Ken is in da' House......

Bloc Party- A Weekend in the City
I was excited that this was a pick for the month as I liked their debut quite a bit. But gone were the driving beats and hooks that made the first one fun. In their place was more brooding and delicate atmospheric instrumentation and falsettos. They sound as if they are taking themselves and their surroundings too seriously. “The Prayer” shows some the first albums appeal as does “Hunting for Witches” but not to the same extent. Some call it maturing, I call it losing their direction. I found it boring. Luckily it is their sophomore effort so I hope for a better Junior release. (1.5).

The Good, The Bad and the Queen
This is normally not my arena- a loping, laid back quasi-reggae. No major guitar solos. No rock out rave ups. And little in the form of pop. But I was oddly drawn to some of it. Obvious was Simonon’s island dub bass and Damien’s Gorillaz-like lyrical melodies. It worked for most of the disc though it started to get old by the last few tracks. It just seemed like they ran out of ideas. No tracks really stuck out to me but for roughly the first half I have to say I found myself secretly grooving for the first half. (2.0)

Mott the Hoople
This band is so over looked. Okay they did spawn Bad Company (which I left off the original version of “Ready For Love”) but it’s hard not to hear how good this band was. I put their big hits on the mix, but I delved deeper into their catalogue to show how they grew over time from a straight ahead rock jam outfit to a band that could do powerful, un-sappy ballads. Ian Hunter is a song writers’ song writer and should be heard more than he is and Mick Ronson is an undervalued guitarist. I hope you all enjoyed this as much as I did putting it together.


Five Covers that Best the Originals
I determined these (and there are more) as songs when mentioned I go for this version first.

Hurt- Johnny Cash > Nine Inch Nails (though their’s ain’t too bad)
All Along the Watchtower- Jimi Hendrix > Bob Dylan (he started playing it Jimi’s way after he heard it)
Just My Imagination (Runnin’ Away With Me)- Stones> Temptations
Luka- Lemonheads> Suzanne Vega
Heard it Through the Grapevine- Gladys Night> Marvin Gaye


Five Acts that should never, or never have, changed their style
The reason for this question: We all have acts that we wish would never change. We know acts that we are disappointed when they don’t do something new. I was curious who you all felt were in your first category. Either they never changed and you are rejoicing or they did change and you are not rejoicing.

Ramones- They never did. Good.
CCR- See above
Rage Against the Machine- ended, until this year’s reincarnation, without altering their core sound.
Southern Culture on the Skids- Still as greasy as day 1
Stones (circa 1967-1976)- Once they hit their stride with that American-Blooozy sound via London, they should have never switched to a more conventional MOR format.

Five Acts that desperately need a makeover

Prince- While he is still a god, he needs to get back to his sexed up self.
Stevie Wonder- Honestly, what happened?
Goo Goo Dolls- Used to rock, but not even close now.
Eric Clapton- Instead of becoming a “old blues master” he’s become blues Muzak. Total shame.
Phil Collins- Once promising while being a darn good drummer, he’s now basically writing the same ballad over and over and over and over………

Where's Ken?

“The Mong” – Music Group Commentary, March 2007

MUSIC COMMENTARY

BLOC PARTY – A WEEKEND IN THE CITY = 2 STARS
It can’t help but suffer in comparison to “Silent Alarm,” especially because it just isn’t very good pop or rock, neither of which it ever fully commits to, which is its biggest problem. In the end, too big a shift in style and approach without (it seems) the skill to pull it off. Probably the most notable sophomore letdown since The Strokes second album.

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN – (SELF-TITLED) = 2 STARS
Not bad but not great either. Pretty forgettable and one-speed overall but I wouldn’t run to switch stations if I heard any of this on the radio.

MOTT THE HOPPLE – G’HITS = 4 (IF WE RATED G’HITS)
Some great tunes I haven’t heard in a long time and some more great stuff that I’ve never heard before. A bit dated but still awesome.

