365 Songs: Day 12

Artist: New Order
Song: Crystal
Album: Get Ready (2001)
Performance: Official Video

Another band I'll hit up again before this list is over. I passed on anything from Substance 1987, because I already used up this month's allotment of epic songs :-D

A curious bit about this video, notice the name of the fake band? Indeed it was this video that inspired the name of that little group from Vegas.

365 Songs: Day 11

Artist: Fiona Apple
Song: Shadowboxer
Album: Tidal (1996)
Performance: Official Video

Ok, for those of you that are still following along and waiting to hear a good song, today is your last chance. Every song so far I obviously think is pretty good, that's why I've bothered to post them (duh).

This song though, this song is sublime. If I was pressed to put together a list of my 10 favorite songs of all time, this would, without a doubt, make the cut.

I wanted to find a live version that did it justice, but alas, the performances were either not-so-hot, or the recordings were suspect. So the official video it is, in all its poorly lip-synced beauty.

365 Songs: Day 10

Artist: PJ Harvey
Song: C'mon Billy
Album: To Bring You My Love (1995)
Performance: French TV, 1995

Polly Jean Harvey's masterpiece album 'To Bring You My Love' entered my musical life in the late 90's like a bomb, blowing apart my ideas of what I liked in a female vocalist. And like a bomb it probably did my hearing no favors as I listened to it loudly and frequently at the Bride's apartment; we had just started dating and so these songs are forever bonded to that time for me.

Even with the feel-good association, I'd rate this album in my top 50 all-time even if I discovered it during bad times. It just doesn't quit. In a recent interview she said, "I certainly don't want to make music that can be put on in the background and be spoken over". Mission accomplished with this album.

I chose this low-key performance because it is mercifully lacking in the dark stage persona she is often projects, she is just playing it straight here.

365 Songs: Day 9

Today sucks, so I'll keep this brief.

The Band: Editors

The Song: An End Has A Start

The Album: An End Has a Start (2007)

The Sound: The British Interpol

The Video: Worst use of models in a video, to see proper usage refer to Palmer, Robert, Addicted to Love.

That is all.

365 Songs: Day 8

I can't claim this band is some kind of hidden gem, it's only album, "Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too" did go platinum in the U.S. But other than the hit 'You Get What You Give', the album itself kinda flew under the radar. If came out today it would probably sell a million downloads of the single and 100k albums...

...which would be a shame, because the album is a very solid piece of work start to finish. The "band" was really Gregg Alexander, who wrote, sang, produced, and played many of the instruments, and then filled in the blanks with session musicians. He called it quits after this one album (though he had two previous solo efforts) to produce and write for other artists. Too bad.

The song is 'Someday We'll Know'.

365 Songs: Day 6 & 7

This is the first appearance of what is sure to be several by one of my favorite bands. Many people love them, though it seems lately that more hate them. Partly I think this is due to Bono's activism and somewhat holy-than-thou personality. They have also been around a long time and have produced a fairly large and varied body of work, engaging in a lot of "reinvention" along the way. So if you want to find something they have done that you don't like, well then, you can probably find it.

Whatever.

War. The Unforgettable Fire. The Joshua Tree.

If they did nothing but those three they would still be among my favorites.

I liked that they tried different things; they didn't find the recipe for success and then repeat it. Bands should grow and evolve. It may not always work, you may not always like it, but it sure beats the same old thing every time.

I owe two songs since I didn't post yesterday, so we get a shortened version of October (from the album of the same name) and the iconic New Year's Day from War. The performance was recorded at the Red Rocks amphitheater in Colorado. I love the Edge's minimalist piano playing in both songs.

365 Songs: Day 5

Who knew?

They were Dutch!

They have 24 studio albums!

They have had the same lineup for 47 years!

They are still touring!

Honestly, I didn't know the first thing about them before a trip to wikipedia, but I've always loved 'Twilight Zone' and 'Radar Love'. Found this great acoustic version of the former which features some very nice guitar playing (at least to my uneducated ear). Enjoy.

365 Songs: Day 4

When I first heard Lazy Eye by the Silversun Pickups in late 2006, like many others, I wondered if it was a man or woman singing. The 25 second explosion at the 2:45 mark answered that; Brian Aubert was indeed male.

I looked for a good live recording of this song, but it seems that bit at 2:45 is hard to replicate, so I'm sticking with the studio version.

While I enjoyed the rest of Carnavas, which was their debut album, nothing else on it, or their sophomore effort Swoon, ever reached the perfection of this song. For me, it will go down as one of the finest efforts of the 00's.

365 Songs: Day 3

I've met people who viewed this band as some kind of "Lesser Nirvana*" that felt that somehow, they weren't really part of the "true" Seattle grunge era. They are of course entitled to their opinions, but I'll never trust their views on anything music-related.

Anyway, here they are in their salad days, performing a cover of Neil Young's Rockin in the Free World at the 1992 Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Holland (or the Netherlands if you prefer...that always confused me).

* Count my lovely Bride among that first group. I've since shown her the error of her ways.

