Blog

The Yardbirds: Live Yardbirds! Featuring Jimmy Page (Anderson Theater 1968, not quite official Mooreland CD - I used to have this on cassette (still do, probably) and have forgotten about this until recently picking up some Yardbirds releases)
ABBA: Live
New Model Army: Today Is A Good Day
Dusty Springfield: The Complete BBC Sessions
The Damned: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Miles Davis: The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (5CD box)
Alternative TV: Apollo
Nick Cave & Warren Ellis: White Lunar (2CD)
Peter Gabriel: Hits (2CD)
Gene Loves Jezebel: Immigrant (2CD)
David Gilmour: Live In Gdansk (3CD+2DVD Box)
Kylie Minogue: KylieFever2002 (DVD+CD)
Chris Bell: I Am The Cosmos (2CD Rhino Handmade)
UnicaZürn: Temporal Bends (+ Temporal Lapse outtakes CD-R - features Danielle Dax on one track)
Various artists: Brain In The Wire (3CD tin)
John Coltrane: The Major Works Of John Coltrane (2CD)
John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (2CD Deluxe Edition)
Wings: Wings Over America (2CD)
UFO: Obsession
Clock DVA: Man-Amplified
Swans: Children Of God / World Of Skin (2CD)
Miles Davis: Relaxin' With The Miles Davis Quintet (DCC Gold Edition)
Steroid Maximus: Ectopia
Iron Maiden: Maiden Hell! (Promo comp)
Pulp: We Love Life
Shannon Wright: Dyed In The Wool
Various artists: The Secret Policeman's Ball (LP, w/Pete Townshend, Tom Robinson)
David Gilmour: Blue Light (promo 12" w/extended mixes)
Andrew Liles: Det Skjedde Noe Når Du Var I Belgia (collaboration w/Maniac from Mayhem and Czral)
Andrew Liles: Ouarda (The Subtle Art Of Phyllorhodomancy) (dualdisc CD/DVD edition)
Bauhaus: In The Flat Field (2CD Beggars Omnibus Edition)
Bauhaus: Mask (3CD Beggars Omnibus Edition)
The Cult: Love (4CD Beggars Omnibus Edition)
Nurse With Wound: Flawed Existence (4LP/10"/Soundchip/t-shirt Vinyl On Demand box)
Rammstein: Liebe Ist Für Alle De (2CD)
The Beatles: Past Masters (2CD 2009 Stereo Remasters)
U2: The Unforgettable Fire (2CD/DVD 2009 Deluxe Edition)
Bauhaus: ... And Remains (bonus dics from Omnibus editions)
Chris Bell: I Am The Cosmos / You And Your Sister (7" - Rhino Handmade bonus)

I can't think how many times I've been talking to a baby boomer and mentioned a musician almost their same age whom they're completely unfamiliar with. No insult intended to baby boomers who are actually musically literate.

1. Big Star -- You have to tell them they were the band of the guy who sang The letter before Joe Cocker did. And then you have to sing the song. If that doesn't work, try talking about "That 70s Show" and the Cheap Trick cover of In the Street. Alex Chilton is hard enough to explain, let alone Chris Bell. Their loss.

2. James Booker -- The typical baby boomer may have a vague memory of Dr. John, but has never heard Booker except on that Ringo Starr album Ringo that they haven't listened to since 1975. You might try telling them he gave lessons to Harry Connick Jr. If you were District Attorney of New Orleans, would you get a homosexual junkie convict to give piano lessons to your son? Only if he were a piano genius too.

3. Syd Barret -- Sure, boomers love post-Syd Pink Floyd, and they know he's the "Crazy Diamond" guy in that movie, but they've never heard his solo albums.

4. Betty Davis -- Yes, the whole world has missed out on Betty Davis, but it's time to wake up. She's the queen of funk.

5. Van Dyke Parks -- The only way to go is to mention The Beach Boys. Their eyes will probably glaze over while you're rhapsodizing about Brian Wilson's Smile

6. Patty Waters -- I don't think there's any way to explain Patty Waters to mainstream baby boomers. Even though Diamanda Galas is technically a baby boomer, saying that Patty Waters is her biggest influence isn't going to help much.

