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Tuesday, March 02, 2010 Something Left To Be Desired  Somehow Chatroulette is even less satisfying than 90s chatrooms were. Labels: lolgore, memories, quicksnaps posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 3/02/2010 11:53:00 PM 1 comments Thursday, January 07, 2010 Been A Fan  This is, I believe, the first and probably last time I will ever write about Nirvana: For the past month I have been overcome by yet another one of my biannual Nirvana swoons, whereby I read an article about an upcoming Nirvana release and suddenly dive back into their catalog, wondering whether I might fall in love with Kurt & Co all over again. In 2002, it was the release of "You Know You're Right"; 2004, the With The Lights Out box set; 2006, Live! Tonight! Sold Out! re-release; and now this year, the Live at Reading release. It always happens. Like many men my age, I loved the shit out of Nirvana in the early to mid 90s, listening obsessively to their four studio records, and then MTV Unplugged, and then (far less so) the '96 live record From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah. But also like many kids of that age, I was mostly interested in the hits, and so what got perhaps the most plays of all was a homemade tape I made compiling the singles/best from Nevermind, In Utero, and Incesticide, plus and "About a Girl" and "Love Buzz" from Bleach (ie, a variation of this). Despite the at-the-end-of-the-day greatness, Nirvana were a band that spent a lot of time pumping out non-poppy sonic sludge, and this meant that a lot of tunes were frequently passed over by me during the band's '91-'95 heyday (though I loved the shit out of the uncharacteristically tuneful Unplugged) Of course, as I grew older, the way I heard music changed and eventually a more developed and nuanced sense of taste and patience led me back to many of the tunes I'd previously overlooked, namely the snarly In Utero, the second--non-singles--halves of Nevermind and Incesticide (my feelings on Bleach though are still more or less the same). The first point I really remember reconnecting with Nirvana in an adult-fashion was my freshman year of college, almost immediately after getting there that fall. I had at that point had been getting heavily into indie rock for the few years prior and was no longer really giving much time to anything I'd cared about musically between ages 10-14. Nothing new Nirvana-related was released at the time, but this was in the heyday of Napster and I remember that a boy down the hall from me would blast a bootleg called Outcestide featuring lots of Nirvana I'd never even heard before$$$. At the time I generally had a policy of disavowing bootlegs for their shitty sound quality and the fact that a band may not have intended for people to hear the material~~~, Outcesticide, hearing Cobain screaming through my hall made me pick up his records and get into them all over again. I gave each of them many spins, but rising above it all was both the joy and sadness of finally understanding the shining moment that is In Utero, far and away the best thing Nirvana ever put to record. The tunes on In Utero are an astonishing mix of melody and rage like almost nothing else. Beginning with opener "Serve The Servants", the searing guitar wails of which are like the broken bit nails of bloodied fingers screeching down a chalk board--ie, magical aurality that resonates intense terror deep within one's gutheart. In Utero is a record that pummels and rarely relents; even mid-record quiet moment "Dumb" feels like a welcome*** and a momentary two and a half minute breather between devastation. When some people are down and out, they want to drown themselves in seas of blunt-force sound ala thrash or Merzbow or whatever, but when I'm on the mental shitter I want more than ever to hear my rage led by the voice of someone who understands me and feels my pain and truly there are few other records I can think of that I so significantly connect with in these kinds of moments than In Utero. From there In Utero stayed in my general disc rotation, but the rest of the catalog drifted away for the next couple years until late 2002 when the much ballyhooed "You Know You're Right" leaked to the internet and suddenly, for the first time since '96^^^a best of featuring nothing else new--bad feelings muted because once again I was connected with the great records I'd forgotten. In 2003, I began for the first time in almost ten years to care about rap music again and my thoughts went elsewhere, returning Nirvana to its place on the backburner again until Christmas 2004 when, finally, my prayers were answered and the longcoming Nirvana box With The Lights Out was released. I did not immediately pick it up though and was stunned after seeing review after review panning it as a disappointment. Bewildered, I finally got the set and discovered that my fears were confirmed--that there was in fact almost no "secret gold" to speak of. Despite the fact that With The Lights Out is well-worth a listen and filled with recordings few have heard before, the bottom line is that it was actually tremendously short on new songs. Of the 51 songs, the vast majority were either previously released b-sides, very rough demos or pre-Bleach tunes (presenting little value to me). Leaving just four actually new, previously unreleased peak-era (90-94) songs--"Old Age", "Verse Chorus Verse", "Return of the Rat", "Do Re Mi" (only a demo but worth it). This is not to say that I'd had much exposure to many of the additional b-sides and so they were still welcome to my hears, but it meant that more than half of the box amounted to poorly recorded demos and late 80s sludge. Boo. As perhaps an unintentionally ironic homage to the past, I fashioned myself a 16 track "Condensed Version" of the set boiled down to the good new songs and b-sides plus the 3 decent sounding songs from disc one I was remotely interested in ("Pen Cap Chew", "Even In His Youth", and "Token Eastern Song"). And even this, honestly is a bit of a bummer road. But while I'm describing this irony as coincidental, it also hits upon the fact that as great as Nirvana were in theory, they were tremendously overrated as an actual band that made records. Because, at the end of the day, they really didn't make that many records--just TWO great albums--Nevermind and In Utero, plus Unplugged, since it's basically completely different--and the rest is a tremendously mixed bag of random gems and forgetable filler. Incesticide has probably 8 or so great tracks and 7 toss-offs and, again, Bleach has two great tracks and a lot of promise. Some of the b-sides and outtakes are GREAT ("Sappy", "Verse Chorus Verse", "Old Age", "Do Re Mi", "Return of the Rat", and Dave Grohl's proto-Foo "Marigold@@@ namely), but the rest are fresher and cleaner versions of the forgettable early shit ("Curmudgeon", "Oh the Guilt", "I Hate Myself And Want to Die"). Which, at the end of the day, doesn't amount to a lot of quantity. But... god... the highs. Honestly. The best of this fucking band is just so good, such a precious and unique combination of power, rage, His Voice and tunefulness that few have ever approached. So much so that, outside of played-everywhere-forever "Teen Spirit" I will probably never truly tire of hearing this band. And if you could come up with some kind of ratio of "never getting sick of a band" to "amount of tunes recorded" they would probably be the King Ducks. POSTSCRIPT: What else is there left to say about Nirvana? Well, let me say a few final things about the live releases--in particular, the new Live at Reading--and what might still be unreleased. The Nirvana MTV Unplugged release is, of course, canonical--so great and significant that it is arguably as important as either In Utero or Nevermind. And if you like Nirvana, you've most definitely listened to it a million times all ready, so I won't say anything more about it. From The Muddy Banks of The Wishkah, while a solid live record, was mostly significant to me upon its release for the aforementioned release of "Spank Thru" (actually Kurt's first ever song). As having always been an "album guy", I always had mixed feelings about this release and it's up-and-down sound quality--but, it is without doubt a great and worthy record, and if you could handle the lesser fidelity, it serves as a superior single disc primer to the tame 2002 best of. I should listen to Muddy Banks again, because I haven't in years since my cd was destroyed and I'm curious what i'll think about it in light of... ... Live at Reading, the newest and possibly last (for a while) release by Nirvana of any value. While having the added value of feeling like a whole rather than a compilation of odd parts, Reading outperforms Wishkah for also being more energetic, frenetic and fun. Plus it features one more dangled carrot in the form of never-before-released "The Money Will Roll Right In"--definitely forgettable "minor