Operation Appreciation Day 2: The Who - The Who Sell Out

I have been a little sick all day - headaches here and there, very tired, etc. But for some reason while driving home today I was digging The Who Sell Out more than I have in years. Maybe it's because I never realized how long "Odorono" goes before it hits the punchline, or I never noticed the faux-radio announcement, "Radio London reminds you: atteeeend the chuuurch of your choiiiice!" It's such a wonderfully kooky album with a great sense of humor, and yet the serious songs ("I Can See for Miles," "Our Love Was") kick high levels of ass.

This album was always in my top 5 Who albums, but tonight it gets easily in the top 3, even if the "album-as-fake-radio-station" idea does not stick on the second side.

Speaking of The Who, last week, I got The Who Sing My Generation on vinyl. Can we get a good CD mix of this album? Sometime? Please? The original CD mix, as with all original CD mixes, is awful and muddy. The Deluxe Edition that came out a few years ago rocks a faux-stereo sound that features too much spacial separation. The title track doesn't sound muscular, and everything's a bit off. I sometimes disagree with vinyl enthusiasts*, but this is one example of where it is totally worth it.

I apologize in advance for using the word "faux" twice in the same post. That's some kind of pretension fail**.

*(sometimes - all my Elvis Costello and Who albums sound better on the black circle, but the difference between a first-pressing Born to Run and the 25th anniversary remaster don't really set my ears on fire)

**I almost wrote "fale."

Operation Appreciation: Day 1

I have decided this week to put a stop to getting new music for one month* because, for awhile, I have had too much new music coming in to appreciate it all (and I was seriously spending about $100 a week on music. So there.). So, I'll be chronicling albums, artists, songs, whatever that I think about or forgot about for this month, with a new post every day.

Day 1a: Sugar Ray - Answer the Phone

For the past few days, unrelated to this, I have started an iTunes Smart Playlist based on the least-listened-to tracks in my library: anything that has a play count of less than 1, chosen at random. Most of the time, it plays things I had from before I converted everything to digital files that I simply haven't heard on iTunes/my iPod before (case in point: I am currently listening to "In the Light" by Led Zeppelin). Sometimes, though, a real gem comes through, and tonight, one of those gems is "Answer the Phone" by Sugar Ray.

It's what can be considered a minor hit for them, the first single for their eponymous album. I'm by no means a Sugar Ray fan -- I got pretty fed up by the 10 billionth time hearing "Every Morning," and still cringe a little when I hear it at the grocery store. But I am also willing to champion great pop songs, and Sugar Ray (the album) was full of great pop songs(extra sugar). I think I will defend, to my death, Avril Lavigne's The Best Damn Thing (it's like eating 12 sugar packets' worth of sugar through a Twizzler! I swear!).

"Answer the Phone" isn't quite in that league, but it was a pleasant surprise to have pop up in my random list while I was feeding my turtle. It's blasted with power chords and layered vocals. It's a stupid love song, but it does the trick, as far as catchy bullshit goes. Hell, it runs through damned near every relationship cliche I can think of (rollercoaster, phones, doin' it, "this bed is big"... doin' it)

I also always had a soft spot for it because Mark McGrath tries to go for sweetly desperate but dips his toes ever-so-gently into the creepy pool when the bridge repeats "I practiced all my lines on a telephone while you were sleeping" before slingshooting (is that a word?) itself directly into douchebagland by bragging about his sexual conquest and the fact that he's in a band. It's a hell of a jump from part A to part B, there.

Anyway, I'm not going to dwell on it because it's not like I discovered a miracle in my iTunes. I just think this song is pretty stellar. And I can say "stellar" because I'm talking about a band that peaked in the 90s.

*one exception: Prince's new albums, out at the end of the month.

Blogging the Grammys

Normally, I wouldn't actually be watching the Grammys, but I found myself back in Amherst early with nothing else to do (fed the turtle, took a shower, etc.), so I decided to record my snarky comments here! I tuned in just before Kid Rock hit the stage, so I'll pick up from there...

