All Apologies

Eureka Machines – Remain in Hope

Sounds A LOT like the band “Second Saturday” that I submitted a while back…it’s that sweet, overproduced power pop that haters hate and lovers enjoy. I’m a power pop guy so I like this, but I can see where others will kill it. It’s a 3.0 for me, and that might be the highest rating it gets from anyone in DYN.

Moondance – Van Morrison

A stone cold classic. Listening again for the first time in a long time confirms that Van the Man is something special. Nothing needs to be said about the music that hasn’t already been articulated by critics over the years, though critics also thought Veedom Fleece was the best Van Morrison album ever…wrong! 4.5

Velvet Underground – Loaded

If you just listen to the first three tracks, it’s a great album, but when you listen to the album in its entirety, not so much. 2.5

Sky Ferreria – Night Time My Time

2.0 if you listen as submitted, 3.5 if you watch available videos on You Tube. At least it’s not as bad as Scarlett Johannsson’s CD. Even videos couldn’t keep that from being a 1.5 or less….well, maybe…

Capstan Shafts – Thanks for this GH…I hadn’t heard them before and I like short songs with big hooks. This has many of them. I especially like the most recent CD tracks since they are more fleshed out and less ‘lo-fi’. I will add many of these to my power pop rotation in I-Tunes.

Guitar Solos that should never change…
1. Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
2. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking – Rolling Stones
3. While My Guitar Gently Weeps – Beatles
4. Something – Beatles
5. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen

In a couple of sentences, best describe each of our DYN reviewers' taste and expected review criterion for submissions.

D’Arcy – Has a Brit/ 80’s rock guitar sweet spot…if he doesn’t like it, it’s horrible. I always know I’ll get a great rock CD when he submits an ‘old’, and I know any Stones that get submitted will be trashed.
Mike – Eclectic. A ‘rock as art’ kind of guy, but at the end of the day, melody wins. I never know what to expect as a grade from Mike.
Ken – Encyclopedic. Out of all of us, he’s most open to all musical genres. Submissions are always a pleasant surprise, and his grading is always well reasoned.
Jay – Intelligent punk and historically important rock with no time for posers. You get your whole life to do your first album, so that’s the important one. Submissions are always either in my library or going there.
Sandy – A soft spot for jam bands, but a well rounded music appreciator. He’s more accepting of fringe submissions than anyone else.
Greg – Prog rock soft spot, but can surprise, both with a willingness to stretch his taste and music he submits.
Monsta – The holy trinity of Dylan/Springsteen/Young is the criteria by which all others are judged, and I enjoy most everything he submits (other than that Ocular thing).

On a personal note, sorry I’m so late with these things…it has been a rough year since June and it’s still difficult with Deb’s radiation schedule and my Mom coming back from a small stroke…I’ll be back in 2014 to make the DYN meetings, but I’m on tight time through the end of the year.

For the sake of time and civility...

MUSIC COMMENTARY by The Mong

NEW
Eureka Machines – “Remain in Hope” = 2.0
Skillfully played and produced yet ultimately forgettable Prog-ish Pop.

Sky Ferreira – “Night Time, My Time” = 2.0
Insert Eureka Machines commentary here except swap “Pro-ish” for tween-ish.

OLD
Van Morrison – “Moondance” = 4.5
A beautiful classic. Minus one-half point for a little too much flute. “Jazz flute is for little fairy boys.”

Velvet Underground – “Loaded” = 3.0
Overrated (just like the band) even for its day, but “Loaded” has got its share of standouts (“Sweet Jane,” “Rock & Roll,” “New Age,” “Oh! Sweet Nuthin'”) that hold up better than VG’s other materials.

G’HITS
The Capstan Shafts
Good stuff. Comparisons to Robert Pollard (online) are not accurate; more like Tobin Sprout (both of Guided by Voices fame).

TOPIC
1. The automatic purchases- Name artists/bands that you will buy their new release without hearing it first.  Of those, which will buy unheard knowing that they probably will stink (the completest theory).

Hello, my name is Michael, and I’m a completest. It’s been three years since my last completest spree, but with the help of my sponsor, my friends who are still completests, and through embracing the power of Rhapsody, I no longer do any automatic purchasing, regardless of how much I love the artist.

2. Assumption- we all love a good guitar solo. So name songs that you feel the guitar solo is so perfect it should NEVER be altered. Even live.

Where to begin...? I’ll do a few off the top of my head:
“Side with the Seeds” – Wilco
“La Villa Strangiato” – Rush
“Taxman” – Beatles
“Good Golly Miss Molly” – Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Gold Top” – Supersuckers
“Carry the Zero” – Built to Spill
“Pearl Necklace” (closing solo) – ZZ Top
“Couldn’t Stand the Weather” – Stevie Ray Vaughn
“Grain of Salt” – John Doe
“Candy-O” – The Cars
“Mod Lang” – Big Star

3. Thicken your skin all. Provide one/two sentences that best describes each of our DYN reviewers' taste and expected review criterion for submissions.

For the sake of time and civility, I am going with review style over criteria:
Alan: Taste: Everyday / Review Style: Thorough and Intelligent
D’Arcy: Taste: Myopic / Review Style: Uncompromising
Greg: Taste: Narrow / Review Style: Honest
Jay: Taste: Unpredictable / Review Style: Scholarly yet Aggressive
Ken: Taste: Adventurous / Review Style: Knowledgeable and Clever
Mike: Taste: Inflexible / Review Style: Rough and Hilarious
Sandor: Taste: Kind / Review Style: Respectful and Dignified

2 for the price of one

Mg 13-10-17

Off with her heads. 

