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Pif Magazine
Pif Magazine |
Sometimes life just happens to us, and we are unable to discern any meaningful pattern in the unfolding events that swirl and engulf. Still, merely chronicling life's arbitrary chaos has its own worth. Sometimes during the simple act of chronicling, patterns emerge. Sometimes the finished chronicle itself attains a type of meaningful resonance that transcends mere patterns and categories. Anyway, I came into some extra money recently, and I have acquired a ton of new CD's. This article is just a list of them, where and how I got them, and a brief description of each one. Discern a pattern if you must. Date: 4/20/00 Acquired: via Amazon.com 1. Cat Power - The Covers Record The Covers Record is Chan Marshall's sparse collection of obscure versions of obscure standards. Actually, "Satisfaction" and "Sea of Love" are not obscure, but Marshall intentionally mutates them so badly, they are barely recognizable. She omits the chorus of "Satisfaction" entirely, which is like removing the chorus of Michael Jackson's "Billy Jean." What's left? Just Chan's bar room saint voice and her barely present guitar. When she sings "I'm going down to the devil's water/ I'm gonna drown in the troubled water/ It's comin round my soul/ It's way beyond control," well, the mood is terribly, terribly sad and profound. This CD makes early Bob Dylan seem like early Run DMC. There's a compliment in there somewhere.
2. Elliott Smith - Figure 8 As will soon become apparent, I'm on an Elliott Smith kick. Yes, he did the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting and sang live at the Oscars after Celine Dion. Now let's move on. Figure 8 is Smith's most accessible CD to date, if for no other reason than he does not say the "F" word on it (a rare treat). It has a hokey ragtime vibe to it, a la George Harrison's "Your Mother Should Know." There are numerous ways in which to be influenced by the Beatles, and Smith is infected with their pre-1966 tunesmanship, which is fine by me. If you want catchy pop songs running around in your head all day long, play this CD once every morning before work. Just do not be surprised if half-way through the day your brain gets caught on some oddly protruding lyric. "If Patience started a band/ I'd be her biggest fan." Cool. 3. Flying Saucer Attack - Mirror A short heretofore unpublished review I wrote: "Massively distorted bliss pop, Mirror sounds less like The Verve and more like My Bloody Valentine on Jolt cola. FSA's home-recording sloppiness has always made them endearing but none too accessible. Mirror allays that stereotype, successfully blending understated techno rhythms with lushly layered guitar orchestration. Dave Pearce's hushed singing, reminiscent of Syd Barrett, is the surrealistic icing on this noisy ambient cake." Date: 4/22/00 Acquired: at some record store cum beer lounge in Jackson, Mississippi. My friend and I made the opening of this promising amalgam only to wait in frustration for the bar section to open. Also, how dare they suggest essential John Coltrane recordings to me! No Africa/Brass! I left dry and disgusted, but not before relieving their inventory of the following items: 4. Radiohead - Airbag/How Am I Driving? As Elliott Smith inherited the mantle of early pop Beatles, Radiohead inherited the mantle of post-1966 psychedelic Beatles. Airbag is a 7 song EP comprised of outtakes from Radiohead's wildly acclaimed OK Computer. Most people's leftover material is worse than the material that made the album — which is why it's left over. In this instance, however, these songs probably just did not fit thematically, because they are every bit as good as anything on OK Computer. Airbag is an excellent micro-selection of fun (albeit eerie) pop ballads if you are willing to embrace their overtly sabotaged technogrunge production. In the words of Mr. Vader, "I see you've developed a new light saber. You're skills are complete."
5. Husker Du - Zen Arcade I got this CD just to see if it was as massive and counter-cultural as I remember it being. I have not been disappointed. Husker Du is the best punk band ever, and this may be their best CD ever. It is post-Sex Pistols, pre-Green Day, alter-Black Flag, mid-80's, post-noise, pre-sellout west coast psychedelic punk. Husker Du's debut CD, Land Speed Record, proved that they were the fastest punk band bar none. On Zen Arcade, we find a more mature band experimenting with Hendrix-esque production and even (heaven forbid) melodies! All amidst the yelling primal hardcore fury that fueled the mosh pits of my cherished youth. It is better to burn out than to fade away, and Zen Arcade is that burn out in microcosmic freeze frame. Date: 4/26/00 Acquired: as a gift from my Dad. Knowing my love for early Joni Mitchell, old-time mountain music, and all things cello, my Dad attempts to find some musical middle ground between us. 6. Yo-Yo Ma/Edgar Meyer/Mark O'Connor - Appalachian Journey A classical cellist, a stand-up bass player, and a fiddle player execute surprisingly raw original mountain music. I had my doubts, thinking this would be an awkward cross-genre project (something akin to The London Philharmonic Plays Jimmy Cracked Corn), but Appalachian Journey has the authentic vibe. The tunes are well composed and textured, making them much more rewarding over time than your average "Darling Molly" waltz. Cameo appearances by James Taylor and Allison Krauss add name recognition, but my favorite pieces are the instrumentals. You can bet your grandma's stoll I'll be blaring this music on my winding way to the Nantahala Park trailhead this summer. God is good. 7. Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now
