Ye olde cracked songblog

Here is all of the old stuff. We built a search function into this archive. If you press Ctrl-F a little pop-up will help you along. (Optimized for Explorer, you know the deal.)

	MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO – Almost Was Good Enough During this song on the great “Trial & Error”-CD Jason Molina breaks into “Out on the weekend” by Neil Young, which is not only really fitting (“The woman I’m thinking of / she used me all up / and I’m so down today”) it is also one of those great instances where it is really fitting to incorporate another song. I’ve heard it done by the Walkabouts (using lines from “Smoke On The Water” during their great cover of “Like A Hurricane”) and by Howe Gelb, almost all of the time – but hey, again with a Neil Young song. What’s this thing about Neil Young here? Anyway, if it is done right, those are great, fine, funny and uplifiting moments in music. And it is way better than a straightforward coverversion, plus it is still a tribute. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t get it when played. I just realized this is the second entry about Magnolia Electric Co. in here. Well, they are a great band. 23 Sep 05
	BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB – ain’t no easy way out I am standing in the subway, entering the station where I want to get out and I am crowded in by a bunch of schoolkids who won’t give way because they are so concentrated on whatever it is they are concentrated about. Just as I am thinking about shoving them hard to be able to exit the train, the refrain to this song comes up on my player. “ain’t no easy way out”. Talkin’ bout coincidences. Plus, there is some nice harp- and bottleneck-work on here. 14 Sep 05
	BEASTIE BOYS – Shake your rump Amongst my top five songs with great bass-sounds, this has to be in there, because there are those theremin-like bass sounds, some funky slap bass and some more cool danceable bass shit right next to each other. I can’t help but shake my butt as soon as the enty line comes up. “Well, I rock a house party at the drop of a hat ..:” Yeah. The rest of the top five list would contain “Feels just like it should” by Jamiroquai (see below), the whole Orange-album by the Blues Explosion and some other stuff, that I won’t think about now, because doing top five lists is – I have been told – a total nerd thing to do. Well, whatever. 14 Sep 05
	TV ON THE RADIO – Dry Drunk Emperor The backlash of hurricane Katrina now also includes music. TV on the Radio were the first alternative rockers – of my knowledge – to release a song about how the leaders in one of the richest countries fucked up and weren’t able to help their own people when in need. (Prince was first overall.) The song is alright, I somehow miss the catchy hooklines of their greatest hits (haha, when they only had their first record out) and the melody is a little strenuous (though I guess this shouldn’t be a happy song anyway) reminding me more and more of Peter Gabriel’s artsy phase, but the rolling snare towards the end drums give the message sort of an old time military urgency. Downloadable for free on www.tgrec.com. Moreover, I am still not convinced that these kinds of actions will really help anyone, but since it won’t damage them, it is okay with me. 12^th Sep 05
	THE SMALL FACES - Lazy Sunday Afternoon I just realized the first time today that in this classic from 1968 right after the second bridge there is beautiful little musical hint at the Rolling Stones parodizing "Gimme Shelter". I only recognized because the singer even did a little Mick Jagger impersonation footage shown in that documentary. Funny, innit? 29 Aug 05
	ASTPAI – this lie Yeah, nice punkrock song. But the overused sample from Pulp Fiction really spoils it. Want to guess which one? I’ll just say: Samuel L. Jackson. I have just heard it too many times, I guess. But it is nice to notice that obviously Pulp Fiction is still cool shit in some places 29 Aug 05
	MONTY PHYTON – Every sperm is sacred Okay, so it might be a complete nerd-thing to do, but since I somehow grew up on Monthy Python I’ll pose this question anyway, because it has been bugging me for quite some time: The Catholic with the thousands of kids sings “Every sperm is sacred”. In the first part of the song a little girl comes up, who sings the lines: “Let the heathens spill theirs on the dusty ground / god shall make them pay for each sperm that can’t be found.” Now here is the question(s): Did that little girl know what she is singing? Who explained to her in what way? What did she think she was singing? How does she feel about singing these lines today? The movie was shot in 1983, so the little girl should be about 35 years old. Hell, she could be a mother of four children – would she let her own children sing stuff like that? (Actually, I find the image of a god making people pay for shit much more offensive than singing about sperms…) 23 Aug 05
	PUBLIC IMAGE LTD. – home Have you ever realized how close Johnny Lydon’s voice is to Jello Biafra’s? Well, I never … 18 Aug 05
	THE UNDERTONES – get over you As far as raudiness and that regular drunk pub-dude gone punkrocker attitude goes The Undertones are right up there with Stiff Little Fingers. If I had to fight over which song is better, “Teenage Kicks” by The Undertones or “Suspect Device” by the Stiffies, I’d go sideways and chose this little dittie. And why the hell not. I am too young to have experienced both bands in their heydays (and growing up in Austria wouldn’t have helped either) and only got ignited by picking up that late Stiff Little Finger’s Live-Double-Album because I liked the cover of it. Other than that I didn’t like a lot of that classic English punkrock, because I was stumbling right off of my (rather short) Italo-Disco-phase and was mainly interested in beer and petting. Anyway, this has the same go-for-it energy and carelessness as that makes a lot of obscure Sixties-Punk/Beat so great. Plus, it is a love song to drink and mosh to. What more do you want? Weezer will never get that. The craziest thing is though that The Undertones are still around recording and playing. Though I guess they haven’t visited the Playboy mansion yet as Weezer did. Thinking about it, I shoulda have picked “Here comes the summer”. Well, some other time. 18 Aug 05
	LOU REED – Romeo had Juliette Within the late phase of Lou Reed (somewhat after that Metal Machine Thing) he was always best when describing the decay of urban life and the everyday American nightmare from deep within. As from the urban rockstar reptile viewpoint that he is. And on “New York” he does that better than ever (plus the thing with the two Stratocasters working against each other on the left and the right channel). And with “Romeo and Juliette” he concentrates the whole thing in a few 4-liners, from the sanctity of a holy love affair to the end of the world being near, from ancient Rome to rock chicks in leather vests. And finally, I think I have never heard a better line to stop a song: “something flickered for a minute / then it vanished and was gone.” And the guitar fades out in that classic rock riff. 08 July 05
	ANTHONY AND THE JOHNSONS – river of sorrow This song, more than any other one – though each single one of them manages to do so – is the definite proof that to like or dislike Anthony and the Johnsons solely depends on if you are either able to love or completely distaste the voice of singer Anthony. Actually, the voice only hides the other mysteries of this band / singer – from the slash denominating one of them to the androgynous self-creation. Anyway, “river of sorrow” has the guy at his most jangly, whining, meowing vocals, so this one might be the best test for you if you are of yet unconvinced. I am certain that I like this for what it’s worth. 29 June 05
	JAMIROQUAI – feels just like it should At times in between here and there I have casually mentioned that I am completely addicted to bass. From the theremin-like bass-riffs of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion to the bass/dub-eruptions of Techno Animal and on to double-bass free from drone and noise by Deep (who else?) I like all music that dominantly features low end frequencies. Jamiroquai regularly use those and put a very danceable groove on top, so enough Gin & Tonic provided you might see me shaking my thang to this one on any dancefloor. Nowhere as movable and geniously as the singer of Jamiroquai, but who is anyway? The rest of the album is a letdown, though. 27 June 05
	MARAH – city of philadelphia I don't know anything about this band, but their honky-tonkin', down home, southern fried coverversion of this Springsteen-classic, complete with fiddle and Banjo and a little hootin' is one half weird and one half exciting. Truly hogwild. As far as cover-versions of the Boss go, my current top five list is as follows (as usual in no order): THE BAND - Atlantic City TOWNES VAN ZANDT - Racing in the streets MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND - Blinded by the lights HEATHER NOVA - I'm on fire OSTBAHN KURTI & DIE CHEFPARTIE - Blattschuss (Point Blank) 20 June 05
	THE ELEPHANT MAN – breakdown of the sun Great noise-rock from Italy. Somewhere between God Bullies, Helios Creed and Laughing Hyenas, and if you have any kind of heart or mind for noise rock, then you know what that means. Especially this seven-minute cruncher of a song. Unfortunately the band has given up, but will reform with the name Dead Elephant some time soon. Their first EP is stored on their website: www.theelephantman.it but because they use stupid Flash-programming I haven’t figured out how to download them. 17 June 05
	THE SECRET MACHINES – Nowhere again This is gonna make it big in the alternative rock charts and on the accommodating dancefloors due to its steady beat, the clever hookline and the punchline which makes it easy to tap along and sing along while trying to not spill your Gin & Tonic. That has happened before. Everyone else older than thirty will be reminded of an electrified Echo & The Bunnymen. But times are different now, maybe even better in some ways, or maybe that’s juts ignorance in the dawning of the apocalypse, and that is why, so there. 8 June 05
	COLDPLAY – Fix You All around there is a Coldplay-bashing going on that is fine to read. But in the face of lyrics like “When you try your best but you don’t succeed / when you get what you want but not what you need / when you feel so tired you can’t sleep … when tears come streaming down your face / when you lose something you can’t replace / when you love someone who’s going to waste” sung in that awful breaking falsetto of a would-be church choir boy, I am all sure that the bashings are well deserved. Not even the worst highschool- emopop- band would aim at such awful moaning. This is exactly where British pop music gets its bad name from. Maybe it is because the singer’s (forgot his name) marriage with Gwynneth Paltrow is working out so well and he is actually so happy but he wants to adhere to the band’s image and don’t disappoint his fans who all want to wail in misery, that he has to get back to such commonplace dumb lyrics. I heard the album is stuck full with them. Ah damn, its only shitty pop-music anyway. 6 June 05
	MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO. – Leave the city By coincidence this song was listed right after Little Feat’s “Willin’” on my iTunes (on which I listen to music at work because the CD-drive is just too loud to really enjoy, but anyway) and I must say it fits perfectly. If the Magnolia Electric Company manages a career like that of Little Feat they’d be glad. The various guitars jangling towards each other, various electric and acoustic ones, intercepted by a whole array of other instruments is just like Little Feat’. Of course, the singing voices are different, though the laidback, nostalgic, staring at the clouds-atmosphere is the same. (If such comparisons are allowed with a band as longlasting as Little Feat.) The trombone in the background is different, but it adds a beautiful, new colour to that old fashioned format. Cool drivel. Who would have ever thought that Jason Molina would ever end up in such a place (especially when he starts to look more and more like Chris DeBurgh.) 2 June 05
	YAT-KHA - love will tear us apart I have heard a lot of versions of Joy Division’s main track in the last months, some of the best being by Novelle Vague and Calexico, but this one here is special. Different. In a lot of ways. Because Yat-Kah is about the only Tuva-rockband I know of. You remember Tuva, the folkstyle, guttural singing developed by some Indian / Eskimo-tribe in northern Scandinavia or somewhere in Russia. A friend of mine said upon first listening of this: “Cool. Is he belching the lyrics.” No, it’s Tuva. It don’t get no darker or more sombre than this. 30 May 2005
	KISS - then she kissed me .. Wow, the kings of masked metal doing an almost standard-version of this old Motown girlgroup classic. What kind of joke was that meant to be? Did they play this live as well? Did it go over well with the metal kids? It's a B-Side I dsicovered on the Love Gun-7". Love Gun is a song as openly about sex as possible in the Seventies I guess, so how do the two fit together? 27 May 2005
	WHITESNAKE - Here I go again An acoustic version of this could be good. Just a voice and a guitar, bemoaning the bad luck and misery that keeps pushing the singer down, but him getting up again and going on as if nothing has happened. Getting rid of the awful hair-metal and pseudo-glamrock keyboards. And by the way, the next band to have a revival should be Hot Chocolate (so there, I said it.) 27 May 2005
	BLONDIE - Denis Is this Blondie's first single? I have no idea, but it is a perfect little popsong with that slight litte punktouch to it that makes it even more appealing. Could have been a Martha & The Vandellas-track just as easily (without the guitars, of course), but it is alright the way it is. 21 May 2005
	HOUSE OF PAIN - Jump around No matter which party at what time or where, put this on and people will start to dance in the most manic way. I never tried that at a funeral or a festivity in an old people's home but I sure would like to. 21 May 2005
	JOE COCKER - With a little help from my friends It might be embarrassing to start this thing with an old, used-up song like this, but I was watching the Woodstock-movie once again yesterday and apart from Jimi Hendrix' legendary appearance this one song was the best of the whole piece. To see Joe Cocker in his Vitus-dance-routine, screaming off his demons, giving it all he got is a staggering difference to the rest of the awful lot showing up in this movie. The gap between his voice, this soulful, forceful and energetic raw tension of musicality, of life and dreams poured into a song, and the pictures of Joe Cocker, drug-riddled, almost spastic, facial expression torn as if from pain, is exciting. If you want to rewatch Woodstock, fast forward it to this part and then to Hendrix' guitar solo. That'll do. Moreover, this thought made me conscious once again of my rising interest in what they call classic rock, but only the parts of which that breathe life and energy, and with that I mean the whole lot of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, and so on. Maybe not such a bad place to start after all. 20 May 2005

	EVERLAST - Folsom Prison Blues Some people were suprised when I said that I like Everlast's version of Johnny Cash's classic tune, but then most people are suprised when I say that I like the music of Everlast. Some are even still suprised when I say I like the music of Johnny Cash, but hey, most people never get to know a lot of other people well. "Folsom Prison Blues" is a perfect selection for Everlast. It has murder, prison and social criticism rolled into four compact verses, like so many of Everlast's songs. He put a cool oldschool hip hop beat underneath the song and re-sampled the siren from "Jump Around" but I don't care, because it sounds cool. It is not at all blasphemy, as some moron mentioned, because Everlast makes the song his own. Like Johnny Cash made so many songs his own. Look at what JC did to "Hurt" and a dozen or two other songs on his albums. I guess that Johnny Cash would have liked it, and who am I to contradict Johnny Cash? 30^t^h Dec 08
