"D. Ray White" Hank Williams III Straight To Hell
"Da Doo Ron Ron" The Crystals Back To Mono (1958-1969)
"Da Feelin" Nightmares On Wax Thought So . . .
"Da Funk/Daftendirekt" Daft Punk Alive 2007
"Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" Wu-Tang Clan Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)
"Dadaist Rhetoric in Boston" The Mekons New York: On The Road 1986-1987
"Daddy's Cup" Drive-By Truckers The Dirty South
"Daddy's Gone" Danger Mouse & Sparklehorse Dark Night of the Soul
"Daddy's Home" The Jackson 5 The Ultimate Collection
"Daddy's Home" Toots & The Maytals Funky Kingston/In The Dark
Happy New Year! So I fell well short of my goal of getting through the alphabet somewhere between 4-6 times. Instead of 4 posts a week, I have been lucky to do one after the broken arm sapped most of my will to do anything at all On the other hand, I didn't abandon this completely (which is better than some other things - I haven't been running or exercising and am rapidly turning into so much pudding - I guess we can see what cliched resolutions I will be making this year). We will see how it plays out in 2012; right now I am feeling good about it, but that might just be some resolution fever as well.
In retrospect, I think this has been an exercise with more good than bad. I haven't really got as good a grip on the music library as I would hope, nor have I become a particularly great or disciplined writer. But last night I was making a playlist for our new year's party and came across "Fuck Hodges," from way back in January and was able to throw it into the mix, so I at least found one song.
Maybe I read too much into it that Hank III would choose to sing about a deceased patriarch of a musical clan who occasionally run afoul of the law.
The Jackson's version of "Daddy's Home" is not sung by Michael but by Jermaine. The Toots version bears little resemblance to the others - he plays pretty fast & loose with the lyrics.
I feel like I should be writing more, but mostly I want to get this post up since it is now past MLK Day without a post in 2012. Maybe the E's will include a SOPA rant!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Saturday, December 24, 2011
The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be to Calambre
"The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be" Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs
"Cada Beijo" Bebel Gilberto Bebel Gilberto
"Cade Voce?" Bebel Gilberto Momento
"Cadence To Arms" Dropkick Murphys Do or Die (2 versions)
"Cajun Moon" Herbie Mann What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves
"Cajun Song" Gin Blossoms New Miserable Experience
"Cajun Woman" Fairport Convention Unhalfbricking
"Cake Walking Babies from Home" Clarence Williams' Blue Five Rhapsodies In Black: Music and Words From the Harlem Renaissance
"Cala Boca, Menino" Seu Jorge and Almaz Seu Jorge and Almaz
"Calambre" Astor Piazzola/John Arnold Astor Piazzola Remixed
Today is my older son's eighteenth birthday. When I was little older than he is now, Charles and I were working in western Massachusetts, and we had gone into Boston to meet my Aunt (who had flown in for a conference there). I remember playing Unhalfbricking repeatedly on the drive back. It is more than a little amazing to me that I am that same person. When I was 18, 20, 25 . . . really right up until the day I found out I was going to be a father, I never conceived of being a dad. Mostly because I never conceived of actually being anything. I drifted in and out of college, taking classes, and as often as not failing them simply because I stopped going. I went from crappy job to crappy job, making enough money to pay the rent. Due to the kindness of my friends and family, which I didn't deserve and seldom repaid, I got by, and this was enough. It isn't that I didn't know what I wanted to do, I just really didn't want to do anything at all.
When I found out I was going to be a dad, everything changed. I don't mean it changed overnight. In many ways I am still just a slacker underachiever who needs to exert the utmost energy just to try to write a few hundred words here, and this is something I want to do. But I did make an effort, and have continued to make the effort, to try to live my life more consciously and to work toward a goal. That goal was at first, and remains, to care for my son. In these eighteen years, that goal has grown to include my second son, Charles, and myself. Once this new person was coming, for whom I felt wholly responsible, it became clear that my life needed to matter. I needed to be able to account to him, and eventually them, for all of my choices.
I am not trying to co-opt my son's birthday and majority. He certainly stands well in his own right. I am proud to have him not only as my son, but as one of my best friends. I have spoken to him almost every day for the last eighteen years, even when we have been apart. Every one of those conversations has been a joy. I have often joked that it is my job to keep him alive until, well, today. The reality is that most of the responsibility ended long ago, and now I talk to him because it is a pleasure all my own. Of course I still try to inflict wisdom on him, and I will help when he needs it. However, he is a young man who is clever and funny in his own right, and I look forward to sharing in his day much more than I try to shelter him from harm. I have tried over the years to share my values without imposing my views, to keep him safe, and allow him to grow. I am simply saying that when it comes time to say thank you, whatever I have given him, I owe him this: I was an ass before he and his brother came along, I like to think I am less so now.