Nirvana", but still noteworthy in 2010 nonetheless. In fact, the only bummer road about Reading is that, like Wishkah, it too favors album cuts over b-sides (understandable, but a disappointment to crazy people nonetheless), and that the show took place in 1992, meaning that only three cuts from In Utero appear--"Tourette's", "All Apologies" and "Dumb"--and the latter two are somewhat gestational. But seriously! If you have any space in your life or heart in 2010 for Nirvana, you should really pick this record up. And the rest? Krist Novoselic said last March that, sadly, there are no unreleased Nirvana songs left and "there aren't going to be any new Nirvana records%%%." Outcesticide and Chosen Rejects collections. A lot of the best material on both of these five and four disc sets has since been released on With The Lights Out, but have fun with the rest if you really gotta. POST-POSTSCRIPT That's pretty much it. Last I leave you with a shitload of footnotes, a handful of arbitrary "Top Five" lists and five mp3s worth checking out. Of the mp3s, I'm giving you: --two tracks from Live at Reading, including "new to you" "Money Will Roll Right In" --"Ain't It A Shame", a weird tongue-in-cheek Leadbelly cover from 1989 that is the closest Nirvana ever got to country --"All Apologies (demo)", from the Chosen Rejects comp, in an early, laid back form sounding almost like Ryan Adams (well, not really). Would go from curious to amazing were a) the lyrics actually written and b) the vox not buried in the sand. But it is what it is. --"Love Buzz", a great version from largely unreleased Peel Sessions OK. NOTES: $$$ -- It's entirely possible hearing these tunes and being surprised I didn't know anything about them is what first triggered my future obsessive desires to collect the fuck out of the detritus of any band that I ever truly loved. ~~~ -- Umm, yeah... seriously. It's hard for me to believe it as I type, but I remember those faux-righteous days so clearly. Things change, indeed. *** -- "Dumb" and In Utero closer "All Apologies" are children to Nevermind quiet counterparts "Polly" and "Something In The Way", but where each of the latter two lag with energy and sag with forced "intensity", In Utero's softer moments enrapture and possess, and "All Apologies" of course doesn't even stay quiet, as it opens up and rages for its outro chorus. ^^^ -- The live record Muddy Banks of the Wishkah was released in '96 and contained the more or less unreleased track "Spank Thru", the first and only "new" Nirvana track since In Utero. @@@ -- Curiously, you can hear an audience member shout out "Marigold" in the video version of MTV Unplugged after Kurt says "What should we play next?" Obviously this wasn't happening. FIELD STUDIES  "Suggested bass and treble positions" printed in the liner notes to In Utero. I have never before or since seen a band do this. The Five More Or Less Best "Nirvana Records" In Order Of Personal Favoritism: 1. In Utero 2. MTV Unplugged 3. Nevermind 4. Live at Reading 5. Incesticide The Five Favorite Nirvana Songs Of Jeffrey Beaumont, In An Actual Order: 1. Serve the Servants 2. Drain You 3. All Apologies 4. Molly's Lips 5. Old Age The Five Best Nirvana Songs You May Have Never Heard (All Of Which Are On The Box Set): 1. Old Age 2. Verse Chorus Verse 3. Sappy (formerly called "Verse Chorus Verse") 4. Do Re Mi 5. Return of the Rat (Wipers cover) Five RandomNotes On Nirvana I Would Like to Share: 1. In Utero is by far the best Nirvana record 2. The Butch Vig production on Nevermind is total shit and makes that record sound dated in a way that the rest of their recorded music--even Bleach--doesn't. 3. "Something In The Way" would have been more effective without the strings, and possibly even just as Kurt acoustic. 4. "Drain You" is the best song from Nevermind 5. I wish this asshole had kept his shit together because he probably could have made a few more great Nirvana records Five Nirvana Songs Available For You Now: 1. Nirvana - "Drain You", from Live at Reading 2. Nirvana - "The Money Will Roll Right in", from Live at Reading 3. Nirvana - "Ain't It A Shame", demo from Leadbelly Sessions, released on With The Lights Out 4. Nirvana - "All Apologies (demo)", bootlegged unreleased demo, from Chosen Rejects 5. Nirvana - "Love Buzz", from unreleased Peel Session 1989 Labels: heroes, loved sounds, memories, mp3, music posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 1/07/2010 09:48:00 PM 2 comments 2
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Monday, January 04, 2010 It Really Doesn't Matter, Does It? EK: did you go to the phish show recently? JeffreyBeaumont: no no JeffreyBeaumont: never again JeffreyBeaumont: i saw i dunno, a bunch of shows JeffreyBeaumont: from 95-2000 EK: not that bad JeffreyBeaumont: ha well it would have been much much worse if i'd had more money and more freedom JeffreyBeaumont: one buzz-harshing i can retroactively thank my parents for EK: haha EK: did you like that band the cheesestring evidence EK: or whatever its called EK: cheesecake incident JeffreyBeaumont: hahhahahhaah JeffreyBeaumont: no JeffreyBeaumont: thank god EK: wait, what is it called?? JeffreyBeaumont: stringcheese incident EK: yes! EK: thank you Somehow I like imagining The Cheesecake Incident as a polka band of obese midwesterners slyly and shamefully glancing at one another as they waddle across a stage and put out requests for waltzes and "wild ones". Labels: deprarious, lolgore, memories, music posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 1/04/2010 11:16:00 PM 0 comments Saturday, January 02, 2010 Backwatering  "Childhood Ghosts I: School". Larger here. For whatever reason this afternoon I became possessed with the idea that I needed to listen to the Meat Puppets and so I pulled out No Strings Attached, the "best of" covering their SST years (read: pre-mainstream entry). In listening to No Strings, I was reminded of a conversation I had a few years back with a friend about why the Meat Puppets weren't included as one of the thirteen hallowed bands featured in Michael Azerrad's seminal Our Band Could Be Your Life (note: if you haven't read this shit, you really should read this shit). He felt their exclusion was surprising given their influential melding of punk and country and their proximity to and relationship with so many of the other bands in this book. My argument more or less came down to, "Well... for whatever reason, I never really want to listen to these guys once I put their records on..." Which probably isn't fair: my ears don't necessarily mean shit, and many regard the second MP record II to be among the canonical 80s post-hardcore records--a record which, in addition to being "important", most famously features three songs chosen as covers by Nirvana for their MTV Unplugged session--"Lake of Fire", "Plateau", and "Oh, Me"--with even Puppeteers Curt and Cris Kirkwood assisting. But, well, Kurt's versions of all three cuts are superior to the originals, and the rest of II... I dunno. Just plays like the kind of thing that looks better on paper than in product. Weirdly though, the one Meat Puppets track I've ever held dear to my heart isn't even on No Strings Attached, but instead came after SST and after Nirvana--the '94 single "Backwater" off second major label effort Too High To Die. Some of you may remember "Backwater", as it reached #2 on the "Modern Rock" charts and achieved a certain degree of popularity amongst grunge-leaning teens in the mid-90s, offering a tuneful and even bouncy blend of early 90s standard riffs with a bit of J Mascis-lite guitar thrown in. It also sounds almost nothing like anything on No Strings (covering the band up to 1990) and, honestly, like an entirely different band than the squawking stone-grags who performed "Lake of Fire". And I can't even say that it's a Lost & Forgotten Great Song, because it isn't, but I wanted to hear it today and so there you go. Here it is, in fact: LISTEN: Meat Puppets - "Backwater", from Too High To Die Meat Puppets - "Lake of Fire", from II And of course, Nirvana doing "Oh, Me" from MTV Unplugged, with a little help from Cris and Curt Kirkwood: posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 1/02/2010 01:47:00 AM 0 comments Wednesday, October 21, 2009 And She Was  Lil' Beau, sometime between 99-01? All Children Grow Up, eventually. It's nice to find old memories of lives lived and lost, sometimes. Labels: family, Lil Beau, memories posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 10/21/2009 12:21:00 AM 1 comments 1
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Sunday, October 18, 2009 A Writ Of Exit Did Not Exist
could get any worse in this bus, i'd be plowing through that window. A few additional thoughts: --Lil Beau pointed out that this Arby's must do real well if a --It has so definitively hit the point of fall>into>winter, as --After Joanna, I was still looking for kind of appropriately dark and ----- And please, dear god, let this bus ride end.