• Kid Rock, you deserve your own blog post.
• Having Stevie Wonder perform with the Jonas Brothers seems like it's taking advantage... of his kindness.
• Also, I was ok with what they were doing until they went into "Superstition"
• Jere = Not a fashion critic. But I do believe Estelle wore a trash back dipped in glitter for her performance with Kanye.
• blink-182 is back! I don't have to suffer through AVA anymore!
• Yay for giving Robert Plant awards!
• MIA is gonna burst... 
• Nice to see the Grammys pussied out on her doing "Paper Planes" in full
• Why do they have actors introduce artists? Well, at least Paul McCartney is up next...
• Wow... Macca can still hit those high notes.
• ...ok, why is Jack Black intr-... I almost wrote that until I remembered Tenacious D. I don't care if The Pick of Destiny was just OK. Kyle and Jack need to get back on that.
• John Mayer won?? Who'da guessed!?? John Mayer and the Foo Fighters are such golden boys for the Grammys, I'm surprised the show hasn't forced the two together... yet.
• Gwenyth Paltrow introducing Radiohead: What a twist!
• Samuel L. Jackson being introducted by the "Shaft" theme would've been cooler if not for his Shaft remake.
• Get rid of the Grammy president's speech. He's killing my JT-related buzz. He's got no enthusiasm, he's a corporate $hill, he's got no charisma, and he comes out once a year close to Groundhog Day.
• Sweeeeeeet Car-o-liiine... 
• C'mon, Grammys. Let's not kid ourselves. Plant/Krauss are getting album of the year.
• Wait... Lil Wayne AND Allen Toussaint? Oh hellz yeah!!!
• How do you make Weezy suitable for prime time? Give him hype man duties, of course!
• As much as I believe we must stop this will.i.am thing, it's kind of adorable that he and T-Pain have matching suits
• Oh, Green Day's new album has a name now. Good for them.
• Plant/Krauss won... who called it!? WHO CALLED IT!?!?!
• Stevie Wonder closing the show? And not a Jonas in sight... great way to end the night.

Good night, y'all!

Grammy Thoughts

The Grammys are being held in 3 days, and like pretty much anyone who listens to music, I don't really care. These kinds of self-congratulatory award shows are thankfully suffering for either their stodginess (The Grammys) or their populism (The People's Choice Awards, the American Music Awards). This article offers some pretty good constructive criticism, but I think the problem is less an issue of format than an issue of interest. Does anyone really care if such and such wins whatever award? Aren't award shows just conversation (*cough*and blog*cough**cough*) prompts? Don't most people just go on listening to whatever music they listen to? (Currently: Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Get Happy!!)

 

And that's my train of thought heading into most award shows. Usually I wind up flipping between them and whatever I'm watching or whatever game I'm playing, hoping to catch some decent performances. This year will be no different, but I'm especially looking forward to this year's slate or performances (most of which I'll probably YouTube rather than see live) for one reason.

Is it Paul McCartney with Dave Grohl on drums? U2? Estelle and that wacky Kanye West? Stevie Wonder? Allen Toussaint?

NO!

I'm looking forward to the fact that MIA is scheduled to perform with her baby due that night. In the off-chance she doesn't give birth in the next 3 days (or go into labor hours or minutes before her performance), we can get some high-tension "WTF is she thinking?"/"Is this a good idea?"/"What's their contingency plan?" kind of entertainment. Plus I adore MIA, and not just because I'm a blogger who also loved Pineapple Express and Slumdog Millionaire. Shit could get interesting, is all I'm trying to say.

Oh, and I think it'd be entertaining to see Weezy slur and stumble his way through an acceptance speech if he happens to be on cough syrup at the time... Though in a very sad way.

