Record Review: Cat Power Jukebox

Cat Power
Jukebox
 Chan Marshall as Cat Power has long fascinated, enthralled and infuriated me.  Her whispered, atonal mewing is enchanting and yet sometimes there is jus t a sameness to the whole thing that is numbing.  With a few exceptions her original songs have been unremarkable and her gifts as a singer has always been through interpreting other peoples works.  Sometimes it is brilliant, sometimes the song selection is questionable, but it is never uninteresting to see what she does with someone else’s tunes and while her covers may be eclectic and more geared to music snobbery then tunefulness her CD Covers was very well received and had a number of memorable tunes on it.  Her cover of the Oasis anthem “Wonderwall” stands as the brilliant mark by which any artist should be judged, reinventing the song in a way never envisioned by those pretentious little twits the Gallagher's or in the much ballyhooed Ryan Adams cover.  Find it on iTunes….BUY IT NOW!
 
So it was with some apprehension and anticipation that picked up her knew CD “Jukebox”.  Once again a collection of covers, some old, some new, some borrowed, etc… She did this one with the help of pretty much the same Memphis session players she used for her last CD, the critically acclaimed but ultimately disappointing “The Greatest”.  These musicians are brilliant and understated with Judah Bauer on guitar, and Greg Foreman on Organ accenting  her voice and framing her tunes.  This CD also has special guests on it like the brilliant Spooner Oldham on piano and organ and Matt Sweeney on guitar.  It is a sweet band for a sometimes silky sweet voice.
 
She kicks off with “New York” and she is no Frank Sinatra and you immediately think ooohhh! That was a mistake but… it grows on you like a fungus or in you like a cyst and now (although I would never want to drunkenly sing it at a bar) it has become my favorite.  She moves into a muted version of the Hank Williams (not Jr. or III) tune Ramblin (WO)MAN and it lilts along in a most pleasing way with it’s steel guitar muted in the background and frankly…beautiful.  The third song is hers, “Metal Heart”, and it is surprisingly good.  Lee Clayton’s “Silver Stallion” lilts along followed by “Aretha, Sing One For Me” which unhappily sounds a little trite coming from a woman who does not by any estimation have a “big” voice.  James Brown’s “Lost Someone” is a non starter… and even after it fails to start it goes no where.  “Lord Help The Poor and Needy” seems to resonate but I do not know if that is because of her cover of it, or because it seems to be a relevant song to life right now.
 
She veers suddenly to brilliant again inn her cover of Dylan’s “I Believe In You” which you can also find on the sound track of the recent non hit movie “I’m Not There”.  This song works on every level with a great, almost Keith Richards on Xanax like guitar rift that counterpoints her reading of a song that when Dylan does it is almost unintelligible.  She follows up with her own “Song To Bobby” with the usual disappointing results and then reaches out and fails on the Billie Holloday song “Don’t Explain” before closing with a one two punch of Spooner Olhams “Women Left Lonely” followed by a really thoughtful version of Joni Mitchells under rated “Blue”.
 
The CD is cohesive and at times brilliant and enchanting but even as it fits together the unevenness of Marshall’s performances and commitment to these songs as she goes through it is distracting.  I think that when she stops recording she is going to leave us with a really sweet greatest hits package and I guess that is feint praise indeed for this critics darling.

Best Music of 2007

Diner Review Best of 07 Composite

In the Diner Reviews constant, unrelenting, never-stopping, emotionally engaged and as always completely selfless effort to provide a service to it’s hapless (hopeless) readers, here is the Diner Review Best of 2007 Composite CD. If you drop me an email with your mailing address I will burn you a copy because... well that is just the way I roll. So if you want it, drop me an email at wantonbecker@gmail.com or post a comment here...whatever. Do not panic. This will be followed up an over all “best of including books, movies, concerts.... Merry Christmas!

OH! ONE MORE THING! Make some additions, post your own list here or email it to me and I will post. Do it!

One more thing. This link was forwarded by a friend. It amused me:

http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/the_worst_band_names_of_07?utm_source=avclub_rss_daily

1. “Our Life Is Not A Movie or Maybe” (Okkervil River: Stage Names) The whole CD grows on you but Will Sheff and the boys have ripped off another sweet little psychotic CD complete with hooks, rhymes and a nice back-beat. This song of course leads you to the conclusion that your life is like a movie... and not a good one. His songs never end well. I like that.

2. “Fire It Up” (Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before The Ship Ever Sank) The Mouse returns with quasi tragic, surreally brilliant CD which is... chock full of quality indie rock. “Fire It Up” can be read a lot of ways but will of course be regarded as a stoner anthem... why not? As the ice falls off the roof and the snow piles up outside, why look for deeper meaning?

3. “Black Like Me” (Spoon: GaGaGaGa) I have decided that this Spoon CD is likely one of the underrated CD’s of the year and this song begs for inclusion in a “hip” TV series. Perhaps on fax...maybe the new one called “Quarter Life” about all those interesting, self involved 20 somethings coming out. Good, self pitying and tuneful. Who could ask for anything more?

4. “Flat Head”(Fratellis: Costello Music) A curve ball. A 2006 release which of course did not capture the imagination until those taste makers at Mac put it on a iPod add. Who said the Brits are dead. This song thrums along in post punk hum along way that brings us to an in tune Clash.... that sold out. Awesome.

5. “We’re Not Alone”(Dinosaur Jr.: Beyond) Because sometimes, even if it is not his best work, you just need to hear a little J Mascis and Dinosaur Jr. The album rocks but because I am old I grabbed a softer song with understated guitar and plaintive vocals. Sweet.

6. “This Better Be Good”(Fountains of Wayne: Traffic and Weather) The boys from Jersey are back and this pretty little ditty of teen age angst and betrayal plays right into their sweet spot making cultural references to Dockers, the Gap and some girl who evidently is not telling the truth... heartbreaking in a way that you cannot feel bad about.

7. “Spirit Road”(Neil Young: Chrome Dreams II) Neil Young off of “Chrome Dreams”. Might not be a brilliant album but this is a song I can see him peeling out at concert for the next 20 years or so. Neil scathes indignantly searching for meaning as he lectures us on “the path”. Do not look for Dali Lama brilliance from Neil but crank it up and perhaps even open up the windows. The emperor still has clothes, even if their not new.

8. “Weird Fishes”(Radiohead: In Rainbows) From the formerly free on line Radiohead CD “In Rainbows”. This song is just tuneful and reminds me of the best art rock of my youth. Pretentious and precious Michael York. You other love the guy or you visualize blowing his head off gangland style... but this is a pretty song and the whole CD is pretty great.

9. “15”(Rilo Kiley: Under The Black Light) Rilo Kiley big disappointment for 2007. Big swinging horns and Jenny Lewis lilting voice make this song a really good one on an otherwise lackluster album. Your standardized song about having sex with a 15 year old girl. Sure Jerry Lee Lewis (no relationship to Jenny) did it better 40 years ago but what the hell?

