September 30th works better for me (I may actually attend!).

Thanks for the NPornographer's track selection. I only have 2 tracks available to download from emusic until September 6th and was wondering which ones to try out. All the A.C. Newman tracks I've heard have been equal to his contributions on the group discs so I might just download his as well.

Potentially contentious though highly defensible statement to go into the weekend:

"The New Pornographers" are the best band in Canada today.

Sign me up for the 30th.

September 30th sounds promising - better than the 21st which may be complicated for me. Possible though unlikely that the baby will have come by then.....I say let's go for it! Yeah!

Re the New Pornographers, gotta say I'm not quite on the bandwagon yet. I do enjoy them, but I find the songs, while very skillful, a little glossy and too controlled, at times lacking angst and emotion. They remind me a bit of the mid-nineties BC-based group The Odds, whom I liked but tired of. In fairness to the NP's, I don't own any records, and have only downloaded about 6 or 7 tracks from their first two records...

Marc tells me he would like to host the cd club at his place friday sept 30. How does that sound???
s

I downloaded the New Pornographers disc from emusic a few nights ago and I've just about given it one whole listen through on the discman. On first blush it sounds like the perfect late summer soundtrack. If you're looking for one particularly groovy track you can try "Sing Me Spanish Techno". Did any of you purchase the AC Newman disc? I downloaded a few tracks which I liked but haven't heard the whole album. Since I have the Destroyer, Neko Case and New Porns discs I should complete the set.

September 21st will in all likelihood not work for me but trying to find a date that will (and then finding one that will fit in everyone else's schedule) before October should be next to impossible.
Let's go with that date and if I can make it, so much the better.

Anyone heard the new New Pornographers disc yet? The reviews have been good and their last was one of the best pop records of the new millenium. I've only listened to one track, which was good.

Since it's been over two months since the last CD club I think we should really try and squeeze one in for September even if it does end up being a virtual edition. Should we bring along the CDs themselves to aid in the discussion. How about September 21, the last day of summer and the week following the film festival?

The Eels CD is indeed mine and am in no great hurry to get it back. Doesn't really work for me truth be told. Not a bad disc by any stretch but far from memorable. Any word from the posse at Soundscapes on just how stupendously marvelous the new Super Furry Animals disc is? It's not in stores yet but I'm sure they've been spinning it since Canada Day.

Hi there....you remember me...I used to make insiteful , intreguing , mispelled comments from time to time on this site...but Ive been in rural isolation for much of this closing summer month. I propose (since marcs silence perhaps means he is too busy for hosting a cd club ) that we hold a cd club in mid september as a memmorial for Brian....at bettys... you know we could all sit around and...... well.....describe the music on the cds, instead of listening to them...yeah , what do you think???? OK well I still think we should hold one.( Im still repairing all the damage to my house from the raucause 80's dinner.... so somewhere else...also, i seem to have a copy of the aforementioned eels cd , but im not sure whose it is. Could it be yours Derek????

Thanks for the link Kyle....quite a mainstream list for a guy with as much indie cred as DB....although I love a whole bunch of the numbers.

For those unfamiliar, I particularly recommend the Quicksilver Messenger Service tune, Pride of Man. It's pretty outstanding, as is the record from which it originates - the first Quicksilver record; a stellar mix of folk melodies/constructs and groovy psychedelic instrumentation and guitar genius (their lead player John Cipollina, was a short-lived guitar hero on the west coast scene).

i guess if we could have a blog, then david byrne figured he could have one too.

i point this out b/c i discovered that he streams a playlist every week and am currently digging his mix of groovy 60s ditties scattered with the occassional more contempo greats (ie. Flaming Lips, Spirtualized).

it's here. doubtless you all have (by all i mean brian and possibly stuart) these songs but it's great for a late sunday evening listen.

Re social life: Indeed! Though I've heard an even cheekier group say the same of a certain still young-ish urban blogger. Imagine! Safe to say, from my perspective there is (a) no social life and (b) NO SOCIAL LIFE. History tells me I am about to enter the world of the bolded, italicized caps (and we must listen to history).

Re movies eclipsed by their soundtracks, surely the last fifteen years has seen hundreds, as soundtracks have become as big sellers/draws/commodities as the movies themselves. I can think of no examples (had a couple of beers at lunch and synapses are turgid) , so let's move on.

Re Eels, thanks for the tip...they've been the on-again/off-again dark princes (equally loved and hated) of pure pop for a few years now, but I for one had lost track of them. Good to know, like Teenage Fanclub, that they are still going at it.

Kudos for re-invigging a very quiet blogspace of late though cheekier posters/readers will no doubt ask, "What social life?"

Good idea to have another meeting before October. When this will happen is a bit of a mystery, what with the film fest occupying some key September dates, but let's try to work on it. Though I did host recently, I have moved and could thus justify another. Otherwise, I nominate Marc's place, which probably sports the best sound system and is a cool place in which to hang.

I like your idea for a pick of the month, as it will perhaps give others a reason to post their thoughts about their recently cherished tunes. Me, I'm digging the latest Eels 2-disc release.
They're the band most famous for the mid-late 90s single, "Novacaine for the Soul" (not to be confused with Beck's raucous "Novacaine", a great track from "Odelay", another mid-90s great). Haven't really heard much from them in the intervening years but I came across a few free downloads and, liking what I heard, have since purchase the disc from emusic.com.

You can check out the glowing reviews and download some songs at their website.

Also, I've heard a few tracks from the latest Nortec Collective disc, Tijuana Sessions Vol.3, and it sounds pretty great. Has anybody (and here I mean Marc) purchased it or heard the whole disc?

Also, I saw 'Broken Flowers' last night, which I liked but think I enjoyed the soundtrack more than the film. Jarmusch pretty much picks great music for all his films but are there any film soundtracks that stand out as glaringly much better than the actual film.

I'm thinking 'Saturday Night Fever' may be the gold standard here but others may differ or have a better example. Lazily, I will avoid adding another until others have done so.

Hello? Where's the music chatter? Personally, I'm very busy, but I'm sure the rest of you have a moment or two to post some thoughts.

A couple of non-sequiturs - I plan to start a "BD's picks of the month" (or quarter...or year)" but have to re-invigorate my buying habits. Look for it in the fall (or not)....I will say that Xiu Xiu is very hit and miss for me....the guy's singing is mighty pretentious.

Are we going to have a CD club before my next child is born? I'd recommend it, as the BD underground phase (also known as the Warren Factor) starts again in October. It won't be as long this time, but it won't go away in any hurry. I'm already in mourning for my lost social life.

You don't remember my asking you about 'Clap Your Hands...'? It was right before you ripped off your shirt and began howling at the moon, as Broken Wings by Mister Mister began to play.
No? Still fuzzy? Ah well...

