{"id":585,"date":"2007-05-22T11:34:30","date_gmt":"2007-05-22T15:34:30","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2008-12-11T09:50:57","modified_gmt":"2008-12-11T09:50:57","slug":"hear-factor-now-that-s-what-i-call-oats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/hear-factor-now-that-s-what-i-call-oats\/","title":{"rendered":"Hear Factor: Now That’s What I Call Oats!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Judging by the title of the mix I received, there’s little mistaking who put this mix of recent-vintage songs together. I assume Mr. Mod sent it my way because it had so much new music and because he knew I’d recently been scooping up Thin Lizzy<\/strong>‘s back catalog.<\/p>\n

Overall, when I play this in the background, it’s a solid mix. When I try to break it down song-by-song I run into difficulties. For fair balance, you can download the entire mix here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

The CD starts with driving drums and off-kilter guitar that sounds like the prelude to one of those neo-Gang of Four bands that we all the rage 2 years ago. (Was it that long ago?) Then things settle down into on OK, ’90s, neo-proto-goth vibe. What was that band with the redheaded Scottish singer and Nirvana’s producer, Garbage? The song is called “Rideshare” and it’s by Beauty Pill. Don’t know a thing about them. Best thing about the song is that it ends like it begins.<\/p>\n

A newer PJ Harvey song, “Big Exit”<\/strong>, follows. I like this one. It’s got a verse that sounds like what Patti Smith might do if she could sing and if her band didn’t sound like warmed-over E-Streeters, and the verse sounds a lot like Heart. There’s some Modern Rock cheese smeared across it, but this one delivers on the pounding beat.
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\nI thought the first song was a good Replacements song before I looked at the track listing. Turns out it’s Old 97’s “Rollerskate Skinny”<\/strong>. Hard not to like this song, but like the music of The Replacements, I envision their music not getting much better, and I mean that in a humbling way. Tasty little guitar break.<\/p>\n

“Oh Mandy” by Spinto Band<\/strong> makes me realize why I find myself trying to track down a copy of Phil Lynott’s first solo album, Solo in Soho<\/em>. The track mixes high-pitched, whiny vocals; a New Order-like pulse; mandolin; and Swedish-style synths for a catchy, hypnotic, and ultimate annoying blend of just about every musical trick that’s been overvalued in the past 20 years.<\/p>\n

Blur’s “Out of Time”<\/strong> isn’t bad. These guys have their own thing going, they set an identifiable tone no matter what they do. This song reminds me of one of those faceless, 3rd-rate British Invasion hits from 1965: mellow, pretty, inoffensive…nice<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Dears’ “Ticket to Immortal” begins with a guitar riff that I know I’ve heard and liked before, but then I get mighty uncomfortable as a U2-inspired orchestral dynamic builds beneath the surface. Or maybe it’s an Echo and the Bunnymen influence, I don’t know. Something ’80s. This song doesn’t seem to know exactly where it’s going. Each time I’ve listened to it, I end up seeing John Cusack holding his boombox up in the rain in that movie a lot of people love. Eek!<\/p>\n

I was looking forward to hearing this Rilo Kiley track, “The Execution of All Things”. I’d read a lot about her and her band, whatever their name is. She’s got a very plainspoken, pleasing voice that’s recorded – at least on this track – without a wash of reverb. The guitars have a New Rock sound to them – again, I’m reminded that there’s a whole generation that grew up listening to the Edge – but the guitarists play real guitar parts in places, not just effects box workouts, so that’s cool. Anyone remember Bettie Seveert? Similar vibe, to my ears, including the use of those “Beatles chords” that Oats needs.<\/p>\n

“Hurricane Judy” by Future Clouds and Radar<\/strong> is the first song on the mix that jumped out of the gates right into my loving ears. It’s got that Move-like mix of psychedelia and The Power and Glory of Rock. A-1 steak sauce!<\/p>\n

My favorite song so far is followed by just the sort of song I find so easy to skip in Modern Rock, “I Fought the Angels”, by The Delgados. I saw them once. They had a little woman in the band with dimples who was really hot. Beside that, they sucked. Over 3 days of listening to this mix, not even the image of that woman possibly being the singer of this song helped my liking it. Oats, I’ve got a broad question that you might be able to answer: What do you think was intended by the writing of this song?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Ah, and here’s a modern song I already own: Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ “There She Goes, My Beautiful World”<\/strong>! I dig this one. It’s been sometime since anyone’s used a robed choir to such kick-ass effect on a rock song. I’m actually working on a piece around their new album, Grinderman<\/em>. Hope to have it for you in the coming days.<\/p>\n

“Hunt” by Sons and Daughters is a kind of post-punk hoedown. Not bad, but I have to imagine that the women singing the song look like the woman from The Delgados to hold my interest. Actually sounds a bit like the Bad Seeds but the women singing weaken it.<\/p>\n

“Fat Children” by Jarvis Cocker represents much of what I find lacking in Modern Rock: it’s got a good beat, it’s got hooks, it’s got some “edge”…but it doesn’t add up to a song to my ears. Any 30-second excerpt would make great backing music for an ad for an energy drink or an affordable model of a Japanese car, but taken as a whole it sounds like a song that was composed to fill space on a CD. Don’t get it.<\/p>\n

Quasi’s “The Sword of God” is a winner! Sounds a lot like the dB’s with some added weight, which is fine in my book! Why can’t more modern songs sound like this?<\/p>\n

Jon Brion’s “Ruin My Day” has all the strengths and benefits of any of the Aimee Mann albums he produced. Easy to like, although the arrangements and overall tone have been done to death through his work with her and Fiona Apple. This guy’s entire schtick is to make records that sound like the cool McCartney album track on any mid-period Beatles album. Not a bad trick to pull off – and I like this song – but Brion needs a new trick. Badly.<\/p>\n

The music of The Pernice Brothers<\/strong> always hits me like The Zombies, and that’s a good thing. Like The Zombies, however, they sometimes forget to actually write a gripping song in the midst of their pretty stylistic conceits. This song, “High as a Kite”<\/strong>, lacks that ability to close out some great ideas. Is this what Gilbert O’Sullivan deep tracks sound like? I’m not complaining, but I won’t abandon my search for that Solo in Soho<\/em> album. This question comes to mind, whenever I hear them as well: Single guys (sorry ladies, I’m off the market), do Pernice Brothers albums help you woo the fairer sex? They strike me as a good warm-up to a night of sensitive love-making.<\/p>\n

Neko Case’s “Star Witness” is a winner! Her voice warms me<\/em> up for a night of sensitive love-making. The talk of upskirts of Linda Ronstadt and some of your dismissals of her classic work – not having Neko Case and her upskirts as a household image is the price you pay for your holier-than-thou cynicism! Shame on you, Rock Town Hall.<\/p>\n

“How I Long” by Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci<\/strong> needs to get its ass kicked! Beside the little roll that the piano player does every four measures, what the hell is the intent of this song? Does not compute.<\/p>\n

This Sonic Youth<\/strong> song, “Pink Steam”<\/strong> is one of their best. No one tries to sing until the song is two thirds complete!<\/p>\n

Art Brut’s “Good Weekend”<\/strong> is so easy to like. Like The Godfathers of the late-80s, they have boiled down certain elements of UK punk rock to their essential elements. Don’t think these guys will stick around any longer than The Godfathers did, but this is fun stuff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Judging by the title of the mix I received, there’s little mistaking who put this mix of recent-vintage songs together. I assume Mr. Mod sent it my way because it had so much new music and because he knew I’d recently been scooping up Thin Lizzy‘s back catalog. Overall, when I play this in the […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[342],"tags":[75],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/585\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}