10) Guster, Beacon Theater, New York, NY 10/29
Here’s a good rule of thumb to determine the quality of a concert—if a ukulele is lowered from the ceiling for someone to play (twice!), you’re probably getting your money’s worth. That cheeky nod to big rock productions (and reminiscent of the Stonehenge sequence in This Is Spinal Tap) was one of many humorous moments that make seeing Guster a fun experience. It also helped that the two songs I requested via text—“What You Call Love” and “The Beginning of the End”—were on the setlist. Oh, and the fact that we drank a large amount of hugely overpriced Bud Lights. And that my voice had come back after losing it earlier in that week so I could sing along with the chorus of young women screaming the words to “Amsterdam.” Basically, there was a whole lot of fun happening on stage and off that night. As an added bonus, I only saw two people dressed in costume. That was a relief, because at the rate Halloween seems to have expanded over the past few years I’ll soon have to deal with idiots wearing Frankenstein masks on my birthday.
9) The Acorn, Littlefield, Brooklyn, NY 9/24
I saw this Canadian quintet twice this year and both shows were great. I’ve rated the second show a little higher because the crowd seemed much more responsive and in tune with what the band was doing. During very quiet songs you could barely hear a peep out of the crowd. When the band ramped up the volume, the cheers at the end of each song responded in kind. And even though I had been up since 5:30 in the morning, I was still able to make it through their entire post-midnight set without thinking “Gosh, I’d like to lie down in the corner during this nice ballad and just close my eyes.” Of course, the bottle of Coke I had at 11:15 p.m. might have helped a bit. And frontman Rolf Klausener’s sense of humor helped, too. The band’s music can be rather serious and, at times, somber. But Klausener offsets that with witty, self-deprecating humor. I recall saying something like, “Who knew we’d get some stand-up at this show?” to my friend Lynne during their set. Hopefully we won’t have to wait another three years before they return to our fair city.
8) Buffalo Tom, Mercury Lounge, New York, NY 5/21
Like The Acorn, I saw Buffalo Tom twice this year. Unlike The Acorn, I’d rate the first BT show just a bit better than the second. Everything I would expect from a BT gig was delivered at this gig: singer-guitarist Bill Janovitz singing as if his life depended on it on each and every song; singer-bassist Chris Colbourn adding great backing and counterpoint vocals to Janovitz’s songs and delivering passionate performances whenever he stepped up to sing lead; drummer Tom Maginnis laying down a steady beat that holds it all together; and Janovitz joking with the crowd about various topics (aging, baseball, the 90s), bringing smiles to the faces of his two bandmates. Both shows saw the guys debut material from their new album Skins, which is due out February 15th of next year. What I’ve heard so far has me excited that I’ll be starting my third decade as a fan of BT.
7) Pavement, Rumsey Play Field, Central Park, New York, NY 9/22
I’ve heard reports and rumors that by the end of this lengthy reunion tour the five members of Pavement were not on the best of terms. I didn’t see any evidence of that during the rain-filled night two out of four in Central Park. I do believe that I never saw them play as tight or focused at any of the five shows I witnessed during their ’90s heyday. Frontman Stephen Malkmus didn’t toss off the lyrics as if they were totally inconsequential. His singing was strong and he enunciated all of the words, giving them a heft that I suppose only age and wisdom can imbue in them. (Or, if I was to be a cynic, that only a ton of reunion tour cash can imbue in them.) He and Spiral Stairs played crisp intertwined guitar lines and multi-instrumentalist Bob Nastanovich was as enthusiastic as I’ve ever seen him. Giving that guy a wireless mic so he can run around screaming lines in songs like “Conduit for Sale” was a technical masterstroke. If they never get together again, that’s fine. At least I was able to witness a Pavement show that wasn’t a letdown in any aspect. (Even the rain came with an amazing lightning show, so props to Mother Nature as well.)
6) The Baseball Project, Solid Sound Festival, North Adams, MA 8/13
The Solid Sound Festival was Wilco’s baby. They picked the bands playing over the three days, all of their side projects performed and they did the longest show on the main stage (which was set up in the backyard of Mass MoCA). Yet The Baseball Project’s hour-long set was my favorite part of the weekend. R.E.M.’s Mike Mills filled in for his bandmate Peter Buck on bass, and seeing (and hearing) him tackle material that wasn’t his own made me realize that he’s one fine melodic bass player. I’ve known that, of course, for many years. But it was nice to get a little reminder of the man’s talent. And it was great getting to hear some new Baseball Project songs and to watch Steve Wynn and Scott McCaughey (in stop action motion below) do some guitar heroics on Wynn’s “Amphetamine.”
5) Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents, Barrence Whitfield & The Monkeyhips, Union Hall, Brooklyn, NY 3/3
Full disclosure: my good friend Ed Valauskas plays in Jenny Dee & The Deelinquents with his wife Jennifer (a.k.a. Jenny Dee), so I’m obviously biased about their 60s girl group-influenced music. Each time I’ve seen them perform they deliver a level of musicianship and fun that seems lacking in other acts that mine the same rich territory. I went to this show with every intention of watching Ed, Jen and company play and then head back home since it was Wednesday night. Then I saw Pete Caldes walk into Union Hall and I discovered he was playing with the headline act on the bill, Barrence Whitfield & The Monkeyhips. Pete is the drummer in two of my favorite bands, The Gravel Pit and The Gentlemen, and I’ve been fortunate to see him display his talent with other bands as well over the past decade. So I figured I had to stay and see Pete play with this act I knew nothing about. After Ed got done playing I told him I’d never heard of Barrence Whitfield. He cocked his head to the side and said, “Oh man Reynolds, you’re going to have your mind blown.” Now if anybody else had said this me I would have discounted it as just typical hype. But I respect Ed’s opinion (and ears) very highly, so I sensed I might be in for something special. And holy crap, it was incredible. Whitfield—who is a highly respected old school R&B vocalist from Boston—has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard. He can go croon in a low growl, stop on a dime and switch to a high-pitched wail. And the man has stage presence by the bucketloads. If it could be bottled and sold, there would be hundreds of singers half Whitfield’s age (he’s 55) clamoring to buy as much as possible. I left Union Hall 2 hours later than I expected—and with a shit-eating grin that was entirely surprising.
4) The Figgs, Fontana’s, New York, NY 5/14
The late booking of this gig meant that The Figgs were playing very early and only had a 45 minute slot. When they arrived on stage they decided to just play their new album The Man Who Fights Himself in order. I had seen all of the songs live in the past four years since their last album Follow Jean through the Sea, but it was fun hearing them all bunched together like that. Before the show singer-guitarist Mike Gent told me that his uncle had died and he'd have to travel up to Troy in the morning for the funeral. Just before the fifth track “A One Man Fiasco,” Gent told the crowd about his uncle and asked everyone to raise their glasses in honor of him. And every single person did. It was a very moving sight. And then when Gent got to the third verse, things got a little bit dusty in Chinatown:
“Maybe some sleep, will bring a little peace.
The saddest thing I've ever seen.
Family will come, and eventually
All will have to leave.”
It was the most emotional moment I've had at a Figgs show in probably a decade, and one that I won’t soon forget.
3) Wilco, Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ 4/3
It seems every year I have a Wilco on this list. I’m running out of words and phrases to describe how much I enjoy them. So I’ll just say that any time I can see Jeff Tweedy and company play 37 songs—and close their main set with two Big Star covers (“Thank You Friends” and “In the Street”) in tribute to the late Alex Chilton, I will totally go through the hassle of renting a car (and making a wrong turn in the swamps of Jersey) to go.
2) LCD Soundsystem, ACL Festival, Zilker Park, Austin, TX 10/9
Here’s a funny thing about the concert list this year—seven out of the 11 acts I’ve mentioned I’ve seen two or more times this year. So a lot of these artists have been competing with themselves. Hmm, weird. In any case, I was able to see LCD Soundsystem at two very different parts of their tour schedule. The first was back in April as LCD mastermind James Murphy was warming up the latest lineup of the band with two New York club gigs before they officially started their tour at Coachella. It was okay, but it was obvious throughout the night that Murphy was letting his perfectionist side take over as he kept going to various band members to critique whatever part they were playing. The second time was six months after that show just as the sun was starting to set on Zilker Park. The crew of folks I was hanging with at the festival all planned on seeing other acts at the time. So I focused on getting ready to enjoy what could be the last time I see LCD Soundsystem. (Murphy has made comments about retiring the band after this tour cycle is over, which would be a shame.) I got a couple of huge cans of beer and got up close to the stage. As showtime got close, I found myself next to a guy who was getting ready to film a few songs with a snazzy looking camera. We ended up talking about the band and other times we had seen them. I mentioned that I had seen their second warm up show and that they weren’t as tight as I expected. Then the band came on and played an epic version of This Is Happening opener “Dance Yrself Clean.” At the end of the nine-plus minutes the camera guy turned to me and said, with a huge smile, “Dude, I think they’ve gotten a bit together since then.” And he wasn’t kidding. LCD Soundsystem is the only band around that makes me want to dance during their entire set. And I’m no dancing fool, as Frank Zappa would say. Yet the mix of rock elements, vintage keyboards and phenomenal playing from drummer Pat Mahoney touches some part of my musical soul and I feel my body moving. It’s not a pretty sight, trust me. I suppose that’s why I’ve loved both times I’ve seen LCD Soundsytem at ACL—I got to dance around amongst the younger teeming masses and no one I know saw it.
1) Nada Surf, John Roderick, The Bell House, Brooklyn, NY 3/26
Nada Surf joined the “let’s play an album straight through” club with a three-night stand in Manhattan and Brooklyn early this spring at three different clubs. The trio did Let Go the first night at Bowery Ballroom, The Weight is a Gift at The Bell House the second night and Lucky at the Music Hall of Williamsburg the third. I was lucky (no pun intended) to see the first two nights, each of which was thrilling in its own way. Both albums have become huge parts of my life over the past six years and definitely would be listed in my fifty favorite albums of all time. (I won’t be writing that list this year. You’ll have to wait until the 25th anniversary or something.) The Weight is a Gift is the album I prefer, so I guess it’s not surprising that show was better to my eyes and ears. Yet what truly made the night special was the opening acoustic set by The Long Winters’ frontman John Roderick. He was side-splittingly funny in between his songs. And the man’s songs, goodness. His creative wordplay and knack for memorable melodies have made them one of my biggest discoveries of the past decade. Roderick was obviously honored to be sharing the stage with Nada Surf in their hometown, commenting “if [frontman] Matthew Caws wants me to open, I’ll fly wherever needed to do it.” Roderick’s set closer “The Commander Thinks Aloud” saw Nada Surf and their guest keyboardist Joe McGinty come out and slowly transform the song from an acoustic number to a full-fledged rock anthem. The joy in Roderick’s and Caws’s faces as the song built were total infectious. It was one of those rare moments of: “Wow, I can actually feel the hair standing on the back of my neck, seriously, it’s really doing that.” Roderick later returned the favor by reprising his studio role of singing on two Weight songs, “What is Your Secret” and “Your Legs Grow.” And while seeing Weight all the way through was a joyous and cathartic experience, Caws and company followed that up with a great set drawn from their other albums and their brand new covers disc If I Had a Hi-Fi. All in all, it was one of those nights that make me realize why I’ve devoted so much time of my life to seeing and listening to music.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Discovery of the Year
The Acorn
I never would have heard of this band except for my friend Jonah Eller-Isaacs playing them on a podcast I recorded with him last year. The two songs he played—“Hold Your Breath” and “Glory”—came from the album Glory Hope Mountain. Instead of trying to explain how much the band meant to Jonah and how that drew me into be a fan, I asked Jonah to explain it in his own words:
"It was an opening set by the Canadian band The Acorn that first caught my attention, a set strong enough that the headliner is lost to me now. I discovered later that it was the band's first set in the United States, and they left the Union Hall audience with a collectively dropped jaw. It wasn't just the music that drew us all in; it was their energy, a spiritual Tesla coil of energy that electrified the enraptured crowd. I took home Glory Hope Mountain and listened, and listened, and listened. It was like being a teenager again, that obsessive love, the poring over lyrics and album art, the search for connection and meaning in another's artistic vision. Of course, I had just been handed a potentially terminal cancer diagnosis, which heightened the emotional stakes of, well, everything, and certainly made it easier to fall madly in love with a tender album like this one.
When The Acorn returned to Union Hall for their first American headlining set, I made sure to bring a crew of friends, knowing that they would all be hooked, as they were. I approached the band after the show and said, “Look, I know this is kind of intense, but I'm dealing with a cancer diagnosis right now, and your album has been a balm for me. It’s lovely and beautiful and thank you.” And then the touring female vocalist and I had a good long cry.
I've seen The Acorn numerous times since then, and when they played Mercury Lounge earlier this year, Steve had just finished an interview with the band. He had explained my love of the band and their music, and as the band began their song “Glory,” the lead singer Rolf Klausener dedicated the song to me. Sweet, to be sure, but I don't think Rolf knew how deeply that particular song spoke to me. At “Glory’s” emotional peak, Rolf sings “Oh, the morning sun has come, and you’re not there.” It’s a terrible necessity of living with chronic illness that one must confront the question of mortality; I've always imagined that line anticipating a Jonah-less morning. And yet The Acorn's music fills me with hope—hope as in esperanza, the middle name of Rolf's mother, to whom Glory Hope Mountain is dedicated. As long as bands like The Acorn keep producing music of depth, resonance and meaning, I will continue to find hope."
