Category Archives: Music

Bands, albums and live reviews

Oblivious Living Part 1.16: "Chant No. 1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)" by Spandau Ballet

Music

Lyrics – “Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)” by Spandau Ballet
MP3 – “Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)” by Spandau Ballet

I’ve long held that Spandau Ballet’s “True” is one of the worst songs to come out of the 80s. But in much the same way that Berlin’s “Metro” is better at summing up the group’s output than “Take My Breath Away” is, “Chant No. 1 (I Don’t Need This Pressure On)” leaves a more complete impression of Spandau Ballet than “True,” which is arguably its best known hit. This isn’t to say that “Chant” is a great song. But it’s worth examining so as to give SB a fair shake.

Disco never really died, it just laid low for a while until it could infect New Wave. I’m not sure why this noted more, but there it is. It’s probably most evident in the work of the New Romantics, and Spandau Ballet takes it to the extreme here. Yes, there’s a bit of funkiness going on, but it’s quite disposable. Most of the vocals sound as if lead singer Tony Hadley is yawning the whole time, and the whole affair makes Howard Jones sound like George Clinton by comparison. The breakdown at 2:25 conjures up images of your parents “gettin’ down.” And, for some reason: slacks. Brown ones. With lots of pleats.

Speaking of Hadley’s lyrics, “Chant” sounds like a half-finished work, to the point where singing “TK” would have been more interesting. Arguably, the best thing about the track is its horn section, provided by Beggar and Co., an even less-remembered group than SB. But the weirdest thing about the group is this nugget, courtesy of Wikipedia: apparently the group’s name refers to “the spasms of the Nazi war criminals as they “danced at the end of the rope”, when they were hanged at Spandau Prison.”

This has me so incredibly freaked out, it has eliminated what little remaining desire I had to ever hear Spandau Ballet again.

Long week

Comics, Media, Music, ,

Work’s been squeezing my mindgrapes dry this week, hence the lack of blogging. But here are a few things I noticed this week. They’re mostly local issues, which will probably disappoint all those who’ve arrived here by Googling “nine west high waist jeans.”

Chicago Tonight, regardless of what happened that day
The flood waters were big news yesterday, and all concerned – from the local MSM to the folks who helped each other hold together in relatively trying times – coped with it in a cool-headed manner, but I was most struck with how the folks at Chicago Tonight managed to broadcast their show, live, from their control room after their studio flooded. An odd sort of intimacy resulted, and I kept expecting Elizabeth Brackett and Eddie Arruza to sip from cups of tea.

Chicago Lack of Transit Authority
I’ve been mostly impressed with Ron Huberman’s conduct as CTA President. I do wonder how they agency continues to “find” money to make slow zone repairs and scale back predicted fare and service cuts when we were told for so long that such a thing would be impossible. I’m sure some capital programs are getting cut – just a hunch, mind you – but I haven’t seen any reports that mention anything like this happening.

I’ll be very interested to see how Huberman weathers the lack of CTA funding in the almost-passed state budget. You can only cry wolf so many times, and since there’s now talk that they’ll suck it up until the end of the year when a capital funding plan can be put in place, people are going to have a hard time believing in a “Doomsday” scenario, going forward, though it appears CTA VP Dorval Carter disagrees. Much like the record industry, the CTA ought to stop threatening its customers and find a way to work with them instead.

And finally tonight…

Next up: TV not a cultural wasteland!
I really like the Tribune’s Julia Keller. I think “low” culture tells us as much about a society as its politics, history and sociological framework, and she doesn’t shy away from the lighter aspects of life. Honestly, I’ve had a thing for her since she tackled the old Superman vs. Batman debate.

But man, I wish she had told her editor that the “Comics: Not just for weirdos” angle was the wrong one to take on this story about Douglas Wolk’s Reading Comics: How Graphic Novels Work and What They Mean. The Beachwood Reporter (with an assist by So-Called Austin Mayor) says it all in the last item here. The Trib – by its very nature – is usually late to the game on cultural trends and tends to be approach these stories as the very reactionary paper it’s often accused of being (“Some even claim to be–gasp–making money. Some crazy folks are even opening new ones.”). To be fair, the Trib’s Mo Ryan, Eric Zorn and Mark Caro know how to put their finger to the zeitgeist.

