FAT TUESDAY

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Street Date: 2/09/10

BUZZCOCKS- REISSUES

Can you believe it's been 30 years? "Another Music In A Different Kitchen," "Different Kind Of Tension" and "Love Bites" all get remastered and have another CD tacked onto them, featuring the usual assortment of extries---B-sides, Peel sessions, demos and more.






NEIL DIAMOND- HOT AUGUST NIGHT NYC

Sequel to the live 70's classic, this set was recorded at NYC's Madison Square Garden in August of 2008. I went to one of these shows. For every song that made me say, "Wow! Neil is great!," there was a sister moment that made me wish I had a bag over my head.







GALACTIC - YA-KA MAY

New Orleans' funk brothers turn the Crescent City on its ass on this new release. With help from such greats as Irma Thomas, Allen Toussaint, John Boutte, Bo Dollis, and Corey Henry, Galactic take traditional New Orleans rhythms into the 21st century. My Huffington Post piece is HERE. Just in time for Mardi Gras.





K.D. LANG- RECOLLECTION

2 CD retrospective featuring hits and rarities, clocking in at 90 minutes of music at a $20 list price. Couldn't Nonsuch Records have found 5-8 more songs to fill up the space and justify the cost? I know I could have and I'm not really that much of a fan. Or, how about getting rid of 3 songs and making it a single CD for $12? (I know, I know, that's the way the artist wanted it.)

TRACKLIST

Disc 1
Trail of Broken Hearts 3:25
Constant Craving 4:37
The Air That I Breathe 6:14
Helpless 4:15
You're Ok 3:03
Western Stars / Nashville String Machine 3:14
The Valley 5:30
Summerfling 3:52
Miss Chatelaine 3:49
I Dream of Spring 4:02
Hallelujah 5:08

Disc 2
Help Me 4:00
Hush Sweet Lover 4:06
Beautifully Combined previously unreleased 2:43
Crying 3:48
Love For Sale 5:26
Golden Slumbers/The End 4:17
Barefoot 4:17
Moonglow 4:34
So In Love 4:35
Calling All Angels 5:19
Hallelujah previously unreleased / New Version / Version 5:36






DAVE MATTHEWS & TIM REYNOLDS- LIVE IN LAS VEGAS

No versions of "Wives & Lovers" or "That Old Black Magic" unfortunately, just some fan faves and hits performed acoustically.







MASSIVE ATTACK- HELIGOLAND

Trip-Hop pioneers are back with only their 5th album in 20 years. Features guest vocalists Hope Sandoval, Damon Albarn, Martina Topley-Bird among others.






ALLISON MOORER- CROWS

It's hard to ignore the similarities between Moorer's new release and K.D. Lang's "Ingenue," but that doesn't mean this collection isn't good on its own. Allison Moorer's voice is velvety, and the arrangements are lush but accessible. Good stuff....even if it sounds a lot like "Ingenue."







PRETENDERS- LIVE IN LONDON 2009 (CD/DVD)

Exactly what it says, with an additional 5 tracks (IN BOLD) only on the DVD.

1 Boots of Chinese Plastic DVD
2 Don't Cut Your Hair DVD
3 Talk of the Town DVD
4 Message of Love DVD
5 Kid DVD
6 The Nothing Maker DVD
7 Don't Lose Faith in Me DVD
8 Back On the Chain Gang DVD
9 Love's a Mystery DVD
10 Rosalee DVD
11 I Go To Sleep DVD
12 Don't Get Me Wrong DVD
13 Tequila DVD
14 Stop Your Sobbing DVD
15 Day After Day DVD
16 Cuban Slide DVD
17 Break Up the Concrete DVD
18 Thumbelina DVD
19 Middle of the Road DVD
20 The Wait DVD
21 Tattooed Love Boys DVD
22 Precious DVD
23 I'll Stand By You DVD
24 Brass In Pocket DVD








SADE- SOLDIER OF LOVE

The Marquis de Sade is back after a ten year hiatus, with what I am sure will be a record that sounds like she's never been away.

Unhappy Returns

We've all been crushed in our lifetime. (not literally, of course) Everything from being passed over for a job you knew you deserved, or getting grounded by your parents the night of a big concert, to that girlfriend who just can't say no...to anyone. I even have a friend who had his cell phone crushed in the parking lot of Spumoni Gardens. Luckily, none of this has..ahem...ever happened to me, especially the Spumoni Gardens incident.


But is there anything more soul-crushing than anticipating the new album by one of your favorite artists, ripping off the cellophane, only to hear the worst shite ever-committed to wax? (I mean, aside from the three examples I just mentioned above.)

