eMusic recommends

eMusic has a new recommendation engine which uses information from past purchases to post items on the front page you might like to download.

So far I'm mostly impressed. Some of the albums recommended I either am already planning to pick up or already have. Really impressive is that it has correctly been surmised that I am interested in rockabilly when I have downloaded very little from that genre so far.

Less impressive is that, apparently based on my download of a Twisted Sister Christmas album, 80s hair metal is pretty consistantly recommended. Nothing's perfect I guess ...

Joan Jett

Happy birthday Joan! It is either her 50th or 48th depending on who you ask. Either way, happy birthday!

And God I feel old now ...

eMusic August 08

Some actually from September, I think ...

7 Year Bitch - Viva Zapata

Well, what genre would you think? There's a story behind this one.

Abigail Washburn - The Sparrow Quartet EP

Trad. With cello. And some of it is in Mandarin.

Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet - Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet

See above.

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country

Indie pop with vocals best described as "sweet".

Hyperbubble -Solid Pop

Synthpop, with robots and everything.

Po' Girl - Vagabond Lullabies

Trad.

Rasputina - Cabin Fever

Goth. I guess. It features cellos. Cellos are cool. Not as cool as basses, but still cool.

The Be Good Tanyas - Hello Love

Oh how I dig this band. Trad.

The Gits - Frenching The Bully

A companion of sorts to Viva Zapata

The Wailin' Jennys - 40 Days

But how I do like harmony. Trad.

eMusic July 08

I started off July intending to concentrate on Japanese bands, but ended up getting some non-Japanese stuff, as well as springing for some extra downloads.

5, 6, 7, 8s Bomb the Twist

Japanese. Very reminisciant of late 60s pop. Mostly known in the US for performing in the movie Kill Bill.

The Arrows and Friends "I Love Rock & Roll"

Re-recording, but at least some of the original Arrows.

Funsong Band "I Love Rock & Roll"

Kids

Gito Gito Hustler Love Roll

Japanese. All-female pop punk.

Guildo Horn Party with Sven Parker "Ich Find' Schlager Toll"

German language rewrite of "I Love Rock & Roll".

Guitar Wolf Jet Generation
Guitar Wolf Planet of the Wolves

Japanese. Loud 50s-style garage.Guys, but they get away with it cuz they're so dang cool. Absolutely icebox. They cover Eddie Cocharan, pretty much worship Joan Jett, sing about UFOs, and in Wild Zero they fought zombies. Guitar Wolf pretty much drip cool from every pore..

Hayseed Dixie "I Love Rock & Roll"

Bluegrass. Band name is a play on AC/DC.

Hit Crew "I Love Rock & Roll

Kids.

Lenni Jabour "I Love Rock & Roll"

Anabella Lwin "I Love Rock & Roll"

Lwin was the vocalist with Bow Wow Wow.

Kizooks! band "I Love Rock & Roll"

Kids.

Kirsty Maccoll The Stiff Years

Stiff was her record label in the 70s and early 80s, and shame on you for thinking anything else was implied.

Malaria! Compiled 1981-1984

German. The '!' is part of the band name.

Pickin' On Series studio band "I Love Rock & Roll"

Bluegrass.

Musique "I Love Rock & Roll"

Raleigh Ringers "I Love Rock & Roll"

Bells.

Shonen Knife 712

Japanese. Pop-punk. Well-liked in the 'alternative' scene, deserved to be more widely known in the West.

Julia Stjerneskudd "I Love Rock & Roll"


Supersnazz Diode City

Japanese.

The Pebbles First Album

Japanese. Think 60s go-go club music.

Uncle Earl Going to the Western Slope

Very American. Trad harmony and bluegrass.

Victoria Williams "Love "On Time"

Trad, although "Love" is more of a standard.

Happy 50 Kate!

Happy birthday to Kate Bush, 50 today.

30 Years Ago Today ...

Prince has his first chart appearance, with the single "Soft and Wet". Even his recent attempts to replace Lars Ullrich as the definitive example of how NOT to treat fans don't dent my enthusiasm for some of his work. Notice I said FANS. Not thinking of folks looking to rip the guy off. Problem is, Prince (and Lars, etc) does not differentiate between the two. But oh well, the 4-album stretch from Dirty Mind to Purple Rain still stands as an incredible achievement.

In other chart news, the Grease soundtrack hit #1 this day in 1978. This was the first LP I ever purchased ...

The Beatles' Influence on Medical Technology

The Wikipedia entry for Madonna includes a section labeled 'Madonna's Influence On Taxonomy'. Although I would hardly call it 'influence', Madonna is one of the music personalitys to have their name immortalized in the scientific literature by makingup part of a species latin designation. A more legitimate 'influence' in a surprising technological area is seen in the effect the Beatles had on medical technology. Well, EMI's windfall from signing the Beatles anyway ...

See http://epidemix.org/blog/?p=265 for details.

"Hard & Heavy" - no, not really

I have kind of a love/hate relationship with those multi-disc sets Time-Life sells on TV. I actually enjoy the infomercials. Fun seeing some of the live footage, even if it is just in snippets. And anything that keeps the music in memory is a good thing - unfortunately much of the collection is generally made up of available, well known material. Probably a good fit with their customer base. Those of us interested in a bit more depth probably aren't buying our music from TV infomercials any way.

So when I came upon an infomercial for a set I had never before seen I settled down for some (slight) entertainment. The 11 CD + 2 DVD set was called Hard & Heavy. Somebody someplace should be embarrassed. Much of the collection is neither hard nor heavy.

Each CD seems to have 1 to 3 or so songs that can be legitamately called heavy. For example, Megadeth is included with a track and Dio (who is the absolute KING of pseudomystical gobbledygook, and a favorite) is represented twice. Most of the rest is a mixture of questionable 80's hair 'metal' (Poison, Ratt, and so on), good groups who fail the 'heavy' test spectacularly (Scandal? The Tubes?), and groups that are best forgotten altogether (White Lion, Nelson ...).

I try to stay positive around here. For the most part I'd rather talk about the things I have or want than ramble on about things that are best kept far away from me. Time-Life's Hard & Heavy collection is painful enough to inspire me to make an exception.

Starpulse's top 10 songs sung by eomen

www.starpulse.com has posted a list of the top 10 songs sung by women in the rock era. My list would be almost completely different. That doesn't prevent me from commenting on their list.

