Silence

We blew one of our powered speakers at a DJ gig. So that's part of why I haven't been listening to records to get rid of.

Oh, and my camera is in Prague as well.

Excuses excuses.

Eight-Second Review: Ennio Moricone Live at Radio City Music Hall

You don't have time to go to see legendary film score composers. Hell, you don't even have time to read about them. So here's what you should know about Ennio Morricone live at Radio City Music Hall, February 3, 2007, in less than 10 seconds.

Price Per Ticket, if you brought them at the last minute: $200
Celebrities Spotted: Liam Neeson, Natasha Richardson, Wilem Dafoe
Celebrities who left before the end: Natasha Richardson, Liam Neeson
Musical People Spotted: Baby Hanoi Jane (Oneida), Jim Thirwell (Foetus, again)
Encores: 3
Did they play The Good, The Bad and The Ugly? Yes, and they NAILED it.

The Original Sin

Title: The Original Sin
Artist: Cowboys International
Purchased: Madison, Early 90s
Verdict: Blaaa-aaat

80s teen comedy high school dance scene band. This is what Jello Biafra has described as "skinny-tie wimpola pop music." There might have been a time when I would have liked this record, but, unfortunately, I can't really remember it. Or maybe thank god I can't remember it. Even though my purchase locale of "Madison, Early 90s" is vague, it may be completely incorrect. It may have come from Springfield, IL. Wait, I think it was from a weird church basement thrift store in Madison. Yes, it's coming back to me. I went down and pawed through records and this stood out as the most interesting one. I also bought a David Soul record. There's nothing worse than the feeling of having gone through a bin without walking away with at least one record tucked under your arm, except perhaps the realization that you bought a shitty record out of a misplaced sense of obligation.

Love Is Blue, Green Tambourine, Love Theme of Elvira Madigan Featuring The Young Lovers

Title: Love Is Blue, Green Tambourine, Love Theme of Elvira Madigan Featuring The Young Lovers
Artist: The Young Lovers? Maybe?
Purchased: Half Price Books, Madison, WI, Summer 2006
Verdict: Gone

From this point forward, I will only refer to this album by "LIB", since the title is so long and unruly. I suppose no more unruly than this paragraph, which exceeds the word count. Well, it's my blog. Go get your own if you don't like it.

Do you remember the episode of The Simpsons from the first season where Homer and Marge go out for dinner and dancing, leaving Bart, Lisa and Maggie in the hands of the Babysitter Bandit? Well, it aired. In the "dancing" part of their date, Homer and Marge grooved to the sounds of a band called The Larry Davis Experience that plays a listless version of the Perez Prado song "In A Little Spanish Town." Catchy melody, but drained of whatever spunk it originally had. Thus, it was funny for Homer and Marge to dance enthusiastically to it.

In a nutshell, that is LIB, only without cartoon parents dancing. They (whoever the band is; it's kind of uncertain from the cover) manage to trudge their way a decent "Green Tambourine," but who can't? There were no shortage of records where tiny labels hired stringers to re-record well-known songs and dumping them in Woolworth's to an unsuspecting consumer. See my previous Super Hits for another example. Sometimes, they're worth the buck, of only because you hear a familiar song you never knew the name of, or there's a genuinely good arrangement on the album. Unfortunately, there's no great title revelation or mind-blowing arrangement here. So it's time to crack out the USB turntable I got for Christmas and save one song for posterity. And the album goes to the thrift store in the sky.

Redoubling my efforts

I've lost sight of what this was all initially about: Purging my records. This in mind, I am going to try to do a minimum of three new posts a week, if I can bear it. And again, if there is something I am getting rid of that you might want, chime in and request it. Just email me, joe dot garden atsign gmail dot com. It's not just about getting rid of stuff. It's about relocating old music to an appreciative home.

Les Plus Grands Succes 2

Title: Les Plus Grands Succes 2
Artist: Adamo
Purchased: Aruba Antiques store, November 2003
Verdict: Pour certain, c'est quelque chose

I can't translate the title any better than "The Largest Success," which may mean "greatest hits." I don't know. I was a horrible student of French and everything.

There's a disturbing quality to this album that I can't put my finger on. Perhaps if I spoke French, I could pinpoint the je ne sais quoi Les Plus Grands Succes 2 has. Perhaps it's the glib mashing of sounds that makes me uneasy. The songs vary from 50s-doo-wop-meets-sitar-swinger to 70s-pop-singer-meets-spaghetti-western-soundtrack to balladeer to just the bleah of syrupy string arrangements. It's not just strings. There's horns, theremin, and other undefined instruments. It's like he'd have an idea and no one was there to tell him no. So here, well after the fact, I will step up to the plate. No, Adamo. No. You've spent too much money on a shitty song already. A zither isn't going to help it.

That said, there were one or two songs that were kind of enjoyable, but not enough to buy. Or keep when I'm plotting a move. Or remember. But Anita likes because Irwin Chusid used to play the Scopitone to "Petit Bonheur" at one of his Incorrect Video nights. So, we'll digitize the decent and ditch the rest.