Playlist 24 Goes Into the Wild

When I moved from Philadelphia to Florida so many years ago, I decided it was time to trade in my LP collection, which reached a few hundred at its height. I had already started buying CDs. And figured it was time for a fresh start.

But it wasn't easy. At the last minute, I pulled out of the sale pile several slabs of vinyl that still meant something to me -- my Tom Petty and Led Zeppelin bootlegs, the Joe Jackson I'm a Man box of 45s, the rare Buckingham-Nicks and my Spanish import of Sticky Fingers. And there were some I'm not sure why I kept, like a Fairport Convention greatest hits compilation. It's good. But why I decided to keep it, I don't know.

In Florida one night, I decided to dig up the Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart LP that originally belonged to my dad. I was lonely for home and I had not listened to the album for a while. I panicked as I realized that I didn't have it. It must have been in the pile I sold. I couldn't believe I sold Button-Down, probably for pennies, but I kept Ian Hunter's Welcome to the Show. What was I thinking? Distraught, I looked for the CD in local stores, but couldn't find it.

I felt miserable. I sought out a CD version whenever I could. For a while, I was under the impression that the CD was out of print. But a couple weeks ago, I found it. I was ecstatic. It was sitting there in the comedy section of my local library, which is my long introduction to this week's Playlist ...

Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart. Bob Newhart.
Newhart is a comic legend, whose name belongs next to Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Bill Cosby, etc. His early stand-up schtick was built around conversations. You could hear his end of it -- not who he was talking to. Even though this album is 40 years old, it's not outdated except perhaps the cringe-worthy reference to a "woman driver." It's clean, smart and laugh-out loud funny, particularly Abe Lincoln vs. Madison Ave. , where a PR rep tries to convince Lincoln not to shave his beard. And then there's They'll Never Play Baseball where Newhart plays a board game manufacturer who listens to Abner Doubleday pitching the game of baseball. But the highlight by far is when Newhart plays the patient Driving Instructor.

Bonus: Check out this NPR clip with Conan O'Brien and Newhart discussing the making of the landmark album.

A Wheel Within a Wheel. Southeast Engine.
The last CD by this six-piece band out of Athens -- that's Ohio, not Georgia -- earned comparisons, apparently unwelcome by the band, to Wilco. That led me to Wheel. The Wilco comparison works for me, but I see even more resemblence to Okkervil River. Wheel is an adventurous and high-reaching effort. It's about a man trying to make his peace with God. It's title, and the song Ezekial Saw the Wheel reference the Book of Ezekial. It's heavy duty stuff, but the music lives up to the concept. Whether playing in hushed terms, dropping a little twang, or rocking out indie-style, Engine, led by a former middle school English teacher, is never boring. In fact, the more I listen to this 13-track epic, the closer I grow to it. If this were released this year, instead of late 2007, it would be definitely be the leader for my album of the year.

Into the Wild. Jon Krakauer.
Why did Chris McCandless leave behind his family, forgo an opportunity to go to law school and give away $25,000 to charity, then embark on a trip that led to him two years later to the Alaskan bush country. How did he end up dead, his decomposed body found by a moose hunter? Krakauer, an excellent reporter and compelling writer, uses interviews with friends/family and McCandless' own notes to piece together the story. Although, it's clear that Krakauer feels a connection to McCandless, he lays out all the facts to let the readers make up their own minds. A tragic story, but one wonderfully told. And hard to put down.

Eat This, Not That. David Zinczenko. Next time you getting hunger pangs at Starbucks, you might want to skip the healthy-sounding bran muffin with nuts and, if it's breakfast, go with the Black Forest egg, ham and cheese sandwich. The difference? More than 350 calories, 20 grams of fat and 60 grams of sugar.
A friend of ours, who recently started working at Men's Health, sent this book written by Zinczenko, the magazine's editor-in-chief. What a fun fun read. Page after page is filled with interesting information. It challenges what you think is good for you and makes you think before you order.
Oh, and the worst food in America? That would be the nearly 3,000 calorie-filled Aussie Cheese Fries at Outback It's got 182 grams of fat and 240 grams of carbs.

Now, I'm off to Cheeseburgers and More -- payback to my son who proved today that it's easier for a 13-year-old to finish a game of basketball in 90-degree Florida heat. Yes, he beat me. But I did not suffer a heat stroke. I'll let you know next week whether I chose the salad or fries to go with my veggie cheeseburger.