10 - Sinead O'Conner - "Nothing Compares to You" [sic]

Solid choice. O'Conner has an incredible voice. I prefer "Mandinka", but this song will be familiar to more casual listeners. This is a problem throughout the list - popular, well known choices are given more attention than arguably better or more important songs.

9 - Sheryl Crow - "Strong Enough"

I can't really comment. Not familiar with this one.

8 - Janis Joplin - "Bobby McGee" [sic]

"Me and Bobby McGee" is a fine song. Very nice. But "Piece of my Heart" pretty much defines a particular vocal style. I would have given that song the nod.

7 - Mazzy Starr - "Fade Into You"

Again, not one I know. Mazzy Starr is on my "listen to some time" list, but I haven't tried them out yet.

6 - Blondie - "Heart of Glass"

This is a difficult one. "Call Me" is more favored, but "Heart of Glass" probably more important. "Rapture" gets the nod for historical import.

5 - Heart - "Crazy on You"

Hello, "Barracuda"? At least they didn't pick "What About Love".

4 - Hole - "Doll Parts"

Full disclosure: I really dislike this song. Why not something by Babes in Toyland? Sleater-Kinney? Heavens to Betsy? Anything but "Doll Parts" ...

3 - Tracy Chapman - "Fast Car"

Nice song. One of the best, I'm not so sure, but nice nevertheless.

2 - Fleetwood Mac - "Gold Dust Woman"

Bucks the trend. This time *I* pick the more well known song - "Rhiannon".

1 - Carole King - "Feel Like a Natural Woman"

If I was making a list of top female songwriters of the rock era, King wins first place. Heck, she could make a solid claim at #1 songwriter of either gender. But the actual recording? Well, King is a better writer than vocalist. She's not a bad vocalist, but #1?

I've tried to stick to comments about the list as it appeared. But no Ronnie Spector? The barbarians.

June eMusic

Used up my 100 dls a little early ...

Girl in a Coma Both Before I'm Gone

Released on Joan Jett's Blackheart label. All-latina, fairly straightforward rock.

Go Betty Go Worst Enemy EP

All-latina pop punk.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts Sinner

Joan'a first domestic release of the 2000s.

Period Pains BBC Session EP

Punk. Punkish, at least.

Shitbirds Famous Recording Artists

Elinore Blake is the vocalist. AKA multilingual girl-pop icon April March. Pretty far from the French pop she is known for under that name, though.

Skinned Teen/Raooul Bazooka Smooth!/Jail-bait Core

Released on the west coast's Lookout! Records. Pretty much the pop-punk you'd expect from Lookout!.

The Be Good Tanyas Chinatown
The Be Good Tanyas Scattered Leaves EP
The Be Good Tanyas "Opal's Blues"

Trad. The album is their 2nd full-length, the EP the band's debut, the track from a movie soundtrack.

The Carter Family "No Depression in Heaven"

The sole male vocal I downloaded in June.

The Coathangers "Dreamboat"

60s flavored 'clean' garage.

The Detroit Cobras Mink Rat or Rabbit

Garage. Mostly covers of mostly obscure R&B.

Couple of interesting download patterns in June. I bookended the month with trad stuff, starting with TBGT and ending the month with the Carter Family. Almost accidentally I picked up releases from two different all-latina groups. 99% of what I picked up features female vocalists, with several of the groups being in fact entirely made up of that gender.

5 most intriguing vocalists of the moment

If you've been reading this blog it should be fairly obvious that I pay alot of attention to vocals in songs. By 'vocals' I mean the actual performance of the lyrics, not just the content. I'm also a pretty big enthusiast of lists. So why not a list of vocalists? In reverse order here are the five most intriguing vocalists I've been listening to lately:

5 - Kate Jackson, The Long Blondes

On the Long Blondes latest release, Couples, Kate makes very able use of falsetto in some places. What really impresses me though is her ability to use the lower end of her vocal range. One example is "Giddy Stratospheres" from their previous album. She pulls off singing one portion of the bridge in a very low register while maintaining a fairly straightforward delivery. Very impressive. Her delivery in and of itself is interesting, being almost like a speaking voice, but not quite.

4 - Angela Gossow, Arch Enemy

Angela also has ... interesting ... delivery. She uses what are often called 'cookie monster' style vocals. Normally I don't go in for this easily parodied extreme metal style. When those sounds come out of a female throat, though, I find it a lot more interesting. When I first heard Arch Enemy I had never heard a woman pull this off. I've since heard others, but you always remember the first :).

3 - Frazey Ford, The Be Good Tanyas

Imagine a vocalist who ate an entire jar of peanut butter before singing. That is not Frazey. Frazey sounds like she is actually eating the peanut butter WHILE SINGING. A unique and very enjoyable style. Takes a little getting used to a delivery that has as much in common with mumbled rambling as more common vocal styles. But worth getting used to.

2 - Melora Creager, Rasputina

With Melora we go in a completely different direction. Her voice is crystal clear, with only the faintest vibratto on sustained notes. That warble is used to great effect. The Rasputina cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" is definitive, nearly dripping melancholy. The cellos of course account for some of this, but much of the credit for outdoing the original must go to the vocal performance.

1 - Ali Howard, Lucky Soul

Lucky Soul are one of my favorite bands at the moment. Ali Howard's vocals get much of the credit for this. They are velvety like honey, except this honey has begun to crystallize a bit so is a little gritty. Ali is far from Kim Carnes/Bonnie Tyler throaty vocals territory but you get a definate feeling she could play on that field. At the same time she hints at the stylings of a vocally talented 12 year old. In some respects reminisciant of an early 60s Ronnie Spector. The combination of sandpaper breathiness and little girl exubriance makes for a very intriguing result.

Catching up

Bo Diddley passed away recently. You can read about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Diddley. Bo was in the uncomfortable position of being incredibly influential but often being treated as a mere footnote. What was interesting for me was that the word 'hambone' was never used in describing the 'Bo Diddley beat ' - which is widely acknowledged as a hambone variant. But apparently the public can't be trusted with that knowledge ...

