9.13.2002

 
Oh yeah

Just put the Flaming Lips disc in. For my money, there are few bands out there right now that have such amazingly dense confection-style records -- beautifully layered and produced. The songs don't always match the quality of the sound, but so far, this one's delicious.

posted by Anon. 2:28 PM

 
Sales tab

Just went over to the store on the WB lot, and picked up the two disc Rhino Righteous Brothers anthology (which apparently is out-of-print ... hmmm), as well as the newest release by the Flaming Lips, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. That 20% employee discount is a smart ploy: I got sucked right in. And also bought the new anthology Rhino has put together from their Have a Nice Decade series, a 70s box, for my ladyfriend. A pleasant Friday, far away from terrorists in Miami.




posted by Anon. 2:27 PM

 
Zevon, redux

Terrific story in today's LA Times on Warren's awful news. I was thinking about Zevon songs the other day, and I think for me, my favorite song of his is "Desperados Under the Eaves," a wonderful, sad song about living down and out in Los Angeles. "If California slides into the ocean/Like the mystics and statistics say it will/I predict this motel will be left standing/Until I pay my bill."

posted by Anon. 11:40 AM

9.12.2002

 
And his hair was perfect

Very sad news on the wire today: Warren Zevon has untreatable lung cancer.

posted by Anon. 12:22 PM

9.11.2002

 
Bruce on Nightline

Yesterday, caught the Springsteen interview on Nightline, which for some reason was being broadcast on A&E. Aside from Koppel wearing a strange, collarless shirt, it was actually the best video interview I've ever seen with Springsteen. He was much more articulate than usual, avoiding the fum-fawing that has plagued his other interview appearances. He also seemed just much more comfortable, which in part might be due to the interview all being done on his farm in Jersey.

posted by Anon. 4:44 PM

 
I miss the innocence I've known

Attended my first concert in a few months, when I caught Wilco at the John Anson Ford Ampitheatre on Monday night. The opening band was the Minus Fives -- a strange crew that played a massively fine version of the Nuggets classic "Strychnine" ("Some folks prefer marijuana, some prefer wine, for me I want nothing except strychnine" or something to that effect. A trash rock classic.). Turns out the bass player was none other than accused crockery vandal Peter Buck. A nice power pop sound.

Wilco played a good, if brief, concert. There were no selections culled from Uncle Tupelo records (I have heard Wilco play "New Madrid" from Anodyne before), and nothing from A.M., the first album. But several songs from Being There, including Sunken Treasure and Misunderstood, which bear more in common in with the songs on Yankee Hotel Foxtrot than you'd think.

The one impediment to the show, besides the Ford Ampitheatre's requiring the band to keep the volume down to 90 decibles, was the crowd. Sadly, Wilco has long ago stopped being my little band that could, and now has become the hipster's choice. Very disappointing. I almost got into a fight with the guys sitting behind me, who were stoned and kept talking during the songs, clapping out of sync, etc.

Bought tickets for the October 12 Linda Thompson show at the Troubadour. I might also catch Dave Alvin, who is playing the Roxy on the 20th.

posted by Anon. 4:34 PM

9.09.2002

 
My sweet lord

A piece on CNN.com today about the upcoming George Harrison album. The album, titled Brainwashed, was the album George was working on before his untimely death last year from, um, brain cancer. I'm interested to hear more. The red sky at morning, though: Jeff Lynne, he of ELO and excessive production duties on Tom Petty, Traveling Wilburys, and George Harrison albums, was one of the three producers. Isn't there a way someone can steal the master tapes and, I don't know, hand them to Daniel Lanois to fix?

posted by Anon. 12:22 PM

 
Jet airliner, continued

More and more emails are coming in commenting on Palmermix's linking of Springsteen's "The Rising" to the Steve Miller Band's "Jet Airliner." Which got me thinking about the glory days of listening to that Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits, 1974-1978.

I recently opined that the Steve Miller Band was to boys what Journey was to girls: music that all of us listened to in 10th grade, leaving only the slovenly to continue to listen to it after high school. Remember? SMB Greatest Hits was like AC/DC Back in Black, Bob Marley Legend, a record that most everyone seemed to own at one point or another.

There was a time when you thought "Really like your peaches want to shake your trees" was a good line. No, you thought it was more than a good line. You thought it was deep, man!

Then you went to college.

posted by Anon. 9:48 AM

 
Disturbing annals in advertising

Admittedly it's nothing new to hear Nick Drake in an advertisement. It was, after all, the Volkswagen ad featuring "Pink Moon" which sadly began the Drakeasainnce, stripping away from the chosen few their favorite deceased English folk troubadour (leaving us with, who, Tim Buckley? no thanks) from his netherworld of occasional references in Bob Mould interviews and Lucinda Williams covers and giving him to the masses, a 20-year dead moping sex symbol, Jim Morrison with corduroy insted of leather pants..

But this morning, while procrastinating enough that I couldn't go out and run my three miles, I caught a Nick Drake song on ... a Met Life ad. Now, it's one thing to be doing ads for the People's Wagon. (Over 50 years fascism-free!) But the insurance industry? In all seriousness, though it's unfortunate to see Nick Drake's "Mayfair" taking the place of Snoopy, the former Met Life spokesperson, I also think that unlike with a Who or Rolling Stones or Madonna, Nick Drake's estate should be allowed to make its money any way they can. The Rolling Stones didnt' need to sell "Start Me Up" or Madonna "Ray of Light" to Microsoft. But with a smaller act like a Nick Drake or a Yo La Tengo or whomever, well, as long as the artist or his estate is making the choice...

Okay, it's a tough one. Subject to debate.

posted by Anon. 9:41 AM