Saturday, December 30, 2006

The most recent



Recently I've been going on a binge of compact discs and groovy black discs both of which make me expend far too much of that tiny green paper with dead people and numbers. Let me tell you about that music first:

CD's



1.) Ex Models - Zoo Psychology
I saw these assholes about two CMJ's ago, a hazy drug infested memory those three fall days were. It was at North six, oh so familiar Williamsburg is to me now, then seemed as though I would be pulled aside and had my wallet inspected. They were painful to watch, insistent more upon making disgusting brown notes than perhaps performing their music. I left early. Now I have a much more open mind about squeals and whirring grinding sonics, though is still not as palatable to me as a lovely melody or a clever pop lyric (I've been known to call Excepter "dial-up internet" music). I thought I'd give em a try anyway and overall I'm pleased with my decision.
Its the kind of music you play with a pillow over your head, trying to annoy those assholes above you playing Reggaeton at 2 in the morning.

2.) The Kinks - The Village Green Preservation Society
Perhaps you have heard of The Kinks? well, so had I. They're one of those bands with such importance and such a damn huge discography that I just kept putting them towards the back of my mental rolodex (Zappa, fortunately, begins with a Z) I told myself that if I ever found this CD I'd start up on them. and what I mean by that is I saw this in the used bin and my hand snatched it up like a mom at a Talbots sale.
Writing about village green is the same as writing about any Shakespeare play, what do I say? Picture book may be the best pop song of the sixties after, perhaps, Wouldn't it be nice?

3.) Joni Mitchell - Blue
I sometimes can't handle Mitchell's soothing and warbly lady voice, it reminds me too much of driving around in the car with my mom; not necessarily a bad thing, not necessarily a good thing either. However! This was a Christmas present from my mommy (reason: I was fed up with receiving bad Fugazi albums when I asked for good Fugazi albums so I just told them to get me whatever they liked when they were my age [potentially dangerous since my mom was really into prog {not saying that all prog is bad, but ... you know}]). There may always be a hazy filmy substance around Joni Mitchell's music for me, but I'm excited to own it and give it a good adult once-over.

4.) Sigur Ros - two hot dogs (aka untitled)
oh my brother tried so hard, This is what I mean. My family's heart is in the right place, he even asked his youth group leader (who miraculously doesn't have a youth group leader goatee or talk about learning new chords all the time) who "listens to the same music as me" and told him to get me this (the most icicle laden as well as disparately good and bad of their albums) or to get me Sufjan Stevens. Yikes. Well, its ok Will, I accept and! appreciate your gumption.



LP's



1.) Foghat - Foghat
All I want to do is smoke some fucking weed and play air bass guitar along this album. I feel like Foghat gets the short end of the stick for being the 70's equivalent of 311, its the white guy funk/blues that yr average frat boy can like (and fuck to)! Who cares, its dude rock. I've earned it listening to all this pussy ass Joanna Newsom and chick rock like Joni Mitchell and Cat Power. I need some hairy smelly cock in my ears.

2.) Todd Rundgren - Something / Anything?
I like it, but coming down from calling Joanna Newsom "pussy" and saying I need more dude rock leaves me utterly confused; somewhat like a cat determining the many properties of a bottle cap on the floor. Half of this album is sweet guitars and choppy pianos and the other half is simpering love songs, then again I haven't listened to side 3 and 4 so I may be shitting out of my mouth right now.

3.) ambient 2 - Brian Eno and some other dude
I love Music for Airports so much that when Ambient 4 sounded utterly different I had an acidic reflux in my brain. Ambient 4 sounds like a great soundtrack for a zombie movie (Re: Resident Evil the game) but it doesn't sound like the beautiful and gorgeous, antiseptic and impersonal sounds in Ambient 1. Not saying I dislike ambient 4, I just have a harder time finding the right atmosphere to place ambient 4, maybe a seance; I've been meaning to channel the entire original cast of Porgy and Bess anyway.
I haven't really been able to snatch a listen yet, thats the painful truth of LP's. besides being awesome scene cred they're just not as transportable as the podtangles.

4.) Love - Da Capo
The Coup De Grace! This baby cost me a leg and a leg and an arm. Thats alright, I still have enough limb to put this on the record player and listen with all of my ears. I haven't given it a heart to heart quite yet though. Also, I didn't realize that the second side was all one song? 18 minutes? pretty good.

Overall, this month has been a great month for music (for me). However! I've basically been slashing my wallet's neck each time I've plunged into a record store. So that green dye is washing down the drain like psycho and I'm going to be eating Record sandwiches pretty soon. Regardless! I'm most likely going to continue my habits on account of my current job is being a hipster by profession (culture as commodity! culture as commodity!!) soon enough I gotta start makin' that cash and if it involves shakin' my ass then so be it, although it will more likely be selling my shit on ebay (maybe selling LP's???)

4 comments:

Mary Worrell said...

mmmm...todd rundgren

Sean said...

i miss that jacket!

Melody Nelson said...

I wasn't totally sold on that Todd Rundgren album until I listened to "Cold Morning Light" in Blue Dog ca. December 2004. It was loud and cold and packed (for once); everybody was into it. On a tangent, I listened to "No Thugs In Our House" by XTC while I worked alone but in a similar setting - loud, winter, and packed (for a second time). It was one of those moments that I think anyone who has ever worked (or has ever wanted to work) in a record store fetishizes - all the customers bobbing their heads, singing along under their breath, and, one by one, asking me what is playing. In retrospect, I think it was me and a bunch of 30 year olds, but hey whatever.

Also, the best thing about Ambient 4 is "Unfamiliar Wind (Leeks Hill)," especially when you listen to it the wrong way, that is, loud. And as much as I love ambient music, and as much as I recognize Eno for influencing about 75% of my favorite music, I still would take any of his first 3 pop albums and Roxy Music's For Your Pleasure over his ambient series. (Except maybe Apollo, but I haven't heard that in one sitting.)

Ex Models are of course the shit, but you really didn't need to buy that album considering you could have just borrowed/burned my copy.

Cap'n Guthrie said...

meh, I found it in the used bin and whatever. and hey! I don't steal music.