Welfare Music

I'm currently addicted to a song called 'Welfare Music' by The Bottle Rockets. This album is not the greatest country-rock album in the world, but is certainly good enough to get into. It kicks off with this absolutely great country rocker! It's well worth the price listed here!

Not Farrar Off!

I've been thinking long and hard about this. Jay Farrar is the best singer/songwriter of my generation. Wilco & Jeff Tweedy are the more well-known spin-off of Uncle Tupelo, but to me there is no comparison.

Son Volt has made great music for fifteen years. Farrar has done solo and side projects, most notably Gob Iron with Anders Parker.  For decades now, he has consistently keyed into the pain and sorrow of the world around him without making it mopey and drab.

His music is insightful, introspective, colorful and most importantly (in an industry dominated by selfish, boasting, inane, ready-made garbage) culturally necessary.

He gives me faith that there are people out there that can sift through the fluff and make an honest contribution to music - the most American of art forms!

Red House Painters

Lately, my mellow/introspective side has been stuck on Red House Painters. Essentially, a vehicle for singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek, this music is perfect for zoning out and learning something about music at the same time.

Kozelek seems to find the perfect blend of musical inspiration and avant-garde individuality. His songs range from 3-13 minutes, but rarely do the long ones seem drawn out.

Thoughtful, introspective and even silly at times. Red House Painters...

You will buy it! I know you will.

The Wedding Present

The Wedding Present. Seamonsters. Leeds. 1991.

How did I miss this back then?

Freak Scene

For some reason, "the voice of my generation" became Kurt Cobain. First things first... Nirvana's music wasn't awful. But, Nirvana's music definitely wasn't amazing either! It falls short of the groundbreaking, soul-stopping musical mastery that Rolling Stone and Spin writers would have us believe it possesses.

Sure, I listened to it growing up and so did thousands of other "lost" youth of the day. But, I also listened to Mudhoney, Helmet, Pixies, Superchunk, Fugazi, Dinosaur Jr, Jawbox, Alice in Chains, The Afghan Whigs and countless other angst-ridden, grungy bands of the late 80s and early 90s!

Yesterday, I was driving home after happy hour with my wife and put an old compilation I made into the cd player. The first song was the absolute would-be-anthem 'Freak Scene' by Dinosaur Jr from their 1988 album Bug. This song shreds through three and a half minutes and delivers a heartfelt angst-ridden punch that few bands could ever hope to reproduce today!

However, that song and that album and that band were never noticed by the majority of young people. Neither was Superchunk or their 1990 teen-angst classic 'Slack Motherfucker'.  The same is true of Mudhoney's 1989 offering 'You Got It'. And even though they achieved sincere stardom with 'Under the Bridge', the Red Hot Chili Peppers album Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik had many much better songs than that (The Power of Equality)!

My point is this... stop letting overpaid hipster tools tell you who is and who isn't a pivotal band or a defining voice in music! This is our time and this is our music! Open your ears and listen!

Just a bit outside!

If you'd asked me about Band of Horses before April 1st of this year I would have said "their music is a perfect blend of melodic, hypnotic juvenility. It's addictive. I love it!" With their latest release, Infinite Arms, that may no longer be the case... I'm not impressed. Many of the songs are overproduced.

Despite the fact that the album's producer is long-time Built to Spill collaborator Phil Ek, it lacks the maturity of recent BTS albums. When Built to Spill 'grew up', they made some of the most compelling music of the past decade. I want to like this album. I want to think that they are maturing and this is a new, stronger sound. But, I just don't think it is. It misses the target too often.

This is NOT the work of an underground sensation hitting the big leagues in the vein of Death Cab for Cutie and their record Plans. The album almost seems forced. Very little has stayed the same. Gone are the echoey vocals. Gone are the haunting near-slowcore ballads. Gone are the shimmering layered guitars. Gone is the creativity. This record better become the high-selling VH-1 instant classic that it sounds as though it was intended to be! Otherwise, one of the most promising new bands of the decade may have gone and left us!

Forgotten 90s Gem

During middle school I signed myself up for BMG's 12 for the price of 1 deal. Actually, I did it several times at once using my sister's name and my dad. Also, I would cancel after I paid and then do it again. Anyway, after I had gotten everything they had to offer that I knew I wanted I began choosing things at random.

I had heard of this band called Quicksand, but didn't know much about them. I had heard that they sounded a bit like Helmet. That would turn out not to be true exactly, but I liked it!

So, I got the record Manic Compression. It starts out rolling and seemed to pick up right in the middle of a story and even though I didn't know how the story started I understood what was happening. This record was full of energy and was just what I was looking for...

