Holiday Flyer

Sad twee kids rejoice! Holiday Flyer started out as a brother/sister duo before later expanding and then changing into a different band. They are also from my hometown. In fact, they used to do instores at the record store I worked at fairly frequently or at least what felt like fairly frequently. They also got the nod to open for the Red House Painters every time they came through town it seemed. They had a few songs I liked and two I love. This is the cream of the crop though. Runaround is the classic story of having a crush on somebody but getting the feeling that you're their little secret that they're ashamed of. It's written well enough that you can apply it to any crush situation! I know, I've done it! If you're feeling sad about love you may have a new song to enjoy here.

Roxy Music

I have NO IDEA how I got into Roxy Music. It's kind of bizarre given my memory for how I first heard a band. I think it was jr high though. Seems like a band my friend Chasz would have liked. Oh! I know! I think we got into Roxy Music from our interest in Concrete Blonde. Now that I have that sorted... I will say that seeing Bryan Ferry in concert was the only time I have ever teared up because of a vocal performance. His cover of Jealous Guy (the John Lennon classic) had me covertly wiping tears.

So, Roxy Music. Between 1972 and 1975 they released five records. They released three after that but I don't think that they are very good. The gold is in those first five. My all time favorite Roxy Music song comes from their third record, Stranded. That song is Mother of Pearl, a six and a half minute long masterpiece. Generally I am not a fan of long songs. This song has no filler and doesn't get boring which are my usual complaints for long songs. It starts off with lead guitar, rock drums, and Ferry whooping it up on vocals. Then it totally segues into a slower piano part before the drums and vocals come back in. This makes more sense when you're taking in the lyrics as well. Lyrically it's masterful storytelling which is not easy to sustain in a song this long. Ferry wasn't afraid to use real language to convey what he wanted. Really though, there is no way to describe this song - you just have to hear it. Preferably on vinyl with headphones on. So if you enjoy this mp3 please do go out and find a vinyl copy.

Bauhaus

I recently did a post on my friend Sara's covers blog Blowin' Your Cover and I actually intended to do a post where I could talk about my love of this cover. I got sidetracked by some Beat Happening covers so I thought I would go ahead and post this song here.

I first remember seeing the video for the Bauhaus cover of Ziggy Stardust on 120 Minutes. Seems like I probably heard my older sister play it when we shared a room but for whatever reason the visual is the memory. I thought their version was better than Bowie's! The blasphemy! By happenstance I found a post punk/goth leaning show on KDVS that was on in the middle of the night around the time I discovered Bauhaus. (I've suffered from insomnia/being a night owl since I was a child - I am writing this at 4:42 a.m. as I write most all of my posts at an hour close to this) I thought some of the songs were silly (Bela Lugosi's Dead is just not that good!) and some were awesome (Crowds) but never got into the whole goth subculture. As easy as the internet makes things like discovering music I wouldn't trade those late Sunday nights watching 120 Minutes or listening to the static of the low wattage college radio station through headphones.

I keep losing the plot here. The only real point here is that I still consider this to be one of the all time great covers. If you have not heard it you should give it a listen.

The Bananas

I think that I've mentioned here before that I'm originally from Sacramento. In my opinion, the best part of Sac is the music scene. It's a city not exactly supportive of the arts or live music really. However, a group of people make sure that great bands still come through town there and have a venue or house to play in. For a city that size it's fairly ridiculous the lack of venue and the scrambling that has to be done to put on a show. It looks like things have stabilized a bit with Luigi's Fun Garden getting the brunt of the shows now. Throw in a few houses and the occasional wild card venue and you can catch a decent show there pretty often. Plus, KDVS! If somebody were to ask me what I miss most about Sac I would definitely say the music scene. A lot of bands have come up since I left town but today I will post my favorite song by one of the long standing Sacramento bands.

The Bananas are practically legends at this point. Releasing consistently great songs since the early 90s they have also toured around the U.S. and even went to Japan a few years ago. I didn't quite grasp how popular they are outside of Sac until I went to see them last summer in Brooklyn. Tons of kids singing along to every song and just having so much fun. A packed room full of people that reminded me of seeing the band back home. It was a really good time and I got the chance to catch up with Scott, Mike, and Marie plus their trusty tour companion, Mr. Smith. Anyway, My Charmed Life is just full of great snotty lyrics. I often find myself singing it for no reason other than it's a great song to sing when you're feeling apathetic. Since I mentioned him in the last post I will note that this is an early Chris Woodhouse recording - predating that A-Frames song by 10 years or more!

A-Frames

Out in the unsafe face to face real world I have a reputation for being very cranky, sort of heartless, and a lot of people I know have the idea that I discard people easily. None of this is true. Well, I am pretty cranky. However, I am actually too sensitive for my own good and not remotely heartless or cold. Further, I don't discard people easily. Maybe partially because I am eaten alive by memory. I can usually excuse atrocities if I can find a particularly good memory of somebody in my brain. I find it more troubling when I can have a fond memory of somebody but know that a relationship is irreparably damaged. Welcome to Chemical by the A-Frames.

