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So I was thinking about this while writing my monthly Playlist Post.... in this age, of the MP3 and the Digital Dustbin... what' going to happen to all those great songs that people have written that never caught on, or that had a moment of minor
I was thinking about The Earps, and made some comment about their song being a perfect tune that someone should discover in the next couple of years and cover... but it's not like it's going to be on a 7" that will get rescued from a thrift shop or garage sale. There are no any thrift shop scroungers who are going to be moving their punk band into the alt country world that are going to find it and think.... The Earps... for a quarter this might be worth adding to our collection...
So what's going to happen to all these orphans, abandoned files and forgotten tunes, as the digital rot sets in, as the their authors fade into the world of "real jobs", kids, family, house payments (ok, ok... I know only rich people can afford houses these days, so let's call it rent)... who is going to find them and cover them, strip them down, repurpose them, sample them, see something ... just a spark... in them and resurrect them? and how are they going to find them?
Who is digging in the digital dust
6/2008 Playlist
Each month, since Feb of 2006, I start a playlist in my iTunes of the tunes that catch my ear that month. I started off writing a post to my Mog page with a short review or comments of each track, not only to keep a running diary for myself, but also to hopefully point others toward these tunes. In the last several months I have started to cross post this information on other sites where I keep blogs. (If you are reading this somewhere besides Mog, you can find all the old ones at www.mog.com/iren) I want to apologies for any weird formatting stuff right here and now, I type this in MS word and then post it on these various message places, some of which have…w ell formatting
Anyway for this month here is what caught my
The Poison by Alkaline Trio
Solid, and I mean Solid pop punk with just enough darkness and edge to not suck. This tune has the melody, the drive and the hook it needs to just inset it self under the layer of your brain that keeps telling you why bother with this when you have all those Ramones, Damned, and Descendents albums?
Backstabber by The Dresden Dolls
There is something about the Dark Cabaret sound that just works for me… maybe it’s the story telling element of the songs, maybe it’s that it’s a naturally noir setting, maybe it’s that it’s just… well.. about something. Speaking of which, if I am reading the lyrics correctly, and I am probably not, it’s about betrayal. It really reminds me of the title song from the second album by the band PAW… Death to Traitors… good stuff.
Flickan Och Jätten by Sagor & Swing
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagor_&_Swing
Comp CDs get a bad rap… you know there is something to be said about a sampler or collection of stuff, and so often it take a while for something to really hit you. A couple of months back I was writing about Igloo by The Screaming Tribesmen, that track came from a Aussie comp… this track came from the Who Will buy these wonderful Evils comp of Swedish garage rock from the 60s to present. I was just letting the iTunes play that randumb mix thing and it popped up and I started to dig it’s instro-flutey-groove, and despite the fact is seems like a tune that you would hear and a Ren Fest I really enjoy
The Unheard Music by X
No Hardcore on the Car I really don’t know what took so long for this tune to enter my brain, with it’s tribal pulsing psudochant and it’s imagery of the end of the world… and then it starts to get slightly angelic and in your face and then… and then… it’s over… oh yeah and there is that little passage that recall the Sagor & Swing tune from above
All Tomorrow's Parties by The Velvet Underground
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Velvet_Underground
Classic Nico era Velvets tune, with that drone and impending doom. It’s hypnotic and dejected and wonderful..
Nothing Means Nothing Anymore by The Alleycats
www.irscorner.com/a/alleycats.html
I think the title says it all, 70’s Punk nihilism, reaction to the betrayal by society and of course it’s filled with energy and blistering sound, as if they are trying to finish the tune before those missiles land and wipe out the city.
Who Do You Love? By Bo Diddley
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Diddley
R.I.P Bo!
Surreal…. Beat ….. Weird…. Daliesque… the question of life… who do you love?
Real Animal by Alejandro Escovedo
My LP copy of this album is still on back order, and what I have managed to get my hands on include this live version of the title track… which is a straight up tribute to Iggy Pop, filled with that Stooges drive and along with a distinct late 70’s Iggy pop edge… good stuff, and I look forward to hearing more of this album.
Gunpowder & Lead by Miranda Lambert
I like this song, even though it leans way to far towards the Nashville Pop Country sound, but lyrically it’s dark and has that back woods noir feel… and it rips along in a rocking blast that keeps things moving along nicely…. I wish that more country would sound like
Devils Bed by The Earps
Speaking of how I wish more country would sound, The Earps Devils Bed is a ripping Cowpunk yarn that wouldn’t be out of place in a Reverend Horton Heat set list, and hell this is a tune that I would love to hear Willie Nelson, Shooter Jennings, or The Supersuckers rip though. It almost makes me miss the era of the 7", as this could easily be one of those discoveries that who ever follows in the steps of The Cramps would stumble over and feel that they have to add to their set list.
Thoughts, comments, spare change.
Comments
You got me with all of them with the exception of the The Dresden Dolls. Just never have been able to get into them. Nice touch with Bo Diddley, like the fact that I can tell my kids that I saw him live
While waiting for my LP of Real Animal to arrive at my local record shop, I have had to make due with what ever tracks I have been able to scavenge from the net at the moment. I am kind of a late comer to the Alejandro Escovedo party... but not really, as I have been a fan of his past fans bands, The Nuns and Rank'n'File for some time... but after reading a lot about him and his records I picked up The Boxing Mirror while on vacation in Hawaii several years back. The track Sacramento and Polk stood out to me, as it's about the Nuns, and when I heard that Real Animal was going to be more tunes in the vein of Sacramento and Polk I couldn't
What I have heard of this record so far I have really liked, and I am thinking this might be my record of the year.. but I have to wait and see... until then, the video gives a solid over view of the new record and Alejandro's history.. all of this ties into a little project that I am working on (very slowly) about the 80's Cowpunk bands that I am a fan of... one thing that struck me watching the first video in this post is that Alejandro's musical journey starts with what I consider the most important underground scene of the last centry... punk rock.... trips through the Cowpunk years... and comes out on the other side as the poster boy for Alt Country (which might be the most important underground scene currently)... and I hope that with this album he launches into the mainstream.... or at least gets the years and dollars of those who have been following, but also those who haven't.
... more to come on this one I am sure.
Comments
The most recent Paste sampler has what, they at least claim, is the album version of this song
Nice. I like the tune "Always a Friend" also. I first heard that on NPR's World Cafe.
Comments
that's a scary question...
same thing that happened in the 80's, Hello Earps, welcome to the K-Tel label.
Kevin.... but someone had to find the music... stumble across it some where, some how... now I know that there is going to be all kinds of stuff still out there floating around, and who knows, are we going to see thrift shops filled with forgotten CDRs labeled in faded sharpie marker, who knows???
Also K-Tel is known for their re-recordings, their not paying royalties and what not.. more likely were looking at something more along the lines of Rhino, Sundazed, Collectables and the other reissue labels out there.... part of what inspired this question is that I have all 3 volumes of Songs the Cramps Taught Us, which collects the originals of the tunes that The Cramps discovered that fell into the forgotten catagory....