I never would have heard of this band except for my friend Jonah Eller-Isaacs playing them on a podcast I recorded with him last year. The two songs he played—“Hold Your Breath” and “Glory”—came from the album Glory Hope Mountain. Instead of trying to explain how much the band meant to Jonah and how that drew me into be a fan, I asked Jonah to explain it in his own words:
"It was an opening set by the Canadian band The Acorn that first caught my attention, a set strong enough that the headliner is lost to me now. I discovered later that it was the band's first set in the United States, and they left the Union Hall audience with a collectively dropped jaw. It wasn't just the music that drew us all in; it was their energy, a spiritual Tesla coil of energy that electrified the enraptured crowd. I took home Glory Hope Mountain and listened, and listened, and listened. It was like being a teenager again, that obsessive love, the poring over lyrics and album art, the search for connection and meaning in another's artistic vision. Of course, I had just been handed a potentially terminal cancer diagnosis, which heightened the emotional stakes of, well, everything, and certainly made it easier to fall madly in love with a tender album like this one.
When The Acorn returned to Union Hall for their first American headlining set, I made sure to bring a crew of friends, knowing that they would all be hooked, as they were. I approached the band after the show and said, “Look, I know this is kind of intense, but I'm dealing with a cancer diagnosis right now, and your album has been a balm for me. It’s lovely and beautiful and thank you.” And then the touring female vocalist and I had a good long cry.
I've seen The Acorn numerous times since then, and when they played Mercury Lounge earlier this year, Steve had just finished an interview with the band. He had explained my love of the band and their music, and as the band began their song “Glory,” the lead singer Rolf Klausener dedicated the song to me. Sweet, to be sure, but I don't think Rolf knew how deeply that particular song spoke to me. At “Glory’s” emotional peak, Rolf sings “Oh, the morning sun has come, and you’re not there.” It’s a terrible necessity of living with chronic illness that one must confront the question of mortality; I've always imagined that line anticipating a Jonah-less morning. And yet The Acorn's music fills me with hope—hope as in esperanza, the middle name of Rolf's mother, to whom Glory Hope Mountain is dedicated. As long as bands like The Acorn keep producing music of depth, resonance and meaning, I will continue to find hope."
ReDiscovery of the Year
Nine Inch Nails
It took two bucks to reignite my love and respect for Nine Inch Nails. That's how much I spent on a copy of their 1999 double album The Fragile at a moving sale on Union Street in Park Slope at the end of this summer. It was a total impulse purchase—I hadn’t listened to any NIN in at least three years, and even then it was a one-time only spin of Year Zero before I filed it away in my library. I ripped The Fragile into my iTunes and listened to it all the way through on a lengthier-than-expected trip from my house out to the U.S. Open on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. And it blew my mind. It was perfect for an overcast, kind of steamy day filled with slow moving F and 7 trains. The following day I ordered three used Nine Inch Nails discs through Amazon and downloaded The Slip, which Trent Reznor gave away for free in 2008.
I’ve always been amazed I ended up liking Nine Inch Nails. When Pretty Hate Machine was released in 1989 I lumped the band in with all the other goth/industrial dance acts that the guys and gals that wore black played with a righteous fervor at WICB. It was the 1992 Broken EP that won me over because a) it rocked and b) I finally could get the angst and rage that Reznor was spitting out in his lyrics. With a much more discerning ear 18 years later, it's not Reznor’s words that hook me in songs like “Wish” or “Happiness in Slavery,” but the pure wall of noise that he's painstakingly constructed that gets down into my very core. Sometimes all that racket sounds almost joyful to me, like Trent was having fun making these crazy layered noises. I started jogging again this year and the NIN playlist I assembled on my iPod might be the best thing on there to get the blood flowing.
Of course, getting into a band again a year after their frontman decides he doesn’t want to tour any more and is going to devote himself to other projects? Why yes, that is excellent timing, thanks.
It took two bucks to reignite my love and respect for Nine Inch Nails. That's how much I spent on a copy of their 1999 double album The Fragile at a moving sale on Union Street in Park Slope at the end of this summer. It was a total impulse purchase—I hadn’t listened to any NIN in at least three years, and even then it was a one-time only spin of Year Zero before I filed it away in my library. I ripped The Fragile into my iTunes and listened to it all the way through on a lengthier-than-expected trip from my house out to the U.S. Open on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. And it blew my mind. It was perfect for an overcast, kind of steamy day filled with slow moving F and 7 trains. The following day I ordered three used Nine Inch Nails discs through Amazon and downloaded The Slip, which Trent Reznor gave away for free in 2008.
I’ve always been amazed I ended up liking Nine Inch Nails. When Pretty Hate Machine was released in 1989 I lumped the band in with all the other goth/industrial dance acts that the guys and gals that wore black played with a righteous fervor at WICB. It was the 1992 Broken EP that won me over because a) it rocked and b) I finally could get the angst and rage that Reznor was spitting out in his lyrics. With a much more discerning ear 18 years later, it's not Reznor’s words that hook me in songs like “Wish” or “Happiness in Slavery,” but the pure wall of noise that he's painstakingly constructed that gets down into my very core. Sometimes all that racket sounds almost joyful to me, like Trent was having fun making these crazy layered noises. I started jogging again this year and the NIN playlist I assembled on my iPod might be the best thing on there to get the blood flowing.
Of course, getting into a band again a year after their frontman decides he doesn’t want to tour any more and is going to devote himself to other projects? Why yes, that is excellent timing, thanks.
2010's Top 10 Visual Aids
10) Human Target (FOX)
This series (which surprised me by getting renewed for a second season) is loosely based upon a DC Comic where the main character, Christopher Chance, takes the place of the people he's protecting using complex disguises. Since having a bunch of guest stars as the main character each week doesn’t bode well for a TV show, Chase became a guy who protects people by being good at everything: shooting, foreign languages, piloting planes, etc. Mark Valley is a charismatic lead as Chance and because the guy was actually in the Army, he looks totally natural holding a gun and other weapons. But the show’s main appeal is the amusing, frustrated comic chemistry between Chi McBride (Winston, Chase’s partner) and Jackie Earle Haley (Guerrero, a sort of reformed bad guy hacker). These two actors bring their characters bickering to a level that is a pure joy to watch. However, I’m not sold on the second season so far as the new show-runner a) completely dismissed last season’s cliff-hanger in like five minutes; b) changed the opening theme music and credits, which were a cool throwback to the shows I loved in the 70s and 80s and c) added two other regular characters that will likely take away from the screen time that McBride and Haley get together. The show will air after American Idol in January and February, so it might get a third season. And I might not care if it does after seeing the first few episodes of the second.
9) Lost (ABC)
Let’s get the finale out of the way: I disliked…no, no. Let me rephrase that:
I HATED THAT FUCKING FINALE WITH A SCALDING HOT PASSION THAT I USUALLY RESERVE FOR THE YANKEES OR A CERTAIN PERSON WHOSE NAME I CANNOT UTTER WHO I KNEW FIVE YEARS AGO.
(Whew, I feel better now. I better grab a bottle of water and take a couple of sips.)
(Okay, now I’m really better.)
Yet with my, um, distaste for the finale and the reveal that the sideways world was some sort of purgatory, I did enjoy much of Lost’s final season. I thought Terry O’Quinn did some rather fine work playing the evil incarnate on the island that had taken on the form of John Locke. The episode where we found out the backstory about Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell) was easily one of my top five favorite of the entire series, even if it didn’t follow the usual Lost template. (The same can’t be said for the backstory about Jacob and his brother, oy.) And seeing Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and Miles (Ken Leung) in what could have been a buddy cop movie in the sideways world (cough, cough, pardon me, puuuuuuuuuuurgatory) made me pine for an actual spinoff with those two actors in a buddy cop series. I’m pretty sure it would have been more Fraiser, less AfterMASH. I will honestly miss Lost when January rolls around. There’s rarely been a show that’s made me so enthralled, puzzled, scared and hungry (those Dharma Initiative food drops were like subliminal advertising for food for me) all at the same time. I’m doubtful that there will be show that I follow as fervently ever again.
8) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Universal)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is yet another movie based on a comic book/graphic novel. The title character is a typical slacker in his early 20s, playing bass in a band (Sex Bob-Omb) and living in a tiny apartment because he’s broke. (He sleeps in the same bed as his gay roommate.) He falls for a messenger named Ramona Flowers, pursues her and quickly finds out that he has to beat her all seven members of her League of Evil Exes in combat if he wants to make things work. That summation probably makes you think, “That’ll never work as a movie.” Yet Pilgrim is perhaps the closest anyone has captured the actual feel of reading a comic book on the big screen. (Sorry Ang Lee—cool panel graphics didn’t save your craptacular attempt at The Hulk.) The way Pilgrim (played by Michael Cera) dives into the fights against the execs as if he’s playing a video game seems completely natural in the world director Edgar Wright has drawn from the original source material. I can honestly say that I haven’t had such an enjoyable, fun and rollicking experience in a movie theater in many years.
7) Bruce Springsteen - The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story (Columbia)
Yes, I had this at the top of the Reissues, etc. section just a couple pages back. But it’s my list, so if I want to give this box a spot on another list I totally can do it. The wealth of visual material in this set is overwhelming. The documentary about the making of Darkness is top notch, yet it’s still the weakest part of the box. Watching Springsteen and the E Street Band perform the album in its entirety in 2009 is a thrill, even with the lack of an audience at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park. That decision pays off big time as director Thom Zimny was able to put cameras on stage and film the band from different angles that wouldn’t be used in a typical concert DVD. (I especially liked the camera that swoops around Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt as they share the microphone during one song.) Combine that with a treasure trove of in studio performances from the Darkness sessions and an entire concert from Houston in 1978 and you have a collection that will be hard for any artist to top. I guess the box set ball is in your corner, Neil Young.
6) The Good Guys (FOX)
I only know one other person that’s watched this show from the creator of Burn Notice. My former co-worker Erich lives in Dallas, where the show is filmed, and he told me once that “If you want to know about Dallas, watch The Good Guys. It really embraces the city.” Alas, by the time you read this it will have aired its last episode. And that’s a shame, because it’s the first show since The X-Files that’s been on a network on Friday nights that I would consider staying in for. On the surface, The Good Guys is a standard mismatched buddy cop show. Colin Hanks plays the tightly wound, by-the-book younger partner, while Bradley Whitford plays the “I don’t go by the book, I go by my gut” older partner. Yet it’s much richer than that description. Every bad guy on this show has some sort of issue that is always hysterical—explaining at every turn why he’s vegan, worrying because he’s the second best assassin in the world, trying to keep his bed and breakfast clean, or worrying how he’ll keep their falafel restaurant open. And Whitford (and his amazing, straight-from-the-early-80s moustache) just chews through the scenery with an over the top performance as Foghat-loving, Trans Am-driving, beer-swilling Dan Stark. He delivers some of the funniest lines on TV week after week while laying out his creed about police work. Some examples include:
—“Evidence is like a bowl of soup. It goes cold you gotta heat it up again and scrape off the film that grows on top and dig in.”
—“I am proud of my willingness to lubricate myself for the cause of justice.”
—“Crime is like a woman, when she needs your attention you gotta pull your gun out.”
I am really going to miss Dan Stark. And his moustache.
5) Chuck (NBC)
In last year’s list I made a plea for folks to watch the third season of Chuck debuting in January 2010. That was a mistake. I should have said, watch season 3.1 that’s debuting in late April. Those six episodes, ordered after the initial 13 of the season had been mapped out, showed off everything that’s great about this action/comedy/sometime-drama-when-the-mood-requires-it. I’ve finally come to the acceptance that this show will never be a mid-sized hit. It always comes in fourth in its time slot. Of course, that’s like every other show on NBC, and since Chuck doesn’t get as pulverized as other programs the last place network puts on there’s a good chance it might make it to a fifth season. And that would be amazing after the Subway campaign to save it in 2009.
4) Terriers (FX)
Full disclosure: one of the regulars on this highly underwatched series, Jamie Denbo, is married to one of my good friends from college, John Ross Bowie. And honestly, I wouldn’t have thought about watching or DVR-ing the show if she wasn’t on it. Wow, am I happy that I did. It’s the best new American-made series of the year. (That distinction will make sense in three entries below.) I’ve always enjoyed the work of the star Donal Logue, yet the FX campaign that showed a couple of barking dogs made me think the show was about dog catchers or something. (And this is coming from a guy that reads a great deal about the TV business each and every week.) Whoever came up with that campaign at FX ought to have their genitals attacked by a dog. Terriers was not picked up for a second season, and that is a crime. Not as big as the crimes that Logue and his co-star Michael Raymond-James’ characters investigate as unlicensed private detectives, yet still very bad. Terriers is a loose and funny buddy show, starring two incredibly likable actors that you can buy instantly as friends. The season-long arc about rich and powerful men doing wicked things in Ocean Beach, California is compelling. Yet many of the episodes can be watched just as a stand alone story. It’s a show that’s perfect mix of the two, featuring heart on the sleeve acting by the entire cast. Their joy in acting on such a quality show comes through in each and every performance. Do yourself a favor and download it from iTunes or watch it online now. I promise you’ll get hooked.
3) Community (NBC)
I never imagined how much funnier this show would get when I placed it upon last year’s Top 10. Then came a note-perfect homage to Goodfellas, in which the study group became an organized crime syndicate controlling the supply of the school cafeteria's beloved chicken fingers. Two weeks later came “Modern Warfare,” which had a storyline about a campus paintball tournament that ended up spoofing every major action movie cliché of past 30 years. I don’t think I’m a good enough TV critic (actually, if you’ve read this list over the years, you know I’m as much of a TV critic as Sarah Palin is an author) to describe the awesomeness of those two episodes. Community’s second season hasn’t hit those heights yet, but it’s still the best network comedy to come along in many, many years.
