MARY MARGARET O’HARA
MISS AMERICA
1988 – VIRGIN
Produced By MICHAEL BROOK & MARY MARGARET O’HARA
1. To Cry About
2. Year In Song
3. Body’s In Trouble
4. Dear Darling
5. Anew Day
6. When You Know Why You’re Happy
7. My Friends Have
8. Help Me Lift You Up
9. Keeping You In Mind
10. Not Be Alright
11. You Will Be Loved Again
This legendary, yet little known album is one that more than lives up to its back story. Mary Margaret O’Hara was born in Canada, and is the younger sister of comedic actress and Second City alum Catherine O’Hara. She was signed to Virgin Records, and XTC’s Andy Partridge was hired to produce her debut album. The two did not get along, and Partridge was fired after just one day. The album sat unfinished for nearly four years, when Michael Brook saw O’Hara play live and was inspired to finish the record. It was finally released in 1988, and was not a hit. The music here is so different from anything that was happening in the 80’s that it’s hard to imagine a radio station playing it…but it really is a thing of beauty. The centerpiece is “Help Me Lift You Up”, which is one of the loveliest tracks you will ever hear. And the rest is just as good.
She moves effortlessly from torch songs (“You Will Be Loved Again”) to an almost Yoko Ono inspired “Not Be Alright”, and everything in between. The instrumentation is never overdone, working as real accompaniment to O’Hara’s brilliant singing. Miss America is one of the great lost gems of the 80’s. And, even 30 years later, there has been no follow up. O’Hara has done a couple of EP’s and some soundtrack work, but she has never made another full album (outside of an obscure 2001 soundtrack), and she has remained under the radar, despite being hailed by many of her peers as a musical treasure. If you find a copy of Miss America, I strongly suggest that you pick it up. This is one amazing and beautiful album by an artist who should be well known, but who (maybe by choice) has lived outside of the spotlight with this one amazing album as her resume. This is a must have.
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SUFJAN STEVENS
ILLINOIS
2005 – ASTHMATIC KITTY
Produced By SUFJAN STEVENS
1. Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
2. The Black Hawk War, Or, How To Demolish An Entire Civilization And Still Feel Good About Yourself In The Morning, Or, We Apologize For The Inconvenience But You’re Going To Have To Leave Now, Or, I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will Continue To Fight Them Until They Are Off Our Lands!
3. Come On! Feel The Illinoise! (Part I: The World’s Columbian Exposition Part II: Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream)
4. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
5. Jacksonville
6. A Short Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, But For Very Good Reasons
7. Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!
8. One Last “Whoo-Hoo!” For The Pullman!!
9. Go! Chicago! Go! Yeah!
10. Casimir Pulaski Day
11. To The Workers Of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning Your Predicament
12. The Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
13. Prairie Fire That Wanders About (Peoria)
14. A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey Maze
15. The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
16. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhh!
17. Let’s Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don’t Think They Heard It All The Way Out In Bushnell
18. In This Temple As In The Hearts Of Man For Whom He Saved The Earth
19. The Seer’s Tower
20. The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders (Part I: The Great Frontier Part II: Come To Me Only With My Playthings Now)
21. Riffs And Variations On A Single Note For Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, And The King Of Swing, To Name A Few
22. Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run
From the strange album cover art, to the long and absolutely puzzling track list, what are we supposed to make of this? American folk artist Sufjan Stevens initially intended for Illinois (the actual album title…not what you see on the cover) to be the second in a fifty part series of albums about each of the states of the Union. He later said it was a joke…but he sure did take this one seriously. So, what are you supposed to do with an album that looks like this? You put it on and play the music…and all will be forgiven. You forget that there are song titles here that are as long as a paragraph, and you forget the iffy Quiet Riot reference on the front cover. Sufjan Stevens, inside of the strange packaging, reveals himself as one hell of a songwriter. And one hell of a player (he plays almost everything here), and a pretty good singer as well. But it’s the songs here that will win you over.
