An Ear For An Era: 1988

1988 meant I was 5 years old, I could bike, I could read, and I didn't particularly concern myself with music. But it was happening, man! Lots of good stuff I would appreciate later in life! Indie/college/alternative was still in a good place even though the first hints of its takeover-in-a-lesser-form-in-the-90s could be spotted. You know, the 90s when the popular stuff was called "alternative" but then what was it an alternative to at that point? When it got confusing. And other stuff was going on. I'll start with Weird Al.

I think Even Worse may have been my first Weird Al tape. I have vivid memories of purchasing the tape at a store and they didn't take off the security tag so we had to use my dad's pocket knife to bust it out. I think there was a crack in the tape case because of it. I made a music video with my friend for "Fat" where we put pillows under our shirts and basically acted out as many parts as we could. "(This Song's Just) Six Words Long" has always been a favorite. And all the puns on "I Think I'm A Clone Now" are just too much great to handle. He has a lot of great puns on the album as a whole but "Clone" takes it to the next level with such gems as "I guess you could say I'm really beside myself," and "Born in a science lab late one night without a mother or a father, just a test tube and a womb with a view."

Ok just had to get that out of the way. Even Worse is probably in my top 3 Weird Al albums after all!

Hip hop took something of a turn around this time, didn't it? Not that BDP was all innocent and peaceful and clean, but the dirty got dirtier based on what I have. Ice-T with his sex jams (at least he clarifies "Safe sex that is...but that's another song"). Slick Rick was very clever on The Great Adventures of Slick Rick.

But who really owned it was Public Enemy. It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back is one of those statement albums. Chuck D with his righteous anger and intelligence, Flava Flav still being somewhat tolerable, Terminator X just driving everything hard. Something about the angry intelligence makes it much more terrifying for white America because assuming we're paying attention we know he's right.

Public Enemy "Prophets of Rage"

Similarly, NWA's Straight Outta Compton had a good angry feel to it and Dr. Dre made some great beats early on for sure. The anger towards the man is a little more directed at cops than the overall system but effective regardless. Ultramagnetic MCs' Critical Beatdown is a good one but it seems to be laid out much more simply than the people really pushing things forward. Great rhymes and styles but in an old school simplicity that makes it seem a little behind in context.

Punk rock. Last year it was The Descendents and this year it's All. I have an appreciation for All that they did, particularly for the Fort Collins, CO scene, but the first actual All album I bought in high school was Allroy For Prez. Which was an EP. I didn't particularly care for just how darn soft it was at the time. Now I'm ok with it though.

The Pogues' If I Should Fall From Grace With God is one that coincidentally enough came up St. Patrick's Day weekend. It touches on a lot more different styles than Red Roses For Me, the other Pogues album I have. It pulls in influences to a point where some of the songs aren't even all that perfect for St. Patrick's Day! There's my favorite Christmas song ("Fairytale of New York"), ballads like "Lullaby Of London," and one of my favorites, a Spanish influenced drinking/partying song called "Fiesta."

Is this the place to place Big Black? I guess for now at least I'll put Touch & Go and Dischord stuff under punk rock. I'd wanted to get this album for years and finally did eventually (I think shortly before I got to see their big reunion show at that Touch & Go Anniversary Block Party thing I flew out to Chicago for). I feel like they got even harder and angrier as they went on and wrapped things up. Their whole discography is this pure rage, pre-NIN industrial with the crunchiest attainable guitar sound by the best guitar rock sound engineer in the biz.

Big Black "L Dopa"

Fugazi has begun! Of course I have their first two EPs in the form of the 13 Songs CD, but I set the years correctly and got to hear the Fugazi EP as originally released (the first 7 of 13 songs). So we have "Waiting Room," one of their best known songs. We have the earliest example (in my collection at least) of the hardcore scene tackling the problem of sexism in "Suggestion." We have basically some very seasoned veterans joining forces to form a band with seemingly no learning curve. Playing organically together to create something amazing on their very first EP.

Fugazi "Bad Mouth"

I also hit my first actual album by The Ex, that great underrated Dutch punk/chaos band that has been around since the 70s (and still going strong today!). Aural Guerilla is the sound of a great political punk band evolving for a decade and not sitting still. I just love the high distortion on the guitar and vocals and the swirling chaotic (sorry for using that again but it's the most apt description I've got!) drumming going on here.

College rock!

What I said in the intro about seeing the first hints of the popularity of alternative rock showing up was mostly because of R.E.M.'s Green. Kind of a breakthrough for them (they would later become one of the biggest bands of the 90s). And it has the song "Stand" which would later receive the "Weird Al" parody treatment and while "Weird Al" is very hip to the new sounds, he probably wouldn't have parodied a song that wasn't a gigantic hit. That's my frame of reference right now.

Besides that, the underground that would remain somewhat underground was reaching new highs.

I seem to be responding a lot more personally to Dinosaur Jr's 1988 album Bug more than 1987's You're Living All Over Me. Not sure why. But I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Bug. It seemed more passionate or something. Maybe it was just the circumstances of how it came up or something. Or maybe it's actually better.

Sonic Youth put out their most highly regarded album that has since entered the library of congress, and that was Daydream Nation. I don't know what I can say about this but I feel like I need to say a lot about it. They were young then. Creating something impossibly mature but in a really playful way. Putting mature skills to use in creating something that just sounds fresh and fun and somewhat loose. The authoritative vocals from Kim & Thurston, the way their guitars interplayed, the noise noise noise, the LOUD, the quiet, the uneasiness and scream and distortion! Every song a shove but also a suite, it's everything.

Sonic Youth "Candle"

I honestly cannot reach a final decision about my favorite Pixies album. Doolittle was my first and holds a dear place in my heart, but Surfer Rosa has always been hot on its heels and a part of me seems to think/know it is the superior of the two. Maybe. Something about it feels a bit rawer. Probably songs like "Something Against You." The screaming is powerful here. And Joey Santiago's guitar is a bit more vicious on this album, such as on "Vamos" when he comes up with so many different squawks to make his guitar make on a very forward moving beat (I remember being blown away when I saw them on their initial reunion tour by how much of the Pixies' uniqueness could be attributed to Santiago's inventiveness on the guitar). And it has a Kim Deal song! And the songs that are softer, acoustic style? Two of the greatest songs they ever recorded. There's the ever popular "Where Is My Mind?" and then there's my favorite track, one that has guided me through long distance relationship hatred (not hatred but obsession and anger and hell):

Pixies "Cactus"

I'll call it right there. Done.

In other comments...

• Thomas Dolby. Aliens Ate My Buick. A nerd of nerds, one of the last great new wave albums maybe? Mostly it's nerdy funk.
• I feel like I'm past talking about classic rock and that's kind of how I place The Traveling Wilburys. So I'll put this here. Roy Orbison is very missed. So is George Harrison now. That Vol. 1 is a good album. It just kind of sounds like a bunch of legends having a great time.
• I dig Camper Van Beethoven.
• Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man actually sounds ok in the context of other late 80s music. Meaning the over-production I noticed when I first listened to it out of context is less noticeable when lots of the surrounding music is also over-produced. And "Take This Waltz" is another damn gem from this genius songwriter.
• The debut from My Bloody Valentine is pretty astonishing for a debut.
• Operation Ivy's Hectic EP is a part of the version of Energy I have on CD so it's kind of like it's here. I think I'll hold off and write about them in full when I hit Energy though.
• Lincoln is probably one of They Might Be Giants' stronger efforts.
• Fishbone album! Truth and Soul shows a band that is clearly in the minority of black bands in punk rock fighting against the pressures that come from that.

So what's next?

1989. We wrap up the 80s. But I have a lot to chew through so this may take a while (473, my highest song count yet!)

Hip Hop: Beastie Boys return. De La Soul shows up. So does Young MC! (looks much more positive this year)

College/Whatever: Disintegration is the best album ever! Depeche Mode keeps new wave alive a little bit longer. Early Nirvana! The other greatest Pixies album! My only Public Image Ltd album! Stone Roses. More Yo La Tengo.

