THE GREAT GADFLY:

Top Ten: Oh, The Treats...



Yessirreebob, it's that time again...

1. Radiohead's Hail to the Thief: I've been waiting like a drooling goon for months for this and Annie Lennox's new one, among many other treats that have made my wallet beg for mercy of late. Of all the treats I'm listing today, however, this has been the one that's gotten the most play by far (Annie's new one ain't chopped liver, but it's certainly going to be an acquired taste...all the same, ya should pass up the limited edition, it ain't all that). Now, I know, I know...Radiohead is whiny, pretentious "woe is me" art rock, blah blah blah - it's the kind of thing a bullyish older brother listens to between beatdowns in order to feel sensitive and deep, a veritable Gen X version of Pink Floyd - but whatever. It's just GOOD, what else can I say? There's a reason for this band's ubiquity, and if you can go beyond common the common medial-assisted connotations of what these guys are supposed to represent, you'll find yourself with just plain great music. I love albums that make me feel like I'm rummaging through a big ol' pile of STUFF, and this record certainly hits the spot. A bit overwhelming for me in places, as there's just SO much going on, all the time - but I wouldn't have it any other way.

2. Strangers With Candy: Season One DVD: Thank Jesus, Mary and The Spook...it's finally here. With the original pilot episode, in which a prototype Jerri Blank is made up to look like a drag king member of Sha Na Na, only with purple eye shadow. Color my nethers moist and mildewed.

3. Grandaddy's Sumday: The last album reminded me of a granola-sprinkled indie rawk version of ELO. This one is more like the Steve Miller Band by way of Brian Wilson, with a little bit of PoMo tomfoolery thrown in to keep things current. Pretty pretty.

4. Sigur Ros' CD Single/DVD Thingie: There's no reason not to make an effort to see Sigur Ros' videos: none at all. I first saw their promo clips as part of a late-night infomercial (!!!) on MTV2, and was in awe of the precious down-syndrome angels and homoerotic soccer drama tableaus. Add to that a video about an elementary school recess during nuclear winter, and really, what more do you want? Gorgeous.

5. eels' Shootenanny!: "Don't tell me what do to/Because I am The Man." Lyric of the year.

6. Kenna's New Sacred Cow: I don't know quite how to categorize this guy, other than to say it's a bit like Nine Inch Nails and Peter Gabriel as filtered through The Neptunes. Now, the face you made when reading that description is probably a lot like the face I made while listening...but I can't say the results are altogether suckish. Plus they're selling it for like eight bucks, which ain't bad for something that doesn't sound like everything else coming down the pike these days. Not sure if I'm crazy about it, but I will say it's terribly interesting.

7. Angels of Light's How I Loved You: Not exactly new, but something I've been meaning to check out for quite some time. I looooove Michael Gira's work in Swans, though I've always been drawn to their stuff more because of Jarboe's voluptuous voice than M. Gira's bullfrog growl. Gotta say, though, his Angels of Light stuff is The Deal. Throw Nick Cave and the Magnetic Fields in a blender, add some whiskey, and enjoy.

8. Damon Albarn's Mali Music: Another one that's not new, but new to me. Holy crap, this is good music. Happy. Perfect sunny early afternoon music for a new summer.

9. The Cure's Trilogy DVD: I'm an on-and-off Cure fan. I can do without their alterna-trippy, sappy pop meanderings like "Friday I'm In Love", though every single song from "Staring at the Sea" is an important document of my youth. "Trilogy", which is a live performance of The Cure's "Pornography", "Disintegration" and "Bloodflowers" albums, put me back in touch with The Cure I know and love - overwraught, gloomy, and pretentious as all get-out (the version of "Lullaby" on this DVD might as well have been performed by Azrael Abyss himself, oooOOOooOO!!). When I bought this, the girl at the register told me her boyfriend turned her on to The Cure, and that I should have an open mind to the older stuff and not just get into the more recent "Bloodflowers" part. I told her I saw the original Disintegration tour in 1989 and wanted to see how it held up. She looked at me like I was Methuselah. We bonded. It was a moment.

10. Sonic Youth Live: Eh. Meh. Geh. I've been a fan of Da Yoof for over a decade, and I only just saw them live for the first time this past weekend. I should be knifed. And in fact, I was. Knifed with THE RAWK, that is. (oh holy moley, I just wrote that, didn't I?) It wasn't enough that there's nothing that comes even close to experiencing four people play feedback in perfect harmony, but as luck would have it, we managed to snag a prime spot right in front of Mr. Thurston Moore. DREAMY. For every coup there is a price, however. And our price was the bald-headed punk rawk chick who wound up puking quite prodigiously only inches away as the band sludged through one of its most ear-shattering noisescapes of the evening. In a way, it was kind of fitting as unintentional acts of performance art go. And did I mention: FREE PRETZELS??? (mucho mucho thankeros grande to the ridiculously lovely and talented Squirrelmeat for this deliciously deafening delight.

...and oh, holy poop, there's one I forgot to put on this list, so if this Top Ten becoming a Top Eleven list bugs ya, just forward me the therapy bills and I'll put 'em to good use when I run out of Angel Soft...

11. Douglas Coupland's Hey Nostradamus: Who needs Harry Potter when I got a big ol' bowl of dreary Gen-X snark to inhale? Always a delight.


2003-10-14 - Last Haiku
2003-10-09 - Don't Cry Out Loud
2003-10-09 - Sit Down, You're Making Me Nervous
2003-10-08 - I'm Sure Miss Thing, I'm Sure
2003-10-07 - Carbonated Water, Caramel Color, Aspartame

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