2) Inception (Warner Bros.)
Okay, did the top continue to spin? Someone tell me. Please!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem.
Movies often seem to come from the recycling bin these days: how about a sequel? This TV show would be great to remakes? When’s Michael Bay creating another stupid franchise? Writer-director Christopher Nolan does a difficult thing with Inception. It is completely original, cut from a new cloth, and yet structured like a standard action movie so it feels like it makes more sense than it probably does. It’s popular art at its best, and I’m so glad I didn’t wait for it to come to cable like I did with Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight.
1) Sherlock (PBS)
I have exactly one book that I’ve saved from my days as a child—The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This tome (which is 1,122 pages long!!! Holy shit! I’m glad I looked at the book, I never would have thought it was that long!) has been packed and unpacked and moved through every single apartment I’ve had as an adult. The Holmes canon struck a chord that has seen me watch almost every film and TV adaptation. (I even went on a first date to see the Robert Downey Jr.-Jude Law take. Thankfully that stinker didn’t ruin what was otherwise a pleasant evening.) I can honestly say that this PBS version, brought into the 21st century by one of the producers behind the recent Dr. Who, is one of best I’ve ever seen. In this update Holmes—played by an outstanding Benedict Cumberbatch—exists in a world much like our own, where characters watch TV and listen to music and a killer can taunt Holmes by asking if he wants to phone a friend. Doctor John Watson (Martin Freeman from the British version of The Office) keeps a blog instead of a journal and Holmes doesn’t smoke (he uses multiple nicotine patches to help himself think). Perhaps the most interesting change is that by today’s standards, Holmes comes off as extremely weird, bordering on creepy. His intellect, highly sensitive powers of observation and fixation on bizarre crimes makes him someone the cops don’t entirely trust. One of my favorite lines comes from one of Scotland’s Yard’s finest, saying Holmes “gets off on it. One day, we’ll be standing around a body and Sherlock Holmes will be the one that put it there... He’s a psychopath. Psychopaths get bored.” Later in that same scene Holmes explains, “I’m not a psychopath. I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.” The cliffhanger in the final episode makes me confident that this version of Sherlock will return. Don’t miss it when it does.
This series (which surprised me by getting renewed for a second season) is loosely based upon a DC Comic where the main character, Christopher Chance, takes the place of the people he's protecting using complex disguises. Since having a bunch of guest stars as the main character each week doesn’t bode well for a TV show, Chase became a guy who protects people by being good at everything: shooting, foreign languages, piloting planes, etc. Mark Valley is a charismatic lead as Chance and because the guy was actually in the Army, he looks totally natural holding a gun and other weapons. But the show’s main appeal is the amusing, frustrated comic chemistry between Chi McBride (Winston, Chase’s partner) and Jackie Earle Haley (Guerrero, a sort of reformed bad guy hacker). These two actors bring their characters bickering to a level that is a pure joy to watch. However, I’m not sold on the second season so far as the new show-runner a) completely dismissed last season’s cliff-hanger in like five minutes; b) changed the opening theme music and credits, which were a cool throwback to the shows I loved in the 70s and 80s and c) added two other regular characters that will likely take away from the screen time that McBride and Haley get together. The show will air after American Idol in January and February, so it might get a third season. And I might not care if it does after seeing the first few episodes of the second.
9) Lost (ABC)
Let’s get the finale out of the way: I disliked…no, no. Let me rephrase that:
I HATED THAT FUCKING FINALE WITH A SCALDING HOT PASSION THAT I USUALLY RESERVE FOR THE YANKEES OR A CERTAIN PERSON WHOSE NAME I CANNOT UTTER WHO I KNEW FIVE YEARS AGO.
(Whew, I feel better now. I better grab a bottle of water and take a couple of sips.)
(Okay, now I’m really better.)
Yet with my, um, distaste for the finale and the reveal that the sideways world was some sort of purgatory, I did enjoy much of Lost’s final season. I thought Terry O’Quinn did some rather fine work playing the evil incarnate on the island that had taken on the form of John Locke. The episode where we found out the backstory about Richard Alpert (Nestor Carbonell) was easily one of my top five favorite of the entire series, even if it didn’t follow the usual Lost template. (The same can’t be said for the backstory about Jacob and his brother, oy.) And seeing Sawyer (Josh Holloway) and Miles (Ken Leung) in what could have been a buddy cop movie in the sideways world (cough, cough, pardon me, puuuuuuuuuuurgatory) made me pine for an actual spinoff with those two actors in a buddy cop series. I’m pretty sure it would have been more Fraiser, less AfterMASH. I will honestly miss Lost when January rolls around. There’s rarely been a show that’s made me so enthralled, puzzled, scared and hungry (those Dharma Initiative food drops were like subliminal advertising for food for me) all at the same time. I’m doubtful that there will be show that I follow as fervently ever again.
8) Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (Universal)
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is yet another movie based on a comic book/graphic novel. The title character is a typical slacker in his early 20s, playing bass in a band (Sex Bob-Omb) and living in a tiny apartment because he’s broke. (He sleeps in the same bed as his gay roommate.) He falls for a messenger named Ramona Flowers, pursues her and quickly finds out that he has to beat her all seven members of her League of Evil Exes in combat if he wants to make things work. That summation probably makes you think, “That’ll never work as a movie.” Yet Pilgrim is perhaps the closest anyone has captured the actual feel of reading a comic book on the big screen. (Sorry Ang Lee—cool panel graphics didn’t save your craptacular attempt at The Hulk.) The way Pilgrim (played by Michael Cera) dives into the fights against the execs as if he’s playing a video game seems completely natural in the world director Edgar Wright has drawn from the original source material. I can honestly say that I haven’t had such an enjoyable, fun and rollicking experience in a movie theater in many years.
7) Bruce Springsteen - The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story (Columbia)
Yes, I had this at the top of the Reissues, etc. section just a couple pages back. But it’s my list, so if I want to give this box a spot on another list I totally can do it. The wealth of visual material in this set is overwhelming. The documentary about the making of Darkness is top notch, yet it’s still the weakest part of the box. Watching Springsteen and the E Street Band perform the album in its entirety in 2009 is a thrill, even with the lack of an audience at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park. That decision pays off big time as director Thom Zimny was able to put cameras on stage and film the band from different angles that wouldn’t be used in a typical concert DVD. (I especially liked the camera that swoops around Springsteen and Steve Van Zandt as they share the microphone during one song.) Combine that with a treasure trove of in studio performances from the Darkness sessions and an entire concert from Houston in 1978 and you have a collection that will be hard for any artist to top. I guess the box set ball is in your corner, Neil Young.
6) The Good Guys (FOX)
I only know one other person that’s watched this show from the creator of Burn Notice. My former co-worker Erich lives in Dallas, where the show is filmed, and he told me once that “If you want to know about Dallas, watch The Good Guys. It really embraces the city.” Alas, by the time you read this it will have aired its last episode. And that’s a shame, because it’s the first show since The X-Files that’s been on a network on Friday nights that I would consider staying in for. On the surface, The Good Guys is a standard mismatched buddy cop show. Colin Hanks plays the tightly wound, by-the-book younger partner, while Bradley Whitford plays the “I don’t go by the book, I go by my gut” older partner. Yet it’s much richer than that description. Every bad guy on this show has some sort of issue that is always hysterical—explaining at every turn why he’s vegan, worrying because he’s the second best assassin in the world, trying to keep his bed and breakfast clean, or worrying how he’ll keep their falafel restaurant open. And Whitford (and his amazing, straight-from-the-early-80s moustache) just chews through the scenery with an over the top performance as Foghat-loving, Trans Am-driving, beer-swilling Dan Stark. He delivers some of the funniest lines on TV week after week while laying out his creed about police work. Some examples include:
—“Evidence is like a bowl of soup. It goes cold you gotta heat it up again and scrape off the film that grows on top and dig in.”
—“I am proud of my willingness to lubricate myself for the cause of justice.”
—“Crime is like a woman, when she needs your attention you gotta pull your gun out.”
I am really going to miss Dan Stark. And his moustache.
5) Chuck (NBC)
In last year’s list I made a plea for folks to watch the third season of Chuck debuting in January 2010. That was a mistake. I should have said, watch season 3.1 that’s debuting in late April. Those six episodes, ordered after the initial 13 of the season had been mapped out, showed off everything that’s great about this action/comedy/sometime-drama-when-the-mood-requires-it. I’ve finally come to the acceptance that this show will never be a mid-sized hit. It always comes in fourth in its time slot. Of course, that’s like every other show on NBC, and since Chuck doesn’t get as pulverized as other programs the last place network puts on there’s a good chance it might make it to a fifth season. And that would be amazing after the Subway campaign to save it in 2009.
4) Terriers (FX)
Full disclosure: one of the regulars on this highly underwatched series, Jamie Denbo, is married to one of my good friends from college, John Ross Bowie. And honestly, I wouldn’t have thought about watching or DVR-ing the show if she wasn’t on it. Wow, am I happy that I did. It’s the best new American-made series of the year. (That distinction will make sense in three entries below.) I’ve always enjoyed the work of the star Donal Logue, yet the FX campaign that showed a couple of barking dogs made me think the show was about dog catchers or something. (And this is coming from a guy that reads a great deal about the TV business each and every week.) Whoever came up with that campaign at FX ought to have their genitals attacked by a dog. Terriers was not picked up for a second season, and that is a crime. Not as big as the crimes that Logue and his co-star Michael Raymond-James’ characters investigate as unlicensed private detectives, yet still very bad. Terriers is a loose and funny buddy show, starring two incredibly likable actors that you can buy instantly as friends. The season-long arc about rich and powerful men doing wicked things in Ocean Beach, California is compelling. Yet many of the episodes can be watched just as a stand alone story. It’s a show that’s perfect mix of the two, featuring heart on the sleeve acting by the entire cast. Their joy in acting on such a quality show comes through in each and every performance. Do yourself a favor and download it from iTunes or watch it online now. I promise you’ll get hooked.
3) Community (NBC)
I never imagined how much funnier this show would get when I placed it upon last year’s Top 10. Then came a note-perfect homage to Goodfellas, in which the study group became an organized crime syndicate controlling the supply of the school cafeteria's beloved chicken fingers. Two weeks later came “Modern Warfare,” which had a storyline about a campus paintball tournament that ended up spoofing every major action movie cliché of past 30 years. I don’t think I’m a good enough TV critic (actually, if you’ve read this list over the years, you know I’m as much of a TV critic as Sarah Palin is an author) to describe the awesomeness of those two episodes. Community’s second season hasn’t hit those heights yet, but it’s still the best network comedy to come along in many, many years.
2) Inception (Warner Bros.)
Okay, did the top continue to spin? Someone tell me. Please!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem.
Movies often seem to come from the recycling bin these days: how about a sequel? This TV show would be great to remakes? When’s Michael Bay creating another stupid franchise? Writer-director Christopher Nolan does a difficult thing with Inception. It is completely original, cut from a new cloth, and yet structured like a standard action movie so it feels like it makes more sense than it probably does. It’s popular art at its best, and I’m so glad I didn’t wait for it to come to cable like I did with Batman Begins, The Prestige and The Dark Knight.
1) Sherlock (PBS)
I have exactly one book that I’ve saved from my days as a child—The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. This tome (which is 1,122 pages long!!! Holy shit! I’m glad I looked at the book, I never would have thought it was that long!) has been packed and unpacked and moved through every single apartment I’ve had as an adult. The Holmes canon struck a chord that has seen me watch almost every film and TV adaptation. (I even went on a first date to see the Robert Downey Jr.-Jude Law take. Thankfully that stinker didn’t ruin what was otherwise a pleasant evening.) I can honestly say that this PBS version, brought into the 21st century by one of the producers behind the recent Dr. Who, is one of best I’ve ever seen. In this update Holmes—played by an outstanding Benedict Cumberbatch—exists in a world much like our own, where characters watch TV and listen to music and a killer can taunt Holmes by asking if he wants to phone a friend. Doctor John Watson (Martin Freeman from the British version of The Office) keeps a blog instead of a journal and Holmes doesn’t smoke (he uses multiple nicotine patches to help himself think). Perhaps the most interesting change is that by today’s standards, Holmes comes off as extremely weird, bordering on creepy. His intellect, highly sensitive powers of observation and fixation on bizarre crimes makes him someone the cops don’t entirely trust. One of my favorite lines comes from one of Scotland’s Yard’s finest, saying Holmes “gets off on it. One day, we’ll be standing around a body and Sherlock Holmes will be the one that put it there... He’s a psychopath. Psychopaths get bored.” Later in that same scene Holmes explains, “I’m not a psychopath. I’m a high-functioning sociopath. Do your research.” The cliffhanger in the final episode makes me confident that this version of Sherlock will return. Don’t miss it when it does.
Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Song of the Week 12/3/10
The Figgs - "Racing Around"
The Figgs celebrated 10 years since the release of Sucking in Stereo by playing the entire album at two shows here over the weekend. Hearing all those songs in a row was like revisiting an old friend. No, actually, it was like revisiting myself at age 30, when I watched all these songs take shape over a year of shows and I had the energy to pogo for almost an entire set. Now, I can pogo for about 30 seconds before I start worrying about my knees.
I don't have a clip of the guys doing that song, but on Saturday at Bruar Falls in Williamsburg I did get a chance to shoot them busting into the Couldn't Get High gem "Said Enough" with its writer Guy Lyons stepping up to do vocals. It was a great moment on a night filled with them.