One downside of listening to a variety of styles is that it can be easy to lose track of happenings in one area because a different area was being focused on. For example, I've been reading about riot grrrl lately - completely missing the overhaul in the Pipettes front line! Wasn't keeping up on indie pop. But it is true. Becki and Rose have both moved on to other projects. That means 2 of the 3 Pipettes vocalists have been replaced. Hope to hear material with the newbies (Anna and Ani) soon. In other Pipettes news, they recently did a show with REO Speedwagon. I feel unclean now ...

U2 should can their manager (Paul McGuinness). I mean, really, the guy is just embarassing. Pretty much monthly he natters on someplace about how the music recording industry is being hurt ... by everybody else. This time he targets ISPs (old hat, there), cellphone manufacturers, and telecoms in general.

eMusic makes recomendations based on past download history. How embarassing that my 'new releases' list included an album by ... Tiffany. I only previously downloaded one song by Tiffany! I swear!

On the subject of eMusic, material by the band Po' Girl is split between different spellings of the name - with or without the apostrophe. This annoys me much more than it should.

Still on the topic of eMusic, I have discovered they have some Joan Jett stuff I don't have yet. That is beyond cool, and something I just stumbled upon. Never would have thought to look.

May eMusic

Just in case you aren't familiar with all the stuff I download I've put little descriptions on each.

Aje'h "Kids In America"

-This months cover project was the Kim Wilde classic.

Baby Guts Gasoline

-Twin Cities riot grrrls.

BP vs. Effcee "Kids In America"

-Cover project.

Harpies Deep EP
Harpies Lie Down Station EP

-Could just as well be considered singles. Doom metal, pretty much.

I Hate Sally Don't Worry Lady

-Metalcore. Probably not technical enough for the headbangers but too metal for the punks.

Kizooks! "Kids In America"

-Think Kids Bop. Cover project.

The Be Good Tanyas Blue Horse

-Trad.

The Indelicates American Demo

-British indie pop/rock. Not a demo despite the name.

The Long Blondes Couples

-British indie pop/rock, trending towards indie dance.

The Long Blondes "Fulwood Babylon"

-A B-side I didn't have yet.

Various Artists Backcomb 'N' Beat - Dream Babes Volume 3
Various Artists Let's Go: Joe Meeks Girls!

-British mostly early/mid 60s girl group.

Two highly anticipated releases downloaded in May - Couples and American Demo. I'm doing a better job of balancing my downloads to match my interests, so all around good month for emusic here!

eMusic April 08

1/3 through May and I'm just getting around to posting a list of my April eMusic downloads.

All Girl Summer Fun Band All Girl Summer Fun Band
Bodies Of Water Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink
Julie Ruin Julie Ruin
Lucky Soul "I Gots The Magic" "Give Me Love" "One Kiss Don't Make A Summer (Radio Edit)" "That Hollywood Glow"
Shebang "Kids In America"
Suffrajets Everything You Do EP
The Choir Practice The Choir Practice
The Dials Flex Time
The Eyeliners Confidential
The Gathering Mandylion
The Langley Schools Music Project "Good Vibrations" "God Only Knows" "Space Oddity"
The Muffs "Kids In America"
The New Pornographers "Failsafe"
Tiffany "Kids In America"
We Start Fires "Play You (12" Mix)"

Happy birthday Lesley Gore!

Today (May 2) is Lesley Gore's birthday. She is pretty much an icon in popular music and one of the handful of definitive "girl group" performers (which demonstrates that 'girl group' isn't just about groups of 'girls' - there's just one Lesley). I hardly need mention her biggest hit - "It's My Party". If you have had any exposure to contemporary pop you already are probably familiar with it already.

"It's My Party" is certainly a fine song, but not her most important. I give that honor to "You Don't Own Me". But that song deserves a post of its own.

Although almost a spokesmodel for early-mid 60s pop, Lesley's career is not limited to that decade. After a pair of releases as a singer-songwriter in the early 70s we didn't get new material until 2005's Ever Since.

I'd like to be emphatically positive in my comments about Ever Since but the best I can muster is "probably good if you enjoy this style". The material is almost torch-song lounge jazz. Not my cuppa. Nice to see an established performer who could easily play it safe explore something new, but this just isn't anything I'll be listening to often. Not bad, just (like I said) not my cup of tea. I'll be sticking to the double-CD Mercury anthology of Lesley's material recorded for that label (including her major hits). Apparently this set is out of print, which is a pity.

The Choir Practice

And now for something completely different ...

The last few weeks I've built up quite a little obsession with The Choir Practice. Not my usual style, but I've been paying much closer attention to the vocals in what I listen to recently than previously, so it is logical that I'd drift towards contemporary choral ...

Which is exactly what The Choir Practice performs. This somewhat loose-knit group of 12 or so Vancouver-based indie rockers sings in the tradition of European religious music - think Vienna Boys Choir. Although syncopated hand claps suggest a foot-stomping type of beat, this isn't gospel. Think of what you might hear from a charismatic Southern Baptist church choir for an example of what this isn't. Tracks on the group's debut like "Red Fox" would fit that style, but other tracks such as "Running On" are much freer of vocal gymnastics than gospel would be.

There are other differences with choral music as perceived in the mainstream as well - the most obvious being that the material is secular, not religious. (Arguments about inherent spirituality - "make a joyful noise" - aside.) Reviewers often compare the group to sunshiny 60s vocal/folk bands such as the New Christy Minstrels, acknowledging that there is more going on here than a bunch of indie rockers taking a try a choir music.

The group's 1987 self-titled debut is available for download on eMusic. If for some reason you can only pick up one track I'd suggest "Failsafe", my personal favorite on this album. The popular vote for standout track seems to go to "Red Fox", but I prefer "Failsafe".

Some of the lyrics on the latter track are absolutely gorgeous ("signing my checks with a name that's not mine" is possibly the best one-line description of marriage I have ever read.) As a bonus the song leads us to ask questions about the very nature of such things. It is usually called a cover. Indeed the song was written and performed by New Pornographers. However, the Choir Practice version actually saw the light of day BEFORE the New Pornographers'. And just to add an extra layer of complexity, one of the members of The Choir Practice is ALSO in New Pornographers. Whoah. So is this a cover or not?

Discuss. :)

32 Years Ago Today

The Ramones release their cleverly titled debut - The Ramones.

Gabba gabba hey!

30 Years Ago Today

... was the first appearance of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi as the Blues Brothers.

Record Store Day

Tomorrow, Saturday April 19, is "Record Store Day". If you haven't visited your local independant music store lately, now you have an excuse.

