Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Crabb Bits: Jim Carroll, Crappy CDs, Kanye West

The Cedar Rapids Kernels are done for 2009.  They lost 2-1 to Burlington last night to which I didn't go to the game but listened to it on the radio on break.  I had a odd feeling that they wouldn't make it but we got busy at work.  Nevertheless, the Kernels had a good season and well they are undefeated in the playoffs when I show up for the game.

Jim Carroll passed away from a heart attack at age 60.  He was a poet punk rocker who had a minor hit with the irony titled People Who Died.  Guess he can add himself to that list now.  And Patrick Swayze lost his battle with cancer at age 57.  On a positive note, Duwayne Schminkey, guitar player for Paraphernalia turned 51.

Some music reviews.
Parachute-Losing Sleep (mercury)  another band that sounds like Maroon 5 or Matchbox 20 and won't be remembered anytime after this year.  Some songs that are worth hearing a second or third time but mostly it's forgettible FM lite rock.
Grade B minus

Saving Abel (Virgin)  Yet another real rock band that sounds lots like Nickelback but with a more southern rock edge although they're not as good as Black Stone Cherry.  Better than Daughtery or Hoobastank or Hinder and has a bit more hooks than Jet Black Stare but way too many ballads to be taken seriously as a real rock band.
Grade C plus

Kanye West crashed the MTV Video awards Sunday Night when Taylor Swift won best female video with You Belong To Me and freaked poor Taylor out that she couldn't continue her speech.  I have nothing against Taylor Swift in fact I don't mind You Belong To Me but Kayne West is another step back for black entertainment.  Kayne doesn't realize that he's not worthy of even holding Sam Cooke's shorts in terms of real music.  Sam Cooke never had to use a autotuner.  Neither did Otis Redding or for that matter Johnny Guitar Watson.  I have yet to hear a black artist that actually can do good music, although Fefe Dobson has tried her damnest to become the black Pat Benetar or Miley Cyrus.  Kanye West is what's wrong with entertainment in this dark decade, who continues to jump on stage if he doesn't get a award.  How about the memorial Stephen Fetchit Jive Award?  Bring it to the autotuner West master.  Kayne West isn't a douchebag but rather a dumbass who tends to focus on himself only.  And probably pissed off that Taylor Swift didn't ask him to duet on a song.  But Kanye West is as worthless as MTV today.

Reissue of the week
Eddie Hinton-Very Extremely Dangerous (Capricorn-Reel Music)  Margaret from The Brains fan club calls this the best soul album to come out of the late 1970s and she might have a point.  Produced by the late great Barry Beckett and done with the Muscle Shoals Swampers, Hinton adds a bit of Otis Redding/Wilson Pickett soul with a James Brown grit.  This didn't sell in 1978 due to it not being disco and ten years too late soul but Polygram did reissue this in the late 90s before Universal took over and deleted it but Reel Music has reissued it to the masses.

Wouldn't it be great if San Diego went with their old sky blue lightning bolt jerseys all year long?  Raiders didn't look too bad in their white, silver & Black either.

Top ten of the week will be at the usual place n time.  In the meanwhile this is the CDs of note that have been playing in my player.
Cracker-Garage D'or
Robyn Hitchcock-Luxor
James McMurtry & Heartless Bastards-Live Aught Three
Super 400-Sweet Fist
Eddie Hinton-Very Extremely Dangerous
Marshall Tucker Band-Tuckerized
Chuck Berry-Fresh Berries
Carla Thomas-The Queen Alone
The Shazam-Tomorrow The World
The Beatles-Past Masters

Please note no Kanye West due to taste.  And we have no rain for 20 straight days.  Not complaining here and sure hope that will continue till I get back from St Louis.  People bitching about needing rain once again, too damn bad they couldn't save all that damn standing water from the 12 inches of rain we got in August 25th.  Plan ahead fuckers and you won't be crying for rain.