	OKKERVILL RIVER - westfall There are many killing story songs, especially in country music. But this one is interesting because it is set in current times. Okay, 2002, but not in the fifties or in 1860. The story about the girl killed comes in The Guardian and there are cameras flashing in the narrators face when he is finally attested. But after all, it is the same old story of a guy and his buddy going out with girls and then one or two of them winds up dead. Always a good story, a murder story. 17^t^h Dec 08
	TALKING HEADS - people like us Once more: "True Stories" has been dismissed by a lot of people as a bland, commercial album, especially in the latest craze of new postpunk-bands that all looked at "remain in light" and the other early Talking Heads albums. Well, despite the fact that I like the melodious pop songs of the late Talking Heads, the amount of social criticism and politics in these songs has been largely overlooked. The lines "we don't want freedom / we don't want justice / people like us just want / somebody to love" can't be read as kitschy true blue stuff, but as demasking th lies of the entertainment industry, that stuffs "little people" with tales of romance and love instead of showing them the truth about the injusties and restrictions they face. 15^t^h Dec 08
	EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN - morning dew The German noise legends cover Lee Hazlewood (well, actually Tim Rose), I had almost forgotten it. But today I by the taste of a hunch took out the old "5 auf der nach oben offenen Richterskala" out and suddenly I flashed back to the most melodious early Neubauten available. A quick check showed that Nick Cave released his "Kicking Against The Pricks" album in 1986, where Blixa Bargeld played on songs like "Sleeping Annaleah" (Tom Jones), "All Tomorrow's Parties" (Velvet Underground & Nico) or "By the time I get to Phoenix" (Glen Campbell or Issac Hayes, you decide). I bet, that had an influence on the choice of the song. 4^t^h Dec 08

	TALKING HEADS - hey now Even though everybody seems to focus on the early work of the Talking Heads nowadays (and suddenly remembering how they listened to them already back then, even though they were only four years old in 1979...), I also like the later albums. Even the cheesiest stuff, like "Hey Now" from the underrated "True Stories" album. Nice melody, salsa-beat, summertime feeling. It is easy to overlook the social commentary in it. 4^t^h Dec 08
	NEIL YOUNG - borrowed tune Once again I am sitting here, listening to "Tonight's the night" and once again I think how much the melody of this song is similar to "Sweet Lady Jane" by the Rolling Stones and suddenly I realise that Neil Young is singing "I'm sitting here in my motel room / singing this borrowed tune / that I took from the Rolling Stones...". The guts, man, the guts. That and taking on Lynyrd Skynrd head on. 26^t^h Nov 08
	ELVIS PRESLEY - suspicious minds Towards the end of the song the chorus is repeated over and over again. Then it fades out and then the song fades in again with more chorus and then it finally fades out for real. Why? Whose idea was it to do this useless thing and what does it mean? Did somebody fall on the lever and then corrected the mistake and so it went onto the master tape without anybody noticing because the King had already left the building to pop down some more pills and a fried banana peanut butter sandwich? Or does it mean the problem in a relationship goes on and on and on without ever ending? Ain't all of this a little too strange. 21^s^t Nov 08
	AMY MCDONALD - this is the life Some people really think this song is about homeless people but actually it is about how drinking in the evening leads to a hangover the next day and the ensuing depression that makes everybody a better person ... until they hit the pub again the next night. Or as my brother worded it: I have got a bad allergy to leather. Whenever I fall asleep in my shoes, I have a terrible headache the next morning. But it is a nice popsong nonetheless. 11^th Nov 08
	THE DELFONICS - didn't I blow your mind this time 1972 was a good year for that special brand of soulful gangster ballads. Curtis Mayfield had "Superfly" out, Bill Withers released "Still Bill" and the Delfonics crooned this wonderful lovesong into the minds and ears of the populace all around. So good even Elmore Leonard (or Quentin Tarantino) couldn't stroll by without noticing. 28^th Oct 08
	ROOTS MANUVA – again & again Outside it is foggy, cold and as autumnal as it can be in middle to eastern Europe on the outskirts of an alpine region. But inside Roots Manuva is spreading the dubby vibes of sunshine, positivity and relaxation. Always with bouncing beats, sense and in mid tempo. Strange, this music should come from England, where it is usually even colder than around here. 14^th Oct 08
	CRYSTAL STILTS – shattered shine They probably don’t know it themselves, but they are completely covering Echo & The Bunnymen here. Only without the energy and more pathos. 1^st Oct 08
	STEVE WYNN - Carolyn I saw Steve Wynn play live in front of appr. 100 people in a 400 year old castle in a small town in the province of Austria - and it was great. It was the first time he played the songs of his new album "Crossing Dragon Bridge" and therefore the band - including Chris Eckman of Walkabouts and Chris Cacavas - were a little to uptight some of the time. But on the encore, when they took out the really old songs, they really let lose and ripped. "Carolyn" was the first song of the encore, and it was just great sustain guitar Stratocaster bliss. A big wall of rock sound with drive, speed and a chorus melody to kill for. I don't think the original studio version recording can give that. Steve Wynn was always a good musician / songwriter, but unfortunately rarely a remarkable one, but it is moments like this that will linger in the memory for ever. 27^th Sep 08
	MICHAEL JACKSON - Thriller This week I have been to an evening business event and “Thriller” was the best song they played during the whole evening. Says a lot about a lot of things, right? I left at around 11 pm. 19^th Sep 08
	SISTERS OF MERCY – more I relistened to the whole “Vision Thing” album of Sisters Of Mercy – on tape, by the way, because we stumbled over the old tape copy of the record when we were looking for something to play and all the technics we had was a tape player. And this song was the first one that came from the speakers, because the tape was wound to start with side B. Kids, if you have no idea what I am talking about, take it as a hint as to why the CD easily won out the tape as a medium of choice for portable music. And has been won out by mp3 some years later. Anyway, it came out from the box all booming and shining with rock crispness, heavy drums and female chorus vocals. Big and dark and glorious. And I wondered how well this arrangement still works. There is a reason the (my) early Nineties were formed by “Vision Thing”, “The Real Thing” and “Birth, School, Work, Death”. 18^th Sep 08
	JJ GREY & MOFRO – orange blossoms This is the title track to the new album by JJ Grey & Mofro, the country cracker with the soulful voice and swamp guitar picking. And damn, it is a scorcher. Like Wilson Pickett and Lee Hazlewood rolled into one. Actually it is not a lot more than a great, simple chorus with a deep horn section and some blues picking, but wow, what a burning track. And the rest of the album is just as good. Should make all those musicians doing mainstream soul focusing on the charts, all those Amy Winehouse-rip offs, have their eyes water with shame. 17^th Sep 08
	ROLLING STONES – Dead Flowers Up to a month ago I was convinced this song had been written by Townes Van Zandt. I really was. Van Zandt does a version of it during the end credits of “The Big Lebowski”, maybe that is why. 16^th Sep 08
	PORTUGAL THE MAN – Colors I stumbled upon this band and then constantly asked myself why I haven’t turned onto them long ago. Maybe because the bandname reminded me of some screamo / emo / fast trashpunk bands from way back when. Anyway, this song is the best song Oasis didn’t dare to write in the last years, because the pathos-ridden string sections and wonderful chorus harmony are just too beautiful for a pair of high-falooting, smack-shooting, disco-bootin brothers more interested in stroking their enormous egos than doing anything serious. Me, on the other hand, I like the small stuff. Especially if it is as big as this. 12^th Sep 08
	THE HOLD STEADY – Constructive Summer I hear a lot of people saying that this band sounds like “early Bruce Springsteen”. Well, I hear nothing like “Greetings from Asbury Park” in here and also none of “Darkness on the Edge of Town” – but what do I know about Bruce Springsteen. This song is cool punkrock with an indie-attitude or vice versa. Other songs by the band sound more like current Springsteen, if you ask me. More than all of that, the singer reminds me of the young Bob Mould. Remember the time when Husker Du were an exciting band? Probably not, but you can relive all the greatness and beauty now with “Stay Positive”. Finally band that it is cool to rock with. (How I miss Sister Double Happiness and Avail at times...?) 9^th Sep 08
	CONNOR OBERST – Sausalito “I like every kind of music except country” used to be the white, liberal and intellectual man’s way out of those conversations about music that had the danger of being exposed as an ignorant alternative rock or pop fan. Dozens of albums by Miles Davis, Brian Eno and Eric Satie line CD-racks unheard but ready to be shown when to guests when the time comes around. Connor Oberst, songwriter wunderkind of the overhyped though good Bright Eyes has decided to take the other way and attack this stupid stance head on. With some straight forward country songs on his first solo album. And “Sausalito” is probably the most straight forward one of them all. Gone is the melancholy and despair, the air is blowing with a new scent of action and physicality. The route ahead is clear: “Westwards, where pilgrims disappear.” 9^th Sep 08
	CATFISH HAVEN – Set in Stone Another singer who just in time to catch up with the latest craze left the Rod Stewart school of singing to join the David Byrne academy of nasal intonation. Starts to sound good the third time you hear it. 8^th Aug 08
	IKE & TINA TURNER - a fool in love Believe it or not, Tina Turner once was a good lookin' gal and a fabulous singer. This old song that is on some old compilation I unearthed called "Jump Blue" proves it much as anything. Only the lines "oh I must be a fool / I do anything he wants" and about how diverse things go good and bad at the same time, and the chorus going "You are just a fool / you are in love ... sometimes you are happy / sometimes you are sad ... you know you love him and you can't understand / why he treats you like he do when he's such a good man" over and over again ring an ungood bell in retrospect. 18^h Jul 08
	FLYING LOTUS – gng bng This one will probably win this year's trophy of "most useless but super-cool usage of heavy bass in wide-screen" for its, well, useless but super cool usage of heavy bass in wide screen. What a riot! 8^h Jul 08
	THE POLICE – Every breath you take Another of these songs were people have the misconception that it is sung to a girl (see “Hard for you” below). Except for a little line that goes “I’m crying, baby, baby, please...” there is no hint as to who that “you” is. Another misconception is that this is a romantic love song. Mainly because of the melody. Looking at the lyrics it turns out more like an obsessive stalker: “every step you take, every move you make, I’ll be watching you”. (Or it is from the ministry of Homeland Security to the american people?) And then it seems that there is something terribly afoul, because the “you” has left the singer and he goes “every bond you break” and “every vow you break” as if that has happened before. So, if your loved one plays this to you from his / her Police Greatest hits compilation you better watch out. 29^h Jun 08
	BEASTS OF BOURBON – Hard for you This is probably the most “I’m gonna fuck up your life”-song ever. Pure attitude. Thanks to those aussie legends of Beasts of Bourbon. Simple melody, simple arrangement, simple rock – highest amount of effectivity. Pure evil hatred and anger. Compared to all those gangsta-rap shit where they are looking for the most creative way to say how much they not like each other, this simple tune is just pure direct wizardry. “I’m gonna ruin your whole life, I’m gonna make you cry / I’m gonna make it hard for you!” Why not just say it as it is? On a sidenote, a lot of people believe that this song is sung to an ex girlfriend, though it does not say so anywhere in the song. Could be anybody who stepped on Tex Perkins’ toes. 27^th Jun 08
	KID ROCK – All summer long In an act of what is probably the least subtle attempt ever to hide an enormous cash in under the disguise of an hommage, Kid Rock has laid his mitts on one of the best legendary rock songs ever: “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynard Skynyrd. (And with that on another Lynard-title, if you remember “Only God Knows Why” and compare it to “Freebird”.) On the other hand, I have listened to “Sweet Home Alabama” maybe tenthousand times now and I still like it, so even a bland rip off ought to have some due. Less people realized that there is actually a good dose of Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” in there as well. As a friend of mine put it: “That Kid Rock doesn’t do a lot of new stuff.” Which is probably the secret to his success. 7^th Jun 08
	LENNY KRAVITZ – I’ll be waiting At one point Lenny Kravitz used to be the last cool rock star on this planet. And meaning rock star in the good old sense of the word. Now he has firmly stepped into Aerosmith terrain. Well, if the shoe fits. 1^st Jun 08

	LYRICS BORN – I like it, I love it Probably the next micro-retro-trend (after american universe country music currently) will be Mid-Eighties-Funk like Kurtis Blow. Do you remember Kurtis Blow? Heavy, badass bass lines with poppy melodies and lyrics that are basically daft, or at the best straightforwardly mediocre. But the mixture is nevertheless great and lots of fun. Riding in a car in the full sunlight or late night in a party with a nice sortiment of cocktails and people having fun. That sort of mid-eighties recklessness. We’ll see and I’ll keep an eye on it. In the meantime you can start finding out about Go-Go-Funk, so you look like an old-time scenester knowitall whenever that shit hits the fan. 27^th May 08
	LIGHTSPEED CHAMPION – No spurise (for Wendela) Another one were it took me some time and then like a flash in my head I knew: Lightspeed Champion croons like Elvis Costello. And that’s okay. If you like wimpy pop. I do, so it is okay. Mostly I don’t listen to what he is singing, because that would probably bug the hell out of me. But this way, it is okay. 21^st May 08
	THE HEAVY - Coleen May is a wonderful month, summer is just around the corner and world is filled with soul music. No matter if it is dance, hip hop or rock, I hear all the good that soulmusic did to music in general. “Coleen” sounds like Stevie Wonder in his best days. Let’s get outside with a large Tom Collins at your side. 13^th May 08
