I haven't really absorbed that one yet: Why 2008 was the musical year of meh

DVDs and CDs
Originally uploaded by Canton Public Library (MI)

Someone or something was to blame for my lack of enthusiasm for music in 2008 but I am reluctant to point the finger.

The easy thing would be to blame the iPod because it is a defenseless object that can't fire back at me. Unless Steve Jobs knows something I don't.

Last year I bought 24 new release albums. Adding in singles, EPs, albums I didn't pay for and the now popular 'Exclusive Track Not On The Album' (for artists that no longer have singles to facilitate B-Sides) and I had somewhere in the vicinity of 400 new songs on my iPod for the year.

Considering I no longer work in music, that isn't too shabby an effort (a new album every fortnight on average). Keep in mind this doesn't count some excellent back catalogue pickups that I either bought (You don't own Van Morrison's double live set 'It's Too Late To Stop Now'? What are you doing here?) or were kindly loaned to me (Gracias to Senor Gillespie for Springsteen's Tracks).

My problem, as shallow as it is, was that I never gave myself the time to listen to it all and I fear that some great music was missed or at least not appreciated enough.

Due to the ease of switching to different tracks on the iPod, I often fell into periods of listening to old favourites that I had owned for years. As such, the new albums that I should have been thrashing were being neglected as I loaded up Whiskeytown's Pneumonia for like the millionth time.

I'll admit some purchases were duds (a solo Jakob Dylan album is as dull as you would imagine it to be) but on a whole I picked up albums that I knew I would like...eventually.

Here then are a few albums I really need to give a second chance:


Counting Crows - Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings:

I'm a Crows fan for life so my opinion will be subjective. I enjoyed the album but not to the scale of Hard Candy or Recovering The Satellites. Was it that the songs weren't as immediate? I remember my fading interest on side 2 of 1999s This Desert Life but that was pre-iPod so I would listen to the album from start to finish no matter what. Something I may need to do again with this album.


Bloc Party - Intimacy:

I have already spoken about this album elsewhere but now, post-purchase, I am at a loss to know what to make of it. It feels disjointed at times and brilliant at others ('Talons' is a great song). To me it feels like a reactionary move to criticism leveled at them after A Weekend In The City, an album I quite enjoyed. I think the band has immense talent but they need to go to ground for a while and think about what type of band they want to be. Not what everyone else wants them to be.


Michael Franti & Spearhead - All Rebel Rockers:

I am not a fan of reggae. This is something my friends are very much aware of and it is a subject I will explore much further at a later date. Franti's albums all have some level of reggae/dancehall in them but this one has by far the most. Yet that isn't what has stopped me from enjoying it. I think Franti is best enjoyed in warmer climates and this was his first album released since I moved to chilly Melbourne. Now it is summer I think it is time to give All Rebel Rockers its due.


Martha Wainwright - I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too:

This album suffered from the old chestnut 'great first single that artificially increases expectations' syndrome. 'Comin' Tonight' set the scene for a brilliant set of songs that delicately straddled critical and commercial success. Sadly that was not the case. Maybe in a renewed light I can appreciate the album without comparing it to its shining opening salvo. Does win the award for best album title though.

We liked the same music - we liked the same bands

When a 12 track album contains no less than 7 Top 10 U.S. singles, you know the album tracks are going to be quality.

The song 'Bobby Jean' from Born In The U.S.A. wasn't a single but the tune probably means more to a fan of The Boss than any of the others on that monster album. The casual listener assumes it is another tale of a girl leaving a boy but it is actually about Springsteen dealing with the departure of his right hand man, his 'Blood Brother', Little Stevie from the band.

Yesterday I said goodbye to my good friend David who starts the next journey of his life in Toronto. David is an immensely talented musician and his heartfelt songs on love and life should sit comfortably with a North American audience in front of him.

So to my own 'Blood Brother' - Good luck and goodbye. This one's for you Mr Gillespie:

Canada: Rest assured, you're adored

A couple of months back I let fly with a barrage of insults towards the great nation of Canada.

I apologise. It was inconsiderate and ill-advised and I can only hope you will forgive me. If not, at least make sure my good friend David is treated kindly when he moves to your fine country in a month from now.

Where was I again? Oh yes, The Tea Party:



Answer me this - How is it that Nickelback infect our nation's airwaves and sell obscene amounts of records whilst fellow Canadians The Tea Party are forever judged as the Terry Malloy of the music industry?

First convincing answer wins a prize.

A call to anyone half smart in the music industry

I was watching (once again) a great little indie flick from 1990 called 'Cadence' starring Charlie Sheen, Laurence Fishburne and former President Bartlet.

One of the highlights of the film is the appearance of a Mr Harry Stewart who plays the role of Harry 'Sweetbread' Crane. Now 'Sweetbread' doesn't talk in the film but boy can he sing.

Here is a snippet from the film:



Now I'm not a religious man (Jeebus can back me up on that) but you must be dead not to feel the emotion in that song. A song mind you that Harry Stewart wrote himself.

With a song and a voice like that, he should have made it big in at least the Christian Music charts let alone the secular. Because Harry Stewart dropped off the face of the planet not long after 'Cadence' was released, the interweb is full of conjecture of his whereabouts but the most consistent story is that he lives in a shelter and not doing too well.

What an absolute shame that a talent like that is wasted to the world. If anyone out there has any sort of clout - find Harry Stewart.

We would all be grateful.

No correspondence will be entered into

Rock On
Originally uploaded by violent visions of setting sail

I'm not a hair metal expert (thank Christ) so perhaps I am not qualified to talk on the subject of power ballads. However they were created so that coked-out bands could get a hit on radio and as we all know, radio is the realm of pop music - a topic of which I can hold my own in.

Therefore I give you the 5 best power ballad songs from the years 1988 to 1992:

5. When I See You Smile - Bad English

4. The Flame - Cheap Trick

3. Wind Of Change - Scorpions

2. More Than Words - Extreme

1. To Be With You - Mr Big

Ryan Fucking Adams

I'm currently 0-2 with seeing Mr Adams live in concert. That's the nature of the beast when it comes to Ryan (sometimes he is on fire, other times you wish you were elsewhere) but somehow he never fails to deliver when he is on Letterman.

He marks his umpteenth appearance on the The Late Show with a cracking version of 'Fix It' from the new album Cardinology:

She'll make her way...

Besides being a kick-arse tune, 'Wonder' by Natalie Merchant immediately reminds me of Saturday Night Live in the mid 90s: Will Ferrell and Tim Meadows especially. The reason being, I taped the episode she appeared in as a musical guest (David Schwimmer was the host) and watched it to death thanks to her performance of 'Wonder' and 'Carnival'. The VHS tape is long gone but thanks to some searching I bring you October 21 (hey my birthday!), 1995 all over again.

By the way, the guitarist in her band Jennifer Turner is an absolute talent and it is a shame she never hit the big time. Like Kanye said: A&R's lookin' like "pssh we messed up":

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