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Editors – Webster Hall (New York) – March 30, 2006
Editors absolutely shook Webster Hall, one of my least favorite venues, to the core. What differentiates them from virtually every other post-punk revival band is their sheer power, heaviness and physicality. They’re an absolute must-see. I only wish I could’ve seen them headline the much smaller Mercury Lounge back in January.
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The Beach Boys – Carl and the Passions: So Tough (Brother/Capitol)
Another week and another Beach Boys album in my Top 10 list. Although appreciated by some hardcore fans (including SAINT ETIENNE, who also named an album So Tough as a tribute), this is still a massively underrated and remarkably consistent work. On 1st listen, it’s a bit disorienting because it sounds more like THE BAND than their signature sound, but subsequent listens reveal that they expertly weaved in Americana influences, but that they weren’t given credit for it at the time. To most fans, the standout is BRIAN WILSON’s “Marcella”, an ode to his masseuse. However, my personal favorites are “All This is That” and “Cuddle Up”, the beautiful DENNIS WILSON/DARRYL DRAGON (who later became the Captain part of CAPTAIN AND TENNILLE) ballad that closes this album.
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The Beach Boys – Holland (Brother/Capitol)
“Sail on Sailor” is perhaps the greatest Beach Boys track of all and at the very least one of their absolute best. Beyond that, though, on this loose concept album about the history of California, other standouts include CARL WILSON’s “Trader”, DENNIS WILSON’s “Steamboat” and the remarkable “Leaving this Town”, co-written with then members BLONDIE CHAPLIN and RICKY FATAAR (who later went on to play STIG O’HARA in The Rutles mockumentary). The album is brought down considerably the heavy-handed 3-part “California Saga”, but at least they were willing to experiment during this period, even if the experiments didn’t always work.
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The Fiery Furnaces – Bitter Tea (Fat Possum)
I just interviewed them a few days ago for an upcoming issue of the print magazine, so I’ve been listening to this a lot. This may be their best album to date. It flows remarkably well for being so bold, ambitious and experimental. “Waiting to Know You” is still my favorite song of the year. Just remarkable. I hope they keep up this pace.
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Butthole Surfers – Locust Abortion Technician (Latino Bugger Veil)
When Butthole Surfers won back their ‘80s catalog from Touch and Go in a 1999 court case, they released these albums on their own Latino Bugger Veil imprint. Among them is this 1987 mind-f&*k masterpiece of an album. The album starts out with the BLACK SABBATH ode/parody “Sweat Loaf” and ending with “22 Going on 23”, which they probably get sued for nowadays (the track features them recording ambient noise over a tape of a woman calling in on a TV or radio show claiming to be sexually abused). In between these 2 tracks which bookend the album, they take the listener on a journey through noise, tape collages and samples of what sounds like Brazilian music on tracks like “U.S.S.A.”, “The O-Men”, “Kuntz” and the comparatiely straightforward “Human Cannonball”, which is as close as they came to a straightforward song during this period and which actually succeeds on that level apart from the rest of the album. This is also the album on which lead singer/madman GIBBY introduced “Gibbytronics”, where he successfully manipulated his voice to sound as weird as possible using various effects. An absolute must.
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The Futureheads “Skip to the End”
If this excellent new single from their forthcoming 2nd album is any indication, it should be their Black Sea to the 1st album’s Drums and Wires to use an analogy that compares them to their most obvious influence, the great XTC records of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Regardless, “Skip to the End” is like “Towers of London” (the song, not the band) or “Respectable Street” for the new generation of post-punk revivalists.
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Voxtrot – “Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Wives”
Everyone already knows how much I like Voxtrot, so all I’ll say is that I can’t stop playing this title track from their new EP.
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Miles Davis – On the Corner (Legacy/Columbia)
Reviled both critically and by his fans (even those who followed him through his initial electric phase on albums such as In the Silent Way and Bitches Brew) upon its release in 1972, time has proven to be quite kind to this gem of an album. Miles was so ahead of the curve that this not only was a springboard for his later and even more funky output on offerings such as the live Agharta, but I think this album bears a huge resemblance not only to ‘70s Afrobeat by artists like FELA KUTI (who was ostensibly influencedby JAMES BROWN, also a big influence on Miles during this stage of his career) but to the recent, excellent Congotronics releases by artists such as KONONO NO. 1 which are currently all the rage amongst the indie/hipster set. Well you know what? They should get THIS album to hear that stuff played more than 30 years earlier. Another absolute must.
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Squeeze – East Side Story (A&M)
This is Squeeze’s best album and sadly, it is out of print in the US despite containing “Tempted”, their most famous song. With production by ELVIS COSTELLO and ROGER BECHIRIAN, Squeeze are at their absolute peak here, as evidenced by songs like ‘Piccadilly”, “Woman’s World”, “Mumbo Jumbo”, “Someone Else’s Bell” and “Vanity Fair”. This doesn’t even include the hits “Tempted” and “Is That Love” along with the CHRIS DIFFORD-sung “Someone Else’s Heart” and “Heaven”. I could easily write a thousand words about this great album, but all I’ll say is that if you’re curious about Squeeze beyond the well-known material on the platinum-selling Singles 45s and Under collection, you owe it to yourself to find a copy of this album.
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John Morthland – Mainlines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader (Anchor Books, 2003)
Edited by JOHN MORTHLAND, this is a companion piece to the previously released Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung anthology of LESTER BANGS’ writing for such publications as Creem, The Village Voice and others. Simply put, I think that Lester Bangs is the one of the greatest rock and roll writers who ever lived and this book ably demonstrates why. If you’re interested in his work, this or the previous anthology is the place to go, though you may want to ease into it by reading JIM DEROGATIS’ excellent biography Let it Blurt first.
