4.12.13

On April 12th I listened to Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion I and II and Stereophonics Graffiti On The Train.

Use Your Illusion I and II came out one week before Nirvana’s Nevermind and The Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magic on September 17, 1991. Just one month after Metallica put out Metallica in August. Seriously! Four monster releases in one month! If you don’t think the early 90’s was the Golden Age of music, you are probably a sniveling douche or in your 20’s and currently nostalgic for the crap that was coming out in your tween years. I'll die first, but at least my music's better!

GNR hadn't done shit since 1988’s Lies and by the fall of 1991 if they put out Use Your Illusion I, II, III, and IV, fans would have skipped buying baby formula for their illegitimate children to scoop them all up. I remember lines at the record stores the day they came out. It was truly a huge Rock ‘N’ Roll moment! That shit doesn't happen any more for Rock album releases.

I haven’t thrown either one of these albums on in years and I was actually a little excited. But, while I was listening to “Back Off Bitch,” on Use Your Illusion I, something occurred to me. Axl was singing the lyric “back off bitch” for about the hundredth time during this five minute opus when I realized that Use Your Illusion I and II was the ultimate Rock ‘N’ Roll swindle. Thirty songs on two albums! Come on? How many of them are actually any good? Beats me. This was definitely the first time I had ever listened to both albums back to back. The hits still sound great and larger than life, but the other stuff sounds like one or two songs rewritten about twenty times. And millions of people bought both of these albums because of bloated egos and greed. 

I came into listening to Use Your Illusion hoping to find some forgotten brilliance buried within. I didn't.

I've been listening to Stereophonics since the 90’s. They have eight albums. I love three of their songs and a cover. I dig “Traffic,” “Have A Nice Day,” but only because it was in Dawn Of The Dead, “Dakota,” and their cover of “Who’ll Stop The Rain, which I've listened to A LOT!

I was hoping for one good song here, so expectations weren't that high. Kelly Jones has a stunning raspy voice, so that's why I always check out their records. His voice is the reason their cover of “Who’ll Stop The Rain” is so good. Check it out!

Graffiti On The Train, starts off too slow, doesn't pick up enough steam when it does rock out, and then Jones’ voice should totally nail the shit out of the old school roadhouse blues number “Been Caught Cheating,” but it misses the mark. It’s too clean cut, when it needs to be dirty and raw. I'd love to hear him sing that after a night of drinking and smoking. Unless he's on the wagon, then just smoking. 

Tomorrow I listen to Depeche Mode Violator, Pavement Crooked Rain Crooked Rain, and Depeche Mode Delta Machine. 

Here's April's Playlist!

4.6.13

On April 6th I listened to Happy Mondays Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches, The Stone Roses Second Coming, and I Am Kloot Let It All In.

I love the scene in 24 Hour Party People when Shaun Ryder is going crazy for some “Can-tucky Fried Chicken.” It’s during that scene that you realize, “They have KFC in England?” Oh, and that Ryder is a complete fucking moron. Yet, he wrote the lyrics to one of my favorite albums.

The Happy Mondays rode the crest of the great Madchester* wave high and far. For a hot minute, in the UK, they were considered Gods! Here in the states they had a modest modern Rock hit with “Step On.” It’s a shame they weren't recognized for more here, Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches is a nearly flawless album and 23 years later it still sounds unbelievably relevant!

This album flows like a ride on a water slide. Smooth, fun and cool as shit. Wanna know the best part of Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches? It is impossible to look stupid dancing to it. Just let the music move you. Even Thom Yorke’s brand of seizure dancing would look great to this album! I've taken the liberty of setting Thom’s moves to some good music and posting it online. Enjoy, before the Internet Gods take it away because my two minute parody, that won't make me a nickel, and won't notch up 300 views is a violation!

Remember this the next time you go on “Holiday,” “You don’t look first class, you. Let me look up your ass, you. I smell dope, I smell dope, I smell dope, I’m smelling dope.”

The five years between The Stone Roses and Second Coming felt like ten and everything that was happening in ’89, ’90, ’91, and maybe ’92 definitely wasn't happening anymore at the end of ’94. However, after all the bullshit, I was still ready to hear what The Stone Roses had waited so long to give us.

They got sued by their record label and that kept them from releasing anything until ’92. So, after that we all thought they’d hit the studio and crank out the sophomore effort. Nope, they toured for like two years, everywhere but here! Then they pissed off the producer from their unforgettably wonderful debut album, John Leckie. If you go to the British Isles and listen to the wind you can still hear John's "piss off" echoing around the stratosphere. Big mistake on the Roses part. Finally, after a full year in the studio they were ready to release Second Coming!

