Least Favorite Soundtrack of 2011 (or maybe it's just the most disappointing):
The Muppets. Simple (minded) forgettable songs, egregious use of Starship's "We Built This City", flavorless vocals and they missed the best pun possible with a chicken cover of "Fuck You" ("Cluck You" anyone?). Bret, Bret, Bret. I expected so much more. Was Jermaine really the genius of the Conchords?
Friday, December 30, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
My Favorite Soundtrack of 2011
Drive. Great movie, great soundtrack (even if it pilfered songs from the odd corners of the last 5 years) i even like the instrumentals. it's been awhile since i was that fascinated by a score. and that a score was so integral to the movie.
Sometimes, We Are All We Got
I really wasn't planning on going shopping today. Really. Just had to correct a purchase error (lack of purchase error more precisely) from yesterday and then i was done. but there it was, sitting all proud and pretty on the shelf above thursday. Poco's "The Blue and Gray" (one way records) for 6.95. i'd long since given up on this and just decided to pick up the under the gun/the blue and gray twofer import when it got down to a reasonable price (like 6.95). but instead....delightful.
and some other fun stuff:
my own copy of andy summers/robert fripp bewitched
the might lemon drops-happy head (with a pile of bonus tracks)
jefferson starship-winds of change
michael murphy-blue sky night thunder (i know, it's not worth anything, but i used to love this album and i'm quite curious to hear it again)
missing person-Greatest
men without hats-collection
and some other fun stuff:
my own copy of andy summers/robert fripp bewitched
the might lemon drops-happy head (with a pile of bonus tracks)
jefferson starship-winds of change
michael murphy-blue sky night thunder (i know, it's not worth anything, but i used to love this album and i'm quite curious to hear it again)
missing person-Greatest
men without hats-collection
When You Flew Out of the Nest
Top Five Shows of 2011:
5. Paul Simon-First Avenue. He wasn't in the best of voice and not terribly chatty, but with that body of work, he doesn't need to be. and the solo "Sounds of Silence" gave me a case of the permanente goosebumps.
4. Handsome Furs-Triple Rock. I'll give up Wolf Parade if it means i can get an album and tour a year from the HF. This show was just as good (maybe better) than the 7th street entry show for Face Control. Get in, get played, get out in around an hour. my clothes are still vibrating.
3. My Morning Jacket-Rock the Garden. Now i know what all the fuss about RtG and MMJ live is all about. I think that might have been the best spectacle show i've ever seen. Yim is a rock god. now about that neko case performance.....
2. Noah and the Whale-First Avenue. i tried to keep this off my list. i really did. i can't wait to see them again.
1. Peter, Bjorn and John-First Avenue. ok, first off, i didn't get nearly trampled so that was good. secondly, this was my third time seeing them and by far and away my number one favorite time. thirdly, that Young Folks to Second Chance sequence was dynamite.
5. Paul Simon-First Avenue. He wasn't in the best of voice and not terribly chatty, but with that body of work, he doesn't need to be. and the solo "Sounds of Silence" gave me a case of the permanente goosebumps.
4. Handsome Furs-Triple Rock. I'll give up Wolf Parade if it means i can get an album and tour a year from the HF. This show was just as good (maybe better) than the 7th street entry show for Face Control. Get in, get played, get out in around an hour. my clothes are still vibrating.
3. My Morning Jacket-Rock the Garden. Now i know what all the fuss about RtG and MMJ live is all about. I think that might have been the best spectacle show i've ever seen. Yim is a rock god. now about that neko case performance.....
2. Noah and the Whale-First Avenue. i tried to keep this off my list. i really did. i can't wait to see them again.
1. Peter, Bjorn and John-First Avenue. ok, first off, i didn't get nearly trampled so that was good. secondly, this was my third time seeing them and by far and away my number one favorite time. thirdly, that Young Folks to Second Chance sequence was dynamite.
