Gaper's Blog

Crucial Music (Volume XVIII: Del Fuegos)

Unless you're seeking some sort of Rolling Stones-like longevity and fame, it would be pretty hard to argue with the career arc of The Del Fuegos.  Their entire career lasted less than a decade: they made some critically-acclaimed records on cool Indie labels, did the requisite beer commercial, did some high-profile tours, broke up amicably, lived, and later got name-checked in an Indie pop song and all lived on to amazing 'second acts'.

They broke out of Boston, signed to Slash Records (home to X, Fear, Faith No More and Violent Femmes) and with their second album--Boston, Mass--reached critical mass.  Lead single "Don't Run Wild" didn't sound like much else in 1985 and people like Tom Petty praised them, probably because they were spiritual cousins.  In a move that a few purists bristled at (before the music/advertising line was regularly crossed and people like Neil Young wrote songs decrying it) they did a series of ads for Miller Genuine Draft. I, for one didn't mind and despite being six years away from legal alcohol consumption made it my 'unofficial' beer of choice.  If The Replacements endorsed a beer, I probably would have drank that as well.  Subsequent albums Stand Up and Smoking in the Fields had ample charms but lacked the spark of Boston, Mass.  I always enjoyed "Breakaway" from Smoking.  And while it was a great 'depth cut' from Boston, Mass, I didn't fully appreciate "Night On The Town" until it was used in the short-lived (and brilliant) TV series Almost Grown.  Of course the creator of Almost Grown would also go on to an amazing stretch later in his career, more on him in the next paragraph.

The band split up in the late 80s but, as I mentioned, all four members not only lived but thrived in second careers.  Lead singer/guitarist Dan Zanes stayed in the game so to speak, he just aimed for a different, less mature audience: kids, his children's records are a perennial favorite with kids and parents and have netted him one Grammy so far.  Dan's brother Warren (guitar) earned two Masters Degrees and a PhD for good measure and works at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Bassist Tom Lloyd also earned a PhD and drummer Woody Geissmann founded a recovery program for musicians and artists.  Oh, and that television producer who used a Del Fuegos song in his fantastic (and therefore cancelled) TV series was David Chase, whose show The Sopranos would go on to brillantly match under-appreciated music with gripping drama.

Crucial Music (Volume XVII: Judge Nothing)

I get a lot of records sent to me, though far fewer than I used to get.  Not actual LPs anymore (those were the days) but mostly CDs and nowadays, mp3s or links to myspace.  Truth be told, I don't like having to work to hear someone's music, so sending me a link to a place where I can hear your stuff isn't helpful but a burned CD-R is just fine as  little effort is required to put a CD in a player.  I do actually listen to nearly all of the stuff that I am sent and one the great feelings of being a music fan is hearing something new (especially if it's local) and loving it. One of the drawbacks of local bands is, whether constrained by budget or ignorance, they just record songs and put them out the cheapest way they know how, they don't know (or care) about things like mixing and mastering.  It's the mixing and mastering that allow a band to go from sounding like amateurs to sounding like pros, it really makes a difference. (Of course a bad band that's well-mixed and mastered is still a bad band but that's not the case here.)  Back in the Mid 90s, Thick Records sent me a copy of Judge Nothing's Riveter CD, their second.  I didn't know they were local (they actually live much closer to St. Louis--Alton, Illinois--but played in Chicago a lot) but with the backing of a decent indie label and some great production, they made a fantastic record.

As often happens, the band chose a production team that cuts close to their own sound: Bill Stevenson & Steven Egerton--two founding members of The Descendants and ALL--who gave the record a nice punk/pop sheen without being too clean. "Suitcase" forges its own path with a nod towards ALL.  The standout, shoulda been 'hit' from the record is the jagged but melodic "Old Houses" with a catchy lead riff and a stellar solo. Those songs, plus a crunchy but faithful cover of Badfinger's "No Matter What" make it a must buy and sent me looking for their previous album, I'm A Big Girl Now, which I can see from the sticker I paid $5.99 for at Quaker Goes Deaf (R.I.P) in Wicker Park.  Somewhere in the same timeframe, they contributed "Juggle" to a Subnation Magazine (R.I.P.) compilation. After a decade in which they opened up for some top-notch bands (Jesus Lizard, Green Day, Fugazi) slept on a lot of floors and couches and went through a few Econolines, they called it quits, amicably.  They do however still maintain a presence on MySpace, where you can stream their catalog and all their stuff is available for purchase on iTunes as well.

Have a great weekend, enjoy the music.

