Thursday, January 29, 2009
I'm in love with the "Queen of the Supermarket"
- Detroit News
"At the 3:00 mark, it accidentally turns into a Meatloaf song."
- Blender
"Removes this record from consideration as one of the best releases of his career."
- Chicago Tribune
"Unintentionally ludicrous."
- San Jose Mercury News
"Unbelievably melodramatic ... sounds like someone doing a Springsteen parody."
- Orlando Sentinel
"Might be the worst song Springsteen has ever released."
- Philadelphia Inquirer
"May be the worst thing he's ever written."
- Pitchfork
Ignore the haters: this song is so bad it's good. From his new "Working on a Dream" album, we can only hope that The Boss busts this song out at the Superbowl. What "The Rising" was to 9/11, "Queen of the Supermarket" is to, well, supermarkets.
Bruce himself explains to The Guardian:
"They opened up this big, beautiful supermarket near where we lived. Patti and I would go down, and I remember walking through the aisles - I hadn't been in one in a while - and I thought his place is spectacular. This place is... it's a fantasy land! And then I started to get into it. I started looking around and hmmm - the subtext in here is so heavy! It's like, 'Do people really want to shop in this store or do they just want to screw on the floor?' So I came home, said: 'Wow, the supermarket is fantastic, it's my new favourite place. And I'm going to write a song about it!' If there's a supermarket and all these things are there, well, there has to be a queen."
Clearly, Bruce Springsteen loves to smoke a doob and then hit up the Krogers. He should have learned by now that it's a terrible idea to shop with the munchies.
The fan-made video below is what really sold me.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Billy Powell (1952-2009)
My mother once told my that Lynyrd Skynyrd played at her high school prom in Jacksonville, Forida, where the band is from. Just yesterday, I was looking for documentation of that night and I stumbled upon the story from above which stuck in my mind. Earlier today, Billy Powell passed away. [rollingstone.com]
Monday, January 26, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Slept On Sounds: Grazing in the Grass
So it seems that quite often I come across songs that have either been overlooked or forgotten through time that I feel deserve some honorable mention. So with that in mind and following on the success of Mr Seger's great "Armpit Collection" series I present a new series for this blog, Slept On Sounds...
And for the first installment I give you the Hugh Masekela classic "Grazing in the Grass". Not only some fine trumpeting in this song, but also some of the finest cowbell in the history of music. I've heard this song in so many movies and so many television programs as their heading to commercial but until recently I never knew the name of it.
Friday, January 23, 2009
Sports In Plain Site
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Armpit Collection XV: Period Pieces
Pet Sounds
Born to Run
[New Traditionalist Country]
Definitely Maybe
Is This It?
These records might not be the greatest of each decade, but some I'm sure would make it into the arguments. They're common theme is that they each distinctly sound like the time period from which they came. Chronology is a big part of my understanding of music. It helps me to understand a music's purpose, where it's coming from, why, and ultimately it's measure against others.
By the mid fifties, Frank Sinatra was the man (the voice), but inevitably being grounded by a new type of music. This record is bizarre in the sense that it came out around the time Elvis was shakin', yet it's a swingified pop record, and a forerunner in the "concept album" foray.
It took me a while to appreciate Pet Sounds, but finally I did. "God Only Knows" is a devastatingly good pop song. I greatly appreciate Brian Wilson's rethinking of instrumentation in terms of production - something the Beatles did as well.
The Boss culminated rock n roll in 1975. For me, it marks the end of the old, a washing out of some sort. There's blues in Born to Run, but not THE blues. It's different. In musical terms, it's like major - pop - cinematic. There's so much music that came out in 1975, the spectrum was broad, but deeply linked. Born to Run stood in the middle of that, at the apex.
The eighties...honestly, I couldn't find any records I liked from this era, not one to take with me. As we all know, this decade used to be funny and then as we laughed about it in recent years everyone began to take this joke too serious. Lo behold we discovered there was actually good music (the Gen Xers finally got their say)...but it's calling cards aren't really my style. However, as I thought harder, I remembered the country music of my child hood, the traditional, yet finely produced country & western music from a new guard of brilliant songwriters and performers, like Dwight Yoakam and George Strait. I haven't picked a particular record from this era, thus marking a bit of a hole in the Armpit Collection, but stayed tuned for an update.
Brit pop...or was it rock...I'm not sure what it was, I was probably too interested in jerking off at that time. But I listened to the radio and a certain snarling, uber serious, fist pump stuck with me - their first record in all it's glory.
Ahh 2000's, it seems we've spanned the entire latter half of the 20th century in 8 years. One group of cool shitkickers blasted their way through a deep, heavy, thick web of bullshit rock n roll that completely dominated the airwaves in the late nineties/early 2000's. It's a completely American sound that would be heavily emulated for a few years until they were sadly pigeonholed and forgotten, another piece of fabric from the short American attention span - despite the dudes going on to make two more spectacular records - maybe more? Please.
A New Era of Responsibility
Surely everyone will have their takeaway lines from today's speech but the passage I keep coming back to is the following...
"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.
