Xmas 06

Time for “Bob Longmore’s Xmas Spectacular 2006.” This is in no way a year-end best of list. It is a collection of songs that I put together for friends to enjoy. These are songs that I came to enjoy this year and I thought would sound good together. If you’re interested in last years list, check it out here.

1. Draw Us Lines – The Constantines

A very powerful opening track with swirling feedback that yields only slightly to a thundering beat. I know nothing about this band. In fact, I am pretty sure this is the only song I’ve ever heard by The Constantines, but this one song is really good.

2. De La Souls – P.O.S.

From the fantastic Audition record by P.O.S. this year. This is actually one of my top records from this year. I think this song, among others, showcases the sensibilities of P.O.S., a mixture of hip-hop and punk rock.

3. Province – TV on the Radio

I liked TV on the Radio before this year and I liked their new album Return to Cookie Mountain, but it wasn’t until I saw them live at First Ave. that I really fell in love with them.

4. New Resolution – Heartless Bastards

A hearty fuck you song from the throaty growl of lead bastard Erika Wennerstrom.

5. To Go Home – M. Ward

The best song recorded in a basement in Memphis in 1962 that was actually recorded in a modern studio in the beginning of the 21^st century.

6. Junior High Smiles – Beight

This is such a beautiful song, anchored by Brad Senne’s aching voice floating in and out of falsetto. It captures like no other song, the feeling of the sweaty palms and fluttering hearts of teenage crushes.

7. Duluth – Brian Just

I saw this guy this past summer and was absolutely blown away. He plays intricate finger-picked melodies on his guitar so majestically, it pisses off every other musician in the room because they want what he has.

8. Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis – Neko Case

A Tom Waits cover, this is the pseudo-Christmas song of this year’s collection.

9. On The Way Back Home – Lucero

Every day I fall a little more in love with Lucero. Ben Nichols’ gravelly, whiskey voice sounds like every hung-over morning where you’re unsure of how much remorse you should have for the night before. These guys put on a hell of a show too. I wish I would have seen them when they came through a month or two ago, but I did see them back in April, and it was legendary.

10. Sister Jack – Spoon

One of those bands I “discovered” this year. I’m slow sometimes. I heard their album Gimme Fiction and said to myself, “Why the fuck haven’t I been listening to these guys?” I love this song because in my youth, I played in a dropped-D metal band (although the name was not requiem, but SoulSplitter, I’m not proud).

11. Poor You – Bellwether

Another album that was indeed on my best local album list this year. Sometimes the term AltCountry gets thrown around as some sort of stuck-in-the-mud putdown, but these guys are AltCountry in the most flattering sense of the word. Brilliant songs beautifully played.

12. Forest Whitiker – Brother Ali

Another one of those, “Why the fuck haven’t I listened to this before?” albums. Another kind of a fuck you song where Ali says you don’t have to like me, ‘cause I like myself.

Merry Christmas!

Jim Walsh, You Magnificent Bastard

It pains me to think that I will never write something as kick-ass as this:
(From City Pages)

Tim O'Reagan
Tim O'Reagan
Lost Highway

The test of any classic album is if it plays as well in the morning with coffee as it does at night with whiskey; in the bedroom or car; in the loud or quiet hours. O'Reagan's debut has been with me in every moment imaginable since it was released on House of Mercy Recordings last year, and properly released by Lost Highway this year. His voice reminds me of something a friend of mine wrote about her aging face—"a wizened disaster"—which is to say that most things get more beautiful with age, but some things, like a drummer-turned-unleashed-crooner, get positively translucent. —Jim Walsh

The Death of Music and Cory Branan

Personally, I couldn't picture my life without record stores, but Chris R. in the Strib file the millionth report about record sales slowing. I love the smell of records stores. I love the rows of CDs sitting there ready to be taken. I love the vinyl stores, with that plastic smell mixed with the smell of your Grandma's attic. Please don't take that away from me!

And now I'm going to tell you to listen to music online. Cory Branan made a believer out of me last Sunday. This Memphis musician is a bad ass. Check out his streaming album, 12 songs, for yourself. Cory Branan

Say What Now?

I finally broke down and bought a pair of earplugs.

I figured if I am going to keep seeing Ian Prince play drums, I need them. I saw Kid Dakota a few weeks ago and I was standing right in front of the stage and Ian was absolutely blowing me away. But really I should have got a good pair along time ago, hopefully this will cut down on the buzzing in my ears when I get home after a show.

Matthew Ryan Day

Matthew Ryan has been one of my favorite artists for years now. His new album, From a Late Night High Rise, holds loads of promise. Tom Hallett from Pulse has a great article this week about a few of the things Ryan has gone through in the industry and personally to get to this point in his career.



Ryan played a show here last winter at the 400, which I covered for HWTS. He also came through town with his side project Strays Don't Sleep, which HWTS also covered.

Ryan commented that he sure wasn't coming to Minneapolis in the winter again, I can't say I blame him, hopefully we'll see him in the spring.

Corporate Speak, Pt. 58

I got a meeting request today and the subject was "Discussion around network whatchamacallit."

Wouldn't we be more productive if we had a Discussion about network whatchamacallit?

Bloggity, Bloggity, Blog

It's strange having a blog sometimes. Like when I know that other people actually read what I've written on this thing. Or when I want to write something that I hope nobody will read. Or the opposite, when I write something that I hope everybody reads. These are things out of my control.
Here is my cheese sandwich lately.

I took three classes this semester, which has totally burned me out. Two of the classes have involved an assload of writing. One in particular is a 500-level advanced writing class that has forced me to write things that were previously buried deep down in my psyche. These thoughts were safe as long as they remained untouched.

The assignment was to write a twenty-or-so page multi-genre project about anything. I chose to write about the ensuing birth of my first child, which probably would have been fine. It would have been a nice happy story about a new baby and a proud father, but I just couldn't have that. Instead I started thinking about my neglectful father and the kind of parenting he gave me. Of course on top of that, three years ago he succumbed to cancer after a long painful battle. So I chose to write a story juxtaposing my dad, myself and my unborn child. This study took me to emotional places that I had long ago blocked off.

Writing has always been therapy to me, whether stories, poems or songs, it was a way for me to work out on paper where my head was. I was not prepared for this story though, I began to dread working on this paper because it forced me to think about guilt and pain and consequence. And also about what kind of father I can be to my kid.

This paper is just about done, along with this semester. Hopefully all those thoughts constantly swirling around my head will settle back down into cobwebs and I can begin to devote myself more to the writing I've been meaning to do. Like pointless ramblings about songs that nobody cares about.

Best Albums

By the first week in January I will be ready to vomit at the site of so many top albums of the year lists. Right now though, in the middle of November, I'll play.

