XTC — Black Sea

Author: tracysigler | Posted: May 8th, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , | No Comments »

XTC -- Black Sea

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.

Track listing from Wikipedia:

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


Les Rita Mitsouko — The No Comprendo

Author: tracysigler | Posted: May 7th, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments »

Les Rita Mitsouko -- The No Comprendo

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.

So perfectly French. Enjoy the video.


Beck — Guerolito

Author: tracysigler | Posted: May 5th, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Beck -- Guerolito

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.

Track listing from Wikipedia:

All songs were written by Beck Hansen and The Dust Brothers, except where noted.

  1. “Ghost Range” (Hansen, Dust Brothers, Beastie Boys) – 4:24
    • E-Pro” remix by Homelife
  2. “Qué Onda Guero” – 2:29
  3. Girl” – 3:53
    • Octet remix
    • Originally released in the special edition CD/DVD package of Guero
  4. “Heaven Hammer” (Hansen, Dust Brothers, Marcos Vinicius de Moraes, Carlos Eduardo Lyra) – 4:54
    • “Missing” remix by Air
  5. “Shake Shake Tambourine” (Hansen, Dust Brothers, Eugene Blacknell) – 3:37
    • “Black Tambourine” remix by Ad-Rock
  6. “Terremoto Tempo” (Hansen, Dust Brothers, Mark Adams, Steve Washington, Daniel Webster, Mark Hicks) – 3:47
    • “Earthquake Weather” remix by Mario C
  7. “Ghettochip Malfunction” – 2:39
    • “Hell Yes” remix by 8-Bit
  8. “Broken Drum” (Hansen) – 5:36
    • Boards of Canada remix
    • Originally released in the special edition CD/DVD package of Guero
  9. “Scarecrow” – 4:37
  10. “Wish Coin” (Hansen, Dust Brothers, Jack White) – 3:44
    • “Go It Alone” remix by Diplo
  11. “Farewell Ride” (Hansen) – 4:51
  12. “Rental Car” – 2:59
  13. “Emergency Exit” – 3:18
  14. “Clap Hands” – 3:19
    • Originally released in the special edition CD/DVD package of Guero

Michael Jackson — Limited Edition 9 Singles Pack (red vinyl)

Author: tracysigler | Posted: May 2nd, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , , , | 11 Comments »

Michael Jackson -- Limited Edition 9 Singles Pack (red vinyl)

Nine singles, 18 songs on 18 sides, did I play them all? Damn straight. See the complete track listings below.

I won’t comment on Michael Jackson himself other to say that the song titles visible in this picture pretty much sum up his life. Everyone has their own definition of “enough.”

This package came out in 1983. I was working at a small chain record store a few years later when I saw a couple copies collecting dust in our seven inch singles bin and decided I must have it. How could I resist such a fantastic package, of songs that I like, printed on glorious red vinyl, with an employee discount? Well, I couldn’t.

Each sleeve and record was produced just for this set, “MJ1,” and they are numbered and labeled accordingly. Most songs are from the mega hit albums “Off the Wall” and “Thriller.”

MJ1-1:
1. Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough
2. I Can’t Help It

MJ1-2:
1. Off The Wall
2. Working Day And Night

MJ1-3:
1. Rock With You
2. Get On The Floor

MJ1-4:
1. She’s Out Of My Life
2. Push Me Away

MJ1-5:
1. The Girl Is Mine
2. Can’t Get Outta The Rain

MJ1-6:
1. Billie Jean
2. It’s The Falling In Love

MJ1-7:
1. Beat It
2. Burn This Disco Out

MJ1-8:
1. Wanna Be Startin’ Something’
2. The Jacksons – Rock With You – Live

MJ1-9:
1. Thriller
2. The Jacksons – Things I Do For You – Live


Radiohead — Kid A

Author: tracysigler | Posted: May 1st, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Radiohead -- Kid A

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.


