There is a War Going On
Does the Iraq war have anything to do with what’s been happening in the newer bands and music that gets played these days? Please tell me—-it seems that alot of it has more to do with the war between “pushing it” and “floating downstreem,” which is more ‘universal’ of course, but it does relate to the war. PerhapsiIt isn’t that there’s a definite SILNCE about the war in much of the hip bands of today, it’s that you got to look for it.
He died recently, and I get sick of all this talk about him being the ‘5th
Beatle.” Sure, that’s how many people (not necessarily older) first became aware of him, but I first became aware of him through his great string of top ten hits in the early 1970s, “Outta Space,” “Space Race,” “Will It Go Round In Circles?” and “Nuthin’ from Nuthin” for instance, and those songs weren’t just hits because of his connections!
They play this song alot on KALX (90.7); I like it because I can’t figure out the lyrics at first, “If every ape’s an animal,” No…”if every age is terrible”...no! Finally, the DJ clues me in. “If every angel’s terrible.” Ah, ha, a reference to the Duino Elegies by Ranier Maria Rilke. Gotta love that, and the vocalist is kind of a cross between Frente and Joanna Newsom, kind of like the golden mean between their excesses. Gotta love that too
Sometimes it’s so easy to make fun of old-timer, baby-boom rock critics. In fact, sometimes it’s the only thing a younger generation of musicians and writers can do, after 30 years of hearing his tales over and over in the mainstream media, but I recently heard a podcast, on KYOU 1550 AM, by Mr. Torres, that was actually quite enjoyable, as he talked about trying to be a DJ on local KFRC.
I’m assuming he’s a much younger music critic, as I saw his capsule blurb in one of the SF weeklies. He wins the prize for review quote of the week. Here it is: “Once there was a time when [pick one] punk/new wave/indie rock meant songs purged of anything suggesting proficiency, non-DIY, or classic album rock. Of late, though, indie bands have embraced the refined aspects of the 1960s/70s classics—Sufjan Stevens and Of Montreal have more in common with The Zombies, Van Dyke Parks, and Todd Rundgren than with The Fall or Sonic Youth.” Oh, he’s trying to make a point that the the UK’s latest sensation plays to both sides of this cultural divide. Does it matter who the band is? Could be many. I’ll give you a hint, The Boy Least Likely To is not from the USA.
Better known as Run DMC, Mr. McDaniels, recently quoted in a Wall Street Journal article by John Jorgensen, is trying to resurrect his career, by remaking “Cat’s In The Cradle” and appealing to the pre-gangsta-rap crowd who has survived into middle age. As McDaniels puts it, “I thought about all the people my age who don’t want to hear the rap that’s on the radio; I can relate to John Fogerty more than I can relate to these rap guys now.”
Still my favorite album, from start to finish, by any band led by Joe Pernice, though I’m sure he gets sick of hearing that. I don’t mean to say there isn’t a lot of great recent stuff.
Late 1980s female punk, with personality!
From Austin by way of Oregon. Recently played a show at Oakland’s Stork Club, brillaint, hilarious, low-fi, country-rock.
James McMurty, “Can’t Make It Hear Anymore”
recently heard on KPIG. A pretty good Todd Snider like song, except for the anti-graffiti line at the end
A Minneapolis band from the late 1980s; this song definitely seems to owe something to The Replacements.
“Gotta go to someplace new/ even though there ain’t much else to do/
It stinks there like it stinks here/ I gotta reach, reach, reach, out!”