The Current has a vote going on for the top 89 albums of 2006, which they are going to play on New Year's Day. They allow a person to vote for up to 20 albums. I really want to vote for 20 albums and there are certainly that many albums that I enjoyed this year, but I don't know if they are worthy of the "Best" tag. Now this voting process that the Current has is not too keen on requirements for an album to be considered best. There will probably be many people who go on their and vote for the first 20 that come to mind, there is nothing wrong with that, but being the nerd that I am, I am going to suffer and agonize over my list. Here is what I have so far:

Duplomacy - All These Long Drives
Eric Bachmann - To The Races
The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
Lucero - Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers
P.O.S. - Audition
Stook - The Soundtrack to my Minneapolis
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
M. Ward - Post War
Brian Just -Every Tree and Every Stone

and even though I haven't heard the entire album yet, I am sure it will be one of my favorites this year

Matthew Ryan - From a Late Night High rise

Juan Apagado at the Acadia

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!

7:30pm at the Acadia Café in Minneapolis

See some high flying acoustic entertainment from…

Juan Apagado

Nick Leet (from High on Stress)

Jim Soule (also from High on Stress)

and

Aviette

Election Day

Go forth and do your thing.

331 Club in Peril

Do something.

Dear Community Member:

As of November 15, 2006, the City of Minneapolis will require the 331 Club to cease providing amplified music and entertainment. We are asking for your support in fighting this ban by the City. With your support, the 331 Club can continue to provide an exciting and progressive music venue in North East.

The city’s concern is that it needs to regulate businesses impact on their communities (ie noise, traffic etc). And amplified entertainment is considered to have an unacceptable level of impact to the community. We think that, rather than harming the community, the music programming at the 331 Club is providing an important opportunity for local musicians and performers and is making the North East community a richer place.

We are asking you to write a letter to your city council member and to Mayor Rybak in support of the 331 Club. Please tell them how the developing scene at the 331 Club has had a positive (or negative) impact on the local community. Your feedback will be important to the City Council’s decisions regarding the future of North East.

Thank you for your support,

Jarret Oulman
General Manager
331club
jarretoulman@331club.com


Note:

Diane Hofstede can be reached at
Minneapolis City Counsel – 3rd Ward
350 S. 5th St. Rm 307
Email: diane.hofstede@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
Phone: 612-673-2203


Mayor R.T. Rybak’s office can be reached at
Room 331, City Hall
350 South Fifth St.
Minneapolis, MN 55415
jared.nordlund@ci.minneapolis.mn.us
(612) 673-2100 phone

How am I supposed to know if you're high?

There was a lot of hype around Lifter Puller back in the late nineties. I tried to resist just because everybody kept saying how great they were.

I was at the record store a month or two after the band broke up and I found a used copy of Fiestas and Fiascos. I was blown away and I was kicking myself for not ever seeing them. I learned a lesson that sometimes when everybody tells you how great a band is, that sometimes it's because the band really is great. I did get a chance to see them when they played a few reunion shows in 2003 when the Triple Rock opened.

Then came the Hold Steady. Some are turned off by Craig's voice, but I love it. Some are turned off by the big guitar riffs, which border on classic rock shlock at times. I think if you see it live though, you can really understand that this band is something special.

I saw the Hold Steady last night at a sold out First Ave. They played for an hour and a half and, of course, it was incredible. Craig Finn is such a dynamic front man, he knows how to engage the audience for sure.

Here is an interview the boys did with Mary Lucia at the Current.

Giving Up to the Parent Life

So Mrs. Give Up to the Good Life and I are breeding. I sometimes stop to think about what it means to be a parent and you can imagine that fucks with my head something good.

I think it is impossible to wrap my head around it. I still think of myself as a kid trying to figure what to do with his life. Maybe because I am still trying to figure out what to do with my life.

But,

I have found that there are some seriously cool kids stuff out there. You can bet your ass my kid is going to be rocking a Ramones onesie at some point:


And this Johnny Cash onesie:


Also there are these lullaby CDs of bands like Radiohead, The Cure and Tool(?). I'm not too sure about my toddler listening to too much Cure though, that might have repercussions down the line somewhere.

Anyway, while this whole parenthood thing scares the hell out of me, I know it's going to be indescribably fun too.

TVOTR

photo by RockNRollStar

It was last winter. I was standing by the bar on the music side of the Triple Rock waiting for some band to go on. It was a weekday night and it was snowing outside and their were only a handful of people in the bar. Over the soundsystem came this amazingly complicated weird music with soaring crazy gospel-chanting vocals. It was TV on the Radio.

I'd heard "The Wrong Way" before, but didn't give it much thought, but this night it sounded amazing. I realized that TVotR are not a headphone band, their music is best at bone-rattling volume, that is when it speaks to me.

I saw TVotR last weekend and their live show even further solidifies my fandom. They take the slickly produced sheen of their albums and turn it into raw live energy.

Here is my review from HWTS. Here are some more pictures from Rock 'n Roll Star.

Who Goes There?

Yawn!

Oh! Hello. You scared me, I didn't think anyone was still here.

I've been busy (and lazy). Too busy (and lazy) to blog even. I am attempting a comeback though.

First things first... This badass website that I do stuff for won an award because we are all badasses and the Minnesota Music Academy knows this.

Second. Nick Leet nudged me from my slumber and although it goes against the arbitrary and self-imposed rule of one gig per year, Juan Apagado will play again on Nov. 19 at the Acadia. So all those songs that I forgot how to play after my last gig, I'll have to relearn them, and then I will play the hell out of them.

Top5 - Let the music do the talking...

1. I’ve Got a Plan – Scott Miller & The Commonwealth

I’ve got a plan
To be such a man
That she will see
That I was worth having

2. A Magazine Called Sunset – Wilco

There’s a magazine called sunset
And a tape machine that won’t let
Me ever forget this impossible longing for you

3. Know Your Onion! – The Shins

Shut out, pimpled and angry
I quietly tied all my guts in a knot
I gave up trying to make em,
Figured it take em to long to look up
And besides
It was undeniably clear to me, I don’t know why
When every other part of life seemed locked behind shutters

4. California (Part II) – Mason Jennings

I tell you what I’m going to do
I’m gonna’ lighten up
I’m gonna’ throw a box of books and my beloved guitar
Into the back of my truck
And try my luck
In California... California… California… California

5. Rock For Lite Brite – Lifter Puller

You got a bong you call the Babylon
You picked the name up from a Bad Brains song
Hey Rastafarian, I heard you’re quitting school
Smoking weed and cleaning swimming pools

Top5 - not Top5 edition

I don't have time for a full post this morning. I just want you to go listen to Brian Just. I've been listening to his Every Tree and Every Stone EP constantly for the last week. I especially love the song "Duluth."

