Fuck 2011: Music Edition

This has been a very good year for music. Personally, I wrote the best songs of my life, my friends were making great stuff too, and a great album was never more than a month away. And this was THE year for the single LP. All the best albums were just clean-cut single LPs- no bonus tracks, no second discs, no spillage, no mess. It's kinda hard to rank em, even though there was one clear winner. So let's run down my favorites in typical romantic reductionist fashion with the old one sentence review!

Iwrestledabearonce- Ruining It For Everyone
A mature (if possible) sophomore effort while still being BATSHIT CRAZY.

The Strokes- Angles
Remember for a brief second when post-punk was cool again?

Kaputt- Destroyer
A beautiful and un-ironic tribute to slick '80s jazz.

Adele- 21
Well produced, well written, well this is gonna win a bucket of Grammys.

Tom Waits- Bad Like Me
It's like Frank's Wild Years and all his ANTI- albums had a baby.

Yuck
Yuck, this tastes great.

Frank Zappa- Feeding The Monkees at Ma Maison
Dear GZ, can I haz m0ar?

The album of the year, by and far, is The Decemberist's The King Is Dead. I think I wrote about it... The best re-issue (sorta) was The Beach Boys's The Smile Session, in ANY incarnation. Huh, I think I wrote about that too. Weird.

***

TOP FIVE SONGS OF 2011-

5) Foster The People- "Pumped Up Kicks" ...Go ahead, pretend you didn't like this.


4) We Cut Corners- "A Pirate's Life" ...Good gravy, this breaks my heart every time.


3) Okkervil River- "Mermaid" ...Another heart-breaker that deserved to stand alone from the LP.


2) The Strokes- "Under Cover of Darkness) ..."It's been five minutes since I heard it. I gotta hear it again."



and the best song of this year or ANY year....

1) BLACK JOE LEWIS AND THE HONEYBEARS- "BOOTY CITY"

Mrs. Jenkins Turned Him Green

Recently I've been intrigued by one of Zappa's oddest LPs, Francesco Zappa. I actually found it in the MassArt library in the classical LP section and was kinda blown away by that. It is a compilation of two opuses by Italian composer and cellist Francesco Zappa (yes he is real) who flourished around 1763-1788. The music was found by Frank Zappa in the 1980s at UC Berkley and performed by the Barking Pumpkin Digital Gratification Consort (aka Zappa on the Synclavier II).

Zappa's Synclavier work was criticized, both then and now, for being too "cold" and lacking "human touch." This is true to some end since Zappa never really used warm tones with the Synclavier in any of his work- even in the highly advanced Civilization Phase III. The coldness in FZ can be found with the hard-to-identify instrumentation (except the really good harpsichord synth) and the lack of intonation.

However, this detachment works to the album's advantage due to Frank Zappa's distaste for court music (hilariously explained in David Ocker's liner notes). Using his line of thinking, a composer can sadly be removed from his own work if he has to write it to please a hierarchy of society. Francesco Zappa was the court composer for the Duke of York right before Europe was swept with the spirit and terror of the French Revolution so he too must have felt this emotional detachment from his work.

Another note on the digital orchestration- it's fun. It's almost goofy. It sounds like early computer game music. This was most likely an aesthetic choice by Frank Zappa. The two biggest clues to this is the silly (but brilliant) Donald Roller Wilson cover and the collage on the back cover that contains a sign reading "UMRK DIGITAL BAROQUE AMUSEMENT FACTORY." Frank argued through his career that his music was for entertainment and amusement and "should not be confused with any other form of artistic expression." (from the liner notes of The Perfect Stranger) Francesco's music was for the amusement of the European elite. Frank Zappa takes the music, puts it into the musical aesthetic of the 1980s, and makes it for the amusement of everyone. You can say a lot about Frank, but you can't say his stuff isn't amusing.

Race to the End of Summer

I have been deterred from finishing a treatment for my thesis. Thankfully I've been deterred for very good reasons. Driving other people's cars, late night monster movies, wine, laughter, beaches, going to bed early and sleeping late. My days at 774 are numbered. I don't want to think about it until I am a safe distance away.

Tomorrow I'm gonna spend a great deal of time writing. Playing catch-up in school. Making sure my affairs are in order before I move into Autumn.

Most if not all of these albums are fantastic. I highly reccomend Destroyer's Kaputt. It's a very well produced musical fantasy. Post-smooth jazz horns(yes, they made it up), WICKED fucking clean guitars that's reminiscent of The Smiths and Twin Peaks, and arrangements that call back Steely Dan and Dent May. Yup, it's a hell of a combo.

