Listening Notes - Live Albums

The live album that got me thinking was by a group that I didn't really know and wouldn't have listened except that the album came with a trusted recommendation: The Asylum Street Spanker's "What and Give Up Show Biz?". The one studio album I'd heard from them wasn't anything special, so two plus hours of them looked to be a chore. It wasn't. The difference between them live and in the studio is that live they put on a show, complete with audience interaction jokes, schtick and good times. I am imagine the package works even better in person than it does on CD in your living room, but I'll never know. There may even be a DVD - not something I care about.

So what makes a good live album? Well, there has to be a concentration of songs. Live albums can serve as a "best of" if that's what the artist wants (it's what the record company wants), but that doesn't necessarily work as a stage show. The album has to catch the flow of a stage show even if its assembled from different shows. There should be some elements of a show involved - audience interaction, jokes, schtick, good times. If the performance is fierce enough, I'll forgive it for not being overtly fun, but I'm not going to buy, say, a Bauhaus live album. Please tell there isn't such a thing.

As you can see from my year end list, I'm very fond of Todd Snider's "Live: The Storyteller". It's his second live album in eight years, with the first one being worth seeking out as well. As are the four intervening studio albums, especially "East Nashville Skyline" and "The Devil You Know". In fact, some of my favorite songs from those two albums are missing from the new live album. In compensation, you get stories, some go one for as long as eight or nine minutes, except I don't mind hearing them even when I know the punch lines because they unfold just as well as Snider's best songs do. Or, to put it another way, he's grown just as much as a storyteller as he a singer in the last eight years, and that's as much as anyone.

The Bottle Rocket's "Not So Loud" is also on my list, and I suspect I'm the only person in creation who put them there. For one, the recording was made in 2006, so it may have been available digitally before 2011, although it says copyright 2011 on the CD case. It's one of those "unplugged" dates, hence the album title. They also don't play many of their best songs. (Where is "Welfare Music"?) However, the choice of what they play coheres well, and they have enough good to great songs in their songbook to cover the omissions. The band is into the gig, and a good time is had. If I don't make a case for these guys, who will?

I've confessed to my love for the trifle that is Rockpile's "Seconds of Pleasure" in other places, so naturally I distrust my joy at a live album. Indeed, a close listen to "Live at Montreaux 1980" suggests to me that the band is rushing the tempos because they're either bored or they've had a few drinks before the show. And this record makes it clear they were very much Dave Edmund's band live. Whatever. There's another Rockpile record in the world. I'm a happy man.

Favorites, Favories, Who's Got My Favorites

Someone thought it would be fun to ask for our 25 favorite (not best) albums, so I tried to oblige. How about this for a list:

The Byrds: Sweetheart of the Rodeo
Howard Tate: Howard Tate
The Grateful Dead: Workingman's Dead
Mott the Hoople: All the Young Dudes
Big Star: Radio City
Roxy Music: Siren
Fleetwood Mac: Rumors
Television: Marquee Moon
Neil Young: Rust Never Sleeps
The Psychedelic Furs: The Psychedelic Furs
The Blasters: Non-Fiction
Katrina & the Waves: Katrina & the Waves
The Dbs: Like This
New Order: Brotherhood
Camper van Beethoven: Camper van Beethoven
Pet Shops Boys: Actually
Lucinda Williams: Lucinda Williams
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
Laurie Anderson: Strange Angels
The Chills: Submarine Bells
The Coup: Steal This Album
Imperial Teen: Seasick
Moby: Play
Hamell on Trial: Ed's Not Dead
Drive-By Truckers: Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Interesting list, huh? Some all time greats, some personal choices. Except it wasn't the list I submitted. How about this list:

Otis Redding: Dictionary of Soul
Dusty Springfield: Dusty in Memphis
Derek and the Dominoes: Layla
Creedance Clearwater Revival: Cosmo's Factory
Rod Stewart: Every Picture Tells a Story
Michael Hurley et al: Have Moicy
Hot Chocolate: Cicero Park
The Clash: The Clash
Prince: Dirty Mind
Richard & Linda Thompson: Shoot Out the Lights
Professor Longhair: The Last Mardi Gras
Franco & Rochereau: Omona Wapi
Rosanne Cash: Rhythm & Romance
Husker Du: Candy Apple Grey
Robert Cray Band: Strong Persuader
REM: Document
Too Much Joy: Son of Sam I Am
Marshall Crenshaw: Good Evening
The Bottle Rockers: The Brooklyn Side
The Archers of Loaf: Vee Vee
Pavement: Brighten the Corners
The Magnetic Fields: 69 Love Songs
Warren Zevon: My Ride's Here
Buck 65: Talking Honky Blues
Fountains of Wayne: Welcome Interstate Managers

