Sadly, George Carlin died today. Enough can’t be said about George Carlin’s importance not
only to comedy but to American society as well based on his firm belief and dedication to free speech.
I actually met George Carlin a few years ago when he performed at the State Theatre in Ithaca, where I worked at the time. He was very cool, friendly, and unassuming. And of course extremely funny!
So George, thanks for the laughs and thanks for pushing the envelope.
I bought Lou Reed’s New York on cassette on my senior high school class trip to NYC. I guess at
the time I thought it was really cool to buy this record in its namesake city. That aside, New York was my Lou Reed gateway. And what a gateway it was. In the liner notes, Lou Reed asks that the album be listened to as though it were a book or a movie. It has been hailed as one of the best albums of the 1980s by Rolling Stone magazine.
Having been released in 1989, as the album approaches its 20th anniversary, the music still holds. For me, “Halloween Parade” is one of the albums best tracks—an incredibly moving and sadly still relevant—song about AIDS. “Dirty Boulevard” and “Romeo and Juliette” are also standout tracks on an album full of great songs.
For me, New York was really a major musical touch point because—like every artist’s gateway album should be—it connected me to more vital music beyond the individual CD.
Dirty Boulevard Live with David Bowie
Romeo and Juliette Live
I can’t help but think that much of the criticism Scarlett Johansson has received for releasing
Anywhere I Lay My Head comes from the fact that she is, well, Scarlett Johansson and not some beloved indie musician. Beyond that, the fact she dared to touch Tom Waits’ tunes is considered by some to be beyond the pale. This is of course entirely unfair.
The album kicks off with the instrumental, “Fawn.” This opener gives the band a chance to really show its stuff. And great stuff it is. The band is made up of members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Celebration, and TV On The Radio. It is most importantly produced by Dave Sitek of TV On The Radio, whose sonic pallet really is present on Anywhere I Lay My Head. The other key is Scarlett Johansson’s voice. To me, it is really soulful and beautiful.
The combination of vocal, band, and production is what allows these songs by Tom Waits be reinterpreted in such a great way. “Falling Down,” the first single, is just so powerful. So when Scarlett Johansson sings, “I have come 500 miles / Just to see a halo,” it is just so fervid. And in the end, this is what music should do.
Check out a live version of “Falling Down.”
So I flew to San Diego today for business. During the long flight from NY to CA, I mostly listened to my iPod. But since I was flying Jet Blue, I had access to DirecTV during the flight. I set the TV to VH1 Classics and watched videos to my own sound track. In my totally unscientific survey I have made a little chart comparing the good to the bad. It’s totally subjective, of course. If you like some of my bads, I apologize.
Good
Mexican Radio by Wall of Voodoo
Never Say Never by Romeo Void
When the Doves Cry by Prince
The Bad
Rod Stewart in Tight Pants in the Video for Infatuation
Those 80s Colors
Blazers with T-Shirts
Cher in a thong outfit thing with her tattooed a**
While Snake and a woman writhing around on a car
And the ultimate BAD: Rick James in a Speedo (Yikes!)
I have seen the film Repo Man innumerable times—but not perhaps in 20 or more years. It really
is a great movie, especially when you are an emerging punk rock 14 year old. I even sported the single dangly cross earring look for a time. So while my taste in films and fashion may have changed (perhaps for the better?), I still dig this soundtrack. What a killer collection of bands and songs: Iggy Pop, Black Flag, The Circle Jerks, Fear, and Suicidal Tendencies. These were really the huge punk bands of the 80s and there they are all on one great little soundtrack (which I will listen to) to a great little film (which I likely will neither watch again nor sport the single dangly cross earring look [for which I bet my wife will be very grateful]).
So June being the 6th month of the year, I started thinking about what albums from 2007 I was still really digging and listening to frequently. Listening to Brandi Carlile’s The Story was what got me thinking about this. What a great record that is! So what others?
The Shins, Wincing the Night Away
The Good, The Bad & the Queen, The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
And what are you still listening to from 2007? Here are a couple of the standout tracks from this list.
