15 Albums for December :: Day 2, Radiohead, Kid A

I have albums that I know will come out at least once a year, in December. I may gear them up for listening before that, but when December hits, they stay in heavy rotation. Something about them always conjures up feelings of colder temperatures, loneliness and isolation, and a nostalgic mixture of a festive holiday season coupled with happy memories. These albums document my experiences in December. Enjoy.

Radiohead, Kid A

(Capitol, October, 2000)

Kid A is the definition of sterile. It's cold, unwelcoming at times, abrasive in its neutrality, and utterly bleak in its context. But, it's also really fucking good. There's so much about Kid A that's already been tread and retread that I won't waste time here going over what everyone already knows. (But I will say that Marvin Lin wrote a phenomenal 33 1/3 Series book about Kid A.) Instead, here are some randomly collected thoughts inspired by Kid A:

-Discovering the creepy booklet behind the CD holder may have been the coolest experience I've had with a CD
-Like Marvin Lin, I, too, fell asleep during my first listen to Kid A
-Listening to "Treefingers" in stereo surround sound is frighteningly beautiful 
-Often I walk around the house putting away toys, books, etc, thinking "everything in its right place"--it makes me feel like a machine
-Kid A is the only album expressly about global warming
-Kid A was released in October 2000; it is eerie how much it foreshadows our national decline
-Nothing about Kid A seems out of place, even 12 years later
-I have never listened to this album in my car, only in my home or on headphones
-I have never skipped a track on this album
-I have never stopped this album before it was over
-I have never
-I have 

Live Review :: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, North Charleston Coliseum, Charelston, SC

We were told by the North Charleston Coliseum agents and the papers that this was the first time in 30 years Springsteen and the E Street Band had played in Charleston. I suppose I could confirm this with a quick Google search, but I'd rather not. I'd rather just believe what I'm told in this particular instance because there was at least 30 years worth of anticipation ripping through the sold-out crowd Saturday night. And nothing about the night was disappointing. (Well, almost nothing...but I'll get to that in a second.)

The E Street Band jumped onstage at around 8:10PM in the dark and, after all the players had taken their places, a spotlight came down on Springsteen with his larger-than-life companion, Clarence Thomas. (Springsteen announced him as, "the biggest man you've ever seen" during encore introductions.) "We thought we'd start tonight with some beach music," he said at the mic, Telecaster firmly in place. And they proceeded to tear through a version of "Double Shot of My Baby's Love" by The (original) Swingin' Medallions. After that, they rarely came up for air. They played for three hours and fifteen minutes, but we could have easily stayed for three hours more. "You can't take no more!" Springsteen taunted the crowd after a second encore. But we could. And we did. The band came back to play a ten minute version of "Twist and Shout" before leaving for good a 11:20.

Let me just say that every band in America can take lessons from Springsteen and the E Street Band. And I mean every band. Radiohead have nothing to show against them, Coldplay are minuscule in comparison, and U2 can only manage to ape his style with bombastic stage lights. (By my guess those are the biggest bands currently working. The Rolling Stones are good, but I've never seen them live.) Bruce spent most of his time down in front communing with the audience, taking posters with songs requests, giving other folks a chance to sing, and making grown women swoon. For those in the front row, general admission, they may not be able to live August 16, 2008 down.

Highlights from the set included, "Because the Night," "The Rising," "Jungleland," "Streets of Fire," and (of course) "Born to Run." Hell, even "Dancing in the Dark" was fucking awesome to hear live. But really, the greatest moment of the show, for me, was the intense up full-band version of "Atlantic City." Nebraska is holy territory and it's minimalist structure and recording should not be toyed with lightly. But Springsteen knows what he's doing to his songs and the live, full-band version is even better than the recorded version. That's right, better.

And as for the disappointment I mentioned earlier...well, not everyone got to hear every song they wanted to. My brother wanted to hear some tunes of Darkness On the Edge of Town and The Seeger Sessions to no avail. But when you're one of the greatest legends in rock music and American history, and your back catalog of music stretches farther than most bands' eyeliner, you can do like the sign from an audience member in the front row says, "Play Whatever You Want."

Live Review: Radiohead, Charlotte, NC, May 9, 2008

Would it be asking too much to go ahead and proclaim Radiohead to be the biggest band in the world right now? Who are the competitors? In terms of cash, the Rolling Stones would be at the top of the heap, and for sheer longevity I’ll award R.E.M. and U2 for their 20+ year careers. But in terms of sustainability, fanbase (casual or otherwise), and sheer unpredictability, I’ll vote for Radiohead to claim the top spot. So what does the biggest band in the world sound like live?

Pretty boring, actually.

I’m not going to pan Radiohead in a live review. I enjoyed every minute of my time at the concert (even when some 17-year-old punks decided it would be okay to smoke pot beside me in seats that weren’t theirs). It’s over three hours to Charlotte from Charleston, and I-77 is an unforgiving stretch of interstate at 2 AM—but that’s neither here nor there. The sheer enjoyment of being able to say, “Yes, I’ve seen Radiohead live” was enough to make me go all a-twitter.