To Be a Remainder
Death Cab for Cutie
First Avenue
May 22, 2011
I really hate that "will call" arm band shit. what am i supposed to put on my wall? and it's much easier just to sell a ticket if you have a hard copy instead of having to meet some person in the line at the depot so you can get your armbands together (hell....i felt like a part of Roma di Luna for a couple months) to say nothing of the problems presented if you can't go to the show and just want to flip both tix. (funny how nobody is a capitalist, but i've never seen such selfish socialists)
but i digress.
DCFC was awesome from the get go and i was mesmerized the entire show (ok, ben gibbard's long sweaty hair was awful and i can see why Zooey left him because he wouldn't get it cut...but otherwise) Place was packed, but we had the wall so things could not have been more perfect. Openers were ok (but i do need to stop buying cds by the opening act....i think i picked that up from Shawn)
They had me from the first bass lines of "I Will Possess Your Heart" and did i mention the super handsome bass player? no? the bass player is really hot, and he walked by the line whilst we were waiting to get in the doors, which is sorta cool and nobody freaked too much when he passed by) but this show rolled all the way through. I'm not 100% deep into them, but they played a setlist comprised of 75% of the songs i know and love (and most of the ones i didn't know were from the Codes and Keys disc, which was just about to come out) but even the older and newest titles held me rapt. Highlights obviously were "Long Division", Soul Meets Body" and "Crooked Teeth" but that's just picking teeth. Everything was great. Tortillamask put a pile of the show up on YouTube. check it out and get a feel for the show. (http://www.youtube.com/user/tortillamask)
Set list below.
I Will Possess Your Heart / The New Year / Why You'd Want to Live Here / A Movie Script Ending / Some Boys / Doors Unlocked and Open / Photobooth / Long Division / Grapevine Fires / Codes and Keys / What Sarah Said / I Will Follow You into the Dark / You Are a Tourist / Underneath The Sycamore / Meet Me on the Equinox / Company Calls / Soul Meets Body / Cath... / Crooked Teeth / The Sound of Settling ENCORE: Home Is a Fire / Title and Registration / Transatlanticism
First Avenue
May 22, 2011
I really hate that "will call" arm band shit. what am i supposed to put on my wall? and it's much easier just to sell a ticket if you have a hard copy instead of having to meet some person in the line at the depot so you can get your armbands together (hell....i felt like a part of Roma di Luna for a couple months) to say nothing of the problems presented if you can't go to the show and just want to flip both tix. (funny how nobody is a capitalist, but i've never seen such selfish socialists)
but i digress.
DCFC was awesome from the get go and i was mesmerized the entire show (ok, ben gibbard's long sweaty hair was awful and i can see why Zooey left him because he wouldn't get it cut...but otherwise) Place was packed, but we had the wall so things could not have been more perfect. Openers were ok (but i do need to stop buying cds by the opening act....i think i picked that up from Shawn)
They had me from the first bass lines of "I Will Possess Your Heart" and did i mention the super handsome bass player? no? the bass player is really hot, and he walked by the line whilst we were waiting to get in the doors, which is sorta cool and nobody freaked too much when he passed by) but this show rolled all the way through. I'm not 100% deep into them, but they played a setlist comprised of 75% of the songs i know and love (and most of the ones i didn't know were from the Codes and Keys disc, which was just about to come out) but even the older and newest titles held me rapt. Highlights obviously were "Long Division", Soul Meets Body" and "Crooked Teeth" but that's just picking teeth. Everything was great. Tortillamask put a pile of the show up on YouTube. check it out and get a feel for the show. (http://www.youtube.com/user/tortillamask)
Set list below.
I Will Possess Your Heart / The New Year / Why You'd Want to Live Here / A Movie Script Ending / Some Boys / Doors Unlocked and Open / Photobooth / Long Division / Grapevine Fires / Codes and Keys / What Sarah Said / I Will Follow You into the Dark / You Are a Tourist / Underneath The Sycamore / Meet Me on the Equinox / Company Calls / Soul Meets Body / Cath... / Crooked Teeth / The Sound of Settling ENCORE: Home Is a Fire / Title and Registration / Transatlanticism
Operator Put Me Through
The Kills
First Avenue
May 5, 2011
Memory bites me on this one. I know it was a great show (and Alison Mosshart is rock god personified, right up there with Karen O) but i can't quite drawn down on this one. Surely, i remember that Cold Cave pretty much were annoying as hell, trying my patience with their overly theatrical antics, but about the kills? You are gonna have to fill in the blanks, cos it's just not there.