7. Skip Spence -- If the don't know Syd, how are they going to have heard Oar by the cracked ex-Moby Grape? About as likely as them knowing who Roy Harper is. [bonus Gen-X-er question: What Minneapolis record store which used to employ Hole/Janitor Joe bassist Kristen Pfaff was named after Spence and Harper's albums?]

8. Townes Van Zandt -- Come on, boomers can barely remember Gram Parsons, can you expect them to know Townes?

9. Nick Drake -- Thanks to the Volkswagen commercial, they are at least that familiar. They still haven't bought the box. Will they ever hear Vashti Bunyan? Or realize that they should own all John Martyn's albums too?

10. Tim Buckley -- Do baby boomers even know who Jeff Buckley is? I guess they slept through the episode of The Monkees TV show where he sang Song to the Siren.

(written June 2007, revised July 2009)

An ill-advised (considering my financial situation) impromptu trip to Park Ave CDs yielded the following:



* Goblin, Dawn Of The Dead (Dagored, red transparent vinyl)
* Flower Travellin' Band, Satori (first heard on last.fm)
* Chris Bell, I Am the Cosmos

Passed up included: Lifetime (Tony Williams, Mahavishnu et al.), Fresh Maggots, Jeremy Steig (that compilation that's the only thing on CD) and more.

So last.fm is pretty great, no doubt

I was just listening to similar artists to Big Star
and the tracks were great, all in a row, I was treated to:

Love
The Flying Burrito Brothers
and
The Modern Lovers

it was a great trip down memory lane of all the greatest music from the collections of the cooler older people in my college town of Bloomington

but then, oh no, Chris Bell ... not THE Chris Bell from Big Star , no no some ridiculous hip/hop rap artist of the same name ...

this is how last.fm lets me down .. cant the genre and tags discriminate well enough between artists with the same name?

Here is my Top 25 List of All-Time Favorite Power Pop Albums. I worked on this list for submittal to a poll on the (soon to be defunct) Audities mailing list, a poll which was inspired by the newish book by John Borack "Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Power Pop Guide".
It changed quite a bit from my first draft, from basically a list of my current faves, to a list more far-reaching in scope, as seen from the view of my many years as a power pop fan. This shift has homogenized the list quite a bit, to mostly feature mostly the well-known power pop Gods.
Despite my previous point, there are no Beatles albums to be found on the list, simply because I consider them bigger than power pop.
Three more albums that I loved, The Orgone Box' self titled debut, The Grip Weeds "House of Vibes" and Chris Bell's "I Am the Cosmos", didn't make the cut with me (though they made Borack's list) because I personally don't consider them power pop. Also, I loved The Posies and The Hummingbirds in their heyday, but always felt like neither recorded "that classic album (The Hummingbirds' album had the tunes, but was marred by poor production)".

1.The Someloves-Something Or Other (This is the holy grail for me. I should list the "Don't Talk About Us..." reissue instead, since it includes many bonus tracks, but this is the one that I've listened to while staring at the cd cover for hours on end.)

2.Any Trouble-Where Are All the Nice Girls? (If a Martian visited Earth and wanted to hear an example of prototypical power pop, this is the cd I would play for him.)

3.Sam Phillips-The Indescribable Wow (This one is aided greatly by a timeless T-Bone Burnett production job. I'd love to find out how they got the perfect chiming guitar sound in the intro to "I Don't Know How To Say Goodbye To You".)

4.Big Star-Radio City (Though this album is over 30 years old, it is more musically sophisticated most power pop albums recorded today.)

5.The Three O'Clock-16 Tambourines (This one was dropped down a few notches because I don't consider it true power pop. But I love this album so much, I had to include it.)

6.Dancing Hoods-12 Jealous Roses (I'm so glad that John Borack included this lp in his book. I consider the Eric Williams tracks on this album among the finest ever pop songs. I wish he kept recording music after he left this group.)

7.Marshall Crenshaw-Field Day (This is the album where Marshall lost most of his commercial and critical momentum. Ironically it is also his best collection of songs.)

