Grease IS THE WORD!!

Willie Nile- 4.0
House of a Thousand Guitars picks right up where Streets of New York left off. Willie is a rocker. Nothing fancy here. Guitar, Bass, Drums, and a little piano thrown in here and there. I’ve seen him at the Iron Horse twice and he puts tremendous energy into his performances. Same holds for his records. His songs are melodic with strong hooks that just make you want to sing along and get in on all the fun. A great cd from an original, honest, hard working artist.

The National- 4.0
While I liked Willie Niles cd instantaneously- it took a few listens to let this grow on me. But, grow on me it did. I love indie artists anyway. Like Dirty Projectors this is music that is dense and full of texture and imagery. This isn’t music to slit your wrist by; but its close. Being a pharmacist- I want to put these guys on Prozac or Celexa. But then they wouldn’t be The National. This is powerful music and each subsequent listen grows on me more and more- the mark of a great cd- I say.

Hot Hot Heet- 2.5
This cd sounds like it could be another Green Day side project- not a bad thing to sound like. Catchy, guitar driven indie/alt rock with undeniable pop sensibilities. Good energy. Well produced. So why do I find it a little boring to listen to the cd in it’s entirety. Where The National gets better with each listen- Future Breeds gets worse. Maybe an ep would have gotten a higher grade.

The Grease Band- 4.5
What can I say. I love these guys. I love this album. It should be every bit the classic that The Band’s Music From Big Pink is. Yet no one has ever heard of them. As I said at last months meeting- this would be one of my desert island picks. Great British boogie/rock; blues/rock. Sir Paul knew what he was doing when he enlisted Henry McCullogh to play lead guitar in his Wings. This album, along with Nilsson Schmilsson pulled me out of my Grateful Dead haze back in 1973 and made me realize there was more to musical life than the Dead.

Matthew Sweet- 4.0
So what do you do after releasing an album like Girlfriend?? You release Altered Beast and 100% Fun- now that’s a nice run. Being a huge power pop fan automatically means I’m a Matt Sweet fan. And, for me, Altered Beast is every bit the album that Girlfriend is. Maybe even better. Girlfriend might be a little too homogenous, a little too concise. Altered beast has a bit of everything that is Matthew Sweet- jangly guitar pop, ballads, country-rock, raucous guitar rock. Every song is a gem.

Topic:
1. a)Define your music reviewing strategy. b)What is a 5/4/3/2/1? Where do you draw the line as to what you keep? and c) if you keep- what makes the cd shelf, the mp3 player or both?


a) Totally subjective. I don’t think music reviews can be otherwise. You either love it or hate it or it’s somewhere in between. b) 5- Love it. Best recording ever. Perfect in every way- just my opinion, of course. 4.5- a recording I never tire of- desert island contender (Grease Band). 4- like it a lot. Stays in the rotation for weeks- maybe months. 3- solid stuff- more hits than misses. 2- not great- but ok. Has some redeeming qualities. More misses than hits. 1-sucks. Hard pressed to find something good to say about it.
Where do I draw the line? I would keep a 2- It may have 1 or 2 good songs that I like.
Songs make the mp3 player. I don’t think I have a full recording on there. Cd’s
are on the shelf- above the vinyl.

Name 5 bands/recordings ( can be entire catalog or just a specific recording) that instantly makes you feel cooler than you are.
Communist Daughter
The Like
Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros
Broken Bells
Girls