Blood on the 8-Tracks, Track One: Limbo

Back during the same record store trip that yielded Soundgarden and Lucinda Williams link, I also found a couple of potential “re-buys” - records I already have, but could use a new CD copy of.

There were two in particular that I’ve had my eye on for a while. But it wasn’t because they were scratched, or had poor sound.  It was because I originally got them on 8-track.

You see, if I want to hear any of my vinyl albums, I can always just go to the basement, where I’ve got the old turntable set up. Ditto my cassettes.

But if I want to hear any of my 8-tracks, I’m stuck. These albums exist in a non-playable limbo because I haven’t had an 8-track player for over thirty years.

Greek Chorus: So what’s the problem, Jaybee? Just buy them as CDs.

Well, I know some people did this with their vinyl when CDs came along, but I’m far too much of a cheapskate for that. Otherwise I would have replaced all my Beatles vinyl by now.

But the more exact reason is this: When I buy a record, I don’t want to unwrap it, play it once and file it away. I’m a music addict, not a “collector”. So the “completeness” of my library doesn’t concern me. (Not as much as how its actual contents may be the reflection of a warped psyche.) I find such ambitions to be a pipedream, anyway, unless you’re the type who’d kick out a family member because you need the space for your Neil Young bootlegs.

When I buy an album I want to listen to it a lot. And this won’t necessarily happen if I’ve played the record to death already. Call it a record’s half-life.  Even the best records have them. Otherwise I’d still be playing Abbey Road every day.

Plus, there are other records out there, and I try - when all else is equal - to opt for the new.

And while I haven’t kicked out family members for Neil Young, I may have practiced birth control to avoid the situation. The house is only so big.

So when I do take the plunge, I want it to be worth it. Money-wise, plays-wise, time-wise, and space wise. Not everything makes the cut.

But that day, these two records did. (Okay, I admit it. They were only four bucks each.)

Greek Chorus: Hey Jaybee, were you planning on telling us what records they were?

Yes.   

Next Time: 1972

The Third Annual Jaybee-bies, or It Wasn’t You, 2013, It Was Me:

Mrs. Jaybee hated 2013. 

I just found it kind of annoying. Nothing really awful happened, but I did have to leave a job I liked because my employer was going under. It eventually worked out okay, but managed to cast a pall over everything. So it wasn’t a bad year, but it sure did seem to be messing with us a lot.

I was a bit fatigued by music this year. And TV and books and movies. As usual, there was plenty of good, but not quite enough great, music. My fault. I was bummed with  the job change hanging over me, so I wasn’t fit for fun, and my choices weren’t quite on the mark.

When I would look at the many, many possibilities out there I’d get a bad feeling that I'd be underwhelmed.  xgau was partly absent and I missed his keen eye for separating hype from quality. Admittedly, it's occasionally too keen, and has kept me from getting to some great albums, but overall he’s saved me lots of time.

And speaking of time, how did I do with my 2013 resolutions? Well, I was no better to 2013 than 2013 was to me.

2013 Resolutions:

1. No CDs:

I got 14, if you count double CD sets as two, and 12 mp3s. So I’ve got a ways to go.  B-

2. Get at least 3 albums released in 2013:

I failed utterly. My amazon Wish Lists are overflowing with records that seemed interesting but that I could think of an excuse not to buy. It was a mental version of what I used to do in the record store.

So I had to get something. And if my math is right, the “average year” of the music I did buy was 1987, with the 1970s being the decade most represented. I sort of made up for it by burning down some itunes and amazon gift cards - I’ve already got five records this year - three from 2013! But that’s too little, too late. F

3. Get Less Music:  It may seem counter-intuitive, but I really do believe that less is more. That the more you have, the less valuable each one is, especially when, like with mp3s, you can’t even touch them. And I did it! Didn’t seem like it! But I did it! A-.

4. More music books! Well I got “Revolution of the Head” anyway. Totally worth it. But that’s all. C+

Which all works out to a C+ average overall.

But enough about what I suck at. This show’s running long already, so it’s time for 

The Jaybee-bie  Awards!

Most Plays (By Other People) That I Could Have Easily Passed On, but That Ended Up Making Me Like The Record More Than I Thought:

High Violet - The National

Thanks to Mrs. Jaybee and Son of Jaybee Michael, who liked it more than I did, and insisted on putting it on constantly, I did end up liking this record.

On the one hand this merely reinforces my delusion that I’m the Arbiter of Good Music (in my house) who brings it to the Masses (in my house anyway (well, technically, it’s still the bank’s house)).