A History/Mercy

It was very long ago, when the winters were crisper, the trees were taller, and the night sky was always clear. We cut across backyards, searching for the moonlight that guided us towards the water.

"Don't worry. No one's home."

Eager to follow. Eager to do right.

"Which one is stuck in your head now?"
"Rebellion."
"Me too."

Lips tasted so new. Music sounded so new.

* * *

"What you mean you don't like it?"
"It's too poppy."
"Of course it's poppy, it's POP music."
"Yeah but it's too old. It doesn't sound right."
"Don't you realize this is one of the most important albums of the 1980s?"
"Do you hear yourself? 80s music sucks!"
"But this is important!"
"It's not a hit against you. We just don't like it."
"But it's important..."

Record Store Day POA

This year's Record Store Day seems to have the least amount of exciting official releases compared to the past two years I've been aware of Hipster's Christmas. These are the only titles I can at least pretend to long for:

The Beach Boys- "Heroes and Villians/Good Vibrations"(double 10"...at 78 rpm? the hell?)
Bob Dylan- Live at Brandeis 1963 (may be worth checking out...at least as a bootleg)
Daft Punk- Tron Legacy (picture disc...alright, I'm listening)
Jenny and Johnny/Gram Parsons split
Kate Bush- Hounds of Love (pink 10")
Nivana- Hormoaning (since it's hard to find a copy of Incesticide at a reasonable price, I really want this)

The split and Hormoaning are givens. Tron will totally depend on how much it is. Two picture discs on a Disney label...things may get stupid.

I really hope some Newbury has the new Okkervil River 7". I'm also seeking a copy of Smiley Smile or Please Please Me. Oh! Or even a copy of Eccentric Soul: The Capsol Label. And maybe this will finally be the year I buy a physical copy of I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning.

I'm nerding the fuck out and RSD is still eight days away.

Argument Against Snobbery No. 1

Most people will not give the original mixes of M.O.I's We're Only In It For The Money and the Beatles' Let It Be time of day. The former is overly censored and the latter has a Phil Spector slickness that was originally called "a cardboard coffin for the greatest band in the world."

I just listened to them back to back and I feel like I'm back on Bank Street.

We're Only In it will always be Summer 2006. Turning 16. Starting to gain a little independence. Starting to explore video work. Being in love. Acting in a radio play. The sun warming my face.

Let It Be will always be my Mother's favorite album and that means a lot.

Sinner's Midnight

For the first time since 2007, I'm in a band again. Joseph, Alberto and I. We are Uncle Deadly. I mostly play the keys which has me wicked excited. I haven't played this much keyboards in years and years. So much of it is still there. During our first practice, I was whipping out great licks. Tonight I was a little too tired to play at my best, but did teach the boys an old song of mine called "Similar But Not The Same." We're totally reworking it to give it a little more life and a little less...well, death. I'm surprised they took a liking to it. I know it will be even better once we're done on it.

Two other points. One, I saw Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears at the Middle East on Sunday. I swear to God, I wish I could live there. He played the blues with such a hard edge. Being part of "Booty City," "Sugarfoot," and a cover of "Louie, Louie" live was worth the price of admission and THEN SOME. Got to talk to him after the show too a/k/a shake his hand and say he's a cool guy to a "enthusiastic" reply of "Thanks, man." Whatevs. He's Black Joe and I'm just another tax-paying citizen of Booty City.

I bought three more albums. The Sun Sessions by Elvis Presley, Psalms for Ticklebag by Reality Challenged, Touch Me There by L. Shankar (produced by FZ), and The Man from Utopia by FZ. The last one brings my FZ count to 21 with 27 remaining. They are all good (and bizarre) records and will probably get a proper review at some point in time.

I've been having a strange week. It's not the same feeling of dread. It's like a mental growth spurt I suppose. Maybe I'm preparing myself to return to the Cape. I was originally thinking it was going to be this weekend, but with the crummy weather and a hopeful shoot, I may stay around here. The people grew sad...or corn. Depending on their want.

Back to my song, the two best lines I feel are "I'm sick of being a stranger sleeping in a stranger's bed" and "Love is the only reason I came." Well done, High School Kane. Well done.

If We'd All Been Living in California...

