Monthly Archives: February 2008

I’m starting to think, just like sunglasses and underwear, these iPods are disposable. This dying Nano is just dying to meet the dust heap – so your Shuffled Selections are from iTunes this morning…
Thin Lizzy – Night Life (Mp3)
Jon Auer – Angelita (Mp3)
Suede – Money (Mp3)
Roxy Music – Virginia Plain (Mp3)
Evangelicals – Skeleton Man (Mp3)

I was all ready to write about today’s “singer/songwriter” Todd Rundgren and what an amazing and diverse career he’s had…from solo star in the ’70’s to his work with Utopia and his amazing list of production credits that include The Psychedelic Furs, XTC, Meat Loaf, Badfinger and The New York Dolls (to name just a few) to fronting the reunited Cars…but heading to Todd’s website, it seems he’s told the entire story himself in a…uh, rather LONG Flash movie you really just can’t click out of. (I tried. Several times.) So, pop some pop corn, call the kids into the room and sit back and let Todd tell you his story himself. All respects, Todd.

Todd Rundgren – I Saw The Light (Mp3)
Todd Rundgren – Can We Still Be Friends (Mp3)
Todd Rundgren – Be Nice To Me (Mp3)
Todd Rundgren – Wailing Wall (Mp3)
Todd Rundgren – Hello It’s Me (Mp3)

No surprise choice here, given TVD’s predilection for all things Joe. The tunes speak for themselves:

Joe Jackson – One To One (Live) (Mp3)
Joe Jackson – Fools In Love (Live) (Mp3)
Joe Jackson – Got The Time (Live) (Mp3)
Joe Jackson – Look Sharp! (Live) (Mp3)
Joe Jackson – On Your Radio (Live) (Mp3)

So, I’m over at Iota a few years back waiting for Grant-Lee to hit the stage. Glance over my shoulder and there he is…amiable, personable, making small talk with folks in the crowd. “Here’s my chance,” I’m thinking — I’ve seen this guy live like 4 or 5 times, have all of the Grant Lee Buffalo records – here it is, my opportunity to say hello. I make my way through the crowd, introduce myself, and we chat a bit, things are light and breezy. Then I ask, “Say – you think Grant Lee Buffalo will ever get back together?” You’d think a full (Mighty Joe) moon had just arisen — the guy’s demeanor does a complete 360. “Never,” he growls abruptly and storms off through the crowd. (In short, don’t ask that.) Regardless, five great reasons he’s doing amazing things as an ahem, solo “singer/songwriter…”

Grant Lee Phillips – Beautiful Dreamers (Mp3)
Grant Lee Phillips – Lazily Drowning (Mp3)
Grant Lee Phillips – Love’s A Mystery (Mp3)
Grant Lee Phillips – Mobilize (Mp3)
Grant Lee Phillips – See America (Mp3)

Miles away from a ‘Mats record, former Replacements frontman Paul Westerberg emerged as a solo performer with a straight down the center country-tinged rock record. And in Westerberg’s hands, that ain’t such a bad thing. Singer/songwriter week #2 kicks off with five from “14.”

Paul Westerberg – Dice Behind Your Shades (Mp3)
Paul Westerberg – Even Here We Are (Mp3)
Paul Westerberg – First Glimmer (Mp3)
Paul Westerberg – Runaway Wind (Mp3)
Paul Westerberg – Things (Mp3)

The Friday Fallout:
The White Stripes – Rag & Bone.mp3
Elvis Costello & the Attractions – High Fidelity.mp3
Josie Cotton – He Could Be The One.mp3
Soft Cell – Kitchen Sink Drama.mp3
Snowden – Good News.mp3

I don’t think today’s “singer/songwriter” will rise to the level of debate and discourse as yesterday’s selection of Mr. Weller seems to have engendered — Neil just seems to be the one who we can all agree upon. (Right…?) Having tied up the Enz and shuttered the House (the first time ’round) Neil emerged as a solo performer with ’98’s “Try Whistling This,” a looser, slightly funkier release where a spirit of playful experimentalism prevails. Tracks like “Sinner” and “Twisty Bass” amid others find him incorporating discreet layers of loops and unexpected influences (house music, trance) into what remains, at heart, an essentially handmade, linear song-writing technique.