Crucial Music (Volume XVI: The Bolshoi)

I'll admit it, I knew nothing of the Russian Bolshoi Ballet Company prior to hearing of the British band The Bolshoi.  I also didn't know there was a Memphis, Egypt until I heard The Mekons' song either, amazing what you can learn from rock and roll.  The Bolshoi (band) were a minor sensation at our high school radio station and especially big in my immediate group of friends.  In the mid 1980's few labels were hotter than I.R.S. Records as it was home to R.E.M.  The Bolshoi's debut Friends was on I.R.S. Records and that was the only thing we needed to know. 

Of course not everything on I.R.S. was 'gold' but it was enough of a signifier of quality to us and The Bolshoi had the chops to back up their label's prestige.  The opening track "Away" had a cooly sinister guitar line and a great chorus.  The video was also cool and this was when MTV actually played videos, so you could see the menacing Trevor Tanner often on 120 Minutes. I'm not sure why but the video version omitted the verse about having a baby and it being painful yet, worth it. Being young, thin, sarcastic teenagers, we were also drawn to "Fat And Jealous".  A friend of mine used to be in a band called Sunday Morning Chameleon, the name referred to those people who led less than vituous lives but put on their best clothes and faked it for morning mass. Twenty plus years prior, The Bolshoi were mining similar territory in "Sunday Morning".  I seem to recall my band in high school covering (or attempting to) this song, or maybe we just borrowed portions of it for one of our own songs.  I remember being underwhelmed by the follow up and the group split up not long after that.  A quick check found that lead singer/guitarist Trevor Tanner still records and performs these days, which is cool but a full Bolshoi reunion would be cool to see.  Hell, they could tour with Gene Loves Jezebel do a string of dates here in the States.

If I can find the time, you might get a regular post early next week but no Crucial Music due to the food holiday, break out your eating pants.  Have a great weekend, enjoy the music.

Crucial Music (Volume XV: Devo)

One man's One Hit Wonder is another's Career Artist.  Many bands I've covered here on this blog (Simple Minds, Madness) could be considered One Hit Wonders despite long, successful careers without more than one Top 40 hit.  Enter Devo.  If you said Devo to a casual music fan, they'd likely be able to recall their 1980 hit "Whip It"  (here's a rare, killer Remix of it) and not much else, maybe some would remember their near complete deconstruction of "Satisfaction".  That's a shame because while certainly quirky, Devo made some really compelling music over the years. If you have smaller children, it's nearly impossible for them to have escaped the musical genius of Devo frontman Mark Mothersbaugh, to say nothing of his work on conventional films and television.

One of the greatest musical ideas to have blossomed in the past decade or so is the All Tomorrow's Parties series of performance in which a legendary band performs an iconic album live, in its entirety.  A recent performance of Devo's first two records inspired their current tour in which the band performs those two records live over two nights. I was fortunate enough to have seen them perform their highly acclaimed Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!album, front to back Thursday night at the Vic Theatre.  Certainly everyone has their favorites and I was most excited to see them perform "Gut Feeling", a song I first became familiar with covering it in my first band in high school.  Of course, those who show up for night two (tonight as of this writing) will see the Freedom of Choice record performed, containing "Whip It" but I stand by my decision to see their debut, a better collection of material.  However, if I were to choose an album that would place a close second to Q:A:, it would be New Traditionalists featuring, among many greats: "Jerkin' Back 'n' Forth".

Funny story: A friend of ours came to visit a few years ago and as we were driving in town, she said: "That's so cool, you have a street named after Devo here."  We almost didn't have the heart to tell her the street is actually called Deyo, having a Devo street would be so cool.

Have a great Friday the 13th and a good weekend. Enjoy the music.

Crucial Music (Volume XIV: Sunny Day Real Estate)

Have you ever looked at all the different genres on iTunes?  It's ridiculous. I mean, way back when they were doling out titles the first few genre names were good: Rock and Roll (a euphemism for sex) was cool, Jazz had a nice onomatopoeic vibe and the Blues suited the material perfectly.  Even Folk was a decent moniker for that genre.  So you can imagine my surprise when circa 1993-94 I read an article about Emo, the 'new' genre spearheaded by bands like Promise Ring, Jimmy Eat World and Sunny Day Real Estate.  The description of Emo made it sound just like a retread of the Cure, Depeche Mode and a handful of other 1980s bands who wrote emotional music with very little levity.  While I wasn't buying the genre name, I certainly liked what I heard from the bands within the genre. 

