Do you want to plug into the current geist?
Superorganism, Night Time
Do you want to plug into the current geist?
Author Archives: peter
Bettie Serveert, Brain Tag
I got into conversation about a young rock prodigy today who named her band Snail Mail. She’s had a Tiny Desk concert, her new album comes out this week from Matador (a good label).
But Matador and journalists seems to be saying that Jordan Lindsay, the singer songwriter who is Snail Mail, is somehow someone body surfing in the legacy of Liz Phair. But this appears to be totally wrong. Maybe because Lindsay is only 18, and graduated high school like this week. She’s less than a sophomore. Right?
Apart from whatever virtues Snail Mail have, they exhibit none of the immediacy of Phair and any of her albums, including the challenged but actually overall okay Funstyle. I mean, Funstyle, once you excise track one and two, is pretty okay.
In any case, Liz Phair is a giant of plain speaking, rock making, self exposing, and none of that should be disregarded. Is it great art, great rock, great personal decisions are all good topics for discussion. But Liz Phair did this, and she didn’t have to.
In any case, this discussion reminded me of Bettie Serveert, who made a record I loved in the mid 90s, called Palomine, and another record I liked. The point here is that rock takes many shapes, but all should be judged on how far you push it.
Bettie Serveert pushed it modestly, but she rocked. It’s hard to know what to with the perfectly affable Snail Mail in that context. Like them? Maybe on Facebook.
Ivy, I’ve Got A Feeling
Okay, I’ll try not to make a habit of this. But at No. 34 is Ivy, a band that made a near perfect soft-rock album called Apartment Life, from which this tasteful gem comes.
Imperial Teen, Yoo Hoo
Rolling Stone has a piece by Rob Sheffield ranking the top 98 songs from 1998.
Since it’s a celebration of the diverse weird styles and songs of a year that he says was known for being diverse and weird, it’s a grab bag of the unknown, forgotten, and other songs that are fun to remember. Like this one, ranked 48th, which I think would be good (love those breaths) even without the video (which is an able promo for the minor at the time, classic in the end teen flick Jawbreaker).
Iggy Pop and David Bowie on Dinah Shore
I think we may have posted this clip before, but maybe not. It is great.
Ry Cooder, Do Re Mi
Live.
I have issues with this, but damn. It’s great.
Ry Cooder, No Banker Left Behind
Writing catchy political song that endure is a fool’s task, but while this Ry Cooder tune hasn’t hit the top of the charts, I think chances are it will eventually.
Enjoy.
Weird Rolling Stones, Blow With Ry
What I didn’t know when I bought this sort-of Rolling Stones record a long time ago was that it was put out by an a-hole named Allen Klein, who had been the manager of the Stones, capitalizing on tapes he owned the rights to after they broke up.
What I did know when I bought this disk was that it was a pile of awfully good jamming by some awfully good musicians, even if it wasn’t at all polished or shaped. This, I thought, was musicians I liked playing what they wanted, and it sure was sweet.
I posted about It Hurts Me Too, that old Elmore James song, a few years ago, but tonight I found myself back here and this long jam is awfully good. Blow with Ry, because Keith was mad about having a great slide player come in. Okay.
LINK: Beatles/Stones Cage Match, Refereed by Michael Salfino
Michael is a friend of Remnants, and has categorically decided who is greater, the Beatles or the Stones.
Michael and I went to a show with Mike Meyers, the Spy Who Shagged Me, at the NY Public Library a few years ago, that tried to answer the same question.
Michael’s approach here is a little more data driven than Mike’s (and his brother’s), and at the same time just as arbitrary as everyone else’s. The problem, I think, are the categories. Deriving anything from the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame is bound to get you in trouble.
What are the right categories? Off the top of my head?
Best Album
Best Run of Albums
Live Performance
Influence
Innovation
Songs
I don’t know. It’s hard not to shape the questions to fit the answer you want to give, though I think the answer is the Beatles, even though the Stones are my more favorite band.
Try going with my categories and Michaels and see if you can up with different answers?
It could easily be a tie.
Pavement, Conduit for Sale
I have no idea what this tune is going for, maybe some Velvets’ stylings in part, but you better be on board.