Discography - Week 39

And we've reached the dawn of the Trump years (actually, as I've proposed repeatedly on Twitter, my theory is that it will be the Trump months as the GOP will move fairly quickly to impeach him, which will leave us with President Pence, which shouldn't fill any of us with glee, but at least I suspect he is sane; but I digress).  These are uncertain times, and the general sense of sturm und drang has certainly been apparent in our little Discography discussion over the last several months.

I want to call attention to the excellent post from the esteemed Jack Schultz and point out that he is in fact correct - we have to get serious about the Lucinda Williams "Side of the Road" trip.  Mike Kelly sent me along the cities (again) the other day - and I know that we had worked out a rough itinerary - so now all we need is a hole in the schedule.  Let's do it!

Oh, and we are also only two weeks away from our penultimate thematic week, the theme of which was reached through high level secret negotiations with the excellent Bob Craigmile.  The theme will be announced next week.

Jack Schultz

Otis Gibbs, Great American Roadside

I am so thankful to all of you for sharing your musical knowledge and insightful musings.  This group has certainly enriched me in multiple ways.  The great respect I have for you underscores that it is no small compliment when I dare to say that Otis Gibbs may be a kindred spirit of ours.  He is a native of Indianapolis’ south side.  He resides in East Nashville, TN where he immerses himself in everything music. 

My first exposure to Mr. Gibbs was on satellite radio a few years ago, when about the third time I heard his song Big Whiskers, it dawned on me that he was singing about Indy.  This led me to do a little research online, which confirmed he was a fellow Hoosier native.  I began following him on Twitter (@OtisGibbs) where he quickly became one of my favorite tweeters.  The man loves music.  He is also a great storyteller, with a wry, self-deprecating sense of humor. He recently attended Tom T. Hall’s estate sale, where he was disappointed to be outbid for a pool table that George Jones had once passed out on.  His twitter feed is so entertaining, that I recommend scrolling back through its history.  He also does a podcast called Thanks for Giving a Damn on sometimes obscure, but always interesting musical topics.  They are the absolute greatest podcasts I have ever heard (OK, they are also the only podcasts I’ve ever heard—these run-on sentences are the only time I have ever conveyed the word podcast).  He also does a show called Country Built for Pandora.  On a recent episode, he visited The Drive by Truckers in Athens, GA. 

The song Great American Roadside provides even more inspiration for our long-discussed Lucinda Williams road-trip.  The video reminds me of Gary Scudder’s road trip to Tulsa a few years back.  Last year, Otis tweeted from the cemetery in Macon, GA where Elizabeth Reed, Berry Oakley, and Duane Allman are all buried.  Otis emits a vibe that makes me believe if we invited him on the road-trip, he might say “Sure, let’s go!” 

For once, I’m not blogging about music that is decades old.  Otis’ new album, Mount Renraw, was officially released yesterday.  There is a song (Sputnik Monroe) on the album that reminds me of Gary Scudder because it includes two things that he holds dear-- 1) Wrestling and 2) Prominent use of the word “chicanery”. The album’s release date coincides with the 56-year anniversary of Sputnik’s arrest on Beale Street in Memphis. 

Here’s to people who enjoy music, like Otis….like us. 

Gary Beatrice

Patty Smith, Piss Factory

Is there a better and more influential musician than Patti Smith who is not in the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame? I can't think of any.

"Piss Factory" is nothing less than brilliant social commentary skewering the left (it isn't exactly pro-Union) and the right (Patti has no idea what her employer manufactures, piss she supposes).

The brilliance of the song extends beyond the lyrics, which angrily captures the discontent and hopelessness of the working poor, into the musical and vocal presentation. Smith uses a style that is closer to spoken word than singing, but it is hypnotically beautiful, and forces you to listen.

Now that she is an acclaimed writer and Bob Dylan selected her to accept his Nobel Prize her music will get the attention it deserves.

Dave Wallace

Sloan, Ill Placed Trust

Sloan is a terrific Canadian band, who've made a series of great albums.  One of my favorite Sloan songs, Ill Placed Trust seems an appropriate warning for the minority of the American electorate that voted for Trump.  The chunky guitar riff, catchy chorus, and awesome backing vocals belie the bitterness of the lyrics.  While it's probably about the end of a relationship, it feels appropriate for our current political climate:

Can you feel it, all around you

The paranoia that's been brought on by the sad truth

Ill placed trust, promises rust.

Dave Mills

Another perpetually late entry from Mills...