Townes says 10 percent is in your fingers
another 10 is flowing through your throat
and 80 comes from signposts and gravel roads
that's folk music and it comes from on the road
yeah...

Other quick notes from locals...
Probably not surprisingly, Malachi Constant reportedly broke up. It was probably just a matter of time.

The ever-awesome Aardvark records is closing according to GF. A very cool record store and NE is worse off for its closing.

I am not Howard Hughes

Hurray!
I left the house this weekend and went to a real live rock and roll show. Well, okay, it's really not that big of a deal. It's only been a few weeks since I went to see a show, but I tell you, it felt like a year. I saw Ada Jane for the first time and I was impressed. Matt Marka's voice is huge and they have a ton of energy.

I was really excited to see Eagle*Seagull though. I had heard some buzz about them and I can say the buzz was justified. The songs are chaotic and loud, but chaos sometimes sounds kick ass.

The one thing that kind of ticked me off was the singer's attempt to acknowledge Ada Jane. He stumbled over the name for a minute until finally after someone yelled Ada Jane from the crowd for the third time, he said, "Oh yeah. Ada Jane." It smacked of indie-rock-hipper-than-thou-pretense.

I saw the E*S singer walking around during Ada Jane's set and the E*S merch booth was a few feet away from Ada Jane's, so I am not sure why he didn't know the name of the band that had been playing in some form for the two plus hours before his band got on stage.

Maybe it was just me. Maybe I was just in a crusty old curmudgeon mood. It's been known to happen.

Top 5

I feel like I have been crazy busy this summer, but I know that I really haven’t done that much. It seems like when I have a lot going on that I just want to pile more of top of that. I start school again next week, so I will probably end up writing more. Who knows?

1. Late at Night – Buffalo Tom

When I was in a band I always wanted to write songs that sounded like Buffalo Tom, but they always ended up sounding, well, I don’t know what they sounded like. I can tell you that they fell far short of sounding like Buffalo Tom.

2. Saturday – Big Ditch Road

BDR are playing Saturday at the Hex. Go see them! You won’t be disappointed. I love the bridge where the swirling guitars drop out and leave Darin Wald out in front of the song, contemplatively singing the lines:

I cleaned up my face
Cleaned up my place
In case it went well
In case it went well

3. Customer – The Replacements

One of my favorite Replacements songs of all time.

I’m in love withthegirlthatworkdjfoasidjjsldkfj…I’m a customer!

4. Wash My Hands – Arson Welles

I really liked this Minneapolis band, but I think I was in the minority on this. Last I heard a couple of the guys moved to LA to pursue production full time.

They were kind of a spacey indie rock that just played well in dirty clubs like the Entry. Now that I really listen hard to the lyrics, I realize they are not exactly poetry, but who cares?

Can you wash my hands with your dress pulled off?
I got a stained glass window and a terrible cough
But the miracle is you’ll never break my heart again

5. Might – Archers of Loaf

One of my favorite all time bands. The lead singer, Eric Bachmann, has a new solo album out this week that I plan to pick up tomorrow. If the things I have heard about the album are true, you may see an Eric Bachmann song in future Top5s.

Two Things

Pitchfork has a download of "Chips Ahoy!" from The Hold Steady's forthcoming album, Boys and Girls in America. The Hold Steady are also playing First Avenue in October.

The always entertaining Minneapoliscast has a 30-second interview with Mark Mallman. Pretty funny.

Have a good weekend.

Top5 - Moving Pt. 2

I was having so much "fun" at work that I almost forgot it was Friday. Here is the disc 2 as promised.

Disc 2 - NYC

1. New York, New York - Frank Sinatra
If I can Make it there
I'll make it anywhere

2. Fairytale of New York - The Pogues
It's Christmas Eve, Babe
In the drunk tank

3. I'm Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground
I'm waiting for my man
Twenty-six dollars in my hand
Up to Lexington, 125
Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive

4. 53rd & 3rd - The Ramones
53rd & 3rd, Standing on the street
53rd & 3rd, I'mtrying to turn a trick
53rd & 3rd,You're the one they never pick
53rd & 3rd,Don't it make you feel sick

5. New York, New York - Ryan Adams
Hell, I still love you though New York

6. Talkin' New York - Bob Dylan
You sound like a hillbilly
We want folksingers here

7. Downtown Train - Tom Waits
The Downtown trains are full
of all those Brooklyn girls
They try so hard to break out of their little worlds

8. Thank You, Lord, For Sending Me The F-Train - Mike Doughty
Here this train speeds underground

9. The Only Living Boy in New York - Simon & Garfunkel
I got nothing to do today, but smile

10. New York - The Ashtray Hearts
There's nothing in New York City
It's just a long, long way from here

Top5 - Moving pt1

Friends moving away is an inevitability. But it is an inevitability that sucks. We get older and life changes. I know that five years ago I couldn’t imagine the situation I am in now: married, with a house and a dog. When I was in my early and mid-twenties, I moved around a lot. I thought that is what I should be doing. I should be discovering the world and discovering myself. So I have been in one place (Minneapolis) for almost nine years now. I love it here. I feel like this is the place I should have been all along. The one desire I had, but never acted upon was trying my luck in NYC.

My close friend the redheaded kid is moving to NYC on Tuesday. We were in BLH together and we talked about moving the band to NYC. We said if we are not going to make it, we’d rather not make it in NYC. Good luck friend. I can’t say I’m not a little envious of your move.

Here is part one of the mix tape I made for him as he leaves Minneapolis behind. Next week I will post part 2 – the NYC disc.

Disc 1 – MPLS

1. Uptown – Prince

Where I come from, we don’t let society tell us how it’s supposed to be

2. Always Coming Back Home to You – Atmosphere

These alleyways and these streetlights have seen my best days

3. Nice, Nice – Lifter Puller

We went from upstairs at the nice, nice
Up to Franklin up by 15th
And Jenny got dressed as we circled the block
We did the secret knock and stuck their hands through the mail slot
And 1, 2, 3, 4, that’s the way that Jenny scores

4. Good Night Goodbye – Mark Mallman

I got a friend in New York City who I call

5. On My Mind – Romantica

When the lights go down up on 1^st Avenue

6. Minneapolis – Lucinda Williams

Snow covers the streetlamps and the windowsill
The buildings and the brittle, crooked trees
Dead leaves of December

7. Bring Back the Firing Squad – Valet

At Stand Up Franks you are the joke

8. Ten Thousand Lakes – Kid Dakota

The thought of 10,000 lakes makes me feel smaller

9. 9^th & Hennepin – Tom Waits

It was 9^th & Hennepin and all the donuts had names that sound like prostitutes

10. Skyway – The Replacements

It don’t move at all like a subway
It’s got bums when it’s cold like any other place

Chronicles

In the few weeks I have before I start school again, I've been trying to catch up on some books that I have missed in the last year. I have been reading Bob Dylan's Chronicles for the past week and I am about two-thirds of the way through.
I remember everybody gushing about how revealing this quasi-autobio was when the book was first published. I find some of it interesting. Dylan has a tendency to get stuck and ramble on abstract philosophical points which I find absolutely boring and tedious. It is fun to get some insight on how some albums were made and what he was going through at the time. Later in the book when he is talking about recording Oh Mercy, he just sounds so self-important that it is a bit hard to penetrate.
Then again, he is Bob Dylan, he is important.
Overall I like the book even if Dylan is not the greatest writer.

