so this is what i guess i would consider my favorite Centro-matic song so far. there’s so much to dig through between SSG and Centro-matic and Will Johnson’s solo stuff i’m feeling a little overwhelmed. going to try to fall asleep to this one and chill.
refocusing, continuing to input lyrics into the plethora of Centro-matic / South San Gabriel tunes i just got.
Eyas is an interesting EP, self-released, only available online.
immediately gravitated to the end song, All Night Long. hauntingly familiar. because it’s Lionel Ritchie dear lord. wow.
here’s the cut in the album version:
and a live version — check out the tux!
My Morning Jacket’s take — they are so fun, i don’t know why i’m always surprised how fun and truly great they are live….
and almost forgot to link to the original
very cool to note in the Centro-matic description linked to above that the PDF that is included in the purchase of this online only record includes artwork by Julie Miller. it reminds me of Blue Pony a ton, one of my favorite Julie Miller records.
here’s the artwork:
and one of my favorites off the record (the visuals are awful but it was the only video i could find).
When the lie comes down like a kiss on the lips
It’s a fragile wire the memory trips
The taste is sweet, but the kiss is unkind
There’s a crawlspace in my head that I find
i wonder how Julie is doing. i don’t think she’s performing anymore — very worrisome. i saw Buddy & Julie Miller play at the Bottom Line (R.I.P.) down near NYU at least three times — three or more shows (they seemed to tour often then) during a time when it seemed like every record that was released was magical. a truly special time of great live shows and music that changed my life. hope Julie is doing okay.
recent themes oh yeah
going over the list of bands as i am researching, buying and listening to their music, realizing that they are more than a little light on wymyn-folk.
don’t get me wrong, Laurie Stirratt of Blue Mountain is a MAJOR talent who i love, and there are other impactful women in these bands, but i have been jonesing for a mix and balance to all of this new music that isn’t so generally man-led.
i wish there were a few bands out of the 12 that were fronted by wymyn. some sort of balance. i get sort huge enjoyment out of music that is performed by both men and women. so on my iPhone shuffle, i’m always trying to get that nice balance of the two. or bands that include that (like X, the ultimate example).
here i am complaining again. i have officially become Wendy Whiner. today at work i actually said out loud to myself, if i could complain 50% less i will really reduce the amount i am annoying myself. i guess there is always goals, eh?
anyway, there’s a new song i’m now obsessed with. here it is.
Feeling hopeless tonight
Seems to happen all the time
What do you want from me?
You know, because I’m feeling naked
Something changed me deep inside
It seemed that fun was left me tonight
I just cannot speak at all
because I’m feeling naked
Until it’s right, for now
I don’t want you around
All the reasons that I fight
How you take up all my time
What I say is the truth and all
But I’ve been feeling naked
love hate thing here with the mp3 experience. wish all mp3s were the highest fidelity (i do 192 kbps, which is pretty low compared to a lot of FLAC / lossless formats).
but beyond the audio experience, the fact that the metadata on all of these files is so incomplete makes me really annoyed. frustrated librarian that i am.
every mp3 file i get as a download from a band, should, ideally, have the artwork attached, lyrics embedded, information about who plays on the song, and if there are liner notes that would also be super welcome.
i am either listening to music on my iPhone at work — which is a lot now we are all consolidated — or on the subway / my commute. so i am constantly within reach of this player that can hold all the metadata. so when i love a track i want to be able to reach for my iPhone and just have all of this right there. and unless i take the time to do that it’s not there.
so that’s what my deal is going to be for all of this music i’m buying in preparation for my fall vacation 2012. track down the lyrics, make sure everything has artwork, and parse the physical CD experience to the max.
at W’10 the most disappointing thing — which i am mad at myself about — is that i was really unfamiliar with a lot of the music i was hearing. and hearing stuff for the first time is always hard. so i promised myself that for this fall i would do my homework / due diligence. (damn, i am starting to sound like an investment banker!)
i found lyrics wiki has a bunch of centro-matic lyrics, but i’m wondering why bands don’t have this up on their websites? is it a publishing / rights issue? hmm.
was just getting all nostalgic for the records of my youth and the lyric sheets and album artwork. one of my favorite lyric sheets was the one from Donovan’s Cosmic Wheels album.
this is the cover
this is the back
and this — very cool — was the inside… which me and my brother and sister of course colored.
but the even cooler thing was the circular (i know!) lyric sheet. it was a lyric sheet on one side…
…and a huge weird pic of Donovan on the other side.
these pictures don’t really convey how freaking HUGE the circular liner notes insert was — it was 4 times the size of the record!
i mean for a record where they had a “dirty” words like shit and shitting, it was really important to have the lyric sheet. actually it made me love the record even more. and me, of the crap memory, know every word on the record.
here’s the video:
The Intergalactic Laxative
Words & Music by: Donovan Leitch – 1973
Performed by: Donovan
Album: Cosmic Wheels – 1973
I was impressed like everyone,
When man began to fly,
Out of earthly regions,
To planets in the sky.
