My plan, and I say “plan” because anything that relies on an Internet connection is never a sure thing, is to blog live from the Pearl Jam concert tonight at the St. Pete Times Forum.
If all goes well, it will resemble what I did at Van Halen.
Here’s what I have running in the new Creative Loafing:
In honor of the recent release of the Beach Boys box set, Political Whore Wayne Garcia and yours truly, humble copy editor Anthony Salveggi, have put together our individual Top 10 lists of our favorite Beach Boys songs.
Anthony’s list
10. Our Sweet Love — Carl Wilson’s high vocals sell this gorgeous affirmation of romantic love: “I thought about a summer day/ And how the time just floats away”
9. Disney Girls — Penned by Brian Wilson’s tour replacement, Bruce Johnston: “Oh reality, it’s not for me/ And it makes me laugh”
8. This Whole World — Clocking in at under two minutes, but packed with Brian’s genius for melody and orchestration: “You are there like everywhere/ Like everyone you see”
7. ‘Til I Die — Try listening to this without your blood running cold: “I’m a leaf on a windy day/ Pretty soon I’ll be blown away”
6. Warmth of the Sun — “I loved like the warmth of the sun/ It won’t ever die”
5. I’m Waiting for the Day — Like nearly everything else on Pet Sounds, pure magic: “He hurt you then, but that’s all gone/ I guess I’m saying you’re the only one”
4. I Can Hear Music — A soaring cut off 1969’s 20/20: “This is the way I always dreamed it would be/ The way that it is, when you are holding me”
3. Please Let Me Wonder — A honey-drenched, hook-filled gem with melancholy lyrics that sound as if they must have been written on a California beach at sunset: “If I’m the one you’re dreaming of/ Please let me wonder, love”
2. Don’t Worry Baby — Sonically stunning layering of vocals and instrumentation: “But she looks in my eyes/ And makes me realize when she says “don’t worry baby.”
1. Caroline, No — See Wayne’s description below. This is the track off of Pet Sounds that sent shivers down my spine the first time I heard it: “Break my heart/ I want to go and cry/ It’s so sad to watch a sweet thing die)
Wayne’s List
10. Wouldn’t It Be Nice — “Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true/ run run weee-oooooo”
9. All This Is That — The most obscure cut here, a Mike Love TM effort that is hypnotic, from Carl and the Passions
8. Long Promised Road — A great Carl Wilson composition.
7. Don’t Worry Baby — A simple heartfelt love song. Nothing better than that.
6. Surfer Girl — Cuz it’s all about the sun and sand and boys and girls.
5. Surf’s Up — An orchestral tour de force that Van Dyke Parks’ baroque lyrics lift to another level. Leonard Bernstein thought this song was the future of pop music. Unfortunately, he was wrong.
4. ‘Til I Die — Yes, zen buddhism makes a wonderfully sad vehicle for Brian accepting the fact that he will be mentally confused and in emotional pain until the day he dies.
3. Friends — The sonic bed here is tremendous, with simple keyboard figures augmented by bass harmonica over waltz time. “I talked your/ folks out of/ making you/ cut off your hair.”
2. Caroline, No — Brian’s whine on “No” is an indication of the pain that he poured into his music. I remember seeing an interview with his ex-wife, who says that part of the song always runs right through her, it was such a personal statement about their relationship at the time.
1. Warmth of the Sun — Written the evening that JFK was assassinated, Wilson’s simple inverted chord structure and Love’s heartfelt lyrics perfectly capture the start of one era at the end of another, and the trademark layered vocals and soaring falsetto continue to stun the listener.
Don’t know about you, but I’m amped that Pearl Jam’s coming in tomorrow night. This info hit my inbox today about Pearl Jam’s expanded program for concert bootlegs. I was mailed several of the first batch a few years ago, and the quality was terrific. Looks like it’ll be even better now:
Pearl Jam will expand their bootleg program for the upcoming 2008 tour to include three different options for fans seeking to obtain bootleg recordings of the band’s live shows. High-quality digital downloads and burn-to-order CDs of the entire show will be available following each show date exclusively via Pearl Jam’s fan club, Ten Club, at www.pearljam.com. In addition, mobile bootlegs of three live tracks per show will be released following the show on V CAST Music phones and at www.pearljamconcerts.com through Verizon Wireless.