	PEACHES – Fuck or Kill This one had been hailed as a emergently political statement when it came out on the “Impeach my Bush” album and underpinned the image of Peaches as a intellectual electronic artists mixing feminism, de-constructed sexualist images and political message. Listening back now the statement “I’d rather fuck who I want than kill who I am told to” seems rather bland. I mean, that is obvious? Anybody would rather do what they want than what they are told to. “I’d rather fuck who I am told to than kill who I want” would be an interesting statement, but then somebody would demand proof. 10^th May 08
	JAMIE LIDELL – All I wanna do Four songs into the new album of Jamie Lidell I realized, this is not retro or the clean cut mix of Sixties Soul with electronics, this is the pure thing. This an emulation of times past so perfectly and clean you cannot call it retro, because retro usually implies at least to admit that what you are doing is a thing of the past, whereas Jamie Lidell has turned on the time machine and travelled back a few decades. I still have to decide if he is the real thing like Amy or just an impostor like Joss Stone, but methinks that still has time. 8^th May 08
	AI PHOENIX – this is close Oh, how the singer of Ai Phoenix, Mona Mork, moans some of the words in this song, makes me tingle with something unfamiliar all over. As if she were afraid to hurt the words when they come out of her mouth. This song is from Ai Phoenix's debut album, I think, and they are by far one of the most underrated bands around. 7^th May 08
	BLACK LABEL SOCIETY – this river I like heavy metal ballads ever since I first heard “love hurts” by Nazareth (which of course is an old country song, especially made famous by Gram Parsons, but anyway) and this one here by axe-master Zakk Wylde’s troupe is no less great. But it has the most unnecessary, stupidly stacked on top and non-fitting guitar solo I ever heard. As if Zakk demanded a wild ass guitar solo in any song recorded. And he probably does, and usually it is great, because he is a truly wild metal soloist, but here it sticks out like a drag queen in pink camouflage on a free mason’s parade. 2^nd May 08
	GALLHAMMER – blind my eyes The best moments of Gallhammer are when one girl does her devilish grunt vocals and another does those high pitched yelps like Melt Banana. Like Suicide Girls rolled into music. Pure beauty. 24^th Apr 08
	FRIGHTENED RABBIT – fast blood / soon go The „title track“ of their last album (well, it is the song where the line that makes up the title is taken from) has slowly grown on me. From a very high level I should add, so where will this end? Probably on a seperate seven inch single – and here it is! Backed with another great song that was only available on a blog up to now as an exclusive. The frolics of independent music business, right? A friend of mine always says, there is way too much music out there and any kind of reason to not be interested in something counts these days. I’ll have to find out about that some time. Something else I only discovered lately is that this band doesn’t have a bassist and you would never know, because the drummer hits so hard he practically fills out all the holes left. 20th Apr 08
	WHITE HINTERLAND – hometown hooray “Phylactery Factory” by White Hinterland will probably forever be a forgotten classic, one of those albums that those few people who own and know it will never give away and the rest of the world doesn’t care about because they are saving their money for stupid re-releases of Norah Jones DVDs. Anyway, the way they include a little classical piano music in the outro of this song is more than classic, its pure beauty. Whenever these little, tingling ringing swirling notes come up a tinge of joy runs through my spine. Way too little time for all the good things in life, and way too much weight upon the bad things pushing. 22nd Apr 08
	THE CURE – Friday I’m in love More wonders on this day, and I am dead serious: How did The Cure ever stay the main band of the gothic youth tribe with pop songs as straight forward, melodic, polished and, well, poppy as this one. I mean, this is a perfect, wonderful, nice song. Handclaps, melody line picked on the electric guitar, straight pop rhythm, longish arrangement finesse to the end, even a nicely introduced fade-out – this one could have ended up as the signature song for a sitcom (like the one of “Friends” whose interpret I always forget...). But then maybe Robert Smith has enough money to make his lipstick supply last for another lifetime. Oops, shouldn’t have said that, because The Cure actually are a good band. ´öllll 1^st Apr 08
	HERCULES & LOVE AFFAIR – blind I really wonder why everyone raves so much about this song. Mostly because it is not at all the best song on the album. On “Easy” Antony’s voice is much more intriguing and “Iris” is a fascinating piece of music, for instance. But then I could never align myself to too much disco and obviously this is meant to do something on the dancefloors. I only ever enter dancefloors after five or six gin tonics and that maybe explains my reluctance. Inspite of this, I find that Antony’s voice really starts to vanish on “blind”, being overpowered by the straight from the 80ies disco 2^nd record bin arrangements. And that is a pity. 1^st Apr 08
	THE RANK DELUXE – they don’t matter Fat Cat is one of the few labels that embraces the new world of online music without forfeiting the best things of the good old days. Well, at least they are one of the few labels left that still release seven inch singles to accompany or prelude upcoming album releases. And with Rank Deluxe they have a possible heir to the – dare I say it – Arctic Monkeys in the box. Less sharp and more melodic, less polished and a little more noisy and chaotic, less artsy and more punk, with a little tick of reggae. “They don’t matter” should make the alternative rock disco dancefloors rock. Anyway, just the right amount of anger fused with the proper dose of style – that’s the way English rockers should sound. 26^th Mar 08
	ISOBELL CAMPBELL & MARK LANEGAN – The Raven Campell and Lanegan turn more and more into a modern day Nancy & Lee, especially with this song whose melody-line reminds me so much of “Ladybird” from the classic Nancy & Lee album. But it shows how our modern days really are, that in the Sixties we called them by their first names (see also Sonny & Cher) and nowadays their last names. Then again, at other times Lanegan croons so fragile as if he tries to emanate the latter day Johnny Cash. 26^th Mar 08
	WHITE HINTERLAND – Hometown Hooray This is the second pop-song I have ever known that included a classically sounding piano solo. If I could only remember what the other one was!? Seems that either I am getting old and forgetting everything or that I keep forgetting everything whenever a new great singer / songwriter from out of nowhere is presented to me (see Saralunden, Frida Hyvonnen, Joanna Newsom, etc. for reference.) I am a sensitive weakling deep in my heart somewhere. Buried underneath tons of concrete, he he he. No really, I can enjoy this and that means the world is not going to end badly. Not necessarily, that is. 15^th Mar 08
	BISHOP ALLEN - rain Jingly jangly nice pop from the underground. In my best dreams of a world much better and mellower than this one here, I imagine thousands of living rooms all over the world where people sit back with their acoustic guitars to write songs like these, then invite some friends over to record them. No producers, no merchandising agents, no promotion specialists. Just the pure pop-sensibility that makes for a nice indie-pop song. There has never been a shortage of these by the way, but always a lack of interest by the populace in them. 14^th Mar 08
	GRAVENHURST – Hollow man Amazing, the singer of Gravenhurst sounds so very much like Morrissey on this one and the guitars jangle along melodic yet heavily distorted as well, that I get a melancholic daydream of what happened if The Smiths got together again. Actually, I rather liked the last two Morrissey albums (less whining, more attitude) so I am not too big on this happening in reality. The gap between fantasy and reality is sometimes hard to bear, as a lot of people who got what they wished for (eat your hearts out, Amy-fans!) know, but still. 11^th Mar 08
	NEIL YOUNG – Lonesome Blues Everybody, no matter what, seems to like Hank Williams. At least respect him And I mean, everybody, and it is good that way. Pay your dues, man, pay your dues. PS: this is from "After the Goldrush", but I guess you know that, right? 8th Ma
	CAT POWER – Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again Reminds me of the fact that I still haven’t seen “I’m not there” yet. Even though I live right close to a cinema where they are playing that movie right now. See, I am almost as old as Bob Dylan still was when he was younger. And Chan Marshall sounds as if somebody had infused her with a little energy, which is also most welcome compared to some of the trite longwinded slow stuff she did lately. Well, can’t say anything bad about Cat Power right? This songs is from the soundtrack of “I’m not there” and this is two CDs filled with fine songs. Well of course. I wonder how anybody is able to survive without at least two thirds of all albums by Bob Dylan close by. 6th Mar 07
	AMANDINE – Silence of a falling star Another taster on seven inch single for a full album up ahead on Fat Cat, the wonderful Amandine, who have been praised in this here pages some time ago and with good reason. And judging from the two songs on this little platter the whole album is going to be another pleasing, easing and releasing collection progressive folk-songwriting (not to call it alt.country – does anybody except me still use that term?) somewhere between Iron & Wine and Magnolia Electric Co. So beautiful, so melancholic, so great. Well, they had me as soon as I read the title of the track, because Hank Williams is definitely the most important songwriter that has ever lived and “I’m so lonesome I could cry” one of the best sad-songs ever written, period. On here the same sentiments, different arrangement – the song goes and ends on a silent fade and in between the banjo or mandolin adds a nice accent to the swaggering beat. I can’t wait for the album to come. 19^th Feb 08
	DAVID KARSTEN DANIELS – Martha Ann A taster for the upcoming album released on a seven inch singly by the nice folks at Fat Cat. This song makes me think about the times when Fleetwood Mac were really good, which is strange because I don't remember that time at all. I am not that old. Maybe it is because real songwriting and harmonic, full but not overdone arrangements are always a reminder of back in the Seventies, when the music business was still in order. There is a number of likeminded songwrites around, all of them only able to craft small but steady followings, like David Vandervelde or Kelley Stoltz. I have no idea who that Martha Ann is (she is not the one from the Beach Boys song) but the song is cool. If I would still make tapes (see also song right below) this one would make it on my "I can't wait for spring to come"-tape, together with some punkrock and Neil Diamond. 18^th Feb 08
	ROBBIE FULKS – she took a lot of pills and died I came across this fine, weird country ditty of drug abuse and general failure in life on an old tape I made for somebody. Boy, Robbie Fulks sure was a strange feller - I should try to relocate the CDs I have somewhere. He sang all kinds of strange songs about the most sordid and gory themes, almost like taking the tabloids for cues. Somewhere I think I read that he gets thrown off stage by hosts after three or four songs because they refuse to listen to more songs about losers, drug abuse and acts of sexual deviancy. Yeah, right up my alley. 11^th Feb 08
	DEVANDRA BANHART – little boys What exactly does Banhart mean when he sings “I see many little boys I want to marry / I got plenty little kids I got to have”? Just asking, y’know, ‘cause I was wondering. Those Hippie-dudes all seem a little whacky to me anyway. 7^th Feb 08
	THE CARDIGANS – I need some fine wine (and you need to be nicer) There is a funny thing when people admit to liking bands that are not greatly admired or even scorned in their peer group, but then they almost wallow in their embarrassing favorite bands. I never. I once grabbed a guitar and sang “Angel” by Robbie Williams at a cool scenester party and all except for one loudly joined in, so what do I care? I would have played this one, but I don’t know the chords. Still there is something about the voice of the singer of The Cardigans that touches me deep inside, with its mixture of fragility on the one side and stubbornness and strength on the other side. Like a tired fighter of the lover’s wars. I also like the video to this song where she goes out of control in a small rehearsal room. Boy, I would really like to see them play live, because I see the Cardigans as one of the few remaining real pop bands, that are real bands and at the same time at a major level. And then she sings “good wine, bad wine, good dog, bad dog” and then at the end “sit” and it is over. Super cool. 5^th Feb 08
	JERONIMO - Heya Found this on a record I didn't even remember I owned - a "Disco Hits International Vol. 2" on Bellaphon from the Eighties (I guess) which ranges songs from Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis to Steel Mill and Canned Heat (spelled Cannet(!) Heat on the cover. And this gem here that is nothing but a great rhythm and the old Indian singing "Heya-heya-hey". It is probably a totally racist or at least politically non-correct song, but I connect it with early teenage memories of being really drunk and stumbling around a room with half a dozen pals just as drunken as me in the middle of the night. Until somebody decided it was time to take a hike to McDonalds for some food. And that it would be faster if one of them was sitting in a shopping cart and the other shoving... Back then at parties it was all Creedence and then some. 20^th Jan 08
	BONNIE PRINCE BILLY – ask forgiveness I know it is cheating somehow, because this is not a songtitle but the title of an EP, but hey this is my stupid blog and I can break the rules at any time, right. “It is better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission” is the full title of Will Oldham’s aka Bonnie Prince Billy’s new lengthy EP with eight cover versions. Does that mean he didn’t clear the copy rights to the eight songs? The other EP with only cover versions was called “more revery” and back then I already joked that it probably should have read “more revenue”. But, seriously, I don’t think that Oldham cares too much about the business side. With some 20 or 30 record released and the royalities from the Johnny Cash album there should be some ease on his lifestyle subsidies, right? Anyway, this EP show Oldham once again from his more fragile songwriter side, with the trembling voice and sparse arrangements. One of his many personalities, but the one I liked the first, when he still called himself something with Palace and was afraid that there might be no one what will take care of you. 11^th Jan 08
	LYDIA LUNCH – lost world Back from christmas and new year's eve with yet another complaint? Looks a lot like it, but what can I do if this songblog is turning into my vent for otherwise unventable aggression. Anyway, "lost world" has to be the lamest excuse of an otherwise respectable artist at rapping ever since Tom Wait's penned "Step Right Up". And that at least had a cool, jazz strokebrush beat, whereas the akward, lame bass and drum background here gets me yawning in an instant. The lyrics by Ms. Lunch could have been right cool in another context, but to this music it is almost unbearable. Fortunately, though, the three other songs on the EP "smoke in the shadows" that I ripped from the sales bin of a dance music store are cool enough to not put shame on Lydia Lunch. 7^th Jan 08
