Music review

The World Is a Vampire

April 27, 2018

In the Earbuds: Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness by Smashing Pumpkins

I just posted a soft acoustic cover version of the classic Pumpkins tune “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”:

When I first heard that song and then the ambitious double-album in which it dwelt, I formed a special connection right away with the fantastical, aggressive-at-times, tender-at-times, vintage-esque, and cathartic music of Smashing Pumpkins. “Bullet” fulfilled the loud, pounding guitars, drums, and yelling I craved from the deep depths of my grunge years. But then songs like “Tonight, Tonight”, “1979”, “Thirty-Three”, “We Only Come Out at Night”, and the title instrumental brought me back from the edge of the “it has to be loud or it’s boring” stage I was in. It was okay to have the distortion pedal switched off sometimes. It wasn’t just quiet vs. loud, either – the Pumpkins experimented with all sorts of different genres, instruments, and textures. One of the best rock albums of the 90s in my opinion.

This is why I was pretty happy to find out there is a Smashing Pumpkins reunion tour this year paying special attention to their older material. It’s the closest thing to a time machine I suppose.

Shirley, You Must Be Joking – An Acoustic Demo

April 26, 2018

While I continue work on the “studio” version, I am pleased to present for your listening and viewing delight, an acoustic demo of “Shirley, You Must Be Joking”

I’m not sure if the lyrics will change by the time I get to finishing the proper recording. Let me know what you think!

Lyrics
She says borrowing will make her rich
Her goal is to dig and refill this ditch
Credit cards, lottery tickets, and loans
She’s mortgaged her very bones

She goes deadpan, and plays the straight-man
She’ll make you cry ‘til you laugh
She begs the question and I’m begging for answers
She doesn’t know it’s a gaff

Shirley, you must be joking (x2)

She’d drown that puppy if they say she should
She says it is for the greater good
They tease her with hope just for fun
Owned by all and known by none

She doesn’t hate or discriminate
She’s buying Stalin and Bin Laden cokes
She sounds goonish, and she looks cartoonish
Like a pig shouting “That’s all folks!”

Shirley, you must be joking
Shirley, you must be joking
I’m laughing so much I’m choking
Shirley, you must be joking

If the thieves let you steal from everyone too
They’ll let everyone steal from you
You’re not a car in someone else’s train
A cell in someone else’s brain

Shirley, you must be joking
Shirley, you must be joking
I’m laughing so much I’m choking
Shirley, you must be joking

In the Earbuds: Icky Thump by the White Stripes

Occasionally, I like to listen through an artist’s catalog in chronological order, and I just came back to this 11 year old final album by Jack and Meg. I forgot (or maybe never knew) about the charm of it. The production is crisper, cleaner, and bit more polished than their other albums. Like the hardness of some of the rocking songs (title track, “Little Cream Soda”) the lyrical opacity and goofiness are also dialed up to 11. The folk/Americana elements are strong, too on standout tracks like “300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues”, “Prickly Thorn But Sweetly Worn”, and “Effect and Cause”. Jack’s affinity for child-like schmaltz is evident on the fun, bouncing “Rag and Bone” and the over-the-top Latin pomp of “Conquest”. While some of it gets a little zany for my tastes, I do appreciate a little silliness in my music.

Icky Thump may not be the White Strips’ claim to fame, but it was a good way to go out.

Quotable

It’s safe to say somebody out there’s
Got a problem with
Almost anything you’ll do
Well, next time they stab you
Don’t fight back
Just play the victim,
Instead of playing the fool

-300 MPH Torrential Outpour Blues, the White Stripes

Don’t Put the Blame on Me

April 16, 2018

As the heading suggests, this museletter is about high-profile politicians. Kidding, it’s really about the fantastic song by Rag’n’Bone Man, Human. I attempted a finger-picked acoustic cover of it here:

In the Earbuds: Human by Rag’n’Bone Man

With his smooth, deep, and powerful crooning voice, R&B/Soul singer Rag’n’Bone Man sounds like he could be an American southern Black gospel singer – when in reality he is a heavily-tattooed white British man. It seems fitting that his lead single from his album of the same name, “Human,” is a plea for mercy from those who may judge by appearances and hold him to unreasonable expectations: “I’m only human after all, you’re only human after all, don’t put your blame on me.” The music video for the song shows Raggy (a nickname I’ve just given him) morphing into different shades of the huge palette that is humanity – male, female, young, old, and a wide array of ethnicities. Maybe the song is a call for us to stop putting blame on people simply because of how they look or what they believe, since “we’re only human, after all.” It is an earnest call to

Take a look in the mirror
What do you see?
Do you see it clearer
Or are you deceived
In what you believe?

The song “Human” is only one gem in a treasure chest of songs expressing heart-break, brokenness, longing, and hope in the voice of blues and soul.

In “Skin,” Raggy sings “We came so close and it was almost love…”

In “Grace,” he says “At the death of every darkness there’s a morning, Though we all try
We all try, We’re all one step from grace.”

In “Ego”, he goes on the offensive: “I hate to burst your bubble, but somebody’s got to…Ego – bang, bang, baby, down you fall, ain’t you mister know-it-all”

In a world of pop music where so much time is devoted to songs about partying, altering your consciousness with some substance, and seducing a mate, it’s so refreshing to hear an honest, booming voice facing the brokenness of life head-on with hopeful honesty – not just finding unhealthy distractions to cope with it.