Labels: crushes, Joanna Newsom I Love You., memories, Modest Mouse, My Love Of The Imaginary West, quickthoughts, thoughts, words posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 10/18/2009 05:31:00 PM 0 comments Wednesday, October 14, 2009 Down By The Playing Fields, Someone Sets A Car On Fire  There's something about listening to mid 90s British pop music that makes me nostalgic for a bittersweetly happy time in my life that never even existed. LISTEN: Pulp - "Mile End", from Second Class and Trainspotting OST Labels: England, memories, mp3, music posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 10/14/2009 01:33:00 PM 2 comments 2
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009 Re-appraisals: Upon Which Our Heroes Get Excited And Then Rapidly Disappointed By Ill Communication  In our fourth attempt at revisiting our musical pasts, Jayson and I chose the Beastie Boys' Ill Communication, and were quickly reminded how absence can make the heart grow fonder... and an unexpected return can remind the heart why relations were lost. This is insanely long, so don't read unless you are bored or think you really love(d) mid 90s Beastie Boys. -------------- jaychampvinyl: I'm ready styrofoamfuror: GO styrofoamfuror: i have not listened to this in so long styrofoamfuror: and the last time i did in earnest, i knew so so little about rap music jaychampvinyl: I am liking this so much already jaychampvinyl: last time I heard this, the things I knew about rap were via osmosis jaychampvinyl: 1) Public Enemy are cool jaychampvinyl: 2) Skee Lo has a great song styrofoamfuror: i knew all about "gangsta rap" styrofoamfuror: and the Cypress Hill/House of Pain crew jaychampvinyl: right jaychampvinyl: I guess I did too jaychampvinyl: but I didn't care for it styrofoamfuror: by college i knew about groups like Tribe and Black Star and Dilated Peoples and J5 styrofoamfuror: but what i still knew nothing about was New York hiphop and "classic hiphop" jaychampvinyl: right styrofoamfuror: (some of which overlappped) jaychampvinyl: by college, I had figured out some Wu Tang, Jay Z's REasonable Doubt, and Nas's Illmatifc jaychampvinyl: tho I didn't spend tons of time with any of it jaychampvinyl: I had the first Wu Tang record, I had supreme clientele jaychampvinyl: and those two records jaychampvinyl: others: Lauryn Hill, The Roots THings Fall Apart, Black Star jaychampvinyl: Eminem's Marshal Mathers LP jaychampvinyl: and this and Paul's Boutique jaychampvinyl: probbbbbbably about it jaychampvinyl: oof, "Tough Guy"--this fake Bad Brains shit has aged terribly jaychampvinyl: and wasn't ever really even good, actually jaychampvinyl: just kinda meant to signify that this was also something that you needed to like if you were going to get down with the new multiculti handbook jaychampvinyl: so they kinda served as DJs styrofoamfuror: i remmeber that Tough Guy and Heart Attack man never sat well with me styrofoamfuror: B-Boys Makin with the Freak Freak sounds like mid 90s Beck styrofoamfuror: a lot styrofoamfuror: or perhaps vice versa jaychampvinyl: yes jaychampvinyl: not sure which way that goes either styrofoamfuror: though i have repeated the line, "If i knew it was gonna be this kind of party...." styrofoamfuror: sooooooo many times jaychampvinyl: It actually just sounds like a complete retread of "So Whatcha Want" jaychampvinyl: kinda interesting, tho: this still sounds "cool!" styrofoamfuror: i think i forgot that by this point especially they were frequently using effects on their voices styrofoamfuror: to compensate for the fact that they were three reedy sounding white dudes jaychampvinyl: I was kinda expecting for this to be cringeworthy jaychampvinyl: in a way jaychampvinyl: the production, in particular, I was thinking would sound terrible styrofoamfuror: i suspect it is much less cringeworthy than Check Yr Head would sound now jaychampvinyl: yes! jaychampvinyl: seconded styrofoamfuror: i remember 10 years ago being sorta alone in preferring Ill Communication over that record (whatever nonsense that means) jaychampvinyl: yeah, me too jaychampvinyl: John told me that Ill Communication was just a poppier version of Check Your Head styrofoamfuror: it's also more of an actual rap album styrofoamfuror: Check Yr Head is more a not great rock/funk album styrofoamfuror: Root Down still sounds great styrofoamfuror: god the samples they used were so fucking tasteful jaychampvinyl: I know!!!!! jaychampvinyl: this record is fucking great jaychampvinyl: GREAT styrofoamfuror: back then i sort of didn't understand sampling and just figured they made everything styrofoamfuror: i'd never heard ANY of these samples jaychampvinyl: oh man, same here jaychampvinyl: maybe not as much here, because they talked so much about finding old funk records jaychampvinyl: but I NO IDEA that gangsta rappers used samples jaychampvinyl: I had no inkling that Dre records, or Biggie records, or anything where you couldn't hear the actual record scratching, were samples of older songs styrofoamfuror: now i know that so much of these comes from awesome 70s jazz records styrofoamfuror: and funk records styrofoamfuror: and fucking Sabotage styrofoamfuror: I can remember the very moment i first heard this song jaychampvinyl: this still sounds like slow-motion walking bands of roving badasses entering your town with spiked bats jaychampvinyl: but please share your sabotage story styrofoamfuror: i had just gotten to germany for a three week visit styrofoamfuror: July 1994 styrofoamfuror: i was excited but bummed about misssing little league all-stars jaychampvinyl: haha, a good way to begin any story styrofoamfuror: I was sick and staying at my aunt's house watching german MTV all day styrofoamfuror: i remember one day seeing the All-4-One song "I Swear" SEVEN times jaychampvinyl: YES styrofoamfuror: four times on MTV styrofoamfuror: and three times on the german channel styrofoamfuror: sabotage sounded like literally the coolest thing i'd ever heard styrofoamfuror: evre jaychampvinyl: it still kind of does!!!! jaychampvinyl: jesus, this song is actually giving me chills jaychampvinyl: IT'S SO FUCKING AWESOM E jaychampvinyl: GAHHHstyrofoamfuror: i spent the entirety of my trip looking forward to coming home and buying the record jaychampvinyl: haha jaychampvinyl: oh man, this Q-Tip song [Get it Together] styrofoamfuror: yeah dude jaychampvinyl: this is sorta the record where they became actual hip hop royalty styrofoamfuror: i had no idea who he was jaychampvinyl: I had heard him SO much in my bro's car styrofoamfuror: "Black dude on Beastie Boys record not biz markie?: jaychampvinyl: hahahaha jaychampvinyl: yes styrofoamfuror: the production on this track is fucking great too styrofoamfuror: the way they work a q-tip sample into the chorus styrofoamfuror: he even references biz markies jaychampvinyl: yes! styrofoamfuror: so i thouhgt maybe it was biz markie jaychampvinyl: this beat jaychampvinyl: is SO WEIRD styrofoamfuror: i remember it took me forever and ever to be able to identify which of the beastie boys were which jaychampvinyl: oh god jaychampvinyl: yeah styrofoamfuror: i think i've forgotten now but i think you need to learn how to listen to rap music jaychampvinyl: god, you REALLY do styrofoamfuror: like, in the beginning i think rap can be kind of confusing styrofoamfuror: so many voices chiming in jaychampvinyl: soooo confusing! styrofoamfuror: often for just a verse jaychampvinyl: and saying so many nonsesnical things jaychampvinyl: I listened to Illmatic like five hundred times trying to figure out why it was groundbreaking in college jaychampvinyl: I liked it enough jaychampvinyl: and some of it was obvious jaychampvinyl: but SO MANY LINES that just sailed past me jaychampvinyl: about 80 percent of them, I'd say jaychampvinyl: were just noises flying over my head styrofoamfuror: i think another key thing was that in 1995 as a 13 year old knowing nothing about rap, i missed the one bazillion references on this record styrofoamfuror: so so so many lines quoting other rap songs styrofoamfuror: at a point down the road, by prob 98 or so, i was pretty obsessed with the instrumentals jaychampvinyl: this one's solid ["Sabrosa"] styrofoamfuror: i made a tape out of the instrumentals on this record, Check Yr Head and Hello Nasty jaychampvinyl: hahaha wow jaychampvinyl: how about The Insound from way out? jaychampvinyl: that must have been your JAM styrofoamfuror: yeah, made while not realizing that there existed an import record called Insound.... styrofoamfuror: i lived in oneonta, ny styrofoamfuror: so there was no such thing jaychampvinyl: hahahah, right styrofoamfuror: i remember being really stoked when i finally found that record styrofoamfuror: but then bummed that there were only two bonus tracks styrofoamfuror: and the ones from hello nasty weren't on there styrofoamfuror: (cause that came out after)  jaychampvinyl: btw, kinda forgot that there was a song on this record called "Bodhisattva Vow" jaychampvinyl: the beginning of the end jaychampvinyl: visible only now jaychampvinyl: kinda like "Revolution No. 9" on the White Album jaychampvinyl: "uh oh" jaychampvinyl: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES styrofoamfuror: christgau describes the instrumentals as "the unschooled funk of a prerap garage band" styrofoamfuror: this song always seemed like a bad acid trip (sorry, mom!) jaychampvinyl: yup jaychampvinyl: also: first terrible MCA lyrics about the world and stuff