Tracks
"Top Yourself"
The Raconteurs
What made Zeppelin legendary was that the band’s music seemed to exist in a vacuum. Sure, there were blues references, you could understand where they were coming from, but where they arrived, where they landed, was completely unforeseen. They appeared to be the only band inhabiting this new territory, which was fully developed, an alternative universe. The band’s power was so strong, it didn’t even have to put a label on its album cover. The act’s most legendary album, coming off the relative sales disappointment of "III", didn’t feature the band’s name, but contained what ultimately became the number one track in the history of FM radio. That’s what we’re looking for, something unique, that draws us to it via sheer magnetism as opposed to sheer hype.
Speaking of hype, that’s one of the reasons I kept the White Stripes at bay. The color-coordinated clothing, it bespoke gimmick as opposed to music. It DEMANDED attention, the opposite of Led Zeppelin. Zeppelin was an aroma, that your nose couldn’t help but smell. Whereas the White Stripes were a confection.
So I dismissed the Raconteurs soon in the band’s career too. Sure, you got a full band, but it was too Jack White, too many squeezed out vocals, too much need for attention. But today, I heard "Top Yourself". And what enraptured me was the way the track broke down, right in the center. Just when a band looking for attention ramps it up, gets everybody to play full bore at 11, the music dropped out and the minor guitar figure seemed to come from over the hills and far away.
"Top Yourself" doesn’t sound like a Top Forty track, not one you’re going to dance to at the discotheque as you try to get lucky. Sure, you can move your body, but what’s gonna happen when the song slows down and the banjo kicks in?
Don’t tell me I’m late to the picture. Music is new the first time you hear it. Don’t tell me the track is not "Stairway To Heaven". I’ll tell you it’s an indication of a way out. We’re gonna get out of this mess via experimentation, not by winnowing the sound down to fit a radio format fewer people listen to every day.
As soon as I got home, I fired up Spotify. That’s when I discovered not only was there a standard version, the one from the album, that I’d just heard on the radio, but a bluegrass take. Which was just as magical in its own right. A great music service can lead to discovery, it can enrich the experience. I checked out more of the Raconteurs album. That’s what you want, a cut so good people want more.
The Raconteurs – Top Yourself, Bluegrass Version(The original is not on the band’s Website, there’s only a 30 second snippet on MySpace, you get live tracks on YouTube… Thank god for Spotify. And imeem)
"Listening To NRBQ"
Jim Boggia
Then there are the people who work in miniature. Detailing a tiny moment of life, pre the oversharing of Facebook. But this passing moment, which appears to only be important to the singer, ends up being universal.
If you love Big Star’s "Thirteen". If you’re the kind of geek who doesn’t care if everybody loves the music you do. If you don’t mind if they do, but care more if you find one member of the opposite sex who does…you’re the kind of listener who will appreciate "Listening to NRBQ".
Can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of Al Anderson and the boys. At first the mention of the band’s name in the song seemed a cheap shot. But the more the lyrics went by, the more I liked the song.
We started dating during Watergate.
We would stay up late
_trashing Nixon.
_Showed you my collection of vinyl sides
_- LPs and 45s – _
my addiction.
That’s what you want to do, share your addictions and be accepted for them. The cheerleaders would laugh and sneer. The football players would break a few records to show you who’s boss. But could there be a special person out there who can see the value of your interests?
I had a Charger with a big V8.
That mother started great.
Yeah, it hauled ass. _
It had an after-market stereo _
with FM radio
and an 8Track.
I know, another guy singing about driving around in his car. But wait, did you ever hear someone sing about his AFTER-MARKET stereo? Have you ever even heard that term in a song? In the early seventies it was hard to find a car with a factory-installed FM radio, never mind an 8-track. That’s what you did, you went out and got a Craig, and got it installed, usually UNDER THE DASH!
Got us tickets on your birthday _
for a show in Detroit _
and we drove four hours one-way. _
When we got there we sat down in front
and started to kiss.
And then Terry took a solo and it went like this:
Come on, if you’re reading this you’ve had this experience. Maybe the girl didn’t even realize it was a date, even though it was in your mind. You wanted to share the experience with her. It was a highlight of your life, that passes through your brain on a regular basis, years later.
Speaking of years later:
And now I’m older with a wife and kid.
Won’t believe what I did
with my vinyl. _
Put it on eBay and sold all of it
and though I regret it _
‘All Sales Final’.
Maybe you just moved your records to the basement, or the garage. The woman you married won’t tolerate the clutter. You met her when you were more mature, when you were attractive because of your gig, when your warts were hidden. So, you still think of…
"Listening To NRBQ" is like a less-snarky Fountains Of Wayne track. You feel drawn in, without having to marvel at the education. Check it out:
"Show Me What I’m Looking For"
Carolina Liar
I was cruising up the Sirius stations and I found this. Great changes with an anthemic quality. Every time the song changes, the background changes. You want to change the channel, but you can’t.
I’m sure there’s a backstory here. Maybe a bidding war, maybe an overhype. Maybe I’m supposed to hate this band. But I just stumbled upon the track and it was listenable. And that’s the first criterion. And when I just dialed up the album on Rhapsody, the opening track had that same immediate quality, of gripping you.
Oops, just did some research. All adds up now. It’s MAX MARTIN!
"Danger"
Eric Clapton & J.J. Cale
Another E.C. album, another mediocre review. Even though I saw Cream twice, I’ve given up. He went too bland, he played it too safe. Too many ballads and not enough picking.
This seemed like a brilliant collaboration in theory, but I never read a ringing endorsement. And then this track comes over my Slacker radio.
I heard another great one from the collaboration with B.B. King.
We just need to hear these cuts. We don’t have a piracy problem so much as an EXPOSURE problem. We don’t know what to listen to. It’s like going into a record store in an era before radio. All the discs are there, are you gonna play them all to find out what’s good? No, you need guidance.
Too often the shoppers in indie stores need no advice. They just need someone to discuss their addiction with. The shoppers at the big box need help, but the workers there are clueless. Maybe the indie stores and the big boxes can switch employees?
Meanwhile, everybody’s online, where everything’s available and everybody’s overwhelmed.
I love discovering new music. One of life’s great pleasures. I rely on radio, both Sirius/XM and Slacker. I’d like a site that winnows the good from the bad, that isn’t in bed with the labels, that isn’t trying to be hipper than thou. I don’t know how you’re satiated with your iPod. It only plays what you already know!
