Marc Fagel's Blog: Jittery White Guy Music: The Blog, page 152

Teenage Fanclub: Grand Prix (1995)

As noted earlier, I was pretty demolished by Teenage Fanclub's second album, Bandwagonesque , a stunning power pop stand-out that matched Big Star's melodic jangles with judicious use of the distortion petal. But it turned out to be just the first in a series of no less melodic, but increasingly clean-sounding killer pop records. I loved 1993's Thirteen, which left the Bandwagonesque formula largely intact (and may very well have the highest quotient of insanely hooky tunes of all their albums); ...

The Unforgiven: S/T (1986)

I suppose this is another one from the Guilty Pleasures file. I know, I know, we should wholeheartedly embrace what we enjoy without guilt regardless of critical assessments, but, still, definitely feeling guilty about this one. Because it was pretty damn hokey even when it came out, and it hasn't aged well. But I got such a kick out of it back in my college DJ days that it's hard not to feel a little smile coming on when I dust it off every few years, however cringe-inducing it may be.

The L.A. ...

West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band: A Child's Guide To Good & Evil (1968)

Returning now to one of my all-time favorite 60s psychedelic bands, not necessarily based on the music (which ranged from perfectly enjoyable pop-psyche to odd experimentation to kinda gross), but on their freaky back-story, which I referenced in my write-up on their previous LP, but which is always worth a fresh read.

Anyway, A Child's Guide (alternatively titled Vol. 3) is either their third or fourth album, depending on whether you include an early, lo-fi release as a proper first album. It's ...

Any Trouble: Where Are All The Nice Girls? (1980)

Pretty tied up today working an election protection hotline -- please VOTE!!! -- so just a quick note.

Any Trouble were an on-again, off-again UK band that recorded a half-dozen or so albums over the years, mostly new-wave pop with some blue-eyed R&B strains. I've always been surprised that their 1980 debut didn't get more traction. It fits in squarely with the first couple Joe Jackson albums, maybe some early Elvis Costello and bursts of Nick Lowe and Squeeze. Loads of great songs, bouncy pop wi...

Guided By Voices: Alien Lanes (1994)

Having already rambled on about Guided by Voices' 1994 masterpiece Bee Thousand , I won't add much here: the following year's Alien Lanes simply repeated the formula, mixing some of the most infectious indie pop songs you could ever conjure amidst fistfuls of noisy dross and bare sketches of songs, the weaker tracks -- typically less than a minute, not worth the effort to hit the "skip" button -- making the winners all that much more powerful.

The two releases are really of a piece, both casually ...

Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets: Live at the Roundhouse (2020)

Yes, I appreciate the anomaly of buying a live album from a tribute band, when there is plenty of music available from the real thing. (I say this as the proud owner of countless live shows from Joe Russo's Almost Dead and other touring bands that recreate the live Dead experience.) And while Saucerful of Secrets is helmed by original Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, it's essentially a pick-up band of musicians playing Floyd songs. But so what. I saw the show when it hit San Francisco last year, a...

Hüsker Dü: Flip Your Wig (1985)

Had a fun new release I was all excited to talk about today... but it just felt hollow. RBG left us yesterday, a titan in defending the rights of women, of the disenfranchised, of recognizing that a Constitution that did not protect the powerless against the tyranny of the powerful is no Constitution at all. And an amoral Republican Party eagerly embraces the opportunity to wreak devastating havoc on the nation for at least a generation to come.

And today, we hit 200,000 victims of Trump's utter ...

Chris Forsyth: All Time Present (2019)

I kinda stumbled across guitarist Chris Forsyth without knowing a lot about him, other than that he was well-regarded in some Dead circles. His work is primarily instrumental, ranging from experimental and ambient to more traditional rock-oriented jams. Last year's excellent All Time Present is an ideal entry point; with 8 songs checking in at about 90 minutes, it's long on extended instrumental workouts perfect for chilling out, but it's also pretty riff-heavy, at times sounding like a long-los...

Imaginary Soundtracks: The Complete Collection

Here's a little something for the Spotify-friendly in need of some new mixes.

As noted earlier, back before streaming media, when I was obsessively making CDR mixes to share with fellow music nerds, I enjoyed making imaginary soundtracks for non-existent films, trying to select songs that, in my head, felt like they framed out a narrative and mood. And, yeah, as these were soundtracks for films I only saw in my head, I don't know how well the mixes translate for others, but I do find them particu...

Neil Young: Sleeps With Angels (1994)

I've been knee-deep in my Neil Young collection for the past week or two (that's about 45 studio albums, never mind countless live albums and compilations), working on a Neil Young Top 10 for an upcoming Toppermost contribution. (I ended up with one Top 10 for 1969-1981, and a second for 1982-2000, leaving the post-2000 work for a more intrepid soul... feel free to place your wagers on what made the cut.)

And while revisiting Neil's 1980s output can be a challenge (despite the playfully durable e...