styrofoamfuror: it was a little too melodeath core jaychampvinyl: wayy too much so styrofoamfuror: except at 2:16 styrofoamfuror: when those beautiful sad piano chords come in jaychampvinyl: oooooh forgot about those jaychampvinyl: yes styrofoamfuror: they literally made the song ok to me jaychampvinyl: "I give respect to King and his nonviolent ways" jaychampvinyl: how benevolent of MCA to "give" respect to Martin Luther fucking King Jr. styrofoamfuror: this song, vocal-wise kind of epitomized ways i didn't like their vocals styrofoamfuror: oh dude styrofoamfuror: the intro to futterman's rule styrofoamfuror: Big Youth sample styrofoamfuror: but this is literally the first time i've known that styrofoamfuror: and it's fucking great jaychampvinyl: you are obsessive jaychampvinyl: btw jaychampvinyl: yes jaychampvinyl: these are really great jaychampvinyl: simple, amateurish, yeah, but somehow nail something jaychampvinyl: there's some vibe they nail here jaychampvinyl: they probably created it jaychampvinyl: like, this WORKS styrofoamfuror: oh man jaychampvinyl: and none of them can really play and none of them really know what the fuck theyr'e doing styrofoamfuror: this is my FAVE of the instrumentals actually jaychampvinyl: it shouldn't sound this good, logically, when they do this styrofoamfuror: THEY can't play but Eric Bobo can styrofoamfuror: as can Money Mark jaychampvinyl: right styrofoamfuror: i remember being really bummed that the Insound record didn't have this one on it styrofoamfuror: and feeling triumphant about my own self-collected tape jaychampvinyl: yes! jaychampvinyl: as you should jaychampvinyl: good old-fashioned questing nerd ingenuity styrofoamfuror: i definitely put this on as an interlude a few times jaychampvinyl: while fucking? jaychampvinyl: 'hold on, hold on, just stay there, I really want to play this song" jaychampvinyl: 'JUST HOLD ON!" styrofoamfuror: haaa styrofoamfuror: i meant on a mix styrofoamfuror: no fucking at this point in my life styrofoamfuror: i rememebr trying to scratch records on our record player styrofoamfuror: "BEN THIS ISN'T A DIRECT DRIVE TURNTABLE!!!" styrofoamfuror: my mom shouting in the background jaychampvinyl: hahahahaha jaychampvinyl: take a disco nap! jaychampvinyl: I am sure I did that once jaychampvinyl: just pulled the record back jaychampvinyl: and then freaked out when it made the WORST sound imaginable jaychampvinyl: this one sounds a little Soul Coughing-y styrofoamfuror: yeah, actually "Alright Hear This" is incredibly ala mid 90s Beck jaychampvinyl: yes styrofoamfuror: again, i don't know who is first jaychampvinyl: the cutting/scratching is a little more old-sounding to these ears styrofoamfuror: but it sounds literally indistinguishable save the lyrics jaychampvinyl: yes jaychampvinyl: it does styrofoamfuror: listen to "In a Cold Ass Fashion" styrofoamfuror: also from 1994 styrofoamfuror: http://whiskeyclonehotelcity1997layitontothedawnshecantalktosquirrels.net/ghost/songinfo.php?songID=147 styrofoamfuror: which is what he was originally going to call Odelay jaychampvinyl: Gettin' all caught up in a taste test / And it all basically tastes like crap styrofoamfuror: exactly styrofoamfuror: oh man styrofoamfuror: a great song jaychampvinyl: haaaaa @ the title "Eugene's Lament" jaychampvinyl: and also @ the song itself styrofoamfuror: hahah, yes styrofoamfuror: is that a violin? jaychampvinyl: this is retarded jaychampvinyl: yes styrofoamfuror: this also sounds Beck-ish jaychampvinyl: in a terrible sort of way styrofoamfuror: for some reason (reason: i am sloppy and not astute) as a kid i never heard the similarity styrofoamfuror: now i'm becoming increasingly convinced that half of this record is near-interchangeable with some less exciting understanding of mid 90s beck jaychampvinyl: hahaha yes jaychampvinyl: also, it is wearing on me a bit jaychampvinyl: pretty samey towards the end jaychampvinyl: this is more the unexciting gumbo I was expecting styrofoamfuror: so basically tracks 1-7 are more or less exhilarating styrofoamfuror: tracks 8-12 zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz jaychampvinyl: the back half is Starbucks turntablism styrofoamfuror: there is really not a ton of actual rapping on this record jaychampvinyl: this is turning into a slog for me styrofoamfuror: Do It styrofoamfuror: not exciting styrofoamfuror: is the result jaychampvinyl: I am starting to have uncharitable thoughts about 1997-era goateed hipsters jaychampvinyl: I am seeing them doing stupid dances in my head styrofoamfuror: apparently the single version of "Get It Together" did NOT have Qtip on it? jaychampvinyl: whoa, weird styrofoamfuror: i'm not sure how that song exists without him jaychampvinyl: me neither? jaychampvinyl: they must recut the whole song jaychampvinyl: yeah the back half is straight bong water-Sega Genesis music styrofoamfuror: yeh dude, i was right there styrofoamfuror: to put on between phish bootleg tapes styrofoamfuror: also: "Sure Shot" was one of the songs deemed inappropriate to play on radio after Sept 11 by Clear Channel styrofoamfuror: "Clear Channel Banned Songs" styrofoamfuror: thanks Mays family styrofoamfuror: you fucking scumbags styrofoamfuror: Sabotage was also banned styrofoamfuror: Louis Armstrong, "What a Wonderful World" jaychampvinyl: jesus fucking christ, those people jaychampvinyl: that list jaychampvinyl: is straight gestapo jaychampvinyl: (no huffpo) styrofoamfuror: Dave Matthews "Crash Into Me" styrofoamfuror: David Bowie and Mick Jagger "Dancing in the Street" (probably a good thing since it's fucking godawful) jaychampvinyl: "We are banning all 80s Rolling Stones, mostly befcause it sucks" jaychampvinyl: I love that this is "Ricky's Theme" jaychampvinyl: also: haaa styrofoamfuror: Heart Attack Man is better than Tough Guy styrofoamfuror: but existed as a novelty even as an unperformed idea jaychampvinyl: a little diddy about a good guy I know jaychampvinyl: Man, at this point, I'm just thinking about Paul's Boutique jaychampvinyl: and how good "Shadrach" would probalby sound at this point in the running time styrofoamfuror: i'm getting bumcore now styrofoamfuror: how the fuck could they have banned Cat Stevens "Peace Train" styrofoamfuror: fucking dicks styrofoamfuror: i have Mark Mays's cell phone number by the way styrofoamfuror: remind me to distribute on the internet at some point styrofoamfuror: (he's the CEO) jaychampvinyl: hahaha, yes styrofoamfuror: the only thing i can say favorably is that the company is doing terribly now styrofoamfuror: so they're getting theirs (sorta, not really) styrofoamfuror: "All songs by Rage Against the Machine" styrofoamfuror: Sugar Ray "Fly" jaychampvinyl: JESUSSSS styrofoamfuror: let's ban literally the most innocuous song ever written jaychampvinyl: but he wants to Fly jaychampvinyl: (A PLANE INTO THE PENTAGON) styrofoamfuror: what a fucking mental arbitrary list styrofoamfuror: Limp Bizkit "Break Stuff" styrofoamfuror: haha no more sorry jaychampvinyl: tjat jaychampvinyl: that's one I can get behind jaychampvinyl: Fred Durst incited mass rapes styrofoamfuror: oh man Shambala styrofoamfuror: we are listening the beastie boys styrofoamfuror: and this record has turned into muddled nonsense jaychampvinyl: jesus god jaychampvinyl: this is it jaychampvinyl: this is Revolution NO. 9 jaychampvinyl: I am so very ready for the Beastie Boys to finish Ill communicating with me styrofoamfuror: it's like they just put a record on 20 minutes ago and left the room jaychampvinyl: this is the song that presaged just how awful they were going to become jaychampvinyl: as people jaychampvinyl: and as people making music jaychampvinyl: not awful as people jaychampvinyl: just laughable jaychampvinyl: to me, this is some bono awfulness jaychampvinyl: if you're into Buddhism jaychampvinyl: don't aggrandize about it on your album jaychampvinyl: plz styrofoamfuror: this was literally pot consumption tunes jaychampvinyl: so, wow, turns out this album could have ended after "Get IT Together" styrofoamfuror: Bodhisattva Vow styrofoamfuror: fuckign terrible styrofoamfuror: this is unpleasant to listen to jaychampvinyl: "I'll be glad if it helps anyone else out, too" styrofoamfuror: i remember never liking this one jaychampvinyl: GAAAAAAAAH jaychampvinyl: this makes KRS-One look like a funny, laidback dude jaychampvinyl: I CAN'T BELIEVE ADAM YAUCH DID THIS styrofoamfuror: yeah styrofoamfuror: terrible jaychampvinyl: ok jaychampvinyl: deep breath jaychampvinyl: transitions jaychampvinyl: final track styrofoamfuror: Transitions isn't terrible jaychampvinyl: back into mediocre-funk territory jaychampvinyl: and it's pleasing styrofoamfuror: it's actually totally acceptable out of context styrofoamfuror: just not really in the context of having been subjected to 12 previous tracks of either lite-funk, bad buddhism or boring fuzz-rap jaychampvinyl: hahaha jaychampvinyl: exactly jaychampvinyl: well put jaychampvinyl: weird how quickly this turned for me jaychampvinyl: I was REALLY into this jaychampvinyl: for the first third jaychampvinyl: I can no loinger believe that "Sabotage" is on this album styrofoamfuror: "jaychampvinyl: IT'S SO FUCKING AWESOM E" jaychampvinyl: I KNOW styrofoamfuror: ok over styrofoamfuror: wow styrofoamfuror: shittown jaychampvinyl: hahaha styrofoamfuror: no wonder people talked shit on this album styrofoamfuror: at least Check Yr Head is like 35 mintues jaychampvinyl: THERE IT WAS, FOLKS- YOUR TRI-WEEKLY FUNDAY AFTERNOON