purchases: Possum Dixon: StarmapsI really can't say enough good things about these guys. It makes me really sad that they only had 2 good albums in 'em. Their first, self-titled CD, is an unheralded classic of jagged pop and euphoric nonsense. Their follow-up, Starmaps, is even better! Unfortunately, their keyboardist left the band after Starmaps, and the remaining three band-members made a passable stab at Corporate Cash-in Rock with a third album called New Sheets, which was produced by Rick Ocasek. The few songs I heard off New Sheets were pretty flat and boring compared to the stuff on their first two discs. The last time I'd heard Starmaps was in college, about 10 years ago. It was one of those albums that everyone I knew had a copy of, so I never felt compelled to buy it. Then I kind of forgot about it until I saw it in the "P" cabinet at Starship the other day. I was happy to find it; I didn't know it was still in print. I immediately popped it in my CD player when I got back in the car, and I couldn't believe how fresh the album still sounded, and how many of the hooks had become firmly ingrained in my consciousness. Possum Dixon mixes the power-pop staples of guitar, bass, and drums together with some fiendish keyboard pounding and some witty and exuberant non-sequitur lyrical refrains. Throw some amphetamines into the mix, along with some books on number-theory and a kooky penchant for bubblegum 80's synth-pop, and you end up with a band that sounds like the bastard-child of The Pixies, They Might Be Giants, The Talking Heads, and Cindi Lauper. And it's all in fun, but it's seriously good music. There is nothing sloppy or half-hearted in this band's songwriting or production. Their best songs are models of pop-efficiency, crafting the greatest effect out of the least possible number of parts. Most of their songs whiz by at a breakneck clip, delivering savory hooks one after another, creating a giddy sense of urgency. Their slower tunes can drag a bit in places, but I honestly can't think of one that doesn't pay-off with a memorable series of hooks. And finally, we get to the lyrics, and I have to laugh and shake my head in admiration. Vocalist/Bassist Rob Zabrecky is a master of the cut-and-paste lyrical collage, delivering hilarious and bizarre non-sequiturs which have an uncanny way of adding up into a kind of wide-eyed urban mythology. He sings about Big Themes, to be sure: Dazzling Women, Torturous Breakups, and City Life figure prominently in his lyrical motifs. But it's not what you sing about; it's how you sing about it. I submit a few choice lyrical samples from Starmaps: "Out of the bathroom, she surprised us with a flash of light -- / Electric motors and / LIVE WIRE! / Out of the bathroom, she came out and made an order: / TWO HUEVOS RANCHEROS!" "I can hear them upstairs rattling / off the names of people that are dead. / Hear them, listen, hear them talking / bark bark bark bark, talking nonsense." "I'm not making your party tonight / I'm not making your / I'm not making your party tonight / My eyes won't drag on your floor / And the promises are breaking / The promises are breaking / And the cat's still in the bag / And the promises are breaking like dishes / And the cat's still in the bag."
Starmaps is brimming with such kinetic nonsense. I dig lyrics like these, that hint at things but leave you to make sense of it all. Like that line, "And the cat's still in the bag." Up 'til that point, we imagine some dude refusing an invitation to someone's party. Whose party, we wonder? His girlfriend? An ex-girlfriend? And then the line, "The cat's still in the bag" comes around, and adds another element to the mystery. Somone's been keeping secrets. From whom? Are they both keeping the same secret? And what does this have to do with the party? It's all essentially meaningless, but it's fun and involving nonetheless, and I'm not entirely sure that it lacks relevance. The Postal Service: Give UpEhh. It's alright. I dig their beats, and I dig some of their lyrics. Some of this album seems painfully self-conscious, though -- and almost precious at times. As a whole, I think this album is very overrated. I think it's good music, mind you, and I commend this band for their effort at making something relevant -- but this album simply does not deserve all the buzz it has generated. Pavement: Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain (2-CD reissue) I bought this album the same day I bought the Possum Dixon and Postal Service CD's (I was in a mood for "P" bands). Shamefully, I have yet to give it a full listen. I tried to get into it a few days after I bought it, but I was still enamored with Starmaps, and I couldn't get myself into Pavement's vibe. It's been a few weeks, and I still haven't been able to get myself into that vibe. It's funny; I really dig the majority of Brighten the Corners, but most of Slanted and Enchanted sounds really dated and not very good to my ears, and I'm not sure that it's entirely due to the poor production values. I promise I'll try to get into Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain. I know it's "supposed" to be a great album. But right now it feels like a homework assignment I keep putting-off.
