• 06-03-2008, 06:22 AM
    Mr MidFi
    My Morning Commute Song du Jour
    I'd like to start posting a regular featurette here, based on a song I hear on my way in to work in the morning. My drive in lasts about 40 minutes or so, which is time enough for 9 or 10 songs to randomly shuffle up on my iPod...so there's usually at least one song every morning that evokes a memory, or prompts a thought, or inspires me in some way. Or just rocks my ass off.

    Anyone who wants to chime in on this thread is invited to do so, whether it's to say something about today's song, or the album, or the band...or even some song YOU heard today. Or whatever.

    I won't be posting every day, because often times I have actual work to do when I walk in the door. And sometimes, I might not have heard anything worth commenting upon. This morning's commute was not like that, however. There were a number of interesting tracks I'd love to say something about, including notable live cuts by Genesis (Fountain of Salmacis) and Wilco (Muzzle of Bees).

    But the one I want to talk about today is "Nobody's Fault But Mine" by Led Zeppelin. I think the Presence album was the third or fourth one my brother and I ever bought, once we started pooling our meager resources back in the mid-70s. If memory serves, I didn't care much for it back then (my first dud purchase!), although the album cover concept was awesome as hell. There was simply too much repetitive riffing going on, and I wasn't a fan of the raw, bloozy, in-yer-face style they were exploring at that time. A month later, I bought their untitled 4th album, fell in love with it (like every adolescent boy does at some point), and put the Presence away.

    But this morning, it was just a great little wake-up bomb to keep me company on the Reagan Tollway. Especially the instrumental breaks...that might be Plant's best blues harp solo ever, and the usual Jimmy Page "I-couldn't-play-it-this-way-again-if-I-tried" wankery sounds just right. But if you listen a little closer, be sure to pay attention to what Bonzo is doing back there on drums. He still amazes me...his stuff sounds so simple, but you try playing along with it sometime. :16:

    Anyway, to hear Plant wailing out this weary mea culpa is not necessarily to step into the past to relive my youth. Yesterday, today and tomorrow...there's nothing like a little regret to remind you you're alive. It's no no no no no no...body's fault but mine!
  • 06-03-2008, 06:37 AM
    Finch Platte
    Nice post, cool concept. Hope you can keep it up. :arf:

    My commute was uneventful. I'm on my second or third listen of a disc I found in the fitty-cent bin at Rasputin's, by a band called Earshot. It's nothing ground-breaking, just chunky-sounding, heard it-a-million-times-before hard rock; but it's good enough to get me going in the a.m. Call it Caffeine Rock?

    Allmusic: Earshot's debut album for Warner Bros. is a tense mixture of various alternative metal styles that were popular in the late '90s. More than any other band, Earshot sounds a lot like Tool. Now there are lots of bands who can lay claim to sounding like that band, but this could have easily been a lost Tool album and no one would look twice. Vocalist Will Martin can be a perfect clone for Maynard Keenan at times, although he also bears a striking resemblance to Ultraspank's Pete Murray. Tracks like "Get Away" and "Wake Up" are solid tracks that might be predictable, but retain their power and come across nicely. This is also a band that is not afraid to mess around with tempo, stopping songs in the middle and generally being very experimental with their general setup. But what they might fail to realize is that Tool is perhaps the ultimate experimental metal band, and they make this sort of metal better than any other band in this era. Earshot has a lot of potential, but on this debut they stick too close to a formula that was concocted by a band that does it better.

    http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov...251558purw.jpg

    fp
  • 06-03-2008, 07:51 AM
    dean_martin
    I have a short commute - 6 to 7 mins, so most of the time I'm halfway through song 2 when I pull into the parking lot. I pulled out Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's Orange last night. Haven't listened to it in years. I remember getting all giddy the first time I heard the track "Flavor" go into its closing groove. Holy sh*t! Is that Beck? Hell yeah!

    So I listened to Flavor this morning. I think I'll listen to Full Grown on the way home.
  • 06-03-2008, 12:12 PM
    ForeverAutumn
    I like this idea.

    This morning on the drive in I listened to Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank for the first time. I got through the first six songs during the drive.