I have the Dropkick Murphys because when my computer recently died I took over his, and inherited a bunch of his music as a result.
I have Bebel and Astor Piazzola because of Charles - she is the person most responsible for keeping me moving forward and helping me realize the goals I finally did come to have.
"Cada Beijo" Bebel Gilberto Bebel Gilberto
"Cade Voce?" Bebel Gilberto Momento
"Cadence To Arms" Dropkick Murphys Do or Die (2 versions)
"Cajun Moon" Herbie Mann What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves
"Cajun Song" Gin Blossoms New Miserable Experience
"Cajun Woman" Fairport Convention Unhalfbricking
"Cake Walking Babies from Home" Clarence Williams' Blue Five Rhapsodies In Black: Music and Words From the Harlem Renaissance
"Cala Boca, Menino" Seu Jorge and Almaz Seu Jorge and Almaz
"Calambre" Astor Piazzola/John Arnold Astor Piazzola Remixed
Today is my older son's eighteenth birthday. When I was little older than he is now, Charles and I were working in western Massachusetts, and we had gone into Boston to meet my Aunt (who had flown in for a conference there). I remember playing Unhalfbricking repeatedly on the drive back. It is more than a little amazing to me that I am that same person. When I was 18, 20, 25 . . . really right up until the day I found out I was going to be a father, I never conceived of being a dad. Mostly because I never conceived of actually being anything. I drifted in and out of college, taking classes, and as often as not failing them simply because I stopped going. I went from crappy job to crappy job, making enough money to pay the rent. Due to the kindness of my friends and family, which I didn't deserve and seldom repaid, I got by, and this was enough. It isn't that I didn't know what I wanted to do, I just really didn't want to do anything at all.
When I found out I was going to be a dad, everything changed. I don't mean it changed overnight. In many ways I am still just a slacker underachiever who needs to exert the utmost energy just to try to write a few hundred words here, and this is something I want to do. But I did make an effort, and have continued to make the effort, to try to live my life more consciously and to work toward a goal. That goal was at first, and remains, to care for my son. In these eighteen years, that goal has grown to include my second son, Charles, and myself. Once this new person was coming, for whom I felt wholly responsible, it became clear that my life needed to matter. I needed to be able to account to him, and eventually them, for all of my choices.
I am not trying to co-opt my son's birthday and majority. He certainly stands well in his own right. I am proud to have him not only as my son, but as one of my best friends. I have spoken to him almost every day for the last eighteen years, even when we have been apart. Every one of those conversations has been a joy. I have often joked that it is my job to keep him alive until, well, today. The reality is that most of the responsibility ended long ago, and now I talk to him because it is a pleasure all my own. Of course I still try to inflict wisdom on him, and I will help when he needs it. However, he is a young man who is clever and funny in his own right, and I look forward to sharing in his day much more than I try to shelter him from harm. I have tried over the years to share my values without imposing my views, to keep him safe, and allow him to grow. I am simply saying that when it comes time to say thank you, whatever I have given him, I owe him this: I was an ass before he and his brother came along, I like to think I am less so now.
I have the Dropkick Murphys because when my computer recently died I took over his, and inherited a bunch of his music as a result.
I have Bebel and Astor Piazzola because of Charles - she is the person most responsible for keeping me moving forward and helping me realize the goals I finally did come to have.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You to Baby Birch
"Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" Joan Baez Roots of Led Zeppelin (Mojo)
"Babopbyeya" Janelle Monae The Archandroid
"Baby" Bebel Gilberto Bebel Gilberto
"Baby" The Bird and The Bee Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future
"Baby" Cecilia Stalin/Koop Waltz For Koop
"Baby's Arms" Kurt Vile Smoke Ring For My Halo
"Baby's Coming Back To Me" Jarvis Cocker Love Will Tear You Apart (Mojo)
"Baby's On Fire" Brian Eno Here Come The Warm Jets
"Baby Baby" The Vibrators No Thanks! The 70s Punk Rebellion (Rhino)
"Baby Birch" Joanna Newsom Have One On Me
No, apparently Joanna Newsom does not have some sort of palsy - she just does that when she sings.
In fact, there is kind of a lot of theatrics in this set. Janelle Monae contributes a show tune. The Bird & The Bee are prone to hyperbole . . . really any time you say "baby" you are probably heading into dangerous territory lyrically. You say "baby baby baby" and you may as well go ahead with the spoken word interlude about coming "to you out of the mist or into the fire" because it isn't getting any sappier (ditto for you Bebel - if you stick to Portuguese, we don't notice the treacle as much). Eno sets that baby on fire (actually it is Fripp's guitar that reduces things to a pile of awesome ashes).
