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| censored-03 |
 Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 4:50 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 3058
Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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Comeback in the offing ?
It's not important music anymore, that ended before the earliest 80's recordings IMO, but the new Stones stuff may actually bring them back to a position of more than "old leathery dudes of rock" status. The 3 songs I've heard off the new album coming out in the fall are pretty damn good. Rough Justice, Streets of Love and Back Of My Hand kick some ass that the boys haven't done since Tattoo You, which IMO was there last decent album. The new songs seem to be more valid than anything I've heard by The Rolling Stones in a coons age. Maybe they will finally join the original crowd they idolized and live up to the idea that old blues-men don't just get old..they get tougher and wiser. Not bad for Mick 'n Keef and company in 2005. |
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| Macca00 |
| Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2005 7:27 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 390
Location: Liverpool/England
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censored, hope you're right about what the new Stones' album seems to promise. As I said a while back, "Streets Of Love" is the first Stones' single in 25 years to actually say anything, while the music is notable for not being reliant on Keef & Ronnie's power chord play. There was an argument advanced in the NME & other British music mags a decade back that the Stones took their foot off the gas pedal after John Lennon's death, the theory being that Jagger & co. still saw Manhatten's most famous househusband as a serious rival. I don't entirely buy that. Talking of which......
Recently unearthed the Beatles Anthology CD covering the '65 to '68 period. Hadn't heard it for a few years, so it instantly reminded me of their musical versatility; the tracks from the "Rubber Soul" & "Revolver" sessions attest to that. The "Strawberry Fields Forever" tracks, starting with Lennon's tentative acoustic home demo, serve as an intriguing work-in-progress study. |
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| censored-03 |
| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 1:38 am |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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Quote: As I said a while back, "Streets Of Love" is the first Stones' single in 25 years to actually say anything, |
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"Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel."
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| Macca00 |
| Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 9:26 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Location: Liverpool/England
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| censored-03 |
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 6:49 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
Posts: 3058
Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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| Listening to the Buzzcocks song ESP loud...man is that one of the great songs in history. Talk about pleasant repetition ! |
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"Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel."
-- Horace Walpole |
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| zwirnm |
| Posted: Mon Aug 15, 2005 9:27 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 46
Location: Washington, District of Columbia
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| Pernice Brothers and Royal Gun, Jammin' Java (Vienna, VA), August 11, 2005: The last time I saw the Pernice Brothers was July 2003, when they turned in an absolutely revelatory set of Joe Pernice's magnificent pop that was significantly improved by a great sound system. They were touring then on the back of two consecutive albums of Pernice at his brightest and most accessible (musically speaking of course; the lyrics were yet again displays of brilliant mopishness). Since then, Pernice has been busy publishing his book on The Smiths' Meat is Murder, turning it into a screenplay, and getting the biggest publicity of his career for a throwaway song about Manny Ramirez in the midst of Red Sox mania. On Thursday, out in suburban Virginia, the Pernice Brothers were touring for a new album that I haven't heard yet, but it's clearly not the shimmering and intricate pop of the last two records. The band, none of which consisted of Joe's actual brothers this time, was at the end of a long stretch of touring, and Joe in particular seemed a bit bedraggled, singing in a more hoarse tone of voice than his usual velvety croon and sporting a Ted Kaczynski beard. In front of a seated audience, the band's energetic but slightly ragged renditions of songs from the past couple of Pernice records didn't connect as well as they could have, but the songs themselves are still great. The band got the best reception for the material from Overcome by Happiness and Yours, Mine, and Ours, including the surprise pick "Monkey Suit," the Solomonic "Baby in Two," and the superb "Weakest Shade of Blue." "There Goes the Sun" (typical Pernice move, to tweak a George Harrison title) and "Saddest Quo" were among the more immediately accessible numbers from Discover a Lovelier You, which I surely will need to pick up to appreciate more thoroughly. |
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| zwirnm |
| Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:18 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Location: Washington, District of Columbia
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In our five years together, I've told Susan an untold number of stories about the Iota Club and Café in Arlington, and she finally had a chance to see the venue herself on Saturday for the Juliana Hatfield show. We probably could have chosen more wisely.
Juliana's records have been hit or miss for me, but I really liked In Exile Deo, the most recent album on Zoë, and her Bed and Beautiful Creature albums. Juliana has since of course predictably decried Exile as a sellout to her label and promised to return to the rock that was her first love. But I (and Susan) like artful songwriting and singing, and Juliana's show on Saturday was carefully designed to de-emphasize that element of her career. After starting promisingly with a fiercer but still melodic "Daniel" from Beautiful Creature, she squawked through Only Everything's fuzzy "What a Life" and a host of tracks from Made in China, the frankly peeved new album. (cf: "I did make this record very fast and very cheaply. My music is for sale and I am my music and therefore I am for sale. What does it mean to a person whose identity is very wrapped up in the music she makes, if her worth is measured by how many records she sells?" from her website.) "What Do I Care" was the fair and succint summation of the mood at the show, even though Hatfield herself was pleasant enough, and the crowd was large and enthusiastic.
