Music Review by M
Ok. First a couple of qualifiers:
I am a music geek, I guess, but I am not a music guru. I am not like John Cusack in High Fidelity, though I wish I were. I am not one of the purists who felt betrayed when British director Stephen Frears set the movie in Chicago, rather than London (where Nick Hornsby's novel takes place). With Jack Black I will raise my goblet of rock, but I will not claim to be able to name ten underrated hair metal bands, or ten Beatles B-sides, or ten best prog rock albums. I'm doing good to know what prog rock is. I have a flimsy album collection, mostly because we have no money for such excesses--not because I don't think it's important to own Dylan's Blonde on Blonde or Blood on the Tracks.
Kim calls me a music snob, too, and I guess if by that she means I get physically ill when someone begins singing Culture Club's Karma Chameleon, or that I respond with "rage and contempt" (to steal a phrase from poet John Berryman) when someone calls "Sound of Silence" a great song (it's sophomoric) or Dave Matthews Band the best in the world (they're pretentious) or Disturbed really, well, disturbing (shallow emotionalism), then, yeah, I'm guilty as charged.
I'm also an English teacher, which means I'm allowed to write long sentences like that.
I'm a poet, too, so I'll invoke Whitman: I will freely contradict myself. (I like a little cheese now and again. I actually enjoyed Lindsay Lohan's "Confessions of a Broken Heart" the first time I heard it, and I'll go to the mat for Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.)
By way of introduction, here are my ten favorite songs of the moment, in no particular order:
--Time of the Season, Zombies (and not because some chump on American Idol covered it a few weeks ago. I don't watch TV and didn't know anything about it until I searched for the song on YouTube. Now I feel like something's been stolen. And I did watch a bootleg of that version, and while passable, the Idol house band didn't even attempt Rod Argent's insane organ solo)
--Wear Your Love Like Heaven, Donovan
--Your Touch, Black Keys
--Bennie and the Jets, Elton John
--Peace Train, Cat Stevens (as a dad, I happen to know that it's of the more listenable songs on the Little People's album Things That Go--a better cover, for instance, than their rendition of the 5th Dimension's Up, Up and Away, which isn't a good song no matter who sings it)
--Feeling Yourself Disintegrate, Flaming Lips
--Crazy, Gnarls Barkley (though I'll probably get sick of it soon; I don't think it has staying power)
--Wonderous Stories, Yes
--Requiem, Eliza Gilkyson, or maybe Susan Warner's Did Trouble Me
--Spirit in the Sky, Norman Greenbaum (Merry's actually been requesting this as a bedtime song; you have to love lines like "You gotta have a friend in Jesus/So you know that when you die/He's gonna recommend you to spirit in the sky")
I guess that's ten. That's all the review I'll do this week.
Now you out there. You know who you are. Post your top ten of the moment.
4 comments:
Well Mr. Music--
I work with a woman who is as hip as it gets on the music scene- and not the pop charts- but the very coolest of the cool. Some of the, ok, MOST of the stuff I listen to makes her LAUGH incredulously... Needless to say I've become a little insecure and reclusive in expressing my musical inclinations. Which is a little bothersome to me... I still won't tell HER I happen to like Karma Chameleon and Sound of Silence... but in an effort to reclaim my rumpled musical pride, I'll proudly post my current top ten here for you and all the world to see:
Australia- The Shins
I don't know why-- Ben Kweller
Won't Give in- The Finn Brothers
There is so much more--Brett Dennen
Outrageous-- Paul Simon
No Bad News-- Patty Griffin
This is Us-- Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris
A Thousand Tiny Pieces-- The Be Good Tanyas
No Bad News-- Patty Griffin
New Railroad-- Crooked Still
Since I don't recognize a single song that's been listed so far, either by M or by Rachel, I cannot qualify as a music anything. But I can say with pride that when I listened to a recent NPR report about popular radio in Kenya, I recognized almost every song clip played. These included hefty portions of Kenny Rogers, a little Dolly Parton, and even a Roger Whittaker song. I'm obviously living in the wrong country.
