11 posts from October 2009

My parents and I drove up to Columbus on Tuesday to see Leonard Cohen's performance at the Palace Theatre.  I still have no idea why we went.  My parents know "Suzanne" and "Hallelujah", but little else.  My Leonard Cohen fandom peaked in 1998 and I pretty much swore off the man and his works after a reading of Beautiful Losers caused me to go into a season-long depression.  But time went by.  I eventually got over the novel; I hardly ever shudder when I get in an elevator.  Hardly ever.

It occurs to me now that only about two people out there will have any idea what I'm talking about, so let's try a different approach, shall we?  My parents and I went to a Leonard Cohen concert because it was either that or staying in our respective homes and watching NBC's smash-hit comedy, The Biggest Loser.  We could either go see a legendary author, poet, and musician perform or watch overweight contestants go to the gym.  When those are your options, Leonard Cohen should win every single time.

[This is the paragraph where I would normally use words and phrases like "good" or "really good" or "best" or "really the best" or "really good at being the best", but I find that I'm a bit off this morning.  My usual junior high newspaper quality "reviews" just won't cut it this time.  Leonard Cohen was absolutely amazing, but I don't feel like writing about him or his fedora or any of it.  We definitely made the right choice in going to the concert, but just thinking about Beautiful Losers again has sapped me of my motivation.  I wish I hadn't read that book.  I think I'm going to wear the same clothes as yesterday.  It's awfully dreary out.]

As always, here's the setlist:

First set: Dance Me to the End of Love/The Future/Ain't No Cure For Love/Bird on the Wire/Everybody Knows/In My Secret Life/Instrumental-->Who By Fire/Chelsea Hotel #2/Waiting For the Miracle/Anthem (recitation)-->Anthem (w/intros)

Second set: Tower of Song/Suzanne/Sisters of Mercy/The Gypsy's Wife/The Partisan/Boogie Street (sung by Sharon Robinson)/Hallelujah/I'm Your Man/A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)/Take This Waltz (w/intros)

Encore set: So Long, Marianne/First We Take Manhattan/Famous Blue Raincoat/If It Be Your Will (recitation)/If It Be Your Will (performed by the Webb Sisters)/Closing Time

One last song: I Tried to Leave You

And here's my usual concert-related ephemera.  I threw in a couple pictures taken on a trail up by my parents' house just because I didn't know what else to do with them.

I got two packages in the mail today.  How many packages did you get?  I'm not trying to brag here, but two packages is a lot of packages to get in the mail.  Usually I don't get any packages.  Most of the time my mailbox is completely empty.

What did my packages contain?  Hmm, let's see.

The first one was from Amazon and contained a copy of The Wild Things by Dave Eggers.  He wrote a novel based on the children's book...or maybe he wrote a novel based on the movie that was based on the children's book...or maybe the movie version was based on the novel that was based on the children's book.  I'm not really sure.  The important thing to remember here isn't what was based on what or who was inspired by whom.  The important thing is that my copy of The Wild Things is completely encased in fur.

Yes, fur.

The other thing I got from Amazon was Patrick Alexander's guide to reading Proust.  It's called Marcel Proust's Search For Lost Time.  Unfortunately, this book is just a regular book.  It is not encased in fur.  This comes as a huge let down after The Wild Things.  From now on, I want all my books to be furry books.  I will collect my beards and glue them to books if I have to.  That is something I would do.

The other package contained one of the rarest Joe Pernice-related items.  It's the Cowboys and Injuns split 7" with Cheticamp (also featuring Joe Pernice).  Joe's song is an early version of "The Two of You Sleep", a song that later appeared on the greatest album of 1999, Chappaquiddick Skyline's Chappaquiddick Skyline.

Once again, the record is not covered in fur.  I'm fine with that, though, as I'm pretty sure fur would get in the way of the needle.  A furry record would be unplayable.  It's a special record, though.  It is, in fact, the ugliest record I've ever seen in my life.  Just have a look.  It's a blue label on mottled brown vinyl.  Ohh, hideous.

I'm currently juggling two books.  The first is a short story collection by Stephen King called Skeleton Crew.  The second is a novel by Joe Pernice called It Feels So Good When I Stop.  Late last night I read one of King's stories called "The Man Who Wouldn't Shake Hands".  In it, the titular man petted a three-legged stray that had been scrounging for food.  Then, just minutes ago, I read a line in Pernice's book that also made reference to a three-legged canine.

I definitely thought it was weird that three-legged dogs popped up in both my books within about 20 pages of each other.  In all the books I've ever read, I can't remember a single one that mentioned a three-legged dog.

