Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 124

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid (Soundtrack) (1969)

In honor of Father's Day, thought I'd mix things up with my own version of dad-rock.

As I described in my book (and you can read the excerpt here, in my discussion of Paul & Linda McCartney's Ram), I grew up in a rock-free house. My dad has never been a fan of rock music (or, for that matter, pretty much anything remotely contemporary). As a kid, all we had were 8-track tapes of easy-listening artists and soundtracks--the Carpenters, Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, those weird Enoch Light bachel...

The Beatles: White Album (1968)

With Sir Paul turning 80 this week, I figured I'd follow up yesterday's very Beatlesque/McCartneyesque mix with a proper Beatles album.

I've always had a deeply personal relationship with the White Album. It's not my favorite Beatles album; that spot has long been held by Abbey Road. And I probably prefer Sgt. Pepper as well. But the White Album is just a wonderful, sprawling, perfect mess of a masterpiece.

The White Album was the first "real" Beatles album I bought as a kid. Before that, I had pi...

Baroque & Roll (A Mix)

I don't know if "baroque pop" is a clearly-defined genre, but I tend to throw it around a lot. Though originally invoked for a brand of pre-psychedelic 60s pop which incorporated classical music (and harpsichords), I tend to think of it in terms of post-60s alternative power pop deeply indebted to the Beatles (particularly McCartney's compositions circa Sgt. Pepper and Magic Mystery Tour ): melodic and slightly-psychedelic, dense production, frequent appearances of trilly pianos and harmonies, an...

Wild Poppies: Heroine (1986)

The one-and-done Wild Poppies were a short-lived mid-80s New Zealand indie band. They shared a sound with some of their better known peers in the Flying Nun scene like the Clean and the Bats--low-key, jangly pop that sort of shambled along, sweetly modest no-fuss indie rock. They released a single LP in 1986; a recent CD reissue (which streams, below) appends a bunch of singles and demos.

Most of the songs are quiet and pastoral, largely acoustic, though occasionally they'll weave in a bit more e...

My Morning Jacket: Live 2015 (2022)

As I've repeated multiple times, My Morning Jacket remains one of my favorite live bands (both as an active touring unit and, frankly, ever). As much as I enjoy their studio recordings, their big, boomy sound needs room to breathe, and really benefits from a boisterous live performance. They do a masterful job infusing their Americana/jam band/indie rock hybrid with classic arena rock sheen.

While the band have shared extensive live recordings through their website and nugs.net, this new release ...

The Dream Syndicate: Ultraviolet Battle Hymns (2022)

This one just dropped this morning, but the first spin already has me pretty excited, as Dream Syndicate Mark II continues its hot streak. As I noted regarding the band's 2017 return after a 30-year absence, Steve Wynn's reconfigured Dream Syndicate is the rare outfit which manages to regroup after an extended an absence and record music at least as great as their legendary original run. (Maybe Wire comes close? Their post-break-up discography is significantly larger than the original 3-LP outpu...

Radiohead: Amnesi A (The Imaginary Album) (2000)

I've been at this thing for over three years now, and have yet to post any Radiohead, despite them seeming to be universally loved and admired.

Because, frankly, I'm just not a Radiohead fan.

Yeah, I find them kinda... boring. Which I say with the utmost respect. I don't mean boring as in the faceless corporate Top 40 bands out there. Their music is endlessly complex and innovative and worthy of respect... yet, nonetheless, I've never really made it through a Radiohead album without losing interes...

The Monkees: The Psychedelic Monkees

Another imaginary great lost album, here's a mix I threw together a few years ago capturing the more esoteric side of the Monkees. Yeah, it's mostly a reworking of the 1968 Head soundtrack, which, stripped of movie dialogue, is way too short; so I beefed it up with a few other tracks which share a similar sort-of-psychedelic vibe. Makes for a more well-rounded and complete listening experience. Playlist below; check it out!

Alas, a couple songs I used on my CDR mix don't stream, most notably the ...

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions: Rattlesnakes (1984)

Lloyd Cole is one of those amazing artists who's been around forever, yet I kinda take him for granted. I dutifully acquire his music, give it a quick spin, and it'll continue to show up in shuffle mode, but I rarely wake up in the morning thinking, hey, I think I'll play that Lloyd Cole record. Which is kinda crazy, because there's all sorts of greatness in his catalog.

The British singer's 1984 debut, with his band The Commotions, was a blend of '80s college radio jangle pop and the more intern...

Wilco & Drive-By Truckers: Back-To Back New Releases

It's hard not to despair about the state of the U.S. these days (but since I try to preserve this forum for music and leave the political aside, I won't get into that right now)... but, sometimes, America comes through. So in the past week we've been treated to back-to-back new releases from two of the greatest American bands of the past quarter century (both of which remain at the top of my increasingly short list of bands I'll still see live any time they come through town). You can read fulso...