Today's playlist (12/22/2007)

Radiohead- Pablo Honey
Radiohead- My Iron Lung ep

With all of the current buzz surrounding In Rainbows I thought that I'd revisit the early Radiohead. I'm glad that I did, especially the Iron Lung ep. 'The Trickster' and 'Lewis (Mistreated)' are two of my favorite Radiohead tunes.

Today's playlist (12/17/2007)

Tosca- Different Tastes of Honey

Today's playlist (12/14/2007)

Webb Wilder- About Time

Today's playlist (12/13/2007)

Tosca- Opera

The Gourds- Heavy Ornamentals
Another case of really trying to like this disc. Same as with The Raveonettes. It's not that either are bad- and they're both pretty good- it's just that neither really moves me. And as far as the Raveonettes go, if I want to listen something new that's descended from the Velvet Underground and Jesus and Mary Chain then I've always got A Place to Bury Strangers.

Wynton Marsalis- From the Plantation to the Penitentiary

Drive

Subconsciously I didn't give my hometown 'alternative' newsweekly enough credit. I had grown tired of their myopic topics; it seemed like a majority of their subject matter was the prevention of corporate America from permeating Knoxville. Almost everything else was about the lack of mass transit. Sure, it would be fantastic if Knoxville cared about its past, and every square foot exuded history like New Orleans. But if most people want their shopping choices narrowed only to Old Navy, Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, Chili's, Walgreen's, and Olive Garden, well, this is a democracy and the majority rules. But I digress. I was just picking up Metro Pulse out of habit when I would pass the newspaper rack at the grocery store.

Jack Neely's thought-provoking cover story 'The Quiet Disaster' proved to me that I needed to rethink my previous position.

I don't really contemplate driving anymore. I can remember when I was 14 or 15 and how much I craved a driver's license. Now it's a chore more than anything else. 'The Quiet Disaster' caused me to reflect on the mundane everyday act of operating an automobile. And not just my driving habits, but, as the story inspired me to do, America's violent automotive nonchalance.

Today's playlist (12/7/2007)

The Smiths- Same Day Again

Today's playlist (12/4/2007)

Gram Parsons with the Flying Burrito Brothers- Gram Parsons Archive, Vol. 1

Today's playlist (11/30/2007)

The Hackensaw Boys- Look Out

Today's playlist (11/26/2007)

Cheap Trick- All Shook Up
The first two songs suggest that great things are in store for the listener, though I don't know why Robin Zander wants to stop the music. Maybe it's because he could stop it before and he's upset that he no longer can. Well, it doesn't matter, because this album sucks other than the first two tracks.
Grant Lee Buffalo- Copperopolis

Today's playlist (11/21/2007)

Drive-By Truckers- Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA (27 September 2006)

Today's playlist (11/19/2007)

Mark Langegan- I'll Take Care of You

Today's playlist (11/17/2007)

Dwight Yoakam- Gone

Today's playlist (11/15/2007)

Dwight Yoakam- Dwight Live

most obscure trivia ever

I like to watch TV while I use a treadmill in the morning. I've been watching NBC's Journeyman this season. (Not because it's a wonderful show but mainly because of how much I enjoyed HBO's Rome and both shows have an actor in common.) Sometimes I turn on the closed captioning if the sound is muffled so I can hear over the noise of the treadmill. The conclusion to the 11/12/2007 episode used Blind Faith's song "Can't Find My Way Home" for dramatic effect. Well, at least that's what I read on closed caption. What I heard was "Miracles" by Jefferson Airplane.

I hope that this trivia serves someone well someday.

Today's playlist

The Smiths- Strangeways, Here We Come
This is my least favorite Smiths cd by far, but it still beats the hell out of the best cd by anyone who has ever won or will win American Idol.

Today's playlist (11/10/2007)

Mark Knopfler- Kill To Get Crimson
Mark never lets me down. I'm always prepared for the worst when he releases a new album because how long can he continue to create music uninterrupted? Who else has this kind of track record? Jimmy Page, like Mark Knopfler, is one of the greatest living guitar players, and he has certainly released some stinkers.

Today's Playlist (11/8/2007)

Drive-By Truckers- Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA 12/31/2006
The Drive-By Truckers are one of the greatest living bands. I'm biased since many of their songs' backgrounds are inspired by growing up and living in the South. For better or for worse I've lived in Tennessee almost my whole life.
Example: Lookout Mountain is in Chattanooga which is just an hour away from here. It's also one of my favorite songs by DBT.

Today's playlist (11/7/2007)

Mogwai- Ten Rapid
Teenage Fanclub- Dumb Dumb Dumb
Jimmy Page- Outrider
Holy crap, what is this garbage?!?! This cd came out in the 1980's but people still rocked in the 80's. (Think Metallica, Teenage Fanclub, Guns'n'Roses, Hoodoo Gurus, Replacements, etc.)

Today's playlist (11/5/2007)

Robert Plant / Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Surprisingly underwhelming. Almost bland. I expected dark Appalachian death ballads and I got Norah Jones.

Today's playlist (11/2/2007)

The Smiths- The Queen is Dead
This disc reminds me of high school. I gave Byron M. a ride to school every morning and we listened to this on cassette.
Mogwai- Young Team
What a phenomenal record. Who needs vocals when you can write songs this strong?

Today's Playlist (10/30/2007)

Cheap Trick- Heaven Tonight
I've either got to read a Cheap Trick biography or get Rick Nielsen's phone number: what is 'Oh Claire' about?!?!?

Bauhaus- 1979-1963: Vol. 1
I listen to this disc every year around this time to get ready for Halloween. The first four tracks epitomize All Hallows' Eve.

