90s Classic Rock Radio

* RE: Classic 90s Rock Radio at Retromania. When I first heard this tune I was confused by the fact that it was obviously metal but it had incredibly melodic bits which reminded me of REM backing vocals. Anyway they ended up being one of the few Seattle bands I liked in the end. Over the years they grew in my estimation and are now seen by me as the premier 90s Seattle band as opposed to Mudhoney who funnily enough I can't stand anymore but were one of the few Seattle groups I liked at the time. Let's face it Ratcat were way better than those drab old geezers plus we already had The Cosmic Psychos, The Hard Ons, The New Christs, feedtime, Kim Salmon, King Snake Roost, Lubricated Goat etc. in Australia. We also had a great bunch of Detroit influenced rock bands in the 70s and 80s. What good were a z-grade Stooges to anyone here. We didn't need it! Our scuzz was better than their scuzz. I suppose I would probably still quite like Screaming Trees but haven't listened to them in a very long time. Two Christmases back we (me, my wife & her mum) watched Nirvana Unplugged and Alice In Chains Unplugged back to back and it was no contest, Alice In Chains won hands down. Nirvana were alright but what struck me most, apart from Cobain's youthful good looks, was that they were one of the least unique rock bands in history. I guess this shouldn't have surprised me because when I first heard them pre-Nevermind I thought they were pointlessly generic. After the outlandish excitement of Husker Du, The Replacements, The Meat Puppets, Dinosaur Jr., Butthole Surfers, Sonic Youth, The Pixies et al. Nirvana seemed a bit clueless and a little dull like a second rate Buffalo Tom. I thought time may have been kinder to them but no they were way more record collection rock than say Primal Scream. Don't get me wrong either I don't hate Primal Scream at all, I love Screamadelica, gee I've just realised what a great LP title that is. Good record collection rock = Pavement's Slanted & Enchanted (may have to give it another listen just to make sure) and She Hangs Brightly by Mazzy Star. Bad record collection rock = Blur, Nirvana, Oasis, You Am I, and so so many I can't remember.

Can't believe how good this still sounds. Momentous early 90s dance/rock masterpiece.

Ian Svenonius, Shite Endings & The Replacements.

Got this the other day. I bought it because I thought I was gonna hate it. Having a quick glance though, it looks really funny. I dunno why I thought I'd hate it considering I didn't hate the Make Up and I really enjoyed some of those Weird War records. This guy's got the gift of the gab. I don't necessarily agree with everything Joe Carducci has to say but fuck I love the way he writes. So Mr Svenonius is probably a similar case. We'll see.....

*Worst non ending to a film I've seen recently would have to be the Australian film Wish You Were Here. How about an ending guys. Grrr...Thanks a fuckin lot.... another couple of hours I can't get back.

**Were The Replacements an indie band?  Talk about a band in the wrong situation. There was nothing cool or fashionable about The Replacements They were as anachronistic as Tom Petty Or The Georgia Satellites and yet they were seen by rock crits as an integral part of the 80s musical landscape. They would have been better off being sold in a more rock Sunset Strip kinda way doncha think? They probably should have been a mainstream band (like the bands they influenced Green Day, Nirvana, ugh! Goo Goo Dolls).  They were just as rockin and catchy as Bon Jovi or The Boss! They weren't willing to play the game though. I guess that made them outsiders.  One of them I noticed ended up in a later version of Guns & Roses. That makes total sense to me.  If Robert Christgau starts liking your band is it time to start dismantling your group.

Ya think Kurt Cobain liked this track?

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti

Here's the only track off the new LP that I can find on the youtubes, it reminds me a little of The Go-Betweens well instrumentally anyway because nobody sings like Ariel does. Just listening to the album again and is it Tina Turner on Baby? I'm thinking now these tracks could've been recorded anywhere between The Doldrums and Before Today. It's more upfront in it's new waviness ie. not swathed in so much hiss or noise but also not as overtly Hi-Fi or reverby as Before Today.

*What I meant by it not being his In Utero (Nirvana's follow up to Nevermind) is that he wasn't trying to go back to street cred/noncommercial roots due to a loss of nerve ala Cobain Stylee. You know second guessing himself and all that and being torn between mainstream and indie culture. I don't think Before Today sold that many units for Ariel to be having such an artistic/existential dilemma of this kind. It was probably good in the end that it wasn't his Nevermind (Before Today that is) now.

*And what I meant by it not being Ariel's Dirty (SYs 2nd major label LP) Sonic Youth's follow up to Goo their first  LP for a major label. On Dirty is where Sonic Youth went off with budgets and production and everything. They went OTT and it was a brilliant move but a hard one to come back from. I think at the time time Thurston was calling it their Aerosmith LP. They had the opportunity to make a massive budget album so they just said why the fuck not?! Ariel going way more Hi-Fi would have been good too or ending up with something like a Tusk (Fleetwood Mac's follow up to the multi-platinum Rumours) which was great but weird and well Mr Pink already ticks those boxes.

*I had this whole theory a couple of years ago now that Before Today was his Nevermind. But instead of him pilfering from ten years of the whole of the American underground you know Flipper, Husker Du, Sonic Youth, Wipers, Mission of Burma, Black Flag, Scratch Acid, Big Black, Dinosaur Jnr, Meat Puppets, UK Post Punk and Metal, that Ariel Just pilfered from his own 10 years (at least) of underground activities as he really was the only happening thing in the US in the 00s bar a couple of misc. artists. I really thought that's what Before Today was his very own Nevermind. You know a cleaned up radio friendly version of the past 10 years for the masses to consume in vast quantities. Then when he was on Jimmy Fallon I thought yeah he's gonna do it! It was weird after like 8 or 9 records that all of a sudden someone was willing to throw money at him. He was nearly forgotten then all these acolytes turned up, swarms of them, and putting out good records as well (just before the signing/recording of Before Today). I had all these other parallels that I can't remember now something about gender issues Rape Me/Menopause Man similarities, the effeminate, being a female identified male heterosexual........... was the gist of it. So maybe it was happening in reverse-now there's going to be ten years of other groups underground activities inspired by A.Pink (we'd already be in our 4th or 5th year anyhow) I don't know how many units he shifted of his last LP. I suppose he got halfway......well probably not even that far. You know what they say in showbiz 'better to be lukewarm than hot.' He's always been hot with me but you know what I mean?

There were even image parallels. That's Ariel not Kurt!

*When I said his other classic 8 I meant from The Doldrums onwards including Oddities Sodomies Vol 1. & The Holy Shit EP. Haunted Graffiti 1:Underground is good but it's not in the same league as the rest.

Stereeolab/Ariel Pink

I just noticed on the blogosphere some group claiming Stereolab to be a big influence on their new LP wow was I ahead of my time by 10 seconds or what? Well I didn't mean it. I'm not sure of the move here with Ariel, this new LP could have been recorded anywhere between House Arrest & Worn Copy really. It's neither his In Utero nor his Dirty. There are no coordinates with Mr Pink and who needs em. I'm loving this great new LP as much as the other great 8. Particularly Nostradamus & Me, Schnitzel Boogie, Symphony of The Nymph and Farewell American Primitive er......and the rest.