Yes I know that this came out back in June (and as an import earlier not to mention the fact that it’s been floating around on the internet since February or so), but I finally got around to listening to it within the last week and boy is it good. A quantum leap from their so-so first album Coming on Strong, the quality is improved by the incredible production from DFA’s JAMES MURPHY and TIM GOLDSWORTHY as well as sharper songwriting. “Over and Over” is the hit and a bona-fide dance-club banger, but “And I Was a Boy from School” is perhaps even better. Despite the fun, upbeat electro stylings, a sense of dread and paranoia is present creeping just directly above the surface on songs like the title track (with its refrain of “Hot Chip will break your legs”) giving the album a sense of balance as well. While this probably won’t wind up on my Top 10 of the year, it’ll come awfully close. Highly recommended.
This is, of course, an incredibly influential and often brilliant album. However, reading the editorial by TIM SOMMER in the new issue made me dig it out and while I appreciate its charms (and its influence on everyone from DAVID BOWIE to STEREOLAB to WILCO), I don’t think that it’s the best record ever made nor do I think that Neu! are the best rock band ever. Nevertheless, it’s worth it for the incredible opening track “Hallogallo” alone.
I finally aquired this disc this past week and boy is it great. Many of you already know this, no doubt, but many still don’t realize that L.A.M.F. is a punk rock landmark that stands among the best of the class of ‘77. Of course, one of the big reasons for this is that the original album and a remixed version from the early ‘80s both suffered from poor sound. This reissue from the late ‘90s, however, is the genuine article. Every note shreds and The Heartbreakers are captured in their full, primal, sleazy glory. Sure they were basically a bunch of junkies whose self-destructive behavior led to their demise, but on the other hand songs like “Chinese Rocks” (the definitive version), “Get Off the Phone,” the opener “Born to Lose” and “All By Myself” prove that they also played some of the most feral and exciting rock and roll on the planet in their heyday. Forget the still potent but nowhere near as good reunion album Live at Max’s Kansas City from 1979, the other editions of this album or any numerous other Thunders compilations and get this. It’s the real deal.
I remember that back when this album was originally released in 1992, the punk fanzine Maximum Rock and Roll (which I used to read every month as a punk-obsessed teenager) declared it the album of the decade with nearly all of its writers singing its praises. Fourteen years later, it’s still packs a mean wallop and has lost absolutely none of its (raw) power. Basically, they were an updated, American cowpunk version of the I’m Stranded-era incarnation of THE SAINTS in that they took ‘50s rock and rockabilly along with ‘60s garage rock and supercharged them with a bucketload of attitude and volume. Check out their incredible cover of WIRE’s Pink Flag scorcher “Mr. Suit” or the awesome “Dragstrip Riot”.
No this isn’t his most recent solo album. Instead, it’s a recording of (count ‘em) 70 tracks (most clocking in at under one minute) of KISS singer and guitarist Paul Stanley’s between-song banter. To say this is pure (unintentional) comedy gold would be an understatement. Seek it out if you’re into that sort of thing. It’s closest parallels are the Having Fun with Elvis on Stage album or ROBERT POLLARD’s limited edition Relaxation of the Asshole album from last year.
Possibly my favorite reggae album ever and a favorite of mine as a teenager, I was compelled to seek out this 1973 masterpiece recently after not hearing it for many years by a discussion I had on a mailing list. The discussion in question involved great covers of otherwise not-so-great songs. One person nominated the version of “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (the JOHN DENVER song). While the fact that I enjoy this version of this otherwise tepid song is a testament to this album’s greatness, my favorite tracks are the title track, “Pomp and Pride” and of course the incredible and oft-covered “Pressure Drop”. If all you know about reggae involves BOB MARLEY (not a diss by the way; I love Marley’s music as well) or even if you don’t know it at all and you’re curious, this album is as great of an introduction to the genre as any.
Gilmore Girls (Tuesday, CW)
Although critics have bemoaned the lack of witty banter between main characters Lorelai and Rory Gilmore during this season, I’ve still been enjoying it anyway. Next week’s episode sounds quite promising with the promise of a Luke-Christopher confrontation just in time for November sweeps.
Veronica Mars (Tuesday, CW)
The same TV critics who lauded the first two seasons of this excellent detective show are now lashing out at it, claiming that Veronica last lost her feistiness and sense of independence and that the show has grown more conservative as it struggles to attract a wider audience and stay on the air. I say bollocks to that! TV critics don’t seem to understand that once a viewer gets hooked to a particular show and its characters, he or she will stick with it as long as the characters are still relatable and the writing is still solid. Regardless, I wonder if these critics watched this past week’s episode, which was as utterly terrifying and creepy as even last season’s blowout finale.
You know, it’s great to be able to purchase obscure reissues like this (or other things I’ve gotten recently like a DAVID AXELROD collection) from yourmusic.com for only $5.99. Reissued last year after long being unavailable (except on numerous bootlegs), this is the late, great JOE STRUMMER’s band before he formed THE CLASH. They often get classified in the “pub rock” camp because of their contemporaries in the U.K. at the time. In reality, though, they were faster and more furious than any of those contemporaries aside from maybe DR. FEELGOOD and thus way more of a lost ‘60s garage band. Songs like “Keys to Your Heart” could’ve fit in nicely on any number of Nuggets-style compilations had they been recorded in 1966 instead of 1976. In addition to their lone album Elgin Avenue Breakdown, this reissue includes several live tracks of varying quality. In some ways, these live tracks (which take up almost a third of this disc) are the most interesting things here, especially for Clash completists and historians. An early version of “Jail Guitar Doors” (entitled “Lonely Mother’s Son”) is included here as well as covers of “Junco Partner” (later covered by The Clash on 1980’s Sandinista!), “Maybelline” and most tellingly, “Gloria”, where Strummer mentions seeing PATTI SMITH perform her revelatory take on it earlier that year. Thus, it’s clear that the road to The Clash was already being paved here.
Although I hadn’t listened to this mash-up album in about a year and a half or so, I was compelled to pull it out after reading about the new Love release in which GEORGE MARTIN tinkers with the original songs by mixing them with other BEATLES songs. While I’ve enjoyed what I heard from that officially-released album, a mash-up album like this shows that Martin’s (and in reality many Beatles fans) idea of a mash-up is really quite conservative. Simply put, this is a much more interesting listen because it combines Beatles songs with other artists’ material in creative and unique ways. For instance, there’s “Sleeping”, which combines JOHN LENNON’s incredible and oft-overlooked “I’m Only Sleeping” (my favorite Beatles song) with PORTISHEAD’s awesome “Glory Box”. Or what about “Close to No One”, which combines THE CURE’s “Close to Me” with the PAUL MCCARTNEY masterpiece “For No One”? Great stuff.
