Rest In Peace, Alex Chilton

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."

My Chick Bad

Ludacris continues to be (in my mind, anyway) something roughly analogous to the Aerosmith of his generation. He doesn't take himself too seriously, he's obsessed with sex and partying, and he can write a really solid pop song.

Jaydiohead

Well, what the heck, here's yet another rap/rock mashup. There's actually something about mashing up "99 Problems" with Radiohead's "National Anthem" that really works.

It's coming...

I hope that at least Via Chicago is as pumped as I am. Despite the disappointments of last season, I'm always ready for more.

PS22 Strikes Again!

Doing Collective favorites, Phoenix!

Pavement's "Kennel District"

Been listening to a lot of Pavement lately in anticipation of seeing them at Pitchfork this year (anyone else seeing the Pavement reunion train?) and discovered this previously overlooked gem:

"Kennel District" from Wowee Zowee


I've always found Wowee Zowee to be the unfairly overlooked album in Pavement's catalog. Something about it's bizarre song fragments really appeals to me for the same reason I have an irrational love for Todd Rundgren's A Wizard A True Star album. And it's highs (Rattled by the Rush and Grounded primarily) are just so, so good. But somehow I've overlooked this song in the past, and I am the worse for it.

I love the combination of My Bloody Valentine-esque guitar with (dare I say) almost Wilco-style poppiness. It sounds very un-Pavement to me, but is just fantastic, and helpd remind me why this band still holds up, and why I can not wait to see them.