I guess Husker were around a little longer. A glance at the Husker chapter in Michael Azerrad's This Band Could Be Your Life seems to indicate they started playing together in 1979. The Crue didn't start together until 1981. Both issued their first albums in 1981, though. And most of the Crue guys were kicking around (Nikki Sixx in the bands London and Sister, Tommy Lee in Suite 19, and Vince Neil in Rock Candy) when the Huskers were getting started. Bob Mould was a freshman at Macalester College when he started playing with the original lineup that morphed into Husker Du...I'm guessing he's actually younger than most of the guys in the Crue. Mick Mars, for sure, is pretty old.

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
I guess Husker were around a little longer. A glance at the Husker chapter in Michael Azerrad's This Band Could Be Your Life seems to indicate they started playing together in 1979. The Crue didn't start together until 1981. Both issued their first albums in 1981, though. And most of the Crue guys were kicking around (Nikki Sixx in the bands London and Sister, Tommy Lee in Suite 19, and Vince Neil in Rock Candy) when the Huskers were getting started. Bob Mould was a freshman at Macalester College when he started playing with the original lineup that morphed into Husker Du...I'm guessing he's actually younger than most of the guys in the Crue. Mick Mars, for sure, is pretty old.

Funny you should mention that book. That's what I've been reading all day today.

I'm really liking the new Kaki King. I'm seeing her live in concert tomorrow, I have high hopes for a person with the title "Queen of Acoustic Guitar".

Umlauts improve everything.

Thanks to pE mentioning Allen Clapp, I tracked him down on the collection Pop American Style. Thanks to spending some time with that CD, I've discovered Seattle's Tullycraft, who have been mentioned briefly on the forums before. They have a wonderful stripped-down, pop sensibility (great hooks, but just this side of ragged as an ensemble) and a lyrical quirkiness that makes the songs simultaneously engaging and just short of abstruse.

Now Playing: "Piano Lessons for Beauty Queens" Tullycraft Singles Collection <-- case in point and the song with which I fell in love with them...

I just recently picked up a copy of Fugazi's The Argument, and it's very good. "Cash out" in particular is a great track. I've never been very familiar with Fugazi's work, so this one is convincing me to take a look at their earlier releases also.

So, I've had this ongoing affair with all things Britpop over the last year and have relistened and reloved things like "Definitly Maybe", "Dog Man Star", and "The La's" but the band I think that was grossly underappreciated was

Gene.

"Olympian" is a work of art. London, Can You Wait, Still Can't Find the Telephone, Olympian, and A Car that Sped are outright classics of the genre and these four transcend the boundaries of their category. I simply love this group.

quote:

Originally posted by juanboy:
...but the band I think that was grossly underappreciated was

Gene.

"Olympian" is a work of art. London, Can You Wait, Still Can't Find the Telephone, Olympian, and A Car that Sped are outright classics of the genre and these four transcend the boundaries of their category. I simply love this group.

I'm with you. The second record, Drawn to the Deep End and the third, Revelations, are both excellent, as well. And there's a great rarities comp, To See The Lights, with plenty of essential stuff. Not to mention a greatest hits, a live record, and a more recent full-length which I own but can't recall anything from...

I just listened to Lucero for the first time. Found Nobody's Darlings and That Much Further West someplace really cheap and took a gamble on them.
So far I like them.

A few people who released freshman albums like Beirut and Elvis Perkins, but of the artists that I discovered this year probably Antony and the Johnsons. Really excellent stuff.

Ms. John Soda is nice. Sort of the female answer to the Postal Service.

I'm with you with the Ms John Soda love, Trees, but I'd say more like the female answer to the Notwist.

Have you heard both of their albums? Their latest, Notes and the Like, got shat on by the critics, but it's wonderful.

Certainly not new to me, but I've always found 'Tim' to be an album that just never clicked with me. But, in not small part due to the Hold Steady album coming out, I've been pulling out all of my old Minnesota bands and all of a sudden it's like I'm listening to a different band. How could I have been so wrong about this album while really enjoying pretty much everything else the Replacements ever put out?

Re: Tim, welcome back to the Bright Side of the Force.

That and Let It Be are my faves.

quote:

Originally posted by keylimetrev:
Certainly not new to me, but I've always found 'Tim' to be an album that just never clicked with me. But, in not small part due to the Hold Steady album coming out...

It's funny that you mention Tim, because that's an album I almost immediately thought of upon my first listen to Boys and Girls in America. Like the Craig Finn, Paul Westerberg knew how to tell a great story.

And I second Mark's comment about Let it Be and Tim being a great 1-2 punch. I'd throw in the great Pleased to Meet Me as well.

I always really liked Let it Be and Pleased to Meet Me, bt Tim had never clicked. I'm glad that I finally 'get' it though, it really is an awesome album (makes me wonder what I was thinking before).

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
And I second Mark's comment about Let it Be and Tim being a great 1-2 punch. I'd throw in the great Pleased to Meet Me as well.

For me, easily the best 1-2-3 punch ever. Husker Du's New Day Rising, Flip Your Wig, and Candy Apple Grey are a close second.

Hmmm, Marconi Union sounds like something I'd like, Peanut. I'll have to check it out.

On a lark, I bought the reissue of John Cale's Paris 1919. I had no idea what to expect, but I assumed it would be close to the noiser side of Velvet Underground, which Cale co-founded.

I was wrong. Paris 1919 is lush orchestral pop. Cale brought in the UCLA orchestra to add woodwinds, strings, violas and other classical instrumentation to the songs. It is as gorgeous an album as I've heard. The liner notes make more of the lyrics than I think is there, but there is a sadness and longing floating through the songs, and there are unmistakable, albeit subtle, references to dead empires and dead friends in each song.

The album isn't for everyone -- e.g., people who listen only to techno or hair metal bands -- but I can't recommend it enough.

quote:

Originally posted by Daniel, Esq.:
I was wrong. Paris 1919 is lush orchestral pop. Cale brought in the UCLA orchestra to add woodwinds, strings, violas and other classical instrumentation to the songs. It is as gorgeous an album as I've heard. The liner notes make more of the lyrics than I think is there, but there is a sadness and longing floating through the songs, and there are unmistakable, albeit subtle, references to dead empires and dead friends in each song.

If you're interested in more solo Cale stuff, I'd also recommend Vintage Violence. I think it's a little poppier than Paris 1919, but still proves that Lou Reed wasn't the only talented songwriter in the VU.

Also, if you're a VU fan and a Cale fan, you should check out the 1990 Reed/Cale collaboration Songs for Drella, which I think is a highlight in the solo careers of both artists.

Terry Reid's River, originally a 1969 release but rereleased in 2002.

His voice sounds a little like Robert Plant's, which is deeply ironic since apparently he was the guy first approached to sing for the band that would become Led Zeppelin (he turned the offer down).

The album is very good, especially Side B when it's less traditionally blues-rock and spreads its wings a bit. The last track is particularly beautiful.