First Avenue
May 5, 2011
Memory bites me on this one. I know it was a great show (and Alison Mosshart is rock god personified, right up there with Karen O) but i can't quite drawn down on this one. Surely, i remember that Cold Cave pretty much were annoying as hell, trying my patience with their overly theatrical antics, but about the kills? You are gonna have to fill in the blanks, cos it's just not there.
Had a Dream
Hot damn. Although i didn't have it on my rocket list (mostly because i thought both were done entities) i'm going to a super cool show in march.
Roger Hodgson at Hinckley.
how cool? although i knew he still toured on occassion (dude has done exactly one original album since Hai Hai in 87) i certainly never expected him to come this way, what with the demise of Taste of Minnesota and all. Ok, it's not that grand supertramp reunion that EVERYONE has longed for (how can it be a real 40th reunion without Roger anyway), but this will be good (and i always favored him more than Rick Davies anyway).
Roger Hodgson at Hinckley.
how cool? although i knew he still toured on occassion (dude has done exactly one original album since Hai Hai in 87) i certainly never expected him to come this way, what with the demise of Taste of Minnesota and all. Ok, it's not that grand supertramp reunion that EVERYONE has longed for (how can it be a real 40th reunion without Roger anyway), but this will be good (and i always favored him more than Rick Davies anyway).
Friday, December 23, 2011
Holy Grail Update
found another holy grail item last night. the debut from the bears. a little dear at 19.95, but still...it's all about the music, right. it's been a good year for holy grails. picked up the following:
Bears s/t
Bears Rise and Shine (although i was a little irked that i paid 13.95 and two weeks later they had a copy for 8.95)
Birtles and Gobles the last romance
Glenn Shorrock Villain of the Peace (australian version, no "don't girls get lonely, but three tracks i hadn't heard before)
Greg Kihn Kinhspiracy
Naked Eyes Very Best (melloy found this one, but he was kind enough to make me a copy....same difference)
Nick Lowe Nick the Knife
Peter Wolf Lights Out (probably my best find all year. 4.99)
Poco Under the Gun ($20 new, then i flipped it for $45. course, i didn't make a copy)
Radio Daze (vol 4,5)
Sheena Easton Private Heaven (One Way)
few holy grail additions (irks me that i let a couple of these cc editions through my hands-sold both 24 carrots and modern times for a pittance...kinda dumb, but i guess i thought they would be more common)
al stewart-russians and americans (collectors choice)
al stewart-last days of the century (collectors choice)
al stewart-orange (cc)
al stewart-between the wars (cc)
al stewart-indian summer (cc) (i have a copy copied from the library, but still)
jesse winchester-nothing but a breeze
jesse winchester-3rd down 110 to go
jesse winchester-let the rough side drag
jesse winchester-touch on the rainy side
kenny rodgers-we've got tonight (i know, i know)
Bears s/t
Bears Rise and Shine (although i was a little irked that i paid 13.95 and two weeks later they had a copy for 8.95)
Birtles and Gobles the last romance
Glenn Shorrock Villain of the Peace (australian version, no "don't girls get lonely, but three tracks i hadn't heard before)
Greg Kihn Kinhspiracy
Naked Eyes Very Best (melloy found this one, but he was kind enough to make me a copy....same difference)
Nick Lowe Nick the Knife
Peter Wolf Lights Out (probably my best find all year. 4.99)
Poco Under the Gun ($20 new, then i flipped it for $45. course, i didn't make a copy)
Radio Daze (vol 4,5)
Sheena Easton Private Heaven (One Way)
few holy grail additions (irks me that i let a couple of these cc editions through my hands-sold both 24 carrots and modern times for a pittance...kinda dumb, but i guess i thought they would be more common)
al stewart-russians and americans (collectors choice)
al stewart-last days of the century (collectors choice)
al stewart-orange (cc)
al stewart-between the wars (cc)
al stewart-indian summer (cc) (i have a copy copied from the library, but still)
jesse winchester-nothing but a breeze
jesse winchester-3rd down 110 to go
jesse winchester-let the rough side drag
jesse winchester-touch on the rainy side
kenny rodgers-we've got tonight (i know, i know)
Sunday, December 18, 2011
The Year in Van
ok. so i couldn't figure out how many cds van has sold over his career vs how many al stewart has sold. although al stewart probably had more top forty hits (at least 2 top tens). not that that means anything.