My companion, P, and I arrived late, missing the opening set by The Liars (though we did hear them from the road into the venue where we sat in traffic for 90 minutes). And once we found our seats the show started as the clouds released threatening lightning overhead. P was of the mindset that they would open with “15 Step” since the last time he saw Radiohead in Atlanta the opened with “2 + 2=5,” the first track of their then-released Hail to the Thief. I was banking on a livelier opener, like “Bodysnatchers.”

Both wrong, we were greeted with “All I Need” followed by “There There,” two songs that show such a restrained climax it’s almost unbearable. The show picked up after a few songs with “Airbag” and “Idioteque” but remained restrained most all evening until the end of their set when an amped-up version of “Everything In its Right Place,” “Bangers and Mash,” and “Bodysnatchers” materialized. “We might need to go lay down and take a nap after this one,” Thom Yorke joked before “Bodysnatchers” began.

They left the stage, but then reappeared for two encores. The first encore held an incredibly dull song with acoustic guitar, “Talk Show Host” (you know, that cool track from the lame Romeo + Juliet movie?), “Exit Music (For A Film),” and “House of Cards.” I was in the parking lot by the time encore number 2 started, I heard the opening stanza of “Paranoid Android” and kicked myself for leaving, but not too badly.

You see, I’m not entirely sure what I want out of stadium concerts at this point in my life. I’m spoiled by intimate venues where I can talk to the artists, take photos, and buy a cd directly from them. I could barely see the band onstage, the sound was great, but all the songs basically sounded like they were coming out of my home stereo, only louder. Radiohead have nothing to prove to me or anyone, and that’s what makes them a phenomenal band and I’m sure they struggle with the lack on intimacy in a stadium show. But for anyone who didn’t make it out to see them, or who won’t make it as they continue across the US of A, don’t worry; you’ve got all that you need right there on CD or vinyl. Enjoy it.

Radiohead 5/9/08 Charlotte, NC Set List

Set 1: All I Need, There There, Airbag, 15 Step, Nude, Sail to the Moon, Weird Fishes/Apreggi, Myxomatosis, Idioteque, Morning Bell, Videotape, Optimistic, Where I End and You Begin, You and Whose Army?, Everything in Its Right Place, Bangers & Mash, Bodysnatchers

Encore 1: Go Slowly, Talk Show Host, Exit Music, Planet Telex , House of Cards

Encore 2: Paranoid Android, Reckoner

Read this guy's blog (solely dedicated to Phish) who was apparently live blogging at the show. His descriptions of the people in the parking lot are dead on.

Girl, Why Not Take Out the Trash?

This past Sunday I dug into the mess that is my bonus room (or FROG - Front Room Over the Garage here in Chucktown). CDs, books, comics, computers parts, and random papers were everywhere. Here's the soundtrack to Sunday cleaning. As you can tell I gave up after about three hours. A body can only take so much. (CD images link to amazon.com)

Built to Spill, Live--My obsession with BTS continues. One day I will see them live. Or not. Either way 20 minutes of Neil Young's "Cortez the Killer" was enough to drive my wife and cats crazy.

They Might Be Giants, The Else--TMBG rock better than most bands who have been around for 20 years. (Yes, I'm looking in your direction U2, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, R.E.M., etc.) Every album manages to sound fresh to me despite whatever beef Pitchfork has with them. P4K seems incapable of handing them a good review.

Band of Gypsys, Live--Picked this one up on Record Store Day on vinyl. Even remastered the sound is still just-okay. But damn, Billy Cox and Buddy Miles make a hell of a rhythm section. An awkward, but fitting end to Hendrix's career...and really the only album I can stomach listening to now (they all remind me too much of Jr High when I was cranking out Hendrix licks on my axe).

You can still download Piltdown from Wide Awake Press, the Free Comic offered as part of Free Comic Book Day! Do it! To see my stellar piece, view the HTML version and I'm at the end (page 43). Or just skip to this link. (Sorry, Chris.)

Guess who's going to see Radiohead this Friday in Charlotte? (Hint: It's me.)

The Blind Pig

Photos are up from the Man Man show at the Village Tavern that I was at on March 7. I think they are some of my better photos--mostly because I used a flash and had some decent equipment. Follow this link to see them.

I'll be back in town this Friday from Waldorf, MD. Monday, April 28 I'll be at The Tin Roof taking pics of Athens, GA's The Winter Sounds.
I love this band and you should too. I'll post the interview I did with singer/bassist Patrick Kennan about a year ago for the now-defunct free weekly The Beat.

Thanks much to You Ain't No Picasso who has posted a free download of the entire Man Man show at The Blind Pig in Michigan. Good sound quality, too! Follow this link for all the goodness.
Note that the files are in M4A format, so get out your converters or drop them into iTunes.

Additionally, Sixeyes (have I mentioned how much I love this guy?) has reposted a free Radiohead concert, Live from BBC Radio. As the man says, get 'em while they're hot. Again, amazing sound quality. Here's the link to the goodness.

On Record Store Day I bought the new Helio Sequence album, but haven't had a chance to listen to it, yet. There's something about Maryland that makes one lethargic against all the things we should love. (They're playing the Village Tavern on May 30.) And I managed to snag a copy of Bob Marley, Legend and The Stone Roses, The Complete Stone Roses on the $1 table. I put Nirvana, Unplugged back, though now I wish I hadn't. I've got a fever for some grunge lately.