I can be quirky, can't I? Guess what? That wasn't the list I submitted either. This was:

The Beatles: The Beatles Second Album
The Kinks: Face to Face
The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground
Tom T. Hall: In Search of a Song
Chris Smither: Don't It Drag On
Jimmy Cliff et al: The Harder They Come
John Prine: Sweet Revenge
Steely Dan: Countdown to Ecstasy
Van Morrison: Saint Dominic's Preview
Bob Dylan: Blood on the Tracks
Eno: Another Green World
The Wild Tchoupitoulos
Wire: Pink Flag
Rockpile: Seconds of Pleasure
ABC: The Lexicon of Love
Rank & File: Rank & File
The Go-Betweens: Tallulah
Dramarama: Box-Office Bomb
P.M. Dawn - Of the Heart... (the 1st album)
Orchestra Baobab: On Verra Ca
Luna: Penthouse
Belle & Sebastian: If You're Feeling Sinister
Kanye West: The College Dropout
Wussy: Funeral Dress

If you'll notice, no artist gets more than one mention, there are no best ofs, no compilations, no boxes. My point, such as it is, is that limiting me to 25 albums makes the final choice somewhat random. Like, what happened to The Rolling Stones?

Potemkin School Districts

Back in September, a Mrs. Keller wrote to say her class found my Economics LibGuide helpful and they had some links they wanted me to add. I was dubious. Today, a Mrs. Kavanagh has written to say pretty much the same thing. So I looked at the web site associated with the domain name (cee emm ewe eff ess dee dot owe arr gee, if you're curious) in her email address. (I do these sorts of things.) And, yes, it looks like the web site of a school district except one that doesn't actually have any students or teachers or, and this is the give-away for me, library resources in it. So I look up the domain name registration, and, gosh, it was only taken out in November of 2011. This strikes me as a whole lot of work just to get naive librarians to make some links to dubious finance sites. What do I know?

2011 Listening Snapshot

As I'm a slow listener, I've no idea what the best albums of 2011 are at this point. However, there was a poll of the regulars at Christgau's Expert Witness blog, and I didn't want to sit on the sidelines. So, I assembled a relistening list, and, as usual, I didn't get through all of it. Think of what's below as a snapshot and don't take the order too seriously. I don't. For instance, I think the Tune-Yards album (which won the Village Voice poll) is interesting and challenging. At this point, I don't love it, but that may come in time. Or not. I would say the same thing about Das Racist and Shabazz Palaces, which I didn't have time to relisten to. As always, I recommend anything on the list below, although you might want to start with the first two Go! Team albums before this one.

Teddybears - Devil's Music
Todd Snider - Live : The Storyteller
Buck 65 - 20 Odd Years
Terakaft - Aratan N Azawad
Lobi Traore - Bwati Kono
Bottle Rockets - Not So Loud
TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light
Pistol Annies - Hell on Heels
Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne
Fountains of Wayne - Sky Full of Holes
Yuck - Yuck
Russian Futurists - The Weight's on the Wheels
Frank Ocean - Nostalgia/ultra
Those Darlings - Screws Get Loose
Drive-By Truckers - Go-Go Boots
Low Cut Connie - Get Out the Lotion
Paul Simon - So Beautiful or So What
Tune-Yards - WhoKill
Middle Brother - Middle Brother
Peter Stampfel & Jeffrey Lewis - Come on Board
Hayes Carll - KAMAG YOYO
Wussy - Strawberry
Eric Church - Chief
Wild Flag - Wild Flag
Stephen Merritt - Obscurities
Blaqstarr - Divine EP
Jens Lekmen - An Argument With Myself
Baseball Project - Volume 2: High and Inside
Beastie Boys - Hot Sauce Committee Part Two
Carolina Chocolate Drops/Luminiscent Orchestrii
Dave Alvin - Eleven Eleven
Garland Jeffreys - King of In-Between
Raphael Saadiq - Stone Rollin'
Withered Hand - Good News
Let's Wrestle - Nursing Home
The Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts
An Horse - Walls
Lucinda Williams - Blessed

Although I hadn't heard enough of the albums to include them in the above list at the time, I would add Miranda Lambert, the B-52s live, Tom Waits and Jeffrey Lewis to the list. There are some others I expect to add to the list, but I'm in no rush.