But let's about the Vibrators. The lyrics are cliched and horrible enough (again "baby" x3 - I am declaring it a rule. Much like shots, more than 2 'babies' and you are going to look stupid). I am shocked the song isn't a stadium rock anthem. That isn't the important thing though. The important thing is . . . these Germans covered it! That is 1991, btw. Apparently reunification meant unprecedented, and revelatory, access to Cars videos.
"Babopbyeya" Janelle Monae The Archandroid
"Baby" Bebel Gilberto Bebel Gilberto
"Baby" The Bird and The Bee Ray Guns Are Not Just The Future
"Baby" Cecilia Stalin/Koop Waltz For Koop
"Baby's Arms" Kurt Vile Smoke Ring For My Halo
"Baby's Coming Back To Me" Jarvis Cocker Love Will Tear You Apart (Mojo)
"Baby's On Fire" Brian Eno Here Come The Warm Jets
"Baby Baby" The Vibrators No Thanks! The 70s Punk Rebellion (Rhino)
"Baby Birch" Joanna Newsom Have One On Me
No, apparently Joanna Newsom does not have some sort of palsy - she just does that when she sings.
In fact, there is kind of a lot of theatrics in this set. Janelle Monae contributes a show tune. The Bird & The Bee are prone to hyperbole . . . really any time you say "baby" you are probably heading into dangerous territory lyrically. You say "baby baby baby" and you may as well go ahead with the spoken word interlude about coming "to you out of the mist or into the fire" because it isn't getting any sappier (ditto for you Bebel - if you stick to Portuguese, we don't notice the treacle as much). Eno sets that baby on fire (actually it is Fripp's guitar that reduces things to a pile of awesome ashes).
But let's about the Vibrators. The lyrics are cliched and horrible enough (again "baby" x3 - I am declaring it a rule. Much like shots, more than 2 'babies' and you are going to look stupid). I am shocked the song isn't a stadium rock anthem. That isn't the important thing though. The important thing is . . . these Germans covered it! That is 1991, btw. Apparently reunification meant unprecedented, and revelatory, access to Cars videos.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Abba Zaba to About This Love
"Abba Zaba" Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band Safe As Milk
"Abducted" Cults Cults
"Abernant 84/87" The Mekons New York: On The Road 1986-1987
"Abigail, Belle of Kilronan" Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs, Disc 2
"Able Mable" Mable John The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968
"Abominable Snowman in the Market" Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers The Best of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
"About Face" Grizzly Bear Veckatamist
"About Her" Malcolm McLaren Kill Bill, Vol. 2 OST
"About Noon" The Mar-Keys The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968
"About This Love" Alejandro Escovedo A Man Under The Influence
So I am going to try to pick this up again. I don't really have a good excuse for not maintaining it. I broke my shoulder and that took me down for a while, and then it just seemed hard to get back into the flow of it all. Mostly it has just seemed like a hard thing to get back to somehow. I am trying to figure out how to do it better so it seems a little more interesting to me and maybe to you (if any of you ever come back). We will see - I was just having trouble staying engaged both with the writing and with the conceit. So that said, I am going to try to get back into this, and hopefully get through the alphabet once more before the new year - which is only about 1/4 to 1/6 of where I had hoped to be.
I like this set because almost everyone on it is kind of off the beaten path. Cults got a record deal based on songs they put together in their home and slapped up on Bandcamp. The Mar-Keys were kids kicking around Satellite Records in Memphis and grew to be the house band for Stax-Volt. Jonathan made a life choice to turn his back on the best set of Velvet Underground songs since Loaded in favor of a long and healthy career of ridiculous, slight, and ultimately very satisfying songs about Boston, baseball, snowmen and dancing in lesbian bars.
Really, everyone on this set ranges from "working musician" to "musical genius." All right - not everyone. Malcolm is somewhere between "huckster" and "visionary" (with some measure of "creepy old man/pedophile/monster," but we can wait to talk about Bow Wow Wow). That said, he is at least partly responsible for the punk and post-punk revolutions, which provide a lasting mythology for all independent minded artists to this day. And the song mashes up Bessie Smith and The Zombies so there can be only minimal hate. Unless you are a French musician called Lancelot - you may have more hate - of course, I can't seem to find anything else about you, so you must rage without further linkage.
Distractions aside, the point is that this is a really great set - Stephen Merritt, Jon Langford, Alejandro . . . I guess this is as good a way as any to dive back into this.