8.Tommy Keene-The Real Underground (A compilation, yes, but since it isn't a Best of..., I felt okay with listing it. Those first 2 eps are still my favorites from Tommy's remarkably consistent body of work.)

9.Marshall Crenshaw-Marshall Crenshaw (This was the first power pop album I bought. You never forget your first!)

10.The Windbreakers-Disciples of Agriculture (I chose this over other Windbreakers comps because of the track "Rerun". The Windbreakers were definitely underrated, even in power pop circles. 2 great songwriters are always better than one!)

11.The Cavedogs-Joyrides For Shut-Ins (This is the band omitted from "Shake Some Action" that had me shaking my head. Despite their short run, The Cavedogs were the best pure power pop band of the 90's.)

12.The dB’s-Like This (Many would choose their first album above this, and I was a big fan before I purchased "Like This", but this is the one I sang along to while driving-that clinches it for me.)

13.The Smithereens-Especially For You (I can't believe I never listen to this one anymore. This is a classic, great melodies and diverse arrangements.)

14.The Plimsouls-Everywhere At Once (I consider this more a true rock record than power pop, so it dropped down a bit. Peter Case is my all time favorite rock singer.)

15.The dB’s-Stands For Decibels (This is The dB's classic first album. They, as with Big Star, were leagues ahead of even today's bands in terms of experimentation of arrangements while remaining a tight ensemble.)

16.Jellyfish-Bellybutton (What could've been. If only they allowed Jason Falkner to contribute his songs-maybe they wouldn't have flamed out so quickly.)

17.Big Star-#1 Record (This is their only album with Chris Bell, a hero of mine. A brilliant interpretation of British Invasion music by these Southern ringers.)

18.Sloan-Between The Bridges (This band doubles my 2 songwriters are better than one theory by having 4 talented musical voices.)

19.Myracle Brah-Life On Planet Eartsnop (From the first chords of "Whisper Softly", you know this will be a classic. Derivative, but thrillingly so.)

20.Matthew Sweet-Girlfriend (Matthew Sweet's magnum opus. He has released many top notch albums since, but has not surpassed this gem.)

21.Marshall Crenshaw-Downtown (Marshall's classic power pop re-imagined with a more diverse musical scope.)

22.Sloan-Navy Blues (Power pop with an emphasis on power. I know of no other band who can so easily take an influence and turn it into something completely their own.)

23.Game Theory-The Big Shot Chronicles (This I consider more a psych pop record, but I have to include Scott Miller in any best of list I write. In years to come, Scott Miller will be revered as a genius songwriter.)

24.The Wind-Wind-Jammer: Where`s It At With The Wind Plus ("Where It's At..." was a fantastic album, but it included enough filler that I probably wouldn't list it if the "Guest of the Staphs ep" wasn't added. I love that ep and played it to death.)

25a.The Bangles-The Bangles EP (I wish somebody would reissue their earliest recordings. I like "All Over the Place", but love the more retro vibe of this ep.)

25b.Marshall Crenshaw-The 9 Volt Years (I have to include this compilation with classic Crenshaw early tracks "(You're My) Favorite Waste of Time" and "Something's Gonna Happen".)

25c. Sloan-One Chord To Another-Had to tack this one on.


I am sure I missed something, but gotta cut it off somewhere.

Take your top 20 artists. For each of these artists, collect the top 5 similar artists. The resulting number of unique artists is your eclectic score. If the score is small (extreme = 5) your musical preferences are very limited, and if it is large (larger than 80, extreme = 100), then you have an eclectic musical preference. You can compute your own score at http://anthony.liekens.net/pub/scripts/last.fm/eclectic.php