MEMORY-RAPING BUZZKILL styrofoamfuror: hahahaha styrofoamfuror: yep The final verdict: things went down easier when I was a know-nothing teenager who smoked pot all day dreaming what it would be like to "have a girlfriend" or "leave upstate New York". Beastie Boys - "Sabotage" (I still fucking love you!) Labels: Jayson Greene In Spirit, memories, music, old flames, rap, re-appraisals posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 9/15/2009 07:57:00 PM 0 comments Wednesday, September 02, 2009 Twin Beaks HOLY COW. Somehow I never knew this existed until now, thanks to Sig Sauer. WOW. Labels: memories, old flames, twin peaks, videos posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 9/02/2009 11:41:00 AM 0 comments Monday, August 31, 2009 Death Becomes Us  Oneonta backroads (from here) The father of my best childhood friend passed away yesterday. He was one of those capital M Men(sch) whose life was simultaneously as complicated and yet empirically as simple as possible. He was a man who loved the hunger of life, and yet respected a need to keep things responsibly in order so that he could maximize his throttle-pushing opportunities when he got the chance. Harry "Buddy" S**** was the kind of man that I, at the age of 13, both failed to understand and yet got completely. So unlike my father--a man who in every minute of his existence kept things restrained, measured, safe--Buddy seemed to understand that life was best experienced by laying out parameters and then, occasionally and with focus and concentration, stepping beyond them. I had friends' dads who were like my own, and even more who were the opposite--careless, selfish, with agendas on their own from their families. But almost none were like Buddy, with caution, care, and responsibility so carefully intertwined with a willful desire to push the pedal to the floor and go go go. I've already used two speeding car metaphors--well, it's hard not to with Buddy because he certainly loved to step on the gas pedal. How fast can we get to the ski mountain today from home? If we go fast enough over that bump will we actually feel our hearts hit our throats? Yeah, Buddy loved to race. But we also all knew not to think for a second that the car wouldn't be going anywhere if someone's seatbelt were unbuckled. Classic Buddy story@@: He once got pulled over after driving on Interstate-88 for only one exit. He had just purchased a new pride and joy, a Audi A6, and decided to test it out by stepping on the gas when he went up the interstate on-ramp and let go when he exited a mile down the road. He got up to, I believe, 108 mph. And yet somehow, because he was Buddy, a charming man for whom the word charisma was created, he got off with a ticket for 78 and a warning to be more careful next time. I've met plenty of folks who had charisma and charm like that who were also full of shit--two-faced fakers who cared more about impressing those outside of their lives than taking care of those within. But this wasn't Buddy either--Buddy was as bullshit-free as they come. He was a man who was refreshingly honest and so blunt and to the point at times as to be brutal. But for him, beating around the bush was a waste of his time and yours, time that could be better spent living and learning and figuring out how to do things better the next time. As might guess, Buddy was sort of a father to me, or at least a significant male role model--he was the man I never realized that I always needed my father to be: a brash, ballsy, charming man who picked flowers for the ladies and talked his way into whatever he wanted, but all the time respecting and caring for those around him, sacrificing his own needs and desires to help his family and friends. That Audi? As much as it was his pride and joy, he let his wife use it as her primary car. And the nice Volvo he gave to his son when he got his license. Buddy instead chose to drive a beatup '84 Volvo he'd taken from a scrap heap and restored slowly. It ran terribly and often died in the winter, but he knew that outside of the moments he'd set aside to live large, he didn't need anything more than simplicity to get by with the rest of his life. And that was it: for a man who seemed to need to make time to catch some of life's proverbial Big Air, he seemed to understand that he'd be able to enjoy it more if he balanced it with tons of slow cruises down the green circle slopes that, in reality, make up most of life's trails***. This dichotomy of living was something that I think I struggled to appreciate intellectually as a kid, mostly because kids have no idea how hard it is for adults to find a good balance as they age between youthful wild action/indiscretion and the cautious conservatism of parenthood and old age. I know that Buddy too had some demons--he drank too much, he struggled a bit figuring out how to raise his first child, he sometimes couldn't put the cap back on the bottle if the good times had been unleashed and he was having too much fun. But they were admissible outcomes in the life of a man who seemed to have figured out the magic secret for living large for those of us with neither the skills of the pro nor the bank account of the rich man. He put a lot of thought into what he knew made him happy, and figured out how to invest the time, energy and money he had wisely into those endeavors and not waste it on the rest. Because of the way he which I was in his son's life--through sports teams and science projects, I got to see the full-throttle Buddy constantly. On some strange, unexpected level, he taught me how to be a man more than even my own dad, or at least to be the man that I am now: find the meat of life you most want to eat and then sink your teeth into it and chew tenaciously, savoring every bit like it's your last (while of course remembering to share with others if they depend on you). Sadly, the last time I saw Buddy was probably five to seven years ago--I can't remember if I was out of college or not. And really, since his son and I grew apart in high school (he looked through microscopes and saw amoebas; I saw swirling kaleidoscopes of lysergic nothingness), my last period of spending a lot of time with him was probably 10th grade. But from age 12-15, few people in my life impacted me as much weight as he, and his simple-but-devoted thoughts and ideas posited on life resonate with me still today. Of all these things in particular is road bicycling, which both he and his son were into when I was in their lives and which I completely hated. At the time, road biking seemed to me like an entirely masochistic endeavor, akin to running as something that no one could possibly enjoy even if they did it well$$$$. Buddy laughed it off though and told me that I was being a baby and had no idea what I was talking about--when you bike, you are a machine, he said, and there's isn't much in life that can feel more beautiful and meditative than that. And the one thing he told me that I think of literally every single time I mount a bike is that, as an extension of the man-as-machine idea, your goal for getting on a bike should be to determine what your ideal pedaling RPM should be (cadence) and then stick to it, for the entire ride--shifting gears as necessary but never pedaling any more or less than the chosen rate. Know thyself, sparrow, and know it well, and ye shall find the God within. Oddly enough, in the midst of my miserable eleven hour God-must-hate-me ride to Montauk on Saturday, I thought of Buddy a lot. At no point in all of the biking I've done in 2008 or 2009 did I feel more unsatisfied and not wanting to be on a bike as I did Saturday, but to stay on the bike and keep going I just kept thinking of Buddy and repeating the word "cadence" to myself, over and over again. I decided somewhere around mile 80 that I would write Buddy a very short letter when I got home that said,
And like everything else about dipshit 27 year olds living in New York, I forgot when I got home that night and passed out instead. And then next day, it didn't matter. So: Dear Buddy, I'm writing this to you now even though it's too late: you are an amazing man, and you can't possibly know how important you were to me in helping me learn about how I might become the sort of person I should want to be. I'm sorry that I probably never made that clear enough to you when I was a dumb teenager hanging around your home, but I hope that somehow you knew anyway. I love you forever, and hope that your soul rests easy wherever it decides to go. love always, Benjamin Scheim LISTEN: Tom Waits - "A Good Man Is Hard To Find", from Blood Money NOTES: @@ -- I have no doubt that i've gotten some of the exact details in some of these stories wrong, so if you were there and know I missed something, sorry, but the spirit remains true regardless. *** -- Not on the actual ski slope, of course--for an old man, he certainly loved letting it rip, and was the only parent of any of my friends (besides my ski coach) who I enjoyed skiing with $$$$ -- While I still feel this way about running, I admit now that it's possible i'm wrong on this one too. Labels: BEAUMONT, friends, memories, old flames posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/31/2009 08:54:00 PM 2 comments 2