Facebook Live Footage

April 15, 2018

Watch My Facebook Acoustic Concert FREE

A common response when you get an invitation is, “I’m sorry, I just can’t make it.” In a perfect world, I’d make it, but man, this is a fallen world. It’s not possible. I just can’t do it.

Whenever I say “I can’t make it” what I really mean is “Technically, if I overextended myself, neglected responsibilities and relationships, I could make it. But I don’t really want to” – or “I just don’t want to go.” Maybe that’s what you mean, too. Whatever you mean, maybe you said “I can’t make it” when I invited you to my Facebook concert recently.

It’s ok, I understand. We all get busy. But worry not – you can view the whole thing for free:

You’ll have to disregard the offers for free stuff, because that ship has sailed! Stay tuned for the next concert, though. I’ll probably do another one before I die.

In the Earbuds – “Songs of Experience” by U2

This collection of new songs from the nearly 40 year old band is such a breath of fresh air. By the way, is there any other band that has stayed active with their original lineup for this long? I don’t think so.

I haven’t been really taken with much of their material in the past 15 years, but this album is rejuvenating. It reminds me of 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.” Great hooks, a sort of raw, understated production, the Edge’s trademark delay guitar leads, and some classic Bono poetry:

“Dinosaur wonders why it still walks the earth; meteor promises it’s not gonna hurt”
“Blessed are the liars, for the truth can be awkward.”
“I have everything but I feel like nothing at all; there’s no risky thing for a man who’s determined to fall”
“Love is bigger than anything in its way”
“There’s a level of shallow that you just can’t fake”

Born out of political upheaval in the West and Bono’s own personal crisis, the songs are woven together by the ideal of Love – as much of U2’s music is. Although, this love is experienced in the real, broken world:

“You’re the best thing about me;
lovely things are easy to destroy
If you’re the best thing about me
Why am I walking away?”

Bono’s commentary on the songs is a bonus in the lyrics booklet; an eloquent elaboration on the meaning behind the songs. It should save you a Google with the terms “lyrics meaning.”

An outstanding comeback from the pop / rock titans.

I Cover a U2 Song

Speaking of U2, check out this acoustic slide version of their new song, Lights of Home:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m no Robert Johnson, but hey, who is? Besides Robert Johnson?

In the Earbuds: Paranormal by Alice Cooper

April 7, 2018

These days seem to be a renaissance of veteran rockers returning to make new and really good music (see Museletters 4, 8, 9 for reviews of Metallica, Ray Davies, Van Halen, and Matthew Sweet). This is the 127th (give or take 100) studio album by the original shock-rocker and evangelical Christian, Alice Cooper. Although he recently turned 70, Cooper and his signature snarl are as visceral as ever. These songs are gripping and powerful with attractive melodies. There is a spooky Trans-Siberian vibe on the title track and hyped-up Hendrix riffs on “Dead Flies.” “Rats” sounds like a deranged and enraged Chuck Berry howling out a low view of humanity. A “love” song only Alice Cooper could write, “Fallen in Love (And I Can’t Get Up),” has a great ZZ Top blues rhythm – so much so, they had to get Billy Gibbons himself to play guitar on it.

There is an Iggy and the Stooges kind of sound on “Private Public Breakdown” and “You and all your friends.” The production is polished and punchy. This album is hard to stop listening to. Highly recommended!

You can hear Alice Cooper in the regular rotation on my Spotify playlist, Give Me Liberty and Give Me Rock!

Self-Aware Bathroom Faucets

April 2, 2018

The Pitfalls of Modern Life

Technology is a wonderful thing, without a doubt. The advances are mind-blowing. Who would have thought that my phone could have more processing power than the NSA of 1965?* However, I’ve come to realize there are challenges with our advancing technology. Some people think we are more prone to look at a screen now than talk to an actual person. I don’t really care about that, but this is what I do care about: we are in the awkward adolescence before all commodities become self-aware, and that can lead to great confusion and suffering.
For example, the other day I walked directly into a door and smashed my face. I assumed it was an automatic door, because every reputable place has one. It was not. I need to tell me wife to get with the program at our house.
Furthermore, I can’t count how many hours I have wasted holding my hands under a bathroom faucet waiting for the water to come out, only to find it was one of those antique models with a handle (HAN – duhl).
I’ve hit 10 pedestrians with my Tesla because the auto-pilot feature wasn’t working. The judge explained that not all car companies have auto-pilot and just because my car has a “T” on it doesn’t mean it is a Tesla. It’s people like this judge that don’t appreciate the difficulty of living in these modern times.
If the robots want to come and take my job, that’s fine with me. I look forward to the A.I. consummation when I can sit at home in my easy chair all day with drones scanning my stomach to sense hunger and buzz over to drop Cheez-Its in my mouth.

*This fact still pending verification

In the Earbuds: Insurgentes by Steven Wilson

A solo album from the former front-man of Porcupine Tree, Insurgentes is spacey, moody, unpredictable, powerful, and engrossing. Wilson’s Pink-Floyd-meets-90’s-hard rock vibe has soft, almost monotone vocal melodies overtop brooding, spooky clean guitars, followed by chunky rock riffs battering your cranium. The melodies themselves are simple, but enchanting, especially on the closing song – a gentle piano ballad. I’d recommend this for fans of prog, but even fans of alternative rock could find something to suit them. Great stuff!