It blows behind belief. 

I don’t even remember my reaction when I finally got my copy and threw it on with mouth watering anticipation! I must have been numb with disgust and disappointment, because while I was listening to this album now, it was an all new kind of disappointment.

"Love Spreads" is OK, but I'll take “Ten Storey Love Song,” and you can flush the rest! That’s all I have to say about that!

I thought I knew I Am Kloot. I remember listening to their 2003 self titled album, and for some reason I thought they rocked. Maybe I’m confusing them with somebody else.

For the life of me I can’t figure out who they remind me of. I initially hated this record, like I would cause it’s all slow and shit, but then I went back. It’s really a beautifully orchestrated piece of music. 

“Let Them All In,” reminds me of a 70’s easy listening radio station. FUCK! Who does I Am Kloot sound like? It’s on the tip of my tongue. I dunno. I liked “Bullets,” and boy does “Mouth On Me,” have a theme I can relate to. “I was young and I had a mouth on me.” God bless.

Is it The Decemberists? I think they remind me of The Decembertists. I dunno, maybe?

Tomorrow I listen to Jawbreaker, Jawbox, and The Appleseed Cast. 

Here's April's Playlist!

* LOOK IT UP, STOOPID!

APRIL PLAYLIST!

The 90's Rule!

I have decided to keep with the 90's theme for the month of April too. In March we took a listen to mostly the heavy hitters from the Alternative Heyday, in April we'll stick with a lot of Indie or underground stuff. Cause it all certainly wasn't on Indie labels! Am I right? Fucking sellouts.

Remember when any band that sold a thousand cassettes outta their car were getting major label contracts? Good times!

Plus, some of the big 90's albums that slipped through the cracks last month.

Each day will feature two 90's albums and something new.

Apologies to anybody I didn't listen to while celebrating the 90's. In two months, I'll have listened to sixty 90's albums and that's barely scratching the surface. And sorry to John Grant, you just got shitcanned cause I forgot all about the new Depeche Mode album. 

TA DA!!!! 

April 1st

Superchunk – Here’s Where The Strings Come In

Guided By Voices – Bee Thousand

The Men – New Moon

April 2nd

Jimmy Eat World – Clarity

Failure – Fantastic Planet

The Black Angels – Indigo Meadow

April 3rd

Bush – Sixteen Stone

Lenny Kravitz – Mama Said

The Strokes – Comedown Machine

April 4th

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones – Don’t Know How To Party

Reel Big Fish – Turn The Radio Off!

Big D And The Kids Table – For The Damned, The Dumb & The Delirious

April 5th

Quicksand – Slip

Fugazi – In On The Kill Taker

The Bronx – The Bronx IV

April 6th

Happy Mondays – Pills Thrills And Bellyaches

The Stone Roses – Second Coming

I Am Kloot – Let It All In

April 7th

Jawbreaker – Dear You

Jawbox – For Your Own Special Sweetheart

The Appleseed Cast – Illumination Ritual

April 8th

Catherine Wheel – Ferment

Oasis – The Masterplan

Nine Black Alps – Sirens

April 9th

Live – Throwing Copper

Fuel – Sunburn

Palma Violets – 180

April 10th

Poster Children – Daisy Chain Reaction

Samiam – You Are Freaking Me Out

Suede – Bloodsports

April 11th

Frank Black – Frank Black

The Afghan Whigs – Black Love

Clutch – Earth Rocker

April 12th

Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion I

Guns N’ Roses – Use Your Illusion II

Stereophonics – Graffiti On The Train

April 13th

Depeche Mode – Violator

Pavement – Crooked Rain Crooked Rain
Depeche Mode – Delta Machine

April 14th

Goo Goo Dolls – Hold Me Up

Goo Goo Dolls – Superstar Car Wash

Alkaline Trio – My Shame Is True

April 15th

311 – 311

311 – Transistor

My Chemical Romance – Conventional Weapons

April 16th

PJ Harvey – Rid Of Me

Ani Difranco – Not A Pretty Girl

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Mosquito

April 17th

Sunny Day Real Estate – Diary

Mercury Rev – Yerself Is Steam

The Flaming Lips – The Terror

April 18th

NOFX – Punk In Drublic

Face To Face – Face To Face

Face To Face – Three Chords And A Half Truth

April 19th

The Orb – The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld

The Orb – U.F.Orb

Molly Ringwald – Except Sometimes

April 20th - Dickbag Day!

Limp Bizkit – Significant Other

Korn – Follow The Leader

Fall Out Boy – Save Rock And Roll (These twats can't even spell Rock 'N' Roll right!)