	THE CARE – boyish days Just thinking that this band would probably have been more successful, if they had changed just one vocal in their band name. But life never is that easy, isn’t it? 19^th Dec 07
	OUR ILL WILLS – tonight I have to leave it No idea why it took me so long to find this out, but this song is nothing but a total The Cure rip off. Like somebody sat down and studied the way Robert Smith writes his songs, then calculated a formula including arrangement and then had a computer print out the song. Unfortunately, it only works with the most simple and straightforward pop songs by the Cure so what we get here is a formulaic rip off of the more mediocre stuff of The Cure. Great, this crap brings me so far, I write down oxymorons like “more mediocre”. 17^th Dec 07
	AMY WINEHOUSE – the losing game Is it fair to wish for old mega-eyeliner and skyhigh beehive to have the same fate as Karen Dalton – drug addict living on the streets of New York and dying without anybody noticing – so we can build a legend and a cult and a lot of mythology about her “Back in Black” album. Because it is full of great soul and disco songs that even James Bond would wiggle his tight little ass to. I think it is pretty much unfair and not nice (and remember: it is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice – so keep the spirit alive!) at all, so I’l lhope everything remains fine with her, her drinking habits, her abusive and violent husband and so on. As long as she does not end up with Pete Doherty hanging onto her arm, that would just be too gross. 29^th Nov 07
	TURIN BRAKES – the underdog (save me) “The Optimist”-album by Turin Brakes could easily make it into the “most underrated records of all times”-section of this website, mainly because it had been underrated by me. I do remember reading a lot about it back in the years when it came out, but then I dismissed it for some reason or other as being just another Stereophonics-rip off, which probably is still true, but there is a lot more substance to them for sure. Anyway, this is a really good song and the line “you say you always chose the underdog” goes a long way in explaining a lot of things. I saw “Die hard 4.0” again yesterday evening and so I know that it is a good idea to bet on the underdog, though this is not what is meant here, right? One in many good songs on this record. 27^th Nov 07
	MAGAZINE – the great beautician in the sky Even after a dozen or more listenings, I haven’t been able to decipher the magic of this song. Is it the carpal lyrics? The razor-sharp guitars? The bleak and cold atmosphere of the Eighties with its fear of industrial dehumanization and nuclear apocalypse creeping in from every sideway? What does carpal mean exactly and why do I listen to Magazine at all? Just because Barry Adamson played in that band and later on had a short stint with the Bad Seeds? I’ll let you know when I get down to it. After all, Magazine is the one post-punk band where it hurts the most that they remain so forgotten and betrayed by the public, who seem to prefer poseurs like Wire all the more. Okay, I think I just made another life-long enemies there. 22^th Nov 07
	LEONARD COHEN – so long, Marianne Of course Leonard Cohen has written many a endlessly wonderful songs in his lifetime. But this crooner in three quarter time is exactly the kind of wonderful song that Nick Cave took almost two decades to get away and then back to again. This Marianne is definitely a fascinating woman: strange, pretty, changing her names, gone and coming back, and the song itself is – in relation to Cohen’s other songs – a real stomper. If you ain’t at least thinking about getting all records by Leonard Cohen I don’t know how you expect to lead a fulfilled live. I mean it. 20^th Nov 07
	TWO GALLANTS – fly low carrion crow With this song the two country-punkers have managed to write a folk-ballad that sounds two hundred years old. As if it was sung by desperate miners, aging gunslingers or farmboys with poetic inclination. Now, what of the three descriptions fits Two Gallants best? 12^th Nov 07
	NORMAN PALM - boys don't cry This song stood out in my ears because it is a very original cover version of my absolutely favorite song by The Cure. Not that I am in any way an enormous The Cure fan, not even by far, but nevertheless I like this songs for a lot of reasons, rational and nostalgic. Norman Palm changes it to a folk style, acoustic guitar song that is technically brilliant and keeps a lot of the atmosphere and emotions alive. A true cover, not a karaoke, but a new conception of the song itself. The last time this worked with a band as legendary as The Cure was about seven years ago, when Schneider TM together with Kpt. Michi.Gan. covered "the light" by The Smiths. Tackling your idols with a load of respect as big as your load of humour always wins out if it is paired with talent. 5^th Nov 07
	AGAINST ME – White people for peace! Against me are very much like the new Avail. I haven’t heard from Avail in a long time, it seems, and I am way too busy to check them out on the internet. I got a real life, you see, moreover I got the new Against me album to listen to, when I am in the mood for some not so melodic, not so harsh, not so whitebread punkrock. Though, Avail remain the real thing, if only for the fond memories of rocking a crowd of teenage punks in a dhingy cellar in winter. 29^th Oct 07
	STEVE EARLE – satellite radio In a short time this is the second song about radio in the current days by an old, somewhat elder statesmen like songwriter. The other one being of course Bruce Springsteen and his rocker “Radio Nowhere”. And even though they are not on the same place on the political or ideological spectrum, they both come to the same conclusion, or rather question: “Is there anybody out there?” For Europeans and especially people from Austria with its meagre radio landscape where there are barely any stations and absolutely none worth listening to (okay, FM4 has its hours and then Soundportal is acceptable, and what would we do without Ö1, but you get my drift) the importance for radio in the USA is something fascinating. Radio is historically way more important in shaping the young generation than around here, there have always been a lot of stations, US-citizens spend a lot more time in their cars (they usually have their first sexual experiences in cars). In New York there are over 100 radio stations on AM / FM. Digital radio multiplys available stations a hundredfold, but there is no human soul behind them anymore. You are listening to a computer playing music to you. So the answer to the question is “No”. 22^nd Oct 07
	FENNESZ – A year in a minute I don’t know how many times I have listened to the “endless summer” album by Fennesz, how much it probably shaped my way of listening to music and how much pleasure I have derived from it. Actually, it would certainly need a place in the “best or at least most underrated records of all time”-section, but at the moment there is so much work to do I don’t get around to that on top. Anyway, the endless spheric movements of sounds, the detailled, almost microscopical work of shifting and layering sounds, the intimate and transcendental shifting and moving of melodies into longwinded bows of sounds, the metamorphosis of noise into harmony, all of this and more that makes up the magic of “endless summer” is culminating in this track. “A year in a minute” in its harmonious glory and soothing ease reminds me of Gorecki’s third symphony, Chopin’s more sundrenched nocturnes (I know that is a paradox), My Bloody Valentines drowining guitars and childhood memories filled with sunshine and happiness. There is a special amount of melancholy and nostalgia hidden in this track as well, and even though a lot of artists tried and tried, even name Fennesz openly as their influence (Greg Headly, Takuma Itoi, Lokai, Daniel Maze, the list is endless and even includes whole labels) none of them ever really reach up this benchmark. The reason is the magic that Christian Fennesz captured in these recordings, something that he struggles to live up to himself. 11^th Oct 07
	DEVANDRA BANHART – Seahorse Although I am quite partial to all the weird / psych / freak folk, mainly because I like my folk as straight as an arrow, I couldn’t do much with so-called spiritual leader of said non-movement, Devandra Banhart, but the way he starts to impersonate Jim Morrisson as soon as the heavy blues-rock guitar start somewhere halfway through this track is astonishing. And as cool as a nail. 9^th Oct 2007
	SHOUT OUT LOUDS – Tonight I have to leave it On a good day I find this song sounds like The Cure with Samba-cowbells in the back. On a bad day I find this sounds like U2 with Samba-cowbells in the back. I can’t tell you how much I don’t like U2. Maybe this helps you to understand me better: There is a lot of music and bands that I don’t care about, but U2 is the only band I actively don’t like. Were I make a point of not liking them at any possible opportunity. Such as this one here, which is about a young band where the singer at times sounds like Bono and which is totally unfair to them but enough to set me off. Self-control is an important thing, so I’ll stop here. 1^st Oct 07
	THE VEILS – Not Yet The singer of The Veil sounds almost exactly like the singer of the Violent Femmes. Unfortunately, I forgot the names of both, though I probably should remember at least the Violent Femme’s singers name. Well, I am getting old and time is getting thinner all around. Seems like all kinds of walls closing in. Maybe it is just the cover version of “State Trooper” (from Springsteen’s “Nebraska”-album) by The Veils that makes me a little akward. 24^th Sep 07

	SPOON – The Underdog Sounds like early Billy Joel, sounds fantastic. Pop heaven galore. For years these dudes know how to throw a pop tune on the floor. 20^th Sep 07
	WILLARD GRANT CONSPIRACY - let it roll The great album "Let it roll" by the Willard Grant Conspiracy came out last year and it marked a new era for the Conspiracy, because suddenly the rocked. Well not in the leather / beer / machinery-sort of way, but in a more sophisticated, full force alternative folkrock sort of way. In other words, they suddenly displayed the same power that the Bad Seeds are able to display and just at the same time it became even more apparent that Nick Cave and Robert Fisher, the heavyweight champion of sensitivity and emotionalty, share the same timbre. And to put into effect the fact that they most definitely know this, Fisher shouts "God is in the house" during the final reloops of the chorus of the title track. What a wonderful world. The Conspiracy is definitely one of the best bands all around. 9^th Oct 07
	DEERHOOF – Believe E.S.P. Is it racist or mysoginist or both to admit to a faible for asian singers in bands? I like their soft, angelic to childlike voices that beam with playfulness but also deep wisdom and a little funny craziness as well. Like anime. I don’t understand what they are singing, but when the part of “a wookie wookie oooh-eeh” in this song comes I feel 2.3 % better than before. And that is something. Another favorite in this respect is Aesobi Seksu – cool band, unfortunately almost unknown around here. I also like french accent in song, even better than french singing itself. Deerhoof are of course a completely good and exciting bands with an approach and level far above the female singer affectations that are, to be honest, quite embarrassing for somebody in my age to admit to, but who ever told me to grow up and be mature? To listen to mature music only and then only for its intellectual and artistic merit? I may listen to twelve tone music if I want to for the pure sake of rocking out and shouting “yeah” if I want to, right? 4^th Sept 07
	BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - radio nowhere I don't know yet what this song really is about, but the old man rocks. This song rocks. It is a big surprise, that after the folky-tonk-dixie-sessions he has grabbed the electric guitar. Even if you take it as a step from "Devil & Dust" this is a big step. But, hey let the old man do as the old man wants, because after all, he is still the boss, right? 3^r^d Oct 07
	YOKO ONO – sister oh sister Together with Le Tigre the “old witch” (that’s a self-definition of Ms. Ono) sings: “Girls united, will never be defeated”. Why they stood away from the old Hardcore/Punk-slogan “If the kids are united, they will never be divided”, I don’t know. Probably, because the girls have to do something of their own. Which for one is not terribly unique, but that is not necessary in the face of necessity, and for other makes me wonder how Yoko Ono comes to stand up and speak for the “girls”. I am not talking about age, but she used to be a far out conceptional artist more than a riot girl in all her live. And by the way, if the Beatles would have stood divided, then John Lennon never would have written “Imagine”. 24^th Aug 07
	SNOW – Informer Still a great track. Somewhat campy after all those years, but who cares. Stumbling on the dancefloor drunk, camp dance songs are the best. Anyway, I don’t know how many people realised at the time back then, but what makes this song so great is the Indian tabla rhythm that is used as a breakbeat almost throughout. The same thing that made this one Indian Rapsong with the theme of Knight Rider such a success (an enormous one hit wonder) some years later. (And talking about drunken dancefloor stumbling.) but that I can’t remember the name of at the moment. 23^rd Aug 07
	DIZZEE RASCAL - flex The grandfather of grime does his version of a Shabba Ranks / Sean Paul-like dancefloor stomper, complete with the lyrics about how the girls should shake it and how he likes it when the girls do shake it. I wonder if this would get people (boys and girls) to shake it outside the urban alternative clubs? How about a hip hop disco that is still based on Busta Rhymes, Nas and Jay-Z? Anyway, I do shake my butt to this a little when it is spinning and I am not sitting down. I don't think that this is exactly what Mister Rascal wants to see, because I nobody wants to see my little white butt shaking, but that is just the way it goes, right? 11^t^h Aug 07

	JEB LOY NICHOLS - Lelah Mae Oops, I (almost) did it again. What a wondeful song this is. I put this on a mix tape right between Wilco "What light" (see below) and Maximo Park "Girls who play guitars". Strange mix you think? You should see the rest of the songs on this utterly summer focused mix tape. 25^t^h Jul 07
	HANS ZINNER - Pirates of the Carribbean You gotta leave it to those dudes at Disney, that a lot of people are getting exposed to the finesse and might of orchestral music. That at least. 24^th Jul 07
	JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO – The Scientist Okay, so it is a song by fucking Coldplay, but if Johnette Napolitano sings it, then it actually sounds great and not at all boring and pathetic like the original. Actually I thought this was a song off the second, untitled album by Primal Scream from 1989, which I still think is a damn masterpiece, consisting halfways of Exile On Mainstreet-like rock and halfways of melancholic ballads, which set the blueprint a dozen years before all those Emo-Poppers crying that it always rains on them started. But hey, even Wikipedia ignores this album completely, they all only like the rave-Primal Scream. Wikipedia has nothing intelligent to say about Concrete Blonde, either. One of the most underrated, LA-rock bands from the late Eighties, early Nineties, who had that little gothic touch, but were actually nice rockers. Johnette Napolitano’s voice of course carried them a long way. And it still, does even if Concrete Blonde are all gone. PS: No, I won’t contribute to Wikipedia because if I change around the Primal Scream entry to give that untitled, second album its proper merit, then I’ll have to argue for weeks with a couple of shitheads who never heard that album, but insist that “Vanishing Point” is the best album because it went highest up in the charts. Then I would have to kick them until they bleed and make them listen to chart top position music until they give in, and why the hell would I waste my time doing that? Let them listen to Coldplay, Silbermond and Sugarbabes all they want and burn in hell for it. 10th Jul 07
