Flavors Volume III (Reprint - originally published August, 2002)
Yo yo yo! Let me speak on this! Horale!!! Arriba la rasa!!! errr... forget it... Greetings, music lovers... Let's have a look at some of what's been in muh CD player, lately... (Basically, you know that this pretty much involves looking at the stack of CDs sitting right there [points to] and then telling you about some of what's in it... well, no one said it was rocket science.)
***
Nickel Creek - "This Side" (August 13, 2002, Sugar Hill)
They've never really been "bluegrass" like Flatt & Scruggs or Bill Monroe, or not really even "newgrass" like their produer (and one of my mostest favoritest female vocalists) Alison Krauss' band, Union Station... Maybe just call it "what three kids from Southen California (the home of bluegrass, of course - heheheh) do when they get together..." Their first CD was a little more straightforward, while this one takes a lot of twists and turns along the way, exploring lots of pop and, dare I say, some cool multimeter jazzy sounds (the opening instrumental has this really cool thing going on, a la Zappa and the Mothers with violinist Jean Luc Ponty) here and there... No, they don't sound anything like the Mothers... or even the Dregs... just kinda neat. They've grown quite a bit. PICK TRACKS: 1.) "Smoothie Song," 5.) "I Should've Known Better," 8.) "Seven Wonders," 10.) the ultra-cool "Beauty and the Mess," and 11.) "Sabra Girl."
NOTE: ALL of these songs (save the opening instrumental track) mentioned feature violinist/hottie Sara Watkins singing lead vocals, as opposed to one of the other two goober A&F model wannabe guys in the band - okay, I'm just teasing, one of them is her big brother and he and the other guy are pretty wicked musicians that I would work with in a drop of a hat, but I'm totally sold on a Sara Watkins solo career whenever she's up for it (and if I can ever get rid of whatever the hell is plaguing my hands, taking away the ability to even HOLD a guitar without wanting to scream, much less play one, I'll sign up to be in that band)... her voice is awesome (like Natalie Wheeler of the Sundays awesome)...
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: My hands seem to be doing much better, now...]
***
Sinch - "Sinch" (2002, Roadrunner)
Sheesh... With as many Roadrunner bands as I've talked about recently, you'd think I worked for them... I think that Roadrunner has just been really lucky recently in the recruiting department, leaving Fred Durst to sign and create all these "supposed immediate megastar junkie" bands like Staind and Puddle of Mudd that just aren't all that great under the surface (like after you've heard the CD twice, yer done), while meanwhile, all the good stuff is gravitating to Roadrunner... ;) Sinch is one of these bands... Good stuff... A singer that can actually sing (and he's not afraid to lay it on the line apparently, either - in one song he tells whomever, "It's all your fault, so feel guilty...") and a really neat new "instrument" called the Ocular Noise Machine (designed by bandmember Jay Smith: links to it can be found at the band's website - http://sinch.net -), they explore everything from radio rock to full on TooL-esque hypno-prog, making for something good to listen to when you're looking for... well, something good to listen to... Diverse, dark, and original (is that "critic-speak?" 'cause I sure as HELL am not a music critic - unless it's mine, in which case, I'm a tremendous music critic)... PICK TRACKS: 1.) "To Die in Fall" (now, I SWEAR they rip-off the whole opening lick and echoey premise from some goofy movie I saw where this nobody LA band-guy stands on his balcony and plays this riff, and some rockstar-guy down in the valley below him answers with this metalled-out version of the lick - damn... maybe called "Sunset Strip" or something like that? Damn... anyhow) 2.) "433 (Hypothetical Situation)," 4.) "Something More" (cool video), 6.) "The Arctic Ocean," 7.) "Seven" (woah, nifty), and 9.) "The Silent Acquiensence of Millions."
