Wednesday, October 26, 2005
you ain't even white, god-daaaamn
Eugene McDaniels: "Headless Heroes"
Eugene McDaniels: "Supermarket Blues"
Four or five years ago I read about Eugene McDaniels' Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse in an issue of Mojo. In typical fashion, the writer went on about how this politically radical album was a crystalline distallation of the yawning chaos and anger of the racially-segregated American ghetto, or some such nonsense like that. Though overblown and pretentious, the paragraph or three piqued my interest, and so I set out on a half-hearted search for this long out-of-print record. It was a futile quest, until I got a high-speed internet thingamajig just a few weeks ago. Now I've acquired the record (through entirely legal means, of course), and the long-forgotten words of a Mojo hack have finally given way to genuine auditory experience.
Geez, is this record sort of a let-down, or what? I dig it, to a degree, but if you ignore the words, this is one of the whitest sounding funk/soul albums ever. Check the words, and you'll see Eugene's verifiably pissed, but instead of putting any of that anger into his voice, he sings it like Rev. Gregory from Amen. I didn't expect to hear Clifton Davis singing about the exploitation of both the brown and red man, or the racial and class prejudice that's an inherent and necessary part of war-mongering. I could see him singing about God, or cartoon mice, or that irascible Rolly, but not something called "Freedom Death Dance". The music's similarly a lot more subdued than I figured, and the lyrics, while certainly well-meaning, are frequently embarrassing. "The Parasite", in its blatant condescension toward the "simple-minded" Indians, should offend and/or amuse just about anybody who pays attention to lyrics. And "Susan Jane" is some awful hippie precursor to Train's miserable "Meet Virginia".
And yet, well, as I said, I still dig it. It makes a mockery of my expectations, but it's still oddly powerful, if not as viscerally as the pompous Mojo twit led me to believe. The lyrics are splenetic as fuck, even if Eugene's voice doesn't reflect it. The conspiratorial title track, in which, regardless of political belief or skincolor, the mass of humanity is merely "cannon fodder" for the rich and connected who actually run the world, could not only be relevant today, but also remains a pretty damn good song. It could be a theme for however many anti-war or anti-government groups these days. Listening to songs like "Headless Heroes", "Jagger the Dagger", and the gently rolling music to "The Parasite", I can sort of see what that British guy was trying to say. Sometimes, Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse actually is really good. And then, sometimes, like on "Supermarket Blues", it's just fuckin' ridiculous.
Eugene McDaniels: "Headless Heroes"
Eugene McDaniels: "Supermarket Blues"
Four or five years ago I read about Eugene McDaniels' Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse in an issue of Mojo. In typical fashion, the writer went on about how this politically radical album was a crystalline distallation of the yawning chaos and anger of the racially-segregated American ghetto, or some such nonsense like that. Though overblown and pretentious, the paragraph or three piqued my interest, and so I set out on a half-hearted search for this long out-of-print record. It was a futile quest, until I got a high-speed internet thingamajig just a few weeks ago. Now I've acquired the record (through entirely legal means, of course), and the long-forgotten words of a Mojo hack have finally given way to genuine auditory experience.
Geez, is this record sort of a let-down, or what? I dig it, to a degree, but if you ignore the words, this is one of the whitest sounding funk/soul albums ever. Check the words, and you'll see Eugene's verifiably pissed, but instead of putting any of that anger into his voice, he sings it like Rev. Gregory from Amen. I didn't expect to hear Clifton Davis singing about the exploitation of both the brown and red man, or the racial and class prejudice that's an inherent and necessary part of war-mongering. I could see him singing about God, or cartoon mice, or that irascible Rolly, but not something called "Freedom Death Dance". The music's similarly a lot more subdued than I figured, and the lyrics, while certainly well-meaning, are frequently embarrassing. "The Parasite", in its blatant condescension toward the "simple-minded" Indians, should offend and/or amuse just about anybody who pays attention to lyrics. And "Susan Jane" is some awful hippie precursor to Train's miserable "Meet Virginia".