10. “Either Way”(Wilco: Sky Blue Sky) Jeff Tweedy and Wilco’s pean to middle age “Sky Blue Sky” is... even as I prepare to leave middle age, a brilliant, sweet, tuneful masterpiece and this sad, sad song about a relationship (marriage) which is...ending or perhaps restarting is great. Even the sweetened strings don’t ruin the earnestness of his voice or his prose. Buy the CD.

11. “Soul Singer In A Session Band”(Bright Eyes: Cassadega) Connor Oberst (The Oracle of Angst From Omaha...not to be confused with Warren Buffet) turned out a really nice e CD in this years “Cassadega” and it has a lot of good songs on it and this is one that I did not play to death but it show cases his ability to turn a phrase and make something out of nothing. Also, his band plays very tightly on this one.

12. “Sunshine Super Man”(Rickie Lee Jones: Party of 5 Soundtrack) Another curve ball. 1995 release on the “Party of Five” sound track which I had never heard before. This was one of Donavan’s funkiest and coolest little songs and when you throw in Rickie Lee Jones voice... she reads it like she reads everything else... like a stoned beat poet. Made me smile.

13. “A Little Bit More” (The Good Life: Help Wanted Nights) The Good Life... more mopers from Omaha on a side project to the band Cursive. This guy can really whine in a way I love and plays a nice subtle electric and acoustic guitar interplay here as he complains to the poor girl who he thinks he loves... Omaha must really suck and the girls there must all be whores.

14. “England's Latest Clown”(Graham Parker: Don’t Tell Columbus) Graham Parker is one of the greatest singer
songwriters of our time and is so well regarded by critics as to elevate him to almost god like status and he puts out great music every year. Fo a 50 something he can really song too and this song about Pete Doherty of Baby Shambles and his trials and travails (oh to be a heroin addict rock star) as the next best thing is biting and poignant.

15. “Don’t This Look Like The Dark”(Magnolia Electric: Sojourner. download only) Simply a brilliant song by Magnolia Electric in the Jay Farrar Sun Volt/Uncle Tupelo mode he tears along with a a soft Neil Young guitar over his strained, throaty vocals as he despairs... and then despairs again but this is one of the best songs of the year.

16. “Jericho Road”(Steve Earle: Washington Square Serenade) Steve Earle comes back with a CD about his move and his life in New York and being in love but in the middle throws us this night metaphorical song about life, love, family, betrayal...etc... good shit.

17. “Single Girl, Married Girl”(Levon Helm: Dirt Farmer) The Band is dead! Long live the Band! Levon helm shoots back at throat cancer and the world with his one of a kind voice on a great album. Helm as the bands drummer always carried the weight with his voice and back beat and this CD is a triumphant one. This song is kind of an old timey throw away but it has his voice, some nice backing vocals and some tasty picking. Pick it up.

18. “Act Naturally”(Dwight Yoakem: Dwight Sings Buck) Dwight Yoakem sings an albums worth of songs by his late friend and mentor Buck Owens. Dwight has always been a better singer and player then the “Big Hat” country boys and in his honest readings of Owen’s sometimes brilliant work he proves it again and again. I included this one because it makes me smile. If you do not know Yoakem’s voice you should.

19. “Underneath The Stars”(Peter Case: Lets Us Praise Sleepy John) Peter case is one of the greatest living singer songwriters and though the whole CD is breathtaking but this song about a homeless lady and her cohabitants who sleep out. With Carlos Guitarlos singing back up it is a song that tells you everything you don’t want to think about in regard to a life and a reality that we refuse to think about and with our current government are encouraged not to. It is easy to slip.

20. “Simple Twist of Fate”(Jeff Tweedy: I’m Not Here Soundtrack) Nothing new by Dylan this year but Jeff Tweedy’s reading of this beautiful...beautiful song from the “I’m Not There” sound track demanded inclusion. The great thing about tweedy here is that he is every bit as tortured as Dylan... but you can make out all the words. Download it and remember what great song writing really can sound like. Miss it.

Record Review 20: Levon Helm "Dirt Farmer"

Dirt Farmer





Soooo... what do you say about Levon Helm? Drummer, mandolin player, guitarist, bassist and ragged american voice for one of the quintessential American (Candaian) bands aptly called... “The Band”. The Band was originally “The Hawks” and at one time Levon and the Hawks. They made some good music but Dylan recruited them as his touring band in 1965 and 1966 and then they recorded The Basement Tapes with him and then went on to their own career which includes classic albums “Music From The Big Pink” and “The Band”. In classic over blown fashion they memorialized their swan song in the movie “The Last Waltz”. Helm’s status as cultural icon was more then sealed when Elton John recorded the song “Levon” about him.

Since that time Robbie Robbertson has had a minor but interesting career but Helm was always the interesting one in the group. His voice gave the textures to their great songs “The Weight”, “Ophelia” and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”. After the band broke up he continued to record and to act in a lot of movies, most significantly being in the picture “Coal Miners Daughter” and as the narrator of the movie “The Right Stuff”. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1990 which might have ruined his voice or... might have made it better depending on your own tastes. Helm has been hosting what he calls “The Midnight Rambles” on a regular basis over the past few years at his barn in Woodstock New York and among the hipster intelligentsia they have gained an almost mythic word of mouth. You can check out the Rambles as well as some unusual CD offierings at www.levonhelm.com.

He has not had a lot of solo material out there but the cancer and the midnight rambles have served togive him a sound and a voice that any alt-country fan can grab hold of and chew on like a bone. His new CD is a bunch of blues and country traditionals along with some originals written by other people. recorded at his studio in Woodstock his band includes Amy helm, Larry Cambell and Theresa Williams and they hold down a nice musical low end which sets up most each and every song for his plaintive, raspy, former tenor. Some of it is haunting along the lines that Ralph Stanley’s version of “Oh Death” was haunting but most of it just rolls like a river and is soothing in an earthy way that works you over from your gut to your brain.
“False Hearted Lover” kicks it off with a nice whine and twang and rolls right into the title cut where he adds an accordian and a fiddle. Both are traditionals but then he breaks into Steve Earle’s “The Mountain” which Earle recorded with the great Del Mc Coury Band and while this does not have that type of bluegrass sensibility it is kind of a wrencher. He adds the great guitar player Buddy Miller on vocals and it is a great cut. He rattles off a couple of more traditionals in “Little Birds” and “The Girl I lef Behind” before taking on Byron Israels “Calvary”. Calvary starts with a little guitar reminiscent of the late Chris Whitley and he rambles on giving you a little pump organ along the way. Good stuff. he does a song called “Anna Lee” next wish is about... Anna Lee.

