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These are the songs my iPod regaled me with on the way home today:
And somehow I feel less confused than these gals seemed to me.
(And yes, I am blessed with a very short commute.)
Have you seen the YouTube video of the kid ripping up Pachelbel’s Canon on an electric guitar? It's worth the five minutes if you haven't. The NY Times figure it was worth a bit more than that and actually tracked down the guy that did it.
Guitar fanatics are perplexed: “How the hell does he gets his harmonics to sound like that?� Some praise specific components of the performance, including the distortion, the power chords or the “sweet outro.� Overall a consensus emerges: This guy iz great.
“I’m shocked at how much you rock,� one fan said. “Funtwo just pure ownz the world,� said another. “Somebody just beat JerryC at his own song,� tinFold44 said. Carrie34 gushed, “funtwo’s version makes me want to hold up my lighter and *hug* my inner child! :)�
Nice.
I'm only a little ashamed to admit that I'm really enjoying both "Put Your Records On" by Corrine Bailey Rae and "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. Both are pure hooky pop, and I'm man enough to admit they make me boogie. Beyond the singles, I give the edge to Bailey Rae -- Bedingfield has maybe one other song I can groove to.
That said, my new favorite band right now is Horrorpops from Denmark. The Wife and I saw them open for the Reverend Horton Heat last Thursday and fell in love. They have punk rock go-go dancers!
Assjack
Originally uploaded by Jake Sutton.
Went out tonight with Sarah and Dave to see Hank Williams III. I have to say it was some of the best people watching I've had in a while. There were Greasers & Betties, Punkers, Cowboys (Buffalo Bill Cody was there - I swear!), at least one Skinhead, and many other sorts there.
Good times.
A close front-runner for the most interesting moment of the night was just the fact that the opening band, the Murder Junkies, actually had fans who knew their songs. WTF?! I guess this G.G. Allin guy had some fans...? Y'know, before he died, and stuff...
"Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley from the St. Elsewhere disc. Nelly Furtado does a hip cover version, too.
Sadly it seems I'm way late to this party.
Rode the Bonnie Black into work today. All went well. (Yippee!) [BTW: The Wife thinks the bike's name is "Betty" -- as in "Black Betty", the badass Leadbelly song. I mostly know the version by a band called Ram Jam, which took over Boston Bruins broadcasts in the 90s thanks to Cam Neely naming it as his favorite song.]
So, I'm reading Penn Jillette's novel Sock, and a certain passage brings up the band Cop Shoot Cop. Penn posits that the name isn't about police violence. Rather it is a junkie's to-do list (You have to cop so you can shoot, which makes you need to cop so you can shoot again, etc.). Turns out this isn't the official line:
Puleo reports their name was inspired by both the band members' shared dislike of police officers, and a newspaper headline about a botched police raid, reading "'Cop Shot Cop' or maybe it was 'Cop Shoots Cop.'"
[This gets long...]
When I read it, though, it was like an epiphany. I mean, there's a Spritualized song called "Cop Shoot Cop" (featured on the excellent Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space) and it's all about the smack (Spiritualized is a progeny of Spacemen 3, one of the original Brit-smack-rock bands (The Perfect Prescription is highly recommended, though Taking Drugs to Make Music to Take Drugs To has the most apropos title.)). Check the words, yo:
Hey man there's a hole in my arm where all the money goes Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose
Cop shoot cop I believe I believe that I have been reborn Cop shoot cop I haven't got the time no more
Yep, that's the horse talking, alright. It even borrows a theme from John Prine's "Sam Stone", a feel-good hit if ever there was one.
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes, Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose. Little pitchers have big ears, Don't stop to count the years, Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
So, back to Cop Shoot Cop... I've never sampled their wares, though I've known of them for some time. Then I read that one of the founding members is also the main creative force behind another favorite of mine, Firewater (check out Get Off the Cross, We Need the Wood for the Fire - their first and best):
After Tod left his previous group, Cop Shoot Cop, he quickly regrouped and formed Firewater to explore the styles of music Cop Shoot Cop had only hinted at, including klezmer, cabaret, ska, jazz, and gypsy forms. More than one source described the original Firewater lineup as an "indie rock supergroup", based on members such as Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, Yuval Gabay of Soul Coughing, Jennifer Charles of Elysian Fields, and Hahn Rowe.