Old People: Bob Dylan returns with a great album! So does Elvis Costello! And Lou Reed! Queen. 

Punk: Crimpshrine! Fugazi delivers the second half of 13 songs with the Margin Walker EP. The Mr. T. Experience. Operation Ivy for real this time. Slint means math rock is a thing! Vandals go country.

Popular: Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814. 

An Ear For An Era: 1987

Those '7 years, man. Always a big deal it seems. The culmination of a decade and the promise of the following decade. I didn't think 1987 would be that way, but here it is. "College" rock and hip hop were in a very '7 way in 1987.

But let's get the boring mainstream stuff out of the way first.

One of the biggest album of all of the 80s was Guns N Roses' Appetite for Destruction. This happened to come on when my metalhead friend was in the car and he had to laugh a bit about it. So quaint in the metal scheme of things. I don't really care for most of the album but the hits are pretty undeniable. Welcome to the Jungle. Paradise City. Sweet Child O Mine.

And then U2. Boring. I like their singles ok kind of, but yeah. The Joshua Tree came on and it was all boring and stuff. Were they interesting ever? Was it all lost by 1987?

Just like in 1982, there were giant albums from the two pop giants. Michael Jackson put out Bad, which had a good number of hits itself (but there's no following Thriller), including one of my favorites "Man in the Mirror." Prince put out Sign 'O' The Times, a massive double album that I only have in vinyl format. But I have a couple singles, including my favorite "I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man."

Ok now to get to the interesting stuff. Not that Prince & MJ were ever not interesting. But looking to the future was hip hop, which was rapidly growing up. Boogie Down Productions' Criminal Minded came up and I was like "KRS One already??" because he has this flow about him, it's astonishing and so fast and beyond all the hip hop previously encountered in this project. It's like, an actual flow! The only problematic things are "The P is Free" (which kind of seems like it glorifies taking advantage of people's crack addictions in a very misogynistic way) and the whole bridge wars thing. When I read about the bridge wars to put some of these songs into context, it turns out it was really stupid because BDP kept saying "I can't believe you think hip hop started in Queens! You're so wrong!" and then Queens was saying "we didn't say that" and then BDP said "I can't believe you said hip hop started in Queens!" etc. I like Scott La Rock's DJing in a 1980s hip hop manner. He was pushing things forward.

But then I heard something that felt even more forward. An album that must have been one of the most influential albums for all the great early 90s golden era hip hop that I'm looking forward to exploring, I'm of course talking about Paid in Full by Eric B. & Rakim. Rakim's vocals just have this sound to them, something that just feels good. The laid back flow way beyond everything else. And Eric B. was sampling different things, soul things. In jazzy ways to complement Rakim's flow.

Eric B. & Rakim "As The Rhyme Goes On"

Ok now for my wheelhouse. I put "college" rock up there meaning indie rock as it was referred at the time. But I also consider all the post hardcore (mostly DC) developments to be a part of this even though I have no idea if Dag Nasty was played on college radio stations. But Wig Out At Denko's is some sort of indie classic. To me it sounds like a somewhat more technically advanced Descendents. The energy is similar and I think that's what I like about it. We're also approaching Fugazi but one of the essential pitstops on the way to that is Embrace, Ian's short-lived emo project. I only have a few songs off their album but "No More Pain" is kind of the quintessential example of early emo to play for people that don't get it. Guy Picciotto's band of this era was Happy Go Licky, who didn't officially record anything in a studio but a live show was recorded.

You know, I talked about the Descendents above so here is an awkward segue into The Descendents' (original) swan song, All. Kind of their most mature album, say an Enjoy! without (as many) fart jokes. Not that it took itself particularly seriously. Yes, there are some of their better pop songs on here ("Coolidge," "Clean Sheets," "Pep Talk") but there are their most experimental pieces as well. Jokey experimental pieces. Like "Van" about doing stuff in a van. "Impressions" about a journey. "Ice Man" about a crazy Ice Man that cometh! The almost 7 minute "Schizophrenia." And the manifesto.

The Descendents "All-O-Gistics"

Qua quaaaaaaaaaaa qua qua...

And Dinosaur Jr! You're Living All Over Me! Can we get more classic college rock than that? And by that I mean they are both classic and they are influenced by classic rock. But with such youth and vigor, because that's how it was back then. Those dudes were young once, it turns out.

In the same vein of people that are now old but have been doing great work forever...Yo La Tengo. New Wave Hot Dogs is the earliest instance of YLT I have in my collection and it's quite good. Lots of the atmospheric things they are now known for can be seen here, just in smaller bursts. None of their patented long songs just yet.

I was missing a good chunk of Sonic Youth records between their self-titled debut and Sister, because now they are suddenly at the top of their game. Melodic when they needed to be, insane when they needed to be, they were shaping the future man! The underground would never be the same. I'll share this track mostly because it's Ash Wednesday.

Sonic Youth "(I Got A) Catholic Block"

But the biggest college/alternative/indie/whatever album of all of 1987, the biggest deal at least, was an EP by an up and coming band called the Pixies. This blog will be obsessed with the Pixies for the next few entries and then they will disappear. So playful, such great screaming, such odd guitar licks, it was all there on their very first EP Come On Pilgrim. Even if all of that has disappeared on their recent EPs.

Pixies "I've Been Tired"

Should I put The Smiths down here? It looks like The Smiths broke up here, and this part is about the ends of journeys. 8 songs on that Louder Than Bombs collection are from 1987, the last hurrah. Including one of my favorite Smiths songs because it's pretty relatable, "Half a Person."

Another one of those bands were still around still doing very good work was The Cure, who put out one of their stronger efforts (in my opinion), Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me. It's got some of my favorite hit songs of theirs ("Just Like Heaven" in particular), it's got a lot of Cure-sounding songs, and it has my favorite Cure song that doesn't sound so much like The Cure. Save this one for a special mixtape.

The Cure "Catch"

I guess that'll do it.

Also I may mention...

• Sinead O'Connor's The Lion And The Cobra played and it feels like a big influence on lots of the great female singer songwriters of the past 20ish years, such as Fiona Apple, Feist, Jesca Hoop, etc. that I dig because of how much creativity they push into a genre I would have otherwise assumed was just someone strumming a guitar.
• Fat Boys are very definitely a novelty act in 1987 with half-cover songs, a song with The Beach Boys, and a Chubby Checker featuring "The Twist (Yo, Twist!)"
• Operation Ivy had some undergroundish EPs in 1987 but I'll hold off talking about them until we at least get to the Hectic EP.
• One of Johnny Cash's lesser known lesser albums, Johnny Cash is Coming to Town, came up and I dig it because he covered an Elvis Costello song on it. And some cheesy love songs and other cheesy things.
• I also had the distinct pleasure of listening to the other half of The Pixies' "Purple Tape," which Come on Pilgrim was derived from. Mostly it's just interesting to hear early versions of songs that would make their major upcoming albums.
• R.E.M. was doing pretty good and starting to blow up thanks to their hit "It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"
• And just to clean up the last of the pre-Fugazi stuff in time for Fugazi, Rites of Spring had a 7" come out (even though they had been broken up a couple years) and it was fabulous.
• Big Black! Headache and Heartbeat!

What's Next??

1988 in punk/whatever: FUGAZI FUGAZI FUGAZI! Descendents turn into All! Big Black goes all out! An actual album by The Ex! Operation Ivy! Pogues! Shudder to Think! 

1988 in indie/whatever: Camper van Beethoven make their (here) debut! More Dinosaur Jr! Fishbone! Do My Bloody Valentine go here? One of the Two Best Pixies Albums! The Best Sonic Youth Album! 

1988 in singers or whatever: More Leonard Cohen! Traveling Wilburys! 

1988 in hippity hop: NWA! Ice T! (stuff's about to get profane!) Public Enemy! Slick Rick! Ultramagnetic MCs! 

