marc pietrzykowski

And miles to go before I sleep…

34) Graham Parker: Human Soul

A slew of great songs from the pub rock king’s post-Rumour period, this one came out just after Mona Lisa’s SIster, which I think I have somewhere. That Parker hasn’t had a zillion hits by now is evidence that humanity is a virus on the planet, or at least that record company execs are the descendents of human/reptile interbreeding. “Little Misunderstanding” and “Big Man on Paper” are my favorites this time through, Now is probably not the time to plan future music purchases, but man has this guy recorded a whole bunch of stuff I want to hear, including a collaboration with Kate Pierson of the B-52’s and Bill Janovitz on an album of lesser-known John Lennon/Paul McCartney compositions that had never been recorded by The Beatles, Hot damn! (bonus: Parker has also published 3 books, an illustrated sci fi novella, a collection of short stories, and something called The Other Life of Brian.)

35) Radiohead: Hail to the Thief

Thom Yorke’s songwriting chops grew through Radiohead’s first 3 albums, and then spasmed a bit with Kid A, which is a good enough record but also sounds like someone desperately trying to elude the artistic conditions they’d set for themselves. Hail to the Thief sounds like it wants to balance the guitar theatrics and the computer/electronic sounds, but it also sounds like that’s the main point, to balance sounds, since the songs just aren’t as good, and all the really innovative moves (long measures, horizontal dynamics, the weepy but dynmaic voice) are copies of things Yorke has done already. There are several fine ones, just not a whole disc of well-written, interesting tunes. Johnny Greenwood might have ultimately more range as a composer, given his recent soundtrack work. (bonus: you can’t really blame them for Coldplay, can you?)

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Mas y mas!

31) Guiseppe Verde: Il Trovatore

A typical Verde plot, baby gets thrown in the fire,  but is a mistaken identity: whoops, threw the WRONG BABY! Other baby grows up, loves lady, fights duel with SECRET BROTHER, later on secret brother sentences other baby to death, lady find out, poisons self, other baby and lady both dead and GYPSY tells secret brother: you are other baby’s brother! Ah-ha you just killed him now you FAIL! Some achingly beautiful solo pieces; there are 4 leads here, and each one gets at least one gorgeous solo bit. And, the Anvil Chorus! (bonus: this recording features Leontyne Price, one of my favorite opera singers; one of the few I can actually recognize on the radio)

32) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan-Qawwal and Party: Shahen-Shah

If they sang music like this in the church up the street, I would go every day, I would help with bake sales, I would wash the minister’s car. And it is religious music, ecstatic and swirling and improvisational and capable of making large crowds levitate. At least it felt like levitation, when I saw Khan-Qawwal and Party at the Brooklyn Academy of Music many years ago. A typical track on this CD starts with some hand drums finding a groove, a harmonium diddling around abstractly, and then a chorus, a line from the Quran or from some Sufi poet, is repeated a few times until the mood is suitably hypnotic: and then Nusrat soars in, over, under, and through the melody, improvising cascades of notes out of a single word, repeated in variation after variation…  I used to listen to this CD when I had insomnia, not because it would put me to sleep, but because it would hypnotize me, which was more restful than being actively awake. (bonus: he apparently recorded 125 albums befoer he died, so there’s plenty more to find.)

33) In Yo’ Face: The History of Funk, Vol.3

Not sure where or why I got this, as I have a lot of these tracks on other CDs, but what the hell, it’s a funk compilation so, like Norville Barnes, I’ll just state the obvious: “it’s for parties!” And it’s from Rhino Records, so you know the selections will be interesting, and in fact there is an ethical quandry hidden in this compilation: is hearing “I Get Lifted” by George McCrae worth having to hear “Play That Funky Music, White Boy”? (bonus: “Get the Funk Out Of My Face,” by Brothers Johnson. I bet the fall of the stock market can be tied to the decline of replacing the word “fuck” with “funk” in urban dance music.)

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Crap, I miss a day or two and feel like my rent and power and phone bill and car note and ice cream sandwich bill are all due on the same day. Such pressure!

Anyhow, to recap: I am listening to all the CDs in my house and blogging about them, and if I keep buying more, I will never die. Or I could move on to the LPs, 8-tracks….

