OT: New Music?

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:57 pm

In general, I think reunions are kinda blah & usually make me feel old (or older) when I go & more often than not, the shows are kinda sloppy.

THAT SAID! Here's the few bands (although VERY unlikely to do so) that would have me setting my alarm to buy tickets at 10am should they reunite.

Pavement (all members)
Uncle Tupelo (at least tweedy, farrar, & heindorn)
The Smiths(all members - oh the onstage drama would rule)

Slint would be on that list, but I'm actually going to see them next week. rock rock rock.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:59 pm

The Smashing Pumpkins have sold out 13 dates here in SF starting next week, so I guess that qualifies as having that intangible x factor. If they were billed as the "Fester-Chamberlin Project", probably not so much. While it's possible to repackage the band, recovering the mojo is difficult. Sometimes, the saddest words in music are "this song's from our new album". I'm interested to see if the Pumpkins can sustain the excitement over the course of the residence at the Fillmore.

This has been going on forever. Mike Love suing the world, the Tammi Terrell led Supremes, and the countless groups touring as the Coasters and Drifters are just a few examples. I guess I'm OK as long as they make money and the fans are happy. If they rightfully own the brand and song catalog, they can do with it what they like. In the internet age, anybody considering going to a show should be able to research who's in the touring group before plunking down $40 for a ticket. I'm taking Mrs. Z to see the Psychedelic Furs (both Butlers & John Ashton), the Alarm (Mike Peters only) and the Fixx (original band sans bassist) for her birthday. I'm not expecting transcendence, professionalism and nostalgia are enough.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:10 pm

LOL as Z's Fester line.

PK, it really depends on the band. Tweedy more or less is Wilco. He brings in people to fit his particular direction at the time. It's more like Tweedy and his collaborators than a true band, so as long as Tweedy is in it, he can call it Wilco.

On the other hand, if "Uncle Tupelo" reformed and both Tweedy and Jay Farrar were not in it, it wouldn't be Uncle Tupelo.

I think The Who without Entwistle and Moon is not The Who. Likewise, Led Zep without Bonzo is not Zeppelin, but they could have pulled it had been John Paul Jones who had died or left the band.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:17 pm

Brando:

Was it The Who with Daltrey, Townshend, Entwhistle and Kenney Jones during the "Face Dances" and "It's Hard" era? So The Ox is the linchpin?

I'll stop.

Take care,
PK

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:20 pm

I'd add Husker Du and the Stone Roses to greggsand's list. Maybe XTC as well but that's probably even less likely.

If Husker Du did get back together, Mould and Hart probably would in separate tour buses by their West Coast dates.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:21 pm

Brando70 wrote: On the other hand, if "Uncle Tupelo" reformed and both Tweedy and Jay Farrar were not in it, it wouldn't be Uncle Tupelo.

Man, I just remembered that Farrar pulled a "Corgan" with Son Volt last year. Of course it was met with a collective 'sigh' from Jay shrinking fan base, but it did get some higher profile gigs.

Downloading the new Ween right now - pray for me...

RobVarak · Post by **RobVarak** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:29 pm

Brando70 wrote: Likewise, Led Zep without Bonzo is not Zeppelin, but they could have pulled it had been John Paul Jones who had died or left the band.

This made me smile. Back in college, when one had time to discuss such things at great length, I came to the same conclusion. I went as far as to say that I was certain that Plant leaned over to Page at the graveside and said, "Why is it always the F---in' drummer? Why not the bass player?"

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:37 pm

greggsand wrote:Man, I just remembered that Farrar pulled a "Corgan" with Son Volt last year. Of course it was met with a collective 'sigh' from Jay shrinking fan base, but it did get some higher profile gigs.

Actually, "Okemah and the Riot of Melody" came out in 2005 from Farrar and an all-new lineup after a seven-year hiatus from the studio, followed by "The Search" this year.

Shame about the collective sigh, as both were pretty good records. Better than anything since "Trace," in my opinion.

Take care,
PK

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:57 pm

pk500 wrote:Brando:

Was it The Who with Daltrey, Townshend, Entwhistle and Kenney Jones during the "Face Dances" and "It's Hard" era? So The Ox is the linchpin?

I'll stop.

Take care,
PK

Of course, that's why he was The Ox!

Honestly, I don't think it was. They were one of those rare bands where I think they needed all of the members to be The Who. They still made some good music together like "You Better You Bet" and especially "Eminence Front," but they weren't really the same group. Whereas The Stones can lose Bill Wyman and still be The Stones more or less. It just depends so much on the chemistry of each group.

Son Volt is a good example of the Smashing Pumpkins thing. I saw Farrar perform solo a couple years ago, before he "reformed" Son Volt. The group that opened the show backed him on some of the songs. He played his "solo" stuff, then some Son Volt material, and the only difference was that the Son Volt stuff was better. And that's why he went back to Son Volt, because the name has a more positive association and more market pull. It's not like the band really got back together.

Rob, I remember those kinds of conversations well.

BTW, after reading the reviews of The Police shows, I'm glad I didn't fork over the cash. Charging $200+ for a lot of those seats and they played for just over an hour and a half according to the review of the show at Wrigley Field. That's ridiculous.

Spooky · Post by **Spooky** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:00 pm

greggsand wrote:
Brando70 wrote: On the other hand, if "Uncle Tupelo" reformed and both Tweedy and Jay Farrar were not in it, it wouldn't be Uncle Tupelo.
Man, I just remembered that Farrar pulled a "Corgan" with Son Volt last year. Of course it was met with a collective 'sigh' from Jay shrinking fan base, but it did get some higher profile gigs.

Downloading the new Ween right now - pray for me...

