pk500 wrote:If you're a fan of the early 90s alt-rock band Sugar, and I most definitely am, then you'll love Bob Mould's new album, "Life and Times."
This is not Husker Du-era Mould. But it's not "Modulate" Mould, either. It's a very listenable record filled with crunchy hooks, a wall of sound and a few ripping solos. Reminds me very much of the two great records by the Mould-led Sugar.
I'm really digging it.
Take care,
PK
Swine - I've now had to spend an hour digging them out, as well as his solo CD (the Hubcap one). Now if only I can find my 'Warehouse Songs and Stories'...
Oink-oink, f*cker. Enjoy it!
P.S.: I haven't forgotten our bet. I owe you something and will get it to you soon. Sorry.
Thanks,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
I know there are a bunch of Drive-By Truckers fans on here, so get thee to a store and pick up the new Booker T (yes, that Hammond playin' Booker T of he and the MGs fame). It is called Potato Hole, is the classic organist backed by DBT, and sounds as good as you would expect from that pairing. Dirty southern rock and soulful boogie, with covers of Outkast's "Hey Ya" and Tom Waits' "Get Behind The Mule" for good measure (the former is a bit of a novelty, but the later is particularly good).
I'll have to check out the Booker T disc. Allow me to throw out a recommendation of the new records by The Thermals and The Felice Brothers. Excellent efforts by both.
The Booker T record is really cool, E. Thanks for the tip.
At first, I thought it was too pedestrian for a record in which DBT and Neil Young provide the rhythm section. But then again, it's a Booker T record -- not a DBT or Neil album.
Once I wrapped my head around that, I "got" the record. As much as I love DBT, Neil is the star of the backing band on this record.
Thanks again!
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
Gotta check that out. I saw Booker T. with Anton Fig on drums, Cropper and Duck at the old Wise Fools Pub about 20 years ago. Great show. Eddie Floyd and Sam Moore sang a few...great stuff.
XBL Gamertag: RobVarak
"Ok I'm an elitist, but I have a healthy respect for people who don't measure up." --Aaron Sorkin
I was lucky enough to see Neil when Booker T & the MGs were the backing band, and they sure made Neil sound good (they weren't Crazy Horse, but a different and near equally awesome thing).
Glad you like the album. Joins the list of solid comebacks from classic soul performers in the past few years.
I know PK discovered Fela Kuti last year, and a short conversation about him was had on this thread, so I figured I would point out the reissue of one of the essential compilations of Nigerian pop - Nigeria 70. It initially came out in 2001, and for years that set sold for serious bucks. Now you can get the two discs of music (the original release had a DVD with it as well) for $12 via Amazon. If you are at all interested in West African music this is a great primer.
I've been a fan for a long, long time so I'm more than a little biased, but I'm loving the new Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam album. The original Bon Iver/bearded singer-songwriter. Welcome back, Cat.
I know the beard rock thing is getting a little out of hand, but I found a new band that lives between Band of Horses and Fleet Foxes: Great Lake Swimmers. They have the pop impulses of BofH with the sound of Fleet Foxes. Check out the song "Pulling on a Line," if you like that, you'll like the rest:
I'm also digging the new Metric album, they remind me a lot of another female-led Canadian band, Stars. Synthy pop with enough guitar to give it a rock edge, and catchy as hell. I love the song "Help I'm Alive."
Brando70 wrote:I know the beard rock thing is getting a little out of hand, but I found a new band that lives between Band of Horses and Fleet Foxes: Great Lake Swimmers. They have the pop impulses of BofH with the sound of Fleet Foxes. Check out the song "Pulling on a Line," if you like that, you'll like the rest:
Thanks for the heads up Rob - I love Frisell and didn't know he had a new one out. Got to see him last year at a solo gig in an old church, and the fifty of us there were stunned. Nice guy, too.
Has anyone else heard the new Pink Mountaintops Outside Love? First listen left me intrigued; all over the place, from Smashing Pumpkins do Americana to alterna-Stones to Gram Parsons inspired duets. It definitely earned some more of my time, which is saying something, as this year has been a little drab (I've spent more time in back catalog than in new releases for the first time in years).
