6/16, 6/18

In Brief:

Day: 6/16/06
Song: Ave Maria
Artist: unknown soloist/Bretram O'Bryen composer

6/16/06 was the day of the funeral for my Grandma. I mentioned previously that her dad was a chior director, but I didn't mention that he wrote some music. Among the things he composed was this Ave Maria, written for his wife and published by McLaughlin & Reilly Co of Boston back in 1915. It was sung at grandma's funeral by an unknown Contralto.

Day: 6/18/06
Song: New Buildings
Artist: Parts and Labor
Switching things up some... Screeching Weasel and Sonic Youth fight in an alley. The Locust jump in. Ben Weasel staggers out bleeding. This song is a pop punk gem made all the more precious by being buried in noise, feedback and keyboard sonic terror. There's a live video of it at the jagjaguwar website.

Somewhere between here and there is even better than here or there

Filling in the gaps from 6/1 to 6/14

Day : 6/6/06
Song: Raining Blood
Artist: Slayer
Source: Reign in Blood
Some enterprising folks notice today's date and decided to do something about it. No I don't mean the people responsible for the Omen remake, I mean National Day of Slayer.

I'm nothing if not a sucker for a gimick pseudo-holiday (although somehow I always miss Talk Like a Pirate Day, probably to the relief of those aaaround me) so I dusted off my copy of Reign in Blood and cracked it on the way to Work. I soon found myself fast forwarding to the end so I could hear the (sorta, they spell it differently) title track. It features a break down with one of the the top 5 metal riffs ever. You've probably heard it if you ever knew someone who liked metal or saw a tv show about extreme sports: a duhn-duhn-duhn followed by something that sounds like "In the Hall of the Dwarven King" if the king in question were really, really badass and a touch sadistic. If you follow the link to the NDoS website you might hear it playing in the background.

Day: 6/8/06
Song: A Sleepy Company
Artist: The Oliva Tremor Control
Source: Black Foliage
Its always nice when a song can surprise you. I've probably listened to this song more than 100 times and yet on this day I noticed for the first time what I am pretty sure are Pac Man samples in the middle section (the part that ends with "Dig a hole and listen for the history").

Day 6/9/06
Song: One Fine Day
Artist: the Mountain Goats
Source: Live
John Darnielle said he was beating the people who yell out old songs at his shows at their own game by playing a song that predated his first tapes. Apparently he used to play this cover at all his early shows. What's striking about the tMG version is that he strips away the sweetness of the Chiffons and exposes its the dark undertones of the narrator waiting, perhaps a little bitterly aand perhaps a little too sure, for that one fine day where (s)he will be wanted.

Days 6/10-6/11
See List below
Aaron suggested that we build a playlist for the trip down to Portland (to see the Mountain Goats again, of course) using the contents of his iPod. We took turns adding a song to the On the Go playlist unaware of what the other selected, eventually stopping when the total reached 100. Selections below. Special mention goes to "The Robots" by Kraftwerk which took on a life of its own.

If you're bored you can try guessing if I was the odd-numbered songs or the evens.

Honorable Mentions: "I'm Feeling So Fuckin' Fine" - Cloud Cult, "Flame" - Sebadoh, "money" and "paul cries" by Think About Life, the Glissandro 70 record

The Portland Trip List (sorry for the crappy excel export, I'm lazy):