    I've now spun the rest of the tunes and on first listen, I like it. I can't yet pick a Song de Jour, but Parting of the Sensory and Missed the Boat both stuck out as potential winners.
  • 06-03-2008, 02:39 PM
    Slosh
    1 Attachment(s)
    I know there's been a ton of talk about John Vanderslice lately, but today I listened to Emerald City yet again. It's just a perfect album. Only nine songs but they're all exceptionally great. Had I heard it last year it would have been at the top, or at least very close to the top of my Best of 2007 list. Anyone wants a preview here it is in WMA Lossless (sorry Mac people):

    Part 1

    Part 2

    Part 3

    But just so I don't burn myself out on it I think I'll spin this tomorrow (for the first time):
  • 06-04-2008, 05:42 AM
    Mr MidFi
    Another day, another drive...
    ...another song du jour. After reaching into the dimly lit past yesterday to ruminate on an old Zeppelin chestnut, I was hoping that something interesting from this century would bubble up in the shuffle today. But aside from U2 "Vertigo" (and does anyone really want to read my thoughts on that song?) and Porky Tree's "Voyage 34" (which already has its own running commentary), it was a decidedly 20th Century morning for me.

    Remember those heady days on this board when comp-trading was still a new and exciting craze? I sure do. A-way back yonder, a fellow named Jim Clark sent me (and many others) a very nice little comp that included the song "Litany" by Murray Attaway...this morning's song du jour. Some may recognize Attaway as the singer and principle songwriter for the seminal southern jangle-rock outfit, Guadalcanal Diary. I was a tremendous fan of their first 2 albums (Walking in the Shadow of the Big Man and Jamboree), and "Litany" sounds a lot like those GD efforts. Indeed, that fast-strumming sound punctuated by big, bashing drums of destiny can be found on an instrumental track on their first album...it almost sounds like a template. But the later song is clearly the more finished work, with inspirational, quasi-religious, "life goes on forever" lyrics.

    I like this song a lot, and find myself wishing that Attaway or his former band had made it bigger than they did back in the 80s and 90s. It's worth noting that the 2 GD discs mentioned in the paragraph above were re-released on single disc a few years ago...not a bad bang for your 80s nostalgia dollar, if you're so inclined.

    Odd fact du jour: My brother used to date a distant cousin of Murray Attaway back in high school. She was uber-hot, even by bubbly-blond-southern-girl standards.
  • 06-04-2008, 07:06 AM
    Finch Platte
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slosh

    Part 1

    Part 2

    Part 3

    But just so I don't burn myself out on it I think I'll spin this tomorrow (for the first time):

    Anyone else having a problem w/ these? I DL'd them ok, but when I try to open it, it asks me to insert the last disc of the set and click ok. Doesn't work. :out:

    fp
  • 06-04-2008, 07:24 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    Feeling a little Canadiana this morning...
    I had the need to spin Blue Rodeo's Western Sky on my drive into work this morning. This song feels very personal to me comparing city life in Toronto to life in the beautiful Rocky Mountains in Western Canada. I've take two trips to the Rocky's and I can't wait to get back. Every year I dream of being able to return there. I've canoed on Lake Louise, I got up at 6:00am to go bird watching in Jasper with a group called Friends of Jasper Park. That was the most memorable hike I've ever done, going into parts of the forest that were off the beaten path on unmarked trails with people who grew up there.

    I love this song for what a great song it is, but also for the memories that it invokes of very happy and peaceful times in my life. If I didn't want/need to be so close to my family, I could spend my life in the Rocky's.

    Well I'd rather be
    walking through the tall pine trees
    high up above Lake Louise
    And I'd rather be
    chasing after shooting stars
    than waiting for this dumb 503 TTC (=Toronto Transit Commission, the 503 streetcar travels along Queen Street where all the cool, indie-hipster kids hang out).
    I'd like to see
    the sun set behind Saddle Mountain
    and listen to the wind whisper my name
    yea this world and me don't fit
    one of us is going to have to quit
    oh how I miss those western skies