29) Digable Planets: reachin’ (a new refutation of time and place)

When Christianity first started to solidify into a religion, there were three main ideologies that fought it out for dominance. And so it was with hip-hop in the late ’80s and early ’90s, when the Conscious/Native Tongues, Gangster, and Party-Pop subgenres duked it out for supremacy. Nobody won, of course; various strains just mutated and hybridized and gave birth to utter shit like Jay-Z, interesting shit like Def Jux, and of course, ODB. Digable Planets were hot for a minute, and this is a fun album, great jazzy basslines, minimal production, and lyrics that want to be smart and occasionally do rise above HBCU buzzword status. (bonus: “la femme fatale, ” a rap about keeping Roe v. Wade intact, disses Clarence Thomas and David Souter? Souter was put on the supreme court in 1990 and quickly proved far more liberal that poor GHWBush thought he would be; he helped defend a woman’s right to choose as early as 1992. So I’m not sure what bug got up Butterfly Butler’s butt, but he owes Souter an apology for lumping him in with Thomas. Extra: Apparently, the Planets are still orbiting…)

30) Aimee Mann: Lost In Space

What great songwriter, though I understand how folks might think her a bit dour, though I absolutely don’t understand why you wouldn’t like someone because they tended to write sad, bleak songs. This is my favorite release of Aimee’s (may I call you Aimee?), although it is in a tie for first with the lime green one with the flamingo on the cover… “Guys Like Me,” “The Moth,” “High on Sunday 51,” what’s not to like? Still a painfully unrecognized great American songwriter. (bonus: Mann is the German nihilist who sacrifices her pinky toe in The Big Lebowski)

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I bought a CD at the Art Guild sale the other day. I really need to stop buying cd’s, but since the $ went to help the Art Guild, I can pretend I’m not so guilty of having a localized consumer tic: oh, look, cds… Oh well, at least the landfill is in my house.

26) Wolfmother: Wolfmother

This really stinks, this music. I bought this CD at the Salvation Army for fifty cents, and I should probably hang it outside to scare squirells away from the garden. That would be worth fifty cents. I had heard of this band somewere, lord know where, the dying possum that is the recording industry probably hyped them into my cortex–out, damn spot, out! Basically, Wolfmother is three guys who are for 1970’s stoner rock what the group America is to Ralph Stanley. I remember an interview with Randy Newman where he was asked abuot America, and he said “they sound like some junior high kids writing songs about how they think they might have taken acid one time” (I’m paraphrasing). That also applies to Wolfmother, generic Black Oak Arkansas riffage overlayed with lyrics so stupid they’s be funny if it weren’t for the fact that I can never have the time back I spent listening to them. (bonus: sample lyrics, since they were nice enough to print them on the sleeve: “well we alwyas seem to worry / life’s become such a flurry / can’t you see there’s light in the dark / nothing’s quite what it seems in the city of dreams”; or, “woman / you know that you’re a woman / you got to be a woman / I got the feeling of love.” The real bonus: someone told me this band is no more. Praise be.)

27) La-Ppisch: Animal II

I guess the best way to describe La-Ppisch would be as a Japanese version of Fishbone with more political lyrics. I know that because I looked up translations of the lyrics, they sing in Japanese. There are better CDs by La-Ppsich than this one, which is a hodge-podge of live and studio tracks that smacks of AR execs sitting around a boardroom trying to figure out how to sell Japanese ska-punk to the US market. Which is a shame, because other stuff I’ve heard (and downloaded) really rocks. Not as unhinged or jammy as Fishbone, and harder-edged, at least earlier in their career. (bonus: the first Japanese band to play CBGB’s, apparently.)

28) King Sunny Ade and the African Beats: Odu

I dig Sunny Ade in two modes, neither of which, I suspect, does justice to the live experience. First, it is fine background music for writing, soldering, and any other kind of attentive, repetitive work; second, the muscians are always stunning and the songs constructed with enough twists and turns that active listening is revalatory as well, although this particular release is pretty spare, not as many musicians are taking part; the tracks are all covers of traditional Yoruba folk songs, which might account for the sparseness of the arrangments. Still, the polyrhythms (oh the talking drum gives me shivers), the choruses, and Ade’s welcoming voice all hum along in joyous sync… but again, I think seeing them live, dancing for 6 hours, drinking palm wine, is the point; maybe I’ll get lucky and he’ll come to Buffalo. Yeah. (bonus: Yoruban oprverb: Akẹ́yinjẹ ò mọ̀ pé ìdí ńro adìẹ (the person who gathers eggs to eat does not know that the chicken’s orifice hurts.)

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I managed to listen to 4 cds in a row, grading papers and getting lost on the Scorgie’s Reunion site. I went to Scorgie’s a bunch, underaged mostly, either got through the bouncers with crap fake ID or waited outside the backdoor for someone to let me in. Once I was of age, they had become a comedy club, and for the most part I would rather eat earwax off a subway turnstile than watch comedians. There are a few exceptions, but now is not the time…

22) Bad Brains: Attitude

Hell yes, Bad Brains had energy, compressed, molten energy, like no one else, even hardcore groups that played faster than them (i.e. DRI). They managed to put funk in hardcore, fused 2 kinds of energy, and then gave everyone whiplash by shifting all of a sudden to a reggae tune. This CD is a re-release of a cassette I bought from ROIR mailorder years ago… the fast and hard songs sound great, pressed tight as vienna sausage, and the reggae songs sound like shit. (bonus: HR with short hair.)

23) Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos: (the prosthetic cubans)

I think that is the CD title, and not just a translation aid, though that is what the name means en espanol. (Ok, I think that should have been the title. ’tis much better than non) The guitarist who lent the twang plonk guitar sound to all those great Tom Waits albums plays a bunch of Arsenio Rodriguez songs (plus a few others) with a small combo. The soundtrack for a Graham Green novel, perhaps… if only Bad Brains mixed this stuff into their set, instead of the odd reggae song. (bonus: Ribot sings very sporadically)

24) Cat Power: Moon Pix

Cat Power annoys me sometimes, other times her voice lays my head on a pillow and sings in rhythm with the moonlight through the maples boughs. I like the songs with drum machines and such, I know her more recent stuff is supposed to be revelatory because she plays with the Muscle Shoals dudes, but I think the stiff, machiney sounds mesh just as well with her voice. And, if I played with Al Green’s band, I would be a goddamn revelation too. In fact, I think the Muscle Shoals rhythm section is mentioned in the book of revelations. (bonus: the back cover picture, where Chan looks like she is channeling Holden Caulfield)

25) The Waterboys: Fisherman’s Blues

The song “Fisherman’s Blues” is one of my favorites, full of yearning and anger and it’s only 4 chords. Lots of other songs on here are fine, too: “We Will Not Be Lovers,” “And A Bang On The Ear,” “When Will We Be Married”–the only stinker is “Dunford’s Fancy,” with a poetical spoken word part that evokes “Nights in White Satin.” But maybe that’s just my problem. (bonus: on other albums, they do the literature/folk rock thing quite well. No, not a bonus. Here is a bonus….)

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Hey, wow, I’ve reached #20! Only 1580 or so to go! Maybe I should just listen to Burl Ives 1600 times in a row, instead.

20) Ian McLagen and the Bump Band: Rise & Shine!

I have never listened to this all the way through until now, though I’m not sure why since there are many good songs on here. Playing likeable mid-tempo boogie woogie for the most part, McLagen was the keyboard player for the Faces, whose box set I should get around to listenening to some time next year. “Date with an Angel” and “The Wrong Direction” are particulary strong songs; the ballads aren’t so hot, but otherwise well worth a listen. (bonus: my condolences.)

21) The Beta Band: Hot Shots II

Though I’m not sure why, I get Mogwai and the Beta Band confused; I also conflate David Bowie and Bob Dylan, for some unknown, perhaps mildly dyslexic reason. The Beta Band doesn’t really sound like Mogwai, though both use samples, electronics, and dip into unexpected song structures, but the Beta Band uses traditional lyrics and sound like they want the audience to have fun, whereas Mogwai sounds like they want the audience to feel awe. The Beta Band also sound soapy, they sound like MDMA, and they sound like Pink Floyd if Pink Floyd grew up thinking Pink Floyd was a load of crap. (bonus: the cd packaging. Glad someone still cares.)

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Probably only have time for one tonight, I want to work on some of my own music:

19) Various Artists: Bug Jar Compilation

Wow, what year is this from? No idea, but I’d guess 1992? I helped Bob a bit while he was hanging the stuff from the ceiling of this bar–well, I helped after he’d gotten it up there, by hanging from stuff to be sure it would pass the inspection. If you’ve never been to the Bug Jar, there is an apartment’s worth of furniture suspended upside down on the ceiling above the dance floor. I enjoyed hanging out there quite a bit (sorry), even after they banned me (only for a week, I was forgiven), and Ashley and I went there for a drink after our wedding (still in our bride and groom clothes) because we both wished Bob hadn’t died so suddenly and missed our nuptuials. He would have enjoyed it.     The liner notes simply list the players in most of the groups, but geez, the nostalgia I’m feeling is starting to cloy, reading all the names of people I used to know, some of whom I played with, some of whom I drank with, and many of whom I pissed off for no better reason than boredom. (bonus: some bands and names: Nod, Ochotillo, Big Hair, Dirt Box Five, Urban Squirrels, the Fugutives, Zezozose, Deerpark, Colorblind James Experience; Tim Poland (had replaced me in the Stripminers earlier), Brian Schaffer (lived upstairs, and then downstairs, from me), Patrick Denney (washed dishes at Jazzberry’s when it was on Monroe), Obidiah (fell drunk in the tub laughing), Tod (pushed him into the tub), Mark Gage (yes, Stardust Memories was pretentious too, but I liked it), the True One (the Emir!), Jack Schaeffer and Zeppi (sorry, you are a duo in my head), Andi Lee (oh whatever), Vanessa (sorry I broke yer table with my face), Ted Williams (is it done yet?), Geoff (you best have married her, buddy), ah hell everybody else too…. hiya, hope all is well. And rest in peace, Bob Duke, Ashley and I send our love.)