That is all.

Straight edge is a verb?

I was listening to the BBC World Service on the radio the other night while going to sleep. They used (indeed had a 4-5 minute piece on!) words I never thought I would hear on the radio: Straight Edge.

The piece reported on the 'new' youth movement called straight edge. ('New' apparently being used in the 'about-a-quarter-of-a-century-old' sense. Didn't know you could do that.)

Straight edge is something I've listened to since at least the mid 80s. The music of sxe (I talk about the x later - in a future post) is distinctive. Imagine nonmetallic hardcore with fast bits, slower 'mosh parts', and lyrics almost exclusively about not drinking, not doing drugs, not being a racist, and being a good friend.

I was somewhat surprised the Beeb has not heard of sxe before. In the early 90s several communities were apparently concerned enough about packs of hardline kids (imagine sxe cranked up to 11) to declare them to be dangerous gangs. Maybe the producers of the program just didn't make the connection.

But this is a music blog. I should really get to the music.

Most of the straight edge I have (and I have a fair amount) is out of print, or really, never in print to begin with. There are some items readily available that could be considered vital.

In particular, Minor Threat's self-titled debut EP. This release contains the song "Straight Edge" - from which the movement gets its name - and should be considered required listening. So listen to it already!

Another of my faves is the east coast's Youth of Today. Before several of the members floated off into a Krishna-induced haze YOT exemplified straight edge. The usual concerns are there - drink, drugs, friends. YOT adds dietary issues, taking a strong vegan stance.

The 'new' movement the Beeb reported on adds yet another issue to the somewhat limited sxe palette - abstinance. I really kind of part ways with sxe here. Respect has always been an underappreciated aspect of hardcore/punk/whatever - from 7 Second's "Not Just Boys' Fun" to riot grrrl. I'm not sure that abstinance is the only way to express this. I have always had a fair number of female friends not looking to 'tarnish' my friendship with them. OK. Would it be OK if we smudged it up a little bit? No? All righty then.

But that has precious little to do with music.

Next post should be better. I'm thinking I'll finally get around to raving about The Choir Practice.

Straightedge to contemporary choral. Huh.

Losing Focus ...

I'm losing focus here. See, when I started actively getting into music again I had a few genres in mind that I wanted to explore deeper. Some were no brainers - girl group, riot grrrl, indie pop. Others I was taking a 'get to it whenever' approach to - rockabilly, surf, hot rod. New wave/80s pop I have a ton of, but could always use more! Same for hardcore.

But a couple things have blown my carefully thought out plans. I'm REALLY digging The Choir Practice right now. Must get more contemporary choral stuff! And Korpiklaani has a new album out. Which eMusic has. And I really am jonesing for.

But 'European folk metal' was not on the agenda until later!

Oh well. Guess I gotta tough it out :)

MySpace

Today is my birthday. I'm only 38 now fergoshsakes! In the classic Lesley Gore tradition of "It's My Party", well, it's my party and I'll be cranky if I want to.

Myspace is the topic for today. Myspace really bugs me. The basic idea - social networking - is not the source of my displeasure. Myspace makes page design simple. Unfortunately, it makes really really poor design really really easy. Far too many Myspace pages look like they were designed by a chimpanzee. No, that's not right. A DRUNK chimpanzee. There, that's better.

Or a parrot. How else to explain the fascination with flashing things on the page?

My biggest complaint though comes from an unavoidable Myspace feature. Many times I have wound up on a Myspace page for a band, looking for news or samples or whatever, only to have to sit for 10 minutes with an unresponsive computer while a bunch of little pictures of "friends" load. Absolutely drives me nuts.

But it is a part of all this, I guess. Lots of bands will put up a page on Myspace in lieu of or in addition to having a ... real ... domain. But the group has to be darn interesting before I will point others towards a Myspace page.

So The Choir Practice must be darn interesting, huh? After all I linked to their Myspace page over on the left there.

They are. Their debut is getting a ton of play on my computer right now (join eMusic and you too can grab a copy!)

But not what I'm listening to this very moment. That would be The Dials' Flex Time. I like it quite a bit. But that will have to wait for later. After all, today is my birthday.

And I don't wanna write any more today.

Common Thread

There is a common thread here. So as to not choke up this blog with non-music matters I won't go in to what that common thread is. Other than this: neither artist here is primarily known for her music. Both have used music in an effort to get out of a bad situation. Google them for more info.

Ashley Alexandra Dupre - "What We Want"

Two confessions here: 1) I don't normally listen to this kind of Top-40-radio dance R&B lite stuff and 2) I am really jumping on the bandwagon here! All that being said, you'll probably like this, if you like this sort of thing. All the elements are here: heavy drum machine beats, come hither phrasing, American Idol style vocals. This would seem at home on your average Top-40-hits format radio station. Very reminiscient of other radio-friendly artists. One criticism I have seen is that it is a little TOO like those other performers. To be honest, I am not familiar enough with this style to declare this criticism valid or invalid.

Traci Lords - "Sunshine"/"You Burn Inside of Me"

This is more like what I usually listen to! Guitars and everything. Still dance floor stuff, but less radio friendly than Dupre. Of the two Dupre is the better technical vocalist, but I actually prefer Lords. She does a passible "breathy seduction" delivery. Maybe this is a little too "grungy" for your radio (if it's tuned to a Top-40 pop station), but would be at home even on an "indie" dance floor. "Sunshine"'s B-side (in an age without vinyl does that term still mean anything?) is more of a "make out" song, suitable for slow dancing. Slower anyway.

eMusic March 08

In January I started a subscription with eMusic. Thus far I am very satisfied. There are folks who complain (like there are for anything), but many of the complaints I see stem from two sources:

1) Apparently there are folks who don't understand that a service that deals mainly with independants isn't going to have material by Shakira or Metallica or The Beatles or [insert most acts on the big 4 labels here]

and

2) There seems to be confusion resulting from nobody telling you what to buy

The solutions here are simple. Taking the time to know what you're getting in to before forking over any cash is always a good policy. As for the second, well, the recording industry seems to think you want cookie-cutter winners of televised talent shows on your iPod, so marching down to the local mass marketer (where won't you be confused by a deep selection of options) and demanding the latest as-seen-on-TV thing may be considered your instructions. Somebody's gotta buy this stuff. And if you look at sales figures for American Idol winners after Kelly Clarkson it is obvious somebody's not following directions.

