February Made Me Shiver...

Jamey Johnson – Jamey Johnson

I’m a country fan, so this was an easy listen for me. By and large, the songs are good both musically and lyrically and he has that deep baritone that adds a certain “Marlboro Man” macho to the CD. The flip side here is that my standards are pretty high in this genre, with Toby Keith being the “5”. Jamey and his band don’t quite get to that level, and I had to take points off for the extra pedal steel at the end of what seemed like almost every song and for the sound effects that led into some of them. From me, a 3.

The Killers – Day and Age

Good musicianship, interesting lyrics, well crafted pop songs…why don’t I connect with this? Probably because what I really want in my music are GUITARS! This CD has that feel of Bowie’s “Heroes”…it’s a full, dense production with “Human” summing up the listening experience. And track after track just kept going the same way. After a while, it got boring. I know if I give this another 5-10 listens I’ll sing along, but I’m not sure I will. 2 ½.

Them Changes – Buddy Miles

A good chunk of this holds up pretty well. I haven’t listened to this in 30+ years and as soon as I heard “the riff”, I was transported right back to high school. The second track gets points for interesting and odd chord changes that somehow work in a ballad, and it was worth listening to some of the inane lyrics on a couple of tunes to hear the Neil cover and the instrumental next to last track. This is a good reminder to go back into my old Sly Stone albums, too. The only thing that keeps this ‘down’ to a 3.5 is the glut of great music that came out when this came out.

Mofro – Funky, jam band stuff that was not as funky as Buddy Miles. It seems to be the type of CD you have to be in the mood for, and I guess I wasn’t in the mood for it when I listened, though the Cracker Break gets points for originality. 2

Best of Shellac – This is the perfect example of a band that is well recorded technically, but suffers from limitations on their instruments. A handful of songs are able to express their feelings succinctly and cleverly. For me, the tracks from “1000 Hurts” stood out. I loved “Prayer”…FUCKIN’ KILL EM”…and the Squirrel Song was cool. The Watch Song is great anger and aggression, but I can’t take 12 in row of this stuff.

I bought my first 3 CD’s in 1989. I resisted until I got a CD player as a gift. The CD’s were specifically to replace vinyl that was scratched or otherwise noisy. They were, Tommy – The Who, Blue Moves – Elton John and Get Your Ya Ya’s Out – Stones.

I’ve only downloaded one full length “CD” from i-Tunes. It is “Friends” by the Beach Boys. I have become fascinated with music blogs and “free” downloads of concerts and out of print music and so that’s where I spend my computer time.