All Songs Considered

NPR’s All Songs Considered named Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot as one of the most important records of the last decade. It’s the album that was famously ditched by Reprise Records (Warner distributed) and finally released by Nonesuch (Warner distributed). There’s a documentary film about it. Commentary and lists about music are obviously subjective, easy to argue both sides of the story. But my Wilco heart lies in the next album, where the ideas from YHF develop into subtance.

A Ghost is Born came out in 2004, no movie, no firing of band members, just Tweedy finding his footing a new band. Spiders, I’m A Wheel,  Theologians, Handshake Drugs ( Exactly what do you want me to be?)….5 years down the road and its still on the player. It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea -  the 10-minute Spiders with an extended skronk from Tweedy may not alwasy endear. But a beautiful record it remains. Now just let me turn it up and enjoy.

Monday in Fall

It’s nine thirty on a Monday night in October. I am drinking green tea.

No football. No beer.

No pizza or wings.

What has happened to me?

Goat’s Head Soup – Rolling Stones

1973. Goat’s Head Soup. The album that followed the iconic Exile On Main Street, I’ve been listening to it on my iPod. I seemed to have missed that this is a great album. Do you remember Dancing With Mr D? Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker) or Starfucker?  With Billy Preston and Nicky Hopkins on board, recorded mostly in Jamaica this album takes off right from the start. Sure Angie took things to #1, but that’s really besides the point. It’s the album  tracks that make this record fly. And it probably marks the last great Stones disc. Sure there was Some Girls,  but the grit was gone. The snotty-ness in the the guitars and Jagger’s vocals. My brother bought this records when it came out and i listened to it endlessly. Go back and enjoy this one. It’s worth it.

Summer

My neighbourhood is  changing. Again. When i moved into the area almost 8 years ago, it was mainly Portuguese, Italian, Sicilian families. They worked in their backyard gardens, kept to themselves, their clothes on the clotheslines that crossed above the growing lettuce,  tomatoes and grape vines. For the most part,  everyone tolerated and respected the open windows and tight quarters of backyards. Sure it was noisy and arguments were overheard by all. Music – live or otherwise –  was kept to a minimum after dark.

Last night arriving home after a long day, not to mention an exhausting week, at work, to find two concerts going on in the back alleys. The student-aged gaggle who recently moved in a couple of doors over, were hosting a backyard bbq, complete with a massive boombox. Across the alley, apparently Little Havana had sprouted. Lights ablaze ( those overhead white christmas lights), with salsa and hip hop booming across the whole neighbourhood and the party in full swing.

I grabbed a glass of wine and sat outside  on my cramped balcony. Focus, I said. It’s a free world, let everyone play. It’s a humid , swampy night. I remember these nights as a student where i am certain neighbours tolerated my over-amped entry into the adulthood.

But i couldnt help but notice that my neighbourhood had changed. Louder, audibly crossing the lines that were respected in the past years.

Written In Chalk

All I did was help you tell a lie
You never even knew it when I said goodbye
I ran so far and I don't know why

You never even knew who I was
You saw about as far as a blind man does
I carried you with me every where I went
I carried every thing till my back was bent

All I did was help you tell a lie
You never even knew it when I said goodbye
It won't stop raining and I don't know why

Really? Have I Left? Am I Gone?

A rainy Sunday morning in Amherst, NY. Just completed my inaugural visit to an IHOP when i looked across the street. Strange name for a funeral home. Or maybe a warning for me, as i attempt to digest the pancakes.

Dr John – A belated Mardi Gras

Solid Air

object> He will be missed.

Damn. It actually hurts to watch this now. I will miss you John. A little late now, but Thank you.

Year End Lists

The Stuff I Listened to in 2008 

This was not an especially great year in music, a lot of the things that caught my ear were derivative and sample-heavy. With the exception of Sam Phillips spectacular Dont Do Anything record, nothing took me by surprise and made me listen over and over again. The records I spent time with were remakes, Board tapes and box sets, which is to say stuff I knew (Shelby Lynne, Ryan Adams and John Martyn respectively).  I didn’t warmup to the hippie choir, democratic hallelujah of Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, Vampire Weekend etc. No thanks. I did, however, re-discovered dance-pop, in the form of the Brazilian Girls, Jazmine Sullivan and Britney mash-ups (the best being the Stevie Wonder/Britney mash-up) although dancing was  restricted to the living room.

Songs of 2008 (the ones that stuck with me through the year):

• Shelby Lynne – Just A Little Lovin’
• Sam Phillips – Don’t Do Anything
• The Ting Tings – That’s Not My Name
• The Hold Steady – Sequestered in Memphis
• Jazmine Sullivan – Bust The Windows
• Britney – Womanizer Blaster
• Christine Aguilera – Keeps Getting Better
• Love is All – Sea Sick

The Albums of 2008:

• Shelby Lynne – Just A Little Lovin’
• Grace Jones – Hurricane
• Brazilian Girls – New York City
• Sam Phillips – Don’t Do Anything
• Girl Talk – Feed the Animals
• Santogold – Santogold
• Erykah Badu – New Amerykah
• John Martyn – Ain’t No Saint (Box Set)
• Sun Kill Moon - April
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Dig! Lazarus! Dig!
• Ryan Adams and the Cardinals– Cardinalogy
• Hayes Carll – Trouble in Mind

Memorable Concerts of 2008:

• Gutter Twins (Mod Club, Toronto)
• Shelby Lynne (Mod Club, Toronto; Richards on Richards, Vancouver)
• Sam Phillips (Hughs Room, Toronto)
• David Byrne (Massey Hall, Toronto)
• Bob Dylan/Gillian Welch & David Rawlings – (SPAC, Saratoga Springs, NY)
• John Martyn  (Joe’s Pub, NYC)

 

 

 

 

Full

My ipod is full. December 29, 2008. I have now selectively roamed through the playlist and deleted and unchecked albums I dont often listen to,  which allowed me to perform the last synch –  squeaking in the latest albums from Girl Talk, Jamey Johnson and a remix of Christina Aguilera’s recent track Keeps Getting Better. Pathetic that i only have 30Gb,  but it seemed appropriated at the time now clearly unsatisfying. I need to jump from the Lightenin’ Hopkins disc to the Beyonce and beyond. That track i downloaded  last night reminded me of the article i was supposed to read.  Damnitt.  Its really all become about convenience, space, instant access and instant grat. ( i cant spell out the whole word, its too long and i wanna get on with my next point).

ahhhhh….