Looks like I have some downloading to do. Especially considering Cop Shoot Cop seems to play to a particular weekness of mine:
The trio added Jack Natz on bass guitar, and Tod briefly sang without playing bass. They missed Tod's distinctive "high end" bass playing, however, and they realized only popular convention required a single bass guitarist in a rock band, and both Tod and Natz decided to play the instrument with the group. The relative novelty of a dual-bass, no-guitar rock group certainly helped gather attention.
I'm a sucker for unique intrumentalization. Consider the Boston/Cambridge-based Morphine (Back to the opiates! Yes is my fave.) which consisted of drums, sax, and a two-string slide bass. Or even the Presidents of the United States of America (Their eponymous debut was the perfect antidote for the whole Seattle grunge scene.), whose Chris Ballew worked with Morphine's Mark Sandman and borrowed the basitar and/or guitbass idea. Or even the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (I still stand by Orange, but I love them all.) who just used two guitars, with one tuned way low.
I love interesting minimalism in rock music.
And I guess I really dig the narcotics references, too... Go figure, eh? ;)
In no particular order and with omissions more probable than not:
Once upon a time I was up late watching Nick at Nite when I tuned into the old Martin Mull and Fred Willard master series known as Fernwood Tonite. For those of you who don't know, FT was one surreal little TV show, but maybe that makes perfect sense if you consider the gents on the thing. Then magic happened: Tom Waits came on the show.
I've told so many people about this that I had begun to worry I had made it up, but now I have internet proof!
(YouTube has a ton of other great Tom Waits videos, too. Search around.)
Matt: what would you put on a mix tape for Jesus?Matt: first song Matt: 'South of Heaven" Jake: Jesus Built My Hot Rod Matt: "Spirit in the Sky" Jake: followed by Satan Is My Motor Matt: "I saw your mommy and your mommy's dead" Jake: last song: Sheep Go to Heaven (Goats Go to Hell) Matt: nice touch Matt: I think Super Trouper and Run to the Hills need to be on there somewhwere Jake: how about a little Faith No More: Surprise! You're Dead Matt: thats good Matt: I think Death Metal is too obvious Jake: yeah Matt: but Slayer has a song called 'Jesus Saves' Matt: I think jesus would like some Dead Kennedys Jake: remember the Cardigans? they do a cover of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath Matt: oh yeah, thats good Matt: I'm thinking 'God id Dead' by Crass. Or anything by the punk band the Crucifucks Jake: we would have vastly different mix tapes for Jesus
The new disc from Hasidic reggae sensation Matisyahu, YOUTH, is available for pre-order now.
Matisyahu's new studio album, YOUTH, hits stores March 7th, Pre-Order it HERE and receive the YOUTH DUB album FREE!
(Note that they now have a USPS Priority shipping option, Da Kine, not just FedEx. Or you can order it from Amazon and skip the free disc...)
You might also want to set your TiVos:
Monday, January 16th, Matisyahu will be the musical guest on the Late Show with David Letterman.
This Christmas I got a Bose SoundDock for "Team Sutton", and I have to say, it's the best $300 I've spent since getting the iPod from my mom last Christmas. In all seriousness: It's fucking amazing. The sound that comes out of that thing is better than my headphones (either Shure E2c earbuds or my Grado SR-60 over-ear headset -- both of which are supposed to be on the low end of what would be considered the "audiophile" range...). You can hear much more detail than I've ever heard from an MP3.
Not only is sound quality good, the quantity (volume) is fantastic, as well. When I plug my iPod into my stereo via a Y-cable, I end up turning the iPod's volume to max and I still have to crank the volume on my receiver. Not so with the SoundDock. Volume and clarity are simply off the charts.