"Abducted" Cults Cults
"Abernant 84/87" The Mekons New York: On The Road 1986-1987
"Abigail, Belle of Kilronan" Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs, Disc 2
"Able Mable" Mable John The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968
"Abominable Snowman in the Market" Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers The Best of Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
"About Face" Grizzly Bear Veckatamist
"About Her" Malcolm McLaren Kill Bill, Vol. 2 OST
"About Noon" The Mar-Keys The Complete Stax/Volt Singles 1959-1968
"About This Love" Alejandro Escovedo A Man Under The Influence
So I am going to try to pick this up again. I don't really have a good excuse for not maintaining it. I broke my shoulder and that took me down for a while, and then it just seemed hard to get back into the flow of it all. Mostly it has just seemed like a hard thing to get back to somehow. I am trying to figure out how to do it better so it seems a little more interesting to me and maybe to you (if any of you ever come back). We will see - I was just having trouble staying engaged both with the writing and with the conceit. So that said, I am going to try to get back into this, and hopefully get through the alphabet once more before the new year - which is only about 1/4 to 1/6 of where I had hoped to be.
I like this set because almost everyone on it is kind of off the beaten path. Cults got a record deal based on songs they put together in their home and slapped up on Bandcamp. The Mar-Keys were kids kicking around Satellite Records in Memphis and grew to be the house band for Stax-Volt. Jonathan made a life choice to turn his back on the best set of Velvet Underground songs since Loaded in favor of a long and healthy career of ridiculous, slight, and ultimately very satisfying songs about Boston, baseball, snowmen and dancing in lesbian bars.
Really, everyone on this set ranges from "working musician" to "musical genius." All right - not everyone. Malcolm is somewhere between "huckster" and "visionary" (with some measure of "creepy old man/pedophile/monster," but we can wait to talk about Bow Wow Wow). That said, he is at least partly responsible for the punk and post-punk revolutions, which provide a lasting mythology for all independent minded artists to this day. And the song mashes up Bessie Smith and The Zombies so there can be only minimal hate. Unless you are a French musician called Lancelot - you may have more hate - of course, I can't seem to find anything else about you, so you must rage without further linkage.
Distractions aside, the point is that this is a really great set - Stephen Merritt, Jon Langford, Alejandro . . . I guess this is as good a way as any to dive back into this.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
007 (Shanty Town) to 13 de Maio
"007 (Shanty Town)" Desmond Dekker and The Aces The Harder They Come
"1-800 Ming" Brothers Love Dubs/John Digweed Global Underground: Los Angeles
"#1 Hit Song" The Minutemen Double Nickels On The Dime
"10 A.M. Automatic" The Black Keys Rubber Factory
"10,000 Years Behind My Mind" Focus Three Psych Out! (Mojo Disc)
"10:15 Saturday Night" The Cure Staring At The Sea: The Singles
"100 Days, 100 Nights" Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights
"100% Of Nothing" The Meat Puppets Meat Puppets II
"11:59" Blondie Parallel Lines
"13 de Maio" Caetano Veloso Noites De Norte
I have been out of town for much of the past week, which really isn't an excuse given that the internet goes anywhere. I did go to Athens, GA to see my older son play in an end-of-camp concert. He played and/or sang covers of Deerhunter, Sonic Youth, Rage Against the Machine, and System Of A Down. He also screamed his way through "Feel Good, Inc." He withdrew his promise of "Super Stupid" ("specifically for you, dad") at the last minute. The "rock band camp" is a phenomenon that is, without trying, a commentary on the state of popular music. What started as a form of music specifically for youth, and terrifying to some adults, has now become a part of extra-curricular programming. This is too broad a brush, obviously - there is still music that offends, and the wrong song could probably have parents complaining to the point of ending a program, I have no doubt. Ignoring any broad social comment, the program my son attended was particularly great.
In fact, let me take this forum to sing my praises out to the zero readers I have. Nuci's Space was established as a place to help "assist in the emotional, physical and professional well-being of musicians." As a part of that mission, a few years ago they began a summer camp program to nurture young musicians. The program has grown from one two-week session to two, and now includes a year-long after-school program. My son's experience has been an uncategorized success. The working musicians who come in as counselors for the camp are, to a body, experienced, involved, and interested in the youths' safety and well-being as well as in making them better musicians. The songs are selected by the kids with input from the counselors, and range from well-known classic rock to obscure modern indy tracks. The camp ends with a concert of eight bands, and all are of consistently high quality. The camp seems focused on people who are serious about music as a career, and some of them have begun to perform locally.