***
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "Coil" (1997, Columbia)
When I played with Spagetty in '95, I drew a lot of comparison and inspiration from the Toad, in an effort to work with a little more experimantal (in a non-jazz sense, anyway) side of me than I had been used to dealing with in the other bands I had been lucky enough to play with up to then. Looking back I think it was, if not altogether fair, at least an accurate comparison on a few different levels. The things we were trying to do, they were there, doing them... I think they have called it quits - at least on a hiatus, seeing as Toad frontman Glen Phillips just got off the road recently with (speak o' the devil) Nickel Creek. They didn't seem to get quite the credit due them when they were together other than from the college music scene, yet they were way beyond a simple "college music" band... but in any group of people (well, above the age of 25, anyway), there's bound to be a Toad the Wet Sprocket fan. PICK TRACKS: 1.) "Whatever I Fear," 2.) "Come Down," 4.) "Damn Would Break," 9.) "Amnesia," and 10.) "Little Buddha."
***
David Bowie - "Bowie at the Beeb (Limited Edition 3 CD Set)" (2000, Virgin)
Okay, the first two discs in this LE set cover the original BBC sessions from '68-'72, and it's pretty awesome... sounds great... but it's the 3rd disc in the set that is the treasure of the collection - a show for selected members of the fanclub at the London BBC Theatre, June 27, 2000 - and quite frankly, it might be the best you EVER hear David Bowie sound, live or otherwise... PICK TRACKS: Well, no fair... It's all good, but there are some GREAT versions of "Wild is the Wind," the rarely-performed "This is Not America" (from the really cool Sean Penn movie "The Falcon and the Snowman"), "Man Who Sold the World," and two really cool takes on "Fame," and "Let's Dance" (granted, no SRV on "Let's Dance," but there IS Bowie vet Earl Slick, so that's pretty cool...) and he does a couple Tin Machine songs, too... Again, a friggin' masterpiece of live music...
***
Blind Melon - "Soup" (1995, Capitol)
Those of you who judged Blind Melon for "No Rain..." well, you're missing it. Far and away the worst song they ever recorded... I played "I Wonder" from the CD that contained "the dreaded bee grrl song," and "Mouthful of Cavaties" (from "Soup")a lot during my radio shifts... was actually pretty surprised by how many requests would come in for "No Rain" (pretty much exclusively women), but I always managed to sneak a good one in here and there. If you would be asking me, I would say that "Soup" was their best CD... PICK TRACKS: 1.) "Galaxie," 4.) "Skinned" (a song about Chicagoland serial killer Ed Gein), 5.) "Toes Across the Floor," 11.) "St. Andrew's Fall," and 13.) "Mouthful of Cavaties" (everytime I listen to it, I get chills from the irony).
Shannon Hoon is gone, now, and we'll never hear a new Blind Melon song, again... A couple of the remaining members (Chris Thorn and Brad Smith) joned up with Edie Brickell/Pearl Jam/studio hepcat Dave Krusen and formed a band called Unified Theory (which also got played quite a bit on the old station). They opened for Live in 2000... I don't know if they are still together anymore, or not. The band's webpage - http://www.unifiedtheorymusic.com/ - has been down for a couple months, anyway. The music has a definite Melon twinge, but it's different and DEFINITELY worth checking out if you liked Blind Melon...
***
Day 9 - "Madman" (2001)
Okay, so they're broken up... so are most bands in Portsmouth, now... was still a pretty good little thing they had going... I did an interview with Brandon and Avery the day they announced its availability about a year ago exactly, and I've always popped the CD in here and there and given it a listen... Seemed they took a little exception to my referencing of the Bush and Nickleback in their singer's sound during a commercial break, as if it implied something bad (which of course, it didn't), and it would figure that my two favorite songs on the CD actually featured the guitarist (Brandon) on lead vocals... totally unrelated to anything, I just liked those songs the best, but I figured that always made for more people thinking I didn't like the singer's voice or something... which was totally untrue... sons of silly people you are... but I hope whoever's left in the now defunct band put something else together and get back at it, soon... Also worth noting is that it was recorded by a really good guy, Jason McGoron, with whom I spent many a late night sitting about five feet away from where I am right now trying to figure out all the great delvings of mystical craziness that is the guitar... I think we eventually made some headway at one point, but gave it back - heheh...
***
Well, anyhow, that's a sample of what's been in my player the past few... not quite as heavy as in weeks past, but you'll have that every now and then...
Can you dig it, suckaaaaaaaaaa?!?!?