	ROCKO SCHAMONI – Leben heisst sterben lernen „To live is to learn to die“ he sings and methinks that is not very sensitive. Especially when there were several deaths in the family and close connections that hit some people hard and you felt with them. I know, Schamoni likes to tackle existentialist issues and the uselessness of passion, love and so on. And he likes to wrap them into some philosophical irony, which in this respect is even less sensitive. Even if he turns around and sings “to love is to learn to live” somewhere near the end. It is a nice song with a nice melancholic (fittingly) melody, but this bugs me about the song. Although I like Schamoni usually. 3^rd July 07
	KINDERZIMMER PRODUCTIONS – geh kaputt Ha ha ha, and for this time I’ll even use „rofl“. Sorry, it is in German, though. And the rhymes are fantastic. If you are able to rhyme “startklar gemacht” with “unparkbar macht” and “Alanis Morisette” with “allein im Bett” you are the king of German hip hop. 28th Jul 07
	JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE – what goes around I like this song. It is a nice one, perfect for chilling in the shade on hot summer days or hanging with your lady. (Hah, the times of hanging with your fly bitch are long gone, dude, if they ever were around. Snickers.) It has great production, like all the other songs I have heard from Justin Timberlake. There is a nice ring to the chorus and the way it is decoded and deconstructed towards the end of the song is nicely done as well. There is also something about falsetto singing that the ladies like, it is definitely a sex thing and that seems to gross out all the macho dudes even more. Take a look at the row of corroborating artists: Prince, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield. I rest my case. If you know me, then you’ll also know about my predilection for Robbie Williams from a few years back and that I still regard “Angels” as one of the best songs ever. Well, this is far from it, but there is a nice chance that I’ll turn into a sort of Timberlake-fan, even if I will always try to rationalize it by production skills, musical crossover verve and the way he so nicely treated those shivering teenage girls fetched from the audience on the big tv-show that didn’t know what to say to him once they stopped screaming from the backrows. 27^th Jun 07
	PISSED JEANS – I’ve still got you (Ice cream) Sub Pop, who are releasing their new full length album (their second), are hailing this as the best noise punk band since sliced bread with peanut spread was invented, and they probably got something there. This is distorted, ugly, loud, grown up and spitting. So it has to be noise punk. It is a big big noise coming from people that are halfway grown up but already loathe what they are becoming in the future. So they kick and scream like the wily four year olds that we all want to remain forever, right? Sweaty, ugly and loud – and yet they seem to be clean and nice folks. The bandname might be an unfortunate choice. When the album arrives I’ll give it a try. 21^st Jun 07
	QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE – goin’ out west This version of the bone breaker by Tom Waits is pretty cool, though played in comparison it has to be said, that the original is heavier. Believe it or not – when I bought that record back some years ago I had to check twice that it really was Tom Waits I was listening to. QOTSA always was a little wishy-washy but the greatness of Josh Homme’s guitar playing is in the strange timing and unique rhythms of his guitar riffs, not in the heaviness. He plays leaning back, in opposite to most metal guitarists who are hunched over their axes like the incredible hulk. Anyway, it is a nice treat. Since it was available on a 3-CD-single collector starter pack (with the other 2 CDs to be released in the near future) I hope that there is some cool stuff on the others as well, or I’ll crown myself sucker of the week. 12^th Jun 07
	ONEIDA – up with people I like stoner rock, even though I am not sure it still exists for real, but there are still a dozen bands or so around that do the same heavy rocking stuff (and always will be for ever and ever, as soon as there is beer, motorcycles and amps...). The funny thing about this song are the guitarlicks which sound a lot like motors of cars not getting started. You know the sound, when the battery is low and it goes uhna uhna uhna all the time. Just like that, only with a rocking groove. 29^th May 07
	WILCO - what light The new Wilco-album is wonderful. A lot more accessible than the last one and probably even better than "Yankee Hotel Foxtrott" and filled with great songs. I don't know if this one is the best choice as the first single. It is the obvious choice because it is the song with the highest "hit-potential", but I don't know if that is good. On its own it will draw in the whole Yeah Yeah Yeah-song crowd that fell in with the Flaming Lips and then complained that their other records are so "strange" or that the rest of the album is just dumb and there is only one good song on it. You can't really judge Wilco by a single song only. Starting with Uncle Tupelo and then onwards there is at least a dozen or two years of worthwhile music and a full box of great albums, double albums and double CDs even to get into. Well, I hope at least some of those bandwagon-jumpers will stay. And after all, some cheques in the mail won't be bad for Jeff Tweedy. 25^th May 07
	FUYIGA & MIYAGI – Ankle Injuries At least now we know how to pronounce their names. Which is at least something. I mean, this is a decent soft electronica track, perfect for lying in the sun with headphones and all the other things that young people with headphones and cool clothes and that perfect slacker attitude and fun-philosophy like to do in their vast free time. Like hanging around, the public pool or loitering. This track frickles, crackles and moves with the distinct grace of a focused butterfly. Which is good relatively, ie in comparison to the myriads of boring electronica available everywhere, but nothing to get me too excited. In other words: doesn’t rock my rocker, but probably rolls my stroll. 7^th May 07
	DINOSAUR JR - Almost Ready As if the last 18 years never had happened - but this time its just plain wonderful. Wonderful. 3:08 minutes to make the kids realize why we still wear Dino-Shirts nowadays, what a fuzz guitar can (or even should) be and why it is better to sleep off problems and wait until they've blown over than to talk about them on ISM. 2^nd May 07
	COLD WAR KIDS – hang me out to dry I like this song. It has that certain insistence and angry energy of imminent emotional distress. Hey, I even like the fishing line sounds during the end of the song. For some reason I had this band pegged as the average young teenie punkers (maybe because of the word “kids” in their name – I am all sick of “the kids are allright” and “doing it for the kids” and all that bullshit that usually boils down to “give me your allowance these days...), but no, not at all. These kind of songs make me want to check out a band further, and that is more than e.g. those other bands with mascara can say of themselves. They have that quirky but catchy songwriting style that doesn’t get confined to a certain “style” or “rhythm”. And a brashness in playing, singing, writing, swinging that I can like. Maybe because their minor hype has blown over half a year ago. 25^th Apr 07
	AI PHOENIX – you and I What a nice hors d’oeuvre to the upcoming (or already released) new album by Ai Phoenix. Probably a step away from their longwinding, emotionally distressed songrwiting to some more melodic, poppy and uplifiting songs. I liked them earlier on as well, but this song has wound itself into my ear like the best of Belle & Sebastian, which is a long way to come for a basically alt.country band. 24^th Apr 07
	AVRIL LAVIGNE – american idiot Somewhere I saw that Avril Lavigne had done a cover version of this Green Day super chart buster and my first thought was: too late, sweetie. Your skater boy and other shitty lyrics proved more than enough that you are "an american idiot". Probably an idea by her managament anyway, to boost her standing with the punks. Yeah, whatever... 24^th Apr 07
	FALL OUT BOY – Get busy living or get busy dying (do your part to save the scene and stop going to shows) The songtitles might be the best thing about this band. Other than that I think they are nicey-nice to listen to, and currently the best known example of a band that wants to become rich and famous by using the hardcore / punk scene and the gullibility of teenagers. As “real” as Vanilla Ice was. 10^th April 07
	AMY WINEHOUSE – rehab I have regularly mentioned that from time to time there is a song from a genre I don’t listen to heavily (or not at all) that strikes me. When we sat around drinking last Friday around midnight and the DJane put on “rehab” amidst a slew of cool and not so well known r&b and soul from the time when the label still meant something (early Steve Wonder, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, you name them), I knew that this would be one of those winners. A lot of other songs by Amy Winehouse that I have heard in the meantime sound mediocre or not at all special, especially her earlies stuff, but this song kicks butt. If that doesn’t make you want to move, I don’t know what will. Which is of course due to the production that uses a lot of tricks of dub (mostly a lot of echo on the snare which is mixed to the front, a rumble on the bass sounds, sly little time shifts,...) for full effect. 28^th March 07
	KATE BUSH – running up that hill Ever wanted to know where Bjork. Hyvonen, Newsom and all the other female vocalists have gotten their basic ideas of twisting and turning the formula of female singing as well as the remarkable amount of recklessness to use it to the max, this is where you’ll find it. The whole album “Hounds of love” by Kate Bush is filled with crazy, remarkable ideas of singing and early synthie stuff, most of which is at least ten to fifteen years ahead of its time. 28^th March 07
	J.J. GREY & MOFRO – a woman It is almost as good as Otis Redding’s “Try a little tenderness”, but it is from 2007, from a man from the Southern “Country Ghetto” and a white singer and guitarist on top. Everything the intellectual college educated pseudo avantgardist loathes rolled into one big soulful ballad. Things like the dirt of the ground, simple truths spoken with honesty and music without irony or meta-levels. The direct shot is the most effective. Makes me cry with joy and want to hug someone, right now. 19^th March 07
	WILLIAM ELLIOTT WHITMORE – The Chariot I listened to this song, with the wonderful organ-line in the middle and suddenly it hit me: this could or should have been the best song Lynrd Skynrd never wrote. I imagined a bunch of electric guitars, drums and organs, the charisma of Ronnie Van Zant (not that Whitmore would lack in that department), the southern sun and couple of bottles of whiskey to drench it down. Could have been better than “Freebird”, if that doesn’t count for blasphemy. 19^th March 07
	KAISER CHIEFS – Heat Dies Down They used to be called Franz Ferdinand. Now they are called Kaiser Chiefs. What will they be called tomorrow? As long as the indie-dancefloor never stops names are all the same. Pour me another drink and I don’t care. 19^th March 07
	HÜSKER DÜ - Friend you've got to fall When I was younger I liked the Lemonheads a lot, especially the first three albums and of those "Lick" and "Creator" are really cool The mix of pop melodies and dynamic punk guitars was energizing and cool. I didn't know Hüsker Dü back then, because I am probably just two or three years to young to fall into their heighdays, but Lemondheads probably own 90 % of what they did to the trio. This song is from their almost mediocre but still way better than a lot of nondescript punkrock nowadays double album Warehouse: Songs and stories, which already showed all the signs of the breakup between Grant Hart and Bob Mould. The two exchange songwriting credits - this one here is by Mould - and it is like two bands with the same people throughout. Nevertheless a great record. Bob Mould is still around releasing records, I think, but I haven't heard of the others in quite a while. 15^th March 07
	CHUCK BERRY – Memphis Time and time again I return to the classics. Songs and artists that have really defined a style and then I discover them anew and find out something more about them. Yesterday I grabbed my two albums by Chuck Berry, nondescript compilations, and apart from a song called “to pooped to pop” of which I am not really sure what it is about, I also realised that Chuck Berry is great bluesman. He plays it faster and with a lot of rocking and rolling, of course, but he also owns a devilish blues guitar. (He also owns a devilish streak towards little children, but this has got nothing to do with the music.) The legendary “Hello information, give me Memphis Tennessee” has stuck to my head like bubblegum to the desk of the sweet little sixteen, that’s why I chose it here over the dozen or so other obvious classics. But this entry is not about the song itself as much as about how Berry was able to pen a little song that made it clear from the moment it started what it would be about, makes you feel good and still sounds as fresh and energetic as the day it was recorded. 13^th March 07

	BONNIE PRINCE BILLIE – puff the magic dragon An almost true to the original reworking for a compilation about kid’s songs done by “rock”fathers to come out on City Slang sometime. Jarvis Cocker and some other elderly men will also contribute, unfortunately I forgot the rest of the info and I can’t be assed to recheck it now for further info. It’s not that important anyway. I found this gem somewhere on the City slang website, if you want to look for yourself. Oldham doing cover versions is always one of those things for me. Some of them are great, like Thunder Road with Tortoise, others are painful, some of those are also on that record with Tortoise. I liked him playing that one jiggy jiggy song about fucking by R. Kelly the best. That fit on so many levels. I haven’t decided yet on how this fits into something or else. 27^th Feb 07
	JEB LOY NICHOLS – Lelah Mae I like the way Nichols used to work dub and reggea into his folk approach, but this here is even better, and it took me years to find out. The way he works fully arranged bigtime soul crooning into his songs is just so heartwrenching, you’re either stone cold dead or it’ll draw you a tear. Together with his nasal drawl the mixture is just so unique but works so well at the same time. Thematically this song could also be The Walkabouts covering Nick Cave circa Henry’s Last Dream / Murder Ballads time, what with the singer going on about how he never knew what love can put you through until Lelah Mae came into town. 27^th Feb 07
	BOB MARLEY – Stop the train From the legendary debut “Catch a fire”, you know, the one where Ol’ Bob has the big, fat Worry B Gone on display on the cover, and originally written by Peter Tosh, What makes this song so great is the fact that it is basically a wonderful soul song based on the structure of the blues and played as a reggea song. Aside of rolling three basic black musical genres into one and proving that such a thing as oppositions between those genres don’t exist, it is also a wonderful song. Johnny Cash could have made a super version of his own. The lyrics would have been right up his alley, with all the trains and lines like “some go east, some go west / some step aside, to try their best / some livin’ big, and some livin’ small / but most of them don’t get no food at all”. Or Tom Waits. What more proof do you need that there are no restrictions for great minds? 22^nd Feb 07