The following albums were not included because I couldn't figure out if I was voting for this album or the work they were an echo of (an arbitrary rule I invented for myself):

Wussy - Funeral Dress II
The Rolling Stones: Some Girls (Deluxe Edition Disc Two)
Kate & Anna McGarrigle: Tell My Sister (Demo Disc)
Rockpile: Live at Montreaux
John Prine: The Singing Mailman Delivers
Dessa - Castor the Twin

If you're asking why these are out and the live Todd Snider and Bottle Rockets are in, well, consistency is the hobgoblin of etc. I've only played the second disc of Some Girls after the first disc, and it sounds great then. Is that the proximity of Some Girls rubbing off on it? I love, love, love Wussy's Funeral Dress, so why wouldn't I love an acoustic version of it? There's another Rockpile album? Yes, please, and what do I care if they're rushing the tempos a little. I'm not a critic, just a listener, so I made some rules for the way I played the game. It's my list.

Resubscriptions

Ah, Rea S. Hederman, I thought you forgot all about me, but there was another missive from my favorite pen pal in my mail box yesterday. It seems my subscription to the New York Review of Books will expire in about three months. Actually, it's five months, but I guess that's about three months to "the premier literary intellectual magazine in the English magazine". And the rates - ten dollars higher than if I resubscribe online. Thanks. Why not send me email? It's not like you don't clog my inbox as it stands. Look, Rea S. Hederman, I expect bad behavior from the New Yorker subscription office, but I thought you were somehow better. Foolish me.

I Swear This Was A Real E-Mail

Dear Mr Hurst,

We would like to bring to his attention of catalogue of documentaries. We produce documentaries since 1967 and our titles have won awards in festivals around the globe. I am sending the information via we transfer.
All our titles are available in french, and many of them are also available in english.

Okay, English isn't your first language, but spend a little money to have someone proofread your copy.

Not Impressed

If you want me to buy your product, there are a few points I'd like to make:

1. If your email has links, don't hard code them to use Internet Explorer. It's not my browser of choice. It only annoys me when my computer launches Internet Explorer.

2. Proofread your message. Why is your message missing spaces between words? If you can't be bothered to send me a coherent message, I can't be bothered to send you money.

Jazz in the Sixties, A Belated Postscript

When I said that "In A Silent Way" was a rock album made by jazz musicians, what I think I meant was that it wasn't just a document of a group of musicians playing a particular piece of music at a particular time. It was a collage pieced together of a number of sessions. If I try to explain this any more, I'll start talking like an idiot. My uneducated assumption is that jazz musicians came to modern recording techniques after popular musicians and "In A Silent Way" was the first of its kind. But I'm not a jazz historian, just the worst kind of amateur.

If you're curious, my votes for jazz albums went to:

John Coltrane - The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings
John Coltrane - A Love Supreme
Miles Davis - In a Silent Way
Duke Ellington - And His Mother Called Him Bill
Duke Ellington/Charles Mingus/Max Roach - Money Jungle
Dexter Gordon - Go!
Grant Green - Feelin' the Spirit
Hank Mobley - Soul Station
Oliver Nelson - Blues and the Abstract Truth
Archie Shepp - The Way Ahead

I don't honestly think the Grant Green or the Archie Shepp were among the ten best jazz albums of the decade. They're just personal favorites, and it's my list. I thought choosing that Archie Shepp album would split the Archie Shepp votes between different albums, but I was the only one who gave him any votes at all. (The full results are here.)

The next poll is back to all music in the year 1990, a fine year as I look over the contenders. I also want to think about live albums, as I try to get back to puzzling through some of my current listening.