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Oh man, this is another bad one. Alex Chilton dies at age 59.
There's almost no music in the world that I love more than the first 2 Big Star albums. You almost couldn't dream of a better fusion of the Beatles and the Stones. And even though Alex Chilton hadn't written a particularly great song in about 30 years, it still feels like he died way too young.
I saw Chilton on stage once. He was opening for the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at Roseland back when I was in high school. (Talk about a headliner unworthy of its opening act.) The audience was largely ignorant of Chilton's music and talked through much of it. And as a solo performer, he wasn't particularly compelling on stage. But it was still pretty cool to be in the presence of a giant. (At least by my estimation, he was one.)
To quote Paul Westerberg: "I never travel very far/ Without a little Big Star."
Showing posts with label The Replacements. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Replacements. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Eric's Odds n Ends
Odds and Ends:
As I indicated in my halfhearted top ten list, I was much more into older music this year. That’s always the case, but was especially so when my collection grew so much. Eg, I went from having four Prince albums to having every single one from his debut up through Emancipation, rarely for more than $3 a disc.
Best Reissues:
Great year for reissues and there a bunch I still haven’t even gotten.
1) Replacements Reissues: Because I already had their midperiod peak albums, the real revelation was their early stuff. I had always figured it was just tuneless hardcore, but their debut, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, is fantastic. Young and snotty, sure, but it’s full of great shambling rock songs with insane energy, crazy solos (Bob Stinson really shines) and great melodies. The Uncle Tupelo connection is strong on this one.
2) Nick Lowe – Jesus of Cool.
I heard this record when I was a freshman in college but stupidly didn’t burn it then and spent the next few years searching in vain for a used copy (it was out of print in the US). They finally gave it the lavish reissue treatment this year. Nick Lowe was the in-house producer at Stiff, the British DIY punk label, and he produced the first several Elvis Costello albums. His debut album bears some resemblance to EC’s stuff (Nick Lowe also wrote “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace Love and Understanding”), but it’s really a kaleidoscopic exploration of all the pop styles from that time, from Bowie to McCartney to the Jackson 5 and the Bay City Rollers (sometimes switching within the same song). That means it comes off as a little bit derivative, but that’s the whole point, and his lyrics are biting and clever (“Marie Provost” is the story of an actress who died alone in her apartment and contains the line, “She was a winner, but became a doggie’s dinner”). Highly recommended.
3) Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue.
A “lost Beach Boys classic,” this reissue could not have been done better. This album, easily superior to anything the rest of the band was releasing at the time (not saying much), it is also up there with anything the band released in the 70s (which is definitely saying something). It vacillates between orchestral grandeur and stomping boogie-funk (but it’s better than that sounds). You want uncompressed dynamics? This thing goes from heartbreaking, barely audible whisper to an orchestra fueled roar in a heartbeat. His voice is totally wrecked but that very much adds to the sort of world-weary, wasted feel of the thing. This had been out of print completely for decades (it was on CD for about five minutes in the 80s). The remastering is spectacular and really captures the aforementioned dynamics. And it’s loaded with bonus tracks, including a second disc with the work-in-progress follow up, Bambu, which just as strong as the Pacific Ocean Blue stuff.
This one is "River Song":
Artist I Couldn’t Stop Listening to This Year:
The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince
This merits a separate post or few, but basically starting when I downloaded the Dream Factory stuff that I posted about at the beginning of the year I went through several periods lasting weeks, if not months, at a time, when I listened to nothing but Prince. The most pleasant surprises were the really strong stuff right after his peak (which was Sign O the Times), especially Lovesexy, but also the Batman Soundtrack and the Prince songs on Graffiti Bridge (which has tracks by other artists too), and his first two albums which are usually written off by critics but are really just as good as Dirty Mind, his breakthrough.
Biggest Revelation:
Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
I don’t write much on hip hop publicly because though I respect plenty of hip hop, I have absolutely no authority on the subject, and I don’t tend to listen to it much—I don’t really listen to music for lyrics and I tend to value harmony and melody over rhythm. But the beauty of stoop sales is that I can pick up stuff that I ought to check out but might not spend money on. I got this for like thirty cents and it blew me away—really one of the first hip hop albums I truly got into. The production was the key—the sampling is so creative. The best example is the chorus to “Welcome to the Terrordome,” which has about eight near-unrecognizable samples that somehow combine to make a series of hooks. It also helped that I was listening to this at the peak of primary season during the Jeremiah Wright controversy, so the lyrics were actually particularly resonant.
Best Group I Discovered Through This Blog:
E.L.O.
Dr. K randomly posted that track from Out of the Blue way back and that motivated me to get their four peak-era albums, all of which are wonderful.
Paul Simon Album You Should Listen to Instead of Vampire Weekend:
No, not Graceland—Hearts & Bones, the album right before. Falling chronologically in between his sort of lame soft-jazz in the late 70s and his Graceland resurgence, it has an almost new wave sound (but in a good way), with a lot of the clean guitar lines that he took to the next level with the African musicians on Graceland. And the songs are beautiful-- check "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War" and the title track.
Album That Was Much Better Than I Would Have Expected, or, at the least, Much Better Than My Brother Said It Was, Even if I Don’t Listen to It Much Because At the End of The Day, I’m Just Not Into 90s-Sounding Hard Rock, Well-Produced or Not:
Buckcherry – Black Butterfly
See, the thing is, Stephen King might like it, but—
Nah, just kidding, it’s GUNS N’ FUCKING ROSES!
As I indicated in my halfhearted top ten list, I was much more into older music this year. That’s always the case, but was especially so when my collection grew so much. Eg, I went from having four Prince albums to having every single one from his debut up through Emancipation, rarely for more than $3 a disc.
Best Reissues:
Great year for reissues and there a bunch I still haven’t even gotten.
1) Replacements Reissues: Because I already had their midperiod peak albums, the real revelation was their early stuff. I had always figured it was just tuneless hardcore, but their debut, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, is fantastic. Young and snotty, sure, but it’s full of great shambling rock songs with insane energy, crazy solos (Bob Stinson really shines) and great melodies. The Uncle Tupelo connection is strong on this one.
2) Nick Lowe – Jesus of Cool.
I heard this record when I was a freshman in college but stupidly didn’t burn it then and spent the next few years searching in vain for a used copy (it was out of print in the US). They finally gave it the lavish reissue treatment this year. Nick Lowe was the in-house producer at Stiff, the British DIY punk label, and he produced the first several Elvis Costello albums. His debut album bears some resemblance to EC’s stuff (Nick Lowe also wrote “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace Love and Understanding”), but it’s really a kaleidoscopic exploration of all the pop styles from that time, from Bowie to McCartney to the Jackson 5 and the Bay City Rollers (sometimes switching within the same song). That means it comes off as a little bit derivative, but that’s the whole point, and his lyrics are biting and clever (“Marie Provost” is the story of an actress who died alone in her apartment and contains the line, “She was a winner, but became a doggie’s dinner”). Highly recommended.
3) Dennis Wilson – Pacific Ocean Blue.
A “lost Beach Boys classic,” this reissue could not have been done better. This album, easily superior to anything the rest of the band was releasing at the time (not saying much), it is also up there with anything the band released in the 70s (which is definitely saying something). It vacillates between orchestral grandeur and stomping boogie-funk (but it’s better than that sounds). You want uncompressed dynamics? This thing goes from heartbreaking, barely audible whisper to an orchestra fueled roar in a heartbeat. His voice is totally wrecked but that very much adds to the sort of world-weary, wasted feel of the thing. This had been out of print completely for decades (it was on CD for about five minutes in the 80s). The remastering is spectacular and really captures the aforementioned dynamics. And it’s loaded with bonus tracks, including a second disc with the work-in-progress follow up, Bambu, which just as strong as the Pacific Ocean Blue stuff.