The Figgs celebrated 10 years since the release of Sucking in Stereo by playing the entire album at two shows here over the weekend. Hearing all those songs in a row was like revisiting an old friend. No, actually, it was like revisiting myself at age 30, when I watched all these songs take shape over a year of shows and I had the energy to pogo for almost an entire set. Now, I can pogo for about 30 seconds before I start worrying about my knees.
I don't have a clip of the guys doing that song, but on Saturday at Bruar Falls in Williamsburg I did get a chance to shoot them busting into the Couldn't Get High gem "Said Enough" with its writer Guy Lyons stepping up to do vocals. It was a great moment on a night filled with them.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Song of the Week 11/26/10
Tired Pony - "Dead American Writers"
There are certain years where I sit down to write this list and it just pours out of me. I’ve found myself up at 1:00 a.m., pouring another glass of Diet Coke just because I know I’ve struck a rich vein of creativity and I don’t want to lose it by going to sleep. Other years, errrrr, not so much. This year, for example. It’s been like, well, I can’t even come up with a good cliché to describe how hard it’s been to extract the words from my brain and get them to come out my fingers into this here ancient keyboard. When you’re checking your Twitter feed once every six minutes or so because you’ve written only a sentence in a half hour and you’re desperate for anything to take your brain away from writing…well, it’s not good. In the midst of my mind needing some Metamucil, I started looking over the lyrics to Tired Pony’s “Dead American Writers.” And I’ll be damned if Gary Lightbody didn’t nail the pains of writers block in a song, um, about dead writers. Check out the first and second verses:
“Here's to every time that you rock a boat
Here's to every word that you ever wrote
There were clues but it was never clear
You've got to choose your own way out of here
I've been waiting for the spark myself,
I've been scrambling in the dark for health
I have read your words a thousand times
All this spark but smashed up love and crime.”
Waiting for the spark myself. Fucking a, Gary, I feel your pain.
There are certain years where I sit down to write this list and it just pours out of me. I’ve found myself up at 1:00 a.m., pouring another glass of Diet Coke just because I know I’ve struck a rich vein of creativity and I don’t want to lose it by going to sleep. Other years, errrrr, not so much. This year, for example. It’s been like, well, I can’t even come up with a good cliché to describe how hard it’s been to extract the words from my brain and get them to come out my fingers into this here ancient keyboard. When you’re checking your Twitter feed once every six minutes or so because you’ve written only a sentence in a half hour and you’re desperate for anything to take your brain away from writing…well, it’s not good. In the midst of my mind needing some Metamucil, I started looking over the lyrics to Tired Pony’s “Dead American Writers.” And I’ll be damned if Gary Lightbody didn’t nail the pains of writers block in a song, um, about dead writers. Check out the first and second verses:
“Here's to every time that you rock a boat
Here's to every word that you ever wrote
There were clues but it was never clear
You've got to choose your own way out of here
I've been waiting for the spark myself,
I've been scrambling in the dark for health
I have read your words a thousand times
All this spark but smashed up love and crime.”
Waiting for the spark myself. Fucking a, Gary, I feel your pain.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Song of the Week 11/19/10
Bruce Springsteen - "The Promise"
The epic day I went through on Tuesday to get this new Springsteen box is a tale that I don't feel like repeating. But after 9 hours of travels, frustration and unexpected purchases, it was worth it. And this song (and video) are just stunning.
You can check out more about the box set in my last two podcasts. Oh, and I might have more to say on December 10th.
The epic day I went through on Tuesday to get this new Springsteen box is a tale that I don't feel like repeating. But after 9 hours of travels, frustration and unexpected purchases, it was worth it. And this song (and video) are just stunning.
You can check out more about the box set in my last two podcasts. Oh, and I might have more to say on December 10th.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Song of the Week 11/12/10
Warren G and Nate Dogg - "Regulate"
My pals Allison and Melanie (along with their respective roommates and significant others) out together a master list of songs to choose from for our initial foray into doing a 90s themed party. You can see the playlist for the Class of 2000 (Re)Union below. Out of the 100 songs I downloaded to flesh out my library, this jam based on Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgetting" brought me the most joy.
My pals Allison and Melanie (along with their respective roommates and significant others) out together a master list of songs to choose from for our initial foray into doing a 90s themed party. You can see the playlist for the Class of 2000 (Re)Union below. Out of the 100 songs I downloaded to flesh out my library, this jam based on Michael McDonald's "I Keep Forgetting" brought me the most joy.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Song of the Week 11/5/10
Extreme - "More Than Words"
You know what? This is a perfect song to play at a wedding/enagagement celebration. (Even if your guitar player ends it a bit too early.)
You know what? This is a perfect song to play at a wedding/enagagement celebration. (Even if your guitar player ends it a bit too early.)
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Class of 2000 (Re)Union (a.k.a. Party Like It's 1999) 11/4/10
As this has been a year of going out of my comfort zone, why not expand that to DJ-ing a night devoted to a lot of 90s pop, hip-hop & R and B? It was a lot more fun than I expected it to be--and hopefully we'll do it again. Thanks to Allison and Melanie (and assorted others) for getting the ball rolling and coming up with a wide ranging list of tunes.
Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"
Nada Surf - "Popular"
Meat Puppets - "Backwater"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
The Breeders - "Cannonball"
"Beverly Hills 90210 Theme"
The Flaming Lips - "She Don't use Jelly"
Spacehog - "In the Meantime"
Letters to Cleo - "Here and Now"
The Cardigans - "Lovefool"
Oasis - "Don't Look Back in Anger"
Gin Blossoms - "Found Out About You"
Live - "All Over You"
Everclear - "Santa Monica"
Fastball - "The Way"
Marcy Playground - "Sex and Candy"
The Offspring - "Come Out and Play"
Rancid - "Ruby Soho"
Blink 182 - "What's My Age Again"
Lit - "My Own Worst Enemy"
Toadies - "Possum Kingdom"
Candlebox - "Far Behind"
Cracker - "Low"
Spin Doctors - "Two Princes"
Better Than Ezra - "Good"
Weezer - "Buddy Holly"
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Lump"
Divnyls - "I Touch Myself"
James - "Laid"
Ace of Base - "The Sign"
Hanson - "MMMBop"
Backstreet Boys - "I Want It That Way"
Wilson Phillips - "Hold On"
Amy Grant - "Baby Baby"
Britney Spears - "Baby Hit Me One More Time"
No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
The Breeders - "Divine Hammer"
Chumbawamba - "Tubthumping"
Cornershop - "Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)"
Skee-Lo - "I Wish"
Coolio - "Gangsta's Paradise"
2Pac & Dr. Dre - "California Love"
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg - "Nothing But a G Thing"
House of Pain - "Jump Around"
Six Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"
Heavy D - "Now That We Found Love"
Montell Jordan - "This Is How We Do It"
Boyz II Men - "Motownphilly"
Mary J. Blige - "Real Love"
Mariah Carey - "Fantasy"
Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Mase - "Mo Money, More Problems"
Paula Abdul - "Opposites Attract"
Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
TLC - "No Scrubs"
En Vogue - "Don't Let Go"
Janet Jackson - "That's the Way Love Goes"
Aaliyah - "Are You That Somebody"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Shoop"
Freak Nasty - "Da Dip"
Dee-Lite - "Groove Is in the Heart"
Pras, Mya & ODB - "Ghetto Superstar"
Lauryn Hill - "Doo Wop (That Thing)"
ODB - "Got Your Money"
Positive K - "I Got a Man"
Tag Team - "Whoomp! There It Is"
Biz Markie - "Just a Friend"
Warren G & Nate Dogg - "Regulate"
Jodeci - "Lately"
Seal - "Kiss From a Rose"
Lisa Loeb - "Stay"
Semisonic - "Closing Time"
Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"
Nada Surf - "Popular"
Meat Puppets - "Backwater"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
The Breeders - "Cannonball"
"Beverly Hills 90210 Theme"
The Flaming Lips - "She Don't use Jelly"
Spacehog - "In the Meantime"
Letters to Cleo - "Here and Now"
The Cardigans - "Lovefool"
Oasis - "Don't Look Back in Anger"
Gin Blossoms - "Found Out About You"
Live - "All Over You"
Everclear - "Santa Monica"
Fastball - "The Way"
Marcy Playground - "Sex and Candy"
The Offspring - "Come Out and Play"
Rancid - "Ruby Soho"
Blink 182 - "What's My Age Again"
Lit - "My Own Worst Enemy"
Toadies - "Possum Kingdom"
Candlebox - "Far Behind"
Cracker - "Low"
Spin Doctors - "Two Princes"
Better Than Ezra - "Good"
Weezer - "Buddy Holly"
The Presidents of the United States of America - "Lump"
Divnyls - "I Touch Myself"
James - "Laid"
Ace of Base - "The Sign"
Hanson - "MMMBop"
Backstreet Boys - "I Want It That Way"
Wilson Phillips - "Hold On"
Amy Grant - "Baby Baby"
Britney Spears - "Baby Hit Me One More Time"
No Doubt - "Spiderwebs"
The Breeders - "Divine Hammer"
Chumbawamba - "Tubthumping"
Cornershop - "Brimful of Asha (Norman Cook Remix)"
Skee-Lo - "I Wish"
Coolio - "Gangsta's Paradise"
2Pac & Dr. Dre - "California Love"
Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg - "Nothing But a G Thing"
House of Pain - "Jump Around"
Six Mix-A-Lot - "Baby Got Back"
Heavy D - "Now That We Found Love"
Montell Jordan - "This Is How We Do It"
Boyz II Men - "Motownphilly"
Mary J. Blige - "Real Love"
Mariah Carey - "Fantasy"
Notorious B.I.G. feat. Puff Daddy & Mase - "Mo Money, More Problems"
Paula Abdul - "Opposites Attract"
Spice Girls - "Wannabe"
TLC - "No Scrubs"
En Vogue - "Don't Let Go"
Janet Jackson - "That's the Way Love Goes"
Aaliyah - "Are You That Somebody"
Salt-N-Pepa - "Shoop"
Freak Nasty - "Da Dip"
Dee-Lite - "Groove Is in the Heart"
Pras, Mya & ODB - "Ghetto Superstar"
Lauryn Hill - "Doo Wop (That Thing)"
ODB - "Got Your Money"
Positive K - "I Got a Man"
Tag Team - "Whoomp! There It Is"
Biz Markie - "Just a Friend"
Warren G & Nate Dogg - "Regulate"
Jodeci - "Lately"
Seal - "Kiss From a Rose"
Lisa Loeb - "Stay"
Semisonic - "Closing Time"
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Song of the Week 10/29/10
Guster - "Bad Bad World"
This was a highlight of their show at the Beacon Theater last night. And this video is so awesome:
This was a highlight of their show at the Beacon Theater last night. And this video is so awesome:
Friday, October 29, 2010
Song of the Week 10/22/10
Night Ranger - "Sister Christian"
It's not often that I repeat a Song of the Week, but I figured after shredding my voice to this song on my birthday it was probably worth it. (Click here for the previous entry.)
It's not often that I repeat a Song of the Week, but I figured after shredding my voice to this song on my birthday it was probably worth it. (Click here for the previous entry.)
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Song of the Week 10/15/10
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Song of the Week 10/8/10
LCD Soundsystem - "Dance Yrself Clean"
I'm not sure if the following clip shows just how awesome an opening song this was for James Murphy and company's ACL set. The people around me were so into it I couldn't help but get swept up into the dancing and jumping around. It was such an improvement on when I saw them at Webster Hall in the spring. It's definitely one of my favorite shows of the year and it made me think everyone should see this band play as the sun sets.
I'm not sure if the following clip shows just how awesome an opening song this was for James Murphy and company's ACL set. The people around me were so into it I couldn't help but get swept up into the dancing and jumping around. It was such an improvement on when I saw them at Webster Hall in the spring. It's definitely one of my favorite shows of the year and it made me think everyone should see this band play as the sun sets.
Monday, October 04, 2010
Song of the Week 10/1/10
The Young Veins - "Take a Vacation"
Why yes, I think I will. See you when I get back from ACL.
Oh, and this is one of the best albums of the year. You'll think it's 1966 all over again.
Why yes, I think I will. See you when I get back from ACL.
Oh, and this is one of the best albums of the year. You'll think it's 1966 all over again.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Song of the Week 9/24/2010
Pavement - "Conduit for Sale!"
I'm still digesting (mentally, that is) how great Pavement were last Wednesday. I'm sure it'll end up being one of my Top 10 shows of this year, so I'll have an apt description of the joy it brought put into words by December. "Conduit for Sale" was the final song of lightning and rain-soaked set, and my goodness, Bob Nastanovich just makes everything better.
(This clip is from the night before at Central Park, but I think you'll understand my point.)
I'm still digesting (mentally, that is) how great Pavement were last Wednesday. I'm sure it'll end up being one of my Top 10 shows of this year, so I'll have an apt description of the joy it brought put into words by December. "Conduit for Sale" was the final song of lightning and rain-soaked set, and my goodness, Bob Nastanovich just makes everything better.
(This clip is from the night before at Central Park, but I think you'll understand my point.)
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Song of the Week 9/17/10
Superchunk - "Digging for Something"
Holy shit. Holy SHIT. This song is so damn good. After my first listen, I wanted to hear it again. And again. And then, yup, again. The whole damn album is just as good, which is kind of stunning for a band that hasn't released a full album in nine years.
As my my friend John commented to me, "Phenomenal. Might be their best since Here's Where The Strings Come In."
Oh, and this video is pretty good too:
Holy shit. Holy SHIT. This song is so damn good. After my first listen, I wanted to hear it again. And again. And then, yup, again. The whole damn album is just as good, which is kind of stunning for a band that hasn't released a full album in nine years.
