Monday, September 29, 2008

Crabb Bits: Bush BS, Crappy Metallica, GB lose drummer

By now you have known that the 700 billion dollar bailout brought to you by Harry Paulson got shut down and once again we get to see Bush warning of recession again bla bla bla.  Funny thing is that the depression has been here for about two years now and Bush and especially Mr Paulson do not get it.  It's about high time that the CEO's of the failed Wall Street get to feel what we all feel and that golden parachute of bigtime million dollar severence pay should be replaced by a anvil crashing down upon their head as they freefall down.  For eight years we have had the government fail us time after time after time.  Seems logical now that the chickens have come home to roost that Paulson and the other idiot before him Beneke are getting their just due.  Seems to me also that we the taxpayers of this country believe that Bush and company work for us and if this was like any other workplace, Bush and company would have been given the heave ho about seven years ago.  Not all this should be bestrow upon Dubya, democrat do nothings have also done squat in the two years they have been in and still we get those annoying campaign mudslinging commercials.  Basically Obama can't do anything more than what the other idiots have done to throw this country into what it is today.  I love the fact that Goldman Sachs prediction of 150 dollar barrel of oil by this time have blown up in their face but I'm sure oil barrell prices will be back up eventually.  But I think the American taxpayer has had more than enough than to hear Bush's scare tactics.  In 2000, we have a big surplus and respect, now we got a fucking debt that your great grandkids won't be able to pay off and the solution from Paulson is to print more money that ain't worth more than toilet paper.  To the CEOs of Wall Street, I suggest if you see any loose change on the street better pick it up and do like the rest of us and save it for a rainy day.  Or a better solution is to get the MF lobbyists and porkers to contribute those funds to the US cause.  And to the Hanniry and Combes dumbasses on FOX news, get your head out of your asses.  Being stupid and right wing seems to get you a show on FOX.  We're tired of seeing our money been thrown away on "the war on terror" and "wall street" to which perhaps the evil Bin laden, to which Bush the Idiot never found was right, we're watching the destruction of America and he didn't have to do anything, the Goldman Sach assholes did it to us (and wall street). 

Yeh y'all right I should stick to music subjects, so here goes.  Tone deaf Lars Urlich of Metallica still thinks the mixing of the new Metallica album was great but Ted Jensen, who knows a thing about mastering an album called it an embarrassment and when he got the tapes to master Death Magnetic they sounded like that.  And that is the difference of making a great album and a classic album such as Master Of Puppets, Yup that album was loud too, but it had some type of loudness that doesn't give you a headache.  And that has been the problem of most if not all albums of this decade, good music ruined by compressed loudness with no distinction between the soft and loud sounds. When you have to turn the stereo down just to get a comfortible listen to an album that's a problem.  The obvious used to be if you wanted to hear something turn it up, not down.  All this technology out there and anything new sounds like shite.  Hell, I was playing the first Led Zeppelin CD before the remasters and I thought that sounded very good.

Which leads to Robert Plant.  He has told the guys in his former band to move on if they want to continue to rock.  As much as everybody would love to see a nostagic Led Zeppelin reunion tour, he has had more fun with his get together with Alison Krauss to which I also believe that Raising Sand was his best effort in ten plus years and still remains in heavy play here.  At sixty years old Plant had reinvented himself into somewhat of a folkie.  And it would be fun to hear him and Alison do a take on The Battle Of Evermore.  Classic rock is fun but when you're a senior citizen rocker you can't go back to the garden anymore as CSNY used to sing.  The garden has long ago been replaced by a high rise.

Scott Kusmirek has left The Gin Blossoms after being a part of the band for five years but never really fit into the band.  In some ways I'm sure he felt like a second class citizen, you never seen his face on the album covers but at least history will show him as the drummer for Major Lodge Victory.  Does this mean that Phillip Rhodes will return to the throne?  Hard to say but I'm sure Scott will be successful when he returns back to the Arizona music scene.

A review.

Wreckless Eric/Amy Rigby (Stiff)
Now husband and wife Eric and Amy have put together their first home recording (and it's on the revised Stiff label which is a feat in itself, for more information look up Eric's website for a more detailed perpective) and the results couldn't have been this radical. At times sounding like The Ravonettes with double tracked vocals and both playing all instruments, this is perhaps the most punk that Amy has ever sounded and Eric still sounding like a more eccentric Nick Lowe.  On "trotters" think of The Beach Boys jamming with My Bloody Valentine and Please Be Nice To Her, one wonders had Nick Lowe made that album with Carlene Carter when they were married if the results would sound like this.  Eric still remains to eccentric for the american audience but I think I do perfer him over today's Nick Lowe or for that matter, Elvis Costello is all over the place.  But even in today's net word, this album was released without All Music making a comment about it, nor Best Buy knowing anything about it.  Even though this is mostly Eric's effort, I'm sure Amy had something to do with this by covering Johnny Cash's I Still Miss Someone.  Nevertheless a fun get together by the new decade's Johnny And June (although I do miss the old Amy)
Grade A minus

Pick hits: Please Be Kind To Her, Men In Sandals, The Downside Of Being A Fuck Up

Updates:  I am still working on getting around to listen to Ashton Shepard's album but haven't seen it anywhere.....Half Priced Books had the Beau Brammels four cd box set from Rhino Handmade for the price of 8 dollars!  Now you see why I love HP Books?  Ya never know what the people will bring in to trade.  Amazon had the CD listed at 79.95 at the cheapest. 

Box sets are moreorless coffee table CDs that I moreoreless show off more than I play.  FYE has managed to have the Prestige Story 4 cd set for 23 bucks and is worth every penny likewise the five CD Speciality Records Story for thirty five bucks.  I also note that HP Books seem to have lots of Shout Factory albums for five ninety eight or less in the cutout section.  Not that you can live without the Violet Femmes albums or later day Marshall Tucker Band but I have seen John Lee Hooker's albums in the cut out bins on Shout Factory.  Buyer beware.