{"id":1691,"date":"2009-02-13T10:28:23","date_gmt":"2009-02-13T18:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/?p=1691"},"modified":"2009-02-13T10:31:52","modified_gmt":"2009-02-13T18:31:52","slug":"tracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2009\/02\/13\/tracks\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracks"},"content":{"rendered":"

"Top Yourself"<\/span>
The Raconteurs<\/span><\/p>\n

What made Zeppelin legendary was that the band’s music seemed to exist in a vacuum.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, there were blues references, you could understand where they were coming from, but where they arrived, where they landed, was completely unforeseen.\u00c2\u00a0 They appeared to be the only band inhabiting this new territory, which was fully developed, an alternative universe.\u00c2\u00a0 The band’s power was so strong, it didn’t even have to put a label on its album cover.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what we’re looking for, something unique, that draws us to it via sheer magnetism as opposed to sheer hype.<\/p>\n

Speaking of hype, that’s one of the reasons I kept the White Stripes at bay.\u00c2\u00a0 The color-coordinated clothing, it bespoke gimmick as opposed to music.\u00c2\u00a0 It DEMANDED attention, the opposite of Led Zeppelin.\u00c2\u00a0 Zeppelin was an aroma, that your nose couldn’t help but smell.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas the White Stripes were a confection.<\/p>\n

So I dismissed the Raconteurs soon in the band’s career too.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, you got a full band, but it was too Jack White, too many squeezed out vocals, too much need for attention.\u00c2\u00a0 But today, I heard "Top Yourself".\u00c2\u00a0 And what enraptured me was the way the track broke down, right in the center.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

"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.\u00c2\u00a0 Sure, you can move your body, but what’s gonna happen when the song slows down and the banjo kicks in?<\/p>\n

Don’t tell me I’m late to the picture.\u00c2\u00a0 Music is new the first time you hear it.\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t tell me the track is not "Stairway To Heaven".\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll tell you it’s an indication of a way out.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

As soon as I got home, I fired up Spotify.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Which was just as magical in its own right.\u00c2\u00a0 A great music service can lead to discovery, it can enrich the experience.\u00c2\u00a0 I checked out more of the Raconteurs album.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what you want, a cut so good people want more.<\/p>\n

\n
The Raconteurs – Top Yourself, Bluegrass Version<\/a><\/p>\n

(The original is not on the band’s Website, there’s only a 30 second snippet on MySpace, you get live tracks on YouTube…\u00c2\u00a0 Thank god for Spotify.\u00c2\u00a0 And imeem<\/a>)<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n


"Listening To NRBQ"<\/span>
Jim Boggia<\/span><\/p>\n

Then there are the people who work in miniature.\u00c2\u00a0 Detailing a tiny moment of life, pre the oversharing of Facebook.\u00c2\u00a0 But this passing moment, which appears to only be important to the singer, ends up being universal.<\/p>\n

If you love Big Star’s "Thirteen".\u00c2\u00a0 If you’re the kind of geek who doesn’t care if everybody loves the music you do.\u00c2\u00a0 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".<\/p>\n

Can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of Al Anderson and the boys.\u00c2\u00a0 At first the mention of the band’s name in the song seemed a cheap shot.\u00c2\u00a0 But the more the lyrics went by, the more I liked the song.<\/p>\n

We started dating during Watergate. <\/span>
We would stay up late <\/span>
_trashing Nixon. <\/span>
_Showed you my collection of vinyl sides<\/span>
_- LPs and 45s – _<\/span>
my addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s what you want to do, share your addictions and be accepted for them.\u00c2\u00a0 The cheerleaders would laugh and sneer.\u00c2\u00a0 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?<\/p>\n

I had a Charger with a big V8. <\/span>
That mother started great. <\/span>
Yeah, it hauled ass. _<\/span>
It had an after-market stereo _<\/span>
with FM radio<\/span>
and an 8Track.<\/span><\/p>\n

I know, another guy singing about driving around in his car.\u00c2\u00a0 But wait, did you ever hear someone sing about his AFTER-MARKET stereo?\u00c2\u00a0 Have you ever even heard that term in a song?\u00c2\u00a0 In the early seventies it was hard to find a car with a factory-installed FM radio, never mind an 8-track.\u00c2\u00a0 That’s what you did, you went out and got a Craig, and got it installed, usually UNDER THE DASH!<\/p>\n

