Also, if you notice, I've re-numbered the discs. Thinking about just how many CDs I have, I thought it would be better if I numbered sequentially rather than starting over each post. This way, by the end of the project, I'll know exactly how many of these damn things I actually own and have listened to!
I took a trip to Greenwood, MS, for work a week or so ago, and seeing as that is a 2-hour trip one way, I got through several CDs that day. It's nice to have so much to listen to when I'm on the road. When I rent cars, I usually have Ipod capabilities, so I'll plug in my phone and enjoy Pandora or Radio Paradise. Since Greenwood is a relatively short trip, I took my own car and looked at it as a good excuse to burn through some of these albums.
One quick aside before I begin my reviews: recently Jackson lost two of its pop/rock radio stations to a format change. Normally I can live with these changes - many times the formats don't change drastically, or if they do, there's still at least one other station in town that plays similar music. But this format change was a huge blow to the Jackson radio scene. 94.7, most recently known as Jack FM, and 93.9 (or Rock 93.9) were both taken over by satellite radio stations. But it wasn't just any station; friends, it was K-Love. And while I am a Christian and I think Christian music has its place, taking over two more radio stations (we already had 2 other contemporary Christian stations and one gospel station) is a bit much. I won't take the time to delineate all of my feelings about contemporary Christian music here. But I will say that I have a problem with K-Love taking over these stations, especially 94.7. First, 94.7 was pretty family-friendly to begin with. They played mostly 80s and 90s pop, with the occasional current song thrown in, but mostly just songs that people in the 18-44 age group grew up with. Now there are no stations that play this format. Secondly, K-Love is not local. The few staff that were working at the little station on Beasley Road were probably replaced by a computer. This means no more live remotes, no more support for community events and promotion by the radio station - in fact, no community participation at all. Also, K-Love runs solely on donations, so when listeners donate money it goes to Colorado, rather than staying in Mississippi. I have a problem with that.
So, when these stations changed format a few weeks ago, I quickly changed my presets in the car and thanked God for giving me a love for all kinds of music and the ability to acquire hundreds of CDs.
14. Counting Crows - August & Everything After It was a rainy day when I popped this album in, and that seemed to be a perfect fit. I still really like this CD after all these years. But I got to wondering what happened to this and many other bands/artists that you will find on my list. I recall Counting Crows doing some stuff in the early 2000s, but where are they now? Does Adam Duritz still have those crazy dreads?
According to Wikipedia , the band just released a live version of "August & Everything After," and they are planning to release a covers album this year. And yes, he does still have the hair. And apparently Mike & the Mechanics were an early influence?! Now all that makes me think of is last week's Portlandia.
15. Oxford American 2007 Music Sampler
There will be several of these over time that I will listen to. I began reading the Oxford American and getting the music issue especially shortly after the magazine began in the late '90s, then located actually in Oxford, MS. My cousin Jessi worked there as a fact-checker and would send me the music issues I missed before I got turned on to the mag. Those early discs were real gems. There had been nothing quite like it before. Paste followed a similar route with its CD samplers later, but those were always new artists. The great thing about the OA is that each disc was a schooling on Southern music history, while subtly introducing you to some new Southern acts as well. This particular disc starts out with the classic "If I Were a Carpenter" by Eldridge Holmes and continues on to feature legends such as Thelonious Monk and Van Dyke Parks, but also slyly intermingling current acts like David Banner and Iris Dement (although she really belongs in another century). I popped this disc in just as the Yazoo hills gave way to the flat Delta soil, so it was a perfect soundtrack.
16. Bob Wills and the Texas PlayboysI think this is a "Greatest Hits" album, maybe. I copied it from my boyfriend, a Texan himself. I had never heard of Bob Wills before I met the BF, but I had definitely heard this style of music. Think Hank Williams, only a little more upbeat. Something made me think that Bob had a drinking problem back in his day - maybe the BF had told me about this, so I looked him up and the Wikipedias say that he was a binge drinker, which did affect his ability to perform. But I don't think he was an alcoholic, necessarily. His style of music was early honky-tonk, good-time drinking music in the 1950s. So it's no wonder he liked to have a beer or 12! Bob Wills' music is fun and an important part of country music history for sure.
17. Clinic - Walking With TheeMy early foray into internet radio introduced me to Clinic. "The Equalizer" was the song that got my attention, with its sample of "Iko Iko" providing the beat and the trippy lyrics. The rest of the album is kind of meh... it gets annoying after a while. But if you're in the right mood it can be a pretty interesting soundtrack. Continuing my "Where Are They Now?" theme, it seems that Clinic is still around, and their last full-length album came out in 2010.
18. Grand National - Kicking the National Habit
I wore this album out when it first came out in the US in 2006. It actually came out 2 years earlier in the UK, but we had to wait a while. I used to (and still do) listen to Radio Paradise a lot, and it introduced me to a plethora of indie bands in the '00s. Grand National was on heavy rotation in 2005 or so, and I shook my fist at the skies when I realized that I couldn't get the album in the US yet. Maybe I wore it out too much because I haven't listened to it a lot since then. It was fun to give it another spin. It's basically just a fun dance-rock album that leans a little toward annoying at times. The group got its start as a Police cover band, which makes sense if you pay attention to the duo's vocal stylings. As for what they are doing now, apparently, nothing. I couldn't find much beyond 2008. Oh well!
19. Big Star - #1 Record/Radio CityI could go on all day about Big Star. It's really too much to write here. Needless to say, this one stayed in the CD player for several days. I was lucky enough to get to see what became a tribute concert in Memphis in May of 2010, just a couple of months after Alex Chilton died. Jody Stephens was there, and it was a kick-ass show. I just got a vinyl EP from that very show a few weeks ago, and the BF and I have been wearing it out. I was a little late to the bandwagon with Big Star, only discovering them in the early-mid 2000s, but no matter. Now I never go far...
20. The Walkmen - Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone
The third in this list of discs that fall in the "slightly annoying" category. What's interesting is that I bought the Clinic, Grand National and Walkmen albums in the same year or so. What can I say? I was expanding my horizons. I think The Walkmen are actually a good band. This album has its moments, and yes, I bought it because of "We've Been Had," that catchy song from the Saturn commercial so long ago. But the disc as a whole is just not one that I want to listen to over and over. I hear they did a Nilsson cover album a few years back, and seeing that Nilsson is one of my All Time Top 5 Dead Guys of Rock, I really need to check that out.
21. David Gray - White Ladder2001. This album takes me straight back to 2001, and grad school, and Memphis, and stupid boys. It had been a really really long time since I had listened to this one, and it was like stepping into a time machine, no joke. I couldn't help but laugh at myself. How I used to crank up the volume on "Say Hello/Wave Goodbye" and CRY and SING at the top of my voice. I didn't even know at the time that it was just a sappy cover of a Soft Cell song. SOFT CELL!
Anyway, I still have a soft spot in my heart for D. Gray. He was a blonde, British Dave Matthews for me. I saw him in Nashville during my time as a Tennessean, and it really was a good show. His cover of Randy Newman's "Baltimore" is still one of my all-time favorites, although not as good as the original. And it's so obvious how much of a Van Morrison fan David Gray is, so naturally I love him for that.
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