Queen Jane Approximately

Out of tune guitars, all the drums on the right channel, the organ and upright piano, song arrangement slapped together in one hour/day... I can't get enough of this song, today. Doesn't that piano at the beginning just make you feel you're going to have the time of yr life? And then the organ coming in with that voice.

Someone knows how to rock all the iMovie effects. I'm sending pix to whoever made this video and getting them to do mine.

True Affection

In my own (very minutely important) opinion, The Blow's take on the troubles and tribulations of what it's like to be a little neurotic and in love is the most honest since the hey day of the girl group era. This track of hers, called "True Affection," makes me feel sad every time I hear it. It's her treatise on what it feels like when you realize that even if you and some other person love each other very much, it doesn't mean everything is going to work out, and it's pretty spot on. "True affection floats/true affection sinks like a stone/I never felt so close/I never felt so all alone." I also love its references to how being love being like sinking underwater with someone. I wish she was still performing the songs she made with Jonas Becholt.

Homegirl

I feel like I need to make a memo to all the music listeners in the world. Or just do an old fashioned megaphone broadcast:
HEY YOU GUYS! THAT THAO RECORD? IT IS A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! YEAH, IT'S GREAT! YOU SHOULD REALLY LISTEN TO IT! I'LL MAKE YOU A COPY IF YOU WANT. JUST LET ME KNOW.
Now I just need a sandwich board to walk around in, advertising for Thao. It's weird, because this really shouldn't matter, but I feel really great that she's Vietnamese. I have some actual Viet pride. I feel like one of my homies did some right in the world and made something great.

Up From the Deep

I've been listening to so much Bruce Springsteen lately that I've been getting to hanging to some corners that I haven't been to before. Sometimes, a certain artist enters you life like a wave and then recedes. Later waves come further up yr beach revealing new benthic treasures.

With heavyweights like Dylan , Young and Springsteen there always new special songs that you never expected, or were hiding in plain sight in their vast oceanic catalogs.

Lately I've been hooked on the song 'Jackson Cage' from 'The River'. Lord, would this be fun to see live. I love the combo of dueling Wurlitzer(?) organ and piano. Funny, to me, melodically and structurally this song seems very much like something Elvis Costello would do. I can easily hear him singing it.



It must feel awesome to be on a stage buffeted by a loud organ on one side and a crisp piano on the other.

The NY Border

I'm still lamenting that the Aislers Set isn't practically required listening. I discovered their record "Last Match" at a living room party my friend Gwen threw many years ago. I started listening to it again lately and it's the perfect intro back into spring - light, airy, sweet. Kind of like a rose flavored marshmallow.

Of course, they're currently on hiatus.

Here it comes

Speaking of 80s/90s pop ...

The other day I was at the Good Will buying a hot plate and some muffin tins (go ahead and ask but I won't answer.) when I ran across a rack of used cassettes. My old vehicle has an old tape deck so I looked to see if any of the tapes were worth the $.50 price tag. Amongst the multiple copies of Kenny G and Whitney tapes I found the self-titled record from 1990 by The LAs. It has that song on it called There She Goes. It sounds great on an old tape deck in an old truck with the NR button turned off( I say bring the noise!).

Here's the band playing two songs from the record (Son of a Gun and There She Goes):

Etcetera

When I was in the college radio biz, a British dude I worked for turned me onto the Wedding Present, and consequently Cinerama, both great projects by David Gedge. David Gedge is a little like a British Stephin Merritt, prolific in pop songs and catchy melancholy. My favorite of his is this track called "Your Charms." The late John Peel was also a huge fan of David Gedge's, and remarked what he loved about his songs was the way they sound like he was just rambling at you over a pint instead of singing actual lyrics. This track I think is a good example of that, especially in the chorus: "And darling, I just can't think clearly/It happens when I'm in your arms/And my heart is pounding/How pathetic is this sounding?" The track is also a reference to early girl-group pop from the late 50s and 60s, when the word "charms" was substituted in for the word "sexy prowess" (see: The Supremes' "Nothing But Heartaches": "I can't break away from his charms/I can't break away from his kiss/'Cause his kiss I shouldn't miss...") Well played, Gedge!

I think my head exploded...

This is criminally cute, dudes.

Ultimate Rock Band

Last song of the last show:

S-K are still the ultimate rock band.

Great mix tape

I bought the Bob Dylan Artist's Choice CD a few days ago at Starbucks (Yeah, I know they're just horrible and how could I ...). It's great. Just what I want in a mix tape. A few tracks from groups I know and love and a few things that are new to me and really great. I have a list of new records to run out and get now.

You can hear samples here.

My favorite track is the weirdest one. It's called Tezeta (Fast) and it's by Getatchew Kassa. In the notes Dylan says he first heard this song on an unmarked disc that someone made for him and he thought it was a Cajun record played backwards. The description is apt. It's actually a group from Ethiopia. I found Tezeta (Slow). It sounds less backwards Cajun but is also good.