With total media coverage,
We watched the heros land,
As ceremoniously
They disturbed the cosmic sand.
In awe with admiration,
We listened to the talk.
Such pride felt they,
Such joy to be
Upon the moon to walk.
My romantic vision shattered,
When it was explained to me,
Spacemen wear old diapers
In which they shit and pee.
Oh, the intergalactic laxative,
Will get you from here to there.
Relieve you and believe me,
Without a worry or care.
If shitting is your problem,
When you’re out there in the stars,
Oh, the intergalactic laxative
Will get you from here to Mars.
They don’t partake like you and I,
Of beefy burger mush.
Their food is specially prepared
To dissolve into slush.
Absorbed by multi-fibers
In the super diaper suit,
Otherwise the slush would trickle
Down inside the boot.
Oh, the intergalactic laxative,
Will get you from here to there.
Relieve you and believe me,
Without a worry or care.
If shitting is your problem
When you’re out there in the stars,
Oh, the intergalactic laxative
Will get you from here to Mars.
You may well ask now what becomes
Of liquid they consume.
A pipe is led from penis head
To a unit in the room.
The water is recirculated,
Filtered for re-use.
In case of anti-gravity –
Pee gets on the loose.
Oh, the intergalactic laxative,
Will get you from here to there.
Relieve you and believe me,
Without a worry or care.
If shitting is your problem
When you’re out there in the stars,
Oh, the intergalactic laxative
Will get you from here to Mars.
Wherever man has conquered,
On the quest for frontiers new,
(Da da da da)
I’m glad that he’s always had to do
The number one and two.
It makes it all so ordinary,
Just like you and me,
To know the greatest heroes,
They had to shit and pee.
The intergalactic laxative
Will get you from here to there,
For cosmic constipation
There’s none that can compare.
If shitting is your problem
When you’re out there in the stars,
Oh, the intergalactic laxative,
The intergalactic laxative,
The intergalactic laxative,
Will get you from here to Mars.
after all that talk / remembrance of scorpions, inadvertently wore this Budos Band shirt today.
which reminds me of…
so jacked up over thinking about the trip and wrassling with this blog that i didn’t sleep last night. today’s 10 hour shift at work was an exercise of exhaustion. so glad to be home. going to pass out.
So i am starting to buy some of the music I don’t have and I’m a little behind — like REALLY behind — on Centro-matic / Will Johnson purchases. Just blew $100+ and didn’t even buy t-shirts or stickers or anything.
And I want to know where I put my blue cowboy Centro-matic t-shirt!!! It can’t be lost — I love that t-shirt….
I have a feeling my Blue Mountain situation will be just as dire, so maybe this $200 budget is completely inadequate.
Really wish I could have the actual CDs. A lot of the purchases are mp3 (or other format) downloads. I get that the record business is imploding and physical CDs are now considered a luxury goods item but it chaps my ass that I won’t be able to play some of this stuff on my stereo or on the car stereo for the ride down South. I listen to so much compressed mp3s I am probably inured to it now but I still have a fetish for the albums with artwork and higher fidelity blah blah blah.
Totally freaked by the upcoming Will Johnson cover art. Beside the fact that I had a bunch of unpleasant run-ins with scorpions as a kid at horse camp in Arizona, from far away / on facebook, it looks like ladyparts. Gives me pause every time. Oy.
Going to start buying CDs today. Have an approximate budget — am hoping it won’t cost more than $200 but it depends on how tantalizing the merch is….
Plus it’s a slippery slope once i start buying music — I remember to check and see if new records by favorite artists are out yet, yeah, they are, or I can pre-order, and before I know it I’ll have a new stack of CDs in my hovel.
Since putting all my crap into storage and getting my new 9 ft bench I haven’t re-hooked up my stereo. need to do that and listen to stuff in the air. Sort of stuck lately with the convenience of listening to mp3s but the compression sucks.
Still remember so vividly really HEARING Bare Jr.’s Boo-Tay on my stereo, where I just fell for the record so hard. sort of the gold standard for me of music listening….
Setting up this blog and starting to think about the best way to approach organizing all of the information about my fall vacation 2012.
I am excited, a bit overwhelmed at how many bands there are that I don’t know very well (if at all) — but trust that they will be excellent as they have been curated by Postcarders — and happy that this is going to be a serious vacation. I really need a vacation from work and New York City.
Looking forward to getting on the road and exploring. Driving to some awesome tunes and getting to know the South a bit more.
Keepin’ it on the road, as my friend Tommie always says.
Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic 