October 6th, 2003 3:42pm
I seem to be having some technical difficulties...
I See Murals In Your Radio Static
I seem to be having some technical difficulties with the mp3s today... if you can't download the songs right now, just check back later on.
Thanks to Gabriella, I now have two cd-rs jam-packed full of rare and out-of-print Squeeze material. I've been slowly going through it all, and I swear, I'm tempted to make this a special all-Squeeze week here on the blog, but I realize that most of you probably wouldn't like that, so I'll restrain myself. Today, however, we're getting two sweet Squeeze rarities which are perfect for converting the lot of you Squeeze non-believers.
Squeeze "Squabs On The Forty Fab" - This medley of eight Squeeze singles (with two quick instrumental nods to a couple of album tracks) was the b-side of the 12" single for "Labelled With Love." It's remarkable how well all of their classic early singles dovetail into one another, it sounds like it could just as well be one amazing super-song. The sequence of the medley goes like this: "Take Me, I'm Yours," "Cool For Cats," "Up The Junction," "Is That Love?," "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)," "Separate Beds" (instrumental break), "Another Nail For My Heart," "Slap & Tickle," "Goodbye Girl," and "Someone Else's Heart" (instrumental break).
Squeeze "Vanity Fair" (Piano Version) - The East Side Story version of this Difford & Tilbrook classic is very nice, but it pales in comparison to this simpler, less schmaltzy solo piano arrangement which appeared on the b-side of the "If It's Love" single.
And just for Gabriella, here's Stephen Malkmus's lost classic "Blue Arrangements", which is taken from the otherwise dire Silver Jews album American Water. It's really a shame that this song, which is among the finest songs Malkmus ever penned, had to end up on a Silver Jews record. At least he's not with them anymore, and I'll never have to buy another lousy record of lame David Berman songs to get a couple Malkmus gems.
I seem to be having some technical difficulties with the mp3s today... if you can't download the songs right now, just check back later on.
Thanks to Gabriella, I now have two cd-rs jam-packed full of rare and out-of-print Squeeze material. I've been slowly going through it all, and I swear, I'm tempted to make this a special all-Squeeze week here on the blog, but I realize that most of you probably wouldn't like that, so I'll restrain myself. Today, however, we're getting two sweet Squeeze rarities which are perfect for converting the lot of you Squeeze non-believers.
Squeeze "Squabs On The Forty Fab" - This medley of eight Squeeze singles (with two quick instrumental nods to a couple of album tracks) was the b-side of the 12" single for "Labelled With Love." It's remarkable how well all of their classic early singles dovetail into one another, it sounds like it could just as well be one amazing super-song. The sequence of the medley goes like this: "Take Me, I'm Yours," "Cool For Cats," "Up The Junction," "Is That Love?," "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)," "Separate Beds" (instrumental break), "Another Nail For My Heart," "Slap & Tickle," "Goodbye Girl," and "Someone Else's Heart" (instrumental break).
Squeeze "Vanity Fair" (Piano Version) - The East Side Story version of this Difford & Tilbrook classic is very nice, but it pales in comparison to this simpler, less schmaltzy solo piano arrangement which appeared on the b-side of the "If It's Love" single.
And just for Gabriella, here's Stephen Malkmus's lost classic "Blue Arrangements", which is taken from the otherwise dire Silver Jews album American Water. It's really a shame that this song, which is among the finest songs Malkmus ever penned, had to end up on a Silver Jews record. At least he's not with them anymore, and I'll never have to buy another lousy record of lame David Berman songs to get a couple Malkmus gems.
11/30/99 12:00 am
a. I wouldn’t mind an all Squeeze week, but then I’m biased. I’m all for converting people to Squeeze. It must be done!
b. The Malkmus song is fantastic (especially the lyrics!) I’ve been listening to it on repeat for the past half hour and it just gets better with each listen. And you’re right, this should have been on Terror Twilight.
Thanks for posting it today. I wasn’t expecting it at all, but it was a nice surprise. Thank you!
10/6/03 5:52 pm
1) The links aren’t working.
2) Shame on you for your comments about American Water. Yes, David Berman can’t sing well. But there are some great songs with great lyrics on there.
10/6/03 6:24 pm
Berman should stick to poetry. That’s the nicest thing I’ll say about him.
The mp3s are working now, finally. There was a server problem.
10/6/03 6:35 pm
what omit said. Malkie’s lyrics would’ve never been that great in the early years if he hadn’t been trying to emulate his old pal Berman so much.