April 21st

Bad Religion – Stranger Than Fiction

Refused – The Shape Of Punk To Come

The Virginmarys – King Of Conflict

April 22nd

Bjork – Debut

Bjork – Post

Veronica Falls – Waiting For Something To Happen

April 23rd

Cocteau Twins – Heaven Or Las Vegas

Ride – Nowhere

Phoenix – Bankrupt!

April 24th

Elliot Smith – XO

Jeff Buckley – Grace

The Veils – Time Stays, We Go

April 25th

The KLF – The White Room

Chemical Brothers – Dig Your Own Hole

Kid Cudi – Indicud

April 26th

Ice Cube – Predator

Dr. Dre – The Chronic

Snoop Lion – Reincarnated

April 27th

Morrissey – Your Arsenal

Breeders – Pod

Young Galaxy – Ultramarine

April 28th

Belle & Sebastian – If You’re Feeling Sinister

Belle & Sebastian – The Boy With The Arab Strap

Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love

April 29th

Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Return To The 36 Chambers

Notorious B.I.G. – Life After Death

Tyler, The Creator – Wolf

April 30th

Mudhoney – Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge

Mudhoney – Vanishing Point

Clinic – Free Reign

Fun Fact! After this month, I will have listened to 360 albums this year! 

3.26.13

On March 26th I listened to Oasis (What’s The Story) Morning Glory?, Wilco Being There, and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Push The Sky Away.

In October of 1995, I was two years out of college. I was working at a collection agency, as the world's worst bill collector, and living with a girl that didn't like me much. She was my college sweetheart, and after a little time had passed, boy did that shit go south. I was miserable. I didn't know it then, but in less than a year I’d get my first job at a radio station, start dating a girl I went to high school with and be roommates with a drug dealer. Things were gonna get better, but in the meantime I had (What’s The Story) Morning Glory!

I used to just get lost in this album. I didn't care about Oasis vs. Blur. I didn't care about Liam Gallagher being a twat. I didn't care that my mother loved “Wonderwall.” I didn't care that the girl that didn't like me much was jealous of this album. “You’re listening to that again?! Give it a rest!” Jealous, I say! I only cared about one thing... Noel Gallagher is a mother fucking pimp! Thank you Noel! Someday, my big fat face is gonna be in a picture with you and it’ll be my most prized possession. Next to my Beastie Boys, Dave Grohl, and AC/DC pictures!

(What’s The Story) Morning Glory? is like ordering a porterhouse steak for two and eating it alone. On the tenderloin side of the bone there’s the rich and buttery “Wonderwall,” “Don’t Look Back In Anger,” “Cast No Shadow,” and “Champagne Supernova.” They melt! They just fucking melt. Then over on the strip steak side of the bone there’s the bold and meaty “Morning Glory,” “Roll With It,” “Hello,” “Some Might Say,” and “Hey Now.”

Initially, I didn't like “She’s Electric.” I used to skip passed it while listening to the album. Something in me had deemed it too goofy. Then one night I was drinking at Star Bar, a pretty cool long gone bar in Buffalo, NY. Terry Sullivan, from Terry And The Headhunters, was spinning that night and he played it. I was super drunk and loved it so much I meandered over to the DJ booth and asked Terry where he found this Oasis song. “It’s from Morning Glory,” he said in a “you’re a dumbass” kind of tone. Touché Mr. Sullivan. Touché. 

Sometimes I wish everyone in Wilco would just choke on their lead singer’s shaggy unkempt hair and go away. They are one of those band’s that could put out an entire album of toilets flushing and Pitchfuck would call it “brave,” and 100,000 hipsters would cram into the Roseland ballroom to see them play it.

Having said that, I love this record!

Maybe it doesn't have to be a double album, disc 2 gets a little long in the teeth, but God damn, isn't disc 1 just beautiful! It really does fit the Alt Country moniker, cause it’s just not quite either alone. I used to mainly stick to the first half, but when I got my first MP3 player in 2000, it became easier to listen to all of this album. I love a lot of Wilco’s music, in fact, but I never really thought they topped this album in terms of wholeness and universality. “Forget The Flowers,” sounds like pure Americana to me and that is a lot of this album’s appeal.

I absolutely adore Wilco’s work with Billy Bragg on the Mermaid Avenue albums. You know, maybe I’m being too hard on them here. I’ll go back and listen to all their shit this year and get back to you.

It’s definitely not Wilco’s fault that I want to see them get asphyxiated on greasy hair, it’s their fans. Did you ever talk to a Wilco super fan? Oh, brother. If you ever meet one and they start talking about Wilco, keep track of how long it takes them to bring up Uncle Tupelo. It should take about thirty seconds.