...And another classic album from "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Oscar Hopes & Dreams 2014

Up until I think Thursday, I was thinking the Oscars were today. I just had the date set in my head and was going as fast as I could trying to see everything in time to have a valid-ish opinion come Oscar night. Then I found out I had another whole week! But I might as well post this now. I'd resigned myself to missing the shorts and some of the documentary and foreign film contenders but I might be able to fit those in this week. For now they will be kind of blank. I'm just going to go through these categories in order and say who I'd like to see win, whether they seem likely or not.

Best Picture:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick:  I would love to see Her win because it was a beautiful thing and probably my favorite film of the year, saying so much about us as human beings and our reliance on detached "others" (writers, artists, computer programmers, whatever) to help us reach very human connections and the deepest feelings. But its chances are low. I'd also be absolutely tickled to see one of the other underdogs win, such as Nebraska or maybe Philomena. Not that those seemed particularly outstanding (more just lovely small stories, the type of movie I generally prefer), I just like to see that sort of thing recognized. 
• Other Top Pick: Out of the movies with a fighting chance (American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, 12 Years A Slave, The Wolf of Wall Street maybe), I'm pulling for 12 Years A Slave. Not only because it's Very Important That We Americans Remember This Painful Part Of Our History, but because it's a hell of an epic story of a man and his journey home.
• Other comments: I feel like there's a backlash against American Hustle coming in. I remember quite loving it when I saw it, but looking back at it I'm having kind of middling feelings toward it, thinking it was merely "good" and not really anything new for David O. Russell. He's kind of on a hot streak but in retrospect it seems like it'll not quite measure up to The Fighter or (hopefully) some of his future works. Captain Phillips was a good action film and I appreciated it not so much making the pirates out to be bad guys but people that have their own needs for survival in a world that has turned its back on them. Dallas Buyers Club was good but not as great as I was expecting (maybe my own fault, I was pretty tired when I watched it so I might have missed something). Gravity was wonderful and is probably my second place pick for movies-with-a-chance. The way it depicted loneliness and isolation without getting boring, that it was really a rollercoaster playing out in real time, it made the runtime just fly right by. Nebraska seems like the type of movie I would like to make someday. Philomena was very very touching. The Wolf of Wall Street reminded me of Goodfellas, just another great Scorsese picture and his best in quite some time.

Lead Actor:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: Again, I gotta give it to 12 Years A Slave. Chiwetel Ejiofor turned in one hell of a performance. There was a moment during that film that it just flipped in my mind that he is a leading man, that he should win the Oscar and go on to a very successful career in leading roles from now on. It was when he started singing. The strength of his voice offering hope but giving way to pain, written all over his face, all in one closeup shot.
• Other comments: Bruce Dern was great in Nebraska and it'd be neat to see him win. Matthew McConaughey was brilliant as always and will probably take it. Those three are my top contenders and if it's not one of these three I will be quite puzzled.

Lead Actress:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: This is a really strong field here. I think the competition is tougher in the lead actress field than the lead actor field this year. Cate Blanchett's performance in Blue Jasmine is one of the greatest I've ever seen, the fragility and bitchiness of her character so perfectly portrayed.
• Other comments: But damnit the rest were so great that there's a chance she won't win! I think Amy Adams is great (and she was great in American Hustle) but she just wasn't on the level of these other nominees. Another year maybe. Sandra Bullock carried Gravity nearly solo, which I don't think most could do. Judi Dench was heartbreakingly sweet in Philomena and probably made me cry more than anyone else in this field. Meryl Streep is always fabulous but she should give someone else a chance.

Supporting Actor:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: This is an odd assortment here. And a little weaker than usual. I'd probably give it to Jared Leto as the tragic transgendered character in Dallas Buyers Club even though that role just screams Oscar Bait already. He still gave a very nuanced performance that could have easily gone too far in one direction or another but he hit just the right notes.
• Barkhad Abdi had the only other particularly deserving performance in my opinion in Captain Phillips. What I said earlier about the way it didn't take the easy way out in villainizing the pirates had a lot to do with him in his half-sympathetic portrayal. I am a big fan of Michael Fassbender (particularly when he's working with Steve McQueen) but I just didn't find enough nuance in his part in 12 Years A Slave.

Supporting Actress:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: Lupita Nyong'o for sure. The spirit of that character, so unbreakable despite her breakable physicality, so breakable was my heart!
• Other Comments: Sally Hawkins was awesome too. Why does Jennifer Lawrence keep winning awards for American Hustle?? Love her (and rooted for her back when she was nominated for Winter's Bone) but she again just seems out of her league here (or at least the role didn't call for her to exercise her range as much as an Oscar role should). Julia Roberts was one of the saving factors of August: Osage County. June Squibb was absolutely delightful in Nebraska and I wouldn't mind seeing her win but I don't know what her chances are with such a comedic role.

Animated Feature:

• I saw: None of them.
• Top Pick: No idea. Let's just say The Wind Rises because it appears to be beautiful and I feel like the commercial ones always win this category.
• Other Comments: none. I recorded The Croods so I could potentially watch that one before the awards. I haven't seen Despicable Me but I also recorded Despicable Me 2 if I feel like it...Oh and I'm sure Frozen will win.

Cinematography:

• I saw: All except for The Grandmaster (but I did see pieces of the cinematography...).
• Top Pick: Roger Deakins for Prisoners. Deakins is still the greatest DP working and he still gets robbed every year. He manages to keep getting nominated so it's not as though he's not recognized at all. Watching Prisoners just exemplified how upper echelon his stuff is. He seems to be working on more commercial action movies lately, I wonder if he'd have a better chance if he got back with the Coen Brothers...not that he ever got the win for any of his brilliant work for them in the past. 
• Other Comments:  Gravity might win, it is pretty astonishingly beautiful. It'd be cruel but maybe Bruno Delbonnel will win for Inside Llewyn Davis (which went pretty much unrecognized otherwise in the nominations), it was a great looking film. I don't know if Phedon Papamichel should win for Nebraska; it seems like it got nominated because it's a well photographed black and white film which is unique. But it ain't no Manhattan...

Production Design:

• I saw: All except for The Great Gatsby.
• Top Pick: We're starting to get into fields that I'm less interested in but I'll say Her for two reasons: It took place in a future not too far away and was a very believable portrayal of that, with varying degrees of subtlety in design. Or if not a future, I originally viewed it as an alternate present time. Some future technology not too different from our own but fashion of the 70s or 80s or something. Just a slightly different version of our universe that makes the whole thing feel timeless. Oh yeah, the other reason. Just that I want Her to win pretty much everything it's nominated for because it's not nominated for a lot.
• Other Comments: All the nominees are so different from each other that it's hard to say which direction the voters will go. Probably one that will go to the same movie as what wins best picture (American Hustle or 12 Years A Slave) just to be another in its overall number of wins.

Costume Design:

• I saw: Only American Hustle and 12 Years A Slave.
• Top Pick: You know, whatever. Probably American Hustle.There were some outrageous outfits in that one.
• Other Comments: None.

Directing:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: What no Spike Jonze nomination?? Steve McQueen then. Because of what I said above for best picture. Seriously, how is best director different from best picture?
• Other Comments: See other comments from best picture nominees. I respect all of these directors greatly. It looks like there's never been a black best director winner which is odd (Spike Lee's never won??), so I think it's time. Otherwise Alfonso Cuaron would be a good choice for Gravity. It'd be cool to see him win.

Documentary Feature:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: The Act of Killing is kind of a no-brainer for this one. It's just so intense and fearless and an interesting study of these unrepentant monsters. A must-see.
• Other Comments: Cutie and the Boxer was nice to watch after all the other docs about turbulence and war and such, just an interesting look at two very different artists in their art, personalities, and suffering. Dirty Wars was a good expose of something awful that is going on, it just got kind of annoying that the filmmaker felt the need to insert himself into it so much. It was amazing seeing the Egyptian revolution from the inside with The Square. I guess the favorite to win is 20 Feet From Stardom. I did enjoy it (another lighter hearted joy and I love me some Merry Clayton) but c'mon, The Act of Killing was life changing.

