Play List 7 2008

Each month, since Feb of 2006, I start a playlist in my iTunes of the tunes that catch my ear that month. I started off writing a post to my Mog page with a short review or comments of each track, not only to keep a running diary for myself, but also to hopefully point others toward these tunes. In the last several months I have started to cross post this information on other sites where I keep blogs. (If you are reading this somewhere besides Mog, you can find all the old ones at www.mog.com/iren)  I want to apologies for any weird formatting stuff right here and now, I type this in MS word and then post it on these various message places, some of which have…w ell formatting issues….

Anyway for this month here is what caught my ear…

 

Today's Lesson by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds           

www.nick-cave.com

www.nickcaveandthebadseeds.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Cave

www.myspace.com/nickcaveandthebadseeds 

I really like the new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album… what else is there to say? Look it rocks, it rolls, it’s got that roots punch, it hints at garage rock and screams like the stooge! All the while it’s like… like… listen I think …. Hum… scratch that, this is crazy, in all honestly these songs just stick in my head, they have the energy and the drive of the Stooges class stuff, and it’s almost like Nick heard that last ‘stooges’ record and figured he’d cut a bunch of tunes to remind those guys how it’s done… in fact fuck it, Ron Asheton lives about six blocks from where I sit, I should burn him a copy of this disc and leave it in his mailbox with a note screaming…. THIS IS HOW IT’S DONE…. Love Nick

 

Roof with a hole by Meat Puppets        

www.meatpuppets.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meat_Puppets

www.myspace.com/themeatpuppets

I blame a lot of people for this one… first and foremost is the last woman that broke my heart… for inspiring me to buy a copy of Too High To Die…next is the Noel Murray’s Popless series on the AV Club (www.avclub.com) … you are reading that??? Rich? It might only be the most important look at music and culture this year… in fact forget what ever I am writing and get over there and spend the weekend reading the archives….  Any way Murray mentioned the Meat Puppets and this tune, so I figured I needed to check it again… and what do you know… it’s a neo-classic….

  

More News From Nowhere by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds           

Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! By Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds   

(See above)

 

Sister Lost Soul by Alejandro Escovedo     

Always A Friend by Alejandro Escovedo     

www.alejandroescovedo.com

www.myspace.com/alejandroescovedo

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Escovedo

 More of the old punk showing the old timers how they used to do it… Sister Lost Soul and Always a Friend are pure rock and roll… no prefix needed, even though it’s all got bits and parts of what ever else Al figured he would throw in…. I want to shout out that Always A Friend is the best Neo-Classic (and that’s the word of the month, or day, or what ever for me) tune to come down the pike in I don’t know how long…

Copperhead Road by            Steve Earle  

www.steveearle.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Earle

www.myspace.com/steveearlemusic

When it comes to 80’s rock from the country side of the tracks, music calling back to the 50’s (in this case an update of Thunder Road with Robert Mitchum) hillbilly culture you don’t get much better than this… with it’s perfect lyrics and it’s riff and why in the hell isn’t every other wannabe alt country/Cowpunk band have this in their set? Why didn’t the clash ever cover it… and why hasn’t Neko Case, Nick Cave, Mark Lanegan, or Alejandro Escovedo            for that matter failed to cover this?

 

Dig That Cra-A-Azy Grave! By Forbidden Dimension     

www.myspace.com/forbiddendimension

It’s the Forbidden Dimension… really they are one of those bands that should be on every months list… but hey, this one was called back to me when listening to a interview it the great pulp write Christ Faust (http://www.christafaust.com/) mentioned a novel by Richard S Prather called Dig that Crazy Grave… and I had to listen to the song again…. And I am looking for the Prather book btw…

 

Mission Stardust by My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult

www.mylifewiththethrillkillkult.com

www.myspace.com/mylifewiththetkk

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Life_with_the_Thrill_Kill_Kult

Speaking of pulp… this tune from the Thrill Kill Kult’s overlooked electro-pulp album also was on my list of noir and glam trash stuff that I have to revisit… Mission Stardust… the album is one that I really hope is rediscovered by the masses soon, and that every other rockfiend with a clue is playing it..