This past week I bought three LPs (technically four, but I'll get into that some other time). First, two Zappa albums. Orchestral Favorites and Uncle Meat on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday, Joseph and I landed the last two copies of The Strokes' new album Angles which became yet another mild drug that kept us going through our all-night writing session. We probably listened to the thing three complete times, the did all our favorite cuts, then by luck, watched them perform "Taken for a Fool" on Leterman. I love the fact this 80s-power pop thing is back. Gotta dust off my Cars albums and what not.

We continued to keep the stereo on all night and I put on Orchestral Favorites when the sun was coming up. At that point, my blood had been replaced with shitty Mexican coffee so the album seem to last about eight minutes. Granted, it's not suppose to be one of his best. It was one of the unauthorized albums Warner Brothers put out instead of Zappa's Läther box set. To show the album had no input by the big cheese, not one of the members of the The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Orchestra was credited. But for what it's worth, best version of "Strictly Genteel" around.

Uncle Meat was the one I looked forward to the most. As with nearly all of his older LPs, Zappa did major remastering for both the Old Masters projects and the 1987 release of his back catalog (see Ask for Record at Counter) The 1968 mix shows all the problems with digital compression. When CD mastering technology first came out, one of the main objections was to get rid of the hiss picked up from the original tapes. High pass filters were installed. Add that to compression, lots of high frequency sounds on the recording suffer. As a result, the percussion on the original LPs sounds DYNAMITE. Tunes like "Nine Types of Industrial Pollution," which on the CD sound like fuzzy sonic ramblings, end up having wonderful texture. The drumming on "Cruisin' for Burgers" is so freaking heavy on the LP, it's wonderful. Wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful it really makes it.

Also the album on whole flows a lot better. It's more more cohesive- like a fluid stream of consciousness instead of a rushed group of loosely related tunes. This is probably because the '87 mix has an obnoxious amount of reverb. I can't wait to get my hands on a vinyl copy of Lumpy Gravy now.

ZAPPA LP COUNT- 20*
LEFT TO GO- 31**

*Including Mystery Disc 2
**Up to 1988 and not counting The Old Masters Box Two and Three.

You Can't Do That In Hyannis Anymore! Vol. 3

There was a Newbury Comics in Hyannis in this crummy strip mall. It was right next to the Toys 'R Us so it was only logical for my giddiness over toys to be transferred to albums just next door. The first time I ever cut class was Junior Year in order to get my hands on Bright Eyes's Cassedega (2007). A lot of my first memories of Zappa albums started in that parking lot at night when I'd drive away hearing "Gregory Peccary" or "Uncle Meat" for the first (and certainly not the last) time. I dragged girlfriends there after having to endure clothes shopping. My friends would go and loudly and bluntly express our opinions. One time the whole store SANG when "Bohemian Rhapsody" came on the stereo.

The floor went through many changes but in my heart, the record albums were always in the way back. I was maybe 12 when I first shuffled through the then slim record selection. Most of it was hip-hop. Rock albums were RARITIES hence my first new LP I ever bought was Weezer's Maladroit. No I was never a huge Weezer fan but asking for a Barenaked Ladies LP was (and still is) a futile request. Also Daft Punk's Discovery was wicked out of print on vinyl.

There's still a Newbury Comics in Hyannis. They moved to the mall in the slot were the old Friendly's used to be. It's not that I'm bitter that it's changed. It has but that's not my point. I guess I'm learning that that certain part of my life is over. I have new record joints now. Better even. Digging beyond my wildest dreams. But nothing will come close to the joint I'd frequent after school was over, after the sun went down, and drive home from, listening to something new in the dark.

Dylan Heals All

My Last.fm top 20 most played Dylan songs is a pretty fair assessment of my favorite Dylan songs. Since I most likely won't sleep tonight, lemme post them and a favorite line or two to defend my cases for these tunes because maybe five of them are on popular compilations. The rest are in a no-man's land of his catalog.

1. "Tight Connection to My Heart" from Empire Burlesque

I never could learn to drink that blood and to call it wine. I never could learn to hold you, love, and call you mine.

2. "Girl from the North Country Side" from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

I'm wonderin' if she remembers me at all

3. "Lay Lady Lay" from Nashville Skyline

Why wait any longer for the one you love when he's standing in front of you?

