The Word Magazine: June Now Hear This! CD

"Hallelujah!" proclaims the cover of the June issue of The Word. "Thank Heaven For Leonard Cohen".

The interview inside is a hard-hitting attack piece against Cohen.

Not. I meant not a hard-hitting attack piece, of course. Cohen discusses his life and work. Among his recent projects: a poetry and art book called Book of Longing and writing and producing an album for singer Anjani Thomas. A bit of Blue Alert's title track is streaming at his website.

Cohen is also working on an album of his own. He says he has to work now because his life savings were taken from $5 million to $150,000 by his manager, an allegation she denies. The Word cites this Macleans article as presenting "the most detailed account" of the situation.

Cohen's much-talked-about these days, partly due to the documentary about him "I'm Your Man", opening June 21.

In the film, a variety of artists, including Bono, give him props. Bono calls him "the original rapper" and "a sexy man who made sexy music, who made music asking questions about God and girls and everything."

Leonard Cohen - Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye (from Songs of Leonard Cohen)

you know my love goes with you as your love stays with me,
it's just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea,
but let's not talk of love or chains and things we can't untie,
your eyes are soft with sorrow,
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

The Word June 2006 Now Hear This! CD Track Listing:


1. Breaks Co-Op - Settle Down (from The Sound Inside) Covers a familiar theme - the thin line between love and hate - with some original, provocative lyrics ("it seems the more you suffer too/the more I settle down". Add the bop-along, fresh-sounding, genre-crossing music and you're good to go. It's wrong and right, like love and using cliches.
2. Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra - Toumani
3. Grandaddy - Rear View Mirror (from Just Like The Fambly Cat) Sweeping, rocking, excellent.
4. Shrift - Floating City (from Lost In A Moment) Is it electronica? Is it trip-hop? Yes and yes. It's beautiful and grows increasingly ethereal but never wispy.
5. Josh Ritter - Girl In The War
6. Gledhill - Resurrect Me
7. Roddy Frame - Marble Arch
8. Midlake - Bandits
9. Tunng - Woodcat
10. Jolie Holland - Crush in the Ghetto (from Springtime Can Kill You) Pretty, sweet alt-pop song about love, without the hate part.
11. Declan O'Rourke - No Brakes
12. Juana Molina - Yo No
13. Jeffrey Foucault - Ghost Repeater
14. Richard James - I Wait for Your Love
15. The Waterboys - Sweet Thing

At Last, Flying Cars!

As 2006 dawned, I couldn't help but notice a distinct lack of flying cars. Naturally, this was disappointing, as programs such as The Jetsons had led us to believe such vehicles were part of "the future" and the passing of another year was a reminder that this nifty convenience was still not available.

Granted, they're not available now either, but it turns out while I was complaining, someone was hard at work actually inventing them. Carl Dietrich, a 29 year-old doctoral candidate at MIT's Aeronautics and Astronautics program, has been awarded a $30,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for several inventions, including "Transition", an SUV-sized "Personal Air Vehicle concept" designed to take advantage of underused public-access airports and give people who need to travel 100-500 miles a new option. While Dietrich envisions an SUV-sized vehicle, he says using premium unleaded fuel, it "will be able to fly at 120 miles per hour with better fuel economy than most cars".

The Transition's estimated price is $148,000. At least a light sport's pilot's license will be required to fly the Transition (and that costs about $3,500). Naturally, a regular driver's license is required as well. The vehicles will be designed for a driver and one passenger... There will be no air conditioning, but there will be heat.

Part of Dietrich's prize money is going toward Terrafugia (it's Latin for "escape from the earth"), which will sell the Transition. There's a mailing list, though it's not a "waiting list".

Dietrich says "The Jetsons were always a little too far off". "Despite the fact that I'm working on a flying car, I've always been a pretty practical guy." In their defense, I'd like to point out that the program was a cartoon -- an animated depiction of the future, episodes of which were created decades ago. The poor bloke might be taking a fair amount of ribbing over the flying car thing at the local inventors' pub (I like to think there is one). He might want to make himself seem less whimsical than he is. Inventing seems like a fairly creative activity to me, and anyone who's invented a flying car must be a tad whimsical.

The Jetsons Theme (available on Television's Greatest Hits, Vol. 1: From the 50's and 60's)

Wham May Briefly Reunite

A Wham reunion of sorts may be in the works, though the plan for a few heart-rending minutes of shimmering pop can just barely be called a reunion.

George Michael has said he intends to invite former bandmate Andrew Ridgeley to sing "Last Christmas" with him at his Wembley concert in September.

A reunion is not a given. Even if he's interested, Andrew Ridgeley may not be available. For one thing, he's active in the nonprofit group Surfers Against Sewage and they have events planned for September.

Or he may think a one-song reunion isn't worth the drive over to Wembley Stadium, at least not for the song "Last Christmas". While it was a very popular song, if there's going to be a Wham reunion, and it's limited to one tune, that's not the song to perform. You bring out "Young Guns (Go For It)". Or "Bad Boys". "Wham Rap" would be perfectly acceptable. "Last Christmas" is not an adventurous choice. It just says they're not young guns anymore. Say it ain't so, George.

Wham - Young Guns (Go For It) (available on The Best of Wham!)

Wham - Bad Boys (available on The Final: Best of the Best Gold)

Paste Readers/Writers & Musicians Top 25 Songwriters/Paste CD

Bob Dylan is on the cover of the June/July issue of Paste magazine.

He didn't land the cover for his soulful eyes, no siree, er, Bob. He's been named the best living songwriter by... well, a mysterious group of 50 at least suggested him. Paste writes: "Though a collection of 50 writers and musicians helped compile the list, they were encouraged to vote for the songwriters they treasured the most, not the ones with the highest sales, the ones with the biggest impact on culture or even the greatest impact on other songwriters." Did Paste merely tabulate the results, or did they rearrange the list to their liking? The word "helped" suggests the latter. In the opening Editiorial, the Editor says he "gathered the voters and cast a ballot myself", making them a collection of mostly unknown people, which is slightly less mysterious and intriguing.

In a separate poll, Pastemagazine.com users also named Dylan their fave. There's a fair amount of similarity between the polls; some of the differences are interesting.

The Peoples'/(the Semi-Mysterious Collection of Writers and Musicians') Top 25 contrasted:

1. Bob Dylan (Bob Dylan)
2. Neil Young (Neil Young)
3. Paul McCartney (Bruce Springsteen)
4. Bruce Springsteen (Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan)
5. Paul Simon (Paul McCartney)
6. Elvis Costello (Leonard Cohen)
7. Joni Mitchell (Brian Wilson)
8. U2 (Elvis Costello)
9. Tom Waits (Joni Mitchell)
10. Van Morrisson (Prince)
11. Jeff Tweedy (Randy Newman)
12. R.E.M. (The Rolling Stones)
13. Brian Wilson (Paul Simon)
14. Mick Jagger (Stevie Wonder)
15. David Bowie (Willie Nelson)
16. Willie Nelson (David Bowie)
17. John Prine (Holland-Dozier-Holland ... they wrote songs such as The Supremes "Where Did Our Love Go" and "Come See About Me")
18. James Taylor (U2)
19. Ryan Adams (Patty Griffin)
20. Carole King (Van Morrison)
21. Elton John/Bernie Taupin (Lou Reed)
22. Leonard Cohen (Lucinda Williams)
23. Lucinda Williams (Elton John & Bernie Taupin)
24. Tom Petty (Jeff Tweedy)
25. Steve Earle (Chuck Berry)

Paste Sampler CD Track Listing:

1. Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs - She May Call You Up Tonight
2. Golden Smog - Corvette
3. Sean Watkins - Summer's Coming
4. Elf Power - King Of Earth
6. Janove Ottesen - Black and White Movie (from Francis' Lonely Nights)
7. Josh Ritter - Wolves
8. Lynn Miles - Love Sweet Love (from Love Sweet Love)
9. Tim O'Reagan - That's The Game
10. Mason Jennings - Be Here Now
11. Donavon Frankenreiter - Move By Yourself
12. Alejandro Escovedo - Arizona (Edit)
13. David Mead - Fighting For Your Life (from Tangerine)
14. Lylas - Darling Do You? (from Lessons For Lovers)
15. Jolie Holland - Springtime Can Kill You
16. World Party - What Does It Mean Now? (Edit)
17. Katharine Whalen - You Who
18. The Eighteenth Day Of May - Sir Casey Jones
19. The Bittersweets - Long Day
20. Dave Barnes - Everybody But You
21. Edwin McCain - Welcome To Struggleville
22. Allison Moorer - Fairweather (from Getting Somewhere)
23. Edgar Meyer - Roundabout (Edit)

A Dozen Tunes For International Jazz Day

In honor of International Jazz Day, I'm posting a dozen jazz songs. Limiting the list to a dozen means leaving lots of worthy artists out... The choice to include a word jazz track (Ken Nordine's "Brown") instead of, say, a classic tune by Duke Ellington may seem eccentric. I prefer the term "colorful".

Bix Beiderbecke - Singin' the Blues (available on Bix Beiderbecke, Vol. 1: Singin' the Blues)

Ella Fitzgerald - Everyone's Wrong But Me (available on The Great Ella Fitzgerald set)

Billie Holliday - You've Changed (available on Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Billie Holiday)

Thelonious Monk - Straight, No Chaser (available on Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Thelonious Monk)

Dizzy Gillespie - Salt Peanuts (available on Ken Burns JAZZ Collection: Dizzy Gillespie)

Dinah Washington - I've Got You Under My Skin (available on Night And Day: The Cole Porter Songbook)

Louis Armstrong - La Vie En Rose (available on Paris For Lovers)

Diana Krall - Almost Blue (covering a song by her husband, Elvis Costello; available on The Girl In The Other Room)

The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five (available on Time Out)

Ken Nordine - Brown (available on Colors)

Herbie Hancock - Cantaloupe Island (available on Cantaloupe Island)

Arturo Sandoval - Stella By Starlight (available on Ritmo De La Noche: Very Best of Latin Jazz)

Callin' In Sick...

Alas, I'm illin', as the kids say, pathetically weak from a fever of likely about 150º Fahrenheit (as hardy as I am, I probably couldn't survive a fever of 150º Celsius).

I hate the song "Fever", so I'm not posting it. I'd like to post "Too Darn Hot", preferably Ella Fitzgerald's version... which I have but lack the energy to locate. I did find Ella Fitzgerald Wishes You a Swinging Christmas but somehow it doesn't seem likely to contain any appropriate songs.

Weird Al Yankovic - Callin' In Sick (from Bad Hair Day)

Must... include... some more substantive content. Spoon is going to rerelease their early EPs on July 25. Telephono and Soft Effects have been remastered and I think we all know how painful that can be. Like maybe 125º fever painful.

Top Conservative Rock Songs

In today's paper, the New York Times examines National Review's list of "the top 50 conservative rock songs of all time".

"Any claim that rock is fundamentally revolutionary is just kind of silly," the article's author, John J. Miller, tells the Times. He said his criteria was "the songs had to be good and express classically conservative ideas 'such as skepticism of government or support for traditional values.'" The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" landed in the top spot; The Beatles' "Taxman" is in second place.

Rock critic (and liberal) Dave Marsh tells the Times that once the conservatives lost "the culture war" over what kind of music became "the dominant musical form" in the world, "then a different kind of battle begins: the battle over meaning."

The inclusion of liberal protest songs such as The Pretenders' "My City Was Gone" and Credence Clearwater Revival's "Who'll Stop the Rain" on the list seems to indicate that Marsh has a point.

Yet The Times musters only relatively mild criticism on this count: "A few seem a stretch, like Sammy Hagar's 'I Can't Drive 55' (No. 38), called 'a rocker's objection to the nanny state.'" The Times even dubs the choices "surprisingly persuasive" though it is noted with disdain that the conservative 50 is "overwhelmingly white and male."

The full list of fifty conservative rock songs, along with the reasoning is available at the New York Times' website (free registration may be required).

The Top 10 Conservative Rock Songs:

1. The Who - "Won't Get Fooled Again"

2. The Beatles - "Taxman"

3. The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy for the Devil"

4. Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Sweet Home Alabama"

5. The Beach Boys - "Wouldn't It Be Nice"

6. U2 - "Gloria"

7. The Beatles - "Revolution"

8. The Sex Pistols - "Bodies"

9. Metallica - "Don't Tread On Me"

10. The Kinks - "20th Century Man"

The Pretenders - My City Was Gone (from Learning To Crawl, #13)

Jesus Jones - Right Here, Right Now (from Doubt, #14)

Living Colour - Cult Of Personality (from Vivid, #18)

After The Fire - Der Kommissar (from Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box (Totally), #24)

The Kinks - Two Sisters (from Something Else by the Kinks, #44)

The Mojo Honours List Nominees

Mojo magazine has revealed the nominees for the Mojo Honours List 2006.

According to their editor-in-chief, Phil Alexander, "It is not about the biggest names or the hottest acts."

Sure enough, a new, "hot" group like The Raconteurs is more the exception than the rule among the nominees. Outside of the Best New Act category, its acts who've had longer careers who dominate the nominations (like David Bowie, Van Morrison, Chrissie Hynde, Kate Bush, and Neil Young). The late Johnny Cash has three nominations.

The winners will be announced June 5th at a ceremony in London, at Shoreditch Town Hall.

The Mojo Honours List Nominees:


The MOJO Best New Act

"Chosen by MOJO Magazine readers & Mojo4music.com users. Presented to an act who have made a significant impact over the last 18 months."

Nominees:

1 Corinne Bailey Rae

Corinne Bailey Rae - Butterfly (from Corinne Bailey Rae)

2 Guillemots

Guillemots - My Chosen One (B-side on the "Trains to Brazil" single)

3 Amadou And Mariam

Amadou & Mariam - Taxi Bamako (from Beaux Dimanches)

4 Teddy Thompson

Teddy Thompson - Shine So Bright (available on Separate Ways)

5 Archie Bronson Outfit

Archie Bronson Outfit - Cherry Lips (available on Derdang Derdang)

6 The Raconteurs

The Raconteurs - Hands (from Broken Boy Soldiers)

The MOJO Inspiration Award

"Chosen by MOJO Magazine readers & Mojo4music.com users. Presented to an act that has been the catalyst for music fans and fellow musicians alike."

Nominees:

1 Sparks

Sparks - In The Future (from Indiscreet)

2 Johnny Cash
3 The Buzzcocks (by which they mean Buzzcocks)

Buzzcocks - What Do I Get? (available on Singles Going Steady)

4 Paul Weller
5 The Fall

The MOJO Icon

"Voted for by MOJO readers and Mojo4music users, the recipient of this award has enjoyed a spectacular career on a global scale."

Nominees:

1 David Bowie

David Bowie - Time (from Aladdin Sane)

2 Scott Walker

The Walker Brothers - Walking In The Rain (from The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine: The Very Best Of Scott Walker & The Walker Brothers)

3 Johnny Cash
4 Neil Young

Neil Young - Heart Of Gold (available on Greatest Hits)

5 Van Morrison

Van Morrison - Moondance (from Moondance)

The MOJO Catalogue Release Of The Year

"presented by MOJO to the reissue that is both definitive and beautifully packaged."

Nominees:

1 Johnny Cash - Legend (Sony BMG)
2 Talking Heads - Reissue Series (Warners/EMI)
3 Orange Juice - The Glasgow School (Domino)
4 Various - Anthems in Eden (Sanctuary)
5 Various - Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal (Universal)

Nick Drake - Northern Sky (available on Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal)

6 Jeff Wayner - War Of The Worlds (Sony BMG)

The MOJO Vision Award

"to the best music DVD package of the year in recognition of visual innovation and impact."

