Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Notes: Goodbye Long John Silvers, CD Reviews

So much trouble in the world today.  We don't know where to begin.  First of all the good news. Eric Cantor got defeated in a Virginia Primary.  Bad news, he was outed by somebody named Brat and is part of the Tea Party.  You get rid of one problem another rises.  If Virginia has a decent Democrat running they better get him in.  The government craziness is beyond belief.  Here we have our own problems, a new GOP by the name of Joni Ernst is running against Bruce Braley and it seems like he's got his work cut out for him.  The poll is showing this pig castration-er, gun toting Iraqi war vet has a 2 point lead over Bruce. Let the mud flinging begin.  Actually it has, Braley's camp putting together a mud slinging commercial that has been seen and certified not true by the local radio station.  I pretty much resigned to the fact that our Governor for Life, Terry Branstad will be back in office for another term.

Politics aside, they're closing down Long John Silver's on the SE side, not sure about the SW one which has better food.  Somehow, there was some unheard Bullshit group called  Centers for Science in the Public Interest that called their Big Catch meal, the worst restaurant meal of 2013 and sales plummet.  Further google reference calls them the food police.  Well I guess they haven't been around the local McDonald's of late or the Mount Vernon Hardee's which guarantees either food poisoning or sitting on the can for about an hour.  While some people are celebrating losing a few more of LJS stores in this area, I always enjoyed their fish dinner and thought about going this this afternoon before going to Bar B Q This! instead.  I guess if I want one last meal I should hit there tomorrow.  Otherwise, I'll remember it fondly, or go to where's there still a Long John's Silver (not in Dubuque, they closed that one too). Update:  The SW side Long John Silver's remains open but for how long nobody knows.  At least we can still get our greasy fish fix.

So far, the ratings of this month are the usual, looking toward 1800 to 2000 views and the usual ones getting traffic and most not.  I can't figure the secret to The Dennis Farina RIP blog or Circumstances Beyond Control unless it's a picture that gets accessed to Google but for a music blog, I seem to get more porn words in the most searched department.  Why Cocksuckers in Kingman and Black Pussy and Vixxens for such words is beyond me.  Unless there's a band called Cocksuckers in Kingman, you won't find anything porn about that. But if you want some  Black Pussy, here tis: http://blackpussy.bandcamp.com/
Glad to take care of those requests.

I haven't really done much eye candy posting, I find the returns aren't that great and 99 percent of those eye candy babes don't give a shit about you or me anyway.  Ashley Axlesis has a facebook site and usually posts a picture or two with her (or her latest boyfriend), London Andrews hangs out in her tumblr site (spends a lot of time on the net answering questions or posting a few NSFW pics or pictures of her dog and chicks).  My favorite remains Ivy Doomkitty the cos-playing dream date.  She will acknowledge you from time to time or in my case, favor a tweet or two.  Still remains the most fun of the bunch of eye candy that has popped up here from time to time.



Wal Mart continues their amazing shrinking CD section once again, the whole CD aisle is now a half row. They do have the new Led Zeppelin re remasters at 9 dollars a pop but since I have the second remaster and it's all in nice fitting jewel cases, I'll pass. Outside of the Live CD on Led Zeppelin 1, the bonus cds on both 2 and 3 are luxury items and Hey Hey What Can I Do is still not on LZ3.  Best Buy likewise, down to four rows but they have managed to at least have 80 percent of the new releases in stock.  And managed to get 4 new releases.  Of course the new Jack White Lazaretto (Third Man/Columbia) is as weird as the man itself and his vinyl version of it is interesting as well.  White knows where to borrow for the blues and Led Zeppelin and even his old band and the recording just might be the rest recorded of the year, it doesn't blare out like the usual OTT new releases. While critics fall over themselves praising everything White does, I tend to enjoy about 60 percent of his music and my fave cut is High Ball Stripper which is the instrumental.  Overall, Blunderbuss was a better album, but Lazaretto is more weird and oddball but in a rock sense rather than the White Stripes last couple albums, (I'm looking at you Get Behind Me Satan).  But it doesn't overstay its welcome unlike GBMS.