	ASOBI SEKSU – Thursday Still the most dependable hangers-on to the mesmerizing trance of My Bloody Valentine, this is a specially uplifting, wonderful and enriching song. The angelically drifting voice, the rushing guitars, the ephemeral walls of distortion, the worthwhile way of shoegazing, those walls of guitars that are at the same time massive and light, dense and open like the sky. Universal Dream pop, alright! Why are albums by this wonderful band so hard to get around here? I never saw one in a store. There’s some available on their website, though and if I can work up the nerve I might order them from their website. People should love this music, fall in love and make love to this music. A tiny myspace-profile just never is enough for a deep relationship. 16^th Feb 07
	LADY SOVEREIGN – love me or hate me From time to time there is a hip hop track that gets my attention at that is about all I know about hip hop to be honest. But it is enough so why worry. I don’t have too much time to care closely about musical styles where only a track from time to time gets my attention. Is that a circle argumentation or what? Well, love me or hate me, just fuck you. That is also basically the main message of this song (and a very rude and dumb way to get from part A to part B in this entry, but who cares anyway). Like in 90 % of all hip hop songs the main theme of the song is the singer himself and what he wants people to know about himself. No difference to Lady Soverign (“I can only do one thing and that’s be Lady Sovereign”) but the directness and verve with which she does that is remarkable. And the track has a groovy, C64 beat going on in the back. If that isn’t enough for an entry, I don’t know either. PS: Runner’s up to this month’s hip hop track is Dendeman – “Hört nicht auf”. I know it is a way obvious and really late choice, but as I said, I don’t have enough time to care nor enough care to take the time. 6^th Feb 07

	CAT POWER – the greatest It took me a while to get into the magic that is Cat Power, but now whenever I hear those first few notes of violin and strummed guitar I fall into a mood of melancholic flowing. And then this miraculously wavering yet static melody takes me away. Drifting probably is all the best word. Wow, nothing better than knowing when to change the chords. Usually I remain in that silent mood for the rest of the album. Why do I love all these melancholic, silent, slowly dragging albums so much? I listen to them much more than some other stuff that I also listen a lot to. 23rd Jan 07
	JAMIE LIDELL – multiply (in a minor key) Doing a coverversion of your own song, that is a cool thing. My favourite soul singers, apart from the obvious ones (Marvin, Curtis and Otis), are Tony Joe White and Amos Lee. And this piano, handclap and chorus version of the disco stomper “Multiply” is a wonderful addition to the Lidell-canon. I don’t believe it’s all out of the CPU of a laptop. This gotta be made in a small studio in Memphis. 17^th Jan 07
	SWAN LAKE – all fires Sounds to me like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah covering Echo and the Bunnymen and somebody’s uncle was allowed to play organ, but he really doesn’t know the song nor does he like to play organ. So he play something else. It has to be noted that the current wave of nasal singing is one of the worst effects of the “success” of Clap your hands Say Yeah. 16^th Jan 07
	LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III – Good Ship Venus To be found on the fabulous „Rogue’s Gallery“ Sampler on Anti. You know, that double album full of seaman’s and pirate’s songs done by all kinds of music heroes from Tom Waits to Lou Reed and from Brian Ferry to Sting and back. Butt his one here is perfect for the strange humour of Wainwright with all its open sexual humour and lewd jokes. Like these: „The captain’s daughter Charlotte / was born and bred a harlot / her thighs at night where lilly white / by morning they were scarlet“ or „the cabin boy was chipper* / by christ he was a nipper / he stuffed his ass with broken glass / and circumcised the skipper“. Of course, the ship didn’t make it very far: „When we reached our station / through skillful navigation / the ship got sunk in a wave of spunk / from too much fornication.“ Since this is a traditional there are dozens of more verses to be found. I think that the Bloodhound Gang could have taken some inputs for their equally inane but funny „F.U.C.K.“. ) I am not sure if I heard that one correct. 9th Jan 07*
	MUSE – Starlight Sounds too much like fucking HIM to me, but it is Muse. Around new year’s eve, while cleaning up my boxes and stuff I found a CD by HIM amongst my stuff. Hell, I wonder where that came from. I sure didn’t buy it. I wonder if anybody ever listened to it. If I really have to I’d vote for My Chemical Romance allright, but I’d rather not. 9th Jan 07
	ASTROSONIC – Grifter Well, if it isn’t another band ripping off Danzig. Even the singer of this band tries to sound like Glenn Danzig, but it doesn’t kick half as hard as Danzig did back then. Probably because of the psychedelic swishy-swooshy in the middle of this lengthy piece. Why, in all heavens, do I like this song then? Probably, I listened to it too much. Because it was in my itunes. If that isn’t one of the lamest excuses ever then I don’t know either. Afterthought: whoever started to compare Glenn Danzig’s singing to Jim Morrisson should be nailed to a giant turtle and then released into the wide open sea. 4th Jan 07
	LEONARD COHEN – tower of song If I remember correctly this song was once voted the best song ever. Or the most important one ever. Or something. Aside from the fact that votings of that kind are tremendously stupid and bare of all messager (which doesn't keep me from reading them constantly), the judgement is quite true. Cohen recites the pains and meaning of songwriting and presses it all into a little song. And the lines "I asked Hank Williams, how lonely does it get?, but Hank Williams hasn't answered me yet, but I can hear him coughing hundred floors above, in the tower of song" are eternal. What a way to start the new year? 1st Jan 07
	ELVIS COSTELLO – stranger in the house This has to be the one song where Elvis Costello got closest to pure Country music than ever before. Slide guitars, ka-chinka rhythm whining singing (well, he usually does, but here he whines way more and straighter), lots of minor chords, a ballad and on top of it all a more than desperate song about lost love. It even starts – as any great country song ever should – with a more than memorable line: „This never was one of the great romances“. Wow, what an entry. And the cumulating „There is a stranger in my house nobody knows .. and that stranger is me“ definitely reminds me of Hank Williams more tear jerking lines. Interestingly enough, unlike his later interest in Blues, Swing or Cajun music, this one is right there on his very first album. 5th Dec 06
	JOANNA NEWSOM - Emily Well, for once the critical acclaim and almost hype around a record seems to be rightfully attributed. Moreover, lots of respects to Ms. Newsom for going for the long form in a time were most twens think a classical symphony takes at least ninety minutes and attention span is getting stressed by ringtones. These songs really stand out and for all you can hear about the pain and the risks taken to produce this record - the enormous financial stretch for a label like Drag City to pay an orchestra, Van Dyke Parks as arrangeur, the wonderful expensive packaging and so on - this record should have been worth it. This one will definitely make the majority of year's end lists. 24th Nov 06
	ADAM GREEN FT. BEN KWELLER – Kokomo Is it a joke done seriously or is it something serious that became a joke? I admit liking the original mid-Nineties original hit of the Beach Boys as well, even though it is a dumb song revelling in nostalgia of a time when surfing meant a lifestyle of sun, girls and fun. It so nicely ignores the hippie / business side of surfing and all the professionalism and money that hides behind superficial philosophies of freedom and nature. I see Green and Kweller, both known for doing alternative pop music with an “edge” – though what edge exactly means (intellectualism? Drugs? Influence?) – when they meet in some studio and think about what they might do there together. Then they run down cheesy pop songs from the Eighties and Nineties they like and finally decide on this one. It could have been “Nikita” by Elton John or “The Final Countdown” by Europe as well, with people like these you never know. If Ben Folds joins the team, they will make the perfect white boy alternative pop tag team. 17th Nov 06
	CHARLIE RICH – the most beautiful girl in the world This is the most wonderful song that Elvis Presley never recorded. Yes, Charlie Rich is up to par with the king in timbre, emotionality and sideburns easily. This song is a kitschy, tearjerking tale of a man made a mistake and lost the true love of his life (which means it had to end up a country song) narrated in true west fashion. With a refrain like “Did you happen to see the most beautiful girl in the world / and if you did / was she crying?” you know this is something big. And the arrangement lives up to the promise and cloaks the whole song in a sea of strings and instruments that Scott Walker would have been proud of in his early days. The whole album “Behind closed doors”, that this track comes from, is a masterpiece and stands up with “Hot Buttered Soul” by Isaac Hayes or “In the wee small hours” by Frank Sinatra as perfect records to make love to. Longlasting, gentle and deep love. (If I had time I would have done a best record of all time.) What could be better? 10^th Nov 06
	STEVIE WONDER – I think when I fall in love (this time it's going to be forever) More and more I find myself liking Stevie Wonder's music. Apart from the fact that I am getting old and might just be getting over having had to grow up to "I just called to say I love you" on the radio day and night, this could also mean I am starting to aknowledge Stevie for what he is worth as an artist. Like starting from really low progress is easy. Anyway, apart the early Soul repertoire with the added wunderkind bonus and the mid-Seventies concept albums like "Songs in the key of life", this one here for instance has to be one of the most beautiful ways to say "I love you" to your special someone. Way better than just calling to say I love you. This is kitschy and schmaltzy and has a funky bridge in the middle and an epic chorus ending, so what more do you want from the band at your wedding to play. Get on stage and croon this to your loved one and not only she will fall in love with you all over again but the whole room will as well. 31^s^t Oct 06
	OK GO – Here it goes again I am constantly waiting for them to break into “We didn’t start the fire” by Billy Joel when they do that first line of the verse. Other than that, fine song. Thank you, next please. 25^th Oct 06

	CAT POWER – the greatest It took me a while to get into the magic that is Cat Power, but now whenever I hear those first few notes of violin and strummed guitar I fall into a mood of melancholic flowing. And then this miraculously wavering yet static melody takes me away. Drifting probably is all the best word. Wow, nothing better than knowing when to change the chords. Usually I remain in that silent mood for the rest of the album. Why do I love all these melancholic, silent, slowly dragging albums so much? I listen to them much more than some other stuff that I also listen a lot to. 23rd Jan 07
	LINDA RONSTADT - Mental Revenge Suddenly I realized, the voice of Linda Ronstadt in her younger days is very similar to thath of either Janet Beveridge Bean or Catherine Irwin, one half of the fabulous Freakwater (I never knew which one of the two is which singing voice). I am comparing in the wrong chronological order because I learned about and started to love the music of Freakwater long years before I had travelled back in time to reach Linda. I could have mentioned each of the fine songs on "Silk Purse" (a best records of all time is overdue here...) but this is where that realization struck me. And anyway, any reason to show the great and weird cover of "Silk Purse" is good enough. 29^th Sep 06
	THE ANOMOANON – Mr. Train I am really starting to fall for that sunny, groovy country-style that is both as melodic as the Beach Boys, as clean as Buffalo Springfield and as folksy as the Byrds with the combined abilities of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (let’s not forget Young), but has the relaxedness of a beautiful day in the country. I guess thosw who know call it West Coast sound. I know that songs by Golden Smog, Neil Casal, Amandine and others catch me with surprise. They are soft, gentle, sensitive and soothing. Like this band that I know nothing about except that they have a strange name and that it is led by Ned Oldham. Which is saying a lot. Maybe it is that 3-album box of songs from the psychedelic era that I got when I was a teenager that still bangs around in my head somehow. Download from temporary residence website 26^th Sep 06
	NOUVELLE VAGUE – Bela Lugosi’s Dead Wow, that shtick is getting old pretty quick. Yes, I liked the first record as much as anyone, but now it seems so predictable and bland the more I hear it. I saw Björn Again some days ago on some public event and even if it was a neat show it was only bearable half drunk. At least their song selection is good and it might lead some kids to great songs from way back before they were interested. 22^nd Sep 06
	JULIETTE LEWIS & THE LICKS – Killer I missed her when she played live and now, once again, I regret it. If she spreads half of the energy of the songs I know, then she must be wild. Plus the fame factor that must have been a cool show. I’ll have to ask someone who might have been there. This is a track that was downloadable from her new album and once again I am thinking of purchasing it. I also did so with the last one but then for some reason I didn’t. Maybe at some point at a thrift store or flea market I will find ‘em. Anyway, Juliette Lewis kicks! She is wild and uninhibited. She has been called a female Iggy Pop, if you can believe that, but I wouldn’t know because I never seen Iggy live, either. I live a secluded live and dream the world outside to be a better place. And “Killer” rocks like the old Kiss-album by the same way almost did. 14^th Sep 06
	GLENN CAMPBELL – Rhinestone Cowboy I said it once and I’ll say it again: Glenn Campbell wanted to be the Neil Diamond of country music. Not that that is a bad idea in itself, but this kind of Mid-Seventies country-kitsch really blows the top off whatever country once stood for. How drunk do you have to get to sway along with this? Well, not drunk enough, obviously. But then again, if you want to be Neil Diamond you’ll also have to wear that glitter shirt. Who else could do it with style, if not Glenn Campbell – the only “serious” country artist to have covered Paul McCartney’s “Mull of Kintyre”. Say no more. 13^th Sep 06
	HUNTERS, RUN – drunken eulogy Nothing against drunken brawling and bragging, especially when done in a neat and fine pop-style that reminds me of Elvis Costello’s finer moments. Especially the nasal twang of the singer and the jangly guitars in the back are akin to the other Elvis’ ditties. I wish all life could be like this: slightly drunk, a little swaggering maybe but full of joy and good times. But usually it tends to get too much alcohol and a terrible hangover the next day. These things get worse with age. 11^th Sep 06
