December Synopsis Squeaked in Before New Year

Shortest review meeting ever. We are carrying over Jay (Mendoza Line) and Greg's (Who in God's Name Knows) to next meeting to go along with our year end extravaganza meeting. So for next meeting bring your top 10 of the year, disc of your fave songs of the year and the above reviews. If you do not receive a cd from Greg, just review him. BTW- Jen you are sooooooooooo

far behind in your reviews (last and this month) I have sent a search party to locate your body.

As for the meeting- there were four of us and we split on the Weakerthans. Jay/Monsta in one corner and D'Arcy/I in the other. The discussion of definitive albums was most definitely the focal point of the meeting. I must warn you - we all died at the hands of D'arcy thrice and Jay once. Please rue them this New Year's Eve. Of the answers there were quite a few agreements and many that were acceptable. D'Arcy messed with the science of the topic and chose the first one's that popped into his melon. We chastised him and sacked him. Of course Monsta can't enjoy this since no one else has posted their reviews or answers. It will be a sad New Year in St. Louis this year.

For February (besides the above) the following have homework for New-Greg/Jen (expect Greg's by May), Old-Jay/Mike M, Host-the lovely D'Arcy Lucas.

Happy New Year's all.

KEN's Reviews are Below

Weakerthans- Reunion Tour

To be honest the first listen wasn’t enjoyable. There is a Death Cab for Cutie wussiness that makes my eyes glaze over, but there is also a catchiness that delays my reach for the eject button. After my obligatory listens I calculated that my threshold for this disc was 4^th song. The “Virtue the Cat….” and “Gump Worsley” were about the stupidest songs I’ve heard in awhile making it hard to get to “Sun in an Empty Room” which was pretty good. Then it dove deep into DC4C mode. Would have been a better EP. (2.0)

Richard Thompson

Thompson is one of my favorite guitarists and songwriters. He can write the old English ballad, the rock FU song, a ditty about general life all while keeping things intelligent. He does have a distinct sound, both vocals and guitar style and lyrically his songs paint a detailed picture but one that you can extrapolate on and fill in yourself. His songs have their groove and flow and are it is usually easy to pick his song from others. Very talented nonetheless and should be in the hall of fame.

Rolling Stones	Let it Bleed
Who	Who's Next
Beatles	Revolver
Bob Dylan	Blonde on Blonde
Prince	Purple Rain
U2	Joshua Tree
R.E.M	Document
Lou Reed	New York
Kinks	Muswell Hillbillies
Cure	Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me
Neil Young	Everybody Knows this is Nowhere
Frank Zappa	Live at the Roxy
Led Zeppelin	IV (zoso)
Queen	Jazz
Tom Petty	Damn the Torpedoes
Metallica	Black Album
Warren Zevon	Stand in the Fire
David Bowie	Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
Pearl jam	Ten
Bruce Springsteen	Born to Run

Reviews clearly written in the Christmas spirit

Screwing up my curmudgeon-like average....

Mendoza Line – An interesting mix. Part Cowboy Junkies (“Since I Came”), part Velvet Underground (“I Lost My Taste”), and part what the latest Rilo Kiley disc should have sounded like (“31 Candles”). The male and female vocals really blend well on the few times they sing together. The tracks that work the best for me are the final two, which are straightforward Americana, with a touch of Tom Petty. 3.5 stars

Weakerthans – A runaway cat. A bus driver who sees his ex in the faces of his passengers. A retired NHL goalie. Not the standard lyrical fare for indie rock, which is what makes this disc so special. John Sampson’s way with words makes this album shine. The band plays their parts well, but the lyrics are the showpiece. “A Civil Twilight” would be on my short list for one of the best songs of the year. Each track is like a short story put to music. Lines like “Got more faults than the state of California” and “The pause feels like an extra year of high school” are just knockouts. Catchy tunes too. 4 stars

Richard Thompson – RT is a favorite of many of the jocks on our community station, and every time I hear him, I think, “ I need to really check this guy out”. I’ve listened to a disc or two and it never clicked. Well, this disc clicked big time. In fact, I have a hard time listening to anything else at the moment. RT is simply a phenomenal guitarist and songwriter. His voice takes some getting used to, but like Dylan’s, he uses it to great effect. “Wall of Death” would go on my list of the 100 greatest songs ever written. IMHO, this is one of, if not the finest g-hits collection the Down Your Nose group has ever produced.

Discussion Question

“Definitive” is a hard word to come to grips with. Does it mean, “Widely regarded as their most important work”? Does it mean “most representative of what the band sounds like”? For Borgie’s purpose, I have defined “definitive” as “the one a balding, overweight man in the Midwest likes best”.

Stones – Let It Bleed
Who - Quadrophenia
Beatles – Revolver
Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
Prince – Sign O’ the Times
U2 – Achtung Baby
REM – Automatic For the People
Lou Reed – New York
Kinks – Give the People What They Want
The Cure – Kiss Me X3
Neil Young – Rust Never Sleeps
Frank Zappa – Joe’s Garage
Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy
Queen – News of the World
Tom Petty – Hard Promises
Metallica – The black one with “Enter Sandman”. Title escapes me.
Warren Zevon – Self-Titled
David Bowie – Let’s Dance
Pearl Jam – Vs.
Bruce Springsteen – Born to Run

GET OUT THE TISSUES.......

MMM.....
Yummy.