Sounds of the hall in roughly 33 1/3 minutes!
Are you cool?
[Note: You can add Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your iTunes by clicking here. The Rock Town Hall feed will enable you to easily download Saturday Night Shut-In episodes to your digital music player.]
Playlist after the jump
I know that this site has raised the ire of Andy Partridge, which is unfortunate since he is somebody whose music has been absolutely integral in my life. [“Mine too,” says the authors of the old piece that got his goat.- Mr Mod] I’m not trying to piss him off. And I know the Nonsuch album is not so widely loved in these halls, but it does have some tunes I love – yes, I *like* “That Wave.” I’ve played that album many, many times, I know where the little squeaks and clicks are, I know the timing between the songs. I was psyched to hear it in surround, I thought it would be cool.
Feeding this also is that I joined the FB XTC group, mostly to hear news, but honestly I’m a bit turned off by the rampant fandom there, where the praise is generous and lavish and criticism is not especially welcome or considered. Those fan groups can have a weird dynamic and maybe I’m reacting against that. But I’m not trying to piss off those fans either, just to state my opinion.
Don’t give up on us, baby. The All-Star Jam is the place to do your thing. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got much to report, once I get the time. Meanwhile, I may post some random thoughts here. Feel free to do likewise.
I can only imagine what is was like to drop a needle on Fresh Cream in 1966.
I love how Steve Cropper’s paid no attention to his hair, probably not even washing it for 3 days, but his beard is magnificent! Then there’s the delicious matter of that Tam O’Shanter, or whatever that hat is called!
While flipping the radio dial between sport-talk radio ads on my ride home from work last week I landed on the opening measures of one of the most perfect (and perfect-sounding) songs in my world: “Beast of Burden,” by The Rolling Stones. The coming updates on the Eagles’ (my hometown football team, not the band) bye week, following the commercial break, could wait. I had to listen to this soulful gem all the way through!
At the song’s conclusion, the DJ came on and said, “That was some early Stones: ‘Beast of Burden,’ off 1978’s Some Girls album!”
First, I felt like the DJ was an idiot. Then, I felt like I was 100 years old. Finally, considering the Stones have survived 36 years since that album, it could technically be considered a song from their “early” period.
I know the Stones are old, but jeez…
So the other day, I was listening to Rattus Norvegicus, which contains one of my favorite tracks, “(Get a ) Grip (on Yourself).” For a long time, I’ve liked this song but didn’t realize until a couple of years ago that it was the Stranglers. (I entered the Stranglers fray with Dreamtime, but worked my way back to La Folie, another of my favorite albums. Anyways, I digress.)
Because I spend too much time commuting, I get ideas about RTH posts in my head while I’m driving, but by the end of a long day with too much screen time, I don’t get around to writing down and researching a lot of my ideas. Here are a few thoughts I had while listening to this song and this album. Please feel free to pick up my slack and help me write this post.
Help me. Help us.