Neil Finn – Last One Standing (Mp3)
Neil Finn – Souvenir (Mp3)
Neil Finn – Try Whistling This (Mp3)
Neil Finn – Twisty Bass (Mp3)
Neil Finn – Sinner (Mp3)

Apparently he’d been getting into Neil Young, smoking joints and making pilgrimages to Nick Drake’s grave. Paul Weller, Mod icon turned R&B/soul crooner emerged as the UK’s preeminent “singer/songwriter” with 1992’s “Wild Wood.” (Who said ‘writer’s block?’)

Paul Weller – Wild Wood (Mp3)
Paul Weller – Has My Fire Really Gone Out? (Mp3)
Paul Weller – Foot Of The Mountain (Mp3)
Paul Weller – All The Pictures On The Wall (Mp3)
Paul Weller – Hung Up (Mp3)

Whackjobs (or wait…) actually onto something…?

The Washington City Paper stopped by yesterday morning simultaneously making mention of last Friday’s power pop lineup (thanks guys!), then to completely dismiss the entire genre as a whole – saving just Big Star and 20/20 from the trash bin o’ pop history. (Both of whom made our Friday Ten, by the way.) “It’s just such an overrated genre. Just go and buy some Big Star and forget the rest” Jason Cherkis opined.

Now, we know many of you zip thru TVD via Power Pop Criminals and The Not Lame Blog (among quite a few others) and the downloads were increasingly high for last Friday’s Shots, so the City Paper CAN’T be on to something, or…can it be? The entire genre in utter shite shock? (Because if that’s the case, I have some genres on my list to discard…like anything ending with the suffix “abilly” for example…) Ahem.

I was surprised to see on Paul Michel’s MySpace page that he considers himself to be a “singer/songwriter.” (Or was that “songer singwriter”?) Anyway, it makes sense but that designation seems to be normally reserved for your James Taylors or your Cat Stevenses or even your Gordon Lightfeets who, let’s face it, are the suck. So, picking up with yesterday’s theme, I thought – hm, are there any “singer/songwriters” I actually DO like — outside of Paul, of course? (And if you’ve haven’t downloaded his tracks from yesterday by now – get on that.)

First up — Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera. If it weren’t for “Oblivious” I’d be oblivious. But happily that sucked me in and I’ve been along for the ride ever since. But whether he’s working with a Knopfler or a Sakamoto, ostensibly it’s just Roddy and his way with a melody and lyric. Oh, and what a voice, huh?

Aztec Camera – Stray (Mp3)
Aztec Camera – Over My Head (Mp3)
Aztec Camera – Notting Hill Blues (Mp3)

Live at Ronnie Scott’s 6/23/91
Aztec Camera – Stray (Live) (Mp3)
Aztec Camera – Dolphins (Live) (Mp3)

Over a pint one evening, I stuck out my hand and introduced myself:

It struck me as odd that Jon knew me and I didn’t know him. I was working, and I think it always weirds me out when someone I don’t know asks me, “Hey, are you Paul Michel?” Doesn’t happen often, mind you. Guess that’s why it’s weird. But I was in my own little world in this tiny bar in DC, and Jon popped the proverbial (and kind of metaphysical) question. Too much Catholic guilt, I guess, ‘cuz I felt like I had done something wrong. But he says that he’s downloaded a bunch of stuff off the site and that he really enjoys the music. ‘Phew, I’m not in trouble,’ I think, and then in my neurotic way, I thank him and smile like an idiot. I’m still not comfortable responding to a compliment. And then we chat for a bit, and I do a bit of half-assed promotion for a show I have coming up before we exchange email addresses.