But I'm very happy with eMusic. Here, as much for my benefit in keeping track as for your curiosity, are my March 2008 purchases:

Bikini Kill Pussywhipped
Cat Power eMusic Sessions EP
Dressy Bessy California EP
Gossip Standing in the Way of Control
Gossip The Gossip EP
Heavens To Betsy Calculated
Lucky Soul The Great Unwanted
Ray Wall Band "The X-Men Song"
Sleater-Kinney Dig Me Out
God Damn Doo Wop Band Broken Hearts
Traci Lords "Sunshine" "You Burn Inside of Me"
Portishead "Mourning Air"
Sinead O'Conner "Ode to Billy Joe"
Indelicates America EP
Carter Family "Single Girl, Married Girl"

I'm not getting back in the van until you say we're heavy f'n metal

Joanna Cotten is alt country?

How we get from the title to that, starting with that: the South by Southwest festival/conferance/happening (SXSW) occured in the middle of March in Austin Texas. The event website has links to a bunch of mp3s from bands showcased. The bands are catagorized by date of show, venue, and genre. Most of the classifications make sense to me, but a few do not. For example, Joanna Cotten is listed as alt country.

I first heard Cotten a few months ago while 'following the links' between band web pages. I started with The Pipettes (surprise, huh?) and somehow wound up watching a video of Cotten's "Funkabilly". The title was intriguing, but not so much the song itself. Good listenable radio ready country (which is not my cup of tea), but nothing really out of the ordinary (beyond being listenable - much pop country is not). Why the "alt country" tag? The band list also uses a "country" tag, which seems more suitable.

Perhaps there is commercial or promotional value to the label "alt country". Reaching out to an audience that might take a listen to "alt country" but isn't interested in Top 40 pop country at all (an audience of which I am a member, FWIW).

This is apparently the case with the word "metal". If headbangers have given the world nothing else, at least we got a plethora of "metal" genres and sub-genres to argue about. Visit Wikipedia if you don't believe me. Progressive Metal, Symphonic Metal, Gothic Metal, Folk Metal (I'm a fan of that one), Oriental Metal, Technical Metal, Doom Metal, True Metal, and on. And on. And on. I half expect to encounter Tiki Lounge Easy Listening METAL some day. Thing is, many of the bands described by "whatever" metal are not very ANYTHING metal.

Which is not to say they are bad. One of my current "top 15 or so" bands, The Gathering, is often described using the word metal with either "progressive" or "gothic" in front of it. Not in a million years would I use the word metal to describe that band.

Which brings us to the title of this post. One episode of the British comedy "Comic Strip Presents" features a "mockumentary" about faux metal band Bad News. In one segment band leader Vim Vuego is trying to explain to a journalist that Bad News is "more" than heavy metal. This goes on for several hours. Finally having heard enough, guitarist Den Dennis angrily storms out of the tour van. Vim is shown trying to get Den back on the van, but Den is resolute. He says (I paraphrase here) "I'm not getting back in the van until you say we're heavy f(*@#$n metal". This seems almost a reverse situation to using "metal" where it almost certainly doesn't belong. The scene plays through my head every time I see "whatever" metal.

But isn't it confining to use genre names at all? I argue that it is not. Genre names can be very useful tools. When I say "trad country is OK" or "I like indie pop" ideally, if you are familiar with that genre, you will understand what I'm going on about. That is why the plethora of "metals" and "alts" is frustrating. It takes away the ability to talk about these things in a useful and well-understood way. It more difficult to explore if you don't have landmarks to guide you.

When those landmarks are misleading at best it can be very frustrating. Take for example the "girl group" genre. It is a style I am very enthusiastically a fan of. Words cannot express how much of a letdown it is to hear about a new "girl group", only to discover the latest R&B light neo-disco American Idol wannabe ... stuff.

I'm pretty protective of the term "girl group". If it ain't remeniscant of certain early-60s pop styles - it ain't girl group.

Even if it is a group of gals.

Because The Night

I like cover versions quite a bit. At best they can reveal unemphasized aspects of the original. Take Rasputina's cover of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here". The sense of melancholy is almost palpable, a mood present in the original but not nearly so ... heavy. Of course there is also a worse case, where the cover actually detracts from the original version.

I generally like to keep things positive around here, so for the first batch of covers I look at we'll start with one of my favorite songs: "Because The Night". This track off Patti Smith's 1978 album Easter was originally written by Bruce Springsteen and given by him to Smith when the two were recording in adjoining studio spaces. Smith rewrote the song's typically Springsteenian blue collar workingman lyrics to emphasize the relationship in the song over the protagonists. (The Wikipedia entry for the song claims this is a 'females' perspective, but there is nothing in the lyrics themselves to support this assertion.) There are numerous covers of this justifiably well-known song. Let's look at a few. Not all are great, but none really that bad.

10,000 Maniacs

This live version from "MTV Unplugged" is probably the most famous cover of "Because The Night", so well-known in fact that many believe that 10,000 maniacs did the original! This version adds little to the Smith version beyond an acoustic arrangement, but Natalie Merchant's vocals more that make up for that. Her voice has a sultry, almost smouldering quality that fits the song very well.

FULL DISCLOSURE: My opinion of Natalie Merchant probably colors the above sentiments quite a bit.

Alphabet Girls

We go from a sultry cover to one that is anything but. "Because The Night" is a passionate song which requires a passionate delivery. So one would think this nearly antiseptic cover would not get praise from me.

One would be wrong, then. This cover achieves the rare trick of being passionately dispassionate. The tension between the lyrical passion and almost lackadaisical delivery adds an interesting dimension to the song. The instruments mirror the vocal delivery - the clean, synthetic beat one would expect. Don't let labels like "synthpop" and "electronica" fool you - this is disco.

SKAdandalous All-Stars

From passionate vocal delivery to oddly dispassionate vocals, and now to NO vocals. The SKAndalous All-Stars are a, well, all star group of musicians from the New York ska scene. There are no vocals on this track. What we are left with is essentially muzak. This cover would feel at home in elevators around the world. Hip elevator music, but elevator music none the less.

What I'm Missing

What I'm Missing is not a band name, rather the place where I talk about some versions of a song that are out there but that I don't have yet.