Top 5

Not that anybody asked why there was no Top5 last week, but here is the return…

1. Steady as She Goes – The Raconteurs

I didn’t go to the show this week at First Ave., but my wife did and she is even more in love with Jack White than she was before. By all accounts, this show was incredible. I kind of wish I would have gone.

2. Solitary Man – Crooked Fingers

My guess is that Eric Bachmann got tired of people saying he sounds like Neil Diamond so he decided to confront the issue. A pretty straightforward cover except with a mandolin and a trombone (I think that’s what I hear). Bachmann and crew pretty much nail the song and as it turns out, he doesn’t sound as much like Diamond as you might think.

3. Street Car – Hayden

I think Hayden took a big step sound wise on his album Skyscraper National Park. The production sounds smoother than on the previous album, The Closer I Get. But what permeates through all his albums is the brilliant songs that musically and lyrically shimmer with longing. As anybody who knows me can attest, I am a sucker for a sad song.

I parked underground the night you left
It took me an hour and a half
To find my way back up above
There’s nothing up there without your love
Speeding out, filled with doubt
And heading home
Playing with the lines, thinking of time
And freaking out

4. Half a Heart – Bill Janovitz

As I said before, and as I’m sure I will say again. I’m a sucker for sad songs. The only thing that that makes these sad songs better are two-part harmonies – I’m a sucker for those too. I was looking through my music for things I haven’t listened to in a while and stumbled across this album. From one of my favorite bands of the nineties, Buffalo Tom, Janovitz has released a couple solo albums. This song is off the excellent, Up There. With him on this song is a singer named Chris Toppin. They sing beautifully together on bittersweet lyrics:

Oh half a heart, it only means it’s not over yet
Like the smoke that lingers in the air from your cigarette
Oh half a heart

5. That’s How You Sing Amazing Grace – Low

Another album I came across while perusing my music library. This is the opening track from their album Trust. I am usually not a big Low fan, but if I am in the right mood for it, Low can definitely kill.

Rockstar or Teddy Bear?

I just finished listening to the streaming archive of Mason Jennings' appearance on the morning's Midmorning program on MPR. I go back and forth on Jennings' new album Boneclouds. There are moments when I am into it, but mostly it either bores me or even invokes cringes. I can't question his integrity, I do think he is sincere in everything he does. I think maybe he is a little too heart-on-the-sleeve sometimes. There are certain songs on Boneclouds that I dig, but as a whole the album dissapoints me. I have to admit that I do hold Jennings' to a higher standard than most. I really think he can handle it though.

Having said all that. Whenever I hear him speak I just think he is so lovable that I just want to hug him. More than any other artist, I feel protective of him, like he is still a secret. I know that is no longer true. He is global. So it has inspired me to go back and give his album another chance.

Almost Chicago

I almost went to Chicago last week.

When I was asked if I wanted to go on a trip to Chicago, I thought to myself, "Yeah. I'd love to go to Chicago for a week on the company's dime. Sure, I'll work during the day, but at night I'll have the windy city at my disposal."

Well, when they asked me if I wanted to go to Chicago what they meant was, would I like to go to a really far out suburb of Chicago. I was asking around while I was down there and a local said, "Yeah its about 45 minutes drive to Chicago if there is no traffic."

I've been to Chicago enough to know that there is always traffic. So I spent the majority of last week in Chicago's version of Maple Grove. Fun.

It reminds me of the one time I went to LA for work. I was so excited to check out a city I had never been to before. I was only scheduled to be there for one night, but I figured I would have time to do something fun in LA. It didn't work out that way. I worked until 7:30 pm, got to my hotel by 8:00, then fell asleep in my clothes on the hotel bed. Awesome.

Juan Apagado is too strong

For some reason the MySpace profile of Juan Apagado was deleted in the last couple days. I have no idea why, I didn't recieve any emails notifying me of any issues with my account. Weird. I sent a message to the MySpace folks to find out why Juan was deleted. So I wait. Obviously, jealousy of my immense talent played a part in all of this.

Edit: Juan Apagado has reappeared. Strange.

Top5 - Giggin' edition

A very simple and plain Top5 this week. I’ve picked a song from all the people playing the Acadia on Saturday. Since this is my blog and I am narcissistic, I have chosen two of my songs. One from my old band, Bubba Loo Hugby and one from my alter-ego, Juan Apagado.

Don’t forget about the Acadia Saturday night.

1. On That Day – Jim Soule
2. 1995 – High on Stress (Nick Leet)
3. Heaven and Children – Brian Just
4. Hank – Bubba Loo Hugby
5. She Said – Juan Apagado

My Life with Radio

Driving home the other day I was listening to The Current as I often do. A song came on with what sounded like a 15-year-old girl singing, and I was like, "Man I know that voice from somewhere. What is it?"

Then came the chorus, "mmm-bop, badoodybop, mmmbop, fjaposidcho..." or something like that. Was I a)terrified, b)amused, c)suicidal, because for a moment I though I might like this song, d) all of the above.

answer: d

Thank you Mary Lucia.

Top 5

1. Coppertone – Duplomacy

All These Long Drives is an amazing album. I saw them live last weekend and this song stuck with me. Andy Flynn and Adam Egerdahl perform some devastating vocal nuances.

2. Forest Whitiker – Brother Ali

I’ve heard of Brother Ali for a few years now, but I haven’t really checked him out. I saw him once at First Avenue, but I was not impressed. I’ve changed my mind though. I don’t remember how I got the mp3 into my iPod, but it is there now and one day it jumped out and bit me.
To everyone out there who’s a little different
I say, “damn a magazine these is God’s fingerprints
You can call me ugly, but can’t take nothing from me
I am what I am Doctor, you aint gotta’ love me”

3. Dress Blues - Drive by Truckers
   

Mary Lucia has been playing this song on her show for a few weeks now. When DBT were last here, guitarist and singer Jason Isbell played this song live at the Current studios. This is a killer song about a young man dying at war and leaving his family behind. Don’t believe me? Check it out yourself.