4. "Sweetheart Like You" from Infidels

They say in your father's house, there's many mansions. Each one has a fireproof floor

5. "Jokerman" from Infidels

You're going to Sodom and Gomorrah, but what do you care? Ain't nobody there would want to marry your sister. Friend to the martyr. Friend to the woman of shame. You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name

6. "Went to See The Gypsy" from New Morning

His room was dark and crowded. The lights were low and dim. "How are you?" he said to me. I said it back to him

7. "Po' Boy" from Love and Theft (Dylan's whole career lead up to this and "Mississippi")

My mother was the daughter of a wealthy farmer. My father was a traveling salesman. I never met him. When my mother died, my uncle took me in. He ran a funeral parlor. He did a lot of nice things for me and I won't forget him.

8. "Mississippi" from Love and Theft

I've been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down.

9. "Subterrainian Homesick Blues" from Bringing It All Back Home

Twenty years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift

10. "Changing of the Guards" from Street Legal

The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid

11. "Blood in my Eyes" from World Gone Wrong (Traditional)

Woke up this morning, feeling blue. Seen a good lookin' girl, can I make love with you?

12. "We Better Talk This Over" from Street Legal

Number 12 is really "Wigwam" but that's an instrumental. I include this song because it has one of my favorite Dylan lines ever- "I think we better talk this over. Maybe when we both get sober."

13. "Watered-Down Love" from Shot of Love

You don't want a love that's pure. You wanna drown love. You want a watered-down love.

14. "Not Dark Yet" from Time Out of Mind

I can't even remember what it was I came here to get away from.

15. "Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight" from Infidels

It's like I'm stuck inside a painting that's hanging in the Louvre...No more affection that's misplaced, girl.

16. "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" from The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

You just kinda wasted my precious time, but don't think twice, it's all right.

17. "All The Tired Horses" from Self Portrait

All the tired horses in the sun. How'm I suppose to get any ridin' done? Hmm.

18. "Pretty Peggy-o" from Bob Dylan

Come a-runnin' down the stairs pretty Peggy-o. Combing back your yellow hair. You're the prettiest darn girl I've ever seen-io.

19. "Brownsville Girl" from Knocked Out Loaded (co-written by Sam Shepard)

There was a movie I seen one time, I think I sat through it twice, I don’t remember who I was or where I was bound. All I remember about it was it starred Gregory Peck, he wore a gun and he was shot in the back. Seems like a long time ago, long before the stars were torn down.

20. "Life is Hard" from Together Through Life

My dreams are locked and barred, admitting life is hard without you near me


Oh if there's an original idea out there, I could use it right about now.

Peel Back and See

One of my proudest moments running the infamous Album Club at my high school involved The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967). I would often entertain/piss off my fellow classmates every Tuesday Morning Meeting with an advertisement for the album we would feature on Wednesday. My friend Alison was really pumped about presenting the album, none of us had heard it before. We were out-muscled by all the jocks patting each other on the back for something that they won or whatever and no one got to make any announcements. I chalked it up as a loss and moved on- I knew our main core of maybe five would show up. Little did I know, Allie wasn’t settling for that.

She made her way to the main office and asked to make an announcement on the PA. My heart soared. Over a dozen people showed up, people I didn’t even know. Seniors who adored Lou Reed. Warhol fans too.

It’s one of those icons in rock. Five years later, buying it on 180 gram vinyl (mono) at Newbury’s in Hyannis, I still have fans coming up to me telling me they love the album. In particular, this sales guy at Macy’s. Lock tight in his suit, I saw a nostalgic smile on his face as he said “Great album” with his eyes honed in on the 12” cardboard banana under my arm.

I’m still not sure how I feel about the album. It defiantly brings up down and out memories from high school- liquid eyeliner, cassette bootlegs, an ER visti, staring at the ceiling feeling ways about stuff. With my new art school eyes, I see at as a wonderful piece of art. The Velvet Underground, under the wing of Andy Warhol, would perform along side film projections and bizarre color light shows and drugs….drugs…and some more drugs. It was a multi-media happening called the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. This album is basically an artifact of that (as seen on the back photo). The cover itself was mostly a Warhol creation. A silkscreen sticker of a banana would peel back to reveal a pink banana. Warhol would continue with this interactive album cover in 1971 with The Rolling Stones’s Sticky Fingers cover that had an actual zipper on the fly of the jeans.

As for the actual musical production of the album, Warhol was as much of a producer as he was a producer of Paul Morrissey’s horror films in the ‘70s (Fun Fact: Morrissey took all the photos for the gatefold). He would show up to the studio, say “Oh wow that’s great” and split. Lou Reed and Tom Wilson (the man who produced the Mother’s first two albums as with Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”) essentially produced the album.

