( 10:41 AM )
Joe Strummer
I had my own personal Joe Strummer tribute this weekend.
In case you weren’t aware, the former Clash frontman, punk rock pioneer, and all around nice guy, Joe Strummer, passed away last week from an apparent heart attack, at the young age of 50.
The saddest part of Strummer’s passing, was that The Clash was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this summer, with all four original members (Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, and Topper Headon) slated to reunite for the first time since their fiery breakup in 1982.
As many of you know, I’m a huge Clash fan. So, in tribute, I pulled all my Clash CDs off the shelf and proceeded to listen to each one in their entirety. Well, except for “Cut the Crap”, and I kinda skipped around “Sandinista”. But still, that’s a lot of music.
God, what a great band. I haven’t listened to some of these CDs in years and I’ve got to comment on some of them.
Sandinista: As Chris Orcutt commented in his review of this album, Sandinista takes some patience to listen to. A 2-disc set, with 36 songs, that tackles everything including funk, reggae, gospel, waltz, disco, children's ditties, dub, and instrumental. Classics off this album include, “Magnificent Seven” and “Police on my Back”. But this album also has my all-time favorite Clash tune, “Washington Bullets”.
London Calling: This is perhaps the most perfect album ever recorded by anyone. Almost every song is a classic, but “Death or Glory” and “Clampdown” are my favorites.
The Clash: Their debut CD which is only paled by London Calling. Classic anthems like “I’m so bored with the USA” and “Janie Jones”. There are two versions of this album, a U.S. release and an original U.K. release. The U.S. release has “White Man in Hammersmith Palais” and “Clash City Rockers”, while the U.K. release is missing these, but adds three others.
Combat Rock: Probably the most popular Clash album because of the commercial success of “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I stay or should I go”. But I always enjoyed “Overpowered by Funk”.
Super Black Market Clash: My favorite Clash album, because of all the great remixes and lost tracks. See my original review for more info.
So, thanks Joe. Thanks for the “Groovy Times”. Try to “Cool Out” at the “Gates of the West”, keep in mind that “Time is Tight” and remember to “Listen” to the “Jail Guitar Doors” in the “City of the Dead”.
( 10:59 AM )
Weekend in Texas
Spent the weekend in Houston, Texas. Actually, it was more like Galveston. I flew down to help my sister, Nicole, and Brother-in-law, Darren, move into their new house.
It was my first visit to the great-state-of-Texas, and I must say, I found it quite enjoyable. Although, I’ve heard from many that visiting the Houston area is one of the best tastings of Texas and doesn’t quite depict the state as a whole. But what I could tell about Texas is that it has an obvious and distinct personality. Kind of like the obvious and distinct personality of New York. Not always good, not always bad, but distinct. You can always recognize a person from Texas, just as you can always recognize a person from New York.
We spent most of the weekend moving furniture from storage facility to new house, so I didn’t get a chance to “taste” Texas. But the few people I did meet, knew that Darren and I were not locals. Darren is Australian and I was wearing a Yankees t-shirt all day. So as soon as he opened his mouth and said something, they’d look at him cross-eyed, then look at my shirt, and usually just grunt.
Galveston is not what I envisioned Texas to look like. It looks more like Florida, as it is a gulf coast, beach community, complete with palm trees and surf shops. There’s a nice breeze off the gulf and the day time temperature only reached about 70 degrees, while it got down to 50 at night. Not the cactus-filled desert I expected to see. In fact, I didn’t see a cactus the entire weekend. But it is still Texas, and people drive big trucks and talk real funny.
I’d like to send out a “hey” to Lisa and Konrad, the nice couple I met on the plane ride there. A couple of Houston transplants now settled in Brooklyn, New York. I promised Konrad I’d give his band “The Silos” latest CD a fair listen, but only promised a review if it blew my socks off. They were nice enough to give me a run-down of what Texas, and specifically Houston, was like.
They were right. Houston seems like a nice place to live. Of course, as my sister reminded me, try visiting during the summer when the temperatures consistently reach 100+ degrees.
( 10:43 PM )
My 10 most listened to CDs of 2002 (in no particular order)
1. Dirtywhite Fashion – 13
I’ve been listening to this excellent indie band continuously for 6 months, with no sign of getting bored.
2. Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise – Time to Discover
Thanks to Glenn Pfeifer for introducing this band to me (and many others). I listen to this whenever I’m in the mood for some great R&B.
3. Mark Knopfler – Sailing to Philadelphia
Whenever I listen to this CD, it’s usually to listen to tracks 7-10, which includes “Speedway to Nazareth”. Just some super cool, mellow blues guitar playing.
4. Sonia Dada – Sonia Dada
Another Glenn Pfeifer recommended band. I got burned out on Day at the Beach, so I pick up this earlier self-titled release and have enjoyed it.
5. Moodswings – Psychedelicatessen
I was turned onto Moodswings by Chris Orcutt’s review of Moodfood. I decided to try another Moodswings CD and found this one just as good.
6. The Waterboys – The Best of the Waterboys ‘81-’90
I got onto a Waterboys kick for several weeks during the summer and pulled this one off the shelf. I classic “best of” collection from a classic ‘80s band.