So maybe they can sit in on more story meetings. For instance, can someone explain to me why the Trib is so geeked on vinyl lately? Monica Kendrick over at the Reader blogged about a recent Trib editorial that extolled the virtue of the black circle, but she didn’t mention that they wrote an article on this very same topic earlier this month that was pegged to the resurgence of independent record shops (which incidentally TOC covered back in March) not to mention last June when they wrote about it.

Anyone who follows music knows this story gets trotted every year or two. And I don’t think vinyl gets “big” – or bigger as the case may be – each time. There isn’t an ebb and flow with a love of vinyl, but there is a steady stream of folks who cultivate this love the way some people cultivate a garden. But just like you can’t grow all plants in the same dirt and light, you only get true richness from vinyl with the proper sound system, which most people don’t have the desire to learn about or cash to purchase. And it’s why vinyl will be as “big” now as it will the next time this chestnut gets trotted out.

Trapped

Music

This week’s shaping up to be a busy one, mostly with work stuff. Not the least of which is my daily blogging of each new chapter of R. Kelly’s magnum opus “Trapped in the Closet.”

I struggled with whether to give the guy any more attention than he already has. IFC has thrown its lot in with him, presenting each new chapter in advance of the DVD release. It’s a brilliant strategy, as I’d argue far more people will see it this way than in a DVD-only release.

But this fact remains: he’s an accused/alleged child pornographer/molester, and a person seemingly incapable of speaking of a woman in song without calling her a bitch or ‘ho. So why choose to associate myself with him, especially since I’ve taken pains to criticize him whenever possible? In the end, two things tipped the scales:

1) My inability to pass up an opportunity to crack wise
2) Figuring out ten different ways to refer to Kelly’s criminal charges in the intro

So yes, I too am lying down with a dog, and expect to wake up with a few flies in the process.

Astute readers of the Internet will no doubt notice that the academic tone of those posts resembles that of the Cliffs Notes versions of “Trapped in the Closet Chapters 1-12.” If there was another way to address these videos, I would. But it’s flat-out impossible to meet outright ridiculousness with anything other than something resembling rampant sincerity.

Oblivious Living Part 1.15: "She Blinded Me With Science" by Thomas Dolby

Music

MP3 – “She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby
Lyrics – “She Blinded Me With Science” by Thomas Dolby

There seems little point in me going on about this song, even though I’d maintain that it’s far more obscure than most people would admit.

Rare is the person over 25 who hasn’t heard this song, even though it was released exactly that many years ago. And the Freudian video remains in the collective consciousness as well. Yet together it is all that most people know about Dolby.

Dolby’s influence on American culture was – at one point – so pronounced that “Weird Al” Yankovic recorded a stylistic parody of Dolby’s “Hyperactive” in a song called “Slime Creatures From Outer Space.” While not a note-for-note parody like “Beat It”/”Eat It”, Dolby’s electrokinetic vocals, big beat and spasmic guitars were unmistakably nicked for the Yankovic song. Only if Dolby’s presence was so large, would such a song have any resonance.

Though it is unmistakably 80s, few could tell you the year or the album from whence the song came. Sure, you could say this about many one-hit wonders, but Dolby’s influence then was far greater, and his time spent in scoring and creating electronic music – including the creation of his own synthesizers – should have left him with a much more influential footprint than, say, Lipps, Inc.

And yet history has not been kind to Mr. Dolby, at least in this country. Perhaps, in part, because Dolby was too accomplished in creating a persona, even while music video was in its infancy. Dolby’s lesser profile as he reaches the silver anniversary of his best-known hit is not punishment, but rather the most likely result of a career based largely on image.

Then again, how many people enthusiastically sing along to something YOU did 25 years ago?

Van Halen, The Flash and more for my 14-year-old readership

Comics, Music, ,

I’m still in a bit of a follow-up mode this week so bear with the retreads.

First, whatever. I can’t take all this back and forth. In fact, this line from the Reuters report says it all about the Van Halen reunion:

“The band’s luck ran out a decade later when Hagar and Van Halen acrimoniously parted ways, and a new album with a third singer tanked.”

Man, if REUTERS gets that, why doesn’t Eddie?

Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, Wizard World hits Chicago this weekend, which was a reminder to me to pick up this month’s comics, including All-Flash #1, a stop-gap between the end of the previous Flash series and the resumption of the Wally West-led series, which also resumes its previous numbering at #231. I mentioned last month the reasons why I felt DC bollixed up this most recent series, but after reading All-Flash, I realized something else that felt off to me several issues ago.

When Wally’s Aunt Iris arrived on the scene, she pulled a gun on Bart. While this made for a nice, tidy cliffhanger at the end of one issue, it felt wrong, even though it turned out to be a stun gun or some such nonsense. Instead of allowing Iris Allen to remain the heart of the Flash comics – as she’s been since she met Barry Allen, the Golden Age Flash – she was turned into an amoral Jack Bauer-type, willing to do Whatever It Takes. Sure, she was doing it for Bart’s own good, etc. etc. but it was yet another example of how the cores of the individual characters were missing, and this moment from the current issue made me think that maybe they were right to bring a full stop to the proceedings (click the image for a larger view):

If DC had Wally’s return as an end game all along, they’d have had more moments like this in the previous issues of the book to demonstrate that they weren’t making things up as they went along. Sometimes when you’re really lost, the best thing to do is to pick a new destination.

Nice to have you back, Mark Waid.

Selling out revisited

Music, ,

I received a press release today that contained this as its lede:

“Legendary BRONX ART FUNK group ESG (who will have the new feature song on Mini Cooper commercials nationally) will perform their LAST EVER SHOW in Chicago at the Estrojam Festival Friday, Sept 21st.”

Now, initially I felt this was the perfect indictment of the theory I’d previously railed against in a blog post not too long ago: that selling out is actually a good thing. But it turns out it’s not that simple. From Wikipedia:

“On May 9, 2007, ESG drummer Valerie Scroggins was indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury on charges of taking more than $13,000 in workers’ compensation payments. Scroggins, a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York), told them that she suffered a shoulder injury last September. In November, Scroggins went on tour with ESG, where an MTA investigator filmed her playing “drums for an hour or more and on every song the band played, doing things very similar to actions she told her employers she could not perform,” according to the Brooklyn DA’s press release. Scroggins asserts that her injury is legitimate and that she could not safely drive a bus.”

So not only does the inclusion of your song in a commercial not lead to financial solvency, it doesn’t even mean that a member of a band with both longevity and respect – and ESG do have both – won’t consider committing (alleged) fraud in order to make ends meet.

I don’t mean to suggest there’s a cause and effect relationship here, but it’s far from a panacea either.

Best story of the weekend

Music, ,

Lollapalooza was a long weekend. You can see TOC’s reports – including write-ups from me about The Hold Steady, the 1900s, Sam Roberts Band and Silversun Pickups on our blog. Plus, we’ve got loads of pictures on our Flickr site.

I know this is an overused cliche, but for me, it felt a bit like Groundhog Day: wake up, check schedule, get laptops, walk to Lolla, set up, walk to show, sweat, walk back to tents, check the blog, walk to next show, sweat, squeeze in two minutes to talk to friends you haven’t seen in a year, check blog, walk, sweat, write, walk, sweat, watch, pass out.

Every time I bitched about having to work at Lolla, people would say “Oh yeah, that’s a lot of work to be outside and watch music.” Except, that’s not what I did. Because I was working, I missed the massive audience participation of Iggy Pop’s set (easily the most talked-about event in a weekend sorely lacking in them) and Daft Punk’s reportedly mind-blowing performance (though I overheard it whilst in the press tent uploading photos). I missed more than I saw due to all the running back and forth, and blog editing.

But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have any fun. Like at the Hard Rock after-party on Friday.

As I mentioned, Lolla is usually a chance to catch up with people I’ve met at previous fests, like Abbey at PunkPhoto, Scott at Stereogum, Whitney from Pop Candy and Rachel from Rachelandthecity. Friday night, I was on the list for the Hard Rock party and knew a couple other folks were going to be there so I headed over around 11:30 after a long, sweaty day. As expected, I was met with a line, but it was short so I queued up.

Now, I have two hard-and-fast rules about bar-going: no bar is worth waiting in line for and no bar is worth paying a cover charge if there’s no live band. (I retain a $5 and under exception for the latter if there is a DJ and/or it’s past midnight.) But Friday night, I broke my first rule and waited in line for 45 minutes as barely anyone from the press line was let in. I figured this would be the one time when I’d be in the mood to tolerate the kind of manufactured cool that events like this create. Plus, I wanted free booze.

