Work Is A Four Letter Word

Whenever possible, I like my monday morning b-sides to be somewhat topical. And since I'm starting a new job today, this Smiths cover of a Cilla Black's "Work Is A Four Letter Word" seems appropriate enough. They actually released it as a b-side twice, first on the flipside of 1987's "Girlfriend In A Coma," then again in 1995 on the cash-in single "Sweet And Tender Hooligan."

The Smiths - "Work Is A Four Letter Word" (mp3)

A Family Affair

Sister Vanilla - Little Pop Rock

If you listen to Sister Vanilla and think it sounds a lot like The Jesus And Mary Chain, that's because it is... sorta. Although the band is fronted by little sister Linda, she wrote and recorded the album with her brothers Jim and William Reid, along with their JAMC bandmate Ben Lurie. So it's basically The Mary Chain with a chick singer (think "Mo Tucker" from Munki, which featured Linda on lead vocals). And that is a very good thing.

The album is full of everything you heard on the last couple of Mary Chain albums; a fuzzed out mix of feedback fueled rockers and countrified acoustic numbers. The constant JAMC comparisons might seem lazy, but that's really what it sounds like. Jim and William take lead vocals on a song each as well, so it's hard not to think of this as a Mary Chain side project. The most surprising thing about Little Pop Rock is that it came out two years ago in Japan, but has never seen a release anywhere else in the world until this week. It's hard to believe that a record this good was allowed to sit on the shelf for so long.

Sister Vanilla - "Can't Stop The Rock" (mp3)
Sister Vanilla - "The Two Of Us" (mp3)

post title by Sly & The Family Stone

Robyn Hitchcock & The Nashville Crawdads

Robyn Hitchcock & The Nashville Crawdads
Belcourt Theater, Nashville
Sunday, March 18, 2007

I was terribly excited when I saw that Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 were going to be playing the Belcourt. I'd seen Robyn four times before, but each of those shows were acoustic outings. I was eagerly anticipating seeing him fronting a rock band, especially the one responsible for his best album in 20 years, Ole! Tarantula. So I have to admit that my heart sank a little when I saw the billing change to Robyn Hitchcock & The Nashville Crawdads a couple of weeks ago.

It was hard to be disappointed once the show started though. The show started with Robyn playing "Belltown Ramble" solo, and one by one the band came out and joined him... Peter Buck (R.E.M.) on 12 string guitar, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on guitar and vocals, Sean Nelson (Harvey Danger) singing backing vocals, and finally the least heralded but arguably most talented member of Led Zepplin, John Paul Jones on mandolin.

Understandably the setlist leaned heavily on Robyn's last two albums, since those were the ones that most of the band had actually played on, but there were a few songs from his extensive catalog thrown in. "Balloon Man" sounded great with the folksy arrangement, as did "Acid Bird" and "Brenda's Iron Sledge." We were also treated to several relatively obscure Bob Dylan covers, including "Tiny Montgomery," "Copper Kettle," and "Queen Jane Approximately."

My biggest fear was that doing another show with Welch and Rawlings would basically mean a repeat of the show the three of them did two years ago (almost to the day) at the Belcourt. Even though there were some holdovers from that set (Welch's "Elvis Presley Blues" and "Look At Miss Ohio," as well as the medley of Dylan's "Lo And Behold" and The Talking Head's "Life During Wartime"), they kept things from sounding like a rerun. Even the songs from their collaboration Spooked sounded fresh with the additional instrumentation.

Of course, the show also featured several of Hitchcock's trademark stream of consciousness song introductions. Anyone who's ever seen him live knows that the monologues are just as entertaining as the songs themselves. The usual topics of sex, food and death were of course covered, but my favorite was his tale of getting late night calls from the President quoting lines from Dirty Harry movies.

The show definitely had the feel of something special. Apart from Buck, who was fairly subdued most of the time, everyone was visibly excited to be playing with one another. Toward the end of the two hour concert, it became obvious that they were going beyond their rehearsed setlist, as they started huddling before songs to plot out chord changes for a few last minute additions, including a cover of The Grateful Dead's "Candyman." I still haven't heard Robyn fronting a rock band, but after the show I saw Sunday night, I'm happy to wait a while longer.

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 - "(A Man's Gotta Know His Limitations) Briggs" (mp3) from Ole! Tarantula
Robyn Hitchcock - "Creeped Out" (mp3) from Spooked

And just for fun, here is Peter Buck playing another Hitchcock song with a different singer.