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Wednesday, August 19, 2009 Sometimes It Just Takes An Old Friend To Get You Through The Day  In certain times, taking solace in an old friend can bring you comfort when the world makes you weary. Today, I miss the furry creature in my arms above (she's still alive, just not in my life). So instead I have a favorite Belle & Sebastian song: Belle & Sebastian - "The State That I Am In (alt version)" from Dog On Wheels EP / Push Barman compilation And I also wrote a bit about this song and others by Belle & Sebastian back in Feb 06 (back in the pre-.net slangeditorial.blogspot.com days)--you can check it out here. Hi, Bessie:   Labels: animals, BEAUMONT, memories, mp3, music, old flames posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/19/2009 11:07:00 AM 0 comments Sunday, August 09, 2009 Billy, Billy: Can I Love You Again?  Me, building our house, 1984. From here. Right now I am at home and electively listening to--and enjoying!-- the Smashing Pumpkins in a non-nostalgic way for the first time in so many years--early college, at a minimum, and even that seems maybe not true. And it feels mighty strange. It seems to have all started with me Luckily, in wanting to listen to more Smashing Pumpkins, I didn't have to really "get" anything--I owned most of their "worthwhile" albums (up through Mellon Collie singles) and still have the discs tucked away in some never-ever-ever-flipped through cd binders under my bed. Still, I'm pretty sure (though I might be wrong!) that even with the openest of minds, I would have trouble right now getting into Siamese Dream or, especially, Mellon Collie. I listened to each of those records way too many times as a developing teen and anytime I've put them on since then has felt mostly awkward and/or unenjoyable. Less "experienced" for me though, are debut record Gish and the Gish/Siamese era b-sides collection Pisces Iscariot, and so I decided that they would be the best place to start. In particular, I had a feeling I would enjoy the latter as I recalled it being a more fully formed peak-era Pumpkins than the more gestational efforts of Gish. In just thinking about it, I could already hear "Obscured" playing in my head... zap zap zap zap zap.  zap zap zap zap zap. One amazing thing about being a kid vs. being a crazed adult music obsessive is how as a youth I would get into groups through one or two records and listen the shit out of those records--blam blam every day: blasting on my boombox at home, my Walkmen/Discmen on the schoolbus/bike/streets, on poorly recorded cassettes played in my parents' cars. I bled with them and they bled me. Unfortunately, with most of those discs--the aforementioned Pumpkins, Nevermind, Vs., Joshua Tree, Automatic for the People, Sgt. Peppers, Led Zeppelin's II, IV, Houses of the Holy, and a million other classic rock records--my relationship with most of them was not as a farmer tending to his crops and periodically picking fruit, but one where I ate every bit of the plant until there was nothing left to grow again. Growing out of this kind of behavior is part of growing up as a music devotee, but it means that an overhead glance of the fields of my musical landscape includes many patches of dry leaves and scorched earth. This way of singular listening was fueled admittedly by a limitation of funds and a coming of age in a pre-broadband world where everything wasn't easily available for free download (or even brain awareness). I knew some kids who could just head down to their local record store and pick up whatever they felt like, but I wasn't one of them--and anyway, again, even if I could have, I didn't even know how to find out about stuff that wasn't known by my parents or written up in Rolling Stone. Which meant that despite listening to Siamese Dream more from 1993-1999 than any other record in my collection (and Mellon Collie to a similar albeit lesser extent from 96-99), I had never even heard either Gish--or known about Pisces Iscariot--up to that point. In today's world of instant knowledge accumulation, pondering the ramifications of this fact sort of astonishes me: there was a point, just very recently, when I was even beyond childhood, when not only could I not find "anything" out instantly, but when I might not even attempt to try. For a voracious truth-seeker like myself, I have to give a little laugh. Especially when I think about myself and the fact that at age 16 I was way more obsessed with Truth than the "truths" I am intrigued by now. In any event, it meant that by the point in time in which I'd finally purchased these two records, I'd already moved beyond my Love for the Smashing Pumpkins, and the process of tearing them apart to discover their secrets no longer appealed to me. But to be clear: this non-exploration is not to be confused with, say, loving U2 or Led Zeppelin and getting a Pop or In Through the Out Door, shallow/mediocre records not worth exploring. Therefore, unopened--or rather, opened and then re-wrapped--Christmas presents they became, sitting on my proverbial and literal shelves gathering dust. And now, here I am in August 2009 listening to them again and trying to care for the first time. zap zap zap zap zap.  High on drugs, always, 1997. From here. zap zap zap zap zap. As I began my first listening of Pisces Iscariot, I was sort of shocked at how much I was not bothered by Billy Corgan, an arrogant and whiny-voiced man who probably should have always annoyed me more than he did. Sorry, Billy, but your antics are trying and your act tired. In later periods of Smashing Pumpkins (beginning with Mellon Collie, but especially so after that), Corgan's singing began to take on less of a "lead singer" and more of a "wannabe ominous godhead" tenor. Thankfully, on these early records, he's just a man who wants to be heard, and it's largely ok (minus one truly cringeworthy moment on his cover of the Fleetwood Mac standard "Landslide"). But overall? Yeah, I dig. Most of Pisces is still pretty great. There's a handful of throwaway thrashers, but many these songs--especially "Obscured", "Whir" and "La Dolly Vita"--are largely good enough to continue standing up today, and perhaps most importantly, don't sound sonically dated. It's true that listening makes you think "90s" but I have to believe that has more to do with the powerful psychological associations people have with Corgan's voice than anything else. Compare that to literally ANYTHING pre-95 by Pearl Jam, Soundgarden or other early 90s alt-mainstream leaders (save In Utero), all of which are timestamped forever, and you have to hand it to Billy--he may have been a crazy asshole (especially in the studio), but he relied on different techniques and sounds than he's peers and thus made music that can live on a little longer without aggressively connoting a dark-haired Bill Clinton. Even on Gish, which I put on after Pisces, I was surprised at how great and fully-formed they sound. The songwriting is a little weaker than his later efforts, but the musicianship and sound are excellent. I'm still surprised that I skipped right past this disc, even after digesting Siamese Dream$$$, but that was the way of things in 1994 before the world wide web existed for normal people. Anyway, there's some thoughts on revisiting Billy & Co. Below make sure to check out a few of those I particularly enjoyed. LISTEN: Smashing Pumpkins - "Obscured", from Pisces Iscariot Smashing Pumpkins - "La Dolly Vita", from Pisces Iscariot Smashing Pumpkins - "Whir", from Pisces Iscariot Smashing Pumpkins - "Rhinoceros", from Gish Smashing Pumpkins - "Suffer", from Gish Smashing Pumpkins - "Let Me Give The World To You", from Machina II (download directly from thepumpkins.net) BONUS LISTEN: Smashing Pumpkins - "Sweet Sweet" > "Luna", from Siamese Dream I once felt that "Sweet Sweet">"Luna" was the greatest one-two punch of sappy alternative rock sweetness I thought I would EVER hear. In high school I was once in love with a girl named Amy (not the girl whom my parents let me name my sister after***) and I felt triumphant as a placed these numbers at the end--She's GONNA like this! Now, haa, well, yeah. I still swoon a little but I guess I'm also a little older. NOTES: $$$ -- Oddly enough I didn't even pick up Siamese Dream through my own volition--my grandmother actually bought up for me together with Pearl Jam's Vs. on a Saturday afternoon in October 1993. I remember coming home from playing at a friend's after a morning soccer match and finding both cds sitting on my kitchen table with a note from my grandmother (who was in town visiting) saying that she'd read about Vs. in the papers as being a cd "all the kids are onto" and asked the store clerk to recommend another one as well (hence Siamese Dream). To this day, the fact that this ever happened completely bewilders me--after years and years of sweaters and sweatpants and strange gifts given to me before and after this point, I still fail to understand how on this one afternoon my grandma somehow just nailed it. Life is crazy sometimes, isn't it? *** -- No joke--my parents really did let their five and a half year old son name their newborn daughter. This story probably deserves its own post but here goes: I was in love with a girl in my kindergarten class named Amy Lott-Webb and when my sister was about to be born that December, my parents were bandying about the name Amelia for my sister if she turned out to be a girl. As the greedy logical tyrant that I am, I actually went to them to convince them that despite the fact that Amy is not technically an official shortening of Amelia, it ought to be (more so than Bill for William or Jack for John). For reasons that I am too