Anyone else here familiar with Famous Mortimer’s work?
May 022007
May 022007
Today Rock Town Hall has gone where no rock music discussion blog has gone before. Townspeople General Slocum and BigSteve have received their mixes and are hunkering down and living with what fate’s dealt them. For 3 days, these music buffs will hear no other music than what’s been provided on their mix!
Other Townspeople have been receiving their mixes and will begin filing their reports. As these brave souls share their listening experiences, you will be encouraged to help them through the use of insider tips on appreciating the mix, empathy, and whatnot. You may be their lifeline.
To give you an idea of what’s playing at General Slocum’s place, click here.
Today, in the Comments section, the good General shared his disdain for Smokey Robinson’s “Being With You”. I’m curious to know what he thinks of one of my favorite tunes from this mix, The Radiants’ “Hold On”.
To give you an idea of what’s spinning at BigSteve’s pad, click here.
Today, in the Comments section, he discussed his love for the antiquated sound of the Fender Rhodes as well as his disdain for the sound of Stanley Clarke’s voice. You can hear examples of both in the track “Journey to Love”. You can also hear Deodato’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra (2001)”, which he described as featuring a guitar player he could have sworn was John McLaughlin.
Tune in, won’t you?
May 022007
A Venutian lands near your record collection and asks you for one example of each of the following genres.
- Early Rock ‘n Roll
- British Invasion
- Soul
- Folk-Rock
- Psychedelia
- Singer-Songwriter
- Heavy Rock
- Bubblegum
- Prog-Rock
- Art Rock
- Funk
- Disco
- Power Pop
- Punk
- Indie
- AAA
Which one exemplary record of each genre would you pull from your shelves?
May 012007
Quien es mas macho? Bronson? Conrad?
May 012007
This review originally appeared in Phawker.com.
Whew! My head hurts from all the time I’ve been spending with the latest Modest Mouse album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. This thing’s hard work. When did the world get so smart that they all get it and I’m not sure I do? This band’s moving units, right, and you can’t attribute their appeal to hot looks and sweet hooks. In an act of brutal self-analysis, I persevered. And yes, I’m a better man for having done so.
For the first few spins of this new Modest Mouse album, all I could think of was why I find this band so difficult to like. Their angular funk marches, which are nevertheless not very danceable, aren’t too far removed from the noisier side of XTC, a band I went so far as loving to defend the excessive-by-their-standards The Big Express. At times, such as on the hit single “Dashboard” and “We’ve Got Everything”, those angular funk marches verge into the ‘80s Bands Reunited territory of The Fixx as interpreted by Dave Matthews Band. Fair enough, but no reason to feel tormented by this record.
The sea chantey choruses of songs like the opener, “March into the Sea”, could not set this fan of Pere Ubu’s “Caligari’s Mirror” over the edge. Not at all. In fact, if I had my druthers the production of this album would allow for the clanging guitars to fight for space with singer Isaac Brock’s hectoring yelp. And no, hectoring yelps in an of themselves, I kept telling myself, are by no means deal breakers. But something about Brock’s yelp had me playing the first 4 or 5 songs over and over, never feeling the slightest bit satisfied beyond the brief, rare, melodic Flaming Lips-styled elfin interludes of songs like the opener and “Fire It Up”. Then it came to me: When did Bobcat Goldthwait get reborn as an indie rock singer? To carry on, I would have to steer clear of the deadly Bobcat segments.
Not the worst trip I’ve ever been on
Early on, “Florida” gave me some hope, sounding like one of those hopeless bids for a hit single off a Fontana-era Pere Ubu album. When I finally made it to a track called “Missed the Boat”, the seas began to part. With chiming guitars; choral vocals; and a brief, melodic guitar solo, this number went down easy. How I needed to get my bearings straight.
The album ends with a string of songs that display challenging arrangements; hectoring, good natured, self-critical verses and grand, anthemic choruses; undanceable funk marches; and those damned segments in which Brock channels Bobcat. A song called “Steam Engenius” had me scratching my head with a bad case of “What the hell does this remind me of?” until I remembered the verses to Led Zeppelin’s “Southbound Suarez” mixed with an early XTC backing vocal device. Land ho! The punishing journey of trying to find a way to like this album had paid off. I want to go home.
May 012007
I woulda pegged Tootie as a coke-head. Go figure.
Apr 292007
Once again I’m finding myself stuck watching Apocalypse Now, but this time – as has been the case in recent years, it’s Apocalypse Now Redux. Every time an added scene comes on, I’m proud to be an editor. As is often (always?) the case when watching this or any “Director’s Cut,” I’m reminded of all the redone or extended original works of art, and in musical terms specifically, I wonder if any piece of tape that had initially been left on the cutting room floor actually improved the work of music after it had been restored and release on some Deluxe edition. Please name one song that was improved by a restored edit.