Today was so beautiful that I went outside and worked out in my front yard.  I did a bunch of walking lunges up and down my driveway and did a lot of sit-ups, too.  I'm sure my neighbors will want to be friends with me now that they know I have perfect walking lunge form.  I'm expecting a knock at the door any minute now.

After that I was feeling so good that I went up to Everybody's Records and threw $80 on the counter in exchange for a whole bunch of new music.  My logic was: It's a lovely day out.  I should buy some music to celebrate.  Of course, next week when it's nasty again my logic will be: Ooh, it's icky out.  I should buy some music to make up for it.  Either way, it costs me.

But anyway, here's everything I've purchased recently neatly arranged on the floor and photographed:

• the Clientele - Bonfires on the Heath - The Clientele is my favorite music to listen to while walking to the library in the rain.
• Rufus Wainwright - Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall - I didn't know Rufus Wainwright was gay until I saw him in concert and realized I was the only guy there who didn't have another guy with him.
• Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Superwolf - I can't think of anything to say about this one.  It was only $3.99.
• Bangles - Different Light - It has recently come to my attention that the Bangles are awesome.  I had to rush out and make up for the fact that I only owned five of their songs.
• Leonard Cohen - The Essential Leonard Cohen - My dad called and asked if I wanted to go see Leonard Cohen with him up in Columbus next week.  I have no idea where this came from.  I didn't even know my dad knew who Leonard Cohen was.  I'm not one to turn down a concert when someone else is footing the bill, so I said yes.  I bought this collection the next day to make up for the fact that I only have his first four records.
• Bangles - The Essential Bangles - Once again, it has recently come to my attention that the Bangles are awesome.
• Kingsbury Manx - Ascenseur Ouvert! - I used to follow these guys pretty closely, but they fell off my radar a couple years back.  Their song "Piss Diary" (off their self-titled debut) remains one of my all-time favorites.
• Kings of Convenience - Declaration of Dependence - Quiet is the New Loud was an important record to me when it came out.  It was so important, in fact, that I've felt obligated to buy everything these guys have released since.
  
• the Smiths - The Name of Our Band is The Smiths: May We Have a Record Contract, Please? - I bought this at Half Price Books yesterday just because it looked mysterious.
• Múm - Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know - I bought the first Múm CD in Iceland in 2002.  It didn't do much for me, but I recently heard Homebody playing this one and liked it a lot.

Artist: Chris Isaak
Venue: Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, TN
Date: August 29, 2005
Song: Only the Lonely
Original Artist: Roy Orbison
Comments: My mom and my dad and my brother all piled into the car and drove down to Tennessee to see just about the only musician we can all agree on.  The entire show was impressive, but I was particularly taken with the acoustic mini-set that featured this Roy Orbison cover.  With the possible exception of Raul Malo (see below), nobody sings Orbison like Chris Isaak.

Artist: Raul Malo
Venue: Southgate House, Newport, KY
Date: October 13, 2005
Song: Hot Burrito #1
Original Artist: Flying Burrito Brothers
Comments:  I first became a Raul Malo fan during the tail-end of my unfortunate country music phase of 1993-1995.  He was the lead singer of the Mavericks back then.  They didn't fit in with the rest of the get-a-cowboy-hat-and-make-a-million-shilling-cheesy-pop-songs scene.  I still don't know what they were, but they weren't country...at least not that kind.  Blah, blah, blah.  I have no idea where I'm going with this.

Okay, just forget for a second that the song has such an unfortunate title.  What we had here was one of my all-time favorite voices singing one of my all-time favorite songs.   

Artist: Pearl Jam
Venue: Riverfront Coliseum (I refuse to recognize naming rights.)
Date: June 26, 2006
Song: Baba O'Riley
Original Artist: The Who
Comments: They sang this one with Robert Pollard (formerly of Guided By Voices).  He's a big Who fan.  The guys in Pearl Jam are big Who fans.  I'm a big Who fan.  It was sung at the same venue that saw the 1979 tragedy that killed 11 audience members before a Who concert.  Pearl Jam sounded like hell, but it seemed like an appropriate rock & roll tribute.  I'm usually not a fan of audience vocals, but I specifically remember singing along with the "Don't cry, don't raise your eye" part.

Artist: Rosanne Cash
Venue: Tall Stacks, Cincinnati, OH
Date: October 5, 2006
Song: Sea of Heartbreak
Original Artist: Don Gibson
Comments: This was one of four songs she played from her father's list of the 100 greatest country songs (aka The List).  As far as I know, Johnny Cash's list isn't in order.  If I had a similar list, "Sea of Heartbreak" would take the top spot. 