Got us tickets on your birthday _<\/span>
for a show in Detroit _<\/span>
and we drove four hours one-way. _<\/span>
When we got there we sat down in front<\/span>
and started to kiss. <\/span>
And then Terry took a solo and it went like this:<\/span><\/p>\n

Come on, if you’re reading this you’ve had this experience.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe the girl didn’t even realize it was a date, even though it was in your mind.\u00c2\u00a0 You wanted to share the experience with her.\u00c2\u00a0 It was a highlight of your life, that passes through your brain on a regular basis, years later.<\/p>\n

Speaking of years later:<\/p>\n

And now I’m older with a wife and kid.<\/span>
Won’t believe what I did<\/span>
with my vinyl. _<\/span>
Put it on eBay and sold all of it <\/span>
and though I regret it _<\/span>
‘All Sales Final’.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maybe you just moved your records to the basement, or the garage.\u00c2\u00a0 The woman you married won’t tolerate the clutter.\u00c2\u00a0 You met her when you were more mature, when you were attractive because of your gig, when your warts were hidden.\u00c2\u00a0 So, you still think of…<\/p>\n

"Listening To NRBQ" is like a less-snarky Fountains Of Wayne track.\u00c2\u00a0 You feel drawn in, without having to marvel at the education.\u00c2\u00a0 Check it out: <\/p>\n

\n
Listening to NRBQ<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n


"Show Me What I’m Looking For"<\/span>
Carolina Liar<\/span><\/p>\n

I was cruising up the Sirius stations and I found this.\u00c2\u00a0 Great changes with an anthemic quality.\u00c2\u00a0 Every time the song changes, the background changes.\u00c2\u00a0 You want to change the channel, but you can’t.<\/p>\n

I’m sure there’s a backstory here.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe a bidding war, maybe an overhype.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe I’m supposed to hate this band.\u00c2\u00a0 But I just stumbled upon the track and it was listenable.\u00c2\u00a0 And that’s the first criterion.\u00c2\u00a0 And when I just dialed up the album on Rhapsody, the opening track had that same immediate quality, of gripping you.<\/p>\n

Oops, just did some research.\u00c2\u00a0 All adds up now.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s MAX MARTIN!<\/p>\n

\n
"Show Me What I’m Looking For"
Carolina Liar<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n


"Danger"<\/span>
Eric Clapton & J.J. Cale<\/span><\/p>\n

Another E.C. album, another mediocre review.\u00c2\u00a0 Even though I saw Cream twice, I’ve given up.\u00c2\u00a0 He went too bland, he played it too safe.\u00c2\u00a0 Too many ballads and not enough picking.<\/p>\n

This seemed like a brilliant collaboration in theory, but I never read a ringing endorsement.\u00c2\u00a0 And then this track comes over my Slacker radio.<\/p>\n

I heard another great one from the collaboration with B.B. King.<\/p>\n

We just need to hear these cuts.\u00c2\u00a0 We don’t have a piracy problem so much as an EXPOSURE problem.\u00c2\u00a0 We don’t know what to listen to.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s like going into a record store in an era before radio.\u00c2\u00a0 All the discs are there, are you gonna play them all to find out what’s good?\u00c2\u00a0 No, you need guidance.<\/p>\n

Too often the shoppers in indie stores need no advice.\u00c2\u00a0 They just need someone to discuss their addiction with.\u00c2\u00a0 The shoppers at the big box need help, but the workers there are clueless.\u00c2\u00a0 Maybe the indie stores and the big boxes can switch employees?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, everybody’s online, where everything’s available and everybody’s overwhelmed.<\/p>\n

I love discovering new music.\u00c2\u00a0 One of life’s great pleasures.\u00c2\u00a0 I rely on radio, both Sirius\/XM and Slacker.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 I don’t know how you’re satiated with your iPod.\u00c2\u00a0 It only plays what you already know!<\/p>\n

\n
"Danger"
Eric Clapton & J.J. Cale<\/a><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

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