The clincher for me was seeing the album artwork for Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary album: Fisher-Price 'Little People' engaged in a number of real-life scenarios, complicated by their lack of limbs.  I was actually expecting music that would be somewhat humorous, given the album art but they turned out to be kids in serious need of some hugs.  This was heady stuff but it was played with such precision and conviction that you forgave the overly seriousness nature of it.  One listen to a track like "7" and I was hooked, overly serious or not, these guys had chops.  Coincidence or not, I gravitated to the SDRE songs with numbers for names as "47" became another favorite.  With no band photos, cryptic song titles and this being the pre-Internet era, it was difficult to find out much about the band.  They killed it live though as a Mid 90s Metro show proved. And where the first album was a bit confusing with the contrast of the album art and the music itself, the second album, alternately known as LP2 or The Pink Album was quite simple, a pink cover and nine taut songs.  And whaddya know, I was drawn to another 'numbered' song: "8" which had been previously released on the Batman Forever Soundtrack.

The band broke up not long after LP2 came out and 3/4 of the core band (minus lead singer Jeremy Enigk, who was born again) joined Dave Grohl's first post-Nirvana band, Foo Fighters. It wasn't until Sup Pop re-released the first two albums in 2009 that the entire core quartet reunited and toured.  And with those re-releases came remastering and considerable annotation, finally.

Have a great weekend, enjoy the music.

Crucial Music (Volume XIII: The Feelies)

I was a latecomer to the Feelies.  I was totally unaware of their first album when I got  introduced to their second record The Good Earth in 1986.  And to discover them that way is like walking into a movie a half hour into it; you can probably put it all together but you're better off sticking around for the next screening so you see the beginning and it all makes sense.  Sometime in college, I finally got around to buying their debut: Crazy Rhythms.  Now it wasn't a total game changer for me but it did set up the context of the band a little better.  It's tough to single out one song as emblematic of the whole record but "Moscow Nights" has always been a favorite.

I tell you though, hearing The Good Earth for the first few times was a sublime experience.  While they certainly weren't a punk band, what they did was so simple, it seemed like punk rock: three or four chords max per song.  Chords that any beginning guitarist (including me) knew: G, A, D, E and maybe a B or F here and there.  That was it.  Oh, and drummer Stanley Demeski was a metronome of a drummer. It was so simple, you wanted to kick yourself for not thinking of it yourself.  I still rank The Good Earth among my top albums of all time.  Not a single filler song on it.  The best of the lot: "Slipping (Into Something)" a slow build into total mayhem, on second thought, maybe this is is punk rock, with a country edge.  I had the pleasure of seeing The Feelies on that tour at the old Sue Miller-booked Cubby Bear (we even made fake IDs for the occasion) and that show ranks among my favorites of all time as well.

The band then signed with A&M.  I don't know if the label expected the sort of record sales some the Feelies' peers were racking up but the band delivered two decent albums for them before splitting up. The first of those two records, Only Life, featured a great title track "It's Only Life" and a cover of The Velvet Underground's "What Goes On".  After the split, all the members continued on in musical projects of varying profiles, most notably Stanley Demeski joining Luna. 

With occasional gigs at their home base Maxwell's in Hoboken on national holidays over the years, the band did a series of one-off shows in the past year.  One of those shows was at Chicago's Pritzker Pavillion in Millenium Park in June, a show I regrettably couldn't attend.  The logistics of parenthood interferes with fun sometimes.  I heard nothing but great reviews of the show.  Who knows, maybe the reunion will 'stick' and we could see them come back someday.

Have a great weekend, enjoy the music.

Crucial Music (Volume XII: Soul Asylum)

If the Twin Cities in the 1980s were The British Invasion, Husker Du were the Beatles, The Replacements were The Stones and Soul Asylum were The Who, a great live band who didn't get quite the recognition of their loftier peers.  Soul Asylum were often referred to as the best live band in the country for a decade or so, leading David Letterman to quip, "they ain't so bad in the city either" when the band appeared on 'Late Night' in the 90s. And unlike their critically acclaimed Twin Cities brethren, they actually achieved mainstream, platinum success, just much later than most bands.

After a debut EP and album, Soul Asylum released Made To Be Broken, the first of three (!) records they'd release in 1986, with "Ship Of Fools" the standout track that received gobs of college radio airplay.  The following year, they signed to their first major label, A&M.  A&M shelled out big bucks, enlisting Patti Smith collaborator Lenny Kaye and Ramones producer Ed Stasium to produce Hang Time.  Despite some great material like "Sometime To Return", the album stiffed as far as major label standards go.  What was meant as a light-hearted parody of Herb Alpert's Whipped Cream and Other Delights, record (by the way, Alpert is the "A" in A&M Records) Soul Asylum released Clam Dip and Other Delights which did them no favors at A&M. The band worked with drummer Steve Jordan on their next A&M record And The Horse They Rode In On, which was sonically pristine but failed to yield a hit, again.  My personal favorite "Nice Guys (Don't Get Paid)" is spectacular but not really hit single material. Not surprisingly, with a drummer behind the board, they got an amazing drum sound on the record.  Still, it wasn't enough and A&M dropped the band.

