1.19.2006

All right, you punks, listen up...

There are a couple of things I've been meaning to recommend to people or actually recommending and then having people, you know, just not listen... so takes notes:

1. Led Zeppelin is seriously good to listen to. I know that a lot of people with terrible taste in almost all other areas of their life listen to Led Zeppelin, and this is why I was scared to listen to them in highschool (other than to slowdance to "Stairway to Heaven", until it got to the fast part, which led to as much awkwardness as the inevitable teenage slowdance boner). But give them a chance! Wolfmother and Black Mountain, two wicked current bands, really sound like Zeppelin, as does "I'm Bound to Pack It Up" by the White Stripes. At least listen to "Gallow's Pole", "Your Time Is Gonna Come", "When the Levee Breaks", and "Ramble On". Do it for me.

2. Pere Ubu also rules, but are extremely slept on. Some folks can't take the feedback, but whatever. The Modern Dance is their first album and my favorite. "Laughing"!

3. Liars are a totally underrated band.

4. Jonathan Richman is a geek god, and the Modern Lovers, despite being mentioned in "I'm Losing My Edge" by LCD Soundsystem, they don't get enough respect, and everyone should listen to the first album. Here is some cut'n'paste from some site I googled:
"The Modern Lovers (1975)
The breakthrough American New Wave album, laying out the entire Velvet Underground-influenced CBGB's formula - it ditches any vestige of the VU's psychedelic experimentation in favor of snappy, danceable, and rudimentary roots rock. The only bummers are Richman's occasionally embarassing lyrics (the bizarre ballad "Hospital"), his nasal, ragged vocals, and the amateurish instrumental performances - but that's exactly what makes the record so compelling. In a remarkable twist of fate, VU bassist/avant garde composer John Cale produced about half the album. Admittedly, the stark, live-in-the-studio sound obscures his influence. The tapes (some demos, some finished) were recorded in 1972 and 1973 and released only when Richman got himself a record contract. There's one taut, angsty, hyper-neurotic proto-punk rocker after another, with Richman's effortlessly witty teenage lyrics delivering introspective social commentary (the catchy, propulsive "Dignified And Old") and painful, confused romantic analysis ("Girl Friend"). The band's performance is extraordinarily primitive, and Richman's Lou Reed influence is so strong it verges on outright imitation ("Astral Plane";""Pablo Picasso," complete with random guitar feedback, a deliberate piano part, and brooding outsider lyrics; "She Cracked" and the taut, riffy surf-rockers "Modern World" and "Someone I Care About"). But the album is cluttered with classics like "Dignified And Old," a long string of propulsive rock tunes like "Roadrunner" and "She Cracked," and the mumbling confessional anthem "I'm Straight." "I'm Straight" and the gimmicky rocker "Government Center" date from 1973 and were tacked onto the 1986 rerelease. (JA http://www.warr.org/richman.html#TheModernLovers)

5. Also, Diplo is amazing...he produced M.I.A.'s album, released the awesome Florida not too long ago, plus the Favela on Blast mix, a Fabricland mix, he remixed Beck on Guerolito...He's the super like in your building...

I guess that was all music. I think I email basically everyone enough to tell them almost anything of interest that I find.

1 comment:

YO! said...

CADENCE WEAPON.