Documentary Short:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: Prison Terminal: The Last Days of Private Jack Hall was another no-brainer for me. A story of redemption, showing how caring and loving people doing life sentences for murder and kidnapping can be, and then the devastating scenes of Pvt. Hall's last moments with his son, it just stuck with me in a way that I don't think I can ever forget.
• Other Comments: CaveDigger was cute but didn't seem to be on the same level as the rest. But it was also the only lighthearted movie of the bunch, so good on it for not being depressing! Facing Fear was another story of redemption and forgiveness that stuffed a whole lot into its short running time. And an astonishing story that I wouldn't believe would really happen, but it did. Karama Has No Walls was the most intense movie of the program and probably of my whole season of watching Oscar movies. Just absolutely devastating, it did not hold back, those cameras were right there in the revolution and in the resulting suffering. Those children. They're just children! The Lady In Number 6: Music Saved My Life had the most wonderful woman as a subject and it really just brought a different perspective to many things for me; I couldn't believe what I was hearing these women say. I would not mind seeing this one win either. 

Film Editing:

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: I probably have to give it to Captain Phillips. The pacing just made it so intense. 
• Other Comments: Normally I really notice and like how David O Russell movies are paced/cut, but I didn't really notice much of that in American Hustle. Most of these nominees are just good movies but I don't remember the editing being anything unique...

Foreign Language Film:

• I saw: Everything but The Missing Picture and Omar.
• Top Pick: Probably The Great Beauty. It was the intellectual art film of the three nominees I saw. Just so beautifully constructed and shot, written, just one of those pictures, you know? How it showed this great party scene but really made you feel the isolation of everyone in attendance even as they took part in debauchery and ridiculousness...the isolation of everyone! In search of something...
• Other Comments: Couldn't really find any means of seeing The Missing Picture or Omar. But The Broken Circle Breakdown was one of the saddest movies I have ever seen. It plays like one of the great old country songs. Just the way these two very opposite people deal with a shared tragedy is so well done, and this film had me bawling repeatedly. Great music too! The Hunt was an extraordinary picture about some very unfortunate circumstances that lead to great suffering by one person at the hands of many without having any actual villains...everyone's behavior was based on compassion and reason and that's why it hurt so much!

Makeup & Hairstyling

• I saw: Only Dallas Buyers Club.
• Top Pick: I'll just say Dallas Buyers Club for Jared Leto.
• Other Comments: I don't want a Jackass movie to win an Oscar. Does that make me stuffy and out of touch? And is there anything great about the makeup and hairstyling in The Lone Ranger aside from making Johnny Depp look ridiculous?

Music (Original score): 

• I saw: Gravity, Her, and Philomena
• Top Pick: Wouldn't it be cool to see Owen Pallett & Arcade Fire win an Oscar for Her?
• Other Comments: None.

Music (Original Song):

• I saw: Her
• Top Pick: Karen O & Spike Jonze for "The Moon Song" even though it's such a simple song! Yes please!
• Other Comments: I listened to all of these songs. The U2 one just sounds like U2, which is very boring to me. The one from Frozen will probably win (if U2 doesn't win because people love some U2 for some reason) because it's one of those singer showcase songs. I wouldn't mind Pharrell winning because that song is catchy. It'd be my second choice.

Animated Short:

• I saw: None...
• Top Pick: Can't fairly say.
• Other Comments: Looks like I won't catch these...drat! They're usually so good!

Live Action Short:

• I saw: None...
• Top Pick: Can't fairly say.
• Other Comments: I missed out.

Sound Editing:

• I saw: All except All is Lost and Lone Survivor
• Top Pick: Captain Phillips I guess?.
• Other Comments: Someone with long hair. I recorded All is Lost but I don't know if I'll stress myself trying to watch before Sunday just for this nomination.

Sound Mixing:

• I saw: All except Lone Survivor
• Top Pick: Inside Llewyn Davis please! So it can win something! Also there was some skillful sound mixing, such as the scene with the guy eating cereal.
• Other Comments: I still don't get how sound mixing isn't a part of sound editing. It kind of exemplifies that in the fact that the nominees are almost always the same movies with one difference.

Visual Effects:

• I saw: All except The Lone Ranger.
• Top Pick: Gravity. The depiction of space was so lifelike, it took it to a new level. The new standard, like 2001 way back when (Kubrick's only ever Oscar win!).
• Other Comments: Iron Man 3 had decent effects as usual, the others were pretty standard fare from what I can tell. Why wasn't Pacific Rim nominated though? An easy second place!

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: Before Midnight. I'm not sure how this is "adapted" though. But it's just so real and so raw in its depiction of these same characters and where they would be at this point.
• Other Comments: Lots of strong contenders here. For me, I'm generally most interested in these writing categories because the nominees tend to be my favorite films of the year as opposed to the best picture nominees. Lots of overlap this year though.

Writing (Original Screenplay):

• I saw: All of them.
• Top Pick: Her. It might even have a chance in this category! 
• Other Comments: Again, a strong pool. I wonder if the recent hubbub about Woody Allen killed his chances here. We'll see.

And there you have it. We'll see how it shakes out very soon.

An Ear For An Era: 1986

How are we already past the halfway point of the 80s? I actually have surprisingly little 80s music relatively. Don't worry, we'll be slowing down soon. Here's 1986.

A big deal was the introduction to The Beastie Boys. License to Ill came out way back here! When hip hop was Run-DMC and Fat Boys. I don't know, I knew they were early but this is kind of crazy considering how long they stayed relevant. They like to say their names in their songs, don't they? It's hip hop for suburban white kids but it's done with passion and respect for the craft. Not that it was particularly more advanced than what Run-DMC was doing (this was the year of "It's Tricky") but they managed to keep their take on it cool for decades. Props for that.

You know who else has a band name of two B words? Big Black. I felt a little guilty listening to Big Black on an ipod but such is the nature of this project. Maybe I'll do a vinyl version one day. Anyhow, Big Black just killed it with intensity on Atomizer. Like, Kanye, Yeezus was a great album and I'ma let you finish...but Atomizer is the most intense industrial record of all time! Yes, the drum machine named Roland that sounded like a machine gun and guitars that sounded like they were being played with locomotives along with Albini's signature snarl, it's some heavy stuff man. Sorry I'm posting the most popular song in this case, but if that's what it takes to get converts so be it. Also sorry I'm posting a youtube instead of a physical record. Come over sometime and we'll listen to all sorts of Albini on wax.

Big Black "Kerosene"

Such a curiosity Enjoy! by The Descendents is. Two tracks are devoted to the most juvenile humor which I don't find enjoyable at all. There are some great pop songs on there though to balance it out. And then there are some kind of art punk tracks on here that just elevate it to such a different level. And I quite love those arty tracks (one is almost 8 minutes long!); it's just a weird collection.

I think The Edge Of The World is my favorite Mekons album. It recalls the Pogues in how the songs just beg to be sung along to. You just want to be with a big crowd of like minded people to sing these. The album has a lot of variety but that underlying aspect follows through the whole album. Listening to it, the word "shanty" came to mind. These songs are shanties. Appropriately enough, here's another song for my wake.

The Mekons "Shanty"

They Might Be Giants' self-titled debut is just so perfectly nerdy. If I ever have a child I'm going to play a lot of this band because that's the style of nerd I want to raise. A bit kitchen sink and very clever. The other thing to say about this album is that as much informed by the 80s as it seems, I'm having a hard time resolving in my head that this came out the same year as the other things. The other things are oldies. TMBG seem contemporary and/or timeless. Both.

Paul Simon. Graceland. One of those guys that you can just listen to and marvel at the lyrics. And it's pretty catchy. The appropriation of African musical styles seems a little less grating when Paul Simon does it than when Vampire Weekend did it, but I don't know if i have a justifiable reason for saying that. But you can be my bodyguard...