In the meantime, some other songs I hummed to this past week ...
-- My Girlhood Among the Outlaws, Maria McKee. You Gotta Sin to be Saved. My MP3 player seemed to like this CD this past week, picking out three different songs on random play. I had forgotten what a classic this was.
-- Great Plains/Where's the Fire, Head of Femur. Great Plains. I saw this band a few years back opening for Wilco, and thought they were close to being pretty good. And their latest albums shows they are still getting closer. They've cut down the size of the band and seem to be more focused, though they continue to alternate between complex avant-rock and simple new wave.
-- White Guilt, John Wilkes Booze. The Five Pillars of Soul. I'm not sure if this is great garage rock or the worst music ever made. But it ain't anywhere in between. Here's what you need to know about this very loud band: The five pillars or soul that they display on the cover of their album are Mario Van Peebles, Patty Hearst, jazz legend Albert Ayler, T-Rex himself Marc Bolan and Yoko Ono.

And, finally, this week's Wikipedia link is a Happy Birthday to Israel.

I Don't Get It -- The Democratic Fight to the End

On the eve of another primary that may once and for all settle up the Democratic nomination, but most likely won't, I return with another I Don't Get It.

1. CNN poll. Each day, I'm inundated on CNN and its Web site with the latest figures of the "national poll" between Hillary Clinton and Barack OBama. I can understand a national poll of how each candidate would do against John McCain. But why each other? It's down to a few states and the national poll has no bearing on the Democratic primary. It's a waste of time.

2. Rev. John Hagee vs. Rev. Jeremiah Wright. I've heard just about enough of the Rev. Wright controversy. But why haven't we heard more about the very dangerous Rev. John Hagee? Why doesn't the press dog John McCain about seeking out the endorsement of a man who called the Catholic church a "cult" and the "Great Whore." I found those statements incredibly offensive. And as you can see in this American Prospect article, he was talking about a pre-emptive strike of Iran two years ago. But thank God Hagee cleared it all up for us -- that Barack Obama is not the anti-Christ.

So tomorrow will be another fight to death, this time in Indiana and North Carolina. Wasn't that what Pennsylvania was for. And before that Texas and Ohio. My prediction -- tomorrow's primaries will solve nothing. It's time for the Democratic party to do something to bring this to a resolution.

Three songs: Fighting until the bitter end
I don't know if you've seen Daily Show correspondent Rob Riggle's hilarious Bloodfest/Mortalk Kombat report before Texas/Ohio, but it's worth searching out at Dailyshow.com. (Just a heads-up. It's highly inappropriate). And with that I leave you with three songs that mention boxers who died in the ring.

-- Who Killed Davey Moore? Bob Dylan
-- Doo Koo Kim, Sun Kil Moon.
-- Boom Boom Mancini, the late great Warren Zevon. The video below is from the David Letterman show circa 1987.

Excuuuuuuuse Me, It's Playlist 23

What a wonderful way to start the weekend -- blogging and playing ball. As soon as I finish this blog, I'm going to head out and play some basketball with my son. But what makes this a great weekend was the Channel 25 weekend news show I watched when I first woke up this morning. The show included two interviews with "esteemed" (their words, not mine) local author Donna Gephart, author of As If Being 12 3/4 Isn't Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President.

Now onto the Playlist ...

Born Standing Up. Steve Martin.
Whether you thought he was wild and crazy or just a Jerk, you'll enjoy reading this memoir. Martin is humble and self-deprecating as he details how his successful stand-up act came together. It starts when he was a kid hanging out at magic shops and follows his path to arena-filling shows. He's filled the memoir with great stories, including his first appearances on The Tonight Show. He talks about dating the the daughter of Dalton Trumbo (subject of our Weekly Wikipedia link) and Linda Rondstadt, whose talent and beauty was a little too intimidating for Martin. She asked him after nine dates: "Steve, do you always date women and try not to sleep with them?" This is one of the most enjoyable non-fiction books I've read in years.

Mudcrutch. Mudcrutch.
This is the band Tom Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench were in before they left Florida behind them and became Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Mudcrutch left behind some wonderful pop-rock singles -- Depot Street and On the Street -- but little else. Petty recently decided to reunite the band, which also includes guitarist Bernie Leadon and drummer Randall Marsh. (Note: Petty plays bass as he did in the original Mudcrutch).

So 35 years later, how do they sound?

