Record Store Day

Just wanted to inform you if you didn't know and remind you if it slipped your mind that this Saturday, April 17th, is Record Store Day. In this age of digital downloads and throwaway music, the idea is simple: get out and support your local record store. Buy some real music with cover art, liner notes and hardware you actually have to place into or on a player to hear. Talk with fellow music lovers or pick the brain of those special employees who are the curators of our musical past and present. As our friend Mr. Waits says, "Folks who work here are professors. Don't replace all the knowers with guessors. Keep 'em open, they're the ears of the town." You don't have to have a turntable to participate (though it helps). Go out an pick up that new CD you've been curious about and forget about iTunes for the weekend.

The link below will tell you all you need to know. There's a huge list of participating artists releasing limited edition, one-day-only stuff. If you're in a city, there are festivities happening all day at your local record stores involving giveaways, refreshments and in-store appearances and performances by your favorite bands (folks in the Twin Cities should venture out to the Electric Fetus to catch Dr. Dog).

I've decided that this will be a holiday in our house henceforth. I'll be buying my daughter a selected LP for her first RSD and every RSD to come. Let's all show our support so she can find out what's so special about our record stores first-hand someday, rather than hearing me tell her about how it used to be.

http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

Geography 101

I always enjoyed Geography in grade school but in retrospect, something was missing... good music. Below I have ranked the best "Geographic" bands and the respective reasons for their rankings.

10. Asia - The largest continent in the world and quite possibly one of the worst bands. "Do you know how I know you are gay? You have a poster of Asia on your wall." Not that this quote from "The 40-year-old Virgin" sums up the band, but it does show a little disrespect towards this group hailing from... England? Featuring members of the brilliant progressive rock bands King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Yes, Asia is not necessarily a force to be reckoned with compared to the geographic region covered mainly by tundra, or all that brilliant, despite it being a "supergroup". They had one single that people remember, "Heat Of The Moment" yet were able to produce a few "Greatest Hit" albums. Must have been to fulfill a record label contract. Do any of you have an Asia album? If you do, please stop reading this blog.


9. Berlin - The capital city of Germany and the reason "Top Gun" was an international phenomenon. Berlin is from America and produced the single "Take My Breath Away" (aka 'Love Theme from "Top Gun"') which still gives me Goose-bumps and recalls imagery of Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in one of the steamiest scenes caught on film (OK, a little puke just came up while writing that.) Recently, Berlin was featured on VH1's Bands Reunited and obviously that did not lead to anything productive or memorable.


8. Chicago - The Midwest metropolis, birth place to Jake and Elwood Blues and an American rock band from, well, Chicago oddly enough. Fronted by Peter Cetera on bass, Chicago has sold over 120 million albums and is second only to the Beach Boys as the most successful American rock bands in terms of albums and singles. Initially, Chicago was a good band. They produced the hit singles "25 or 6 to 4" and "Saturday In The Park", then went on to produce garbage like "You're The Inspiration". Chicago is dead to me now and anything but an inspiration.


7. Europe - Birthplace of "Western Culture" and legendary arena rock band. Exported from Sweden, this band brings you instantly back to the 80s. Europe produced the megahits "The Final Countdown" and "Carrie". The band went on to sell 3 million copies of "The Final Countdown" in the US alone. Some nights I dream that Europe was from Poland.


6. Nazareth - Childhood home of Jesus Christ and 70s Scottish rock band. Nazareth released "Hair Of The Dog" and "Love Hurts" from the album "Hair Of The Dog" in 1975. "Hair of the Dog" soon became the Hell's Angels theme song; "Now you're messing with a son of a bitch". The band didn't do much more after that. But being the city which reared the central figure of Christianity, they move up on this list.


5. Alabama - Home of the Crimson Tide, Bo Bice, and the country music juggernaut. Regardless of if you like country music or not, Alabama is extraordinary. Alabama is one of the most commercially successful American bands of all time. Alabama has produced 23 studio albums, 32 number one singles and 2,789 cases of oral cancer secondary to 8.6 billion cans of Skoal chewed. Their most notable singles include "Mountain Music", "Roll On" and "If You're Gonna Play In Texas (You Gotta Have A Fiddle In The Band)".


4. America - Land of the free, home of the brave and 70s folk-rock band. Sons of American fathers and British mothers, their fathers being military personnel stationed at a United States Air Force base in London, America was a great band who blended folk and rock perfectly. Their harmonizing was unmatched (only Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young could compete.) Just listen to the singles "A Horse With No Name", "Sister Golden Hair", and the brilliant "Ventura Highway".


