Time to get back to reviewin' me some albums

Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy - The Refreshments

There was a time when I would frequent record stores and pull CDs to listen to based on the covers. Occasionally a record store would have a listening station set up, and I would peruse it until something caught me eye. Well, that is exactly how I came to own Fizzy Fuzzy Big & Buzzy by The Refreshments.

I couldn't help but be drawn to that wonderfully vintage, bomber art cover (take a gander at that cover and you'll fall instantly in love!) It took me a couple of listens to know I couldn't live without it. I returned to the store at least twice, (I couldn't get "Mexico" and "Sucker Punch" out of my head) and I finally bought it. The best way to describe this album is infectious. Once it burrows into subconscious, there's no turning back.

One of my fondest memories of this CD is listening to it on a road trip to the heart of Virginia wine country (yes they make wine in Virginia - pretty good wine, as a matter of fact) with my buddy Rich. I had turned him on to the CD and we were listening to it on the way down from DC. We had the windows down and were both singing at the top of our lungs (or screeching - depending on your point of view). This CD just cries to be listened to a maximum volume, while you're barreling down the open road. On that trip, the two of us confirmed what we already suspected: this album is built for a road trip.

Standouts for me are the aforementioned "Mexico" and "Sucker Punch" as well as "Down Together," "Mekong" and "Banditos" (which happens to be the BIG single of the record), but all of it is immensely entertaining.

One finally word, I was listening to this with my oldest daughter in the car. When it was finished, she asked to hear it again. It is now one of the CDs she request when I ask her what she wants to listed to in the car. I can't tell you how happy it makes me feel watching her sing along with the CD. There is nothing better than being able to share music I love with her. It makes listening to it that much better.

All the world's indeed a stage...

Well, I saw the Rush documentary this week Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage. It is fantastic. It was only out theatrically for a limited time and will be released on DVD and on VH-1 at some point later this month. It won the audience award at the Tribecca Film Festival, and its well deserved.

Seeing this film made me proud to have had the good sense to be a Rush fan, something I haven't felt for sometime. Its full of old footage and funny as hell, to boot. I had a smile on my face almost the entire time. I highly recommended it and its not just for Rush fans either. It is simply a great documentary and tells a great story.

I do have to say after having some time away from the screening, I realize watching it was like running into an old friend that you haven't seen in years. You know what I'm talking about: being reminded why you were such good friends and being reminded how sad it was that you've grown apart over the years. Not to sound hokey (I realize I'm failing miserably at it) but Rush and I have grown apart, and that makes me feel a little melancholy. As I mentioned in my last post, I'm not interested in the "new" Rush. It bores me to tears. I'm past the point of being angry about it, and except that the band's sound has move away from me.

However, like all great friendships, I'll always have my memories. I have tickets to see them this fall and they will be playing Moving Pictures in its entirety. So, while we don't see or speak to each other everyday anymore, we can still get together and relive old times. At least I have that going for me, which is nice.

Rush to Judgement

My name is X-Ray, and I am a Rush fan. It's often not an easy thing to admit, but it has been down right difficult over the last 5 years or so because I've had to come to grips with the fact that the Rush I knew and loved (often to the detriment of picking up really hot chicks), no longer exists.

You see, somewhere along the way, Rush decided to give up on any semblance of melody and dive head first into sludge rock. Even in the past, when their songs were loud and crunchy ("Anthem", "Temples of Syrinx", "Something for Nothing"), or monster slices of tightly-wound progressive, power trio goodliness ("Cygnus X-1" or "Hemispheres"), the songs were still tuneful. You could sing along. You could hum the guitar solos. Hell, more often the not, the base lines were catchy little ditties!!

Now unfortunately, all Rush songs sound the same, and that same ain't good. Their songs are more often than not muddy, tuneless, and plodding messes. The playing on their last couple of albums has been uninspired. Their lyrics are just plain horrible, but to be fair, they have been since Presto. And I can't for the life of me understand why Geddy is so obsessed with double tracking his vocals. I had to come to the painful realization years ago that I wasn't doing myself any favors continuing to listen to their new music.