I think you've got it right that both Xiu Xiu and Fiery Furnaces have 30 second flashes of brilliance betwixt some less than stellar sections and, let's be frank, a lot of crap. My question then is why not produce a better edited album with just the brilliant bits? Why do I have to wade through what's grating to get to what's great?

[A question for the group but points to me at the outset for posing it in a 'setting up the premise for the sex in the city episode with a parallel-structured pun a la carrie bradshaw voiceover narration']

Sorry man, I guess I don't remember that particular discussion. Did it coincide with the discussion of Cuff the Duke?

As for the Xiu Xiu disc I downloaded it from e-music as I purchased their last disc "Fabulous Muscles" and it never really totally worked for me. The new disc, from the few listens I've given it, is a more rounded album although they do still have their freak-out moments which can be pretty jarring. They are nothing if not interesting and in a similar vein to Feiry Furnaces there are small moments throughout their records where they nail it even if only for 30 odd seconds.

Another album that I downloaded from e-music is the new Malkmus disc and it is certainly worth picking up. So much better than the first two and the track I originally listened to on the website "Baby C'mon" really isn't indicative of the rest of the record.

Hey, didn't I ask you this question on Friday Mr. Mercer? You've obviously been doing some googling and pitchforking over the weekend. Obviously, the 'Clap Your Hands' track on your birthday disc will no longer be the pleasant surprise I'd hoped it to be. My own fault for not bringing it to Stuart's.

I'm in. For $10 it's a good deal and I imagine they'd be quite good at the 'shoe (as most bands are). Will have to download some of their other tracks. Anyone listen to Xiu Xiu's 'La Foret'? Would be curious to hear some opinions. Think I might come to like it but it's early going...

Call me a bandwagon jumper, I've been called much worse, but are any of you interested in the next big thanng out of NYC "Clap your hands say yeah"? I realize that the show is on the Saturday of the long weekend and a few of us are slated the following Saturday to see Sufjan Stevens. It's at the Horseshoe and its only $10. I figure it may be the last time we all get together for a concert at the shoe for quite some time.

Check out the reviews from Now and Pitchfork and the band's site which has 3 downloadable tracks. Definitely hearing the Talking Heads influence.

http://www.clapyourhandssayyeah.com/shows.php

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/c/clap-your-hands-say-yeah/clap-your-hands-say-yeah.shtml

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2005-08-04/music_discs2.php

Jesus Stuart. I can forgive The Duran Duran, but Falco?

forgot one... I hate to admit it but Duran Duran...save a prayer... OK I know Im in for a beating on that one.....

OK OK, well these are one hit wonders (sort of) ....bands whom I have no records of some feat in itself...BUT that Im willing to take abuse about because I still like these tunes...
1) Toto ....Africa (never could figure out quite what they say about a million men on mars..??))
2) Nena ...99 Luftballoons
3) falco ...Amedeus
3.5) Paul Young....come back and stay

worst song?? mr Roboto-styx

Stu - you've committed Blogging Sin #1 - Thou shalt not suggesteth a topic for discussion and subsequently not participateth.

Squeaking in to the first year of the decade would be two songs that I liked and also topped the charts or close enough plus another Prince tune that wears better than Doves Cry.

1) Ashes to Ashes - David Bowie
2) Games without Frontiers - Peter Gabriel
3) Kiss - Prince

As for Kyle's question about highs and lows if you're expecting a Siouxsie song as the zenith you might want to set your sights a little bit lower. There will be beaucoup de fromage mon amis mais bien sur les chansons que tout le monde peut s'amuser.

Three eh? How about

- Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics
- In a Big Country - (Big Country)
- Luka - Suzanne Vega

Maybe a bit obvious....though there are dozens of others. I would probably have chosen the Prince song as well.

aha, you WERE paying attention, mr. mercer and caught the fact that my keyboard sometimes substitutes 'h's for 'm's and vice versa. mappy that you picked up on that.

stuart, the top 3 top 40 radio songs that got decent radio play in the 1980s are:
-billie jean by michael jackson (awaiting verbal daggers for this choice but i'm standing firm)
-with or without you by u2
-when doves cry by prince

also, when you say 80s party, am i assume that there will be a mix of 'high' and 'low' 80s pop moments? that is, am i likely to hear Siouxsie and the Banshees in the same set as Reo Speedwagon? just wondering.

well to change the topic and to get us in the spirit of the 80s dinner party, how about the best 3 songs of the 80s that got serious radio play..... ie those commercial tunes that everyone knows , but that were pretty dam good like someone somewhere in the summertime -simple minds. or small town boy by whoever the hell those guys were.....
s

Ok -one themed pop music beyond 50 minutes. Hmmmmmmmmm. Well it depends of course on what you define as pop, and though I dont have the current Sufjan disc (yet) I do have the previous release and his stuff is a little homogenous ,(here comes the but), but, it makes me think of the double disc releases of the seventies (excluding live ones), and Goodby yellow brick road (very loosely -theme of loss of innocence, childhood )or pink floyd -the wall (semi-autobiographical) , Wilco (sorry 90's)-being there (theme anyone), .....got to run now but I think some of these counter the point.

Kyle can I assume you meant Mum and not the short lived 90's rockers of "Stars" fame Hum? Or did you just throw that in there to see if we're paying attention and not skimming through the blog.

Agree that we have been conditioned to an increasingly shorter (decreasingly longer?) attention span over the past half century, but I'm still not convinced that an album of one-themed pop music is sustainable beyond 50 minutes.

The exception I think is instrumental (Tortoise, Do Make Say Think) or largely instrumental (Sigur Ros, Hum) rock so one's assessment of the last 20 minutes of 'Illinois' is shaped by whether you see it as a collection of songs a la the Shins 'Chutes Too Narrow' or as more of an epic 'Svefn-G-Englar'-like sonic arc. Even though it's not chock full of snappy little ditties, to me it falls into a collection of more distinct songs which tend to repeat a little and with the Godspell-ish female backup vocals starting to grate somewhat after the 2/3 mark of the disc.

I think we know where Derek and Brian stand on this issue but Stuart and Marc seem a little quiet. Surely the Tour de France is a fait accompli at this point, M. VanGinkel. Care to comment. And Stuart, all this correct spelling is getting me down. Give me something garbled to send me into the weekend.

I couldn't possibly let you have the final word where Sufjan's concerned Brian.

With respect to my earlier comment about track 15 being my cut-off point I realized on the way to work this morning why precisely at this track the album should really have ended. Track 15 "The Predatory Wasp..." is for my money the best track on the album. Track 16 "They are Night Zombies..." on the other hand is rubbish. That clipped female(?) chorus in the background would do Ace of Base proud.

Obviously on any record there will be highs and lows but for me the rather jarring juxtaposition of these two tracks said to me that Sufjan had run out of steam and was just milking the extra space provided by digital (how ironic) technology.

And I don't think for a minute that any one of us has a short attention span where good music, art and literature are concerned.