After being dumped by a major label, most bands would either split up or go slinking back to their Indie label and beg to get re-signed.  Columbia Records came calling and Soul Asylum signed with their second major label.  Twas a good move as the resultant (second) Major Label Debut: Grave Dancers Union went Double Platinum, lead singer Dave Pirner hooked up with Winona Ryder and the band played President Clinton's Inaugural Ball.  "Without A Trace" was the last of four hits from the album.

Then the wheels started falling off.  First, after eight years as the band's drummer, Grant Young was shown the door.  Then, founding member Karl Mueller was diagnosed with cancer and after a brief remission, died.  The band continued to make records with a few different drummers and former Replacement Tommy Stinson joined as bass player.  Of their latter work, "Just Like Anyone" is a throwback, it could've come from their Twin/Tone period.  The band (Pirner and Murphy) is still technically together and still play as Soul Asylum but haven't released a record since 2006's The Silver Lining, Karl Mueller's swan song.  Ever the scrappy underdog, Soul Asylum still have some good records left in them.

Have a great weekend, enjoy the music.

Crucial Music (Volume XI: Miracle Legion)

I still remember the first time I heard Miracle Legion.  A friend of mine made me a compilation tape as a Christmas gift in the mid 80's (an idea I'd later adopt and still follow) and he put the song "The Backyard" on it, I became an instant fan.  At the time Miracle Legion were unfairly maligned as R.E.M. ripoffs, which was neither true nor a particularly original critique.  Anyone with a bit of jangle and east coast roots were lumped into that company: The Connells, Let's Active, dB's and Guadalcanal Diary were just a few of the bands accused of sounding like the most famous Athenians since B-52's. We'll see how the whole R.E.M. thing comes full-circle later on. 

While I became a Miracle Legion fan in high school, it wasn't until I was off at college that I got to see them live and "Closer to the Wall (Live)"* from the Glad record demonstrates their prowess on stage.  Iowa City is the perfect tour stop between Chicago and Minneapolis and the smart bands did just that, building a nice fan base in the process.  Miracle Legion made many stops in Iowa City while I was there and the most memorable (for me) was when they came to town in support of their Drenched record in the Spring of 1992, featuring the stellar "Sea Hag". The first leg had them traveling with a huge stage set and a series of risers and backdrops but then that fall they came back with a spartan set.  I contacted their label (Morgan Creek) about interviewing band leader Mark Mulcahy on my college radio station: KRUI.  While they were pressed for time, Mark agreed to a 'phoner' from Chicago after they had played Lounge Ax (R.I.P).  If you promise not to laugh, here's that interview, warts and all: "Mark Mulcahy Interview". 

Miracle Legion's output was sporadic after that but Mark continued to record as a solo artist.  To be totally honest, he'd fallen off my radar screen of late but I recently heard of a tribute album in the works for Mark, featuring songs from his solo career as well as Miracle Legion.  Unfortunately, the reason for the tribute was rooted in tragedy; Mark's wife Melissa (also the mother of their twin girls) died unexpectedly last year and this album will benefit Mark and his daughters. Usually, in my Friday posts I provide samples of music to whet your appetite but not this time.  I've provided examples of Miracle Legion above but in the interests of generating interest in the tribute/benefit album, I will only provide a link to the album's site and list a few of the artists who have contributed to the project.  Everybody from (the aforementioned) Michael Stipe to Frank Black, Dinosaur Jr. (who cover 'The Backyard') Thom Yorke, Juliana Hatfield and Mercury Rev, to name but a few.

Have a great week, enjoy the music and if you can, try and help out Mark Mulcahy and his daughters by buying this album. Hopefully, like the Sweet Relief series, it will not only help Mark and his family but also will introduce a whole new audience to the magic of Mark Mulcahy's songwriting.

* This song was ripped off of an old vinyl copy, hence it skipping at the end, sorry.