And yet, well, as I said, I still dig it. It makes a mockery of my expectations, but it's still oddly powerful, if not as viscerally as the pompous Mojo twit led me to believe. The lyrics are splenetic as fuck, even if Eugene's voice doesn't reflect it. The conspiratorial title track, in which, regardless of political belief or skincolor, the mass of humanity is merely "cannon fodder" for the rich and connected who actually run the world, could not only be relevant today, but also remains a pretty damn good song. It could be a theme for however many anti-war or anti-government groups these days. Listening to songs like "Headless Heroes", "Jagger the Dagger", and the gently rolling music to "The Parasite", I can sort of see what that British guy was trying to say. Sometimes, Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse actually is really good. And then, sometimes, like on "Supermarket Blues", it's just fuckin' ridiculous.
Monday, October 17, 2005
all my money and all my drugs
Blood on the Wall: "Dead Edge of Town"
Blood on the Wall: "Gone"
I've already written a little bit about the new Blood on the Wall record here. Awesomer isn't extraordinary, or anything, but it is one of the better straight-up rock albums I've heard this year. As I mentioned at the main site, they sound strongly like something you'd hear on a good college radio station back in the late '80's or early '90's, echoing any number of classic indie-rock bands, but without sounding too much like any specific influence. They're a throw-back that still sounds fresh. Yes sir. "Dead Edge of Town" is a bubblegum approximation of Live Skull/Kim Gordon no-wavish rock, whereas "Gone" recasts "Paranoid" as Homesteadian jangle-punk. Practically every other song on Awesomer resembles one of these two, which is not in any way a bad thing. I stand by the three Earl Anthony review.
Blood on the Wall: "Dead Edge of Town"
Blood on the Wall: "Gone"
I've already written a little bit about the new Blood on the Wall record here. Awesomer isn't extraordinary, or anything, but it is one of the better straight-up rock albums I've heard this year. As I mentioned at the main site, they sound strongly like something you'd hear on a good college radio station back in the late '80's or early '90's, echoing any number of classic indie-rock bands, but without sounding too much like any specific influence. They're a throw-back that still sounds fresh. Yes sir. "Dead Edge of Town" is a bubblegum approximation of Live Skull/Kim Gordon no-wavish rock, whereas "Gone" recasts "Paranoid" as Homesteadian jangle-punk. Practically every other song on Awesomer resembles one of these two, which is not in any way a bad thing. I stand by the three Earl Anthony review.
Friday, October 14, 2005
no, but I do want to know what the fuck you're wearing
The Move: "Do Ya"
Okay, between the ads for The 40 Year Old Virgin and whatever website that is, ELO's version of this song has been pretty much omnipresent on tv the last few months. I think I still prefer that one, but this earlier take, by Jeff Lynne's previous band the Move, stands up well on its own. Stripped of all that ELO technicolor biz, its vibrancy replaced with power-pop crunch, this somewhat ramshackle production is a more straight-forward rocker, with some definite early '70's glam tendencies. It's unusual to hear Lynne's voice on something that hasn't been tweaked and produced to within an inch of its life. It almost sounds like an ELO demo. Anyway, "Do Ya" was apparently the b-side to the Move's last single, and I believe their biggest US hit. ELO remade it a few years later, and Madison Avenue rediscovered it after burning out on "Mr. Blue Sky".
The Move: "Do Ya"
Okay, between the ads for The 40 Year Old Virgin and whatever website that is, ELO's version of this song has been pretty much omnipresent on tv the last few months. I think I still prefer that one, but this earlier take, by Jeff Lynne's previous band the Move, stands up well on its own. Stripped of all that ELO technicolor biz, its vibrancy replaced with power-pop crunch, this somewhat ramshackle production is a more straight-forward rocker, with some definite early '70's glam tendencies. It's unusual to hear Lynne's voice on something that hasn't been tweaked and produced to within an inch of its life. It almost sounds like an ELO demo. Anyway, "Do Ya" was apparently the b-side to the Move's last single, and I believe their biggest US hit. ELO remade it a few years later, and Madison Avenue rediscovered it after burning out on "Mr. Blue Sky".