(more…)
Here’s the “confirmed” lineup for the Vans Warped Tour stop on July 11 at Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg. Note Gainesville’s Against Me! (my favorite band on the roster) and Tampa Bay’s own We The Kings, which I profiled here.
From the press release:
Please see below for bands that are confirmed to play Tampa and stay tuned to www.warpedtour.com for the most current information. This list is subject to change.
3oh!3
A Day To Remember
Against Me!
Aggrolites
Alesana
Anberlin
Angels and Airwaves
As I Lay Dying
Beat Union
Bedouin Soundclash
Broadway Calls
Charlotte Sometimes
Cinematic Sunrise
Cobra Starship
Devil Wears Prada
Evergreen Terrace
Every Avenue
Everytime I Die
Family Force 5
Forever the Sickest Kids
From First to Last
Gym Class Heroes
The country’s greatest bar band unleashes (digitally speaking) its excellent new album Stay Positive.
Click here and enjoy.
More details on the street date to follow.
The title track to My Morning Jacket’s new album Evil Urges, which dropped June 10, might be the greatest pop/rock song since Gnarls Barkley blew our minds with “Crazy.” What makes “Evil Urges” so genius? It’s a singular slab of plastic soul, country, rock and funk that ebbs, flows and soars like a sublime mash up of Bowie, Stones, Prince and Radiohead. Frontman Jim James adopts a Beck-esque falsetto, giving his voice a back alley charm that’s ideal for lusty lines like “It ain’t evil baby, if you ain’t hurting anybody.” The song also manages to work in a little politicking: “dedicate your love to any woman or man.” Did I mention it’s insanely catchy? 4 stars
Click here to listen, or here to buy the download. Better yet, go to an independently-owned local music store like Sound Exchange or Vinyl Fever and buy the CD.
Here’s a rambling CD review that’ll probably run in print at a later date, at a shorter length. Or maybe it won’t run at all. It’s kinda nasty.
Basically, it serves as an excuse for me to carp with profanity about mainstream taste in music, which has blown barnyard dick at bargain prices for a long time. When music moves you the way it moves me — I’m talking tears, laughter, dancing solo in the apartment at 2 a.m. — you get loud, rude and pissy when you see stinking piles of fuck become hits and stars.
Anyway, here’s my latest CD review — raw and unedited like everything else that I put up on the old blog, a beast that I used to hate, but now have become hooked on like good [insert vice of choice].
Now That’s What I Call Music! 28
VARIOUS ARTISTS
EMI/Sony & BMG/Universal/Zomba
Don’t listen to Now 28 within arm’s reach of razor blades, hard drugs or a loaded handgun if you give a damn about quality pop music. The latest in the long-running, chart-topping, singles compilation series is proof positive that mainstream taste has reached a nadir not witnessed since the days of minstrel stars in the Deep South. It’s a stinking pile of fuck and I feel dirty for even giving each track a cursory listen. How bad is the current state of popular taste?
The only worthwhile track is The Fall Out Boy cover of MJ’s ’82 classic “Beat It,” which really isn’t that spectacular except for the John Mayer solo. Holy shit! The pop star with the blues guitar chops actually rocks out with his cock out. Nice. But the disc also features Mayer’s single “Say,” which is like a first-date, herky-jerky blow job with teeth; ranking right up there with his “Your Body is a Wonderland” bullshit of yesteryear.
