The Sad Bear

April 7, 2010

#013

A weekly sampler of what we're listening to (new and old), and what we think you might like, too.

{LISTEN TO THEM ALL}


STIFF LITTLE FINGERS -- "Suspect Device"
I've been in a No Thanks! type mood lately. 1970s punk and post-punk has really been hitting the spot. Especially the early English stuff. Maybe it has to do with the fact that sometimes I feel like I need to go kick someone's teeth in. Not in a malicious way. More in a good, clean WWE Monday Night RAW! kind of way.
Regardless of my pent-up anger issues, these guys are from Northern Ireland, which adds some intrigue. The song's about The Troubles, and rocks only slightly harder than their other popular song about the same subject.
It has a better, catchier chorus, though ("Gotta SUS! SUS! SUS! SUS!SUS!SUS! SUS SUS-PECT DEVICE!"). This masks how depressing the lyrics actually are. I mean, the tune doesn't necessarily give me any specific historical insight into anything that went on in Northern Ireland. It does, however, make me want to punch an Englishman in the face.


The Action -- "I'll Keep Holding On"
I've been listening to the Detroit Cobras cover version of this Nuggets-era gem. The original (both actually) has the sing-along power that woos even Katie to go duet-style with me.


DANGERDOOM -- "Benzie Box"
A walk down memory lane led me back to this song.


KOOL & THE GANG -- "Jungle Boogie"
This is pretty rockin'.


AVETT BROS. -- ""Will You Return?""
Harmony and a break-down.


WOLF PARADE -- "Beyonce" (no video link, just listen)
Dan Boeckner would like his fuzz pedal back.


BLACK SABBATH -- "Paranoid"
If only Ozzy had remained drugged up and intelligent, we might have thought major drug use doesn't sap one's intelligence. As it turns out, if you want to rage against vaguely specified things, you have to devote some of your time to what was it again? Somebody did something worth protesting.

GUEST CONTRIBUTOR:Michael Miller
The editor-in-chief of the Toledo Free Press. It's a good paper. And we're not just saying that because two Sad Bears worked there.

KELLY HOGAN & THE PINE VALLEY COSMONAUTS -- "Papa Was a Rodeo"
Each year, the magazine “Oxford American” publishes a Southern Music Issue. The issue includes a CD or 2 of previously unavailable (or just previously unappreciated) music, then fills its pages with stories about the artists on the CD. This year’s 11th annual issue contains more than 50 such songs, bringing the series total to nearly 350 tracks. These songs run the gamut from Tom Petty and John Hiatt rarities to a Laurel & Hardy track rescued from a 78 rpm record and a bluegrass/hip-hop collaboration between Earl Scruggs and Billy Bob Thornton. Every year, the disc contains at least one song that fails to stand out upon first listen, but eventually burrows into the part of the brain that embraces music and fuses to those cells.
This year, that song is “Papa Was a Rodeo” as sung by Kelly Hogan. It is an unassuming song that is clearly in no hurry, and Hogan relishes the space the band gives her. The tale of a “will they or won’t they” one night stand that ends up being about a much larger universal truth, “Papa” is by turns acridly funny (“I won't be back till next year/I see that kiss-me pucker forming/but maybe you should plug it with a beer”) and achingly sad (“The light reflecting off the mirror ball/looks like a thousand swirling eyes/They make me think I shouldn't be here at all/You know, every minute someone dies “).
It’s not possible to know what inspires the weary sadness Hogan brings to this recording, but if you listen closely, you will find the inspiration for the slight smile that she also allows to seep through.
Bonus points for naming the protagonist “Mike.”

Labels: mid-week mixes, music

by JHitts at 12:00 AM |