However, that being said, old geek habits die hard. I have continued to see them live (seen every tour since Power Windows more than 25 years ago) and have bought tickets to the upcoming tour. Last night I showed my true geek colors by staying up until midnight because the new Rush single was being release online, and I wanted to hear it.

I know you are waiting with baited breath to see if this story has a happy ending and whether the lack of sleep was worth it. You may even be hoping that Rush redeemed themselves, that the songs (for there was a b-side as well) were a breath of fresh air. A return to the understanding of what made their music so great to begin with. Well, dear readers, I am afraid that I cannot report as such. They suck, plain and simple. Loud and pointless seems to be the standard by which all future Rush music will be made, and that my friends, is a damn shame.

R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio

Yesterday, one of my teen heroes passed away, Ronnie James Dio. Yes, I was a headbanger in my youth. Dio, along with Iron Maiden, somehow help me understand my teenage alienation from the rest of society. Of course now I realize that was such so much horseshit, but that doesn't change the fact that I have a HUGE place in my heart for Mr. Dio, and for the first two Dio albums (Holy Diver and Last in Line) in particular. He was a metal legend. From everything I've read about him over the last day, he was real gentleman to boot. RJD you will be missed...

It Ain't all bad...

As much as I believe the greatness of Austin is slipping away before my very eyes, there are times when I still feel like it's the greatest place on the planet. Last week was one of those moments. Wednesday, I went to see a great power pop master, Brendan Benson, at a very small local club on the East side of town called the Independent. The show was fantastic, and the place was perfect.

On Friday, I went bowling with some friends at a great bowling alley/lounge called the Highball. The place is a small, vintage 8 lane alley with a 60's supper club motif. The lanes were actually from a mid century alley in New Orleans called the Rock n' Bowl, and they've been lovingly restored to their former glory.

Saturday, I got my first taste of the Ugly Beats live. These guys are my new favorite band. I've acquired both of their albums and have put my New Years resolution on hold because I've been listening to them non stop. They opened for the Explosives, a local skinny tie power pop legend from the early 80's who lived up to the hype. Both bands played at a local coffee shop for $7! It was a steal to say the least!!

Finally, I went to the opening night of the flat track roller derby league on Sunday and got to drink $3 "tall girls" of Lone Star and watch girls skate around and beat the hell out of each other. The mayor even rang in the opening match. Only in Austin, my friends. Too bad these times are becoming few and far between, but I do thank the Maker that I'm still able to enjoy them.

The Ugly Beats. A little slice of garage rock heaven!

Sometimes you go through your daily routine, completely oblivious to the amazing things right under your nose. I live in the Austin, Texas, the self-proclaimed the music capital of the world, and it always amazes me when I find a band that has been around for a while that I knew nothing about. I know I can't know everything, but when a band this damned cool is out there, and I don't know... well I almost feel that I should give up my anorak badge.

Ladies and gentlemen, for those of you as much in the dark as I was, I give you the Ugly Beats!!



If you, like me, can't get enough, here's a link to their myspace page. Do yourself a huge favor and check it out: The Ugly Beats

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Sunset on Empire - Fish
The reason for blindly picking the CDs from my collection is to remove them from any context my collection imposes on them so that I can judge them on their own merits. Solo albums add their own wrinkle, however. Chances are you are interested in a solo artist because of the work they did within the confines of the group dynamic, and this naturally colors your opinion of their work without the band. Case in point - I can’t listen to solo Fish without thinking about his work with Marillion. While I might be able to pull the CD from the context of my collection, I can’t remove the CD from the context of his former band. Because of this, his solo albums never live up to my expectations. The same hold true for Marillion without Fish. I’m not sure this is fair, but it’s inevitable.

OK. Time to get to the question at hand, what do I think of Sunset on Empire? Not much, to be honest. The album is overly wordy and preachy and the music just doesn’t move me. This is one of the CDs in my collection that I can count the times I’ve listened to it on one hand. I can’t really imagine needing many more fingers in the future.

