That's a nice little write-up! I think "unfocused" is an excellent description for Slanted. It's all over the place and I think Pavement is still finding a balance between imitating the Fall and finding their own sound. It's a great album nonetheless.
PAVEMENT
SLANTED AND ENCHANTED
1992-MATADOR
Produced By PAVEMENT
1. Summer Babe (Winter Version)
2. Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite At :17
3. No Life Singed Her
4. In The Mouth Of A Desert
5. Conduit For Sale!
6. Zurich Is Stained
7. Chelsey’s Little Wrists
8. Loretta’s Scars
9. Here
10. Two States
11. Perfume-V
12. Fame Throwa
13. Jackals, False Grails: The Lonesome Era
14. Our Singer
The early 90’s will be forever remembered for Nevermind, Ten, and the death of hair metal: but don’t forget about Slanted And Enchanted. Pavement came from nowhere in 1992 with what could be one of the ten best albums of the decade. It’s all jangly, weird, unfocused, and the actual defitinion of indie. It’s heavy and hilarious, with great songs and an energy that rivaled even Nirvana. Every track on this album was something new, and Pavement became the new Velvet Underground: not many bought their music, but most of those who did ended up in a band somewhere.
Pavement kept It going, too. They ended up being one of the most consistently good bands of the 90’s before calling it a day in 1999. Slanted And Enchanted is still their crowning achievement: indie before indie became a corporate word. Creative in the best sense. A true genius of a band. It’s a shame that this album has only sold about 200,000 copies: it’s a truly great one.
ROBYN HITCHCOCK
EYE
1990-TWIN/TONE
Produced By ROBYN HITCHCOCK
1. Cynthia Mask
2. Certainly Clickot
3. Queen Elvis
4. Flesh Cartoons
5. Chinese Water Python
6. Executioner
7. Linctus House
8. Sweet Ghost Of Light
9. College Of Ice
10. Transparent Lover
11. Beautiful Girl
12. Raining Twilight Coast
13. Clean Steve
14. Agony Of Pleasure
15. Glass Hotel
16. Satellite
17. Aquarium
18. Queen Elvis II
Robyn Hitchcock tends to be a kind of forgotten figure in the music of the 80’s, but he really shouldn’t be. After fronting The Soft Boys in the late 70’s, Hitchcock emerged as a solo artist in 1981, and with his band The Egyptians in 1985. He opened the 90’s with Eye, a completely acoustic and completely solo album: he’s the only player on it. Eye features some really fascinating pieces, some of which had appeared in earlier full band incarnations (“Queen Elvis”, for example).
Most of the songs work very well, but there are a few uncomfortable moments: “Agony Of Pleasure” may be the most awkward acoustic song ever recorded. Despite being pretty uneven, Eye has just enough great moments to make it worthwhile. “Clean Steve”, “Satellite”, and “Cynthia Mask” work exceptionally well, and the short instrumental “Chinese Water Python” is beautiful. This is not Hitchcock’s best work, but it is among his most interesting.
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DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS
THE FINE PRINT (A COLLECTION OF ODDITIES AND RARITIES) 2003-08
2009-NEW WEST
Produced By DAVID BARBE
1. George Jones Talkin’ Cell Phone Blues
2. Rebels
3. Uncle Frank (Alternate Version)
4. TVA
5. Goode’s Field Road (Alternate Version)
6. The Great Car Dealer War
7. Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)
8. When The Well Runs dry
9. Mrs. Claus’ Kimono
10. Play It All Night Long
12. Like A Rolling Stone
The Fine Print turned out to be not just another collection of leftovers: Drive-By Truckers turned out to have some very nice unreleased gems. The Fine Print is also blessed with fine liner notes by Patterson Hood. The album contains two previously unreleased Jason Isbell tracks (“TVA” and “When The Well Runs Dry”), a pair of very good alternate versions, and some tracks left off of albums recorded between 2003 and 2008.
But the best thing here are the covers. The Truckers chose wisely, and they play them well and with respect. “Rebels” is a fine forgotten Tom Petty song: “Mama Bake A Pie (Daddy Kill A Chicken)” is a perfect take on Tom T. Hall, “Like A Rolling stone” is a Southern version of the Dylan track with each member taking a verse, and especially “Play It All Night Long”…a Warren Zevon classic. The Fine Print isn’t like most leftover albums in that it’s actually very good. Very much worth seeking out.