As my my friend John commented to me, "Phenomenal. Might be their best since Here's Where The Strings Come In."
Oh, and this video is pretty good too:
Monday, September 13, 2010
Song of the Week 9/10/10
Nine Inch Nails - "Hurt"
It took two bucks to reignite my love and respect for Nine Inch Nails. That's how much I spent on a copy of their 1999 double album The Fragile at a moving sale on Union Street in Park Slope a few weeks ago. It was a total impulse purchase--I haven't listened to any NIN in at least three years, and even then it was a one-time only spin of Year Zero before I filed it away in my library. I ripped The Fragile into my iTunes and listened to it all the way through on a lengthier-than-expected trip from my house out to the U.S. Open on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. And it blew my mind. It was perfect for an overcast, kind of steamy day filled with slow moving F and 7 trains. The following day I ordered three used Nine Inch Nails discs through Amazon and downloaded The Slip, which Trent Reznor gave away for free in 2008.
I was always amazed I ended up liking Nine Inch Nails. When Pretty Hate Machine was released in 1989 I just lumped the band in with all the other gothy/industrial dance acts that the guys and gals that wore black at WICB played with a righteous fervor. The Broken EP in 1992 won me over because a) it rocked and b) I finally could get the angst and rage that Reznor was spitting out in his lyrics. With a much more discerning ear 18 years later it's not Reznor's words that hook me in songs like "Wish" or "Happiness in Slavery," it's the pure wall of (sometimes almost joyful, if that makes any sense) noise that he's painstakingly constructed that gets down into my very core. I've started jogging again this year and that NIN playlist I assembled might be the best thing on my iPod to get my blood flowing.
"Hurt" from 1994's The Downward Spiral took a life of its own after Johnny Cash covered it. In the hands and voice of a man near the end of his time on this planet, it become probably more powerful than Trent Reznor ever imagined. The original is the song that won me over completely 16 years ago. The only time I've seen Nine Inch Nails was the week after their mud-soaked appearance at Woodstock '94. When they performed "Hurt" -- the exact same way it is in the video above that was released in 1995 -- it overwhelmed me. The combination of the visuals and Reznor's passionate delivery is still one of my favorite concert moments ever, and that entire show is definitely on my short list of Top 10 concerts. I've played this live version multiple times in the past week, and it hasn't lost it's power to move me yet.
It took two bucks to reignite my love and respect for Nine Inch Nails. That's how much I spent on a copy of their 1999 double album The Fragile at a moving sale on Union Street in Park Slope a few weeks ago. It was a total impulse purchase--I haven't listened to any NIN in at least three years, and even then it was a one-time only spin of Year Zero before I filed it away in my library. I ripped The Fragile into my iTunes and listened to it all the way through on a lengthier-than-expected trip from my house out to the U.S. Open on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. And it blew my mind. It was perfect for an overcast, kind of steamy day filled with slow moving F and 7 trains. The following day I ordered three used Nine Inch Nails discs through Amazon and downloaded The Slip, which Trent Reznor gave away for free in 2008.
I was always amazed I ended up liking Nine Inch Nails. When Pretty Hate Machine was released in 1989 I just lumped the band in with all the other gothy/industrial dance acts that the guys and gals that wore black at WICB played with a righteous fervor. The Broken EP in 1992 won me over because a) it rocked and b) I finally could get the angst and rage that Reznor was spitting out in his lyrics. With a much more discerning ear 18 years later it's not Reznor's words that hook me in songs like "Wish" or "Happiness in Slavery," it's the pure wall of (sometimes almost joyful, if that makes any sense) noise that he's painstakingly constructed that gets down into my very core. I've started jogging again this year and that NIN playlist I assembled might be the best thing on my iPod to get my blood flowing.
"Hurt" from 1994's The Downward Spiral took a life of its own after Johnny Cash covered it. In the hands and voice of a man near the end of his time on this planet, it become probably more powerful than Trent Reznor ever imagined. The original is the song that won me over completely 16 years ago. The only time I've seen Nine Inch Nails was the week after their mud-soaked appearance at Woodstock '94. When they performed "Hurt" -- the exact same way it is in the video above that was released in 1995 -- it overwhelmed me. The combination of the visuals and Reznor's passionate delivery is still one of my favorite concert moments ever, and that entire show is definitely on my short list of Top 10 concerts. I've played this live version multiple times in the past week, and it hasn't lost it's power to move me yet.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Song of the Week 9/3/10
Mighty Mike - "Imagine a Jump"
Wow. Five days after first hearing it and words still fail me. One of my Top 3 favorite mashups ever.
Wow. Five days after first hearing it and words still fail me. One of my Top 3 favorite mashups ever.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Song of the Week 8/27/10
Cee-Lo Green - "Fuck You"
So I started this post on Monday morning, but new stuff kept being written about this marvelous Cee-Lo track that I felt like I had to keep adding to it. I happen to think the song is genius because it's damn catchy and yet there's no way the original song could be the out-and-out hit it deserves to be. (Who knows what will happen with the edited version titled "Forget You.") In other words, I won't get sick of this song as I did with the radio overplay that ruined "Crazy" or "Hey Ya," and for that I am thankful.
Let's break down the rest of the Internets, bullet-point style:
- Cee-Lo explains how the song came about. (And how about Bruno Mars this year?)
- Videogum covers the best uses of the song with video footage.
- KCRW has an insightful piece that draws from my friend Jay Frank's book FutureHitDNA. (Jay and I will discuss this further on an upcoming podcast.)
- The always great Fuel and Friends calls it the song of the summer.
- Maura says it's already being covered. And people knew almost all the words.
- Allison still prefers Skee-Lo. (I liked it long ago.)
- And Gawker just needs to fucking relax. (And shut up.)
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Song of the Week 8/20/10
Huey Lewis and the News - "If This is It"
This past weekend I took a trip back in time. Well, not literally, but it certainly felt like it at many moments. I went to Misquamicut State Beach in Rhode Island for the first time in 20 years. As a kid I spent many, many days at this beautiful beach with my aunt. We visited that area of New England virtually every summer of the 1980s. (Save 1983, where I lived outside San Diego and was able to let my Duran Duran and new wave fandom grow by leaps and bounds listening to 91X.) We went one last time in 1990 when I lived at home while I was interning at PYX 106 in Albany, but at that point I was more interested in spending my time indoors and soaking up as much about the industry I had (foolishly, some would say) decided would be my career. And what 20 year-old wants to spend time with their relatives?
As the past 20 years have gone by, I became more of a guy that avoided the outside. There's a great Lemonheads song from 1996 called "Outdoor Type" that sums up my state of mind perfectly. But this year that facade got cracked. I was very fortunate to date a lovely woman named Allison who embraced much of what I had pushed out of my life since I became a city dweller -- she loved the outdoors, loved traveling to new places and especially loved the beach. We were in New Hampshire in May and made a pit stop at her favorite beach. Standing there, with my feet in the chilly sand, I thought to myself, "Why have I avoided this for so long? This is pretty awesome, even if its not the best temperature to have bare feet." At that moment I knew I needed to get back to the beach. A month later I booked a hotel just over the Rhode Island border in Connecticut (which happened to be near Foxwoods casino, cough cough) and asked my aunt to go with me.
As the time for the trip approached, I pulled together a playlist of songs from 1984 to 1986. Those are the years that come to mind to the most when I think of Misquamicut. And of course that's the era when Huey Lewis and the News were at their peak. Their music is intertwined with those memories. We saw Back to the Future in nearby Westerly in 1985 and I, of course, chuckled at Lewis's cameo. I went camping in the area in the late summer of 1986 with my older friend David and on the way back we stopped at a Strawberries so I could by a cassette of Fore!, which had just been released that week. And "If This Is It" was released as a single in July of 1984, and I remember hearing it on radios up and down the beach when we went for a second visit of the summer in late August. It was my favorite song on Sports before it became their fourth Top 10 hit in a row, so being able to hear it more often made me very happy. And when I sat on the beach this past weekend, many of those teenage memories came flowing back, with a soundtrack supplied by a song with a video about going to the beach. How meta. (And what a bummer I can't embed it.)
This past weekend I took a trip back in time. Well, not literally, but it certainly felt like it at many moments. I went to Misquamicut State Beach in Rhode Island for the first time in 20 years. As a kid I spent many, many days at this beautiful beach with my aunt. We visited that area of New England virtually every summer of the 1980s. (Save 1983, where I lived outside San Diego and was able to let my Duran Duran and new wave fandom grow by leaps and bounds listening to 91X.) We went one last time in 1990 when I lived at home while I was interning at PYX 106 in Albany, but at that point I was more interested in spending my time indoors and soaking up as much about the industry I had (foolishly, some would say) decided would be my career. And what 20 year-old wants to spend time with their relatives?
As the past 20 years have gone by, I became more of a guy that avoided the outside. There's a great Lemonheads song from 1996 called "Outdoor Type" that sums up my state of mind perfectly. But this year that facade got cracked. I was very fortunate to date a lovely woman named Allison who embraced much of what I had pushed out of my life since I became a city dweller -- she loved the outdoors, loved traveling to new places and especially loved the beach. We were in New Hampshire in May and made a pit stop at her favorite beach. Standing there, with my feet in the chilly sand, I thought to myself, "Why have I avoided this for so long? This is pretty awesome, even if its not the best temperature to have bare feet." At that moment I knew I needed to get back to the beach. A month later I booked a hotel just over the Rhode Island border in Connecticut (which happened to be near Foxwoods casino, cough cough) and asked my aunt to go with me.
As the time for the trip approached, I pulled together a playlist of songs from 1984 to 1986. Those are the years that come to mind to the most when I think of Misquamicut. And of course that's the era when Huey Lewis and the News were at their peak. Their music is intertwined with those memories. We saw Back to the Future in nearby Westerly in 1985 and I, of course, chuckled at Lewis's cameo. I went camping in the area in the late summer of 1986 with my older friend David and on the way back we stopped at a Strawberries so I could by a cassette of Fore!, which had just been released that week. And "If This Is It" was released as a single in July of 1984, and I remember hearing it on radios up and down the beach when we went for a second visit of the summer in late August. It was my favorite song on Sports before it became their fourth Top 10 hit in a row, so being able to hear it more often made me very happy. And when I sat on the beach this past weekend, many of those teenage memories came flowing back, with a soundtrack supplied by a song with a video about going to the beach. How meta. (And what a bummer I can't embed it.)
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Song of the Week 8/13/10
Wilco - "Magazine Called Sunset"
(Above: The view of Wilco from the hill behind at MASS Moca on a beautiful August night.)
I spent last weekend at the three day Solid Sound Festival at Mass Moca in North Adams, Massachusetts. Curated by Wilco, the fest had just enough great music (The Baseball Project were worth the four hour drive alone) and weird art (seriously, there was a room just filled with red knitted rope) to make it a great summertime diversion. (And it was especially needed as work was starting to make me feel a little crisp around the edges. )
Wilco's headline set on Saturday night was good, but not as great as the show I to went at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey back in April. Yet it's hard to be disappointed with any gig where they play one of my Top 5 Wilco tunes ("Nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)") and dip into their 1995 debut A.M. ("I Must Be High"). The highlight had to be seeing them do the More Like the Moon EP track "Magazine Called Sunset." I never thought I'd get the chance to see it live, so be able to enjoy it on a gorgeous night in the Berkshires was, well, solid.
(Above: The view of Wilco from the hill behind at MASS Moca on a beautiful August night.)
I spent last weekend at the three day Solid Sound Festival at Mass Moca in North Adams, Massachusetts. Curated by Wilco, the fest had just enough great music (The Baseball Project were worth the four hour drive alone) and weird art (seriously, there was a room just filled with red knitted rope) to make it a great summertime diversion. (And it was especially needed as work was starting to make me feel a little crisp around the edges. )
Wilco's headline set on Saturday night was good, but not as great as the show I to went at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey back in April. Yet it's hard to be disappointed with any gig where they play one of my Top 5 Wilco tunes ("Nothingsevergonnastandinmyway(again)") and dip into their 1995 debut A.M. ("I Must Be High"). The highlight had to be seeing them do the More Like the Moon EP track "Magazine Called Sunset." I never thought I'd get the chance to see it live, so be able to enjoy it on a gorgeous night in the Berkshires was, well, solid.
Monday, August 09, 2010
Song of the Week 8/6/10
Los Lobos - "Angel Dance"
I went to see Los Lobos last Tuesday at Bowery Ballroom to do a "record release" show for their latest disc Tin Can Trust. It was obvious that the Band From East L.A. hadn't been doing too many of these new songs in their sets this summer, as both David Hildago and Cesar Rosas needed lyric stands so they wouldn't mess up when singing. (As someone who has used a music stand at gigs for close to five years, I totally understood their pain.) The lack of lyrical knowledge with their new material didn't take away from what was a fun and extremely stress-reducing couple of hours. Seven songs into their set Hildago made a comment about Robert Plant giving him a call saying he wanted to cover one of their songs. I had to chuckle when Hildago said, "Wow, it turned out really good."
The song Plant covered is "Angel Dance" from the Lobos' 1990 album The Neighborhood. I've given that album the short end of the stick over the years because it didn't seem as strong as 1987's By the Light of the Moon and then paled in hindsight compared to 1992's masterpiece Kiko. I've gained new respect over the years for The Neighborhood because I've seen the band play many of the songs over the years (the Bowery show opened with "Emily" from said album and included "Georgia Slop" and the title track) and WFUV a.m. jock Claudia Marshall always seems to play one of the songs from it once or twice a month.