Song #	Title	Artist	Album	Length
1	Portland Oregon	Loretta Lynn & Jack White	Van Lear Rose	3:49
2	Heroes	David Bowie	Heroes	6:09
3	Zebra	Man Man	The Man In A Blue Turban With A Face	4:03
4	Quito	The Mountain Goats	We Shall All Be Healed	2:03
5	The Jezebel Spirit	Brian Eno & David Byrne	My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts	4:53
6	Grounds For Divorce	Wolf Parade	Apologies To The Queen Mary	3:24
7	Harry Irene	Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band	Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)	3:42
8	Hopeless	The Wrens	The Meadowlands	5:08
9	(Nothing But) Flowers	Caetano Veloso	A Foreign Sound	4:19
10	Lonely Woman	Ornette Coleman	The Shape Of Jazz To Come	5:02
11	Lampshade	Beck	A Western Harvest Field by Moonlight	4:06
12	Banshee Beat	Animal Collective	Feels	8:22
13	Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle	Be Your Own Pet	Be Your Own Pet	2:06
14	LAX	Hot Snakes	Suicide Invoice	2:01
15	Beast For Thee	Matt Sweeny & Bonnie Prince Billy	Superwolf	3:41
16	House Of Jealous Lovers	The Rapture	Echoes	5:04
17	Academy Fight Song [1980 7" single]	Mission of Burma	Signals, Calls And Marches	3:09
18	Nightendday	Pelican	Australasia	11:14
19	Diptheria	The Nation Of Ulysses!	13-Point Program to Destroy America	4:15
20	Accordian	Madvillain	Madvillainy	1:58
21	I Don't Want to Get Over You	Mary Lou Lord	Live City Sounds	2:26
22	Reitschule	Do Make Say Think	& YET & YET	9:17
23	I've Been Thinking	Handsome Boy Modeling School & Cat Powe style='display:none'>r	White People	5:24
24	Painter in Your Pocket	Destroyer	Destroyer's Rubies	4:10
25	Loved Despite Of Great Faults	Blonde Redhead	Melody Of Certain Damaged Lemons	4:12
26	Paperhouse	CAN	Tago Mago	7:28
27	Wild Honey Pie	Pixies	At The BBC	1:51
28	Testament To Youth In verse	The New Pornographers	Electric Version	3:57
29	Lake Of Fire Memories	Nels Cline / Wally Shoup / Chris Corsano	Immolation/Immersion	2:32
30	Superstition	Stevie Wonder	Talking Book	4:26
31	Green Onions	Booker T. & The MG's	The Very Best Of Booker T. & The MG's	2:55
32	Shoes	Akron/Family	Akron/Family	3:42
33	No Chorus	Dr. Dooom	First Come, First Served	2:26
34	(White Man) in Hammersmith Palais	The Clash	The Clash	4:00
35	XXX	Helium	Pirate Prude	5:19
36	John Hardy	Leadbelly	Absolutely The Best (lb)	3:13
37	The Slow Descent Into Alcoholism	The New Pornographers	Mass Romantic	3:56
38	Is This Thing On?	The Promise Ring	Nothing Feels Good	3:37
39	The Mess We're In	PJ Harvey	Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea	3:57
40	Naked As We Came	Iron & Wine	Our Endless Numbered Days	2:32
41	Easy	Liz Phair	Juvenilia	3:11
42	St. John The Divine	Ted Leo / Pharmacists	The Tyranny Of Distance	6:39
43	Five Years	David Bowie	The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars	4:43
44	Texas Never Whispers	Pavement	Slanted And Enchanted: Luxe And Redux	3:08
45	Gloria	Patti Smith	Horses	5:55
46	Soft Revolution	Stars	Set Yourself On Fire	3:16
47	Kick Me And Cancel	Robert Pollard	From A Compound Eye	2:10
48	Sister Jack	Spoon	Gimme Fiction	3:35
49	I Summon You (Demo)	Spoon	Gimme Fiction [Bonus Disc]	4:00
50	Define A Transparent Dream	The Olivia Tremor Control	Music From The Unrealized Film Script, Dusk At Cubist Castle	2:49
51	The Size Of Our Love	Sleater-Kinney	The Hot Rock	3:11
52	Brand New Day	Dizzee Rascal	Boy In Da Corner	4:00
53	Schizophrenia	Sonic Youth	Sister	4:38
54	Beats To The Rhyme	Run-D.M.C.	Greatest Hits	2:41
55	White Lines	Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5	Message from Beat Street: The Best Of	7:27
56	Whitney Walks	Jawbox	For Your Own Special Sweetheart	3:57
57	Who Are You	Tom Waits	Bone Machine	3:57
58	Back To Base	Fugazi	Red Medicine	1:45
59	Blood on the Motorway	DJ Shadow	The Private Press	9:12
60	What Do You Want Me To Say	Dismemberment Plan	Emergency & I	4:18
61	The Gift	The Velvet Underground	White Light/White Heat	8:16
62	New Room	Chavez	Ride The Fader	3:11
63	Public Pervert (Carlos D Remix)	Interpol	Antics Remixes	8:08
64	Human Interest	Drive Like Jehu	Yank Crime	3:24
65	The Fate Of The Human Carbine	Cat Power	What Would The Community Think	2:58
66	Livin' For The City	The Dirtbombs	Ultraglide In Black	3:07
67	Let's Dance	M. Ward	Transfiguration Of Vincent	5:00
68	Disorder	Joy Division	Unknown Pleasures	3:31
69	The Big Three Killed My Baby	The White Stripes	The White Stripes	2:29
70	The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get U style='display:none'>s!	Sufjan Stevens	Come On Feel The Illinoise!	5:23
71	Random Rules	Silver Jews	American Water	3:58
72	Help Us Stay Alive	Explosions in the Sky	Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever	7:19
73	Say Yes	Elliott Smith	Either/Or	2:19
74	Anthems For A Seventeen Year-Old Girl	Broken Social Scene	You Forgot It In People	4:35
75	Heartbeat	Wire	Chairs Missing	3:15
76	Mayonaise	Smashing Pumpkins	Siamese Dream	5:49
77	Black Cadillacs	Modest Mouse	Good News For People Who Love Bad News	2:43
78	Gravity	Moss Icon	Lyburnum	4:44
79	The Blarney Stone	Ween	The Mollusk	3:14
80	Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)	Talking Heads	Remain In Light	5:48
81	The Robots	Kraftwerk	The Man Machine	6:12
82	Terminus	Unwound	Leaves Turn Inside You [Disc 1]	9:39
83	Away Birdies W/Special Sounds	Grandaddy	A Pretty Mess By This One Band	1:59
84	Forget Remember When	Built To Spill	Carry The Zero EP	4:19
85	Love Lies	Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band	Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)	5:03
86	Deeper Into Movies	Yo La Tengo	I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One	5:23
87	She Will Only Bring You Happiness	Mclusky	The Difference Between Me and You Is That I'm Not On Fire	3:27
88	The Body Breaks	Devendra Banhart	Rejoicing In The Hands	2:43
89	Muffin Man	Frank Zappa	Strictly Commercial	5:33
90	Red Right Ankle	The Decemberists	Her Majesty	3:29
91	Postal Blowfish	Guided By Voices	King Shit And The Golden Boys	2:12
92	Lie Down On Landsdowne	Lifter Puller	Fiestas + Fiascos	3:35
93	Lazy	David Byrne	Grown Backwards	9:36
94	Yeah! Oh, Yeah!	The Magnetic Fields	69 Love Songs	2:19
95	Grounded	Pavement	Crooked Rain Crooked Rain: L.A.'s Desert Origins	3:35
96	Island Garden Song	The Mountain Goats	The Coroners Gambit	2:27
97	The Lyre Of Orpheus	Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds	The Lyre Of Orpheus	5:36
98	Do You Want New Wave Or Do You Want The Truth?	Minutemen	Double Nickels On The Dime	1:50
99	So Into You	Shudder To Think	Pony Express Record	3:43
100	Engine	Neutral Milk Hotel	Jeff Mangum Live At Jittery Joe's	5:13