Chips from the Chocolate Fireball - The Dukes of Stratosphere
Comprised of the 25 O’Clock EP and Psonic Psunspot, Chips from the Chocolate Fireball is a collection of some of the best 1960s pop and psychedelic music ever recorded. This is particularly amazing considering the band recording it was doing so in the 1980’s and were actually XTC. Andy Partridge and Collin Moulding are geniuses and this CD proves it. Originally a one off for XTC to pay homage to their musical influences and mentors: The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and especially Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd, the Dukes had too much in them to be confined to one measly 6 song EP and proceeded to record a full length album two years later. I actually became aware of the band while reading a review in Rolling Stone. This was back when the magazine was actually relevant. The review sounded interesting and I was in the “summer of love” phase of my musical exploration (it was 1987 after all, the summer of love was IN again) and was very interested in anything smacking of 60’s psychedelia - particularly British psychedelia (we all have these embarrassing moments in our musical evolution, don’t we?) When I bought the Psonic Psunspot cassette, I wasn’t yet an XTC fan so I didn’t really know what to expect, not that they had every really recorded anything like that before. However, from the opening notes of “Vanishing Girl” I was sold.

Of course at that time, I had not yet heard the songs from 25 O’clock. That was corrected when I bought Chips from the Chocolate Fireball. While more noticeably influenced by specific bands rather that a general aesthetic (“Bike Ride to the Moon” has Tomorrow written all over it), the songs are no less great than those on Psonic Psunspot. Listening to the collection again now, as I have done many times over the years, I am struck by what initially seemed like a departure from what XTC was doing at the time, was actually a shift in direction for the band. I know these weren’t technically XTC albums, but just look at everything that came afterwards. Could you have had Oranges and Lemons, without the Dukes? What about Nonsuch? I think not. For that reason alone, the Dukes deserve to be lavished with praise. But we also have the music, an unmitigated masterpiece of psychedelic pop if ever there was one.

Failure -The Posies
Holy Cow, what a great album!! The Hollies and the Beatles are the obvious influences. Great tunes with harmonies galore! The real surprise is that this was put out by a band from Seattle in 1989 without a trace of grunge anywhere in the vicinity (a good thing by the way). This CD is so sugary it’ll rot your teeth! It unabashedly embraces Pop and waves the banner high. It’s a shame that record company execs didn’t latch onto this instead of Nirvana as the next big thing. People who prefer grunge over this are obviously either mentally deranged or were dropped on their heads as a small child. I defy anyone to listen to “I May Hate You Sometimes,” “Paint Me” or “What Little Remains” and not agree with me.

Flight of the Blue Manu - Combo Mahalo
Ahh, the perks of living in Austin. Here is CD from a local Austin band that plays “Hapa-haole.” For those of you who do not know what that is, allow me to explain. In a nut shell, its Hawaiian music in which the tune and styling are Hawaiian, but the lyrics are in English or mostly in English, and its chock full of jazz and swing elements. It was very popular in the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties. Steel guitars (sweet steel guitars) and ukulele dominate the sound, and what a sound!! This CD contains covers and originals. Mellow is the key, but that doesn’t mean the band doesn’t swing when they want. If listening to this CD does not automatically make you feel cooler, then you my friend are like school on Sunday…No Class!

Sometimes you don't get what you pay for

Occasionally I find myself at my local Half Price Books, browsing their surprisingly large collection of used CDs. When I’m feeling particularly adventurous, I’ll mosey over to the dollar bin and grab a CD or 2 just by the look of the cover. Now I bet you’re not surprised that a goodly number of these picks are what could be described as utter shite. However, what might surprise you is that the quotient of those that aren’t half bad is around 50%. Not bad odds if you ask me, and because of this, I am more than happy to throw down 5 bucks and take my chances. It is within this context that I talk about these next two CDs, both of which happen to be from the HPB dollar bin.