He then does two songs by a guy I am not familiar with named Paul Kennerly. A little wikipedia research and googling tells me that he is an english singer song writer who was married to Emmylou Harris from 85-93. These are blusier songs set to nothing much more then Helm’s voice and a mandolin. he moves into a little sing along called “Single Girl” which has some nice backing vocals by Theresa Williams and then the traditional “The Blind Child” before closing with a bluesy ramble (yes I said it again) called “Feeling Good”.

The CD does not have an artsy feel. I wonder how long it took to make because it has an “I can do this all day” feeling to it but I am sure since it was recorded at his home studio that it probably labored over a ton. This is an excellent effort and for those of us that lived and died over The Band’s remake of Springsteens “Atlantic City” (everyone should download that on iTunes today) this CD really scratches an itch.
8 Slingers on the 10 scale

Record Review 19: Neil Young: Chrome Dreams II

Soooooo... what does a real fan of Neil's have to say about yet another Neil Young CD? Neil turns 62 on November 12th. Including his Buffalo Springfield and CSNY albums he has now put out 50 (that does not include 6 live albums and three compilations) albums over those 62 years. I think maybe...maybe with the exception of Dylan, no one has that body of work. During that time...for the last thirty years and certainly since “Rust Never Sleeps” Neil has been jesus (little j) in the holy trinity of Mike Becker’s rock pantheon along with Dylan and Elvis Costello. His body of work is overwhelming and even as a fan I would argue inconsistent and often frustrating but he has struggled mightily, kept playing whatever was interesting him at the time and kept himself relevant.

So. Chrome Dreams. When you hear the first song :Beautiful Bluebird” you have a fear that we are going to be suffering through (for me at least) another “Prairie Wind” attempt to recreate one of his seminal albums “Harvest.” “Harvest” was a moment in time frozen and one of the things that made it so brilliant was the change of pace it represented from California rocker to Nashville tune-smith. He went the opposite way here from when Dylan went electric at the Newport Folk festival and it was brilliant. He was also at the very height of his creative game and all attempts to recreate “Harvest” (including in reverse order “Prairie Wind”, “Silver and Gold” and “Old Ways”) have been major disappointments. Between the mournful harmonica and the starting lyrics regarding his pickup and bluebird and then the chorus... well I threw up in my mouth a little.

The banjo picking which starts “Boxcar” reminds me of his early, eerie non-hit “Turnstiles” from “On The Beach” or even “Captain Kennedy” from Hawks and Doves and here the CD starts to pick up. This is a good tune and Neil is not mailing it in which is comforting. (At this point I picked up typing a brilliant review which I failed to save so from here on is an attempt at reenactment...it was brilliant though...I swear!) Boxcar rocks and then we move on to “Ordinary People” which clocks in at over 18 minutes. This is classic Neil ranting that we have all come to cherish. It is a picture of America and politics and all that is right and wrong....with horns. “Shining Light” moves towards weak and gay and trite. Once again it could be a bad “Harvest Moon” out take. Skip it other then listening for his voice which is...sweet.

“The Believer” picks up again with a little reggae one drop thing but once again it is just his voice, he mentions songbirds and church bells and being a believer in a girl (stealing from the Monkees?) Other then the cheesy background vocals it works. “Spirit Road” is next and it just kicks ass bringing up “Zuma” road songs and all that is grand and glorious about being a Neil Young fan. It has to be hard to rock hard at 60 plus years but this tune delivers... and then delivers again. It is a song that makes you miss Crazy Horse but it stands alone and is the best tune the CD hands down.

“Dirty Old Man” is self explanatory. it rocks more like “Fuckin Up” or “Welfare Mothers” and frankly that works but then he goes into “Ever After” which other then it’s steel guitar offers me almost nothing. I would argue that he is struggling with the slow paced country songs on this CD. Some of my favorite Neil has been in this genre but this is not it. The tune is much more interesting then the lyrics and though the playing is flawless it is flawed by silly back ground humming and just feels mailed in.

“No Hidden Path” seems self indulgent at 14 minutes after the earlier 18 minute cut. You get the feeling he is trying to deliver a “Cowgirl In The Sand”/”Down by the River” one two punch that is hard to deliver when you are out of your twenties. Still...though long...this song rocks and it is worth repeated listening. The CD topples in on itself with “The Way” which seems like an Omaha..indie rock children's sing along. I am sure it is heartfelt and comes from somewhere beautiful but jeez. On the same album as “Spirit Highway” you need to give me this. I really hate it and it is a downer.
All and all this is a good CD. It has the requisite 3 songs that make it worthwhile and since it is Neil it is always worthwhile even while your wading through the average stuff which I am very harsh about it is still great. You grade harder because it is Neil. I do not worry...i do not think it will hurt his self image.

8 Slingers On The 10 Scale

Record Review 18: Radiohead: In Rainbows

Soooooo... did Radiohead just suddenly change everything? Somehow it seems unlikely but in any case...how cool was that? On October 10th (my birthday) those pretentious English fucks Radiohead released their brand new CD “In Rainbows” on their own web site. Not on iTunes. Not in stores. Just on their site. Other people, bands etc... have released songs on their own site and sometimes given them away but no one has released a whole CD for free on a web site for nothing. Of course it was not really for nothing and that was the kind of cooler part.

You could pay them whatever you wanted. You just filled in the blanks. How ever much you wanted to pay... in pounds of course. Anyway...once you heard about it and logged on it was rather surreal going and typing in an amount and getting to download the songs. You could also agree to pay a lot more for a special boxed set. But why? The exciting thing and the big difference was because this was one of the most popular bands of all time, arguably at the height of their game. So how did they do? Wired magazine said this:

Estimates: Radiohead Made $6-$10 Million on Initial Album Sales
By Eliot Van Buskirk October 19, 2007 | 11:35:45 Am

Thom Yorke's representative told me that the band have "decided not to give out any figures" for sales of Radiohead's In Rainbows album, but that isn't stopping people from making their best guesses based on what little information is available.
The Seminal estimates that Radiohead sold about $10 million-worth of albums as of 10/12, assuming that their source was correct that approximately 1.2 million people downloaded the album from the site, and that the average price paid per album was $8 (we heard that number too, but also heard that a later, more accurate average was $5, which would result in $6 million revenue instead).
Meanwhile, Forbes and BigChampagne revealed that on the first day the album was available, 240K people downloaded it for free over BitTorrent, and that over the following days an average of 100K people per day did the same, for a total of over 500K BitTorrent downloads over the initial week of its release.  It appears that even though the album was available for free on InRainbows.com, plenty of people preferred to use BitTorrent rather than Radiohead's site, which required an email registration (although some of those BitTorrent downloads may have been the result of slowdowns on the ordering site).
We're working on getting some sales numbers through another channel, and will post those if/when we can.

http://www.radiohead.com/deadairspace/

Wired Magazine cannot be wrong. Can it?
Anyway...what about the CD itself? Radiohead has always been problematic for me. Their “Genius” being somewhat hard for me to get at behind the drum machine and synth heavy tunes. Still, even for me there was no denying “OK Computer” being one of the top indie rock CD’s of all time. Thom Yorke aside from being a pretentious Brit prick has an ear for the tune and through his work has established serious indie cred both for himself and his high school band-mates from Oxfordshire.
“In Rainbows” is in a word... dreamy. I have listened to it about 15 times now ensconced in my office and the same word just keeps suggesting itself. I am still bothered and somewhat distracted by their reliance on electronic effects for percussion and that plays out right away in the opening track 15 step. Something I had not noticed before was how Yorke’s vocals often mimic Ray Davies of the Kinks. I look at that as a good thing. The second song is a rocker with a crunchy guitar called “Body Snatchers” and the Ray Davies thing is reinforced for me pretty dramatically.

