And so far behind on the tally! I can see 2006 coming at me mighty fast, and though I'm sure I'm past the magic number (1000) in CDs actually acquired, I wonder if I can fit them all in this list. Only if I keep my mouth mostly shut and just get on with it.
Let's start with some prepared notes from before the holiday madness began:
Monday, December 12:
1. PHISH - NEW YEAR'S EVE 1995 (Rhino/Jemp)
Second, official copy of a previously mentioned set.
2. RACHEL SAGE – The Blistering Sun (Mpress Records)
Coming to town. Nice press package - color folder with two pieces of candy stamped with the singer's name (the old days of big swag are gone, so these little moments stand out.
3.TROIS ENTERREMENTS – Soundtrack (Eurocorp)
Tommy Lee Jones’s new movie. This is an advance, printed in Spanish.
Saturday, December 10:
4. VARIOUS ARTISTS – Suite Life, Volume 1 (Sugo Music)
Hubby and I stayed at the Hotel George earlier this month. Lovely place, with a CD player in the room and a CD library available for the lending through the front desk. While I never took advantage of that past benefit, the room had a CD to listen to and buy, which I did. Nice selection of songs - Nat King Cole ("Route 66" always sounds good), Bob Marley, Ivy and a few new things.
Within the last month or so:
5. MARTIN SEXTON – Camp Holiday (Kitchen Table Records)
Laid-back carols in the Jack Johnson mode, though Sexton far predates the surfer rock dude. He even makes “The Little Drummer Boy” tolerable. One half of a Post preview. click here.
6. LINDSAY LOHAN – A Little More Personal (Raw) (Universal)
She does “Edge of Seventeen.” I'm worried. My two teenage daughters have put Lohan on the Persona Non Grata list. Too bad; she started out strong and then went full-tilt pop tart.
7. NUBIAN BLUE (Blue Note)
Putt your two cents in, literally, when you buy at Borders (the day I got the Talking Heads Brick) and you can score the extra promo discs. This one has jazz for the dinner hour – Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Al Green and such.
8. BOB MOULD – Body of Song (Yep Roc)
I actually got away with the phrase “doing the Du” (as in Husker) when I wrote Mould up for the Post. click here l would have liked to see that show - with Kirsten Hersh at the Birchmere – but there was family in town for Thanksgiving and it would have been rude to run off on them. Since he’s local, maybe I’ll have another chance sometime.
9. SPEEDY TOLLIVER – Now & Then (Arlington Cultural Affairs)
Another Post preview click here , this time for a Virginian 87-year-old country/bluegrass fiddler who’s only just releasing his first solo CD, recorded by a local arts group. That kind of music is just downright kinder to its players, allowing them to grow in age and talent without forcing the Forever Young (or Die) rock model.
10. DOWNTOWN SINGAPORE – Don’t Let Your Guard Down (DCide records)
Yeah, I know I mentioned it in my last round-up, but I found a second copy that was sent earlier, so it counts in the count.
Sometimes things just slip through the cracks (will Lewis Black be there to catch them?) and that’s the case with these MIA CDs, some of which date back to summertime:
11. SWITCHFOOT – Nothing is Sound (Columbia)
I love the lead singer’s voice and some of the lyrics are quite good, optimistic and reassuring without pushing the Jesus thing too strongly. Not every song’s a winner, but those that work (like the single “Stars”) work very well indeed. Grace and I are looking forward to them coming to town sometime soon, tho’ nothing has been announced.
12. The PIXIES – Sell Out DVD (Rhino)
At the risk of being burned at the stake as a rock-crit heretic, I will admit that I don’t love all the Pixies’ stuff, and there are times when I’m not in the mood for the band’s sonic mood swings. But there are other times when nothing feels better than shouting along with “Monkey Gone to Heaven.” And when I wear my vintage black T-shirt with the logo on front and the eyeballs on the back, bought at a show Back in the Day, I feel like the coolest middle-aged rock mom on the planet.
13. SIX FEET UNDER – Soundtrack (Astralwerks)
Now this is what *I* call music - Nina Simone, Jem, Phoenix (the track included here, “Everything is Everything” has turned Grace on the band), Radiohead, Interpol, Death Cab for Cutie, Arcade Fire…and a classy package design, too. Could be a Top 10, now that I think of it.
14. DEADMAN – Our Eternal Ghosts (One Little Indian)
I previewed this country-noir duo when they came to town to open for the Proclaimers and, for reasons that still escape me, the publicist sent two copies of the disc – one generic advance, one official version. I had the pair sign the latter, and keep the advance in the car.
From the long-neglected bag of freebies collected in September at the annual schmooze fest known as CMJ:
15. REMEDY FOR RUIN – Scrape the Sky (I Love Records, LLC)
Encouraged by the stylish graphics – a foldout landscape of flat, muted color – I put this one on in the first round of listening, thinking it looked rather Shins-ian. Sadly, it veered to the more generic emo rock that seems to be everywhere these days. Even I didn’t like the cover so much, it’d be gone now, but I’m gonna give it another chance in hopes that the music (if it can grow in repeated listening) as well as the visuals will merit its inclusion in the permanent collection.
16. SAM ASHWORTH – Gonna Get It Wrong Before I Get it Right (Runway Records)
Definitely a keeper. I had seen an ad for this guy in Paste or Harp, and thought he radiated a low-key charm in the picture, and with the sweet cartoon turtle on the CD cover. Glad to say the music holds true to that image – gentle singer/songwriter with a lovely voice, in the spirit of Paul McCartney’s non-syrupy ballads and my dear David Mead.
17. SAM ASHWORTH – Look Back (Runway)
This 2-track CD includes one song from the above album, plus a cover of Hall & Oates’ “Maneater.”
18. CHARLIE PEACOCK – Love Express Ex-Curio (Runway)
Gonna give this one a chance based on song titles like “Be Well Johnny Cash,” “Frank the Marxist Memorial Gong Blues” and “Bucketachicken.”
19. RUNWAY NETWORK SAMPLER (Runway)
Peacock, Ashworth, Arkitekt, Andy Davis and Astronaut Pushers.
20. TOOTHFAIRY – The CMJ Demo (Noiseville.com)
Give these guys credit for trying. There was a copy of this CD put in every attendee’s goodie bag to promote a CD out in October with the catchy title “Does Not Work Well with Reality.” The inside booklet asks you to pass the CD around and burn copies for friends. (How do you like that, RIAA?)
21. T BREAK CD SAMPLER 2005 (Tinthepark.com)
Twelve tracks from bands of UK (possibly all Irish?) origins, festooned with logos from the Sunday Herald, BBC Radio and other sponsors. The chatty guys at the table where these were given out had lovely Across the Pond accents and knew the band Bell X-1, which I had happily encountered some years back on a trip to Ireland. As with any compilation, not everything works for me, but there are some good unsigned acts here, god help ‘em.
YTD: 878
And now, a brief moment from a new, ongoing series, in which I repeat descriptive phrases from hardcore and death metal press releases, and which will hereforth be known as
HEAVY METAL HA-HA
"There’s something diseased about their sound; the tracks have a morbid sickness to them, and the gut reaction of good, decent folk is to stay the hell away." - StonerRock.com
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