Crucial Music (Volume X: The The)

I worked for a law firm for three years in high school, which cured any lingering desire I may have held to become a lawyer.  One of the lawyers was on the stodgy side, the other was kinda cool.  The cool one and I used to talk about music a lot.  The first band we talked about was Talk Talk, as he liked the song "Life's What You Make It" but he wasn't a big fan of the album (I was).  Then (sensing a trend) he asked me about The The (he never got around to Duran Duran) a band I didn't know much about at the time.  All I knew then (circa 1986) was they had a bad name and they recently had a semi-hit with "Infected".  I didn't think much if it at the time.  It wasn't until my freshman year in college that my good friend Scott introduced my to The The's second album Soul Mining.  Oh man, what a record, it was the perfect tonic for a homesick college student in a ill-fated long distance relationship. No college freshman should EVER be in a long-distance relationship. 

Upon the first few listens, the album seemed to be a concept record about a lovesick guy living in a new place, then I realized I was projecting.  It certainly was written from some dark places but as it progresses to a happier place and ends on a great track, which differs depending on which continent you live(d) on.  I thought it was a secret little record only me, Scott and a few other 'cool' people were privy to, then I met a guy at my college radio station who mentioned it in passing one day.  I told him how great that record was and how it helped me through a rough patch and he said, "You've heard it in the proper order right?".  "No", I said.  "What's the proper order?"  He said, "Listen to carefully to "I've Been Waitin' For Tomorrow (All Of My Life)" at the beginning, when you hear a countdown that's out of order, program your CD player to that order."  I did that but it didn't make any more sense as an album; it was like the 'secret' symbolism on the cover of Abbey Road: a lot of bunk but it makes for great rumor amongst fans.

Obviously, the best way to experience the album is to listen to it, start to finish which I highly recommend but for the sake of this post, you need a taste or two.  If you heard the UK version, your Soul Mining ended with "Giant" a epic cut. The American version ended with "Perfect" both great songs from a 5 star album but decidedly different ways to end a record.  I'll reserve my opinion until a few of you post comments with your take(s).

Have a great weekend, enjoy the music.

Crucial Music (Volume IX: The Beatles)

One of the greatest tricks media companies have foisted upon the public is getting them to buy the same thing again and again.  Say you love the Godfather movies, you probably bought them on VHS in the 80s, again on DVD in the 90s and are awaiting the inevitable Blu-ray boxed set.  If you are of a certain age you've likely done the same thing with many recording artists; you bought it on LP when it came out, upgraded to CD and maybe even bought the deluxe reissues/remasters when they came out. And hell, if you're a Bowie or Elvis Costello fan, you even have two different sets of 'reissues' from which to choose. The Smiths famously decried this process in their song 'Paint A Vulgar Picture' only to helplessly/haplessly watch their record labels use the song as a template for future Smiths reissues, with only one or two songs differentiating between two separate releases. 

Some bands were just mishandled by their record labels who just issued compact discs without any consideration for the 'new' format's increased fidelity and dynamic range and dumped inferior product on the market to cash in on the CD 'craze'.  Of course when the time came, these were ripe for the deluxe reissue/remaster treatment.  A&M Records totally dropped the ball not once but twice when The Police catalog came out on CD.  The first time out, the CDs sounded flat and hissy, then they issued a boxed set upon which they made no sonic improvement whatsoever and then finally got it right with a complete reissue/remaster a few years ago.  (Guess who got burned by that  twice?).  U2 handled it pretty well, their original CDs always were always sonically superior to begin with and then Island/Interscope began an exhaustive remaster/reissue campaign last year with their first three studio albums and the live Under a Blood Red Sky EP with each release yielding two discs and lots of rarities.  An improved 2 CD version of The Unforgettable Fire comes out around Thanksgiving.

All this hand wringing brings us to the much ballyhooed, remastered Beatles recordings that were just released last week.  Few people would defend the sonic quality of the original CDs that came out in the 1980s; some would even say the original 1960s LPs sounded better.  For better or worse, it was the only digital Beatles music available, until now.  Having been burned by dubious reissues before, I decided to listen to these new Beatles reissues before offering my opinion.  I have listened to a considerable percentage of these songs on headphones, near-field monitors and a top-notch car stereo.  Rather than simply telling you what I think, I figured I'd let you decide for yourselves.  I will post an mp3/m4a file of the original CD version of one song and then the remastered version in the same format.  Listen to them both and you decide which version you find superior.  Do realize that Apple Corps (the Beatles label) are also quite protective of their product, so if you see a strikethrough or the songs are removed, that is why.  In almost three years of posting songs here on this blog, nobody has ever sent me a cease and decist order or asked for the removal of music, they way I see it, I'm promoting music and the bitrate is shy of audiophile quality but certainly good enough to get a good idea of what these songs now sound like.

Here's the original CD version of "Hello,Goodbye (Old Version)", and then the remastered version: "Hello, Goodbye (Remaster)".  Listen yourself and decide and then comment below. Have a great weekend, enjoy the music.