4. New Resolution – Heartless Bastards

I am really digging this band. Singer Erika Wennerstrom has a voice as big as Dallas. I am usually into mopey depressing lyrics, but this is as hopeful as you can get. I guess, in addition to despair, I also appreciate people who can say Fuck You so eloquently.
My new resolution is to be
Someone who does not care what anyone thinks of me
‘Cause I don’t even like myself half of the time
And what’s the use in worrying what’s on other people’s minds

5. I Saw Her at The Anti-war Demonstration – Jens Lekman

I just saw that Jens is playing the Triple Rock in a few weeks. If I am around, I would like to check him out. He reminds me of local band The Deaths, in that he seems to revel in 60s psychedelic rock. Like The Deaths, he pulls it off sincerely.

Juan Apagado at the Acadia

My yearly attempt at rock stardom is coming up on July 22.
Thanks to Nick Leet for hooking up a kid.

Top 5 - New (to me)

What I have been listening to this week:

1. Catholic Boys – The Mad Ripple

Yes I have a man-crush on Jim Walsh. I don’t think I am the only one. Walsh’s songs are filled with as much heart as his articles have been for as long as I’ve been reading him. This is one of those songs where it is so simple, yet so beautiful, that you just find yourself nodding along thinking, “Man. I wish I had written that.”

2. Ghostly Feeling – Beight

I finally bought this album after downloading and falling in love with the song “Junior High Smiles” months ago. Brad Senne, the voice and soul of Beight, created a wonderful mix of introspective acoustic and powerful pop songs. “Ghostly Feeling,” I think, combines these two extremes skillfully.

3. Where the River Bends – Tim O’Reagan

This buzzed about album was finally released and rightfully received a fair amount of press. There is nothing mind-blowing on the album, but it is good. Big Beatles hooks highlight the songs, not to mention quite a bit of the Jayhawks’ sound as well.

4. Extraordinary Machine – Fiona Apple

I heard this song on Mary Lucia’s show last week and had to go and buy the album. This is an orchestral big band swing song. The rest of the album sounds like, well, Fiona Apple. I wish it sounded more like this title track.

5. Out of Sleep – Bubba Loo Hugby

Narcissistic? Probably, I am a musician turned writer I think it is part of the job description. Really, I am getting ready for my gig as my nom de guerre, Juan Apagado, July 22 at the Acadia. I was listening to this song that I haven’t played in at least five years and trying to figure it out. It should be a good time. It’s fun to go back and revisit songs that I haven’t thought about in a while. I played once last summer and before that it had been about 4 years.

Duluth

In writing my review of Wilco at the DECC Auditorium this past Sunday, I left out the opener, Black-Eyed Snakes. They were deserving of a write up, but there was so much Wilco to write that I just didn't have room

Black-Eyed Snakes were quite fantastic however. I could see the veins on Alan Sparhawks neck and forehead as big as extension cord wires from my seat in row L. That guy sings from his soul and his gut for sure. It was like he was posessed. My wife turned to me a few songs in to instruct me to buy this CD for her. Will do.

Duluth was OK. I knew we shouldn't have gone to Grandma's to eat, but we did and it sucked.

The toilet in my hotel room didn't flush.

The alarm clock in my room was set an hour fast, only me nor my wife did not notice. We got up an hour earlier than we thought we were getting up. We didn't realize it until we had already checked out and were waiting in the lobby for our friends with whom we drove up. So we had to kill an hour on a Monday morning in Duluth. It was all fun though.

Top5 - Wilco Edition

I am taking a little road trip up to Duluth on Sunday to see Wilco. I just saw that the Black-Eyed Snakes are opening. I think it should be a good time. I am writing a review for HWTS. I think this is my first review of a big national show like this.

In deciding on a top5 I had some tough decisions to make. It would take a lot more effort and time to come up with an actual best of list. So, here is the five that I thought of this morning. I intentionally discounted anything from the Woody Guthrie albums just because that would make my decisions that much harder. I did try to pick a song from each album, but I didn’t pick anything off of A Ghost is Born, because I still don’t really get that album. (Also, note that I am not sure what that EP is called, in iTunes it is listed as the Australian EP, but I always referred to it as the More Like the Moon EP and this is my blog so whatever I say goes.)

Have a great Independence Day weekend y’all.

1. Ashes of American Flags – Wilco (from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot)

I absolutely love the first verse of this song. It is so literal, but so beautiful at the same time.
The cash machine is blue and green
For a hundred in twenties and a small service fee
I could spend three dollars and sixty-three cents
On diet Coca-Cola and unlit cigarettes

2. Passenger Side – Wilco (from A.M.)

I spent a couple days visiting a friend in Alton, IL in the early nineties. This song reminds of that visit. Mostly because we were drunk the whole time and we didn’t have a car so we walked and bummed rides and took taxis all over this little southern Illinois town.

3. The Lonely 1 – Wilco (from Being There)

Another absolutely beautiful song. There is a heartbreaking sense of longing in Tweedy’s voice. It gives me the roller coaster feeling in my stomach just thinking about it.
When I get home, I turn off the alarm
I check the phone, no messages on
I play the ones from yesterday
I play your song just to hear you say that
You, you are the lonely one

4. My Darling – Wilco (from Summerteeth)

I do miss Jay Bennett’s contributions to the band, but I also appreciate that Tweedy is constantly searching for something new. As much as I like Summerteeth or Being There, I am glad Tweedy is not settling for making those albums over and over. It does seem that it has gone from a band to Tweedy and some guys who happen to be in Wilco at the moment.

5. Magazine Called Sunset – Wilco (from More Like the Moon EP)

Just a catchy as hell song that comes from the EP that appeared after Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. I can see why they wouldn’t include this song on that album as it sounds more like a Summerteeth era Wilco song.
There’s a magazine called sunset
And a tape machine that won’t let
Me ever forget this impossible longing for you

Top 5 - Summer Edition

In honor of the official start of summer, here are the top 5 summer songs.

1. Summer Babe – Pavement

Summer of 1995 is when my Pavement crush fully bloomed. At first, it was Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, but then I explored the album Slanted & Enchanted. The songs on that album sound like a sweaty, sticky and humid summer day.

2. 405 – Death Cab For Cutie

I was unemployed the winter of ‘01/’02. What does that have to do with summer songs? Nothing. I did fall in love with Death Cab during that time though. This song about giving up and just going to get drunk resonated with me. I am no stranger to that feeling.

Misguided by the 405
‘Cause it led me to an alcoholic summer
I missed the exit to your parents’ house hours ago
Red wine and cigarettes
Hid your bad habits underneath the patio

3. Three Days – Jane’s Addiction

The summer before my senior year of high school I discovered Jane’s Addiction. They were so powerful and vulnerable at the same time. I remember riding around in my friend Aaron’s Mom’s car, looking for places to skateboard or just driving around killing time. This was our soundtrack.