When I was working for my college radio station, one of the music directors was one of those Indie-Or-Die kind of douches. Zero personality and an undying love of crap. After Uncle Tupelo broke up, he went home, put on one of their records, blew out the pilot light on his stove and stuck his head in the oven. Two days later, apparently nobody missed him, the lady that lived downstairs turned on her stove and blew up half a city block. Seven people were killed. Fucking tragic. If he had only hung on he would have lived to love Wilco and his thirst for Alt Country gems would have been satiated for years to come. 

It’s really that kind of blind devotion that people have, not just for Wilco, but for any artist that makes me skeptical of their true motives. Now maybe it's not always some guy sticking his head in the oven because a band broke up, but there're other varying degrees of super fanboy bologna that I don't understand. Do you really love some band or artist soooooo much, that if they release an undeniable turd, you're going to pretend to like it? Why? What's the endgame of that?

I was never a Nick Cave fan. I’m still not.

I know that’s a cop out, but I’m just not familiar with his body of work. I can honestly say I only know one Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds’ songs.

Back in 1996 when Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds put out Murder Ballads, my friend Mike Parrish, played their take of “Stagger Lee” on the jukebox at a very hip dive bar we used to frequent. The song was winding through its story when Nick sings, “I’ll crawl over fifty good pussies to get to one good fat boy’s asshole.” The uproar from pretty much everyone in the bar was so swift and passionate; the bartender skipped the song with a secret button behind the bar, gave Mike a dollar and told him to stay away from the jukebox.

You should watch the video for that song right now! It makes Billy Squire’s video for “Rock Me Tonight” seem like it was choreographed by Paula Abdul. Even if this is a joke, it does not land. 

Oh and I listened to Push The Sky Away... It's just not for me. 

3.23.13

(Editor’s Note – In an effort to get caught up, the next few posts, 3/21-3/25 are gonna be like my underpants… brief! Between my MP3 player deleting 140 gigs of music, thank you ghost of Steve “Hand” Jobs, being five days behind in write-ups, and still having to make a playlist for April, the next 15 records I listen to will be lucky to get a line written about them.)

On March 23rd I listened to Ween Pure Guava, Primus Pork Soda, and Dutch Uncles Out Of Touch, In The Wild.

I was a few songs into Pure Guava when I started wondering why I wasn't enjoying it as much as I used to. I chalked it up to not being a 20-year-old puke anymore and/or not being high... enough. The brilliant novelty of Ween will never wear off, but sometimes I'm just not in the mood.

Did you ever try listening to this album with a person that has no idea who Ween is?

“Who is this?”

“It’s Ween.”

“Is he saying ‘Hey fatboy, asshole. Come here, you killed my mother?’”

“Yeah, classic Ween. Do you wanna hear ‘Touch My Tooter?’”

“No.”

“’Poop Ship Destroyer?’”

“No thanks.”

“It’s actually one of my favorites, on their live album, Paintin’ The Town Brown, they do a twenty-six minute version of it.”

“What a treat.”

“I know, right? Wanna hear the hit?”

“Sure.”

“This is called ‘Push Th’ Little Daisies.’”

“This is a hit?”

“Yep.”

I didn't realize it until just now, but now I understand why my mother thinks I’m an asshole.

Really quick… I feel like Tenacious D stole their entire schtick from “Don’t Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy).”

“My Name Is Mud,” is my favorite Primus song! Pork Soda is still my favorite Primus album. “Welcome To This World,” “Bob,” “Mr. Krinkle,” and “The Air Is Getting Slippery” are just some of my faves!

Me and my asshole friends used to listen to this album so much. When Roundboy was the bartender at the Essex Street Pub, we threw Pork Soda on all the time. 

I wish albums were more like old movies and you could come across them more without trying. It’s like if you have 50 fucking HBOs, Showtimes, Cinemaxes, Starses, Encores, and whatever.  Every other day a movie you used to love comes on and reminds you how much you liked it. Albums just sit around and you gotta pull them out yourself. It’s like, I didn't know I wanted to watch the Dirty Harry movie “The Enforcer” the other night, until I was halfway through it. Spoiler Alert! Tyne Daly gets shot in the boobs and dies! I wish I was just flipping around the TV and “Oh cool! Pork Soda is coming on in ten minutes!” I dunno, maybe?

I’m gonna do some name dropping here, so watch your toes.

I was hanging out with the band The Joy Formidable in 2011 and Ritzy Bryan told me to listen to a band called Dutch Uncles. I promptly did not listen to them and now years later, here we are. So, to anyone that has recommended a band to me and I didn't listen to them... I don't even listen to shit hot chicks in bands I love tell me to listen to. 

