It’s about time

Thought I’d share a few treats I’ve picked up over recent weeks. As usual, with the exception of Art Bears, a band I’ve long dug, I can be considered late to the party on these bands, but better late than never…

I’d read mention of The Glands whenever seeing if there was anything else to check out from that Elephant 6 scene. On eMusic, there was a review for an old album that Ira Robbins, I believe (or maybe Yo La Tengo’s Ira) said sounded like what the Pretty Things would have sound like had they been from the South blah blah blah… Give me a break! It sounds like a more rocking version of most Elephant 6 stuff. Nevertheless. I like the album I downloaded. Wish I could give you more details, but that would make me a real rock critic!

The Glands, “When I Laugh”

I’ve been keeping an eye on The Saturday People‘s self-titled album from some time ago. It’s funny, I’d heard songs from this album a long time ago and always liked them. There’s also a reviewer for The Big Takeover whose taste in music and writing style I’ve always liked. One day I put it together that this writer was the leader of The Saturday People! I had to buy the album. It took me a couple more years to remember, but I’m real happy with this purchase! I think I read that the band has since broken up and the writer/leader has a new project. I’ll try to catch up with that before this decade’s over!

The Saturday People, “Find Out”

The Saturday People, “That Settles That”

The Saturday People, “No Matter Where You Are”

Eno approved

On eMusic I also saw some blurb for an album by The Books in which Brian Eno said it was the most interesting album he’d heard in ages, or something like that. After those U2 and James albums it’s still hard to resist the temptation of checking out whatever Eno says he digs, so I checked it out. I dug most of it, especially the more instrumental tracks. Reminded me of something Townsman General Slocum might do.

The Books, “Tokyo”

The Books, “There Is No There”

Finally, Art Bears have always been my favorite setting for the noodlings of Fred Frith and Chris Cutler. For a “weird,” artsy woman singer, Dagmar Krause is surprisingly appealing. This song ends with a pretty rocking exploration of The Power and Glory of Rock, a rare treat from this crew.

Art Bears, “In Two Minds”

How ’bout we stir up some Dugout Chatter on this late-November day? Your candid, immediate answers will be most appreciated.

Candy Slice or Jennifer Jason Leigh’s title character from the film Georgia?

I would imagine that even those who don’t like Dylan like the copycat Steeler’s Wheel hit “Stuck in the Middle with You”. Is there a copycat song that you like better than almost any song by the originator of that sound?

Excluding the likes of Paul McCartney and Geddy Lee, who are key singer/songwriters in their bands, who is your Most Valuable Bassist in a band? This excludes a great studio cat like James Jamerson and friend of RTH, Lee Sklar. The bassist can write and sing an occasional song, but I’m looking for band-oriented bassist credentials exclusively. You may ask yourself, Which band would suffer most from the loss of its bassist?

What cliched rock-crit modifier (eg, “classically trained”) could you do without having to ever read again?

Which album would you most like to see a documentary on the making of, with the producer/engineer and band members breaking down track by track at the mixing board?

Is there a pattern of 3 or 4 notes or chords – not the specific notes or chords but their intervals – that you’re a sucker for? For those with less musical lingo than even myself, an example would be the 3-chord structure that’s at the root of “Louie Louie” and “Wild Thing”. You don’t need to report this pattern in musical terms; in fact, we’d all have a better understanding if you provide an example from a part where it stands out in a song you love. Mad props to any Townsperson who takes a crack at this one!