The Yorke slows it way...way down with something that sounds like it should be a soundtrack cut because your mind conjures up all kinds of visuals...and then he starts to sing and it is just... a weird song he calls “Nude.” Then the Cd gets really good with a well crafted soft pop tune called “Weird Fishes” and this is classic Yorke for both song style and lyrics:

“I get eaten by the worms
Weird Fishes
Picked over by the worms
Weird Fishes
Weird Fishes
Weird Fishes
I’ll hit the bottom
Hit the bottom and escape
Escape”

That type of shit. But it is compelling and you cannot explain but have to listen. “All I Need” follows up with a plodding synth and drum beat that is very radio ready. It is all symbolism and metaphor with Yorke being... in order

1. The next act waiting in the wings
2. An animal trapped in your hot car
3. A moth
4. In the middle of a picture

Until he starts to tell you as the song winds down...Its all wrong. It’s all right.” No shit.
“Faust Arp” Sounds like a soft Jack White song set to strings. It is really very pretty and Yorkes’ voice is hard to fault. The strings and guitar remind me of a late seventies Fogelberg album and sadly I do not mean that in a big way. In a lot of ways this song like a lot of their songs is just so well put together, so well produced and played that it is just...too pretty.
“Reckoner” has an edgier feel and you really get an appreciation for the brevity of Yorke’s lyrics. There are no sweeping epics. Stories do not get told. He does not take you from point A to point B but each song is like a separate picture hanging in a museum with the words and tune providing color and perspective and sometimes you can even make out a picture. But it is murky. “House of Cards” clocks in as the longest track on the CD at 5:28 and it is just pretty.

“Jigsaw Falling Into Place” other then the drum machine is just an excellent pop song. I like it because i think I can discern what he is singing about which is the bad end of a relationship. That is what music is supposed to be about. Leave the sweeping themes to novelists...that is what daddy says. The end with a dreary little ditty called “Videotape’ which starts with a plodding one finger on one key piano which makes me think Neil Young is about to start singing “A Man Needs A Maid.” But he doesn't. But the song does sound a lot like that tune in style. it is either about dying...or about a great date. I guess they could be the same.

My whole sense of the CD is that is probably more accessible then any of their work since “OK Computer”. perhaps the appearance on Southpark made them take themselves less seriously but with Yorke I doubt it. He is one of those guys that I would be anxious to see what he could do outside the studio sitting at a piano by himself writing and singing all stripped down and unpretentious. There is unfortunately nothing that is uncomplicated by about Yorke and his mates or this CD. You have to listen... and listen again and hope that you can get it...because all the cool kids do. And this album is probably worth the study time.

Record Review 17: Steve Earle "Washington Square Serenade"

Steve Earle
Washington Square Serenade





I listened to this CD for the first time in my car on a beautiful trip down to Ozark Missouri to appear in a workers compensation hearing (glamorous legal stuff). One would think it was a perfect day to enjoy a new CD by one of rocks great modern troubadours. Earle has had an interesting if somewhat checkered history. He hit the airwaves by storm as the next big thing and his critically acclaimed CD “Guitar Town” which was about Nashville and “the business”. Later he had a moderate FM hit with “Copperhead Road” which was about his parents running moonshine and about changing the family business to growing weed. Good stuff. he drove his life far off the road, developed some serious drug habits (primarily heroin), carried a pistol and was generally a fuck up on his way to killing himself before... miraculously, he straightened himself out.

He has dropped three or four albums since then that I think are brilliant and of late he was one of the earliest and harshest critics of the Iraq war and our idiot President. So I was really looking forward to this CD which was coming after an unusually long 3 year break from recording. I have seen him live a few times in that period and each time he appeared with a brilliant band which included Eric “Roscoe” Ambel and put on great shows. He moved back to Nashville and it appeared he would live happily ever after there.

Well, that was not to be and this CD is about his move to NYC. Arguably he had already recorded this CD in one song off an earlier album which was aptly titled...NYC. Well, listening to that CD on a beautiful day I started skipping songs and coming back to them and had one unifying thought. This sucks.

It just seemed like there was nothing there. It sounded like Earle but the songs were weak and uninspired. Looking at the jewel box he looked fat an unkept and I figured that he had just moved there to die or something and needed some cash. But, out of respect for his body of work I took it into the office and gave it three or four listens and like all good music, the more I listened to it, the better it got.

This guy is the real deal. A tortured, self schooled artist who creates a lot of his own problems (see prior referenced drug addiction and 7 wives...one of them twice) and although it is a trite thing sometimes it is an all American story, a real American story and his songs as you listen to this album become a reasonably brilliant ode to the midlife crisis by an intelligent guy in a country that our leadership has lost it’s way. It starts out with “Tennessee Blues” which is a not so wistful goodbye to Nashville and Guitar Town as he heads for NYC presumably with new wife Allison Moorer. it is a fine song but it has been done before and he keeps in the same done before vein on “Down Here Below” from the perspective of a metaphorical hawk (at the top of the food chain) in NYC and those living their lives as prey... on the streets “down below”. it laments the loss of the old Coffee House East Village NYC.....yawn.

On “Satellite Radio” where he digs in and starts to ask whether anyone is listening which is always a tough question for a guy who feels like he has a lot to say. The he rolls into the pretty “City of Immigrants” which evokes Guthrie and Seeger in a song that celebrates the diversity of his adopted city. Sure it has been done before too but rarely as heartfelt and timely a manor as this. He follows with “Sparkle And Shine” which is a pretty love song and likely an ode to the aforementioned Moorer. he follows that with a weaker still “Come Home To Me” and then ups the ante.

“Jericho Road” is as good of a song as he has ever written. The Jericho Road was where the parable of the good Samaritan takes place. It was the back road short cut from Jerusalem to Jericho and was famous for lawlessness and danger and Earle takes us down the road where he meets along the way his mother, his father, his sister and his brother and all have a message for him. The Jericho Road is a heavy metaphor and he uses it well. He then tears into “Oxycontin Blues” and from a liberal like Earle you would expect some lambast of poor drug addled demagogue Rush Limbaugh but instead he seems of alcoholism, addiction and self destruction accompanied plaintively but a hard strumming mandolin that evokes some of his best early work.

