[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTLffvQ9GvA]
I’m not usually one for comedy music. Don’t get me wrong: it’s not out of some indignation that people are messing with the pure art form of music because I’ve listened to just as much ridiculous crap as the next person. It just doesn’t make me laugh. “Weird Al” Yankovic, however, transcends the banality of comedy music by being an exceptionally adept musician and arranger whose parodies are often better than the originals. He wasn’t always quite as good at hip hop, but he has evolved over the years to the point where he can do hip hop better than hip hop. Yes, I know this is not saying much when it comes to mainstream hip hop, but work with me here. Watch the evolution.
“Amish Paradise” – amusing, but not impressive.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOfZLb33uCg]
“It’s All About the Pentiums” – Better. Better than Diddy (again, work with me here).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpMvS1Q1sos]
“White & Nerdy” – A freaking masterpiece.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw]
The Cramps seemed to permeate northeastern Ohio culture in an insidious way. Even if you had never heard of the Cramps before, you somehow instinctively knew that Lux Interior was from Akron. That’s the way it felt, anyway. And the fact that my mother clipped Lux’s obituary from The Akron Beacon Journal for me when I’m certain that, if I mentioned the Cramps to her at all, it was only once or twice in the distant past bares this out.
One of the Cramps’ best-known songs is the deliciously depraved “Goo Goo Muck”.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7RVymaTMkc]
You may know that “Goo Goo Muck” is a cover of a 1962 tune by Ronnie Cook & the Gaylads. Little information is available about this band, and the only other song mentioned by them is the b-side to “Goo Goo Muck”, “The Scotch”.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn2kjIac8jk]
In the 1960s, instrumental bands were a happening thing in American rock ‘n’ roll. Groups like the Ventures, the Surfaris and, of course, Booker T. and the MGs experienced success to rival their vocals-enabled peers. When I began researching instrumental band the Fireballs, their 1958 single “Torquay” struck me as sounding very familiar…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vs76somm2k4]
Jennifer has promised a forthcoming post on the Newport Folk Festival, but first she has some feelings about the dreaded “nostalgia act” vibe to work out.
Internet, in the last two weeks I have, among other things, seen the Gin Blossoms, Soul Asylum and The Lemonheads, and I have a lot of feelings on the subject that I’d like to discuss, but first I’d like you to meet two fantastic newer bands: The Shining Twins and The Candles.
These are The Shining Twins:
Alex Weiss (bass), Marisa Kreiss (drums), Xanax Aird (guitar, lurking in the background)
They were followed by The Candles:
They’re a little bit country but mostly rock and roll, and with three (!) guitars, a bass, two sets of keys and drums, there’s a lot of layers to their sound. Also, this is where some of my many feelings come in, they are beautifully congruent with the Lemonheads’ sound. But before I go off on the related tangent, here’s a picture of Evan Dando, weatherbeaten but unbowed:
He sounded good, and made my evening when they played Into Your Arms. I couldn’t stay for their whole set, but what I did hear was well worth the wait, both the 20 years and the 3.5 hours. The Lemonheads was one of those bands I never, ever thought I would get to see, and so catching them in a tiny club was a particularly special treat.
Which I suppose is as good a segue as any to the tangent, which is: How Do You Solve a Problem Like The Support Bands? It’s something I have been contemplating lately, as various of my best beloved bands from my high school and college years are popping back up and heading out on the road, in some cases with each other. I could not be happier to see Soul Asylum and the Gin Blossoms together, in fact for my 14 –18 year old self, that practically qualifies as a dream-come-true tour. (Remind me to tell you about the time I planned an entire vacation inspired by Runaway Train, which involved an actual train ride that was later cancelled (the train ride, not the entire vacation) due to flooding in Iowa. I was 17, and there was definitely poetry involved.) But as much as I enjoyed it, I felt like it put some unnecessary limits on them: the burnished brass shackles of the “nostalgia act.”
Sure, they were really big a long time ago, in the 1990s, in those dark days before mp3s. Okay, their fanbase skews a little bit older. But their tunes have stood the test of time, and, most importantly, they are making new music. They are not getting up on stage and rolling through their hits, note-perfect: they’re jamming through fresh ideas. And I’m sitting on the balcony in a community theater, watching my fellow fans clap, stomp and sway along, hemmed in their seats while Robin Wilson hops from the stage to various risers and outcroppings, tambourine in hand, and I’m thinking, Someone needs to get these people a club tour.
This is partially a reflection of selfish desire, because I want to dance in the pit. But also I think it could work. Filling the club would be the easy part; the challenge is in selecting the right support band. The Lemonheads and The Candles worked well together; if I was designing a tour for, let’s say, the Gin Blossoms, I think I’d pick Matt Nathanson , or, drifting a little towards the more folksy-side, Cadillac Sky. I still haven’t decided who I’d pair with Soul Asylum, though their Minneapolis neighbors Motion City Soundtrack are on the short list, as are Hacienda .
Cleveland. You might have heard of us. We’re known for hemorraghing talent* and that whole river-catching-on-fire thing.
But there are good aspects of living here, too. Sadly, we lost one of those aspects a couple of weeks ago when one of my personal idols, Harvey Pekar, died. If you’ve seen the film American Splendor, you know a bit of Harvey’s story. He was best-known for his American Splendor comic books, which are addictive, funny, inspiring… you should read them.