I tend to agree re TFC....generally very good, but never ascending to great (Bandwagonesque was overhyped in my opinion). Still, a band I enjoy immensely, and "Man-Made" after a couple of listens seems as good as any of them - the production by the Tortoise dude (name escapes me) suits them surprisingly well.

Re SS, I'll add one final note....I tend to think the constant commoditization of pop (using the now-loaded term very generally) lends us to stop wanting to hear the same artist after a certain amount of time, almost regardless of the artist. Pop is such a packaged form that our attention naturally shifts after 30 - 45 minutes maximum...and in today's digital age, sometimes more like 30 seconds. It's completely natural at this point, but still ultimately our loss if the music in question sustains itself beyond that window, and if the artist is trying to break through existing form. Those who've grown up listening to longer forms of music (e.g., symphonies, operas) probably have an advantage over us pop-lovers in terms of attention span.

I'm into seeing Sufjan in September. I'll let you know (got a couple of other things on the go for the next few days) - Stu, you going?

I'm not sure that I would rank TFC as one of the great bands. To me they are much like the Charlatans a band that has put out consistently interesting and worthwhile records that go largely ignored by the general public as both bands tend to forego the prevailing trends and simply make good music. The mere fact of the continued existence of both bands is something that in its own way is worth celebrating.

For the record the critic in Eye didn't like the Teenie's record at all and the Exclaim dude was quite pleased with the whole affair. Apparently Tim Burgess, lead vocalist of the Charlatans also has a record out though damned if I've seen either of these discs in the downtown stores.

btw, i'm also digging the new Teenage Fanclub disc. They may be one of the most consistently great, if least appreciated bands of the past 15 years. (Or maybe you disagree? Discuss!)

Sufjan show should be a good one and all should join us at this glorious event.

I thoroughly enjoy "Illinois", particularly 'Casimir Pulaski Day', which has a very Iron & Wine feel to it; perhaps Sam Beam could be considered one of Sufjan's peers, and Belle and Sebastian’s ‘Legal Man’ seems like a recent touchstone. Also digging 'Chicago', 'Come on! Feel the Illinoise!' and many others. In adding my two cents to the ongoing 'is the album too long?' debate, I'll try to avoid the fence-straddling, namby-pamby 'you both have a point' line that inevitably follows the articulation of opposing perspectives.

With my often hectic travel schedule, I tend to listen to a lot of my music on my ipod, the features of which allow for some interesting playback options. I have a 'smart' playlist, which is an ongoing compilation of all the songs I have added to the player in 2005, ordered by that which was most recently added. This means that I can quickly find and hear some of the new music I've downloaded/ripped and it also means that I listen to a lot of albums in reverse. While this can definitely disrupt the 'flow' of a lot of albums, it does shine a brighter light on tracks that appear at the end of a disc. Consequently, a song like ‘Out of Egypt…’, the last piece on the album, which is a pretty, xylophone progression paired with what sounds like a choral exercise or the background vocals from a particularly long Stereolab track, is far more impressive when heard before the rest of the album.

When I listen to ‘Illinoise’ from start to finish on my stereo at home, I do find that I’m starting to crave a different sound after the 45-50 minute mark. It’s not that the last 4-5 tracks aren’t quite good, it’s that I feel I’ve already heard several more interesting variations on the album earlier on. To riff on Derek’s Pot of Gold metaphor, it’s like, I’ve enjoyed the 15 chocolate caramels but I don’t feel I need another 5 right not (but get back to me in say, an hour).

As for losing posts, I've found that opening up a Word document and then copying and pasting (Control-C, Control-V) is a great way of avoiding blog-text loss, which has happened to me in the past, though I've never lost two days worth of writing. There, nice to end a long post on a glib note.

Hope you've picked out some good music for this coming Monday, Bri. I found that pumping thrash metal through the house really increased the speed of the movers.

The recycle bin. Why didn't I think of that. Very astute, Mr. Bond.

As for our pal double S, I picked up some tickets a few weeks back at Soundscapes and have no fears about good seats all being gone as its general admission. Kyle, Sarah and I will be attending so feel free to come on board. I just checked the Ticketmaster site and there are still tickets available. Should be a good one.

I just opened a new posting for the blogsite and holy fuck, Brians 2 page opus on the metaphisical contortions of pop melodramas poped up in front of me. Needless to say I recycle binned it.... Anyway ...how about going to see Sufjan and all his popness on sat 10 of september at trinity st pauls. ( A damn good venue , except for it not being licenced) Good tickets are probably gone by now....
s

I spent two days writing about pop songs and albums, Sufjan in/out that context, blah blah blah, only to have the whole fucking blog vanish as I tried to publish it. FUCK. (Although, who am I kidding....you guys are thrilled).

The readers' digest version is this:

Point 1 - great pop is often short, sweet, melodic, even light (Rubber Soul etc), but sometimes can be long, bedraggled, unfocused (White Album) and every bit as rewarding, if not more so.

However, I don't think Sufjan's record is a big rambly affair like Dusk at the Cubist Castle or Being There. See pt. 2

Point 2 - Pure pop, almost by definition, doesn't allow for much scope - it's songic, self-contained in nature. The Sufjan record is all about scope; trying to create a landscape of music for the state of Illinois, as he did (or tried to) for Michigan. It is a grand mood piece, with a lot of really great songs. I don't think he should be compared to the Shins, GBV, or Teenage Fanclub (their latest one is very good on first listen, by the way)....though I'm not entirely sure who his peers are. The arrangements and the songs exhibit a lot of craft, and benefit from a more deliberate exposition. I've listened to the new record a lot over the last two weeks, and would be disappointed to lose any of these songs/musical moments.

Thanks Kyle for giving me much more indie cred than I really deserve. I believe I only have one CD single of theirs and I thought that some of their videos were very cool but I'm afraid that's all the credit I can take where His Name is Alive is concerned. As for their Englishness it's probably due to the fact they were on 4AD the lable of all things precious and very "druidesque". I can only assume that Livonia is much prettier in name than in reality. Apparently the name came from one of the 19th century Baltic states.

Something that Brian, Kyle and I touched on briefly in conversation was the new Sufjan Stevens disc. I picked it up last week and have only given it a once through at this stage. I don't know how critics can dole out their stars or N's when they've just received the record. I need to listen to any album intermittently over a couple of months before I know where I stand with any work of music. Listening to it 5-10 times in a week is not the same thing at all and I'm quite sure the critics don't give any record that many spins.

Anyhoo I digress. My comment on the album was that at 22 tracks and almost 75 minutes that it is possibly too long. Good album but for my money it could have stopped quite nicely at track 15 and the 60 minute mark. Brian's comment was as follows: ...not sure about the concept of the album that's "too long". Doesn't it all depend on whether the songs are good? Doesn't a song justify its own existence in the pop milieu?