young to remember and to this day will probably never understand, they actually bought my argument and even went one step further by choosing to only refer to her as Amy. Her birth certificate technically says Amelia, but the only time I ever remember hearing it is when my parents got mad at her (which, people, was practically never). Incidentally, Amy Lott-Webb moved out of my hometown at the end of the next year, and outside of one chance meeting when we were nine years old, I never saw her again. However, two years ago when I went back to Oneonta to get a tattoo, I learned amidst of having his needle pound in my chest that my tattoo artist Taylor, a young man who'd moved up from Alabama the year before, was engaged to be married to a pregnant Amy Lott-Webb, who had apparently moved back to Oneonta and met him and fell in love. The realization was so crazy to me that I flinched and caused him to almost stab me with the needle; leading him to ask what was wrong, at which point I told him and pointed to my sister lying on the table next to me, at which point he flinched and almost stabbed me again. What craziness. And somehow completing the cosmic silliness of it all, he gave us a painting he'd made of a Ringo Starr as gift (Zooey Deschanel, it's right here if you're bored). Life, I love you. Labels: 1990s, memories, mp3, music, old flames, re-appraisals posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/09/2009 03:15:00 PM 2 comments 2
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Thursday, August 06, 2009 Always Changing, Always The Same  A childhood friend just uncovered and emailed me this amusing photo of our "grasshopper" (pre-Little League) team from 1990 when I was in second grade. I love that: a) I am making more or less the same face I have made my entire life when I am disengaged in my surroundings (ie, not making crazy faces) b) I am have been the same asshole contrarian my entire life--note my decision not to wear the official hat of my upstate NY tee ball team, but instead a Boston Red Sox cap (which I'd bought earlier that spring at my first ever baseball game) c) mullet! (not unlike now!) c) The shorts! 1990 must have been a crazy year because these seem like six of the craziest pairs of shorts I've ever seen. I also remember that I once had tons of socks with stripes like that. Oh, old days. Labels: memories, quicksnaps posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/06/2009 06:15:00 PM 0 comments Monday, August 03, 2009 Re-Appraisal Live: Does Kim Gordon Really Ruin Everything? After our last effort in "re-appraising" Pearl Jam's No Code, Jay and I thought it would be fun to head towards a record of old that we might still want to listen to today. After running through a few choices, we settled on Sonic Youth's classic 1992 album Dirty, their second release for Geffen and the first where they finally had begun receiving some mainstream attention... hence Jay and I both listening to it before we had any real taste. Let the re-appraising commence. Note that this post is deprariously long. Sometimes you just gotta let it run free:  jaychampionvinyl: I'm so ready you can call me Helen JeffreyBeaumont: GREAT. 1, 2, 3, GO JeffreyBeaumont: oh man this fucking intro. I LOVE IT. jaychampionvinyl: this .... doesn't sound old. JeffreyBeaumont: i forgot that 100% is my favorite Sonic Youth song jaychampionvinyl: it sounds like amazing. jaychampionvinyl: this is not going to be an elevated critical discussion...it's mostly going to be "OMG!" JeffreyBeaumont: dude, this is the first sonic youth song i ever heard JeffreyBeaumont: i had heard so much nirvana-related buzz about this band, over and over jaychampionvinyl: same! JeffreyBeaumont: i ordered this record in 94 from Columbia House JeffreyBeaumont: or maybe it was BMG jaychampionvinyl: trivia question: do you remember what other records arrived with it? (something tells me maybe you do) JeffreyBeaumont: no JeffreyBeaumont: that was 93 JeffreyBeaumont: but JeffreyBeaumont: i remember hearing 100% and thinking, "WHOA WOW WTF AWESOME LOUDNESS" JeffreyBeaumont: but then "Swimsuit Issue" came on JeffreyBeaumont: and i'm like, "Who the FUCK is singing? Is that a woman?" jaychampionvinyl: hahahahahahaha, yeah JeffreyBeaumont: it's so atonal jaychampionvinyl: it sounds like it could either be a woman or a really pinched sounding bratty annoying 20 year old man JeffreyBeaumont: yes jaychampionvinyl: "I ain't givin you head in a Sunset bungalow!" jaychampionvinyl: fair enough, Kim JeffreyBeaumont: despite reading over and over that SY was "experimental" JeffreyBeaumont: i still was expecting super melodious riffage ala Nirvana jaychampionvinyl: I actually DIDN'T like 100% at all when I first heard it jaychampionvinyl: too "atonal" jaychampionvinyl: the guy "couldn't sing" JeffreyBeaumont: yeah i think i'm overemphasizing the awesome JeffreyBeaumont: i think on very first listen i probably didn't like it JeffreyBeaumont: but i think i came around quickly jaychampionvinyl: I saw the video on 120 Minutes and was like "this song would be awesome if he sang it right" JeffreyBeaumont: i remember learning years later how to play it on guitar jaychampionvinyl: hahahah "DETUNE GUITAR, HIT WITH FACE" JeffreyBeaumont: in order to do so, you need to detune the low FOUR strings to F# JeffreyBeaumont: so it's like F# F# F# F# E B JeffreyBeaumont: that was probably 96 or 97 when i tried that JeffreyBeaumont: and suddenly i remember understanding why it all sounded so sludgy JeffreyBeaumont: i also remember being tremendously annoyed that i then was unable to play ANY other songs on my guitar until i tuned it back JeffreyBeaumont: but to go back to Swimsuit Issue JeffreyBeaumont: the hilarious thing about that is that despite the fact that I hated the song JeffreyBeaumont: i had just gotten my first subscription to Sports Illustrated the previous year and i remmeber my mouth actually dropping as I began recognizing every name that Kim mouthed JeffreyBeaumont: "Those are the models in the magazine!" JeffreyBeaumont: Including one she mentions named Vendela, who was the cover girl in '93 jaychampionvinyl: hahahahaha JeffreyBeaumont: i'm googling it right now JeffreyBeaumont: but without even looking i remember she was wearing a silver strangely shaped suit either on the cover or on one of the pages inside JeffreyBeaumont: BOOM! http://swimsuit-issue.com/1993.html JeffreyBeaumont: god i loved that shit JeffreyBeaumont: i probably looked at it 500 times JeffreyBeaumont: anyway.... jaychampionvinyl: wow jaychampionvinyl: her boobs don't even look like boods jaychampionvinyl: they look like shoulders jaychampionvinyl: on her chest JeffreyBeaumont: yeah Vendela was never exciting to me JeffreyBeaumont: but look to the left JeffreyBeaumont: i LOVED the redhead girl JeffreyBeaumont: and Ashley Richardson below her jaychampionvinyl: hahaha, I love that this discussion has turned, three tracks in, to a discussion of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit models JeffreyBeaumont: yes. two tracks actually. JeffreyBeaumont: but that's the thing JeffreyBeaumont: i didn't know anything about music in 93 JeffreyBeaumont: and really only understood pop music JeffreyBeaumont: but getting back to things tho... JeffreyBeaumont: Theresa's JeffreyBeaumont: i was like, "Whoa, 'dark'", with that spindly guitar jaychampionvinyl: this is the first noise smear on this recorfd jaychampionvinyl: sounds sickly jaychampionvinyl: funny how there is still the pentatonic riffing to hold onto tho JeffreyBeaumont: really creepy JeffreyBeaumont: because the noise is built up jaychampionvinyl: it's never TOO far JeffreyBeaumont: it's actually pretty digestible dark early 90s grunge/indie JeffreyBeaumont: and as i grew up i came to LOVE the noise breakdown JeffreyBeaumont: but then as soon as that ends... JeffreyBeaumont: "Drunken Butterfly" JeffreyBeaumont: SCREEEEECH JeffreyBeaumont: I remmeber thinking by track 4, "What is this shit? Why do people compare these guys to Nirvana?!?" jaychampionvinyl: yeah, its funny how little this record makes me think of the time period iduring which it was released jaychampionvinyl: Sonic Youth, as a band, were a college experience for me jaychampionvinyl: I owned this and played it dutifully jaychampionvinyl: but it got about 1/100000th of the burn that, like, Ritual De Lo Habitual, Live THrough This, and Mellon Collie did jaychampionvinyl: to me, this feels very much like "now" music JeffreyBeaumont: i hear you JeffreyBeaumont: it's diffeernt for me, at least with this record (and to a lesser extent Daydream Nation) JeffreyBeaumont: because i sort of forced myself to listen and appreciate. not any others, but this one. JeffreyBeaumont: "Shoot" brings it back down though JeffreyBeaumont: I just love love this track and always did JeffreyBeaumont: ok... so i'm on "Wish Fulfillment" now JeffreyBeaumont: THIS song makes me think of the early 90s JeffreyBeaumont: way more than Thurston, lee renaldo's voice to me says "90S INDIE ROCK" Jayson: makes me think of, like, "Heart Shaped Box" meets Metallica's "One" Jayson: and agreed on the voice. Jayson: this is a way of singing that only existed during the George Herbert Walker Bush administration and the first Clinton term. JeffreyBeaumont: haha yes. JeffreyBeaumont: i always rememebr thinking that i liked his voice better than thurston's even though i knew it was worse JeffreyBeaumont: on a final supermodel-related note