Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit (Matador)
Seeing their excellent concert the week before inspired another round of daily playings of this inspired and well-rounded new LP. Six albums in, they still write better songs than almost anyone going that long, like “Another Sunny Day” and “The Funny Little Frog in My Throat,” which reminds me a little of THE GRASS ROOTS.
Marvin Gaye – Heard it Through the Grapevine (Motown)
This is still one of the great soul albums ever made, yet you don’t hear about it that much. Usually when people reach for a Gaye record or CD, it’s some kind of best-of or singles compilation, but this is one of those albums that’s so incredibly consistent, it totally works as a stand alone LP. OK, you know the title track—who doesn’t?—and you may know a couple other of the funkier singles like the powerful “You.” But you need to know every other song here, too. Trust me. Would I lie to you?
Kaleidoscope – Tangerine Dream (Repertoire U.K.)
Look for a Top 5 finish in the upcoming Big Takeover issue 58 for this fantastic reissue of these Brits who straddled freakbeat psych and BEE GEES type pop. This stuff is often extraordinary, especially “Dive Into Yesterday.”
Bad Religion – The Empire Strikes First (Epitaph)
Repeated viewers of their new live DVD Live at the Palladium reminded me of how much I liked this record last year, even if it wasn’t as consistently brilliant as the previous The Process of Belief. The punishing “Let Them Eat War” and especially one of the Top 10 songs of the decade so far, “Los Angeles is Burning,” just shake me up so much. Everything that thrilled me about being a punk rocker as a kid is contained in this band’s best songs, and I love every one of their albums. (Yes, even Into the Unknown—see my Big Takeover review in 1983; I can prove to have even liked it then when that was more rare.)
George Jones – New Favorites (Razor and Tie)
TONY KINMAN, then in RANK AND FILE, gave me an offhand buyers guide to Jones in 1982 that I’ve used ever since. (The conversation came up after I saw them cover “White Lightning” one night.) Look at the LP cover: if Jones has a crewcut, buy it. If he has longer, shaggy hair, you’ll have to hear it first. He had a crewcut his first 10 years or so, and he was a country singing genius. (He’s still pretty good. I watch his show on TV sometimes when I can find it.) Next to HANK WILLIAMS I think he’s the greatest country music artist ever, and I wish modern country of the last 30-35 years sounded like this, I wouldn’t despise it so! This is one of his best. And it has a crew cut on the cover. Ergo… Buy it!
Ray Davies – Other People’s Lives (V2)
THE KINKS leader’s first solo LP is still entertaining me. This week’s favorite is “Stand Up Comic,” which really makes me laugh. It might be 2006’s “Well Respected Man” meets “Harry Rag.”
Jon Auer –
Songs From the Year of Our Demise (Pattern 25)
Such a beautiful debut solo LP by THE POSIES veteran, I just keep playing and playing and playing this! Really lovely stuff, not at all like his band, much as I love them too. This is what solo LPs are for!
The Replacements – Stink (Twin/Tone)
Somehow the classic “I Need a Goddamn Job” entered my head one day, after my wife’s aunt talked about someone who needed to find a job. I started singing this to her, and she couldn’t believe it was really a song! After we all stopped laughing, I had to hear the song again… then the album… then again and again and again. Man these guys cooked in 1981-1983. Hoo boy!
The Beatles – Revolver (Capitol)
Pretty much every week will find me play some Beatle album or other. This may well be the band at the peak of their powers, given the expansive reach on this fabulous record, and the level of songwriting and singing. Sgt. Pepper may have shocked the world the next year, but this one had already shocked pop and rock musicians. Both genres would never be the same.
Rogue Wave and Nada Surf- Live at Webster Hall, March 8
Two sides of my favorite coin, part 2!: folk rock indie pop written and led by the often brilliant ZACH ROGUE was followed by super-catchy punky power-pop (and a superlative cover of THE SMITHS’ “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”). What a fun time. What a great bill (including the opening INARA GEORGE, who I regrettably missed).