I played it for some friends who promptly went out and bought Quicksand's earlier record, Slip. These records were not necessarily prophetic. But, they had an undeniable presence. They were confident and competent and I liked the fact that no one else knew who they were! Somehow, these guys escaped notice; possibly because of timing. Regardless, they have been forgotten and, as this record is shockingly cheap, anyone interested in harder rock ought to hit re-wind and dig 'em up!

Blackitolism

I think I was a junior in high school when my friend Kyle introduced me to Digable Planets. I remember looking at the album cover and it was a huge hair pick. The record was called Blowout Comb. The music was like no other hip-hop I had ever heard. Of course, I already knew the jazzy beats of A Tribe Called Quest and others, but this was different. This was vastly superior to anything I had ever heard before or since!

A handful of groups rode the jazz vibe in the late 80s and early 90s, but I have never heard anyone as laid back as this. Of particular interest to me is the song '9th Wonder (Blackitolism)'. In my estimation, it is in the top 5 all-time greatest hip-hop songs ever recorded!

Truly, if you want to hear the kings (and queen) of jazzy hip-hop then you need to dig Digable Planets!

Perhaps some of their charm and power comes from the fact that they only made two albums. They burst on the scene with a fresh, cohesive sound and within a few years they were gone. If you dig the sound of Blowout Comb dig their first album: Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space). Criminally neglected hip-hop masterpieces!

B-Boys in the Burbs?

I don't get it. Why do suburban kids LOVE hip-hop? Is it because it portrays a lifestyle they know nothing about? Is it the "machoness" of it? Is it the style or language of the performers? Does the substantial rise in popularity of a now 40+ year-old genre have a greater cultural significance? Or am I overreacting?

Whatever the reason, one thing is for certain... affluent suburban kids, a large percentage of which are white, LOVE hip-hop! It seems like the more inane, boastful, violent, misogynistic or homophobic the music is the more it sells. This bothers me because I am a fan of hip-hop.

Though there is still pretty good stuff coming out these days (Blackalicious, Jurassic 5, Immortal Technique, etc) it is WAY underground! In the 80s and early 90s there was plenty of thoughtful and artistic mainstream hip-hop. The stuff kids consider to be real hip-hop today is the stuff I take issue with. The Billboard's list of top rap songs is loaded with offensive, obnoxious and ostentatious 'music'. I challenge anyone to read the lyrics to the songs on this list monthly. They rarely move out of the realm of macho violence...

My first tape was RUN-DMC's Raising Hell. This is the one that ends with 'Proud To Be Black'. I was about eight years old. Even if the word fuck wasn't in the song twice I would have gotten its importance. I remember asking my mom who Harriet Tubman and Jesse Owens were because of this song. I graduated to Young MC and Eric B. & Rakim and Slick Rick. Then in middle school I had Tribe and De La Soul tapes. High school brought The Fugees and Digable Planets. There were others, but my point is the lyrics in a random song by one of these groups are vastly different than the Top 40 today.

Sure, Young MC got famous with a song about picking up a girl, but his video didn't show him swiping a credit card through her ass crack! Slick Rick had songs about the ladies too, but despite their somewhat macho lyrics they fell short of being full-on vulgar.

Ok. A very long story cut very short... the white-controlled music industry creates, hypes, markets and distributes shockingly awful 'music' with socially dangerous themes! The suburban white kids who make up the majority of the market are fed consistently reinforced negative stereotypes of black men and women. The genre of hip-hop is a stunning musical revelation with endless possibilities. It is a shame that the thoughtful stuff gets sidelined and that the young black artists that create it have their music dubbed as 'backpacker' hip-hop or 'hippie-hop'!

Jurado

Sometime last year my wife and I visited friends in Seattle. I made a (very) quick stop at an independent record shop called Easy Street Records in the Queen Anne district. In an effort to not leave my wife stranded in the car for hours, which I could have easily done, I motored over to the 'Used' section and began rifling through things. I was a a man on a mission and I suppose I had a few things on my mind that I was on the lookout for, but generally speaking I was just looking for a diamond in the rough... and I was looking quickly!

Somehow I started in the middle of the section and the first heading I saw was 'J'. So, I started flipping through looking for June of '44, the first band to come to mind. After many bad albums by bad bands, I came across a visually inviting and colorful record by Damien Jurado. I didn't know his stuff well, but had heard one song on KEXP and really dug it. The record, from 2002, was called I Break Chairs. Sub-Pop released it, so I figured there was a good chance of it being a solid record. As it was $6.99, it was in my price range and I headed for the register.

