Pimps of Gore

6.16.2008

"I've got a lump in my throat about the note you wrote."

"Contact"
"Nothing Achieving"
"Canary in a Coalmine"
"I Burn for You"
"Synchronicity II" by THE POLICE:
On a whim, I caught The Police a few weeks ago on the Omaha stop of their reunion tour. I couldn't decide if I was excited to see the show. Something about it felt. . . obligatory. It didn't help matters that I had caught a post-Police Sting show in one of my earliest concert memories (he was touring for The Soul Cages), and little about that show sticks out for me today. At that point, his pretentiousness was rank, a victim of the classic "once cool guy who ages into complete douchebag" / Rod Stewart syndrome.

It doesn't hurt that Sting was backed by two dudes far more electrifying than he: drummer Stewart Copeland and guiartist Andy Summers (or Somers, if you prefer the true spelling). In Omaha a few weeks ago, these two guys proved why Sting's ego couldn't fit within these confines anymore; it was because he was the least talented guy in the band. I'm pretty sure it's a fact at this point that Copeland is one of the best drummers ever, and after seeing Summers play guitar in person, I'm fairly certain he should be considered among the best to play that instrument as well.

As the show neared I stared to listen to my Police albums. I remembered how many classic songs lay hidden away on those records. Weird numbers like "Contact," with it's droning bassline and spidery guitar. Certainly, they weren't going to play these songs at the show, but it was still a cool reminder that these guys were a lot weirder and cooler than their legacy might seem. I'm almost positive I've posted "Nothing Achieving" here before, but I had to drag it back out to prove to the kids that, at one time, Sting rocked. I held out hopes for hearing "Canary in a Coalmine," or even something slow like "I Burn for You" at the show, but neither made its way into the setlist.

I was most bummed by the omission of "Synchronicity II," a song I had noticed they'd been playing on this tour, and one of my favorite Police songs. Listening to it now reminded me of just how dark and bleak the majority of The Police's material is, especially the songs they somehow turned into hits. If anyone is truly the forebear for bands like Radiohead, a massively popular band without a sunny song to its name, it's The Police. "Roxanne" is about a guy who loves a prostitute begging her not to go out anymore. "Every Breath You Take" is about a stalker. Even the seemingly bubbly "Don't Stand So Close to Me" is the story of a teacher trying not to lust after one of his student's. Christ, these guys had a hit called "King of Pain"!

"Synchronicity II" is pretty much the ultimate bummer of a hit song. Full of family strife, suburban malaise, chemical destruction, suicide, the soul crushing nature of work. . . all thematically linked somehow to a creature crawling from a lake to destroy all in its path. It kind of baffles my mind to this day that a lyric like, "And every single meeting with his so-called superior IS A HUMILIATING KICK IN THE CROTCH!" is played daily on radio stations around the country. To go back to my Radiohead comparison, "Synchronicity II" was the "No Surprises" of it's day.

Ultimately, I was definitely glad I went to the show. Hell, the ticket price (approx. $58 with fees) alone was worth seeing Stewart Copeland work his madness. Having the incredible Elvis Costello as the opener didn't hurt one bit, either.

TUESDAYS WITH LIZZY!

"Just the Two of Us" by THIN LIZZY:
Another Tuesday, another Lizzy jam, as promised. This one is a b-side from the Black Rose album. That's all you need to know.

In other news tonight. . .

"S.F. Sorrow" by S.F. SEALS
"S.F. Sorrow is Born" by THE PRETTY THINGS:
Those paying close attention will know that I posted the original version of The Pretty Things' "S.F. Sorrow is Born" (presented again here tonight) a long time ago. I was pleased to have someone forward me the S.F. Seals' take on the track a few nights ago, as it's one of my favorite songs and has always seemed to me to be shamefully ignored. I really like the Seals' take on it, though they don't surpass the chugging psych-rock of the original. I have to give them points for taste, and credit for leaving no detail unexamined in their version.

"I Can Only Give You Everything" by THEM:
Man, Van Morrison had some pipes.

"Décollage" by BALAYEURS DU DESERT:
I've had this one going on repeat for days now. Hypnotic.

6.03.2008

"Crackers!", Thin Lizzy Tuesday, etc.

(Image nabbed from Post Punk Kitchen)

"Do Do Wap is Strong in Here"
"Little Child Runnin' Wild"
"Get Down"
"(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below We're All Going to Go" by CURTIS MAYFIELD:
Say what you will about Curtis Mayfield, but what you're sayin' better be good. Mayfield's intoning and screaming at the opening of "...Hell Below" is pretty much as in-your-face as Soul gets. Hearing "Do Do Wap" again after not hearing it for a year reminds me how much I miss my old DJ gig sometimes.