Nick Cave, post Birthday Party...he's got The Bad Seeds! Sure, it's album #4 with them, but I guess it's the first thing in my collection. Another glaring omission I'm sure some of those albums are. But Your Funeral...My Trial has to be one of the best. The creepiness and intensity from The Birthday Party is still there, just in a (very slightly) more subtle format. It kind of reminds me of Tom Waits' output from this era in its own odd way...just the circus and loopiness and intensity. The songs just create settings for a theatre bizarre thing to go down inside.

My favorite singer/songwriter of all time is still Elvis Costello. I haven't had much to say about his output of the past few years but boy did he turn it around in 1986. Two albums, vastly different, that happen to be my two favorite albums of his. First was King of America, notably missing the Attractions. In their place were some legendary American studio musicians that would be collectively known as The Confederates. But yeah, whatever. I don't need to re-hash the wikipedia entry here. This album is one of my favorites because I prefer his ballads and it hits all the right notes for Costello ballads while still being all over the place. The sorrow in hope. The romantic hopelessness. It's optimism about contradictions. It's also something about his delivery, the passion behind it. In 1986 you could feel every tear in his vocals (this is true whichever homonym for "tear" you use).

(If I could find a youtube video of the studio version of "I'll Wear It Proudly" it would be here. Find it on spotify or whatever because it's great!)

I don't want to be a gossip, but that passion had to have been at least partially inspired by some turbulence that was happening at the time...the break up of The Attractions paired with his blossoming relationship with/marriage to Cait O'Riordan. The best art comes out of turbulence. And Blood and Chocolate...that's turbulence. I guess it's kind of ironic that this is the album that reunited him with Nick Lowe as well as The Attractions, as it's nothing but tension and would be the last album with any of those parties for a while (not to mention his record label). Such a great break-up/kiss-off album that helped me through some tough times in college. There's fire here reminiscent of his early albums but with a wiseness that he couldn't have pulled off a decade earlier. But the wiseassness of those early days is there as well in songs like "I Hope You're Happy Now," probably the most helpful track of them all when dealing with a breakup. Even the ballads are either sarcastic (Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head) or downright creepy (I Want You). Those two tracks are back-to-back and will get the listener comfortable in their atmosphere before the jolt of "Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?" (possibly the closest link to classic 70s Attractions) clears the palate for the brutal and confrontational back half. King of America might be my favorite 15-song-sequence but "Blue Chair" through "Next Time Round" is five songs of perfection. And all of this tension in the production of the album, the tension of what I assume was Elvis' mindset in these days, it all comes down to this song here. There were two very different takes of the track and rather than eventually pick one to put on the album they were spliced together in a not-so-subtle fashion. Two opposing sides. Forced together uncomfortably and...it just fits.

Elvis Costello and The Attractions "Battered Old Bird"

Other things:

• Kronos Quartet have also been around forever! They've gotten pretty cool with the indie rock kids these days, but even back in 1986 they were reaching out to the rock & roll audience with a cover of "Purple Haze" done Kronos Quartet style.
• More Scratch Acid! Their 1986 output was pretty varied stylistically. Lots of different things going on, almost to the point of being poppy at times. Only a few choice intensely hardcore tracks. It's an interesting progression. Of course I prefer the ones where they go all out like "Flying Houses"
• Last week while I was listening to 1986 there was some really really bad traffic due to snow and subzero temperatures. And then this song by Mojo Nixon came on and I just wanted to do exactly what he said in the song. (Damn it "Get Out Of My Way" isn't on youtube either!)
• The Dischord/DC scene was changing all the rules of hardcore these days, wasn't it? One Last Wish seemed to be Guy Picciotto's next band after Rites of Spring. And other Rites of Spring members. The 1986 EP (not actually released until 1999 but I figured I'd follow the recording date in this case) is full of short songs and matches the intensity of RoS. And short-lived Ian MacKaye project Egg Hunt put out a couple songs that serve as a pretty good bridge between Minor Threat and Fugazi without really sounding anything like either. And other bands were pushing things forward, but I don't feel qualified to fully squish all of that information here.
• You know who was probably a bigger influence on those emo whatever bands of the early 00s? The Smiths. Talk about whiny! But I still quite love a few of their tracks even if it took me a while to come around to them. The Queen Is Dead is the album of 1986 but of course my favorite track is non-album track from that Louder Than Bombs compilation "Ask." Probably because I have shyness and it's a comfort for that.
• A Kind of Magic by Queen is kind of a mix between their rock tendencies and pop tendencies. There seems to be a one, singular vision to this song, an overarching theme of oneness. Very cohesive.
• Ok maybe Polka Party isn't a Weird Al "classic" but I still have very specific memories about listening to the tape in my dad's truck. Listening now I'm a little less enthused about the majority of this album, but "Dog Eat Dog" may be one of his greatest songs. A Talking Heads style parody, it was my introduction to that legendary band and he gets it just right.
• One of my favorite Prince jams! Kiss!
• Another year, another great song from Carmel: "I'm Not Afraid Of You." Dark brooding music but hopeful and ultimately just a super strong anthem.
• David Bowie. "Magic Dance" from Labyrinth. This is where our culture was in 1986.
• Sonny Sharrock's "Broken Toys" is some great jazz guitar. Not that I know anything about jazz guitar besides Sonny Sharrock. 

Next Time 'Round...
Boogie Down Productions AND Eric B & Rakim! Hip hop's game keeps getting stepped up! Favorite Cure album! Dag Nasty. Dinosaur Jr. Appetite for Destruction. Operation Ivy stuff. Some band called the Pixies? I finally get to another Sonic Youth album? And who's this Yo La Tengo?? And no Weird Al album in 1987??

An Ear For An Era: 1985

I feel like I should have more to say about 1985 music. There were some all-time classics released, mostly ones that I don't have as much personal experience as would be required to do any justice to these albums. But aside from a handful, lots of it was forgettable. So this one's kind of short.

The first album that came up for 1985 was the classic Weird Al piece known as Dare to Be Stupid. One of my favorites by him, for reasons such as the Devo-inspired title track and the Kinks-and-Star-Wars-inspired "Yoda." Yesterday I was skiing in the trees and my dad once said "watch out for that tree," so for the rest of the day I had "George of the Jungle" stuck in my head. But the most memorable track on here was an early favorite for sure. Keep an eye on those background singers/dancers.

"Weird Al" Yankovic "One More Minute"

Talking Heads' Little Creatures is the first albums of theirs that I got once I got cool enough to seek them out. Opener "And She Was" might still be my favorite song of theirs. But I dig the whole thing, from "Creatures of Love" to "Stay Up Late" to "Road to Nowhere." Good travel music and such.

Minor Threat released their last music, the Salad Days EP. These three songs are pretty mellow relative to their earlier output, which I guess suggests the directions Ian MacKaye would head in his post-Minor Threat days. Speaking of stuff Iam MacKaye would go on to do, his future bandmate Guy Picciotto was making waves with Rites of Spring and thanks to him we now have lots of crappy emo music in this world. But in 1985, emo meant something very different. Not to go into a history lesson, but it's much less embarrassing to refer to this music as post hardcore or whatever than emo. End On End has nothing in common whatsoever with whatever '00s emo you have in mind when I use that word (over and over I admit). It's kind of mathy, kind of post rock, and it's very heavy. It's just the wail Guy Picciotto used here, it's otherworldly, it's coming from somewhere so deep and dark and pained.

Rites of Spring "Persistent Vision"

The Cure was also obviously a big influence on what would become fake "emo" or whatever stuff with all the mopin' around. The Head On The Door is one of their better albums in my opinion (I prefer their pop music). "Close To Me" is a top tier Cure pop single. And this album was full of pop with a darkness. I don't know. I like this song though.

