pretentious douche-baggery-ness

The Mong Music Group Commentary Nov. 2009

The Avett Brothers – I and Love and You – 5 Stars
Beautiful, heartfelt, masterfully-crafted songs with tons of hooks, thoughtful lyrics, and elegant production. A perfect album. If I was a little more Folksy than Rock & Roll, this would likely beat The Black Crowes as my (predicted) album of the year.

The Beat – The Beat – 3.5 Stars
Damn! Power Pop overload this month! And this after The Raveonettes and The Stone Roses (a few times each) ... But thankfully, The Beat helped me confirm that somewhere in my life I hadn’t just convinced myself that I like Power Pop; I actually do. Fun and catchy and decidedly NOT self-aware, The Beat is everything Power Pop should be: power AND pop.

Roseanne Cash – The List – 2 Stars
The list of what? People you can record with to try to offset how mediocre you are? In a word: yawn.

The Raveonettes – In and Out of Control – 2 Stars
The Raveonettes make catchy if wholly forgettable Power Pop wherein (even) a song titled, “Boys Who Rape Should All Be Destroyed,” can somehow be rendered pointless by the group’s Post Modernist resolve. A little less kitsch and a little more sincerity would have gone a long way here.

The Stone Roses – The Stone Roses – 2.5 Stars
Pretty much the same review as The Raveonettes: nearly forgettable, Post Modern Power Pop. Except here, maybe a little less earnestness and a little more brash would have been the solution. There are a few standout tracks, but still...

Dr. Dog – G’Hits
I was taken with Dr. Dog when I head “Easy Beat” in 2005 (and even put it in my top ten of the year...I think) but since then it’s really been more of the same, Beatles-inspired, trippy Rock/Pop and this G’Hits confirms that. Dr. Dog doesn’t suck but they are pretty much a one-trick dog.

TOPIC QUESTIONS

1. Brilliant debuts/Worthy Comebacks- name your top 3 in each category.

Pretty sure we’ve done this at least once already but this is always fun. Hmmmm...I don’t know...both questions too hard...so off the top of my head:

Brilliant Debuts:
- Jane’s Addiction – Nothing’s Shocking
(There first live album doesn’t count since that was just a ploy to get a major label deal and no one heard that album until after Nothing’s Shocking.)
- Queens of the Stone Age – Queens of the Stone Age
(Yes, they did a split EP first but this is/was their debut proper.)
- The Cars – The Cars [Revision: I originally listed: Spoon - Telephono]

Worthy Comebacks:
Green Day – American Idiot
Matthew Sweet – Girlfriend
Dinosaur Jr. – Beyond

2. Cover song or songs that take the original in a different direction. Maybe even better (in your opinion) than the original, but not necessarily so. As many as you can think of- or none at all!

And again...probably different than last time I made this list. Here's a few:
1) Isolation – Matthew Sweet
2) Pinball Wizard – Elton John
3) King Kong – The Gravel Pit
4) Rocket Man – My Morning Jacket
5) I Will Survive – Cake
6) Like a Rolling Stone – Green Day
7) I Am a Scientist – New Radiant Storm King

3. Favorite instrumental songs-- any genre. Name your top 5.

For Rock and other genres of “Popular Music” it’s:
1) “YYZ” by Rush (That’ makes two of us, right, Greg.)
2) “Sartori In Tangier” by King Crimson
3) “Conspiracy of the Gods” by Trans Am
4) “Dig Your Own Hole” by The Chemical Brothers
5) “The Birth And Death Of The Day” by Explosions in the Sky
(3-5 subject to change.)

And for another taste of my pretentious douche-baggery-ness:

Classical:
1) “Air on the G String from “Suite No. 3 in D Major” by Johann Sebastian Bach
2) “Concerto Op. 3, No. 10: Allegro” from “Concerto Op. 3, No. 8-12” by Antonio Vivaldi
3) “Op 32 Venusfzgdffz, The Bringer Of Peace” from “The Planets Suite” by Gustav Holst
4) “Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi - O Fortuna” from “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff
5) “Kust Tennen Kodu (How Can I Recognize My Home)” from “Litany to Thunder” by Veljo Tormis
(All subject to change.)

Movie Scores:
1) “The Morrow” from “Gattaca” by Michael Nyman
2) “You’re Renewed” from “Logan’s Run” by Jerry Goldsmith
3) “Iguazu” from “Deadwood” and “The Insider” by Gustavo Santaolalla
4) “Those We Don't Speak Of” from “The Village” by James Newton Howard
5) “Bible Study” from “3:10 to Yuma” (2007) by Marco Beltrami
(All subject to change.)

P.S. Fuck Jazz.