3. Kansas - Referenced in Oz and American progressive rock band from Topeka. Kansas rise to fame occurred in the 70s with such notable hits as "Carry On Wayward Son", "Dust In The Wind" and "Point Of No Return." Just listen to "Carry On Wayward Son" again... that's why Kansas is number 3.


2. Portishead - Coastal town in Somerset, England and trip-hop pioneers. Portishead first hit the scene in the mid 1990s with the release of their debut album "Dummy" in 1994. The band formed in Bristol, Eng, just 8 miles east of Portishead and have since helped to develop a new type of music. Frequently being cited as despising the term "trip-hop", Portishead, along with Massive Attack are primarily responsible for creating a style of music that blends electronic music with a slow tempo and driving beats. Being #4 on my "Best Albums of the 90s" list, "Dummy" is a monumental record. Being somewhat reclusive, the band has only released two other studio albums; "Portishead" in 1997 and "Third" in 2008.


1. Boston - Baked beans, tea party's and classic rock royalty. Boston was the brain child of Tom Scholz whom first started writing music in 1969 while attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston's debut self-titled album, released in 1976, has gone platinum 17 times and is the second best-selling debut album of all-time in the US following GN'R's "Appetite For Destruction". Their singles include "More Than a Feeling", "Peace of Mind", "Foreplay/Long Time", "Rock and Roll Band", "Smokin'", "Don't Look Back" and "Amanda". Overall, Boston has sold over 31 million albums in the US alone. Despite the death of original lead singer Brad Delp, Boston continues to rock.

Midnight at the Movies

Justin Townes Earle's "Midnight At The Movies" I decided to let simmer for a while; always a good thing to do, in my opinion, when listening to something new. It didn't grab me on first listen and based on PD's high praise I knew there was more to appreciate. After tucking it away for a few weeks and then giving it another day in court, I'm starting to hear it. The first thing I thought on those initial few spins is that this guy sounds a lot like a countrified Mason Jennings (not helped by the similar 'I've Been Workin' on the Railroad' sentiment of both Empire Builder and John Henry). The problem I had with that was that much like Mason Jennings' work, I could see the talent and the knack for writing good songs, but I didn't feel like any of them would stick with me for more than a week or two, fairly forgettable stuff. The more I listen, the less similarity I hear and the more I'm realizing there are some really outstanding tracks. The album starts with the title track, a dreamy song that sounds like it was written and performed in those hazy wee-hours with which the subject matter is concerned. I like the lonely story of the aimless singer and the imagery as he describes the darkened movie theater as if it's his home away from home and perhaps a place to escape whatever's waiting for him when he steps out the front door as the closing credits roll. As a big movie and movie theater buff I feel like I've been there a time or two myself.

The second song on the album is possibly my favorite one. It starts out with an old-timey lilting piano and steel guitar melody with the banjo keeping time. JTE's voice starts out sounding exactly like some old singer whose voice I can clearly hear in my head, but whose name I'll probably never know. (Seems like they may have used his voice in commercials at some point if anyone has any idea who I'm talking about and can help.) There's a whistle solo thrown in and some nice harmonizing from the backup singers, but it's the main hook that makes this one of my favorites. That "I need to know right now" of the chorus is what I find myself spontaneously singing even when the song isn't playing. It's a short and simple tune, but something about it sticks with me. As I suspected, I underestimated the staying power of this album on first listen.

I also like the nice slow build of the next short and sweet track "John Henry," as he starts with guitar and layers on fiddle, then banjo, then bass. There's a solid honky tonk vibe to "Poor Fool" and the driving "Halfway to Jackson," with a harmonica line that is reminiscent of one of the greatest titled songs of all time, the Stones' "Turd on the Run." The ballad "Someday I'll Be Forgiven For This" is beautiful and obviously a very personal song, but it's the concluding track "Here We Go Again" that's a knockout. I place it with the likes of "Can I Stay" by Ray or "I Better Be Quiet Now" by Elliott Smith in a category called 'If I could write one song about a girl in my whole life I only wish it could be a fraction as awesome as this one.'

The one place the album goes astray for me is the cover of the Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait." It doesn't translate to JTE's style well and I find it boring. However, the fact that the one stinker on this album is the cover track, to me, is a good thing. More originals please.

I rate this album one big ol' shiny steel guitar (out of five stars)