The Cure "Screw"

I was a late adapter of The Jesus And Mary Chain's Psychocandy but when Stephin Merritt made all those great comments on it describing its production I knew I had to hear it. It is a huge influence on the indie pop to come. Not only Magnetic Fields, but Best Coast and Animal Collective and everyone in between. All the noise and distortion serving just to obscure the pop melodies just beneath. 

Tom Waits. Rain Dogs. The follow-up to Swordfishtrombones. More experimental jazz sorrow coolness. I can't come up with the right adjectives to describe this album. But duh. It's amazing.

Something completely different again: Remember a couple years ago when that hip hop track came out starring all sorts of giants of the genre? That was cool. And a very similar thing happened in 1985 when Fat Boys, Run-DMC, Sheila E, and Kurtis Blow got together for "Krush Groovin'." That is the jam right there.

Fishbone is red hot!! One of my favorite live shows ever is any time I ever saw Fishbone. They'll get the party going. Strangely I used to not like this song when it was played on the ska show on the college radio station KCSU when I was in high school.  But that has changed. I oddly don't have this full album but this song is worth showing a video for anyway. I need to go more obscure I think. Whatever, Fishbone is red hot!

Fishbone "Party At Ground Zero"

Other things.

• The Smiths. Have I mentioned them yet? I have the "Louder Than Bombs" (their quotation marks, not mine) collection and quite enjoy the song "Asleep." And obvious hit "How Soon Is Now" was also from 1985.
• Dead Kennedys got all serious and long songy in 1985 with Frankenchrist. No more short songs, they were now focused on creating creepy atmosphere.
• They Might Be Giants demo!
• If Kurtis Blow ruled the world...
• Prince just kept being awesome with Around The World In A Day. "Raspberry Beret" was the big hit but the whole album is catchy as hell.
• Brian Ferry's Boys and Girls is pretty awesome.
• Mekons were quite good.
• The Descendents' second album took a turn for the pop. I don't mind that at all, but some of the magic of the first album is gone. They're still good at the pop stuff though.
• Tears For Fears accomplished some strange feat of sounding so dated and 80s yet aging so well. "Everybody Wants to Rule The World," "Head Over Heels," "Mothers Talk," Songs From The Big Chair is just so inspiring to listen to.

Next Time...

I'll do better. Ha! I know I phoned it in this time. Sorry. At least I picked good clips to show you. But I'll have plenty to say about 1986 because The Beastie Boys! And Big Black! And my TWO FAVORITE Elvis Costello albums. And the actual debut of They Might Be Giants. And another classic from "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Artist.

I had a pretty good day most of the day today. I went skiing with my dad, it was a lot of fun, and there was a ton of powder. And not a cloud in the sky. Not too crowded either. Oh, and I got to meet my cousin's new baby. Awesome baby. Hung out with most of the rest of the family for a super bowl party thing and had delicious food. I didn't particularly care about the football game (the original plans were to either go to a movie or a brewery bar without TVs) so I don't care that the Broncos lost. It was mostly kind of amusing that people cared so much about it.



But now I kind of take it personally when people get so distraught over this. It hurts me that you can get upset today because a bunch of grown men were bad at throwing the ball to each other and other grown men were good at taking the ball away from the first bunch.

Because we lost my favorite actor of all time.

Yes, he is only one man in the billions on this earth. And he was "just" an entertainer. And I did not know him personally. But my care for his work perhaps rivaled your passion for the super bowl. And the Broncos have next  year. PSH is gone.

Happiness. This is when I fell in love with his work. His talent. Fearlessness. The sympathy he made me feel for a character that was super creepy and gross, comically gross at times, but so sad. The non-ironic appreciation I have for Air Supply has a lot to do with that movie and that character.

Love Liza. I watched this one obsessively in college. So many times. I don't know if I'll be able to watch this one anymore. I feel like I have to at least once but it's going to hurt. The script was silly at times but the way he sold that sadness of losing a wife and not knowing how to deal with it, resorting to huffing paint, I don't know how I'll deal with watching it again. It will ring a little too true.

Boogie Nights Magnolia Punch Drunk Love The Master. I know Paul Thomas Anderson can still make a great movie without him (There Will Be Blood) but he seemed to be quite the muse and such growth can be seen just going through his PTA movies. And he wasn't afraid to play terrible people that I still somehow sympathized with because of the underlying sadness, just like Happiness.

Before The Devil Knows You're Dead. Owning Mahowny. Capote. Doubt. Synecdoche, New York. Oh My God. The list could just keep going. He owned every role and it's an intimidating filmography he amassed in his tragically short career.

Savages saw him team up with another master of the craft (Laura Linney) for the greatest acted movie in recent memory. Sorrow.

I saw a news story fairly recently (was that a year ago??) that he had entered rehab. Even though he'd been clean for 20 years. How does this happen? It disturbed me greatly. I didn't know he'd ever had such problems. But I was glad he got ahead of it and was taking care of himself.

One more year and here we are.

I guess for us the letter is all of the movies he left for us. I'll have to tackle those (the ones I haven't seen, and seeing the ones I've seen again) once I'm ready.

An Ear For An Era: 1984

In 1984 I turned 1. How old are kids when they start kind of understanding things and singing along with songs? I'm not sure. So I don't know how old this song was and how old I was, but my earliest memories song-wise are singing along to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called To Say I Love You" with my mom. Cheesy as it is, that song will always take me back. At my wedding I picked the too-cool Magnetic Fields' "Nothing Matters When We're Dancing" for my first dance with my wife, but I picked the not-cool-enough-for-anything "I Just Called To Say I Love You" for my dance with my mom.

Stevie Wonder "I Just Called To Say I Love You"

Bruce Springsteen was also kind of cheesy on the surface with Born in the USA. After Nebraska, I feel like he kind of earned that singing-like-it's-the-most-important-thing-in-the-world thing he was known for. All the working class anthems are now kind of perfect here. I like a lot of the songs. I don't know if I need to share any because they're so well known and I try to point to the obscure. You know all those singles from this album? "Glory Days," "Dancing In The Dark," "Darlington County," "No Surrender," etc? Yeah, I think they're great too!

But now I'm super cool and hip. I listen to punk rock and obscure soul and other things spoken about on this blog.

The only Hüsker Dü album I own is Zen Arcade. I think I should get more. I think I like it more than other Bob Mould projects. But that's just me. I want to hear him rock out a little more because he's good at that. But this album is a good mix of punk and pop and other boundaries of punk that were broken as they recorded this. It's hard to pick one track because of all the different directions it goes in but since I said I like to hear Mould rock out here's a pretty straightforward punk rock track.

Hüsker Dü "I'll Never Forget You"

Speaking of fierce, Scratch Acid may be the fiercest punk rock in my collection. Yow screams with such intensity and I'm pretty excited I have a few years of material from the collection The Greatest Gift. I went to the Touch & Go 25th anniversary block party thing a few years ago and it featured (among lots of other amazing acts) a Scratch Acid reunion. At this time however I was suffering from an unfortunate bout with plantar fasciitis and couldn't stand for very long. I suffered hard for my rock & roll but as I stood in the huge gathering crowd for (I think it was) Sally Timms or something (something Mekons related), the pain increased and I hadn't yet gotten into Scratch Acid so I was the one person leaving the area as Scratch Acid was setting up and people were highly confused by my actions. If I had made the effort to listen to them before this I probably would have stuck it out...but it was an all day thing, man! My foot was killing me! I still heard them but I could have been up in it, around the 10th row of people. Regrets. Here is an awesomely sleazy song that just kills my feet and your ear drums (turn it up loud!).