Of course it would be interesting to hear the song performed as originally written. Although only 'committed to vinyl (CD?)' once, on Live 1975-1985, many live recordings of Springsteen performing "Because The Night" are floating around, several in fact being video clips on YouTube. If I was more than interested in passing it would not be that difficult to add to my collection, but I'm not really that horribly interested.

I am horribly interested in the cover by Kim Wilde from the various artists album Philharmonia. This was only released in Germany and it has been difficult to find a copy. You'd think with the vaunted global nature of the Internet it would be much easier to find. Actually, I was able to track down a copy for sale.

In Australia.

(No, not Austria. Unlike our president, I'm not confused by the two names.)

Bass Girls Directory

You may notice a new link over on the left in the 'Browse' section. I read an article in the local arts paper the other day about Steve Malkmus and the Jicks. I found it interesting that the entire rhythm section - bass and drums - is female.

When I thought about it, that wasn't unknown, even outside bands like Sleater-Kinney or the Runaways. Off the top of my head I could think of Talking Heads' Tina Weymouth, and ... uh ... others I can't recall right now.

I stumbled across www.bassgirls.com while I was trying to fill out the obvious gaps in my knowledge. It's a good resource when looking in to this kind of question. Plus, say what you want about 'girls with guitars' - I'll take bass!

Especially intriguing are gals playing good ol' rockabilly slap bass on an upright.

But that is a much rarer thing.

So I did the logical thing and started a list.

I won't share it yet. Right now a piddly little four names are all I have. Unlike my attempted list of 'female metal vocalists', which rapidly grew to an unmanageable size, this one shows no threat of spiralling out of a controllable state.

More on both lists later.

35 Years Ago Today

And this time no fudging the numbers. No 'around 35' or '35ish'. It actually was 35 years ago today.

March 10, 1973, Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon was released in the United States.

I'm not going to bother with a review or commentary or anything. Listening to that album is pretty much part of basic cultural knowledge.

So if you haven't heard it in a while, today would be a good day to give it a spin.

Wizard of Oz viewing optional.

Madonna

Just got a chance to hear the song "Four Minutes", off Madonna's forthcoming Hard Candy. Didn't like it much at all.

Not because I don't usually listen to this kind of Top 40 dance stuff, although you wouldn't necessarily guess that from the material I've talked about so far. So if it's not my usual cuppa, why did I bother, you might ask?

Well, two reasons. I sort started listening to music heavily just prior to Madonna becoming a known star. Whether I tried to or not, I ended up hearing a lot of Madonna. And second, I rather like her vocals. Her 'not as bassy as you think' style intrigues me.

Which points to the problem with "Four Minutes". For a Madonna song, there is precious little Madonna not buried in the mix. The production does not do her any favors. Rather the near-frantic rhythm is the centerpiece. Maybe this is what producer Timbaland is known for. I dunno. Again, not my cuppa. Don't know that I've ever heard anything he produced before.

If I'm listening to a Madonna song I want to hear Madonna, not a drum machine. I'll be sticking to the 'classics' (roughly pre-1990).

Where are the MP3s?

You probably noticed there are no sound files on this blog.

There are two reasons. The first is purely practical. I just don't have access to the space I would need for long-term storage. There are options out there, but they all require more investment than I am willing to make or are otherwise inadequate. I find trying to download a mp3 and getting a file expired message instead very frustrating. I have no desire to 'prune' what readers have access to.

The second is also practical. The companies supporting the RIAA's War On Music Fans have not, as yet, to the best of my knowledge, targeted folks linking to files posted by the artists performing the songs themselves. But what if they did? And what if they go after folks who link to a site with inadvertant (rather than malicious) violations? Given the climate of fear the recording industry fuels I don't have confidence that either of these scenarios will be handled in any sensible or reasonable fashion.

I have no desire to become a casuality as the industry continues desperately to try to push the genie back in the bottle.

I'm just a fan.

It Was 20 Years Ago ...

... today.

No, not really. And the '20 years' part is a bit off, to. Twentyish years ago some unspecified time is more like it.

Or we could just go with last week.

Last week I was browsing eMusic by decade - probably 70% of my collection dates between the early and mid-80s - and came across not one, but TWO albums I intended to purchase back in the day but never had gotten around to buying.

Both are concept albums. Not albums with a half-baked storyline, but albums written with an idea behind them.

Laibach - Opus Dei

Consolidated! have a track named "Industrial Music Is Fascism". They may have had this album in mind. Laibach have been accused of both far-right and far-left sympathies. The band has always denied either. The music is, of a sort, performance art.

My favorite tracks on the album are both covers. Queen's "One Vision" gets reconstructed as "Geburt Einer Nation". Australian arena rock outfit Opus' "Live is Life" gets the Laibach treatment in the title track "Opus Dei".

'The Laibach treatment' consists of orchestral swells, bombastic percussion, and vocals not so much sung as croaked. Not really what I usually listen to, and it does wear thin by the end of the album. As an examination of the spooky similarities between the crowds at a national socialist rally in 1936 and the crowds at an arena rock show in our modern 'more enlightened' era it works very well.

Will Powers - Dancing For Mental Health

And now for something completely different.

Don't use all your energy goosestepping. You'll need some for dancing when you put Will Powers' record on your turntable. Or CD in your player. Whatever.

As a bonus you'll be improving your life. Becoming the 'you' you want to be. Simply dance and let the music do the work.

The central concept behind Dancing For Mental Health is to take pop-psych platitudes and put them to an electronic dance beat. Vocals are handled by photographer Lynn Goldsmith with a synthesizer-altered androgynous voice. Guest vocals come from luminaries such as Carly Simon and Todd Rundgren.

The standout track is "Adventures In Success". Daily affirmations set to good old-fasioned synthpop.

It just might change your life.

She Was A Pipette

I owe Julia Clark-Lowes an apology. I doubt she wants to go through the rest of her life known as "Julia who co-founded The Pipettes". Yet obviously that is how I think of her. She probably would prefer to concentrate on what she is doing now.

What she is doing now is well worth giving attention to. She is one of the two lead vocalists in The Indelicates (the female one, the other is a guy bamed Simon) . Even without the Pipettes connection, The Indelicates are a fine band in their own right.

Currently several singles have been released, and a full album is due out in April (2008). A new single is due about a month before the album. Additionally The Indelicates have released several songs on their website for free download, using some interesting strategies with these to promote the stuff that actually 'puts food on the table'.

