SOUNDTRACK: KISS-Dressed to Kill (1975).
I feel like I used to give this disc short shrift because (horrors) its cover is in black and white. But, unlike the first two discs which were heavy (poppy, but heavy), Dressed to Kill is very anthemic and, well, a little wimpy. Despite these caveats, I still know every word to the disc, and I do rather enjoy it.
In fact, the first four songs on the disc are not featured on Alive!. It starts out really poppy with “Room Service” which has a pretty wild guitar solo. The next track, “Two Timer” is a Gene-sung slow track which even has Gene getting into a spoken word bit: “That’s the truth baby, you’re a two timer.” “Ladies in Waiting” is one of those fun Kiss songs that starts out a little off-sounding but ends up being a really poppy singalong. “Getaway” continues a trend of songs that Ace wrote but which Peter sings. (Evidently Ace didn’t feel confident in his vocals yet). The side ends with the cool “Rock Bottom,” a slow, pretty guitar intro opens into a rocking song.
This is the rare Kiss disc where Side Two has more hits than Side One. “C’mon and Love Me” (an unusual request, frankly) is a fun rocker with a lot of baby baby’s. “Anything for My Baby” is a really upbeat song which amuses me for all of the things that he swears he would do for her: steal, wheel and deal, crawl or kneel, etc. Next is “She,” one of the all-time great Kiss songs. It’s heavy, it’s menacing, it has an awesome guitar riff and a great guitar solo. The fact that they tucked it away in the middle of side two is really weird. “Love Her All I Can” is a fast rocker that’s followed by Kiss’ most popular song of all time, “Rock And Roll All Nite.” At this point in my Kiss listening career I’m a little tired of this song. It’s a very catchy anthem, no doubt, but it’s really not a very good song as far as Kiss songs go.
The recordings for the Kiss Alive! disc were taken on the Dressed to Kill tour and yet the live album has the fewest songs taken from this album. It’s kind of funny that their most popular song comes at the end of this disc.
[READ: December 22, 2009] Wet Moon
This is a fantastic goth-inspired graphic novel with the absolutely worst title ever. Wet Moon is the name of the town the book is set in, but it is never mentioned beyond the welcome sign, and I just can’t imagine what inspired the name.
Okay, actually, I just looked up wet moon on Wikipedia, and found out that it is an astronomical term for when the “horns” of a crescent moon point up, away from the earth (like devil horns). And so I completely take back my complaint, as I now think the term is pretty cool and very appropriate.
And that is the only thing that I find disagreeable about this book. (Well, actually I don’t like the lettering either, but more on that on a moment).
The town of Wet Moon is a college town where goths live and thrive (and no doubt many fans of the book wish the could live there). Our heroine is Cleo, a young, slightly overweight goth with a pierced nose and bottom lip. She has just moved out of her parents house and is living on campus. (There is an implication that her house is a dorm, but if so, it is the single most beautiful dorm ever, anywhere, so I’ll pretend it’s an apartment–I mean, there’s a walk-out balcony for cripes sake). (more…)
SOUNDTRACK: The Believer July/August 2008 Music Issue Compilation CD: The Volatile But Symbiotic Relationship of Mabel and Anabel (2008).
The previous Believer CD expanded the palette of music by introducing a lot of hard-edged bands. But this CD smashes any complaints about one-dimensionality. It is designed around a concept of “world” music which they have designated as MABEL (Musicians of American, British, or [Western] European Lineage) and ANABEL (Artists Not of American, British, or [Western] European Lineage).
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 5: Sonic Youth Featuring Kim Gordon/DJ Olive/Ikue Mori (2000).
The fifth SYR disc is rather different from the others in that the only SY member is Kim. This is a sort of side project for Kim, 
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-Silver Session for Jason Knuth (1998).
This record came about for two reasons. One was the suicide of longtime Sonic Youth fan (whom the band didn’t know) Jason Knuth. And the second was because when they tried to record vocal tracks for One Thousand Leaves, the band upstairs was so loud, it kept interfering with their recording.
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 3: Invito Al Ĉielo (1998).
This SYR release adds Jim O’Rourke to the mix (O’Rourke played with with them on A Thousand Leaves too). I’ve always been aware of O’Rourke but I’ve never really listened to any of the bands that he’s been associated with (and there’s a lot). So, I’m not sure what his actual contributions are, but he seems to be pushing the SY members into a much more noisy/abstract direction. (A few samples of Gastr Del Sol shows them to be pretty out there, so perhaps pushing SY in a direction that was not too far from where they’d go on their own. And, I rather liked the Gastr stuff, too).
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH-SYR 2: Slaapkamers Met Slagroom (1997).
The second SYR release is like the other side of the coin from SYR1. The premise is the same, the players are the same, but the result is rather different.
SOUNDTRACK: SONIC YOUTH -SYR 1 Anagrama (1997).
I Just Read About That... 