Scratch Acid "She Said"

Now a completely different but still vaguely punk rock thing: The Pogues! I first heard The Pogues in high school when I was watching a public access music video show (they mostly played punk rock) and some Pogues live performance played after a Rancid song. I think I remember thinking of them as not punk, just a Celtic band, and as I was sooooo punk rock I considered it something of a guilty pleasure (Dropkick Murphys and Flogging Molly were the celtic PUNK bands, after all!). Now I just feel guilty for ever having any guilt about it. I loved the ugly/beautiful thing that I can't quite explain. It's a perfect ugly/beautiful combination, what they do. Not afraid to sound ugly in the vocals, screaming, but having the backing of perfectly executed Celtic folk, they have become my favorite drinking music. Red Roses For Me is actually my second Pogues purchase (after If I Should Fall From Grace With God, which I'll talk about when we hit 1988). There are just a ton of great songs on here, I want to be in a crowded pub raising a pint and singing these songs. When I went to Ireland last year I listened to this album to get excited and for a week before the trip this song kept getting in my head and got me very very very excited:

The Pogues "Streams of Whiskey"

Can I please go back there tomorrow?

I hadn't heard from Leonard Cohen in a while but here he is! Various Positions has hints of cheesy 80s production (not as bad as I'm Your Man, however) but it's mostly pretty solidly grounded. There's a kind of weird echo on the vocals but it does just kind of give it more weight. It has "Hallelujah" on it so what else do you need to know? One of the greatest songs ever written, a song I have to stop everything to listen to when it comes on. Even if Jeff Buckley's version is the definitive version, there's a lot to like about Cohen's original version.

Hip hop! Afrika Bambaataa took the next logical step (or the first logical step?) and featured James Brown on a track, "Unity Part 1 (The Third Coming)." It's kickin'! And then I had my intro to Fat Boys, which epitomizes the whole novelty thing that hip hop may have been in danger of falling into. I quite enjoy Fat Boys, but the stuff from 1984 seems a little too disco. Still could be fun to listen to at a party. But a new group came along to push hip hop forward, to rescue it from obscurity by taking things a little more seriously. Run-D.M.C. is of course who I'm talking about. Their back-and-forth vocals are really cool, really good on my short attention span. Here they are being socially conscious before backpacking was a thing (related to hip hop).

Run-D.M.C. "Wake Up"

Is Purple Rain the crowning Prince (& The Revolution) achievement? Just brilliant front to back, all over, I feel like it's similar to Born in the USA in that I can't really pick out an obscure track because the whole thing is so well loved. I don't know what I can say about this album because I don't have personal stories about it and everything's been said. Brilliant songwriting, Prince kind of lasted longer than Michael Jackson and while he didn't have a Thriller I think his sustained career during this period makes him the real king of pop. And the way he incorporates rock & roll, particularly on the closing title track, is pretty epic. Did you see him do that song at the super bowl halftime show that one time? I think he's the best super bowl halftime performer ever.

...And another classic by "Weird Al" Yankovic. In 3-D really pushed his game forward. This is no longer bedroom (or bathroom or whatever) recordings. No more banging on an accordion case for percussion. No more need to have everything accordion based (but he still uses it a lot). The parodies sound closer to the originals production-wise. I think it being the early 80s lended itself well to this, because so many popular songs already sounded goofy. Particularly "Safety Dance." Of course a song about The Brady Bunch would sound funny set to that melody. Because it's a funny sound. "Eat It" was one of his biggest hits ever, "I Lost on Jeopardy" was one of my personal favorites (particularly the video!), and "Nature Trail To Hell" made me nervous to get this tape because it had the H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks word in the title and I didn't want to get in trouble (I looked at this tape a lot of times before I bought it and kept going to different Weird Al tapes...it was probably one of my last Weird Al tape purchases as I collected them all). But what I'm going to share here is his first in a series of brilliant polkas he put together on almost all of his albums. Medleys of popular songs done in polka style. My first exposure to a lot of these songs. I thought it'd be a fun lesson in music history to listen to all the polkas sequentially, but then I realized he's all over the map here. His later albums mostly covered current hits, but this one jumps back and forth between the 80s and the 60s (and I know later on he'd do one entirely devoted to Bohemian Rhapsody and another devoted to the Stones) so it wouldn't really be in order. Still. Here's a quick rundown of what we've covered and where we are now in this AEFAE project.

"Weird Al" Yankovic "Polkas on 45"

Other stuff to say about stuff:

• The Cars' "Drive" is so 1984.
• The Vandals' When In Rome Do As The Vandals is too damn goofy. Actually I think it's the goofiness of the whole album that makes the satire "Slap of Love" not sit right with me. Too serious of a subject to approach in that way when everything else on the album is about skinheads not being allowed in mohawk town and space nazis and such. I don't know, I'm having a hard time explaining this.
• Depeche Mode. I don't have whichever album this is but "Blasphemous Rumours" is a damn good song.
• Serge Gainsbourg's Love on the Beat is an odd one. Essentially taking the Serge Gainsbourg formula but replacing the beautiful orchestral arrangements with cheesy 80s beats (and English choruses that only hint about what he's singing about in French). I can't quite get behind it. We do get our first sampling of Charlotte Gainsbourg though, the very young girl (12 years old!) singing on "Lemon Incest." Creepy that that's the name of the song but I couldn't tell you what it's about.
• Madonna's "Like A Virgin" is a song I always move back and forth between Weird Al's version when I sing it and don't think about it too much. "Better give me all your gauze nurse" etc.
• Van Halen was "Hot For Teacher" (and you know, they had that whole album 1984 in 1984 but I only have "Hot For Teacher").
• R.E.M. I liked Reckoning more. Good jangly guitars that would soon dominate the indie rock world. Hey! We're getting into the indie rock world now!
• Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!
• Carmel had another brilliant cut "Bad Day." Love that voice!
• Queen was back to rockin' on The Works. I feel like "Radio Ga Ga" is more relevant today than it was in 1984.
• Dead Kennedys' "Kinky Sex Makes The World Go 'Round" is a super effective creepy track that is just way too full of truth.
• 99 Luftballons.

Next time:

1985. The best Cure album? Brian Ferry solo? Dead Kennedys have changed a lot since the 70s. Descendents are back on here. Fishbone! The last great album according to Stephin Merritt (Psychocandy). Mekons! the end of Minor Threat! Prince continues to own the world (in a day). Rites of Spring (whoa emo's here already??). Everybody Wants To Rule The World. Tom Waits continues to be amazing. And another classic from Weird Al.

An Ear For An Era: 1983

All right, here it is. I'm going to see how this music of my birth year defines me as a person. From the timeless to the cheesy to the timelessly cheesy. Okay.

I was born in April of 1983. One album listed on Wikipedia as being released in "April 1983" was Minor Threat's only actual album Out of Step. I have a lot of love for this album. It exemplifies the greatness of Ian MacKaye's lyrics from the clarification of the title track (insisting that he doesn't care if you drink/smoke/etc he just doesn't happen to care for it) to the satire of the closing track "Cashing In." There's a bit more complexity to the music on this album, they started turning into something more. But still with the energy level that I love about them.

Minutemen sure doubled down on Double Nickels On The Dime. (DAMNIT I just saw it was released in 1984, not 1983. Someone needs to go through my music and correct all the dates! I'll still write about it here though because I listened to it in a slightly-incorrect context). This is all I have from them at the moment but I'd like to hear more. I kind of liken this album to a more stripped-down version of Gang of Four. The same rhythm attack is there in the bass and drums, but they were not trying to make you dance. It's thinking music. And it's 43 tracks long, so it's a commitment. It's got punk rock rage without being dumbed down and it's not afraid to slow it down. There's way too much going on for someone like me without more time to devote to it to give it justice, but just listen to "West Germany." I think it covers what I've said here. Unfortunately, people that put stuff on youtube are strange so I can't find just this track. Here's apparently the full album in youtube format. "West Germany" is probably around the 45 minute mark (or just listen to the whole thing, why not??).