This album is like a treasure chest…every song seems to be a hidden gem and shines bright as can be. The best songs are magnificent…”Come On! Feel The Illinoise”, “Casimir Pulaski Day”, and especially “Chicago” show Steven’s growth as a songwriter and performer, and are pretty much perfect. But you also get gems like “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” and “The Predatory Wasp…”. Stevens writes from a historical perspective, not about current events, so it never sounds dated. And he stretches his wings and takes more than enough chances, with pretty much everything working. Really well. Illinois is a strange album that wins you over for all of the right reasons…it really is a thing of beauty. It’s not the mess you see on the packaging, it’s a fine collection of songs put together with great care. It’s a dazzling and perfect album. It’s one that you really should listen to.
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THE 13TH FLOOR ELEVATORS
EASTER EVERYWHERE
1967 – INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS
Produced By LELAN ROGERS
1. Slip Inside This House
2. Slide Machine
3. She Lives (In A Time Of Her Own)
4. Nobody To Love
5. It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
6. Earthquake
7. Dust
8. I’ve Got Levitation
9. I Had To Tell You
10. Postures (Leave Your Body Behind)
The quintessential sixties psychedelic rock band, The 13th Floor Elevators are famous for being the first to use the term psychedelic rock to describe their music, for almost having Janis Joplin as a member, and for having their lead singer and guitarist, Roky Erickson, who was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic, spend time in a mental hospital rather than serve a ten year prison sentence for possession of a single marijuana joint. It was Erickson’s erratic behavior and arrest that ultimately ended the band in 1969, but before that, the Elevators made some interesting music along the way. They had a substantial hit in 1966 with “You’re Gonna Miss Me” from their debut album. Easter Everywhere was their second album, and while it was not a hit, it serves as a fine example of what the band could do.
Easter Everywhere sold poorly, and became quite the collector’s item until it was finally reissued on CD in 1988. The highlights are the eight-minute opener “Slip Inside This House” and a trippy cover of Bob Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue”. Their sound is unique, thanks to electric jug player Tommy Hall and Erickson’s freaky guitar work. And, yes…because this is psychedelic rock from the psychedelic era, a lot of it has not aged well…but more of it has than you would imagine. Their first album is better, but this one has its merits and is a fine piece of what the sixties psychedelia was all about. The Elevators have regrouped a few times, but they never were able to recapture the magic of what they were in the way back then. If you want to hear what the beginnings of psychedelic and acid rock were, this is the band for you.
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JACK JOHNSON
IN BETWEEN DREAMS
2005 – BRUSHFIRE RECORDS
Produced By MARIO CALDATO, JR.
1. Better Together
2. Never Know
3. Banana Pancakes
4. Good People
5. No Other Way
6. Sitting, Waiting, Wishing
7. Staple It Together
8. Situations
9. Crying Shame
10. If I Could
11. Breakdown
12. Belle
13. Do You Remember
14. Constellations
Maybe the worst thing about being a total music snob is having unreasonable hate for the music of someone without ever having given their recordings a chance. This was once my relationship with the work of Jack Johnson. I have no reason why, but just the mention of his name conjured up images of bad music and a man who was dead set on destroying music. I am happy to say that this part of my life has passed on. Today, I can not tell you why I disliked Johnson so much. Seriously…what’s actually not to like? He’s the son of a famous pro surfer who grew up in Hawaii riding waves and writing songs. He has a sunny outlook, plays upbeat melodies, and gives his heart out to worthwhile charities. And he writes some really pleasant songs. If you’re looking to rock, this may not be the guy for you…but rocking all the time can be pretty overrated. Free your mind…
In Between Dreams is Johnson’s third album. It sounds like an album that a guy would write while sitting on a beach watching the waves. Which is pretty much what it is. Johnson is an acoustic guy, and his band is pretty low key. “Better Together” is the best track here, and while there’s nothing bad on this album at all, it also never quite reaches very high on the scale of greatness. What you get with Jack Johnson is pleasant acoustic mellow rock, and there is a place in the world for music like this. There is some nice stuff here…”Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” and “Banana Pancakes” work quite well, and the album as a whole is just fine, thank you. So, Jack…sorry for all the hate for all of those years. I like what you do now, and I’m sorry for the unjustified negative judgements for all those years. You deserve better than that.