The current single is "Sixteen". The song's theme is being young - even if you are not. Young at heart, if you will. Or as the song puts it "wanna be 16/Even though we're 23".

23 is hardly old. But it is around the age when it becomes painfully obvious that playtime is, if not over, at least closing out. Behaviors like "drink[ing] milkshakes until [you're] sick" are no longer accepted. Except for the young.

It is fitting that a song that addresses playfulness is itself playful. One phrase I find particularly wonderful - "This scene is the scene to be seen in" - is a good example of the general quality of songwriting in Indelicates material.

Another 'sign of quality' in the songwriting is the ability to write about a similar theme from varied 'angles'. Take "Fun Is For the Feeble Minded", which thematically addresses the same ideas as "Sixteen" - getting older. But while in "Sixteen" giddy fun can be had even though playtime is fading, in "Fun Is For the Feeble Minded", fun is ... well ... you see the title. "You're young/But you're aging/And the end is like a shadow there waiting". A wholly darker take on the subject than the former song. But decide for yourself - an acoustic version of "Fun Is For the Feeble Minded" is a bonus track on the CD single of "Sixteen".

Above I mentioned songs posted to The Indelicates official website. The songs (as of when I visited) were remixes and covers of "Sixteen". Hearing different takes on one song made me very eager to hear the release version. An interesting (and I think non-intuitive) way to give folks something of value for free without 'giving away the farm'.

Almost as an afterthought, I should mention what the group sounds like. No clever metaphors from me here - lets say the more rockin' edge of indie pop. I'll leave the cleverness to The Indelicates. It is something they have in spades.

They Are Pipettes

The lack of 'the' in the title is important. You could us 'in' I guess. This post doesn't look at Pipettes material, but rather stuff featuring members of the band.

Much of this I have not heard but will mention for completion's sake. Co-founder Monster Bobby has a fairly well-received solo album out (Gaps) and there are strong rumours of a second on the way. The other musicians in the band have also contributed to other bands.

But most folks focus on the three vocalists. Becki ('The One With Glasses') contributes vocals to two tracks on Blind Cowboy's 2005 EP (the group also features one of The Cassette - the shadowy background musicians in the Pipettes) and also sings on "When U See The Future" by Y.Misdaq from the album Flowers & Trees.

And now stuff I actually have listened to. Rose ('The Brunette') takes vocals on The Young Plaything's "Life Is Great" from the single Yr So Fit (For Me). This single is available for download on emusic. The song comes from the poppy side of 'Pop 'n' Roll'. Lots of guitar. Rose's vocal isn't the best I've ever heard from her, but still very listenable. Recomended for Pipettes fans and guitar-heavy indie pop fans. The pop being guitar-heavy, not necessarily the fans.

Gwenno ('The One That Hits The High Ethereal Notes') has a MySpace page on which she has posted demos of solo material. The vocals are fairly close to 'final quality'. The instrumentation itself, however, can best be described as Casio-keyboard rough. The main attractions are the vocals and songwriting, so we won't judge the songs on the keyboards (they crack me up, though). The songs are more modern electropop than retro-flavored vocal group. My favorite of the batch is "U & I", which makes much better us of akward phrases than Pipettes' material sometimes does. (It fits 'running around like headless chickens' in!) The songs all have a great sense of melody - very hummable. Again for completion's sake Gwenno's two multilingual pre-Pipettes albums should be mentioned. 2002's Mor Hud and 2004's Vodya.

There. I mentioned them.

They Aren't The Pipettes

Full disclosure: the post title is ... uh ... borrowed. I saw it used someplace else and thought it was pretty funny.

Once I saw it I couldn't think of this post as anything else. There are a slew of bands drawing from the same well as The Pipettes. Here are three favorites.


TRALALA

A bit more guitar-centered than the other bands mentioned here, but firmly in a girl group tradition - witness the stumbling beat/handclaps on "Never Understand". I picked up the album Is That The Tralala? on emusic. Nothing I listen to religiously, but worth burning the 15 song downloads that it took. Tralala also put out that rare thing - a holiday album worth listening to. Standout track is "Christmas Never Comes". It should come as no surprise that clean female vocals are front and center on both releases.

THE MAYBELLINES

Organ! Better yet, slightly cheesy 60s pop organ! Imagine if Ray Manzarek had never fallen in with a certain crotch-obsessed third rate poet and instead formed a pop group with a solid, if sometimes a bit "girly", female vocalist. This band virtually demands that you dance. The Frug will do fine. You know the "dancing" whenever Robbie had a party on My 3 Sons? That works too.

Bonus points for actually putting FULL SONGS worth listening to on the band website. Check out "Battleship". If you don't like it delete the download. But really if that happens get yourself checked out. There's something wrong with you.

THE SCHLA LA LAS

More a "traditional" girl group than the others here, in that the vocals are handled by a group of gals. Not entirely "traditional" in choice of material though. Witness the somewhat strange cover of The Violent Femmes' "Add It Up". Or consider "1,2,3,4", which is either a tongue-in-cheek look at dance music ala "You'll Dance To Anything" or a failed experiment.

The best Schla stuff would feel mostly at home in 1963, though. I'm particularly fond of "Hot As Possible", the well-known story of "I broke up with you and now I regret it". Every vocalist in the band gets lead for a verse.

Day The Music Died

I'm breaking my chick habit to talk about this in a timely fashion. February 3 is "the day the music died". On that day in 1959 the small single-engine plane carrying Buddy Holly and others went down. There were no survivors.

I have a personal interest in the story. My family came "this close" to being a footnote in a really difficult trivia game. My grandfather farmed some of the land adjoining the crash site.

I won't bother going much into the music. If you don't know at least one of Buddy's tunes by heart get up from the computer and spin some! (Preferably vinyl ..) The music fan without at least a passing knowledge of the acts on the Winter Dance Party Tour is hardly living up to the name.

With one exception - a young Italian crooner named Frankie Sardo. Information on Sardo is scarce. Apparently he recorded through the mid-60s without much commercial success, in spite of positive reviews from the likes of Billboard. I have never heard Frankie Sardo - the only person associated with the Winter Dance Party who remains almost completely unknown to me.

For those who looked at the top of the blog and thought I posted my Holly memorial a day early, remember - time zones. I posted that within a few hours of the crash time - around 1 AM February 3.