Nominees:

1 Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum (EMI)
2 Bob Dylan - No Direction Home (Paramount)
3 Ramones - The Story Of The Ramones (Tartan)
4 Dig! (Tartan)
5 The Flaming Lips - The Fearless Freaks: The Life And Times Of An American Invention? (High Coin)
6 The Mayor Of Sunset Strip - (Tartan)

The MOJO Songwriter Award

Voted for by MOJO readers and supported by MOJO Radio. Presented to an artist whose career has been defined by their ability to consistently pen classic material.

Nominees:

1. Joe Strummer

The Clash - Magnificent Seven (available on The Singles)

2. Richard Hawley

Richard Hawley - The Ocean (from Coles Corner)

3. Kate Bush

Kate Bush - Strange Phenomena (from The Kick Inside)

4. Chrissie Hynde
5. Nick Cave

Nick Cave - People Ain't No Good (from The Boatman's Call)

Additional awards, for which nominees were not announced, include The MOJO Classic Album ("to an artist responsible for a landmark release in the history of rock'n'roll", The MOJO Roots Award, and "The MOJO Hero". The MOJO Classic Album award is "presented by Mojo" and the others are chosen by Mojo. The Classic Album award could possibly be selected by a dart toss.

Several of the awards are sponsored by assorted companies other than Mojo. You can read about those sponsorships at Mojo's announcements page if you're so inclined.

Live Commercials - The Captive Audience Is Listening

The New York Times reports on "the world's first live theatrical commercial", which since it has also been advertised as such, means the Times is dutifully reporting on an advertisement (on their virtual front page, no less).

Still, it is noteworthy. A crowd gathered to watch "Stomp" sat in silence and let a travel company try to convince them to go abroad, to a particular city, naturally with the help of their company. This company has already used "theatrical ads" in Dublin and Hamburg and one is scheduled for Pittsburg on Friday. "They're a captive audience," the company's communication director told the Times. "They can't switch channels or change over or walk out once the thing is started."

Did he think he was "off the record" or that people enjoy being called captive audiences? Either way, it's pretty entertaining when people in charge of communications for companies or politicians are so excited about their strategy that they talk about it without self-censoring. It might suit his purposes more to discuss how great his company is or say something about the ads that doesn't make them sound quite so nefarious.

Okay, fine. The people in the theater "can't" leave, or at least don't want to, for fear of missing the opening of the show. However, they can cough, talk, or turn their backs. A little civil disobedience now could go a long way. What if people did that early on when the move theaters started showing commercials before trailers? Maybe now we wouldn't have a half-hour of ads before the first trailer. If people don't want six live ads before their plays, they might want to consider protesting those that allow one. And if we tolerate live ads at plays, they could become a frequent presence at concerts.

Sure, some bands, like Franz Ferdinand would likely turn down the really big bucks such advertising would bring (at least they wouldn't accept it from American companies). But many bands, established and lesser-known alike, wouldn't pass up the money.

Many tours and festivals are already sponsored by corporations, which sometimes make their presence rather heavily felt. It's not a big leap to imagine ads acted-out, done by a comic, or sung in between sets at a concert. Something like this has likely already been done on a small scale. If no one has yet sponsored scripted ads in front of large audiences for the length of a concert tour, let's hope the theatrical ads don't inspire someone to do so.

Jon Astley - But Is It Commercial? (from The Compleat Angler)

"Jack White, buddies form the Raconteurs"?

It's good to see that there's been a lot of exciting news in the music world while I've been "gone" (so to speak). I think ""Jack White, buddies form the Raconteurs" is probably the biggest story. Sure, Prince (along with Kristen Bell of Veronica Mars) were voted the world's sexiest vegetarians. Some bands have dropped people, some are going on tour, but friendship? Buddies? That's the biggest and most special news of all.

White, remember, doesn't like the term "side project" because "side project usually means some flippant thing - you're not even paying too much attention to it."

But let's let his pal Patrick Keeler describe the recording process. "There was no concept, no ideas, no rules, no script, nothing - we just went in blind," says Keeler. A few days later, and the whole thing was over.

Maybe musicians who work for years on a single album just need different friends!

Unrelated songs ........

Galaxie 500 - Snowstorm (originally from On Fire)

The Helio Sequence - Don't Look Away (from Love and Distance)

The 6ths - San Diego Zoo (from Wasps' Nests)

Songs Currently Available to Some, Currently Invisible To Others

Hopefully Blogger's tech folks will restore service eventually.

edited to note that all appears to be well now

Robyn Hitchcock - I Feel Beautiful (available on Jewels For Sophia)

Grandaddy - For The Dishwasher (available on The Broken-Down Comforter Collection)

Menswe@r - Daydreamer (available on Nuisance)

Duffy - 17 (from I Love My Friends)

Primitive Radio Gods - Fading Out (available on White Hot Peach)

Apologies - Blogger's Problems Continue. My posts can be read in comments mode & by subscribers...

...but Blogger has not been publishing them on the website (and in comments mode, as in space, no one can see posted graphics or songs links). I also haven't been able to comment on the blog since Thursday (when I complained both about and *to* Blogger, oh dear). Drafts are also being deleted willy-nilly and I think we all know how painful that can be.

Still no update to the Blogger Status page about the problem, and no response via e-mail. It's not impacting everyone on Blogspot, of course. Still, my cache and cookies have been cleared, and I've tried posting on two browsers. It's not me; it's them, and it's fairly frustrating.

"Fairness" is right in my Blogger profile, and it doesn't seem fair to not give subscribers music, particularly when they've had to endure a post about a subject that hasn't impacted them. I'm also hopeful the problem will be resolved soon and this post will, as if by magic, appear on the website itself.

All of which is a wordy way of explaining why I'm posting a post and songs to a website that will stubbornly refuse to show either the post or the song links.

Solo - Come Back To Me (from Solopeople)

"Zinc! Zinc! Come back, zinc!"

I mean, Blogger. "Come back, Blogger." That meaning aside, it's a lovely song.

Sing-Sing - Panda Eyes (from The Joy of Sing-Sing)

Irresistably cheerful. Seriously. Resistance is futile.

Eddie Murphy - Party All The Time (from How Could It Be)

Even those who dislike cheese (who are small in number) may enjoy cringing.

Segway Inventor Wants To Launch People Onto Buildings

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has applied for a patent for a gizmo that allegedly is "capable of launching a subject substantially vertically from the ground onto the roof of a building."

New Scientist's Barry Fox, who combs through patent applications looking for especially weird ones to write about, notes that the patent application "suggests a computer could automatically devise the correct angle and speed of ascent" and "claims that a 4-metre-tall launcher could put a man on the top of a 5 storey building in less than 2 seconds."

Need one of the people being propelled onto the roof of a building by an early version of this people-launcher fret about such things? Perhaps they would worry less if they knew the name of Segway inventor Dean Kamen had been spotted on the DARPA patent application. Surely Kamen wouldn't knowingly endanger people! He's invented medical devices, including the first portable infusion pump. He also started a kid-centric nonprofit, U.S. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). What would be less inspiring than your favorite inventor being involved in a scandal involving dozens of catapult-related injuries?

Any inventors who have to explain the "drawbacks" of a "circus-type" design to explain the need for their invention likely feel a bit weird about it already, so let's not make him feel much weirder. For instance, I suggest no ridiculous questions about adding wacky sound effects each time someone is launched onto a building. First, the sounds wouldn't be appropriate in an emergency situation. Just because it's a circus-like device doesn't mean they're at the circus. Second, even if the sounds were appropriate, everyone would be a bit busy to muck around with playing the effects (see "emergency situation"). If the sound sysem was an automatic part of the system, it would just be another part to break down all the more easily, and then need to be fixed. This would probably require extra people-launchers, and those things are probably going to be expensive, with or without sound systems.