Anyway. This is our first Minutemen song, and a moment silence for D. Boon please. Charles gives me a hard time because I may or may not bring up the fact that I saw them live before he died a little too often. Sorry. It can't be helped. The Minutemen's talent and legend is so outsized compared to (and perhaps because of) their minimal output and the tradedy of D's death that sometimes I just have to mention it. I have very few things in my life that pass for cool, so those that I have get played a lot. (Fabulous Fox in Atlanta, Nov. 30, 1985 - opening for R.E.M. along with Jason & The Scorchers). The car accident was less than a month later.
A quick quiz - who is/would be oldest? Robert Plant, Keith Moon, Carlos Santana, or . . . Debbie Harry? That is correct, the queen of new wave was born in 1945, and is older than each of those dinosaurs. While younger than Pete Townshend, Ray Davies, and Jimmy Page (and all of the Beatles), she is also older than John Bonham and John Paul Jones. This means absolutely nothing, just a curiosity I came across. She was 5-10 years older than everyone else in Blondie.
Rubber Factory always feels like a transition album to me. It feels like the Black Keys are trying to get out of the derivative blues-rock that got them going through their first two albums, but which was a somewhat limiting form. This track is very much in the mold of Thickfreakness but there is an effort to escape. This process continued through Attack & Release as well as the BlakRok project, with Brothers being a validation of that effort - a fully-realized, mature album which is informed by what came before, but stands as its own creation.
So I am through the alphabet once. A review to come in the next day or so, and then back to the A's.
"1-800 Ming" Brothers Love Dubs/John Digweed Global Underground: Los Angeles
"#1 Hit Song" The Minutemen Double Nickels On The Dime
"10 A.M. Automatic" The Black Keys Rubber Factory
"10,000 Years Behind My Mind" Focus Three Psych Out! (Mojo Disc)
"10:15 Saturday Night" The Cure Staring At The Sea: The Singles
"100 Days, 100 Nights" Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings 100 Days, 100 Nights
"100% Of Nothing" The Meat Puppets Meat Puppets II
"11:59" Blondie Parallel Lines
"13 de Maio" Caetano Veloso Noites De Norte
I have been out of town for much of the past week, which really isn't an excuse given that the internet goes anywhere. I did go to Athens, GA to see my older son play in an end-of-camp concert. He played and/or sang covers of Deerhunter, Sonic Youth, Rage Against the Machine, and System Of A Down. He also screamed his way through "Feel Good, Inc." He withdrew his promise of "Super Stupid" ("specifically for you, dad") at the last minute. The "rock band camp" is a phenomenon that is, without trying, a commentary on the state of popular music. What started as a form of music specifically for youth, and terrifying to some adults, has now become a part of extra-curricular programming. This is too broad a brush, obviously - there is still music that offends, and the wrong song could probably have parents complaining to the point of ending a program, I have no doubt. Ignoring any broad social comment, the program my son attended was particularly great.
In fact, let me take this forum to sing my praises out to the zero readers I have. Nuci's Space was established as a place to help "assist in the emotional, physical and professional well-being of musicians." As a part of that mission, a few years ago they began a summer camp program to nurture young musicians. The program has grown from one two-week session to two, and now includes a year-long after-school program. My son's experience has been an uncategorized success. The working musicians who come in as counselors for the camp are, to a body, experienced, involved, and interested in the youths' safety and well-being as well as in making them better musicians. The songs are selected by the kids with input from the counselors, and range from well-known classic rock to obscure modern indy tracks. The camp ends with a concert of eight bands, and all are of consistently high quality. The camp seems focused on people who are serious about music as a career, and some of them have begun to perform locally.
Anyway. This is our first Minutemen song, and a moment silence for D. Boon please. Charles gives me a hard time because I may or may not bring up the fact that I saw them live before he died a little too often. Sorry. It can't be helped. The Minutemen's talent and legend is so outsized compared to (and perhaps because of) their minimal output and the tradedy of D's death that sometimes I just have to mention it. I have very few things in my life that pass for cool, so those that I have get played a lot. (Fabulous Fox in Atlanta, Nov. 30, 1985 - opening for R.E.M. along with Jason & The Scorchers). The car accident was less than a month later.
A quick quiz - who is/would be oldest? Robert Plant, Keith Moon, Carlos Santana, or . . . Debbie Harry? That is correct, the queen of new wave was born in 1945, and is older than each of those dinosaurs. While younger than Pete Townshend, Ray Davies, and Jimmy Page (and all of the Beatles), she is also older than John Bonham and John Paul Jones. This means absolutely nothing, just a curiosity I came across. She was 5-10 years older than everyone else in Blondie.
