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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Jim Connelly's
Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Monday, January 15, 2007
Jesse Steichen's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Friday, January 12, 2007
Bill Bentley's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Thursday, January 4, 2007
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings Of 2006
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Anthony Carew's 13 Fave Albums Of 2006
Monday, March 27, 2006
SXSW 2006: Finding Some Hope In Austin
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Letter From New Orleans
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums of 2005
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Music For Dwindling Days: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Sean Fennessey's 'Best-Of' 2005
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Albums Of 2005
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Lee Templeton's Favorite Recordings of 2005
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Michael Lach - Old Soul Songs For A New World Order
Wednesday, January 4, 2006
Found In Translation — Emme Stone's Year In Music 2005
Tuesday, January 3, 2006
Dave Allen's 'Best-Of' 2005
Monday, January 2, 2006
Steve Gozdecki's Favorite Albums Of 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Johnny Walker Black's Top 10 Of 2005
Monday, December 19, 2005
Neal Block's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Year In Review
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Monday, December 12, 2005
Jennifer Kelly's Fave Recordings Of 2005
Thursday, December 8, 2005
Tom Ridge's Favorite Recordings Of 2005
Tuesday, December 6, 2005
Ben Gook's Beloved Albums Of 2005
Monday, December 5, 2005
Anthony Carew's Fave Albums Of 2005
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Prince, Spoon And The Magic Of The Dead Stop
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Truth About America
Monday, September 5, 2005
Tryin' To Wash Us Away
Monday, August 1, 2005
A Psyche-Folk Heat Wave In Western Massachusetts
Monday, July 18, 2005
Soggy But Happy At Glastonbury 2005
Monday, April 4, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 3: All Together Now
Friday, April 1, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 2: Dr. Dog's Happy Chords
Thursday, March 31, 2005
The SXSW Experience, Part 1: Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
Friday, March 25, 2005
Final Day At SXSW's Charnel House
Monday, March 21, 2005
Day Three At SXSW
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Day Two In SXSW's Hall Of Mirrors
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Report #1: SXSW 2005 And Its Hall Of Mirrors
Monday, February 14, 2005
Matt Landry's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, February 2, 2005
David Howie's 'Moments' From The Year 2004
Thursday, January 27, 2005
Lori Miller Barrett's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Noah Bonaparte's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Kevin John's Fave Albums Of 2004
Friday, January 14, 2005
Music For Those Nights: Max Schaefer's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Thursday, January 13, 2005
Dave Renard's Fave Recordings Of 2004
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Neal Block's Top Ten Of 2004
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Jenny Tatone's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 10, 2005
Wayne Robins' Top Ten Of 2004
Friday, January 7, 2005
Brian Orloff's Fave Albums Of 2004
Thursday, January 6, 2005
Johnny Walker (Black)'s Top 10 Of 2004
Wednesday, January 5, 2005
Jennifer Przybylski's Fave Albums (And Book) Of 2004
Tuesday, January 4, 2005
Mark Mordue's Fave Albums Of 2004
Monday, January 3, 2005
Lee Templeton's Fave Recordings Of 2004
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Day Three At SXSW
Neumu Senior Writer Kevin John reports: Kicked things off this time around
with a jaunt through Flatstock, a rock 'n' roll poster exhibit/sale. I really
don't have the critical aptitude to dissect this sector of popular music. But
I did notice that almost all of the posters fell into one of two registers — garishly
colored whores, snakes, motorcycles, etc. mimicking tacky tattoo art, or minimalist,
inscrutable imagery straight off the underground comics page. And you can probably
guess which musics were represented the most — hard rock and indie rock.
Wonder how Alacazar would have been drawn. This IS the world we live in.
My life wasn't saved by the eventual release of Smile. Even though they unquestionably made an impact on mass culture, the Beach Boys still carry the taint of cult around them. I suppose you could say the same of The Beatles or Elvis or the Dead — anyone, really. But I get exhausted trying to live up to both of these legacies. Still, I attended the Brian Wilson panel and I was mildly shocked at how intriguing it all turned out to be. This was mainly a function of Wilson's unromantic answers to the many awed, romantic questions lobbed at him. For instance, to "How did you go about re-creating Smile?" Wilson responded "I gave some chords to the musicians. If they played a wrong note, I told them so. And then we recorded it.…" And for all of Wilson's supposed senility, he was infinitely less brain-dead than his foamed-up congregation. The man answered all the inspiration/creation questions during his interview with Alan Light. But still, tons of fans stepped up to the mic in order to pin down the nature of genius. Given all of Wilson's workaday responses, the whole experience left me thinking that practically anyone could create a Smile. Seriously.
Attended an artists' panel that included Robyn Hitchcock, Todd Snider, Jon Langford, Nona Hendryx and Mary Lou Lord, with an eloquent Jenny Toomey as moderator and Saul Williams a no-show. Not much illumination for me here, since it was mostly advice to other artists. But watching Snider's cross-eyed forward stare convinced me that his twisted narratives no longer seem like such anomalies. The man's clearly graduated from singer/songwriter to Kool Keith-style cuckoo.
Ditched the artists midway through for an excellent panel on indie record stores in the digital age. I was downright shocked to learn that vinyl is once again a viable option for indies. Saucy moderator Don VanCleave explained that an owner has to be committed to it, with some top local DJs stocking the store and plenty of turntables around for the customers. Kara Lane from Amoeba Records admitted that vinyl is a significant source of her store's income. And participant Dave from Dave's Record Store in Chicago ("We love people like you, Dave," gushed VanCleave) told us he could have sold 50 (?!?!) vinyl copies of the latest Wilco had Warners or whoever not taken so long after the CD's street date to release the vinyl version. Take that, planned obsolescence!
The line for the Go Team! was a tad too long even for badge wearers. So I hooked up with a friend from high school and chatted with him for an hour on 6th St. In many ways, the highlight of the week. We oughta thank SXSW for bringing so many people together, no? I mean, I saw some people I hadn't seen since the 1980s.
Off to Stubb's for a DJ set with Fischerspooner. But come midnight, no Fischerspooner.
Maybe that was for the best. Not sure how snotty electro trash would have gone
over with the roughnecks there to see the New York Dolls. For me, the Dolls were
the greatest band in rock 'n' roll's square guitar-bass-drums form, and I was
there to honor that achievement. David Johansen passed right by me before the
show (swoon!). Chatted up a cute older guy who said he saw David Jo solo tons
of times in Manhattan in the 1970s. Musically, the show was nothing special (save
for "Trash" — the Burundi beats never sounded funkier, thanks to the yummy "Irish
bastard" drummer). But my vote for the greatest guitar moment in history comes
at around 2:22 into "Puss 'N' Boots" with Johnny Thunders' fun run across his
guitar neck, and the plodding live version tonight desperately called out for
his genius. Still, the show was more moving than careening. They paid tribute
to Thunders with a snippet of "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" bleeding
right into a lovely "Lonely Planet Boy." Covers included "Piece of My Heart" and
The Shangri-Las' "Out in the Streets." David Jo was a sassy little gargoyle dressed
in pink. And there were even two new songs! Nothing special, again. Apparently,
a new album and a DVD are in the can (or out on Sanctuary?) and they were at
SXSW to get a deal. Wish I could claim it would be worth someone's money. But
Johansen and Sylvain Sylvain, the only originals Dolls left, deserve to avoid
Social Security more than any other band from the era.
Stay tuned for final-day coverage and a wrap-up.
The InsiderOne Daily Report appears on occasion.
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