So when I sat down to write this little preamble for Jon’s blog, it stuck in my head that here’s this nice guy being really cool to a dude that he’s never met because of an interaction he’s had with this ephemeral thing called music that the unknown guy (me) recorded and released a couple of years ago. And I think that’s what makes me weirded out. Its that I created this thing that got thrown into the ether, and there was a ripple somewhere. Being a control freak, and this being something I can’t control, it made me nervous. Writing is such a personal thing for me. It’s a huge leap to take ideas from your head, stick it on some media, and let someone you’ve never met judge it. Truth is, its been almost accidental the way I’ve released my music. The first Magic Bullet EP was a collection of a couple songs I had written in a one bedroom apartment on my computer that my roommate convinced me was good enough for other people to listen to. Magic Bullet thought so, too, and that was my first adventure into the ether. I’ve never really had a plan for any of this.

So I’ve realized that it’s the act of creation that gets me going. I’ve played with other bands that have played in front of a ton of people — and don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a blast on stage playing in front of those people. And I love that people listening to music can still get them (and myself!) riled up from that pure raw emotion. But nothing in the world makes me feel more at peace than writing a line or a guitar part. I’m an introvert, and that internalizing act of producing something just seems to reflect who I am and what I like to do. So I just keep writing music — I have backlogs of crap on a couple different hard drives — and somehow it just keeps getting thrown out there. I think Jon’s gonna put a couple songs from the first Magic Bullet LP up on this blog, but there was another EP after that, then another LP on a new label called “Quiet State of Panic” that got released last year. I got vomit of the brain, kind of. I just can’t stop. Sometimes I want to, sometimes it drives me nuts, but at this point its something that I have to do. It’s become a necessity.

So that’s why it’s still weird to me that Jon approached me. I get so caught up in the act of making music, in this tiny world that includes a basement, a computer screen, a couple of guitars and myself, that I forget that I’ve already made a bunch. And that people have heard it. And some of them actually liked it. Go figure…

Five great reasons why you too would have stuck out your hand and said, “Hey aren’t you…”
Paul Michel – Alone All Day (Mp3)
Paul Michel – Backup Plan (Mp3)
Paul Michel – Here In My Arms (Mp3)
Paul Michel – You, My Only One (Mp3)
Paul Michel – Wait (Mp3)

Rather ’80’s-centric on random rotate today…
Pale Fountains – Jeans Not Happening (Mp3)
Seona Dancing – More To Lose (Mp3)
XTC – Making Plans for Nigel (Mp3)
Romeo Void – A Girl in Trouble (Mp3)
The Replacements – Kiss Me On The Bus (Mp3)

I’m sure this pick will alienate many a TVD reader, but what better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day than with one of your very first loves? Oh sure, we had our glorious honeymoon phase, leveled off a bit, then subsequently had MORE than our fair share of rough patches. The ’80’s were a complete mess, for example. Yet, every now and then we still get together to rekindle that old, magical flame. (Or pyro, in this instance.) So Happy Valentine’s Day Gene, Paul, Peter and Ace. Did you get our flowers?

KISS – Watching You (Mp3)
KISS – 100,000 Years (Mp3)
KISS – Black Diamond (Mp3)
KISS – Rock Bottom (Mp3)
KISS – Cold Gin (Mp3)

(Oh, c’mon you sonsabitches – it’s the Dolls meets Alice Cooper – what’s not to like?!)

Its STILL blows my mind up when, in conversation, a reference to Big Star arises and someone inevitably says, “Who?” (…WHO?!) Maybe it’s just me or that I’m used to hearing their influences on such TVD favorites as Cheap Trick or The Posies. But really, everyone should own this record.

Yet, I have a confession: I hadn’t owned or HEARD it til about 8 years ago. (I guess I just got tired of saying “Who?” when Big Star was mentioned.) I mean I KNEW who they were – Alex Chilton and all that – I just hadn’t heard the record. So, playing it for the first time, there was an instant familiarity — like putting on an old pair of jeans to find they fit perfectly. So, waste no time and grab these today. You’re not getting any thinner.

Big Star – Feel (Mp3)
Big Star – The Ballad Of El Goodo (Mp3)
Big Star – Thirteen (Mp3)
Big Star – Give Me Another Chance (Mp3)
Big Star – In The Street (Mp3)