Rubber Factory always feels like a transition album to me. It feels like the Black Keys are trying to get out of the derivative blues-rock that got them going through their first two albums, but which was a somewhat limiting form. This track is very much in the mold of Thickfreakness but there is an effort to escape. This process continued through Attack & Release as well as the BlakRok project, with Brothers being a validation of that effort - a fully-realized, mature album which is informed by what came before, but stands as its own creation.
So I am through the alphabet once. A review to come in the next day or so, and then back to the A's.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Zam'dziko to Zimbabwe
"Zam'dziko" The Very Best The Warm Heart of Africa
"'Zat You, Santa Claus?" Louis Armstrong Verve Remixed Christmas
"Zebra" The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs
"A Zed and 2 L's" Fila Brazillia Pure Chillout
"Zera A Reza" Caetano Veloso Noites Do Norte
"Zero" Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness
"Zero" Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz
"Zig Zag Wanderer" Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Safe As Milk
"Ziggy Stardust" David Bowie The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars
"Zimbabwe" Bob Marley Songs Of Freedom [updated link b/c warner wiped out the last one - copyrant in future]
I don't know if it is naive to think music can effect any meaningful political change, or if I am just cynical and jaded at this point. Not only did people like Bob Marley, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Fela Kuti think that they could be significant beyond mere entertainment, but apparently people who did not particularly like them agreed with them. All of them were arrested or exiled. Marley was shot. Of course, Gil later became Brazil's minister of culture. And Rhodesia actually did become Zimbabwe, so maybe I am cynical. Whether any good comes from overtly political music, I guess no harm comes from it.
One problem with political music is that it is inherently dated - at the very least the lyrics become outdated, so you had best hope the music sustains. It is why something like "Joe Hill" seems like a museum piece. The acoustic folk of the '60s (and agit-prop & hardcore later) is tied both musically and lyrically, into a specific time. All that said, I think "Zimbabwe" holds up. Maybe reggae is still a going concern. Maybe Bob Marley is just better at it than most. Maybe it is the music - you don't need a history degree (or even a wiki search on Rhodesia) to appreciate the rhythm. It could be that there are enough vaguely stated universal truths in the song that it sustains (I particularly like the understated description of "overcome our little trouble"). Or maybe I just like Marley better than Joan Baez.
Also -the guy in the "Zimbabwe" video (you can't miss him) who reminds me of this.
More Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Karen O gets a lot of press for being physically attractive, which may be unfortunate, because it is her voice and the hook-laden exciting music that make the band enjoyable. The difference between the video here, and the one for "Y Control" make me worry that she might be reading the press clippings - much more focused on her (rather than the band or terrifying small children). The bedazzled "KO" jacket is so extreme I assume it is a joke.
Which may sum up every lyric ever written by Billy Corgan. And yet Smashing Pumpkins' guitars are so wonderful, Billy's whining and self-absorption gets a pass most of the time.
"'Zat You, Santa Claus?" Louis Armstrong Verve Remixed Christmas
"Zebra" The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs
"A Zed and 2 L's" Fila Brazillia Pure Chillout
"Zera A Reza" Caetano Veloso Noites Do Norte
"Zero" Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness
"Zero" Yeah Yeah Yeahs It's Blitz
"Zig Zag Wanderer" Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band Safe As Milk
"Ziggy Stardust" David Bowie The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars
"Zimbabwe" Bob Marley Songs Of Freedom [updated link b/c warner wiped out the last one - copyrant in future]
I don't know if it is naive to think music can effect any meaningful political change, or if I am just cynical and jaded at this point. Not only did people like Bob Marley, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Fela Kuti think that they could be significant beyond mere entertainment, but apparently people who did not particularly like them agreed with them. All of them were arrested or exiled. Marley was shot. Of course, Gil later became Brazil's minister of culture. And Rhodesia actually did become Zimbabwe, so maybe I am cynical. Whether any good comes from overtly political music, I guess no harm comes from it.
One problem with political music is that it is inherently dated - at the very least the lyrics become outdated, so you had best hope the music sustains. It is why something like "Joe Hill" seems like a museum piece. The acoustic folk of the '60s (and agit-prop & hardcore later) is tied both musically and lyrically, into a specific time. All that said, I think "Zimbabwe" holds up. Maybe reggae is still a going concern. Maybe Bob Marley is just better at it than most. Maybe it is the music - you don't need a history degree (or even a wiki search on Rhodesia) to appreciate the rhythm. It could be that there are enough vaguely stated universal truths in the song that it sustains (I particularly like the understated description of "overcome our little trouble"). Or maybe I just like Marley better than Joan Baez.