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CAPTAIN BEEFHEART & THE MAGIC BAND
LICK MY DECALS OFF, BABY
1970 – STRAIGHT / REPRISE
Produced By DON VAN VLIET
1. Lick My Decals Off, Baby
2. Doctor Dark
3. I Love You, You Big Dummy
4. Peon
5. Bellerin’ Plain
6. Woe-Is-Uh-Me-Bop
7. Japan In A Dishpan
8. I Wanna Find A Woman That’ll Hold My Big Toe Till I Have To Go
9. Petrified Forest
10. One Red Rose That I Mean
11. The Buggy Boogie Woogie
12. The Smithsonian Institute Blues (Or The Big Dig)
13. Space-Age Couple
14. The Clouds Are Full Of Wine (Not Whiskey Or Rye)
15. Flash Gordon’s Ape
After having spent a long time unable to grasp the music of Captain Beefheart’s classic album Trout Mask Replica, I was disappointed and felt like I would never get what it was that the man known as the godfather of alternative music was doing. And then, I heard his 1970 follow up album, Lick My Decals Off, Baby. From the album’s opening line (“Rather than I wanna hold your hand / I wanna swallow you whole”) forward, I got it. Not saying that the music of Captain Beefheart is not completely insane. Not saying that it’s for the masses. Nowhere close to that. But as a starting point for what Beefheart does, this actually works as a good introduction to the even more stark madness of Trout Mask Replica. Perhaps because the music here is more structured and under control, and perhaps because it contains more…songs than Trout Mask.
But make no mistake. This is purely experimental, avant garde stuff. Just like the rest of his catalog. But I believe that what he did here was to simplify his approach and make it easier to understand. The best description of Beefheart’s music that I have ever heard is this: fifty years later, it still sounds like it was made tomorrow. And that’s what you get here. Music from the future, but from the past. Tracks like “I Love You, You Big Dummy” and “Space-Age Couple” are futuristic sounding rock fragments with elements of jazz and so many types of music that hadn’t even been invented yet in 1970. For sure, the music on Lick My Decals Off, Baby is not for everyone. In fact, it’s more accurately not for most. But it’s true…fifty years later, this is still the sound of the future. And that is quite an accomplishment. It may not have sold a lot of records, but it’s still quite a legacy.
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SNEAKER PIMPS
SPLINTER
1999 – CLEAN UP
Produced By LINE OF FLIGHT
1. Half Life
2. Low Five
3. Lightning Field
4. Curl
5. Destroying Angel
6. Empathy
7. Superbug
8. Flowers And Silence
9. Cute Sushi Lunches
10. Ten To Twenty
11. Splinter
12. Wife By Two Thousand
Sneaker Pimps is a trip hop band from Britain who fired their female lead singer after one album and did their own vocals on their own songs, changing their sound dramatically on their second release, Splinter. Kelli Dayton did a fine job on the debut, Becoming X, but the boys in the band believed that they could do just as well singing their own material rather than having someone else do it for them. The results are that Splinter is really no better or worse than Becoming X was. Splinter is a much darker sounding album, featuring much more guitar and, of course, male vocals instead of female. Becoming X was a much more popular album, and received more critical acclaim than Splinter…but the reality is that this is just as good. The mood of the album is reflected by the front cover shot of band leader Chris Corner…back turned to the camera showing a dark attitude.
There’s enough to enjoy here. “Cute Sushi Lunches”, which sounds like it would be a happy and light track, is actually quite dark and mysterious. “Low Five” and “Ten To Twenty” were singles that did not fare very well…fans of Becoming X were puzzled by the band’s new sound. Understandably so…it marked quite a change from one album to the next. Splinter is far from great, but it is a very good album that does show growth for the group. They did make a third album, 2002’s Bloodsport. It did not do well at all, and Sneaker Pimps has been mostly on hiatus ever since, with Corner concentrating on his solo project IAMX. There was finally a fourth album in 2021, Squaring The Circle. Splinter is good, not great, trip hop with more guitar than you would expect. Bands like Massive Attack and Portishead do it better, but this does manage to stand on its own fairly well.