Here’s a snippet from the time Anthony Bourdain brought his show No Reservations to the CLE and met Harvey. (Tony baby loved Cleveland, by the way.)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J38mp_ON64Y]
Another good aspect is that we have a sense of humor. We kind of have to.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM]
Additionally, aside from all the good music that comes through Cleveland (you can see a show every night of the week at the Beachland Ballroom alone, and there’s also the Grog Shop, Now That’s Class, the Thirsty Dog… we’ve got a few venues – and when I say “a few”, I mean “a lot of”), some great music comes from Cleveland. Here’s Kid Cudi talking about home.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rm-Bz-8ecjs]
*We also like to claim anything good that’s ever come out of Akron.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb9Z5RukhFU]
This week, Jennifer treats us to some highlights from her roadtrip playlist along with various photos from our trip to Oxford, Mississippi. Bob Dylan seemed to be an underlying theme of our trip, beginning with some giddy, punchy conversation over dinner on the first night of our drive wherein Jennifer and I told Cam how Dylan had recently been picked up in a neighborhood in New Jersey where the apprehending officers did not recognize him.
I would also like to note that I was not party to the Lady Gaga song.
Selections from the roadtrip playlist, with annotations, and some photographs from the road:
1. Battle Stations, Brine and Bastards – I bought two roadtrip necessities in a truckstop somewhere in Ohio: a satin Peterbilt pillow, for napping in the back seat, and a radio converter for my iPod. This is the first song I cued up once we had everything set up. Brine and Bastards specialize in punk songs on topics of interest to pirates; this particular tune is one I use to get myself moving in the mornings.
2. What Are You Waiting For, Phantom Planet – This one is iTunes bonus track from the Raise the Dead record, and came up randomly on shuffle after Brine and Bastards. The lyrics say it all: We’ll drive for miles / we’ll drive across town / we’ll drive with all the windows down and Every turn we take / creates a different destiny. It reminds me of my first roadtrip on a warm early summer day in 1992, when, giddy with the end of the school year and having been given my mother’s car for the day, I gathered up my best friend and her brother and drove a whole thirty miles to Leesburg, Virginia, where we got ice cream and then came home.
Art in the airport, Cleveland, OH
4. Adeste Fidelis, Bob Dylan – I put this one on as we were going from Sun Studio to Graceland. It’s from his 2009 Christmas record. I only made them listen to the first verse, which he does, in fact, sing in Latin. The whole idea of “Bob Dylan” and “Christmas record” is kind of mind-boggling, but it’s actually one of my favorite renditions of this particular song, mainly for his unfussy delivery. It is the antidote to every over-saturated saccharine carol ever recorded.
Cam and April investigating a phone booth, Oxford, MS
5. Chameleon, Del Rendon and the Puerto Rican Rum Drunks – An entry from a (kind of) local band – Del Rendon was from Starkville, MS – this was another one I played on the way to Graceland. It’s kind of slow, but it isn’t a dirge. It has a sweet melody and sharp lyrics, one of my favorite combinations, and is a song that has kept me company on many journeys in the last couple of years.
6. Wake the Dead, Family Force 5: And then, on the other end of the spectrum, some sweet dirty Georgia crunk. I first encountered this band at Warped tour a couple of years ago, and they’ve been a staple of road-trip playlists ever since. They’re particularly fun to listen to when you have a big stretch of open highway in front of you.
Animal skull in the Jungle Room, Graceland, Memphis, TN
7. Desolation Row, My Chemical Romance: Dylan purists, you may be horrified, but I love this version of this song, particularly the quasi-dueling guitar solos. I also find it very soothing in heavy traffic, or when trying to find my way through unfamiliar territory.
8. Bad Romance, Lady Gaga: I contrived to kill my phone the day we went to Holly Springs, and it wasn’t until we got to Louisville two days later that I could take it somewhere to try and get it fixed. I was hot, anxious, annoyed and bracing myself for dealing with the people at the cell phone store. I needed a little bit of swagger for moral support, which is basically this song in a nutshell.
As seen from the parking lot following the screening of The Big Lebowski, Lebowskifest, Louisville, KY
9. Don’t Let Her Hold You Down, Michael Runion: This one floated up in the shuffle as we were making our way through the gentle rolling hills of north-west Kentucky towards Cincinnati. It was a quiet moment in the car; everyone else was asleep, or I thought they were, and outside the landscape was bruise-bright from recent rain. The mournful sweetness of the song fit in perfectly. It was a roadtrip Moment of Zen.
10. Bittersweetheart, Soul Asylum: This one also came up somewhere in Kentucky, though it may have been before Louisville, not after; I can’t remember anymore. Soul Asylum is another band that’s kept me company on numerous journeys over the years, particularly journeys that involved plunging into the unknown. It’s always a comfort to hear them coming out of the speakers.
I wasn’t going to post anything remotely Black Keys-related today because it seemed too obvious in light of their Cleveland show tomorrow night (which somehow isn’t sold out, even though several shows on this tour are sold out – no damn wonder Pat moved away and Dan will probably be moving soon) and my inability to shut about them lately. But then the awesome Freddie Gibbs collaboration “Oil Money” turned up yesterday, and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it. Featuring Dan Auerbach along with Chuck Inglish (of the Cool Kids, who will appear on the next BlakRoc joint), Bun B and Cleveland’s Chip Tha Ripper, this is a gorgeous piece of hip hop. You can download the mp3 at It’s A Rap.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJToh1S1ZYc]
And what’s more appropriate for Slackday than a song about feeling goooood from Chip Tha Ripper?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bhpTiaDtrk]
