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My story for Magnet Magazine will say more about the late, great Big Star (and its lesser known co-author, the late and much-missed Chris Bell) than I could ever write here.
A solemn oath of faith. But also, a kind of prayer -- for forgiveness, of yourself, a permission slip to mess up and sincerely try to learn from that, grow and move on.
It can be hard to move on. You've gotta try. Again.
PS: played in open G tuning (D G D G B D) for you guitar nerds.
Mar 2, 2024
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I finally figured out how to play this on guitar instead of piano as it's constructed here (it's in a different tuning -- drop C, CGCFAD which is also what Nirvana's "On a Plain" is in)
I think it's Faces' greatest song, from among many candidates -- Rod Stewart basically isn't on it, he's barely on this album TBH -- it was written and sung by Ronnie Lane.
You might read this if you want a deep dive/interpretation: https://oneweekoneband.tumblr.com/post/3776097665/faces-glad-and-sorry-when-they-reconvened-to
âCan you show me a dream/Can you show me one thatâs better than mine/Can you stand it in the cold light of day/Neither can I.â
This is the bit that really gets me, everytime. "Even when we try our best to share each otherâs dreams, bare our souls, give up our inmost thoughts, even when we intend to stand shoulder to shoulder and face the world, building something new togetherâthereâs always a point at which it falls apart, and despair creeps in, and itâs all gone past recovery... Itâs that cold, hard recognition as the morning dawns and all my stupid fantasies of achievement, of desire, of love, scurry away into the shadows. Another one gone, how many more left to live?"
Songwriting is magical and this one has "it."
2d ago
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I've tried repeatedly to write about their music and what it means to me and why you should listen, but I can never put my words down on paper properly. Someday I'll get there but for now you'll just have to trust me. Sometimes I'm convinced that I'm the world's biggest Scott Miller fan under 40, which just means I'll have to work even harder at being his ambassador.
Jul 2, 2024
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The days I donât want to kill myself
are extraordinary. Deep bass. All the people
in the streets waiting for their high fives
and leaping, I mean leaping,
when they see me. I am the sun-filled
god of love. Or at least an optimistic
under-secretary. There should be a word for it.
The days you wake up and do not want
to slit your throat. Money in the bank.
Enough for an iced green tea every weekday
and Saturday and Sunday! Itâs like being
in the armpit of a Hammond B3 organ.
Just reeks of gratitude and funk.
The funk of ages. I am not going to ruin
my loveâs life today. Itâs like the time I said yes
to gray sneakers but then the salesman said
Wait. And there, out of the back room,
like the bakeryâs first biscuits: bright-blue kicks.
Iridescent. Like a scarab! Oh, who am I kidding,
it was nothing like a scarab! It was like
bright. blue. fucking. sneakers! I did not
want to die that day. Oh, my God.
Why donât we talk about it? How good it feels.
And if you donât know then youâre lucky
but also you poor thing. Bring the band out on the stoop.
Let the whole neighborhood hear. Come on, Everybody.
Say it with me nice and slow
âââno pillsââno cliffââno brains on the floor
Bring the bass back.ââââno ropeââno hoseâânot today,
Satan.
Every day I wake up with my good fortune
and news of my demise. Donât keep it from me.
Why donât we have a name for it?
Bring the bass back. Bring the band out on the stoop.
Hallelujah!
Jul 4, 2024
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Hey tyler hopefully this doesnât violate some PI.FYI golden rule
But after nearly two years of writing, editing and arguing, my book about the EP is coming out in May and can be preordered here:
https://hozacrecords.com/product/aifl/
The book is about the origins, history and cultural impact of the EP since these little objects first started coming out in the 50s.
Over 50 of my music biz friends then helped me shape the list and review the top 200 ever released, according to us (ha).
For those of you who are into this kind of geekery/snobbery, I canât wait to hear what you think. A labor of love, as all books are! â€ïž
Mar 27, 2024
âSongs Of a Lost Worldâ coming to a goth listening station near you Nov 1 đ€
The fr FW Me Friday the 13th the world was looking for
Sep 14, 2024
I will fail to explain just how much this band meant to me in the 90s.
So I will borrow from AV Club who did a fine job of distilling it:
âUnwound is the best band of the â90s. Not just because of how prolific, consistent, and uncompromising it was, but because of how perfectly Unwound nested in a unique space between some of the most vital forms of music that decade: punk, post-rock, indie rock, post-hardcore, slow-core, and experimental noise. That jumble of subgenres doesnât say much; in fact, it falls far short of what Unwound truly synthesized and stood for. Unwound stood for Unwound. But in a decade where most bands were either stridently earnest or stridently ironic, Unwound wasnât stridently anything. It was only itself. In one sense Unwound was the quietest band of the â90s, skulking around like a nerdy terror cell. In another sense it was the loudest, sculpting raw noise into contorted visions of inner turmoil and frustration.â
R.I.P. Vern Rumsey.
This is their finest song, from their finest album.
I really canât say enough about the sheer bloody minded genius of this group. đ€
Mar 23, 2024