Well anyway, they suck. 

I think I’m being too hard on the new albums I listen to this year, because I’m usually hearing them after listening to a cherished classic. How do you follow Pure Guava and Pork Soda? You certainly don’t do it with wussy little songs that clunk along with feminine sounding vocals, no hooks and a generally perky annoying tempo. This record made me think Hot Chip was good.

Ritzy And I Have The Same Color Eyes! Coincidence?

Tomorrow I listen to The Cranberries, Liz Phair and Bruno Mars!

Here's the March Playlist!

3.18.13

On March 18th I listened to The Verve A Northern Soul, The Verve Urban Hymns and Richard Ashcroft United Nations Of Sound. Today cast no shadow.

I was driving through Rochester in 1995 the first time I heard “On Your Own,” from A Northern Soul and I nearly shit my pants. WBER – The Only Station That Matters was playing it and the second I got home I went out and bought the album. 

One of the most touching songs ever written about the finality of life. “Life seems so obscene until it’s over… who knows?” I love how Ashcroft punches that line with “who knows?”

“On Your Own” is very special song to me, and I've always had a positive spin on it. No matter what we lose in our lives doesn't matter. It will be gone when we go anyway. So, there’s always time to fill the hole. There’s always time to feel wanted and to love someone, something or someplace… before you check out alone. I could be 100% wrong, but that’s what I want to hear when I listen to “On Your Own.”  

A Northern Soul was never a full album for me. Back in the day, I would listen to “A New Decade,” “This Is Music,” “On Your Own,” “So It Goes,” and “History.” I always felt like the rest of it didn't go anywhere, I still kind of agreed with that on this listen. I always loved how "So It Goes" was a companion to "On Your Own." 

I had the immense pleasure of meeting Richard Ashcroft two years ago when he came by my radio station for an interview and a performance. I got to engineer the performance! Setting up a mic and soundchecking with Richard Ashcroft was probably one of the most memorable moments in my radio career. It’s the little things, right?

During the interview he told a couple stories about two songs on Urban Hymns that I had never heard.

This story was off the air, for just a handful of people in the room. When the band was writing and recording demos for Urban Hymns, a producer or an A&R guy, Ashcroft wouldn't name him, told the band flat out that they should NOT record “Lucky Man.” When they asked why, he replied with, “Because it sounds like an old fuckin' English folk song!” Ashcroft’s response was “Well, who doesn't want to write and old English folk song? We’re doing it!” Can you imagine if they didn't record it? It’s the best song on the album! It’s one of the best songs he ever wrote! That kind of stuff makes you wonder how many other truly great songs were never recorded because of dipshits that work in the music industry.

After he played a couple of songs from United Nations Of Sound, he was about to pull his guitar off when I asked, "Would you mind playing 'Lucky Man?'" "You know I wrote that song," he replied. "Yes," I said. "And I've listened to it a million times." Sitting four feet in front of him as he sang it was chilling! Please take a listen!

"Lucky Man (Acoustic)"

This story he told on the air and it’s so simple and obvious I was shaking my head wondering why I didn't know this. I had always thought that “The Drugs Don’t Work” was a junkie love story. A couple of dope addicts, the chick dies, the guy can’t get high enough anymore, he’s hoping to die soon. I could not have been more wrong.

“The Drugs Don’t Work,” is about a loved one who is dying of cancer and the chemo and the meds just aren't doing anything. If you listen to it in that light, it’s truly one of the saddest songs you’ll ever hear. 

When I hear it now, I see the face of my Uncle Patrick M. Breslin the last day he was alive. Cancer in his throat had ravaged his body and there was basically nothing left of him. He was moving his head and looking at me, a slight look of anguish on his face, he wanted to say something, I know he did, but words were failing to come from his mouth. I whispered that I will see him again in his ear and that was it. He passed the next morning April 14, 2003. 

I don’t just get choked up when I hear this song. It fills me with uncontrollable emotion. There isn't another song in the world that can do that.

Yeah yeah, I get a little teary eyed during the "Star Spangled Banner," but that’s different.

This album was officially released under the moniker RPA & The United Nations of Sound, but according to the label that put it out here in the States, Americans are Bozos and wouldn't understand that name. I guess they're kind of right. 

Two years ago I was all over this album. I loved it and then it just kind of slipped off my radar. It’s almost as if it’s disposable Ashcroft! What? Blasphemy, I know. I'm sorry.

First four tracks hold up, “Are You Ready?” “Born Again,” “America,” and “This Thing Called Life,” but then Ashcroft really tests the patience of his loyal followers with “Beatitudes.” Really? “Beatitudes” sounds like the name of an LMFAO b-side. “Good Lovin’ is corny. “How Deep Is Your Man?” is generic blues. And the rest!