However, the whole existence of the album and the band was Warhol’s invention. He was the one who had Nico, a model and resident of the Factory, join the group despite Reed’s objections. It is that reason why I like this album more than any other Underground record. I adore Nico’s voice. I guess I have a soft spot for weird vocals. “Femme Fetale” is so freaking beautiful. Her voice simultaneously tempts and repels you and the melancholy of the whole production kills me.

I’m not the biggest fan of Lou Reed but “Heroin” is such a powerful song. It throws me right back to Mr. Murphy’s room, listening to it for the first time with the lights off. I couldn’t move. I was completely focused on the song. The meditating guitar part- it’s almost Indian but it’s two chords.

It’s my wife.
And it’s my life.

Reasons Why The Last Post Is The Best Rock Song

Aside from the reckless driving test, here are the other reasons why "Annie The Imaginary Lawyer" is the best rock song:

1. Fast. Fast. Fast.
2. Super distorted power chords in the beginning.
3. Straight forward "boom-CHACK-boom-CHACK" rock drumming.
4. A wonderful amount of "fucks."
5. Staggered rhythm in the chorus
6. The bass lead in before the second chorus.
7. A rock lyric that only makes sense when you're caught up in the song "you're about as interesting as my rent."
8. Glockenspiel. Bitches.
9. A dirty chorus that's oh so much fun to shout along with
10. Powerful fucking male vocals at the end.
11. Girl's name in the title.

I also came up with a list for why "Only Anarchists are Pretty" kicks so much ass. Quick side note before I begin: If I ever get a talk show/late night variety show, I want World/Inferno to open the show with this song. This song SCREAMS SNL in the late '70s. Anyway, the list:

1. Strong piano part.
2. HOTTEST horn arrangements. The trills in the lead before the chorus KILL me.
3. The song is about anarchy, breaking out of prison, fighting, femme fetales, and sex. Do you see anything missing? Neither do I.
4. The way Jack Terricloth expresses the sex appeal of the love interest is with the line "[You tell everyone to go to hell] with the flash of the ankle and snarl of the lip. Well I see you in the street and gasp." FUCK. YES.
5. The clean guitar solo.
6. The kick line build up in the final chorus(s).
7. The COUNTERPOINT in the final chorus(s).

Jesus H. Christ I forgot how totally in love I am with this album (2006's Red-Eyed Soul).

Summer '07

It is really really really really really hard to listen to this song sitting down in something that can't got 90 mph on the mid-cape highway. And it's really hard to listen to this and know the Knights arn't just down the road...

Hare Krshna

I have had the busiest damn week, but a good week. As a result, I haven't had a lot of time to write. I'm up to three days this year where I haven't written anything significant. I excuse it with the class film shoot I did on Tuesday (where I was a unstoppable one man sound department) and last night's Hit and Run History screening at the Massachusetts Historical Society. It was so bizarre sitting in the same room as a bunch of Copley and Blyth original portraits kickin' back the free booze and watching the little documentary I've proudly been a part of since 2008.

I return to this little blog to talk about the new(ish) album I bought yesterday in the spirit of talking about every album I buy this year. At Looney Tunes in Boston (on the same block as the Historical Society. Coincidence?) I got The Radha Krshna Temple (London) self titled LP. The albums pop culture claim to fame is its famous record label (Apple) and it's even more famous producer (George Harrison, who also plays harmonium, bass, and slide guitar). I bought it on compact disc back in November when Apple re-released a majority of its old catalog to continue the high demand of Beatles related material after the band's remastered catalog release in September '09.

The album is comprised of devotional Hindi songs/chants with all proceeds going to the Internation Society for Krishna Consciousness. The inside gatefold actually lists all the Temples that were around the world at the time of release (1970) and a neat-o flyer for mail-order ISKCON books. It is very entrancing both listening and watching it spin on my turntable. 33 and 1/3 must be a sacred number in Hinduism because that is the speed this music was intended to be played at. Harrison once said in an interview that he was drawn to Indian music because it felt so familiar and I couldn't agree more. Most of my friends agree that once they get passed the exotic nature in the structure, the music is very familiar- like home, like you would perfectly believe seeing this album in your parent's record collection, Beatle connection or not.

