The latest Plastilina Mosh record came out just in time for my birthday a few weeks ago. After the first full listen of All U Need is Mosh I was stunned that is wasn’t the greatest record ever made, because I’m huge, huge fan. I guess it’s bound to happen, but it’s always a downer when a band seems to take a step backward. I know, it’s all in my head. After several more complete listens I do love more than at first. There are a large number of great tunes and the whole world should buy it. My favorites in general are the more electronic stuff, but the punk-pop single “Let U Know” is totally fun. Other standouts include the slow electro-funk “Paso Fino” and the pretty “Pervert Pop Song.”
Surfer Rosa is a great, great record. It was the Pixies’ first full-length album, but it’s only 32 minutes long. Perfect. Pretty much everyone I knew at the time was digging this. A year or two later when their major label debut Doolittle came out they suddenly became huge. I had a friend at the time, Bill Rogers, who was introduced to the Pixies through Doolittle, and he loved it. Then he decided to pick up Surfer Rosa, because he was, as he put it, a “completist.” In fact, I’m pretty sure I learned that term from him. Bill was not happy with Surfer Rosa. He said it was “too loosey goosey.” Bill’s music taste was broad and deep, and I really respected his opinions on music. But I couldn’t disagree more.
I was recently reminded of this great when re-watched the equally great movie, Donnie Darko. The film ends with my favorite song from the album, “Where Is My Mind?” Double greatness.
This version of The Fall’s “There’s a Ghost in My House” (1987) has a hologram on the cover. It wasn’t easy to get a pic that clearly showed the hologram, but you’re worth it. It’s kept in a paper bag because holograms, like old color photographs, fade when they are exposed to light. “Ghost” is a typical alt-rock Fall song and I like it fine. “Haf Found Bormann” on the flip is a little too “art” to be on your summer mix tape.
On the back cover:
HOLOVISION
Making holograms part of todays (sic) world
It seems a little lazy to tag an XTC record as “new wave” but that’s what I found and I can’t think of anything better. Black Sea (1980) is definitely my favorite of their albums. Mary is the real XTC fan in this house, but anyone can enjoy songs like “Respectable Street” and “Generals and Majors.” Other than those my favorite is probably “Burning with Optimism’s Flames.” I’m not sure when or where she got this but it appears to be another “cut out.” Black Sea made it to No. 41 on the Billboard charts so no doubt many more were sold than returned to the label or put on sale in the cut out bins.
All songs written by Andy Partridge, except where noted.
1. “Respectable Street” – 3:37
2. “Generals and Majors” (Colin Moulding) – 4:04
3. “Living through Another Cuba” – 4:44
4. “Love at First Sight” (Moulding) – 3:07
5. “Rocket from a Bottle” – 3:30
6. “No Language in Our Lungs” – 4:53
7. “Towers of London” – 5:24
8. “Paper and Iron (Notes and Coins)” – 4:17
9. “Burning with Optimism’s Flames” – 4:15
10. “Sgt. Rock (Is Going to Help Me)” – 3:56
11. “Travels in Nihilon” – 7:0
Update: I just read (May 2010) that Fred Chichin of Les Rita Mitsouko died at the end of 2007. A combination of cancer and heart failure took him way too early. So my comment below that were still working was incorrect.
I always loved the song and video for “C’est Comme Ça” from The No Comprendo (1987), but I didn’t get around to buying the album until a dozen or so years later. This copy is a “cut out” and I found it at Record Mart in Old Town Alexandria, VA, a dusty second floor used record store near where I used to work. The record is a little inconsistent but there are some great, and diverse, songs that more than make up for the couple duds. This is the only album of theirs that I have. I was surprised, and delighted, to read that Les Rita Mitsouko are still making music. The video for “C’est Comme Ça” was directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino, who has also worked with Madonna, Tom Waits, Bjork, and many other notable musicians.
I like Beck’s thinking on this project more than the outcome. As you can see from the track listing there are some big names involved, but overall Guerolito is less enjoyable than Guero. I suppose that’s what you should expect with remixes.
Radiohead fans raise your hands. I guess I’m a fan, but it’s an intermittent relationship at best. Maybe you hard core folks can comment on what makes Radiohead so great. I bought their first album, Pablo Honey when it first came out, and let’s be honest, it was pretty inconsistent. Unfortunately, that stuck with me and I missed out for a while when they started making great music.
Kid A actually won a Grammy for Best Alternative Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. This version is an appropriately arty package for an increasingly experimental band. It’s a gatefold double LP, on vinyl of course, but records are 10 inchers, not 12. All sides of the gatefold and liners are covered with art by Stanley Donwood and singer Thom Yorke.
I like Kid A, but it’s not something I’ll play often. The overall vibe is like a Pink Floyd album, not really my thing. I thought maybe I was crazy, or maybe just old, for thinking that, but I’ve read the comparison elsewhere.
I really don’t know much about The Bambi Slam. My brother and I got this as a promo when (1988) we had record store. There was some buzz about this band at the time (is it just the one guy, Roy?) but I haven’t heard much about them, or him, since. Maybe I’m out of touch because he, or they, are still making music. Sounds like a less interesting version of Jesus and Mary Chain, but more hard rock. They, or he, describe their, or his, new stuff as “hard rock” and “techno.”
Thanks for the reminder, Mary. It still sounds fresh! That’s why it’s hard to believe it’s this old, not because I’m senile.
Who doesn’t love this record? If you bought it right when it was released you were probably a hipster, maybe you still are, even in your 40s. That’s because this was the major label debut for Jane’s Addiction and pretty much only fans of their first record were waiting for it to hit. At the time my brother and I had record store and a number of our regulars were excited to get their hands on Nothing’s Shocking. I know I was, being a hipster and all. The album opening pretty ditty “Up the Beach” was the perfect spacey, ethereal set up for the flat out rocking “Ocean Size” that followed it. The rest of the album is just as good, and of course it also contains what I suppose was their biggest hit, the studio version of “Jane Says.”
And check out that ticket stub. I got to see Jane’s Addiction a couple months later, with Iggy freakin’ Pop(!) for a whopping ten bucks. Yeah, I remember that too. It was a great show and the crowd was definitely there for both bands. Navarro’s shredding was even more impressive in person. No rock star silliness, just full on rocking. And it was good. Amen.
These kids make a big sound for a small band, a three piece with drums, guitars and vocals. Folks that bought this record for the pretty hit “Maps” probably got a little more rocking than they bargained for. Fever to Tell is chockablock with heavy songs propelled by slamming drums, titanic guitar riffs, and some cathartic vocals by Karen O. This album came out in 2003, and unfortunately I haven’t kept up with the band. Listening again makes me regret it. My favorite song is “Man” which it features the title lyric “Fever to Tell.”
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