Friday, June 20, 2008

Rambling thoughts

Playing right now: David Murray Black Saint Quartet - Sacred Ground

In keeping with my tradition of buying new albums six months after their release, I picked this David Murray album up today, along with last year's Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album. Of all the band with high-pitched, somewhat whiney singers - Arcade Fire, Shins - I think CYHS ranks pretty high. Well at least I liked their sophomore effort more than the Arcade Fire's album last year, which were pretty strong but not exactly Woh my god, this is amazing (the Shins do that to me sometimes). CYHS's Some Loud Thunder reminds me of Neutral Milk Hotel and Olivia Tremor Control at times, which in my book really takes the cake.



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They were playing bad nu country at work yesterday. Things really reached the bottom of the moonshine bucket when they played a twang version of the reggae classic "The Harder They Come." Whose stupid idea was that? Yeah, they thought, it fits the sentiment of a country singer's style, so just strip away what makes it unique and give it backbeat that appeals to people who drink too much. Wham. I can see the numbers adding up.

I was also inspired to come up with a country parody for the next time my friend John and I have a session with our made up band the Wayback Machine: "I Like Music When I Don't Have To think." None of the songs I heard have one iota of creativity behind them, a buttload of annoying melodies and they probably won't be remembered 9 months from now.
Re: that song title: it'll probably require some tweaking to get the thought to be concise. But you get the idea, right?


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I haven't heard the song "Me and You and a Dog Named Boo" in at least 30 years. (I had it on a record of '70s hits by some no-name cover band, which was a birthday present at age 7.) I've heard the original version - by soft rocker Lobo - about three times in the past month.

Thanks WJAS. You're going down the drain.

More Gogi Grant please.


1 comment:

Buzz Stephens said...

Speaking of Gogi Grant, this week over at The Judy Garland Experience on Yahoo, they are featuring a recording of the 1998 Carnegie Hall salute to Judy. Lorna Luft sings and co-hosts the event with Robert Stack. other performers include Gogi Grant, Jerry Herman, Vicki Carr, Wesla Whitfield, Nancy Dussault, Jerry Maren, Bebe Neuwirth, Robert Morse, and others.
Everyone performs and offers up their memories or feelings about Judy.
Next week the second night of the concert will be posted (with a whole new all star line up).
And of course, the experience features all sorts of other aural rarities and treats.
The Judy Garland Experience is one of the largest and most exciting Judy Garland groups on the web. There is always an interesting discussion and game going on (some of the games even have good prizes). Our photo section features some of the rarest and most candid pictures of Judy anywhere, many of the taken by group members.
Please stop by and check out The Judy Garland Experience.
Here is the link:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/thejudygarlandexperience/