Also -
More Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Karen O gets a lot of press for being physically attractive, which may be unfortunate, because it is her voice and the hook-laden exciting music that make the band enjoyable. The difference between the video here, and the one for "Y Control" make me worry that she might be reading the press clippings - much more focused on her (rather than the band or terrifying small children). The bedazzled "KO" jacket is so extreme I assume it is a joke.
Which may sum up every lyric ever written by Billy Corgan. And yet Smashing Pumpkins' guitars are so wonderful, Billy's whining and self-absorption gets a pass most of the time.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Y'all Don't Wanna to Yank Me (Doodle)
"Y'all Don't Wanna" Capone-N-Noriega Heavy Hits Mixed By DJ Enuff
"Y Control" Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever To Tell
"Y Tu Que Has Hecho?" Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club
"Y.M.C.A." The Village People Ultimate Disco 30th Anniversary Collection
"Ya Ya" Art Blakey Orgy In Rhythm, Vol. 1-2
"Yadnus" !!! Live at KEXP, Vol. 4
"Yakety Yak" The Coasters Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-74
"Yalira" The Very Best Warm Heart Of Africa
"Yamore" Salif Keita Moffou
"Yank Me (Doodle)" The Barracudas The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, 1959-68
Once again I apologize for the long absence. I broke my right arm being either stupid or awesome depending on who you ask. (while there is not a one-to-one relationship, there seems to be a correlation between finding my injury more "awesome" than "stupid" and the presence of a y-chromosome in one's genetic makeup). I have been down for about two months, but have reached a point resembling full mobility, at least full enough for typing and prattling on about music.
For those of you who may have forgotten, or are just stumbling along this piece of self-absorption for the first time, the idea is that I am going through my ripped music collection 10 songs at a time, alphabetically, and blogging loosely about the music I encounter in each set. While I was injured I started going back through the collection and finding links to videos of the songs I listened to. These are not my uploads, and hopefully I can avoid C&D letters. Some caveats about the videos - I am not always that concerned about getting the exact version of the song that I have listened to. If mine is unavailable, or if there is something much more awesome out there, then I will link to something else. Generally, if there is an official video I will use that, unless there is some other bit of fan art that is more exciting (see, kids' recital to "Galaxy" after a science class, although I will now cheat and give you this live version from "Thee Mr. Duran Show," complete with messy opening interview). I then tend to look for live versions (Of which there are many - even while Steve Jobs continues to try to displace Lars as the most hated man in music). After that, the only thing I try to avoid are the lazy "videos" that just slap up a photo of the album cover and play the song (in this set, I did use one of those for the Art Blakey song - there wasn't going to be anything else. However, I used an odd remix by the Drapers for "Yakety Yak" rather than one of those, or one that was a slide-show of stills from "American Graffiti). I am continuing to update the old posts with links as well.
I would point out here that !!! and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are in some kind of competition to create the more disturbing official video. Despite the singing roadkill and the poorly dancing daughters of the corn for !!!, I would have to say Karen O & Co. win.
We are about a week out from New York's legalization of gay marriage. This comes too late for Jacques Morali, the producer behind The Village People, who died of AIDS in 1991, and for the leatherman, Glenn Hughes, who died of lung cancer in 2001 (and was interred in his leather). However, the cowboy, Randy Jones, married his partner in 2004, stating presciently (but underestimating the public), "Its only a matter of time before the courts rule in favor of what is morally right and humanly decent." The lawyer me believes they will probably have to renew those vows now in order for the marriage to be legally binding. Victor Willis, the cop and frontman, was the only straight man in the original group, and made his way into the news this week for demanding an apology from Tracy Morgan for implying that the writer of "Y.M.C.A." (Willis) was gay. Willis was apparently married to Claire Huxtable for a few years, and apparently was fighting drug abuse for 25 years, spending time in and out of jail, and being featured on "America's Most Wanted." Since getting clean, he has apparently been fighting with the other village people. On May 2 of this year he filed suit for more royalties from the other Village People (not his first suit against the band). I love this website's then & now picture of Willis - it clearly shows the pages feelings. The three other original members still go around as The Village People - the construction worker, David Hodo, who started as a roller-skating fire-eater and now apparently rescues stray animals in the Bronx, the soldier, Alex Briley, whose brother was the photographed "falling man" on 9/11/01, and without question the greatest of all Village People - the native american, Felipe Rose, who has embraced this all as strongly as Willis seems to have fought it, and whose website defies adjectives.
