I'm going to try to explain, as patiently as I am able to, why your musical tastes are inferior to mine. Please keep in mind though, that writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
And maybe, if you all promise to behave, I'll drop in the occasional original composition, which I promise will be at least as good as anything Milli Vanilli ever did, you lucky little wallabies!
Friday, April 10, 2009
11th Hour FRE
No time for a rambling preamble, let's get to the music:
1) Sting Me - The Black Crowes. Generally, not a fan of this genre, but I think these guys bring something original and inventive to the table.
2) The Man In Me - Bob Dylan. AKA "That song from The Big Lebowski where he flies through the air". I can enjoy this song without its association with that excellent film, but I'd be lying if I said that it didn't add a little extra something to the experience.
3) St. James Infirmary Blues - The White Stripes. I love the White Stripes...they just sound like they're having fun.
4) Slainte - Mutefish. This is from a CD that Sy and I bought from a band we saw performing on the street in Galway, Ireland. These guys rock!
5) My Name Is Jonas - Weezer. The foreman has injured his hand!
6) (New Wave) Polly - Nirvana. I love old school Nirvana. Wish I'd seen them live.
7) Letting You - NIN. I got this via free download. I like what he's doing lately, but I think Trent Reznor needs to calm down about Radiohead.
8) We Were Born the Mutants Again With Leafling - Of Montreal. I really don't like these guys, but I really love this song.
9) Nude - Radiohead. Spooky! See #7 above. I love these guys even more because they totally ignored Miley Cirus.
10) Roar Roar Roar - Bodies of Water. I just got this a few days ago. Kinda reminds me of the songs from Juno. Pretty good stuff, a little pretentious.
11) I Hate Myself and I Want To Die - Nirvana. Love it...more old Nirvana. Good one to end on.
It appears I have to get more new music. Or older music...
1) 24,900 Miles Per Hour - 7 Year Bitch. One of those Seattle bands the industry drug (dragged?) up in the 90's. Coincidentally, Marge and Homer are telling the story of how they got through the 90's. Pretty lame, actually.
2)Black Hole - Beck. I love this song, except the last 2 minutes of wacky laser sounds make me feel like my guts are turning inside out. Subsequently, although I listen to this song a lot, iTunes shows zero plays.
3)Big Long Now - Nirvana. Funny, Homer is dressed up as Kurt Cobain. Love the old stuff.
So I'm in Target the other day, and even though I prefer to buy my music from small shops such as the Electric Fetus, the Exclusive Company, or Newbury Comics I saw the new White Stripes cd and just had to pick it up. In these times of downloadable singles and cd's crammed with filler, the White Stripes are one of the few bands who make truly good albums, a way underappreciated and nearly lost art.
Most people, due to the ubiquitous nature of the White Stripes, are unaware that 'Icky Thump' is the band's major label debut (Warner Bros.), and from the bizarre notes of the lead-off title track, any fears they would sell out or tame their sound are assuaged. In fact, a quick perusing of the listener comments on iTunes shows the opposite to be true - lots of people are confused and angered by the unmelodic instruments, but they are philistines as far as I'm concerned. This song kind of picks up where 'The Nurse' left off on their previous album.
The second track is 'You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do What You're Told)', and only because they're the White Stripes do I give a pass on the use of parentheses in the title (I hate parentheses!!!) Jack White recently spent some time producing an album for Loretta Lynn, and it shows on this track. It has a little bit of a country feel to it, and it's a little predictable, but Meg's drumming adds an edgy touch.
'300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues' has a nice poetic, easy flow, but it is a little derivative - this is nothing they haven't done a few times before. But it's still better than 90% of the new music out there, so I can't complain too much.
After the previous two mellow, sleepy songs, 'Conquest' hits the spot. Jack gets the whole Latin thing down in a way that he tried to but couldn't quite do on 'I Think I Smell a Rat' on "White Blood Cells". The interplay between the guitar and the trumpet is almost worth the cost of the cd all by itself. I predict that this song will open the next Quentin Tarantino movie.
I don't have much to say about 'Bone Broke' - it's a good rock song, something that sound like it might have been a leftover song from their self-titled debut.
The next two songs, 'Prickly Thorn, but Sweetly Worn' and 'St.Andrews (The Battle is in the Air)' (there are those damnable parentheses again!) are Scottish-themed songs that blend easily into each other. Towards the end, it sounds like Meg is having some sort of ecstasy flashback, but not in a bad way. Plus, you get bagpipes - if it's not Scottish, it's crap!
'Little Cream Soda' takes a dark and nihilistic turn, and that's an avenue that the White Stripes don't go down very much - too bad, as this song rocks with an urgency they don't usually show.
'Rag & Bone' is probably my favorite song on the album; a nice, fast-paced number, and funny too. As near as I can tell, this song is a narrative featuring Jack and Meg as a couple of vagabonds wandering the suburbs dumpster diving...no other band could pull this off.
'I'm Slowly Turning Into You' starts off very pedestrian and predictable, but is saved by the happy dirge of the chorus. I do have the feeling that this song might grow on me a little as I hear it more.
'A Martyr For My Love For You' is a sweet and sad song about the art of the preemptive breakup, and all of the rationalizing that goes along with it.
'Catch Hell Blues' has a classic blues feel, but is also fresh and innovative in both the guitar and drum work. If I were putting this album together, I would've ended on this song.
'Effect and Cause' sounds like an afterthought, and also sounds quite a bit like 'Summertime Blues' by Eddie Cochran. I suppose you could kind of look at this song as maybe something that takes place after the album, some silly thing just for fun, to unwind.
All in all, a great album I recommend to anyone. Seven thumbs up!