6/14/06

Song: Fullness of Wind (Part (i) of "Three Variations on the Canon in D Major by Johann Pachelbel")
Artist: Brian Eno after Johann Pachebel
Source: Discreet Music
Day: 6/14/06

My grandma died early in the morning on 6/14/06. I didn't really set out to have a song or post related to that, in fact I avoided albums that seemed like the obvious choices. Art can help throw our lives and emotions into perspecitve but it can also give them a roteness that I wanted to avoid. I didn't want to play a song to make me sad or whatever just because that's what I am supposed to feel at times like this. I want to just feel how I am feeling, or at least sort it out without trying to shoehorn it into 5 stages.

But perhaps it is unavoidable that things would have some resonance. It was more a desire to listen to something quiet and neutral that caused me to pull my copy of Descreet Music off the shelf yesterday, but somehow this song fit. I've always been a sucker for what I know as the Pachebel Canon. I can remember my mom (this grandma's daughter) playing the record for me when I was a kid and just really liking the melody and the grand, loping rhythm. This is the remix by Brian Eno on his pre-Ambient ambient album. He took the score and tinkered with it and gave it to musicians to play and recorded the results. In this variation, the fragments they play change speeds at different rates so they come in and out of phase. The canon is recognizable but it comes out in this interesting post-Steve Reich form: a slightly sappy, beautiful, grandiose and perhaps-a-touch-sad Renaissance (?) sensibility filtered through a modernist one. Which as I have finished typing this I realize is a good descriptor of my mood yesterday, for better or for worse.