On the other hand, I hate it when other people end up liking my music more than I do.  (Hmmm. Must buy something they’ll hate….)

Most Disconcerting Musical Experience:

Present Tense/Tongue Twister - Shoes

Which forced me to think about whether or not there is such a thing as having too much pop music.

Good News For Modern Man Award:

While none of his three records quite made it to the list, I’m now I’m putting on John Cale’s The Island Years for fun.

OK News For Modern Man Award:

For records that are better than I gave them credit for at the time,:

Pleasures of the Harbor - Phil Ochs (22 plays) - But not that much better.

The Creek Drank the Cradle - Iron and Wine (64 plays!!) which testifies to how easy it is to play this first thing in the morning.

Not So Good News For Modern Man Award:

Kleenex/Liliput (41 plays) and still not fun just yet.

And finally...

Best of the Year - Weasel Version:

Here’s my Top Ten. You may have noticed that I've included, where possible, indicate how many plays these albums got throughout the year. Let’s see if Plays = love.

Tied for first:

I couldn’t decide between:

Seasick - Imperial Teen

It’s Blitz - Yeah Yeah Yeahs (only 4 plays, but that doesn’t count the ipad or the van)

Celebration Rock - Japandroids (12 plays, because it’s just too intense for just any occasion)

Oh, and let's throw in Tame Impala’s Lonerism (40 plays on the desktop alone!) in there as well.  As mistrustful as I've been to the woozy/hazy and even synth-y sounds, (and I could swear I smell a joint being passed around), and on top of all that, the singing that I thought was a gal actually being a guy. When measured against how good it sounded - from beginning to end - on a long drive last month, these guys deserve to be here. They combine the worst tendencies of the sixties and seventies and somehow make it sound great.

Tied for second (okay, fifth):

Alien Lanes - Guided by Voices

Piper at the Gates of Dawn - Pink Floyd

Tallulah - Go Betweens

Superunknown - Soundgarden

Copper Blue - Sugar (23 plays)

The more discerning of you may have noticed (hmmm, the more discerning of you left already, but whatever) is that I don’t have ten records in my top ten. It was that kind of pain in the ass year.

10. So let’s throw in The Very Best of Grin, which technically doesn’t qualify because it’s a best of, but what the hell. It’s a delight from beginning to end. (The Fall comes close, but “delight” isn’t quite the word I’d apply to them.)

Artist of the Year:

Nobody. Unless you count Imperial Teen who’ve made two albums that are amongst this and last year’s best. Yeah, screw you too, 2013!

So How Good a Year Was It?

Some of the annoying things from 2013 have finally settled down. It turned out, in retrospect, to be a good year. This is not the same thing as being a good year while you’re experiencing it, which is more, you know, fun.

Onward:

I’ve already gotten five records this year. And they are, happily, all over the place. Which is how it’s supposed to be.

And Mrs. Jaybee is insisting that 2014 will be a good year.

You got that, 2014?

Non-Generic Pop Music:

But as the year progresses and you’ve had your share of genres, experiments and oddities, sometimes you want a sure thing.  Which for me is guitar based pop/rock, with either a requisite amount of passion or intelligence, from a band that’s put in a strong showing before.  

So I go to a band that made me very happy last year:

Imperial Teen - Seasick (1996)

Okay, so I played it safe. And I get exactly what I wanted. And as the media constantly tells us, we all deserve the best. (Uh, what happens to all that stuff that’s second best? To paraphrase Homer Simpson, it’s for the poor.)

Finally, a straight ahead rock/pop record with good vocals - by the guys with the guitars and the gals with the drums and bass - and a light on its feet yet loud when it needs to be rhythm guitar. The snarky lyrics don’t hurt a bit, either. They go soft and loud, fast and slow, punk and pop, funny and serious.

This record is everything the two Shoes records aren’t. Unique, in that very pop non-unique way.

You can tell when a pop record has been  engaging from beginning to end - the first and last songs can be slow ones, and you don’t even mind.  A

"Pig Latin"

Great Expectations, or Lucinda Williams vs. Santa Claus, Jesus and Herself

Sometimes I do the worst thing someone can do to an artist. I compare their newer work to their older work, almost knowing I’ll be disappointed. I’m hoping the artist can somehow leap over the Wall of Pessimism I’ve built in my head. Alas, Jaybee’s Wall of Pessimism makes the one in "Game of Thrones" seem like a slight incline.

Why do I do this? Well, there’s, J&R selling what few CDs they still have for $3.99. (The good ones, anyway.) And there’s also how some records insist on showing up on every "Greatest Albums of the Century This Week" list the internets can come up with.

