Summer Concert Series

My summer is shaping up to be quite the kick-ass concert viewing experience. Keep in mind that prior to the Morrissey concert that Evil Genius and I saw my last concert was two summers ago, and it was Coldplay (who actually put on a quality show).

In addition to the aforementioned Morrissey, I will be going to see Interpol in a few weeks here in Columbus. I'm planning on heading out to Maryland to see the Decemberists with EG next month, and I just found out that the Violent Femmes are coming. I must try to get to that show as well.

I'm not sure if my old aching bones can handle that much live music, but I'm sure gonna try...

Potentially perfect songs in the region of punk/new wave/college rock/alternative

Blue Monday - New Order (as suggested by Grant)

Such Great Heights - The Postal Service

Lovesong - The Cure

Sweet Dreams - Eurythmics


more to come...

Comments welcome.

Red's additions:

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding -Elvis Costello & the Attractions

Blister in the Sun - Violent Femmes

Bands I should Like, but have never atken to:

The Shins
The Pixies

more to come...

I'm not doing this twice

Very Belated Morrissey Post

On Friday, May 18, 2007 I attended a Morrissey concert with Pezda. It is my duty to cover the music aspect of the concert, while he covers the people watching over at the Daily Dose. I suspect either or both of us will also post on Ultrahip. Maybe not.

Moz is old. He is graying at the temples and carrying a few extra el bees. However he does this with remarkable style. He strode out in his new look suit and tie, but was shirtless by the end of the second song much to the delight of all the aging queens in the crowd. Roses are now tossed in lieu of lillies. Not much else has changed.

This was not the typical aging rock star concert where new material that you don't know is beaten into your brain while the old material is eschewed. Had Boz Booer been sporting a skater mop top with bangs in his eyes, they could have passed it off as a Smiths concert. They opened with "The Queen is Dead." My heart raced with the driving beat.

Not that he didn't play new material or solo material. Of course he did. Plenty of it. He even dug deep a few times which pleasantly surprised me. He played "Disappointed!" But that pales in comparisson to the fact that he played six (6) Smiths songs. This included "How Soon Is Now?" which almost counts as a cover since you can play the notes, but no one has quite the same "guitar voice" as Johnny Marr. Not to mention that the opening feedback that has become as much a part of the song as anything else will never be exactly duplicated.

And then the coup de grace. For the encore he played "Please,Please,Please..." I welled up. It was strange how that song hit me hard. It was surreal. It was like going home and seeing your mother's face as you remember it as a child. It was like being granted the wish of getting to be seventeen for a moment and being able to share the kiss with Molly Ringwald at the end of "Sixteen Candles."

So in honor of this, The Smiths Lyric of the Week is:

"Haven't had a dream in a long time. See the life I've had would make a good man turn bad."

-Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want

Spiderman 3- reviewed in detail!

Don't bother.

Thousand Natural Shocks

Thanks to this post on my other site, I am now endorsing this band. Pezda agrees. You will see. Give it a few years. No one believed me about Radiohead either. (Of course the Stone Roses never outshone Nirvana as I speculated at the time.)

Lulu where are you?

You promised!

p.s.
I am referring to MY Lulu, not this Lulu.

30 Rock

This is the only TV show you should be watching. Deny watching any other TV shows. At the conclusion of each new episode call your brother to debrief and be reduced to tears over the comic genius.

New CD Review

1. Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch: Stick with Begin to Hope. I was recently told "Fidelity" is on heavy rotation on VH1. I was unaware of this. Because I am that cool.

2. The Decemberists- the one with "I Dreamt I was an Architect": It has "I Dreamt I was an Architect" on it.

3. The Decemberists- The Crane Wife: Not bad. They seem to be evolving. Ever so slightly.

4. The Dears- I am not sure what it is called: The have something here, but they aren't quite there yet.

5. The Fratellis: I am not a Goonies fan. Not that I don't like the movie, I just never saw it as a kid. But the iPod commercial made me seek this out. There is a reason Apple is using "Flathead." It is definitely a single worth paying $.99 for [sidebar- what kind of society are we living in where the "cents" symbol is no longer accessible directly through the keyboard?] but I promise you, you can live without the rest of the album. bonus points for using pinup girls for cover art.