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SIMON & GARFUNKEL
LIVE 1969
2008-COLUMBIA/LEGACY
Produced By BOB IRWIN
1. Homeward Bound
2. At The Zoo
3. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)
4. Song For The Asking
5. For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her
6. Scarborough Fair/Canticle
7. Mrs. Robinson
8. The Boxer
9. Why Don’t You Write Me
10. So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright
11. That Silver-Haired Daddy Of Mine
12. Bridge Over Troubled Water
13. The Sound Of Silence
14. I Am A Rock
15. Old Friends/Bookends Theme
16. Leaves That Are Green
17. Kathy’s Song
Live 1969 is a selection of performances taken from the final Simon & Garfunkel tour in 1969, just before the release of Bridge Over Troubled Water. Two of these tracks were used on the first Greatest Hits album: the rest sat unheard until this release in 2008. There are some great moments: a crowd hearing “Bridge” for the first time ever, some nice performances of the familiar hits (“Homeward Bound”, “Scarborough Fair”, "Kathy’s Song”, and a nice acoustic version of “The Sound Of Silence”). But there is some dead weight as well.
“Mrs. Robinson” is ruined by some kind of high pitched squealing throughout the track. And songs like “So Long, Frank Lloyd Wright” (which sounds like a bad showtune) and “That Silver-Haired Daddy Of Mine” are simply not up to par. And several of the recordings sound weak and tentative: strange for a duo at the height of their popularity. Overall, Live 1969 is an important document…but not as good as you’d really wish it to be.
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THE GUESS WHO
THE BEST OF THE GUESS WHO
1971-RCA/LEGACY
Produced By JACK RICHARDSON
1. These Eyes
2. Laughing
3. Undun
4. No Time
5. American Woman
6. No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature
7. Hand Me Down World
8. Bus Rider
9. Share The Land
10. Do You Miss Me Darlin’
11. Hang On To Your Life
12. Albert Flasher
13. Broken
14. Rain Dance
The original Best Of The Guess Who from 1971 is still the one to have. Other compilations cover later years (not the best idea), and include way too much filler. But this one, even with the three bonus tracks tacked onto the end, is still number one on the list. The period covered here is small (1968-70), and shows what a force this Canadian band was for a short time. Fronted by Burton Cummings and featuring the guitar work of Randy Bachmann, The Guess Who were one of the best singles bands of the time.
And the track list here bears that out. There aren’t a lot of bands who could boast a set like this. From “These Eyes” through “Hang On To Your Life”, recorded with Bachmann already gone, there isn’t a single weak moment, not a single bad track. The band soldiered on after this, eventually losing Cummings in the process before calling it quits in 1975. They got together (without Cummings) later in the 70’s and have continued on comparatively unnoticed…but the early days were magic. This is a perfect chronicle of that time, some of the best singles of the era.
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THE FALL
I AM KURIOUS ORANJ
1988-BEGGARS BANQUET
Produced By IAN BROUDIE & MARK E SMITH
1. New Big Prinz
2. Overture From “I Am Curious, Orange”
3. Dog Is Life/Jerusalem
4. Kurious Oranj
5. Wrong Place, Right Time
6. Guide Me Soft
7. C.D. Win Fall 2088 AD
8. Yes O Yes
9. Van Plague?
10. Bad News Girl
11. Cab It Up!
12. Last Nacht
13. Big New Priest
No one will blame you if you find The Fall difficult to listen to: many people do. Despite the fact that lead vocalist Mark E. Smith is maybe the worst singer in rock, the band has persevered through at least 30 studio albums. I Am Kurious Oranj is actually a soundtrack to a ballet called “I Am Curious, Orange” recorded in 1988. The album contains several high points for the band: guitarist Brix E. Smith (then married to Mark E. Smith, divorced a year later) brought a sense of melody to The Fall that they rarely have ever had. So tracks like “New Big Prinz” and “Kurious Oranj” are much more accessible than a lot of the band’s output.
Also of interest is a reworking of William Blake’s “Jerusalem”, and, as usual, a feeling of experimentation that makes most of what this band does interesting. I Am Kurious Oranj is one of The Fall’s more listenable efforts, and about as good as they have ever been, although Smith’s voice becomes more grating as you go. This band is not for those looking for pop music, that’s for sure.
