Fables of the Reconstruction: R.E.M. is Still a Rock Band

Live albums are usually a cop-out.
Many of them are done by artists looking for a cheap way to get out of a record contract; many others are done as a way to cash in on a tour, almost like a souvenir
Many of the aren’t even live- yes there is a crowd, and there are some live elements to the sound, but the imperfections are glossed away in a studio.
Many of them are rote re-interpretations of greatest hits.
It’s not to say they are always bad. Peter Frampton made a career on a live album, while other bands like the Grateful Dead, their live albums are superior to anything they’ve done in the studio.
On R.E.M’s new record, they threw out the rules.
There are virtually none of their big hits on the record. “So. Central Rain” is as close as it gets. The sound is obviously 100% live. It is all guitars, bass, drums and a bit of piano thrown in. You hear Peter Buck’s guitar feedback and Michael Stipe’s sometimes cracking vocals. When Mike Mills plays piano, you don’t hear a bass line.
They are not really promoting anything. There are a few songs off their early 2008 release Accelerate, so you can say they’re trying to milk a few extra sales off that relatively poor selling record. However, it is well past that record’s “recording/release/tour’ cycle. If there is an underlying motive, it’s to tie-in their rawer guitar-based older stuff with their back-to basics sound of Accelerate.
This record is a valentine to their old fans. The ones who bought Chronic Town and Murmur, probably also bought Reckoning and Fables of the Reconstruction, but slowly drifted off after that. The album is full of raw re-telling of songs like “Pretty Persuasion” and “West of the Fields”. It is virtually all deep cuts. Even early hits like “Radio Free Europe” and “Can’t Get There from Here” are left off, not to mention “Losing My Religion” or “Stand”
The band more or less stays away from its big rock star era and it also ignores most of the relatively recent atmospheric stuff of Up, Reveal, and Around the Sun. The one song they do from that era, “I’ve Been High”, is re-done sounding like a Fables-era piano ballad.
You don’t hear the eclectic amalgams of Out Of Time, or the graceful southern goth of Automatic for the People (“Drive” being the exception). Some of those textures and the finer material on those records are missed. R.E.M. used to bring along a few sidement to help re-create those sounds, but on Olympia they sound like a three-piece, accompanied by drummer Bill Reiflin.
The seeming result is to re-identify to themselves and their fans as a true rock band. They get well over two hours of pure R.E.M.-style guitar rock, even minus the hits and chunks of their career. It looked like the departure of drummer Bill Berry sort of threw them into a sometimes meandering voyage of re-self discovery. On Accelerate and Live and Olympia this voyage seems to bring them back where they started, as the raw, yet sublime rock band they always were.
R.E.M. has truly given up aspirations of being a U2-style rock dragon. They gave it up long ago. Nowadays they play to their sizable niche. Live at the Olympia is an attempt to re-connect with some of that niche they may have lost during the Big Rock days and the post-Bill Berry experimental period. It succeeds well in that regard. Non-R.E.M. fans may not get it and may not be interested, but that would probably be fine with the band.

Smells Like Dollar Signs: the Flap over Cobain on Rock Band 5

We’re all sellouts
Some are more blatant than others. Aerosmith and Bon Jovi are at least up-front about it. They will happily ham it up for anyone who offers them a big enough check.
Who are we to argue?
The person who is unemployed or behind on their mortgage, or who has been slaving away in bar bands for thirty years certainly wouldn’t.
It’s the hypocrites you have to watch out for. There are those who publicly bleed integrity and sanctimoniousness, but behind the curtain are revealed to be not much more than the Bon Jovi’s of the world.
Of course they don’t buy up tickets for their shows at face value than re-sell them to scalpers like some of the bands mentioned, but you never know.
Courtney Love is angry because Activision is using Kurt Cobain’s likeness on Guitar Hero 5 to not only sing the Nirvana songs he wrote and sang, but also to possibly sing along to songs by other bands- yes even Bon Jovi.
I don’t play it, but someone showed Cobain’s avatar “singing” “You Give Love a bad name” along with the cartoon backing band on YouTube and it was pretty disturbing. At least to someone who was around in the early 1990’s and saw Nirvana break huge with Nevermind, playing music that didn’t play by the “rules” but still was very popular. Bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam came up with the punk scene, and although they did get signed by large record companies, took pains to maintain their artistic integrity and independence.
To us late thirtysomethings and fortysomethings, it is unsettling, but to the kids who play Rock Band, Cobain is just another dead or aging rock star. Most kids nowadays couldn’t tell Bon Jovi from Nirvana, and wouldn’t care even if they could. It’s all of us old people getting riled up.
Love is angry, and even though she agreed to use Cobain’s likeness for the game, she said that she thought that he would only be singing Nirvana songs.
“You are correct in stating that Ms. Cobain (Love) is extremely upset at Activision’s use of Mr. Cobain’s image in a video game allowing him to sing songs of others. Kurt’s songs have a unique and special meaning to his fans and his image and legacy is extremely important to Ms. Cobain.” said her lawyer.
Cobain's old bandmates, Krist Novolesic and Dave Grohl agree.
“While we were aware of Kurt’s image being used with two Nirvana songs, we didn’t know players have the ability to unlock the character.” Adding, “This feature allows the character to be used with any kind of song the player wants. We urge Activision to do the right thing in ‘re-locking’ Kurt’s character so that this won’t continue in the future.” They said in a joint statement.
Somebody’s lying, or somebody’s lawyer didn’t do his job. Both the game company and Love have high-priced lawyers looking through the documents, and it’s hard to believe that somebody didn’t catch the clause where Cobain would be aping along to Bon Jovi songs.
Everybody got paid. Activision will sell a ton of games, Cobain’s estate and the other artists featured on the game will get paid and get additional exposure for their music. Nobody is starving off this deal.
It’s one of two things. Activision is either greedy or ignorant, or perhaps telling the truth. Love may be telling the truth, but it also may be a face-saving measure to something she either agreed upon or overlooked.
It’s either dollar signs or ignorance, and I’m picking dollar signs.
Integrity or not, Nirvana signed the big record contract. Even Love’s band Hole had a large record contract in the 1990’s, Grohl’s band the Foo Fighters has been churning out radio-friendly music for years now. All have been well paid, and there is nothing wrong with that. With the money, comes compromise, I’m sure. Nobody is innocent then, nobody is innocent now.
Now comes word that Iggy Pop has agreed to use his likeness for a Lego version of rock band.
No one is innocent.

