Compiled from TOMB starting 1-14:
Mad Season, Mad Season Deluxe: awesome sound, great to get the vid on DVD (I had it on VHS), with tons of bonus footage. Staley actually played a fair amount of guitar.
Steve Wynn, Northern Aggression: Cuppla years old now, but I keep going back to it for the psychadelia and sounds; altho’ the mouth clicks annoy I recently saw a video of “The Life of Donnie B” and realize he’s sometimes singing into a EV 667, so I can forgive.
Miles, Live Evil and Bitches Brew: great late nite grooves and intricacies.
Joe Cocker, Sheffield Steel: a nostalgic fave, and if the snare sounds 80’s, it’s Sly & Robbie and Cocker’s in top vocal form. Cool songs, too, including the Dylan cover.
Paul Westerberg: Stereo/Mono. You think you are a song writer. You are not. Not until you hear this, absorb this, live this, love this, be humiliated by this, inspired by this and play this again. And again. And again …
Page & Plant, No Quarter: a bit weirder (“Nobody’s Fault”, “Evermore” – kudos to the Denny-part singer), and a lot better than you prob’ly remember. Plant especially is in good voice, and when Page lets rip (“Since I been Lovin’ You”) it’s very reminiscent of the best of some radioactive-containing prophylactic.
DBT’s DVD, Live at the 40 Watt Club: makes me wanna quit writing, especially when “Cotton Seeds” comes on, and Cooley ain’t even the famous writer, much less Isbell’s “Decoration Day”. But instead, I am inspired. Also, since I have alla Hood’s, I need to start gettin’ Cooley’s and Isbell’s solo stuff. And now mebbe Tucker’s.
MBV, Loveless: I still think it’s some weird shite, even if I kinda like it because it’s some weird shite.
The Murder Junkies, Road Killer: I have this, but can’t (I’m sure), play it with the kids in the house. And my singer is dating one of GG’s gurrlfriends. And I’m scared to listen to it but keep lookin’ at it – more to come.
Mudhoney, Vanishing Point: not, mebbe, as cool as the movie, but damn-b-damn close.
MSMW, Out Louder: I wanna be in this band.
Steve Wynn, Live in Bremen: it’s kinda a “storytellers” thing where just he and TM3 guitarist Castro play guitars and do the songs, including Dream Syndicate songs, and Wynn talks between ’em – ver’ cool.
Mark Lanegan and Duke Garwood, Black Pudding: I didn’t like this at first, but like all things Lanegan it’s growing on me, very goth-blues and kinda atmospheric, mostly just acoustic guitar and THE VOICE. Loving his recent greatest hits release, BTW, especially the new tracks.
MBV, Loveless: because I ain’t rode the spinning love rollercoaster in a while.
Silversun Pickups, Neck of the Woods: it’s only fair, and ain’t make me swoon.
The Cult’s Electric/Peace is pretty cool having the original rejected studio tracks (what sound more like “Rain”) and the Rick Rubin stuff. Ah the memories, dancing in Smart Bar to “Love Removal Machine” …
Sonic Youth, Goo: coulda been recorded yesterday, and I like the Chelsea Moving Lights record, also.
Miles, Kind of Blue, ‘Round Midnight: you already know.
DBT, Decoration Day: way too over-looked, this is one of their best albums, but then, they are all one of their best!
The latest DBT, Oceans: ver’ cool, with Hood and Cooley trading off songs, no 3rd writer, it’s great on all levels except sonically, where it’s just a touch lo-fi or sompin’.
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Give the People …: speakin’ of lo-fi, it’s a intentional, wonderful choice here, and she and the band are in fine form – I can’t believe how panned-mono works so well, and I love the writing/arrangements, also.
The Quintet, Jazz at Massey Hall: Gillespie, Parker, Powell, Mingus, Roach. So well-recorded, so brilliantly played (a plastic alto?), currently in my top 10.
Bowie, Hours: a kinda forgotten album from ’99, almost like his latest but with heavy doses of Gabrel, “Thursday’s Child” and “The Pretty Things Are Going to Hell” stand out.
Screaming Trees, Last Words: the Final Recordings: the band is in fine form, and Peter Buck is all over it in rhythm guitar, recorded in ’99 but not released until ’11, I just found out about it and am sorry I didn’t hear it sooner, yesterday or in ’99.
Shonna Tucker & Eye Candy, A Tell All: from the former DBT bassist and ex of former DBT guitarist/writer Jason Isbell, her with former DBT guitar guy John Neff (who is excellent), a very cool collection of Southern rock, lotsa alt.country and not too much chick-flick stuff, nice production.
Patti Smith, Twelve: quite possible the best covers-record ever.
Blowoff, Blowoff: quite possibly the gayest record in my collection, because even next to Boy George or whomever, this one is like, really, gay. What isn’t a bad thing; that’s the point; it’s gay-themed club music with some Husker Du-ish guitars and Mould singing about half of it, Richard Morel the other half. I more than half like it, too – it sometiimes actually rocks damn, eh, hard.
The National, Alligator: interesting to see hwere they come from, I like ’em a lot better on the 3 records after this, not least because here they just sound ordinary.
Nebula, Heavy Psych: indeed. I’m not necessarily a stoner-rock fan, altho’ I like QOTSA (to the extent they still are stoner-rock) and its predecessor Kyuss well enuff, and the guitars are plenty heavy and the vocals plenty funny – but this drummer rocks.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Mojo: if you haven’t heard this, you are missing one of his best, with great songs and live performances, and awesome production. I can’t believe Petty doesn’t rule the airwaves, I’m sad that he doesn’t, and thankful he keeps putting out some of the best American rock band music, ever.
Gov’t. Mule, Shout!: I didn’t play this for about a month and a half and then I did and I regret wasting that month and a half. Everything I said about Petty, above, and near-virtuoso musicianship, without even talking about the amazing bonus disc of other singers doing alternative takes.
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