	SHOOTER JENNINGS – Electric Radio Every good country star has a son. John Carter Cash, Hank Jr, Bobby Bare Jr and this one here is the offspring of the mighty Waylon Jennings. While usually the musical genius tends to jump a generation or two Shooter Jennings does well. He doesn’t have the stature of his daddy, but then almost nobody has. Anyway, this country-rock tale with a trucker twang about the deeds and experiences of a country rock singer with a trucker twang has all the ingredients of a full blown stomper. Bob Seeger wishes he had written that one. 30th Aug 06
	TWILIGHT SINGERS – Teenage Wristband Greg Dulli is on of the few survivors of the grunge craze of the mid nineties. Of course, the Afghan Whigs were always counted wrongly into the Grunge – section, but that is just the way it happens, I guess. Anyway, with his post-Grunge outfit Twilight Singers Dulli took a detour through the dark swamplands of bittersweet melancholia and folk-boredom, only showing a spark of his earlier glamour here and there. But he got rid of that on the by and by and now he is roughing up again towards a bigger and more massive approach. And it is good to hear. The longwinded screams of the singer and guitars are back, the stretched and heart-wrecking harmonies. Cool struttin’. 8^th of Aug06
	RONNY ELLIOTT – Mr. Edison’s Electric Chair A song starting with I didn’t mean to hurt that kid, I just wanted to show him a little fun / a Coca Cola bottle is not a real weapon and I don’t even own a gun / I never would have touched that little girl but for the voices in my head / I thought she was just sleeping, I didn’t know she was dead can’t be bad, right? Well, this tale of redneck retard down south violence and the due reward is just sick, weird and right down my alley. And its not even an old song but was recorded in 2005! What would you expect from a man that was once offered karate lessons by Elvis? 17^th Jul06
	THE WALKMEN – Louisiana At first the song sounds like a decent Bob Dylan ripoff, but in the end they carry it home with a weird horn section. If that means carrying it into the endfield of their own territory or to a field goal, that is a different question. The new Dylan record will be available in about a month and some days, so that is good to stay tuned. 17^th Jul06 (downloadable at INSOUND)
	JERRY LEE LEWIS – whole lotta shakin' going on If you ever meet someone denying the fact that Jerry Lee Lewis is definitely "The Killah", just play him this song. I mean, Jerry Lee has a few songs under his arms that are worth legendary status each on their own - "High School Confidential", "Great Balls Of Fire", "Breathless" - plus putting his unique trigger-hammer piano style on dozens of cover versions (including timeless country classics as well, which are some of my favorites), but on this song he is at his most focused yet lose piano pounding best. It is easy to imagine how in the Fifties this rendition of a song and the lyrics must have looked and sounded like the devil incarnate to a society of Pat Boones and Doris Days. In our times of all sorts of musical extremes, at times it is good to go back to the classics as well. 16^t^h jul 06
	THE MINUS 5 – my retrieval of you This is hands down wonderful indie-pop in the best sense of the word. If there were more indie-pop like this, well, the genre wouldn’t stand a chance just as well, but anyway. From the nicey-nice melody that you won’t be able to shake lose from for days, via the cheesy yet fitting background chorus to the idiosyncratic, ironic story of boy meets girls, lose girl because she becomes a famous superstar and he remains “DJ minimart” (because that’s where he works) this is a wonderful piece of music. Like a drop of honey on otherwise dark bread with butter. 3^rd jul 06

	FUCK OFF FOUCAULT – The Assdroids I think its nice that these noisemongers use the guitar intro of the country classic “ghostriders in the sky” as an intro to this cut-up / noise / fuck up piece of musical trash (this, by the way, is meant as a compliment). The roots of all music are basically all music nowadays, so it is good to see some wacked brains being really far out but not forgetting and even paying tribute to the past. 23^rd June 06
	SUBTERRENEAN HOMESICK BLUES – Red Hot Chili Peppers I had completely forgotten that the Chilis covered this legendary Dylan-song on their "Uplift Mofo Party Plan" record. Wow, that one was released in 1987, which means that I have known the Chili Peppers for almost 20 years now. Of course, this is completely different music than it is today, what with the drummer and guitarist being different people, except for them playing on record what they could do live as well and being completely crazy weirdos (and proud of it). The song by the way is a crazy funk-metal-rocker, the way it was all the craze back then, but it still has a punch, you know. 12 Jun 06
	SO INTO YOU – Roisin Murphy This one has the same beat as Mylo’s “Doctor Pressure”. You remember that, it’s a jingly, bounce disco-song from the Eighties with the line “Doctor Beat, Doctor Beat, Doctor Doctor Doctor Beat”. Funny thing that. 9 Jun 06
	DAVID BYRNE + BRIAN ENO – qu'ran This song has been left out on the re-issue of the legendary "my life in the bush of ghosts" album by Byrne and Eno, where they single handedly invented ambient and electronica (or so those that obviously know say - to me it is a remarkable fusion of funk, tribal and electronica rich with field recordings, samples and - most of all - meaning ). The reason was that some muslims complained that parts of the holy book of islam, the qu'ran, had been used and this would hurt their religious feelings. So fucking what? Art has to hurt somebodies feelings. It has to challenge the listener. If muslims can't deal with art coming from a different culture, that is their private problem. I don't care about any religion. I don't see why any kind of "sensitivity" towards religious beliefs would be important in music. Sensitivity towards somebodies private feelings is less important than censorship. And this is some kind of self-imposed censorship on the part of Eno and Byrne. What's next? Re-Issues of Bad Religion albums without the cross-sign? 4^th June 06
	MORRISSEY – best friend on the payroll I used to really not like Morrissey. For all the obvious reasons. But as I am growing older I am starting to get into what his mystery is. Well, we are both growing older, but we both keep on rocking. Ha ha ha. I am only getting to realize that Morrissey is in fact rocking. In his own special beat, of course, and some of his solo-albums are trite by all means, even fans admit that. But a line like “I turn the music down, though I don’t know why, this is my house” is pure genius. 16^th May 06
	BUNNY LAKE – white horse I really wanted to get warm to Christian Fuchs’ and Dr. Nachtsrom’s new project and revive my favour for pounding bass beats and monotonous groove. Also the mixture of sleazy nightlife and the glamour of the porn / drug / culture industry seemed appealing. But rhymes like “If you wanna be rich / you gotta be a bitch” and “if you wanna ride / don’t ride a white horse” bug me to an extent that makes it impossible. I am reminded of DAF, mainly because of the Germanic pronunciation of Fuchs as in “horss” for “horse”. Too bad. 26th Apr 06
	FUGAZI song N°1 Hey, what’s up with Fugazi? Seems like I haven’t heard anything new about them in about five years. Except for Ian MacKaye playing The Evens and Guy Picciotto producing the new album be The Gossip. Reminds me of buying this single for really cheap from a Hungarian stall at a small record fair at university in Vienna. Reminds of the one time I saw the complete lyrics to “Waiting Room” written on a busstation in the 16^th district and suddenly felt not so alone in this cold city. A complete emo-thing to do, but hey, Fugazi are way above that. Yo, people, what’s up? 20^th Apr 06
	Mission Of Burma – Wounded World Yes, this song rocks my house even if M.O.B. are old men who are now releasing their third (by some counts) to fifth (by other counts) studio album in an almost 30 year career as a band (with about 20 years on hiatus – don’t judge me on the counting though). The full guitar sound, the basic harmony, the energetic, hectically driving and screaming dynamic of that song all remind me of the best of times of noiserock in all its prime. I know that M.O.B. are being marketed along Gang of Four, Wire and others as originators of postpunk, but that isn’t true. They are and have been originators of noise rock. And so all I can throw back at them is a shouted “Thanks / for all of your help / and perfection”. I am waiting for their new album “The Obliterati” to come out and am already scheming plans how to persuade people into believing that I have been on the bandwagon with Burma for the last 25 years at least. 18^th Apr 06
	`NEKO CASE – Hold On, Hold On` There is something dark and erotically mysterious in the voice of Neko Case, which of course was completely drenched out by the alternative pop of The New Pornographers, and has a much better stage in the insurgent country songs she does in her spare time. One thing bugs me though, and that is the amount of echo on her voice, which makes me wonder what her voice sounds like without it. Would it still hold its timbre and fascination or will it be flat and insignificant? Thoughts like these take away some of the joy I have with songs like these. I am too ridden by the tricks and glitter of the music industry to regain my naivite. `2 Apr 06`
	`JAMIE LIDELL - what is it this time` This song is a straight forward soul-crooner of one lover troubled by the other one with the friction in any relationship condensed to the lines "what is it this time?" Is it something I said, is it something I have done? Why don't you tell me? Damn, if I ask you what's wrong and you answer "nothing" I know you are lying. Actions might speak louder than words but for chrissakes I am no friggin' mind reader, so just say it, okay! Yeah, we all know love is hell, but it is also the only place we ever want to live in, right? Moreover, this is the only song on the great "multiply"-album where Lidell really gets out of himself and screams and kicks like a wild mule. As downer I'd suggest Jimmy Witherspoon's "One scotch, one bourbon, one beer". But never on a dry stomach. `01 Apr 06`
	`THE BOOKS – There is no there` Songs by the Books take a lot of time to cull themselves out of their shell. It is the flabbergasting experience of listening to a song and at first hearing nothing but some experimental plinks and avant-garde bloinks. A few times later I start to realize song-lines, harmonies and folk-style pickings, on a banjo even. A rich world of nicety and melody opens up. The magic of the books. Like a real book you have to give it some time to evolve and grow on you. In our 30-second-attention span time this is a lot to ask for by a small band, but good enough that they do it! The same is true for me with some songs by Broken Social Scene and analogous with lots of metal bands, so maybe it is all about my inability to listen to music properly (meaning, I remember style, sound, atmosphere and the like much better than a single melody or refrain). `28 Mar 06`
	DON, TEX & CHARLIE – you’re 39 A change in direction for these three old Aussies with an illustrious history, that takes them away from the despair, loneliness, outlaw-mythos and drug-abuse that runs through the rest of their cool album: this song is about the wonderful experience of a long-time-relationship and growing old together. “You’re 39, you’re beautiful and you’re mine” sings Tex Perkins and I wonder how serious he is, and I guess rather so, because there is another give-away song on that album, where he goes on about how people read a lot in the songs but the singer is just doing his job and then going home. But actually, there’s no idea of these guys really getting old. 21th March 06
	CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE – Cold White Christmas For a song repeating the same for chords over and over again (C - A min – G – F, if you need to know) this has a lot of variety and one of the best choruses coming from just a bunch of notes. I can see that in a Massive Attack remix as well as in a big overblown string section kitsch monster as well as the next #1 by Robbie Williams. It has that much pop potential. Casiotone for the painfully alone (what a whacky name!?) nevertheless chose to keep it all simple, lo fi and as close to homerecording as it gets these days with digital recordings and pro Tools and so on. Wonderful track. 20 Mar 06
	THE SILOS – Only Love There are some songs that I hear, then I hear them again and then their chorus starts to haunt me for weeks like sweet vanilla milkshake. So that’s actually not that bad at all. It is even better when that song never steps over the line that separates the nice to the nerve-killing. “Only Love” is definitely on the better side. I liked The Silos back then, when they were big (they never really were) and I like them still. 20 Mar 06
	THE STREETS – when you wasn’t famous I used to like The Streets. Mike Skinner was fresh and new and his approach of singing about English underdogs rather than bitches and bling bling was downright refreshing. The more he became a star, the less interesting his life became. And the less interesting his music. This song has to be the lowest point, because it is really close to the “rappers and hoes”-theme and, by the holy fuckall, the guy can’t sing for shit. 9^th March 06
	BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY & TORTOISE - Thunder Road Well, the whole album is great. The resurrection of Tortoise (when was the last time I heard something worthwhile by them?). And I chose this song over the others because I am a sucker for Bruce Springsteen as well as for Will Oldham. In my opinion the things these two share are bigger than the things they don't have in common. Moreover, not even Oldham and Tortoise are able to take the road and the anthem out of this song. The only question still left is, will I put this CD next to my Tortoise albums or next to my Palace / Oldham records? 7th March
	WILSON PICKETT - Stagger Lee Like most of you I also have heard about the myth and legend of Stagger Lee through Nick Cave on his great "Murder Ballads" records. But there are about 1.000 different versions, songs and stories about Stagger Lee, Stack-O Lee, Staggo Lee and all other kinds of variations. They all revolve around the same themes anyway: murder, lust, blood and sodomy. Even the late soulmaster Wilson Pickett once did his take and like most of them, this one is great. 3rd March
	SKELETON KEY - the barker of the dupes This track is completely different to the rest on the forgotten but really great "Obtainium"-album released by this band on Ipecac in 2002. It pounds and stomps instead of rocking or rolling. Like Cop Shoot Cop in their best days. I have no info on this band. I could look it up on the internet, but sometimes I think, it is better not to care about trivia. The music speaks for itself. And this record is still unlike most of what you get to hear. And this track stands out even more. Nice dupe. 16th Feb 06
	THE WHO - my generation Okay, so it is easy to wind up an old man by confronting him with a statement he made 40 years ago, that was "I hope I die before I get old". But as a description of the mindset and emotional status of a generation, and probably any generation, this song still stands out among the rest. Plus, it kicks ass. Even on my crummy "best of The Who" version. Plus, the stuttering. Plus, the great bass-solo-part. Maybe some scholar in rockologics will find the debris and loss of perspective of any youthful generation within the static screaming and banging during the end of that song. Who knows, scholars are bound to find almost anything anywhere. Nevertheless, I'd prefer the Who to not sing this song anymore themselves. Because their generation doesn't "get around" anymore. It rolls. 16th Feb 06