    And I'd rather be
    back in the Rocky Mountains
    than sitting in some bar on Queen Street
    And I'd rather be
    walking through the high meadow
    than watching the latest war on my TV
    So please don't you stand in my way
    I just got to get out of this place
    if I waste another day
    I'm sure the sun will forget my name
    Oh how I miss those western skies

    oh to see the sunset in her eyes
    oh to see the sunshine in her eyes

    And I'd rather be
    lying by the Bow River
    just watching the clouds go by
    Yea I'd rather be
    anywhere else than here tonight
    than stuck in the city
    but through the pain
    good things will come
    after the rain the sun
    but that don't mean much to me
    stuck in the city
    oh how I miss those western skies
  • 06-04-2008, 08:00 AM
    bobsticks
    What a great idea for a thread Midfi. Clearly, the morning music can effect the rest of the day for good or ill. Since I'm runnin' old-school-behind-the-times without an MP3 player i make a few comps a week. Sometimes I'll plan it out but often if I'm running late I'll hit random and burn the first 17 or 20 songs.

    Today on the exit ramp form one highway to another I kicked it in with The Cult's "Bad Fun" off the "Electric" album. Billy Duffy's stripped-down guitar and Astbury's Manchester via Canada yelp make it a cut reminiscent of the Arctic Monkeys meet AC/DC with a few Indian shamens thrown in. Yo La Tengo's "Dreaming" brought a surreal-retro dealio to the driving experience which came to a close with "NYC Bounce" off of Blockhead's recent Nu-Jazz outing. Good stuff appreciated by me and a potential good mood alterant, I'm sure appreciated by employees and associates alike.
  • 06-05-2008, 06:50 AM
    Mr MidFi
    My muggy morning (jacket)
    This is one of those mornings that my clients are flying off the rails, deadlines are approaching, the “creative” staff have ruffled feathers, and my email in-box can’t keep up the traffic. And the dew point is some impossibly high number, making it difficult to breathe. Calgon, take me away!

    But the morning commute started off well…”Wordless Chorus,” the lead-off track from My Morning Jacket’s excellent Z album. An outstanding tune for a wet & warm Thursday morning. And, the perfect excuse to talk a little about their upcoming release, Evil Urges (dropping this Tuesday). I’ve heard some good buzz, and I’m looking forward to this one. I can also recommend their live shows, if you ever get the chance to see them.

    I’m also really looking forward to tomorrow evening…and I think that FA prolly knows why. But that’s tomorrow’s post. Right now, I gotta go.
  • 06-05-2008, 07:48 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mr MidFi
    But the morning commute started off well…”Wordless Chorus,” the lead-off track from My Morning Jacket’s excellent Z album. An outstanding tune for a wet & warm Thursday morning. And, the perfect excuse to talk a little about their upcoming release, Evil Urges (dropping this Tuesday). I’ve heard some good buzz, and I’m looking forward to this one. I can also recommend their live shows, if you ever get the chance to see them.

    I've heard a lot of buzz about this band without ever really hearing them. So, I made sure to watch them on SNL this past Saturday (rerun) and have to say that I don't understand the buzz. I thought that they kinda sucked.

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mr MidFi
    I’m also really looking forward to tomorrow evening…and I think that FA prolly knows why. But that’s tomorrow’s post. Right now, I gotta go.

    And I'm looking forward to Sunday for the same reason. Make sure to post some thoughts on Saturday...please.
  • 06-05-2008, 07:56 AM
    Davey
    Wow, this place does look different today! My little commute doesn't occur til later, closer to noon, but doesn't mean I can't pretend, right? One of my true favorite records of the 90s, and I don't say that often (ok, anyone that has read even a handful of my posts knows that's a big fat lie :)), but Perfect From Now On by Built To Spill is the jam today. And the song that starts it on that parallactic ride is "Randy Described Eternity" ...

    Where will you spend eternity
    I've gotta be perfect from now on
    I've gotta be perfect starting now


    Did you see the recent news that they are gonna be touring Perfect From Now On around the world this fall? Should make for some pretty special concerts.
  • 06-05-2008, 10:21 AM
    Mr MidFi
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Davey
    Did you see the recent news that they are gonna be touring Perfect From Now On around the world this fall? Should make for some pretty special concerts.

    No freakin' way! That's extraordinarily cool. Gotta link?

    I love it when bands do that sort of thing.
  • 06-05-2008, 10:21 AM
    Finch Platte
    Heh-

    I got to squire a cute young intern around in the company truck yesterday. I went in to get lunch and left the key in the ignition, w/ the Clash's Super Black Market Clash playing on the CD player. When I came back out, it was still playing.