I love the guy and he’s put out some questionable stuff here and there, but he’ll be back with more brilliance. In fact, he’s in the studio right now working on another solo album! I hope we get to hear this year!

Tomorrow is R.E.M. day!

Check out the rest of my March Playlist!

3.17.13 St. Patrick's Day!

I celebrated St. Patrick’s Day by listening to everybody’s favorite Irish bands! Thin Lizzy, U2 and The Dropkick Murphys!

Nothing says “Erin go bragh” like firing up Thin Lizzy’s Jailbreak!

I’m embarrassed to admit this is another classic album I only know two songs from. “Jailbreak” and “The Boys Are Back In Town” are it! I’m a dunce.

I mentioned early on during this Year Of Music blog that in the late 80’s and early 90’s I was hitting a breaking point with Classic Rock. It was just getting played out and I needed to give it a break. 

There was an early 90's beer commercial that used “The Boys Are Back In Town,” and it felt like it was on every hour for a year! That commercial made that song so God damn unhip in my eyes. I wanted nothing to do with it. Four or five years ago “The Boys Are Back In Town” snuck onto my MP3 player and has been a playlist staple for me since. Truly a great song, if you don’t listen to it for fifteen years or so.

Shame on Classic Rock radio for not going deeper on this album. I only knew “Jailbreak,” and “The Boys…” because that’s all I heard on the radio! “Running Back,” “Romeo And The Lonely Girl,” “Emerald,” and “The Cowboy Song,” all would have sounded great between the same Led Zeppelin and Van Halen songs you heard every day on the radio.  Even though I thought “The Cowboy Song” sounded kind of weird coming from Thin Lizzy, I still love it!

I wanted to hate Achtung Baby months before I heard it. U2 had been becoming too much for me. Little did I know what monsters they’d really become, building giant lemons, filling stadiums and trying to save the world with their influence. Typical Irishmen! 

It wasn't an overnight thing that had me turning on a band I was a fan of, but there was a prolonged period and a combination of things working my favor against U2. In the four years since The Joshua Tree came out, it got overplayed and crusty and I went from 16 to 20-years-old. I was full throttle in my Indie Rock douche phase and I wasn't about to be just another cog in the machine for the biggest band in the world, I had other mountains to climb! I absolutely hated Rattle & Hum and anytime I heard "When Love Comes To Town," I got agitated. I love B.B. King! I just couldn't take that fucking song! So, for all those reasons, I wanted this album to bomb and I wanted U2 to go away!

And then the record came out and it's just fucking gorgeous. 

Achtung Baby is a nearly flawless collection of Rock songs about God, misanthropes, brotherhood, and lost love. God damn you U2 for still speaking to me on such levels! I would find myself in my dorm room listening to this record constantly and publicly dismissing it as “too commercial.” I was such a little tool.

I cherished this listen. “Who’s Gonna Run Your Wild Horses,” “Tryin’ To Throw Your Arms Around The World,” “So Cruel,” and “One” have been missing from my life for too long!

I like the fact that The Dropkick Murphys are still out there kicking around. I have always been a fan of “The Gauntlet” from their 2001 album Sing Loud, Sing Proud! That song always gets my adrenaline pumping!

I love that this one opens with the Thin Lizzy inspired “The Boys Are Back,” I’m assuming. It’s gotta be a nod to Thin Lizzy, right?

Last November a friend of mine at their record label played me “The Season’s Upon Us,” and I instantly thought, “Holy shit! They wrote their own ‘Fairytale Of New York.’” I loved it, but I feel like I didn't hear it enough over the holidays. It’s a little more crass than The Pogues ode to shitty Christmas, but I hope it grows as a holiday standard as the years go by.

I wanna spend more time with “Jimmy Collin’s Wake,” “Out Of Our Heads,” and “End Of The Night.”

Whiskey!

Here’s a video of Dropkicks' singer whomping some Nazi on stage.

Tomorrow is all about The Verve and Richard Ashcroft!

Here's March's Playlist!

3.16.13

On March 16th I listened to Live Mental Jewelry, Hole Live Through This, and …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead Lost Songs.

You know when you discover a "new" band that you really like and then you go to tell a friend of yours about them and he replies with, “ I've been listening to them for years, you should get their first record cause the new one blows!” I loved being that guy. Now, I mostly hate that guy, but I understand him.

Sometime in the spring of 1992, Live came by my college radio station to do an interview and the label rep was taking our Music Director out to lunch. Labels used to spend money on college kids playing their music on 100 watt mono FM stations back then! Now they don’t pay for toilet paper in their own offices. “Don’t forget, this Friday is bring a roll from home day!”