I suppose that for me the number of tracks is more of a concern than the actual running time. The last Godspeed album which chimes in at almost 75 minutes as well only has 5 tracks and I have no problem sitting through the whole thing (I get tired standing). As most of you know with any Godspeed or even Sigur Ros to some extent it's all about building a mood and a headspace where the music engulfs you and the delimitation of the tracks becomes entirely irrelevant as one piece segues into another.

With pure pop like the Shins, Pernice Brothers, Sufjan etc I think it's an entirely different matter. I complained somewhat that the last Shins record was too short but in retrospect that can only be a good thing as it leaves you hankering for more. And 10 distinctive pop tracks might be just enough. It's like a box of Cadbury's chocolates. You open it and see 20 different choccy goodies and you think you can take them all on but after 2 or 3 you know you'd be happy with just 10 or 12 choices as the other 8 are duff anyway and you'll leave them for your guests to eat.

I'm not saying that there are necessarily weak tracks on Sufjan's disc, I just don't need to hear them all in one session. As Kyle said if he leaves off 5 or 6 tracks he can release a few singles from the record and put these "extra" tracks on the B-side, leaving the Sufjan completists with something to spend their money on.

I guess I just don't subscribe to the Guided by Voices school of rock that says everything I write down is worth recording.

I know you were a big fan of His Name is Alive, Derek, so you may want to download their latest ep for free from their website , which apparently is only offering it for free for a limited time. I always thought they were from England but it turns out they are from Livonia, Michigan, a place I have been countless times; if you've been to Livonia, you know I'm not exactly bragging.

That's a great site. I listen to 'All Things Considered' all the time when I'm in the U.S. and I've often heard their musical profiles and mention of this site but I've never remembered to visit it.

I have updated the list of links on the right to include it.

You might want to check out this NPR website as well.

http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/current/index.html

Very surprised that people listen to that many hours of radio in a day. As Brian noted on Saturday, conventional radio seems to exist mostly for people who commute to work or drive around all day in their cars. There are specific radio programs on different channels--CKLN, CIUT, CBC, that I find interesting but eventually, with each station, I soon find I've got to move on.

One my company's business partners in Michigan has a satellite XM receiver in his office and I think it's awesome. He pays $10 a month and can choose from about 100 different channels, . Unlike the 100 cable universe, where the same news story, reality show, decorating challenge, or syndicated sitcom from years gone by replays on a 24-hour monotonous loop of crap, satellite radio at least offers some interesting choices. When I was working at his office one afternoon, I heard artists like the Decemberists, Public Image Ltd., Devendra Banhart, Interpol and others, on one of the stations and John Scofield, Medeski Martin and Wood on another. The song title, artist, album title, and release date all appeared on a small screen attached to the receiver, and there were no commercial breaks, bombastic station identifiers, or what passes for witty repartee between disc jockeys.

Though I now own most of the above artists' discs, there was something refreshingly about hearing these songs in a random order. Like you, I enjoyed listening to cfny in my bedroom as a teenager, and felt that thrill of excitement whenever a song came on that I liked, even though I may have already owned the song. Maybe there's some validation in hearing something I've purchased on my own or a feeling of being linked to a community of like-minded music fans, outside of a web-trolling experience. I like listening to the radio and can only hope that my local options for doing so get better.

So I welcome the entry of satellite service providers to the Canadian market and to those arts groups and broadcasters whose self-serving lobbying to the CRTC for more protection and regulation of an already arcande system, I give a giant raspberry (I'll keep my middle finger in check for now).

The two links on the right, for KEXP in Seattle, and KCRW in LA, two listener-supported (National Public Radio affiliate) stations that play an interesting mix of hand-picked music, stream their music online and are similar to what you get on satellite. You can't listen to these stations on the go (unless you happen to be in either of those cities) but at least you have a better option for home or the office.

The Killers?? Yeah right Stuart. Now I know for sure you're taking the piss.

Here's an article from the CBC that states the average Canuck listens to 19.5 hours a week and that's down from a decade ago.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2005/07/08/Arts/radio050708.html

Don't know about you but I'd be hard pressed to say I listen to more than 2-3 hours a week. I was discussing this issue with someone at work this week basically being rather confused with the buzz about satellite radio. Isn't radio dying? Hasn't it been dying a slow death for almost 30 years? I know when I was say 13-18 the radio was on in my bedroom pretty much constantly. I'm not so sure today's teen could say the same, even if they are music lovers.

On another note I have been loving to death the Killers cd. I think one of you may have brought it to a cdclub event. It has really grown on me, and may be my favorite "rock" cd thus far this year. I think they would be great live. Has a bit of a cure feel but not overly so. Also a bit like arcade fire in its 80sness and maybe a bit of strokes thrown in.....check it out

To all;
Im never entirely sure if sarcasm humour comes across as funny or malicious when on emails , so as a rule of thumb consider anything I say here to be completely sarcastic and also tremendously humourus ( gut wrenching laughter should follow anything you read). And also nothing I wright should be considered to have any truth to it whatsoever....

Just pleased I could help Stu.

Thanks for the correction Brian, I was very very interested to find out that lyrical error. I spent last night listening to the greatest hits record to be sure that wouldnt happen again......
s

Okay, I don't like the Eagles and I don't like live albums which is why I'm here including a link to a free, downloadable version of a new Flaming Lips live album . I haven't heard any of these tracks and they may very much confirm my firmly entrenched beliefs. So why the link and this post?

Well, partly because I still feel somewhat cheated out of a live Flaming Lips experience, after they had to shut down their set four songs into their concert I attended a few years back; they did join Beck as accompaniment later but it wasn't quite the same.

But also I think it's important to support bands who have embraced the potential of the internet to reach new and existing fans. 'Supporting' by clicks may seem slight compared to the more traditional support by cash, but I imagine the more hits they get, the more interest and buzz their live project and related documentary will receive across the traditional and electronic mediasphere. So good on them.

Anyone else download some of those summer playlists at Salon? I enjoyed the winning 'Too Much Light' set but found the quieter, intimate vocals on some of the tracks and lush, electronic haze of others ill-suited to my early morning workout (quickly switched to Dizzee Rascal). I'm looking forward to listening again tomorrow afternoon, when I plan to do little more than pack a few boxes and nap on the couch. Have a lovely weekend all.

Not to burst your bubble there Stu, but you're mixing verse one and verse two. Allow me to help "four that wanna own me, two that wanna stone me, one says she's a friend of mine". Now re-commence your humming....

I'm pleased, of course, that such an erudite conversation on the nature of music ended with all of us singing Eagles songs we dislike.

Alright, alright, Stuart. Take it e...I mean, relax (don't do it, when you want to go to it...)

well Im running down the road trying to losen my load, got seven women on my mind, Im lookin for a lover who wont blow my cover shes so hard to find , come on ba-be dont say may-be I gotta know if your sweet love is gonna save me..----Thats whats been going thru my head for the last 3 days thanks to you bastards.....s

re: the Eagles, Amen! 'Take it Easy' sounds like they were trying to pay homage to 'Ventura Highway' but couldn't be bothered getting off the fucking couch. My disdain for all things Eagles does taint my assessment of these and several of their other summertime 'classics'.