The point of the music is to repeat the mantra to attain a higher state of consciousness- as George said "beyond waking and sleeping." I have defiantly lost myself in the album, shouting the responses to "Bhaja Bhakata/Arati" while blaring it on my car stereo. The easiest mantra to learn is the Hare Krshna Mantra. It's the Lord's Prayer of the East but this time you are trying to listen, not talk. Exhale on each line whilst meditating. Think of it as preparing to exhale "om."

Music is the true cultural ambassador. I never would have explored Indian culture if it wasn't for their music which, at times, is too wonderful for words. I feel I am a better person for exploring the ideas of the East. Spiritually, the East is more excepting and disciplined than the West- two qualities I hold dear. And the food? Spicier AND healthier than Mexican food. Shit now I'm hungry. Spiritually and physically. I can at least satisfy the latter. I'll try meditating again too. I did nearly everyday in the last half of the summer but soon learned that meditating is harder than running a mile.

APPLE LP COUNT- 24
LEFT TO GO- 38

020711

What a horrible Super Bowl. Not because of the outcome, in fact that was the best part of the game. But by and large, it was a very average football game. The half time show was wretched and the commercials were sub-par. However, I haven't laughed this hard in a very long time. Paul and Dani helped me greatly as with the state of New Hampshire; proving the fact I most likely will never live outside of the northeast. Perhaps west coast or somewhere exotic, just not anywhere else in this country.

I forgot to pack something this weekend. That was a huge mistake on my part. That being said, these things helped me me the most-

- my grandfather's dog, Mia
- getting tipsy at the hotel with my family and playing music all night and telling stories
- biting my tongue and being civil with my grandfather's widow's family
- the Marines who attended and participated in the twenty-one gun salute. I regret not thanking them. I was just a wreck and wanted to look as brave as they did.
- the recent-ish photograph of my grandfather I stole
- allowing myself to drain my body of emotion because that was way more than crying
- a very honest photograph of Miley Cyrus where she looks like she's looking for something meaningful to fall into her plastic lap.
- a demo recording for a very very obscure soul label out of Columbus, Ohio. If I wrote soul songs, they would sound like this:

Ask for Record at Counter

What with the snow day tomorrow, I've decided to kick back and transfer some LPs thanks to Joseph's nifty Ion MixMeister. First up is Frank Zappa's Hot Rats. This album was originally released in 1969 and  was remixed in 1987 for a CD release. Once I finally bought a copy of the original LP at Nugget's in beautiful Kenmore Square, I promptly sold my CD copy. It's that good.

It's very pretentious and cliché to claim an LP sounds warmer than a CD (all be it true). If anything, the '69 mix sounds stripped down. Zappa sounds like he's actually playing with a band instead of just multi-tracking the hell out of it. (For a frame of reference, at the same time Zappa was recording this in LA with a 16 track mixer, the Beatles were living in the stone age with an 8 track mixer.) The drums are much richer on this recording and "Peaches en Regalia" is too wonderful for words. The horns have space to breath as opposed to the constricting '87 mix. Same goes for "Little Umbrellas" on side two.

In '87 mix, he mainly turned up and re-EQed the guitar parts, but that doesn't make it completely worthless (or vain). I like the groovy lead-in he added on "The Gumbo Variations." The old mix starts quite suddenly following the calm "Little Umbrellas." Also the '87 mixes of "Willie the Pimp" and "Son of Mr. Green Genes" seem like Zappa's original intention was restricted by the technology at the time. "Willie" sounds way tighter and "Green Genes" has more excitement in it. I remember when I first heard it in high school and I was FLOORED by the time Zappa's guitar solo came in. The '69 mix sounds more relaxed; keeping with the jazz fusion theme and less balls-to-the-wall.

Both are great versions. It's the music that really matters in the end. It's widely considered Zappa's best and I'm inclined to agree even though I know my answer will change dozens of times after I post this. Also remember to register to vote, would you please?

The Decemberists- The King is Dead

Yesterday The Decemberists's new LP came out. Today I bought it at the original Newbury Comics and Classical Annex in Boston, MA. This is the first Decemberisst release that I have really cared about since The Crane Wife came out on Capitol in 2006. Both that and 2009's The Hazards of Love were such disappointments. Granted if my little indie band jumped to a really good major label, I would use the upped production value to experiment in studio. I applaud anyone who tries to work narratives into pop music, but sadly, I wasn't having it.