But it just wasn't our kinda thing, in general, despite an impassioned "Somebody is Waiting for Me" and In Exile Deo's wonderfully ambivalent "My Enemy." I'm amused to think that the one previous time I saw her and her band, at the Paradise Theater in Boston, I protested that Hatfield seemed too restrained in demeanor, and the performances weaker than the songs deserved. Saturday, I could have lodged precisely the opposite plaint. But much of that comes back to the venues. The Paradise is a large rock club, and grand gestures are needed to conquer the space and the size. The Iota is a small singer/songwriter venue, and intimacy carries more weight than bluster. Perhaps she just did the right show at the wrong venue, in the wrong year? |
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| Macca00 |
| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 5:39 am |
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Location: Liverpool/England
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I usually view statues as being of dubious merit (dead politicians, generals, dictators, etc), but it's nice to see that Dublin remembers one of her favourite sons: http://www.rte.ie/arts/2005/0819/lynottp.html .
The boy is back in town. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:49 am |
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| It's nice that they would erect a statue for a rocker from home, but The Boys Are Back in Town is one putrid piece of music and words. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 8:47 am |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4246
Location: Montreal
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The Beach Buddha
The lights went up in Montreal's premier concert hall, Place-des-arts, Thursday night at precisely 8:00pm, and there was Brian Wilson, sitting behind a keyboard, surrounded by his regular band, plus an additonal 8 musicians on horns and strings. And for the next two-plus hours (with intermission) there he sat, launching from hit to hit to hit with barely a movement or superfluous word. He was in pretty good voice, still able to hit most high notes, and of course his new group of bandmates --- the ones he's been touring and recording with the past few years -- are, by now, tighter, more skilled, and probably able to out-Beach Boy the original Beach Boys. The pop hits and some of the most gorgeous melodies ever crafted all sounded good, and in some cases, great.
But really, everyone was there to see Brian. It's understood that a Brian Wilson performance is actually an anti-performance. He sits inscrutably, immovably, punctuating each song with stabs of his arms and awkward mime gestures describing the lyrics. And everyone -- his band and the audience -- follows his lead. Part of the wide latitude he's granted comes out of an understanding of a painful past that's left him slightly compromised and so obviously vulnerable. But most of the reason is a genuine awe of that explosive creativity buzzing inside his head. Brian Wilson has -- whether he likes it or not -- become a true music savant. Unable to laugh comfortably and banter with an adoring crowd, and always looking like he's one flat harmony away from breaking down, he nevertheless commands a stage with the flawless, anal retentive ear of a musical genius. And yes, that cliché becomes more and more appropriate as time passes. His genius is a style of music that's instantly recognizable as his alone. Think about it -- how many musical genres are unique to a single artist? How many genres haven't been used and re-used by countless acts? Wilson's stuff stands alone, on some lonely branch of music's family tree, a weird Darwinian mutation of pop music success that's never been duplicated. Most musicians, and people that 'know' music, covet his work from a distance, but no one's copied it because, frankly, it defies copying.
The first hour was a flat-out run through the early years of his songbook. All the dance hits rocked, and all the more sensitive harmonic gems glowed. My personal favourite, "Wouldn't It Be Nice" was propelled by one of the greatest vocal arrangements in musical history, and smaller hits like "In My Room" and "When I Grow Up To Be A Man" had an unexpected sweetness when heard live. The first half ended with Brian simply standing up and unceremoniously toddling offstage, leaving one of his band members to inform the crowd that they'd be back in a few minutes.
The second half was a complete run through of the "Smile" album, from start to finish. Some of the musical mood worked beautifully, some didn't, feeling occasionally like an awkward mixed bag of tricks. These compositions reflected Wilson's own state of mind at the time he wrote them, teetering between his Beach Boy Pop-God persona and his growing mental instability. The blending of those mindsets bounced back and forth from inspired to indulgent, but when the winding pastiche finally segued into the openng notes of "Good Vibrations" everything returned to genius territory again. Even Wilson seemed to be having some real fun.
He came back for two -- count 'em, two! -- encores, and seemed genuinely appreciative of the ongoing standing O's he was getting, giving us more than our money's worth. |
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| censored-03 |
| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:14 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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Nice Lorne, Brian was one of my early music heroes.
Marantzo wrote:
Quote: The Boys Are Back in Town is one putrid piece of music and words.
