sigh of the day

How dignified. Well, at least he gave up golf.

song of the day: nada surf "beautiful beat"

Nada Surf's latest CD, Lucky, is yet another masterstroke from a band that has gone from 90's Weezer-wannabe's to one of the more dependable indie acts in the country...okay, the world.

My favorite track on Lucky is the wonderfully upbeat, yet wistful "Beautiful Beat". Not since Lennon's "Help!" has a song walked both sides of the fence so perfectly, between pop song and an outright plea for assistance during trying times.

What I've come to admire most about the band is their complete lack of pretense. While everyone else on the indie scene seems so overly concerned with looking the part - which often consists of trying really hard to not look like you're trying really hard - Nada Surf seem to be doing what comes natural, being themselves.

On the new record, singer/songwriter Matthew Caws seems to have moved on from the somewhat angular themes and characters that populated 2003's The Weight Is A Gift to take on a more direct, less guarded approach (although I admit that "Always Love" was pretty direct). It's a really mature record that one hopes will make Nada Surf absolutely huge, but that's probably not something the band even wants at this point. Why bring on the hassles that come with that level of success? They've caved out a decent niche that no doubt allows them a great deal of freedom from the work-a-day world.



BUY THE CD

So, without further delay, today's song of the day:

Nada Surf - Beautiful Beat (acoustic)

trent gives fans "the slip"

The prolific-as-of-late Trent Reznor has made his new album, "The Slip" available for free download, coinciding (no doubt intentionally) with his summer tour.

For those who prefer physical product, word has it the album will see proper CD release in July.

Personal faves at the moment are the ethereal "Light In The Sky", the "Ministry-esque "Letting You", and streamlined groove of "Discipline".

own a piece of junk, er, rock history

Recording console on which Van Halen's "5150" (among others) was recorded is up for auction at eBay. Opening bid is $5,150 (get it?), with a Buy It Now rrice of $51,500.00 (nice try).

Obviously, this board was state-of-the-art in its day, but seems to be in at least a minor state-of-disrepair (much like Eddie, yuk yuk).



LINK

Here's an outtake from Van Halen's sessions for 5150; a little ditty called "I Want Some Action".

guilty pleasure: "tonight and the rest of my life"

Truth be told, I have little use for ballads these days, whether they be of the power, love, or soul variety.

Personally, I blame Celine Dion for the overblown, melismatic direction that most love ballads took in the 90's, from whence they have yet to return, but every once in a great while, a ballad comes along that grabs me.

One such song is Nina Gordon's "Tonight And The Rest of My Life".

You may remember her as the singer in Veruca Salt; they of "Seether" fame in the early 90's, charging out of Chicago alongside Liz Phair and pioneering the alterna-rock explosion that would see major label A&R scouts scouring Chicago clubs looking for the next big thing.



She, of course, had a bitter falling out with co-founder Louise Post after the ambitious, but commercially-disappointing Eight Arms To Hold You and embarked on a solo career that, if anything, has suffered from a lack of ambition and/or direction.

Her debut effort, Tonight And The Rest of My Life, is nothing if not a terribly disjointed affair, seeing Gordon trying to keep one foot in the contemporary pop world while, at the same time, not quite willing to step out of the alternative arena.

Thus, the title cut is, by far, the most focused song on the album.

The first time I heard the song, I don't know that I had one of those moments where I pull the car over and just listen, but the first time I actually paid attention to the song, I literally thought it was about the most perfect thing there ever was.

For starters, any hint of the "girly whine" (a phrase coined by an ex-girlfriend who was inherently annoyed by Gordon's Veruca Salt voice) she seems to fall back on when singing the more alternative material is nowhere to be found. Instead, her understated, yet confident voice shines in this lower register. The lyrics, while nothing earth-shattering, aren't your typical too-sappy-for-Hallmark fare for which likes of Diane Warren and Desmond Child have earned their place in hell either.



