R.I.P. Poly Styrene.

Sad news: Punk icon Poly Styrene dies at 53.

The Greatest of All Time.

A few months ago, I blogged about the Archers of Loaf playing an unannounced show at the Cat's Cradle in Chapel Hill. I hoped that the show would lead to a full blown reunion tour and it has. I just got tickets to the Asheville show and one of the Atlanta dates-- woo-hoo! Here's the schedule:

Archers of Loaf Reunion Tour
May 21 The Grey Eagle Asheville, NC
June 3 Troubadour Los Angeles, CA
June 4 Troubadour Los Angeles, CA
June 11 Emo’s Austin, TX
June 12 The Loft Dallas, TX
June 25 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
June 26 Webster Hall New York, NY
July 8 The Bottom Lounge Chicago, IL
July 9 The Bottom Lounge Chicago, IL
July 22 The Earl Atlanta, GA
July 23 The Earl Atlanta, GA
August 5 Black Cat Washington, D.C.
August 6 The Trocadero Philadelphia, PA
August 19 Cat’s Cradle Chapel Hill, NC
September 2 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
September 3 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA

If you are lucky enough to live near any of these venues, please do not miss this opportunity. If you are unfamiliar with the Archers, then I'm here to hook you up. I've put together a nice little AoL primer. The Archers only put out four albums but each of them are great. All of them are represented here, as well as one track from the rarities compilition, Speed of Cattle.

Happy listening!


The Greatest of All Time: An All Too Brief History 1993-1998

01. Web in Front
02. Wrong
03. You & Me
04. Might
05. Hate Paste
06. Plumb Line
07. Learo, You're a Hole
08. Backwash
09. Audiowhore
10. All Hail the Black Market
11. Telepathic Traffic
12. Harnessed in Slums
13. Nevermind the Enemy
14. Greatest of All Time
15. Death in the Park
16. Strangles by the Stereo Wire
17. Scenic Pastures
18. Vocal Shrapnel
19. Bones of Her Hands
20. Fashion Bleeds
21. Dead Red Eyes
22. Perfect Time
23. White Trash Heroes

Total Time: 1:16:58

Download it here: Archers!


Notes:

Tracks 1-8 from Icky Mettle (1993)
Tracks 9-10 from Vs. The Greatest of All Time EP (1993)
Track 11 from Split 7" with Monsterland (1994) [also found on the rarities compilation The Speed of Cattle (1996)]
Tracks 12-15 from Vee Vee (1995)
Tracks 16-19 from All the Nation's Airports (1996)
Tracks 20-23 from White Trash Heroes (1998)

The Trick! (Part Deux)

It's spring, so that means I'm smack dab in the middle of my high school tennis season. I have been ridiculously busy since last I posted. I promised this companion Cheap Trick volume almost a month ago. Well here it is.

A few comments:

I split the version of "Everything Works" from the box set into two tracks. I think the acoustic version plays well by itself, but in the end, I just had to hear the rest of the song. When you put it on on a disc with no gap, it sounds just like it does on the box set. If you don't like the acoustic intro, then you can just uncheck the box in your iTunes library.

"Reach Out" is generally not a fan favorite. It was left off the Box set, ostensibly because it was written by Pete Comita (the guy who replaced Tom Petterson for a spell). I didn't know that when I bought the Heavy Metal Soundtrack back in seventh grade. I loved it then, and it's definitely a time-and-place kind of song for me. I think Cheap Trick were at their worst when they were trying to be too gimmicky/new wave-y [see "I Want Be Man" from 1982's otherwise excellent One On One], and "Reach Out" definitely has some of that, but Zander's vocal on this is pretty cool and holds up for me.

"Ohm Sweet Ohm" is a song I never would have paid much attention to if I hadn't been putting together a compilation like this one. Having heard it several times over the last few weeks, it almost makes me weep. It's the only song I can think of where the Trick comes off sounding like the Faces. I wish someone would have steered them in this direction during the mid 80s.

"Walk Away" from another lackluster Cheap Trick album, Busted (1990), makes me wish Chrissie Hynde would have hired Cheap Trick as her backing band to do an album after James Honeymoon-Scott died.

I can't believe Borack didn't pick "Say Goodbye" from 1997's self-titled album for his compilation. His loss is my gain-- it makes for a nice closer.

Happy listening!


20 More Cheap Tricks To Die For!

01. Everything Works If You Let It (Acoustic Intro)
02. Everything Works if You Let It
03. I'll Be With You Tonight
04. Taxman, Mr. Thief
05. I Want You
06. Oh Caroline
07. Walk Away (Feat. Chrissie Hynde)
08. Reach Out
09. Way of the World
10. Borderline
11. On Top of the World
12. So Good to See You
13. All I really Want
14. Auf Widersehen
15. Tell Me Everything
16. Oh, Candy
17. Such a Good Girl
18. Ohm Sweet Ohm
19. One On One
20. Stop this Game
21. Say Goodbye

Total Time: 1:09:58

Download it here: 20 More Cheap Tricks To Die For!

April Fool.

I know I promised a companion compilation to last week's Cheap Trick playlist, and it is ready to go. I will probably put it up in the next week or so. Meanwhile, I found a 20 track disc in my car that I had put together last year around this time titled "April Fool". I had totally forgotten about it. I popped it in, and really enjoyed it, though there was a track on it, which I had just used in the Power Pop Explosion series (The Yachts' "A Fool Like You"). So I went back to the drawing board and fleshed it out a bit. While it's not strictly a Power Pop compilation, there are quite a few Power Pop acts on here. Not surprisingly, given the theme, there is also a good bit of classic R&B. A dose of garage, a pinch of punk, a little indie-rock, and a sprinkle of Lee Hazlewood, and there you have it. Oh, and a mystery track! Burn and Shine, what will you think of next?

Happy April Fool's day everybody!


April Fool

01. Superchunk, "Like a Fool"
02. The Bobby Fuller Four, "Fool of Love"
03. Sam Cooke, "Fool's Paradise"
04. Oxford Circle, "Foolish Woman"
05. Ike & Tina Turner, "A Fool in Love"
06. Let's Active, "Mr. Fool"
07. Elvis Costello, "You Little Fool"
08. The Last, "Fool Like You"
09. Blur, "Fool"
10. DM3, "Foolish"
11. MG & the Escorts, "A Somebody Fool"
12. The Searchers, "She Made a Fool Out of You"
13. Pat Ferguson, "Fool I Am"
14. Lee Hazlewood, "Whe a Fool Loves a Fool"
15. M. Ward, "Fool Says"
16. Eagles of Death Metal, "Now I'm a Fool"
17. Ronnie Lane, "April Fool"
18. All, "Fool"
19. Nick Lowe, "Man of a Fool"
20. Teenage Fanclub, "Everybody's Fool"
21. The Names, "Baby You're a Fool"
22. Larry Saunders, "All My Friends Call Me a Fool"
23. The Black Hollies, "(Baby) I'm Your Fool"
24. Sex Clark Five, "Fool I Was"
25. Bad Religion, "1000 More Fools"
26. Mystery Track

Total Time: 1:13:05

Download it here: April Fool