Twice - The Tyde
The band hails from California and most online reviews talk about how much their albums call up the southern California surf mystique. Well, I don’t know about that. Twice is definitely on the more mellow side of the pop spectrum, but I don’t automatically think of palm trees and sand while listening to it, let alone surfing. Then again, I grew up in Texas, so maybe I’m just not in touch with my inner beach bum. Reviewers also speak about its psychedelic elements, a term by the way, thrown around without any real understanding of what it means (Note to reviewers, try listening to a Tomorrow album sometime!) A lot of it actually reminds me of the Housemartins, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Standouts are “Crystal Canyons,” where lead singer Darren Rademaker is channeling his best Velvet Underground era Lou Reed. “Memorable Moments” is a nice little slab of jangle and synths. “New D” is a fun little pop song, think Byrds meet Steve Miller (added bonus - it actually mentions surfing). All in all not something I would necessarily run out and buy if I had heard it playing somewhere, but it’s not a bad little disc.

Sober & Stupid - fortytwenty
Come on, how could I resist a CD called Sober and Stupid?! Not to mention the cover just called to me - old school Fisher Price little people wearing cowboy hats and smoking!! What can I say about the music? Well it is a good representation of both kinds: country AND western!! Booze seems to be front and center here, but they also throw in a few songs with a pancake theme as well (no joke). The band pays homage to the sound of classic county, but does so with attitude. “Walk Out” is a pure dee ass-kicking honky-tonk song!! The steel guitar on the CD just seeps out of the speakers in a way that makes me very, very happy!! This is where taking a chance with the dollar bin pays off. I will definitely be playing this CD - a lot.

You know the thing about a movie executive's eyes?

Movie goers have endured a lot of horrible remake ideas over the last several years: The Longest Yard, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Planet of the Apes, and Psycho, just to name a few (by the way - calling them "reboots" is nothing less than insulting. Anybody who falls for that BS deserves what that get). But sometimes you hear news that makes you wonder if the forces of darkness have taken over everything good and holy in the universe. This weekend, while trolling the web, I came across the news/rumor that there may be a remake of JAWS in the works (in 3D no less). Now I know I'm not alone in wishing that Hollywood could come up with an original thought, but a remake of JAWS seems as if the studio system is just trying to screw with the movie going public.

Not only is a remake of this film completely unnecessary (how could a remake do it justice) but this film is a seminal piece of American modern art. Shouldn't JAWS be immune to this kind of treatment. For crying out loud, hasn't JAWS already suffered the indignity of 2 unwatchable sequels (I'd include JAWS 2 in that group, but it was actually semi-watchable and has the added bonus of having one of the coolest tag lines in movie history).

After all, not only was it the first true summer blockbuster and changed movies forever- for better or worse, but it is one of the few blockbusters that is great piece of film making at the same time. It is suspenseful in the true sense. The tension builds slowly and meaningfully towards an actual climax. All the characters are allowed to develop, including the shark. Now I know some of this is due to the fact that the mechanical shark created all sorts of problems for Speilberg, but just think for a moment about how he responded and the artistry involved in making the audience actually afraid of a bunch of floating barrels. Speilberg was able to find ways to move the story forward, problems be damned, and by the time you actually see the shark, you are fully invested in every character on the screen. Modern filmmakers could learn a lot from this film in that regard.

If you need a refresher on just how great JAWS is, just watch what I believe is the single greatest scene in movie history (yes that is right - THE SINGLE GREATEST SCENE...EVER!!): Quint's Indianapolis speech from JAWS. Enjoy!!

365 Days, too many damned CD's

OK. The real reason I started this blasted thing was for my dopey pals to keep up the progress I'm making on my New Year's resolution. As you recall, I'm going to listen to my entire record collection prior to year's end, each album or CD in its entirety and in song order. I will try to log these as I listen but I started logging them prior to revving up the blog , so here is a breakdown of my thoughts during the the first week of what I will now refer to as THE PROJECT. Enjoy:

January 1
Tantilla - House of Freaks: Simply great album of southern gothic tales. Great way to start off the New Year. I was curious what the 2 band members were up to these days. Unfortunately an online search band revealed that Bryan Harvey had been brutally murdered (along with his wife and kids) on New Years Eve 2006.