This was actually our last stop before the drive home and Mr. Jurado's record was to be the first thing we heard as we headed back south. From the anthemic ringing of the first guitar lick on the song "Paper Wings" I knew I had made a good choice!

Damien has a gruff, commanding, immediate voice that still manages to be trustworthy and inviting. I was in love with the record and listened to it twice all the way through before my wife got sleepy and I put on something much mellower.

My next encounter with Jurado's music was with an altogether different album from 2006 called And Now That I'm In Your Shadow. The quietness of this record was not something I had considered Jurado apt to venture into. However, he pulls it off with 1960s coffeshop mastery! The record is mostly him and his guitar telling earnest, mature confessional stories.  Another great record from a totally different angle!

At this point I was hooked on Damien Jurado's breadth and depth. So, last week I went backwards in his catalog and bought his second full-length from 1999 called Rehearsals for Departure. This is another relatively quiet album. It was at this early stage in his career that folks began to compare his lyrics and delivery to the likes of Dylan, Woody and others. And, while I don't see that connection, I definitely enjoy his music enough to recommend it to anyone! He is a great artist with plenty to say!

The American Analog Set

Until very recently, I had never listened to The American Analog Set, but had heard their name in conversations about lo-fi music. As usual, I was in my favorite record shop looking for new stuff to listen to and came across one of their records called Know By Heart. Generally, I like to get into a new band by starting with their first record, but this time the price was right ($4) so I just went for it. My decision was made easier by the title of the first track: "Punk as Fuck".  I actually laughed out loud because I knew they were on the mellow side. It seemed that the song must be some kind of inside joke and I was ready to get in on it!

I guess another thing that contributed to my leap into the world of The American Analog Set was the fact that I knew they came from Austin, Texas. Austin has been churning out really good bands for over a decade now including Spoon, The Black Angels and Explosions in the Sky.

Anyway, this album is just the right blend of dream-pop drone and elegant lo-fi. I have had it about two weeks and have probably listened to it about eleven times straight through. I am currently on the lookout for their other records. This one has plenty of sarcasm and wit. Plenty of ambience. Just plenty! Good record. Pick it up!

That's NOT Indie Rock!

Dear American teenagers,

Just because a band has successfully imitated Death Cab For Cutie's sound that does NOT mean they are Indie Rock. In the same way that imitating Nirvana in the 90s didn't make a band "grunge". And what is the fascination with the word "emo"? Do any of you even know what the word means? I can't stand the labels people insist on putting on bands. In my teens, the term "alternative" started floating around. What's wrong with just calling something what it is? Is it good or bad? Seriously... what is "alternative" music supposed to be an alternative to? The garbage on the radio? What about "alternative" radio stations? I don't get it. Either it's good music or it isn't. STOP LABELING! Indie music used to mean something that was independently produced. Could be hip-hop or could sound like The Shins... STOP LABELING!

Who is That Kid on the Bale of Hay?

Last week an American musical legend came to Portland and I missed him! John Prine is the type of artist that leaves a permanent mark on your soul. You remember where you were when you first heard a John Prine song! I remember where I was when I first heard OF John Prine!

I had just moved to Portland (about a decade ago) and was bellied up to a bar that no longer graces the corner of SW 1st and Oak Streets. There was hardly anyone there but the pathetic gamblers in the smoky Keno room: the shifty, middle-aged white guy with a very obvious toupée, an old Asian woman who was perpetually angry, an overweight white guy that drank endless refills of diet Coke and a youngish Latino guy who was positive that he was gonna hit the jackpot "any day now". These folks were there every night and so were my buddy Patrick and I... long story.

The only thing that made this night different was that a business man with a well-trimmed goatee and an English accent came and sat at the bar next to us. He wasn't particularly memorable for any other reason than that he was clearly not from Portland. We soon found out that he was in town from Denver and had been living in the states for about fifteen years. He was married and had some kids in Denver, but worked in Portland quite a bit.

Midway through a conversation of run-of-the-mill niceties a Dylan song came on the jukebox. Patrick and I both began humming and singing along. That's when the conversation shifted into a musical conversation. Everyone agreed that they enjoyed Dylan's music, but before the conversation ended the song did. The following song was a Stones song. The Brit, Tony, quickly lambasted them. He laughed, saying "only a true wanker could spend one decade slagging off the Queen and another keeping up appearances being knighted and all! He was right, of course!

This comment made the conversation much more interesting. It moved back towards the creativity, power and impact of Dylan. Again, he agreed, but said that John Prine was better in his opinion. Who? Patrick and I looked at each other in complete puzzlement. He charged us with tracking down some Prine albums and getting to know his music because, he promised, if we liked Dylan we would like Prine.