Mike Doughty — Haughty Melodic, Golden Delicious, etc.

Author: Keith Pelczarski | Posted: April 30th, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Hello, party people! Keith here once again to drop some soft rock knowledge on your Heavy Duty minds. Today’s topic: Mike Doughty (or “Dode” as he was known at Simon’s Rock). He was the frontman for the slacker jazz outfit Soul Coughing. He’s a talented lyricist who turns funny phrases like:

They say you snooze, you lose,
Well I have snost and lost

Since the dissolution of Soul Coughing several years ago, Dode has continued making soulful, quirky “alternative” music without quite as much electronic sampling and such. He’s released a bunch of albums and EPs (see ). I haven’t listened to all of them, but I do rather enjoy Haughty Melodic (a palindrome of “Michael Doughty”), which was probably the best-received, critically and commercially. The standout tracks for me on that album are “Sunken-Eyed Girl,” “Your Misfortune,” and “I Hear The Bells,” but “Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well” is the single, so to speak. It’s been featured on some tv soundtracks lately, so it’s experiencing a bit of a renaissance and you may have heard it on the radio, if you’re into that sort of thing. Personally, I’m more into this sort of thing:

Now Mike has a new album out entitled Golden Delicious. I haven’t listened to it as much as Haughty Melodic but I’ve been playing it for the past couple weeks and I’m really diggin’ it. My favorite track is “I Wrote a Song About Your Car,” and I also really like “More Bacon Than the Pan Can Handle” and the single “27 Jennifers” which was previously released on his 2003 EP “Rockity Roll.” Here’s the video for “27 Jennifers”:

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Mike Doughty’s Band live at The Fillmore in San Francisco. He played a good mix of songs from his solo work and the Soul Coughing catalog. There wasn’t anything resembling a mosh pit, but we did get more bacon than the pan can handle. He actually played that track on a Roland SP-606 Sampling Workstation, like in this video. It was quite similar to the way that Jonathan Coulton plays “Mr. Fancy Pants” on the Zendrum in his live act. But I digress.

The non-musical highlight of last night’s show was when Dode set expectations with us for the end of the show. Four songs before the end, he explained that the next song would be “the song before the fake last song,” to be followed by “the fake last song” with an accompanying big rock ending and the re-introduction (including hometowns) of all the members of the band plus the soundguy. The explanation continued something like this, “Following the fake last song, we will turn around, and you will applaud, or not, and then we’ll turn around and act surprised to see you and then we’ll play two additional songs, including the song that’s been getting a lot of radio airplay, and then we’ll leave and you’ll leave.” I had never before heard a performer set such explicit expectations for the end of the show, and particularly liked that he called the fake last song by name.

You can hear more Mike Doughty at last.fm.


Led Zeppelin — Led Zeppelin

Author: tracysigler | Posted: April 30th, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Led Zeppelin -- Led Zeppelin

Long time no listen. “Good Times Bad Times,” the first song on the first Led Zeppelin album, is probably my favorite of all their music. When I see how young the guys look on the back it’s even more impressive how out there this record is. Another favorite is “Communication Breakdown.” It’s more punk than the punk music that would come along almost a decade later. I liked it so much as a punk rock teenager that I recorded my own cover of it on my Tascam Porta One cassette four track. I played all the tracks and did a good job on drums and bass. My guitar work was not uh… scintillating. And I’m pretty sure the vocals were an octave lower out of genetic necessity.

Note on the back cover:

This is a stereo recording. For best results observe the R.I.A.A. high frequency roll-off characteristic with a 500 cycle crossover.

But of course.

