{"id":524,"date":"2006-09-11T10:23:56","date_gmt":"2006-09-11T18:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/archives\/2006\/09\/11\/im-listening-to-3\/"},"modified":"2006-09-11T10:27:38","modified_gmt":"2006-09-11T18:27:38","slug":"im-listening-to-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/2006\/09\/11\/im-listening-to-3\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m Listening To"},"content":{"rendered":"

"Easy"<\/strong>
Barenaked Ladies<\/p>\n

You can obfuscate and manipulate but it’s only at your own expense<\/em><\/p>\n

So I’m driving to KLSX last night listening to XM’s Cafe and I hear this new song by BNL.<\/p>\n

You might think BNL is a novelty act.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d probably refer to it as nerd rock.\u00c2\u00a0 But when they get it right, you get this warm feeling inside, sans all the attitude and crap sold to us by the majors.<\/p>\n

That’s right.\u00c2\u00a0 BNL is no longer on a major.\u00c2\u00a0 If for some reason you’ve been living somewhere outside Internet access, and that begs the question how you’re reading this, read: <\/p>\n

\n

No Suit Required<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

BNL is Terry McBride’s guinea pig.\u00c2\u00a0 Are they too early, or is the timing just right?\u00c2\u00a0 Are the days of major media penetration by anybody but the U2s done?\u00c2\u00a0 AND, it’s not like Top Forty radio played U2…\u00c2\u00a0 BNL probably can’t have a "One Week" again.\u00c2\u00a0 But, can they service the core, and then as a result of this focused relationship GROW the core?\u00c2\u00a0 Or, to put it another way, just by servicing the core CAN THEY MAKE MORE MONEY?<\/p>\n

But this is about music.<\/p>\n

We don’t hear this kind of sweet sound on terrestrial radio anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 Top Forty is edgy and in your face.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas when music is done best, it sets your mind free.\u00c2\u00a0 There’s a direct link between "Easy" and the records of the seventies.\u00c2\u00a0 Not only Pure Prairie League but all those arty English acts.\u00c2\u00a0 There are changes, and the above lyric.\u00c2\u00a0 In an era where all the mainstream acts are insulting our collective intelligence to hear the word "obfuscate" is a true head-turner.\u00c2\u00a0 It was the use of this term and the changes that got me to write about this.<\/p>\n

Go to: <\/p>\n

\n

Barenaked Ladies<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s\u00c2\u00a0the fourth\/last track.<\/p>\n

"Gone To Carolina"<\/strong>
Shooter Jennings<\/p>\n

They’ve got this hilarious station on Sirius, 63, Outlaw Country<\/a><\/p>\n

The interesting thing is, much of what they play ISN’T country.\u00c2\u00a0 Do you consider Lynyrd Skynyrd country?<\/p>\n

Many acts have gone soft, taken away the edge, added a twang and tried to get on the country charts.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the OPPOSITE!\u00c2\u00a0 Imagine you got fucked up on a case of beer and picked up your Stratocaster and sat on your front porch and WAILED!\u00c2\u00a0 THAT’S what so much of the music on Outlaw Country sounds like.\u00c2\u00a0 And if you’re a dyed-in-the-wool rocker, you’ll like about fifty percent of it.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is enough on a satellite station.<\/p>\n

Oh, there’s some idiocy, like Don Imus’ brother Fred.\u00c2\u00a0 Does ANYBODY with a name get to have a show on Sirius?\u00c2\u00a0 Does the ability to do good radio have ANYTHING to do with deejaying?\u00c2\u00a0 But, I get a kick out of listening.\u00c2\u00a0 And it’s there where I heard this.<\/p>\n

"Gone To Carolina" is derivative.\u00c2\u00a0 But traditional rock acts don’t cut shit like this anymore.\u00c2\u00a0 Modern rock is ACTIVE rock.\u00c2\u00a0 It doesn’t get you in your heart, it assaults your senses.\u00c2\u00a0 The changes are unfamiliar, it’s all attitude.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas this is soulful stuff.\u00c2\u00a0 For hard-working people at the bar after their factory shift.<\/p>\n

If drive alone with the wind rustling your hair and your mind running through your history "Gone To Carolina" will feel good.<\/p>\n

Check it out at: <\/p>\n

\n

Shooter Jennings<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s the very first track.<\/p>\n

"Everybody’s Numb"
<\/strong>Thea Gilmore<\/p>\n

If this were the seventies, THE EIGHTIES, Thea Gilmore would be a breaking act.<\/p>\n

In the seventies, AOR stations played female singers.\u00c2\u00a0 Especially someone like Thea, who has something to say and can ROCK!<\/p>\n

But most people have never heard of this English act.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 Imagine Romeo Void on MTV today…\u00c2\u00a0 COULDN’T HAPPEN, Debora Iyall was FAT!<\/p>\n

And it’s not only MTV, it’s KROQ.\u00c2\u00a0 This kind of stuff used to be RIGHT UP KROQ’s alley.\u00c2\u00a0 Back when the station still meant something, when it wasn’t coasting on a decades-old reputation.<\/p>\n

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<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes, Thea Gilmore’s into social commentary.\u00c2\u00a0 Which is probably why she’s been featured on NPR not CBS.<\/p>\n

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.\u00c2\u00a0 Such doublespeak makes us NUMB!<\/p>\n

But, unlike so much social commentary, "Everybody’s Numb" is good music.\u00c2\u00a0 Check it out: <\/p>\n

\n

Thea Gilmore<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It’s the third song.<\/p>\n

"Just Like A Man"
<\/strong>Del Amitri<\/p>\n

Forget "Roll To Me", this is no trifle.<\/p>\n

We need deejays to pick out the winners.\u00c2\u00a0 I heard this and the above Thea Gilmore track on Mike Marrone’s XM Loft.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m a mild Del Amitri fan, but I never heard this before.<\/p>\n

"Just Like A Man" is not Top Forty fodder.\u00c2\u00a0 But like Thea, even MORE than Thea, back in the days of rock radio and open playlists this would have fit right in.\u00c2\u00a0 When it used to be about playing more than attitude.\u00c2\u00a0 When it used to be about sounding right as opposed to the STORY the label was telling.<\/p>\n

This is not on the band’s MySpace site (and can you believe they’re still together?)\u00c2\u00a0 But this is a total winner.\u00c2\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

"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.\u00c2\u00a0 I’d probably refer to it as nerd rock.\u00c2\u00a0 But when they get it right, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-8s","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}