At around the 40-minte mark, Whitney showed up with her friend Mariah, and we chatted for a bit as even she and her fancy laminated pass weren’t being let in. Suddenly, bouncers started ushering folks in, and I – along with two guys I was talking with in line, one of whom was wearing an Iron Maiden t-shirt – were swept in, and up the stairs. Moving with the momentum of the situation, I stuck close to Whitney as we neared the VIP Lounge and she told Mr. Clipboard that I was with her. In the span of about two minutes, I went from standing on the street to potentially rubbing elbows with celebrities (and Danny Masterson). This was going to be the one time I played this game, and I intended to win, so I scanned the crowd for potential famous people.

Sure enough, standing next to me was a short, dark-haired, woman with heavy eye makeup who was being fawned over by someone else. “Ah ha,” I thought. “Amy Winehouse, my first sighting.” Despite the “no-that’s-not-her” protestations of my fellow partygoers, I decided to open with a question that would get me an easy “yes” and go from there. “Excuse me,” I said, “are you still touring with the Dap Kings?” She looked me dead in the eye, smiled – with suddenly worrying perfect teeth – and said:

Amy Winehouse: “I’ve never toured with the Dap Kings.”
Me: “…”
Totally Not Amy Winehouse: “I’m Lady GaGa.”
Me: “Ohhh. Um, hi. I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”
Lady GaGa: “Who did you think I was?”
Me: “You know, I….it doesn’t matter. Say, you’re from New York, right?”
Lady GaGa: “Yes, I’m from Man-haht-tan.” (in the thickest New Yawk accent ever)
Me: (determined to salvage this opportunity) “And you’re playing the MySpace stage tomorrow, right?”
Lady GaGa: “BMI.”
Me: “Oh-KAY! Well, it was nice meeting you, have a nice night.”

I turn back to Whitney and her friend, who are looking at me as if they’ve just witnessed someone willingly throw themselves through a plate-glass window. “So, that wasn’t her,” I said, confirming the obvious.

Later we met up again with Iron Maiden t-shirt guy who said he ran into Iron Maiden’s manager at the party, and he promised him free tickets next time they came to town. He also took the kid around the party, and helped him pick up hot girls (“I didn’t really have much to say to them except for ‘How’s it going?'”). Raise your hand if that totally sounds like what you’d expect from Iron Maiden’s manager.

Sadly, the night mostly lacked for celeb-spotting, but I did see:
* A great show by Polyphonic Spree
* Rachel and her friend standing onstage during said show
* A woman get a tattoo of a musical note behind her ear
* Another woman getting a makeover
* A flat-out trashed bathroom, rock-star style

I ended up having a really good time. I don’t think I would have had I not known people there. But it wasn’t as douchebaggy as I thought either. And, like I said, the booze was free.

Lollapalooza picks

Music

I couldn’t help myself. A friend of mine asked me who I’d pick to see and this is what I decided on, even if a couple of these overlap:

Friday
Fratellis
Ted Leo
Charlie Musselwhite
Polyphonic Spree
Silversun Pickups
Black Keys
LCD Soundsystem (though Femi Kuti will be awesome)
Daft Punk

Saturday
Helicopters (Last Band Standing at Citi)
I’m From Barcelona
Tapes and Tapes (or Sam Roberts Band if you’ve seen them before)
Rhymefest
The Roots
CSS
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Patti Smith
Muse

Sunday
1900s
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Lupe Fiasco
Iggy and the Stooges
Flosstradamus
My Morning Jacket (even if you don’t like them on record, they’re great live)
Cafe Tacuba
Pearl Jam

That actually makes the weekend seem manageable, but unfortunately it doesn’t include a lot of chilling out time. But if I was an indefatigable robot sent back through time to rock out, that’s how I’d do it.

And so it begins…

Music

I had big plans for doing a full-on Lollapalooza post, but to be honest, I’m a bit worn out from planning for it. Plus, I’ve got a quick post going up on the TOC Blog tomorrow, too. I’m almost Lolla’ed out before it begins.