More about Led Zeppelin at Wikipedia


Various Artists — Wave News – The New Generation of Music

Author: tracysigler | Posted: April 28th, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | No Comments »

Various Artists -- Wave News - The New Generation of Music

“Wave News”? Must be a German thing. Gotta love that sweet colored vinyl. We’ll definitely keep this “limitierte auflage” compilation because it’s a crazy mixed bag of “new generation” music from 1980 and ’81, released in ’82. I split the foldout in two so you can get a good look a whats-his-face from Depeche Mode. What is he, thirteen? Sporting that look I doubt he made it to lunch before being mistaken for a girl. My favorite track is definitely “Disco Man” by The Damned, followed closely by “Countdown” by U.K. Subs. Mary says she got this at a record store in D.C.

Tracklisting from Discogs.com:

A1 Depeche Mode New Life (3:42)
A2 Damned, The Disco Man (3:18)
A3 Max Meldau Shutdown (3:46)
A4 Lovely Previn From A To B (3:13)
A5 Eyeless In Gaza Faceless (3:11)
A6 Jo Broadberry & The Standouts Footsteps In The Dark (3:26)
A7 China Doll China Doll (3:18)
A8 Medium Medium Hungry, So Angry (3:56)
B1 Au Pairs Inconvenience (2:55)
B2 Fad Gadget Pedestrian (3:14)
B3 Dead Kennedys Too Drunk To F… (2:39)
B4 Thomas Leer Letter From America (4:36)
B5 Exploited, The Hitler’s In The Charts Again (2:36)
B6 Eddie Maelov & Sunshine Patteson* Another Teardrop (3:46)
B7 Bloodless Pharaos Bloodless Pharao (6:09)
B8 UK Subs Countdown (4:55)

Metallica — Live Shit: Binge and Purge

Author: tracysigler | Posted: April 25th, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments »

Metallica -- Live Shit: Binge and Purge

A package this big needs at least two pics…

Metallica -- Live Shit: Binge and Purge

My personal rule for all the music I’m posting is that I have to listen to the entire thing and decide whether to keep it. I’m not going to pretend that I’ve consumed the entirety of Metallica’s over-the-top-box-set Live Shit: Binge and Purge (1993), again. It’s almost nine hours of live music! There are three VHS tapes and three CDs. I don’t even have a VCR any more. They released it later with DVDs but I couldn’t wait for that. Actually, this was a birthday present, I believe, and it was stupid spendy. But worth every penny!

That package is the coolest. It even has little metal hinges on the back. In addition to the audio and video stuff there is a small stencil, a moss pit pass from the tour, and a great book. The book has tons of photos and photocopies of set lists, and some serious, but humorous, memos about what the band can and can’t do on stage in various countries, and much more.

I got to see them play at least once on this mega-tour, but I can’t find the ticket stub. This package is an even better memento. Happy birthday to me, and as they say the introduction in the book, “Happy Overdose”!

You can read all about Metallica’s Live Shit: Binge and Purge at Wikipedia.


The Cult — Fire Woman Mini CD Checkbook Thing

Author: tracysigler | Posted: April 24th, 2008 | | Tags: , , , , | No Comments »

The Cult -- Fire Woman Mini CD Checkbook Thing

Here is something you don’t see every day: a mini CD by The Cult packaged in something similar to a checkbook cover. A mini CD should not be confused with the MiniDisc. This little guy will play in most older CD players, but I’m scared to stick into the side of this iMac without an adapter. And I haven’t seen one of those adapter rings in years.

I don’t know if we paid for this, I hope not, but it’s on Beggar’s Banquet which probably means we bought it for the record store we had at the time. I was long over The Cult when this came out in 1989, but the cool package must have convinced to keep it. That’s not working now though. I think this is only the second time the disc has been out of the cover, and some of the ink stuck to the plastic.

There are three songs: “Fire Woman,” the big hit from the Sonic Temple record; “Automatic Blues,” a fun riff rocker that’s awfully similar to Zeppelin’s “Black Dog” (I was toggling between the two and Mary didn’t realize they were different); “Messin’ up the Blues,” an acoustic blues shout out to every American roots rock musician you can think of. That last one is painfully long and cheesy even by The Cult standards.

The dope on Fire Woman.
All about the mini CD