Artist: Lyle Lovett
Venue: Aronoff Center, Cincinnati, OH
Date: January 13, 2007
Song: Step Inside This House
Original Artist: Guy Clark
Comments: This was on the tour that had Lyle Lovett on the same stage as John Hiatt, Joe Ely, and Guy Clark.  They took turns singing songs and telling stories.  "Step Inside This House" is an early Guy Clark song that Lyle Lovett recorded in the late 90s.  It is, by far, my favorite thing he's ever recorded.  It was really cool to hear Lyle sing the song while the man who wrote it sat and watched.  As I mentioned in my journal from that night, "I was overwhelmed by happiness when he (Lovett) played it.  It was one of the highlights of my entire concert-going career."  I probably cried like a stupid baby, but I don't usually write down the emotional stuff.

Artist: Kim Taylor
Venue: Cincinnati Zoo, Cincinnati, OH
Date: April 26, 2007
Song: Chocolate Jesus
Original Artist: Tom Waits
Comments: I've written over 40 concert reviews since I've been on Vox, but I haven't seen many really good covers during that time.  Clare & the Reasons did a nice job with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and I enjoyed the Young Fresh Fellows doing "Revolution Blues", but neither of those really deserve to make this list.  I think the best cover I've seen in recent years was Kim Taylor singing "Chocolate Jesus" at the Cincinnati Zoo.  It's always nice to hear someone sing Tom Waits at a zoo.  I've often said that.

All you're going to hear on Sunday is how Alex Rodriguez hit a home run that helped the Yankees beat the Angels in Game 2 of the ALCS.  Screw that.  The true hero of Game 2 was Jerry Hairston Jr., who led off the bottom of the 13th inning with a single and then scored the winning run when the Angels second baseman tried to turn an impossible double play and threw the ball into left field.  All hail Jerry Hairston Jr.!

Artist: Pearl Jam
Venue: Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
Date: August 20, 2000
Song: The Kids Are Alright
Original Artist: The Who
Comments: Eddie Vedder muffed the first couple lines, but he managed to get back on track and provide one of the highlights to what was a surprisingly fantastic show at one of the area's worst music venues.  "The Kids Are Alright" was one of my first favorite Who songs.  It always reminds me of the 14-year old me who used to sit in his basement after school listening to a cheap tape of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy.

Artist: Neko Case & Her Boyfriends
Venue: Woody's Place, Columbus, OH
Date: October 19, 2000
Song: Bowling Green
Original Artist: Everly Brothers
Comments: I saw a picture of Neko Case in an issue of a British music magazine (the now shitty Uncut) and thought she was so tired-eyed and gorgeous that I just had to ditch work and drive all the way up to the OSU student union to check her out for myself.  I forgot all about her looks when I heard her sing live for the first time.  She had me and a couple dozen drunk college kids hootin' and hollerin'.  I swear I'm not kidding...I actually hooted.

Artist: Elliott Smith
Venue: Southgate House, Newport, KY
Date: November 2, 2000
Song: (Don't Fear) The Reaper
Original Artist: Blue Öyster Cult
Comments: I don't want to write about this one.  It's kind of depressing if you think about it.

Artist: Built to Spill
Venue: Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH
Date: September 8, 2001
Song: Free Bird
Original Artist: Lynyrd Skynrd
Comments: Some hole in the audience shouted out for "Free Bird" and Built to Spill then proceeded to play it.  Not only did they play it, they ripped the hell out of the song.  This wasn't some comical two minute version, either...they played the whole damn thing.

Artist: Joe Pernice
Venue: Southgate House, Newport, KY
Date: May 7, 2002
Song: Please Mr. Please
Original Artist: Olivia Newton-John
Comments: This show was Joe Pernice on acoustic guitar and Peyton Pinkerton on electric.  Peyton's volume was turned up way too loud and he just about ruined the entire night.  The only part that sounded good was the three song solo set Joe did towards the end.  Fortunately, he saved "Please Mr. Please" for that mini-set.  Joe originally recorded it with the Scud Mountain Boys, and it remains one of my personal favorites.  I consider myself lucky to have heard it live.

Artist: Richard Buckner
Venue: Southgate House, Newport, KY
Date: May 26, 2002 and January 22, 2003
Song: Breaking Us in Two
Original Artist: Joe Jackson
Comments: When given the right song, Richard Buckner can flat-out break my heart.  "Breaking Us in Two" is one of those songs.  So is "Reuben Pantier", but that's another story entirely.