"Sarah"
"Sarah"
"Cowboy Song (live)" by THIN LIZZY:
That's right, adventures of Phil Lynott and Company continue here at Pimps of Gore, in what will pop up regularly (okay, more likely to be occasional) as Thin Lizzy Tuesday. Back when I used to frequent a blog called Kittytext, my love for the Lizzy blossomed because of that blogger's weekly posts on the band. I hope to convert a few of you on a semi-weekly basis as well. The two "Sarah" tracks posted here today are vastly different; the former is a mostly acoustic piano ballad, while the latter is bubbly, somewhat dated, and impossible not to enjoy. Lynott wrote the latter version with guitarist Gary Moore as an ode to Lynott's newborn daughter. Can you imagine your parents writing a song like this for/about you? Can you imagine having this to listen to after your dad is gone? Sometimes I'm a sentimental bastard. As a bonus, and as a tribute to my friend Brian who performed this song in live band karaoke the other night, I've added a live take of "Cowboy Song" from a concert in Philadelphia circa 1977.

"Goner"
"Keep a Friend" by DR. DOG:
I figure since I'm already bringing up Thin Lizzy for the 400th time, I might as well keep being a repeating piece of shit and post a couple more Dr. Dog favorites. "Goner" is a mindblower, a goosebump inducing masterpiece that evokes (but never apes) everyone from Bowie to Queen to The Beatles. Both of tonight's songs are as good as anything Wilco has ever recorded. Dr. Dog deserve to be big. They've got a new album coming out next month, so keep your eyes peeled around these Internets for previews, etc. Check out Dr. Dog's site for half a dozen more downloads, news, etc.

"Title and Registration"
"Title and Registration (alt. version)" by DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE:
Since we're kind of rocking that mainstream radio "2 for Tuesday" vibe this evening, here are two versions of Death Cab for Cutie's "Title and Registration." The first version comes directly from the Transatlanticism album. I don't know much about the alternate take, but I can only guess it was an early mix of the song before some of the studio tinkering went into effect, and frankly did the song a disservice. I thought of posting a song from Death Cab's new album, but figured WebSheriff would come a knockin'. Hell with that.

5.30.2008

There's only one girl in the world for you, and she probably lives in Tahiti.

Minimal chatter tonight. I've been staring at my screen for hours now. I just want to get this stuff out there to you.

"Whole Wide World"
"Veronica" by WRECKLESS ERIC: "Whole Wide World" is easily in the running for Top 100 Songs of All Time. Recorded for Stiff Records with Ian Dury and Nick Lowe as the backing band, it was pretty much the only hit for Wreckless Eric (Eric Goulden). It also acts as the backbone for one of the only memorable scenes in the quite boring Will Ferrell movie Stranger Than Fiction.

"Gobbledigook" by SIGUR ROS: Sigur Ros are playing, like, 3 shows in America on their upcoming tour. One of those shows is in my town, Omaha, NE, at a beautiful theater with great acoustics. Naturally, I will not be in town for this historic show. Fuckin' figures. Here's the first release off their upcoming album.

"Anna" by THE BEATLES: The other day I pretty much sealed up the remaining holes in my Beatles catalogue, and in doing so stumbled upon this fantastic Arthur Alexander cover (music geeks will recognize that name as the same man who wrote "Soldier of Love") from Please Please Me.

"Love Loves to Love Love" by LULU: The number of songs I swear I've posted before, and then discover I never have, is epic, and this track is from that list. A mix tape staple for me from the early 2000's, this one was sampled by Fatboy Slim on an early single.

"The World Has Turned and Left Me Here"
"Holiday" by WEEZER: I'm closing things out tonight with a couple of favorites from Weezer's debut "Blue" album, as a sort of response to my lack of desire to hear what the band might bring on their upcoming "Red" album. Of course, even back when this album came out and "Undone (The Sweater Song)" was becoming a massive hit, I was uninterested in hearing them until I won their album in a music trivia contest. It was "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" and "My Name is Jonas" that endeared me to them. Their songwriting took a leap forward with the darker, more personal follow-up Pinkerton, but Rivers Cuomo has retracted that sort of confessional writing and the band's music has, in my opinion, been in decline ever since.

5.28.2008

Back upon the mended road, I pause. . .

"Ooo Baby Baby"
"Savoy Truffle" by ELLA FITZGERALD: It's pretty much indisputable that Ella was possibly the greatest jazz vocalist of all time. I like to imagine alien civilizations coming to Earth long after we've extinguished the human race and stumbling upon her rendtions of The Great American Songbook. If this is the only evidence they find of our existence, they will be rightfully fooled into thinking our culture was deep, luscious, delicate and advanced beyond words. Hell, I'd be happy to know they stumbled upon her 1969 album Ella, which features Fitzgerald covers of pop classics by the likes of Burt Bacharach, Harry Nilsson, The Beatles and Smokey Robinson.

