The Pogues – Nokia Theater (New York) – March 19, 2006
After waiting for years for them to come to the U.S. since they got back together a few years ago, I finally got to see them live in one of their 1st New York shows in 15 years. They didn’t disappoint, either, as pretty much every great song from their 1st 3 albums was played and a few from their later albums, too.
The Beach Boys – Sunflower (Brother/Capitol)
I’ve been on a big Beach Boys kick lately. I recently bought the CD with this album and Surf’s Up on one disc and I’ve been playing it incessantly since then. Sunflower contains the incredible BRUCE JOHNSTON-penned and sung “Tears in the Morning” along with BRIAN WILSON and MIKE LOVE’s ghostly and haunting “All I Wanna Do” amongst its other gems. DENNIS WILSON also has a prominent creative role on this album, writing and singing 3 tracks, including the beautiful ballad “Forever”.
The Beach Boys – Surf’s Up (Brother/Capitol)
Though this album is less consistent than its predecessor Sunflower, its high points are among some of the Beach Boys’ best moments. BRUCE JOHNSTON’s “Disney Girls”, CARL WILSON’s “Feel Flows” and BRIAN WILSON’s sublime “Til I Die” and “Surf’s Up” are all sublime works of genius (not a term I throw around too often) and Carl’s “Long Promised Road” isn’t too far behind, either. Ignore Mike’s dreadful “Student Demonstration Time” (perhaps the worst song in the entire Beach Boys catalog) and you have a classic.
The Fiery Furnaces – Bitter Tea (Fat Possum)
I just bought a ticket for their Bowery Ballroom show next month since I’m looking forward to them debuting the songs from this album. In particular, “Waiting to Know You” may be my favorite song of the year so far.
The Beach Boys – Love You (Brother/Capitol)
11 of the 14 songs on this album were penned by BRIAN WILSON and while this is not a classic on the level of Pet Sounds or Friends, it’s a highly enjoyable set that’s recommended for anyone who likes Brian’s more kooky side. It contains bizarre but highly enjoyable odes to “Johnny Carson” and the “Solar System” as well as other oddities such as “I Wanna Pick You Up,” “Honkin’ Down the Highway” and “Roller Skating Child”. This is some of The Beach Boys’ freakiest material and you’ll either love it or hate it. Put me firmly in the “love” camp.
The Tomorrow Show DVD collection
2nd week in a row for this collection? You bet! How can you not love WENDY O. WILLIAMS smashing a car’s headlights and then blowing it up on live TV in 1981 along with an uncharacteristically shy and reserved PATTI SMITH almost trembling in front of host TOM SNYDER and admitting her love for JOHNNY CARSON in 1978? I rest my case.
Shudder to Think – Pony Express Record (Epic)
I was (and still am) a huge fan of this band’s early ‘90s works on Dischord (especially Ten Spot and Funeral at the Movies), so when I heard that they signed to a major label at the time, I was disappointed and subsequently wrote this record off as an attempt to sell-out to the likes of MTV’s Alternative Nation and what not. Well you know what? I dug it out recently and boy was I wrong! While “X-French Tee Shirt” was indeed an MTV alternative hit and the production is cleaner and much more streamlined than on any of their indie releases, it works really well here. The re-recordings of “Hit Liquor” and “No Room 9, Kentucky” are terrific as are the aforementioned “X-French Tee Shirt” and the beautiful “So Into You”. While many consider this to be their best, I disagree, but I still think that this is a worthy entry in their terrific catalog and much better than their subsequent album 50,000 B.C..
Editors – The Back Room (Kitchenware)
I can’t stop playing this. I may have to put it on my Top Ten list for this year even though it came out in the UK last year and I’ve been listening to it since then. I’ve probably played it more than anything else released this year. Regardless, it’s terrific and I absolutely can’t wait for their show at Webster Hall on Thursday.
The Gun Club – Death Party (Sympathy for the Record Industry)
This is Sympathy’s 2004 reissue of the previously hard-to-find 5 song EP coupled with 7 live tracks, including a version of BILLIE HOLLIDAY’s “Strange Fruit”. The live tracks feature some of JEFFREY LEE PIERCE’s hilarious (or slightly offensive depending upon your point of view) drunken babbling, but he and the band were on that one as evidenced by versions of the EP’s “Death Party” and “The Lie” along with the aforementioned versions of “Strange Fruit,” CREDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL’s “Run Through the Jungle” (originally on Miami, their incredible 2nd album which directly preceded the “Death Party” EP) and LITTLE RICHARD’s “Heebie Jeebies”. As for the EP itself, all of it is stellar if not quite on the level of Miami, but “House on Higland Avenue” and “The Lie” are classics.
Matamoros Puebla
This restaurant, locaed in the back of a Mexican grocery on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, contains some of the most fantastic Mexican food I’ve ever had and the best I’ve had in New York, which is saying something since I used to live in East Harlem and had access to authentic, terrific rural Mexican food on a regular basis there. The tacos are simply phenomenal. They’re made with corn tortillas and cooked to perfection. I recommend the bistec ones. Go eat there ASAP because its status is in jeopardy. For more information, go
here