Artist: Alejandro Escovedo
Venue: Southgate House, Newport, KY
Date: February 28, 2003, October 19, 2006, March 10, 2007, etc.
Song: I Wish I Was Your Mother
Original Artist: Mott the Hoople
Comments: I have seen Alejandro Escovedo at the Southgate House so many times that I honestly can't differentiate between any of the shows.  He seems to play "I Wish I Was Your Mother" at every one of them.  It's always the highlight of the night.

Artist: Calexico
Venue: Southgate House, Newport, KY
Date: March 17, 2003
Song: Alone Again Or
Original Artist: Love
Comments: My favorite song from the 60s (non-Kinks/Left Banke division) lends itself incredibly well to Calexico's whole mariachi, desert rock w/horns-thing.

Artist: Cat Power
Venue: Southgate House, Newport, KY
Date: April 16, 2003
Song: Sad Sad Song/Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
Original Artist: M. Ward/White Stripes
Comments: My journal from that night says that these were the two highlights of my first Cat Power show.  I was especially excited about the M. Ward song as I'd just discovered him about a week earlier.

Artist: James Taylor
Venue: Timberwolf Amphitheater, Cincinnati, OH
Date: August 5, 1992
Song: She Thinks I Still Care
Original Artist: George Jones
Comments: Unless Billy Joel or the Moody Blues (my first and second concerts) performed some covers I've forgotten about, James Taylor's version of "She Thinks I Still Care" goes down in history as my first legitimate cover witnessed in concert.  That alone gets it a spot on this list.

Artist: Grateful Dead
Venue: Buckeye Lake Music Center, Hebron, OH
Date: July 29, 1994
Song: The Mighty Quinn (Quinn the Eskimo)
Original Artist: Bob Dylan
Comments: After arriving three hours late and then standing in the mud while the Grateful Dead noodled their way through a bunch of crap, I finally got to hear a song I liked.  It was the last song of the night.

Artist: Phish
Venue: UIC Pavilion, Chicago, IL
Date: November 25, 1994
Song: Good Times Bad Times
Original Artist: Led Zeppelin
Comments: Don't you mock me.  I swear it was awesome.

Artist: Ben Folds Five
Venue: Club Gotham, Cincinnati, OH
Date: June 11, 1996
Song: Twin Falls/Web in Front
Original Artist: Built to Spill/Archers of Loaf
Comments: This show is the one that introduced me to what would become two of my all-time favorite pop songs, "Twin Falls" by Built to Spill, and "Web in Front" by Archers of Loaf.  At least I got something out of my mid-90s fascination with Ben Folds.

Artist: Wilco
Venue: Ripley's, Cincinnati, OH
Date: February 27, 1997
Song: Color Me Impressed
Original Artist: Replacements
Comments: I know it makes no sense, but I was actually introduced to the Replacements through Wilco.  Until then, the Replacements were just the band that "Dyslexic Heart" guy used to be in.  Wilco also played about 40 seconds of Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me" at this show.  They were kind of drunk.

Artist: Whiskeytown
Venue: The Double Door, Chicago, IL
Date: August 22, 1997
Song: Girlfriend in a Coma/Dreams
Original Artist: The Smiths/Fleetwood Mac
Comments: All the setlist websites out there skip over the fact that Ryan Adams played a solo acoustic version of "Girlfriend in a Coma" at this show.  That's because the people who administer those websites weren't actually at the shows they write about.  They rely on idiots and drunks for their information.  I was actually there...and sober.

Artist: Jeff Tweedy
Venue: Lounge Ax, Chicago, IL
Date: November 18, 1997
Song: Ever Fallen in Love/Thirteen
Original Artist: Buzzcocks/Big Star
Comments: Not only was this the best show I've ever seen, but it introduced me to both the Buzzcocks and Big Star.  On the negative side, it also introduced me to the music of Daniel Johnston.

Artist: Dwight Yoakam
Venue: Riverbend Music Center, Cincinnati, OH
Date: August 26, 1999
Song: Suspicious Minds
Original Artist: Elvis Presley
Comments: This concert also featured a rollicking version of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", but the solo acoustic version of "Suspicious Minds" topped that by far.

Artist: Afghan Whigs
Venue: Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH
Date: September 25, 1999
Song: The Boys Are Back in Town
Original Artist: Thin Lizzy
Comments: This was the band's first hometown show since Greg Dulli got his head caved in by a bouncer.  They opened the show with Thin Lizzy's only good song and then proceeded to rip through most of 1965...still my favorite Afghan Whigs album.  My notes say they also played "Little Red Corvette", but I have no real memory of that.

