SOUNDTRACK: THE REPLACEMENTS-Stink EP (1982).
The Replacements followed their shambolic Sorry Ma, with this little EP. 8 songs in 14 minutes. If you were going to check out one of these two releases, this is the one to get. If for no other reason than at 14 minutes it certainly doesn’t overstay its welcome.
And song-wise, this album is pretty amazing. The first track, “Kids Don’t Follow” opens with a live recording of the Minneapolis police breaking up a party. Not sure if this was a band party or not, but the Replacements had to change their name from The Impediments because they got banned from a local club because they were too drunk and disorderly.
But even though this album has all the trapping of a hardcore record (check out the sleeve design, and, of course, the name of the EP). And look at these song titles: they’re almost a parody of punk attitudes: “Fuck School,” “White and Lazy,” “God Damn Job,” “Dope Smokin’ Moron.” Once again, the band plays fast, but not terribly angry songs. Rather than being angry ragers, the band sounds more like drunken teenagers. And so the chorus of “God Damn Job” stays with you so and wind up singing the infectious but inappropriate to sing in public “Gaaahhhhhd Damnit. Gaaaaaaahhhhhhhd Damnit. God Damn!”
It’s only White and Lazy that features anything like the hardcore trappings the album suggests. The opening of the song is almost folksy, but when they hit the 90- second mark they bust out a true hardcore section: speed, shouty lyrics and more speed. It’s very cathartic.
But best of all, Stink features “Go” the first song by Westerberg that is truly awesome. It’s slower than the rest, and features a great chorus with a cool screaming guitar. Over his career, Westerberg would writes some amazing anthems, and this is the first.
Although this isn’t their final raucous record, future records will drift from this attitude. And this condenses their stuff into 15 minutes. The whole album sounds like it will fall apart before they finish it, but finish it they do.
[READ: June 6, 2009] The Graveyard Book
Sarah gave me this book for my birthday, with an exciting IOU: that she would get Neil Gaiman to sign my copy when she meets him at ALA this summer. So I got that going for me. Which is nice.
I’ve been a fan of Gaiman’s for years. And yes, Gaiman’s Sandman was what got me interested in comics, so thanks Neil. Plus, as a Tori Amos fan, you pretty much have to love Neil, as their symbiotic relationship goes back almost twenty years now.
Having said all of that I haven’t followed his post comics career all that closely. I read American Gods, but I don’t recall all that much about it. My brother-in-law Tim tells me that it’s amazing, so I will likely go back and read it again someday.
So, what about this book, anyhow.
There’s a chapter of this story available in his M is for Magic collection. Interestingly in the introduction, he notes that, it’s Chapter 4 which he wrote first. Huh. So, it seemed familiar to me when I started reading it although it didn’t seem totally familiar until I got to Chapter 4. (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: PEARL JAM-Vitalogy (1994).
I always think of this as the “weird” Pearl Jam disc. Mostly that’s because the contents are certainly weird (in that it’s made up like an old book, including excerpts from the book in the liner notes). But also because it has some of Pearl Jam’s strangest songs on it, especially “Hey Foxymophandlemama, That’s Me,” easily one of the weirdest songs in their canon, and possibly the weirdest song on a major label. It’s 7 minutes of samples and scratchy guitars. And it’s more than a little creepy. The disc also contains “Bugs” an accordion-based rant about, well, bugs. and “Aye Davanita” a sort of Eastern chanting type piece.
I have a Periodicals page already, but I rarely look at it or update it. So, over the next few months I’m going to mention a magazine that I subscribe to. When I’m all caught up, I’ll remove that page.
They’ve also started a Green section (this latest one has a computer built into a cardboard CPU unit…very cool).
SOUNDTRACK: FLAMING LIPS-She Don’t Use Jelly (1993).
This single contains three B-Sides: “Translucent Egg” is something of an instrumental version of “She Don’t Use Jelly.” It uses the same opening guitar riff, but it changes a few things along the way. The highlights though are the other two tracks: variants from Transmissions from the Satellite Heart. “Turn It On [Bluegrass Version]” is, as advertised, a stompin’ bluegrass version of that track (with help from the Butthole Surfers), and “******* [Porch Version]” is a solo acoustic version of “Plastic Jesus.” Probably not an essential disc, but the alternate versions do highlight the quality of the songs and not just the raucous effects on the main disc.
SOUNDTRACK–THE FLAMING LIPS-THE W.A.N.D. (2006).
The first single from the Lips last album contains three tracks: the title track, “You Got to Hold On” and “Time Travel…Yes!”
SOUNDTRACK: CITY AND COLOUR-Live (2007).
City and Colour is the solo project of Alexisonfire singer Dallas Green (get it?). I was really impressed by Dallas’ voice within the noisy metalcore of AOF. And I wondered what his solo stuff would sound like without the dissonance of the rest of the band. I saw this disc was available from 
SOUNDTRACK: FOXBORO HOT TUBS-Stop Drop & Roll!!! (2008)
This is the least cleverly concealed “side-project” in rock history. At this point Billie-Joe Armstrong’s voice is so recognizable, that it’s impossible for him to hide. But Foxboro Hot Tubs were a way for Green Day to release something different after their mega-successful American Idiot album.
I Just Read About That... 