4. Nuthin’ But a “G” Thang – Dr. Dre

Rolling around Denver in Buddy Keechel’s low rider pickup listening to all these hip-hop groups I had never heard of was how I spent the summer of 1993. The Chronic definitely got the most play. Remember back when Snoop Dogg was just a kid?

5. Stars and Stripes of Corruption – Dead Kennedys

The first punk rock album I ever bought. It came from Mother’s record and tapes at Pembroke Mall in Virginia Beach. It was a cassette tape and I think I bought it just after school let out for the summer in the year before, I think, 9^th grade. I didn’t understand the beauty of this song until a few years later, when I was jaded and cynical enough to empathize.

I'm not sure what to call this

This statue is in Boston Common.

Both Heather and I could not quite figure out what it is supposed to represent.

We were not the only ones standing around laughing and taking pictures.

I think they put it there just to mess with the tourists.

Please know this...

If we are in a meeting together and you use the word "guesstimate," please know that I am concentrating hard to send from my brain to yours electromagnetic daggers that will destroy you.

The word is simultaneous, not sim-u-taneous.

Tucson is city in Arizona, Tuscan is a form of Tuscany, a region of Italy.

Top 5

1. Why I Act This Way – The Winter Blanket

I’ll be at the Kitty Cat Klub tonight to try to review the Winter Blanket again. I’ve tried twice before, but for various reasons, haven’t got the job done. I’ve never seen a show at the KCK before tonight. I haven’t heard that much about it as a music venue either. I hope that it doesn’t piss me off.

2. Can’t Hardly Wait – The Replacements

The new “best of” by the Replacements came out this week. Maybe this is one of those music snobbery things, but I don’t really like “best of” albums. I like to hear albums as entire pieces of work, rather than a collection of singles. That’s not to say I don’t own any albums like that, it’s just that I would rather hear what was left off the greatest hits.

3. I Hate My Generation – Sloan

This is off my favorite Sloan album, Twice Removed. Honestly, I haven’t cared much for their other albums. The musical chairs version of singers always made me happy. I love good two or three part harmonies. I’m a sucker for ‘em.

What could you both possibly share?
Other than the color of your hair
Shawn said, “We both play guitar.”
Never even have to say a word
That’s the best thing that I’ve ever heard
You have left your fingerprint on me

4. Junior High Smiles – Beight

A friend told me about Beight a while ago. I downloaded this song from Beight’s myspace page and then didn’t pay much attention. Then it snuck up on me a few weeks ago. The falsetto during the chorus just makes me smile and think of sunny days in high school just hopelessly crushing on girls in the parking lot after school. Is that weird?

The way the water drips off of you
When we’re running from the bus to school
Makes me wanna run and hide
‘Cause I feel so shy, shy, shy, shy, shy-y-y-y
Run around you-oo-oo
Shy, shy, shy, shy, shy-y-y-y

5. School’s Out – Soul Asylum

This Alice Cooper cover begins Soul Asylum’s After The Flood live album. This is number five because my summer class end next Tuesday and I am so ready to actually enjoy summer instead of stressing about homework.

School’s out completely

Say What Now?

Last night, Kare11 ran a story about the Dixie Chicks' new album and how they are not backing down from their anti-W remarks a few years ago. Dan Wilson and Gary Louris each helped the chicks with some songs for their new albums. Kare11 reporter Scott Goldberg reported this and then somehow made the leap to Bob Dylan to Prince to Doomtree in the span of about 90 seconds. Apparently they are all purveyors of the Minnesotan protest song. The piece was fluff and a nice way to get the two most famous Minnesota musicians on the air. Oddly, Goldberg didn't have any comment from the Dixie Chicks, Louris or Wilson.

He also failed to mention that even though the Chicks have the number 1 country album on the charts, they are recieving no airplay from corporate owned country radio. Goldberg did mention that the chicks may have to cancel some concerts because of slow ticket sales. A fact the chicks themselves deny.

Overall this is a worthless story. There is so much good music in this town that if the television stations wanted to do an interesting story they would have no problem, but I guess they think the soccer mom from Minnetonka may not understand or appreciate that.

Top 5

It's been a busy week so I didn't have time to work a proper Top 5 into shape. Luckily there is the trusty shuffle feature on my iPod. So here is a cheater's edition...

1. The Ashtray Hearts – English

This is one of those local bands that I think should be huge. Their spare, alt-country sound just evokes heartache. Singer-Guitarist Dan Richmond’s and multi-instrumentalists Aaron Schmidt’s voices harmonize so well together that every word sounds absolutely sincere and immediate.

2. Broken Social Scene – Almost Crimes

It is 8:00 in the morning and my brain is not quite up to full speed yet. I can’t think of an accurate way to describe BSS. I will say that sometimes their music just irritates me and then sometimes I just totally dig it. It is very dependent on my ever-swinging moods.

3. Pearl Jam – Don't Believe in Christmas
   

PJ’s fan club single from a few years back. It has a heavy garage sound. I believe it is cover of a 60s garage band. (I think it is the Sonics, but I can’t be sure.)

Don’t believe in Christmas
Don’t believe in Christmas
‘Cause I didn’t get nothin’ last year

4. Stook – Deliverance From Your Eyes

I still need to make it out and see this guy. From the glowing reviews from the HWTS crew, I think the live show is probably something special. He definitely shows his skills on record, but I feel like he is one of those performers that would shine with the energy of performance.

I’ll be back time after time
Lead that straight and narrow line
Doesn’t anybody hear my cries
When I’m begging for deliverance from your eyes

5. Hayden – Woody

This is a short little love song from the vastly underrated Canadian folk singer. There is a live version of this song on Live at Convocation Hall where Hayden explains the origin of the song. He adopted a stray cat and each spring the cat disappears only to return looking disheveled and, “obviously up to no good.”

I am just sitting here
wasting my time
Til you come home
from your escapades
In the backyard
with your friends of late

I would be worried
if you didn't do this
every spring
when the grass grows
and there's birds and trees
and the sun shines
and you don't need me

Black T-shirt

I'd been meaning to share this picture for a few weeks now. This guy was at the Dad in Common CD release show at the Turf Club in May.

Back in Black

I was going to post some pictures from my vacation to Boston and Virginia, but I left my camera at my Mom's house. I should have some photographic evidence by the end of the week.

We went to a Red Sox game, visited my cousin, drank alot and spent a shitload of money in Boston.

We slept, hung out by pools, walked down the beach and enjoyed dinners bought by relatives in Virginia.

One interesting, if slightly uncomfortable incident to relay.

We went to Chicho's in Virginia Beach which is on the strip down by the beach. I used to go there when I would come home and have drinks and party. They have the best pizza in Virginia Beach in my opinion.