Once I saw the cover and the lead track "Down by the Water" back in November, I knew for sure- the Decemberists I fell in love with back in high school is back. To start with, the album is tremendous. The group has always had a throw back feel to them, but on this LP it's a throw back to alternative records of the 1980s. The title alone is a tribute to Colin Meloy's beloved Smiths album The Queen is Dead ("This is Why We Fight" pretty much has the same drums and percussion from "The Boy With The Thorn in his Side" for what it's worth. Not accusing it of a rip off- it's a great tune that's way darker than the Smiths tune...if that's possible). Also it helps when you have REM's guitarist Peter Buck on board to make it sound like some songs should have been on MTV's 120 Hours back in '86. Some tracks also have rhythms that totally recall those on Paul Simon's late '70s albums and the harmonica parts are right out of a Springsteen or Neil Young song.

All the nostalgia aside, the album has so many fresh sounds too. The addition of Gilliam Welch on the whole LP is the best guest vocalist since Emmylou Harris was on Bright Eye's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. (Speaking of, new Bright Eyes LP is coming 2/15 with a whole new Saddle Creek line up. 2011 is going to be an amazing year.) "June Hymn" is perfect proof of the group creating new and exciting sounds that are vastly different from the days of "A Cautionary Song" but still fit perfectly in their vein.

Colin's voice is so different. Good different. "Rise to Me" is the best he has ever sounded. He has either completely loss his whine or perfected to a point where it's an art.

The album is basically what The Crane Wife should have been. Like Picaresque, it's just a collection of great tunes. Really great tunes, Jesus H. Christ. It's exciting the way only a solid single LP can deliever. Side Two opens with "Down by the Water"- shit, that's how you sequence an album.

Also as far as the album art goes, it's wonderful. A classic gate-fold filled with Poloroids of the band while recording the album in their farm outside of Portland, Oregon. Stuff like that makes me happy as hell.

On a personal note, listening to "June Hymn" back to back with Tarkio's "Keeping Me Awake" make me miss the summer a lot. The weather has been far too cold for my liking. Some days I lie in bed and wish that when I go outside, all the snow will be gone and it will be summer again. It never happens that way, but I'm still hopeful.

You getting this, Zapruder?

First of all, yesterday morning I heard this awesome story on NPR's Morning Edition about a 102 key grand piano. I've never heard anything quite like it. Even playing normal pieces intended for 88 key pianos sound brighter. You can literally hear every single note being played with such clarity. Now we need some wacky composers to make new pieces for it. I'll get on it right away once someone gives me a grant for $300,000.

Now today was the first day of classes at my beloved MassArt.  Junior Screening 2. I had only been back for ten minutes and we were already watching a video about the 1972 Republican National Convention. Great. Just what I need before I have my coffee in the morning, a face-full of rabid Nixon supporters. The piece was called Four More Years (1972) and was made by the San Francisco collective TVTV. Overall, I liked it. It was shot on a Sony Portapak, the first portable video camera, so it made Nixon's Nazi Youth supports even more freaking creepy. Every frame of the washed out b&w video made Miami look like a city in a third world country. Also, the piece made me want to re-read Thompson's Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72. After seeing the video, HST's descriptions of the scene seem dead freaking on- the decrepit Nixon supporters, the mind-boggling width of Ronald Regan's shoulders, and the eerie silence of the Vietnam Vets Against the War protesters outside the hotel. Maybe I'm a frustrated journalist. I feed off of shit like that.

Actually another radio show that would be fitting for this subject is this week's episode of This American Life. It's about kids given the responsibilities that are usually reserved for adults- like whether or not America should invade Grenada.

Then what did we watch next? The fucking Zapruder film. Really Prof. G? You want to crush our spirits that much? This was followed by Ant Farm/T.R. Uthco's The Eternal Frame (1975) which is a re-enactment of the assassination (well more so a re-enactment of the Zapruder film itself) right in Dealey Plaza. Was it accurate? Almost to the frame. Was it offensive? Jackie O was a dude in drag.

My class tomorrow has been canceled so I am looking at a four day weekend. I have no idea what to do with myself. If I'm smart, I'll write and go to the MFA and other fabulous things. If I'm stupid, I'll watch TV and Stumble until my fingers bleed. Let's hope for the former.

Playoffs Part Two- And I Thought Yesterday Was Bad...

Why? Why the Jets? Why negate the greatest instalment of Monday Night Football last month? I would have rather lost to Cleveland again and for even more than lose to the Jets. Now for the AFC title it's gonna be Steelers/Jets. I'd rather castrate myself with a weed-whacker before I even think about taking sides in that contest. At least I'm pretty alright with both Chicago and Green Bay so I'm rooting for an NFC champ for the third year in a row this coming Stupid Bowl.