'M', and I feel like signing '007',
Zombies song one of my favorites back in the day. Question; Hammond B3 or Wurlitzer?
Listen to some Doors if you want to hear some great organ solos by Ray Manzarak. That was a B3 he played.
Lindsey Lohan? Good Grief!
From Eids in Boston:
Here is my current top ten albums:
1) The Best of Nas (the J Period Bootleg): J Period has put together a good sweep of this versatile rapper's career- the album is filled with remixes and interview soundbites. Nas is undeniable as a cross-over MC who can stay underground while keeping enough of a toe in the mainstream to be an essential member of any top-50 MC's list. A great listen if you can find it.
2) Fall Out Boy - Take This To Your Grave: Apparently you can have body hair AND listen to Fall Out Boy. Ask my ears, and the small patch that is growing on my back. I hate their new album, I like "Under The Cork...." but "Take This To Your Grave," has just enough melody and powerchords mixed together to fire me up.
3) Kanye West- College Drop Out (the Remixes): It's good. And I avoided "Ye" for a long time (mostly because the G-Unit's remake of 'Jesus Walks' was so good, and becasue Kanye used the rhyme "I'm just trying to say I need Jesus/like Kathy Lee needed Regis.") That said, throw in some incredible rhymes by Talib, Mos Def, and Jay-Z, alongside some soulful new regional-based Hip-hop (this sound and approach are both a turning point in rap) and this is a great one.
4) Notorious B.I.G.; March 9: YES another Biggie Smalls album. But the best in a long time. Put in Eminem, Nas, Pac, whoever and what comes out is the fact that Biggie Smalls would be one of the best MC's if he was starting his career TODAY. Truly incredible; and the remixed tracks are strong.
5) Counting Crows: New Amsterdam: Live at Heineken Music Hall: Serously. Put "Holiday in Spain" or "Rain King" on repeat in your Ipod or your College-ass Disco Dorm and watch what happens. Yes. You will remember what tear ducts are used for. Get your swimmies out, Buster, so you don't drown. Oops, now change over to "Miami" or "St. Robinson," and watch out that you don't go frolic in the nearest field. Awesome
6) Eminem & 50 Cent: Eminem Presents the Re-up: OK, so in this case it might not be the whole album (which is pretty solid), but the track "Jimmy Crack Corn" is worth it by itself.
"You probably heard about me,
I'm a show'nuff player
In the 'hood politicin'
like I'm running for mayor"
7) Dropkick Murphys: The Warrior's Code: If you dont get fired up with some Southie Dudes rolling around to "I'm Shipping Up To Boston," in The Departed, well... you might be in a coma. But "Sunshine Highway" is probably my fav song on the album- which is kind of a greatest hits.
8) Snow Patrol; Hands Open; From "Camperdown Park" (the live album): Another single song. So yes, I hate these guys. And yes I am embarassed that I like this song. But I am a man of contradictions.
9) NWA: EFIL4ZAGGIN; I just jumped back into this thing. It has all the recipes for a great rap album: A good beef (Ice Cube had just left the group), a great MC (Eazy-E remains one of the most distinctive voices in rap history), an ensemble cast (whatever happened to MC Ren?) and... well... c'mon.... I mean, Dre produced it! If you get your hands on the vinyl it will probably burn your fingertips up- the tracks are so hot.
10) Last one, and another single song: Toad the Wet Sprocket "Come Down"... what can I say... I saw it in an old Warren Miller video. If you can't get Dr. Dre to produce your song, or Scorscese to drop it in a movie, get that Warren Miller to play it behind some snowriders cutting through 2 feet of fresh powder in slow motion.
Honorable mentions to the "Village Underground" Lemonheads bootleg (and the new Lemonheads album) and the poetry site http://writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/x/featurd-mp3s-archive.html that has GREAT MP3's (it will remind you why Jack Spicer shouldn't be allowed in your house after 5), and finally to the new Buffalo Tom album that is dropping in July.
If anyone is in Beantown this weekend- come to Open Studios. It will be hotter than Shady Records.
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