Different, that's for sure. There's nothing like the catchy Depot Street on this self-titled debut. But it's good. Mudcrutch plays a crunching alternative country/country rock set that clearly stands on its own. Some of the material is more reminiscent of Petty's solo albums, than his Heartbreakers work. At times, the dual guitars sound very Allmans-like. Good songwriting. Intense playing. A fun album.

The Abstinence Teacher. Tom Perrotta.
The author of Election and Little Children writes another book that could easily make the transition to the big screen. Perrotta has suburban life -- sex and politics -- down cold. The story revolves around Ruth, a sex ed teacher embroiled in controversy, and Tim, a Christian soccer coach trying to pull his life back together. Both are divorced with children. And both are struggling as parents. The book really takes off when Tim has the team pray following a big victory. Seeing this happen, Ruth pulls her daughter off the field and let's Tim have it. I'm interested in what others who have read this think about Perrotta's characterization of the Tabernacle Church and its members. Was it a fair portrayal? And, for me, the ending provided more questions than answers.

Other musical numbers I've tuned my ears to in the past several days ...

-- Don't Stop Believing, Petra Haden, Guilt By Association. The standout on this album of covers. Haden does the Journey tune pretty much acapella. Now I need to check out her cover of the entire album The Who Sell Out.
-- American Ruse, MC5, The Anthology 1965-1971. Loud. And essential.
-- Helena Won't Get Stoned, Tarkio, Omnibus. Colin Meloy's pre-Decemberists band.

Playlist 22 -- Two Great Books

I was sick this past week, which meant nothing got done around the house. I was working, transporting the kids where they had to go, and, otherwise, in bed. It did allow me plenty of time to read. And I finished these two very different books that I highly recommend.

The Learners. Chip Kidd.
I don't know what small advertising offices in the early 1960s were like, but I sure hope they were as Kidd described in The Learners -- filled with people named Sketch, Tip and Happy; the owner's dog running around loose; discussions of the relative merits of potato chips and shoes; and days capped with drinks at the local watering hole.
This Penn State grad should know. He's a graphic designer himself. If you only know one graphic designer, it's probably Kidd. USA Today once called him the "closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design. He's done the jacket for books by Cormac McCarthy, John Updike and David Sedaris as well as numerous comic books.
The Jurassic Park book cover?
That was his.
Kidd uses his design knowledge, filling The Learners with discussions on typography and essays on form vs. content. In one section, he describes over two pages how he created an ad that had a ton of information, but could only be an eighth of a page. Or when he uses the words "forgive me" and shows how it can be read different ways based on the font used.
Kidd has a real knack for comedy (just check out his You Tube trailer) and The Learners rolls on at a fun, fast pace until Stanley Milgram enters the picture. Milgram, the subject of our Weekly Wikipedia link, was conducting his infamous experiments in New Haven, site of the advertising firm. Milgram and his experiments play a crucial role in the last half of The Learners.
You can read an excerpt of the book here.
And you'll find Kidd's blog/Web site here.

People of the Book. Geraldine Brooks.
I was completely transfixed by Brooks' novel, both by the scope of what she covered and the incredible detail and emotion that filled each section.

People opens in Sarajevo as Hannah, a rare book expert, is analyzing a long-lost Haggadah, a beautiful Hebrew manuscript created in the 15th century. Hannah's intense study of the book reveals what sounds like a witch recipe -- a tiny insect wing, a dash of wine, salt crystals and a white hair. These pieces of evidence help her unlock some of the mysterious history of the book.

Brooks takes us through that history -- Vienna in 1894, Venice in 1609, Tarragon in 1492 -- detailing the books' travels over six centuries, and those whose lives were intertwined with it. Brooks, who won a Pulitzer for March, has written a heavily-researched book of epic proportions, tackling weighty subjects as politics and the ever-changing relationship between the world's big three religions. Yet it's the personal lives of the individuals -- the people of the book -- that drive this very human story.

What I've been listening to this past week ...
-- Evil Urges, My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges. MMJ released the title track to their upcoming new CD to fans/bloggers this past week and it's something. Want to hear it? Check out Pop Headwound.

Playlist 21, It Has a Good Beet

My headline for this playlist was going to be Canadian Bacon -- seeing as I review the pig pun-filled Beet and two Canadian trios (don't worry, neither is Rush).

I also thought of calling the post Give Peace a Chance. Not only is Peace the lead character in Beet, but the peace symbol is celebrating a monumentous birthday this month. Gerald Holtom's design, one of the most commonly used and recognizable symbols, just turned 50, thus it's the subject of our Weekly Wikipedia link.

