Call me crazy, but I don't think PITCHFORK is overly fond of LOUIS XIV and their newest disc, SLICK DOGS AND PONIES.
Maybe it's the 2.5 rating that gives it away. Or this: "Testosterone-fueled rock at its least appealing extremes." (Oh my!) "Disgusting." (Ouch!) "Dull." (Heavens to Betsy!)Then again, there's this: "... [F]ollowing their debut's asscrack-on-the-bathroom-tile smut, [SLICK DOGS] looks like a freakin' Van Gogh." (Ahh... high praise if ever I've heard it!) (And you have to admit: A 2.5 rating beats the living crap out of the 1.2 their first album was granted. So, you see? Things are looking up!)Actually, I'm not overly enamored with this San Diego quartet's aggressively-oversexed schtick, either. There are countless bands that do the '70s-Stones/alternative-glam-rock thing a hell of a lot more competently and convincingly than these party-hearty poseurs. But Fridays were all-but-designed for over-amped backbeats and cock-rock riffs, and it just so happens that Louis XIV are on hand to supply them....LOUIS XIV on MySPACE.From the LP SLICK DOGS AND PONIES, 2008 >>>[MP3] "Misguided Sheep"[MP3] "Tina"From the LP THE BEST LITTLE SECRETS ARE KEPT, 2005 >>>[MP3] "A Letter to Dominique"[MP3] "Finding Out True Love is Blind"
Dead band walking!
Yesterday, I suggested that Belgian band GIRLS IN HAWAII seemed to take some cues from the now-defunct Modesto, California collective GRANDADDY. The six-song "EP" I've tongue-and-grooved together below may or may not prove my point....
[MP3] "Now It's On"
[MP3] "Elevate Myself"
[MP3] "I'm on Standby"
[MP3] "Lost on Yer Merry Way"
[MP3] "The Crystal Lake"
[MP3] "Shangri-La (Outro)"
GIRLS IN HAWAII are, in fact, boys from Belgium. As near as I can tell, the only other Belgian act I've ever bothered spotlighting around here was AN PIERLE & WHITE VELVET back in August. Which is inexcusable. And embarrassing.So, in a no-doubt-misguided effort to set things right, I'm going to gorge myself on Belgian waffles, chocolates, and endive (not to mention Brussels sprouts). Wash it all down with a succession of Belgian beers. Perhaps adopt a dog of Belgian breed. Griffon Bruxellois? Bichon frise? And the next time I'm asked at the the drive-thru if I want with fries with that, I shall imperiously reply: "Only if they are authentically Belgian! Arrayed in a cone of paper! With mustard, mayo, or peanut satay!" All of these things I will do (just as soon as I stop confusing Belgium with Holland and Holland with Denmark and Denmark with Delaware and Delaware with New Hampshire and New Hampshire with Hawaii and Hawaii with Holland... er... Belgium).Many of the songs on Girls in Hawaii's second album, PLAN YOUR ESCAPE, evoke the late, lamented GRANDADDY. That may be reason enough right there to feature them here.... GIRLS IN HAWAII on MySPACE.[MP3] "Bored"[MP3] "Summer Storm"
[MP3] WEEZER/"This is Such a Pity"
[MP3] SHERYL CROW/"Love is All There Is"
[MP3] TORPEDO/"From Russia With Love"
[MP3] M.I.A./"Paper Planes"
[MP3] MOTO BOY/"Blue Motorbike"
[MP3] k.d. lang/"Thread"
Just trying to get these year-end mixes up and out there... willy-nilly though the process be....
Left-click [HERE] to download the 2005 mix.
Portal to other year-end mixes [HERE].
BEST OF 2005 TRACKLIST >>>
01 depeche mode/precious
02 stars/ageless beauty
03 kent/du ar anga
04 sambassadeur/new moon
05 new rhodes/i wish i was you
06 stellastarr*/sweet troubled soul
07 spoon/the two sides of monsieur valentine
08 franz ferdinand/you're the reason i'm leaving
09 levy/you be sweet
10 metric/combat baby
11 belle and sebastian/another sunny day
12 the fine arts showcase/chemical girl
13 we are scientists/inaction
14 matt pond pa/several arrows later
15 editors/blood
16 goldspot/it's getting old
17 maplewood lane/wildwood drive
18 british sea power/please stand up
19 the raveonettes/ode to l.a.