Come on marantzo, the lyrics are like a cool little paperback story, all implication, which is great for using your own imagination to fill in the blanks of the story. How can you argue with macho bragadoccio rock n roll phrases like this ?
The storyteller is describing a girl the old neighborhood boys (away and then back from war ?) are asking for:
Guess who just got back today?
Those wild-eyed boys that had been away
Haven't changed, haven't much to say
But man, I still think those cats are crazy
They were asking if you were around
How you was, and where you could be found
I told them you were living downtown
Driving all the old men crazy
Next we get a description of a girl that got the attention of the local guys by upping their testosterone ante, but in the next stanza they can take her or leave her, knowing that there are plenty of fish in the sea when you're young and cool. It's imagery worthy of Scorcese's Mean Streets only in Dublin.
You know the chick that used to dance a lot
Every night she'd be on the floor shaking what she'd got
Man when I tell you she was cool, she was red hot
I mean she was steaming
And the time over at Johnny's place
Well this chick got up and she slapped Johnny's face
Man we just fell about the place
If that chick don't want to know, forget her
Yeah it's over the top, but so is much if not most of rock's best material. I think these lines are the kind that a young Bruce Springteen would love to have been able to keep as simple and yet descriptive as opposed to what he did with much more flowerey and more duncy neuroticism...about the same subjects.
Friday night they'll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino's bar and grill
The drinks will flow and blood will spill
And if the boys want to fight, you'd better let them
That jukebox in the corner blasting out my favorite song
The nights are getting warmer, it won't be long
It won't be long till summer comes
Now that the boys are here again
Is it a biker gang, some soldiers or just students back in their hometown from college ? Doesn't matter, they are cooler than anything and that's cool enough for the narrator who now seems to think that now that TBABIT things can finally get back to normal. The many fans of this modern romantic and pastorally descriptive explosion of a rock/pop song seemed to think so as well. The song captures that emotional notion that something was better than it probably really ever was for one fleeting moment when your memory builds things up to epic proportions. I think Phil Lynott (the songwriter) was well aware of this. TBABIT is power chord pop/rock at it's ballsiest. A Hail Hail The Gangs All Here for late 20th century rockers not looking for anything too smart or full of taste, just a song to sing along with when they're in that (Irish) football club mentality and need some male bonding. Couldn't hurt. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:28 pm |
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....just a song to sing along with when they're in that (Irish) football club mentality and need some male bonding....
Yeah, crap.
When I listen to music it has to be good for me to like it. With the exception of some corny guilty pleasures. When I here song lyrics they have to be good, not some jive ass macho bullshit that isn't lyrical and scans like a lurching, backfiring jalopy. It's embarassingly puerile. |
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| Macca00 |
| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 7:28 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Location: Liverpool/England
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marantzo, there are times when male bonding (yes, that clumsy, lumbering politically incorrect relic) IS a valid subject for lyrical expression.
censored is spot on in referring to Springsteen's early forays into the subject; "Seaside Bar Song" is a New Jersey take on Lynott's youthful Dublin recollections. You regard "The Boys Are Back In Town" as puerile, OK, that's your view. However, "puerile" doesn't simply mean childish (reaching for that dictionary again, folks!), it also connotes a juvenile worldview where, admittedly, things acquire an inflated importance, yet there is an awareness of possibilities rather than limitations.
As a rock number, TBABIT won't make most people's top ten, mine included. However, it says a lot more about youthful bragadoccio than manufactured "teen rebellion" efforts.
It should also be remembered that Phil Lynott was a gifted lyricist. He sought an outlet beyond the usual rock'n'roll cliches; he was, moreover, welcoming of punk, & that welcome was reciprocated by the punk generation.
Lynott's tragic demise was caused by a crippling heroin addiction, not an immature continuation of teenage highjinks. |
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| censored-03 |
| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 8:49 pm |
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Joined: 24 May 2004
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Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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Man when I tell you she was cool, she was red hot
This line alone is worth the price of admission. The juxtaposition of the words cool and hot to mean the same thing would have made Shakespeare or Hemingway proud. Now that I think of it, Papa Hemingway would also have liked the bar scene with it's flowing drinks and spilt blood.
Quote: When I here song lyrics they have to be good,
Fly Me To The Moon is a song that seems sophisticated when you hear recordings of it, but the lyrics standing alone on paper are paplum.
Fly me to the moon
And let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words hold my hand
In other words darling kiss me
Fill my life with song
And let me sing forevermore
You are all I hope for
All I worship and adore
In other words please be true
In other words I love you |
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"Life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel."
-- Horace Walpole |
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| censored-03 |
| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 9:01 pm |
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Location: Gotham, Big Apple, The Naked City
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| P.S. I meant to mention half of the standards I researched sounded like bad Hallmark greeting card poetry. |
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