Monday, September 05, 2005
To the surprise of no one, vacation season has come and gone without a blog update. I did, however, manage a couple of vacations this summer.
Just before July 4th I spent a few days in pre-Katrina New Orleans with my brothers, one of whom has since been deployed with his National Guard unit to Afghanistan. Please join me in praying for his safe reurn. The city of New Orleans was very kind to us, which makes the news of the recent disaster even more troubling.
The other vacation was our annual sojourn to the (much) cooler climes of San Diego, where we spent two relaxing weeks. Oceanside living confirmed what I've always know of myself: If not for the money, I wouldn't work a day of my life.
Enough small talk. Here's what's currently loaded in my CD player:
1) Coldplay - X & Y
Warning: May cause drowsiness. If affected do not drive or operate machinery. Avoid alcoholic drinks.
Scratch the part about avoiding alcohol....drinking heavily may make Coldplay's new album a little less disappointing to you. Even my wife thinks this one's a yawner.
2) Ryan Adams And The Cardinals - Cold Roses (Disc 2 of 2)
Adams is the kind of talented but difficult artist (that's music industry lingo for 'he's an a**hole') that can be very frustrating to fans. After five years of genre hopping, Adams has finally returned to the 70s tinged country-rock that he once made with his former band mates in Whiskeytown, though this time around there's more of a psychedelic feel to it. Current backing band The Cardinals bring a little fuller sound, giving Adams ample room to toss off a few Jerry Garcia-like guitar solos. Embrace your inner Dead-head.
3) Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth
My long lost friend and former college newspaper editor Jackie convinced me that I shouldn't give up on Oasis yet, despite the diminishing quality of their past four albums. As was usually the case back then, Jackie was right. The new albums' sound is leaner, the guitars louder, and the songs tighter than they've been since the mid-90s. While maybe not a return to greatness, this is certainly a step in the right direction.
4) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl
On their new/third album, BRMC has dispensed with heavily fuzzed guitar, the distortion laden vocals and haunted intensity that made them interesting. Instead they've released a largely acoustic album that embraces early blues, folk and gospel. Whether this is good or bad in the long run remains to be seen, but I'm skeptical.
5) King Crimson - Three Of A Perfect Pair
On our recent vacation in San Diego, we became friendly with the locals who lived across the alley. Among them was Greg, a guy with similar tastes in music who owns as much or more music than I ever have. Among the many great albums he played for us was some early 80's King Crimson, an era in which guitarist and vocalist Adrian Belew became a dominate figure in the band. This third album of the Belew era is perhaps not as strong as Discipline or Beat; more instrumental in nature but still very interesting. Belew himself remains a major talent under appreciated by the masses. Remind me to check out the upcoming Belew show in Scottsdale.
6) The Flamin Oh's - The Flamin' Oh's / Stop
In my college years, the greatest Minneapolis bands to occasionally visit were The Suburbs, The Replacements, and the Flamin' Oh's. I recently discovered that the Flamin' Oh's first two albums have been combined on a single CD, available at CDBaby. The new wave sound, omnipresent in the era, is a bit dated now, but these albums still sound great. To quote Ian Hunter, "old records never die".
TURNTABLE CORNER: Believe it or not, I still have a turntable. These are the most recent albums to cross it.
Bob Dylan - Down In the Groove [1988]
Green On Red - No Free Lunch [1985]
UK - Danger Money [1979]
Darol Anger/Barbara Higbie - Tideline [1982]
Sly And The Family Stone - Anthology [1981]
The Woodentops - Giant [1986]
Todd Rundgren - Back To The Bars [1978]
Jeff Beck - Wired [1976]
The Suburbs - Credit In Heaven [1981]
Peter Tosh - Wanted Dread And Alive [1981]
George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Move It On Over [1978]
Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed using the link at the top of this page. Keep the e-mails coming, as it makes me feel like this is somewhat less of a waste of time.
As you were.
Just before July 4th I spent a few days in pre-Katrina New Orleans with my brothers, one of whom has since been deployed with his National Guard unit to Afghanistan. Please join me in praying for his safe reurn. The city of New Orleans was very kind to us, which makes the news of the recent disaster even more troubling.
The other vacation was our annual sojourn to the (much) cooler climes of San Diego, where we spent two relaxing weeks. Oceanside living confirmed what I've always know of myself: If not for the money, I wouldn't work a day of my life.
Enough small talk. Here's what's currently loaded in my CD player:
1) Coldplay - X & Y
Warning: May cause drowsiness. If affected do not drive or operate machinery. Avoid alcoholic drinks.
Scratch the part about avoiding alcohol....drinking heavily may make Coldplay's new album a little less disappointing to you. Even my wife thinks this one's a yawner.
2) Ryan Adams And The Cardinals - Cold Roses (Disc 2 of 2)
Adams is the kind of talented but difficult artist (that's music industry lingo for 'he's an a**hole') that can be very frustrating to fans. After five years of genre hopping, Adams has finally returned to the 70s tinged country-rock that he once made with his former band mates in Whiskeytown, though this time around there's more of a psychedelic feel to it. Current backing band The Cardinals bring a little fuller sound, giving Adams ample room to toss off a few Jerry Garcia-like guitar solos. Embrace your inner Dead-head.
3) Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth
My long lost friend and former college newspaper editor Jackie convinced me that I shouldn't give up on Oasis yet, despite the diminishing quality of their past four albums. As was usually the case back then, Jackie was right. The new albums' sound is leaner, the guitars louder, and the songs tighter than they've been since the mid-90s. While maybe not a return to greatness, this is certainly a step in the right direction.
4) Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Howl
On their new/third album, BRMC has dispensed with heavily fuzzed guitar, the distortion laden vocals and haunted intensity that made them interesting. Instead they've released a largely acoustic album that embraces early blues, folk and gospel. Whether this is good or bad in the long run remains to be seen, but I'm skeptical.
5) King Crimson - Three Of A Perfect Pair
On our recent vacation in San Diego, we became friendly with the locals who lived across the alley. Among them was Greg, a guy with similar tastes in music who owns as much or more music than I ever have. Among the many great albums he played for us was some early 80's King Crimson, an era in which guitarist and vocalist Adrian Belew became a dominate figure in the band. This third album of the Belew era is perhaps not as strong as Discipline or Beat; more instrumental in nature but still very interesting. Belew himself remains a major talent under appreciated by the masses. Remind me to check out the upcoming Belew show in Scottsdale.
6) The Flamin Oh's - The Flamin' Oh's / Stop
In my college years, the greatest Minneapolis bands to occasionally visit were The Suburbs, The Replacements, and the Flamin' Oh's. I recently discovered that the Flamin' Oh's first two albums have been combined on a single CD, available at CDBaby. The new wave sound, omnipresent in the era, is a bit dated now, but these albums still sound great. To quote Ian Hunter, "old records never die".
TURNTABLE CORNER: Believe it or not, I still have a turntable. These are the most recent albums to cross it.
Bob Dylan - Down In the Groove [1988]
Green On Red - No Free Lunch [1985]
UK - Danger Money [1979]
Darol Anger/Barbara Higbie - Tideline [1982]
Sly And The Family Stone - Anthology [1981]
The Woodentops - Giant [1986]
Todd Rundgren - Back To The Bars [1978]
Jeff Beck - Wired [1976]
The Suburbs - Credit In Heaven [1981]
Peter Tosh - Wanted Dread And Alive [1981]
George Thorogood & The Destroyers - Move It On Over [1978]
Thanks to all of you that have e-mailed using the link at the top of this page. Keep the e-mails coming, as it makes me feel like this is somewhat less of a waste of time.
As you were.