Anyway, I bonded with the guys from Live in the hallway for a few minutes. I liked that we were all the same age and I really liked that they gave me a free copy of Mental Jewelry. I knew it, cause I was playing “Pain Lies On The Riverside,” and “Operation Spirit” on my show, but I hadn't spent any time with the other tracks. 

I really understood where the songs on Mental Jewelry were coming from. The band was born into the same kind of angst I was. Growing up in a white middle class blue collar town believing you had an understanding of the world and how things worked. Granted, that’s a thousand bands, but I met these guys and we shot the shit about shared beliefs. That meant a lot to me. It made it more tangible.

Mental Jewelry is a solid debut that explores a lot of the topics the band’s later works would, just not in a shitball corny way like “The Dolphin’s Cry.”

“The Beauty Of Gray” is probably the best Live song that you've never heard, or haven’t in years. “Tired Of Me,” “Water Song,” “Mirror Song,” and “Brothers Unaware,” are all some of my favorites. I never really noticed or thought that Ed Kowalczyk was trying to channel Aaron Neville, but I really heard it during this listen, especially during "Mirror Song." 

For two years Live was mine, I didn't have to share them with anybody, then Throwing Copper came out. 

I had a couple different groups of friends in my young adult life. There were my college radio friends, my high school friends, and then random pockets of people that I was thrown together with for whatever reason… part time job, friends with the girl I was banging, people hanging around the house I bought pot… whatever. It was with all those groups of friends, minus the college radio crowd, that I lorded a smug “pffffft!” over when they tried to bring “this band Live” to my attention. “Yeah,” I would say. “I hung out with them. You should get their debut, Mental Jewelry, it came out two years ago.” I would actually say “debut.” Just to be extra douchey.

I did love Throwing Copper upon its release, but… well you know. Live was probably the most overplayed band in 1994,1995 and 1996. It wasn't their fault, but man did I get sick of them. I’ll definitely put Throwing Copper on April’s playlist, cause outside the singles I can’t remember when I heard anything else from that album. Coincidentally, it was released on April 26, 1994, two weeks after Hole’s Live Through This.

I used to love when Courtney Love was batshit crazy, but still kinda had her shit together. Although, I’m not going to fault her for her current mental state and who would?

Live Through This hit stores just four days after Kurt Cobain’s body was found and two months before Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff overdosed. Born and raised in Buffalo, NY, Pfaff, is buried in Forest Lawn Cemetery. It’s a stone’s throw away from a little lake in Delaware Park that is my favorite place in the world to chill out. Pfaff and Cobain both passed at 27 years of age.

Putting the tragedies aside, this album is a triumph.

The first thing I heard from this disc was “Miss World” from watching 120 Minutes on MTV and it was definitely an attention grabber.

Rough, loud, soft and sincere Live Through This basks and then roasts in its honesty, and then kicks men in the collective balls for good measure. 23-year-old me and my 20-year-old Phish loving girlfriend finally had something we could both listen to in the car! Although, sometimes when she was singing along, I felt like I became the object of some unnecessary scornful glances. Fucking broads. Am I right? A year later Phish-lover tried to run me over with her car after a Bob Mould show. I blame Courtney Love.

This is a perfect album. High praise from a douche like me, but there isn't a bad song on this disc. I don’t give a shit who wrote it, cause it’s all good!

As I moved into the digital age and my MP3 player ruined everything, by making the mixed tape obsolete and the playlist king. Do I sound like a 100-year-old man every time I talk about mix tapes. Back in the day, if you were going to craft a good mixed tape in real time, you had to think about what you were committing to tape! Nowadays you can cook up a 100 track playlist in minutes. Regardless, in the playlist era all I ever wanted to listen to from Live Through This was "Gutless." Stupid, right? 

Here are five songs I should have been listening too; “Plump,” “Jenifer’s Body,” “Softer, Softest,” “She Walks On Me,” and “I Think That I Would Die.” And that’s not counting the three big singles from this disc “Miss World,” “Violet,” and “Doll Parts.”

Everyone's the same."

It seems like the further we get from the release of Source Tags & Codes, the further ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead are getting from that sound. 

Masterfully crafted arrangements and songs that took us on journeys down deserted highways, stopping to see stoners and lovers along the way have been replaced by bombastic arrangements and songs that still stop at the old haunts but just not as gracefully. (I believe that is the longest sentence I ever wrote!)

Did the guy that wrote all that old stuff leave the band or something? I can't remember their history and am way too lazy to look it up. 