This one is "River Song":
Artist I Couldn’t Stop Listening to This Year:
The Artist Formerly Known As The Artist Formerly Known As Prince
This merits a separate post or few, but basically starting when I downloaded the Dream Factory stuff that I posted about at the beginning of the year I went through several periods lasting weeks, if not months, at a time, when I listened to nothing but Prince. The most pleasant surprises were the really strong stuff right after his peak (which was Sign O the Times), especially Lovesexy, but also the Batman Soundtrack and the Prince songs on Graffiti Bridge (which has tracks by other artists too), and his first two albums which are usually written off by critics but are really just as good as Dirty Mind, his breakthrough.
Biggest Revelation:
Public Enemy – Fear of a Black Planet
I don’t write much on hip hop publicly because though I respect plenty of hip hop, I have absolutely no authority on the subject, and I don’t tend to listen to it much—I don’t really listen to music for lyrics and I tend to value harmony and melody over rhythm. But the beauty of stoop sales is that I can pick up stuff that I ought to check out but might not spend money on. I got this for like thirty cents and it blew me away—really one of the first hip hop albums I truly got into. The production was the key—the sampling is so creative. The best example is the chorus to “Welcome to the Terrordome,” which has about eight near-unrecognizable samples that somehow combine to make a series of hooks. It also helped that I was listening to this at the peak of primary season during the Jeremiah Wright controversy, so the lyrics were actually particularly resonant.
Best Group I Discovered Through This Blog:
E.L.O.
Dr. K randomly posted that track from Out of the Blue way back and that motivated me to get their four peak-era albums, all of which are wonderful.
Paul Simon Album You Should Listen to Instead of Vampire Weekend:
No, not Graceland—Hearts & Bones, the album right before. Falling chronologically in between his sort of lame soft-jazz in the late 70s and his Graceland resurgence, it has an almost new wave sound (but in a good way), with a lot of the clean guitar lines that he took to the next level with the African musicians on Graceland. And the songs are beautiful-- check "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War" and the title track.
Album That Was Much Better Than I Would Have Expected, or, at the least, Much Better Than My Brother Said It Was, Even if I Don’t Listen to It Much Because At the End of The Day, I’m Just Not Into 90s-Sounding Hard Rock, Well-Produced or Not:
Buckcherry – Black Butterfly
See, the thing is, Stephen King might like it, but—
Nah, just kidding, it’s GUNS N’ FUCKING ROSES!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Paul Westerberg's 49:00
This is now unavailable so get it while it's hot. Totally great. Best thing Westerberg's done in years. And it's like a cassette! Meaning: it's a whole album on just one mp3 so you can't skip tracks. AND it has the feel of a demo tape that's been recorded over several times, so there are a lot of snippets of songs. The overall effect is perfect.
49:00
49:00
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
More Replacements
I am a big Replacements fan myself. My favorite record of theirs is Pleased To Meet Me and my favorite track on that is "Alex Chilton," which is doubly great since it concerns the impossibly awesome Big Star. The band had gotten somewhat more "mainstream" by the time they released this-- less screaming and bigger hooks-- but given that this came out in 1987, it sounds raw as all hell. Distinct memories of listening to this one in a rental car in Cape Town with Eric and two other friends.
I also can report that Paul Westerberg's solo career got off to a very promising start before derailing a third of the way into his second album. But his first one, 14 Songs is real solid and it served as my soundtrack to many a solitary walk through the deserted streets of west Evanston at dusk. The first song, "Knockin' On Mine," is a great, rowdy hit-the-road type of anthem. I still remember him playing it on Saturday Night Live in 1993 on his first solo tour. (This post is quickly turning into my personal nostalgia tour. Well that's kind of the Replacements for you.)
And then as far as blatant Replacements followers go, my personal favorite is Buffalo Tom. Much like the 'Mats, they've been cruelly denied the big-time success they rightfully deserve, but their fan base is very loyal. (Especially in Boston, where they're from.) Their new album, Three Easy Pieces, was way up on my Top 10 list from last year, but this track, "Mineral," is from Let Me Come Over, which almost everyone agrees is their apogee and perfect for those who appreciate the more tuneful side of the Replacements.
