042 The Top Ten Records That Came Out Yesterday

I'm starting to love my Wednesdays. I get to check out great new music, do a little research, and often go back in time to the olden days...

*** The Top Ten Records Released on May 17, 2005 ***

10 Huey Lewis and the News - Live at 25

Back in time, indeed. Hey, do you remember the video for "Hip to Be Square?" Even as a wide-eyed 11 year old, completely smitten by every blip and beep that showed up on my MTV, I still thought the video was odd and disturbing. Original, yes. No one had ever done a video that was strictly super close-ups of the band's faces. I mean super. If you wanted to pause your VCR, you could probably count the number of moustache hairs on Huey's drummer. That's just disgusting. Now, what is the deal with this record? From my research, i found there's no actual info inside as to where or when it was recorded. Red flags! They probably just did most of this in a studio. And they re-titled that disturbing video song to "(Too) Hip to be Square." What? Why? Are they finally embarrassed by it? It took 19 years!

The only Huey Lewis songs worth a damn are "Heart and Soul" and "Do You Believe in Love," both from their earliest records. And you know what I just found out? Huey didn't write either of them. Well Huey, looks like the crowning moment of your songwriting career was "The Heart of Rock N Roll" and radio stations only played it because they could add the name of their city during the outro.


09 Deathray Davies - The Kick and the Snare

Deathray Davies are pretty cool. If for nothing else, on every subsequent album there is a new chapter of the song "They Stuck Me in a Box in the Ground." This album contains part 7. An epic. I like that. I was first turned on to them by a CMJ comp. The song called "The Girl Who Stole the Eiffel Tower" had a good run on the ipod, and it may be coming back for another shot at my imaginary popularity charts.

"Plan to Stay Awake" from this album is a great short bouncy rock song that has a timeless quality. One where you would be hard pressed to successfully nail down when it was recorded. Sounds like they put a lot of effort into making it sound crunchy and "classic" and that's good. It really reminds me of early Replacements (ooh foreshadowing) or maybe if Jason from Grandaddy sang for Guided By Voices but the band was actually Feable Weiner and they recorded it with Jim Dickenson, the guy who produced Pleased to Meet Me... or something like that. If you get the feeling i'm out of my element, donny, just wait for number 8...


08 - Memphis Bleek - 534

I was in someone else's car when I first heard "Is That Your Chick?" and i had no idea who it was, although I could pick Missy Elliott's voice out of a My Bloody Valentine song if I had to. I liked it, but in reality, i think it was because of Missy... even though this lyric from the first verse was great: Damn, Bleek. Can't Speak? ... Uh huh ... OK ... What's up? ... Shut up! I'm guessing Memphis doesn't sing that verse, but whoever sings it is dissin' Memphis! How great. How sad when I realized the song was actually called "Is That Your Bitch?" That sucks. I get hooked by the clean version and then when you hear the real one, you're bummed cause it's just not good, not to mention, a tad offensive. Hey, but I guess if you get Missy to sing the chorus it evens out, right? Right?

Anyhow, the single from this record doesn't feature Memphis Bleek at all! "Dear Summer" is all Jay-Z and it's great... if only for the background sample. It's so great and early 80's-ish. From what I hear, the rest of the record is terrible, though. Ah well, maybe Memphis should just stick to guest appearances from now on.


07 - Van Morrison - Magic Time

Seriously, put on Astral Weeks. That is an amazing record! You really have to be in the mood for it, though. I would suggest not driving while listening to it. Pull over and lean your seat back and take it all in. It's great. Ol' Van has a really great storytelling vibe and such a soulful vocal delivery. Just the way he sings the words "Madame George" makes me shiver. Just like "Come On Eileen", Morrison's biggest hit, "Brown Eyed Girl" has a rightful place on the wedding reception's DJ's list, but if you want something true and deep and lasting... for my monkeys, it's Astral Weeks all the way. He was 23 when it was recorded! Allmusic says there has never been an album like it before or since. Too true.

And such is the fate of Magic Time. Morrsion, now 60, still sounds great, even though he looks like one of your weird uncles. It's just that he sounds... old. There's no easy way to say that. Even though the record touches upon several styles and he hasn't yet succumbed to relaxed easy listening garbage, i just can't get into it.


06 - Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation: London Invasion 1987

In 1987, Public Enemy was just that, the enemy of suburban white kids' parents. I'd put them at about #3, though, right behind the ooh, satanic / overtly sexual branch of Heavy Metal. And then to hear Anthrax play "Bring the Noise" with Public Enemy, oh man, the shit went down. Guilty as charged, I had all both of PE's records at the time, and I bought Fear of a Black Planet the day it came out. I think they succeeded in getting their message across loud and clear... because of Flava. While you were watching his crazy clock flopping around or hearing his "yeeeea boooi" back-ups, you had Chuck D in your other ear. ... Elvis was hero to most but he never meant shit to me, you see, straight up racist the sucker was simple and plain, motherfuck him and John Wayne... Arguably my favorite PE lyric, it still generates shivers for it's blunt honesty and passion... and then you sorta forget about Flava...

... until The Surreal Life hits VH1. I only saw them play once and it was opening for U2 (along with Big Audio Dynamite!). Odd, I know, but I was psyched... and they let me down. There wasn't much energy at all and they were just too darn quiet. Maybe they ripped it up in the small clubs. We'll see, since this CD comes bundled with a DVD as well.


