Heavy Rotation #10

As we head into June, I thought I'd mention the albums that got the most play in May...

The Beatles/Revolver - This is the other of my two favorite Beatle albums. John's "I'm Only Sleeping" is just a perfect marriage of lyric and music - that woozy, chuggy feeling of needing some sleep. Paul's "Eleanor Rigby" is famous, of course, and justifiably so with the strings and the sense of urgency to such a depressing song. All that, plus 12 other great songs too!

The National/High Violet - This is the newest album from the band and it's another winner. One could listen to "Bloodbuzz Ohio" or "Afraid of Anyone" over and over and over again and still be entranced on the tenth repeated play. I really should do a longer post on this one.

The New Pornographers/Together - This has everything you want from a New Pornos record. An insanely catchy song or five? Check. Neko Case working those pipes? Check. A brilliant Dan Bejar song that you have no idea what it means? Check ("Silver Jenny Dollar," in this case). Just another great album (their 5th) from a great band.

Matthew Sweet/100% Fun - I tend to think of this as Sweet's 3rd album (behind Girlfriend and Altered Beast) but it's actually his 5th. No matter the number, this is a collection of great songs of the power pop persuasion and a highly underrated album of the 90s. I have an idea for a series of posts and this one will definitely be covered more in depth.

Heavy Rotation #9

I've spent a fair amount of my listening time over the last few weeks in shuffle mode, whether on the main computer or my iPod. I have, however, managed to listen to a few things a handful of times each...

AC/DC/Back in Black - I've never owned this album before but bought it on a whim with some birthday money. Sure, there's the awesome opening of "Hells Bells" and the flat-out great "You Shook Me All Night Long" but I'm digging the stuff I've never heard before like "What Do You Do For Money Honey" and "Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" (which I can't stop singing).

The Beatles/Rubber Soul - This is #1 or #2 on my list of favorite Beatles albums, depending on what day you ask me. Actually, since I've been listening to it a lot these past few weeks it would probably rank #1 right now. Why? How about some great John songs like "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)," "Nowhere Man," "Girl," and "Run For Your Life?"

Big Star/#1 Record/Radio City - The recent death of Alex Chilton had me diving back into this combo of the group's first two albums. Together, they are two of the best power pop albums ever recorded with song after great song.

The National/Alligator - They have a new album coming out in a few weeks, so I've been reacquainting myself with this one, their album before the last one. I'd forgotten just how awesome this one is, especially the five song set that closes the album - "All The Wine," "Abel," "The Geese of Beverly Road," "City Middle," and the raging "Mr. November." Listening to this also reminds me of my friend Mike (who blogged as Little Toy Robot), who recommended I check it out the first and only time we met face to face. Wish he were still around...

Heavy Rotation #8

Here's what I've been listening to the most in the last half of March...

The Beatles/Help!

Clem Snide/The Meat of Life

Drive-By Truckers/The Big To-Do

Ted Leo & the Pharmacists/The Brutalist Bricks

Sparklehorse/Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain

Heavy Rotation #7

As we head towards the middle of March, here's a few things I've been listening to a lot lately...

Ryan Adams/Heartbreaker

The Beatles/Beatles For Sale

U2/All That You Can't Leave Behind

Heavy Rotation #6

As we start a new month, here's a look at what I couldn't stop listening to at the end of January...

The Beatles/With The Beatles

Crooked Fingers/Dignity And Shame

R.E.M./Reckoning

Spoon/Transference

Bruce Springsteen/Darkness on the Edge of Town

I'm With Them

I've taken the last few weeks to play With The Beatles repeatedly, letting the music soak in. It was the second album from the Fab Four and other one I'd never heard in its entirety. To be honest, there were quite a few songs I'd never heard at all. Still, that's the fun, isn't it?

For me, this is an album that gains steam as it goes along. Sure, there's fun in the descending chords that end "It Won't Be Long" and the nifty bassline working with McCartney's melody in "All My Loving." I was surprised to hear "All I've Got To Do," which feels like it could be a protoype for low-fi indie rock - the instrumentation is sparse but effective.

George Harrison really shines on his first Beatles original, "Don't Bother Me." It has a nice groove to it and a short, sharp guitar solo. The harmonica comes out for "Little Child," which feels like a 50s-style rocker. "Till There Was You" has such a pretty melody but such goofy lyrics - "There was music and wonderful roses." You know, I don't remember that song from The Music Man but it's been a long time since I've seen it.