In fact, upon reading the lyrics, one is left to wonder what the song is actually about. To me, it has always stood as a beautiful evocation of a woman in love, taking stock in the very feeling of "being in love", and doing so without coming across as, dare I say it, needy:

Down to the earth I fell with dripping wings
heavy things won't fly
and the sky might catch on fire
and burn the axis of the world that's why
I prefer a sunless sky
to the glittering and stinging in my eyes

I feel so light
this is all I want to feel tonight
I feel so light
tonight and the rest of my life
tonight and the rest of my life

The song, of course, was a Top 10 smash on the Adult Top 40, but did not crossover to find its rightful place at (or near) the top of the pop charts. The album from which it came also peaked at a rather dismal #123 on the Top 200 Albums chart and it would be another six years before Gordon would release a follow-up effort.

To these ears, however, "Tonight And The Rest of My Life" stands as her crowning achievement, for which she should be quite proud.


BUY THE CD

Nina Gordon - Tonight And For The Rest Of My Life (mp3)

chicago observation of the day

Some crazy-ass people would rather risk their life than miss their bus.

There were busses in L.A., of course, but, since returning to Chitown, I have seen at least a dozen different people run directly into traffic - I mean haul-ass at top speed right out in front of speeding cars and trucks, with zero regard for their own well-being, turning the street into a life-size version of Frogger rather than wait another five or ten minutes for the next bus to come.

Sigh.

mudcrutch

(photo by SonomaPicMan)

With the release of their self-titled debut album, Gainesville's Mudcrutch realize a dream that has been some four decades in the making. Of course, the dream did get sidelined for a spell as the band's singer/bassist, lead guitarist, and keyboardist were busy in another band that managed to make a bit of a name for itself.

Time, of course, does funny things to a man and one of those "things" is make him look back on the shoula-been's and coulda-been's of his life and say to himself, "Fuck it, I'm making it happen."



And, thus, we find Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, and Benmont Tench reuniting with fellow Mudcrutch'ers Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh to record their first proper full-length album at a time when the industry seems to be telling us that "the album" has gone the way of the dinosaur.

The music contained on the album is also of a genre that most would have you believe has become extinct, but that's the great thing about Petty and Co. - they just don't give a shit. Petty, who has never backed down from a challenge (case in point his skirmish with Shelter Records to free himself from a one-sided contract and, an album later, his feud with MCA over them using his album to roll out increased album pricing), is in fine form throughout this album. In fact, he wears each song like a comfortable leather jacket, ragged in all of its glory, each wrinkle and blemish a memory worn like a badge of honor.

Those expecting it to sound like the Heartbreakers may wanna adjust their preconceptions, though. While Petty's voice is instantly recognizable, the songs are rootsier than anything Petty has done before, Wilburys and latter-day Heartbreaker albums included. It isn't a jarring difference, of course, but one worth mentioning.

Also, whereas his best work with the Heartbreakers was perfect for radio formats of the day, the songs on this record aren't so much radio-ready singles as slices of Americana that don't so much knock you on your ass on first listen, but, rather, sneak up on you when you least expect it.

If I were to use one word to sum up this album, it would be "consistency". The songs, while covering a lot of ground, share a unified thread that makes it an easy listen from beginning to end. There is a story being told here, children, and Petty has become a master at the deceptibvely subtle textures, twists and turns found herein.



My rating: 8 out of 10

Live cuts:

Rainy Day Women #12 and 35

Six Days On The Road

iron man...a one man show

Today, the much-ballyhooed Iron man opens in theatres across this great land of ours and, aside from the fan-boys who reflexively see every comic-book-turned-action-flick on opening day, we regular folks tend to also come out in droves. It seems there is a sense of obligation to see the film that is the result of months of previews, bus posters, billboards and the like.

I, of course, caught a screening of the film just before leaving L.A. and found "Iron Man" to live up to the hype. It isn't the greatest movie ever made, but unlike most other such "summer blockbusters", it did not tout itself as something it wasn't (**COUGH** Spiderman **COUGH**).