This big-band-orchestrated spiel features Joni singing standards like "Stormy Weather," along with two of her own standards, "A Case of You," and "Both Sides Now." Unfortunately, it misses me. Aside from Joni's voice, humorously loungy at times, Both Sides Now could just as easily be Natalie Cole's Unforgettable. That works great for my Dad but not for me. I much prefer Joni's original unadorned version of "Both Sides Now" from her 1969 sophomore classic, Clouds. Date: 5/6/00 Acquired: from my brother. I got him a Sam's Club membership through my work, and he gave me two copies of his new CD. 8. Dog Named David - Acoustic Canine This is my brother's third CD, and his best by far. Dog Named David is Andy Cloninger and John Wallace. Jokingly nicknamed "The Blue Boys," they do resemble a male version of the Indigo Girls. Tight harmonies, folk pop tunes, and innovative double acoustic guitar arrangements are Dog Named David hallmarks. Their first two CDs were polished studio efforts, but by adding a full band, they lost some of the intimacy and appeal of their live duo shows. Acoustic Canine was recorded live, and what it lacks in polish it makes up in heart. The band's sardonic humor leaks out during the few inter-song comments, and the whole CD is upbeat and positive, despite its often heavy lyrics — "The days are cruel/ They fly away/ I can't hold on." Most of these tunes are delicate and melancholy, but others like "War Machine" and "Red Riding Hood" rock in their own acoustic way. The album's first single should be "Everybody's Beautiful," an instant standard as realistically hopeful as REM's "Everybody Hurts." Well done, bro. Date: 5/13/00 Acquired: at Wherehouse Records in Mobile, Alabama. 9. Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith Pleasantly unable to dislodge any of Elliott's tunes from my head, I decided to investigate his catalog prior to XO (his 1998 release). I figured I'd start with his most acclaimed early CD, and if I liked it, I'd proceed from there. Smith's post-Good Will Hunting work is so cleverly produced and arranged, with strings, pianos, and all manner of layered and processed electric guitars — would I like a mostly acoustic Elliott Smith? Would his tunes hold up on their own? You bet. His self-titled CD is still full of cool electric guitar embellishments and Ringo Starr-esque brush drum tracks. It's the same sound, just more stripped down. These tunes are definitely in their prime. More maudlin and Nick Drake-like. More like "Fool on the Hill" and less like "Yellow Submarine." Haunting. Inspired. Time to get more. Date: 5/18/00 Acquired: at Wherehouse Records in Mobile, Alabama. I went back looking for more Elliott Smith, but the CD's that were there earlier had disappeared! Beaten, I skulked off to mill through the used CD section, only to find the very CD I wanted for $5.99! While I was there, I picked up two more gems:
10. Heatmiser - Mic City Sons This is the swan song CD (1996) from Elliott Smith's alt-rock band, Heatmiser. Now I know why I like Smith so much — he's a punk! These tunes are not quite as catchy as his solo tunes, and the whole CD lacks thematic consistency because Smith is not the band's only songwriter. But it's fun to hear Elliott Smith shine in a full-on rock band. Now I know what a Joe Walsh fan feels like upon discovering the James Gang; or what a Crosby, Stills, and Nash fan feels like upon discovering Buffalo Springfield; or what a Michael Jackson fan feels like upon discovering the Jackson 5. Well, maybe not that last one. 11.Heatmiser - Yellow No. 5 While I was in the used CD section, I had to snap up this early five-song Heatmiser EP. Some of these numbers are certifiably punk, yet retain the pop craftsmanship that marks Elliott Smith's solo work. Maybe I'm easing back into punk rock, what with the Husker Du purchase and all, but my current criteria still apply. If a song is boring and its tune is insipid, I don't care how hip or edgy it is. These tunes are crisp, interesting, and cliche-avoiding; Heatmiser's power crunch production is infectious in and of itself. If only all modern rock were so. 12. Psychedelic Furs - Should God Forget: A Retrospective And what sane thirtysomething could pass up a double CD Psychedelic Furs compilation? Although CD 2 is a bit Euro-woosy ("Here Come Cowboys," "Heartbeat"), CD 1 delivers the goods. "India," "Into You Like A Train," "Love My Way," and all my other middle school sock hop favorites are here. I had forgotten about those danged omnipresent saxophones, but this is still pretty good stuff. The album's liner notes herald the Furs as the missing link between the Sex Pistols and Nirvana. I never really thought of them that way, but in retrospect, it is at least an amusing quote. Great edgy '80s new wave music — if such is possible. That's it. Thanks for letting me share my vice with you, dose by dose. Do you feel illicit? Complicit? Good. As Lorenzo says in The Merchant of Venice: "The man that hath no music in himself, nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. The motions of his spirit are dull as night, and his affections dark as Erebus. Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music." Yeah, mark the music. Tell us what you think. Email talkback@pifmagazine.com Curt Cloninger believes that beauty is truth, truth beauty, and the Burger King Whopper with cheese (add bacon) is both. Visit Curt at lab404.com. |
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