When you play a punk album and your girlfriend’s daughter says all he does is scream but your girlfriend stays and listens something must be right with the music.  And it is here in abundance.  I always thought if you could slow it down and it still rocks with punk abandon then you got something and with Don’t make me go they accomplish just that.  The rest sounds like Zakk Wylde fronting Against Me and that’s pretty damn good.  It rocks, they are pissed, both drunk and angry, and its punk. 4.0

Cold War Kids

The first song is great its catch as all hell and just sticks in your head.  The rest is good but never quite lives up to the intro.  There is a great singer here and when he’s in a groove it works.  Sometimes though, he just seems to not have enough to fill the sound he’s looking for leaving and it leaves the song a bit short.   And he needs to stop moving towards sounding like that guy from Fun!  But songs like Water and Power they mix the parts just right.  The understate guitar and drums that are really difficult driving the song and the voice forward.  3.5

Elton

The snoozer of the week.  Not because it’s bad but because it’s so understated compared to the rest.  There isn’t a bad song on the cd but none you’d play if you were about to go out and raise hell.  The best track on the cd Someone… still is something to be played when one is feeling a bit retrospective.  The playing is fantastic and the song are brilliant but they are hangover Sunday songs.  Nothing I’ll be reaching for the rest of the week. 3.0

Kiss

If you can manage to survive for 40 years somewhere along the line you have to have songs.  You just can’t rely on gimmicks, make up and tongue.  This sadly was the end of Kiss.  Sure they made tons more cd’s but this was the last with the band writing by themselves, no hired guns to polish.  Gone also is the over production found on Destroyer and all that followed.  Eddie Kramer’s production said this is Kiss.   From the beginning of the intro to I stole your love til the last refrain of the chorus in plaster caster these are 9 really good straight ahead rock songs that if they were the only ones they played live you wouldn’t be disappointed.  (Yes I know there are 10 songs on the cd but I refuse to ever listen to then she kissed me ever again.  It signals to what was about to come).  Along the way you get tomorrow and tonight, got love for sale, and love gun, a fun ride that has aged well.  They could write catchy songs, and Ace’s playing is pretty good.  A grand finale for the original four. 4.0

Books

Hit Men   Frank Dannon.  From the 50’s to the mid 8o’s how hit were bought and why

So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star: How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life  by Jacob Slichter  Semisonics tale on how they almost made it but still had a pretty good life.

And Party Everyday, The Inside Story of Casablanca Records by Larry Harris, Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs   They had no clue but they were famous. 

  

Mg 13-11-19

Eureka Machines

Is pop rock becoming a thing of the past?  I hope not because then bands like the Eureka Machines will no longer be around.  This and Hey Hello are the only two cds all year that I can say fit this genre.  Where are the Cheap Tricks for this generation?  That being said this is a wonderful collection of 11 songs.  Take the Wildhearts, add Green Day at some truly English humor and here you go.  The songs are catchy the lyrics witty and the chorus are shout alongs.   Damn we need more of this 4.0

Van Morrison

I didn’t hate this in fact I listened to it twice.  Two times more than I have listened to anything by him in the past decade.  Its Van Morrison no description necessary and it won’t be played much more after this but it might not be turned off as quick either. 3.0 I ignored the extras because I still believe that rarely do these things ever improve the initial listening experience.

Lou Reed

Forgot how pop this record was.  Damn it’s so good.  Lou Reed just writing songs.  Rock n Roll and Sweet Jane are great in any format but the originals show just how the songs truly are.  The other songs just keep a groove going on throughout the whole record. 4.0

Sky Ferreira

If it ain’t Rush it’s a hot chick, and Greg once again keeps up the standard.  Surprisingly not that bad of a cd either.  Has a techno Berlin, feel to it with the chick from Duke Spirit feel.  Starts off well peaks with 3-5 tracks then tends to repeat in the final third and peters out at the end. 2.5

Greatest Hits

Just okay where the parts reminds of others and done better elsewhere. 

1 Manic Street preachers.  Last Three were three of their best just ordered the import

2 Anything Ginger.  Hey Hello rocked let’s see what he does solo

3 Electric Six who knows it could rock or suck but I’m going to get it

Guitar Solos

I’m a Loser UFO

My Kingdom Echo and the Bunnymen

Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd

Thicken your skin all. Provide one/two sentences that best describes of each of our DYN reviewers' taste and expected review criterion for submissions.

Me   Always right

Jay  First cd counts for everything and if it’s bad its really bad.  News are usually blind old are things we better like or we know nothing.

Mike  No middle ground.  Surprises with likes and dislikes and with his cds he presents.  Looks to provide with cds he thinks no one has heard but he really loves.  Way off the beaten track.  Might be because of the Mongillo label.

Greg  The blank slate of the group.  And writes interesting reviews

Alan Fellow pop connoisseur Likes the oldies but adds some interesting new submissions.

Hopkins His heart will always be Alt country but he loves his eighties and truckers.  Was stuck in that alt country rut but now seems to be going with the blind submission.

Ken Always looking for a reason to like or dislike a cd sometimes both rather than just letting it be music.  Try’s for something out of the box when submitting.

Sandy.  Tell me why you don’t live in southern California.