Phat House Joints from the Meriden Hood!

The Mong Music Group Commentary March 2010

David Bowie – The Reality Tour (Live) – 0 Stars
So very, very, very, very unnecessary. Pitifully pedestrian! There’s absolutely no reason for these recordings to exist other than to service Bowie’s giant ego and to cash in on blindly loyal completists. What’s next for Bowie, a collection of Pop/Rock standards to chronicle his decline into insignificance like Rod Stewart and Robert Palmer? Or maybe he’s already done this ... Fortunately, I don’t know for sure.

Exene Cervenka – Somewhere Gone – 2 Stars
Ah, those zany ex-X members ... it’s tough not to root for them but the songs on “Somewhere Gone” are just too repetitive and with overly-earnest lyrics that are sometimes laughable. One at a time, I think I would have enjoyed these songs more but, as a whole, I was thankful that these inoffensive yet forgettable folk ditties clocked in at well under three minutes each.

Paul McCartney – McCartney – 2 Stars
Other than “Maybe I’m Amazed” (to use the musician vernacular), it’s mostly “noodling” here. Seemingly afterthoughts or half-finished ideas, this is a very lackluster statement for McCartney’s first post-Beatles effort. Maybe he felt that he had nothing to prove but, if it proves anything, it’s that McCartney needed Lennon a lot more than Lennon needed McCartney.

Spoon – Transference – 4.5 Stars
If ever a band has combined the essence of every one of their previous releases into one recording, this is it. Perhaps this “transference” could only happen at this stage in Spoon’s tireless and deliberate evolution where, having now earned a virtual guarantee of ‘hit record’ sales with each new release, this musical recombination actually goes so far as to avoid catering to an audience, nor does it seem an attempt to win new fans. The result is Spoon at their aggressive best. The tracks may not be as pretty or polished as the previous radio-friendly (yet a bit too serviceable) hits, “Sister Jack” or “The Underdog,” but there’s way less intention in these unselfconscious tracks: the best and ballsiest being, “Written in Reverse” and “Got Nuffin’.” “Transference” may not be as grand as “Gimme Fiction,” as inspired as “Girls Can Tell,” or as raw as “A Series of Sneaks,” but it’s got the best of all worlds.

Teenage Fanclub – Bandwagonesque – 5 Stars
As a fan of good Power Pop and good Grunge, I am ashamed to admit that I’d never head this album in its entirety. A perfect achievement of Power Pop that seemingly divined Grunge, I guess it’s no surprise that this is a DGC release. Well, better late than never for me getting on this “Bandwagonesque.” Yes, I know how lame I am for writing that last sentence.

G’Hits – Phat House Joints from the Meriden Hood – Rap/Hip Hop/Club Mix
No, not a “best of” but instead I supplied a pretty respectable (for a white guy) cross-sectioning mix of the heavy hitters and hits of each sub-genre. Love it or hate it, you are now more well-rounded music fans for having heard it. You’re welcome.

MY TOPIC
Of all the topic questions over the years (that you can remember), which one would you change or amend your answer to now and why?

I would almost certainly change several of my top ten lists, since those change at any given moment depending on who-knows-what. But the one answer I would most like to amend is a reply to (I believe it was) a question of D’Arcy’s: If you can only pick ten years of music, what ten years would they be? I’m going to amend my answer to: whatever decade we’re in now without splitting the years between multiple decades because, although my taste had remained pretty consistent, I’ve fond that there’s always something new out there that’s just as great, just as valid, and often just as evolutionary (if not revolutionary) to love. And what’s better than love? New love, of course.