I think "Angel Dance" has grown on me over the years specifically because a) it's turned into such a powerhouse live (it was tremendous at Bowery) and b) lyrically it captures that time gone by, the innocence of kids running around in the summer having fun and lamenting when they have to go to bed that I'm more readily to understand (or long for, I suppose) as a soon-to-be 41 year-old man than I would have as a soon-to-be 21 year-old kid that couldn't wait to hit the bars.
"Angel Dance" is the first single from Plant's upcoming Band of Joy album, which makes me very happy because it'll mean a few more bucks in the pockets of Hildago and his co-writer Louie Perez. And even though Plant's take on "Angel Dance" couldn't touch the original in my ears, the legendary Led Zeppelin singer (and his producer Buddy Miller) do a fine version. The video, shot in June in Chicago, totally captures the mental picture Hildago and Perez painted in my head. And Plant was kind enough to have Hildago and Perez in the clip. But why do they have to drive Plant around? Hmmm.
And it looks like Plant and the new Band of Joy have already improved on the recorded version:
Here's Los Lobos from The Neighborhood tour performing "Angel Dance" on Austin City Limits. Check out the great fretwork from David Hildago:
BONUS: Here's Plant joining Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys on stage in Chicago in June to cover "Treat her Right."
I went to see Los Lobos last Tuesday at Bowery Ballroom to do a "record release" show for their latest disc Tin Can Trust. It was obvious that the Band From East L.A. hadn't been doing too many of these new songs in their sets this summer, as both David Hildago and Cesar Rosas needed lyric stands so they wouldn't mess up when singing. (As someone who has used a music stand at gigs for close to five years, I totally understood their pain.) The lack of lyrical knowledge with their new material didn't take away from what was a fun and extremely stress-reducing couple of hours. Seven songs into their set Hildago made a comment about Robert Plant giving him a call saying he wanted to cover one of their songs. I had to chuckle when Hildago said, "Wow, it turned out really good."
The song Plant covered is "Angel Dance" from the Lobos' 1990 album The Neighborhood. I've given that album the short end of the stick over the years because it didn't seem as strong as 1987's By the Light of the Moon and then paled in hindsight compared to 1992's masterpiece Kiko. I've gained new respect over the years for The Neighborhood because I've seen the band play many of the songs over the years (the Bowery show opened with "Emily" from said album and included "Georgia Slop" and the title track) and WFUV a.m. jock Claudia Marshall always seems to play one of the songs from it once or twice a month.
I think "Angel Dance" has grown on me over the years specifically because a) it's turned into such a powerhouse live (it was tremendous at Bowery) and b) lyrically it captures that time gone by, the innocence of kids running around in the summer having fun and lamenting when they have to go to bed that I'm more readily to understand (or long for, I suppose) as a soon-to-be 41 year-old man than I would have as a soon-to-be 21 year-old kid that couldn't wait to hit the bars.
"Angel Dance" is the first single from Plant's upcoming Band of Joy album, which makes me very happy because it'll mean a few more bucks in the pockets of Hildago and his co-writer Louie Perez. And even though Plant's take on "Angel Dance" couldn't touch the original in my ears, the legendary Led Zeppelin singer (and his producer Buddy Miller) do a fine version. The video, shot in June in Chicago, totally captures the mental picture Hildago and Perez painted in my head. And Plant was kind enough to have Hildago and Perez in the clip. But why do they have to drive Plant around? Hmmm.
And it looks like Plant and the new Band of Joy have already improved on the recorded version:
Here's Los Lobos from The Neighborhood tour performing "Angel Dance" on Austin City Limits. Check out the great fretwork from David Hildago:
BONUS: Here's Plant joining Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys on stage in Chicago in June to cover "Treat her Right."
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Song of the Week 7/30/10
The Drifters - "Under the Boardwalk"
I heard this song four times last week -- and only two of those times were on CBS-FM. That's kind of weird. But, it makes for an easy choice for SOTW.
I loved this song as a kid. But considering it was a Top 40 hit five years before I was born, I wonder how the heck I knew it so well as a 10 year old.
I heard this song four times last week -- and only two of those times were on CBS-FM. That's kind of weird. But, it makes for an easy choice for SOTW.
I loved this song as a kid. But considering it was a Top 40 hit five years before I was born, I wonder how the heck I knew it so well as a 10 year old.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Song of the Week 7/23/10
Fastball - "The Way"
I found myself listening to All The Pain that Money Can Buy a couple weeks ago while walking through my beloved borough of Brooklyn, and I'll be damned that the entire album holds up 12 years later. Every song is a power pop gem. So I was pleasantly surprised when this 90s cover band, The Bayside Tigers, broke into it at the Saved By the Bell House event Saturday night. I actually found myself getting into their kind of hokey performance after they busted out "The Way" and then followed it with "Lump."
Reality quickly returned when they did Spin Doctors "Two Prince," which I despised long before it became a hit. (Shudder.) That song still makes my stomach ball up. Ugh.
I found myself listening to All The Pain that Money Can Buy a couple weeks ago while walking through my beloved borough of Brooklyn, and I'll be damned that the entire album holds up 12 years later. Every song is a power pop gem. So I was pleasantly surprised when this 90s cover band, The Bayside Tigers, broke into it at the Saved By the Bell House event Saturday night. I actually found myself getting into their kind of hokey performance after they busted out "The Way" and then followed it with "Lump."
Reality quickly returned when they did Spin Doctors "Two Prince," which I despised long before it became a hit. (Shudder.) That song still makes my stomach ball up. Ugh.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Song of the Week 7/16/10
Firenza - "Waterloo Sunset"
Not much time to write this week's post as it's been packed with work and apartment wrecking. But I couldn't let the week go by without noting the great debut gig of Firenza, the new band featuring my friends Michael Boyd and Chris Powers and their monster of a drummer Eric Slovin. Powers has a knack for great hooks, and this new outfit gives his songs a muscular sheen that I haven't heard before. And as strong as the originals were, the cover of The Kinks "Waterloo Sunset" was, hands down, the highlight of the night. It sounded like Ray Davies joining The Who to perform the song.
I can't wait to hear what's next from these guys.
Not much time to write this week's post as it's been packed with work and apartment wrecking. But I couldn't let the week go by without noting the great debut gig of Firenza, the new band featuring my friends Michael Boyd and Chris Powers and their monster of a drummer Eric Slovin. Powers has a knack for great hooks, and this new outfit gives his songs a muscular sheen that I haven't heard before. And as strong as the originals were, the cover of The Kinks "Waterloo Sunset" was, hands down, the highlight of the night. It sounded like Ray Davies joining The Who to perform the song.
I can't wait to hear what's next from these guys.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Song of the Week 7/9/10
Christina Aguilera - "Hurt"
I went to the funeral for my cousin's 17 year old son on Saturday. I can say that -- without a doubt -- it was the most emotionally heart-wrenching thing I've experienced this year. Watching one kid after another well up in tears describing how great their friend was and how much they would miss him is something I would not wish upon my worst enemy. Their pain really put into perspective that what I thought were bad things that have happened to me this summer are pretty fucking minor in comparison, and that I really should fucking cowboy up and move on and be happy with the great things that have touched my life in 2010. And I definitely am.
The service included the playing of this ballad, and it took on a whole new meaning as the 17 year old kid's girlfriend sobbed uncontrollably through it. I'll never think of it as a lightweight pop ever again.
I went to the funeral for my cousin's 17 year old son on Saturday. I can say that -- without a doubt -- it was the most emotionally heart-wrenching thing I've experienced this year. Watching one kid after another well up in tears describing how great their friend was and how much they would miss him is something I would not wish upon my worst enemy. Their pain really put into perspective that what I thought were bad things that have happened to me this summer are pretty fucking minor in comparison, and that I really should fucking cowboy up and move on and be happy with the great things that have touched my life in 2010. And I definitely am.
The service included the playing of this ballad, and it took on a whole new meaning as the 17 year old kid's girlfriend sobbed uncontrollably through it. I'll never think of it as a lightweight pop ever again.
Sunday, July 04, 2010
Song of the Week 7/2/10
Elton John - "Rocket Man"
These three things happened in a span of 14 hours, making this Sir Elton classic an obvious SOTW choice:
These three things happened in a span of 14 hours, making this Sir Elton classic an obvious SOTW choice:
1) I met Bunnie England's drummer Scott at Bonnies in Park Slope for a pre-gig dinner. "Rocket Man" came on as we were getting ready to leave, which caused Scott to mention that he thought "Rocket Man" was a great karaoke song. Alas, it's too piano based for us to tackle.
2) I got home from the gig and put on CBS-FM. They didn't have their Fourth of July A to Z countdown going overnight, instead sticking with their usual syndicate show Rewind with Gary Bryan. That show was doing a flashback to man landing on the moon and they played a special remix of "Rocket Man" that utilized clips from the July 1969 launch and landing.
3) This morning I'm listening to CBS-FM as I installed a new router and did some paperwork cleanup. The countdown was in the R's, and of course "Rocket Man" came on again.
If Old 97s break out a cover of it in a few hours at South Street Seaport, I'm totally going to freak out.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Song of the Week 6/25/10
Bee Gees - "More Than a Woman"
Saturday night I felt compelled, for no particular reason, to listen to some Bee Gees hits. I always get a special thrill out of walking through my borough listening to the Gibb brothers sing. I had their songs percolating in my brain when I went to sleep and when I woke up Sunday morning. And then on Sunday afternoon, while I was doing a little work in the air conditioned environment of my office, "More Than a Woman" came on.
So I had to find a clip on YouTube. They did a pretty good job of it in 1997:
Saturday night I felt compelled, for no particular reason, to listen to some Bee Gees hits. I always get a special thrill out of walking through my borough listening to the Gibb brothers sing. I had their songs percolating in my brain when I went to sleep and when I woke up Sunday morning. And then on Sunday afternoon, while I was doing a little work in the air conditioned environment of my office, "More Than a Woman" came on.
So I had to find a clip on YouTube. They did a pretty good job of it in 1997:
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Song of the Week 6/18/10
B.o.B featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore - "Airplanes"
I heard this song in an Old Navy the other day while buying a pair of pants. I was singing along to the chorus by the time it was over. This might be my summer jam, 2010 edition.
I heard this song in an Old Navy the other day while buying a pair of pants. I was singing along to the chorus by the time it was over. This might be my summer jam, 2010 edition.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Song of the Week 6/11/10
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers - "I Should Have Known It"
The first time I heard the first single from Petty and company's new album Mojo, I was not happy. I even wrote on my Twitter, "Uh-oh--TP w/o hooks? Not good." Where was the classic Petty chorus that I would want to sing at the top of my lungs while driving my car with the windows down? I just didn't hear anything that would stick with me.
Then I finally watched their performance on the season finale of Saturday Night Live.
Holy shit, I was wrong. EVERYTHING about the song is a hook. Mike Campbell and Scott Thurston's intertwined guitar lines, Steve Ferrone's Bonhamesque thump, Petty's venomous vocal. Fuck me, it's all fantastic. I even recorded the SNL performance to put it my iTunes, just so I could relive that adrenaline rush again and again. I can't wait to see the Heartbreakers rip into it at the Garden next month.
The first time I heard the first single from Petty and company's new album Mojo, I was not happy. I even wrote on my Twitter, "Uh-oh--TP w/o hooks? Not good." Where was the classic Petty chorus that I would want to sing at the top of my lungs while driving my car with the windows down? I just didn't hear anything that would stick with me.
Then I finally watched their performance on the season finale of Saturday Night Live.
Holy shit, I was wrong. EVERYTHING about the song is a hook. Mike Campbell and Scott Thurston's intertwined guitar lines, Steve Ferrone's Bonhamesque thump, Petty's venomous vocal. Fuck me, it's all fantastic. I even recorded the SNL performance to put it my iTunes, just so I could relive that adrenaline rush again and again. I can't wait to see the Heartbreakers rip into it at the Garden next month.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
U.S. vs. England 6/12/10
This was about as last minute of a themed DJ stint I’ve done. I got the call yesterday to spin at The Bell House in between World Cup matches -- specifically before the U.S. versus England match. So I scrambled to come up with enough acts from both sides to make it work. I think it turned out rather well. See what rock bands battled it out to a draw below.
The Beach Boys - “Wouldn’t It be Nice”
The Beatles - “A Hard Day’s Night”
Ramones - “Beat on the Brat”
Sex Pistols - “God Save the Queen”
Guided by Voices - “Glad Girls”
The Who - “I Can see For Miles”
Big Star - “September Gurls”
Oasis - “Rock n Roll Star”
Beck - “New Pollution”
Bloc Party - “Helicopter”
Wilco - “War on War”
Radiohead - “My Iron Lung”
Black Flag - “TV Party”
Black Sabbath - “Paranoid”
Queens of the Stone Age - “No One Knows”
Queen - “Tie Your Mother Down”
Van Halen - “(Oh) Pretty Woman”
The Darkness - “I Believe In a Thing Called Love”
Kiss - “King of the Night Time World”
The Kinks - “Destroyer”
Dio - “Rainbow in the Dark”
Def Leppard - “Photograph”
Joe Walsh - “Walk Away”
Joe Jackson - “Look Sharp”
The Shins - “So Says I”
Blur - “Parklife”
Talking Heads - “Once in a Lifetime”
English Beat - “Save It for Later”
Cheap Trick - “I Want You to Want Me”
Buzzcocks - “Ever Fallen in Love”
Devo - “Whip It”
The Stone Roses - “She Bangs the Drums”
Dinosaur Jr. - “Just Like Heaven”
The Cure - “Why Can’t I Be You”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - “Don’t Do Me Like That”
Tom Jones - “It’s Not Unusual”
Elvis Presley - “Burning Love”
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - “Oliver’s Army”
The Smithereens - “Behind the Wall of Sleep”
The Smiths - “Panic”
Husker Du - “Could You be the One?”
