SOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash (1981).
Since I’ve been talking about The Replacements so much, it made me want to go back and listen to their stuff. The Replacements are the quintessential band that “grew up” or “matured” and for better or worse sounds utterly different from their first album to their last (a span of only nine years!). In fact, I don’t imagine that there are too many people who would enjoy all seven of their discs. One suspects that if the band themselves were given a copy of their All Shook Down disc in 1981, they would have smashed it.
So this was their first release. It has 18 songs in about 30 minutes. That’s pure hardcore, right? Well, not exactly. Even though the songs are short and fast and quite sloppy, there’s something about Paul Westerberg’s voice and delivery that makes these songs seem not quite hardcore. He enunciates! And you can understand him most of the time. And, maybe this is a better indicator: there’s parts to these songs, it’s not just breakneck pacing. They also have song titles that belied how good their song writing would become. Like: “Shiftless When Idle.”
In fact, “Johnny’s Gonna Die” isn’t fast at all. It shows what the kind of songs that they would eventually write: literate and moving indie rock.
There must have been something in the water in 1981 in Minnesota. Hüsker Dü, the other amazing punk outfit out of Minnesota (referenced in the ‘Mats song “Something to Du”) also put out a blistering live hardcore record in 1981 called Land Speed Record (17 songs in 26 minutes, listed as 2 tracks on CDs because they don’t pause in between songs). Like the ‘Mats, Hüsker Dü wouldn’t recognize their later incarnations in 1981 either. And why are The Replacements abbreviated as The ‘Mats? I don’t know.
But this ‘Mats record is the kind of sneaky record that can get you to enjoy punk even if you don’t think you like it. There’s something so fun about Sorry Ma, that you don’t really notice that it’s all done so fast.
[READ: May 22, 2009] “My Great Depression”
This essay collection is tough to catalog. Do I include all of the authors in the title of the post, do I pick selected ones, or just go with none. Yes, go with none.
Harper’s asked ten authors/artists to send stories from the near future, after the economic collapse of the country. All of the pieces are three columns or less, and some are more enjoyable than others. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: ART BRUT-Art Brut vs. Satan (2009).
I’ve mentioned Art Brut before. I enjoy their talky/punk style. This, their new album, is produced by Frank Black of Pixies fame. I can’t honestly say that I see a real difference in production values, but I don’t usually notice things like that.
SOUNDTRACK: THE DECEMBERISTS-The Hazards of Love (2009).
I first played this disc a few times without really listening to it, just to get a feel for it. And I was surprised by how heavy it sounded. The harshest moments of the disc really stood out to me, and I was quite surprised, as I think of the Decemberists as more folky than this.
I first heard about this magazine from my friend Ailish’s then-boyfriend, Dave (this was sometime in 1993, I would guess). Dave fancied himself an artiste: he typed his novel on a portable Underwood, loved Henry Miller and read 
SOUNDTRACK: WRSU 89.7 FM.
Coming straight out of Rutgers University in New Brunswick (my grad school alma mater), this was the first station that I happened upon while I was scanning the lower numbers on the radio station.
I hadn’t heard of this book, although actually I’m sure I had–but I ignored it. Roy Blount Jr is on 
SOUNDTRACK: 89.5 WSOU.
This station is one that I used to listen to quite often back at my old house. It comes from Seton Hall University and it is an excellent resource for heavy metal. I haven’t tuned them in in about five years, and I was delighted to hear that they are still around and still rocking.
This album seems to get overshadowed by the anti-George Bush track “Bu$hleaguer.” Evidently many people were turned off by this track, and that may have had an impact on sales. Of course, I’m sure many other people were introduced to the band by this song, too. Regardless, the rest of the album shouldn’t be judged by this track, as it is rather unusual.
SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Vs. (1993).
Ten was a solid record, and although it had diversity within it, overall the sound was pretty consistent. On Vs., Pearl Jam mixed it up sonically and otherwise.
Zadie Smith is the editor and she wrote the introduction. I like to cover all of the written pieces in the book, but there’s not much to say about the introduction except that it fills you in on the details of the collection. She thanks Sarah Vowell for the idea but I gather that the rest of the work was done by her.
SOUNDTRACK: LULLABYE ARKESTRA-Ampgrave [CST044] (2006).
I’m not sure what’s up with the spelling of Arkestra (Sun Ra tribute, perhaps?), but “Lullabye” is certainly a misnomer. “Ampgrave” on the other hand is a pretty good summary of the music on this record.
SOUNDTRACK: WRFF 104.5 FM.
I stumbled upon this station by accident one day. I was working outside, trying to tune in a radio station, and, although I was near a classic rock station from New York, I heard a very cool alternative song. So, I tuned in this staticky station and later learned that I was listening to 104.5, WRFF out of Philadelphia.
I Just Read About That... 