Even though I have never heard any of the competitors, I just can't imagine any of them being this otherwordly in their goodness. I can't recommend the SoundDock highly enough.
Also, if you have an iPod and haven't sorted out your in-car options, I currently use, enjoy, and recommend the Monster iCarPlay for automotive listening with simultaneous charging joy, though the new iTrip Auto looks very interesting.
The only shame in all of this, of course is the amount of money a little gizmo like an iPod can make you burn... Ah, well, such is life, eh? ;)
Since a lot of you either got iPods last year during this time of year or may be getting one from Santa this year, I thought I'd share my system for song management using iTunes (the ubergeeks out there who think iTunes is teh sux0rs can ignore this, obviously). iTunes does have its deficiencies, but it actually is great at playlist management. Personally, I have the 20GB fourth generation (click wheel) iPod, but I have about 60GB of music in my iTunes library. Given that, my first step is based on a tip I found somewhere or other (I totally forget where...): I have a normal playlist (the kind you have to physically drag songs into) that I call "_General". This playlist serves as my iPod library. I fill that playlist up to about 18.5GB, which is the iPods actual capacity -- at least that's what I've seen with mine.
Here's where it gets fun...
The next step is to create some "smart" playlists based on the "_General" playlist. Be sure to set "Match *ALL* of the following rules" for all of them.
Examples:
I also recently started using the Comments meta field (Select a song and do "Get Info" to edit the meta data.) to tag my music a la Flickr, del.icio.us, and all those other Web 2.0 cool kids. The "smart" playlists for those look like this:
And yes, that's a real example.
Another modification I'm thinking about trying is to use two "normal" playlists -- one for my stand-by stuff that I just have to have on my iPod at all times and another high flux playlist for stuff that might only be on there for a little while -- and then have "_General" be a smart playlist that combines the two.
Anyway, once you have the playlists set up, you go into the iPod settings and tell it to only update using your fancy new playlists (including "_General").
So, yeah, if you're looking for a better way to organize your music, you might try this method.
--- [Totally off topic, but if you have a blog, I highly recommend checking out Performancing for Firefox... This post was my test run, and it's the bomb. Although, it does make for some hairy markup, now that I look at it...]
"That song is like The Ring," I explained. "You have to pass it on, or you die."
I am ashamed to say how much I let myself enjoy the last two Black Eyed Peas albums.
Oh, well.
"Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that." - Steve Earle.
I seriously hope I've mentioned Townes Van Zandt in this space previously. I also seriously hope that any of you who have even the tiniest bit of affinity for country or folk or blues music already know who Townes is and already own (at the very least) Live at the Old Quarter. If you know the song "Pancho and Lefty", you know Townes' writing -- get to know his music, too.
The reason I bring him up now is that I've just found out there is a documentary about him called Be Here to Love Me that just made its debut.
Margaret Brown's documentary, Be Here To Love Me (premiered at Angelika here in NYC December 2nd) is a long overdue look at his music and life, which was ceaslessly tempestuous. In his 20's he was administered shock treatment after being committed for falling from a four story window willingly ("to see what it felt like"), and the result erased much of his childhood memories. This inability to cement connections in his life led to a continual wandering, and the film takes a very intimate look at the people, friends, and family who all were affected by this.
That bit about "falling" out of a window is news to me, but matches my perception of the guy. The resulting damage also explains a lot about him. In many ways he was a typical "broken" genius.
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The post title is the opening lyric to one of my all time favorite TVZ songs, "Lungs":
Well, won't you lend your lungs to me? Mine are collapsing Plant my feet and bitterly breathe Up the time that's passing. Breath I'll take and breath I'll give Pray the day ain't poison Stand among the ones that live In lonely indecision.