So we went there on a Wednesday night and it just happened to be Lifeguard night. They had some heavy metal cranked on the sound system, which I didn't really enjoy at all. But some people who did enjoy the music were the throngs of tanned young lifeguards. I would guess aged 21 or 22. Meanwhile, me and the wife sat there drinking our Corona and eating our pizza feeling very, very old. I think it is the first time I have felt like a tourist in my hometown. An old tourist to boot.

Okay maybe that story was only interesting to me, but aren't blogs all about self fulfillment.

Top 5 - Boston Edition

Real quick:

In honor of my trip to Boston, here is the beantown edition of the Top 5.

1. Dinosaur Jr. – Freak Scene

Of course my favorite band could not escape the Boston Top 5. I don’t know what else I could say about J and company. This is off the album Bug, which was Lou Barlow’s last album with the band.

It’s so fucked I can’t believe it
If there’s a way I wish we’d see it
How could it work, just can’t conceive it
Oh what a mess it is to leave it
Sometimes I don’t thrill you
Sometimes I think I’ll kill you
Just don’t let me fuck up will you
‘Cause when I need a friend it’s still you

2. Pixies – Gigantic

My feelings about the Pixies goes in cycles. Sometimes I listen to them and think they are the greatest band I’ve ever heard. Sometimes I think their music sounds really dated and stale. I have always loved the way that Kim Deal’s and Black Francis’s voices worked together. This song features mostly Deal’s angelic voice.

3. Buffalo Tom – Taillights Fade

Another one of my favorites that happen to hail from Boston. This song is from Let Me Come Over, which is a little rawer than their later work. You can hear the great songwriting still.

4. Morphine – Honey White

I’ve never been a huge fan of Morphine. I know there are people out there who are totally infatuated with this band. I can see how that is possible, I just could never really get into it. There is a great story on First Avenue’s website about the ghost of Mark Sandman haunting the stage. (I can't find it on the website anymore. If anybody knows where to find that story let me know)

5. Blake Babies – Girl in a Box

This album was so cute and full of bubble gummy pop music with a dark edge. No song shows their subtle wit and darkness better than this one in my opinion. The only song on the album Sunburn in which guitarist John Strom sings lead vocals.

And I hope I die in the nighttime
With a beer in my hand
And you by my side
I got a girl in a box
We play games, I’m anything I’m not
But I wanna be, yeah, I wanna be
She’ll be a slut, or a dirtly little whore
Or the girl next door or my bride instead
Or I’ll cut off her head
If I want to

Top 5 - Birthday Edition

1. The Beatles – Here Comes The Sun

The Wife bought me Abbey Road on vinyl for my birthday, which was yesterday. I haven’t really had a chance to listen to it yet because I didn’t get home last night until 9:30. It was quite a birthday, I worked from 7:30 to 4:45 and had school from 6:00 to 9:00, so I didn’t really get to do anything fun.

2. The Hold Steady – Multitude of Casualties

I have this album already on CD, but the wife bought “Separation Sunday” on vinyl as well. It is hard to pick a favorite song on this album. This one popped into my head though: “She said I shipped it out from Boulder/ Packed in coffee grounds and wrapped around in dryer sheets.”

3. Bob Dylan – If Not for You

Continuing the birthday gift related songs, I got a Bob Dylan T-shirt as well. I played this song at my wedding (as well as Such Great Heights by The Postal Service). It was funny because a lot of the people at the wedding had never heard me sing before and were shocked that I could actually pull it off. “If not for you/ babe, I’d stay awake all night/ just waiting for the morning light/ to come shining through.”

4. Fugazi – Nice New Outfit

I didn’t know what song to pick to correlate to my new pair of Chucks. I remember seeing Fugazi when I was, I think, 18. The guys just came out in jeans and plain T-shirts and black Chucks. They just had the white house lights on the whole time, letting only the music and their passion sway the audience. I’m sure there’s gotta be a better song to go with Chucks, but I can’t think of any right now.

5. The Go-Gos – Vacation

The only reason I have this song on here is because I am going on Vacation next Friday. Look for a Boston related Top5 next week before I leave.

New Soul Asylum Song

Perfect Porridge has a link to the new Soul Asylum song, "Stand Up and Be Strong."

I've listened to it a couple times now. I like Pirner's voice. It sounds rough and raw and he sounds emotional. It has the intensity that I thought his solo album lacked. The songs is startling in its positivity. I can't wait to hear it the context of the full album.

Rambling

Some random thoughts on a Tuesday morning that feels like it is still Monday morning.

I have an iPod mini, which holds a little over 1,000 songs. I have way more music than that so that means my iPod is always at capacity. Whenever I get a new CD that I want to listen to on my iPod I have to remove some other songs from the iPod. This process is a lot harder than it sounds. I scroll through the library and try to decide which songs I can live without as if I don't have the CD sitting on a shelf at home. I take this way more personal than I should. It is some sort of guilt for removing a song from the iPod. Weird. I know.

I got Mason Jennings' new album yesterday. I agree with Andrea about the expanded production. I like it. I was dissapointed with the stripped down nature of Jennings' last album, "Use Your Voice," because of its stripped down nature. I still don't think the sound on "Boneclouds" is as lush as "Century Spring" was. That album seemed a lot warmer to me. I'll probably have more thoughts after a couple more listens.

On a personal note, I am taking classes this summer and I am hating it (of course). We are doing a group project in my Document Design class. I hate group projects to begin with and this class only lasts six weeks which is an insanely short amount of time to complete the design project we were assigned. I am also taking an independent study Anthropology class. I thought independent study would be a relaxed pace. No. I have four anthro books to read in about a week and a half in order to answer the first three essay question that are due. I have no idea how I will get this done. Freaking out has commenced.

Top 5

1. The Dad in Common – Bat and The Beehive

These guys are a psychedelic jazzy folky rock band. The got up and played some songs with Mi and L’au when I saw them back in February. I had no idea who they were at the time. Listening to this song on their myspace page makes me hope for good things at their CD release show tonight at the Turf Club.

2. The Replacements – Message to The Boys

While I admit that hearing a new song with the title of The Replacements attached is exciting, but isn’t this the same as any of Paul Westerberg’s solo albums? The song is decent enough, but it is not going to change anybody’s life. I think this reunion of Westerberg and Tommy Stinson gets people thinking about some Replacements shows or maybe a full-fledged Replacements album. That is a lot more exciting than this song. Although I think a new Replacements album or tour is highly unlikely.

3. The Constantines – Draw Us Lines

Who the hell are the Constantines? I don’t know a thing about them, but this song kind of fell into my lap (err, iPod). Are all there songs this amazing? This is an anthemic, feedback-laden rouser. It makes me feel like I can conquer the world (or at least make it through another day).