The Day the Music Died: For the Love of Buddy Holly

This post was meant to happen yesterday, but things get in the way.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of "The Day the Music Died," and a lot of music journalists have done their fair share trying to commemorate the event with articles regarding the importance of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. MSNBC has a great article about Holly's contributions to modern music:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28979987/

Halftime

So, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band played a bunch of condensed hits an a commercial for their new album at the Superbowl, and what can I say? It was a halftime show.

 

Certainly, it wasn't as good as Prince's spectacle a couple years back (Prince is Prince, though, and I am Jere), but it was a crowd-pleaser. It was a distraction to give people in the stadiums and at home something to look at for 12 minutes (because the bathroom break can't last the whole 12 minutes). I always thought "Glory Days" sounds better when it's played with the horns higher in the mix than the 80s synths on the studio version, which is good. I would've prefered a spirited "Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)," but I guess the line "Papa says he knows that I don't have any money..." might've hit a little close to home these days (?). The song still makes me deliriously happy, though.

 

I was horrified when Springsteen's crotch power slid at me in HD, though. Thank God the halftime wasn't in 3D!

 

Anyway, I got up this morning and started wondering who they could pull in to play next year. My mind drifted as far as... New Jersey, where Bon Jovi would be another solid candidate for the job. They're in that class of bands that can play an arena without alienating older parents out there. I mean, who doesn't love singing along to "Livin' on a Prayer" (most especially in Rock Band!)? But then I wanted to be more creative than walking down the block from Springsteen's origins and came up with a couple others...

 

I don't know how well he is, but I bet David Bowie could put on a helluva halftime show ("Rebel, Rebel!" "Heroes!" "Changes!" "Life on Mars!" The possibilities are endless!). I only read a headline of a rumor that he would be suiting up as Ziggy Stardust sometime, and that was the last Bowie-related thing I've read in awhile, though.

 

Another possibility: Elvis Costello. He's come a long way from that time that he got banned from SNL, and his talk show has proven him to be a pretty gifted emcee (in the "host" sense, not in the hip-hop sense). I can imagine him doing a convincing "hits" set with "Pump It Up," "(What's So Funny About) Peace, Love and Understanding," some surprise cover, and whatever.

Also, I can imagine the Foo Fighters filling the slot. Actually, I'm fairly surprised they haven't yet. God knows they always wind up on the Grammys in one form or another a couple weeks after the game. They're heavy enough to keep the football crowd amped but safe enough to not offend the families watching. In the same ballpark is Coldplay, I suppose, though I can't think of a more thoroughly boring halftime show.

 

I guess it's all better than Up with People, though.
 

Music Videos that Should Be Musicals

With the news that Michael Jackson's classic video for "Thriller" will soon become a musical, I got to thinking "What other music videos should hit the stage?" For the sake of not coming up with the obvious, I'm going to exclude songs coming from concept albums and anything else Michael Jackson has done. His music videos tend to have more plot than most Jason Statham movies.

So, here goes!

Outkast - The Whole World

Plot: Perhaps a musical version of Charlie Chaplin's classic The Circus. But with hip-hop more brightly colored outfits.

Rihanna - Rehab (link - embed disabled )

Plot: A one-woman show about psychosis... perhaps caused by listening to "Umbrella" a few too many times (she can call for an "S.O.S."!!!). Also, lots of skimpy outfits and washing cars. (Note: This description was originally written with the song "Disturbia" in mind. I didn't change it because, well, funny how things work out).

Blur - Coffee and TV

Plot: I don't care. I just want to see a singing and dancing person-sized milk carton.

Kanye West - Champion (link - embed disabled )

Plot: I do think there is something to Japanese puppet theater. Perhaps a Kanye-puppet-starring Rocky-esque musical featuring Kanye's discography as its soundtrack!? AND it has a social message having to do with discrimination and overcoming adversity!? Yes? YES?!?

Pink - Stupid Girls (link - embed disabled )
Plot: A hilarious slapstick comedy... meditation on the presentation of women in the... media... I still think this is a good idea.

Or maybe starting with musicians and ending with musicals might be a bad idea...