Just 49 years later.

Not Fade Away

Charles Hardin Holley September 7 1936-February 3 1959

We Are The Pipettes

The day We Are The Pipettes was released in the US I made a trip to a record store to pick up a copy. I haven't done something like that in years. I had intended to write a track-by-track review, in fact I did just that. But then I read it, and saw that It Was Not Good. So this is more of an overview, hopefully better than my first go at it. But before we look at the contents, we need to look at the album.

THE COVER ART

I don't care for the cover. It features an image of the group towering Godzilla-style over the skyline of a city no doubt cringing in fear. The blue cover art on the UK release is much more appealing, just a basic group shot. The US cover art does play into the B-movie vibe of our first track though ...

And that first track is the aptly named "We Are The Pipettes". Every album should kick off with an anthemic statement of identity this good. The song has a strong sense of motion to it, something I really like. Lots of handclaps too, another good thing in my book, and a nice nod to the groups musical predecessors.

PREDECESSORS

Reviewers trip over themselves in a bid to label the Pipettes as early 60s girl group for today. To an extent they are correct, although the 'standard' story of that genre is at best full of enough holes to make stuffing the group in to it a bit of a chore. At any rate, the Pipettes are pretty forward about who and what has influenced (or not influenced) them, from the Spectoresque opening drumbeats of "Sex" (borrowed from the Ronettes' "Be My Baby"), to a controversial non-Beatlecentric attitude towards pop. The group draws freely from the well of early 60s pop, but is not enirely bound to it.


THEMES

Keeping with its early 60s pop heritage, most songs on this album are about either dancing or relationships. Or sometimes both ("It Hurts To See You Dance So Well"). "Judy" is the exception that proves the rule. The story-song has nice vocal work but is confusing. It is a story about the "good girl" who befriends a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Or growing older. Or family trouble. Something.

HIGHLIGHTS

My favorite song on this release is "Because It's Not Love (But It's Still A Feeling)". A very danceable near-ballad. For second favorite I am torn between "One Night Stand" and "ABC". "ABC" is the oft-told tale of unreturned "geek love". In the movies it often takes the form of geeky guy falling for an unatainable girl. In "ABC" it is the girl pining for an oblivious guy who is more interested in science books than the ecstasy (or "XTC") of romance. "One Night Stand" is the song that actually made me in to a Pipettes fan. One part of it anyway. The transition between the first verse and chorus works almost like a motion picture crossfade. As the last line of the verse trails off ("warning ...") the sha-la-las kick in. It sounds absolutely gorgeous. Which is fortunate, because the second verse suffers from ...

UNFORTUNATE LYRICAL CHOICES

Sometimes Pipettes lyrics sound clunky - to be charitable. Examples include "One Night Stand"'s "baby did it hurt when you fell from heaven" and "It Hurts To See You Dance So Well"'s "they know that I wanna kill them". Urrgh. Shoo-be-doop or something would be better sounding.

FINAL GRADE: I DON'T DO GRADES

Overall a worthwhile listen. Lots of nice touches for enthusiasts of early 60s pop. Handclaps and harmony abound. A bit of attitude too - this ain't your daddy's girl group (but neither was your daddy's - but that's another topic for another time.)

I had to rewrite this mini-review numerous times (and am still not happy with it). I listen to portions of this album near-daily. Makes any kind of critical perspective difficult. Too busy humming along to be very objective.

Past, Present, Future

March 26, 2001 was a wacky day if you were a pro wrestling fan. At that time there were two major national organizations, WWF and WCW, each with a Monday-night show in heated competition the other.

On March 26 the shows were partly simulcast. In a feed shown on both programs at the same time, WWF owner Vince Mcmahon announced the purchase of WCW by WWF.

No doubt this is fascinating to my readers. But why am I mentioning it here and now?

This is the 160th post on my personal blog Big Blog O' Dave Stuff. It is being 'simulcast' as the first post on my new music blog Big Blog O' Music Stuff. Trying to have a go at a blog with an actual theme. Will I succeed? Well, so far I've spent more time on pro wrestling than music, but we'll see.

Less time on-topic, but not no time. See, this post is named after a song title. "Past, Present, Future" is not the most famous song the Shangri-las ever did (that'd be "Leader of the Pack"), but it is still an interesting song. Worth being familiar with.

Especially once you learn/realize that it is about the aftermath of rape. (In the English lit community we call this sort of offhand comment "foreshadowing". Don't say I never told you!)

So, PAST:

Don't need to go back to the very beginning, listening to "oldies" on an 8-track in the family car. Don't have to look back that far. Until last year I has been a fan-in-hibernation for a while (following a few decades of pretty hardcore interest ...). Let's face it. Dave was not being a good little fan. I still paid a little attention, still kept my ears open somewhat. But I was content to just listen to stuff I already knew for the most part.

PRESENT:

Well, I feel compelled to blog on this, so that SHOULD indicate I'm back in a groove and showing active interest again. Whereas I was listening to nothing new, now I am actively looking. I got an emusic subscription. I had resisted the urge to jump on the mp3 bandwagon previously. There are a handful of areas I am actively trying to know better. Some - girl group, hardcore - I already have pretty strong knowledge of but can always learn more! Others are a whole new game - folk metal being an example. So what my past to change in to my present? For that, we need to look at the future ...

FUTURE:

I have seen the future. And it is wearing a polka-dot dress.

Probably overstating things a bit there. What happened was this:

We Are The Pipettes from (duh!) the Pipettes finally came out in the US. I had listened to a few tracks on a whim, and got hooked in a major way. I actually took the day off at work so I could pick up the release the day it came out. Record companies take note: make something I feel strongly about and I'll go to some length to encourage it. (Hey, more foreshadowing!)

Not that the Pipettes are perfect or my favorite band of all time. They are neither. But I do enjoy them quite a bit, something I'll go into more when I do reviews of We Are The Pipettes and other pipettey goodness.

Just about enough foreshadowing for today. Although that last bit isn't so much foreshadowing as just flat out saying what is coming up.

Also coming up: "They're Not The Pipettes", "I'm Not Getting Back On The Bus Until You Say We're Heavy F&@#in Metal", and the long threatened (on BBODS) missive on "What's A Girl (Group)". And why we should care.

See ya. Think this is gonna be fun.