But I went with the rather blah Good Beet. Well, I sure you hope you hosers can dance to it.

Colin Meloy
Music Hall of Williamsburg (Brooklyn, NY.)
With just himself and a guitar, the Decemberists lead singer/songwriter kept the crowd at this cozy Brooklyn club entranced for almost two hours. The set covered a wide range of Meloy's career, leaning slightly to songs on the Decemberists' most recent album The Crane Wife (A Perfect Crime, Shankill Butchers, O Valencia!). He trotted out some new songs and was joined by opening act Laura Gibson for a rendition of Sam Cooke's Cupid. Meloy, clearly enjoying himself, didn't need to do much to get the enthusiastic audience to fill in with the guitar solos or horn parts. And the women in the audience knew to handle the mother parts in a rousing closer The Mariner's Revenge Song.
Stripped down to only guitar, it was easier to concentrate on Meloy's wonderful wordplay. I swear I improve my vocabulary every time I listen to a Decemberists song. Now if only I could find a way to use parapet in a sentence.

Beet. Roger Rosenblatt.
Beet College, started long ago thanks to a gift from wealthy pig farmer Nathaniel Beet, has a storied history and counts among its alumni U.S. senators, Fortune 500 executives and a Supreme Court Justice. But it's in danger of closing. New programs like the Ethnicity, Gender and Television Studies, Little People of Color and Serial Killers of the Northwest have not brought in the large amounts of money the liberal arts school's greedy chief officer and incompetent president expected. And the endowment has disappeared. It's up to lit professor Peace Porterfield to save the school in Rosenblatt's hilarious satire of academia and political correctness.
Rosenblatt loves playing with words, whether it's the names he gives his characters -- Joel Bollovate, Matha Stewart Polite and Peter Bagtoothian -- or the pun-filled way he describes the town of Beet:
If the college closed, so would the town. Everything in it -- the Little Piggy Luncheonette with its fourteen-by-twelve-by-ten foot fiberglass shocking pink pig standing at happy attention on the roof; the Pig Out Diner; the Pen and Oink Book Shop; the Bring Home the Bacon Butchers; Marty's Swine and Cheese; the Pigs in a Blanket Bed and Breakfast and its High on the Hog Lounge; and businesses with similar stage names, too many, all except the town bank, which rejected the most obvious name, for fear of appearing breakable -- relied on the college for its survival.


Jim's Organic Coffee, Blend X aka Witches Brew.
This dark roasted coffee is strong, without any hint of bitterness.

Parc Avenue. Plants and Animals.
It's really hard to categorize this three-piece band's debut. The song structures suggest the kind of folkish-jam band that would've easily fit in at Bonaroo a few years back. But the music is indie at heart. Their sometimes rambling approach reminds me most of Dr. Dog. The organic sound builds into sweeping choruses reminiscent of Polyphonic Spree and fellow Canadians Arcade Fire. Don't be scared away by the wide-ranging influences, this is a very accessible album, one that's sure to be on a few end-of-year best lists.

The Arrogant Worms
Blake Library (Stuart FL)
Thanks to our friends, big Worms fans, who tuned us into this show held at the unlikeliest of places -- a library. But Blake isn't your run-of-the-mill library, and the Worms aren't your ordinary performers. The trio plays folk-comedy, with the focus on the comedy part. They say comedy is mostly about timing, and these guys have it, and their show moves at a fast pace. The highlights were the songs Celine Dion, Canada is Really Big, Jesus' Brother Bob and my favorite (because regardless of what you've heard, us vegetarians do have a sense of humor) Carrot Juice is Murder.

And if you don't believe me, you can just ask Jeff. I don't know who Jeff is, but he really likes the Worms -- enough to travel across US and Canada to watch them perform.

Other songs I lent an ear to this past week ...
-- The Island: Come and See/The Landlord's Daughter/You Not Feel the Drowning, The Decemberists, The Crane Wife. Colin and the gang explore their inner Tull and Yes.
-- Nobody Sees me Like You Do, Yoko Ono w/Apples in Stereo, Yes I'm a Witch. The Amazon reviews for the Yes I'm a Witch are fascinating. Ten people give it five starts, and 10 people give it one star.

It's a Bitchun Playlist 20

The Playlist inches toward drinking age. On the flip side, have you noticed that those old geezers The Rolling Stones are everywhere these days?

Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. Cory Doctorow.
Doctorow’s sci-fi comedy takes place in the not too distant future when death has been cured. You simply take the last reboot of your system and add it to a clone. And thanks to the work of the Bitchun Society, Whuffie is the currency. Your Whuffie score is based on how well-respected and liked you are. (I guess it’s not much different than how many friends you have on My Space.) So Doctorow takes this futuristic premise and sets it where?

In Disney World.

A group of volunteer ad-hocs had long ago taken over the Magic Kingdom and continue to run it. Julius is out to save the landmark attractions, ensuring they don’t go too hi-tech and, therefore, lose their essence. After he’s shot and killed (his third death), he returns, but things start to go haywire.

If you’re not a regular reader of sci-fi, like me, this is a great entry. It’s short, fast-paced and pretty darn funny. I’d be interested in knowing what dedicated sci-fi readers think about this book.

The author Cory Doctorow is a pretty busy man. You can check out his own Web site – craphound.com or the interesting boingboing, to which he regularly contributes.

And the buzz is huge on his new book, coming out later this month -- Little Brother.

Strangers Almanac. Whiskeytown.
The last album Whiskeytown released before they broke up was marred by personnel issues. Despite adding a whole new rhythm section at the last minute, Ryan Adams and crew created a touchstone of alt-country.

Strangers Almanac is one of the top five albums in this genre, and most likely the best that doesn’t involve someone named Tweedy or Farrar.

Why so good?

Start with Ryan Adams’ songwriting. It stays consistent throughout, whether he’s telling a heartwrenching tale like the album highlight Houses on the Hill or the more rocking Yesterday’s News. When they lean toward country, as they do in Excuse Me While I Break My Own Heart, the band finds the right balance of rock. Phil Wandscher’s guitar always kicks in at the right time. There’s great chemistry throughout, particularly between Adams and violinist/singer Caitlin Cary.

Recently Strangers Almanac got the deluxe treatment. The new edition adds more than 25 new songs, many just alternate takes of songs already on the album. But there are two covers worth checking out – Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams and Gram Parsons’ Luxury Liner.

Besides Ryan Adams’ big ambitions, the band fell prey to weighty expectations. Listen to this album and it’s easy to see how they were compared to The Replacements (one scribe called them “country and Westerberg”) and dubbed the Nirvana of alt-country.

If you're at all interested in the alt-country genre, this is where to start.

Let it Bleed. The Rolling Stones.
Yep, the Stones are everywhere, even in my favorite electronic music store. Their excellent early albums were recently added to eMusic. It reminded about this classic, my favorite Stones album, which I listened to pretty heavily this week I’m still more a Beatles man, but I see myself devouring the rest of Mick and Keith’s early catalog on eMusic.

The Ruins.
So you know I'm not a sci-fi reader. I'm even less of a horror film fan. Give me suspense and I'm in. But if you're all about blood and gore, I'll skip. But I had really enjoyed Scott Smith's book and the film adaptation of his other book A Simple Plan.

The movie was OK. The script, written by Smith, held close enough to the book with a few differences to keep me interested. It's about two young post-college age couples who meet up with a German and a Greek on a Mexican vacation and end up stranded at a Mayan ruins.

Very intense at times. It wasn't completely free of horror cliches. There was some blood. And the writers found a way to keep one of the attractive female leads in her underwear most of the film. And the ending was different from the book, and a bit disappointing. Overall, a decent movie. But if you haven't read the book, I'd suggest you start there.

Interesting note: The movie was produced by Ben Stiller.

Other songs I've been enjoying...

It was also all about the covers this week, as I enjoyed these terrific remakes:

-- Woodstock, Richard Thompson

-- American Girl, Roger McGuinn, Born to Rock and Roll.

-- Dancing Queen, The Yayhoos.

Obama's been everywhere, man

I'm writing this from my usual locale -- the wonderful state of Florida where we always vote, but the votes don't always count. It's also the state where our Legislature takes more seriously a bill allowing you to take your gun to work, than it does a bill to make sex acts with animals illegal.

So I'm thinking of my home state lately, as a lot of people are. The Pennsylvania primary is just a couple of weeks away. And look out Hillary ... Barak is gaining on you. Give Obama some time to organize and he can close the gap. But could he actually win in the Keystone State? The Daily News' John Baer thinks so.

Baer is not alone. Earl Pickens also thinks Obama can win too. In this great parody of Johnny Cash's "Everwhere," Pickens names checks all the places, refuting the claim that Pennsylvania is just Pittsburgh and Philly with Alabama in between.