My eclectic score is currently




The 85 related artists for my profile are 10cc, 20/20 (2), Alex Chilton, Alice Cooper, America, Badfinger, Basia Bulat, Belle and Sebastian, Bloc Party, Bob Dylan (2), Bon Jovi, Boston (2), Bram Tchaikovsky, Camera Obscura, Cat Stevens, Chicago, Chris Bell, Crowded House, Danny Elfman, Dayna Manning, Dwight Twilley Band, Eagles (2), Foreigner (2), Gerry Rafferty, Guns N' Roses, Hank Williams, Hans Zimmer, Harry Chapin, Howard Shore, I'm From Barcelona, INXS, Icehouse, Jackson Browne, James Horner, James Taylor, Jim Croce, John Lennon, John Mellencamp, Journey, Julie Doiron and The Wooden Stars, Klaus Badelt, Led Zeppelin, Martina Sorbara, Mental as Anything, Metric, Midnight Oil, Neil Young (2), Paul Simon (2), Pezband, Phil Collins, Poison, Queen (3), R.E.M., Ryan Adams, Shoes, Slade, Squeeze, Steve Miller Band, Styx(2), Suzi Quatro, T. Rex, Teenage Fanclub, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Concretes, The Doobie Brothers, The Killers, The Long Blondes, The Posies, The Records (2), The Rolling Stones (3), The Rubinoos, The Strokes, The Velvet Underground, The Who (2), Tom Petty, Tommy Hoehn, U2 (2), Van Halen, Van Morrison, Whitesnake, Willie Nelson,XTC, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, ceylan delikanli


I had no idea....

Another one that could've beaten the Duracel bunny hands-down.

100 GREAT ALBUMS OF 1992!
Compiled at MAC.



The 25th of May - Lenin & McCarthy
Alice in Chains - Dirt
Annie Lennox - Diva
Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Babes in Toyland - Fontanelle
The Balanescu Quartet - Possessed
Bauhaus - Rest in Peace: The Final Concert
Beastie Boys - Check Your Head
The Chills - Soft Bomb
Chris Bell - I Am the Cosmos
Cracker - s/t
The Cure - Wish
Current 93 - Thunder Perfect Mind
Curve - Doppelgänger
Daisy Chainsaw - Eleventeen
Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky
Das EFX - Dead Serious
Diamond D - Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop
Dr. Dre - The Chronic
Eddi Reader - Mirmama
Erasure - Abba-esque EP
Faith No More - Angel Dust
The Fall - Code: Selfish
The Family Cat - Furthest From The Sun
Fear Factory - Soul of a New Machine
The Flaming Lips - Hit to Death in the Future Head
Gang Starr - Daily Operation
Gin Blossoms - New Miserable Experience
Go West - Indian Summer
Heavenly - Le Jardin de Heavenly
Helmet - Meantime
House of Pain - House of Pain
Iris DeMent - Infamous Angel
James - Seven
The Jazz Butcher - Condition Blue
The Jesus & Mary Chain - Honey's Dead
The Jesus Lizard - Liar
Julian Cope - Jehovah Kill
King Crimson - The Great Deceiver: Live 1973-1974
L7 - Bricks are Heavy
Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray
Leonard Cohen - The Future
Los Lobos - Kiko
The Loud Family - Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things
Love Spirals Downwards - Idylls
Lush - Spooky
Lyle Lovett - Joshua Judges Ruth
The M25 Experience - Sunshine On Mars
Madness - Divine Madness
Madonna - Erotica
Manic Street Preachers - Generation Terrorists
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Come On, Come On
Mega City Four - Sebastopol Road
Ministry - Psalm 69
Morphine - Good
Morrissey - Your Arsenal
Neil Young - Harvest Moon
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Henry's Dream
Nine Inch Nails - Broken EP
Opus III - Mind Fruit
The Orb - U.F. Orb
Orbital - Orbital II
Original Flavor - This Is How It Is
Pantera- Vulgar Display of Power
Paul Weller - Paul Weller
Pavement - Slanted & Enchanted
Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - Mecca & The Soul Brother
The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II The Pharcyde
Phish - A Picture Of Nectar
Pop Will Eat Itself - The Looks Or The Lifestyle?
PJ Harvey - Dry
The Prodigy - Experience
Pulp - Seperations
Radical Dance Faction - Wastleland
R.E.M. - Automatic for the People
Rage Against the Machine - Rage Against the Machine
Ride - Going Blank Again
The Shamen - Boss Drum
Showbiz & A.G. - Runaway Slave
Skinny Puppy - Last Rights
Sonic Youth - Dirty
Spirea X - Fireblade Skies
Spiritualized - Lazer Guided Melodies
Stereo MCs - Connected
Steve Roach & Robert Rich - Soma
Sugar - Copper Blue
The Sugarcubes - Stick Around For Joy
Suzanne Vega - 99.9 F°
Swans - Love of Life
T-Bone Burnett - The Criminal Under My Own Hat
Therapy? - Nurse
These Immortal Souls - I'm Never Gonna Die Again
They Might Be Giants - Apollo 18
Throwing Muses - Red Heaven
Tom Waits - Bone Machine
Tool - Opiate EP
Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes
Wolfsheim - No Happy View
Young Fresh Fellows - It's Low Beat Time
The Young Gods - T.V. Sky

Thanks to everyone at the 1990's Hotdesk.