The Breeders - Cannonball (from Last Splash)

Feelings. Whoa, Whoa, Whoa.

A small roller-coaster of emotions via songs:

They Might Be Giants - Which Describes How You're Feeling (from Apollo 18)

The Boy Least Likely To - I See Spiders When I Close My Eyes (from The Best Party Ever)

Pulp - The Fear (from This Is Hardcore)

Jason Falkner - Eloquence (from Can You Still Feel?)

Julee Cruise - It's The End Of The World As We Know It (from Winter Chill 06.02)

Mercury Rev - Blue Clouds (from The Late Great Daniel Johnston Discovered Covered)

Great Big Sea - Something Beautiful (from Something Beautiful)

Verbing Words - A Good Concept, But...

Via Slate, the tale of one man's attempt to get the word "concept" into the Merriam-Webster dictionary as a verb.

Ray Del Salvio's Verb4Concept campaign brings to mind Calvin's fondness for verbing words:

Calvin: I like to verb words.
Hobbes: What?
Calvin: I take nouns and adjectives and use them as verbs. Remember when "access" was a thing? Now, it's something you do. It got verbed. Verbing weirds language.
Hobbes: Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding.

Verbing words is sometimes sensible. "Blog", for instance, works equally well as a noun and a verb. Verbing is also sometimes a good idea just in the name of weirdness, as long as it's entertaining. Del Salvio's suggested sample sentence, "The team set aside some time for concepting in order to flesh out some plausible directions", is kind of weird, but it's not much fun. There seems to be little point to weird verbing if it isn't at least fun.

The word "conceptualize" doesn't satisfy Del Salvio and the need for examples of "concept" being used as a verb hasn't stopped him. Onward he presses. While he hasn't convinced me to join the campaign, he has inspired me to verb more often.

Merriam-Webster's Open Dictionary, on the other hand, accepts users' submissions essentially on good faith. Recent entries include fauxlex and Survivor Diet.

Teenage Fanclub - The Concept (from Bandwagonesque)

Jets To Brazil - Orange Rhyming Dictionary (from Four Cornered Night)

Hooverphonic - Dictionary (from Blue Wonder Power Milk )

American 7-Eleven: P'EatZZa Sandwich. Japanese 7-Eleven: Scented Oxygen

The American 7-Eleven research and development braintrust doesn't just spend its time developing larger and slightly-differently-shaped beverage cups and new Slurpee flavors.

They also develop unappealing and badly-named hybrid food products like the P'EatZZa Sandwich. It's perfect for those times when you're plagued by decision paralysis because you feel equally in the mood for both pizza and a sandwich. Eating "pizza flatbread and deli sandwich fillings" will leave both cravings equally unsatisfied, and perhaps there's some massochistic pleasure to be found in that.

Plus, by quickly deciding on such a lousy new product instead of spending a lot of time developing something that sounds more appealing, 7-Eleven saved a lot of money, which they spent promoting the P'EatZZa Sandwich on the increasingly unlikeable and unpopular television program "The Apprentice", featuring the perpetually unlikeable Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, in Japan, 7-Eleven stores are thinking a bit more outside the box. In some Tokyo 7-Eleven stores later this month, O2 Supli 95% pure canned oxygen will be available, in both grapefruit and peppermint scents. O2 Suppli, which will be on sale throughout Japan in June, comes in spray cans with a plastic mask to breathe in that pricey oxygen for 2 or 3 seconds each "dose" lasts. Each can contains 35 "doses" and will cost 600 yen (about 2.89 pounds, $5.48 in the U.S., $6.07 in Canada, or $7.13 in Australia).

Minoru Matsumoto, a spokesperson for 7-Eleven's parent company, Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd., said, "The peppermint should be really good for mornings when you're tired, or when you're driving, or when you really have to concentrate." You don't have to really concentrate when driving? He recommends the grapefruit scent for "before you do sports or while you're working really late." What if you really have to concentrate while you're working really late?

It's not all that innovative an idea. Oxygen bars have been around for quite a long time. Given the severity of the pollution problem in Japan (and its certainly a global issue), it can't be a purely amusing idea either. It's a bit silly, anyway, but nonetheless it might be a better product than the P'EatZZa Sandwich.

Feeder - Oxygen (from Echo Park)

Air - How Does It Make You Feel? (Adrian Sherwood Version) (from Everybody Hertz - 10,000 HZ Legend Remixes)

Sweet - Love Is Like Oxygen (from Super Hits of the '70s: Have a Nice Day, Vol. 25)

Knight Rider Movie On the Way, May Be Hasselhoff-Free

Although the official Knight Rider website hasn't been updated in over a year, on its homepage it forecast a heartwrenching report that David Hasselhoff has been "axed" from the upcoming film adaptation of Knight Rider. According to this mysterious report Hasselhoff even "begged" the show's creator Glen A. Larson for a part.

The Knight Rider webside quotes this snippet of dialogue from the original series:

Michael: "You know, you're about as much fun as a divorce ... which is not a bad idea."

KITT: "I want custody of me."

Given the nature of Hasselhoff's actual ongoing divorce proceedings and the recently-resolved dispute over the custody of their children, the dialogue is perhaps less "devilishly witty" this year than the SciFi channel found it last year.

Contrary to that report, Larson won't say whether Hasselhoff will appear in the movie. He also won't comment on whether William Daniels, the original voice of KITT, will be back for the film, or perhaps replaced by someone younger, with a voice either more bland, or funkier.

However, he was willing to discuss the film's plot and tone.

The Knight Rider flick will aim for "a darker tone" and will "probably have more gallows, foxhole humor" than the TV show, Larson says. The plot will stick to the show's premise of "a police investigator shot in the line of duty who is nursed back to health by a mysterious millionaire". To help the injured man continue to fight crime he's given a new face, a new car (KITT), and a new name ("Michael Knight" would at least help him blend in better than, say, "Ford Prefect"). Plus, he seeks vengeance on the guys who shot him, naturally. Maybe Hasselhoff could play one of those thugs.

What most people must be wondering, though, is, what about KARR, KITT's twin car, sometimes thought of as his "evil twin"? Larson's also developing movie versions of the TV shows Magnum P.I. and The Fall Guy. If he doesn't write KARR into Knight Rider, how can we have any faith in his ability to make sound choices about those movies?

Knight Rider Theme (from Television's Greatest Hits, Vol.6: Remote Control)

David Hasselhoff - Hot Shot City (from The Very Best Of)

While, I won't beg you, Hasselhoff style, to download "Hot Shot City", I do strongly recommend the track. If you download one song today, I suggest you make it "Hot Shot City". And while you're at it...

Let your hair down baby and party down until the morning light

They Might Be Giants - My Evil Twin (from Apollo 18)

The Magnetic Fields - I Wish I Had An Evil Twin (from i)

UK Women Listen To More Music Than UK Men

Emap, a large UK company which among many other things, publishes the music magazines Kerrang!, Q, and, Mojo has announced that according to its research, more women now spend more time listening to music than men do. Oh, and more women than men buy Kerrang! Plus, almost half those under 30 who buy Q are female. Yes, they are reaching with that last one.

With astoundingly good timing, Emap Entertainment had announced on May 4th the launch of a new weekly women's magazine on May 17th.

Perhaps the new magazine, "FIRST", will indeed "reach women at a whole new life-stage who seek an intelligent read that gives them a broader perspective on the world," as Emap Entertainment Managing Director Louise Matthews claims, but I still don't mind missing out on this one.

In an attempt to appeal to young UK women, who plainly dig music more than anyone else, I shall try to post more songs about clothes, makeup, cool cars, love, and fashion (as well as music) magazines.

Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater (from I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One)

The Dead Milkmen - Punk Rock Girl (from Left Of The Dial: Dispatches From The '80s Underground)

David Bowie - She'll Drive The Big Car (from Reality)

XTC - Love On A Farmboy's Wages (from Mummer, etc.)

Elvis Costello & The Attractions - This Year's Girl (from This Year's Model)

Pete Shelley - Homosapien (from Just Can't Get Enough: New Wave Hits Of The 80s)

Study: Canadians Think Rebels Are Uncool

According to a new University of British Columbia study, people -- at least Canadian people, mostly students -- do not associate the word "cool" with the classic cool image of a detatched, aloof rebel.

Canadian people now see coolness "predominantly in terms of socially desirable qualities," says Ilan Dar-Nimrod, a researcher on the study. He says these qualities "include confidence, drive for success, friendliness, attractiveness and holding communal values: being honest, caring, sincere and loving." (In other words, being stereotypically Canadian?)

A whopping 60% of the study participants said those with such socially desirable traits are cool, while only 15% thought aloof, rebellious types were cool.

Dar-Nimrod said "the new cool" resembles someone "your mother would want you to be", and who knows better than moms what cool is? I'm certainly going to wait until after Mother's Day to insinuate that my mom and I might have contrasting opinions about coolness.

As part of the research, participants were asked to rank celebrities according to their coolness. Johnny Depp came out on top, no doubt because he is seen as honest, caring, sincere, and loving. George Bush and Adolf Hitler were ranked as least cool.

Dar-Nimrod says, "I didn't do that on purpose, I would never put George Bush and Hitler in the same category," he said. "But they are both very high on the uncool scale."

So even sincerity-worshipping Canadians put Depp on top? The fellow who has played, more than once, a pirate, an occupation hardly associated with honesty or sincerity? The man who first gained fame on 21 Jump Street playing a police officer, sure, but, essentially, a "narc", a liar, a double agent... a rebel?

Those 60% of Canadians told themselves (and researchers) that nice is cool, but they still included "attractiveness" as a relevant factor, and perhaps the most rebellious sorts are still seen as the most attractive... as long as they're rebelling against the right things.

Dar Williams - As Cool As I Am (from Mortal City)

The American Analog Set - Cool Kids Keep (from Set Free)

The Dandy Warhols - Cool As Kim Deal (from The Dandy Warhols Come Down)

The Arrogants - Nobody's Cool (from the Nobody's Cool EP)

Will Kimbrough - "This Modern World"

I recently got a tip about a cool song, called "This Modern World" by Will Kimbrough. His bio is headlined Who the f*ck is Will Kimbrough? so he likely doesn't expect you to have heard of him.

Yet he's an "astounding, in-demand guitarist (Americana Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year), a producer, and creator of timeless songs in both pop motifs and dusty Americana" and "slowly, but surely, becoming a household word."

He has released three solo albums thus far. "This Modern World" is from the Jan of the bunch, if you will, 2002's Home Away. It was "discovered" through Pandora, which is no stranger to me, though I didn't find this song.

"This Modern World" was found through a search for songs similar to Michael Penn's "Walter Reed". Penn is currently working on a soundtrack, after which he'll work on some new songs of his own... sure, we have his many fine songs to revisit while we wait (especially those on Resigned), but of course we need new artists to dig too... plus, that increases the pressure on Penn to hurry it up with the new songs already.

Will Kimbrough - This Modern World (from Home Away, and genuinely nifty)

Michael Penn - Walter Reed (from Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947, and also nifty)

Will Kimbrough's Tour Dates:

(quotes are from Kimbrough)

May 13 - San Marcos, TX - Cheatham Street ("1st Annual Hil Country Messaround!" There is really no such thing as a "first annual" anything but a "messaround" should be good fun nonetheless!)
May 19 - Sweden - "Prison" (yes, an actual prison gig)

Swedish Tour Dates with Willy Clay Band

May 20 - Norrtalje - Gamla Stans Tradgard
May 21 - Orebro - K5
May 22 - Stockholm - Mosebacke
May 23 - Uppsala, Sweden - Katalin
May 24 - Malmo - Nya Trols

Tour Dates with Kate Campbell:

May 26 - Bedford, UK - The Star Club
May 27 - Rhayader, Wales, UK - Carad
May 28 - Maidstone, UK - Soul Cafe
May 30 - Edinburgh, Scotland - The Pleasance
May 31 - Glenfarg, Perth, Scotland - The Bein Inn
June 1 - Newcastle-On-Tyne, UK - The Cluny
June 2 - Claygate, Outer London - The Ram Club
June 4 - Cromore Halt, No. Ireland - Portstewart Music Station
June 5 - Strabane, Co Tyrone, Ireland - The Allstar Club
June 6 - Newry, No. Ireland - Frontier Music Club
June 7 - Belfast, No. Ireland - Errigle Inn
June 8 - Derry, Ireland - The Derry Playhouse
June 9 - Nawl, Ireland - Seamus Ennis Centre
June 16 - Gulf Shores, AL - Lulu's ("This may be a band show; I'm working on it!")
June 25 - Eddie's Attic Atlanta, GA w/Amy Loftus
July 29 - Nashville, TN - The Basement (Americanitis Release Show with band)
August 19 - Harriman, TN - Mucklewain Festival (booked as solo show at the moment)
September 1 - Camp Mather, CA - Strawberry Music Festival ("w/Rodney; looks like I’ll get to play a set, stay tuned!")
September 3 - Big Bear Lake, CA - Heritage Days Festival (w/ Rodney; I plan to open the show)
September 4 - Nicasio, CA - Rancho Nicasio ("w/ Rodney; I will open")
September 16 - Nashville, NC - Rose Hill Plantation ("w/ Rodney; I will open")
September 22 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium - Americana Music Association Awards show ("w/Rodney")

Uncut: June Playlist CD/Stone Roses Interview Excerpt

"The Stone Roses Resurrected" is the cover story of the June 2006 issue of Uncut. Given last month's Morrissey cover and the (misleading) word choice "Resurrected" for this month's cover, Uncut is getting quite holy on us. Thank, er, goodness, we have Q to even things out with their Songs about Satan playlists.

The word "Revisited" would have been more accurate, as Uncut primarily interviews the blokes about their history, although they do ask about the possibility of a reunion (before being informed is very unlikely indeed).

Ian Brown says the band was offered five million pounds for 40 shows last year. He explains why, then, the band is not presently touring, "I've got three kids so that's a serious thing to me, but then I look at it and think: every band reforms for the money... we weren't ever in it for the money. It wouldn't make me happier. I can only eat a meal a day. I'm not into flash cars; I've got a nice house."

In response to John Squire's claims last year that the Roses were reuniting, Brown says, "it seems a bit crazy" of Squire to say so "without phoning me up". He tells Uncut, "I don't love him. I used to love him. I think his decisions were made with a coked-up head so I don't hold any bitterness 'cos I know, inside, he's a nice guy." Nevertheless, he says "I've still got the knife in my back." He loves the "total artistic freedom" he's had and all the different musicians he has been able to work with, since leaving the Stone Roses. In other words, even if the other guys really, really, want to reunite the old band, his lack of interest in flash cars and multiple nice houses is costing everyone an "only in it for the money" tour.

John Squire notes that Brown "keeps slagging" him off in interviews, and seems to see the writing on the wall. So he helpfully throws fuel on the fire by describing Brown's singing of some Stone Roses tunes as "awful" during the recent NME Awards show (where Brown was awarded a Godlike Genius award - there's that religious theme in the UK music scene again.)

When asked whether he'd like to "get in a room and just shake hands" with Brown, Squire replies, "Yeah, maybe. Why not? I'd like to be friends again. Let's see where we are after 10 years."

