I’m Listening To
"Easy"
Barenaked Ladies
You can obfuscate and manipulate but it’s only at your own expense
So I’m driving to KLSX last night listening to XM’s Cafe and I hear this new song by BNL.
You might think BNL is a novelty act. I’d probably refer to it as nerd rock. But when they get it right, you get this warm feeling inside, sans all the attitude and crap sold to us by the majors.
That’s right. BNL is no longer on a major. If for some reason you’ve been living somewhere outside Internet access, and that begs the question how you’re reading this, read:
BNL is Terry McBride’s guinea pig. Are they too early, or is the timing just right? Are the days of major media penetration by anybody but the U2s done? AND, it’s not like Top Forty radio played U2… BNL probably can’t have a "One Week" again. But, can they service the core, and then as a result of this focused relationship GROW the core? Or, to put it another way, just by servicing the core CAN THEY MAKE MORE MONEY?
But this is about music.
We don’t hear this kind of sweet sound on terrestrial radio anymore. Top Forty is edgy and in your face. Whereas when music is done best, it sets your mind free. There’s a direct link between "Easy" and the records of the seventies. Not only Pure Prairie League but all those arty English acts. There are changes, and the above lyric. In an era where all the mainstream acts are insulting our collective intelligence to hear the word "obfuscate" is a true head-turner. It was the use of this term and the changes that got me to write about this.
Go to:
It’s the fourth/last track.
"Gone To Carolina"
Shooter Jennings
They’ve got this hilarious station on Sirius, 63, Outlaw Country
The interesting thing is, much of what they play ISN’T country. Do you consider Lynyrd Skynyrd country?
Many acts have gone soft, taken away the edge, added a twang and tried to get on the country charts. This is the OPPOSITE! Imagine you got fucked up on a case of beer and picked up your Stratocaster and sat on your front porch and WAILED! THAT’S what so much of the music on Outlaw Country sounds like. And if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool rocker, you’ll like about fifty percent of it. Which is enough on a satellite station.
Oh, there’s some idiocy, like Don Imus’ brother Fred. Does ANYBODY with a name get to have a show on Sirius? Does the ability to do good radio have ANYTHING to do with deejaying? But, I get a kick out of listening. And it’s there where I heard this.
"Gone To Carolina" is derivative. But traditional rock acts don’t cut shit like this anymore. Modern rock is ACTIVE rock. It doesn’t get you in your heart, it assaults your senses. The changes are unfamiliar, it’s all attitude. Whereas this is soulful stuff. For hard-working people at the bar after their factory shift.
If drive alone with the wind rustling your hair and your mind running through your history "Gone To Carolina" will feel good.
Check it out at:
It’s the very first track.
"Everybody’s Numb"
Thea Gilmore
If this were the seventies, THE EIGHTIES, Thea Gilmore would be a breaking act.
In the seventies, AOR stations played female singers. Especially someone like Thea, who has something to say and can ROCK!
But most people have never heard of this English act. Because unlike in the eighties, MTV doesn’t play females with talent, unless they’re wearing spiked heels and a zillion dollars worth of makeup and hair. Imagine Romeo Void on MTV today… COULDN’T HAPPEN, Debora Iyall was FAT!
And it’s not only MTV, it’s KROQ. This kind of stuff used to be RIGHT UP KROQ’s alley. Back when the station still meant something, when it wasn’t coasting on a decades-old reputation.
So send your armies out into the real world
Reciting lines from nursery rhymes and singing like a jailbird
‘Cause every Caesar needs a tranquilizer gun
Then everybody’s numb
Yes, Thea Gilmore’s into social commentary. Which is probably why she’s been featured on NPR not CBS.
The English are getting rid of the Bush accomplice, but in this country, on the day of infamy, Cheney and his little puppet are beating us down, telling us everything’s perfect, that we must stay the course. Such doublespeak makes us NUMB!
But, unlike so much social commentary, "Everybody’s Numb" is good music. Check it out:
It’s the third song.
"Just Like A Man"
Del Amitri
Forget "Roll To Me", this is no trifle.
We need deejays to pick out the winners. I heard this and the above Thea Gilmore track on Mike Marrone’s XM Loft. I’m a mild Del Amitri fan, but I never heard this before.
"Just Like A Man" is not Top Forty fodder. But like Thea, even MORE than Thea, back in the days of rock radio and open playlists this would have fit right in. When it used to be about playing more than attitude. When it used to be about sounding right as opposed to the STORY the label was telling.
This is not on the band’s MySpace site (and can you believe they’re still together?) But this is a total winner. It’s got the churning guitars of my beloved Silencers, I got it INSTANTLY, before ANY of the above tracks, and they all touch me.