All-Time Faves Lists

Here is my all-time faves list as of today. As time goes on, I will adjust according to taste...

Fave Musical Artists:

1. The Someloves
2. The Three O'Clock
3. The Smiths
4. The Beatles
5. Guided by Voices
6. Big Star/Chris Bell
7. hurrah!
8. R.E.M.
9. Pop Art
10. Marshall Crenshaw
11. Tommy Keene
12. The Sundays
13. The Field Mice
14. Sloan
15. West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band
16. Jellyfish
17. Game Theory/The Loud Family
18. Belle and Sebastian
19. The Go-Betweens
20. The Decemberists

Fave Albums:

1. The Someloves-Something Or Other
2. The Three O'Clock-16 Tambourines
3. Sam Phillips-The Indescribable Wow
4. Any Trouble-Where Are All the Nice Girls?
5. R.E.M.-Fables of the Reconstruction
6. Matthew Sweet-Girlfriend
7. Dancing Hoods-12 Jealous Roses
8. Miracle Legion-The Backyard E.P.
9. The Sundays-Reading, Writing, Arithmetic
10. Nanci Griffith-One Fair Summer Evening
11. The Fairways-Is Everything Alright?
12. Oranger-The Quiet Vibration Land
13. Shoestrings-Wishing on Planes
14. R.E.M.-Reckoning
15. The Wind-Wind-Jammer: Where`s It At With The Wind Plus!
16. R.E.M.-Murmur
17. 10,000 Maniacs-The Wishing Chair
18. The Smiths-The Best Of The Smiths Vol. 1 & 2
19. Rain Parade-Emergency Third Rail Power Trip
20. The Cavedogs-Joyrides For Shut-Ins
21. Marshall Crenshaw-Field Day
22. Aztec Camera-High Land, Hard Rain
23. Big Star-Radio City/#1 Record
24. Oasis-Definitely Maybe
25. Tommy Keene-The Real Underground
26. R.E.M.-Chronic Town E.P.
27. The Olivia Tremor Control-Dusk At Cubist Castle
28. Holiday-Holiday
29. The dB’s-Stands For Decibels
30. Sloan-Between The Bridges
31. The Smiths-The Smiths
32. The Tyde-Twice
33. Game Theory-The Big Shot Chronicles
34. Gene-Olympian
35. Myracle Brah-Life On Planet Eartsnop
36. The Beatles-Rubber Soul
37. Marshall Crenshaw-Field Day
38. The Pontiac Brothers-Doll Hut
39. The Housemartins-London 0 Hull 4
40. The Clientele-Suburban Light
41. The Eighteenth Day of May-The Eighteenth Day Of May
42. Neil Halstead-Sleeping On Roads
43. Sloan-Navy Blues
44. Guided by Voices-Bee Thousand
45. The Decemberists-Castaways And Cutouts
46. The Someloves-Don't Talk About Us: The Real Pop Recordings Of The Someloves
47. The Beatles-Revolver
48. Beulah-The Coast Is Never Clear
49. Guided by Voices-Isolation Drills
50. The Embrooks-Our New Day

Fave Songs:

