Word of Mouth November Magazine and CD

Mick Jones is on the cover of the November Word of Mouth, advertising an interview in which he "remembers" -- "from the Clash to Kate Moss". Hey, thanks for the warning! Think I can skip that. Meanwhile, John Peel is relegated to the upper corner. Peel's widow and colleagues honouring him, one year after his death... yada yada... not as exciting as a singer discussing his band and some self-destructive model, I suppose. But it is a pretty rare opportunity! Where else can you read about Kate Moss?!?!111?!?!

To their credit, though, Word of Mouth has devoted their "foreword", the first section in the magazine (after the note from the editor and the table of contents, that is) to "When the Levee Broke", a piece on the devastation in New Orleans and its impact on the city's musicians and the "city's musical heritage". It's written by Ben Sandmel, a musician, record producer, and writer from New Orleans.

In this issue, there's also an interview with humourist Louis Theroux, who has written a new book, The Call of the Weird. And much, much more.

Reviews-wise, the Cardigans' Super Extra Gravity gets a thumbs' up ("It's a sprawling, interestingly scarred LP.") Depeche Mode's Playing the Angel is panned as too woeful. "Crumbs, isn't love tricky?" The reviewer asks. "Isn't pain, well, painful? Must moderm synth-rock sound so darned gloomy? Such are the feelings you trudge away with after working your way through the Mode's 11th." They call it "a seriously heavy, and heavy-going album that will rain on your parade whatever your mood." They refer to the "'evil Erasure' obviousness of single Precious" but say nothing else about it. They do like "A Pain That I'm Used to", and find "John the Revelator" and "Suffer Well" exciting but deem the band "a bit self-important."

They are very keen on My Morning Jacket's Z. Nada Surf's The Weight is a Gift also gets a ringing endorsement. Their reviewer feels that "Always Love" is "a song that should be all over Radio 1 and MTV." For what it's worth, one day last week, on a fairly short drive I heard it twice on the radio. That's a start anyway.

Word of Mouth thinks Starsailor's On the Outside sounds like a Coldplay-and-Keane smoothie. Ouch. I didn't know smoothies even made for much of an auditory experience, generally speaking. They aren't big on their lyrics. I heard that!

Word Magazine November 2005 CD Track Listing:

1. Jackie Leven - Elegy for Johnny Cash
2. Amado & Mariam - La Realite
3. My Morning Jacket - Gideon (the track listing for #3 and #4 is swapped on the track listing; this is the correct order...)
4. Sufjan Stevens - John Wayne Gacy Jr.
5. John Prine - Crazy As A Loon
6. MP3:Halloween, Alaska - Drowned (from Too Tall to Hide)
7. MP3:Darden Smith - Golden Age (from Field of Crows)
8. The Wrens - Hopeless
9. Orenda Fink - Bloodlines
10. MP3:Big Star - Best Chance We've Ever Had (from In Space... not one of my favourite Big Star songs)
11. MP3:Peter Bruntnell - Ghost In A Spitfire (from Ghost in a Spitfire)
12. Buck 65 - Road House Blues
13. David Axelrod - Song of Innocence
14. Silver Jews - Sometimes A Pony Gets Depressed
15. MP3:Mitch Benn - A Minute's Noise for John (a tribute to John Peel, from Crimes Against Music)