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BLIND MELON
SOUP
1995-CAPITOL
Produced By ANDY WALLACE & BLIND MELON
1. Galaxie
2. 2 x 4
3. Vernie
4. Skinned
5. Toss Across The Floor
6. Walk
7. Dumptruck
8. Car Seat (God’s Presents)
9. Wilt
10. The Duke
11. St. Andrew’s Fall
12. New Life
13. Mouthful Of Cavities
14. Lemonade
Maybe I’m wrong about this one, because everyone else seems to really like Blind Melon. But for me, this was a band destined to be a one hit wonder (“No Rain”). We’ll never know if Soup was a sophomore slump, or if this was it for them, because singer Shannon Hoon died of a drug overdose soon after its release. But the truth is, Soup is a mess. There are fragments that sound pretty good, but for the most part, the songs are unfocused and mostly pretty terrible. It’s hard to get past flat and emotion starved tracks like “Vernie”, and there’s more like that one than there are like even “Galaxie”, which at least has some life and a melody to it.
And when it does sound good, the lyrics bring it right back down. (“And when will I realize that this skin I’m in/ Hey, it isn’t mine/ And when will the thrill be too much/ Meat for me to find anymore.”) The band sounds like they might really want to rock, but they, like everything else, never really gets off the ground. Too bad, because Hoon had a really great sounding voice, and he may have had some really great ideas locked in there somewhere. We’ll never know.
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BLIND MELON
SOUP
1995-CAPITOL
Produced By ANDY WALLACE & BLIND MELON
1. Galaxie
2. 2 x 4
3. Vernie
4. Skinned
5. Toss Across The Floor
6. Walk
7. Dumptruck
8. Car Seat (God’s Presents)
9. Wilt
10. The Duke
11. St. Andrew’s Fall
12. New Life
13. Mouthful Of Cavities
14. Lemonade
Maybe I’m wrong about this one, because everyone else seems to really like Blind Melon. But for me, this was a band destined to be a one hit wonder (“No Rain”). We’ll never know if Soup was a sophomore slump, or if this was it for them, because singer Shannon Hoon died of a drug overdose soon after its release. But the truth is, Soup is a mess. There are fragments that sound pretty good, but for the most part, the songs are unfocused and mostly pretty terrible. It’s hard to get past flat and emotion starved tracks like “Vernie”, and there’s more like that one than there are like even “Galaxie”, which at least has some life and a melody to it.
And when it does sound good, the lyrics bring it right back down. (“And when will I realize that this skin I’m in/ Hey, it isn’t mine/ And when will the thrill be too much/ Meat for me to find anymore.”) The band sounds like they might really want to rock, but they, like everything else, never really gets off the ground. Too bad, because Hoon had a really great sounding voice, and he may have had some really great ideas locked in there somewhere. We’ll never know.
I totally agree. I bought the first album when you still had to pay for them because it had a good review in a music magazine and every euro spant on it was too much and I even never liked No Rain. And indeed Soup is even worse.
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN & DOUBLE TROUBLE
THE REAL DEAL: GREATEST HITS VOLUME 1
2006-EPIC/LEGACY
Produced By BOB IRWIN
1. Pride And Joy
2. Mary Had A Little Lamb
3. Texas Flood
4. Rude Mood
5. Couldn’t Stand The Weather
6. Cold Shot
7. The Things (That) I Used To Do
8. Tin Pan Alley (aka The Roughest Place In Town)
9. Say What!
10. Change It
11. Come On (Part III)
12. Life Without You
13. The House Is Rockin’
14. Crossfire
15. Tightrope
16. The Sky Is Crying (Live)
Just as it was becoming evident that Eric Clapton was not going to stop trying to be JJ Cale, that Jeff Beck was not going to stop playing confusing fusion, and that Jimmy Page was not going to be coming out with any more monster riffs any time soon, the next (and last) great blues rock guitar hero emerged in Stevie Ray Vaughan. And while his albums lacked a consistency, the man’s playing was never, ever in doubt. From his debut album in 1983 to his untimely death in 1990, Stevie Ray WAS the guitar. The 80’s were not a time for the instrument (unless you count what Eddie Van Halen brought to the table), and the 80’s were not the decade of blues rock, but Vaughan kept it all alive, and he did it well.
The Real Deal Volume 1 (Volume 2 was strangely enough released first, in 1999) is as good a place to start with Vaughan as any. It’s not overlong, and it skips his lesser tracks, giving you 16 solid reasons as to why Vaughan is so revered to this day. At his best, Vaughan was as good as it ever got on the guitar, and that’s evident all over this collection. The fact that “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” is missing is okay, because everything else is just that good. Unless you have all of the original albums, or the box set, this should do just fine…and if you want more, it’s always out there to pick up. An excellent collection.
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