I never saw the man again, but I also never forgot the conversation. I immediately began looking for his stuff. I am somewhat ashamed that it took a Brit to show me one of the most talented American artists of all time. The first album I came across was, luckily, Prine's 1971 debut.

Look at him sitting there on a bale of hay with his gi-tar! I didn't even have to think about buying this album! I could tell right away that there was something I was supposed to hear. He was only twenty-five, but I would spend countless lonely nights listening to this record in the dark trying to pick his twenty-five year-old brain... WOW! This record is unbeatable! With songs like: "Hello In There", "Sam Stone", "Paradise", "Far From Me", and "Angel From Montgomery" the American musical landscape was changed forever. These songs could have been the dying reflections of a war-weary, heart-broken soldier, but instead they were the musings of a mere whippersnapper!

The only thing on par with John Prine's first album is John Prine's second album! He followed up one of the most auspicious debuts in history with an equally heart-stopping effort from 1972, Diamonds in the Rough. This album featured amazing songs like: "Souvenirs", "Late John Garfield Blues", "Sour Grapes", "Billy the Bum", "Take the Star Out of the Window", "The Great Compromise" and "Rocky Mountain Time". I am NOT exaggerating when I say that these songs are among the most distinctive, pensive, emotive, harrowing, heartfelt examples of American music.

Sweet Revenge (1973) followed Diamonds in the Rough and was also a record that demanded attention. If you don't know John Prine's name or his work, I beg you to go find his music. He is a national treasure and criminally unsung!

Dear Average American...

Dear Average American who listens to the radio while driving... I feel truly sorry for you! I just drove a 10' Uhaul truck 325 miles across northern Oregon and listened to the radio the entire way. Uhauls do not come with cd players, so that was my only option! I should have realized when I heard a rare Alice in Chains classic as the first song on the first station to come through in the morning that the rest of the drive would be fruitless. In my experience, the radio offers one or the other: a great song to start or a great song to finish. Everything in between is generally garbage! All the predictable songs came through and NOTHING else! In other words, I heard 'Radar Love', 'Don't Stop Believin' and 'Give A Little Bit' as well as the other recycled, obvious and obligatory garbage. The American radio system is like Amtrak... a hell of an idea with a lot of potential, but maddeningly insufficient!

Sunday Shopping List

If you hear all of your favorite songs on the radio then disregard this post. If you are always on the lookout for great new music then go shopping!

1. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast - 2009
2. Built to Spill - There Is No Enemy - 2009
3. Son Volt - American Central Dust - 2009
4. The Walkmen - You & Me - 2008
5. Fleet Foxes - 2008

These are NOT in any kind of order. They are just damn good records from the previous year or so!

Hardcore Threats

I learned a lot about music from my father and my brother. But, the first two words I remember from my personal musical journey are: Minor Threat. As a kid in St. Louis I was pretty heavy into skateboarding. The guys I skated with were a couple years older than me and were big fans of hardcore. So much so that they would only let me roll with them if I got into their tunes. So, suddenly bands like Bad Brains, Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Dead Kennedys and Minor Threat were spilling out of boom boxes all around me. 

Prior to this, I was listening to R.E.M., U2, Cure and Smiths records I'd swiped from my brother's room and Zeppelin, Cream, CCR and Jethro Tull records I'd swiped from my dad's collection. I also had a few tapes of my own - Run DMC, Beastie Boys, Guns n' Roses, etc. This was all great music, but none of it prepared me for what Minor Threat would do to me...

Minor Threat was easily the edgiest and scariest (I was ten!) music I had EVER listened to! It talked about the bible, which I had been thinking about for a while and didn't quite trust. It talked about the consequences of drug use and alcohol abuse. It talked about not feeling any pressure to have sex. It talked about not feeling pressure to smoke cigarettes. It talked about the benefit of being learned. It talked about not being afraid to beat the living shit out of someone who didn't like you for who you were! It was exactly what I was looking for!

The lyrics were definitely challenging and upfront, but no music I had ever heard before was as abrasive and angry as the wild, thrashing, sludgy, surging, cacophony of angst that was Minor Threat! It shattered all my sensibilities and completely rearranged my budding musical appreciation. I am not kidding when I say that Minor Threat completely changed my life. Beginning at age ten, I was determined to seek out the underground music that, like Minor Threat, goes unnoticed by the bulk of the population.