-tony-
Yo yo yo! Let me speak on this! Horale!!! Arriba la rasa!!! errr... forget it... Greetings, music lovers... Let's have a look at some of what's been in muh CD player, lately... (Basically, you know that this pretty much involves looking at the stack of CDs sitting right there [points to
***
Nickel Creek - "This Side" (August 13, 2002, Sugar Hill)
They've never really been "bluegrass" like Flatt & Scruggs or Bill Monroe, or not really even "newgrass" like their produer (and one of my mostest favoritest female vocalists) Alison Krauss' band, Union Station... Maybe just call it "what three kids from Southen California (the home of bluegrass, of course - heheheh) do when they get together..." Their first CD was a little more straightforward, while this one takes a lot of twists and turns along the way, exploring lots of pop and, dare I say, some cool multimeter jazzy sounds (the opening instrumental has this really cool thing going on, a la Zappa and the Mothers with violinist Jean Luc Ponty) here and there... No, they don't sound anything like the Mothers... or even the Dregs... just kinda neat. They've grown quite a bit. PICK TRACKS: 1.) "Smoothie Song," 5.) "I Should've Known Better," 8.) "Seven Wonders," 10.) the ultra-cool "Beauty and the Mess," and 11.) "Sabra Girl."
NOTE: ALL of these songs (save the opening instrumental track) mentioned feature violinist/hottie Sara Watkins singing lead vocals, as opposed to one of the other two goober A&F model wannabe guys in the band - okay, I'm just teasing, one of them is her big brother and he and the other guy are pretty wicked musicians that I would work with in a drop of a hat, but I'm totally sold on a Sara Watkins solo career whenever she's up for it (and if I can ever get rid of whatever the hell is plaguing my hands, taking away the ability to even HOLD a guitar without wanting to scream, much less play one, I'll sign up to be in that band)... her voice is awesome (like Natalie Wheeler of the Sundays awesome)...
[AUTHOR'S NOTE: My hands seem to be doing much better, now...]
***
Sinch - "Sinch" (2002, Roadrunner)
Sheesh... With as many Roadrunner bands as I've talked about recently, you'd think I worked for them... I think that Roadrunner has just been really lucky recently in the recruiting department, leaving Fred Durst to sign and create all these "supposed immediate megastar junkie" bands like Staind and Puddle of Mudd that just aren't all that great under the surface (like after you've heard the CD twice, yer done), while meanwhile, all the good stuff is gravitating to Roadrunner... ;) Sinch is one of these bands... Good stuff... A singer that can actually sing (and he's not afraid to lay it on the line apparently, either - in one song he tells whomever, "It's all your fault, so feel guilty...") and a really neat new "instrument" called the Ocular Noise Machine (designed by bandmember Jay Smith: links to it can be found at the band's website - http://sinch.net -), they explore everything from radio rock to full on TooL-esque hypno-prog, making for something good to listen to when you're looking for... well, something good to listen to... Diverse, dark, and original (is that "critic-speak?" 'cause I sure as HELL am not a music critic - unless it's mine, in which case, I'm a tremendous music critic)... PICK TRACKS: 1.) "To Die in Fall" (now, I SWEAR they rip-off the whole opening lick and echoey premise from some goofy movie I saw where this nobody LA band-guy stands on his balcony and plays this riff, and some rockstar-guy down in the valley below him answers with this metalled-out version of the lick - damn... maybe called "Sunset Strip" or something like that? Damn... anyhow) 2.) "433 (Hypothetical Situation)," 4.) "Something More" (cool video), 6.) "The Arctic Ocean," 7.) "Seven" (woah, nifty), and 9.) "The Silent Acquiensence of Millions."