Miranda Lambert's Platinum (RCA/Sony Nashville) is a mess upon itself, as Miranda throws every style she can think of to please everybody and despite it all, it seems to work in the song sequence although the much hyped Carrie Underwood duet is the least interesting track on said album.  While I heard critics and fans complain about the title track or Little Red Wagon, I come to like them myself and Smoking And Drinking (with Little Big Town) takes a bit to get used to, but it seems Miranda is spinning her tires on the beginning song Girls. And Priscilla might be  a word of warning to her hubby in comparing him and her to the king of rock and roll and the named woman of said song. But the record does get better in the middle and toward the end, especially when she gets help from Ashley Monroe and Brandi Clark although Kacey Musgraves sits this one out.  For most of the album she's not working with Ashley nor Brandi but rather Nicolle Galyon and Natalie Hemby, not exactly suitable Pistol Annie replacments.  Still, I find the brawdy humor of Gravity's A Bitch fun, she even picks out a Tom T Hall number for the Time Jumpers' western swing of All That Matters.  And even does the blues on Hard Staying Sober.  It improves over Four The Record, although that album had a couple better songs.  If she's thinking of sales of the title of the record implies, she's dreaming, nobody sells that many albums anymore.  But this lay claim to the fact that Miranda Lambert's albums may be the most consistent ones of the past ten years.  Not bad for a runner up on Nashville Star, whose star outshined the winner of that forgotten show (Buddy Jewel, the answer to that Trivia Q).

Body Count-Manslaughter (Sumerian) 22 years ago, ICE T and company were getting deep sixed from Sire/Warner Brothers when they tacked on Cop Killer on their first album, which caused waves back then but nowadays people shrugged it off.  But believe it or not, I bought all of the Body Count albums and the O.G Original Gangster CD, because it was a black musician doing metal.  A Body Count album is full of F bombs, MF double bombs, bitches and ho's and smacking people around but Ice T always had a sense of humor in The Count.  I found their last album Murder 4 Hire lacking in something (the recording wasn't that great) but this time out, Body Count actually has a drummer that can play speed metal.  The fun begins with Talk Shit Get Shot and Pray For Death which Ice T is ready to lock and load and kick ass.  And of course he revisits the Voodoo chick on the first album on Black Voodoo Sex (which is about...see title).  Jay Z who did the original 99 Problems appears on the hidden track, due in Body Count metal style.  If you have been following the antics of Body Count, the songs don't vary much but the my faves are a wild remake of Institutionalized 2014 one of the more funniest (and I can relate to) to which Ice T fights with the internet about not being to get into his email. That's worth the price of the record alone. And if you read this far, this is their best since the first album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqIp3i1ZBzI

Marcus Hook Roll Band-Tales Of Old Grand Daddy (Parlophone/Warner) Harry Vanda and George Young were part of The Easybeats and by the time they made this album, that band was history.  Somebody thought it would be neat to issue this record for the first time in 40 years and the selling point is that Angus and Malcom Young played on a couple tracks before forming their own band.  This is the roots of AC/DC but if anything, this sounds more like boogie blues of Savoy Brown although neither Vanda or Young are able to sing the boogie blues.  Vanda does remind me of Jackie Lydon who did appear on Jack The Toad.  Speaking of Savoy Brown, they did cover Shot In The Head.  One Of These Days does show hints of what's to come but if you're thinking of AC/DC rock n roll, you'll be disappointed.  Fun Fact; yet another Young brother Alex sits on on saxophone on Louisiana Lady, the first time an album featured all four of the Young siblings to appear on a record although not together.   Vanda And Young would become better known as producers before starting up a few years later with the quirky Flash And The Pan.  Who made better albums than this.

The Jayhawks-Live At The Women's Club 2002  If you read this far, you will be happy to know that American Recordings are once again reissuing certain Jayhawks albums, 1997's bloated Sound Of Lies, 1999's much better Smile and later on Rainy Day Music on vinyl and bonus tracks.  Mark Olson is doing other things but Gary Louris is hitting the road with the guys from the 1997 album including Karen Grotman who back from family life.  This bootleg CD, found for 2 dollars at Stuff Etc, actually reminds me of the 2009 Louris/Olson duo who made their way to CSPS and I documented it all for my only No Depression blog (it's out there somewhere). In fact this 2002 show comes  when they touring as a trio and Tim O'Reagan being the other vocalist and if he wasn't playing drums, he was playing acoustic guitar.  Olson is missed but I should point out that Tim remained the secret weapon that may have kept The Jayhawks going even in those dark times.  Given that, Gary remains the lone player on Waiting For The Sun, a song that does cry out for that other harmony vocal sorely missed.  Two bonus demos from the Smile album are included.

Grades:
Jack White-Lazaretto A-
Body Count-Manslaughter B+
Miranda Lambert-Platinum A-
Marcus Hook Roll Band-Tales Of Old Grand Daddy  B-
The Jayhawks-Live At The Women's Club B+

From the archives: Weird album covers, you can't get enough of them.  http://www.buzzfeed.com/daves4/awkward-band-photos
Centers for Science in the Public Interest
Centers for Science in the Public Interest
Centers for Science in the Public Interest
Centers for Science in the Public Interest

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