November Disappointments

Pink Floyd - Usually this type of self indulgent, self absorbed, overly self- conscious attempts at creating avant- garde music annoy me to the point of rage. So why do I find this so…..well, quaint. Maybe it’s the amateurishness of it all. Maybe it’s the earnestness of it all. Or maybe I’m just getting soft. Anyway, it doesn’t annoy me to the point of rage, but Pink Floyd cannot go blameless. This and its predecessor (as well as a couple other records) should have been dismissed by all, allowing the failed experiment to copy and or expand upon Sgt Pepper to go quietly into the night. But, no, it eventually spawned all manner of self-indulgent, self absorbed, overly self-conscious but not at all avant-garde shit. So it only gets a 2.

ColdPlay - I just don’t get it. Not awful, but how in god’s name does this band sell out the Civic Center. The band that spawned many boring bands, but I think I prefer the likes of Keane and Snow Patrol more than Coldplay and I think I gave Snow Patrol something like a 3. Music for people who think they’re hip. In the past these people used words like tasty to describe music and they routinely mistake vocal volume for passion. Sort of like EMO for the suburban set. As Dave Berg and Roger Kaputnik would say….Blleeccchhh. 2

BB King - Kinda neat hearing the early versions of songs that have become blues standards…or are they classics…hmmmm. Nice as a document and I’ll probably listen to it occasionally. 3 for listenability, 4 for importance, so we’ll split the difference. 3.5

TV on the Radio - Second thing I’ve heard of theirs and while this seems more coherent than the last one, it suffers from the "too much syndrome." It's all jsut too much at times. Many good moments end up lost as they extend the ideas beyond my ability to follow them. Very creative at times, but creative doesn’t mean good. Very dense at times, but dense does not mean good. Highly acclaimed, but a tough listen for someone like me with an advanced case of ADD. 3 for style, though

Dramarama – When I first discovered Dramarama around the time that Hi Fi Sci Fi came out in 1993, they seemed to have much that I liked in a band and it didn’t hurt that former Blondie Clem Burke was in the band. I liked it, but there was much to like in those days and they simply got overshadowed. Listening again, I can hear what initially drew me to them and this became better with each listen. I actually think that at least half a dozen songs sound like they could have been written by …..dare I say it….the Replacements. Yes, I said it and I mean it. The self-deprecation, the deadpan humor, the pop culture references and even the plain sensitivity remind me of my heroes. And there is plenty else to like as well. Unjustly ignored, these guys were just a bit ahead of the modern rock explosion and maybe just a little too smart to have made it then anyway.



Time periods

Easy ’68-72 Starts with Let it Bleed and ends with Exile. End of story. Throw in favorites by the Allman Brothers, Iggy, Bowie, Little Feat (just missing Dixie Chicken, though), Rod Stewart, Beatles and on and on. This period defined my tastes for decades…well at least until...

1975-1979 - Ramones, Clash, Sex Pistols, Blondie, Elvis Costello, Buzzcocks plus Born to Run and Darkness and a whole bunch more.

Sadly, I lose the Replacements and Sonic Youth, but they were essentially alone in their brilliance at their peaks (let's face it the '80's blew), so I had would have to choose quantity of music during the periods I chose rather than choose two of my favorite 5 bands.