The Ween EP? Unfortunately its just okay.

sfz_T-car · Post by **sfz_T-car** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:15 pm

Mrs Z is a huge Police fan, so sitting this tour out wasn't an option. I have to echo the kinda meh reviews of others but the problem wasn't the length. They played just about everything their fans would have wanted. If you needed a three hour show, Sting could have added in a few hundred extra "dee yay yoooo" calls and responses and it wouldn't have made any difference. I think the biggest problem was Andy Summers. His leads were really weak and his rhythm work seemed out of sync all night.

One thing I did like was that it was just the Police: no keyboard player, no backup singers, no second guitarist (might have helped), relatively restrained light show. In fact, Sting and Summers played the same instruments for the entire show. I've seen garage bands swap axes more than they did. Maybe it was just to minimize overhead and maximize profit, but it almost seemed like a throwback tour in this regard.

BTW, I think Moon was the x-factor for the Who. You'd be surprised how often the drummer turns out to be the straw that stirs the drink. Post-Bill Berry R.E.M. hasn't been the same for instance.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:28 pm

sfz_T-car wrote:Mrs Z is a huge Police fan, so sitting this tour out wasn't an option. I have to echo the kinda meh reviews of others but the problem wasn't the length. They played just about everything their fans would have wanted. If you needed a three hour show, Sting could have added in a few hundred extra "dee yay yoooo" calls and responses and it wouldn't have made any difference. I think the biggest problem was Andy Summers. His leads were really weak and his rhythm work seemed out of sync all night.

One thing I did like was that it was just the Police: no keyboard player, no backup singers, no second guitarist (might have helped), relatively restrained light show. In fact, Sting and Summers played the same instruments for the entire show. I've seen garage bands swap axes more than they did. Maybe it was just to minimize overhead and maximize profit, but it almost seemed like a throwback tour in this regard.

BTW, I think Moon was the x-factor for the Who. You'd be surprised how often the drummer turns out to be the straw that stirs the drink. Post-Bill Berry R.E.M. hasn't been the same for instance.

I saw them at Dodger Stadium (front row fer free baby). Anywhoo, I agree with you. Summers was so sloppy it was shocking (copeland was surprisingly SHARP as hell). There was something cool about seeing the 3 of them (only). I was expecting back-up singers, dancing african tribe, etc... no. Nice touch.

The biggest shock was the setlist. It was HIT after HIT after HIT after HIT after HIT after minor-HIT-after HUGE HIT after... I guess I kind of underestimated the size of their success 'back in the day' (I was in grade school when they broke-up). Even a non-fan would have known every song in show. Not many bands you can say that about. Oh, and they played for 2 hours+ in L.A. Must have been too humid @ wrigley.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 1:24 pm

It's been out for about a month but I highly recommend checking out Cruel Melody by Black Light Burns. Black Light Burns is Wes Borlands new band. Don't let the fact that he was in Limp Bizkit turn dissuade you from checking this one out. The rest of the band consists of guys who played with NIN and A Perfect Circle. It sounds like a blend of Limp Bizkit (Borland's excellent guitar work not Durst's rapping) and NIN.

You can check out three songs at their website:
http://www.blacklightburns.com/

Badger_Fan · Post by **Badger_Fan** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 11:49 pm

http://www.avclub.com/content/feature/c ... reunions_a

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 6:20 pm

Saw Blitzen Trapper last night @ Spaceland (L.A.). They're the REAL deal - great live, great record...

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:07 am

If you want to hear what the bastard love child of Otis Redding and Ronnie Van Zandt would sound like, get your mitts on the new J.J. Grey and Mofro album, "Country Ghetto."

Superb swamp rock with heaping portions of soul mixed in. Definitely in my top 10 -- probably top five -- of the year.

Take care,
PK

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 4:07 pm

A 'new' article on 'old' music. I found it fascinating:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070716/ap_ ... classics_4

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:32 pm

Also, did anyone go to the Pitchfork festival last weekend? Reports?

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:23 pm

I'm sure somewhere in these 20 pages PK probably mentioned these guys and if so sorry for the post (too lazy to look), but i was flipping through the channels last night and HDNet had Cross Canadian Ragweed's "Back to Tulsa" concert on and man, i was hooked. Grabbed the album from iTunes today and the whole album is solid.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:26 pm

Nope, didn't mention it, Rally! But if you like it, I'll check it out. You have good taste, man. Well, except for that Bay City Rollers love-fest that you pointed me to 30 years ago.

Take care,
PK

AJColossal · Post by **AJColossal** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:28 pm

greggsand wrote:Also, did anyone go to the Pitchfork festival last weekend? Reports?

I saw Sonic Youth on Friday perform Daydream Nation, which was neat. Didn't see any of the multi-act sets on Friday or Saturday.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:29 pm

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!!!!

If you check them out, give "Constantly" and "17" a listen. Two good ones.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:51 pm

AJColossal wrote:
greggsand wrote:Also, did anyone go to the Pitchfork festival last weekend? Reports?
I saw Sonic Youth on Friday perform Daydream Nation, which was neat. Didn't see any of the multi-act sets on Friday or Saturday.

man...good set?

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:41 am

Another cool app to find MP3's on the Web:

http://www.seeqpod.com/

Allows you to easily place tunes from multiple searches in a playlist, where they will roll from a built-in player. Pretty slick.

Unfortunately, I can't find a way to save the tunes to your hard drive because this app is Flash-based, but I'm sure some program exists online to perform this task. You can always go to the source site for each tune and download it there, even if that's a pain in the ass.

Take care,
PK

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 12:27 pm

Add another to the 'reunion checklist', saw Slint last night! They did Spiderland in it's entirety. Great live band, who knew?

Digital Sportspage

OT: New Music?

Thought this might be appropriate for the thread...