January 2
Monkey on a Chain Gang - Thought I give the HOF debut a go. As good, as Tantilla. An amazing one-two punch from an amazing 2 man band.

January 3 - I realized that I needed to up the number of CDs I was listening to. I am sticking with 2 a day for right now. I am cataloguing my collection as well. Once I get the final tally, I may have to up it again.

Fade Away Diamond Time - Neal Casal: First half of the album is fantastic, it lags there after.

South of Town - Adam Carroll: When this guy sticks to his Dylanesque, Texas folk songs it is near perfection. His voice is well suited to these. The other songs are great as well, but would be better sung to someone with more range. That’s not to disparage this album at all. It’s great and well worth a listen. He’s also great live, although it’s been a while since I’ve seen him.

January 4
Combat Rock - The Clash: Boy does this album bring back memories. 1983, 13 years old, 8th grade. Loved this album then and have a real soft spot for it now. Straight to Hell is classic. Also Car Jamming and Ghetto Defender. I don’t think this is something that would appeal to me if I heard it for the first time now, but it’s too late. The album is already burned on my brain from my late adolescent years.

Thick as a Brick - Jethro Tull: Near perfect prog rock album. This one also brings back memories. My first real car was a 77 Pinto station wagon that my uncle gave me. It had an 8 track player and he gave me some tapes along with the car. The only 2 I remember were Elton John’s Greatest Hits and Thick as a Brick. Elton never really got played, but I played the hell outa the Tull. Still love it to this day. Oddly enough, I found out that it was recorded as a gag by Ian Anderson. People were calling Tull a prog band and saying Aqualung was a concept album, so the bearded one obliged them and recorded Thick as a Brick as a parody of the overblown prog of Yes and ELP. Well, whatever the reasons, it hit home in the US and promptly went to number 1 on the charts

January 5
My Favorite Revolution - Eugene Edwards: This CD was given to me by my buddy Rich. I have never really sat down and listened to it, even thought Rich had asked me what I thought on several occasions. I like it a lot. It reminds me of Elvis Costello some but also that “old school” pop that I love.

Full Tilt & Swing - Walter Clevenger and the Dairy Kings: This was also give to me by Rich. I’m a little surprise that he owns this to be honest. IT seems a little too rootsy for his tastes, although he does like Blue Rodeo and Webb Wilder. This CD surprised me actually. It sounds a lot like a band Stephen McCarthy could have formed after the Long Ryders broke up. I look forward to passing this on to others. Good Stuff.

January 6 - I figured the most “scientific” way to approach this is to grab 2 CDs without looking at them, so that’s what I did today. The 2 choices: Indigo Girls by the same and Workbook by Bob Mould. Interesting. Both albums were ones I bought the summer before I moved to Austin and both were CDs I listed to a lot! I guess I was in a contemplative mood before my big move.

Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls: I had forgotten how good this album is. With the exception of the treacly "Love’s Recovery" this is a really strong album. The harmonies are great, and the tunes are catchy as hell. One of two CDs I took with me on my trip to San Diego with my buddy Mike (the other being Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty).

Workbook - Bob Mould: I hate to admit this, but this was my first real introduction to the music of Mr. Mould. Sure I had a compilation of punk that a high school buddy had given me with a few Husker Du songs on it, but I never really took to them like I did the Dead Kennedys and for that reason, never really knew much about the band, included who the members were. I actually heard this album while browsing a Hastings Record in Hulen Mall. I went up and asked the guy behind the counter about it, and filled me in. I bought it and listened and listened and listened to it. I remember going to see him Live in Dallas on the Workbook tour with Pat Kocurek. The very attractive drunk girl was leaning on us the entire time. I can honestly say this added perk helped us enjoy the show more. I was, however, not prepared for the musical onslaught that occurred on stage. For such a quiet album, this was easily one of the loudest live shows I have ever been to.

January 7
Car Button Cloth - The Lemonheads: Country Pop? That’s what I’d call this outing from the Lemonheads. At the time I bought it I didn’t own anything by the Lemonheads and only knew “It’s a Shame about Ray”. Bought this one because of the cover of “Knoxville Girl”. On the outset, the CD is instantly catchy but a as it goes on it’s a little hit or miss. The single, “If I Could Talk I’d Tell You” is a classic though.