I don't know that I'd agree that sunnier climes inevitably produce lazier or weaker music. Here maybe I'm confusing genres by thinking of Latin American and African music that seems far livelier and potent than that of its northern brethren. If you’re talking pop music only, I’m more inclined to agree, leaning on laid back 90s slacker rock of California as examples (Pavement, Weezer, early Beck) though I’d probably go with ‘indolent’ over ‘effete’.

Having thus critiqued a generalization, I now make my own sweeping declarations:

Jazz only works in an urban setting, and should be pumped out of speakers along city streets 365 days a year, kind of what you get at a theme park, sans the egregiously shite adult contempo power ballads. Country music works only in...wait for it...wait for it...the country, particularly in towns not largely populated, but populated largely by suspicious, toothless, xenophobes clad in denim overalls. Chamber music works in a lot of places, but is best enjoyed on a rainy day, while indoors lounging on the couch or sitting behind the wheel of a luxury car with all leather tan interior. Orchestral pieces work only on Saturday morning, as an accompaniment to weekly cleaning or particularly vigorous lovemaking. House music only works in small, dark clubs inhabited by the scantily yet tastefully decked out, after enjoying at least one joint and preferably other recreational substances. Hip hop is the ultimate work out music, for either during weight training or cardio. With apologies to Oshawa, heavy metal never works.

As we continue to suss this important topic, I think it’s worth linking to Salon’s Summer Sountrack contest, which I discovered only yesterday or I would have submitted a playlist. The tracks listed are all free so you can download, listen, and then we can maybe discuss our favourites, what we thought of the winner, etc. Sound like fun? Good. [Note: you must watch an ad to get a day pass to Salon].

Also, because I love lists and because I’m moving next week and because Brian and Victoria just moved and I’ve got moving on the brain, I present:

The Top 5 ‘Moving’ Songs (word in title or theme of relocation, not poignancy)

Keep on Movin’ – Soul II Soul
Movin’ on up – Primal Scream
Moving – Supergrass
Goodbye Stranger – Supertramp
Leaving on Jet Plane – John Denver

Honourable Mention:
Moving on up (Jeffersons Theme Song) by ?

Worst Moving Song:
Moving Out – Billie Joel
(if only for that irritating ‘heart attack ack ack ack ack’ bit in the middle)

I've always thought that the powers that be who organize jazz festivals in the mid-summer have got it all wrong - ideally they're meant for the short dark days of November, or hell, even February. Having said that, some jazz definitely works in the summer milieu....the west coast stuff for example. Chet of course, or Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Shelly Manne (and his men), numerous others. I also think Brubeck, with the amazing dulcet tones of Paul Desmond on alto, makes excellent summer listening.

As for pop music, for me summer/long weekends etc tend to create an oft-missing appetite for songs about, or made in, sunny climates, and the effete lifestyle that naturally exists in these places. Not exactly revelatory I realize. But, as I've always said, there's a reason that northern cultures run the world. The list of summer songs is bloody endless, but to Kyle's point, there are many embarrassing inclusions among them - the Eagles are a prime example. How about "New Kid in Town"? Or "Take it to the Limit"? Yuckity yuck, right? And yet.....? Ah, the intoxicating power of sunshine.

Jazz certainly works for me in the summertime although I'm not so sure, as you say, that it works all that well in a lush, country setting down by the lake. Although I'm listening right now to Ben Webster's "Soulville" which might even work at the cottage since it's just that smooth, bluesy and perfect for keeping as immobile as possible in this overbearing heat. It almost sounds like Ben recorded it in the middle of the afternoon, maybe in July of 1957, on a streetcorner somewhere in the southern states and he wants to keep the pace as mellow as can be. Bop and hard bop work less well for me in this weather. I keep those for spring and fall.

Two current releases that are fitting in nicely in the current environment are Sam Prekop's latest and Beck's disc Geuro. Beck has always been a great summertime listen as he sounds like he's just doing enough to enunciate the words and little more. Plus the music to me has a sort of 70's summer in NYC feel.

Some fave summer tunes would be the rather obvious choice of Flaming Lips "Its Summertime", any one of 3 or 4 tracks from "Screamadelica" and the slow version of "Wave of Mutilation" by the Pixies.

okay, thursday before the long weekend. quickly now, what are your top cottage/lazy long weekend in the city songs? are there songs that you would never listen to in the city but will tolerate at the cottage (yeah, i'm looking at you steve miller)? does jazz at all outside an urban setting. discuss.

or ignore. or a quick, 2-word directive, if you wish.

Sorry to have to bail for the jazz. We are going up to the cottage on the weekend band I have too much work by a half. Other staff will be here working on it so its bad form to leave them behind to go play. Weather looks perfect tho...have fun...
s

I'd love to go but if i do it will be a last minute decision...don't know if the boss will let me off early! sun is shinnin'...gotta make dat der hay, eh!

I'm looking good for Friday 4 - 5:00 or 5:30. Should be pretty great. Not sure why David Murray, one of the best and most interesting sax players on jazz, has such a shit time slot. Not that I'm objecting.....but why is he not a night time feature player at the tent?

its gotten somewhat more complicated for me , but I am still optomistic. Yvette is taking maya to her ballet recital so I have to be home by 6 to get Rhys his dinner, but I think its still doable......4pm to 5:30 ish

Here are two links with respect to that CD. Squealer is the record lable and Surefire Distribution is the site that I purchased the CD from. As it shows on the site it cost $12 US and they charged me nothing for shipping and there were no additional taxes. So with exchange it came in at a bit under $16. Pretty nice deal.

http://www.squealermusic.com/catalog/speed.html

http://www.surefiredistribution.com/cgi-bin/showlabel.pl?label=squealer

Who is still on for seeing David Murray at 4pm on Friday? It's supposed to be 30 degrees on Friday so perfect weather for seeing some jazz outdoors.

Thanks for hosting big fella. Sorry I had to bail at one a.m.. Nice selection of music I thought. You were going to send the link for the Swell Henry disk

Hey lads nice to have you drop by last night. Maybe next time one of you can make sure that Marc leaves before my Globe and Mail arrives on the doorstep. I got to bed at 3am. I guess Marc there's no happy medium you either leave after one drink or you settle in like the Germans at Stalingrad. Here is, to the best of my recollection, the music that was played last night.