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XTC
THE COMPACT XTC: THE SINGLES 1978-1985
1985 – VIRGIN
Produced By JOHN LECKIE, ROBERT JOHN “MUTT” LANGE, MARTIN RUSHENT, STEVE LILLYWHITE, PHIL WAINMAN, HUGH PADGHAM, BOB SARGEANT, STEVE NYE, DAVID LORD & XTC
1. Science Friction
2. Statue Of Liberty
3. This Is Pop?
4. Are You Receiving Me?
5. Life Begins at the Hop
6. Making Plans For Nigel
7. Wait Till Your Boat Goes Down
8. Generals And Majors
9. Towers Of London
10. Sgt. Rock (Is Going To Help Me)
11. Senses Working Overtime
12. Ball And Chain
13. Great Fire
14. Wonderland
15. Love On A Farmboy’s Wages
16. All You Pretty Girls
17. This World Over
18. Wake Up
XTC was, originally, a kind of a punk band…but not really. Formed in 1972, they released their first album during punk’s zenith, but they refused to be pigeonholed, wanting instead to create their own kind of sound. They ended up being bunched into many different groups…punk, new wave, indie…mainly because people didn’t know what to make of them. The early days of the band were their most adventurous, and it was the time when they created their most quirky sounding singles. And lots of them. The Compact XTC replaced the double album Waxworks from 1982 as the XTC best of, utilizing the ability to put 18 tracks on a single CD. It has since ben replaced by the double disc Fossil Fuel album from 1996, which includes all of the songs here as well as later singles by the band. Fossil Fuel is by far a better compilation.
But, for a decade at least, this was the XTC compilation to have. It covers singles released from their first seven albums through 1984’s The Big Express, and includes six non album singles that were not available on album until this came out. XTC’s early albums can sometimes be uneven, so this was a great way to introduce yourself to what they were capable of. With two strong songwriters (the quirky and stranger Andy Partridge and the more traditional Colin Moulding), this collection hold up very well, and it’s worth having if you can find it…it’s only been released one time since the end of the eighties. But if it’s the early days of this band that you’re a fan of, then search away. You’ll be most pleased with gems like “Senses Working Overtime”, Wonderland” and “Life Begins At The Hop”. Not relevant because of what has been released since, but still a lot of fun if you can find it.
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EL TRI
OJO POR OJO
2013 – WARNER MUSIC LATINA
Produced By ALEX LORA
1. Fue Como Un Sueño
2. Donde Quiera Hay Chilangos
3. Otra Vez El Pri
4. La Antorcha Olimpica
5. Eres Lo Máximo
6. La De La Vela Perpetúa
7. Contiga Me Conformo
8. Ojo Por Ojo
9. Otra Muerta Más
10. No Estoy Pedo
11. Na’mas Le Cambian De Cara
Hey Dino…who the heck is El Tri? The answer goes all the way back to 1968 and a rock band from Mexico City called Three Souls In My Mind. Pioneers of Mexican music, the band split in 1984 when bassist Alex Lora started the band El Tri, which has gone on to massive success in the world of Latin rock. In fact, Lora is widely regarded as the grandfather of Mexican rock and roll, and his band has released over twenty albums over the years. Ojo Por Ojo is their 15th album, and it came at a time when the band had become less prolific…this album was only their third since 1998. And, as happens to bands that have slowed down (such as The Rolling Stones), the songwriting tends to be not as sharp as it once was. And that does seem to be the case here, as far as musically (lyrically? I can’t tell ya. It’s all in Spanish, folks.) the band has a nice level of energy, almost making up for what they lack in originality.