 

Doctorin' the Empire by The Celebrity Murder Party 

The KLF mashes up the Dr. Who theme with Gary Glitter’s Rock & Roll… that’s all, it’s fun trash, it’s silly and I added it to the list for some reason..

 

2LIVnDIEinLA by Hazelden      

Really I am not sure why I included this one… other than I wanted to remind myself to listen to it more… so check it out for your self at

http://www.myspace.com/endroulette

 

Thoughts, comments, spare change.

what ever you are called these day... I like the sound!

Curse you Rock'n'Roll TV .... for introducing me to Hazelden (now known as End Roulette )... a charming power pop alt rock band from LA with elements of Teenage Fanclub and Concrete Blonde in their sound... you can check out mp3s at their myspace page...

Pure Noir

Queenpin by Megan Abbott


I almost didn’t pick up Megan Abbotts Queenpin. I’d heard an interview with her a couple of years ago and been inspired to pick up a copy of her first book… The Song is You, and wasn’t all that impressed…. However after running across a clip of her reading from Queenpin on Youtube I was inspired to check it out of my library. I am so glad I did, it’s radiates that pure Noir rhythm, and feel. I could almost hear the Jazz, and taste the cocktails as I devoured the book. It’s the story of a small time gal, who is plucked from the trenches of low level casino grind and becomes the right hand of the local organization runner. Soon she is also involved with a louse of a man, one that has her number and gets her hips twitching…. And it’s all a foot from there. I really like the sound and the tone, I love the feel of the book, and I can’t wait to check out what ever Abbott has for us next… hell I might even go back and check out The Song is You again, or her second book Die a Little.

Karma… or something like it.

Bust by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr

Wow, talk about a rousing crime adventure. I am reminded of the great Elmore Leonard after reading this tale of a group of ego driven greedy people all trying to get their hands on what they want. For most of the character it’s money, but for those who have money? It’s sex, it’s power and it’s control. The basic plot is rich guy hires out a hit on his wife to get free of her, and everyone wants to shake him down for money afterward. In the end… we all the debts are paid, or mostly paid, and it was a fun enough journey. I think I will be looking up the sequel Slide in the very near future.

Dear Record Industry....

I would like to buy these albums... you know give you money for them.... just like in the old days... only they haven't been released in the States yet... so you are not collecting my money for these discs, and I fear that I am going to have to skip them, pay twice as much for the import or continue to watch you die.... here it is money in the bank....

Modern Adventure

I spotted this book one day while walking through the library... and it seemed to call out to me for some reason. I was sure that I had seen it somewhere before, so I pulled it off the shelf and took a look. It's the story of Tim Severin who in the late 70's built a leather boat and sailed it from Ireland to North America.... mostly to show that it could be done. Inspired by the Navigatio of Saint Brendan he wanted to try and retrace the journey of the tale...... Now thinking back I am sure that my father owned a copy of this book, and I recall him telling me that St. Brendan had landed in North American not only before Columbus but before Leif Eriksson and his Greenlanders.... The book is an interesting tale of not only Severin's trip, but of the building of the boat, the decoding of the Navigatio and the experience of modern man using obsolete technology to complete a trip thought impossible. Like Thor Heyerdahl, Severin also has shown that even with this world having been mapped that there is still adventure to be found.... for those who dare to dream! Tim Severin is on the web at: http://www.timseverin.net/

Out of the Past

I finally got around to watching all of the classic noir flick Out of the Past. It was great, filled with great images, juxtaposing the city and the country, the east coast and the west, and of course showing that if  in the words of the The Wire's Det. McNulty... if you play in dirt your gonna get dirty..... Robert Mitchum is great as the guy that want's out, but somehow knows he's not going to get out.... of course there are a couple of great lines, the one that I think I like the best is when Mitchum says "you don't get the gas for being the undertaker"....