My Favorite Headache - Geddy Lee: Sounds enough like late era Rush to fool most people. This one’s a toughie for me. I remember the guys at Waterloo snickering at me when I bought it. Good but not great. Probably wouldn’t own it if I were not a Rush fan. Overall, solo albums are not a good idea. With the exception of Peter Gabriel’s Us, Roger Waters’ Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking, Murray Attaway’s In Thrall and Charlie Chesterman’s albums, I am greatly under impressed by the solo albums I own.

OK. That's all for now. I hope to have the next abtch up in the next couple of days. Tll then, adios!

So its come to this, I'm on the Blogosphere!

Welcome one and all to the weird, wild world of Waterloo Sunset. This blog is basically a place for me to vent about things I find interesting or obnoxious. A friend talked me into setting it up after I told him about my New Year's resolution. The resolution is a simple one: I plan to spend the next year listening to all of my CD's. Here's the catch, I've got to listen to them all the way through and in song order. I have been chronicling my thoughts on each disc. My buddy thought this was an interesting project, and wanted me to share, hence the blog. I am trying to listen to 2 a day, but haven't been the best about keeping up. I am in the process of cataloging my discs (I have roughly 600 - 700 discs) so I should have a better idea as to how long this will take in a week or so. I am pulling the discs randomly, otherwise, I would be listening to what I want to listen to. The purpose is to attempt to listen to the disc out of the context of my larger collection, and listen to each on its own merit. We'll see how it goes.

Anyhoo, since I'm gonna be doing this anyway, I didn't want to limit my rantings to just that topic. So, what can you expect? As the description says: musings on music, movies, culture, politics (mostly local - more on that in the next post)and anything else that crosses my mind. I will most likely throw out a few top 10 lists throughout the year on a variety of topics. Basically, you get to look inside my warped mind. You may not agree with the way I see things, but hopefully you'll be entertained.

Til we jaw again, adios!

What's in a name?

You may be asking yourself, why did this idiot name his blog Waterloo Sunset? Well, other than it being a completely amazing Kinks song, I happen live in Austin, Texas, which was once upon a time called Waterloo. The sunset part stems from the fact that I believe that this once great city is declining. (Warning, self righteous rant follows! Read at your own peril!)

Yes, I know its listed in a whole mess of top 10 city lists. Yes, I know it's grown by leaps and bounds, not only in size and population, but in wealth and fame. However, when I speak of the decline of Austin, I speak of the city's cultural, and yes, spiritual decline.

You see, I'm a firm believer in what I like to call the "Seattle Threshold." I'm sure we all remember what a hot spot Seattle was in the early 90's. It was the place to be. However, as more and more people believed that it was not only the place to be, but the place they ought to be, Seattle lost whatever it was that had made it the place to be in the first place.

This is the exact same thing that is happening in Austin. The more people that move to Austin, the more it loses that certain special something that made it the place people wanted to move to. In the interests of full disclosure, I moved to Austin in 1990, left for 5 years, and moved back in 1999 and have been here every since. The reason why I feel like I'm entitled to complain is that I didn't feel the desire to change the place. You see, its not the act of people moving here that has caused what a believe to be its decline. Its the apparent need of these people to change the city into something akin to the places they left.

Austin now boasts unbelievably high property taxes and there is an incredible lack of affordable housing anywhere within 10 square miles of the center of town(thanks Californians). Progress evidently means shutting down long established restaurants and music venues and replacing them with condominiums (there are so many condos in Austin at the moment, that many of them have to rent the units because they can't sell them all). Our main city park is taken over every year by a corporation so that it can make money off a music festival that a bunch of out-of-towners pay to see, only to have the park closed to the public for months on end after the festival so that the city can repair the damage caused by the festival. And that ain't all.

I could go on and on, but I won't do it right now. It's late, and if I were say it all now, what would I have to rant about later. Needless to say, this will be a main topic of the blog. Stay tuned.