Minutemen Double Nickels on the Dime

Latter era Ramones are a strange beast. Oddly enough, Subterranean Jungle is the first Ramones album I got because I gave vague instructions one year that I wanted Ramones albums for Christmas and this is what I got. Of course I knew the classic early hits so this wasn't my first exposure to them as a whole, but this album wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I listened to it quite a bit anyway though, and then didn't, so this album still takes me back to those days. It's more of a classic rock/pop album, not really trying to be punk amongst an era of great artists running with what they had kickstarted only 7 or so years earlier. But it really just feels out of touch, like a band of grandpas trying to fit in. Or dads I guess. At least on tracks like "Time Bomb" about how "I'm gonna break every rule" and "I'm not gonna stay in school." Fake rebellion that is not sold by the music or the vocal delivery. But I do enjoy the songs that play to their pop strengths, like this one.

Ramones, "My-My Kind of a Girl"

Kind of a timeless song on an otherwise cheesy/dated album. Now let's flip it.

Tom Waits' Swordfishtrombones is crazy. And timeless. And one of the greatest albums ever recorded, really. It starts off with Waits screaming over a circus, includes allusions to everything he's done in the past (some spoken word content, some beautiful ballads, etc), but it's all so different. The music particularly. This is where he turns "unclassifiable" in my genre labels. Because what is this, aside from amazing? It's heartbreaking all over the place, but it's a rough-and-tumble ride through rage and such a high level of "cool" that only a few people in music have ever accomplished. Basically he could have farted into the microphone and it would have been amazing. This was ten years into an already incredible career, in the midst of an incredible string of albums, in a way that just makes everything he would do from now on "credible." And he ran with it, producing it himself, throwing everything at the wall, and all of it managed to stick.

Tom Waits "16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six"

The only full Daniel Johnston album I have is Yip/Jump Music. Super lo-fi bedroom recordings, simple songs with outrageously simple arrangements, but it's all just straight from the heart and it hits you in the heart in the most direct way that music can. He is such a great writer in the way he manages to distill it down to a few simple words.

Now we'll begin our drift from the timeless back to the dated, but this one is still timeless in a way that it doesn't matter that it sounds exactly like it's from the early 80s. I'm speaking of course about Talking Heads' Speaking in Tongues. Past their original era, past their work with Eno, they were now well-seasoned veterans of great composition. And I guess this is their most popular album because of "Burning Down The House." Which is a great house-burning track for sure. But I think "Girlfriend is Better" is a better single.

David Bowie also was getting very popular with Let's Dance, the title track of which was the #1 song in the UK on the day I was born. I used to like that track, but it's been overplayed which makes me realize that there's just not that much to the song. There are a couple other good songs on the album, but it's just not up there. And looking through what I have coming up, there's barely any Bowie I have from 1983 to 2001. I'm sure there's some good stuff I'm missing, but I think this marked the end of his great era of art rock dominance before some great comeback material he would later come back with.

New Order. "Blue Monday." One of the great house burners of the 80s and 80s revival nights and so 80s but so good. I've heard this song tons of times without getting sick of it. It comes from Power, Corruption & Lies, the only New Order album I actually own aside from their 2005 return. "Age of Consent" is a good opener, "Your Silent Face" is a good deep cut that you should listen to if you haven't, but "Blue Monday" is just one of those songs.

And now for the timelessly cheesy.

Whenever anyone tries to ask me my guilty pleasures, I have a hard time with that question. I don't think musical pleasures should be guilty. No matter what. But then I say something along the lines of "people might consider "Weird Al" Yankovic a guilty pleasure, but there's so much talent and intelligence there, and so many of my peers grew up on him that he's pretty universally loved." I don't know why that's in quotes, that's the first time I've expressed it exactly like that. But he's just great and his self-titled debut already has so much going on. It was my brother that had his self-titled tape on cassette, and the reason I got into Weird Al. We would listen to it a lot and laugh about the moaning/grunting guy that randomly popped up in "Another One Rides The Bus." And the wordplay of "Gotta Boogie." And playing "Happy Birthday" on people's birthdays. And thinking that "Stop Draggin' My Car Around" was an original and someone should reverse-parody it with "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" (turned out that already did exist as a song that was being parodied by Al, of course). And this music video, oh this music video:

"Weird Al" Yankovic "I Love Rocky Road"

Rocky Road is one of my favorite ice cream flavors and now I'm not sure if that is because of this song or not. I just can't remember if it was the reason I first tried it, if it's the reason I repeatedly asked for it afterwards, or what. I'm sure it had some influence though. But marshmallow in chocolate ice cream is a brilliant idea.

Now the guy that probably could be considered a guilty pleasure if I'm being honest. 80s Billy Joel holds a significant place in my heart even though in my heart I know his 70s output has to be better. I think my parents probably just listened to An Innocent Man a lot and because it's so catchy it caught on with me as well. Once I was talking to Neil of The Lawrence Arms about Billy Joel, insisting this was his great achievement, but now I'm kind of embarrassed for saying that because his 70s stuff probably was his great achievement. Even from the perspective of accepting that everything he did was cheesy. But An Innocent Man is all songs I know from my childhood, and I know it's silly but "Uptown Girl!" (particularly thanks to the hippie episode of The Simpsons) and the a capella "For The Longest Time!" Even in college this was one of the albums I would put on before going out, listening to this song to get me excited about hanging out with a girl I had a crush on (nothing ever happened because I didn't "Tell Her About It").

Billy Joel "This Night"

So let's see what defines me based on my birth year. Creative, punk rock, artistic but simple, and not afraid to be silly and downright cheesy. Sounds about right.

Other commentary:

• Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It" came up. It's a good rocker.
• Madonna's first single "Holiday" is a pretty good one there.
• I quite enjoyed "Radio Lover" by George Jones. A good story, gets country sad of course.
• "Every Sperm is Sacred," of course. Monty Python and whatnot.
• I don't have Sports, a purportedly great Huey Lewis & The News album according to some media (American Psycho). But according to Bender on Futurama, it didn't age well. All I had was "I Want a New Drug" which is entertaining enough and reminds me of more incoming Weird Al.
• Just a couple Prince singles for 1983, but both are great jams. "Delirious" and a dance remix of "Little Red Corvette."
• Berlin is a very dated sounding band but since Alkaline Trio and others covered them I developed an interest. I have the full album on vinyl, but all I've bothered with obtaining digitally are "The Metro" and "Sex (I'm A)," the latter of which is a pretty good entry into that whole clever sexy dance thing that got so popular in the revival of the early 2000s.
• Into to Pulp! So weird that Pulp was already up and going way back in 1983. They had a ways to go before they got to some of their later era genius though.
• For the moment Elvis Costello & The Attractions are pushed to this category. Punch the Clock is one of his lesser albums in my opinion. It's mostly all bombastic horn driven stuff and some more of that dated 80s sound. Of course there are some absolute classic greats on there. I quite enjoy "Charm School" and "Shipbuilding" is still one of his greatest ballads.
• Rick James' "Cold Blooded," later to be covered by ODB, is a great jam.
• What? They Might Be Giants AND Weird Al got going in 1983? The year I was born? No wonder I'm such a nerd! I never got as much into TMBG as I would have liked to (and I still hope to even though I'm now in my 30s) but some demos here are pretty good...
• Violent Femmes had some singles, "Ugly" and the brilliant "Gimme the Car." Wikipedia says the album I gushed about for 1982 was also actually from 1983 (April even!). Oops. I wonder how many of my dates are inaccurate, screwing this whole project up?
• I only had one hip hop jam for 1983! But it's yet another classic: "Renegades of Funk" by Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force.
• R.E.M. had their debut with Murmur. I need to give it more spins before I say much about it. But it probably signals some big step in alt rock that should be noted.

Next Time:

Big Brother is after you! Well I'm sure my 3-year-old big brother was super sweet on 1-year-old me, but watch out! 1984! Bruce Springsteen is back to being cheesy/bombastic, hip hop starts expanding with Fat Boys and Run-D.M.C., Husker Du is the classic punk rock band, a return of Leonard Cohen, The Pogues arrive, Purple Rain falls, Scratch Acid, The Smiths, and another Weird Al classic (I might have this at the end of every "Next Time" for a while since I look in alphabetical order and they were all classics in my eyes).