please explain

XTC (A Personal Struggle)

Aug 102011

Listening to XTC (again). Mummer. It’s a really really good album.

I bought most of XTC’s catalogue when I worked at a local independent record store. Someone must have unloaded their collection and I got them used really cheap. My thought at the time was, “Hey, here is a band I’ve only heard good things about, so I should check them out.” Of course my OCD tendencies do not allow to buy one or two CDs, so I spent about 50 to 60 bucks and bought the whole batch. Looking at their discography, it’s most of their proper albums and all the major ones.

I listened to them then and have given them a spin a few times since. XTC is one of those bands that has just never made an emotional connection with me. I remember enjoying English Settlement, but by the end of it, I couldn’t tell you a damn thing on it. I know Skylarking is supposed to be a masterpiece. The early records have a punkish frantic quality that make for interesting listens. I know the hits and like those songs fine enough.

I know hardcore XTC fans will tell you that they were several bands: a punk group, a new wave band, a pop band. I’m sure they fit somewhere in the vein of Talking Heads and The Cars. I know Andy Partridge is good writer and their records feature some strong production.

So, I am listening to Mummer right now (at work) and thinking, Why I don’t love this band like everybody else in the world does? I am thinking that this a very very good album. And I’ll probably listen to more, hoping they’ll finally stick. Maybe I’ll finally connect with these records and feel compelled to listen to them more than once every 5 years or so.

So, what am I to do? Your help is appreciated…

Country Coda

Posted by k.

Aug 072011

I was listening to Jamey Johnson’s “Can’t Cash My Checks” inattentively. For those unfamiliar, he is reported to be the new country “outlaw” and he does seem to have a bit of Kris Kristofferson/Jeff Bridges-in-Crazy Heart kind of style. The song ended and a minute or so later I checked the iPod display to see what unfamiliar song had replaced it. It turned out to be the same track with an instrumental coda (right word?) inserted after the lyrics fade out.

[Check @ 4:12 if you don’t want to listen to a full-length current country track, I’ll understand.]

I guess the most well-known version of this is the lovely slide guitar and piano piece at the end of “Layla,” but I’m sure it happens in other places as well. It’s not very scientific, but I always figured the “Layla” piece added a bit of acceptance to the end of an anguished blues, plus, it was just too nice to throw away. Can anyone comment on what the coda adds to “Can’t Cash My Checks” or how it works in other songs with similar construction?

Can I Get an Interpreter, Please?

Posted by hrrundivbakshi

Jul 282011

I have no idea what this chick is on about, but I reckon you guys can help me. To make the job of translation easier, I’m only looking for 20 seconds’ worth of interpretation from each of you. Please keep in mind that there’s a lot more than just a foreign language to translate here; I’m convinced that each frame of video has some vital “Paul-is-dead” message to impart. Can you tell me what that message is?

I look forward to your responses.

HVB

0:00-0:20 –
0:20-0:40 –
0:40-1:00 –
1:00-1:20 –
1:20-1:40 –
1:40-2:00 –
2:00-2:20 –
2:20-2:40 –
240-3:00 –
3:00-3:20 –
3:20-3:40 –
3:40-4:00 –
4:00-4:14 –

Please Explain: Humble Pie

Posted by misterioso

Jul 122011

I’ve always been a big Small Faces fan and an even bigger Faces fan. I mean, how great must Steve Marriott have been? It took Ron Wood and Rod Stewart, both years away from anything like sucking, to replace him. So what happened? Humble Pie leaves me cold. Really cold. More than that, actually: I think they’re terrible, and the problem isn’t the band, it’s Marriott. I submit in evidence what appear to be the two sides of Humble Pie: the sweaty, bombastic, screechy side (above) and the pseudo-soulful and rootsy side (below). (Note young Peter Frampton in the second clip.) I’d like to hear from any Pieheads who can explain to me what I am missing.

How Does Alice Cooper Manage to Stay in Circulation?

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jun 272011

It’s 1982. This video appears on French television, as part of a French TV special starring Alice Cooper. Shouldn’t his act have expired about 12 days after he hit paydirt with “School’s Out”? How did Alice Cooper manage to stay in circulation to any degree? How does he manage to hold onto his current Elder Statesman of Hard Rock status? Most importantly, is this song even remotely decent? I’m confused. Maybe I’ve been in Paris for too many days.

Please Explain: The Beach Boys Live in Paris, 1969

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jun 202011

Happy birthday, Brian!

You know me when it comes to post-1966 Beach Boys: I’ve had it with any further examinations of Brian Wilson’s psyche, the possibilities left hanging in the unfinished SMiLE album, and the occasional decent tracks found on the albums following Pet Sounds. What I want to know is what exactly was going on in the band proper during the period captured for posterity in this 1969 Paris performance.

Has anyone ever sat down with one of the band members and asked them to look back specifically at this period? Not in broad terms of them hitting a commercial nadir, because that’s only a set-up for the triumphant return to the charts with Mike Love’s “concept album,” Endless Summer. Not even in terms of the band having reached its cultural nadir of irrelevance, because that would also be an easy set up for them to talk about how Endless Summer aided in healing a nation torn apart by Vietnam, Watergate, etc. No, what I want to know is if anyone simply asked Carl or Al what was going through their minds when they looked over at Mike. What discussions led to everyone wearing white while still allowing more than enough rope for a certain band member to hang himself in his own sense of personal style? What went through Carl’s mind the first time he caught a glimpse of his fat ass in those tight white slacks? What defined “success” for the band during that awkward stretch? I want thought bubbles atop these performances!

These performances of stomping hits from their past and stomping would-be hits of their then-present is pretty noble and poignant, if you ask me. Much more so than the detrius that’s more commonly put under the rock-nerd microscope and dipped into the critical wishing well of hidden riches. Maybe following my week in Paris and brushing up on my barely remembered French the narration accompanying the following 1970 Paris show will answer some of my questions…after the jump! Continue reading »

Please Explain: Charlie, Anthology

Posted by Mr. Moderator

Jun 012011

This better come with a centerfold!

While browsing through eMusic yesterday I came across the following new entry to the digital music distributor’s catalog: Charlie, Anthology.

You may remember Charlie, or at least the band’s album covers, from an old RTH Confessional post by our man sammymaudlin.

You may remember hearing their music on an episode of our weekly podcast, Saturday Night Shut-In, as first heard at the 21:52 mark in this archived podcast.

That said, is anyone asking for any sort of Charlie anthology other than, perhaps, a glossy magazine, complete with centerfold, of shots of the album cover models?

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