This band was the brainchild of Ian MacKaye. A disaffected DC youth who grew up in the same neighborhood as Henry Rollins, MacKaye was disgusted by the poverty, violence and drugs which were ubiquitous in the DC area in the early 80s. Though Minor Threat only lasted about three years their music is widely regarded as the birthplace of American hardcore. In an effort to maintain control over his music, MacKaye started his own label called Dischord Records. In the years following the demise of Minor Threat, MacKaye's label would record dozens of bands in the DC area and slowly start reaching beyond the DC scene to record upwards of 50 bands.

In 1987, MacKaye's next musical contribution was the band Fugazi. They lasted for nearly fifteen years and were the epitome of the DIY ethic. Hundreds of bands around the country looked to them for inspiration and information. They always played all ages shows and charged next to nothing. They sold their records for pennies and, despite becoming a huge underground success, NEVER signed to a major. The spirit that MacKaye brought to Minor Threat echoed through the music of Fugazi and is evident in the efforts of countless other bands to this day.

Yesterday was his birthday. He is 48 years old.

McLaren is Dead

Malcolm McLaren, manager of the infamous, yet relatively boring Sex Pistols, died today in Switzerland. What!? Yeah, I said it!

The Sex Pistols were not as amazing as their offspring and followers. It's a fact that hordes of disaffected youth in Britain and the US started bands after hearing Sex Pistols records or seeing them live. However, The Pistols weren't as compelling as Public Image Ltd. (P.I.L.) - the group John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) started after the breakup. Nor were they as innovative as Joy Division whose members decided to get serious about music after seeing The Pistols slog through a frantic show in Manchester.

That said, the group were terribly important to the burgeoning punk scene in London and Manchester and became the de facto poster boys for the UK punk scene of the late 70s despite breaking up in 1978. They remain the goto group for teenagers on both sides of the pond when having a conversation about 'punk' music. Their t-shirts still sell and their mystique lives on as I suspect it will for generations. After all, with names like Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten in the band... there has to be something there, right?

Anyway, this was supposed to be about Malcolm McLaren. After his career with The Pistols, he went on to do various odd things such as selling S&M gear. Nevertheless, he didn't abandon music. In fact, he went on to make some relatively interesting stuff over the years. His 1983 club/dance album Duck Rock was actually pretty innovative and sold quite well. I recall a line in Trainspotting where Sick Boy and Renton are talking about it...

Eleanora Fagan

I don't care what anybody says, Eleanora Fagan was the greatest blues singer of all time. Who the hell is Eleanora Fagan? Luckily, as a star Eleanora didn't go by her given name. Instead, she went by the name Billie Holiday.

First of all, Billie was a beautiful woman. She was very easy to look at, that's for sure. Generations of young men were smitten with her upon first glance. But, it was her voice! Her voice is what really arrested people. I will never forget the first time I listened to a Billie Holiday song all the way through. I had bought a compilation of old blues tunes and the first song on it was "I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)". Seconds after the song finished I listened to it again. It was that good!

This song shows the incredible range of Billie's voice. At times, she is nearly silent and other times she is forcefully direct. The power of this song was exciting to me in ways no other music had ever sounded to me before. I had been listening to punk, hardcore, college rock and my dad's music prior to this initial foray into the world of blues.

The other two songs that Billie sang on the comp were "Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone" and "God Bless The Child". All the other female blues and jazz singers that I have heard since are good for one sound or another or can be pigeonholed. But, Billie is far and away the most dynamic singer I have ever listened to in ANY genre.

I felt that way after the first note, but it wasn't until I heard the song "Strange Fruit" that I was 100% convinced that she was the unparalleled queen of the mic! This song is undeniably powerful. A stinging indictment of the racism in 1930s US culture, this song is of sincere historical importance. History aside, this song is compelling, commanding and a must for anyone interested in American history, American music or American people. Billie could make a simple word like that or when sound like the heaviest word you ever heard.

Billie Holiday, was much more than a pretty face. She was a force to be reckoned with in the world of music. Unfortunately, it was the other forces in her world that lead to her premature death in 1959 due to liver and heart issues.

Billie Holiday was born on this day in 1915. I have never heard a voice like hers. In one song she can be chilling, haunting, awe-inspiring, saddening, exciting, thrilling, etc, etc, etc. There was never a voice like hers and there hasn't been one like it since. Glad she changed her name to Billie, it suits her much better than Eleanora!

Revival Time

Just rounded out my CCR collection! I found the 1970 live album called The Concert the other day at my record shop for $3.50! Now I have them all... the self-titled album, Bayou Country, Green River, Willy and the Poor Boys, Cosmo's Factory and Pendulum. There is actually one album, Mardi Gras, that I don't own... however, since Tom Fogerty left the band the album just isn't a proper CCR album.