He backs off and goes into “Red Is The Color” which is a lament...and nothing more but well struck. After that break he takes us to “Steve’s Hammer” dedicated to Pete (presumably Seeger) and he gives us what really seems to be the anthem for this life of his. he will put his hammer down when the world is without suffering and injustice. The song is song with a bright hopefulness that belies the utter hopelessness of the task. it is worthy of appearance on ANY folk collection from the Smithsonian.

“Days Are not Long Enough” is a song he pens and sings with Moorer and it sweet and nice but... it does not really fit and then surprisingly he finished with Tom Waits “Down In The Whole” with some of the spooky voice effect he likes to use sometime. It is a fitting end to a bleak yet hopeful album

This is a guy who could sit back, get fatter and hang out... but he cannot. And somewhere we all need to appreciate an artist who is willing to do what I fail so often to do and that is to speak truth to power. You gotta give it up for that.
9 Slingers Out of Ten

Record Review 16: The Good Life, "Help Wanted Nights"

The Good Life
“Help Wanted Nights”




There is always a question which can only be important to a music head, but a question never the less about whether you are better when a band has a new CD out to be familiar with the CD before you see them in concert, or see them and then get into the CD. Sometimes you have no choice is the case recently where The Good Life put out “Help Wanted Nights” on September 11 and then basically opened their tour in St. Louis on the 26th of September. So I did not have a chance to buy or get into the CD prior to the show and in fact bought it at the show. There is a pleasure to buying a CD at the show because you know the band swallows the profit directly and it only costs 10 bucks.

I like this CD. If you read my Rilo Kiley review this CD is everything that one is not. Although cutting their teeth in that same Omaha scene Tim Kasher and his band are stripped down. His voice is very limited but is plaintive in tone and the backing of the band with some tasty chops and a slight Alt-country feel make it a pleasure. His Cd from a few years ago, "Album of the Year" was one of the gems from 05. Well produced and not a weak song in the bunch.

The CD opens up with “On The Picket Fence”...almost solo acoustic, song to a girl as in, “Don’t you leave me on a picket fence.” Nice. Next is “A Little Bit More” which is a classic troubled relationship song...coarsely worded:

“I wanted just a little more, you loved me and you locked the door.
Lured me into thinking I was special...but your a liar and a whore.
It made me want you just a little bit more.”

Touching.”Sure Your Heart IS Breaking Too” is full of irony and it is a nice song and kind of a throwback kind of like Weezer’s “Buddy Holly” or the Pixies “Here Comes Your Man.” It resonates and he pulls it off. Next he goes to “Your Share of Men” with he and his guitar... “I am sure you have had your share of men...I am honored to be one of them.” Nice play on words...nice irony. Good stuff. the CD keeps going on with quality songs, “You Don’t Feel Like Coming Home To Me.” which has elegant, simple production and a great chorus. It is a good CD. The band plays tight. the songs are well written and hold up well to repeated listening and Tim Kasher’s voice holds up really well in a studio even though it is a limited one. I like this band. The Good life is Kasher's project along with his band Cursive both of which errupted from the Omaha mope rock scene spawned by Bright Eyes and their "genius" Connor Oberst. Although Oberst went back to a mellower sound again on Cassadega The Good Life never leaves solid country roots. Steel guitars and bad relationships. It does not get much better.
7 Slingers on a 10 scale.

Record Review 14 Spoon: "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"

Spoon
GaGaGaGaGa
Merge Records 2007






Spoon is an intriguing band in a lot of respects. Classic indie rockers out of Austin who wowed the critics with their 2002 release “Kill The Moonlight” with grabby summer anthems “Small Stakes” and “The Way We Get By.” The followed it up with “Gimme Fiction” which took it in a harder long where they tried somewhat unsuccessfully to craft a straight ahead rocker. With Ga... they are on firmer ground and returning to their artsy, tuneful roots but with some more maturity. They continue working on the hippest indie label Merge.(www.mergerecords.com). This is a great album.

Britt Daniel is still driving the band and is in his best form on this CD which might be their best effort yet. He knows his way around a hook and the band is good enough to more then stay with him. It is crisp and has 10 songs that clock in at 37 minutes and it hearkens back to the good old days of 3 minute, radio ready pop tunes.
“Black Like Me” leads off and is as strong as anything out there. the whole CD evokes quality Squeeze tunes but in a lot of ways is so much better because...well I don’t know why but probably because of recording improvements it just sounds so crisp and sharp...and his lyrics...and the tunes hold up to crisp and sharp.

“I'm in need of someone to take care of me tonight
As I walk into Dorian's, can you see it in my eyes?
My boots are on the mend and they ain't walking home
Street tar in summer'll do a job on your soul
Jenny's watching cover shot, my head's feeling light
I'm in need of someone to take care of me tonight
Anyhow, anyway, so I split
Like just getting out of there is gonna get me outta this
I spent the night in the map room
I humanize the vacuum
I'm in need of someone to take care of me tonight
As I'm lookin' out at you, can you see that in my eyes
On the mend, now they could lead me home
Street tar in summer will play a trick on your soul
Jenny's gone day and night
Ah, It made me feel so light
Just someone to take care tonight
Jenny's watching day and night
My head's still feeling light
Someone to take care tonight
All the weird kids up front, tell me what you know you want
Someone to take care tonight”
Nice imagery and what a great last line finally looking to the weird kids up front at a show for final redemption..





“Finer Feelings” has an “Afghan Whigs” feel to it and rocks along nicely. “My Japanese Cigarette Case” might as well be a Squeeze song with winsome harmonies and hooky guitars and lyrics and the next song “The Underdog” and even the next one continue in precisely the same pleasing vein. The next song “Rhythm and Soul” feels like newer Decembrists and is so listen-able as to be a little painful. “Don’t You Evah” returns successfully to the bands more signature sound which relies on Daniels voice and clever wordplay and “You’ve Got That Cherry Bomb” introduces some big horns and kind of reminds me of early graham Parker and nice swinging British sound. “The Ghost of You Lingers” is a promising song title but unfortunately is likely the only real failure on the album with an annoying piano duh duh duh duh duh duh...that so distracts overs Daniel’s voice that you really cannot care what he is singing about. The CD finishes with “Don’t Make Me A Target” which is just a great little pop, paranoid, why is everone messing with me song. And it is song with enough passion and anger to make it work. If you buy it on iTunes there is a bonus track “Deep Clean” which is stripped down and a little whiny and... you don’t need it.

The CD is a very solid effort. I always wonder how an “Austin” band gets such a brit rock sound and i think you either credit or fault that to Daniels singing style but it is, for the most part, delightful. As I said earlier one of the CD’s primary charms is the short, sharp length of the songs. As one who has tired of jam bands and 4 minute “solos” you have to admire the attempt at Beatles-esque concise writing and playing. Punch it out and let me tap my feet and smile.

