mac says:

08/10/2008 at 10:36 am

That saxaphone is passable. It works well enough with the jazzy lounge act feel to the song. And I think it follows closer to the early rock saxaphone sound, then later stuff. And its a tenor.

But I think the sax gets a pass too often as a standard rock instrument.

I hate the majority of saxaphone solos in songs from anything later then the early 60’s. With a special hatred for alto (and I played alto up through most of college) and soprano sax solos, especially in the 80’s. In a chorus of brass they’re fine, but solos can destroy a song for me. Anyone that can incorporate alto and/or soprano solos in a rock song and not make it sound like schmaltzy Kenny G, has my props. Tenor and bass saxaphone are a bit different, and can fit in better.

I’m not saying that there aren’t good exceptions, but they are few and far between for me.

There are bands that use saxaphone successfully. I have espoused the goodness of Morphine lately, but like the song above, they have that loungey jazz feel to their music.

andyr says:

04/06/2007 at 8:32 am

Very Poppy with the 80’s keyboards. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Robert Quine play it so straight.

Was that Fernando Saunders on Bass and Fred Maher on drums?

mockcarr says:

04/06/2007 at 9:49 am

Wow, that well and truly stinks. Did Fernando think he was in Duran Duran? There indeed was something in the air that night. PU.

General Slocum says:

04/06/2007 at 10:20 am

There’s a very real sense in which Lou’s morphing into some kind of taxidermed icon of himself is every bit as extreme as any Michael Jackson shape shifting. His “singing” has turned every song into a grunting chant of repetitive rhythm occupying no more than the interval of a fifth. His face is sternly expressionless, his guitar arm seems to lose flexibility with each year, his lower vertabrae seem to be almost entirely fused… Why can’t I say this performance sucks? I am, it occurs to me, a fan of Lou Reed. Not just an appreciator of some of his music, but I have apparently reached that plateau, where, though I can see this song is worse than many others I’ve seen of him, the rational arguments for not liking it just don’t hold sway. I have become something that irks me in others, certainly when applied to artists I can’t “get.” Baffling. RTH uncovers another hidden truth!

hrrundivbakshi says:

04/06/2007 at 10:30 am

Hey, Slokie —

Thanks for your message. Mr. Mod goes on and on about “healing,” but you truly brought it with that frank confession. Lord knows I have blind spots, too — I mean, what’s a 42 year-old geezer doing listening to Supagroup, for pete’s sake?!

mockcarr says:

04/06/2007 at 11:05 am

Expanding a Lou Reed thread to include another ancient rocker who actually has retained mobility (quite a lot!), regarding Fritz’s question about the Stooges show – there were too many fat American obstacles for me to judge a lot of the antics. I think I’ll need a periscope to go to another sold out show. I know there has to be distortion and volume for their effect to work, it just seemed as crappy as the sound in the former 9:30 Club. By the last five songs there was too much bass distortion to hear anything Watt was doing, although he put out nearly as much energy as Iggy in his way. Overwhelming kick drum, but Scott did well back there I think for the most part. Somehow it seemed rote, and I can’t really understand why. Iggy will now climb on a speaker. Now, Iggy will curse out the stage lights guy. Then Iggy will invite dumbasses from the audience up on stage to dance. And once again, we, the audience are obliged to “sing” for him. Yes, astonishing! In spite of all this identification he tries to do with the audience, he still hates us. From where I stood, he has a lot of good reasons. About half the set was really good, but I think you’d have to be stoned to appreciate THAT much jamming without purpose. How many bands get away with playing an extended version of three minute song TWICE in every performance?

Oats says:

04/06/2007 at 12:00 pm

Jefitoblog reads our minds:
http://jefitoblog.com/blog/?p=1154

Rick Massimo says:

04/06/2007 at 1:59 pm

Gee, a Lou Reed song about saying goodbye to a woman who’s been through some sort of wringer. And, um, “walking down the street.” What do you know.

General Slocum says:

04/07/2007 at 8:56 am

hrrundi says:
Do me a favor, wouldja? Take a look at this video and tell me how you think it compares with the Lou footage we’re considering today:

I say:
It compares in that they’re both rock songs. What are you seeing here? Is Motorhead supposed to be like Lou Reed? Are you finding a song you think does the job better? Or another song you think blows? Is there a bold irony in the very asking that I’m missing? I don’t expect to have my questions answered, because, frankly, while I feel hrrundi’s comments to often be humorous, there is often a notable lack in backing them up. The flippant put-down isn’t often followed by the reasoned explanation, or the alternative “put-up.” So go out on a limb this time and tell us what you meant by asking. (Only the smallest of offense intended. I’m honestly asking.)

General Slocum says:

04/08/2007 at 9:42 am

Hrrundi asks:
Your “answer” was particularly enlightening. Do you wonder what people “mean” when they greet you in the hallway?

I answer:
If they greet me by waving their ankle and saying “foo-weeeeeebuh!” And then say, “Compare that to the greeting you usually recieve,” then yes, I tend to wonder what they “mean.”

He observes:
The Motorhead clip, in comparison, was funny, rebellious, sleazy, loud, rockin’, riffin’, and warty. Guess which one I liked more?

I, narrowly, and perhaps predictably, wonder what you “mean.” Sleazy, yes. Loud, well, only if you turn up the computer. “Warty”? Well, see “fooweeeeeebuh!” above. I sort of thought you had an agenda, what with my uncanny sixth sense for detecting passive aggression. Don’t pull a muscle healing thyself, Hrrundi.

In the end, I like Motorhead, but when they suck, they just suck. And Lou? Well, when he sucks, he’s horrid, as Gorey would say. But I find it entertaining. I understand why some don’t There you are.