As for the song itself (and the other hits), Willis has tried to say that it was not meant to be a gay anthem when he wrote it. He is of course lying. The lyrics are one long double-entendre, and the context only drives the point home, it doesn't create the issue. In fact, hearing it now (and watching the video), it is astounding that there was not a quicker or more vehement backlash at the time. Instead, it became a mainstay of not only dance clubs, but sports arenas. Kind of amazing.
"Y Control" Yeah Yeah Yeahs Fever To Tell
"Y Tu Que Has Hecho?" Buena Vista Social Club Buena Vista Social Club
"Y.M.C.A." The Village People Ultimate Disco 30th Anniversary Collection
"Ya Ya" Art Blakey Orgy In Rhythm, Vol. 1-2
"Yadnus" !!! Live at KEXP, Vol. 4
"Yakety Yak" The Coasters Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-74
"Yalira" The Very Best Warm Heart Of Africa
"Yamore" Salif Keita Moffou
"Yank Me (Doodle)" The Barracudas The Complete Stax/Volt Singles, 1959-68
Once again I apologize for the long absence. I broke my right arm being either stupid or awesome depending on who you ask. (while there is not a one-to-one relationship, there seems to be a correlation between finding my injury more "awesome" than "stupid" and the presence of a y-chromosome in one's genetic makeup). I have been down for about two months, but have reached a point resembling full mobility, at least full enough for typing and prattling on about music.
For those of you who may have forgotten, or are just stumbling along this piece of self-absorption for the first time, the idea is that I am going through my ripped music collection 10 songs at a time, alphabetically, and blogging loosely about the music I encounter in each set. While I was injured I started going back through the collection and finding links to videos of the songs I listened to. These are not my uploads, and hopefully I can avoid C&D letters. Some caveats about the videos - I am not always that concerned about getting the exact version of the song that I have listened to. If mine is unavailable, or if there is something much more awesome out there, then I will link to something else. Generally, if there is an official video I will use that, unless there is some other bit of fan art that is more exciting (see, kids' recital to "Galaxy" after a science class, although I will now cheat and give you this live version from "Thee Mr. Duran Show," complete with messy opening interview). I then tend to look for live versions (Of which there are many - even while Steve Jobs continues to try to displace Lars as the most hated man in music). After that, the only thing I try to avoid are the lazy "videos" that just slap up a photo of the album cover and play the song (in this set, I did use one of those for the Art Blakey song - there wasn't going to be anything else. However, I used an odd remix by the Drapers for "Yakety Yak" rather than one of those, or one that was a slide-show of stills from "American Graffiti). I am continuing to update the old posts with links as well.
I would point out here that !!! and Yeah Yeah Yeahs are in some kind of competition to create the more disturbing official video. Despite the singing roadkill and the poorly dancing daughters of the corn for !!!, I would have to say Karen O & Co. win.
We are about a week out from New York's legalization of gay marriage. This comes too late for Jacques Morali, the producer behind The Village People, who died of AIDS in 1991, and for the leatherman, Glenn Hughes, who died of lung cancer in 2001 (and was interred in his leather). However, the cowboy, Randy Jones, married his partner in 2004, stating presciently (but underestimating the public), "Its only a matter of time before the courts rule in favor of what is morally right and humanly decent." The lawyer me believes they will probably have to renew those vows now in order for the marriage to be legally binding. Victor Willis, the cop and frontman, was the only straight man in the original group, and made his way into the news this week for demanding an apology from Tracy Morgan for implying that the writer of "Y.M.C.A." (Willis) was gay. Willis was apparently married to Claire Huxtable for a few years, and apparently was fighting drug abuse for 25 years, spending time in and out of jail, and being featured on "America's Most Wanted." Since getting clean, he has apparently been fighting with the other village people. On May 2 of this year he filed suit for more royalties from the other Village People (not his first suit against the band). I love this website's then & now picture of Willis - it clearly shows the pages feelings. The three other original members still go around as The Village People - the construction worker, David Hodo, who started as a roller-skating fire-eater and now apparently rescues stray animals in the Bronx, the soldier, Alex Briley, whose brother was the photographed "falling man" on 9/11/01, and without question the greatest of all Village People - the native american, Felipe Rose, who has embraced this all as strongly as Willis seems to have fought it, and whose website defies adjectives.
As for the song itself (and the other hits), Willis has tried to say that it was not meant to be a gay anthem when he wrote it. He is of course lying. The lyrics are one long double-entendre, and the context only drives the point home, it doesn't create the issue. In fact, hearing it now (and watching the video), it is astounding that there was not a quicker or more vehement backlash at the time. Instead, it became a mainstay of not only dance clubs, but sports arenas. Kind of amazing.
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