Bash & Pop -- Friday Night is Killing Me

Over the last few years I've become more enamored of the Replacements & Paul solo and also what Tommy Stinson has done post Mats. The contributing factor has been that I've become more familiar with the Faces and Mercury-era Rod Stewart, and I can hear what devotees Grandpaboy et. al. are.

Nowhere is this fixation more apparent than on Tommy's first post Mats outing c. 1993. On one level, you hear the Replacements legacy, but the more I listen to this, the more I hear them English fellers. Tunes like "Hang Ups", "Tickled to Tears" and "He Means It" boogie in a very particular way, and even where the Faces are less apparent, you can still get that hit in the looseness and jauntiness of the way the band is jamming. That is not to say that this is a Georgia Sattelites clone; B & P are more romantic than that, prettier, even while being a funky, rockin' mess... I'd say 2 or 3 levels deeper than Dan Baird & Co. and way more rockin' than Westerberg's solo output in general.

This alb was so much better than people give it credit for, and the title track shoulda been all over the radio, that's what I think.

Curt Kirkwood -- Snow

Produced by Pete Anderson, who is Dwight Yoakam's producer. Essentially you have a kinda country-pop Meat Puppets record. Soaring and Byrds-like at times, never raising its temperature above that of a warm October day. The lyrics are Curt's style; somewhat impressionistic, they resonate but never tip their hand.

Curt plays about half the guitar and also splits backing vocals with his producer. Kirkwood's playing keeps the seedee from becoming any kind of cookie cutter Nashville pop affair, but Pete Anderson's contributions are definitely those of an ace nashville cat: clean, supple, tasty. He's a nice foil for the M. P. Interesting to note that a solo record is the first time you hear Kirkwood as half of a guitar duo; he's usually the whole ballgame.

On the whole, this is a very nice album, spotlighting the Meat Puppets leader as a songwriter of considerable merit and a soulful, tuneful singer. For me, this one stacks up against any Meat Puppets record after Up on the Sun.

My prediction -- the presidential tickets

This is 'way early, I know, but looking at the poll numbers at pollster.com, I would predict that the likely nominees for the Dems and the GOD GOP at this moment are Edwards and Romney. The overall numbers show Clinton and Giuliani, but the Iowa & New Hampshire #s favor the other 2 candidates. The one caveat I have at this point is that Gore is still saying he won't run. If you look at the national numbers for the Dems, you will see that all 3 major Dem candidates are trending downwards in the polls, but that Gore's numbers are going significantly up, in hopes of a possible candidacy. If he changes his mind somewhere down the road & does jump in (it will depend on this groundswell continuing to tumesce) it will, for the second time in history, be Al Gore's race to lose.



Can he do it, folks?

Quote of the Day

If by "dentist" you mean "apple pie," then I totally agree. --The Queen of Cans and Jars

Jessica Rylan

Is a noise musician based in the Boston area. She builds her own synthesizers and has a band called Can't which she is the lone member of. I believe she is currently touring out west, but tonight is her last show, in LA.



Her music is full of white and pink noise, arranged in contrasts and textures. Sometimes she has lyrics, but more often, I think, she does soundscapes. I remember seeing this video on local television, once upon a time, but I didn't know the artist's name at that point, and so never followed up on it. I saw the article on her in the current Signal to Noise, and was pleased to recognize her. She has several mp3s streamable and downloadable at this page, and if you have an ear for outsider electronica, you'll find her stuff unique and exciting.

This is especially recommended to fans of the great Vann Steppladder...

(more on Vann at some near future point...)