049 The Top Ten Records That Came Out Yesterday

Argh, i've been so busy lately, it's sick. Sick I tells ya! And now i'm at my parents house for a few days and my mom is on my back to cut the grass. But I had to let her know that there were slightly more important things that needed to be done today....

*** The Top Ten Records Released on May 24, 2005 ***

10 Gorillaz - Demon Days

Do you sorta get the feeling that by merely listening to a Gorillaz album, you're really only getting half the story? Like Damon Albarn's vocals are wonderful, Danger Mouse's beats keep the party jumping, and the guest singers are just swell... but without the cartoons, what exactly is it that we're supposed to take from this? I dunno. I never really got into the first album. Perhaps it was because everyone went so bitchcakes over "Clint Eastwood" and the video. I tuned out. I also stopped watching so much damn TV, and coincidentally, there weren't many stations even showing videos anymore... so I just didn't get it.

I liked the out of control giddiness of "19-2000." The high pitched vocal chorus. The cool shoeshine. The monkey in the jungle caught up in the conflict between his brain and his tail. Now that's a jam that does just fine without a video... Anyway, the songs that I've heard from Demon Days (as the album title hints) are just too dark for this kind of project. Hey, i'm not expecting a kids record (did Kidzbop do any Gorillaz songs?), but I'm just not that interested anymore. With that being said, it's an enjoyable listen, but nothing to save space on your iPod for.

09 The Dave Brubeck Quartet - London Flat, London Sharp

Given Brubeck's long and illustrious and remarkably successful career, I am quite confident in saying that if someone recorded him hurling tomatoes vaguely in the direction of a piano for 30 minutes, someone would put it out. Seriously, how many records of his have been released or re-issued... this year? Now, this one, the cheekily titled London Flat, London Sharp is a mix of old and new compositions that wouldn't have even landed in my top 20 if it weren't for all of these interesting stories I've been reading about the title track. It seems as though alto saxophonist, Bobby Militello wasn't even sure he could possibly play along to the madness that Brubeck had written... at 84! Apparently (according to Allmusic) "Brubeck's left hand moves chromatically down the scale in flats as his right simultaneously moves up in sharps at a brisk tempo." Now this I gotta hear...

Wow, did i just say that? I "gotta hear" this 84 year old pianist? That says something important about the man, or perhaps something pathetic about me. Either way, this 29 year old man is off to cut some grass. With my left hand, I operate the steering device while I chromatically pull out weeds with my right at a brisk tempo. Pathetic... 8 more to come!

08 Common - Be

Hey, you know what? A few of the UK dates have been moved around, so you may want to check that out on the City On Film myspace site! I've collected all the TBA's there and saved the actual confirmed shows for the City On Film site proper. I can't tell whether it's annoying or not for people to read "TBA" in a certain city and then see everything change in a blink. It would probably be better if i just waited until I received a full set in stonehenge list from our booking agent. But i'm impatient. This has nothing to do with Common.

But I tell ya what, he probably got beat up with a name like Lonnie growing up on the south side of Chicago. Makes sense that he would focus on generally non-threatening hip-hop and change his moniker to Common Sense. At this point, he got beat up by the lawyers of a ska band of the same name... so now it's Common. The songs i've heard from Be are pleasant enough. Personally I wanted more "in" Chicago references in the song titled "Chi City." Instead we get lines like "I'm back like a chiropractor!" Here is a freestyle rap from me, another Chicago native. "I grew up on Deming like the end of the world next to the Panda Express and the Tilt-a-Whirl at the carnival happening at Hanson Park at dark the neon lights light up the tarp around the Gravitron where Carnie Ron spins the metal, we'd pedal as fast as we could to Lockwood and..." ok i'll stop. My hip hop album's coming out in a month.

07 Head of Femur - Hysterical Stars

Mike has been trying to get me into Head of Femur for quite sometime now. I've been holding out. Not really on purpose. I think I first heard them around the time that Hey Mercedes did our first mix cd madness thingy, so i was fucking BOGGED down with music. I feel I never really gave them a chance... so recently, I did. I mentioned last week that if you say a band is "interesting" then that clearly means that you thought it was garbage. I will now break that rule by saying that Head of Femur is interesting... but i like it. There's just so much going on in every song, it's impossible to get it all on the first listen.

Anyway, it's very happy music and i'm in a very bad mood so we're at odds. I'll save you the sob story until tomorrow. Did I ever tell you the tale of the sock monkey that was so upset at his master's tour schedule, he began to write dark depressing haiku on notes around the house? Woe no banana...

06 The Get Up Kids - Live at the Granada Theater

I don't have to listen to this album. You know why? Braid has played with The Get Up Kids 80 times. Yes that's right, EIGHTY. In every basement and dingy club back and forth across America and every squat and youth center back and forth across Europe. Not to mention the handful of shows that Hey Mercedes played with them. And boy I could tell you some stories. In a basement in Rhode Island, we decided to set up at the same time and do simultaneous sets. We'd play one song, they'd play one song. And then we thought it would fun to intermingle the bands to make 2 new bands. My band was with Todd, Jim, & Ryan. The other was Matt, Chris, Rob, and Damon.... You know, It's funny how many people come up to me.... people that i look up to now... and let me know that they saw one of those shows and how great it was. That feels good.

Yes it was fun, but as The Get Up Kids now know, all things must pass, so this live album is a fitting end to a band that really thrived on the road and onstage. To this day, I still wonder how they didn't break up sooner since they fought constantly! Thankfully they toughed it out and left us with some really great music. This release would be higher on the chart if i didn't hate live albums so much. Yes, i hate that one too...