365 Songs: Day 2

Today we dip into the alt-country files and pull out an National treasure (no, not the Nicolas Cage cinematic abomination).

John Hiatt is one of the finest songwriters I know of; he knows how to tell a story. And he isn't a half bad guitar player :-)

Now this recording doesn't feature his finest vocal performance (and the sync is a bit off), but it's still more than adequate. I chose it because I love this song and you get a bonus! Not one, but two National treasures, because his band for this performance is the Goners, and that means slide guitarist Sonny Landreth, who pretty much steals the show here.

Now I must warn you to look past the weird "drunk dad at wedding" thing Hiatt does in the first few seconds. Actually, when I think about it, his whole vibe is a bit like that, but get over it!

So here it is, John Hiatt and the Goners at the 2003 AVO Session Basil festival in Switzerland, performing Tennessee Plates, from 1998's Slow Turning (an album I recommend without hesitation to those with functioning ears):

365 Songs: Day 1

I don't blog enough.

Oh, I realize barely anybody reads this blog, and fewer people actually care about what they read here, what with the endless blather about bikes, running, etc.. But maybe what the people want are my opinions on music!

No? Really? The Interwebs don't care about my opinions?

Oh well, I do this for myself then...

“All art constantly aspires to the condition of music.”
- Walter Pater, The Renaissance: studies in art and poetry

Does it? I don't know and am ill equipped to debate this question. I do know that music moves me easily and frequently in a way that other forms of art rarely do. Books do effect me the same way on occasion, but it requires are lot more time and effort on my part. With music, it just happens (It probably happens too much; the Bride is, no doubt, oh so tired of hearing my insightful commentary like, "Wait! Listen to this next part, it's so freaktastically awesome!").

Please note that I can't sing worth a damn or play an instrument, I can't even read music. I can barely play Guitar Hero. That said, I still love listening to music. I can enjoy music from a reasonable variety of genres: bluegrass, disco, funk, "classic" rock, R&B, rap, soul, art music, electronic, folk, alt-country, American roots music, blues, and more. But what really does if for me is anything that falls under the alternative rock umbrella.

So without further ado, here is today's song:



Starting in the dark ages of the late 90's, i.e. the rap rock era, I began turning away from popular music. Nothing was working for me. Then, in the early part of the new millennium, like a light at the end of a dark tunnel infested with Kid Rock zombies (and me down to my last three 12-gauge shells), I heard this band. It wasn't quite time for me to enter the, "they don't make music like they used to" phase.

They have become on of my all time favorites. I don't care if they sound like Joy Division (I love Joy Division!).

"Blast from the Past" (or "I've been at this a while")

My First MTB: A Steel framed Kona Lava Dome, circa 1993-1994
That rear wheel is one of the few I built myself.
Still true after all these years.

When recently asked, my non-biking friends seemed agreeable to some gravel rail trail riding. Problem is, the Bride and one of our friends don't have bikes. No problem, I just needed to get some of my old bikes in order.

The Bride was easy, she got my old Turner. The only changes I made were to put the old Specialized house brand disk wheels back on (the King hubs on the new RIP 9), get a shorter stem, switch the seatpost for a non-layback to shorten up the cockpit, and put on a woman's saddle.

A loaner bike was a bit trickier. I thought about resurrecting my Specialized FSR Pro, that was a great bike. But it would have required new disk wheels or going back to rim brakes, which I just couldn't muster much enthusiasm for. Plus, I wasn't even sure I could find the old canti posts for the rear wheel.

In the end I decided to fix up my old Kona, which was my first mountain bike. It was actually almost rideable when I dragged it out. Only problem was the fork, a RS SID that had barfed up oil all over itself. I always hated that fork so I swapped it out for an old Manitou SXR, which is worlds more reliable and lower maintenance. Compared to modern (i.e. made in the last 10 years) forks, the SXR is pretty low rent, but compared to the the SID it actually seems to do something besides leak air and oil. Looking back, the SID was just a heavy, expensive rigid fork.

Now all the bikes are ready, we just need it to stop raining so we can all get out.

Retro: Rainbow Ti spokes, Ringle hub.
Matching rear wheel broke a long time ago.
Not a big loss as it had an XT hub, I couldn't afford the Ringer rear hub.

Remember these? It's called a Travel Agent IIRC.
It allows you to use linear pull brakes with non-linear pull levers.

A few new parts:
The Thomson stem is from the Turner (yeah it's too long, I know). The bar is a new Sunline (super-cheap and it weighs a ton). The OURY grips I found in the bottom of a box of bike crap, completely unused. No idea when or where I bought them, but score!

I went through a phase of color coordinating everything I could on this bike. Sadly these anodized chainring bolts lost their color when degreaser got on them.

An old FSA Conix Star-Fangled Nut replacement. I was surprised to learn they still make these. If weight isn't a concern, then these are a lot easier to deal with than a SFN.

"T.H. Industries" is these guys.
Not sure if they still make the Conix.

"See, this screws in there!"
Working on bikes is easy!