TOPIC

1. List five songs that are remakes or covers that outshine the original.
1) “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor) as covered by Cake (on FASHION NUGGET)
2) “Isolation” (John Lennon) as covered by Matthew Sweet (on GOODFRIENDS)
3) “I Fought the Law” (Bobby Fuller / The Clash) as covered by Green Day (The awesome studio version is, apparently, only available through iTunes.)
4) “September Gurls” (Big Star) as covered by Superdrag (Recorded Live on I KNOW THE SCORE)
5) “Godzilla” (Blue Oyster Cult) as covered by Fu Manchu (on EATIN’ DUST)

2. List five bands that should never change their sound/style and/or should have never changed their sound/style.
1) SHOULD NOT (HAVE): The Cars
2) SHOULD NOT: Spoon
3) SHOULD NOT: Wilco (Stay where you are now, please…don’t go back to mostly alt country.)
4) SHOULD NOT: Built to Spill
5) SHOULD NOT (HAVE): G. Love & Special Sauce

3. List five bands that desperately need a change in their sound or style.
1) Pearl Jam
2) Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
3) Yo La Tengo
4) Radiohead
5) Helmet (They are still recording, right?)

The Good, the Bad and the Indifferent

Bloc Party – I’ve listened to it a half dozen times, and absolutely nothing about it registers. With the exception of the catchy “I Still Remember”, nothing stands out to me as being particularly good or particularly bad. It’s just kind of there. Sounds like 95% of what I hear on our alleged “alternative” station; not enough to make me change it, but not enough to turn the volume up either. Wish I had more to offer on this one, but it didn’t click at all. 2 stars

The Good, the Bad & the Queen – More like the Warm Milk, the Sominex and the Ambien. I’m sure there was a point to this disc, but I’ll be dipped in shit if I can figure what it was. Staggeringly, mind-numbingly, coma-inducingly dull, in fact I’m getting sleepy just typing this. I simply refuse to believe a member of the Clash had anything to do with this soulless piece o’ crap. 0 starzzzzzzzzz.

Mott the Hoople – Really nice collection. Simple, clever rock and roll from start to finish. Contains one of my favorite rock and roll moments on record in “All the Young Dudes” (“ I wanna re-late to you”). Inspired me to go out and by a collection of Ian Hunter solo stuff, which in my humble opinion is better than Mott. Well thought out and constructed g-hits disc.

Discussion

I thought we did the cover thing already, so to make it more interesting (and hopefully irritate Ken), I have limited my choices to Beatles songs where the covers were better than the Fab 4’s version:

“I Will” – Alison Krauss
“I’m Only Sleeping” – The Vines
“Don’t Let Me Down” – Two Cow Garage
“Nowhere Man” – Paul Westerberg
“And Your Bird Can Sing” – Matthew Sweet / Suzanna Hoffs

5 Bands Who Desperately Need to Change Their Sound

1. Liz Phair – The move from indie queen to Britney/Christine wanna-be has not been a good one. She needs to be exiled in Guyville again. Also qualifies for the “never should have changed” category.

2. REM – Enough already with the mid-tempo keyboard driven drivel. Pull Berry and his freaking aneurysm off the farm, crank Mr. Buck up to 10 and start rocking again. Also qualifies for “never should have changed” category.

3. Coldplay - Last disc put them into the U2-wannabe file, but they’re too talented for that. Need to quicken the tempos and turn up the guitars. Of course, if I was banging Gwyneth Paltrow, I wouldn’t be too concerned about how my next disc sounded either….

4. Tom Petty – Step 1, get the original Heartbreakers back. Step 2, kill Jeff Lynne and hide the body. Step 3, pay Rick Rubin whatever it takes. I can’t emphasize the importance of step 2 enough.

5. Dave Matthews Band – I want to jam a 12 inch steak knife through my ears every time I hear him. He needs to make an unplugged album. The first thing he should unplug is his microphone. Also qualifies for bands who desperately need to be exterminated.