6. The Cure- Wild Mood Swings: The only proper Cure album I didn't own. I got it for $2. It isn't as bad as you think. Well, except for "Strange Attraction"" [shudder.]

7. Modest Mouse - This keeps growing on me. "Parting of the Sensory" is a wonderful song. This is the carbon song.

The Mouse Has Landed

I bought the new Modest Mouse featuring Johnny Marr. You can hear his guitar work as if it were his own voice. The production on this is silly glossy. And the overall feel is more old school Modest Mouse. You will not get me to say that The Moon & Antarctica and Good News for People Who Like Bad News are not great albums. But they have a poppy feel that can get to me at times. Anyway, this is jsut a passing glance listen to the album. I need to spend some more time with it and get into some more.

Next up: The Dears and The Fratellis.

The Magnificent 7

Saw this tag on Casual Slack, thought I'd share. List seven songs you are into right now...no matter what they are. BUT. They must be songs you are presently enjoying. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to. These are mine:


1.Gomez - Revolutionary Kind
2.The Shins - We Will Become Silhouettes (Postal Service cover)
3.Winterpills - Pills For Sara
4.Death Cab For Cutie - Crooked Teeth
5.The Decemberists - The Perfect Crime #2
6.Beth Orton - Stolen Car
7.The Beta Band - Lion Thief

What are you listening to?

Recent CD purchases

1. NIN - "with_teeth" : Yeah, yeah. I still don't own "The Fragile" yet either. But this was on sale and I know I liked some of the songs already. "Everyday is Exactly the Same'' is some of his best work, and being that I used to hear it repetedly on my way to my mind-numbingly boring job, it became a mantra.

2. The Arcade Fire - "Funeral" : Why did I not expect a concept album to be variations of the same song? Why did I not just wait for the new one? How many neighborhoods do these guys live in? Where is Canada anyway?

3. Placebo -"Meds " : I haven't opened it yet, but I know the title track which I instantly loved. And it appears to have a cover of "Running Up That Hill" as a bonus track. I am assuming this is the Kate Bush song and not just a coincidental title. I hate when that happens.

4. Regina Spektor - "Begin to Hope": I have obeyed her command! This album filled me with warmth and joy. It is innocent but not naive. And when she starts singing in Russian I want to hump the speakers. I would be in love with her, but I am not worthy. She is the Visa check card.

The Color and the Shape of Things

Isn't it time we recognize that the Foo Fighters have surpassed Nirvana in nearly all aspects? They are far superior in almost all respects. The nagging one is cultural signifigance. And Nirvana rates higher only due to the tyrany of tradition. Thier influence is greater, but it is just more sucky crap that they influenced. One of the best parts of alternative music is the way it challenges you. And every once n a while a band like Nirvana comes along and you wonder, am I just not getting it or do they really just suck? In retrospect I can see some aspects of their talent and ingenuity. But for 15 years afterward they inspired the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked. Essentially morphing every alternative rock radio station across the country into alt metal. That is until another culturally significant band, The Strokes, ushered us into the New Golden Age. Not that I see The Strokes as saviors, but they sure did help. my point being, why don't stoned college kids hang Dave Grohl posters on their walls? Maybe Foo Fighters just don't market enough swag. Is that what passes for cultural signifigance these days?

Alternative Ulcer

I am getting old. As I sit here typing this with my stiff little fingers, I realize that I am becoming one of those guys. Fat, bald and clinging to a youth long since passed. I have toned down my fashion sensabilities to be more age appropriate, but the -to coin a phrase- vangaurdlust is still there. I purchased a pair of Skullcandy brand Skullcrusher headphones. Sure the reasoning was I have always wanted a pair of higher-end portable headphones, but the skate/punk/techno marketing image is what sucked me in. (The ones I have a silver and look more like the second pair.)

The sound quality isn't as good as I expected. The subwoofer leaves high range sounding tinny. But I can reach a happy balance by adjusting the volume and EQ on my Walkman and the "vibration" level on the bass-boost unit. In short better for listening to the Postal Service than Dean Martin.