Two out of my four picks came through. I need to get better at that. I only really played one game on emotion- I honestly thought Baltimore was gonna pull off a win. They deserved to win the game based on that sneaky touchdown after stuffing the hell out of Rapethisberger and causing him to fumble. If dickweeds like Flacco and Sanchez are the future of the NFL, I think I'm gonna pick up tennis again.

At least this weekend wasn't a total loss. It never is when I'm with Paul, my best friend since the 8th grade. I've been in his new apartment in New Hampshire since Saturday. My stay has basically been a 10 year old boy's dream of what being in college would be- your friend having his own place where you can stay up as long as you want, play with Nerf guns, watch TV, and live on the comfiest chair with a million blankets and pillows.

I usually find whatever intangible sentiment I'm searching for when I come to New Hampshire. Last night we walked across this bridge in the center of town on our way to a Chinese restaurant. I looked over the bridge to the cold water running down stream over rock after rock as the snow fell gently. It was like a scene from a T.C. Boyle short story idealizing New England. Bursting, I exclaimed "This is my country." Paul laughed. In cold weather, joy is contagious. This state is almost too much to take. Perhaps because personally, it doesn't have the same baggage Maine contains- my former golden state.

Switching gears, winter always makes me think of Barenaked Ladies. Each of their albums have a cold snap in them- save Maroon. It's music to huddle around. I spent a lot of time trying to warm myself in front of the glow of my stereo in middle school while memorizing the words to "Upside Down" or trying to teach myself the harmonies on "The Great Provider." Here's a deep cut from their wildly successful 1998 album Stunt as played in a bathroom by songwriter Ed Robinson.  It gave me chills when I was 13 and still does so seven years later. This song is winter in Harwich, MA.

Dancing with myself.

Tonight I went to see Eli "Paperboy" Reed and the True Lovers with a bunch of my art school friends at a joint called the Middle East Downstairs. Pre-show I went to my friend Joe's place on Hillside and for the first time in year, I was under dressed. Joseph was in a slick suit, the girls looked fantastic and even Alberto was wearing a button-up sweater. I promptly bolted back to Parker to change into a velvet blazer and skinny black tie. Some drunk dude called Joseph and I "Jake and Elwood" as we made our way to Cambridge. I think I enjoyed the compliment a little too much. No matter.

Three McDonald hamburgers, two glasses of whiskey and one hour later, we were in Cambridge watching an opening act by the name of Spirit Kid. They sound like a good Beatles power-pop group. The lead singer looked a little like my friend Joseph. I was already dancing like a fool and the main act hadn't even come out yet (granted it doesn't take much to get me dancing like a fool.)

The True lovers came out with a pretty strong looking brass section wearing dark sunglasses and solemn expressions on their faces. I turned to Joseph and said "They better open with a horn hit." Sure enough. In total Blues Brother fashion (second call back of the night), the horns hit hard, and the band came in while the keyboard player gave an introduction to our hero Eli that grabbed the room's pre-show tension by the balls.

"...Ladies and Gentlemen,  Eli 'Paperboy' Reeeeeeeeeeeed!"

The lad came out looking like Michael Buble as a greaser. A good pompadour is something to covet and I coveted the hell out of it. He took a confident stride to the microphone, grabbed it savagely and let out a yelp. The band went full tilt. The house exploded. The man simply did not stop. He opened his mouth and nothing but soul came out of it for over an hour. He channeled all the masters of soul and didn't scrimp on the showmanship. At times his voice gave me chills, sounding like he swallowed an old transistor radio.

I simply did not stop dancing. Neither did my friends. Alberto with Miriah. Joe with Monica. Audrey with Me. Me with Miriah. Joe with Alberto. It went on and on. We were so happy and angelic. It was impossible for any bad vibrations to creep into the room. It's so wonderful to fall in love with so many people while dancing. My friends. My dear friends.

The set was over and the DJ kicked back in- spinning some far-out 45s from as far back as the mid 1950s. We Charlestoned towards the door but had no intentions of leaving. Joseph danced while rolling a new cigarette. Incredible really, the power of music.

Needless to say, I highly recommend seeing Eli and picking up his albums. Same goes for the Eccentric Soul series from the Numero group- cuts of which I think the DJ actually spinned.

I solemnly swear to randomly go to any and all soul shows I can find from this day forth.