Mani Mounfield, now bassist for Primal Scream, is not the obstacle here. One last tour? He's there. A gig for charity? Okay. When told Brown was skeptical the Roses would reunite for charity, Mounfield says he would "in an instant" and is "sure" John and Reni also would.

Drummer Reni Wren did not respond to Uncut's requests for an interview. In 2005, his response to the reunion question was, "Never say never... but it won't be this year." At last, an answer we know is accurate.


The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored (from The Stone Roses)


Uncut The Playlist June 2006 Track Listing:

1. Shack - Working Family
2. The Waterboys - We Will Not Be Lovers (from Fisherman's Blues: Collector's Edition. The album was originally released in 1988 and includes "And A Bang On the Ear", another especially great track)
3. The Handsome Family - Tesla's Hotel Room
4. Siouxsie & The Banshees - Monitor
5. Chris Hillman - Eight Miles High
6. Hot Chip - The Warning (from The Warning)

In the song, Hot Chip threaten to snap off your head, but this is obviously some harmless slang the kids are using nowadays. Hey, "bust a groove" might have sounded violent and scary to some unhip oldsters who weren't all in the know with how kids really talk. Likely, in the UK, nowadays, they threaten to break each-other's legs (as Hot Chip also threatens) as a form of greeting. This might be why the music mags feel the kids need religion, but if heads aren't actually being snapped off, let's not panic.

Remember how baby-faced the Beastie Boys looked back when they were yelling "Kick it!" in that one video... the one for the song about how you had to "Fight for your right to party"? Hey, pretend you remember. You've at least seen the video, dammit. Little help here.

This Hot Chip song reminds me of the young Beasties, only set to decidedly more gentle music, with much more of a synth-pop direction.

7. Daniel Johnston - The Beatles (Daniel Johnston's great, but this is not one of my favorite tracks of his)
8. Augusto Pablo Meets Lee Perry & The Wailers Band - Satisfy My Soul Dub
9. Jarvis Cocker & Kid Loco - I Just Came To Tell You That I'm Going (Serge Gainsbourg cover, original title "Je suis venu te dire que je m'en vais" from the compilation Monsieur Gainsbourg. Jarvis Cocker does the singing here)
10. Mercury Rev - Coney Island Cyclone
11. Fiona Apple - Parting Gift (nothing especially to say here, as you likely have already heard this song if you have any interest in Fiona Apple, who is rather well-known. But that part a couple lines up about the Jarvis Cocker track meant that it's automatically worthy of at least a listen. Plus, he's singing an English translation of a French song, by Serge Gainsbourg, which is also interesting)
12. The Small Faces - Son Of A Baker
13. Al Green - Love And Happiness (from Love And Happiness: The Very Best Of Al Green. Hey, it's Al Green... cool, sweet, and balances the Waterboys tune, which is swell, but hardly hopeful)
14. Roddy Frame - Shore Song (from Western Skies. Lovely, or, if you do not like lovely songs, wimpy)
15. Dirty Pretty Things - Blood Thirsty Bastards
16. The Fiery Furnaces - Teach Me, Sweetheart

The Tragically Hip to Be Honored, Offered Wine

On May 24, at the Windsor Arms Hotel in Vancouver, the Royal Conservatory of Music will bestow upon The Tragically Hip Honorary Fellowships, "the highest recognition given by The Royal Conservatory."

Every year, the Conservatory holds "The Royal Occasion", with the goal of "celebrating Canadians who have made a lasting contribution to the arts". The Goal is worthy, and This Choice is An Excellent One. The Royal Occasion is "sold out" already according to the Conservancy. More accurately, no tickets have yet been sold. Only registered members of the band's website will be able to buy tickets to see The Hip honored and perform, along with Special Guests. Tickets go on sale Friday, May 12th for $59.50 each plus service charges, with a 2 ticket per order limit. A wine company is one of the event's sponsors, so alcohol should be as omnipresent as music.

The Tragically Hip - Something On (from Hipeponymous, etc)

The Tragically Hip - Poets (from Hipeponymous, etc)

The Tragically Hip - Lake Fever (from Hipeponymous, etc)

Songs About Satan

The current Q magazine, devotes a "best of the best to download" Essential Playlist to Songs About Satan. Their List:

1. Muse - The Small Print (from Absolution)

2. Beck - Satan Gave Me A Taco (beat out "Devil's Haircut", apparently)

3. Tori Amos - Father Lucifer (from Boys for Pele)

4. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds - Up Jumped The Devil (from Tender Prey)

5. Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast

6. Charlie Daniels Band - The Devil Went Down To Georgia

7. Max Romeo - Chase The Devil

8. The Rolling Stones - Sympathy For The Devil (from Beggars Banquet)

9. Louvin Brothers - Satan Is Real

10. Robert Johnson - Me And The Devil Blues

There was also a reader challenge to create a Songs About Satan playlist. The winner, "E. Guard, of Poole" selected artists ranging from AC/DC ("Highway to Hell", naturally) to Elvis Presley ("Devil In Disguise"), as well as Sonic Youth's awesomely-titled "Satan Is Boring".

Sonic Youth - Satan Is Boring (from Bad Moon Rising)

Left Out: INXS' "Devil Inside", Pulp's "The Mark Of The Devil", Cake's "Satan Is My Motor", Morrissey's "Satan Rejected My Soul"...

The Word: May CD

The May issue of The Word, as always, includes a free CD. The theme: "It's the smart way to keep up with the month's most exciting new music". Their interpretation of "new" includes reissued albums, and compilations. Thanks to that policy, the Word's CDs can include "older" tracks like those by Cocteau Twins and Warren Zevon. Their discs are all the better and more interesting thanks to the quality and variety added by such songs.

Most magazines that include CDs tend to include some older material at least occasionally. This is great for those who haven't heard such an artist before. They may want a bit of rock education. They may find a new artist to adore.

It's also great for those who know such an artist already but love hearing them again, in some cases because it's a bit of reassurance that amidst the overwhelming amount of music that has been released in the years since their last release... still... in our disposable-everything-insta-celebrity-culture... still, they haven't been forgotten. They won't be forgotten.

The Word May 2006 Now Hear This! CD Track Listing:


1. Gotan Project - Diferente
2. Ben Harper - Better Way
3.Cocteau Twins - Sugar Hiccup (12" Version) (from Lullabies to Violaine)
4. Nightmare Of You - I Want To Be Buried In Your Backyard (it took a long time for this song to reach the UK!)
5. Karine Polwart - I'm Gonna Do It All
6. Carlos Guitarlos - Get Back
7. Mew - Chinaberry Tree (from And The Glass Handed Kites)
8. Donald Fagen - H Gang
9. Calexico - Yours And Mine
10. Fink - Pills In My Pocket
11. Howe Gelb - Get To Leave
12. Dayna Kurtz - Another Black Feather
13. Josh Rouse - His Majesty Rides (from Subtitulo)
14. My Latest Novel - The Hope Edition (from Wolves)
15. Warren Zevon - Keep Me In Your Heart (from Love Songs)

Q Covered: Best Of 86/06

2006 is Q's 20th birthday year. Therefore the June issue includes a free CD with songs covering "classic tracks". Think that explanation is weak? Well, check this out: Q considers Gwen Stefani's "What You Waiting For" a "classic". The Britney Spears song covered on the disc, sure. Who's going to argue with that? But let's wait a while before we dub Gwen Stefani's song a classic. She wasn't a child prodigy like Brit (or Arctic Monkeys, for that matter).

That quibble aside, the CD alone makes this issue of Q worth buying. 6 of the 14 tracks are either "exclusive to Q" or were "specially recorded for Q" and most are good, as are most of the other songs. On first listen, I find the Magic Numbers' cover of "There Is A Light That Never Goes Out" quite annoying. But who knows, maybe it will grow on me if I listen to it enough times. On the other hand, mold grows on, say, bread, if you leave it around long enough. I do quite like the exclusive tracks I'm not posting...