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Post by Guest Justin on Mar 10, 2006 11:20:00 GMT -5
Ryan,
If it's any consolation, although I'm a huge fan of Pavement, I have to struggle a great deal to like "Slanted and Enchanted." By that I mean the album proper, not the two-disc set, which is redeemed by the inclusion of far better versions--live and studio versions alike--of the same songs and a great deal of excellent bonus material. But as for the album itself, the production, as you say, it disgracefully awful. Furthermore, the individual cuts are a little too weak for the most part to keep a whole album afloat. So, as an album, I guess it's more important than it is good.
That said, I believe "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" is far better. The first album is more a document of their sonic philosophy, as initially stated. The second is an application of that philosophy as it gels in practice. We get more of an idea of what they can do here, and we see that it's not just limited to shambling pop songs that barely keep it together long enough to see themselves through. Don't worry: There is a lot of that kind of thing on this album (especially "Elevate me Later," "Stop Breathing," "Hit the Plane Down"). But there's also a lot of really song-y gems, especially the radio hit "Cut Your Hair" and the excellent road paean "Range Life." The highlight of the album may be the great album closer "Filmore Jive," which offers the best of both worlds, as well as some great lyrical awareness of rock as a cultural institution (arguably the most frequently ocurring theme of the album). So please don't let your dislike of the first album hamper your like of the second. I think you may be pleasantly surprised with "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain" if you ever get around to listening to it in its entirety. (Oh yeah, I've never heard the two-disc reissue. So I can't vouch for how good it is. It may really suck it up bad.)
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Post by Jeff on Mar 10, 2006 11:54:41 GMT -5
I got Postal Service’s Give Up on the advice of a friend in your neck of the woods, David Hamby, who said that some of the music I was writing in late 2004 and early 2005 sounded like theirs. David was quick to add, “Their sound ain’t really my thing, but I figure you’ll like them.” After listening to the CD as many as five or six times, I couldn’t tell what all the fuss was about either. The songs sounded so sterile and anemic that I couldn’t imagine why this CD got so much hype.
Then a strange thing happened. I found myself humming several of the songs, specifically “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” and “Recycled Air.” And one day after I walked out to my car to go to work, I walked right back in the house and grabbed the CD. It stayed in my car several months. I tried to play it for Jenn, but she never warmed up to it. “Sounds retro-bad,” was her final word on the band. What I came to admire about the CD was the meticulous production on all the songs. You mentioned Pavement, well these guys are certainly anti-that. Everything in their mixes has been inspected, tested, and approved. The synth tones, mostly big square and triangle waves, are very self-conscious, just as you say. But there is no silly playing with envelopes or any other synth whammy-bar techniques. And I think this is because they are a song band, which explains why they have been covered so much already. Their production work, though initially very offputting to me, creeps up on you. I don’t think they are concerned with style nearly as much as their songs. But it is the style that you hear first. They really drain their songs of gross-level energy so that they can focus intensity on specific parts and sections. For instance if you take a song like “District” I’d argue that its concluding allegro section gains immensely from the fact that the rhythms up to that point have been stuttered and slightly out of focus. I would also argue that this disruption of the groove is exactly the kind of thing the song needs.
So I came to admire this CD a fair amount. I figure you gave it a fair shake, so I’m not trying to change your mind so much as explain its appeal to me.
Jeff
PS I am still mulling over your piece on music production. I’ll get to a response sometime soon.
PPS Happy birthday!
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Post by ryan on Mar 11, 2006 2:02:45 GMT -5
Jeff -- Yeah, I dig your viewpoint on The Postal Service. I bought the CD because the songs "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" and "Such Great Heights" sort of crept up on me subliminally. I probably heard those songs fifty times each on the radio, in TV commercials, and in my local coffee shop before I one day found myself humming "Such Great Heights" and wondering, "Where have I heard that melody before?" It's funny. I think their music just functions like that. It's designed to sneak-in below radar. I keep thinking the rest of the disc might grow on me. Maybe it will. There are some short moments later in the album that I really enjoy. Thanks for the "happy birthday."