Stuart - Belle & Sebastian - Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
Faces - Five Guys Walk Into a Bar
Various Artists - Ready or Not (Deep Jazz Grooves from CBC Radio Archives)

Marc - Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Bruce Springsteen - Devils and Dust

Brian - Andrew Hill - Black Fire
Russian Futurists - Let's Get Ready to Crumble
Sufjan Stevens - Greetings from Lake Michigan
Rigmor Gustafsson - Close to You
Art Ensemble of Chicago - Americans Swinging in Paris

Derek - yeah No - Swell Henry
M. Ward - Transistor Radio
Sam Prekop - Who's Your New Professor
Jaga Jazzist - What We Must
Go Betweens - Oceans Apart
Sleater Kinney - The Woods

If I've missed anything please post it. Looking forward to your theme party Stuart. Better start dusting off my Howard Jones albums and picking up some Dep gel.

if any of you lot manages to go 10 minutes into the cd club meeting without a drink i will be very very surprised. quick greetings from avignon where i've had a least one beer thus far (hey, it's almost 7pm here) and am hoping on several others and some wine before the night is through.

quickly (time and euros a wastin'): laptops: buy a new one and talk to warren, who is also looking to transfer some final to digital form but is looking at some expensive software that apparently does it very well. you may want to check with him to see if you can go splitsees.

as for just not getting or appreciating some music, i find i'm the same way with certain artists like p.j. harvey, who is always well reviewed and i know many of you and others who dig her, but i just can't get into it. the last dj shadow album is okay but if you are going to try to dig just one dj shadow album, do try or borrow from someone, 'endtroducing' which is his first and best.

turns out there's a film fest going on here for 3 days with a hal hartley retrospective. if i see him i'll ask why he hasn't turned out a good film since 'amateur'.

my picks to play tomorrow, if anyone can locate:

any of the new Common disc, entitled 'be'. quite good and since he was referenced last meeting with respects to hip hop artists worthy of purchase, it's my recommendation.

'Up against the Legends' by the Legends, a Swedish band that has a catchy, 60s pop inspired sound (tambourines, clapping, overall grooviness).

enjoy the meeting!

To me the CD Club has always been a natural high anyway.

Re Blind Faith, I'm not a knocked-out fan of it, though I don't think it's dreck by any means. I'd recommend the Derek and the Dominos record plus the good Traffic records (Traffic, John Barleycorn) for my mix of Winwood and Clapton. Plus Cream and Spencer Davis is pretty awesome.

On that note I just thought I'd mention that since Mey has gone 155 Dalhousie, suite 621 has become an official booze free zone. If it's alright with you guys I'll be serving OJ, Shirley Temples and if you're lucky mountain dew. I know that the absence of booze will appreciably heighten our musical appreciation.

sorry, forgot to say thanks for all the advice....

definately buying new....I did a bit of research on the web too, and it seems you need an audio input and output on the laptop for recording and you treat the computer like a tape deck. You need some easily found software too. The prob is that laptops dont come with audio inputs , but you can buy adapters using a usb port....
Prices have come way down and a decent laptop with a pentium processor with 512 memmory is about 1g....groovin to Ivy now ...much diferent then blind faith but good to work to,.... man do I need some booze.....
s

and as you can see, sometimes i'm clueless when it comes to technologies! damn it! why is it that it refuses to publish and wont show up for 23 min. and then as soon as i republish, it shows up twice? (that is of course a rhetorical question)

...look out for the "blogger police..they are coming to arrest me. " ...sung to the tune of Dream Police which harkens back to a much earlier conversation about worth while live albums...Cheap Trick "Live at Buhokan" o.k that goes back a ways!

thought of another reason to get a new laptop...many or most come with built in wireless cards which means fewer cords for hooking up and much easier portability...as Derek says you can always get a card adapter but at a certain point you run out of holes to stuff...like i said Stuart, if you want to buy a used one, i can always sell you mine, it's only two years old and already has some compatibility issues (none of which are insurmountable)

thought of another reason to get a new laptop...many or most come with built in wireless cards which means fewer cords for hooking up and much easier portability...as Derek says you can always get a card adapter but at a certain point you run out of holes to stuff...like i said Stuart, if you want to buy a used one, i will always sell you mine, it's only two years old and already has some compatibility issues (none of which are insurmountable)

Back with the Blind Faith for a minute I listened to it again today as I drove to Kitchener and the track that certainly stands out for me as a killer is the final one. 15 minutes long and much influenced by earlier jazz I would say, it's a pretty cool way to end the album (contrary to Allmusic's take). The rest of the tracks don't really leave much of an impression and the opening track "Had to Cry Today" I just find plain annoying, especially at almost 9 minutes in length.

As for the laptop Stuart, Marc's advice, as self-deprecating as he is, is worth listening to. Besides obtaining the a recent model and ensuring it has USB2 also look for the ability to use firewire devices. My laptop is just about 3 years old and it has neither of the above which is frustrating at times. You can always add these capabilities after the fact with the applicable card but they don't come cheap when your dealing with notebooks instead of PCs. If you are looking for a more current model you may as well get a DVD/CD writer included instead of just CD burning capability.

As for the transfer of music from analog to digital media I still haven't perfected that art. There are many websites on this topic and I'll send you the links. On my attempts to carry this out too often the music transferred from LPs sounds distorted on the subsequent CD while it sounds fine played from the laptop before I burn the CD. Still trying to figure that out. Perhaps we can discuss further tomorrow night.

Stuart, are you still thinking about a used laptop? if so i think there are more compatibility issues to be looked at than if you are buying new. What peripherals do you expect to running with it...what are their connectivity requirements...if you HAVE to buy a used one (which i think is an unwise investment in terms of the # of hours you might have to spend in the future trying to make the thing compatible with newer technologies) make sure it has USB2 and not just USB1 since many devices start to choke on USB1's lack of speed.

That's just my 2 cents worth, which considering the amount i know about computers is actually worth about $0.002!

As for the Blind Faith, I have always felt that there where some killer tracks on the album but it had more than it's fair share of weak moments.

DJ Shadow - bought that disc a few years back and I put it right up there with the stone roses as something I just dont think is all that great....what was that elvis album....10,000 fans cant be wrong....( I wish I understood why I simply just dont get some stuff ....) On the other hand- Presence of the lord on Blind faith resulted in me going to church for 5 years during my adolescence....OK well maybe not , but you get the point.

I need some advice on laptops... I will be picking one up and Ill want to record my records onto cd as well as make compilation cds etc....Is there anything other then a cdrw that I need that you know of?

I know you're all waiting breathlessly for the Scottish verdict on the DJ Shadow disc. Well 9 years later it's still sounding pretty damn fine. I think this re-issue would make a great gift for the music loving youngster in the family. It may be a little bit too post-happy for my 11 and 12 year old nephews but it would be perfect for the discerning 17 or 18 year old. So forget about the White Stripes, Coldplay and Foo Fighters surprise them with something really cool.

Somebody want to tell me what all the fuss is about re Blind Faith? Brian? Stuart? You were the guys rhyming off various classic must-haves at the Rex a few weeks back.

DJ Shadow. Check. I'm on it.

Re Adams, no luck here with Naive and Sentimental, but I did buy some interesting piano work of his which might make a nice post script to the symphonic music.