05 Lucero - Nobody's Darlings

I will never forget the first few times Braid swung through Little Rock. It was amazing and so memorable. This little collective put on shows in the craziest of places, most notably, a gazeebo on the riverfront near downtown. And never ever sanctioned by the city. Completely illegal but totally fun. After every show, we'd play four square in front of this closed supermarket. I know it sounds ridiculous but you have to imagine it - the line to get in on a game was 20 deep! This was a huge amount of kids... They've all seemed to go their separate ways now. Our friend Chris moved to Philadelphia and became a Pharmacist working for this guy Ted something. Matt also moved to Philly and eventually NYC and started this lil record label....

Anyway, the hot local band at the time was Red 40, and nobody made any bones about it... they sounded like Jawbreaker. And they were good, too. And so the first I heard of Ben Nichols' new band Lucero, it was in the context of the new Red 40 band. I instantly liked em, even though I don't remember his voice being so twangy back then. Perhaps he was affecting a Blake? The first Lucero song I heard was "Sweet Little Thing" and i'm pretty sure it was during Mix Madness. (I should do that again...) From what I've heard of Nobody's Darlings, they've developed a little more edge which is a good thing. Also check out That Much Further West. Lots of jams on that one.


04 Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth

Much like Head of Femur, listening to Stephen Malkmus (and Pavement, usually) can be interesting. But then you have a few bright blaring instant successes of songs. Songs that you just have to listen to over and over, not necessarily to catch everything you missed, but to hear your new favorite parts or lines again. That's how it was with "Jenny and the Ess-Dog" from his first album. What an incredible song. Slowly climbing the charts of my personal faves... and you know what? "Baby C'Mon" from this record is giving me a similar feeling. At first listen i was so intrigued. Whereas "Jenny's" narrative was laid back and aloof, this one is frantic and in your face. It really reminds me of a Modest Mouse song actually...

And then there's "Post Paint Boy" which is more along the lines of what we expect from Mr. Malkmus. In fact, it sounds like it could be a Pavement song... and hence, this record will be getting a lot of airplay around these parts. Funny, if I wasn't doing this whole Wednesday thing, I fear I would have let this one slip by.


03 Alkaline Trio - Crimson

I am always so blown away by the simple and very traditional way that Danny Andriano crafts his songs. He has such a beautiful and soulful voice. Sure, at times it sounds like Colin James Hay and every now and then you hear some autotuning afoot, but i really fucking love it. And his selections on Crimson are the standout tracks for me. "The Poison" is just brilliant. It's a shame that a lot of people would write this and the whole album off only because of who it is and what they're supposed to think about them. Separate yourself from the situation and then listen to the song. The lyrics are great, too. Especially the catchiest chorus ever: How could a rooftop view in London look just the same as one in Brooklyn? This should really be a single!

And then there's "Smoke" which seriously sounds like Men At Work. It even begins kinda like "Overkill." Just an hour ago, I heard a car blasting this song in the Office Depot parking lot and it sounded so great. Why is the world littered with such crappy radio bands when there are songs like this that people can and will love if they just give it a chance? Whatever. I'm just getting all 80's-nostalgic, I guess...

And of course, Matt Skiba puts in a strong showing as well, but in this instance, the songs that stick in my head are Danny's. I'm digging the double vocal duty on some of the songs as well, but it's quite a shock after being so used to them always singing song separately... Wow, if I like number 3 this much, I must love the top 2!


02 Belle & Sebastion - Push Barman to Open Old Wounds

Did you miss Belle & Sebastian playing "I'm Waking Up To Us" on Conan? You better download it then!

What a great album title. It's better than Besterberg. And when you look at the cover art, it all makes sense. This is a compilation of all of the singles. Handy, for sure, but not exactly essential for superfans. They have all of this stuff already. But since TCOFD does not cater strictly to superfans of anything, then this is recommended. In fact "I'm Waking Up To Us" is another one of those contemporary songs that is making the push up to the top of my personal favorites list... Also included is my favorite Belle & Sebastian song title, "Judy is a Dick Slap." Ahem.


01 At The Drive In - Anthology: This Station is Non-Operational

My brother all of a sudden thinks he's the greatest barrista in the Western Suburbs. He gets really scientific with charts and measures and the right amount of this and that. He makes certain that all of the conditions are absolutely right to create this cup of coffee to my right. This cup of coffee to my right tastes like somebody threw a tea bag in an aquarium. It's terrible! My method is to grind up two scoops (about a half cup) of whole beans, and then use 6 oz of water for every 2 tablespoons of freshly ground coffee. It's industry standard! Maybe my brother is subtlely trying to wean everyone off of the stuff. I can't drink this. From now on, his pot goes down the drain before I begin my day.

You'd figure that At The Drive In had a lot of coffee on their riders at shows because they went bitchcakes onstage. They always have. The first time I saw At The Drive In was in El Paso. They opened for Braid. It was at a place called the Rugburn. It will go down in history as the worst performance any band I was ever in ever did anywhere. I had lost my voice at a house show the night before in Austin. This was before my hardline vocal bootcamp. It was really awful. I wanted to crawl into a hole. So when we arrived at Cedric's house, that's exactly what i did, i crawled behind the couch, laid out my sleeping bag on the hardwood floor and listened to everyone hoot and holler all night.

At some point, I woke up, went into the kitchen, and Omar suggested I chew on a bug hunk of raw garlic. Apparently he does it all the time. So in my state, I was ready to do anything. Yeah, that didn't work too well... At The Drive In was about to embark on a 6 month tour. A SIX month tour and they barely even had a record out. I'm sure most of the shows were poorly attended, but you have to figure that those few people left there going, what the hell just happened? You never realized actually how good ATDI were until you heard their records, since they barely even hit the strings while they were jumping around like ninjas. In/Casino/Out is the way to go. I'd recommend it before this anthology. This would be second. I'm curious to hear the Smiths & Pink Floyd covers.