Take a listen to the track. If you know who it is, please refrain from posting. If you don’t know who it is, tell us what you think. Like it? Hate it? Why? Who does it sound like? Give a guess as to who it might be.
Aug 212009
sammymaudlin
Aug 072009
Recently I had the pleasure of being contracted to design the art for the latest release by Philly phaves, Nixon’s Head. The Enemies List (available for purchase here) cover was an exercise of almost pure creativity. Listening and then designing.
The back cover though was a joy for different reasons. The band wanted the back to be a take on the back of The Beatles Rubber Soul. (I derive an odd pleasure from finding/duplicating just the right font.)
This got me thinking about album parodies and more specifically album backs. There are loads and loads of album parodies. Not the least of which include Townsman mrclean’s band, The Dead Milkmen’s Smokin’ Banana Peels cover:
Jun 302009
It’s a provocative statement. I know. Fact is I like about 1/2 of that first album. But I’m calling Bullshit On The New York Dolls‘ legendary status.
Let’s face it. The Dolls were a product of a place and time and heavy shtick. And ya know what, I dig the shtick but when all is said and done, the music is moderately interesting at best.
Rolling Stone called “Personality Crisis” the 267th best rock song of all time. Really?! Granted this was 2006 and doesn’t include anything the Raconteurs did but…
K-Mart Stones in drag, man. And yeah that’s cool but c’mon, legendary? Bullshit.
Here’s the greatest thing The Dolls ever did:
I’m not talking about the album, I’m talking about the image on the cover. I maintain that without this cover, The New York Dolls would not have attained legendary status. And though this doesn’t have the balls, it did come 2-3 year before.
What say you?
Jun 022009
I’m so mad at my eMusic. I don’t know, eMusic just, uh, calls me up the other day. eMusic wants to charge me the same amount of money for about 1/2 of the downloads beginning in July! Can you believe that? I said, “Hey! I work for a living!” So I give eMusic the money. Yesterday, they call me up and say the only extra shit we’re going to offer is like Outkast and Alicia Keys. I said, “Hey! What is this?!” So I worked out a deal with them. I’m having eMusic, uh, work on my transmission. And, uh, move my barbells up to the attic. So that’s pretty good, huh? [laughs]
Jun 012009
I didn’t have any idea what kind of music Goblin Cock played until I started putting this post together. Their name put me off so much that I wasn’t even willing to give them a try.
And, for the record, I would be even more turned away by a band named Lappin’ Snatch.
Blatant use of naughty-bit terms makes me wary. It took me years to give The Butthole Surfers a fair shake.
The use of umlauts is always a red flag. (Yeah, I know Hüsker Dü is cool but name another…) Do we have Blue Öyster Cult to thank for umlauts? Am I using the term “umlauts” correctly? Does the term itself have ümlaüts? Seems like it should.
Anything Germanic poses a threat. Anything biblical and/or related to hell and/or the devil and/or death.
Use of the work “metal.”
Anything intentionally misspelled. “Kreator” as a case in point is a double threat name being both biblical and misspelled. Do we have Led Zeppelin to thank for this practice? (I don’t count The Beatles as it is a play on words.)
Anything with a “z” in it gives me pause. If there hadn’t been The Zombies and that very band, which I love, came out today, I’d be wary. I’m just speaking from the heart here.
Most of the above are related to my distaste for metal. So here are some others.
I’m cautious of any band named “_____ and the _______s” unless they are from the late ’50s or early ’60s.
I am wary of any artist that simply uses his/her name if they haven’t played in a band that I’ve heard of before. Same goes for duos that go by “______ & ______.”
Use of the word “revue” or any band name that uses a number has an instant hole from which to climb.
These aren’t rules here. I’m just sayin’, any of the above make me wince and cautious.
What says you?
May 272009
This is quick one. When thinking about great bands that have deep catalogs of great albums, there are few of which I can say “This is their best, hands down.” For The Beatles or Stones or Kinks or…there is no way I could pick a best.
But for XTC, I can say, hands down, English Settlement is their best. For classic Pink Floyd, I can say, hands down, Animals is their best. For Crowded House, I can say, hands down, Together Alone, is their best.
And I use “best” rather than “favorite” as with these albums, the bands, IMHO, delivered what they were growing towards all along and then never quite achieved again.
Feel free to agree with me regarding the above specifics but the question is really- Do you have any hands down albums?
May 132009