5 Bands Who Should Never Change Their Style (For reasons that should be obvious)

1. Southern Culture on the Skids
2. Los Straitjackets
3. Two Cow Garage
4. Drive By Truckers
5. Pearl Jam

Semi-synopsis as we are waiting for the laggards

A cozy affair is how I would describe February's tete-tete-tete. The night was full of movie chit chat, a little music talk and more movie chit chat. We determined that Byron no longer exists in an existential way and we are fearing that he has evaporated into prog air.

Since we are waiting for Grand Master Jay's and Jenny Jenny Koko Bop's reviews I will recap the evening in metaphors. Picture the meeting as Goldilocks. As Goldilocks approached the bear's house (here on known as the Spigot) she noted that there was no one at the table as one bear was seeing a man about an Elefant, one was feeding dollars into the Argybargy and the other was getting a pitcher of Pavement. On the table were three bowls of reviews. The first bowl labeled Movioso was toooo hot as his reviews were too high. After she spat out those reviews she went to the next bowl labeled KayBooshay and it was toooo cold as those reviews were quite chilly. Pttuey and on to the next bowl which was huge and labeled D'Arcimonsta . It was just right.

Consensus for the ponderings provided by St.Loooie; Styx-Journey-Kansas (1 vote for each), Joan Jett, Joan Jett (though a close match), Fact, hahahaha, Canada's answer to Counting Crows, no, hahahaha again.

If you didn't understand that last paragraph then maybe you should come to the meetings.

For Next Month
Old: Still Need from Byron (if he is still involved) and Jen
New: Bloc Party- A Weekend in the City (Mike M)
New: The Good, The Bad and the Queen- Kingdom of Doom (D'Arcy)
Ghits: Mott the Hoople (Ken)

The topic;
Three lists of 5

1: List 5 songs where the remake, or cover, outshined the original.

2: List 5 bands that should never change their sound or style, or should have never changed their sound or style.

3: List 5 bands that desperately need a change in their sound or style.

Those with homework for April:
Old- Ken/MikeM
New-Jay/Monsta
Host-D'ARcy

what if howard the duck meets the descent

Squeeze
There was a rule we used to make during drinking games. You are not allowed to sing or move to the music or else you drink. Then Squeeze the singles would be put on and you soon were very drunk. I also remember watching Squeeze play there first last performance on TV, playing Annie Get Your Gun and was amazed. I also remember seeing them live at Lake Compounce a few years later and I was singing and yes dancing for the whole show. But that is the problem with Squeeze, at their best they are brilliant but they also can be just okay too. Thus there greatest hits and concerts are amazing but the whole cd’s have far too many down moments to be considered anything better than good. For every Pulling Muscles, Another Nail, and If I didn’t love you, you get: I think I’m a Go Go, Farfisa Beat, Here comes that feeling. Yes their lyrics are entertaining, but sometimes the music just tends to blend together. But with Argybargy the rest is still good sing along tap and move your feet English pop. If you want the best of squeeze I’d still recommend Singles, but Argybargy is probably there most consistent and best cd. 3.5


Pavement
One of those bands that people seem to have this need to constantly wax poetically about and make sure they tell everyone just how great they are. Now I had not listened to any pavement cd’s before this. I had listened and own Stephen Malkmus solo cd and do like it. Summer Babe just rocks. Great guitar, catchy chorus and a truly great sound. Like the raw sound on Trigger cut, and you can’t go wrong with a few la, la’s thrown in. So yes I am beginning to understand why people are so defensive and vocal of the band. They have a distinct sound that has obviously others have been trying to copy for a while now. Malkmus vocal approach of more talking than singing seems to fit the low production sound of the band. I do find that on some songs the vocals seem to not match with the songs, but either the vocals, or the guitar work seems to overcome this. A cd that keeps on growing with each listen 3.5

Elefant
Great first song. Good second song. Great third song. Sort of a new feel to some old 80’s new wave feel. Was surprised on the guitar use because I thought they were going to be a more synth-based band. But after the fourth song things start to stall a bit. Although nothing really goes too bad, nothing returns to what was good in the beginning either. At times there is almost a we listened to one to many 80’s cd’s with an almost a 2007 version of Human League vibe. A 3 because of the first 4 songs are really good and make up for what was lacking in the latter songs.