I have a friend who said, "When I heard Led Zeppelin III for the first time, I didn't talk to my sister for 3 days. THAT'S how pissed off I was." I guess when you're 13 years old, an acoustic-based recording, following one of the heaviest records of all-time is somewhat devastating. (I happen to love "Led Zeppelin III" and 40 years later, it is now one of my friend's favorites.)

Many of our favorite bands have put out bad records. That's not uncommon. What I'm looking for is not necessarily the worst album by any given artist, but the shit record that immediately followed a fairly solid release. The "Heaven's Gate" right after "The Deer Hunter." The record you couldn't wait to hear, then couldn't wait to unhear.

I'm casting my vote for "Wings At The Speed Of Sound." Now, this doesn't mean that I think that the prior MCartney & Wings release "Venus & Mars" is anything close to a masterpiece, but it does have its moments of brilliance, with the opener "Rock Show" and the gritty "Call Me Back Again" and "Letting Go" as some of its highlights. Even the late Jimmy McCulloch turned in a damn fine, if prophetic performance in "Medicine Jar." The record closes with one of Sir Paul's most beautiful ballads, "Treat Her Gently (Lonely Old People.)"

Then came "Speed Of Sound." I bought "Wings At The Speed Of Sound" the week it came out, at Crazy Eddie's on Coney Island Ave and Avenue W, if my memory serves me, right across the street from Big Daddy's. (Any Brooklyn people out there remember those hot dogs and burgers?)

How bad is this record?

The two big hits off the record sit comfortably atop my most hated Paul McCartney songs: "Let' Em In" and "Silly Love Songs." Then there's "Wino Junko," another sad, autobiographical entry from the late Jimmy McCulloch. And speaking of sad and late, Linda McCartney's "Cook Of The House" is just simply cringe-making. Even if poor Linda sang like Lily Pons, Paul's lyrics are just unforgiveable.

Ground rice, sugar, vinegar, seco salt, macaroni too,
Cook of the house,
I'm the cook of the house.
No matter where I serve my guests,
They seem to like the kitchen best 'cause I'm the cook of the house,
Cook of the house.

Kinda makes "Octopus' Garden" sound like "Just Like A Woman."

"Spped Of Sound" is one clam after another. "San Ferry Anne?" "Must Do Something About It?" "She's My Baby?" (Or, as Paul sings, "Shiz muh beh-buh.") And still, I don't think it's McCartney's worst. (That honor goes to "Press To Play.)


The overall sound of the record is muddy and years later, I still get hives when I think about my cousin laughing at me for hours after, as he spent his allowance on Genesis' "A Trick Of The Tail," one of my favorite records of all time.

"WHO DAT" : The Weekend Mix

You must have seen this coming.


With Mardi Gras just two weeks away, and the Saints about to hand it to the elder Manning and his Colts on Sunday, I would be remiss if this "Weekend Mix" did not scream out "WHO DAT!"

So get out your best black and gold, put away your cranky pants, and get into it...if not the game, at least the mix.

If this music doesn't snap you out of...well...the type of mood I'VE been in, then it is time for your Spring thaw. (It worked for me, though I haven't put the cranky pants in storage just yet.)

Of course, if you're a Colts fan, maybe this mix is not for you. I'll work on some Nick Drake & Judee Sill for you guys.

We got the Tin Men spinning some Zeppelin. Bonerama twisting some Black Sabbath as well as adding some horns to Ok Go's cover of a Ziggy Stardust classic, with the great David Torkanowsky on piano. Jon Cleary, Donald Harrison Jr., and The Wild Magnolias put their stamp on some New Orleans classics, while Nicholas Payton and Kermit Ruffins take some very familiar melodies and add their gris-gris.



TRACK LIST

KOOKS ON PARADE- STANTON MOORE
BIG CHIEF- JON CLEARY
TIPPI-TOES- THE METERS
CANNIBIS LEAF RAG 1- NICHOLAS PAYTON
SHALLOW WATER- DONALD HARRISON JR.
CINDY LOU- GENE TERRY
IMMIGRANT SONG- TIN MEN
YOUR LIPS- OLU DARA
ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE- PAUL SANCHEZ & JOHN BOUTTE
AGENT DOUBLE O-SOUL- L'IL BOB & THE LOLLIPOPS
SAINTS- THE WILD MAGNOLIAS
THE WIZARD- BONERAMA
MR. BIG STUFF- KERMIT RUFFINS & THE REBIRTH BRASS BAND
SHAKE WHAT YOUR MAMA GAVE YOU- HENRY BUTLER & COREY HARRIS
ROCK & ROLL SUICIDE- OK GO w/BONERAMA & DAVID TORKANOWSKY
I'LL BE SEEING YOU- JAMES BOOKER
MARDI GRAS DAY- DR. JOHN

First ten to e-mail me their address after the Saints win get a hard copy of this mix.

