Quick update:
I wish like heck that I had bought the 4gb iPod; the mini just repeats itself too much and it is somewhat frustrating. I once worked at a radio station that had a playlist of 700 songs and I hated how repetitive it was, so I should have known 1000 wouldn't be that much better. Oh well, I suppose I should go out and get some real problems.
On the music front itself, some new thoughts (I really wish I could pull off a daily music blog, I just don't know enough music):
early Simple Minds : Their early stuff was really good. You might survive with their greatest hits CD, but the current one is way too focused on the back half of their career. The old one, Glittering Prize, was ok, but it was too short. I think you could buy the album New Gold Dream and then work your way forward. 'Promised You A Miracle' is so good, and given all the nudge-n-wink going on these days about the 80s New Wave and alternative stuff, you might need to hear it to remind you that you can't leave the writing of history to VH1.
John Zorn Naked City: In my desperation for something new to get interested in musically, I decided to leap in to a genre that Amoeba Records in California calls "Unusually Experimental". I became acquainted with John Zorn in college, and was quite profoundly disturbed by his album covers (yes, I worked in an era where one still played vinyl on the radio) which usually featured shots of actual death or actual torture, usually in a nice sepia tone. Well he worked with Bill Laswell, who wrote the music for PiL's 'Rise', so I thought I might find a way into his huge catalogue. I chose Naked City because it is said to be Zorn's most commercial, which isn't saying much. Long story short: I don't know what to do with it. I can kinda tell it is not bad since the playing seems to be quite competent; but I must say, it makes Yoko Ono seem like Cher. I may give it another few listens, but I don't know if I can take it end to end again.
Roky Erickson: Thursday morning, while walking through Penn Station, a woman came by yelling "get behind me satan" at the top of her lungs. She was really possessed by something intense and bad, and actually seemed to be gnashing her teeth and wailing from the soul. What made it so odd was that she was professionally dressed and, aside from the satanic delusion outburst, was quite interchangable with the average Amtrak customer. When she passed, she was yelling lots of other stuff about the devil deceiving her, and a homeless person seeing it made the cross and aimed it at her. This experience was not unlike listening to Roky Erickson. It makes me terribly sad to be a spectator to someone going nuts. What makes Roky different is that he writes great rock-n-roll songs and sings so well. 'If You Have Ghosts', 'Two Headed Dog', 'I Walked With A Zombie' are actually good sing-a-longs, which I can't/don't sing-a-long to if I can avoid it. The wrinkle in this story is that Roky lived out the One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest story for real, and had his brain taken from him by the Texas Mental Health system, where he was sent in the 60s for having a little pot on him. Hearing him before and after is profoundly disturbing when you realize that a borderline rock genius had it all shocked and beaten out of him, and is now left with a brain that does nothing but come up with this insane kind of satanic, otherworld battle for his soul thing. Every time I see a "Don't Mess With Texas" sticker, I am reminded of poor Roky.
Duran Duran: 'Hungry Like The Wolf' is awesome. Lots of their stuff was. I am curious about their reunion album. If you hear any of it, gimmie your opinion. I wonder if it sucks. If only the Power Station coulda made a decent reunion album. Ugh.
Eminem: 'Lose It' isn't very good. Formulaic for him, and he doesn't even meet his usual standard. The beat is nice I spose.
Supergrass: My friend Sassy bought me a Smiths tribute CD a few years back, and I must say, their cover of 'Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others' is the best thing on it. Their song 'Alright' is also awesome. I got their greatest hits CD this week, and nothing has stuck with me like those 2 songs do. I recommend you see the video of 'Alright' if you can...they might be the one band who did well with their career that didn't get any groupies
Stone Roses: The first Stone Roses album is virtually peerless. 'I Wanna Be Adored' will always be my favorite on it, but I go through different phases on what the 2nd best song is. Right now, I am down with 'She Bangs The Drums', which is odd in that I never really dug it. Shows what I know.
RZA: Bobby Bobby Bobby, Digi Digi Digi. The Wu-Tang albums have been steadily been less and less good as they come out, but if you look at the output of Bob Digi through all the stuff he did with Raekwon, ODB, and all the other Wu's, you realize he actually had so much good stuff at the start, he simply could have held it all for Wu and we would be saying each album got better as they came out. People love Liquid Swords, and it is good, but I still prefer Raekwon's Cuban Linx. So good.
Miscellany: Burning out on Neil Young, and am gonna take a break from it. Same with Johnny Cash, which never thought I would say. Damn iPod repetition! Loving Tom Petty's 'Don't Come Around Here No More', Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love', Echo & The Bunnymen's 'The Promise', Buzzcock's 'Everybody's Happy Nowadays', Robyn Hitchcock's 'Viva Sea-Tac', Hole's 'Rock Star' (I read somewhere that Courtney Love is out of money! Holy shit!, Aerosmith's 'Sweet Emotion' (the intro is a top 25 moment in rock), and the alternate versions of Dylan's Infidels album, which is the way the CD shoulda been done. Sigh.
Posted by rudayday at October 16, 2004 11:11 AM