SOUNDTRACK: THE SMITHS-The Queen Is Dead (1986).
Years ago, when I was a young metal head, my friend Garry expanded my musical palette by introducing me to a lot of college rock (or whatever it was called back then). The album that had the most impact on me back then was this one, The Queen Is Dead.
Unlike most listeners and fans of The Smiths, I was first drawn to them because I found this album to be very funny. Now, true, Morrissey is a funny, literate writer, but the general consensus is that the Smiths are mopey, sad, depressive, you know, goth. I guess I was more interested in the words than the music at the time?
And of course, it was “Bigmouth Strikes Again” that really sold the deal for me, as “Now I know how Joan of Arc felt…when the flames rose to her Roman nose and her Walkman started to melt,” is pretty twisted and funny. [To the sticklers: all these lyrics are paraphrased somewhat]. And “Vicar in a Tutu” is weird and wonderful, with a rollicking skiffle beat that propels the song at a mighty pace as the vicar “comes sliding down the banister.”
Even “There is Light that Never Goes Out” is a depressing sing about dying together, and yet the phrasing is pretty darn funny: “If a double-decker bus crashes into us, to die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.” And lest we forget the peculiar disc ender, “Some Girls are Bigger Than Others.” Certainly a true statement regardless of whatever he’s talking about.
My introduction to this disc was in the days of cassettes, and we listened to side 2 a lot, but side 1 is also fantastic. The title track is a great opener: fabulous melody, rocking drums and a great verse about Morrissey breaking into the palace and being told by the Queen that he cannot sing. Next, “Frankly Mr Shankly” is a 2 minute poppy song, also twisted, with lines about “making Christmas cards with the mentally ill.” And “Cemetery Gates” is a twisted little fun piece which namechecks Keats, Yates and Oscar Wilde.
And lest we forget the rest of the band, the music on this disc is varied and wonderful. The music of “The Queen is Dead” is funky bass, smashing drums and the gorgeous guitars of Johnny Marr. Since The Smiths broke up, Morrissey has been in the spotlight far more than Johnny Marr. Morrissey’s solo career is flying pretty well these days, while Marr has been a sideman in a lot of different bands (currently Modest Mouse).
Johnny Marr’s guitar playing has always been a fascinating mix of textures and effects. No one would say that he was a show offy guitarist–I don’t think there are any solos in his career at all–but the sounds he creates are weird and more than appropriate to the songs. I’ve been playing guitar for years and I’m not even sure how he makes some of those sounds.
The Smiths were a great band, and this is one of my favorite albums.
[READ: April 10, 2009] Daylight Runner
My friends Louise and Ailish told me that they met this author in their hiking group. I imagine all kinds of interesting Irish folks climbing the coastline of Ireland talking literature…. Anyhow, when they told me about this author I pictured a fledgling writer who was trying to get his book published…and they read it and thought it was really good. I was intrigued, and Louise said she’d send me a copy. And she did.
What I didn’t realize is that she was able to order it from Amazon, and that McGann is a rather prolific author in Ireland. He is primarily known for his kids and YA books. So they know a widely respected and published author. That is almost as cool as my friend Christopher being taught by Roddy Doyle before he wrote The Commitments. Continue Reading »
SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-UFOs At the Zoo [DVD] (2007).
I’m not going to review the musical portion of the DVD per se…you can download the MP3s with the DVD, and I intend to give the music a good listen once I get it converted to CD. So, this is a review of the movie itself (with comments about the music too, of course).
SOUNDTRACK: THE FLAMING LIPS-The Fearless Freaks 1986-2006 (2006).
This is an assemblage of ten recordings from twenty years of The Flaming Lips. It’s something of a soundtrack to the movie of the same name, but it’s more of a collection of rare and unavailable tracks. Most of the tracks are live, and, since I’m not a big collector of unreleased works, they were all new to me.
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: DEAR MR. PRESIDENT-Dear Mr President (1988).
So, I mentioned these guys in a previous post about The Airborne Toxic Event. I said maybe I’d listen to the disc again (it’s been at least ten, maybe fifteen years since I listened to it). Sarah walked in and said it sounded like Bon Jovi, which may or may not be true.
SOUNDTRACK: AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT-“Sometime Around Midnight” (2009).
I’ve been hearing this song on the radio a lot lately (WRFF especially seems to play it a lot). But they never said who it was! I liked it, but I was sure it sounded like an old song. Ack, but what was it? I kept coming up with a band called Dear Mr. President. And then I heard the truth. It was the Airborne Toxic Event.
SOUNDTRACK: BILLY IDOL
Billy Idol plagues my existence. Ever since he popped up on the scene (my first exposure was “White Wedding”) I thought he was kind of goofy. He has some kind of claim to cred and fame from being in Generation X, and yet I have never heard a song by Generation X and I never hear them mentioned anywhere except as being the band that spawned Billy Idol.
SOUNDTRACK: ROLLING STONES-Rock and Roll Circus [DVD] (1968).
Probably the most interesting thing about this DVD was seeing Tony Iommi, future guitarist for Black Sabbath playing guitar for Jethro Tull! Let me repeat: the guy who played “Iron Man” was playing on a song with a flute solo!
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: 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.
