Sid's January Musings

Jay/Sid’s January Musings

The Mars Volta – Oh, I get it….it’s what Zappa would sound like without humor of melody, right? Some interesting parts, but just SO MUCH pointlessness. I kept asking myself….why, why, why? The un-listenable parts far outweigh the listenable parts. You can analyze this forever, because it is so complex (or maybe it’s just a bunch of shit, who knows), but music for me is not an intellectual exercise and, like I said, the un-listenable outweighs the listenable, so this gets a 2 for effort and originality. And that’s a stretch!

Joybang - Pretty standard 90’s rock. Liked it at first, but it seemed to get more standard as I listened more. 50 Feet Tall was better. 2.5, cuz at least it doesn’t have strings. Hey, I had to come up with something.

WaterBoys - This certainly sounds like it influences a whole host of bands that I can’t stand, but I find this only occasionally annoying and I have found myself humming the tunes 20 minutes after getting out of the car, so it must be serving it’s purpose, because it is, after all, pop music and it is supposed to be tuneful and memorable. What a great run on sentence that was! Memorable might be a stretch, cuz I don’t recall any of the songs as I write this, but they have a short term affect that works. 3

Cursive. Lost it. It has a bad name, though, and I understand it has cello. I’ll give it a shot, but I bet it won’t get past a 2.5.

The Fugs – It’s easy to both dismiss and over-analyze the Fugs. I’ve actually heard people refer to them as the musical equivalent of Lenny Bruce, which is ridiculous because the only “band” I can see they paved a path for was John Valby, but you can’t just dismiss the Fugs either. Basically, they were a bunch of fairly bright, well read left wing derilects who, in the great Mickey Rooney tradition all of a sudden said (after ingesting controlled substances and alcohol) –“Hey, let’s get everyone together and put on a show!” But it wasn’t 1940 anymore, so instead of a play, they picked up some instruments and –presto, they had a band. Doesn’t mean they can all of a sudden write, play and sing – and modern standards, they can’t – but it doesn’t mean they can’t have some fun either. And fun they had. Some great, biting political satire and some laugh out loud toilet humor punctuated by long stretches of pointless stupidity. And I mean that in a good way.

Topic
Can’t think of a reason to dislike the Buzzcocks or the Ramones just because they sold a song to Toyota or Sony. It’s obviously ironic that those two bands, who achieved very modest commercial success due to restrictive and moronic radio programmers would end up on mainstream car and stereo ads, but so be it. And how about Brendan Benson being on a car ad? Fuck art, I think I like it.

Top 10 for 2005 (No Honorable Mention Version)

Graham Parker – Songs of no Consequence His best in ages

James McMurtry – Childish Things An underappreciated songwriter – this is great stuff. Bumped Bright Eyes at the last minute

Gang of Four – Return the Gift Is it really new? Well, the songs aren’t, but the recording is and it underscores how great they were for a very short time

Son Volt - Okemah and the Melody of Riot Finally a CD that harkens back to UT

Ryan Adams – Jacksonville City Nights Easily the best of his 3 (!) 2005 releases. It’s the Gram Parsons record we all knew he had in him.

Dictators – Live This recording is not up to the standards of their live shows, but it IS the Dictators, so it is on the list

Kaiser Chiefs – Employment Best of the fun pop records I heard this year

Heap – On the Cheap Little known band that sounds enough like the Replacements to get my vote

White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan Great beginning song and then it shifts gears and remains compelling, proving just how talented he/they are.

TSAR – Band Girls Money Best release of the year! Would have made the list if the record included the title song and 40 minutes of white noise, but it (almost) sustains the electrifying start. Simply one of my favorite records of the last 10 years.

Best Box Set Release - The Band

Best Concert DVDs – Live at Hammersmith Odeon by Bruce Springsteen, The Electrifying Conclusion by Guided By Voices and Live in Los Angeles by X