    That's a good sign, right? :thumbsup:

    fp
  • 06-05-2008, 10:43 AM
    Davey
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mr MidFi
    No freakin' way! That's extraordinarily cool. Gotta link?

    I love it when bands do that sort of thing.

    I was reading their review of the new Shearwater record yesterday and happened to notice the BTS news ... which inspired my morning listen ... love that record ... http://treblezine.com/index_2.cgi?mo...=20080528#2786
  • 06-06-2008, 07:25 AM
    Mr MidFi
    Really great selection of songs during this morning’s drive, including Springsteen’s wistful ode to carny life, “Wild Billy’s Circus,” and Peter Gabriel’s poignant “The Secret World”. But today, I’m here to talk about REM (their lackluster “King of Comedy” from the Monster album came on just as I was parking the car, so let's call that the nominal "song du jour").

    Back in 1982, I transferred schools from Wake Forest to UGA. I knew very few people in Athens at the time and was constantly strapped for cash, so I did very little my first semester there besides study, drink, and listen to student radio station WUOG (88.5, “The Last One Left”). And those guys couldn’t play enough of the new single by these local yokels on the obscure Hib-Tone label…it was called “Radio Free Europe.” Not the toned-down version you hear on Murmur; this was the fast, raw-sounding version with lyrics you couldn’t possibly understand, no matter how stoned you were. I went to see them at the “old” 40-Watt Club in Athens, just around the corner from my horrid little apartment, and that sold me. These guys were very raw, but good!

    One day, I went down to the local record shop with the intent to buy something by this band, Rem (which I pronounced “rem” at the time, and I wasn’t the only one). The kind folks at Wuxtry Records neglected to mention that the guitarist of the band was a former employee there…but they were more than happy to let me know that REM was releasing their first EP in just a couple of weeks. I came back and bought it on the day it dropped; and Chronic Town remains my favorite EP ever, to this day.

    Over the next several years, REM became the soundtrack to my college years. And I saw them around town all the time; I was the guy who talked Peter Buck into buying his very first CD player back in 1985. Imagine that.

    That was almost exactly half a lifetime ago for me. Imagine that.

    I have no idea how many times I’ve seen REM live. A whole bunch. But tonight, I will add another show to the pile as they ply their trade at the United Center in Chicago…along with special guests Modest Mouse and The National. It’s a long, long way away from the old 40-Watt. But at least this time, I’ll have a date (two, actually…my wife and daughter).

    We’re planning on having a good time.
  • 06-06-2008, 08:17 AM
    dean_martin
    Nice story there, Mr. M. Hope you and your 2 dates have a blast at the show (that's a strong lineup from top to bottom).

    I launched off to college (University of Alabama) in '86. Didn't hear any REM 'til then, but it didn't take long for me to become a fan. Radio Free Euorpe (probably the album version) was the first REM song I heard. I still remember which bar I was in on the strip in t-town. I wanted to roadtrip to Athens back then, but they wouldn't let me sell plasma more than once a week.

    BTW, did you ever see Pylon live?
  • 06-06-2008, 09:07 AM
    Mr MidFi
    Never got to see Pylon, which is a shame. But I was in town for the "triumpant return" of local darlings The B-52s, when they played the UGA basketball arena. To this day, the worst concert I have ever seen/heard.
  • 06-06-2008, 09:17 AM
    ForeverAutumn
    I too am spinning REM today. I don't have any CDs earlier than Green so a friend made me a "best of" comp of REMs earlier stuff which I have been spinning all week. It's a gem.

    Edit: Why do I do this to myself? I just went onto ticketbastard to see how "sold" Sunday's REM show is. They must have released a block of tickets. I can get primo seats, dead centre about 20 rows from the stage. If only I knew for sure that I could sell my existing tickets...it's soooooo tempting.
  • 06-06-2008, 11:02 AM
    Slosh
    Well, I don't work on Fridays (for pay) but there's always some project or another around the house so I set my Soundbridge to play the entire library randomly and had at it. Lots of good stuff came up obviously but my standout of the day is Tarkio's "This Rollercoaster Ride". RIYL, umm . . . . . The Decemberists! ;) Great song but luckily you don't have to take my word for it. Click here and listen for yourself (Apple Lossless).
  • 06-06-2008, 03:36 PM
    bobsticks
    Great read Mid-Fi. Most of the time it's easy to pick the winners but there's that special buzz when it's a happening. Heady years no doubt and I hope tonight's show lives up to the calling.