Thanks for the tip! I dig it -- not quite as mellow as "Sky Blue Sky," which is a good thing. Tweedy must be back on drugs. Just kidding!
Thanks,
PK
There was a lot of speculation that this album was going to be an "all out rocker" in response to some who ripped blue sky for being to 70's laidback/mellow. I'm glad it's not that, but it is interesting most of the songs are in the 3-ish minute range.
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Forgive me for going all mainstream, but this new Green Day album, 21st Century Breakdown...people tell me it's a kind of concept album in the way that American Idiot was, that it's a rant about the world we live in and the folk responsible for it. Do I need to be American, disillusioned or both to really get it, or am I just dense? I hear a lot of songs I like but I can't quite connect them or understand exactly what it is they're meant to be saying.
Not new music at all, this, but on Wednesday night I was stood about 10 feet to the right of whoever filmed this, and all I've managed to do since is tell everyone I've encountered how brilliant it, he (and if I'm alone in liking Morrissey, then at least it won't be the first time DSP has led me to question my taste in music) and the entire show was.
GB_Simo wrote:Forgive me for going all mainstream, but this new Green Day album, 21st Century Breakdown...people tell me it's a kind of concept album in the way that American Idiot was, that it's a rant about the world we live in and the folk responsible for it. Do I need to be American, disillusioned or both to really get it, or am I just dense? I hear a lot of songs I like but I can't quite connect them or understand exactly what it is they're meant to be saying.
Not new music at all, this, but on Wednesday night I was stood about 10 feet to the right of whoever filmed this, and all I've managed to do since is tell everyone I've encountered how brilliant it, he (and if I'm alone in liking Morrissey, then at least it won't be the first time DSP has led me to question my taste in music) and the entire show was.
Quite agree - barely-competently-played pub punk with the sort of lyrical platitudes that a 16 yr old might consider insightful. It's like that No Logo book by Naomi Klein set to music.
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
Ha, I'd been waiting for the Pitchfork review. No idea why, since it's been so long since I stopped paying attention to a word they say. I maintain there are enough decent tunes in there for me to enjoy it, but as an album, a collection of songs, it's an incoherent jumble.
GB_Simo wrote:Not new music at all, this, but on Wednesday night I was stood about 10 feet to the right of whoever filmed this, and all I've managed to do since is tell everyone I've encountered how brilliant it, he (and if I'm alone in liking Morrissey, then at least it won't be the first time DSP has led me to question my taste in music) and the entire show was.
Morrissey is great, though I freely admit I like the Smiths stuff better. Today is his birthday, so happy 50th Mozzer!
Naturally, I've seen the Smiths and Mozzer, the latter back in 91 in Blackburn I remember. Not too keen on his last couple of albums, I prefer the first one, mainly because of Late Night Maudlin Street and the playing of one of the world's most under-rated guitarists, Vini Reilly (who usually records as The Durutti Column).
"The players come from all over the world, the money from deep underneath the Persian Gulf, but, as another, older City poster campaign put it, this is their city. They may now exist in the global spotlight, but they intend to keep it that way."
I listened to "21st Century Breakdown" last night for the first time and am listening to it again this morning, and it's clear that Green Day is going to strip-mine its newfound "counter-culture political sirens" cred until the quarry is bare.
This record is "American Idiot 2," nothing more. I don't mind it, since it's the musical equivalent of junk food. There are some very tasty riffs and faux-punk anthems on this record. They're fun to digest, even though I know they're not good for my musical health.
Green Day's Foxboro Hot Tubs side project was a hell of a lot less pompous and cliched than this record, while having just as much muscular pop. It was a hell of a lot more fun record than this one or "American Idiot."
I'm already tired of the music media depicting Green Day as the new voice for a displaced generation. The latest issue of Rolling Stone is particularly nauseating, showing Green Day in a "Spirit of 76" pose.
Somewhere, Joe Strummer is rolling in his grave as he sees Billie Joe Armstrong being paraded as his generation's musical conscience.
Take care,
PK
"You know why I love boxers? I love them because they face fear. And they face it alone." - Nick Charles
"First on the throttle, last on the brakes." - @MotoGP Twitter signature