Well, if you ain't got it looks you best be going out to get it. The first 10.0 I can recall ever being thrown out by Pitchfork. Even the Russian judge liked it. Now I should be off to give it another "9 years after the fact" spin.

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/d/dj-shadow/endtroducing-deluxe-edition.shtml

OK boys, let's go with the 16th.

I probably already know the answer to this question but hey I'm a free man for at least the next 10 days so I'll throw it out there. This weekend has a pretty incredible musical line-up hitting the city what with NXNE and other shows going on. So here's the deal. Anyone interested in seeing something tonight, tomorrow or Sunday? I've got squat going on and would like to see something that isn't jazz as that's been a bit of a letdown lately.

Sample of some stuff I wouldn't mind catching:

Friday - Fembots, Deadly Snakes etc @ Gladstone
Wolf Parade, Tangiers etc @ Comfort Zone
K'Naan (Somalian beat poet I heard on CBC), etc @ Drake

Saturday - Heavy Trash, Sadies, Cuff the Duke @ Horseshoe

Sunday - Juana Molina @ Horseshoe
Great Lake Swimmers @ Drake

Feel free to brush me off.

Brian we need a choice from you my friend. What's it to be? Thursday, Friday or Saturday?

re thursday the 16th or fri 17th, I think im fine. (Im almost definatly fine for the thursday night and Yvette would prefer it too.)

friday is do-able for me, but of the two days, thurs is better. I'm easy...but then, you all know that!

Stu, thanks for playing social conveners once again, but i think that M.E myself and I will pass on the the tickets this year. (what with her taking evening courses that she has not signed up for yet and has no idea when they are going to be)

Too bad about the no-go on the TSO for next season there Brian but totally understandable.

What isn't so much is the oversight on Helene (the hottie) Grimaud. I was just mentioning to Geoff's parents on the weekend when asked if there were any good concerts upcoming in the city that a lovely French pianist was performing with the TSO. I wish you had called.

As for the Adam's CD I picked up a copy at the library yesterday but it will be rather academic if you can't make it as that brings us down to a group of 3. Still do-able but not so much fun. How many tracks do I really want to hear off the new Coldplay disc?

If Saturday isn't the best night I could also suggest Thursday the 16th or Friday the 17th. Comments please.

I think I'm out for TSO next year, at least as of today. I may go to a couple but I'll wait and see how the new year shapes up from a life-sanity perspective.

We realized this evening that we forgot to use the tickets we had for last night's Debussy and Ravel performance, featuring the comely (not that I noticed) French pianist Helene Grimaud. Bloody annoying.

I'll try to find the Adams CD this weekend and will let you know how I make out. Derek has a theory that Stuart bought the only copy in the city. Otherwise...what'll it be?

Also, not too sure if I will make the 18th. I've been reminded, not unjustly, that there are very few Saturdays left before we have to focus on moving, getting ready for baby, yadda yadda, so another night of the week would be better. I'm not suggesting that you guys change the date though.

Sorry to interrupt you all from your diligent pouring over of the TSO schedules, but Charlotte wants in on this and here are her choices;
Definate picks; Oundjian & Heppner June 15

Optional picks: Music of remembrance Nov9
Strauss & Brahms Nov 30
Shostokovitch 11 Wed Feb 15
Herbig & Parker Mar 8
Modern Soundscapes March 30
Songs of the Earth Apr 19 (probably some god dam granola shit...sorry Charlotte))

There you have it....

back to the TSO schedule for next season......

Yvette and I are going to the Sibelius and Bruckner show Thursday dec 8,and the "Joan of Arc" show thurs may 11 (you have to hear Ewa Podles live to believe it...simply a stunner) and the following shows we are interested in, but are not fussy about which ones in particular....

Any of the Shostakovich series numbered 8, 10 and 11
Hebig and Parker fri march 10
Modern Soundscapes Thurs mar 30th

We will pick a total of 5 for the pick your own subscription series, and we will be in the very cheap seats, (where you have to bring your own walkman with a cd )

Anyone interested? If so we should co-ordinate now as the good seats do go.....

Lets be fascist and say anyone interested should post choices by mid next week and we order tickets on the following friday...
s

i'm all over it stu!

Well, I just picked up a copy of Adams work at Gregorian....Hope you guys can find a copy. (are you interested marc? havent heard from ya)

Let's go for it Stu. Assuming we can find the piece (re Derek's note) I'm very interested. Sorry for the delay, I was busy studying for and failing my CFA exam, and then stewing about it.

Still stewing about it.

Haven't checked with V about the 18th, but assume I'm in, though I may be a little later.

And Kyle, expanding the blog for other interests is a grand idea. So is going to France, for the record. I watched in its entirety, for the first time, strangely, "On the Waterfront" last night. Wonderfa.

Well since I only have Dereks ok about the Adams work, and since the 18th is only 2 weeks away, I think we will have to postpone this for the next club after dereks, (unless you lazy bastards email your acceptance in the next day or so)
s

while it is indeed possible that a nice bottle of bordeaux will be consumed while in paris, we will be most looking forward to the burdundies and southern rhone wines of the chateaux we'll visit in person. aggravated you all enough? okay. but be sure to play an edith piaf disc in my memory.

also, when i get back, or more likely sometime in early july, i would like to revamp the blog a little bit to make room for posts about other passions and diversions. i think in doing so, we will see less lag times between posts. i know that some days i feel that i don't feel like posting about music but i may have just seen a really interesting film that i want to discuss.

any objections to doing so? discuss.

a deux semaines!

The Adams piece works for me. I have a few discs with works by him but not that particular piece. My only quibble is that there appears to be only one recorded performance of the work and that is on Nonesuch from 2002. So there won't be any discussion of variations in performance and more pertinently it might be difficult for each of us to get our hands on a copy. The proposed CD club night is still Saturday June 18. (I think you mentioned the 20th Stuart).

Since Brian expressed no objections when I spoke to him of that date and Kylie will be sipping Chateaux Margaux by the banks of the Seine let's make it official.

with regard to dereks upcoming cd club, if we are still into a classical music review, tell me if there is any interest in John Adams. I keep coming up against references to his work and there is quite a large body of work. Some of you may have some of his stuff. "Naive and sentimental" music keeps coming as as a hotly debated masterwork ( or not)....its also a topic about music in general which I have debated with some of you.... How about it boys? If you already know this piece, is there other Adams work that interests you? WE should decide soon as the 20th is near...

I'm dying to throw on my copy of Machine Head and listen to Highway star and Lazy, but alas, i still have not gone out and replaced my stylus after it got trashed at our New Years eve party. yeah yeah yeah...space truckin'!

I'd still be up for the 18th and i promise to stay for more than one beer!