Justin -- Thanks for your song-by-song analysis of "Funhouse." I didn't know anything about that album. Now I need to buy it. And your description of "LA Blues" is hilarious and perceptive, and undoubtedly true. It made me actually want to hear the song, so I can say, "Yeah! He's totally right!" Regarding Pavement, I'm sure I'll eventually agree with you. And for the record, I don't actually "hate" Slanted and Enchanted. It's just that, by the time I first heard the album, the whole thing sounded like something I'd outgrown by about 10 years. I guess the ultimate litmus-test for any album is, "How many tracks can you recall off the top of your head?" With Slanted and Enchanted, there's only one for me. It's "Two States." For some reason, that song sticks with me. Maybe it's because it's the most rockin' tune on the album, and for that reason it stands apart. Or maybe it's just the goofy refrain, "Two states! We want two states! A north and a south! We want two states!" Malkmus's nerdy glee really shines in those words.
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Post by jtmx1 on Mar 11, 2006 2:59:21 GMT -5
Jeff’s notes on Funhouse:
These sounds can only be made by very dirty souls. You have to eat steak and onions every day for a long time. You have to blow your cigarette smoke in everyone’s face for a while and snuff your butts in old cups of coffee. Don’t bathe and don’t care. Don’t bathe between fucks and don’t care if she cares. You have to fight for fun, you have to bloody your friends and laugh about it. They have to bloody you and you have to bloody yourself. You have to take a few really strange dares, like bite a horse on the ass or jump out of a speeding car on a gravel road. You have to live drunk or stoned or both for a while. You have to piss off your neighbors every time you are home. You have to go to parties that only end when the police show up to take people away.
And then you have to endure being interviewed about your influence on rock history when inside you really only want to cut everyone with glass. “Can you feel it when you cut me?”
T.V. Eye means “twat video” eye, the kind of look you give the girl you’ll be fucking later on. Prime Stooge humor. You’re not laughing? Well, they aren’t here to fucking amuse you, just to fuck you. "You stick it deep inside me, babe. Well I stick it right back in you. 'Cause I'm so fuckin' loose!"
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Post by Don McLean on Mar 11, 2006 15:17:35 GMT -5
Right on, man! But did you like the album?
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Post by jtmx1 on Mar 11, 2006 16:41:31 GMT -5
I listened to it three times last night, and I’m listening to it now. I don't know that I like it. I mean, it is not something that gives me pleasure, but then a lot of art strikes me as very unpleasant. My problem is that this is music that I have to work to understand. It doesn't speak directly to me, so I have to translate it into terms that do, e.g., by finding its artistic and apocalyptic elements, etc... I was not born to rock and roll.
Still, I do recognize it as art, and I am compelled to react to it. It makes me squirm and sometimes laugh, kind of like a horror movie. It does teach me—with a hammer—that for all our talk of radical ideas and changing the world, we are all way too scared of the world. I think Tyler is right to say that this attitude is something we should think more about. (Actually, that's bullshit. Thinking is not at all what he was talking about.)
I suppose my favorite track is LA Blues. Everything you said about it was true, but I can hear so many other bands in the screaming, e.g., Skinny Puppy and Rage Against the Machine. It seems so optimistic, and self-consciously and ironically so. You keep thinking, "Now this has got to be the end...but I guess not." It's like the opposite of Eliot's Wasteland. The end is a bang and a whimper and an orgasm and a cheeseburger.
But I do have a real problem liking the straight up rock and roll bits. For example, I love the sax when it sounds atonal and jazzed, like where it starts off in the solo at then end of 1970. But when it sounds like dirty 1950s rock and roll, I don't, e.g., most of the sax work in Funhouse. Of the straight rock and roll songs I like T.V. Eye the best. Don’t know why; it just sticks with me. Dirt is an interesting piece. I can see doing a drunken sway to it at Willy's in Stillwater.
I know that I’ll listen to this CD several more times.
Jeff
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Post by rickus on Mar 15, 2006 10:07:57 GMT -5
To be returned to the library, SOON.
Kanye West's, Late Registration.
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Post by kyle on Mar 15, 2006 13:08:44 GMT -5
Let us not forget the immortal words of Kanye West:
"George Bush Hates Black People"
What a role model...
Rick, I'd actually like to hear why you are planning on returning it soon. I almost got that album a couple of times but promptly changed my mind because of his statement. I had the feeling that there was a good chance I was going to be disappointed. I thought that he might have a couple good songs (the ones that made it to the radio) and the rest would be bad.
You don't have to explain it too much but I was just curious.
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