The Clash - “Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad”
The J. Geils Band - “Love Stinks”
The Rolling Stones - “Rocks Off”
Superdrag - “Sucked Out”
Supertramp - “Breakfast in America”
The Beach Boys - “Wouldn’t It be Nice”
The Beatles - “A Hard Day’s Night”
Ramones - “Beat on the Brat”
Sex Pistols - “God Save the Queen”
Guided by Voices - “Glad Girls”
The Who - “I Can see For Miles”
Big Star - “September Gurls”
Oasis - “Rock n Roll Star”
Beck - “New Pollution”
Bloc Party - “Helicopter”
Wilco - “War on War”
Radiohead - “My Iron Lung”
Black Flag - “TV Party”
Black Sabbath - “Paranoid”
Queens of the Stone Age - “No One Knows”
Queen - “Tie Your Mother Down”
Van Halen - “(Oh) Pretty Woman”
The Darkness - “I Believe In a Thing Called Love”
Kiss - “King of the Night Time World”
The Kinks - “Destroyer”
Dio - “Rainbow in the Dark”
Def Leppard - “Photograph”
Joe Walsh - “Walk Away”
Joe Jackson - “Look Sharp”
The Shins - “So Says I”
Blur - “Parklife”
Talking Heads - “Once in a Lifetime”
English Beat - “Save It for Later”
Cheap Trick - “I Want You to Want Me”
Buzzcocks - “Ever Fallen in Love”
Devo - “Whip It”
The Stone Roses - “She Bangs the Drums”
Dinosaur Jr. - “Just Like Heaven”
The Cure - “Why Can’t I Be You”
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - “Don’t Do Me Like That”
Tom Jones - “It’s Not Unusual”
Elvis Presley - “Burning Love”
Elvis Costello & The Attractions - “Oliver’s Army”
The Smithereens - “Behind the Wall of Sleep”
The Smiths - “Panic”
Husker Du - “Could You be the One?”
The Clash - “Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad”
The J. Geils Band - “Love Stinks”
The Rolling Stones - “Rocks Off”
Superdrag - “Sucked Out”
Supertramp - “Breakfast in America”
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Song of the Week 6/4/10
Guster - "What You Call Love"
I'd be disclosing this fact later in the year on the RT20 albums list, but I might as well spill the beans early. I've been hired to write the bio for the new Guster album. It's a great album, maybe their best. I actually feel more pressure doing this bio because it's so great. And "What You Call Love" is the track that's been stuck in my head since I first listened to the album 10 days ago. It starts with a ukelele playing and builds into a masterful pop song that reminds me of the Beach Boys in spots and Jellyfish in others. Oh goodness I can't wait for people to hear it. Expect it on any mixes I make from September on.
Gee, I hope I don't mess up their bio.
PS: I wrote this on my iPhone on the Amtrak back to the city. I needed to do something so I didn't kill the idiots in this car.
I'd be disclosing this fact later in the year on the RT20 albums list, but I might as well spill the beans early. I've been hired to write the bio for the new Guster album. It's a great album, maybe their best. I actually feel more pressure doing this bio because it's so great. And "What You Call Love" is the track that's been stuck in my head since I first listened to the album 10 days ago. It starts with a ukelele playing and builds into a masterful pop song that reminds me of the Beach Boys in spots and Jellyfish in others. Oh goodness I can't wait for people to hear it. Expect it on any mixes I make from September on.
Gee, I hope I don't mess up their bio.
PS: I wrote this on my iPhone on the Amtrak back to the city. I needed to do something so I didn't kill the idiots in this car.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Song of the Week 5/28/10
Tom Petty - "Time to Move On"
Tom always knows the right thing to say. It seems like its' been that way for 25 years of my life. How does he do that?
"It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
Broken skyline, movin' through the airport
She's an honest defector
Conscientious objector
Now her own protector
Broken skyline, which way to love land
Which way to something better
Which way to forgiveness
Which way do I go
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
Sometime later, getting the words wrong
Wasting the meaning and losing the rhyme
Nauseous adrenaline
Like breakin' up a dogfight
Like a deer in the headlights
Frozen in real time
I'm losing my mind
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
It's time to move on, it's time to get going"
Tom always knows the right thing to say. It seems like its' been that way for 25 years of my life. How does he do that?
"It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
Broken skyline, movin' through the airport
She's an honest defector
Conscientious objector
Now her own protector
Broken skyline, which way to love land
Which way to something better
Which way to forgiveness
Which way do I go
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
Sometime later, getting the words wrong
Wasting the meaning and losing the rhyme
Nauseous adrenaline
Like breakin' up a dogfight
Like a deer in the headlights
Frozen in real time
I'm losing my mind
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
It's time to move on, time to get going
What lies ahead, I have no way of knowing
But under my feet, baby, grass is growing
It's time to move on, it's time to get going
It's time to move on, it's time to get going"
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Song of the Week 5/21/10
LCD Soundsystem - "I Can Change"
The new LCD Soundsytem album is pretty good. It might not been on the same level as Sound of Silver, but it's a worthy follow-up. My favorite track is "I Can Change," which bears more than a passing resemblance to Eurythmics "Love is a Stranger." The last line in the second chorus--"I can change if it helps you fall in love"--is something I can totally identify with at this point in my life. Alas, its something I didn't do enough.
BONUS: Here's a live version of "I Can Change"...
...and here's that Eurythmics song.
The new LCD Soundsytem album is pretty good. It might not been on the same level as Sound of Silver, but it's a worthy follow-up. My favorite track is "I Can Change," which bears more than a passing resemblance to Eurythmics "Love is a Stranger." The last line in the second chorus--"I can change if it helps you fall in love"--is something I can totally identify with at this point in my life. Alas, its something I didn't do enough.
BONUS: Here's a live version of "I Can Change"...
...and here's that Eurythmics song.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Song of the Week 5/14/10
The Figgs - "A One Man Fiasco"
One of my favorite shows of 2010 when it's all said and done will be The Figgs show at Fontana's in Chinatown on May 14th. It was an early 45 minute set, so they decided to just play their new album The Man Who Fights Himself in order. I had seen all of the songs live in the past four years since their last album Follow Jean Through the Sea, but it was fun hearing them all bunched together like that.
Before the show singer-guitarist Mike Gent told me that his uncle had died and he'd have to travel up to Troy in the morning for the funeral. During the show, just before "A One Man Fiasco," Gent told the crowd about his uncle and asked everyone to raise their glasses in honor of him. And every single person did. It was a very moving sight. And then when Gent got to the third verse, I got a huge lump in my throat.
"Maybe some sleep, will bring a little peace.
The saddest thing I've ever seen.
Family will come, and eventually
All will have to leave."
It was the most emotional moment I've had at a Figgs show in probably a decade. "A One Man Fiasco" is the centerpiece of a very strong album, and is a song I have a feeling I'll keep going back to for years and years.
BONUS: Here are the Figgs playing it two nights later in Philadelphia.
One of my favorite shows of 2010 when it's all said and done will be The Figgs show at Fontana's in Chinatown on May 14th. It was an early 45 minute set, so they decided to just play their new album The Man Who Fights Himself in order. I had seen all of the songs live in the past four years since their last album Follow Jean Through the Sea, but it was fun hearing them all bunched together like that.
Before the show singer-guitarist Mike Gent told me that his uncle had died and he'd have to travel up to Troy in the morning for the funeral. During the show, just before "A One Man Fiasco," Gent told the crowd about his uncle and asked everyone to raise their glasses in honor of him. And every single person did. It was a very moving sight. And then when Gent got to the third verse, I got a huge lump in my throat.
"Maybe some sleep, will bring a little peace.
The saddest thing I've ever seen.
Family will come, and eventually
All will have to leave."
It was the most emotional moment I've had at a Figgs show in probably a decade. "A One Man Fiasco" is the centerpiece of a very strong album, and is a song I have a feeling I'll keep going back to for years and years.
BONUS: Here are the Figgs playing it two nights later in Philadelphia.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
RT 20 Podcast 33: Brian Cogan, Part 2
Whoa, sorry for the delay in posting part 2. What kind of radio station are we running around here anyways?
Oh, right.
You can check out Brian and his band The In Crowd Saturday night at Union Hall in Brooklyn opening up for my beloved Figgs.
To download this podcast or stream it, click here. To have your iTunes automatically download each new podcast, click here.
Oh, right.
You can check out Brian and his band The In Crowd Saturday night at Union Hall in Brooklyn opening up for my beloved Figgs.
To download this podcast or stream it, click here. To have your iTunes automatically download each new podcast, click here.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Song of the Week 5/7/10
Aerosmith - "What It Takes"
Weird things can happen with music. Case in point is this SOTW.
Spring 1990: My roommate Hank and I have a party in our garden apartment on the IC campus. We're drinking with our friends, spinning different albums. "What It Takes" comes on, and in a fit of drunken stupidity, I turn around and decide I needed to lipsynch it to the nearest woman. That happens to be my friend Lisa, who is a native of New Hampshire. I give a devastating performance that I am sure all of my friends that were at the party can still recall to this day. Heck, it became a running gag for many, many years after that initial Steven Tyler impression.
Spring 2010: I'm in a car riding around (wait for it) New Hampshire, listening to WZLX out of Boston play a rock block of Aerosmith. For some reason Allison (also a New Hampshire native) mentions that "What It Takes" is one of her favorite Aerosmith songs. Stunned, I tell her that its one of mine as well and explain the story above. I added that the song was kind of obscure and it would be doubtful that any radio station played it these days. She disagreed, saying that it wasn't that obscure. The next day another Aerosmith block comes on WZLX, and I'll be damned if they don't play "What It Takes." (Alas, Allison was not as excited as me, especially when I turned up the station to a volume that would deafen most normal people.)
BONUS: I had totally forgotten there were two videos made for this song.
Here's the initial "in the studio" version:
And here's the "concept" version:
Weird things can happen with music. Case in point is this SOTW.
Spring 1990: My roommate Hank and I have a party in our garden apartment on the IC campus. We're drinking with our friends, spinning different albums. "What It Takes" comes on, and in a fit of drunken stupidity, I turn around and decide I needed to lipsynch it to the nearest woman. That happens to be my friend Lisa, who is a native of New Hampshire. I give a devastating performance that I am sure all of my friends that were at the party can still recall to this day. Heck, it became a running gag for many, many years after that initial Steven Tyler impression.
Spring 2010: I'm in a car riding around (wait for it) New Hampshire, listening to WZLX out of Boston play a rock block of Aerosmith. For some reason Allison (also a New Hampshire native) mentions that "What It Takes" is one of her favorite Aerosmith songs. Stunned, I tell her that its one of mine as well and explain the story above. I added that the song was kind of obscure and it would be doubtful that any radio station played it these days. She disagreed, saying that it wasn't that obscure. The next day another Aerosmith block comes on WZLX, and I'll be damned if they don't play "What It Takes." (Alas, Allison was not as excited as me, especially when I turned up the station to a volume that would deafen most normal people.)
BONUS: I had totally forgotten there were two videos made for this song.
Here's the initial "in the studio" version:
And here's the "concept" version:
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Col. Boyd's Derby Day Party 5/1/10
For the fifth year in a row I had the pleasure of DJ-ing at Col. Boyd’s annual Derby Day Party. There was no theme in this year’s selections, just a bunch of tunes I wanted to play since the last time I DJ’ed. Here’s what you may or may not have heard on a day for mudders in Churchill Downs.