Speaking of essentials, all you Pavement fans will be glad to know that i finally picked up a copy of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain and am enjoying it immensely. While i was at Vortex i also managed to snag a used copy of Shout Out Louds first release which is pretty cool since it was only released last week and when i tried to get it at Soundscapes, they didn't even have it in their computer...can you say promo copy!

Following up on some of those fitful conversations of Saturday night I'd like to once again propose that we have a CD listening night at my place on Saturday June 18. I think you were all amenable to this after 5 or 6 pints but in the sober light of day you may have second thoughts. Let me know if this still works.

I must say that these evenings at the Rex turn out to be awfully expensive as not only do I drop close to $100 on the night but I also end up spending about the same again a few days later after the musical round table (that would be you lot) recommend about a dozen "essential" CDs that I am so obviously missing from my, what I thought was comprehensive, collection. Felt like a true rocker this afternoon as I picked up Deep Purple at HMV. I'm beginning to wonder if you're all part of a record company cabal looking at me as a way out of the deep funk the music business found itself in over the last few years. Surely there can't be that many essential discs. Still holding out on the Elton John and Elvis until I've had a few more pints.

Sorry to be delayed in contributing, its not been the best of weeks for me. On top of my mothers serious illness (which some of you know of) I picked up a terrible case of poison ivy (so bad my doctor misdiagnosed it as shingles), and a pedestrian is suing me for a collision we had... in which he walked into my car while I was reverse parallel parking..... ( the fact that he hit me because he was looking at his cell phone seems not to count for much in pedestrian / vehicle accidents)....
So in the spirit of compartmentalising ones troubles I turn to music ( the only true mental saviour) and pick up marc's thread about solo artists....

Id have to say that while true... most solo artists have a great help from terrific bands, (Mick Ronson w Bowie, Marsalis with Sting (during his non police days) etc...,however I think the solo artist in these situations is usually the overwhelming controlling player by a large degree.

In fact my very limited exposure with songwriting made me think that it is very difficult to have a democracy work in a band. Even in the most sucessfull bands like the beatles democracy was limited --paul might write a verse in one of Johns songs ie "a day in the life" or visa versa. Or with bands like led zepp where Jimi page wrights the music and Plant wrights the lyrics. There are few truly collaborative songwritting partners that I can think of where they both contribute to the music of the song. Brian you may have additional insight here....

look out for "the shout out louds" international release May 24...smokin'!

It’s interesting to start to think about the solo performer and their relationship with bands as they go through the various evolutions of their careers. I tend to think that there has been some kind of radical shift in the popular music industry over the past 40 years. When you look at the careers of people like Neil Young, Eric Clapton, Lou Reed and countless others, they had strengths as solo performers but they moved in and out of collaborations with other artists and various groups.

Was Springsteen a solo performer or was he just the front man for the E Street Band? The product of his more truly solo work, Nebraska is equally brilliant but very different from his work with the band.

I think that much of what we think of as being a “solo career” is not really a solo career but rather a well know artist being the frontman(woman) for a new band. Are you ever really a solo artist unless you are, for example, M Ward up on stage alone with his guitar (and an electronic device playing along side you)? …sure Bjork has a strong personality which is totally Bjork, but is she really a “solo artist”?

No man is an island.

…Did not every great solo artist start out in one band or another before they went off on his or her own?

Having said that, one of my fav solo albums of recent times that I keep coming back to is Mike Ness’s Cheating at Solitaire…quite different from his Social Distortion work.
metaBeats

That kinda was my point actually, that Malkmus pales when compared to the work of his previous band.

And this is where you lot step in if you so wish and let me know when the solo guy has flown higher than his ex-band (can't think of many although Bjork springs right to mind) and conversely where the muse seems to have deserted the fellow when it's all on his or her shoulders.

By the way that Pavement track so did it for me that I picked up the deluxe "Crooked Rain" package at HMV today for a lovely $15 (part of a 2 for $30 gimmick). It's a 2 CD set with 49 tracks. Since I never owned the original it was a no brainer. I think Pavement is a perfect example of one of those bands we always seem to be discussing who make 5 good to great records in a less than 10 year span and then get the fuck outta dodge while still riding high in the saddle. You have to respect that.

Thanks for the music links Kyle. Onto my mini-disc they shall go.

Derek, just reread my post and your post and realized that i completely misread your point, that we both like the new track but i'll stand by the other comments about liking the earlier stuff better etc. Okay, back to work...

I kinda like that new Malkmus track though I take your point about his new stuff versus the Crooked Rain track. I thought his second solo effort was dreadful, with songs devolving into ackward noise and boored sounding vocals a 1/3 of the way in (where pavement at least waited until 2/3 of the song had expired before pressing the distortion button and checking out). While Pavement was never a band to carefully polish its musical arrangements into packaged little pop ditties, the noise and distortion seemed to serve a purpose, with overlaid guitars crunching along in an ode to kicking back, and clever lyrics suggesting that they could be making a more profound statement if they bothered. And I dug them. Still do.

Also dug the Cloud Room track you suggested. Perfect track to kick off the summer and looming may 2-4 weekend. I usually check that salon site every week or so but hadn't done so in awhile.

Just did a check of my itunes and noticed that I've downloaded/ripped just over 1,000 songs this year (2005), most of them from legitimate sites, some from emusic.com, some from borrowed/bought cds. Here's a list of my faves thus far (have included links to free tracks where available:

"Fortress" - Pinback
"Broadway (So Many People)" - Low
"Engine Driver" - The Decemberists
"Sunshowers" - MIA
"Woman King" - Iron & Wine
"So Little to Give" - Creeper Lagoon (from 2002 but just discovered this year)
"In a Funny Way" - Mercury Rev
"Take it Easy/Love Nothing" - Bright Eyes
"Let's Move" - The Foreign Exchange

Malkmus alert. His new disc is in record stores next Tuesday for those who are still interested. Some might say that his time is just about up. Check out the free track at the Matador website from the new record.

http://www.matadorrecords.com/stephen_malkmus/

Then compare it (unfair I know) to the free previously unreleased Pavement track that was made available on the re-package of "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain". Despite it's age (over 10 years old) and the fact it wasn't even on the original disc it still works for me.

http://www.matadorrecords.com/music/index.html

One more song you should check out and enjoy immensely at least the first two or three listens and then you'll never get it out of your head:

http://www.salon.com/ent/audiofile/index.html

Look for it under Thursday May 12, 2005: "Hey Now Now" by the Cloud Room. Bit of Pulp, some Echo and of course Interpol/Walkmen.

As this is the Salon site you may have to watch an ad in order to get into the site.

I might well be up for checking out the rex on the 14th. I was over at Jackson's studio yesterday and he threw on a new disk he got as a freebie for shooting it's cover and liner note photos...no other than William Carn. Turns out he is an old friend from Jackson's former life as an aspiring musician. Very solid sounding disk all the way through and i'm sure i'll get around to buying a copy soon. (perhaps good enough that i would have done so even if there was no connection through Jackson!)