Finally, two pieces of 'Mats trivia for those who care. (Sure you could look the answers up online, but you could also switch around chess pieces while your opponent is in the bathroom.)
1. (easy one) The Replacements' bassist, Tommy Stinson, is now a member of what band? If you don't know this, you like Hannah Montana.
2. (harder) What New York (state) band was loudly trumpeted as the next Replacements, embraced by members of the band, and even released a single that was co-written with Paul Westerberg-- only to go on to an utterly unimpressive career devoted to selling out at all costs?
I'll post the answers in the comment section tomorrow. I think these are pretty easy-- if you cheat they're really easy-- especially the first one.
I also can report that Paul Westerberg's solo career got off to a very promising start before derailing a third of the way into his second album. But his first one, 14 Songs is real solid and it served as my soundtrack to many a solitary walk through the deserted streets of west Evanston at dusk. The first song, "Knockin' On Mine," is a great, rowdy hit-the-road type of anthem. I still remember him playing it on Saturday Night Live in 1993 on his first solo tour. (This post is quickly turning into my personal nostalgia tour. Well that's kind of the Replacements for you.)
And then as far as blatant Replacements followers go, my personal favorite is Buffalo Tom. Much like the 'Mats, they've been cruelly denied the big-time success they rightfully deserve, but their fan base is very loyal. (Especially in Boston, where they're from.) Their new album, Three Easy Pieces, was way up on my Top 10 list from last year, but this track, "Mineral," is from Let Me Come Over, which almost everyone agrees is their apogee and perfect for those who appreciate the more tuneful side of the Replacements.
Finally, two pieces of 'Mats trivia for those who care. (Sure you could look the answers up online, but you could also switch around chess pieces while your opponent is in the bathroom.)
1. (easy one) The Replacements' bassist, Tommy Stinson, is now a member of what band? If you don't know this, you like Hannah Montana.
2. (harder) What New York (state) band was loudly trumpeted as the next Replacements, embraced by members of the band, and even released a single that was co-written with Paul Westerberg-- only to go on to an utterly unimpressive career devoted to selling out at all costs?
I'll post the answers in the comment section tomorrow. I think these are pretty easy-- if you cheat they're really easy-- especially the first one.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Tweedy and The Replacements
I've been on a Replacements kick the past week or so. They're a band that I've been aware of for a long time, of course, but I never bought any of their music, and can't say I'm all that familiar with their catalogue. Then with the recent reissue of a few of their earliest albums, I decided to give them a shot, and I've really been enjoying Let it Be. (Are they trying to say something by naming it after a Beatles album? I'm not sure what the story is with that.)
This may not sound intuitive at first, but the band they remind me of most on this album is Still Feel Gone era Uncle Tupelo. Some of the themes are similar, and you can even just barely detect a dash of country at the edges of some of the Let it Be tracks ("Unsatisfied" in particular strikes me as, at the very least, a song it would be very easy to do an alt-country version of). But the main thing that strikes me is how clearly influenced Jeff Tweedy was by Paul Westerberg's vocals. There's an mp3 floating around on the internet of Wilco covering "Color Me Impressed" live, and before playing it Tweedy jokingly says "Everything we do is based on The Replacements." But compare these two songs and tell me that there's not a grain of truth in that:
Here's "Answering Machine" from Let it Be:
And here's Uncle Tupelo doing "Gun":
This may not sound intuitive at first, but the band they remind me of most on this album is Still Feel Gone era Uncle Tupelo. Some of the themes are similar, and you can even just barely detect a dash of country at the edges of some of the Let it Be tracks ("Unsatisfied" in particular strikes me as, at the very least, a song it would be very easy to do an alt-country version of). But the main thing that strikes me is how clearly influenced Jeff Tweedy was by Paul Westerberg's vocals. There's an mp3 floating around on the internet of Wilco covering "Color Me Impressed" live, and before playing it Tweedy jokingly says "Everything we do is based on The Replacements." But compare these two songs and tell me that there's not a grain of truth in that:
Here's "Answering Machine" from Let it Be:
And here's Uncle Tupelo doing "Gun":
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