Glory Days Revisited and a Few Current Faves
It's official, I'm old, we now live in a world where The Buzzcocks "Everybody's Happy Nowadays" can be the tune of an AARP television commercial -- I gave up trying to be hip ages ago, but ouch! That hurts. Not that I should be shocked, it's been 20 years since I produced or released a record(and they were records of the vinyl variety, not compact discs or digital downloads). Anyway, I had been meaning to write another "What I've Been Listening to" entry, ever since Reaction Recordings saw the wisdom in re-issuing the Crippled Pilgrims catalogue on compact disc, which I guess, must have been a year ago now...
BLACK MARKET BABY "Coulda ...Shoulda...Woulda" -- another collection of tunes from my misspent punk rock days. It makes me nostalgic, although it is certainly of another time. Tunes with titles like "Youth Crimes" or "Potential Suicide" that resonated with me at 16, makes me wonder, now that I'm in my 40s, if the guys feel silly playing them at reunion gigs.
CAITLIN CARY & THAD COCKRELL "Begonias" -- not sure exactly how to describe it, almost a high lonesome feel. Not quite Emmylou and Gram Parsons, but pretty darn close. Oddly, it literally gives Heather a headache every time I play it in the car -- so, I haven't listened to it as much as I might have liked.
ELVIS COSTELLO "Imperial Bedroom" -- This originally came out when I was working a Choice Cuts(one of many record stores that I've worked at) and I probably never gave it its proper due because my boss loved it(and as a result, played it) too much at the time. Costello is someone I've seen in concert, only twice, but more than 20 years apart.
CRIPPLED PILGRIMS "Down Here: Collected Recordings (1983-85)" -- I'm seriously biased, but these songs really hold up. There are details about the recording sessions, I remember like they happened last week...20 years ago, I'd have brought these tunes to my desert island, and given the right mood, I still might today.
HEM "No Word From Tom" Outtakes, Covers, Demos, Live Recordings & Rarities (2000-2005) -- If they had come along in the mid-80's, they could've been the Cowboy Junkies. Their version of REM's "South Central Rain" makes it worth buying the entire disc.
TOMMY KEENE 'Crashing the Ether" -- I got to give him credit for still plugging away. He still makes great power pop. Nothing as perfect as "Places That Are Gone", but how many times does lightning really strike twice?
KINKS "Face to Face"-- Before I ever discovered punk rock, I was mostly a Beatles, Dylan, Who type of guy. At that time, I was always partial to The Kinks "Something Else". Then recently, when I was playing Scrabble with Joel and Nancy, this made it to the stereo. I never
appreciated what a fine album it is.
JENNY LEWIS with THE WATSON TWINS "Rabbit Fur Coat"-- Lewis is the lead singer of Rilo Kiley. If I were putting together a "Best of 2006" list, this would be at the top.
RILO KILEY "More Adventurous" -- Kind of a backwards discovery, usually one picks up the side project solo album(Lewis') because one likes the band, not visa versa.
Well, that's all I have time for, I hear at least one kid waking up from a nap.
posted by Derrick @ 2:10 PM
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