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Ashley and I went to Niagara Falls, Ontario over the weekend, I listened to Cds in the car, and by all accounts I should include them in this compendium, but the listening experience is too different, to diffuse to include; it wouldn’t be fair to all the CDs I listen to on my boom box, or through headphones on my laptop. So, back at home:

16) Mogwai: Happy Songs for Happy People

I think this is the only Mogwai CD I own; no, maybe I have a live one somewhere. In any case, no one needs more than one, not that it isn’t a good cd, but–they make film music, lush and surging, and mostly sans lyrics, though there is some vocodor vocalizing going on here. The absence of understandable lyrical content is not a problem, but the absence of consistantly strong melodic content is, and so the more new-agey, meandering passages really suffer from the absence of lyrics. Or from the absence of a movie to make the abstract parts more interesting. The abstract parts could be more interesting, instead of simply being set-ups for the big, emotionally sweeping parts, but for the most part, they ain’t. Good to listen to while sweeping up the basement. (bonus: the CD contains a demo version of Cubase and source tracks to remix the song “Hunted By a Freak”; seems like a fairly enlightened move, but then also seems pretty narcissistic.)

17) Los Lobos: The Covers EP

Yes, a CD EP. But it’s Los Lobos, so what the hell. I have been trying to figure out what it is I love so much about Los Lobos–is it their tastefullness? Their perfect sympatico with the roots music of several different cultures? Their ripping guitar solos? The fact that they opened in 1980 for Public Image, Ltd.? I’m sure all of these elements are parts of the greater whole, a whole that saved my life at least once, when I found Kiko on the jukebox of a dive I used to frequent in Minneapolis. This EP is predictably fun, great song choices (Tom Waits, “Jocky Full of Bourbon”; Elvis Costello, “Uncomplicated”; Ruben Blades, “Patria”‘ Richard Thompson, “Shoot Out The Lights”). But: too damn short. (bonus: their next CD is supposed to be all Disney songs.)

18) Captain Sensible: Sensible Lifestyles: The Best Of Captain Sensible

Say Captain! What’s up with the red beret! What more can you ask for, he does “Happy Talk” (from South Pacific), “Rough Justice,” and whatever the hell “The Kamikaze Millionaire” is supposed to be (well, catchy is what it’s supposed to be, and it is that). “Glad It’s All Over” is quite touching, given that it was written by a pre-Anime cartoon character. The only problem with this is his version of “Jet Boy, Jet Girl” uses “hell” instead of “head” to make it more palatable, I guess–”ooooh, he gives me hell”? Why bother, when the chorus is “Jet boy, jet girl / gonna take you round the world, / jet boy gonna make you penetrate / gonna make you be a girl”? Say shut-up! (bonus: The Cap’n has founded a political party)

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Using “bars” to mean any place that sells liquor for imbibing on premises,–:

All the Bars in Lockport, 1: Finnan’s

Has an old streetlight, a picture of an astronuat, and 16 televisions, give or take. A sports bar that also has a late night crowd, cover bands on the weekends playing only songs a senatorial majority of the crowd will know, and ok food–not recently killed or anything, but you know. People smoking outside. Nice glass of Jamesons.

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At the rate I’m going, I should be done listening to all the CDs in… 2011. Holy crap, I better speed it up–or not, I kind of like this pace.

14) The Jesus and Mary Chain: Psychocandy

Hard to believe this caused an uproar when it was released (1985), but then the pop landscape in 1985 was defined by Wham!, Madonna, “We Are The World,” and in the UK, Paul Hardcastle and Jennifer Rush. So, feedbacky three-chord drowse-pop must have seemed pretty cutting edge. Still a good album, though they basically play the same 3 or 4 songs over and over; Wire deserved the kind of success theses boys had, really. (bonus: “I get head on my motorbike / I feel so good in my leather boots”; never could figure out how that worked…)

15) kd lang: Hymns of the 49th Parallel

One of my favorite kd lang recordings, marries that lush yet tasteful Ben Mink production with songs by Canadian songwriters (Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Ron Sexsmith, Jane Siberry, and Bruce Cockburn). Her blend of control and warmth is startling, and makes me swoon on just about every song; hell, I even love her version of “Helpless,” a song that normally makes me cringe when anyone tries to cover it. Lovely. (bonus: does Joni Mitchell’s “A Case Of You,” which may feature the quintessential Canadian romantic metaphor:  “oh, I could drink a case of you, darling, / and I would still be on my feet.”)

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