It is 80s/90s Cure/Morrissey, right?

“The Mong” – Music Group Commentary, February, 2007

SQUEEZE – ANGRYBARGY = 5 STARS
I admit that beyond “Singles: 45s and Under,” Squeeze’s much beloved g’hits, I have only heard their full albums from friends’ collections on long drives, at parties, or get-togethers. I have always been mildly ashamed of not delving deeper but now I fully regret it. “Angrybargy” is amazingly perfect pop. A few of the classics are here but the tracks in-between are no less flawless. I have heard comparisons to Lennon/McCarty in the song-writing duo of Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook for years and, sure enough, a quick lookup at allmusic.com carries on this comparison. If this comparison is inaccurate because it isn’t really comparing ‘apples to apples’ method-wise, it is not inaccurate in terms of potential for enduring greatness, as evidenced by “Angrybargy.”

PAVEMENT – SLANTED AND ENCHANTED = 5 STARS
“Slanted and Enchanted” is one of the great albums by one of my favorite bands so is my inevitable praise preconceived? I think not. Here’s a short list of bands that “Slanted and Enchanted” opened the door for: Neutral Milk Hotel, Guided by Voices, Grifters, Bell & Sebastian, and even Beck. Among today’s bands that were directly or indirectly influenced by “S&E” include: Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, The Shins, and The New Pornographers. So, like it or not, for better or worse, Pavement’s “Slanted and Enchanted” is inarguably one of the most influential albums of the ’90s and beyond. My favorite of theirs is “Crooked Rain Crooked Rain,” which I would classify as important and generationally reflective as Nirvana’s “Nevermind” or Green Day’s “Dookie.” But like all the bands it propelled or spawned, there would be no “Crooked Rain Crooked Rain” without the pioneering sound of “Slanted and Enchanted.”

ELEFANT – THE BLACK MAGIC SHOW = 3.5 STARS
Elefant’s “The Black Magic Show” is a perfectly listenable and enjoyable outing. No less and no more derivative than many of the “new” bands I’ve championed recently (Wolfmother, Rock & Roll Soldiers, etc.) so I cannot in good conscience give them crap for sounding so much like their influences. It is 80s/90s Cure/Morrissey, right? Admittedly not my favorite sub-genre of rock, hence the only slightly elevated rating.

My post in one unformatted blob

Music ClubFebruary 2007
Squeeze-ArgybargyNot to dis Difford and Tilbrook, but while the songs are well crafted, the sound is dated. I still love "Another Nail", "Farfisa Beat" and "Pulling Muscles From the Shell" but beyond that I hard time getting into it. Not because the songs were necessarily bad, they're actually intelligent, but more that the sound was too 80's with rat-a-tat drums and reliance on production. A matter of taste - (2.5).
Pavement-EnchantedSome of it is interesting as if some thought was put into it. Some is whiny noodling as if it was one-offed in the studio. It makes for a taxing listen that sounds like a J. Mascis fronted VU. It's cerebral, though what the hell Malkmus is singing about-who knows. More interesting musically, and I like envelope pushing but not in a whole sitting. (2)
Elefant- Black Magic ShowThere are few new ideas here as most were done, back in the mid 80s by New Order and more recently by Franz Ferdinand. Besides that there is nothing exceptional about any of the musicians and the vocalist leans towards monotony. Its easy to start at song one and forget what your listening to by song 4. Not bad enough to take my life but nothing I'm going to raise a flag for. (2)