On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.
We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. "I'd love to hear everyone's take on the speech.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Monday, January 19, 2009
Some Fresh Air and Insight (from a man)
At the root of our current national dilemmas is an accepted lack of integrity. We are assaulted on all sides by corruption of such magnitude that it's hard to fathom.
Almost everything and everyone seems to be for sale. Value is assessed solely in terms of dollars. Quality is sacrificed to commerce and truthful communication is supplanted by marketing.
The type of gamesmanship that separates races, genders and ages by "preferences" is a most cynical brand. The integrity and dedication shown by American artists throughout our history provides a most needed and unequivocal counterstatement.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
The Shovel
Friday, January 16, 2009
What's Wrong with This Man? The Devil and Fleetwood Mac
I remember Mrs. Lear, an old babysitter, had one of these videotapes that we'd watch just to terrify ourselves. The Devil's Web or something like that.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Say It Aint So Ryan
Early semi-retirement at the age of 34? Say it aint so Ryan, say it aint so...
"me- 34-a non smoker and happy, for the first time in my life.. i am excited to finish this wonderful time i have had with the cardinals and whatever new adventures may come after march. atlanta will be my last venture with the band and i am grateful for the time we have had and maybe someday we will have more stories to tell together. i am however ready for quieter times as i think it is very evident i am struggling with some balance and hearing issues.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Garth and Bruce Together At Last!
Just when you thought the inauguration couldn't get any bigger Mr Obama surprises us once again. Sunday afternoon the inauguration week is being kicked off at the Lincoln Memorial with a free concert that has a fantastic lineup that is being headlined by Bruce Srpingsteen and Garth Brooks! Also performing will be Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, "The Coug" John Cougar Mellencamp, Usher, John Legend, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, Shakira, Will.i.am, and Bono (because everyone knows you can't officialy save the world unless Bono's involved). Also there reading historical passages will be Jamie Fox, MLK III, Queen Latifah, and Denzel Washington. Hell there's even a gay reverend giving the invocation. HBO will be broadcasting the concert from 7-9 this Sunday night (right before the season premiere of Big Love), and it will be available to not only HBO subscribers but also anyone with basic cable or satellite.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/12/obama-inauguration-lincol_n_157215.html
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Weekly Address: Turning Around Unemployment
"Our resources may be finite, but our will is infinite. And I am confident that if we come together and summon that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and write the next great chapter in our American story."
Little Boots
So according to a recent article from the BBC this is their pick for break out star of 2009, Little Boots (she takes her name from Caligula's nickname). Now I'm not too sure how sold I am on her seeing as she has every bit of two singles under her belt, but I am in love with this Tenori-on that she uses. It consists of a screen, held in the hands, of a sixteen by sixteen grid of LED switches, any of which can be activated in a number of ways to create an evolving musical soundscape. The LED switches are held within a magnesium frame, which has two built-in speakers located on the top of frame, as well as a dial and buttons that control the type of sound and beats per minute produced.
The maker of this, Japanese artist Toshio Iwai, has said "In days gone by, a musical instrument had to have a beauty, of shape as well as of sound, and had to fit the player almost organically. Modern electronic instruments don't have this inevitable relationship between the shape, the sound, and the player. What I have done is to try to bring back these elements and build them in to a true musical instrument for the digital age."
This video of Little Boots covering Hot Chip's "Ready For The Floor" is quite entertaining. Seeing this pretty blonde gal with a pleasant falsetto programming and altering on the fly while the LED's light up as the music scrolls across makes for wonderful eye candy.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Rainy Day Man # 010908
Creepy shit
You Black Son of a Bitch
The Fox News Fix For The Economy
1. Case you've forgotten already, Barack Obama is a socialist. Therefore to quote Mr. Hannity "Capitalism as we know it is dead". That means we're already behind the 8ball, and probably fucked to start with. *By the way, Who is Barack Obama? And isn't it curious that he still hasn't answered that question? At least my Memaw is coming around on him. At first she hated him and wanted him dead, but just today she told me "I feel sorry for The Nigger, he's gotta lota shit on his plate*
2. Spending money on infrastructure such as rebuilding bridges and roads and crumbling schools is a waste of money. Proff of this is the fact that FDR's New Deal had nothing to do with getting us out of the Great Depression. What really got us out was war. *Hmm,,,Iran looks pretty appealing, maybe we can stoke up a war with them to end the recession*
3. Gas is cheap again so therefore we can't afford to invest in alternative energy. But just to make sure gas doesn't go back up we need to "drill here and drill now". *by the way, if you don't believe in drilling here and drilling now then go check out this nifty Arron Tippin tune called, wait for it, Drill Here Drill Now, it's mighty persuasive*
4. TAX CUTS!!! Unless of course you're lower middle class to poor, because in that case it's not a tax cut, it's just welfare and wealth redistribution. *At this point refer back to point #1*
5. WWRD, What Would Reagan Do. Know matter what the problem just think to yourself, "hmm, what would Reagan do" and then do that. *By the way, it's a little know fact but every time you mention his name an angel gets its wings*
There you go, your 5 bullet points on how to fix the economy. Don't invest in America unless it's in an oil derek, cut taxes for corporations and the rich, remember that Obama is a socialist, and most importantly mention Ronald Reagan as much as you can.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
BREAKING NEWS:
Asheville, NC - Member of Roney Family publicly decries his name in vain, Don between rock and hard place.