"O Mexico" by DOSH: Martin Luther King Chavez Dosh (is that not one of the greatest fucking names EVER?) is an extremely talented multi-instrumentalist who is probably best known, for now, as Andrew Bird's percussionist of choice. "O Mexico" is from his 2006 album The Lost Take, and is pretty representative of the awesomeness to be found within its folds. Dosh's latest release, Wolves and Wishes came out a few weeks ago. While I haven't heard it yet, I just discovered its release on eMusic, so by the time I finish writing this post, it will be in my possession. Highly recommended. Learn more at Dosh's site.

"Lilywhite" by CAT STEVENS: Goddamn. How do I listen to Cat Stevens for decades and not stumble on a brilliant, beautiful song like "Lilywhite" until now? I guess that's the great thing about being a music fan. . . even the stuff you love can resurface and surprise you all over again.

"Still in Love With You" by THIN LIZZY: The more I listen to Thin Lizzy, the more I think they're going to have to become a monthly, if not weekly, feature here. So many good songs. So underrated. Beat me to the punch and go buy all their albums, or at least the Vagabonds boxed set. You will not be disappointed. Phil Lynott shares vocal duties here with Scottish singer/songwriter Frankie Miller.

"Straberry Fields Forever" by NOEL HARRISON: Re-Pimped from the Iron Leg blog.

4.02.2008

"100 million people have been wrong before."

"Thirty One Today" by AIMEE MANN: Just added! Had to toss this one into tonight's post after discovering an email from one of Mann's publicists announcing the release of this new track from Aimee's hilariously titled June album, @#%&! SMILERS (any guesses on the cuss word? "Motherfucking?"). While still mining somber subject matter on "Thirty One Today," Mann sounds absolutely bubbly this time around. Smilers is Mann's first album of original material since 2005's boxing themed The Forgotten Arm (I'm not counting her holiday album, obviously). I've already addressed both my crush on Mann (she was even in The Big Lebowski, for fuck's sake!) and her songwriting genius here before, so I'll just leave you with this, a link to her website, where you'll find all kinds of bio info, an extensive discography, and links to listen to some of her work.

"Heart it Races" by DR. DOG: Yeah, almost every post I've made this year references Dr. Dog. What of it, punk? Here's their oft-blogged cover or Architecture in Helsinki's "Heart it Races." I'm probably in the minority, but I think this version blows the original right off the map.

"Elevator Love Letter" by STARS: Music has just been piling up on my hard drive for years now, and I have had little time to hear most of it, which leads to awesome moments like the other day when this song came on in my car. Hearing it spurred me to get back to posting here, and it took me three posts to finally get this one onlnine.

"One Slight Wrong Move" by ARCHERS OF LOAF: Speaking of random songs in my car, this Archers classic (from White Trash Heroes, their final hurrah) crept up from the depths on me this afternoon and kicked my entire boring day in the ass. So funky, so dissonant. It was also the perfect lead-in for what followed. . .

"Editions of You" by ROXY MUSIC: I can attribute an entire decade delay in my love of Roxy Music to the father of a childhood friend, who constanly played "Love is the Drug" in his car when he was driving us anywhere. Since this guy's record collection consisted of a lot of Don Henley and Jimmy Buffett, I chalked RM up to being just another group of coked up assholes with no talent. I guess I was right about them probably being coked up, and probably being assholes, but 66% is still a failing grade in my book. (A few years ago, I had my brother in stitches when we pulled up next to a car blaring Jimmy Buffett and I leaned out to their open window and screamed, "BUFFETT CAN STUFF IT!" Fuck that guy.)

"Sport" by LIGHTNIN ROD
"Superfly" by CURITS MAYFIELD
"Egg Man (demo)"
"Egg Man" by BEASTIE BOYS: The deconstruction/reconstruction of a hip-hop masterpiece. Of course, the Beastie Boys' classic "Egg Man" probably features dozens of other samples (including music from "Jaws"), but Lightnin Rod's "Sport" and Curtis Mayfield's "Superfly" are the two pillars the rest of the song stands upon. The last book I read for recreation, before this semester got a grip on me, was the 33 1/3 series entry about the making of the B Boys' Paul's Boutique. I highly recommend it, even though it was dying for a footnote section listing as many possible samples used on the record as possible. If you're looking for more, do a Google search on The Beastie Collection compilation, which is packed with original songs sampled for that and a few other B Boys records.

"There's a Wrinkle in Our Time" by 1984: Sweet mother of fuck! There's a wrinkle in my duodenum, and it got there through the 1984-sized boot in my ass.