It’s the first edition, but whatever.
Because I am old, because I came up in a time when CD’s were the newest, hippest form of musical consumption, I have hundreds of them. True, the format has become the cultural equivalent of the 8-track, having neither the aesthetic cachet of vinyl nor the supreme convenience of streaming, but I don’t care. CD’s are more durable than records, and more portable, and they don’t rely on internet connection or the approval of the Panopticon. So I still load 6 CD’s into my vehicle, and consider myself well-prepared for the week. It’s a high startup cost, but afterwards, pleasant.
So here’s what we’re listening to:
The Black Keys – Let’s Rock
The most maligned/least appreciated of the Keys’ discography. No one was mad about it; everyone was ‘meh” about it. I suspect that, after a five-year hiatus, following two favorites (2011’s El Camino and Turn Blue from 2014), no one was prepared for a simply solid rock n’ roll record. They may have wanted a tour de force and didn’t get it, because that’s not how hiatuses work.
The Pharcyde – Labcabincalifornia
I am told that this is not the best Pharcyde effort by a mile. I bought it because I like “Drop”, which is the most late-90’s method of purchasing music (dropping $ on a CD album for one track) ever. It’s a jazzier album than I was expecting, which isn’t bad. But the habit of dropping the album name in elongated outros of songs, like late 90’s hip-hop in general, has not aged well.
The Flamin’ Groovies – Teenage Head
The Flamin’ Groovies are to the Rolling Stones what The Feelies are to the Velvet Underground: a collection of dorks without the creative energies of the greater band, but who got the sound as good, almost better. On Head, the Groovies throw down their blues-rock so hard, it’s almost punk. There’s a cover of “Louie, Louie”, and it’s great, because of course.
Kanye West – 808’s and Heartbreak
West is such a pop-cultural joke now that it’s impossible to remember a time when he wasn’t, because, he kind of always was. Divorcing a Kardashian and going Death-Con 3 on the Jews is only the extreme form of Marrying a Kardashian and blaming Hurricanes on George Bush. It’s necessary to separate the art from the artist, and here I find his art beepy and autotuned and miserable. Frank Ocean does this stuff much better.
The Ramones – Brain Drain
1989 album, noteworthy for being the last with founding bassist Dee Dee Ramone, and for having the band’s highest-charting single, “Pet Semetary”, recorded for the Stephen King movie. It also has their Christmas song “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight)”, which is bizarre to be listening to in April. It’s a really cool cover, but it’s the beginning of the end for them, which was a long time coming.
The Reverent Horton Heat – Smoke ’em if You Got ’em
I have several RHH albums, and they’re all fun, because Psychobilly – an unholy cocktail of punk rock, goth, and rockabilly – is never not fun. This guy and the Cramps did it better than anyone. Still, it’s so niche a sub-genre that it’s practically fine-tuned for commercial failure. How this guy keeps putting out records and touring is a mystery to me. I should catch him one of these times.
Content Blues 