Executive Slacks

After spending 37 years in limbo, with its legend growing exponentially by the year, Smile was officially released earlier this week. Of course, had you come to the Archives Listening Project party back in July, you wouldn't have had to wait as long to hear it.
One could make the argument that Mike and I are on the cutting edge of some sort of musical trend.

But don't take my word for it, come listen for yourself. The Archives Listening Project returns this Tuesday at 9pm with a tribute to Moondog -- the eccentric composer who just so happened to be the subject of my very first album profile on this site.
As always, we're at Rififi (332 E 11 St, btwn 1st & 2nd Aves).

Now young faces grow sad and old
Hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind
I'm ready to grow young again

Bruce Springsteen turns 55 today.

Just some sprucing up of the sidebar going on. I removed the Handwriting link since neither the band nor website is still around anymore. The Ditch website isn't up at the moment either, but I'm keeping the link for now since they're looking for a new singer and I expect them to be back in the near future.

I added a link to Popshot, although to be honest I'm a bit surprised one wasn't already up. Awhile back, I contributed to a now defunct site called Americanzine which was run by Todd of Popshot. Interviews, reviews, etc, and occasional politics.

I discovered Rummage Through the Crevices last week when I did a google search for Hans Edler. Additionally, he also wrote about the really cool Cambodian pop compilation I've been meaning to mention here, as well as the Thai Elephant Orchestra album I was checking out a few weeks ago. While I wouldn't consider him my musical twin, he's got a really interesting site.

Another music blog is The Suburbs Are Killing Us which I found a while back, thanks to Ethan's site. I like the idea of music blogs (obviously) but most of the ones I tend to find are too scenester for my tastes. It's always nice to blogs which aren't. As an added bonus, the Suburbs are Killing Us illustrates each post with a handful of mp3s.

I'm back to work. The bad news is with the long hours I've been logging, there hasn't been much time to check my email, let alone post to this site. The good news is that I recently earned my first paycheck in awhile and made a celebratory trip to Other Music this past weekend.


VARIOUS ARTISTS Garage Beat '66 - Like What, Me Worry?! (Sundazed)
A wild compilation of bands who were all but forgotten until the folks at Sundazed unearthed these songs. The label bills this as the "bad-attitude underbelly of that decade's rock 'n' revolution" -- a description which is more or less accurate, but there's no denying there's some really good stuff here. This is the the first volume of a three disc series.


HANS EDLER Elektron Kukeso (Boy Wonder)
This one is billed as Sweden's first electronic pop album, although its poppiness is open for debate. Painstakingly recorded on a computer which took up its own room, Edler truly was a musical pioneer. This was originally released on his Marilla label in 1971 and subsequently went out of print. It was reissued by the Boy Wonder label this year.

Mike and I are hosting another Archives Listening Project on Tuesday night. This month, we'll be featuring the one and only album by the United States of America. When that's done, Mike's going to dj for awhile. Come out and listen. It's free.
We start at 9pm. Rififi is located at 332 E 11 St (btwn 1st & 2nd Aves).

I like VH1's Bands Reunited. That show has got it all: suspense (can they still play their instruments?), drama (people stewing with resentment of a certain bandmate for almost 20 years), action (the host uses seemingly unnecessary guerilla tactics to catch unwitting band members at the most inconvenient moment), and of course, the music (one never can really hear "I Ran" too many times). Now that season two is underway, I found the cure to my channel surfing blues.

Last night's episode featured Haircut 100. They were pleasant men; even the guy who had the nervous breakdown and disappeared seemed well adjusted these days. But I had never heard of them before -- not, to be honest, that their music actually suggested I was missing anything.
This reminded me of a conversation I had with Yaron recently. Out of all the broken up bands in the world, why are VH1 going after folks like Romeo Void, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, or Extreme? Now I realize VH1's likely demographic are the khaki set who threw up their arms in cheer last Saturday night when the dj slapped on "Mickey," but does the world really need a reunited New Kids on the Block? Haven't they done enough damage already as it is? Perhaps it's just the snob in me, but we deserve better.

Yaron suggested that if he had any say over at the offices of VH1, he'd try to get Galaxie 500 on the show. I think it would be cool if they could try for the Smiths. If not, I'd settle for My Bloody Valentine, the Field Mice, or maybe even the Pogues.
Any other thoughts for an ideal season three?

Here are some more mp3s:

Peter Adams - Cementalisque
the Big Sleep - Afa
the Metric Mile - How to Beat the SAT
Robbers on High Street - A Night at Star Castle

LILYS Better Can't Make Your Life Better (Primary Recordings)
Kurt Heasley probably won't be remembered as one of rock's great innovators but as far as imitators are concerned, he's one of the best. The Lilys, whose first incarnation was that of a My Bloody Valentine clone, turned their sights on England circa 1966 for this album.

Sounding at times like the best album the Kinks never recorded, Better Can't Make Your Life Better is both a fuzz guitar rave-up and a pop wonder. "A Nanny in Manhattan" was, and still is, my favorite song of 1996. "The Tennis System (And Its Stars)" is every bit as likable, with its seemingly meandering rambles that somehow come together to form a coherent song. I could go on and list the other standouts from the album, but then I'd just end up repeating the entire tracklist. "Shovel Into Spade Kit" and "Returns Every Morning" are also really cool, though.

For more info:
I couldn't find any Lilys or Primary Recording websites, but I did find this artist page from the Manifesto Records site (their latest album is out on Manifesto).
They have an AMG entry as well as an Epitonic page.