Lora is the chief songwriter, and while a lot of the songs are based on his own personal experiences, he has always also had an open door policy with his fans. They send him ideas of things to write about, and he does just that. Pretty refreshing for a rock star. The rock they play on Ojo Por Ojo is pretty straight forward, with not much to indicate that they aren’t from Hollywood or New Jersey. Except for Lora’s singing. It’s all in Spanish, and he sounds as if he might have taken his vocal cues from Cheech Marin (or, given the timeline, vice-versa). But this band has had huge success over a whole lot of decades, and that includes having played some pretty big shows in the United States. So, while what I hear on Ojo Por Ojo may sound average, I’m not afraid to admit that this is a band that may require some further research. Perhaps they are the Mexican Stones or Black Crowes? I will keep you posted…
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LUCERO
NOBODY’S DARLINGS
2005 – LIBERTY & LAMENT
NO PRODUCTION CREDIT
1. Watch It Burn
2. Anjalee
3. Bikeriders
4.Sixteen
5. Nobody’s Darlings
6. And We Fell
7. California
8. Noon As Dark As Midnight
9. Hold Me Close
10. Last Night In Town
11. All The Same To Me
12. The War
The hardest working do it yourself band in America is Lucero. Has been for twenty years now. They have released no less than fifteen albums during their career, most of them on their own label. They seem to tour endlessly, and they never seem to show signs of slowing down at all. Their albums can be hit and miss as far as songwriting goes, but they always sound fantastic. Nobody’s Darlings is their fifth studio album, released on the band’s Liberty & Lament label. The packaging is about as sparse as you will ever find in the CD era. A black and white cover photo splashed with red on a single page that inside contains what looks like a computer printout of the tracklist. No credits whatsoever. Looks like it was thrown together to be sold at live shows. And it probably was. But this is Lucero. This is what you get from this no frills punk and alt-country outfit from Memphis. And they rarely disappoint.
Nobody’s Darlings describes Lucero to a tee. And this album, while starting to settle into a more mature phase for the band, is a decent but unspectacular effort. The highest points are great, and a reminder of how this band can click with the right songs. “And We Fell” is a fine track, and a good centerpiece for the album. But the one that steals the show is “All The Same To Me”. The perfect riff, the right lyrics, and you have a true Lucero classic. It’s songs like this that keep their loyal fans happy. As for the rest of Nobody’s Darlings…it’s typical workingman’s Lucero. It’s an enjoyable listen from a band that is never spectacular, but that is always interesting. And that’s exactly what Lucero, and Nobody’s Darlings, is. You will not be blown away, but you will also never be disappointed with what Lucero does. Always a band worth hearing, and this is no exception.
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YUME BITSU
1999 – BA DA BING
Produced By RICK DUNCAN & YUME BITSU
1. Team Yume
2. I Wait For You
3. Surface I
4. Truth
5. Surface II
6. The Frigid, Frigid, Frigid Body Of Dr. T.J. Eckleberg
Pretty much everything you need to know about this album is right there in the liner notes: “This recording is intended for bedroom listening at medium to medium-low volumes”. This is the world of post-rock, and if it’s something you can get into, there are plenty of listening rewards in store for you. This music is kind of like ambient electronic music, only it’s performed with traditional rock instruments…bass, drums, guitar. Yume Bitsu (which means drum beats in Japanese) is from…Portland. They made four albums between 1998 and 2002, when the band split into four different directions, never to be heard from again. The songs are not short (the final track on this album is nearly nineteen minutes long), and you will never find a trace of a hit single on a post-rock album. And you most definitely cannot dance to this. None of it.
But if you are looking for music to chill to…Yume Bitsu is the band and the album for you. Bedroom listening? You bet it is. But the best thing is that it doesn’t suck. There’s a place in this world for albums that you can lose yourself in, and music that can actually transport you with its very ambience. That’s what this band’s second album can do for you, if you’re cool with that. I’ve become more and more of a fan of post rock over the years, because there’s a lot to be said for bands that want to move you without running over you with rock and roll. Just because they play the same instruments doesn’t mean that it has to be the same experience over and over. Yume Bitsu gets that. This is the best of their four albums. Give it a chance, I say. This will not rock you. This will not blow you away. If you can be open to it, it just might move you. In a good way.
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