I like this album, but I don't see myself giving it the time to fully appreciate it as a body of work. I really like "Open Doors," "Pinhole Camera," and the quietly beautiful "Time And Again." I'll probably just stick to those on my God forsaken playlists. 

I think it's kind of weird that as these guys got older, they got louder. Chill out already!

...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Empty Potato Chip Bags

Tomorrow I will listen to a bunch of drunken Micks to honor the snake charmer St. Patrick!

Here's the March Playlist!

3.14.13

On March 14th I listened to The Lemonheads It’s A Shame About Ray, Spiritualized Lazer Guided Melodies, and The Cribs Payola. I will try and be brief. 

I believe everyone is capable of a moment of pure brilliance. This is Evan Dando’s shining moment in the sun and it pisses me off that all most people heard from this album was the cover of “Mrs. Robinson.” And it was basically a lousy bonus track!

I went to see Dando play this album in its entirety last year, but I missed the first three songs because I was drinking a beer across the street! I was pissed about that, but it was a really big mug of Hofbräuhaus and I wasn't gonna chug it!

Every song on It's A Shame About Ray is short, sweet and perfect. It's a Pop Rock masterpiece and songs don't waste a second getting to their point. If you got nothing to do for half an hour listen to this record! Skip an episode of Seinfeld you've seen 800 time and listen to this instead!

Wanna hear a lame story? 

One time in the late 90's I was trying to score pot with a lady friend of mine and it was proving to be futile. This was that era, at least in Buffalo, NY, where Mexican brick weed ruled the roost but you could get the real tasty shit if you worked for it. Sure, we could have cruised down to the Pot Nazi's for a bag of sticks and seeds, but we wanted to put in the effort. (He was dubbed the Pot Nazi because he literally was a Nazi. There was a swastika painted on his living room wall. And I bought weed from this guy! What does that say about me?) 

Regardless of that moral dilemma, my lady friend and I made several phone calls to no avail. But, then I remembered some guy I used to work who was always bragging about having the good stuff. On a hunch, we headed over to his favorite watering hole. As luck would have it he was there and he was holding! Sadly, he wanted a hundo for an eighth! I politely told him to fuck off and we got outta the place. We followed several other dead ends with no score in sight.

Thirty minutes later I was pulling stems and seeds out of a bag of Nazi pot, backing a bowl and assuring myself that all drug dealers are bad no matter what their socio or political beliefs may be. As we pulled into my driveway "My Drug Buddy" came on the mix tape in my cassette player. My lady friend and I laughed and laughed about the parallels of the song's lyrics and the evening we just shared. When the laughter subsided I felt an alignment in the stars and thought now was the time to make a move. I swooped in for a kiss and her head nearly broke the passenger side window trying to get away from my puckered lips. "I think I'm gonna get going," she said as she rubbed her head and skedaddled. Good times.

I have a weird relationship with Spiritualized. I've seen them at least twice, I don’t really “own” any of their albums, and every once in a while I’ll hear something from J. Spaceman and company and say, “oh this is Spiritualized? I gotta listen to this.” I do and then they’re gone from my life for a while.

I’m way too stupid to accurately write up a record like this, so here’s what a professional writer from Melody Maker with nothing to do except to be more creative than what he’s listening to had to say, “Spiritualized's music quivers with Apollonian attributes - airiness, fleetness, radiance, serenity... exhilaration of cutting loose, of goalless propulsion.” I was just gonna say that I think it's neato!

I’m not exactly sure what Apollonian attributes are, but Lazer Guided Melodies definitely has ‘em.

The album loses me in the second half though. I guess it’s where the “goalless propulsion” kicks in and I drop out. Love you, Spaceman!

I didn't really know this was a “Best Of” from The Cribs. But I only know one of their songs, so what better way to get to know the “hits!”

What had happened was this... I got their debut in 2004, really liked “You Were Always The One,” and not much else, but thought, “I’ll keep an out for these guys.” 

They put out four records since the debut, and I never really heard from them again. Bad looking, I guess. Although I thought “Man’s Needs” sounds familiar. I definitely heard that before,  but I don't think I knew it was The Cribs, or I had forgot I was supposed to be on the lookout for their music. I dunno, maybe?

I listened to this whole thing. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. It was a toe tapping good time. I dubbed it Brit Doofus Rock and now I’m going to move on with my life. I’ll keep an eye out for these guys in the future.

They do a cover of “Bastards Of Young,” and if you’re a friend of The Replacements, you’re a friend of mine! 

Tomorrow I will listen to World Party Goodbye Jumbo, The Afghan Whigs Gentlemen, and Foals Holy Fire. 

Here's the entire March Playlist!