As promised, it was "The Robert Downey Jr. Show" from beginning to end and those few scenes that he wasn't in only made you more anxious for his return. Some might consider that a flaw in the script - an inability to create other interesting characters - but that would be missing the point. Unlike the Spiderman trilogy that suffered from mis-casting of epic proportions (seriously, Macauley Culkin would have been a better choice - as Spidey, or Mary Jane for that matter) that revealed serious flaws in the entire premise, Downey's portrayal of Tony Stark was loaded with personality. He didn't need to be Iron Man to completely enjoy his presence on the screen.

Tobey Maguire, on the other hand? Blank as a goddamn fart without a mask over his head.

Now, if I were to complain about the flick, I'd say only that CGI is bogus and that the minute that you find yourself watching what is really nothing more than a cartoon, it pulls you right out of the movie, for you find yourself not involved in what is taking place on-screen, but how the scene must have been filmed. You imagine Downey Jr. and others acting to a green-screen, with the rest to be filled in later and it can't help but ruin the magic of the moment.

Aside from that, there are fine, if not remarkable, performances from Terrence Howard (who is great in everything, it seems) and Jeff Bridges, and director Jon Favreau's skill at capturing basic human interaction in compelling ways is fast becoming his forte.

My rating: 8.5 out of 10

baby mama - wtf?

Your average Rotten Tomatoes movie critic...

...has a huge crush on Tina Fey. How else to explain why her new film, "Baby Mama" has managed to eek out an overall 60% rating on the site? I mean, the movie is a complete sack of shit and, were it not for Fey's involvement, it would be getting flogged relentlessly. I'm talking single-digits, not the above-average sixty-percent rating it currently has.



The overall fascination that your nerdier types (i.e., anyone with that much free time to see so many movies a week/month/year) have with Ms. Fey is not unusual, or unwarranted. She's reasonably cute and those glasses only seem to accentuate that underlying sexiness that so many respond to with full-on puppy crushes. Women pick up on this too and, thus, she has become a role model for intelligent, non-"textbook pretty" women everywhere: smart, witty, and cute enough for most guys to call "fuckable" (a word Webster's Dictionary still fails to recognize, damn them).



But, seriously, anyone giving the thumbs up that garbage heap should be ashamed.

ashlee...why?

There are two questions that have plagued me as of late?

1. Why didn't Ashlee Simpson just disappear into the abyss after her ridiculous SNL fiasco?



2. Who continues to care about this no-talent enough to warrant two more albums, film roles, and constant by-the-minute coverage in the check-out mags?

A couple years ago, she was just Jessica's homelier sister. Now, with a nose job, an ever-changing hair color, and what I presume are some fake boobs (not that I've looked, but whatever), she's all over the TV, as if she's "somebody" promoting "something worthwhile". The truth is she's just Jessica's kid sister releasing yet another album of ProTooled pop to an audience of people who would never be caught dead admitting they buy such crap. For fuck's sake, America.



Thankfully, the Flight Of The Conchords CD beat her out for first-week sales, but still.

it's a home run!

Back when I was living in L.A., I read some article from who-knows-where that touted Home Run Inn Pizza frozen pizza as the shiz-nizzle. I checked the stores in L.A., but couldn't find any such frozen pizza and committed the info to memory. Upon my arrival in the Windy City, I found the brand at the local Dominick's grocery store and figured, hey, let's give it a try.

Now, see, here's the thing. I've tried a ton of different frozen pizzas and the one thing they've all managed to do is TASTE LIKE CARDBOARD. These Home Run Inn frozen pizzas knocked me on my ass, though. I went with the Peepperoni & Sausage flavor and found there to be an abundance of both found therein. Truth be told, I gave the pepperonis to my dog, leaving more than enough sausage for me to enjoy.

So, hey, if you're looking for a super-tasty, reasonably prices, no-frills frozen pizza that DOESN'T TASTE LIKE CARDBOARD, Home Run Inn is the way to go!

My rating: 9 outta 10, baby.