Record Review 13 Okkervil River: "The Stage Names"

Okkervil River
The Stage Names









Sooooo...what do you do about Will Sheff. He is leader, singer, songwriter of Okkervil River. Most of the guys in the band grew up in New Hampshire and started to play together and then split up for college before re-forming in Austin in 1998. Since that time they have come out with 5 full length albums:
• 1999 Stars Too Small to Use - Jound
• 2002 Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See - Jagjaguwar
• 2003 Down the River of Golden Dreams - Jagjaguwar
• 2005 Black Sheep Boy - Jagjaguwar
• 2007 The Stage Names - Jagjaguwar
They have a number of great E.P.s as well but their album output, is very high on over all quality. Okkervil and Sheff specialize in the atonal work that I love which is so indebted to Neil Young and a lot of their harder stuff leans strongly on Young’s tone and pacing. Sheff pens a lot of brilliant songs and as opposed to much post-Cobaine mopers ennunciates his lyrics beautifully and sometimes painfully. Sheff along with Colin Meloy and Conner Oberst are some of the most talented writers, singers, songwriters and entertainers of this current crop of talent. Each one of them has been christened a "new Dylan" at one time or another and while that is slightly (maybe tremendously) over blown it is not totally without merit.

This CD continues in the tradition although it is tighter and better produced. The CD has been very well review with Pitchfork Media concluding:

“Ultimately, The Stage Names shows how a vastly talented "mid-level band" (Sheff's words) sees itself, but there's no bitterness here, just overwhelming self-doubt and perseverance. Despite its density (they fit worlds into just nine songs), the album remains exciting and accessible, albeit highly sobering. It's about the folly of popular music and its attendant lifestyles, but these songs are so good and so moving that they only give us stupid, stubborn hope.”

That is high praise indeed. The CD merits it. It is just a really tight 9 song effort much in the same way albums used to be crafted with a nice narrative arc and a lot of feeling that rises...and falls. Will Sheff is always thrashing around in a troubled and manic way. He writes some great twisted stuff. The first song booms out....”Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe.” In the song he bemoans the lack of plot, casting and quality lighting. I think it is a metaphor. But the whole CD is good, even down to the 6th song...”A Girl In A Port” where Sheff explains:
“I am not a ladykilling sort,
enough to hurt a girl in a port.”

Reminded me of Rhett Miller of the Old 97’s singing:
“My name is Stuart Ransom Miller,
and I am serial lady killer.”

These poor guys. Anyway...the CD is full of dark hooks and nice rhythms. He broods as he wails but in a way that is rarely less then compelling. While this effort might not be quite as compelling as “Black Sheep Boy” (though it might be) it is a solid collection of songs with nice indie rock sensibility and...the occasional aching steel guitars. Lets call it 9 slingers on the 10 scale. A must buy for the year if you want to listen to stuff you will never hear anywhere else.

Record Review 12 Peter Case: "Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John"

Peter Case
“Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John”

Soooo...what do you do about Peter Case. This guy is now getting old and he has been making quality music for at least thirty years. Case born in 1954 is...jeeez....53 years old. You have never even heard of him and he is one of the greatest singer/songwriter/guitarists of our time. He was in an ealry new wave (skinny tie) band called The Nerves in LA/San Fran and then brokke big in 1980 with The Plimsouls. Of course you will all remember them from the Nick Cage vehicle “Valley Girl” where they were the basement punk band singing their hit “Million Miles Away.” Well...I remember at least. It was a seminal moment in my early college experience...or mid college...I don’t remember. Anyway... he did not really make it big. Plimsouls broke up and like so many others he launched a solo career and became the dreded “critic’s darling.”

Case embarked on a solo career with his epynomous CD which also started the solo production career of T-Bone (Oh Brother Where Art Thou) Burnette. The album was brilliant...groundbreaking and critically acclaimed and...nothing happened. One of the songs on it “Old Blue Car” was grammy nominated and...nothing happened. The CD also had the talents of John Hiatt and Roger Mc Guinn (The Byrds). It is a personal favorite. Perhaps not a desert island CD but close. Very close. His second CD was (for my taste) even more brilliant and brillaintly titled as “The Man With the Blue Post-Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Guitar.” He recorded that with Ry Cooder and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and was critically acclaimed and...nothing happened. “Blue Guitar” is a desert island CD with too many great songs and lyrics to recount but.... I can’t help myself...from the albums song “Poor Old Tom”

As we make our way towards our destination,
fortunes are still made with flesh and blood.
Progress and love got nothing in common
Jesus healed a blind man’s eyes with mud.”

GOOD STUFF

Now he has this one...his twelfth album. Check out how many albums.
Discography
• Peter Case, 1986 album
• Fast Folk: Los Angeles, 1988 compliation
• The Man With the Blue Post-Modern Fragmented Neo-Traditionalist Gui tar, 1989 album
• Six-Pack of Love, 1992 album
• Sings Like Hell, 1993 album
• Torn Again, 1995 album
• Full Service No Waiting, 1998 album
• Flying Saucer Blues, 2000 album
• Thank You St. Jude, 2001 album
• Beeline, 2002 album
• Who's Gonna Go Your Crooked Mile, 2004 album
• A Case for Case, 2006 tribute album
• Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John, 2007

All of them have moved over a lot of different ground but always rely on his lyrics and his strong playing. Kind of like James Mc Murtry (another favorite) his guitar playing is totally under rated. The fact is that he can just tear it up bouncing back and forth primarily between folk and blues and then sometimes just playing some straight out rockers. the thing about the new CD is just how perfect and even the quality of it is. case has developedover the years into a monster for social justice and leaves behind most of the simple love song stuff for big worldview questions. He writes about the down and out and injustice and how frankly funny and scary life can be. It is good stuff.

The CD kicks off with “Every 24 Hours” which is just a great song about life, living on the road and that nothing stays the same or constant because...”the world turns every 24 hours.” No shit. he sings and plays with Richard Thompson (another fave) but Thompson does not...cannot dominate either vocally or with the guitar. but they sound great together.
“Underneath The Stars” is a beautiful peann to a homelss woman as she dies. hard stuff but elegant. The next song “A Million Dollars Bail” is for any lawyer or person who has seen the inside of the system and how many and talented lawyers work it for the benefit of the rich and pwerful. “Two Kinds of justice everyone knows. Ones for the people up on the hill, the others down below.” Simple themes. Populist themes. Springsteen was listening to a lot of Peter Case when he wrote some of his best stuff but case keeps on going and going. He conveys righteous without self righteous which is a rare thing indeed. He has a nice website at:

http://www.petercase.com/

Everything about this new CD is worth discovering because even as he casts arrows at the problems of people and the world his music is always hopeful and always looking forward and always calling you to something more...something grand. case is the real deal and this CD is another in a long line of genius and it is... one of the best. Buy it. 8 Sliders on the 10 scale.