R.E.M. - "Arms Of Love" (mp3) from the Man On The Moon single

photo by Matt Biddulph

The Weekend Is The Only World

Guided By Voices does Cheap Trick. It's like dying and going to pop nerd heaven. The only way it could be more awesome is if they had done "Surrender" or "Dream Police." But then that would be a bit too obvious, wouldn't it? Although they used to cover "Baba O'Riley" in concert, and thats hardly an obscure Who song. Regardless, their take on one of In Color's standout tracks will have to do. From the UK only The Best Of Jill Hives single.

Guided By Voices - "Downed" (mp3)

The Morning After

Good morning sunshine! How ya feelin' today?

I would imagine that more than a few people woke up this morning nursing a wicked hangover. And some of those people probably stumbled into the bathroom swearing that they were never going to drink like they did last night ever again. But we all know that is an empty promise, and they'll be back at happy hour by Monday. So for everyone who's walking a little slower and talking a little quieter today, this song is for you.

Louis Jordan - "What's The Use Of Getting Sober?" (mp3) from Choo Choo Ch' Boogie

post title from The Poseidon Adventure

High Infidelity

Tomorrow people all over the world will celebrate the patron saint of Ireland by getting stinking drunk and doing stupid things. More than a few of those drunken revelers will wrap up their St. Patrick's Day celebration by going to bed with someone who ought to be between the sheets with somebody else. So today on Page 300 we pay tribute the time honored tradition of drunken infidelity in song.

The Dubliners are the quintessential Irish pub band, and their take on the traditional "Seven Drunken Nights" was a Top 20 hit on the UK charts in 1967, despite being banned on the BBC for its risque lyrics. The censors would have really freaked out if they had included the rarely recorded sixth and seventh verses. You can find the complete lyrics here, though there are several different variations.

The Dubliners - "Seven Drunken Nights" (mp3) from The Ultimate Collection

Shane MacGowan takes on the same subject as a participant rather than the victim on this track from his debut solo album. His explanation for getting caught in bed with another man's wife is kind of gentlemanly in a warped sort of way. You may not want to blare this at work, as the chorus is chalk full of f-bombs.

Shane MacGowan & The Popes - "Donegal Express" (mp3) from The Snake

Great Lakes Myth Society

Last night I ventured out to The Basement to catch a friend's band, and ended up making my first great musical discovery of 2007.

Great Lakes Myth Society is group of five lads who hail from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their brand of literate "Northern rock" combines elements of Celtic folk, Americana, and chamber pop, ending up sounding somewhere between The Decemberists and The Pogues. One of the most impressive things about them (other than the fact that they pull off amazing five-part harmonies live) is that for a band with three singer/songwriters, they manage to maintain an incredibly cohesive sound. Their songs are very much influenced by their geography, but you certainly don't have to be a Yankee to enjoy them.

Great Lakes Myth Society - "Across The Bridge" (mp3)
Great Lakes Myth Society - "Isabella County, 1992" (mp3)

Both these tracks are from their self titled debut album, which is available here. Their second album, Compass Rose Bouquet, is scheduled to be released June 12 on Quack!Media, and they'll be playing at the label's SXSW showcase at Bourbon Rocks in Austin on Thursday, March 15.

In The Name Of The Father

With St. Patrick's Day coming up this weekend, I thought I'd try to find something Irish for today's monday b-side. And I'm pretty sure a couple of Irish singers singing the theme song to a movie about the Guildford Four qualifies.

In The Name Of The Father was one of the most hyped films of the 1994 award season. It racked up seven Oscar and four Golden Globe nominations, including a Best Original Song nod for Bono & Gavin Friday's "You Made Me The Thief Of Your Heart" (sung by Sinead O'Connor). This remix was included on the single for the movie's theme song. It's long out of print, but you can still find the original version on the soundtrack.

Bono & Gavin Friday - "In The Name Of The Father (Unidare Mix)" (mp3)

On A Timeless Wavelength

When I was in high school, it was pretty much a law that if you were a drummer, you had to be a Rush fan. It just wasn't negotiable, and I was certainly no exception. But by my senior year, my tastes had skewed more towards alternative rock, and Neil, Geddy and Alex slowly started slipping down my list of favorite artists. I'd still go see them everytime they came to town, but I found myself listening to them less and less.