Q Covered: Best Of 86/06 Track Listing:

1. Franz Ferdinand - What You Waiting For? (Gwen Stefani cover, exclusive to Q. Not a fan of the original, but this is a really fun cover, done with lots of energy and seemingly effortless skill. Plus, as they do when covering the song in concert, they add some lines from Billy Idol's "White Wedding")
2. Sugababes - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Monkeys cover, available on "Red Dress" single)
3. The Flaming Lips - Can't Get You Out Of My Head (Kylie Minogue cover, available on Fight Test EP)
4. Corinne Bailey Rae - Venus As A Boy (Bjork cover, specially recorded for Q)
5. Elbow - August And September (The The cover, exclusive to Q)
6. Richard Hawley - Some Candy Talking (The Jesus & Mary Chain cover, specially recorded for Q. Wonderful.)
7. Editors - Orange Crush (R.E.M. cover, specially recorded for Q. Stick in there past the opening; it gets better, especially musically. I think the music sounds really good, but Tom Smith's attempt at a Stipe impersonation mostly was not what this song needed. He sounds better when he really sings, but this song is heavy on labored-speech vocals. The backing vocals unfortunately are pretty weak)
8. Delays - The Sun Always Shines On TV (a-ha cover, specially recorded for Q. Pretty sincere and straightforward. According to Q, a-ha has "enjoyed much positive critical re-evaluation recently")
9. Jack Johnson - The 3 R's (The Magic Number) (cover of the Schoolhouse Rock song written by Bob Dorough, available on Singalongs And Lullabies For the Film Curious George)
10. Paul Anka - Wonderwall (Oasis cover, available on Rock Swings. Makes me miss the Mike Flowers Pops)
11. Jamie Cullum - Lover, You Should've Come Over (Jeff Buckley cover, available on Twentysomething: Special Edition. Quite good, pained yet... pretty)
12. Nick Cave - Disco 2000 (Pulp cover, available on Bad Cover Version)
13. The Magic Numbers - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out (The Smiths cover, available on the "I See You, You See Me" vinyl single. I love the original song by the Smiths. I like some songs by the Magic Numbers. This cover reminds me of the scene in Animal House when John Belushi's character, Bluto, grabs a guitar from a folk singer crooning "The Riddle Song" and violently bashes it until he can rest assured the man's acoustic villainy will end for the night. Sure, he could have gone a capella but the guitar's destruction likely made for a convincing demonstration of why he should not. Likewise, for me this song provides a convincing demonstration of why the Magic Numbers should not be permitted to cover the Smiths. Ever. I'm trying to forget they did it this time)
14. Travis - ...Baby One More Time (Britney Spears cover, available on "Turn" single and The Singles DVD. This song, however, is awesome. If you don't have it, do seek it out, preferably on the June Q CD, which is worth buying despite the fiendish track 13)

Mojo's June Issue: 70s Punk

The June issue of Mojo focuses on punk, circa 1976. Articles are devoted to Siouxsie & the Banshees, Joe Strummer, and New York Dolls. Perhaps just to be rebellious, Mojo's Kieron Tyler selects "the year's hot picks", arriving at a list of songs numbered 1 through 10 without a #5. The headline for these songs of 1976 is "The Sound of Fury?" Mojo notes that "White Riot was a year away." And yet... one wonders whether #5 would have been the missing link between, say, Abba (#4) and White Riot. Still, any list with The Runaways and The Ramones isn't that tame...

The List:

1. Elton John & Kiki Dee - Don't Go Breaking My Heart
2. Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
3. Slik - Forever And Ever (from Forever And Ever, etc.)
4. Abba - Dancing Queen
(no #5 is given)
6. David Dundas - Jeans On
7. The Isley Brothers - Harvest For The World
8. The Runaways - Cherry Bomb (from The Runaways)
9. The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
10. The Saints - I'm Stranded

Five New York Dolls tracks are singled out as influencing UK punk:

1. Personality Crisis (posted yesterday)
2. Jet Boy (from New York Dolls Mojo: "The belting guitar motif of the Dolls' greatest track bears an uncanny similarity to the intro to the Damned's New Rose, while the whole speed-fueled assault provided a rebel blueprint for UK punk in general.")
3. Puss 'N' Boots
4. It's Too Late
5. Looking For A Kiss

And in a story titled "The Secret History", the "guilty listening pleasures" of "1976's music revolutionaries" are at long last revealed. I know I'm going to sleep better tonight.

A few of their secret music loves revealed:

Undertones guitarist Damian O'Neill confesses a love for Free. "I got into them in the mid-'70s after hearing 'All Right Now' on the radio," he says. "They had broken up by then but I was really impressed by how young they were and how melodic they sounded for a rock band. I subsequently went out and bought The Free Story best of and I would try to make myself sound like Paul Kossoff on guitar."

Free - All Right Now (from The Free Story)

Sid Vicious was once found by Heartbreakers manager Leee Black Childers, sitting in a room and crying, listening to Jim Reeves' 12 Christmas Songs. He told Childers, "Sometimes I can't resist corny records like that."

Jim Reeves - Blue Christmas (this version is from Christmas Songbook, hopefully not too different from the version on 12 Christmas Songs)

As mentioned yesterday, Generation X's Tony James' guilty music pleasure is Deep Purple. He describes the time when he first saw them play as "one of those moments, you want to watch and be a fan, or be on stage too... and I knew where I wanted to be. I started saving for guitars that very day. A rock life was born."

Deep Purple - Pictures of Home (from the remastered version of Machine Head)

The Damned's Captain Sensible loves Egg. "That's where I got my love of 20-minute long pieces that expanded riffs and took you on a little mind trip."

More punk artists' "guilty pleasures" can be found, unsurprisingly, in the magazine...

There's also an article about Jackie DeShannon in this issue. She's a singer-songwriter whose career began in the mid-50s. DeShannon says she was the only female singer-songwriter in Los Angeles producing and doing demos back then, and "I always had to have a producer because I couldn't possibly know what I wanted."

The Searchers heard her song "Needles And Pins" and their cover became a hit. Her single "When You Walk Into The Room" also became a hit for The Searchers. She co-wrote Marianne Faithfull's "Come Stay With Me" with Jimmy Page. Her other songs include "Bette Davis Eyes", and "Break Away".

DeShannon is playing Dingwalls, Camden Lock on May 25 and "the launch of the Mojo Honours list" May 23 at HMV on London's Oxford Street. Check Mojo.com for more information.

Jackie DeShannon - Needles And Pins (available on The Very Best of Jackie DeShannon)

A quick glance look at this month's reviews:

4 stars: Scott Walker - The Drift ("Scott Walker continues to defy the pop rulebook and is making music that few others could even imagine."), Elvis Costello & Allen Tousssaint - The River In Reverse ("This is a great record for and about New Orleans and one of the best the two men have ever made.")

3 stars: Grandaddy - Just Like The Fambly Cat, Snow Patrol - Eyes Open ("an album big on lighter-waving anthems and arms-around-your-best-mate camaraderie."), Erasure - Union Street, The Beautiful South - Superbi

2 stars: The Futurehead's News And Tribunes ("a pretty disappointing work of rock ordinaire"), Phoenix's It's Never Been Like That ("has the feel of the work of a hollow band, a glossy papier-mache replica of real passion, real emotion"), The New Cars - It's Alive, Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental ("vaguely arch, upper-middlebrow synth pop")

Mojo CD: Trash! The Roots of Punk

The June issue of Mojo takes a look 30 years back, at the "the secret history of punk", "starring" The Clash, Siouxsie (but what of the Banshees?), Sex Pistols, The Damned, and New York Dolls. The cover of the magazine is even stamped "Top Secret". What's the secret? A number of musicians "come clean" about who inspired them. Juicy, eh? If you have trouble finding this issue at your local newsstand, politely inquire about it in a stage whisper. Your newsagent might be keeping the June Mojo behind the counter because of the scandalous secrets contained therein. More on the June Mojo later. I think we all need time to prepare ourselves for what secrets it might contain. Naturally, I'll try to only give away a few.