Record Review 9 Southern Culture on The Skids: Countrypolitan

Southern Culture On The Skids (SCOTS) has redefined white trash rock for years. Rick Miller who handles the guitar and male vocal chores might or might not be the bastard son of Roger Miller but he certainly is not the half brother of the tunefull and too good looking Rhett Miller of the Old 97’s. I am a SCOT’s fan come lately. They have been around since 1986. A Chapel Hill North Carolina band they have had the same three people, Miller, Dave Hartman on Drums and well coifed Mary Huff on bass guitar. They won me over when opening for BR-549 at the Pageant about two years ago when they stole the show.

According to Wikipedia, “SCOTS music is generally very upbeat, as they usually write and perform songs about dancing, sex, and fried chicken, which are main themes in songs such as "Cheap Motels," "Soul City," and "Eight Piece Box" respectively. They are also known for their live shows, which often include throwing fried chicken and banana pudding into the audience, and audience members invited to dance onstage.” All true. They simply put on a great rocking show and Miller does the surf guitar as well as anyone (including Dick Dale) and can more then hold is own in rockabilly. He makes it scratch and pop.
Not that there is anything wrong with dancing, sex and fried chicken but they chose to do this CD as one of covers of other artists and they go all over the map with some...interesting choices. Do not look for respectful Buck Owens and Hank Williams and Carter Family homilies. They do touch some country greatness like their take on Don Gibson’s “Oh Lonesome Me”, but they also reach into some odd “country” choices like the Kinks “Muswell Hillbillies” and the Who’s “Happy Jack.” Unlike most cover CD’s this is not really a romp but seems to be a well thought out focus on showing their range. There are some mis-steps such as in Roger Miller’s “Engine Engine Number 9” and T-Rex’s “Lifes A Gas” does not make the transition but this CD is worth the price of admission and right now seems to be a critics darling.

If you are not familiar with them I would suggest going out and getting their CD “Dirt Track Date” to really get a feeling for them. This is not thinking mans music. If your looking for depth or feeling go get a Modest Mouse CD and put a gun in your mouth but for my money their version of the song “Venus” for out shocks the Shocking Blue. All in all this is a CD for fans of the band, or fans of the weird. I like it but I would never put it on for strangers. 7 1/2 Slingers out of 10
Your iTunes Composite for Souther Culture on the Skids
1. Nitty Gritty
2. These Boots Were made For Walking
3. Venus
4. Soul City
5. Banana Puddin
6. I learned To Dance In Mississippi
7. Camel Walk
8. Muswell Hillbillies
9. Liquored Up and Lacquered Down
10. Dirt Track Date
11. The Wet Spot
12. 8 Piece Box
13. Fried Chicken And Gasoline
14. Country Funk
15. ‘69 El Camino
16. Voodoo Cadillac
17. Oh Lonesome Me

Album Review 8 Neil Young Live Massey Hall Toronto

Neil Young Live At Massey Hall Toronto

One of the advantages of having a 19 year old music head for a son is that he is occasionally able to give me a gift of music...sometimes like this even before it is released. Make no mistake, I will purchase this CD, if nothing else to have it for the permanent collection but....it is nice to listen to something in it’s entirety...before most of the world gets to hear it.
On January 19, 1971 Neil went on a little tour which eventually took him to Massey Hall in Toronto. That venue which dates from 1894 must have been intimate indeed seeting only about 2900 people who got to see Young...and his guitar and his piano. No Crazy Horse. Young had just turned 25. He had released “After The Gold Rush” but was on the cusp of two major events in his personal and professional career. The first was the release of “Harvest” whose boldness, milky sweet steel and acoustic guitar and impeccable Nashville sessionwork would sweep the country and make Young a mega star, and the November 1971 death of original Crazy Horse guitarist Danny Whitten. For Young fans this was right before he drove off the road and into the ditch.

There is very little edge here. There is lots of wide eyed wonder and a guy who is trying to find his stage voice and presence. What is AMAZING about the CD is what strong voice it finds him in. I am a huge Neil Young fan. Not a moderate fan, not an objective fan...a huge fan. I am a fan of him at every stage of his career. I am not objective. In putting out as many albums as he has there is some crap but even among his dark years making records for Geffen their are a LOT of gems. But I digress, this is not my Neil Young Cheerleader piece.

Neil’s voice. That strange...atonal warbling...is so powerful on this CD. Even with some analogue tape hiss and a lot of crowd noise he just sings with a power and confidence and just sounds...beautiful. So many live CD’s (to the extent the record companies even allow them to be put out) are compilations of numerous shows and edit out crowd noise and any of the artists comments. Not so this effort which is simply a “roll the tape” live show. I have heard most all these songs before and I have even heard a lot of them solo acoustic but...none of them solo acoustic from young at this age. “Journey Through The Past”, “On The Way Home”, “Helpless” and the medley of “A Man Needs A Maid” morphing into “Heart of Gold” are particular gems.

You cannot forget that he is Canadian and they are embracing one of their own. Neil is the best argument that you can make for allowing Canada to annex it’s southern neighbor. The crowd cheers and sings along, takes pictures and generally participates in a love fest of their boy, come home form southern California. Unlike the earlier release of the Fillmore show which was similar in it’s importance but was just a handful of songs, this CD gives us a portrait of where Young has been, where he was at the time and even more important where he was going...until fame and Whittens death sent him caterwauling off in directions painful to him but brilliant to many of the rest of us.

CD’s of 35 year old shows do not win a lot album of the year awards. This one should. It is pretty, and brilliant and...pretty brilliant. 9 Slingers out of 10. Buy it.
1. On The Way Home
2. Tell Me Why
3. Old Man
4. Journey Through The Past
5. Helpless
6. Love In Mind
7. Medley
8. Cowgirl in The Sand
9. Don't Let It Bring You Down
10. There's A World
11. Bad Fog Of Loneliness
12. Needle And The Damage Done, The
13. Ohio
14. See The Sky About To Rain
15. Down By The River
16. Dance Dance Dance
17. I Am A Child

Album Review 7: The Silos "Come On Like The Fast Lane"

Walter Salas Humara started the Silos around 1985. Since that time he has released thre or four brilliant CD’s (”Cuba”, “Susan Across The Ocean”, “The Silos” and 2004’s “When The Telephone Rings”). For Cuba Rolling Stone voted the band the best new artist. The album “Cuba” along with Uncle Tupelos work did as much to shape the next 15 years of alt-country as anything. He has a substantial body of quality work. Before the Silos he was a Gainsville boy with his band The Vulgar Boatmen who put out some really fine music and he has had a side project called “The Setters” with Alejandro Escovedo, another favorite of mine. Here is what he Hamara says about Gainsville:

"It's where I spent my college years learning a lot and drinking a lot. It's a special place - a crossroads of Marxist dialectic and simple values and realities. I'm looking forward to the G”ville show and the kick-off of a tour that will take us through many of our old haunts and some fresh ground. We're super proud of the new album and thank our lucky stars it happened the way it did."