i tallied up my van work. in the time i've been doing this, i've bought and flipped 74 van albums*. only once did i not turn a profit, and that was because the cd got lost in the mail. foolish me for not doing delivery confirmation (and it was a remastered poetics, so even more fool me). My biggest profit was $38 and 45 of the sales made a $10 or more profit (10 of the sales were for a profit of more than $20). i won't blather on about titles, i can email you the list if you are interested, in case you want to cash in (doesn't bother me). At this point, there are basically 5 left that are reliably out of print. Why i keep finding them, i don't really know. i rarely sit on them for any amount of time before they flip. my cost on those 74 sales was 617.55. profit to me was 926.10. so i more than doubled my money. not bad.
For 2011 along, i had 23 van sales. cost to me was 182.02 and profit was 380.26. only 6 of the sales were for more than $20 profit, which is a bit of a surprise. i would have thought van was a bigger chunk of my overall profit. the standard 5 titles, either in polydor or mercury, with the exception of saint, which is ONLY polydor (period is also good, but i've only seen that once).
*This count is not including them cds, which adds eight more to the count, all the "them featuring van morrison" disc and all making me between $8 and $10 profit.
i tallied up my van work. in the time i've been doing this, i've bought and flipped 74 van albums*. only once did i not turn a profit, and that was because the cd got lost in the mail. foolish me for not doing delivery confirmation (and it was a remastered poetics, so even more fool me). My biggest profit was $38 and 45 of the sales made a $10 or more profit (10 of the sales were for a profit of more than $20). i won't blather on about titles, i can email you the list if you are interested, in case you want to cash in (doesn't bother me). At this point, there are basically 5 left that are reliably out of print. Why i keep finding them, i don't really know. i rarely sit on them for any amount of time before they flip. my cost on those 74 sales was 617.55. profit to me was 926.10. so i more than doubled my money. not bad.
For 2011 along, i had 23 van sales. cost to me was 182.02 and profit was 380.26. only 6 of the sales were for more than $20 profit, which is a bit of a surprise. i would have thought van was a bigger chunk of my overall profit. the standard 5 titles, either in polydor or mercury, with the exception of saint, which is ONLY polydor (period is also good, but i've only seen that once).
*This count is not including them cds, which adds eight more to the count, all the "them featuring van morrison" disc and all making me between $8 and $10 profit.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Let the Wild Rumpus Begin!
worst show of the year:
fleet foxes.
even if the sound would have been better, they were a bunch of a-holes. "this is art, worship us. or at least smear us in adulation and praise us every 5 minutes" suburban white parenting gone so very very wrong. blech.
1st runners up:
gang of four
i waited so long to be so bored. and nobody needed to see that belly. NO BODY!
fleet foxes.
even if the sound would have been better, they were a bunch of a-holes. "this is art, worship us. or at least smear us in adulation and praise us every 5 minutes" suburban white parenting gone so very very wrong. blech.
1st runners up:
gang of four
i waited so long to be so bored. and nobody needed to see that belly. NO BODY!