Anyway, The Concert is good, but not incredible despite the over-the-top title. CCR is a tight, engaging, inventive and nearly flawless band. Capturing Creedence live is something that should have crossed someone's mind before this album. They did have a weird live album from European shows but, again... it was after Tom left so it isn't a proper example of the band. Nevertheless, as this is their only live album that is worth seeking out I was quite pleased to find it so cheap!

Long story short... Creedence Clearwater Revival was a great band! Dare I say they were the best American rock band of the late 60s & early 70s? What say you?

We Jam Econo

Today would have been the 52nd birthday of D. Boon.

He was the guitar player and primary singer of The Minutemen. To say that The Minutemen made a quick, revelatory and lasting impression on me would still not paint the right picture. The very first sounds of the album Double Nickels on the Dime is Mike Watt starting his car and for some reason it took me to a place I had never been before. A marvelous, exhilarating, nervous energy began running through my body. The album was already ten years old when it fell into my hands. The power it had in the late 90s was immediately palpable and strangely modern. I can't imagine what it must have sounded like in 1984 when it came out!

Every member of the band played direct, honest, confident and purposeful music with the type of urgency that most young bands shoot for and consistently miss. George Hurley barely missed a single beat of the drums and Mike Watt's bass thundered with the type of presence few bassists had at the time and few have had since. D. Boon's simple, zany solos complimented the others perfectly. A great album in every measurable way!

The follow-up album, 3-Way Tie (For Last), has a different kind of power and signaled a more driven, confident band. SST labelmates, fans, friends, critics and the southern California punk/hardcore community was very excited for the future of this seminal band. Instead, the winter holiday season of 1985 brought a dark cloud over all the aforementioned groups. D. Boon died in a terrible car crash on the side of a dark highway...

His death shattered the soul of Minutemen bassist, Mike Watt. It saddened thousands of fans' hopes for the entire genre. It brought everyone involved with the classic label SST to their knees. The Minutemen were the first band to record for the label after label founders Black Flag. There are tribute albums, documentaries, websites, books, etc in honor of the band.

Their discography is impressive, their following is huge, their impact is immeasurable, their music is timeless... Happy birthday, D! Your story lives on!

Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ!

Americans have pioneered stunningly innovative music for over 100 years. Canadians and Brits have been copying our music for decades. Therefore, there are literally tens of thousands of songs that could potentially get airplay on the radio waves across this land. Why, then, do the majority of radio stations play the same songs over and over?

Sure, some of the music on 'alternative' stations and classic rock and R&B stations is truly classic, but there's also plenty of corporate garbage. I just don't understand the logic behind playing the same songs every day. Being a DJ at a station like that would be horrible. For example, everyone agrees that Hendrix made great music, but it's always the same few songs of his that are played over the airwaves. Instead of hearing 'Machine Gun' we have to keep hearing 'All Along the Watchtower', 'Hey Joe' or 'Purple Haze'. He didn't even write two of those songs.

This kind of repetition takes the power out of a song like Purple Haze and traps the power of a song like 'Machine Gun' in the black hole of the past. It forces true fans to discover the music on their own. This, of course, is fine for someone like me, however the average person doesn't have the drive. The result is thousands of unheralded bands and musicians forgotten by time. Therefore, countless would-be anthems are ignored as people are distracted by temporary "hits" that never end up on the aforementioned radio stations...

In a country with this much talent, it's a shame that groups like Uncle Tupelo, Digable Planets and Television are "nobody's" and Creed, 50 cent and Ke$ha are "huge stars".

Ke$ha

I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that a girl with a dollar sign in her name (that kind of juvenile silliness is traditionally reserved for one-hit wonder hip-hop stars) has a number one song or the fact that my nieces and nephew dance to it and know every word. At six years old (the age of my youngest niece) I danced and sang every word to Main Street by Bob Seger. I can't imagine for a minute that my parents would have let me listen to music with lyrics about chugging Jack Daniels. Of course, plenty of music from my dad's collection referenced drugs and drinking, etc. But, generally the songs didn't spell it out like today's "smash hits".

My fascination with degrading music started in middle school with 2 Live Crew. They had some shockingly vulgar songs. Often, the girls I knew on the bus would sing along to the tapes being played in the back. It was somewhat sick that they giggled along with lyrics about "bitches", "hoes", "sluts" and "whores".

Ke$ha's song Tik-Tok is definitely not as vivid as anything by The Crew, but joking about "boys tryin' to touch my junk" is a little much for a six year-old, no? The Billboard Top 40 has always been chock-full of asinine, yet, danceable songs about sex and cliché pop-culture references.