***
Toad the Wet Sprocket - "Coil" (1997, Columbia)
When I played with Spagetty in '95, I drew a lot of comparison and inspiration from the Toad, in an effort to work with a little more experimantal (in a non-jazz sense, anyway) side of me than I had been used to dealing with in the other bands I had been lucky enough to play with up to then. Looking back I think it was, if not altogether fair, at least an accurate comparison on a few different levels. The things we were trying to do, they were there, doing them... I think they have called it quits - at least on a hiatus, seeing as Toad frontman Glen Phillips just got off the road recently with (speak o' the devil) Nickel Creek. They didn't seem to get quite the credit due them when they were together other than from the college music scene, yet they were way beyond a simple "college music" band... but in any group of people (well, above the age of 25, anyway), there's bound to be a Toad the Wet Sprocket fan. PICK TRACKS: 1.) "Whatever I Fear," 2.) "Come Down," 4.) "Damn Would Break," 9.) "Amnesia," and 10.) "Little Buddha."
***
David Bowie - "Bowie at the Beeb (Limited Edition 3 CD Set)" (2000, Virgin)
Okay, the first two discs in this LE set cover the original BBC sessions from '68-'72, and it's pretty awesome... sounds great... but it's the 3rd disc in the set that is the treasure of the collection - a show for selected members of the fanclub at the London BBC Theatre, June 27, 2000 - and quite frankly, it might be the best you EVER hear David Bowie sound, live or otherwise... PICK TRACKS: Well, no fair... It's all good, but there are some GREAT versions of "Wild is the Wind," the rarely-performed "This is Not America" (from the really cool Sean Penn movie "The Falcon and the Snowman"), "Man Who Sold the World," and two really cool takes on "Fame," and "Let's Dance" (granted, no SRV on "Let's Dance," but there IS Bowie vet Earl Slick, so that's pretty cool...) and he does a couple Tin Machine songs, too... Again, a friggin' masterpiece of live music...
***
Blind Melon - "Soup" (1995, Capitol)
Those of you who judged Blind Melon for "No Rain..." well, you're missing it. Far and away the worst song they ever recorded... I played "I Wonder" from the CD that contained "the dreaded bee grrl song," and "Mouthful of Cavaties" (from "Soup")a lot during my radio shifts... was actually pretty surprised by how many requests would come in for "No Rain" (pretty much exclusively women), but I always managed to sneak a good one in here and there. If you would be asking me, I would say that "Soup" was their best CD... PICK TRACKS: 1.) "Galaxie," 4.) "Skinned" (a song about Chicagoland serial killer Ed Gein), 5.) "Toes Across the Floor," 11.) "St. Andrew's Fall," and 13.) "Mouthful of Cavaties" (everytime I listen to it, I get chills from the irony).
Shannon Hoon is gone, now, and we'll never hear a new Blind Melon song, again... A couple of the remaining members (Chris Thorn and Brad Smith) joned up with Edie Brickell/Pearl Jam/studio hepcat Dave Krusen and formed a band called Unified Theory (which also got played quite a bit on the old station). They opened for Live in 2000... I don't know if they are still together anymore, or not. The band's webpage - http://www.unifiedtheorymusic.com/ - has been down for a couple months, anyway. The music has a definite Melon twinge, but it's different and DEFINITELY worth checking out if you liked Blind Melon...
***
Day 9 - "Madman" (2001)
Okay, so they're broken up... so are most bands in Portsmouth, now... was still a pretty good little thing they had going... I did an interview with Brandon and Avery the day they announced its availability about a year ago exactly, and I've always popped the CD in here and there and given it a listen... Seemed they took a little exception to my referencing of the Bush and Nickleback in their singer's sound during a commercial break, as if it implied something bad (which of course, it didn't), and it would figure that my two favorite songs on the CD actually featured the guitarist (Brandon) on lead vocals... totally unrelated to anything, I just liked those songs the best, but I figured that always made for more people thinking I didn't like the singer's voice or something... which was totally untrue... sons of silly people you are... but I hope whoever's left in the now defunct band put something else together and get back at it, soon... Also worth noting is that it was recorded by a really good guy, Jason McGoron, with whom I spent many a late night sitting about five feet away from where I am right now trying to figure out all the great delvings of mystical craziness that is the guitar... I think we eventually made some headway at one point, but gave it back - heheh...
***
Well, anyhow, that's a sample of what's been in my player the past few... not quite as heavy as in weeks past, but you'll have that every now and then...
Can you dig it, suckaaaaaaaaaa?!?!?
-tony-
posted by TONY at 11/24/2002 10:42:00 PM
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