ZIP FILE

"Who's The Boss" : The Elvis & Bruce Spectacle

Sorry this took so long to post.

Here's what happened at the Apollo Theatre.

01. Point Blank – EC & The Imposters
02. Like Rain – Nils Lofgren, EC & The Imposters
03. She’s The One – EC, Nils Lofgren & The Imposters
04. Wild Billy’s Circus Song – Bruce Springsteen, Nils Lofgren & Roy Bittan
05. The River – Bruce Springsteen solo; partial performance
06. American Skin (41 Shots) – Bruce Springsteen solo
07. Galveston Bay – Bruce Springsteen (either solo or with Roy Bittan)
08. Oh Pretty Woman – Bruce Springsteen & EC; partial performance
09. I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down – all; followed by an intermission
10. Black Ladder – EC, Bruce Springsteen & Nils Lofgren
11. Brilliant Disguise – EC & Bruce Springsteen
12. The Rising – all
13. Seeds – all
14. Radio Nowhere / Radio, Radio – all

Here's what was aired and what you'll get in the zip:

SHE'S THE ONE
WILD BILLY'S CIRCUS STORY
AMERICAN SKIN (41 SHOTS)
GALVESTON BAY
PRETTY WOMAN
I CAN'T STAND UP FOR FALLING DOWN
BLACK LADDER
THE RISING
SEEDS
RADIO RADIO NOWHERE

ZIP FILE

If It's Tuesday, It Must Be Street Date: 2/2/10

This is not the week to go shopping for new releases, with little hitting the streets worth mentioning. But, there are two records I'd like to highlight.





EDWARD ROGERS- SPARKLE LANE



Many of Ed Rogers' musical influences appear on his first two solo releases, "Sunday Fables" and "You Haven't Been Where I've Been." The spirits of The Beatles, The Byrds, and The Kinks all stop by to say hello. But it's on "Sparkle Lane" where Rogers proves himself as an artist who has a lot more to say than just piling on what's been said before. Yes, those influences still make their way in and out of this 14 song collection, but Rogers' new songs are mini-powerhouses on their own.

From the opener, "Symbols 'n Mascots," which sounds like a great lost Be-Bop Deluxe tune to the beautiful baroque pop of "Passing The Sunshine," and "Last Of The Artful Dodgers," sounding like The Left Banke and The Zombies respectively, Ed Rogers has hit his stride. This is the Edward Rogers record we've been waiting for and it's worth your time.




MIDLAKE- THE COURAGE OF OTHERS



Midlake's 2006 release "The Trials Of Van Occupanther" was unlike anything I had heard before. It was too clever for its own good, but at no time did the record feel like novelty or a fluke. Quite frankly, I was blown away by the intricate melodies and harmonies and the far from conventional arrangements that seemed to hit upon everything from folk rock to prog. The track "Young Brides" alone is worth your time. It's one of the most original pieces of music I have ever heard--think Moby producing "The White Album."

So it is with a heavy heart that I say, "The Courage Of Others," Midlake's supremely anticipated follow-up, is a dirge-filled, one-note disappointment. Everything that made "Van Occupanther" so special has somehow found its way onto someone else's record, and what we get is one song after another with no distinguishable qualities. The band's full length debut "Bamnan & Silvercork" also left me cold when I went back to it after loving "Van Occupanther," so maybe that middle record brilliance was indeed a fluke. Really a disappointment.

There is also a new "rock" record from L'il Wayne, "the greatest rapper of all time" and a new side project from Nick the Jonas brother. Sorry.

Atsa My Band

It's official. NRBQ is the greatest band of all time. The Beatles and The Stones are good. I love The Who. Faces? Good stuff. But for today and for most of this past weekend, Big Al, Terry, Joey and Tom get the honor. Seriously, I am out of control. I can't stop listening. These guys can do anything. Look and listen and get in a good mood.













THE SAME OLD THING (FROM "NRBQ AT YANKEE STADIUM")











BE MY LOVE (FROM "DUMMY")














WANT YOU TO FEEL GOOD TOO (FROM "TIDDLYWINKS")













RIDING IN MY CAR (FROM "ALL HOPPED UP)