My biggest surprise was that the is no Wikipedia entry for the Silos or for Salas Humara. Perhaps that will be my project on another day. Anyway, as I said their last album was the semi-brilliant “When The Telephone Rings.” It was mournful and rocked my socks off so...I was disappointed by this album. The critics and the press releases all compare the album to Television and Velvet Undergorund with better pop lyrics. That is...generous.

It is on Bloodshot which is one of my favorite indie labels and they had a little release telling us what Humara thought the songs were about:
1. Behind Me Now
No time left to worry about what horrible consequences the narra-
tor’s actions have wrought on the ones he is about to leave behind.
He’s about to find out what’s on the other side.
2. Fall On Your Knees
Baby’s keeping you up the part of your night not devoted to the
big Rock Show? We all know life gets tougher the older we get,
so we save a little piece for our souls and hang onto it with all
our might.
3. Tell Me You Love Me
Ah, the travails of Modern Romance. Just tell me you love me.
4. I Won You Won
Breaking up will be good for both of us? Especially if there’s a
party going on and our remote control is tuned in.
5. Keeping Score
Time just a keeps on rollin’ along. There are no second chances.
Don’t be a fool. Be Here Now.
6. People Are Right
He’s leaving town. She steals his car. He later finds it with a note
attached. Just when he’s realizing the truth is always grey, he gets
the call ...
with us when we give up sane for crazy.
8. Top Of The World
So what if the baby can’t drive..... we can! Get behind the wheel
and just drive like hell. There’s nothing like it.
9. Days Gone By
There’s a lot of news, a lot of Talking Heads. It’s a endless stream.
A lot of things we have very little effect on. Sometimes we don’t
even have any control over our most intimate relationships. An-
other reason to Be Here Now.
10. Sunset Morning
Love is strange. Love is beautiful. Sit back and let it roll all over
you.
11. Never Leaving
When you find the right one, let yourself go and wallow in the best
thing that’s ever happened to you.
12. Out Of Our Way
There are many who will stop at nothing to get their way. Politics,
Religion, Economics - Is there any difference?
13. Kickass
You don’t need another man. You are kickass.

The bottom line is that the CD is very solid and for me was uninspired. With such a great body of work and so much talent it seems like it could almost be a throw away. It was recorded in 4 days. No fact about the Cd would have surprised me less. On a positive note there is not an unpleasant song on the CD and the more you listen to it the more it grows on you. It is simple straight ahead unaffected, non-poser rock. Parts of it are sweet. “Behind Me Now”, “Tell me You Love Me” and the title cut make it a worthwhile puchase no matter what. The 6th track, "People Are Right" has some sweet lap steel noodling that although not life changing...it works. This is hard for this Diner being a huge Silos fan. I like the CD but I am calling it non-essential and giving it 7 1/2 Slingers out of 10.

The Silos will be coming to “Off Broadway” soon. He puts on a great show always playing the same miked up acoustic guitar with a lot of effects that make it sound like whatever kind of guitar he wants it to be. It is a fun rock and rollshow and should not be missed.

All that having been said here is the quintessential iTunes composite of the Silos and Salas Humara and the Setters

1. Commodore Peter
2. Tennessee Fire
3. Change The Locks
4. Lets Go take Some Drugs (and drive around)
5. Mom Out Dancing
6. Shaking All Over The Place
7. Nothings Going To Last
8. I Want To Be Your Dog
9. Susan Across the Ocean
10. Evageline
11. When The Telephone Rings
12. My Big Car
13. The Only Love
14. About Her Steps
15. Cuba
16. Love Is A Beautiful Thing

Album Review 6: The Lemonheads...The Lemonheads

So, what do you say about The Lemonheads? I believe eaier in my ode ti Mississippi Nights referenced once stepping over him in the entrance to Mississippi Nights at 1:00 in the afternoon on my way to buy tickets for that nights show. When I say him it is because Dando is the only Lemonheads member to be on every track of every album and it has never been more...or less then a vehicle for him. He burst onto the scene as the beautiful indie rock god out of Boston. They recorded 5 very good but fairly forgettable CDs early on from 1987-1990. Banging Juliana Hatfield (The Blake Babies) and was everyone’s next big thing after the CD “It’s a shame About Ray” (1992) before releasing the beautiful but soulless “Come On Feel The Lemonheads” and disappearing into the dumpster diving world of being the talented ex-indie rock god.



Saying that he had a little “drug problem” is like saying our President is “a little stubborn” or even better saying our President has “a little problem with the english language” or even better syaing our President....never mind, I digress. Evan was the king hell junkie and by his own admission did everything under the sun. In recent interviews he has blamed this on indie rock stardom and people wanting to make him into a 10 million record seller that he never wanted to be. Cry me a river, build a bridge and GET OVER IT!

All that having been said this is a great little (just over 30 minutes) CD. In is (one of my favorite words) “chunky”. Really nice guitar work and his plainspoken voice just sound soooooo good sometimes. He brought together the old Descendants rhythm section of Bill Stevenson and Karl Alverez and augments them with some other great musicians most noticably Garth Hudson on keyboards and incredibly guitar God (big G) J. Mascis. It syas Mascis only appears on one track (No Backbone) but thats a lie. His jangly Neil Young inspired heavy guitar can be heard throughout backing Dando’s own dandy licks.



“Black Gown” starts it off with nice guitars and vocals and then goes into the pretty and dark “Become The Enemy.” By that time you know the Cd will be worth it even if you do not like anything else. “Pittsburgh” and “Let’s Just Laugh” bring out the good old Lemonheads. Never let it be said that pretty drug addled men cannot write some great angst driven rock.
One of the things I love about it is it’s brevity. A little over 30 mintes and 11 songs. That is the way God meant for us to rock. Most of these artists get some success and they are driven to doing things like putting 11 minutes of “arty” feedback into an otherwise nice song (see “Wilco”) but this is just a straight ahead, VERY unpretentios rocker. Great driving around music. Nothing that will change your life but frankly...it’s just rock and roll and it shouldn’t change your life. 7 1/2 Sliders on the 10 Scale.


Lemonheads/Dando iTunes Composite
1. Alison’s Starting To Happen
2. Frying Pan (Dando on Victoria William Tribute)
3. Become The Enemy
4. 1000 Wedding (Dando on Gram Parsons Tribute)
5. Into Your Arms
6. It’s A Shame About Ray
7. It’s About Time
8. For Shame Of Doing Wrong (Dando on Richard Thompson Composite)
9. Buddy (My Drug Buddy)
10. Paid To Smile
11. Mrs. Robinson
12. Black Gown
13. Left For Dead