RIP Jim Carroll

In my late teens, punk rock changed my whole worldview. You didn't have to listen to the same music everybody else did. You didn't have to dress the way everyone else did. I'm sure I speak for many when I say it put me on a path to self-realization. It wasn't a bad thing, and sometimes it was a good thing to not fit in. Besides me, it turned music upside down. Music had become lethargic in the mid-1970's, and punk rock turned it upside down.

Jim Carroll was a footnote, but a big one at that. His song "People Who Died" was a long litany to his friends who had passed away in New York's seamy underside. Written over a raw, chug-a-lug of guitar, bass, and drums, Carroll read off his long list of characters without seeming emotion, saving his big salute for the last one. It was almost like a dark and fatalistic response to "Walk on the Wild Side"

Carroll's "Basketball Diaries" had a similar effect on the literary world. Based on journals he wrote as a thirteen year old, he detailed a double life as a prep school basketball player and a drug-addicted street hustler. Equal parts Salinger, Rimbaud, and Henry Miller, he stred at the darkness in an unfliching, almost conversational manner.

The big regret is that he wasn't more prolific. He did some other music and books, but nothing ever hit the stride of "People Who Died" and "Basketball Diaries". Both have left indelible marks on the literary and music world, whether directly or indirectly.

James Williamson to Re-join Stooges

Stooges fans upset at the passing of founding guitarist Ron Asheton will get the next best thing. James Williamson, who played guitar on the opus Raw Power, will replace him, according to Rolling Stone. Williamson, who has been a software developer in the Silicon Valley, was recently talked into re-joining the band by Iggy Pop, and new music may even be a possibility.
“He asked me if I wanted to play guitar again,” says Williamson, who hasn’t performed a single gig since the Stooges dissolved in 1974. “I was about to take an early retirement from my job in Silicon Valley, so I figured ‘what the hell, let’s do it.’ ”
The only show on the books now is the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival on May 2 and 3rd of next year, but Williamson says many more are coming. He also hopes to write new material with Iggy. “The two of us have a long history of writing new tunes,” he says. “It’s probably a safe bet we will at some point.”
The big debate among Stooges fans and rock fans in general is which Stooges album had a bigger effect on punk rock, the sludgy Fun House or the crash and burn of Raw Power. Asheton played thumping, sludgy, and dirty guitar on The Stooges and Fun House, while Williamson’s style was closer to what the Ramones and Sex Pistols would later do, more driving and chaotic than Asheton’s tighter riffing.
The idea of new music with the Stooges is intriguing. Iggy’s recent solo stuff is quite eclectic, so it seems that he is due to rock out some more with his old bandmates.

Charlie Watts Leaving Stones?

An Australian website reported form “inner circles” of the Rolling Stones than Charlie Watts was leaving the band. The band almost immediately denied the rumors, so it’s hard to say where that stands. For a long time it has been said that Watts was the member of the band most reluctant to tour and seemed to be happy staying at home with his horses and playing in his jazz band.
The source told the Australian site Undercover, “Charlie Watts has quit the band. He will never record or tour with the band again”. The site went on to say “its little secret that Keith Richards had to coax Watts into participating in the band's 2005 album 'A Bigger Bang' and its subsequent global tour. ‘
The band was quick to deny it. The band’s spokesperson, Fran Curtis, tells Entertainment Weekly there is no truth to the rumors: “Contrary to a fabricated story that ran this morning,” she says, “Charlie Watts has not left The Rolling Stones.’’
Watts leaving the Stones would have a devastating effect on the band. His drumming, in tandem with Keith Richards’s guitar, is the bulwark of their sound. Nobody can bring those guys together like Watts, although rumored replacement Charlie Drayton is a great drummer in his own right, Charlie is irreplaceable. No doubt Richards and Mick Jagger would go on without him, but it would be a travesty.