P.S. I am not sure what my grandma would think. I never knew her tastes that well. Although she came from family with music in it (her dad was a choir director), I don't get the feeling it was something she focused on much. She and my grandpa had a turntable and later a CD player, but it was hardly used when I was there. (She did take pride in fact that my mom and my aunts knew her tastes and gave her CDs that she liked.) I know she liked crooners and classical classics so she probably would have appreciated the canon in its original form. I doubt she would have had much time for Eno's feeding it through his "self-regulating and self generating" system. She had an honest sweetness about her that didn't really notice or care about serious art's views of sentimentality, so Eno's experiment, interesting as it is, would probably have been beside the point for her.

Take Me Higher, Baby

Day: 6/1/06
Song: (tie)
White Lines (Don't Do It) - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
White Lines (Don't Do It) - Happy Go Licky
I'm not sure what chain of events caused the Grandmaster Flash greatest hits collection to appear at Extreme Noise (the collectively-run punk emporium that I volunteer at on Weds nights) but I don't care. Will I pay $4.50 to have "The Message", "Freedom", "Nasty (Genius of Love)", "New York, New York" and "White Lines (Don't Do It)" plus 7 more tracks? You bet your 1200s.

I thought I would be writing about The Message, for which I've always had a soft spot, but "White Lines" is the one that grabbed me last thursday (along with "Nasty" and its generous sampling of "Genius of Love"; perhaps Tom Tom Club weren't so bad after all). Its a strange yet seamless mix of a great bassline, rapping, beatles-like arpeggiated harmonies (think of their version of "twist and shout") and a dance/disco attention to pacing and structure. Amazing.

Part of the reason its so compelling is my only real exposure to it was in the Happy Go Licky form. For those of you unfamiliar, Happy Go Licky was the shortly lived, reformed Rites of Spring. (For those of you still unfamiliar, Rites of Spring was the best known band Guy and Brendan from Fugazi were in prior to Fugazi. [For those of you still unfamiliar, sorry.]) HGL didn't record much other than some super lo-fi tapes of shows and didn't really sound much like Rites of Spring's emotionally, personally charged punk/hardcore (try One Last Wish [3/4 RoS, album way-posthumously released by Dischord], or Rain for that), but Rites of Spring were, like, one of the best bands ever, so when Dischord emptied the HGL vaults I snapped it up. Their White Lines barely resembles the original. They only keep in the bass line and the "Take Me Higher Baby" chant and put it through the harsh rhythmic grinder of no wave. Its basically a sloppy curiousity, but again Rites of Spring are like, one of the bests band ever, so its worthwhile to be curious every once in a while. I broke it back out again last night for the first time in a couple of years, bringing my little White Lines story full circle.

Every Hippy who goes home bloody feels like a martyr back in the city

Show: Pink Mountaintops, Catfish Haven
Venue: 7th Street Entry
Date: 5/30/06
My folk-friendly upbringing is starting to show. I mostly lay it at the feet of Neutral Milk Hotel who had to release an album I like very, very much and then decide (t)he(y)'d had enough, leaving a gap to be filled. So I am something of a sucker for sonicly adventurous pop (side note: I define 'pop' more as a structure - verse/chorus/etc. with a certain idea about melody, hooks, etc. - than as actually popular music; this is probably a misleading, maybe I'll put a personal glossary on this thing at some point) with some 60s influences.

Latest up were Pink Mountaintops. Stephen McBean's mountain empire (there's Black Mountains as well) has gotten some decent notices in the online press as of late; so finding myself with the later part of my eveing free, I stopped by the Entry to catch them and Catfish Haven. The latter were better than I expected. The singer carries the show with an intense performance like Ted Leo if he had grown up listening to 60s R&B/soul, Jim Croche, and the Guess Who instead of Thin Lizzy (or so the consensus description seems to be) and the Who and spending his youthing front punk bands at ABC No Rio. Not typically my thing but they got my head nodding. Pink Mountaintops took the stage (and by took the stage I mean took every inch of it) with 7 people playing a variety of guitars, keyboards, percussion, bass and singing. They reminded me of a less spacey or gospel influenced Spiritualized but with more of a groove. Their performance was infectous while they were on the stage (or at least until the fatigue of going to work and playing a game of ulimate settled in on me) and in slightly different circumstances the crowd might have been actively dancing instead of just swaying and bobbing our heads. I can't say I took much of the show away with me, but it was fun while it lasted.