I'm not saying I'm shocked by the song. I have successfully ignored all that bullshit for thirty years. All I'm sayin' is that maybe we shouldn't let our young ones listen to it. If they choose it as adolescents, that's fine. But, six years old? There's so much music out there with positive messages! At the very least, there is harmless, benign pop music that, despite not being challenging, is just as danceable!

Murmurs of Easter

R.E.M. was an absolute staple of my childhood. Stipe's mumbled, cryptic lyrics were a thing of great mystery that I spent ages trying to decipher. There were never lyrics printed in the inserts of the records. In fact, there was never much written in the inserts of the records at all. The only albums with any background were the two compilation albums: Dead Letter Office & Eponymous. The name of producer Mitch Easter appeared frequently on those two and of course appeared on Murmur & Reckoning, the two studio albums he produced.

Mitch Easter is a hard name to forget. It's got a great ring to it! Last week, the little cardboard box full of free stuff by the door of my favorite record shop in the country had a single record sitting in it. It had no jacket, just the plastic sleeve. However, the plastic sleeve did have the I.R.S. records logo on it. R.E.M. and Camper Van Beethoven were on I.R.S., so that was enough for me to pick it up.

The record = Afoot. The band = Let's Active. The leader = Mitch Easter.

This six song EP from 1983 went right out the door with me. When I got home it looked like it had never been played. I listened to it straight through, of course, it's only a little more than 20 minutes long. It was synthy, jangle-pop executed to perfection! I loved every second of it!

The following day, I returned to my shop to see if they had any cd's of Let's Active. They had one. A two-for-one combo of the first two Let's Active records: Afoot & Cypress. Apparently, it is a very rare cd and, as always, my little shop had it. And... as always... it was only $6! What a great find! It is catchy, pop-informed music with plenty of experimental and underground undertones! The murmurs of Easter aren't easy to find, but they're worth listening for...

Four Seasons

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to my man Antonio Vivaldi who was born today in 1678! I studied The Four Seasons in high school. I would love to create something that people still found useful hundreds of years later!

She's Lost Control

Hollow drums bounce out of the speakers, then a hypnotic guitar, then Ian Curtis' haunting voice sweeps in and covers it all up with equally haunting lyrics about the epileptic fits of a teenage girl he once cared for as a lad... or is it about him?

The infectious guitars and droning bass are as engaging as the dark, evocative lyrics. On first listen though, Curtis' affecting lyrics may not sink in as the driving guitars and drums carry you out to sea. But, by the second or third listen the stirring story storms your senses. 'She's Lost Control' is truly a gem on what is arguably the most important album of the post-punk era.

When I finally heard these lyrics I had a vision of a dark-haired teenage girl laying on a gurney in a busy, stark, white and very long hallway with flickering fluorescent lights in the beginning of a seizure trying desperately to get someone's attention before it's too late and she bites off her tongue and swallows it causing her unnatural and untimely death.

"And she's clinging to the nearest passerby, she's lost control. And walked upon the edge of no escape and laughed, I've lost control." These lyrics may seem dark on paper, but within the context of the song as a whole they have extreme power and emotion.

'She's Lost Control' is a standout on an album (Unknown Pleasures) full of masterpieces. The next song on the album, 'Shadowplay', is equally disturbing as Ian Curtis talks of "acting out your own death". To pigeonhole this album as some Gothic relic full of dark stories of death and depression would be to sell this record short of its incalculable historical importance. Untold numbers of musicians and artists throughout the world point to Joy Division as a seminal influence in their artistic endeavors.

Every song on Unknown Pleasures is arresting! The style that this young group, under the direction of producer Martin Hannet, was capable of was nothing short of groundbreaking. The first time I saw the album I was compelled to pick it up. The album cover, which shows a star going nova, was irresistible. Once in my hand, I was sure I needed to buy it. Once I got it home and gave it a listen I was in shock. I didn't quite understand what I had heard, but I was positive that I liked it. It took several listens before I could separate the sounds and take each on their own terms.

Joy Division were not around long... but their music will stand the test of time as evidenced by the many websites, books, movies and documentaries made about them. It sounds today as innovative and immediate as it must have to anyone lucky enough to have bought it in the UK in the late 70s.

Phollowers!

Phish phans are phreakin' annoying! There are few casual Phish phans. Most are purely rabid - phollowing Phish phrom town to town as if they were musical messiahs! How does it come to that? With all the music out there, how does someone get stuck on one band? And why (seriously someone tell me!) is that band Phish? I guess I'm just not enlightened enough to pheel the power of Phish. Phor some pholks Phish is the end all be all in the world of music. To me, they're just the end!