Th' Legendary Shack Shakers- Swampblood
Wow, 'Cheat the Hangman' sounds like the offspring of Slayer and Ralph Stanley! And that's a good thing, in case you're wondering.

Today's playlist (10/24/2007)

The Smiths- The Smiths
The Smiths- Hatful of Hollow
Cheap Trick- In Color
Led Zeppelin- III

Today's playlist (10/23/2007)

Rodney Crowell- Diamonds and Dirt
Not nearly as entertaining to me as his albums from the 2000's.

Today's playlist (10/22/2007)

Bob Dylan- The Times They Are A-Changin'
Rodney Crowell- The Houston Kid

Today's playlist (10/18/2007)

Porter Waggoner- Wagonmaster
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club- Baby 81

Today's playlist (10/17/2007)

Drive-By Truckers- Gangstabilly
DBT write really vivid lyrics. Example from "Why Henry Drinks":

Drink half a case 'fore I get home from work
Daddy need his medicine to keep his hands off Momma's throat

Maybe too vivid.

Today's playlist (10/16/2007)

Bob Dylan- Blood on the Tracks

Today's playlist (10/15/2007)

Cheap Trick- Dream Police
Bruce Springsteen- Darkness on the Edge of Town
Could this be my favorite Bruce Springsteen cd? It's a definite contender considering songs such as 'Candy's Room', 'Racing in the Streets, and the title track.

Today's playlist (10/12/2007)

Bruce Springsteen- Born To Run
Bob Dylan- Blonde on Blonde

Today's playlist (10/10/2007)

Bruce Springsteen- The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle
David Bowie- ChangesBowie

Today's playlist (10/09/2007)

Bruce Springsteen- Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.
REM- Eponymous

Today's playlist (10/08/2007)

Bruce Springsteen- Magic
A Place to Bury Strangers- A Place to Bury Strangers (Again!)

Today's playlist (10/5/2007)

A Place to Bury Strangers- A Place to Bury Strangers

Today's playlist (10/2/2007)

Cheap Trick- Music For Hangovers
Joy Division- Substance

Today's playlist (10/1/2007)

The Go! Team- Proof of Youth
Bob Dylan- Highway 61 Revisited

Today's playlist (9/28/2007)

The Cure- Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
Joy Division- Unknown Pleasures

Today's playlist (9/27/2007)

The Cure- The Top

Today's playlist (9/26/2007)

The Cure- Three Imaginary Boys
Led Zeppelin- Led Zeppelin
I'm really glad that I listened to this again. I'd forgotten how good the first album was.

Today's Playlist (9/25/2007)

stellastarr*- stellastarr*

Today's playlist (9/24/2007)

Kings of Leon- Youth & Young Manhood
Cheap Trick- Silver

Today's Playlist (9/21/2007)

Primal Scream- Vanishing Point

Today's Playlist (9/20/2007)

Cheap Trick- The Essential

Everybody knows and loves Cheap Trick. What could be better than a greatest hits collection picked by the band? Nothing, except for the song 'Can't Stop Fallin' Into Love'. This has got be one of the worst songs ever. It just sucks in so many ways that I would need graphs and charts to explain its craptacularness. If I were Cheap Trick I would have totally disowned and repudiated and publicly denounced this song. I would deny that I had ever written it. It's that bad.

Today's Playlist (9/19/2007)

The Rolling Stones- Exile on Main Street

Today's playlist (9/17/2007)

Kings of Leon- Because of the Times
The Cure- The Head on the Door [Deluxe Edition]

Joe Strummer's Guitar

A lot of people revere Joe Strummer, myself included. I really don't think that he would have endorsed this signature guitar if he was still alive.

Furthermore, who is going to buy this guitar? What self-respecting punk is going to buy a guitar that's been pre-abused at some factory in Mexico?

What It Is!

I've been listening to What It Is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves at work this week. Let me tell you, fellow citizens, that this 5 disc set lives up to its name! In fact, it's a big ol' funky surprise. Who knew that sitars were funky? Listen to 'Gossip' by Cyril Neville to see what I mean.

The Inexplicable Police

Why did the Police perform 'Message In A Bottle' with John Mayer and Kanye West at New York's Live Earth show? I've been reading Andy Summers' fascinating and hilarious autobiography One Train Later and can only assume based on Sting's egomaniac antics in the book that it's all his fault.

Also, while I'm on the topic of the music, the Perry Farrell's new disc is really disappointing. Come to think of it, the last Jane's Addiction disc was a bore too.

Some similarities exist between the two bands.
Jane's Addiction and The Police both broke up at the pinnacle of success.
Ritual de lo Habital = Synchronicity? Also, both groups were initially attached to the wrong musical genre. The Police were considered punk. Jane's Addiction got lumped into the grunge movement when they were really art/prog rock.

Elvis Sells Out? Say It Ain't So!

Saw Elvis Costello shilling for Lexus last night. Smells like a sell-out to me and Chicagoans agree.

Reckoning has always been my favorite R.E.M. album, followed closely by Fables of the Reconstruction. Remember when albums had two sides? For some reason I always thought that the first side of Reckoning was actually the second side. (Maybe that's because I taped the album or cassette from my friend Chan. Cassette tapes. That's a rumination for another time.) This meant that the album started with "Second Guessing" and ended with "Time After Time". In my opinion the album flows better in this order.

People really pay attention to you when you're carrying an ax.

I had to go to Lowe's to buy a tool to split wood. Usually you can't find anyone around to answer questions, but today the sales staff was tripping over themselves to help me.