1. Young Fresh Fellows - Beans and Tolerance - This is the one in the above picture that has the blank white label.  It's an official bootleg album the Young Fresh Fellows put out in 1989.  It's also known as Upson Downs and Wonderfully Simple...Simply Wonderful.  Most YFF releases have multiple titles which sometimes makes it difficult to collect their stuff.  Whatever you call it, this is one of the rarest Young Fresh Fellows releases out there.  Homebody found it for $8 and gave it to me because she hardly ever listens to her vinyl.  And she is nice.
   
2. Rainy Day - Rainy Day - Rainy Day is a covers record released in 1984.  It features members of the Paisley Underground scene such as David Roback (Rain Parade), Kendra Smith (Dream Syndicate), M-----l Quercio (the Three O'Clock), and Susanna Hoffs (the Bangles).  It's hard to explain how fantastic this record is.  It's like somebody from 1984 looked into the future, found all the songs I'd like as an adult, went back to 1984, recorded them, and then sat back until I found out about it 25 years later.  Or maybe it's not like that at all.  All I know is that it's pretty much the best thing I've heard all year.  This is another gift from Homebody.
   
3. Ray Conniff - We Wish You a Merry Christmas - I will not apologize for my fascination with women in Santa outfits and knee-high boots.  No, I will not apologize.  I will not.
4. Grand Archives - Keep in Mind Frankenstein - I haven't listened to this one yet, but I heard the free track that was circulating a couple months back and it was good.  I always buy Grand Archives/Band of Horses releases on vinyl.  I'm not sure how that started.
   
5. Various Artists - A Tribute to Galaxie 500 - This is a 7" featuring four Galaxie 500 cover songs.  I'm indifferent to Galaxie 500, but I had to buy this one because the vinyl was see-through green and it featured Holiday Flyer covering "It's Getting Late".  I miss Holiday Flyer.
   
6. Various Artists - {Unusual Animals Vol. 4} - I bought this 7" to give to the Blue Manatee Children's Bookstore and Decafé, a local shop with an attached coffeehouse.  The walls of the coffeehouse are covered with manatee-related pictures and art that people have mailed in.  I really want on that wall and I figured that a small record with a manatee on the cover would work.  Unfortunately, the A-side is too good to give away, so I'm just going to keep it and forget about making the coffeehouse wall.  I do this kind of thing a lot.
7. Young Accuser - Unsound - Joe Pernice is just about my favorite songwriter ever.  He had an unblemished discography until he released this "non-fiction version of a fictional single" that supposedly features in his recent novel, It Feels So Good When I Stop (sitting unread on my bookshelf).  I don't really understand what's going on here.  I don't really need to either.  The music speaks for itself and it's not saying anything I care to hear. 
   
8. Various Artists - Live at KEXP, Volume 5 - I traded a copy of Butcher Covered by the Minus 5 to Homebody for this compilation of tracks recorded at Seattle's KEXP.  There's a lot of good stuff on here, but it also features a hard-to-listen-to version of "Midnight Man" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.  I think Nick Cave might've had a cold. 
   
9. Noah & the Whale - The First Days of Spring - I bought this one because I liked the cover art.
   
10. Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Not Animal - I bought this one because I liked the cover art...and Everybody's Records was selling it for $4.
11. Scotland Yard Gospel Choir - ...and the horse you rode in on - I thought about seeing these guys at the MidPoint Music Festival a couple weeks back, but I don't like MidPoint and didn't want to give them my money.  Then the band wrecked their van on the way home from that show and everybody got sent to the hospital.  I guess I bought this CD because I felt a little guilty.  It's not a bad record, but I must admit that I prefer their two previous releases.
12. Soulsavers - Broken - The guy who lives in the basement at Shake It Records was playing this one when I was down there last week.  Most of the vocals are by Mark Lanegan, but I bought the CD because the song "Shadows Fall" also features my personal hero, Richard Hawley.  My general rule is this: When Richard Hawley sings, I throw money around.
    
13. Young Fresh Fellows w/Richard Peterson - Mathisization - This record and the two that follow are singles released by the Young Fresh Fellows between 1990 and 1992.  This stuff would be impossible to find in Cincinnati, but Homebody picked them up for me in Seattle.  I'm not entirely sure how it worked out, but I think I traded her a copy of Destroy That Boy: More Girls With Guitars for these singles. 
14. Young Fresh Fellows - Divorce #9
    
15. Young Fresh Fellows - Stewed