Friday, December 9, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
They Couldn't Just Hand Out Cash?
bastiches!
of course they are ONLY giving out credits which we would have to use on future ticket purchases. what do you want to bet its one credit per transaction and there's this extra $5 charge to "apply settlement credit to transaction"
occupy ticketmaster!!!!
of course they are ONLY giving out credits which we would have to use on future ticket purchases. what do you want to bet its one credit per transaction and there's this extra $5 charge to "apply settlement credit to transaction"
occupy ticketmaster!!!!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Can I Get a Show of Hands?
Does anybody really care about the grammys?
Grammy comments (questions mostly).
1. how is bon iver best new artist?
2. how can fleet foxes be in the best folk category?
3. why on earth do they have song AND record of the year when it's pretty much the same songs?
4. foo fighters for best album? really? is this a lifetime (blandness) achievement award?
5. weren't mumford and sons popular back in 2009? (and Little Lion Man was a way better record/song/song/record than "The Cave")
6. it's really sad that 21 is the best album nominated in that category. it's not even on my top ten anymore.
7. pop performance for "Firework". the song is catchy, but she's flat even with autotune.
8. if they are looking to get rid of categories, how about best pop duo/group?
9. or best pop vocal album (cats in heat sing better than three of the nominees)
10. did i see some love for cut copy? (hooray!) but how about m83?
11. seth mcfarlane? really? sheesh.
12. coldplay? rock? not so much.
13. seriously, do they decide of 5 "rock" acts and just repeat them in every category. cripes.
14. not a single alternative rock nominee will be in my top 10 (or even top 20) besides, i thought foster the people were pop, how can they be alternative?
15. if R. Kelly gets a nomination, can we expect jerry sanduskey to get a spoken word nomination in 5 years?
16. El Debarge, R. Kelly and Chris Brown. man, their PR people deserve a raise
17. Rap/Sung collaboration? isn't that just rap?
18. Has there ever been such a polarizing figure as Kanye? Love his stuff (but dude...edit a little) but can not stand his public persona.
19. I really don't know rap at all, cos those album nominees look good to me.
20. i have no comment on the country nominations, although taylor swift makes a great britney spears.
21. i've mentioned how my dream ambition is to win a grammy for best liner notes, right (best album notes)
22. there should be a best reissue grammy.
23. ok. too many categories to go through. i'm done for now.
Grammy comments (questions mostly).
1. how is bon iver best new artist?
2. how can fleet foxes be in the best folk category?
3. why on earth do they have song AND record of the year when it's pretty much the same songs?
4. foo fighters for best album? really? is this a lifetime (blandness) achievement award?
5. weren't mumford and sons popular back in 2009? (and Little Lion Man was a way better record/song/song/record than "The Cave")
6. it's really sad that 21 is the best album nominated in that category. it's not even on my top ten anymore.
7. pop performance for "Firework". the song is catchy, but she's flat even with autotune.
8. if they are looking to get rid of categories, how about best pop duo/group?
9. or best pop vocal album (cats in heat sing better than three of the nominees)
10. did i see some love for cut copy? (hooray!) but how about m83?
11. seth mcfarlane? really? sheesh.
12. coldplay? rock? not so much.
13. seriously, do they decide of 5 "rock" acts and just repeat them in every category. cripes.
14. not a single alternative rock nominee will be in my top 10 (or even top 20) besides, i thought foster the people were pop, how can they be alternative?
15. if R. Kelly gets a nomination, can we expect jerry sanduskey to get a spoken word nomination in 5 years?
16. El Debarge, R. Kelly and Chris Brown. man, their PR people deserve a raise
17. Rap/Sung collaboration? isn't that just rap?
18. Has there ever been such a polarizing figure as Kanye? Love his stuff (but dude...edit a little) but can not stand his public persona.
19. I really don't know rap at all, cos those album nominees look good to me.
20. i have no comment on the country nominations, although taylor swift makes a great britney spears.
21. i've mentioned how my dream ambition is to win a grammy for best liner notes, right (best album notes)
22. there should be a best reissue grammy.
23. ok. too many categories to go through. i'm done for now.
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