"DLZ" by TV on the Radio

TV on the Radio are an incredibly diverse band, in terms of their influences, their styles, even their instrumentation -- brass and strings regularly feature along with synths, guitars, and a diverse array of global percussion. They put it all together in a combination that evokes the Pixies, Bowie, Prince, you name it. I think I first tuned in to them with their Return to Cookie Mountain album in 2006, but this song is from their 2008 album, Dear Science. I haven't listened to it in a while, but I was reminded of it earlier this week. I'm rewatching the Breaking Bad series, watching with my wife, who hadn't yet seen it. (We lived a cable-less life for years. My first opportunity to watch Breaking Bad was during the year I moved to Burlington while she stayed in Ohio so our daughter could finish her final year of high school there. Not a fun year, but at least I had Walter White to keep me company.) Anyway, this song shows up toward the end of episode 10 of season 2, when Walter decides to return to the meth cooking game after having initially made the decision to quit. He's in a Home Depot-type store, sees an inept meth cook getting supplies, and suddenly realizes that he likes the feeling of being good at something, being in control of something, being recognized as powerful within a domain. So he threatens the other cook, telling him to get out of his territory. You can see the dark sense of purpose flood over him in that encounter, as this song builds in intensity in the background. Like so many other aspects of the Breaking Bad series, this song is perfectly chosen for that moment. The tone fits musically, and the lyrics speak of a lust for power and control coupled with increasing destruction, ending with the repeated refrain: "This is beginning to feel like the dawn of a loser forever." I'll allow you to insert your own contemporary political reference points here. ​The lyrics are worth a read in their entirety, as they're not always perfectly clear in the delivery.

With that, I'm off to compete in the illustrious Winter Four-Sport Triathlon. Follow on twitter:  #w4st17

Bob Craigmile

I'm going to now veer off and describe a youtube music channel you might find fun.

In 2008 or so I threw down for the Rock Band video game.  I'd seen some videos of a guy playing it on the wee plastic drum set the game provided and thought, "music and video games! Finally!"

8 years and $1000 of drum equipment and software later little Bobby got his drum set (electronic).  I am a complete hack, but sometimes it's fun to plug in my phone and jam along ham-handedly with Led Zeppelin or ZZ Top.  

Whilst looking for instruction on how to play said Led Zeppelin a while back I stumbled on Bonzoleum 

And it is enteraining as hell.  He is Terry Keating and lives in Chicago (note the accent) and has been in bands for years, even, I believe, a LZ tribute band.  The videos are raucous and silly and not always super technical.  Sure you can watch the video about how to play Bonham Triplets, 

but you (or at least *I*) can't play it anyway, so why not watch a video about his vasectomy instead?

In any case, if you really want to get your tendonitis to flare, buy some edrums; then when you're waiting for your elbows to heal, watch some funny videos by a drummer in Chicago.

Cyndi Brandenburg

Here is another late entry, cobbled together in between sporting events....

Amanda Palmer, In My Mind 

A couple of months ago, I turned 50, and I made a commitment to make the most of this milestone year. Totally self-indulgent and thoughtlessly mindless, yet a testament to the fact that I am self-aware enough to realize that as my life plays out already so fully and far beyond anything previously expected for reasonable life expectancies a century or two ago, simply being alive is probably worth paying attention to.  As many of you know, I plan to do 50 things this year that I have never done before. I've  already checked 13 or so items off my list, and I am on track to knock off at least 37 more prior to when my 51st birthday appears on the horizon.

So in honor of Project 50, I offer up this.  I came across Amanda Palmer relatively recently, and I was immediately drawn to this song despite its arguably boring and repetitive loops.  That seemed weird, until I figured out why.  The negative stories we tell ourselves--about ourselves--over and over and over, won't stop until we reach a certain level of maturity that compels us to put an end to those narratives once and for all.  And when we do, we can finally move forward and own what we are and who we are and how we inevitably change over time, although we can still dream big, and find wonder in where we one day might be.  I relish in the uncertainty of it all.

So here's to this:

I can be trusted to drink a glass of Chardonnay on more days than not.

I never wore a corset until I was fifty, when in the name of theater, I wore one hour after hour, night after night, for a week.

I still have a tattoo to get.

I will never again bother to imagine what it might be like to weigh 120 pounds.

I actually appreciate the fact that I haven't grown out of occasionally feeling hungover the next morning.

I only enjoy being in control some of the time.

I rarely (if ever) lose my wallet.

I have adventurous friends who I can count on to go with me wherever.

I hate gardening.

I have no idea what it means to be old, or where to delineate the line between what is beautiful and what is not.

I imagine so many things that aren't actually happening, and I find great solace in my made-up alternative worlds.

I'm also living in the moment.

I will always try to be living in the moment.

So, fuck, yes.....

Time to go dominate the competition

Dave Kelley

"Rape, Murder, it's just a shot away"

The Rolling Stones, Gimme Shelter

The Stones are obviously one of the greatest bands in the history of Rock and Roll and have released countless classic songs.  That being said, I think "Gimme Shelter" is infinitely better than whatever their second best song might be.  I have mentioned before Bruce's stated goal of achieving "apocalyptic grandeur" on Darkness.  Job well done Boss, but sorry Bruce but to my ear no artist has ever achieved the kind of apocalyptic grandeur that the Stones did on "Gimme Shelter".  The lyrics are simple but devastating.  Everything combines to make this arguably the greatest song of the rock era.  Everyone plays and sings as if their life depended on it.  Major props to Merry Clayton for contributing the female vocals which are just fucking amazing.