Alright, let's take a peek at just one "secret".

Generation X's Tony James says: "I <3 Deep Purple" and confesses his love dates back to the age of 14. His "essential guilty listening" is the band's Machine Head.

And that's about it. He didn't kill a man just to watch him die while listening to Deep Purple or anything. Top secret eh? That's what passes for a punk rocker's top secret in the UK? It's not as though he confessed to really not being all that fond of tea.

The CD included with this issue honors "the roots of punk" -- "a vast array of bands whose impact on the Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Clash, the Banshees" -- not Siouxsie, then? -- "et al is immediately audible."

So this is a disc of non-secret influences. Feel free to listen without blushing, tell others what you're listening to, or even let them have a listen, if you're feeling generous.

Mojo's Trash! The Roots of Punk Tracklisting:

1. New York Dolls - Personality Crisis (available on New York Dolls. Mojo: "an eternally gonzoid track in which you can hear the future sneers of the Pistols, The Damned, et al.")
2. T.Rex - Calling All Destroyers (available on Futuristic. Mojo: "the likes of Siouxsie Sioux and Billy Idol admit their debt to T. Rex.")
3. Hollywood Brats - Sick On You
4. Jook - Watch Your Step (Bobby Parker cover, available on Different Class. Mojo: "high-octane, white-boy R&B... Jook never bothered the charts, but have more recently been hailed as a prime proto-punk outfit.")
5. Count Bishops - Teenage Letter
6. The Hamersmith Gorillas - Gatecrasher
7. Kilburn And The High Roads - Rough Kids (available on Handsome. Mojo: "Formed in 1970 by the then 28 year-old Ian Dury, Kilburn And The Roads became one of the most respected bands of the pub rock era.")
8. Dr. Feelgood - Riot In Cell Block No. 9
9. Eddie And The Hot Rods - 96 Tears (? And The Mysterians cover, available on Do Anything You Wanna Do. Mojo: "bridges the gap between '60s garage, pub rock, and punk.")
10. Mott The Hoople - Thunderbuck Ram
11. Hawkwind - Motorhead
12. CAN - Mushroom
13. Be Bop Deluxe - Sound Track
14. The Groundhogs - Cherry Red
15. Iggy And The Stooges - Search And Destroy

The Futureheads Hit the Road (It's Just An Expression. They're Going On Tour)

The Futureheads have announced a North American tour, in support of their second album, News And Tributes, out June 13 in the US. Supporting the Futureheads on the first leg of the tour will be French Kicks, whose next album, Two Thousand, will be out in July, after their portion of the tour is but a memory. Tapes 'n Tapes will be opening for the Futureheads for the remainder of the tour, with the exception of a couple festival dates.

The Futureheads Tour Dates:

With French Kicks:

June 16 - Seattle, WA - Neumos
June 18 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore
June 19 - Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theatre
June 23 - Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room and Ballroom
June 24 - Austin, TX - La Zona Rosa
June 26 - Atlanta, GA - The Loft
June 27 - Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
June 28 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
June 30 - New York, NY - Webster Hall
July 1 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club

With Tapes 'n Tapes (except as noted):

July 25 - Philadelphia, PA - Starlight Ballroom
July 26 - Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Theatre
July 27 - Detroit, MI - Magic Stick
July 28 - Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
July 29 - Chicago, IL - Union Park - Pitchfork Music Festival (not with Tapes 'n Tapes)
July 30 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
August 2 - Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
August 3 - Salt Lake City, UT - Club Sound
August 4 - Las Vegas, NV - Jillian's
August 5 - San Diego, CA - Street Scene '06 Festival (not with Tapes 'n Tapes)


The Futureheads - Banquo (B-side to "Decent Days and Nights")

Tapes 'n Tapes - In Houston (from The Loon)

French Kicks - You Could Not Decide (from The Trial Of The Century)

Pop Culture Press Spring/Summer Mag & CD

Built to Spill's on the cover of the new Pop Culture Press, and they're reading, setting a great example for the kids. And for all of us. It's like they're saying, turn off that computer, and-- actually, celebrities are pictured doing a lot of things on magazine covers we shouldn't necessarily emulate, like smoking and being anorexic. Let's not be too hasty in turning off the computer. Many books and magazines require the killing of trees, y'know. I'm just sayin'.

Yet within this particular awesome magazine there are many worthwhile items, including interviews with artists such as, naturally, Built to Spill, Billy Bragg, and Minus 5, a label profile of Yep Roc Records (home to The Minus 5, Billy Bragg, and Robbie Fulks), and a mixtape listing done by Built to Spill's Doug Martsch (with songs ranging from The Smiths to Captain Beefheart).

Also, Simon Reynolds, author of Rip It Up And Start Again: Post-Punk 1978-1984 offers his thoughts on five post-punk tracks that are "sprung on him". The songs are PiL's "Careering", Scritti Politti's "Lions After Slumber", Talking Heads' "Houses in Motion", The Durutti Column's "Sketch for Summer", and The Pop Group's "We Are All Prostitutes".

Reynolds' comments on Talking Heads' "Houses in Motion":

This is an interesting song. It was a single in England, but it wasn't a hit. It followed "Once in a Lifetime", which was a big hit in the UK, but not in America. "Houses in Motion" was sequenced on Remain in Light to follow "Once in a Lifetime" which is about someone who's suddenly estranged from his routine, his life, his possessions, his family, his wife. He's estranged from it and it all seems absurd, yet that realization hits him with this sort of a cosmic force. It's almost like a blinding epiphany: the idea that you cruise through everything without connecting with reality. And then, immediately, it goes into "Houses in Motion", which is back inside alienation. It's based on the same musical ideas as "Once in a Lifetime: but whereas "Once in a Lifetime" is a kind of mystical, oceanic funk, "Houses in Motion" is a sort of eerie, neurotic funk. The protagonist in the song is back inside neurosis. The key line is: "He's digging his own grave." He's trapped in routine, going round and round, just working for these goals and missing life. So it's almost as if the two songs are sister songs In the first one, the guy sees through everything and grasps the oneness of existence, in an almost mystical way. In the second one, he's like a prisoner. He's blinkered. He's working for ambition and goals, digging his own grave, going nowhere.

Talking Heads - Once in a Lifetime (from Remain in Light)

Talking Heads - Houses in Motion (from Remain in Light)


Pop Culture Press Spring + Summer 2006 CD Sampler 24 Track Listing:

1. Built To Spill - Conventional Wisdom
2. Tommy Keene - Black & White In New York
3. Daylight Titans - Whistling In The Dark
4. Wes Mcdonald - Chinese Rug
5. Troy Campbell - Killing Time In Texas
6. Mark Bilyeu - Don't Need So Much
7. The Bellyachers - Heaven Is Blue (from 200 Lucky Feet Move the Dragon. A pretty tune...)
8. Cindy Woolf - In The Attic
9. Jules Shear - Do What They Want (from Dreams Don't Count. It can be a fine line between catchy and annoying... this just might cross into "annoying" territory for me, but decide for yourself)
10. Matt Keating - Who Knew
11. M+S - Plan Of The Man (from Future Women)
12. Tide - Never Knows Your Name
13. The Czars - I Am The Man (from Goodbye)
14. Ride Theory - Dead Radio, Love
15. Blue Cartoon - She's A God
16. The Weather Machines - Modern Text On Love (from The Sound of Pseudoscience)
17. Stephen Lawrenson - One More Try
18. Denise James - Promises
19. The Drown - My Francoise
20. Seth Kauffman - Get Your Love Stole
21. 13ghosts - Robert J