20 death cab for cutie/soul meets body
21 ed harcourt/loneliness
22 gustav & the seasick sailors/angels fable [demo]
23 madonna/hung up
Today marks the 25th anniversary of KAREN CARPENTER's death by heart failure at the age of 32. The heart failure, of course, was the consequence of her long struggle with anorexia nervosa. Much like Rock Hudson would come to symbolize (and humanize) AIDS just a few years later, Carpenter would provide a face (and a voice) for a disease that was then little-known and little-understood by the population at large. There can be no doubt that this "fatal flaw" contributes significantly to her legacy today.Mostly, though, it was her voice. A quarter century after her death, it remains a one-of-a-kind instrument: deep, rich, innocent, intimate. And, even when pitted against her control-freak/lodestar brother's sticky-sweet arrangements, there is a tangible sense of sadness, loneliness, and loss there that serves to both ground and elevate the material. "Soft rock"? Sure. "Easy listening"? Perhaps. But something more as well. Something deeper and more intricately tied to the human condition than, say, the average CAPTAIN & TENNILLE tune.Perhaps more than any other, Karen Carpenter's is the voice of my childhood. Her first #1 hit ("Close to You") was released the month after I was born; she died two months before I turned 13. "Goodbye to innocence," and all that....[For me, the Carpenters' most effective (and "affecting") songs tend to be the ballads. Even so, I couldn't resist throwing in their absurdly-titled (and absurdly "over-the-top") opus of 1977 -- "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft (The Recognized Anthem of World Contact Day)." There must have been something in the air back then (so to speak) -- seeing as "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" came out at almost exactly the same time.][Finally, any self-respecting BEATLES' fan is likely to find the Carpenters' version of "Ticket to Ride" a slow-motion abomination. It's included here merely to serve as yet another showcase for Karen's aching alto -- and as proof that that voice was already well-in-place when she recorded it at age 18.]
[MP3] "(They Long to Be) Close to You" [1970]
[MP3] "We've Only Just Begun" [1970]
[MP3] "Superstar" [1971]
[MP3] "Rainy Days and Mondays" [1971]
[MP3] "Top of the World" [1972]
[MP3] "I Won't Last a Day Without You" [1972]
[MP3] "Yesterday Once More" [1973]
[MP3] "Solitaire" [1975]
[MP3] "Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft" [1977]
[MP3] "Ticket to Ride" [1969]
Barring something utterly unforeseen, there should be no "wardrobe malfunctions" at this year's Super Bowl. And thank Christ for that. The sight of one of TOM PETTY's albino-cadaver boobs might just set off one giant, global upchuck of chips, dip, and chicken wings.
As for the game, I'll be pulling for the Patriots and my favorite Brady since "Mike." Tom Terrific and I are both University of Michigan grads, after all, though our times there did not coincide. So, here's sending a salutary Super Bowl shout-out to all the starting U-M quarterbacks of my bygone era (Michael Taylor, Demetrius Brown, Elvis Grbac, Todd Collins): Eat your maize-and-blue hearts out....
[MP3] "American Girl" [1976]
[MP3] "Breakdown" [1976]
[MP3] "I Need to Know" [1978]
[MP3] "Refugee" [1979]
[MP3] "Even the Losers [1979]
[MP3] "The Waiting" [1981]
[MP3] "You Got Lucky" [1982]
[MP3] "Don't Come Around Here No More" [1985]
[MP3] "Rebels" [1985]
[MP3] "Learning to Fly" [1989]
[MP3] "Two Gunslingers" [1989]
Call me crazy, but I don't think PITCHFORK is overly fond of LOUIS XIV and their newest disc, SLICK DOGS AND PONIES.
