Perfect Attendance…Perfect Meeting

Richard Thompson – Rumor and Sigh
Back in the 80’s, a friend of mine that I used to play in a band with, turned me on to Richard Thompson. I dismissed him as another folk singer since I was a Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Who devotee at the time, and my “new music” curiosity was late 70’s punk and power pop driven. About 10 years later, I decided to give him another listen. This was the album I started with. The voice is an acquired taste, the music is well produced and he is a great guitarist. What sets him apart for me are the songs. Like Dylan, and Randy Newman, RT ranks right up there as a songwriter. “Why must I plead”, “1932 Vincent Black Lightening” and “God Loves a Drunk” stand out on this album. 4 stars.

Dinosaur Jr. – Farm (REVISED UP)
I love “noise pop”, and I liked this CD, but I also am a fan of dynamics in music and this sounded like one long song from beginning to end. I’m sure when I carve it up and the songs come up “in shuffle” in my i-Pod, I’ll like them more than I do now. OK…more listening makes me like this more despite its lack of dynamics. 3 stars.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
Yeah Yeah Yeahs…NO. NO. NO. No songs I wanted to hear twice, no music or lyrics that struck me emotionally, and no desire to do anything with this CD other than to pass it along to my 18 year old daughter who will dance around to it. 1 ½ stars.

Wilco (The Album)
Well, it’s taken about 15 years, but all vestiges of Uncle Tupelo are gone from the Wilco sound. And while I love alt country, that’s not a bad thing. This is a well crafted alt/pop CD with a bunch of good songs and bits and pieces tributes to The Kinks (Wilco, the Song), Steely Dan (the lead guitar in Bull Black Nova) and Jeff Lynne & George Harrison (You Never Know). I must really like Jeff Tweedy, because even “You and I” isn’t too gay for me. I put this into my Sunday AM i-Tunes folder…3 ½ stars.

Papas Fritas- (Self titled)
I missed these guys in the mid ’90’s…this was pretty cool…it’s like what Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers would have sounded like if he had a girlfriend that was part of the band. I enjoyed the songs, the minimalist production and both male and female vocals. There are all kinds of musical influences running through this, mostly from bands that I like to listen to repeatedly. It’s also good to hear artists that take mundane topics and experiences and make interesting sounding songs of them. 3 stars.

Terry Kath – The single most underappreciated guitarist in rock history. This is a great compilation that the bears this out. He was, along with great horn arrangements, the only reason I liked the Chicago Transit Authority. Thanks for this, as I have none of it digital, it’s all on album or tape. This saves me a couple of hours of transferring, for sure.

One side note...it is a tribute to your company that I can sit in a bar for 5 hours, not drink a single beer and still want to hang around for the conversation. It was great to meet Monsta, and if we are serious about a SXSW road trip in March, 2010, I'll pull together some specifics for the next time we meet.