“I like about it what I don’t like about Bob Dylan sometimes,” says Kim Roney, who’ll play keyboards to back Rodriguez. “He seems to be saying exactly what he wants to say instead of playing mind games.”
Full story here.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
The Nicholas Brothers
Dalton showed me this clip from the film Stormy Weather, which is a 1940's Hollywood musical based on the life of the dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson. Black musicals and the famous prohibition era Cotton Club in NYC gave African-Americans a rare opportunity to showcase their talents. In the Cotton Club, they were expected to create a jungle atmosphere to enertain the all white audience. The club featured many great African-Americans including Al Jolson, Duke Ellington, Billie Holliday, and Louis Armstrong. This clip features a gnarly dance routine from the Nicholas brothers all in one take.
HAPPY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
I just wanted to extend a "thanks" to everyone that's participated in this blog in any way. Personally, it's been a lot of fun. I will update this post later today with some highlights and some poking-fun at each of you. Until then, have a successful day.
Yours,
MH
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Stooges' Ron Asheton dead at 60
Monday, January 5, 2009
The Armpit Collection XIV: 21st C. Singer/Songwriter Dilemna
Wicked Grin
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
29
Lady's Bridge
Production is a funny thing these days. We've reached great peaks in terms of what's possible from musician to listener. Then again, it's still very possible to sit down and play sounds into a tin can. However, this latter scenario is slipping from our grasp and at this point, many people's minds have moved on.
The above albums are completely random, given the rise of many so called modern folkies, the aging of so many great popular artists, and the "MTV Unplugged effect." Singer songwriter music has become more than just a hobby, vocation, lifestyle, or genre, it's become a bastard to some and a relaxation to others. It's hard to produce a record as a singer and songwriter that doesn't find it's way into some contrived or cliche can. There's just SO many that are made. Hell, we've all personally known an handful of people who've made them.
Ryan Adams probably defines this the best. He started in one place, graduated to another, and now continues to make sense of it all. I had deep reservations about his early output. It's so easy for these types of albums to come across as soft or weak. Then I heard Jacksonville City Nights, "hey, this guy's doing something here, it's like real country music again, the kind you'd expect on the radio." This album came out during the putter of two other records, Cold Roses and 29. 29 is a conceptual album that you can read about in other places. The important thing is it's truly a listen - each time you hear it you struggle to make sense of it. Each song has a deeply familiar story that comes from a mythical place that's cloudy, dark, and hard to remember. His best work yet, removed from himself, finally. As we can see, he's even struggled to maintain this route.
John Hammond apparently introduced Bob Dylan to the Hawks, the rest is our history! Hammond continues to be one of the only remaining genuine links between the mythical blues and the modern blues. He is the real deal, best live performance I've EVER seen, easily. In the early 2000's, he teamed with Tom Waits to record an album of Waits tunes, blew my brains out - the sheer power in the rhythms, deep tonality of his voice and his ability to invoke the blues drenched in Waits' songs. I wonder if Scarjo ever listened to it...no homework assignment for you today Scarjo, you fail.
When I was inquiring with my lovely woman about "indie rock" a few years back, I challenged her to make a mix of "indie rock" for me, so I might understand how this phrase applies as a genre of music. I remember one tune, "Star Witness." Before she had a chance to advise as to which album to purchase, I'd already hit Willow Lawn in the dead heat of a Richmond summer and sat sweating to Fox Confessor Brings the Flood during my lunch break. You know how the Boss has these "invitations" and "cinematic" qualities to his songs on Born to Run? These are a result of song structure, long melodic introductions and interludes, non traditional verse - chorus chord progressions. Fox has a similar quality to it, only the songs are surreal or distorted takes on Americana. The lyrics sometimes sweet, sometimes haunting. The melodies sweeping, the instrumentation dense, but spacious.
Where would singing and songwriting in popular music be without the Brits. They've made so many great records and adored American musical culture on The Level. Richard Hawley is completely British and makes music that runs deeply into the American musical canon. Lady's Bridge kind of combines this European classicism and American primitism, but not the kind found in 40's, 50's, 60's jazz. This kind is rooted in classical pop and Americana. Think Morrissey meets Orbison. The record is a mature musical offering that showcases Hawley's deeply rich croon, intellectual instrumentative production, and lyrical simplicity. Tonight, the streets are Ours!
This list is subject to addition, as my memory lends itself. I do beg of you to please Comment with your insight for additions to this particular facet of The Pit.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
13-0 and No Title?
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Years No Limits
"Robbie Madison you are the fucking man"...nothing like an unbleeped Fuck to start the new year. Last year he jumped a football field, this year he jumps 96 feet up and lands on a building before jumping off, I hope this becomes a yearly ESPN tradition.