http://www.bellazon.com/main/index.php?s=a2cf16654290c50afcd7b7dff636f224&act=attach&type=post&id=261432 JeffreyBeaumont: this photo blew me away JeffreyBeaumont: from either 93 or 95 SI swimsuit issue JeffreyBeaumont: oh Ashley JeffreyBeaumont: basically listening to this record makes me think of sitting in my room late at night in 6th and 7th grade and flipping through my saved (never discarded) issues of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, as I pondered notions of adolescence and my burgeoning sexuality jaychampionvinyl: hahahahah jaychampionvinyl: BASICALLY THIS WAS MY WANKING RECORD JeffreyBeaumont: yes JeffreyBeaumont: so JeffreyBeaumont: "Sugar Kane" you there jaychampionvinyl: sorry, yes...I just restarted Sugar Kane jaychampionvinyl: I'm back on track JeffreyBeaumont: this was the first song I remmeber really clicking when i began listening as an adult jaychampionvinyl: Sugar Kane? JeffreyBeaumont: like, at some point at age 17 or so i put it on and suddenly it blew me away JeffreyBeaumont: and it was like, at that exact moment i finally "got" sonic youth jaychampionvinyl: god this record is so so so good JeffreyBeaumont: yes, and this song in particular jaychampionvinyl: whoa, this outro is such an unexpected sunray JeffreyBeaumont: yes JeffreyBeaumont: and i definitely liked this track in the early days.... but i didn't get it JeffreyBeaumont: like most of this record JeffreyBeaumont: but in some way it feels like this track more than anything else from the 91-95 period... which explains why Sonic Youth were associated with grunge Jayson: I think it also has a lot to do with Thurston's vocal inflections JeffreyBeaumont: it does JeffreyBeaumont: but i think it also has to do with the intersection between melodious guitars and off-the-path experimentation JeffreyBeaumont: like, the next track "Orange Rolls" doesn't sound THAT crazy compared to a lot of real indie stuff from the time JeffreyBeaumont: but compared to mainstream indie/grunge it sounds like atonal craziness JeffreyBeaumont: "Sugar Kane" seems like some real meeting point between the worlds JeffreyBeaumont: "Orange Rolls" jaychampionvinyl: Orange Rolls JeffreyBeaumont: this was one more track i hated JeffreyBeaumont: i just could not understand these trashy kim songs jaychampionvinyl: her voice is an acquired taste jaychampionvinyl: kiinnda sounds like Jimbo from the Simpsons retching JeffreyBeaumont: there was a huge dichotomy of warm thurston and uncle lee and creepy skeezthrash momma Kim jaychampionvinyl: hahaha jaychampionvinyl: great fucking breakdown/jamout section in this one, tho JeffreyBeaumont: yes, that is something as an adult i can appreciate and actually love jaychampionvinyl: it's so uncanny how loosely tight they are jaychampionvinyl I realize sounds aggressively meaningless jaychampionvinyl: but it's such a weird trick JeffreyBeaumont: hahah JeffreyBeaumont: it is jaychampionvinyl: to sound together, but JUST BARELY jaychampionvinyl: to be able to cohere JeffreyBeaumont: i think that's the detuning thing JeffreyBeaumont: making them sound atonal/amateurish JeffreyBeaumont: but in fact tremendously in sync with one another jaychampionvinyl: yes, but I've seen them jam live and it really is an esxperience of watching four musicians tear everything down JeffreyBeaumont: oh man JeffreyBeaumont: so we are now at what for me in 1993/4 was THE BEST moment jaychampionvinyl: YOUTH AGAINST jaychampionvinyl: FASCISM JeffreyBeaumont: yes JeffreyBeaumont: the first 10 times i played this record this was the ONLY song i understood JeffreyBeaumont: it was also the a) the only song i easily learned how to play on guitar and b) the only one not requiring me to retune my guitar$$$$ jaychampionvinyl: hahaha yes jaychampionvinyl: I can see a young Beaumont in my mind jaychampionvinyl: gingerly finding the chords jaychampionvinyl: and then strumming hard on them JeffreyBeaumont: think they were like E / G / A / D / D JeffreyBeaumont: No-- G / D / C / A / A [after checking] jaychampionvinyl: haha JeffreyBeaumont: in hindsight this seems to be the least interesting song on the record JeffreyBeaumont: i rememebr reading the liner notes on seeing that it was the only song with a guest musician JeffreyBeaumont: "Xtra guitar: Ian MacKaye" JeffreyBeaumont: i remember thinking, "Whoever this dude is, he's obviously more of a rocker than these guys" JeffreyBeaumont: Yeah. jaychampionvinyl: the back half of this is starting to lose me in its jam waters JeffreyBeaumont: yeah JeffreyBeaumont: nic fit = weird nothing JeffreyBeaumont: On the Strip though jaychampionvinyl: yes, I typed that RIGHT before Kim's vox started in JeffreyBeaumont: it gets unjammy again jaychampionvinyl: this is like the clearest moment on the entire CD jaychampionvinyl: the fog parts jaychampionvinyl: and then there's creepy Kim jaychampionvinyl: whispering at you jaychampionvinyl: and it's way scarier than when she screams jaychampionvinyl: because now she's actually a Woman jaychampionvinyl: and they're pretty scary JeffreyBeaumont: she was probably the creepiest musician i'd yet encountered JeffreyBeaumont: oh man and then Chapel Hill is a brilliant rainbow jaychampionvinyl: yeah Thurston comes back and is like, "it's cool bro, she's gone. wanna go through 7 inches with me?" jaychampionvinyl: "it was all a bad dream" JeffreyBeaumont: "WANT TO FEEL SAFE TONIGHT" JeffreyBeaumont: "DON'T WANT TO SLEEP WITH THE VULTURE LADY!" jaychampionvinyl: hahaha YES YES JeffreyBeaumont: 2:49 JeffreyBeaumont: !!!!!!!!! jaychampionvinyl: this was a guitar freakout I could get down with JeffreyBeaumont: man, this record has some fucking GREAT breakdowns/bridges/codas/outros jaychampionvinyl: places to get lost jaychampionvinyl: so many good ones JeffreyBeaumont: none of which feature eddie vedder moaning, "COME TO ME / COME TO GOD" jaychampionvinyl: hahaha jaychampionvinyl: gives me that BTS feeling, circa Perfect From Now On, so much glorious friendly noise to lie down in JeffreyBeaumont: with really beautiful tight spindly but jammy guitar lines and riffs JeffreyBeaumont: another Kim song JeffreyBeaumont: which now sounds reasonable JeffreyBeaumont: but even this track was just weird for me jaychampionvinyl: did I miss Kim? I stood up to watch a video of babies being dropped from balconies onto blankets in India JeffreyBeaumont: yeah, but then Purr! JeffreyBeaumont: it's like they play good cop bad cop on this record jaychampionvinyl: I was just gonna say the same JeffreyBeaumont: thurston gets the fun major scale sunsmiles jaychampionvinyl: yes! JeffreyBeaumont: and kim gets the dour "scare their children" creepscapes jaychampionvinyl: it's like Kim's the camp counselor who tells the creepy ghost story and Thurston's the guy counselor who jokes with you afterward and convinces you it wasn't real jaychampionvinyl: while Kim just stares at you stonfaced, nodding, mouthing "It IS real. YOu're going to die." JeffreyBeaumont: and then wakes up at night by rapping on your window and peering through it at you with a candle next to her face jaychampionvinyl: haaa you get it exactly JeffreyBeaumont: and then, finally, the fuckstick of "Creme Brulee" JeffreyBeaumont: a track which is about as unlike the dessert as any music i could imagine jaychampionvinyl: this is when she sneaks into your cabin at 3am and fucks you in the ass with a stick while whispering this into your ear jaychampionvinyl: and on THAT NOTE jaychampionvinyl: little known fact: creme brulee is slang for a horribly invasive sex act JeffreyBeaumont: really? jaychampionvinyl: no JeffreyBeaumont: "i'm so happy we're just friends" jaychampionvinyl: right, as she withdraws stick and leaves jaychampionvinyl: that's her parting line jaychampionvinyl: door slams jaychampionvinyl: "Don't tell Bobby about our fun" JeffreyBeaumont: if kim deal spied me through my bedroom window late one night JeffreyBeaumont: she could do whatever she wanted to me if she broke in to my apartment and came in my room jaychampionvinyl: or even Kim Gordon JeffreyBeaumont: hahaha, ideally, both of them, at once JeffreyBeaumont: today, in 2009 jaychampionvinyl: right jaychampionvinyl: hahahahahaha jaychampionvinyl: good lord jaychampionvinyl: a spectral art hag and a weird, dumpy trucker lesbian JeffreyBeaumont: when i first heard the song "Little Trouble Girl" (from Washing Machine) in college i actually creamed my pants JeffreyBeaumont: like, "Oh hey Shrimp Cracker, i need to go home. My pants are creamed" jaychampionvinyl: hahahahahaha JeffreyBeaumont: why couldn't have kim deal just made an entire record with sonic youth? on the topic of things that should have happened but never even sort of did jaychampionvinyl: Umm. yeah, I gotta go. LISTEN: Sonic Youth - "100%" from Dirty Sonic Youth - "Sugar Kane" from Dirty Sonic Youth - "Swimsuit Issue" from Dirty NOTES: $$$$ -- Actually, according to this fan-made page of SY album tunings, even "Youth Against Facism" uses special tunings; in fact, out of their entire discography after the first EP, only the track "Mildred Pierce" uses a standard EADGBE guitar tuning (excepting the Stooges and Crime covers "I Wanna Be Your Dog" and "Hot Wire My Heart"). Seriously, wow. Amazing, yes. But Willful Obscurantists, I'd call them, also. Labels: crushes, IMs, memories, mp3, music, old flames, re-appraisals posted by Nihilist Loves Hate, Hates Everything at 8/03/2009 04:05:00 PM 0 comments |
GET BEHIND ME DEAD MAN
This is some pretty serious lolgore.
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