First of all, you must go over to !Viva La Mainstream! and read TJ's rant/review on Chris Cornell's latest release (and listen/download four tracks from Scream). It's thoughtful, thought-provoking, and downright fair. And even though I hate what Chris has done I have to agree with TJ, let the man be, he's got every right to evolve as an artist and go where he wants with his music and well, we can just go fuck ourselves! I give him loads of credit for having the balls to do it.

And yeah, if you listen to it enough and squint your eyes a bit and turn your head and just push Soundgarden outta your mind, it's not THAT bad....

Lots of folk thought that Carry On was pretty awful too. Here's a little reminder of how much better it was, in my opinion, (no, I'm not really saying "I told ya so!")

from Carry On
Arms Around Your Love mp3 Chris Cornell
This is maybe the best song about breaking up I've heard in a long while, it's heartfelt, it's ugly and raw and sobering, and I love the way Chris' voice wraps around this tune. The guitar work's not so shabby either.

Killing Birds mp3 Chris Cornell
I chose this one for you because it's got a totally different sound to it and yet that VOICE, omg, it just sucks you in. Sure, the lyrics are a little forced, but still catchy. I'd like a better drumline on this, it's mechanical and unimaginative, but hey, it's a pop song, it's o.k. Again, the guitar solo doesn't suck :p
Buy Carry On

from BBC Sessions
Orignial Fire mp3 Chris Cornell
Just Chris and a guitar, and sometimes that's all you need.

Redemption Song mp3 Chris Cornell
Bare bones and well, what do we expect from our aging rock gods folks? Honestly, yes, like the Stones, they are CAPABLE of belting it out well into their 60s but some of them may not want to, so why should we demand them to? Let them rock when they wish, mellow when they wish, and god-smite-me for saying this, but even go mainstream on us if they will, eeek!

Have a great weekend!
photo credit to f_day

I love music of all sorts and this blog will soon show, if it hasn't already, how wide my taste ranges. I think my number one pet peeve in music blogs today is how narrow minded they are. Do you music bloggers really only listen to the music you blog about? Or perhaps you only blog about a specific genre in order to create a theme to your output? Maybe it's a function of age, I certainly listen to much more variety now than I did in my late 20s and early 30s. I have a lot more patience for music and for new forms of music.

But, one thing has always stuck with me, and for that I blame my formative years, as they were firmly footed in the late 70s, funk's heyday. I just have a natural affinity for funk music, I can't help it.

What follows might be a mysterious incarnation of funk music to you, but not to me. Listen carefully, it's in there. And enjoy this little lounge act of 1991.

A Martini Built for 2 mp3 My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult Sexplosion!

The International Sin Set mp3
go to their myspace page
buy Sexplosion

Over at Licorice Pizza I've been enjoying the "Ultimate Led Zeppelin Session Disks" which are a Zeppelin lover's delight. Some are just re-takes, some are session recordings, all are another glimpse into the genius of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page in their heyday. No one that knows me understands why I get glassy eyed listening to this stuff. It's nice to realize that all two or three readers here might appreciate it :)

And as I'm quite partial to crazy covers, I'll post my all-time favorite one for you. Now, I'm not into all covers. For me the perfect cover has to fulfill three goals

1. the original song as to have been a major hit and still be quite recognizable - no esoterica allowed
2. the cover artist has to be well known, you shouldn't have to look at the label to know who's covering what
3. it can't sound too much like the original, whoever is covering it should give the cover their own flavor, style or hue

This cover far exceeds my three goals, it is perfection! And it makes me giggle every single time I play it. I hope it does the same for you. Aikin, I really hope you've never heard this one before :)

Stairway to Heaven mp3 Dolly Parton Halos and Horns

buy it off of Dolly's website

and you really can't describe what you've seen for perhaps a week or two. Yeah, that happened to me. Honestly. I just thought I was going to see Billy Bragg. You pretty much know what you're gonna get at a Billy Bragg concert: good tunes, tunes you've heard for years, some new stuff off his latest album, (which I quite like, by the way), some political rants, (which I also quite like, by the way), a lot of warm fuzzies, a roomful of middle aged to aging middle class folks like me. What can I really tell you? Billy Bragg always does it for me.

But, WHAM, right before his set this crazy looking guy waltzes out on stage with giant geek-glasses, goofy wrinkled geek-buttoned down shirt, baggy but not too baggy geek-nondescript pants and shoes, but wearing a red keytar. He whips out a harmonica and starts making these odd hip-hop beat noises with his mouth into the microphone and this middle-aged white woman stifles a laugh, claps her hand over her mouth for the next 40 minutes and is amazed at what comes out of this, er, spectacle on stage.


Here, I give you a taste of C. R. Avery folks. He's part performance artist, part one-man band, part genius and part slam poet. I think he's brilliant and he needs you.

Like right now.

Hell Of A Hotel Of Harm mp3 C.R. Avery Magic Hour Sailor Songs

The Ballad of Charlie Parker and Patsy Cline mp3 C.R. Avery Magic Hour Sailor Songs

The Boxer Who Just Returned From London mp3 C.R. Avery Magic Hour Sailor Songs


go to his MySpace site to buy it!