If It's at the Spigot, You Gotta Dig It!

Hayes Carll – KMAG YOYO

A very cool mix of country and rock based stompers and ballads…I like his lyrics and musically, it’s hard to go wrong with interesting guitar lines in the stompers, and either banjo, acoustic guitar, or pedal steel driven slower tunes…hell, there’s even a rippin’ pedal steel solo in “The Lovin’ Cup”… Vocally…he’s OK…and I’m sure these songs will work for me like a pair of jeans…they’ll get more and more comfortable with each listen, though I must admit, while listening to the title track, I wanted to sing, “look out kid, it’s somethin’ you did” and “Grateful for Christmas” is right out of the John Prine song style book. The piano and harmonies in “Hide Me” were a surprise and a nice ending touch. 3.5

Keith Top of the Pops… – Fuck You, I’m Keith Top of the Pops

OK…full disclosure here…I was in a somewhat hostile frame of mind when I listened to this the first time, so I really enjoyed the attitude in this, especially from “Girl”, “I Hate Your Band” and the subtle as an elephant’s prick “Fuck You”. Lyrics like, “Your opinion doesn’t matter ‘cause you’re not me” were spot on during that first listen, and I was hoping the “Pretentious Title TBC” would be “Don’t Worry, Be Angry”, but when I listened to it a few more times, in a mellower mood, while I enjoyed the spirit of the humor, the best song on it was “Try Your Best”, so this gets a 2.5 if you’re happy while listening, and 3.5 if you’re pissed at somebody or something while listening, so it averages out to a 3.

The A’s – Self Titiled (1979)

This is a regional band from the “just after the Knack made it safe for bands not to play disco any more” era. I haven’t played this album in 30 years before submitting it, and I was surprised at how well it held up musically. Rick DeFonzio is a very good guitar player, Richard Bush can sing, and the tounge-in-cheek “Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly” break in “After Last Night” still cracks me up. You also can’t go wrong with a song titled “Teenage Jerkoff”. This definitely captures a late ‘70’s/early ‘80’s Northeast Philly attitude and sensibility that hits home, and while there was a lot more “important” music out there, it’s still a fun listen for me. 3

Sleeping in the Aviary – You and Me, Ghost

Right out of the box, this was my favorite of the month…It hits all the right notes for me with its mix of “good old rock and roll” musical vibe, its power, its pop-leaning song structures, harmonies…awesome vocals, short and sweet songs that were varied, and interesting. It’s the whole package. It was the only thing I listened to this month that got better and better each time I listened to it, and it was the one CD I kept wanting to go back to and hear again. 4.5

Ladyhawk – For me, this was one of those “forgettables”…I listened about two weeks ago, thought, “OK, not bad” and then when I played it again this week, I didn’t remember a single track on it. It’s just non-descript…sounds like a million things I’ve heard over the past hand full of years with little elements of each of those bands – Kaiser Chiefs, The National, Arctic Monkeys, The Hold Steady…and a bunch of others - adding up to not a whole lot. Maybe it’s just that I don’t appreciate the genre, but it just doesn’t connect with me. 2

Drummers (GH) – Easily the most diverse GH we’ve had since I joined the group. As a musician, I thoroughly enjoyed the mix of tunes, though I have to admit that when I first saw the titles, I cringed at the Dave Matthews and Tool tracks, but in context, they were cool, though there needs to be a surgeon’s warning on this that says, “not to be listened to if suffering from headaches…side effects include playing drum solos on your steering wheel and looking like a complete moron in traffic.” Nice job, Greg!

Topic - We all have our favorite artists. Of the entire library of your true favorite artist not including greatest hits or live albums, what is your favorite album and what is your least favorite album? Why do these earn the distinction of best and worst?
My Favorite Album from my favorite artist is Sticky Fingers by the Rolling Stones. There are no weak songs, the musicianship is top-notch with the best Stones lineup (including Mick Taylor on guitar), and the music continues to stand the test of time 40+ years later.
My least favorite Stones album is Emotional Rescue…there’s only one or two songs on it that are worth the time to listen, it’s not particularly well recorded, Ronnie Wood is NO Mick Taylor and all in all, it just sucks.

Just for ha ha’s, you can pick one song from the worst cd and swap it with one you don’t like from the favorite. What songs were they?
“All About You” from Emotional Rescue to swap with “You Gotta Move” from Sticky Fingers, although I think it would make Sticky Fingers less better.