The covers continue with the great "Please Mr. Postman" as the boys harmonize and a solid take on Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven." The one original stuck between all the covers is "Hold Me Tight" with its fun call-and-response vocals.

I love their version of Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold on Me." John and George sound great together harmonizing on the verses and when Paul joins in on the choruses...wow. Plus, Ringo's drum fills are great.

Speaking of Ringo, he rips it up on "I Wanna Be Your Man" along with some cool Hammond B3 organ and nice lead work from George. What a great little tune. And speaking of George, he's back in the lead with "Devil In Her Heart" and so are the great three-part harmonies. Then speaking of Ringo again, his drum work and the piano are highlights of "Not A Second Time."

By the time we get to their cover of "Money (That's What I Want), I realize the album has just gone full-speed ahead and it brings it on home is a rocking way. Hey, this band was pretty good!

Pleased

My biggest Christmas present was the stereo boxed set of the remastered Beatles albums. After listening to them all once, I'm going to try and spend some time with each one over the next few months. First up has been Please Please Me, an album I'd never heard before.

Now obviously, I'd heard a number of the songs from this album - it's hard not to have heard "I Saw Her Standing There" or "Love Me Do" or "Twist and Shout" (which always makes me think of the great scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off). And while I love hearing those songs start up and love singing either harmony part on "Love Me Do," it's the songs I didn't know so well that are stuck in my head.

I love the piano part on "Misery." I love how Ringo tells George to take it away during "Boys" and I love the guitar solo that George plays after that. I love the harmonies and guitar work of "A Taste of Honey." I love "Baby It's You" as a song (and yes, I realize they didn't write it...but it's also possible I love the song because of how they interpret it). And I love the Roy Orbison feel of "P.S. I Love You."

It's an album that is 47 years old but doesn't show its age at all. That's great music, people.

Aftermath

We spent our annual Christmas at my parents' house the past few days. The season started with a drive through icy conditions to pick my brother up from O'Hare on Wednesday night and included a road being closed right before I was going to go on it; I lost time but was able to get him back to my house by 1:00 in the morning. By 1:00 the next afternoon, we had already decamped to DeMotte and got into the swing of the season with a traditional party and tons of food. Yesterday we opened gifts and got a great reaction out of my son when he opened his new PS3. Lots more eating and some euchre playing and the joy of being together as a family followed.

I am now back home, though in a couple hours we will be off to another traditional party with some very close friends. In the meantime, I'm in my usual post-Christmas state of not knowing quite what to do with myself. There is so much I can do that I have a hard time committing to any one thing, so I've been shuffling through my iTunes and poking around the internet.

I do have plenty to listen to, including The Beatles stereo remasters boxed set. I've actually never heard 5 of their albums all the way through (I know, I know) and I still haven't listened to 3 of them yet. In addition, I got the new live Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers anthology, R.E.M.'s deluxe edition of Reckoning, and a Roxy Music album I've never heard.

I also decided to not read the three library books at once - I have three books stockpiled that I've been wanting to read when I have the time. I have the time now and should take advantage of that; after all, I can always check those other books out of the library again. So, I started Peter & Max, the first prose novel set in the world of Fables, on Christmas Eve.

Maybe it would be a good idea to read some more of that and stick Beatles For Sale in the stereo (that's one of the ones I've never heard). Think I will...

Music Downs and Ups

For someone who loves music as much as I do, this week has been a bit of a failure. I don't have a few hundred bucks to spend on the stereo remasters Beatles box set; what's more, I haven't even gotten a single one of the individual releases. I did, however, read the reviews on Pitchfork and Popdose...which is as close as I'll come to listening to them until maybe Christmas. That hasn't stopped me doing my own small part to contribute to this latest round of Beatlemania by breaking out Magical Mystery Tour and The White Album for car listening this week.

I also haven't managed to pick up Popular Songs, the latest from Yo La Tengo. I'm still pretty new to my fandom of the band but it's reached a level that I wanted to own the new one right away. However, it's not yet available on eMusic and if it will be soon (and I hope so), I'd rather wait than pick up a physical copy right now.

So what have I been listening to instead this past week besides The Beatles? The new Two Hours Traffic, Jason Isbell, Patterson Hood, A.A. Bondy, Destroyer, Centro-Matic, South San Gabriel, The Decemberists, Teenage Fanclub, and...Yo La Tengo. Can't complain about any of that.