Even my man Lil Wayne sounds foolish with his 50 Cent-esque pop bid “Lollipop,” which after being cleared of about a zillion FCC-unapproved words, sounds like the CD is skipping. What other atrocities are included on this sure-to-be-best-seller? Despicable smashes by tabloid terror Britney Spears (“Break the Ice”), hillbilly hack Trace Adkins (“You’re Gonna Miss This”) and American Idol ass-wipe Daughtry (“Feels Like Tonight.”) When is an act like Robyn or Vampire Weekend gonna rule the (U.S.) pop charts and restore my faith in humanity? 0 stars
U.S. Singles Collection — The Capitol Years (1962-1965)
The Beach Boys
Capitol/EMI (released June 10)
Summer’s here and the time is right for another Beach Boys best-of. Granted, there are already quite a few to choose from but this one’s, well, special. Like its title suggests, U.S. Singles Collection — The Capitol Years (1962-1965) remains focused on the band’s early, innocent years. The period when sonic architect/vocalist Brian Wilson still toured with his brothers and cousin and had yet to delve into the drug haze that would help produce the masterpiece Pet Sounds and “Good Vibrations” — and then nearly destroy him.
On the positive, this latest box set covers the years ’62-’65 with the kind of fanboy zeal typically reserved for bootlegs. The collection features 16 CDs. Each one includes an original single 45’s A and B-sides, plus outtakes, alternate and live versions in replicas of the vinyl’s original packaging. To sweeten the deal, the 16 individual digipacks come in a surfboard-style box replete with wood inlay that includes a 48-page hardbound booklet. All 66 tracks actually fit onto two CDs, so the list price of $132.98 might irk some and definitely makes this an item for serious collectors only — or people seeking a killer Father’s Day present. 4.5 stars
Winner for worst summer arena tour: Warrant with Cinderella, which arrives July 25 at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa.
Winner for worst canned quote of the summer (italics are mine): “Are you kidding me?!! We are chomping at the bit to get out this summer and rock!” says Jani Lane, lead singer and songwriter of Warrant. “The original Warrant has mucho grande chemistry! When we did the first rehearsal in 14 years I just stepped back in awe and thought…’Man, now this is Warrant!!’ I think fans will have a similar experience this summer!!’”
Winner for worst music video of all time:
Here’s the Warrant press release:
Alas, this cool gimmick (for the well-heeled, at least) doesn’t apply to Waits’ lone Florida stop, July 1 in Jacksonville. But it’s still cool. In fact, it’d be nice to see bands like The Rolling Stones, etc., adopt a similar model.
“Some folks prefer to pay more, you get a good seat, a good tax write off and a good feeling for helping for your needy neighbors,” says Waits in a prepared statement. “It’s scalping for charity.”
Here’s the press release:
In the late ’70s, when I was a struggling loser just out of college and my brother Kurt was still in high school, we would spend considerable time in the bedroom we shared in my parent’s St. Petersburg home.
He was a budding drummer; I was a future music critic (but didn’t know it at the time). We’d while away hours listening to music, with plenty of focus on Steely Dan. When Kurt finally mastered the Steve Gadd drum solo on the middle section of “Aja,” we rejoiced together.
So it was particularly gratifying that Kurt was in town with his family from Tennessee for a few days when Steely Dan played Ruth Eckerd Hall last night. Big brother/little brother hitting the Dan together. He’d never seen ’em. Doesn’t get much better than that.
I suppose Fagen, Becker and company could’ve disappointed, but it wasn’t likely. As it turns out, it was another entirely worthy Steely Dan show, the third in the Bay area in consecutive years, and the second straight at Ruth Eckerd (to what looked like a packed house).
Here’s a new weekly feature dubbed “The new new thing” that will run every Tuesday and spotlight up and coming artists. Enjoy.
Who: Fleet Foxes
Seven-word description: Organic pop marked by gorgeous vocal harmonies.
Should appeal to fans of: Brian Wilson, Simon & Garfunkel, Dr. Dog, Band of Horses.
Is that a flute? Yes, but only for a moment, save the Jethro Tull jokes.
Breakout CD: Fleet Foxes
Release date/label: June 10 on Sub Pop.
Listen to the track”White Winter Hymnal” here.