1. The La’s-There She Goes
2. The Someloves-Another Happy Ending
3. The Go-Betweens-Cattle And Cane (live)
4. Heavenly-P.U.N.K. Girl
5. The Fairways-K-L-M Line
6. The Sails-Peter Shilton
7. Myracle Brah-Whisper Softly
8. Kirsty MacColl-He’s On The Beach
9. Big Star-I'm In Love With A Girl
10. Dancing Hoods-Girl Problems
11. Rainy Day-I’ll Be Your Mirror
12. Jeff Buckley-Last Goodbye
13. R.E.M.-Harborcoat
14. Big Star-September Gurls
15. The Jazz Butcher-Girl Go (L.A version)
16. R.E.M.-Good Advices
17. The Smiths-This Charming Man
18. The Three O'Clock-Tomorrow
19. The Sundays-Summertime
20. The Pogues-Haunted
21. The Someloves-Sunshine’s Glove
22. The Decemberists-Grace Cathedral Hill
23. The Style Council-Headstart For Happiness
24. The Icicle Works-Birds Fly
25. The New Pornographers-The Laws Have Changed
26. Sleater-Kinney-Burn, Don’t Freeze
27. Wilco-Outtasite (Outta Mind)
28. The Smiths-The Boy With The Thorn In His Side
29. The Style Council-My Ever Changing Moods
30. The Cavedogs-Step Down
31. Third Eye Blind-Semi-Charmed Life
32. Rocketship-I Love You Like The Way I Used To
33. Greenberry Woods-Supergeek
34. Sloan-G To Turns To D
35. The Redskins-Lean On Me
36. Lloyd Cole and the Commotions-Perfect Skin
37. Jellyfish-Will You Marry Me?
38. Red House Painters-Have You Forgotten
39. Tommy Keene-Baby Face
40. Marshall Crenshaw-Something’s Gonna Happen
41. Straitjacket Fits-Down In Splendour
42. Ride-Twisterella
43. The Gris Gris-Raygun
44. Spiritualized-Ladies and Gentlemen, we are floating in space
45. Kelley Stoltz-Perpetual Night
46. The Gigolo Aunts-Half A Chance
47. Holiday-She Never
48. Cardinal-Dream Figure
49. The Olivia Tremor Control-Jumping Fences
50. Shoestrings-Oceans In The Seashells
51. Guided by Voices-Gold Star For Robot Boy
52. The Lilys-Shovel Into Spade Kit
53. The Sundays-My Finest Hour
54. Pale Fountains-(Don’t Let Your Love) Start A War
55. Dengue Fever-Lost in Laos
56. Big Star-The Ballad Of El Goodo (live)
57. Marshall Crenshaw-(You’re My) Favorite Waste Of Time
58. Rocketship-I’m Lost Without You Here
59. Pulp-Underwear
60. Oasis-Slide Away
61. The Reivers-Freight Train Rain
62. Teenage Fanclub-Start Again
63. Guided by Voices-Tractor Rape Chain
64. Any Trouble-Playing Bogart
65. The Wrens-Ex-Girl Collection
66. Oasis-Supersonic
67. Tiger Trap-Supercrush
68. Velocity Girl-My Forgotten Favorite
69. My Favorite-Burning Hearts
70. Chris Bell-Though I Know She Lies
71. Game Theory-24
72. The Reivers-Electra
73. Oasis-Morning Glory
74. The dB’s-Moving In Your Sleep
75. Flying Color-Dear Friend
76. Game Theory-Here It Is Tomorrow
77. Marshall Crenshaw-There She Goes Again
78. Guided By Voices & Airport 5-Dayton, Ohio-19 Something And 5
79. Mazzy Star-Ghost Highway
80. Tommy Keene-Hey! Little Child
81. Gene-For The Dead
82. The Smiths-Hand In Glove
83. Pulp-Like A Friend
84. Shack-Cornish Town
85. Guided by Voices-Game Of Pricks
86. The Field Mice-By Degrees (Peel Session)
87. The Plimsouls-Million Miles Away
88. Elliott Smith-Say Yes
89. Gene-Olympian
90. Oasis-Don’t Look Back In Anger
91. hurrah!-Gloria
92. Guided by Voices-Fair Touching
93. The dB’s-Lonely Is (As Lonely Does)
94. The Beatles-Paperback Writer
95. Belle & Sebastian-Wrapped Up In Books
96. Mazzy Star-Halah
97. hurrah!-Sweet Sanity
98. The Upper Room-All Over This Town
99. The Beggars-Don’t
100. Downy Mildew-Left Foot Down