7. Willy Porter – Falling Forward
This CD seems to be permanently lodged in my living room CD player. Just a real classy CD that gets played whenever people visit or just to mellow things out.
8. The Replacements – Don’t Tell a Soul
A permanent fixture in my truck. I don’t think this CD has sat on a shelf for several years. It always seems to be in rotation.
9. Beck – Odelay
I usually pull this off the shelf every few months and listen to it for a week at a clip. This is a classic CD that I’ll be pulling off the shelf 20 years from now.
10. Rainroom – The Choice of Tragic Wives
My most recent CD obsession. I’ve been listening to this indie CD for about 2 months and can’t seem to get enough.
( 10:23 AM )
Tommy Stinson
The following is a conversation I had with a girl in my office.
Girl: So, guess who I saw in concert this weekend?
Me: (Barry Manilow) Barry Manilow.
Girl: Noooo…Guns n’ Roses!
Me: Oh.
Girl: What? You’re not a fan?
Me: (No) Uh…not really. But I am a fan of the guitarist.
Girl: Who – Slash?
Me: No. The guy that replaced Slash. Tommy Stinson.
Girl: Ohhhhh…you mean the cute guy with the spikey hair?
Me: Yeah, that was probably him.
Girl: Oh, he was really cute. How do you know him?
Me: He use to play with The Replacements.
Girl: Who?
Me: The Replacements. They were a band.
Girl: Oh. How come I never heard of them?
Me: (Because you’re young and stupid) Guess you haven’t been listening to the right radio stations.
Girl: Were they any good?
Me: (Only the greatest rock band that ever lived) Yeah, they were pretty good. I liked them.
Girl: What songs did they sing?
Me: (What songs did they sing?) Uh…well they had quite a few songs. They have about 7 or 8 albums going back to ’81.
Girl: Wowwwww…I didn’t think he looked that old. So I guess all that hard worked paid off for him.
Me: Why? Whadda mean?
Girl: Well, now he’s playing in Guns n’ Roses.
Me: Oh….. (Girl, Tommy Stinson playing for Guns n’ Roses is like a gifted hospital brain surgeon retiring and joining a general practitioners office in a quiet country community!) Yeah, guess it did.
( 11:44 PM )
Mindless Zombies
Matt’s final point, I think, is the correct answer (see Matt's Blog). It is a personal taste issue. One man’s crap is another man’s Korn. Even within the confines of our little webzine community (at it’s predecessor Armchair Reviews) I have found that I disagree with certain opinions regarding what qualifies as “great” music. I have purchased music solely based on reviewer’s opinions that I respect, and have been disappointed. I don’t believe the reviewer was wrong in their analysis of a particular artist. The music simply didn’t have the same effect on me as it did someone else. I accept that fact. I also accept the fact that many people don’t like the music that I enjoy. To a point where, I don’t even attempt to share my musical preferences with people (such as co-workers, family, innocent strangers), except in written form on this site. I have accepted the fact that, “I like it, and that’s all that really matters.”
Now, on the flip side – I do feel like I’m on the outside, looking in. I’m watching the millions of mindless zombies, flocking to the television, the radio, the record store – lining up to buy whatever the media has forced-fed them.
I don’t want to sound like an music elitist or a snob – and I don’t profess to know about all types of music (or even a great deal about music) – but, I believe there are two types of people when it comes to music. People who “know” and people who “don’t know”. The people who “know” are people like us. We know there is always something better out there then what we see and hear from commercial outlets, and we are constantly striving to find it.
Being members of the “know” group still doesn’t make us experts. In fact, personally, it makes me all the more humble when it comes to music. Because I know that no matter what I’m listening too, there is always something else out there. That there may be something great that I’m not familiar with yet. And that makes it more frustrating.
The people who “don't know”, do not know there is anything beyond what is played on their favorite radio station or MTV. These people think they are music connoisseurs because they own every CD that was nominated for a grammy last year.
Whenever I have shared music with people who “don’t know”, they always ask, “Where did you hear this, that made you go out and buy it?” They are always shocked when I tell them that sometimes I don’t hear it. I read about it.
The problem in our society is, people assume that because a band or “artist” wins a grammy or is on MTV or on the radio, they must be good. They don’t realize (or care) that they are being “told” what’s good, rather then being allowed to decide for themselves. “Here! Listen to this. This is what is good! This is what you should buy!” We’re treated like a bunch of mindless zombies.
A friend of a friend once commented on the music coming out of my truck one day, while parked. “What the hell is that banjo music?” “Uh…that’s Bela Fleck, playing with Tony Rice and Vassar Clements. It’s called bluegrass music.” He snorted and said, “Sounds like hillbilly crap. Ha..ha.” I should have laughed with him and let it go. But instead, I felt like I needed to defend Bela and company by saying, “Bela Fleck and Tony Rice are two of the most talented guitar and string instrument-playing musicians on the planet.” To which he amused himself by stating, “Well, I never heard of ‘em! Ha, ha, ha!” Meaning, since he never heard of them, then they might as well not exist.
It was at that point I realized I couldn’t change people’s taste in music or opinion about art or recognition of talent or open their minds in general. That was just the way people were. I’m just grateful I’m not a mindless zombies.
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