It's interesting to me that Aimee Mann (on whom I have had a warm and fuzzy crush since the 'Til Tuesday days) is obsessed with boxing. She really doesn't seem like the type, which makes it all the more crush inducing, frankly. Of course, she managed to incorporate her obsession into her latest disc, The Forgotten Arm (a boxing term, in fact).
Chris Whitley is an odd character in the musical narrative of my life. His blues/rock album Living with the Law came out in the middle of 1991 when I was still feeling my way around my new Northeastern surrounds and wide open for something new and significant in my life. The track "Big Sky Country" got some level of video play on MTV, as I recall. Then one day he was doing an in-store appearance at the Newbury Street Tower Records and I just happened to be in there during one of my between-class lulls. It was just him and his National with a mic'ed and sanded board on the floor so he could do rhythm with his left foot.
And he blew me away. The song "Phone Call from Leavenworth" in particular drove me to buy the CD right then and there (in-store appearances work -- if you're good).
After that, I kind of followed his arc through the music biz. He never went mainstream again, though he was very popular in places like Amsterdam and Germany. I would pick up his CDs whenever they popped onto the radar (Dirt Floor is excellent, Rocket House has some great moments, and Perfect Day is worth it for the cover of that Lou Reed song alone - never mind the fantastic input from Billy Martin and Chris Wood of Medeski, Martin and Wood).
Each album cover that featured a photo of Chris caused me great concern, as he seemed to be wasting away with each release. I assumed he was on the junk (and her certainly did have his run-ins with heroin at various points in his life). Now, though, I find out through a former coworker and fellow music aficionado that Chris passed at the age of 45 from lung cancer.
A bit of sad news, did you hear Chris Whitley died? You were the first person I thought of when I heard the news since you are one of the few people I know who knows who he was. I've been checking your blog for a few days to see if you'd mention it, and you haven't, so I'm not sure if you heard.
What a loss. I'm really bummed about this. Chris' brother Dan says it best, though:
Whitley is survived by his daughter Trixie, his brother Dan and his girlfriend Susanne, whom he was planning to marry. "I hope you all will mourn my brother's death but more important celebrate his life as Chris was all about life and living," Dan wrote on Chris' official Web site. "I started the celebration by cranking up [the 1998 album] 'Dirt Floor' in his honor ... crying still."
For my part, I went to Amazon to flesh out my Whitley collection with his latest disc, Soft Dangerous Shores, plus a couple others that had slipped past my notice previously.
So long, Chris.
"Like the feather we blow away, in the thoughtlessness of words others say."
See also: Done Waiting and Razing the Bar
So, yeah... I'm still here. Here's a little catch-up:
And thus concludes today's category smorgasbord.
I'm totally and completely stuck right now. I have listened to the Specials' version of the song "Pressure Drop" (also features on the Gross Pointe Blank soundtrack) over a dozen times in the past two days (plus the Toots and the Maytals version a few times for good measure).
This isn't entirely unheard of for me -- last time it happened, though, it was the entire American Idiot album.
I'm not entirely sure what brought this on, but the song makes me borderline ecstatic. (Comment about my questionable sanity redacted.)
At any rate, bless the Specials.
Madness
Originally uploaded by Jake Sutton.
Sure it's a useless picture, but it represents one of the super-funnest moments of my recent history.
Last night we saw 80's ska masters Madness at a relatively tiny club called the Troubadour in LA. The marquee only listed the opening band, the Aggrolites, and some group called The Dangermen. (As it turns out that's the name of the new Madness album.)
What a show! The Aggrolites were a perfect opening band -- high energy "dirty reggae" was just the thing to get the crowd in the mood. Then, after a frustratingly long wait beween sets, Madness came on stage looking like a flashback to two decades ago. The group still kicks out the mad ska jams, even though they're a bunch of (at least) forty-year-olds.
This was also my first "secret" concert, so that adds to the cool factor a bit. The only celebs we saw, though, were Dicky Barrett from the Bosstones (he's on Kimmel and LA radio nowadays) and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols (he's also a fancy LA radio jockey now).