Black Boys on Mopeds

Wow! How did I miss this song? Growing up, I always thought Sinéad was cool because she had the balls to stand up to her country and her religion and to challenge the constructs of gender, sexuality and music. All of this meant that she could have conceivably lost everything and everyone she had in her life at the hands of the gossip-starved media. Until recently (2006), I only knew one Sinéad song. I'll let you guess which one.

I met a girl while I was living in Prague who adored Sinéad and this caused me to investigate. I copied several random songs from her few cd's, including the aforementioned song. I listened to them and enjoyed them. But they never stuck.

Then, last year at my favorite record shop, I found I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got for free in the old cardboard box by the door. I grabbed it quick and clutched it tight as I sauntered out the door. Somehow I knew I would find a hidden gem on this record.

I took it home and intended for weeks to listen to it. Instead, it found its way onto my shelf and stayed there wedged in between NOFX and the Old 97's. It would be weeks before I actually dug into it. Rather than start at song one, I read the playlist and went straight to number five: 'Black Boys On Mopeds'.

Given my childhood recollection of her, I was confident that this song would be a standout just by the name. Not only is it a standout on this record, it's a standout in musical history. I challenge anyone to listen to this song and not be moved.

Using only a guitar and her shimmering, angelic voice, Sinéad weaves a wrenching acoustic tale of late 80s-early 90s UK racial and political unrest in a dreamy, angsty, soul-stirrer. The power and honesty of her unwavering voice is impossible to resist.

I am quite sorry to have missed this at the time, but am quite happy to have it now! For anyone unfamiliar with this song...This is truly one for the ages!

I love you like sin...

Growing up, I hated the song '(Don't Fear) The Reaper'! I truly hated it. Therefore, I purposely avoided Blue Öyster Cult albums the way superstitious kids avoid cracks in the sidewalk.

However, a few years back my never-ending search for great music finally brought me to their doorstep. I'd already figured out that Patti Smith was too real to be denied and once I found out that she'd spent a fair amount of time with BOC, I began looking for their early stuff.

The 1976 album Agents of Fortune, which does have '(Don't Fear) The Reaper', features Smith on backing-vocals on the song 'The Revenge of Vera Gemini' as well as several bracing rockers like 'This Ain't the Summer of Love' and 'Sinful Love'. Despite dealing with the age-old themes of love and loss, these songs also talk of the changing political and social landscapes across America and signal the coming musical changes that punk would bring.

Well worth a look for any of my fellow naysayers. I've officially converted!

... "I love you like sin, but I won't be your pigeon!"

The Who?

This will be short and sweet... First, since half the members of The Who have died (the absence of keith Moon being the most important to me) they should not call themselves The Who. None of the early songs were possible without Moon. Second, the halftime show of the Super Bowl was lame. If you are trying to connect with a broad audience... geriatric rockers from a bygone era won't do. Let's do something different next year please!

Shoegazers of the World Unite and Take Over!

I think I finally understand where the 'Shoegazers' got their inspiration. This music got its name because the media said the bands (My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Catherine Wheel, Kitchens of Distinction, Swervedriver, etc.) just stared at their shoes as they played. I have now lived in Portland, Oregon for 5 years and the seemingly neverending dark leaky faucet they call winter drives me into seasonal depression. 'Shoegaze' music came out of the UK in the late 80s and UK winters are very similar to those of the Pacific Northwest.

Anyway, as I have been stuck indoors for the past couple months with little interest in lurking about in the Portland darkness 'Shoegaze' is the only thing I want to listen to regularly. For anyone out there who doesn't know this music I urge you to seek it out. Layers of distorted and fuzzy/echoey guitars careening out of control over a droning, repetitive rhythm section and sometimes haunting vocals. May sound weird, but this hypnotic, addictive music is a special section of musical history and should not be overlooked. Despite the sometimes caustic and angsty angle of the music it is actually delightfully addictive and at times rather pop-influenced.

Am I Alone?

How can Americans, given our remarkable musical contributions, not demand more from the music they listen to? I just read the Billboard Top 10. Obviously, it is mostly young kids that listen to this stuff... or is it? Suddenly, the names of "bands" that my Facebook "friends" refer to appeared. I felt obliged to listen to each song. What a stupefying collection of banal garbage is the Billboard chart! I suppose some of you may be wondering if I just reached that conclusion. Obviously not... but, I just have to remind myself that my musical journey, no matter how hard, is well worth it! But, when I see the album sales I am still left with a burning question! Am I alone here? Is there anyone else out there (NOT wearing a ridiculous outfit that took more time to put together than those of the folks it is trying to annoy) that listens to thoughtful, creative music?