4. The Fiery Furnaces – Here Comes the Summer

I used to love this song. I don’t anymore. The same things that made me love it; Eleanor’s voice, the backwards guitar effects, the fuzzed out guitar hooks, are the same things that sound like fingernails on a chalkboard to me now.

5. Dinosaur Jr. – Thumb

This is one of my favorite songs by one of my all time favorite bands. I just read that two more Dino Jr. albums will be reissued this year — Green Mind and Where You Been. Although I appreciate reissues, especially for bands that I discovered late, I wish they would sell the reissues as two discs: one disc containing the original album then the second disc containing all the extras. That way a new listener can hear the album as it was originally intended and then go delve into the b-sides, live tracks or whatever the record company decided to add on to the reissue.

An Open Letter to Scott Miller and the Commonwealth

Dear Scott,

What is with all the war folk songs? Okay, I know, our country is at war. I can understand why it would be on your mind. The problem is, well, how do I say this… they’re not very good.

Hang on a second. Let me backtrack to the Turf Club in St. Paul. I must be five or six years ago now. You were opening for the disappointing Kelly Hogan and you stole the show as far as I could tell. It was just you and your guitar and several angry shots of bourbon. You sang songs from “Thus Always to Tyrants,” your first solo album. I think maybe because we are both from Virginia, I felt a connection.

I went to the Electric Fetus the next day and was surprised they had your album stocked. I bought it. I loved it. It was gritty southern folk rock. There were some dirges, some rockers, some honky tonks and some spirituals. It was everything I would want on an album by a guy from my home state. I even found the Civil War songs enjoyable. (Although, I still don’t get the whole southern fascination with the Civil War. Maybe that is why I am a “Northerner” now, a “Yankee.”)

Next came your “Upside Downside” album. I felt this album had a more polished sound, but retained enough of that grit to keep me faithful. (You know that grit I am talking about? Sitting in the humid Virginia sun, your skin oozes sweat that coats your skin evenly and that ooze weighs heavy on the back of your neck and you start to feel worn down. It is a slimy sweat, the consistency of motor oil and when you wipe it away, there is a few moments of relief before your glands recoat the uncovered area.) I thought Amtrak Crescent was a brilliant song, “Well the Amtrak Crescent is a north bound train/ When you can't afford to stay no more in New Orleans/ So I bought the cheapest ticket and I carried my clothes/ And the blood beneath my eyes from a broken nose/ When life goes wrong this train goes on and on.” Red Ball Express however, was a misstep in my opinion. I think when it comes to story songs; they are best left in the past, with Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and George Jones. That song just didn’t feel authentic to me.

That brings me to the new album, “Citation.” There are just too many of these story songs. Like on Say Ho. Do we really need a three-minute two-step ode to Sam Houston? Or Jody. “I just shipped out and then lickety-split/ Jody’s watching TV on my TV set.” How can you make a song about a wife cheating on you with your best friend while you are at war sound that emotionally vapid?

I’m sorry. It’s not all horseshit. The first half of the album is pretty good. Freedom’s a Stranger is a great coming of age song, “Those drums they shook the speakers/ The bass it shook me to the core/ If the Boss had been a preacher
He could‘ve led us to the lord.” This is the kind of stuff I want more of; the blood and guts and tears, not the “there once was a man so great,” kind of crap.

See that wasn’t so bad. I didn’t even mention you hanging out with those dumbass git’r done guys.

Also, would it kill you to play a show up here again?

Love,

me

re: Dear you,

First of all, what is with this living in darkness crap? You always said flowery stuff like that. Look, you drank just as much, if not more, than I ever did. Sure, I drank, I smoked a little, I kissed some people. There is a fine line between having fun and being out of control. I never even got close to that line. You are always so serious about things. You can have fun and you can say things without it having some enormous hidden meaning. You were always trying to figure out things that didn’t need figuring out.

I’m reading what I have written and I sound angry, but I am not angry. I did love you and I still think about you. You’re right though, an ocean and ten years is an insurmountable distance. I’m glad you wrote. Take care of yourself (and relax).

Dear you,

Has it really been ten years? The last time I saw you it was a Sunday morning when I left Lucky’s Luke. I said goodbye with my eyes from across the room. It was right after all the lights came up to properly illuminate that German dude laying unconscious on the dance floor. He slipped and hit his head on the edge of the concrete step that formed the outer limits of the recessed dance floor. Anyway, that was an awkward morning. I know as well as you why we never kept in touch. We were once so close that an ocean was just too far. Does that make sense? Lucky’s was a bad scene. I remember that. Degenerates of every sort hid in the corners. I don’t live in the corners anymore. I heard that you moved to Hamburg. I heard that you still liked the darkness. But that was years ago.

Top 5

I took last Friday off and sat around the house wishing the rain would stop. It is just like me to extend the wettest weekend of the year. Not all was lost though; I made a Matthew Ryan playlist on my iTunes. It was difficult to shape that playlist down to a manageable number. I started with about 28 and honed it down to 19. Here is the Top 5 of that Top 19.

1. Matthew Ryan – Nails (From “Regret Over the Wires”)
Just last night I saw you creepin’ ‘round
So vacant, so lost, talking too loud
Still, all I need is a little bit of luck
A con that cons and a good haircut
Still, all I need is a little bit of luck
The kind that comes with a good haircut

2. Matthew Ryan – The Little Things (From “Regret Over the Wires”)
Desperate is as desperate does
A little talk I give myself
The little things, the little things
Mean everything

3. Matthew Ryan – Chrome (From “May Day")
It’s not the fact that you walked out that bewilders me
It’s not the sleep that I can’t steal that wires me
It’s not the coffee or the pills
It’s not the space that I can’t fill
That kills me
Well in case you didn’t know I got a heart made of chrome
It’s been dead since it was twisted
And in case you didn’t know I got a heart made of chrome
It’s been burned, but it’s still willing to try
And shine

4. Matthew Ryan with Lucinda Williams – Devastation (from “Concussion”)
Coffee is sweeter, days are sharper
Since I lost her, Since I lost
From the steps of St. Marks cathedral
I watch the steeple stab the clouds
Who’s lonesome now?

5. Matthew Ryan – Sunk (From “East Autumn Grin”)
I used to think
That nothing lasts
But I was wrong
Cause some things last
Like the ache of watching
And letting you sink to
Sunk

Jann Wenner is a sellout

This is a fluff piece about Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone. The reporter, Peter Carlson, and the founder of Rolling Stone magazine, Jann Wenner, talk about how the magazine is better than ever, but the piece reads more like an obituary.

Wenner is a classic example of the idealism of the sixties selling out for money in the eighties. Hippies turned to Yuppies. Now Wenner wants to be relevant again, good luck.