05 - The Forecast - Late Night Conversations

Woohoo, Peoria! These are good people and thank heavens that their band is good, too. There's nothing more awkward than when really great friends are in really terrible bands. I had a discussion recently about this. Let's say you just get offstage and dare to ask a friend, "So what did you think?" If that friend replies with any of the following three answers, you have cause for concern: 01 "It was really... loud." 02 "It was interesting." or the dreaded 03, "How do you think it went?" Face the facts, they hated it.

But that's neither here nor there in this case. Please don't take this as an insult but The Forecast's music reminds me a lot of 1995. This is a true compliment because there were so many great bands in 1995, most of which went unnoticed or unappreciated. I hope this doesn't happen in this case. I really like the male / female vocals and they remind me of Rainer Maria at that time. Another plus is... they don't sound snotty. There's nothing I hate more in today's music than feigned snottiness. This is just some great straight up rock. What could the top 4 be???


04 Troubled Hubble - Making Beds in a Burning House

I think it was Lester Bangs who wrote "a list is not a song," which makes Michael Stipe's mention of him in "It's the End of the World..." nice and ironic, given that the song is awfully list-like. And speaking of Ironic, Alanis Morrisette is so guilty of the list crime. See that song and also the dreadful "Thank You." Gag me with a spoon... Lists. I love them to death, but if I were to write a song with all of the lists I make, you'd be frantically searching for the nearest spoon. With that being said, the single from Troubled Hubble's new slab is called "Ear Nose Throat" and upon first listen, it may remind you of some of those numbers. But dig a little deeper and there's something there. Instead of a list of non-sequitors, we have a very focused narrative. (Imagine Travis Morrison singing to Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up.") So instead of trying to remember where to yell "Leonard Bernstein!" you'll actually want to know what the lyrics are and more importantly, what they mean.

Funny thing! If you look at Troubled Hubble's myspace page, they list Huey Lewis as an influence. Come on now guys... Also, while you're there, notice that Nate, the drummer, signed a CD "11063548 Ballsack. Nate." ... A quick story about signing things... one time when Todd was certain that this guy was going to ebay a Hey Mercedes signed drum-head, he signed it "Tom." Sure enough, it ended up on the auction block. Hilarious. I think at one point I may have signed something "Congratulations Ebay winner!" Wait, did I say something about snottiness?

And oh yeah, small(er)town Illinois sure is in the house, today, huh? That's about to change. The band at number 3 lives far far away from our little oasis in the midwest.


03 Melt Banana - 13 Hedgehogs

56 songs. Yes, that's right. And with titles that seem like they were lifted right from a refridgerator strewn with Magnetic Poetry. Go ahead, take a look at the tracklist. My favorites are Numbers 22, 24, and 43. Really hilarious. You just have to smile. Melt Banana consists of 2 gals & 2 guys and they hail from Japan. Take a look at any picture of them. They don't look too tough. The truth is, they are loud and obnoxious and at the same time, totally spot-on technically and utterly adorable. What contrast! I saw them open for Shellac a few years back (at a comedy club, no less), and they had the crowd mesmerized. Their songs rarely pass the 2 minute mark. The guitarist, usually masked, rarely even put his fingers to the frets, tending to utilize the ol metal slide to make noise.

Sure, it's "noise rock." But the thing is, i actually like the music. In fact "Stick Out" has made it onto many a mix CD! I'd also recommend Speak Squeak Creak. Only 24 songs on that one...


02 Def Leppard - Rock of Ages: The Definitive Collection

I just have to wonder. My definitive Def Leppard collection would have 10 tracks, and i would begrudgingly add "Let's Get Rocked" as a secret hidden bonus track. Hysteria has some sentimental value to me in that it was the very first CD that I ever purchased, way back when they were packaged in those huge plastic cases designed to fit into vinyl racks. What a waste. Some even had huge cardboard boxes around em, so that you'd have to produce artwork not only for cassette and vinyl and cd insert, but for that as well. I'd be curious to see what the last new release was to be packaged in that box.

Anyway, i'm curious to hear some of these other 25 songs that they stuck on there and labelled "definitive." I'm sure they're awful, but hey, i'm curious. You listen once, you cringe, and then you can forget all about it. I agree with the one-two punch opening combination of "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Photograph." And then "Love Bites." How embarrassing when that robotic voice says "Watch out! Love bites!" I'm not sure i ever thought that was cool, no matter what my grade school friends say. That was the FIFTH single from Hysteria and their first US number 1... one other thing, this collection has a cover of Badfinger's "No Matter What" from their "upcoming covers album." Dot dot dot.


01 Paul Westerberg - Besterberg: Best of Paul Westerberg

When I learned that in a flash, I was going to be on the same label as Paul Westerberg, I dropped my sandwich. I was a pretty big Replacements fan and my infatuation began with Don't Tell a Soul. Why that later release? Well, see #10. MTV used to play videos, if you can believe it, and the video for my absolute favorite Replacements song, "I'll Be You," was a prized possession on a VHS tape for quite sometime. Don't know what happened to it. Someone find this video. What I didn't know at the time was that the disillusion that Mr. Westerberg showed in that video by purposely lip-synching wrong or throwing stuff at the drums was because of his inherent distaste for videos in general. And so, i worked backwards from there and we all lived happily ever after.

I didn't like "Dyslexic Heart" that much and Damon once noted that it's the song everyone skips on the Singles soundtrack, but i really loved Mono & Stereo, using my label connections to snag free copies! Yeah! I also enjoyed his following two albums as well... and since those 4 releases aren't represented too heavily on this, and it's supposedly his best, then i am missing out! Actually, i read that Besterberg also contains some b-sides as well. Hmm. I would have put "Mr. Rabbit" or "Let's Not Belong Together" on there before i started raiding the vaults... And what a great title. Just my kind of humor.

And what's on our plate next week?