The conventional wisdom is that the inspiration for the song was the nightmare the band experienced at Altamont.  Whether it was that or Vietnam or the violence that dominated the late sixties, does not really matter to me.  This is a song that will never sound dated, and of course the subject matter will always be relevant.

My timing for choosing this song is no accident.  While I do not think that DT will bring about the apocalypse, he and his band of orcs will certainly cause great harm to many people and to the reputation of the great experiment in self government called the United States of America.  Sadly we do know what "rough hewn beast" is slouching towards Washington.    

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, This Land is Your Land

Of all the fantastic live music I was fortunate enough to see in 2016, the image that will stick with me the longest is watching Sharon Jones at Riverbend literally facing down and dancing on top of the cancer that was in the process of killing her.  She died a few months later, but cancer did not win.  I was reminded of a line in a Truckers' song written in the voice of a friend who died of AIDS.  "I'll dance on my own grave, thank you."  That is certainly what Sharon Jones did that night in July.

Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Our Land" really needs no explanation by me.  It is at or near the top of the list of the most iconic songs in the history of our country.  It was written at a time when those at the bottom of our socio-economic system were literally struggling to stay alive.  I recommend reading "The Worst Hard Times" for a glimpse into the lives of people in the Dust Bowl in the 1930's.  The next four years will almost be certainly be very difficult for those at the lower end of the socio-economic ladder.  Especially those of color.

Now Woody Guthrie was obviously white, and "this Land is My Land" draws upon primarily white Appalachian roots.  In this glorious cover, Sharon Jones and the mighty mighty Dap Kings infuse R&B and soul music into the song and make it even more inclusive.  The Dap Kings are tighter than my jeans after the holidays, and I just love the horns in this song.  Horns, like dogs and good beer, just make everything better.

On Inauguration Day, I will most certainly be avoiding the festivities themselves as well as all commentary on the event.  I will be listening to this song at least once.  I mean a Trump Administration is scarier, but both personally and as a nation we have faced worse.  Shit man, remembering Sharon Jones from last Summer, I would be ashamed to give in to fear.

[Editor's note: The Sharon Jones posting is also featured on Week 38 so that Dave Kelley can keep his Cal Ripken-esque streak alive of posting every week]

Kathy Seiler

The Neville Brothers, Way Down in theHole 

I discovered this song while binge watching "The Wire". They used this song as the introductory music for each season, changing the artist singing it in each season, but keeping the song the same, which I loved. The Wire was a great series, and since I grew up just outside of Baltimore, its Baltimore-based references reminded me of home all the time. This made the show even more  addictive than it would have been otherwise. 

As I've said in previous posts, I no longer accept Christianity, which this song heavily references, but having grown up as a Methodist, it still has a place in my psyche. This song is about keeping the Devil "down in the hole." And in light of the impending inauguration, every time I hear this song, I visualize Donald Trump in a hole and people literally stepping on his head to keep him down. I try to practice Buddhist-based non-violence, compassion and peacefulness. But this man challenges my practice on a daily basis. I don't believe in inherent evil but Trump comes close, and the thought of him being not only our country's leader but the world's most powerful leader is horrifying and terrifying to me. As a woman AND a scientist, he's got my hackles up so badly I think I might be turning into a porcupine.

                                                                             

I hope we can keep this devil down in his hole.

Phillip Seiler

Astro-Man, Invasion of the Dragonmen

The question is not do you need sci-fi surf punk in your life but how much sci-fi surf punk do you need to live your best life.

Man or Astro-Man's "Invasion of the Dragonmen" should be as good a start as any. With a MST3000 worthy sample to begin, the song kicks in and never lets up. I appreciate artists that grow, evolve and take risks. I also appreciate artists that boldly state "this is what we do and we are going to keep doing it and nothing else forever." Man or Astro-Man firmly plants themselves in the latter camp. And they do it prolifically. 

There is nothing deep to be said about this song, band or their music. It's fun. It's camp. Let's enjoy the simple pleasures while we may.

Greatest Halloween outfit EVER: Phillip's homage to MST3000's Manos: Hands of Fate.

Gary Scudder

The Cure, Plainsong

Following along in the well-documented, if not well-considered, Tavares/Scudder approach of writing up the songs that have been running through my mind, I'll promote the Cure's Plainsong.  I guess it's not that surprising that any song which repeats ethereal phrases about cold and being at the end of the world would find it's way onto my mind's turntable on my recent trip to Iceland.  Doubtless it also relates to getting to spend so much time with my son, who, like his parents, always shared an affinity for the Cure. Over the years one of the few albums he ever specifically asked for from me was Disintegration, from which this song is drawn.  I also find it odd that once again I'm drawn to an album that reflects the artist's tortured relationship with popularity.  The story is that after the popularity of Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (another album I like a lot) Smith decided to revert back to the moody often bleak feel of their early albums, and, after he self-medicated with an ungodly amount of psychedelic drugs, the band produced Disintegration.  And, of course, following the logic of life, it became their best selling album.  If nothing else, we can all appreciate how Robert Smith saved the world from Mecha-Streisand.