January, 2009

music / sartorialism — 3 Comments
31
Jan 09

Too many parties?

I sure love me some Edith Frost, and earlier tonight I was craving her song “Cars and Parties.” I did what you do when you want to hear a song but don’t have it on hand, and asked my good friend Youtube.

Now I feel like I know Chicago pretty well-- I used to live there, and have a lot of friends who live there now, but I sure had never heard of Chic-a-Go-Go. It’s a sweet cable access DANCE PARTY program, along the lines of SOUL TRAIN or AMERICAN BANDSTAND, except it’s in Chicago, hosted by an awesome woman named Miss Mia and her sock puppet friend Ratso, and often features kickass indie rock bands lip-syncing along to their own songs, while all-ages guests dance with them.

There a number of reasons that might explain what I’m about to show you. One might be that because it’s an all-ages cable access program, guests are instructed to dress accordingly. Or this might just be Edith Frost’s natural vibe. I’m personally choosing to categorize it as “pre-9/11 fashion,” a sensibility that lacks our jaded, modern-day influences. Regardless, I sincerely hope that you enjoy it, both for the special something that the song contributes, and for the many extra extra special somethings that Edith’s maraca and dance skills add to the mix.

music / what are these young homosexuals doing — 2 Comments
28
Jan 09

No such thing as no regrets

Wouldn’t it be fantastic to be able to actually live life without regrets? I know a few people who claim to live without regrets, but I think everyone has a least a couple buried in the back of their closet. Even if you don’t have the sort of personal-lifestyle-opportunity regrets that cut close to the bone every time you think about them, you probably have a few of the caliber I’m about to talk about, namely missed rock ‘n’ roll moments.

Musical junkies always have a little list that they keep in their mental back pocket of all of the bands they want to see live. Some bands break up way before you’re of concert-going age, or before you’re even born, and there isn’t much you can do about it. Some bands only toured a couple of times and nowhere near a place you could get to. Some bands, though, toured and came close to you, and you thought to yourself, “I’ll see them the next time around,” and then tragically, stupidly, there is no next time.

For me, Sleater-Kinney falls into that last category. Three women who are gods of rock. Thundering, muscular drum beats with fine veneer of cymbals washing over them. Searing, incisive guitars that have made those far greater than I pump both their fists and go weak in the knees. Not to mention the sheer face-melting hotness of having Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker, and Janet Weiss all in one room together in the first place (Carrie is more my type, while Mimi Smartypants has a thing for Corin. Who likes Janet? Wait, who doesn’t like Janet?)

Carrie, Janet, & Corin

Carrie, Janet, & Corin

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music / what are these young homosexuals doing — No Comments
26
Jan 09

Epilepsy is Dancing

When I was in college, I would often wander over to visit my friend Lucy, who no matter what time of day always had something interesting going on.

11:30pm and she’d be whipping up a delicious tempeh stir fry. 3:00am and she’d just have found an old poetry anthology and want to show me some fabulous obscure poem she’d just rediscovered.

One especially memorable night I turned up and she had an “amazing new drag queen CD” that she wanted to share with me. She fired up “Hope There’s Someone” from I Am A Bird Now, and I felt warm shivers run down my spine and into the depths of my gut. That’s how I heard of Antony Hegarty, and the utterly mind-blowing Antony and the Johnsons.

Their new album The Crying Light just came out a few days ago, and this is the video for the first single, “Epilepsy is Dancing.” Every new thing they release, I think I’ve finally reached the end of whatever tremulous emotional range there is inside of me that responds to them. And once again, they’ve pushed me to a new place.

music / what are these young homosexuals doing — No Comments
23
Jan 09

Anatomy of a Smiths song: Rusholme Ruffians

In the interest of full disclosure, I suppose I should get it out of the way and tell you now– I’m a big, giant, freakish fan of The Smiths.

I didn’t used to be. I used to consider them overrated and even boring. I believed what people said about Morrissey, that he was the Pope of Mope, a touchstone for depressive teenagers, with flat, one-dimensional lyrics.

Then a couple of things happened. A friend played “Cemetery Gates” for me to cheer me up one night, and after I scoffed (The Smiths? To cheer me up?), I realized that she was right, and it was a beautiful, clever, cheerful song. With references to Keats and Oscar Wilde, no less.

I started giving Mozzer et al more of a chance, and a couple of years later, when I went through a particularly rough spot, I realized what fantastic companions The Smiths can be. They’re occasionally genuinely angsty, enough that you can properly empathize with them, but the lyrics are brilliant and have so many facets that you’ll find yourself laughing, or at least quirking a smile, at the most unexpected moments.

I also need to mention that Morrissey, the singer and lyricist, and Johnny Marr, the guitarist and melody-maker, are perhaps the most perfect songwriting team in all of western (alterna)(pop)(rock) history. To my personal taste I would definitely place them above Lennon/McCartney, and their break-up was certainly no less a tragedy.

Having said all this, and having recently been on the topics of both Morrissey and Elvis, I’d like to examine one of their minor gems, “Rusholme Ruffians.” If you’re unfamiliar, take a moment to listen:

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music — No Comments
22
Jan 09

A true AC/DC man

What do these two songs have in common?

The Polecats – “Make a Circuit With Me”

Morrissey – “Pregnant For The Last Time”

When you line up two rockabilly songs in a row, they appear to have a lot in common (to the point of plagiarism, some might say). But there’s more than meets the eye with these two.
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