	ARCTIC MONKEYS - when the sun goes down Right now, I really like this song and I suspect it was the video that did it for me, which is something I try to take care of not to let it happen. Now I have the album lying in front of me and haven't had the inner tranquility to listen to it properly. To check it for the hype-worth as opposed to its true meaning. There is a lot of british accent and laddism on it, so that got to be worth something, dunnit? We'll see about that. I was thinking back at a time when there was a relevant British guitar band called Manic Street Preachers, that still had cojones and drugs in their blood. P.S.: My first glimpse of this band was an mp3 available on a blog where the band was mis-named into Arctic Mountains. I expected some doom-sludge. Man, was I in for a surprise. 7th Feb 06
	BLOODHOUND GANG - tss hss hss hss I don't know the real name of that song. You know the one with the old disco-sample, very much like Madonna did it in her new album. The one with the dog-kissing thing in the public toilet. I have the theory that these guys aren't all that stupid as they make out to be, in interviews they are quite keen and eloquent - unlike a lot of more serious US-american rockstars. Anyway, they have found their niche as that slimy thing on the underside of rock. 2nd Feb 06

	DETROIT COBRAS – Hot Dog Runner up for the yet undecided trophy for most straight forward hidden lewd sexually explicit lyrics in this song. Check this out: “Baby, watch me eat a Hot Dog” and “You got the sausage and I got the bun”. (I just wrote that from memory while being on my way, so I might have gotten that wrong, anyway…) They can go on about getting the lyrics from a website that has nothing but people eating hot dogs as long as they want. I don’t know that site, but I’d guess it is a porn site. Anyway, this record is all the way recommended for your next barbecue, frat party or just plain ol’ get together to get smashed. One more: this is allegedly the first song the band wrote themselves and not, as usual, some unknown soul stomper from the Sixties revved up into their unique mix of raunch, romp, garage and beat. 30 Jan 06
	EARLY MAN – Death Is The Answer Woah, what a Sabbath Rip Off! Down to Ozzy’s singing this smells of Sabbath-idolizers all through, unfortunately not with Tommi Iommi’s riff building power (but then, who has?) I wonder what the people from Matador saw in this, because even as a first rate Sabbath cover band, this is still a metal cover band and moreover not at all in line with what the label has been releasing lately. (Though it is still more valuable than those ghastly Sabbath-tribute albums.) Being a two piece and so over the top in style trueness, throwing around hints and insider jokes (“returning the screw?” anyone, website called earlymanarmy.com …) I’d guess this is a kind of one-off joke by some scenesters trying to vibe up their lost days of teenage metalhead-dom. Then again, it might be not and they will be around my house anyday now to kick my sorry butt. 23 Jan 06
	50 FOOT WAVE – Hot, Pink, Distorted If you don’t know, 50 Foot Wave is the new band of Kristin Hersh, who you should know from the fabulous late 80ies, early 90ies Indie-Pop band The Throwing Muses (gotta dig their records out at one time, I think I own some of them). They have a complete EP with five songs for free download on their website and this little rocker is my favourite of them. Nice punchline for a refrain that is. It is remarkable how rockish and heavy Ms. Hersh has become in her old days. People might start calling her Ms. Harsh any day know (what an awful pun, my goodness!). 20 Jan 06
	DOLLY PARTON & JOE NICHOLS – If I were a carpenter I like this song and Dolly Parton’s rendition of it. It is corny, kitschy and this version gives it just enough twang to be enjoyable when riding home from a long week of work. Yes, me likee romantic such as “If I were a carpenter and you were a lady / would you marry me anyway? / would you have my baby?” Of course, she does. And that is the only thing that always gives me the chills: the concept of “his (!) baby”. Is that guy really looking for a person to share the rest of his life with in romantic love or is he on the lookout for someone that will help him share his DNA with the rest of the world. Personally, I am not even convinced of the necessity of generating offspring. Who in his right mind would want to put children into a world as sick and destructive as this one anyway, but that is not the point at all. If you feel the need to have kids for whatever reason (longing for eternity, being a patriot, it’s just the natural thing to do,…) go ahead. But why for crying out loud is it “his” baby? Even the female part sings: I will have your (!) baby. Shouldn’t it be their baby? Aw, that’s just a minor disturbance. I like this song anyway. (By the way: my loved one always uses the words “I will marry you anyway, but I won’t have no baby” when singing along to the tape with me.) 11 Jan 05

	VERTIGO - love withdrawal I always had the impression that Vertigo were one of the lesser bands on AmRep, some kind of high class filler material to make the really great acts on that label stand out a lot more, but this songs, which hit me like a sledgehammer when I put on the album "ventriloquist" just this day again after about ten years of not listening to it, proofs me wrong. Big time. It is a riff monster with a great hook and as tight as Mike Tyson's boxing gloves. So, while Vertigo doesn't get close to The Cows or The God Bullies, they are still in one range with Love666, Helios Creed, Helmet and Surgery on AmRep. If you have no idea what AmRep is, then get out of here you non-noiserock twerp. 23 Dec 05
	FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD - The Power Of Love Christmas is the worst part of the year for songs in general. The air is filled with horrible, horrible music. Next to the "classical" christmas music - though Mannheim Steamroller selling 27 million records of their dreck plus millions of christmas bathtowels and barbecue sauces - there are the lots of pop-songs about christmas. And "The Power of Love" is always included there for the simple reason that in the video to that song the three wise men from the east appear following the star to Bethlehem. There is nothing about christmas in the song. Quite contrary, the lyrics about "I'll protect you from the hooded claw / keep the vampires from your door" clearly hint at mythology definitely not incorporated into the corpus of Christian teachings. Ain't it funny how popculture is able to do that on a global scale? 20 Dec 05
	GLEN CAMPBELL - Wichita Lineman What a wonderful song. I knew that one only from the cover version The Walkabouts - or rather Chris & Carla - did on one of their live albums in an acoustic set. Anyway, Glen Campbell has to have the biggest amount of schmaltz and kitsch in his songs, arrangements and voice among all country stars from the Seventies and Eighties. I am constantly reminded of Neil Diamond, only that there are less banjos with Diamond. Don't get me wrong, I really like Neil Diamond's music - from "Hanky Panky" through "I am I said" and up to the "Jazz Singer". But almost nothing beats a line like "I need you more than want you / and I want you for all time" in the romantic-factor. 8 Dec 05
	THE DRESDEN DOLLS – missed me There is a lot you can say about the Dresden Dolls that wouldn’t be nice at all, starting from their name to their somewhat ominous pseudo-gothic appearance up to them being really obnoxious in a musical way. At least they have their own unique style, with that heavy piano bashing and hum-hop melodies. And there are melodies in here that creep up on you and stick in your mind that you don’t hear the first few times around. Like on those first two Nick Cave solo-albums, and that is saying a lot on the side of the Dresden Dolls. Of course, I haven’t heard their full album yet, and maybe constant banging on this shtick – though unique and all – would get on my nerves easily. That’s why I chose this track instead of the overused “Coin operated day” with its sweet gone bad mix. That’s like Amily Strange poured into song, and only depressive teenagers with the urge to show the world how “different” they are by dressing in black and casting annoyed stares at the world would find a compliment in there. Well, since the supply of depressive teenagers who dress in black and cast annoyed stares into the world seems to be endless nowadays, I’d rather they listen to the Dresden Dolls than to Linkin Park. Just imagine ten years from now you’d have to say “I listened to Linkin Park back then”. That’s like saying “I listened to the Goombay Dance Band back then” today. I guess, you’d prefer naming Fields of the Nephilim. 22 Nov 05
	SURGERY – Feedback This has to be the most properly titled noise-rock song ever. Oh yeah, and trying to google the band Surgery is a pain in the ass as well for all the liposuction and stuff. Little Debbie never needed any of that. 16 Nov 05
	DAMIEN RICE – Blower’s Daughter Later on in that song when the female sung chorus sets in, wow, isn’t that one of the nicest moments in a slow, emotional song? Goes to show that you can do a lot even in an acoustic arrangement with some violins, an electric piano and someone with a great voice. Even if you find the wailing and whining of Rice unbearable. Too bad that moment is only so short. Give the guy some money to do a proper, pepped-up version of that! Don’t spend it all on Richard Ashcroft. 9 Nov 05
	ARCWELDER – I promise not to be an asshole Actually, for this observation I could have chosen any song of this very underrated, mid-90ies band, but this one has such a nice title I just had to pick it. Anyway, Arcwelder were a three-piece that had about three great albums out on Touch & Go between circa 1993 and 1997 (I don't feel much like checking right now), which were mainly ignored by everyone around me. Apparently they are still around in the Chicaco area, if only sparsely and quite invisible on a grander scale. But long before TV On The Radio they had a singer that sounded a lot like Peter Gabriel at times. I know, that is not a lot as a call for fame, but maybe that's more than a lot of other bands had. I mean, three great albums isn't that bad. 1 Nov 05
	SILVER JEWS – Sometimes a pony gets depressed It's a raunchy, silly ditty that is a lot of fun to listen and obviously a lot of fun to play, too. Overall it sounds as if someone in the recording studio shouted "Let's play it faster" and then someone shouted "A little faster still" and so they pitched themselves into overdrive and played the whole thing approximately at double the velocity it originally was intended. Hey, let's do this five-minute-song in three flat! Yeah, let's go! And that's why it sounds so funny. And that's why Bermann shouts the chorus so intently and pressing. And that's why that feeling of hastiness makes the song so special. (And that's why I put it on my latest mix-tape.) 1 Nov 05
	THE CARDIGANS – I need some fine wine and you you need to be nicer Go ahead and slag me off for posting about pop-music, but The Cardigans are a great band, writing great melodies that stick in your head for days and still make you smile, play a style of music that is really possible to play live without tapes (which is not true for most mainstream pop-music, you know who I am talking about). No one knows, why they aren’t an alternative indie-pop band like Moneybrother or My Morning Jacket or whatever. Plus, this song has about the coolest title I have read in a long time. Storytelling in songwriting condensed into the essence right there. If all music-charts were filled with songs like this, I’d listen to Top40 all day (and other stuff at nights), I’d call myself a mainstream listener and the world would be a finer, nicer and better place. Now somebody please explain the shouts of “sit! sit!” in there? 28 Oct 05
	FRUIT BATS – a bit of wind Wow, right there and there at the beginning I thought this is Paul McCartney singing and I wondered: did he really manage a decent song lately? But of course, he didn’t. Though I wouldn’t stop making music, if I were Paul McCartney as well. Why the heck should he? This is one guy who really has nothing to worry about. He is personified personal freedom and likeability. Well, there is one thing he might think about: why I’d rather listen to the Fruitbats than to his new records. As long as I keep listening to his old records, I guess he won’t mind a bit. 18 Oct 05
	FREAKWATER – Uspide down From the grandiose new album „Thinking Of You“, but this is not what I am about right here and now. This song is one prime example of the slightly drunk, warbling rhythm that makes up the heart, core and soul of honkytonkin’. Even if most people don’t remember it anymore. Granfaloon Bus also had that warbly rhythm down to a notch. And what’s wrong with a little drink in the afternoon? Especially if life is treating you badly. Someone should do some proper research on the influence of alcohol on folkloristic music and especially countrymusic. I don’t think I’ll find the time. 18 Oct 05
	BAD RELIGION – you Listening back it seems clear that „No Control“ and „Suffer“ were the best records by Bad Religion by far. Sure, they never changed much from their original sound, but the songs got longer, guitar solos crept in, minor chords were used and as they grew older the energy seemed to seep out somewhere. Though, again from looking back, they were still a lot more energizing as old men, than most of the young bands were. But on these two albums – number 2 and 3 in their discography released quickly after a longish break after their juvenile first off – they have their songidea down to a notch and never again have sounded so dense and tight. Like this song here. Two minutes, two verses with two refrains and not a lot more. And no, that thing at the end doesn’t count as a guitar solo. If I remember correctly it was this song I once had on a tape recorded from the back then one hour per working day of radio worth listening to, and I didn’t catch the host saying who it was. And back then there was no way to find out but by pure chance. Then once I hit the record button instead of the play button and even erased some of the song. Not a lot left. But I remember listening to this and getting fuelled up on the energy emitting from my tiny speakers. But good luck hung on to me and I stumbled upon “No Control” later on. And one year later – about 1990 – I saw Bad Religion play live, with four other bands from Austria for a recalculated seven Euros. That’s the way personal legends form. 18 Oct 05
	KANYE WEST FT. THE GAME - Crack Music With all the metaphors about music as drugs being produced and distilled, mixed and traded and ever so on just like drugs, the musician as a hustler, and whatever, this strikes me lyrically and thematically as in the same line as Ice-T’s “The Pusher”. Which of course lived heavily on Curtis Mayfield’s “The Pusher” – which is the only song of the three really about drug-dealing. And there is definitely a musical line between these three and they are well aware of it. 10 Oct. 05
	FRANZ FERDINAND – Do you want to Inspite of all the hype, the awards and the rocket to stardom, Franz Ferdinand are basically a pretty good band with enough originality both in music and style to stand on. Hopefully the aftershow parties, centerfold posters and record deals won't kill them. The same goes for Mando Diao. 02 Oct 05
	GOLDFRAPP – Ooh La La Taking that basic John Lee Hooker blues riff (think "Boggie Chillen") and turning it into a bad-ass, bottoms down bass-riff over a straightforward dance riff is either pure and corny brashness or a stroke of genius. Due to the no-frills production aimed directly the thighs of unsuspecting listeners, I'd vote for both. And a little bit of making people hate your guts. Make headway for the disco-queen. 02 Oct 05