Yes, I still have a Walkman. It plays MP3 CD's, which are like permanant play lists. And I don't have top rip my extensive CD collection and have it suffer blips and burps when the compression goes wrong. Moreover, I don't have to cave and buy an iPod and follow the rest of you lemmings off the cliff.

But 15 year-old me would still hold 33 year-old me in contempt. I acquired a taste for jazz at a young age so that when this day came I could age gracefully. But now I do not want to go gentle into that good night. And it isn't just that I refuse to let go of my fleeting hipness, it is that I have a huge void to fill in my lifestyle. I do not want to become an Alternadad. I am just not that kind of guy. But I need a transitional step before I end up marrying my potential Soccer Mom. It actually makes me sick thinking about it. Deconstructing part of who I am. Who am I supposed to be now?

Maybe the new tagline for the site should be "a support network for the aging hipster."

Johnny Marr - Guitar Prostitue

Thanks to my inside sources in the radio industry, I found out that everyone's favorite alternative guitar slinger is off to join another established band. This time the whiney bastards cast in the mold of The Smiths themselves, Modest Mouse.

For the record Johnny has been a member of the following bands (only major bands are listed):
The Smiths
The The
Electronic
Johnny Marr & The Healers

And he has contributed his talents to the following bands (not a comprehensive list):
Talking Heads
Kirsty MacColl
Pet Shop Boys
Billy Bragg
Everything But the Girl
Beck
Tom Jones
The Cult
Beth Orton
Oasis
The Pretenders

For the most part he tends to make good choices. Just a little tip, don't bother with his solo album. He is definitely a colaborater not an innovater. This does bode well for Modest Mouse, though.

She Wants Revenge

After about the third listen I have finally put my finger on why these guys seem to fall short. In the same way Interpol is a perfect blend of Joy Division and The Smiths, these guys blend Joy Division and Depeche Mode. The former is a more organic blend, but the latter isn't like peanutbutter and sardines. The problem is the early minimalist (not on purpose) Depeche Mode that they ape in order for it to mesh with the now ubiquitos Ian Curtis impression. Even DM didn't want to use that style. It was the limitation of the technology at the time. They are now full and rich and push the threshhold of being over the top. That is good music. I hope these guys ditch the monotone drone and go full on WuDM for their sophmore effort. Right now this guy's vocal talent is almost on par with my own impressive one octave range.

Top 100 New Rules Picks

Since we have now changed the rules to essentially be any recording with more than 4 songs, here are some revisions to the list:

37. Nine Inch Nails - Broken (replaces Pretty Hate Machine)
81. Squeeze - Singles, 45's & Under
68. Billy Bragg - Back to Basics (replaces Life's a Riot w/ Spy v SPy)
82. Echo & the Bunnymen- Songs to Learn and Sing
23. Joy Division - Permanent (replaces Closer)

also

24. Matthew Sweet - Altered Beast (compromise between Girlfriend and 100% Fun)
79. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute (replaces Deloused)
83. They Might Be Giants - Flood
84. Ian McCollough - Mysterio

And the current working top 10 countdown:

10. The Smiths - Strangeways Here We Come
9. U2 - Achtung Baby
8. The Cure - Disintegration
7. The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses
6. The Smiths - The Queen is Dead
5. Violent Femmes - Violent Femmes
4. Depeche Mode - Violator
3. The Clash - Combat Rock
2. The Cure - Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
1. Radiohead - Kid A

My Netflix Keaton-athon has begun!

Night shift arrives soon, followed by Gung Ho and then one of the funniest movies ever made, Mr. Mom. You think I am sh*ttin' you? Watch it!

What the judegs have allowed

1. Aw hell yeah!
2. Wish I could say "Broken" but the judges won't allow it. NIN must be represented so it stays.
3. The judges say "Grilfriend."
4. Elvis gets about 6 picks. This is one. "My Aim is True," "This years Model," "Trust," "Spike," and "When I was Cruel." If space allows there are some others, but we can't get greedy.
5. The judges say "Document.'' But they could be wrong.
6. Mmm...young Natalie. *drool*
7. Yes, yes, and yes.
8. Don't ask me what you know is true.
9. All Music says this is a proper album, so it stays. I have always thought it was a Soundtrack thing, but am glad it stays.
10. This however is a compillation. Besides, some of the B-Sides drag it down overall. And I never got over "The Girl Least Likely To" not being on there. The judges say "Viva Hate," "Vauxhaul and I," and space allowing "You Are the Quarry (special edition.)" More room must be made for the Smiths.