Lucinda Williams - Sweet Old World:

Like this 1990 follow up to her 1988 classic self titled album, which is slightly disappointing in comparison, but also more fun in comparison to the slightly overrated Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.

SOW contains a couple of my favorite Lucinda moments - “Something About What Happens When We Talk”, which shows how her quirky singing can find more melody than what’s actually written down, and “He Never Got Enough Love”, whose melody and passionate delivery more than make up for the cliche in the title. Some of these songs kept my Americana station from wearing out its welcome a lot sooner than it did.

But the problem this record has to overcome is how to keep the music fresh when you’re working in a rigidly defined genre, and it didn’t fail to disappoint. LW managed to be bouncy and energetic and emotional all at once. This gets, in turn, serious, moving and melodic but rarely at the same time. It keeps up with its predecessor just fine for the first five tracks, but starts to wear down during “Pineola”, which underlines the mention of a gunshot with a smack of the drums (kind of cheesy), and where I’m supposed to be impressed with the mention of “the Pentecost”. And yet, it’s a good song, as are all the rest, none of which are great, except for the Nick Drake cover.

But I ask too much! Not only was her prior record wonderful, it was also a quintessential holiday record, stamping itself on my December (of what year, I wonder), So it occupies a hallowed place in my psyche. By an unfortunate coincidence, I happened to get SOW during a another pre-Thanksgiving record store drop in, when I set my expectations way too high to begin with.  So there’s another hurdle to jump.

And, as Mrs. Jaybee can tell you, it takes some doing to for anything to make its way into Jaybee’s brain. The fact that SOW hasn't yet just means I have a good album instead of a great one. Check in with me again in six months. B+

Super Know-Nothings

Well, I’m still cleaning up my 2013 mess. This one from, oh, October, when an innocent trip to the record store (is there any such thing?) yielded a bunch of $3.99 specials, at least one of which keeps showing up on All Time Best Lists (nevermind whose list it is!). I tell you, I could almost feel the gun at my head.

Soundgarden - Superunknown (1994):

There’s something about Chris Cornell that I just don’t like. Guys with those huge singing voices are not to be trusted around your girlfriend. But I think it was when he went solo and cleaned up his look. He used to look like your typical grunge slob, which didn’t threaten my ego. Now he was doing things like bringing in Timbaland to do production and shaving. He clearly wanted a hit and to be a star. Way too professional for me. And what would Kurt say?

But his old band Soundgarden had its moments. And aside from the superficial Zeppelin similarities it only gets ridiculous on “Limo Crash”, where I can almost overhear the conversation in the studio:

Soundgarden Person 1 (probably the guitar player, but really who knows?): Hey I’ve got this cool groovy atmospheric thing going. Listen! (Plays it.)

Soundgarden Person 2 (probably Chris, but really, who can say?): Oh yeah, that sounds cool!  Let me come up with some lyrics to go along with it. Hmm, something indicating a state of confusion. And perhaps being in a daze… (Begins writing.)

Person In Charge: Hey idiots, you’re totally ripping off “Dazed and Confused” (which would be, oh, let's say ironic).  

SGP 1: Oh sh*t, you’re right.  But I like it!

SGP 2: I’ve got it! We’ll change it midway through.

SGP 1: Cool! No one’ll suspect a thing.

And the rest is not quite history.

And yet. And yet  There’s a lot of references to destruction and death here that probably sounded silly before 9/11, but now give me a little chill.

And Chris Cornell? His stupendous vocals mesh quite well with the big guitar and drums. And yes, it's all been done before, but Chris fills his role (and every available space, too) quite well. For a Robert Plant substitute, we could do a lot worse. As a matter of fact, we have done a lot worse.

An actual loud and fast song doesn’t show up until track 11, but that's okay. We like the loud slow ones just fine.

And “Head Down” is just sublime. I had it in my head all day last Friday at work. Couldn’t get a damn thing done. And really, isn’t rock and roll supposed to get people to stop working and f*ck off more?

So I say good job fellas!

A-

“Head Down”

I Was Expecting Noise, But All I Got Was Beauty

But it was time to get back to this decade century:

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs: It's Blitz

Karen O's voice isn't all that strong but she deploys it to great effect.  And her punk band goes along with her, this time opting for lighter textures and fragile melodies.  And it's one of the few records that gave me some immediate - but lasting - gratification. They top it all off with four beautiful alternate acoustic versions of some tracks that, for my money, are better. There's really not much more to say than it may be my record of the year. A