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There are always lines that are hard to cross. A line was in the sand for me today as I read MAGNET’s Elliott Smith feature on the 5 most over and underrated tracks by the late, great Smith. Is it too soon to cross the line and begin talking about songs of Smith’s that are overrated?? Maybe. Maybe not.
4 of the 5 songs the writer Corey duBrowa chose as overrated are the more mainstream sounding of Smith’s songs. duBrowa basically says the songs lack as a result of their over-production and is careful not to say the songs themselves are no good, which makes it abundantly clear that duBrowa probably felt similarly about dissecting the Smith catalog.
I still listen to Elliott Smith constantly and find new things that I love about his songs. This feature was a reminder of some songs i’ve forgotten and also of the lasting nature of Elliott Smith and his music. More than 5 years have past since his death and he is still the subject of countless magazine features, blog posts and endless conversations.
You can stream the songs over at MAGNET but for your enjoyment here are a couple of my favorite Elliott Smith songs.
Condor Ave. from “Roman Candle”
Bled White from “XO”
Georgia, Georgia from “New Moon”
Click the above links.
Elliott Smith- Bled White
Elliott Smith- Condor Ave.
Elliott Smith- Georgia, Georgia
Being from Connecticut, when I first heard the buzz about some band from New London I was tickled. Of course, there are some bands from New London that are great. The Quiet Life, for example. But the noise surrounding the Condo Fucks is LOUD.
The band just released a live rehearsal album called “Fuckbook.” Lovely. The music is pure and simple garage with a country-rock age.
Turns out the Condo Fucks are actually Yo La Tengo playing a bunch of covers under a mysterious moniker. What kind of bizarre move is this? An interview in the Hartford Courant by the great Chris Arnott sheds some light. (I’m pretty sure I took that photo on his page when I was a reporter at The New Haven Independent, what no credit?!)
Without the background though, I think the music of The Condo Fucks would pass under the radar. What do you think? Stream a couple of songs over at Aquarium Drunkard.
This has been out for a little while now but in case you haven’t heard it….
Sonic Youth Montage
Sonic Youth release their 16th studio album, “The Eternal” on Matador (not Geffen) on June 9.
If you live in Brooklyn, and if you’re my neighbor in Bed Stuy/Clinton Hill, you know this song. I swear it’s blaring out of every other car that passes by. I’m not a Jamie Foxx fan, with the exception of Collateral, which is the shit, maybe that’s because of Tom Cruise though, whom I still have a soft spot for…. Regardless, this song is the jam. And the video is high-larious. Embedding is disabled, which is some bull-sh*t. But just follow the link for Ron Howard, Jake Gyllenhaal (oh yeah) and the aaaaaaalcohol.
Try this as a way to keep hearing it fuckin’ loud.
Isn’t the fake Buscemi better at tweeting than you could ever hope the real Buscemi to be? I mean, come on. His tweets are about having sex with Martha Stewart, getting drunk and eating, among other things, and yet, they’re poetic in some way. Mad props to the faker.
Jere Hester, (disclosure: we worked together when i was a CUNY Journ grad student), discusses the fake twitterers in a story today. While he makes a good point that with social networking comes some deception, Twitter is more for fun than for newsmaking, in my opinion. Sure, journalists are all over Twitter posting links to stories that originated elsewhere. But the best part about Twitter, again in my opinion, is the hilarity and clarity that can come from just 140 characters.
For example: Ashton (he’s real and Tweets so much i’m SURE he has an assistant who does it for him) on Tom Selleck:
Goodmorning to the homeland! I met the great tom selleck today. So jealous of the stache. It’s glorious and full. He really cool too.
But back to fake v. real. I like that Ashton is real and I can feel like I know him (haha). And I was a little crushed to discover Buscemi wasn’t real, especially after I received a direct reply from him! But Tweets are entertaining, real or fake.
Are you supposed to be charmed by short boys with long hair singing about being bored and doing drugs because there’s nothing else to do? I was. More later on this topic….
PS – He was basically the same height as his Marshall stack.
Tonight:
Real Estate.Vampire Hands.Wavves.DD/MM/YYYY
Mercury Lounge, 730 pm
Wednesday and Thursday
Dinosaur Jr. and Awesome Color
Daniel St., Milford, CT and Club Hell, Providence, RI
(ANYONE WANT TO GO? NO NYC DATES…)
Saturday
Santos Party House, 8 pm
Tanlines at FaderFORT, CMJ 08, foto by Georgia Kral
If you love owning albums like I do you’ve probably been looking forward to this year’s Record Store Day. Or, maybe not. Either way- it’s right around the corner on April 18.
In conjunction with Record Store Day, dozens of artists are releasing rare and exclusive items. Some highlights:
Bad Religion’s Original EP 7″ reissue, Grateful Dead t-shirt exclusively for RSD, Jenny Lewis and Elvis Costello in a never before released 7″ featuring “Carpet Baggers” and “Go Away,” Grizzly Bear 7″ Live on KCRW and more.
There will also be local Brooklyn and New York events happening in conjunction with RSD. Check the site for more info and a participating store near you.