I had this group of friends for a number of years that I think of as saviors. We went thru some shit together, we had a lot of fun together, and now most of it is all fucked up never to be fixed. Which is fine, ultimately, because people change and I guess memory is to remind you of good things and having that is better than having some shitty friend albatross around your neck. Anyway, this song in particular reminds me of a night spent drunken robot dancing to this A-Frames record. It was recorded by Chris Woodhouse who I have had the pleasure of knowing for over a decade and who has recorded a couple of bands I was in. (He is currently playing music in a band called Mayyors that I say good luck to you in tracking down their 7"s which seem to go like hotcakes!) If I recall correctly, when one of the bands I was in was recording with him he previewed us a few tracks before this record was even released. Maybe it was just out. I don't exactly recall. All I know is that it is the best drunken robot dancing record ever made. When I listen I think of that and it's bittersweet.

The Beach Boys

So it occurred to me recently that I kind of got away from something I wanted to do here. Originally I think I wanted to write about songs more than bands. I fixate on songs, on very minute things in songs, and while I don't think it's worth analyzing or anything, I do like to mention such things. Sometimes it's lyrics, phrasing, the way something is delivered, and sometimes it's the music itself. I plan on focusing more (exclusively?) on this now.

While on a road trip this summer I got Fun, Fun, Fun by The Beach Boys in my head. I was trying to explain to my girlfriend why I love it so. It comes down to this - it contains one of the most ridiculous yet awesome and funny lyrics ever.
"She makes the Indy 500 look like a Roman chariot race"
The best part of it all is that I ejected the cd we were listening to and started scanning the radio. I knew if I could find an oldies station that chances were decent we would hear the song. Probably within 30 minutes of the conversation it came on. I don't think anyone I know finds this lyric as amusing as I do. Perhaps one of you will?

I'm a native Californian surviving my 4th NYC winter. I love living here but The Beach Boys always make me miss California. I am clearly a sucker for the marketing genius that was The Beach Boys. Also, I prefer the stupid surf related songs to the drug songs which I blame on my mother who is fond of oldies radio. It's probably in my DNA that I like The Beach Boys so I blame that as well. 2009 - the year of blaming others.

Eksi Ekso

It's a snowy day here in NYC so I thought I would post about some music that definitely enhances a snow day mood. Eksi Ekso are a band from Boston. Featuring former members of The Burning Paris and On Fire (which means nothing to me but maybe something to some of you?) the band is covering the much enjoyed (by me at least) genre of orchestral pop. Vaguely reminds me of my favorite band, The Delgados. Their album, I Am Your Bastard Wings, is taken in better as a whole which many of you probably know is a rare thing these days. Today it's about the single and that seems true even for some of the bigger indie bands. Sad state of affairs, I tell you. To encourage you more fully to purchase and listen to the record as a whole I would like to put a link to the double vinyl version instead of the cd version. You should go to the Mylene Sheath store and pick this up. If you're not convinced by the description of "snow day music" take a listen to these songs...
I Though You Died Last Time
Just Leave

The Need

Yet another Rachel Carns band! Probably the band she is best known for. Her and Radio were a revelation! I got to see the band live many many times and they always brought it. Metal dudes liked them which was perhaps my favorite thing about seeing them live. There were always some metal dudes in the audience at these shows looking a bit out of place but not giving a shit. They were there to rock the fuck out to Radio's awesome guitar playing and Rachel playing her stand up drum kit like a total maniac. Even the singing fit perfectly for the style of music - a homage to and not a parody of metal.

This is definitely a favorite song. From the Destination compilation which if I remember correctly also had Team Dresch on it. Do I remember correctly? Not sure!
Sam

This song was always my favorite to see live!
The Green Manalishi (With The Two-Pronged Crown)
I think it's the epitome of The Need sound and songwriting style. Awesome song. (I never had a copy of this song until recently. Found it on an awesome blog called Pukekos.)

Butterglory

I first heard Butterglory in 1996. The radio station I did a show at had an excellent policy of only being able to play the same band twice in a quarter (or was it a semester?) so you were definitely forced into discovering music new to you. One day I was going through new arrivals and came across the record Are You Building A Temple In Heaven and decided to give it a listen. I immediately fell in love with this song:
Sit In The Car
What's not to like? Pure mid 90s indie rock right there, baby.

For whatever reason I never really got into them. My mind remembers them breaking up fairly soon after that record but maybe they had another after it... Perhaps I should investigate their catalog a bit more. Anyway, I only have a few songs from them but the enjoyment I receive from that song is still felt today. Because I like to post 2 songs you get another. This time with Matt on vocals.
Drop The Baton

Galaxie 500

Sorry I've been missing in action. I was cat sitting for nearly 2 weeks and decided to not take a computer with me. I am an internet junkie so it was a change to cut myself off from it. However, I got some good reading in.

One of the books I read was Black Postcards by Dean Wareham. I'm not a fan of any of his music particularly but I do enjoy some of it. I don't think you really need to be a fan to enjoy this book though. I think it's a pretty good eye opener for anybody who likes lesser known bands. Dude started out with Galaxie 500 on an indie label but with Luna jumped to a major in the gravy train 90s. The majors weren't exactly the get rich quick scheme they seemed like though. It's a glimpse at a time when things were different but it brings you to the current state of affairs of the music industry. (Though there isn't much about Dean & Britta except for the recording of their first record.) What I'm saying is that if you're remotely interested in the music business or what life on the road and making records is like you will probably enjoy this book quite a bit.

Here are two of my favorite Galaxie 500 songs in honor of this fantastic book!
Sorry
Strange