I didn't completely fall off the wagon until 1996, and I can remember it like it was yesterday. I sat down at one of the listening stations at Blockbuster Music on my lunch break and started listening to Test For Echo. And it was honestly one of the worst albums I'd ever heard. I couldn't believe that this was the band that inspired me to start writing songs in junior high (granted, those songs were terrible, but you've got to start somewhere). After 20 minutes sampling the album, I threw the headphones down in disgust.

Last night Rush released their new single on their website. And I've got to say... it's kind of awesome. Their new album was produced by Nick Raskulinecz, who's spent the last few years making records with Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age. If the rest of the album lives up to this song, it will be the best work they've done since 1993's Counterparts. It'll also be the first Rush CD I've bought since then.

Rush - "Far Cry" (mp3) from Snakes & Arrows (out May 1, 2007)

UPDATE: The track seems to be up and down on the band's website, so here is a mirror if the official link doesn't work for you. You can also head to the band's website and stream it.

The Joshua Tree turns 20

U2 has always been a BIG band. Big sound. Big ideas. Big ambitions. It's one of the reasons they've always been so polarizing. Even before they became the biggest band in the world in the late 80s (a position that they've held pretty much ever since), people either loved them or hated them. It seems like for every brilliant artistic statement they've made (The Joshua Tree, Achtung Baby), they've followed it up with misstep (Rattle And Hum, Pop). But you've got to give them credit that they've never been afraid to take risks. And in 1987, they shot for the moon and hit it.

Today mark's the 20th anniversary of the release of their landmark album The Joshua Tree. Building on both the commercial and artistic success they'd had with The Unforgettable Fire, it managed to sound both grander and rootsier than its predecessor. It balanced themes both personal ("I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "One Tree Hill") and political ("Bullet The Blue Sky," "Mothers Of The Disappeared"). It has appeared near the top of just about every list of the best rock albums since its release, and has sold over 20 million copies worldwide (according to their label, Universal). And borrowing an idea from the Beatles, it spawned one of the most iconic music videos of all time.

I was a junior in high school when it came out, and it seemed to be one of those albums that everybody owned. Even the people who had previously dissed the band weren't immune to its appeal. It is one of those rare albums that doesn't seem to have a weak moment. Listening to it again today, I was struck by how timeless it sounds. The records released by their contemporaries that same year (INXS' Kick, Prince's Sign O' The Times, Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel Of Love) all sound much more of the age they were recorded in. The production on The Joshua Tree seems just as fresh today as it did twenty years ago.

It would be silly to post a track from the album. Even your parents have probably heard every song on it at least twenty times. Instead, here is one of the two b-sides from the era that didn't make it onto The Best Of 1980-1990 bonus disc. This one was released on the I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For single.

U2 - "Deep In The Heart" (mp3)

photo by Anton Corbin

Dog End Of A Day Gone By

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon

Apologies for the paucity of posts here over the past week or so. A combination of being overwhelmed with job related stuff and spending a couple of days making music rather than listening to it (and writing about it) has kept me busy. Hopefully I'm reaching the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and things will be getting back to normal in the very near future. Fingers crossed anyway. After all, there's a holiday coming up that screams for a week of theme posts leading up to it.

To keep things from becoming too static around these parts, I present for your entertainment pleasure my favorite Tobin Sprout song. As you may or may not know, Toby is the former guitarist for Guided By Voices (and since then a solo artist, frontman for Eyesinweasel, and the instrumental half of Airport 5). He's also an accomplished painter, which is actually how he pays the bills these days.

Tobin Sprout - "Small Parade" (mp3) from the What's Up Matador compilation

post title by Love And Rockets, painting "Lost Soul" by Tobin Sprout

Slowly, Slowly

I'm not sure how I managed to do this blog for six months without mentioning Magnapop. We'll fix that right now...

Hot Boxing is one of my favorite albums ever. It's one of only a handful of albums I could cite as not having a weak moment. Through fourteen songs and 43 minutes, its a non-stop thrill ride of unadulterated punk-pop gems. Today's monday morning b-side is one of three demos for the album that were included on the Lay It Down single. The arrangements are all almost exactly the same as they are on the album, though producer Bob Mould beefed up the sound considerably for the final product.

Magnapop - "Slowly, Slowly (Demo)" (mp3)

The band will take a break from recording the followup to their 2005 comeback album Mouthfeel for a show on St. Patrick's Day at the Caledonia Louge in Athens, GA.