    In California I dream of snow
    And all the places we used to go
    With the night falling down
    With the night falling down
    Now I'm living in Korea Town
    Waking to the sound of car alarms


    Checked out a little Canadian Amp on the way in today. Neko always delivers the twang. Little-known 'sticks fact: I am an aspiring inventor. Right now I'm working on a portable reverb unit so I can carry around a mandolin and maybe a zither and sound like this unamplified...just walkin' around work sounding like I'm in an acoustically gifted sewer. Might leave me alone and forsaken though...

    Peace
  • 06-06-2008, 03:56 PM
    Luvin Da Blues
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bobsticks
    Little-known 'sticks fact:......

    Now there's a idea for a daily thread " 'Sticks Little Known Facts", and I'm sure you have many my friend.
  • 06-06-2008, 04:06 PM
    bobsticks
    Hey LDB
    Well you never know what the future holds...but if Slumpbuster comes 'round and starts posting lyrics to the Ballad Of Jerry Curlan as a response to your post then I quit.

    If you haven't heard Neko Case you need to. I suggest Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. You will likey, oh yes you will.
  • 06-06-2008, 04:42 PM
    Luvin Da Blues
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bobsticks
    If you haven't heard Neko Case you need to. I suggest Fox Confessor Brings The Flood. You will likey, oh yes you will.

    Bobs, just DL a bit of her concert footage, can't say that it turned me around but the SQ was pretty bad so I'll have a listen to her under better conditions. Interesting that she had her start in Vancouver.

    If your looking for some Real Smooth country flavored guitar work check out

    "Neck and Neck" a very decent collaboration of Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins.

    Spinning those Ben Harper and the NOSC disks alot..:thumbsup:

    :2:
  • 06-10-2008, 06:03 AM
    Mr MidFi
    I didn’t post yesterday because I didn’t listen to music on the drive in. I wanted to listen to Sports radio, and my ears were still a bit a-buzz from Friday night’s show at the United Center. REM played an awesome, energetic, hard-rocking and loud set show with a nicely mixed, imaginative set list (including “Pilgrimage” and an all-acoustic “Let Me In”). I was planning on writing a full review, but frankly Greg Kot got it 95% right in his Tribune review:

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/featur...,2184700.story

    The only thing I’d add to it is that I was a little disappointed in the energy-level of the crowd. That absolutely WAS NOT the band’s fault in any way…but a Friday-night show with 27 songs, coming at the end of a hard workweek was a wee bit much for many of the 45-year-old suburbanites in attendance, especially after substantial sets from 2 opening acts. BTW, The National put on a fine show, with at least 3 songs from the Alligator disc, including the rousing set-closer “Mr. November”. And I’m sorry…but I just don’t like Modest Mouse. Their set didn’t sway my opinion much. But all in all, it was one of the best REM shows I’ve ever seen. I really hope they release a DVD from this tour, because it will rock.

    And now, today’s Song du Jour: “This Fire” by Franz Ferdinand. This instantly likeable tune is best known for its opening signature chord riff, but hey…just about every song on this album was instantly likeable, aren’t they? But ask yourself this: when was the last time you pulled this disc out of the stacks and played it all the way through?

    Or that Rogue Wave album that Slosh was all into a few years ago? Or that Now It’s Overhead disc from a couple years ago? Or The Jayhawks’ Rainy Day Music? Or Peter Gabriel’s last one (whatever it was called)?

    There are a whole lot of releases that seem to fall into an unfortunate hole in some people’s listening patterns. They aren’t shiny, new toys anymore, but they never quite graduated into the “venerable classic” catalog rotation either. Franz Ferd’s s/t release is sorta like that for me…and I thank the suffle gods for throwing this up to the top of the list this morning. It’s exactly what I needed to hear, and I wouldn’t have thought to reach for it myself.