Chet Atkins - “Kentucky Derby”
Ricky Nelson - “Sure Fire Bet”
Beau Brummels - “My Old Kentucky Home”
Elvis Presley - “Kentucky Rain”
The Rolling Stones - “Dead Flowers”
Bobby Darin - “Beyond the Sea”
Bob and Earl - “Harlem Shuffle”
The Beach Boys - “Wouldn’t It be Nice”
Badfinger - “Come and Get It”
The Association - “Windy”
Paul Revere and The Raiders - “Kicks”
The Grass Roots - “Temptation Eyes”
The Flirtations - “Nothing But a Heartache”
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - “More Love”
The Isley Brothers - “Summer Breeze”
The Four Tops - “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)”
The Three Degrees - “When Will I See You Again”
Cliff Richard - “Devil Woman”
J. Geils Band - “Musta Got Lost”
Rod Stewart - “Every Picture Tells a Story”
ELO - “Mr. Blue Sky”
The Faces - “Ooh La La”
Gary U.S. Bonds - “This Little Girl”
Doobie Brothers - “Minute by Minute”
Grizzly Bear featuring Michael McDonald - “While You Wait for the Others”
Wilco - “Heavy Metal Drummer”
Brendan Benson - “A Whole Lot Better”
Delta Spirit - “Trashcan”
Death Cab For Cutie - “Long Division”
The Detroit Cobras - “Hot Dog”
Electric Six - “Gay Bar”
Guided by Voices - “Girls of Wild Strawberries”
Fleet Foxes - “He Doesn’t Know Why”
The Hold Steady - “My Little Hoodrat Friend”
Phoenix - “Lisztomania”
Elliott Smith - “Son of Sam”
The Strokes - “Bard to Explain”
The Arctic Monkeys - “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor”
Mumford & Sons - “Little Lion Man”
Matthew Sweet - “Girlfriend”
Adam Ant - “Wonderful”
Beck - “Devil’s Haircut”
Belly - “Feed the Tree”
Blur - “Parklife”
The Flaming Lips - “Race for the Prize”
Fountains of Wayne - “Denise”
Foo Fighters - “Monkey Wrench”
Harvey Danger - “Flagpole Sitta”
The Knack - “my Sharona”
Yes - “Owner of a Lonely heart”
Billy Squier - “In the Dark”
Asia - “Heat of the Moment”
Dramarama - “Anything, Anything”
Berlin - “No More Words”
Howard Jones - “Things Can Only Get Better”
Matthew Wilder - “Break My Stride”
ABC - “The Look of Love”
The Outfield - “Your Love”
The Clash - “Rock the Casbah”
Kim Wilde - “Kids in America”
Gary Numan - “Cars”
Duran Duran - “Girls on Film”
The English Beat - “Mirror in the Bathroom”
Men at Work - “Who Can It be Now”
Madness - “Our House”
Big Country - “In a Big Country”
Tears for Fears - “Shout”
Toto - “Roseanna”
REO Speedwagon - “Keep on Loving You”
Motley Crue - “Home Sweet Home”
Chet Atkins - “Kentucky Derby”
Ricky Nelson - “Sure Fire Bet”
Beau Brummels - “My Old Kentucky Home”
Elvis Presley - “Kentucky Rain”
The Rolling Stones - “Dead Flowers”
Bobby Darin - “Beyond the Sea”
Bob and Earl - “Harlem Shuffle”
The Beach Boys - “Wouldn’t It be Nice”
Badfinger - “Come and Get It”
The Association - “Windy”
Paul Revere and The Raiders - “Kicks”
The Grass Roots - “Temptation Eyes”
The Flirtations - “Nothing But a Heartache”
Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - “More Love”
The Isley Brothers - “Summer Breeze”
The Four Tops - “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I’ve Got)”
The Three Degrees - “When Will I See You Again”
Cliff Richard - “Devil Woman”
J. Geils Band - “Musta Got Lost”
Rod Stewart - “Every Picture Tells a Story”
ELO - “Mr. Blue Sky”
The Faces - “Ooh La La”
Gary U.S. Bonds - “This Little Girl”
Doobie Brothers - “Minute by Minute”
Grizzly Bear featuring Michael McDonald - “While You Wait for the Others”
Wilco - “Heavy Metal Drummer”
Brendan Benson - “A Whole Lot Better”
Delta Spirit - “Trashcan”
Death Cab For Cutie - “Long Division”
The Detroit Cobras - “Hot Dog”
Electric Six - “Gay Bar”
Guided by Voices - “Girls of Wild Strawberries”
Fleet Foxes - “He Doesn’t Know Why”
The Hold Steady - “My Little Hoodrat Friend”
Phoenix - “Lisztomania”
Elliott Smith - “Son of Sam”
The Strokes - “Bard to Explain”
The Arctic Monkeys - “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor”
Mumford & Sons - “Little Lion Man”
Matthew Sweet - “Girlfriend”
Adam Ant - “Wonderful”
Beck - “Devil’s Haircut”
Belly - “Feed the Tree”
Blur - “Parklife”
The Flaming Lips - “Race for the Prize”
Fountains of Wayne - “Denise”
Foo Fighters - “Monkey Wrench”
Harvey Danger - “Flagpole Sitta”
The Knack - “my Sharona”
Yes - “Owner of a Lonely heart”
Billy Squier - “In the Dark”
Asia - “Heat of the Moment”
Dramarama - “Anything, Anything”
Berlin - “No More Words”
Howard Jones - “Things Can Only Get Better”
Matthew Wilder - “Break My Stride”
ABC - “The Look of Love”
The Outfield - “Your Love”
The Clash - “Rock the Casbah”
Kim Wilde - “Kids in America”
Gary Numan - “Cars”
Duran Duran - “Girls on Film”
The English Beat - “Mirror in the Bathroom”
Men at Work - “Who Can It be Now”
Madness - “Our House”
Big Country - “In a Big Country”
Tears for Fears - “Shout”
Toto - “Roseanna”
REO Speedwagon - “Keep on Loving You”
Motley Crue - “Home Sweet Home”
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Song of the Week 4/28/10
Wilson Phillips - "Hold On"
My friend Jodie and I have had a long time bond over the delivery of humor. Specifically, the concept of doing anything to make a joke work or to keep it going forward long past a sensible expiration date. We've adhered to that motto for 15 years now, to varying degrees of success. Sometime my efforts have paid off in big laughs; others...ah, not so much.
I guess that preamble (or ramble) is part of my explanation of why on Derby Day I stood on stage at the Bell House while the band played and took a picture of two great ladies singing this song:
The exact reasons of 1) how I convinced the band to play the song and 2) how I ended up dating the awesome and beautiful woman on the left because of her posting the "Hold On" video on my Facebook page are better explained in person. Let me just say this--this cheesy #1 hit from 1990 has certainly been rehabilitated in my mind.
(Postscript--days after I posted this, I got dumped. Ain't life a bitch?)
My friend Jodie and I have had a long time bond over the delivery of humor. Specifically, the concept of doing anything to make a joke work or to keep it going forward long past a sensible expiration date. We've adhered to that motto for 15 years now, to varying degrees of success. Sometime my efforts have paid off in big laughs; others...ah, not so much.
I guess that preamble (or ramble) is part of my explanation of why on Derby Day I stood on stage at the Bell House while the band played and took a picture of two great ladies singing this song:
The exact reasons of 1) how I convinced the band to play the song and 2) how I ended up dating the awesome and beautiful woman on the left because of her posting the "Hold On" video on my Facebook page are better explained in person. Let me just say this--this cheesy #1 hit from 1990 has certainly been rehabilitated in my mind.
(Postscript--days after I posted this, I got dumped. Ain't life a bitch?)
Monday, April 26, 2010
Song of the Week 4/23/10
E.L.O. - "Telephone Line"
Before our gig the other night at Bar Nine, we got a little surprise--we had an opening act. Fortunately, Volunteers were very excellent. Their originals were quirky and catchy pop numbers, so their cover of E.L.O.'s "Telephone Line" fit in nicely. And they hit most of the high notes. That is an achievement. After hearing the studio version on CBS-FM this weekend, I knew I had a poptastic SOTW.
Before our gig the other night at Bar Nine, we got a little surprise--we had an opening act. Fortunately, Volunteers were very excellent. Their originals were quirky and catchy pop numbers, so their cover of E.L.O.'s "Telephone Line" fit in nicely. And they hit most of the high notes. That is an achievement. After hearing the studio version on CBS-FM this weekend, I knew I had a poptastic SOTW.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Song of the Week 4/16/10
Motley Crue - "Home Sweet Home"
If you've seen Hot Tub Time Machine, you know why this had to be SOTW after I laughed my ass off Friday night. Just outstanding.
If you've seen Hot Tub Time Machine, you know why this had to be SOTW after I laughed my ass off Friday night. Just outstanding.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
RT 20 Podcast 32: Brian Cogan, Part 1
This week's guest Brian Cogan is a multitalented man--he's a professor, an author, a musician and--rather unfortunately this year--a fellow Mets fan.
To download this podcast or stream it, click here. To have your iTunes automatically download each new podcast, click here.
To download this podcast or stream it, click here. To have your iTunes automatically download each new podcast, click here.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Song of the Week 4/9/10
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
Welcome back, James Murphy and company. We missed you. We'd forgotten just how amazing Sound of Silver was three years ago and how explosive those songs could be live. Thank you for tearing the roof off of the Music Hall of Williamsburg Thursday and Webster Hall Monday with "All My Friends."
Signed,
New York
Welcome back, James Murphy and company. We missed you. We'd forgotten just how amazing Sound of Silver was three years ago and how explosive those songs could be live. Thank you for tearing the roof off of the Music Hall of Williamsburg Thursday and Webster Hall Monday with "All My Friends."
Signed,
New York
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Song of the Week 4/2/10
Wilco - "Thank You Friends"
It's kind of a cheat to repeat (ooooh, I'm a poet) a song I just did two weeks ago, but seeing Wilco perform this Big Star song Saturday night at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey was such a tremendous joy (John Stiratt and Pat Sansone on lead vocals everybody!) and a great tribute that it had to be done.
The always great NYCTaper.com was at the Wellmont on Friday night to capture the first night of the back to back dates. He's posted that entire show and an MP3 of "Thank You Friends" right here.
It's kind of a cheat to repeat (ooooh, I'm a poet) a song I just did two weeks ago, but seeing Wilco perform this Big Star song Saturday night at the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, New Jersey was such a tremendous joy (John Stiratt and Pat Sansone on lead vocals everybody!) and a great tribute that it had to be done.
The always great NYCTaper.com was at the Wellmont on Friday night to capture the first night of the back to back dates. He's posted that entire show and an MP3 of "Thank You Friends" right here.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Song of the Week 3/26/10
Nada Surf - "What Is Your Secret"
I wanted to write pages upon pages about the joy that Nada Surf brought to my life last week when they did Let Go and The Weight is a Gift in their entirety over back to back nights at Bowery Ballroom and The Bell House. But this week has f-ing sucked and that part of my brain isn't coming around for a bit, me thinks. So I'll just say the Weight night was the better of the two and I chose "What is Your Secret" just because of the obvious joy The Long Winters' John Roderick got from replicating his incredible backing vocals from the album in a live setting. Such fun.
Thanks Matthew, Ira, Daniel and to all the musicians that helped them bring these albums to life. It was, no doubt, two of the best nights of my year.
I wanted to write pages upon pages about the joy that Nada Surf brought to my life last week when they did Let Go and The Weight is a Gift in their entirety over back to back nights at Bowery Ballroom and The Bell House. But this week has f-ing sucked and that part of my brain isn't coming around for a bit, me thinks. So I'll just say the Weight night was the better of the two and I chose "What is Your Secret" just because of the obvious joy The Long Winters' John Roderick got from replicating his incredible backing vocals from the album in a live setting. Such fun.
Thanks Matthew, Ira, Daniel and to all the musicians that helped them bring these albums to life. It was, no doubt, two of the best nights of my year.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Song of the Week 3/19/10
Big Star - "Thank You Friends"
I was going to write a lengthy post about the passing of Big Star's Alex Chilton. But what I said in the podcast seemed to sum it all up. "Thank You Friends" is the song I went back to a few times in the past 5 days.
I also thought Paul Westerberg (in the New York Times) and Tommy Stinson (in Philadelphia Weekly) had some great things to say about their late friend and inspiration.
Goodbye Alex. Thank you for the many songs that have meant so much to me over the past 20 years.
I was going to write a lengthy post about the passing of Big Star's Alex Chilton. But what I said in the podcast seemed to sum it all up. "Thank You Friends" is the song I went back to a few times in the past 5 days.
I also thought Paul Westerberg (in the New York Times) and Tommy Stinson (in Philadelphia Weekly) had some great things to say about their late friend and inspiration.
Goodbye Alex. Thank you for the many songs that have meant so much to me over the past 20 years.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
RT 20 Podcast 31: Alex Chilton RIP
The passing of Alex Chilton yesterday hit me pretty hard. I'll have an essay up over the weekend when I can process it all. Until then, here is a podcast that pays tribute to one of my all-time favorites.
To download this podcast or stream it, click here. To have your iTunes automatically download each new podcast, click here.
To download this podcast or stream it, click here. To have your iTunes automatically download each new podcast, click here.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Song of the Week 3/12/10
Elvis Presley - "Suspicious Minds"
I heard this song four times this past week--once at rehearsal, twice on the radio and once walking into a bar. Odd.
But not as odd as that jumpsuit above. Whoa.
I heard this song four times this past week--once at rehearsal, twice on the radio and once walking into a bar. Odd.
But not as odd as that jumpsuit above. Whoa.
Friday, March 05, 2010
Song of the Week 3/5/10
Joni Mitchell - "Car on a Hill"
I've been meaning to reacquire 1974's Court and Spark lo these many years after I sold it during one of my apartment purges (or moves). I finally got around to it this week (gotta love the $1 used cds on Amazon) and I was stunned by how many songs I knew really well. I realized that all of Mitchell's songs that I knew very well--and more importantly, heard on WFUV for more than a decade--were from Court and Spark. I thought about this when I listened to "car on a Hill" on my commute home Wednesday night. Sure enough, I switch to WFUV Thursday morning and "Car on a Hill" comes on just as I'm about to pop my pills. Weird.
I've been meaning to reacquire 1974's Court and Spark lo these many years after I sold it during one of my apartment purges (or moves). I finally got around to it this week (gotta love the $1 used cds on Amazon) and I was stunned by how many songs I knew really well. I realized that all of Mitchell's songs that I knew very well--and more importantly, heard on WFUV for more than a decade--were from Court and Spark. I thought about this when I listened to "car on a Hill" on my commute home Wednesday night. Sure enough, I switch to WFUV Thursday morning and "Car on a Hill" comes on just as I'm about to pop my pills. Weird.
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Song of the Week 2/26/10
James Hunter - "People Gonna Talk"
I heard the title track to Hunter's 2006 album enough this week to make me think it was 2006 again. For it to be played twice on WFUV and twice in two different Starbucks locations (one I've never been to before) is just odd. Nevertheless, it's a really pleasant song--and a great one to wake up to.
I heard the title track to Hunter's 2006 album enough this week to make me think it was 2006 again. For it to be played twice on WFUV and twice in two different Starbucks locations (one I've never been to before) is just odd. Nevertheless, it's a really pleasant song--and a great one to wake up to.
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