In fact lets get some of the absolutes out of the way right now:

1. The Smiths- The Smiths
2. The Smiths- Meat is Murder
3. The Smiths- The Queen is Dead
4. The Smiths- Strangeways Here We Come
5. The Smiths - Louder than Bombs
6. The Cure- Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
7. The Cure- Disintegration
8. The Clash - Combat Rock
9. The Clash - London Calling
10. Radiohead - OK Computer
11. Radiohead- Kid A
12. Radiohead - The Bends
13. Interpol - Turn On Your Bright Lights
14. Morrissey - Viva Hate
15. Depeche Mode - Violator
16. Portishead - Dummy
17. Soul Coughing- Irresistable Bliss
18. The The- Dusk
19. 10.000 Maniacs- In Our Tribe
20. New Order- Movement
21. New Order - Technique
22. New Order - Republic
23. Joy Division - Closer
24. Matthew Sweet - Girlfriend
25. Echo & the Bunnymen- Echo & the Bunnymen
26. The Ocean Blue - Cerulean
27. The Sundays- Reading, Writing & Arithmetic
28. The House of Love- The House of Love (butterfly)
29. Weezer- Weezer (blue)
30. The Strokes - Is This It
31. The Trash Can Sinatras - Cake
32. They Might Be Giants - Lincoln
33. Soul Coughing - Ruby Vroom
34. R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
35. U2 - Achtung Baby
36. Pet Shop Boys - Please
37. Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
38. Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
39. Jeff Buckley - Grace
40. Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstacy
41. Garbage - Garbage
42. Foo Fighters- The Color and the Shape
43. The Afghan Whigs - Gentlemen
44. Moby - Play
45. Tricky - Pre-Millenium Tension
46. The Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique
47. The Beatsie Boys - Ill Communication
48. INXS- Kick
49. Gorillaz- Gorillaz
50. Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True
51. Elvis Costello - This Years Model
52. Elvis Costello - Armed Forces
53. Elvis COstello - Trust
54. Elvis Costello - Spike
55. Elvis Costello - When I Was Cruel
56. Soul Coughing - El Oso
56. Portishead- Portishead
57. Cake - Prolonging the Magic
58. The Stone Roses- The Stone Roses
59. The Stone Roses - The Second Coming
60. Bjork- Homogenic
61. Green Day - American Idiot
62. The Violent Femmes- The Violent Femmes
63. The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots
64. Modest Mouse - Good News for People Who Like Bad News
65. Midnight Oil - Blue Sky Mining
66. The Pogues - If I Should Fall From Grace With God
67. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik
68. Billy Bragg- Life's a Riot with Spy vs. Spy (reissue)
69. Billy Bragg- Don't Try This at Home
70. Morrissey - Vauxhaul and I
71. Morrissey - You Are the Quarry (special edition)
72. The Lightning Seeds- Cloudcukooland
73. The Dead milkmen - Bealzabubba
74. Wilco- Summer Teeth
75. James- Laid
76. Rancid- ...And Out Came the Wolves...
77. Social Distortion- Social Distortion
78. Madness - Madness
79. The Mars Volta - Delousing at the Crematorium
80. The Inspiral Carpets - the Inspiral Carpets

And this is withouth looking at my collection.

...Rolling Right Along

Ten more albums for consideration (listed alphabetically by height):
1 - Portishead - Dummy
2 - Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine
3 - Matthew Sweet - 100% Fun
4 - Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Armed Forces
5 - R.E.M. - Life's Rich Pageant
6 - 10,000 Maniacs - In My Tribe
7 - Soul Coughing - Irresistible Bliss
8 - Inxs - Kick
9 - Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
10-Morrissey - Bona Drag