Remembering Joe Strummer

I’m terrible with birthdays. Joe Strummer would’ve turned 57 yesterday, and I missed it, so I will enlighten you all with my take on him and his music. He was, in my mind, a combination of James Dean, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Rotten. Not that he was necessarily the larger-than-life figure those guys were, but instead he combined the rebellion and the swagger of them, and to me, was the face on punk rock..
The Clash’s debut album had the best of both worlds- an angry punk attitude with great melodies and songcraft. Strummer and Mick Jones weren’t rank amateurs, but instead experienced musicians who were blown away by the punk movement. “Give ‘Em Enough Rope” showed they could match guitars with any metal band with the same ferocity as the debut album. London Calling was a landmark. The band not only perfected their songwriting chops, but also mixed reggae, pop, and soul into their musical mix. It was a statement album that proved punk rock could be diverse musically and appeal to a wide audience, and still not compromise. “Sandinista” while, inconsistent took the experimental touches of London Calling three steps further. Combat Rock broke the band to huge mainstream success, with “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and “Rock the Casbah”, but began a divide in the band with Jones wanting to experiment more, and Strummer wanting to stick closer to their punk rock roots. They never made another Clash record together.
The Clash was Strummer’s as well as Jones’s finest moments. Joe’s solo records and Jones-less Clash record had their moments, but he was never able to connect to the musical zeitgeist the way he did with the Clash. As a listener, you kept hoping they’d get the band back together, that they would have this great re-union and re-establish themselves as the best rock band in the world, which in the early 1980’s they arguably were.
He died way too soon. It was right about the time that it looked like society would “get” his solo records, maybe not in a larger-than life way they did with the Clash records, but it looked like there was hope, maybe even for a Clash reunion. Jones, Strummer, and Paul Simonon were on good terms, who knows.
Either way, rock needs a rebel like him and he will never be replaced,

Bottle Rockets "Lean Forward" on new release

Before you listen to the Bottle Rockets, it is refreshing to just look at the song credits, they don’t have twelve song doctors on each song, preferring to actually write their own songs. They don’t have a team of “ace’ producers, or a long list of studio musicians. When you listen to their music, you get the same feeling. They write songs that pay equal homage to old school Nashville songwriters as they do garage bands like the Ramones and The Replacements. There is not one shred of B.S. to be found anywhere in their music. And that is not to say they are some humorless wannabe purists. With a songwriting style vaguely reminiscent of John Hiatt, they mix even their most serious songs with a dry sense of humor, and never forget that they’re writing three minute rock songs and not John Steinbeck novels.
Like many artists of their ilk, they’ve paid a price. The Bottle Rockets have had enough record company drama and hijinx to fill up a Nashville Spinal Tap movie. They’ve also had numerous personnel changes which would’ve broken up many bands. Despite all of that, guitarist/ vocalist Brian Henneman and drummer Mark Ortmann, the bands mainstays, have kept the band on the right track. Their latest release, “Lean Forward” is as raw and uncompromising as anything they’ve done. After being together about sixteen years, it doesn’t seem like they’re anywhere close to slowing it down and playing it safe.
The opener “The Long Road” is a fine statement of purpose with the chorus “the long road isn’t the wrong road/a wrong turn isn’t the end/if it’s understood that something good may be coming around the bend” propelled by the two guitar attack of Henneman and John Horton, and the tight, reliable rhythms of Ortmann and bassist Keith Voegele. Throughout the record the same theme resonates: “Hard Times” sings about keeping one’s head up even when things are tough, and the songs “Get On the Bus” and the ballad “Open Your Eyes” talk of survival and resilience.
There is also the quiet heartbreak of “Solitaire”, the anti-war ballad “The Kid Next Door”, and a couple tunes about the losers who can’t get it right with “Shame on Me’ and “Done it All Before”.. The band sings with the knowledge and compassion of one who’s been there before, not one who read Studs Terkyl and John Steinbeck for inspiration.
What makes it all work is that they never forget that they’re a rock band, and while it may seem their preference to rock out on songs like “The Long Road” and “The Way it Used to Be” they don’t forget their older roots, either. There is the swamp boogie of “Hard Times” the country swing of “Get on the Bus”, and the reflective Nashville balladry of “Open Your Eyes” They like to mix it up, even though it seems they like to return again and again to the jagged stomp of “Nothing but A Driver”.
The band on “Lean Forward” is all about staying tough in the face of life’s dramas. The songs have a hard-won optimism that could only be pulled off by a band with the survival skills of the Bottle Rockets. They are played by the band with energy and attitude, not like a band that is ready to slip into the easy elder statesmen mode.