TOC‘s coverage is pretty extensive, with a good hour-by-hour plan for the fest, along with some tips for surviving the weekend, info on the after-parties and lots of other goodies. We’ve already started covering the run-up to the fest on the blog, as well, and we’ll be blogging throughout the weekend. I’ll be pitching in so look for my thoughts there.

My biggest tip is to hit those side stages, people. They’re are plenty of solid acts (Charlie Musselwhite, Chin Up Chin Up, Silversun Pickups, CSS, 1900s, Peter Bjorn and John) and some attractive curiosities (Bang Bang Bang, Satin Peaches, Lady GaGa and locals Helicopters who are playing tomorrow at 11:15 on the Citi stage). Plus, you won’t have to deal with the huge crowds.

My only other tip: bring some Wet-Naps. You’re going to be sweaty, and it’ll feel good.

Lastly, another reminder to tune in to WLUW 88.7 for my call-in appearance on Outside The Loop Radio at 6 pm. I’ll be offering some more thoughts on Lolla’s economic impact and its effects on Chicago.

See folks? I’ve been living this fest all week already!

Oblivious Living Part 1.14: "(She's) Sexy + 17" by The Stray Cats

Music

MP3 – “(She’s) Sexy + 17” by The Stray Cats
Lyrics – “(She’s) Sexy + 17” by The Stray Cats

If you’re not able to tolerate the schtick of The Stray Cats, you won’t find anything of value in what they do. (Incidentally, the same thing could be said of the ten o’clock news.) But one has to give credit where credit is due: lead guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer was able to dredge up two long-dead musical forms (rockabilly in the ‘80s and swing in the ‘90s) and make them briefly popular again. One could also argue that Setzer was merely mainstreaming underground trends of the time, but hey: no one else made it work so the guy has something to him.

The Stray Cats catalog isn’t devoid of teeth either; songs like “Runaway Boys,” “Built for Speed,” “18 Miles From Memphis” and “Bring It Back Again” all improve on the template of Elvis’ predecessors, and are worthy inclusions on whatever summer road trip mix you’re putting together.

Unfortunately, for readers of this entry, “(She’s) Sexy + 17” may be the limpest track the Cats ever committed to record.

The song hasn’t even started before problems result. First, points off for unnecessary parentheses. Also, what’s with the plus sign as a stand-in for the word “and?” I look at that and I think “Ah, it appears that Ember as found a Salve of Hotness and receives +17 sexy points.”

Then there’s the spoken word intro – problem number two, then exacerbated by Setzer having a conversation, ostensibly with another person who is voiced by…Setzer. So yes, the spoken word intro – already one of the weakest tropes in music – is made even more insufferable by Setzer having a conversation with…himself. Nevermind that the topic at hand – the narrator’s dislike of academia and his mistaken belief that compulsory school attendance for all those under 18 does not apply to him – has little to do with sexiness or the young lady at the root of the song’s title.

In fact, very little in the verses applies to the inherent sexiness of the titular girl (tee hee), leaving said topic for the choruses.

(By the way, let us pretend that this song was recorded in, and is being listened to, in a state/country where a youth is considered an adult at 17 so none of us feels like a creepy guy on MySpace. U.S. readers can pretend they are in New York, while international readers can pretend they are in…New Zealand. Or Northern Ireland if that’s a bit too far a jaunt for you).

Here is a list of topics covered by “She’s Sexy and + 17”
* Misunderstood youth
* Truancy
* The inexpensive cover charges and cheap alcohol found at a local bar, which happens to feature better-than-average live music on a consistent basis
* Possible ADHD symptoms experienced by the narrator when he hears a “rockin’ beat”
* Poor public school curriculum and its inability to cover topics not already addressed in better detail by one’s friends and associates

The topic of sexiness as it relates to the narrator’s girl (who we learn in the first verse is named Marie) is given scant attention. The chorus informs us of her sexiness, her age, her love of rock and roll and her propensity for mildly obscene behavior (though this is never elaborated upon, leaving the listener to imagine that the narrator is a member of the Supreme Court, and knows it when he sees it). Later, we’re informed that Marie is stylish and does not pay close attention to the opinion of others. Admirable traits, to be sure, but again the sexiness is given short shrift as a result.

As for the music, it’s a variant on 12-bar blues with a walking bass line and…oh come on, you’ve heard it by now. I’ve heard tougher-sounding songs come out of an end-of-the-year kindergarten recital.