10/6/03 7:05 pm
Yeah, maybe Bermy should try to emulate Malk’s songwriting skill to return the favor.
And really, I don’t buy your argument. Malk’s so strong in lyrical improvisation that I think it comes waaaaay more natural to him than you’re giving him credit for. Influence - yeah, emulation - nah.
10/6/03 11:55 pm
Hey, thanks for that song flux! I was just trying to find it the other day, as I was looking at some old threads on Barbelith where you reccomend it. Unfortunately I could not find it, but I come on here, and lo and behold there it is waiting for me.
Well done! You prove incredibly useful to know music-wise.
10/7/03 1:31 am
I can’t believe you can’t see what an amazing record “American Water”. Malkmus’ lead guitar playing rivals anything he did with Pavement. If people who don’t like “Pig Lib” aren’t “real fans” or don’t understand Malkmus or whatever, then I think the same can be said about American Water. His genius on that record is not confined to his two orginal songs. Seriously, he peels out like 3 pavement-worthy hooks per minute over the course of the entire record.
10/7/03 5:43 am
wow, I can’t believe how quickly I lost respect for you. Silver Jews are one of the greatest things ever in the history of ever. unbelievable. listen to the brilliance of “Bright Flight” and learn from your mistakes.
10/7/03 5:54 am
here here. you’re pretty on the ball with most musicy things, mr. matthew, and your comedy sensibility is impeccable, but gives the joos another chance. bright flight is the best album ever,
10/7/03 12:42 pm
I think that it’s very unlikely that I’ll ever think of David Berman as being anything more than a bad songwriter. Yeah, Malkmus does a lot of good guitar work on the record, but it’s just not enough to distract me from Berman’s absolutely awful singing voice, or his dull melodies.
10/7/03 5:05 pm
If you think Berman’s singing is awful and his melodies dull, then please ‘find’ (i.e. download from somewhere) a copy of the instrumental song “Transylvania Blues” from Bright Flight. Not that I for one minute believe that anything I say could influence your steadfast opinions about certain artists, but you are really doing a disservice to yourself and the whole Malkmus/Berman legacy by underappreciating the Joos.
As for my comment about Malk emulating Berman, that was liberally paraphrased from an old SM interview, for what it’s worth. His own words. Sure, he can improv now, but I’d argue that his finished lyrics on albums are much less interesting these days than they were in the past (ah crap, I sound like an elitest).
But then again, I can’t stand Pig Lib at all, so what do I know?
10/8/03 7:10 am
matthew, matthew, matthew,
you’re so right about so many things, but so wrong about american water. for me, it’s right up there with brighten the corners and terror twilight, maybe better. you’re entitled to your opinion of course, but you’re just missing out.
10/8/03 12:27 pm
I’m not a lyrics person at all, but there’s something about the Silver Jews lyrics that always draws me in and keeps me listening. I find it very difficult to listen to them as background music.
No problems whatsoever with the voice or the melodies either. If he wasn’t singing such great lyrics, maybe I’d get bored, but as things are it all somehow fits together to produce something immensely endearing.
Just IMO.
10/8/03 7:11 pm
If its on a record that is still easy to find, how is it a lost classic. its not even 4 years old. to call it dire, is hard to fathom.
American Water is one of the best records of the 1990s. How you, obviously a pavement fan, dont see that is way beyond me. Sure, berman is not a trained singer — he will be the first one to say that. do you also dislike Dylan because of his voice?
And while i love this song, id say grounded is malk’s masterpiece.
10/8/03 7:49 pm
It’s a lost classic cos if you don’t care about buying all of Malkmus’s friend’s records, it is obscure. It is a proper Malkmus song which ended up on a non-Malkmus record.
The Silver Jews are a totally different band from Pavement. The only time they have anything in common is on the songs written by Malkmus. Otherwise, it is a RADICALLY DIFFERENT BAND. The aesthetics of the two bands have very little in common. Haven’t you noticed? It’s like saying that I should be a huge Minus 5 fan because Peter Buck plays guitar in that group and I love R.E.M. They are just different bands with different songwriters and different singers.
I’m not a big Dylan fan, but I think he’s got a much, much, much better voice than Berman. I’m sorry, I just don’t think Berman has much (if any) musical talent. Being a good songwriter doesn’t make one a good poet, and being a good poet doesn’t make one a good songwriter. Call this the Corgan/Berman rule.
10/8/03 9:02 pm
HA! I knew Corgan would sneak into your critique of Berman somehow. It always does! This will be the kind of thing that you’ll backtrack on someday, count on it. It’s happened to me, it could happen to you.
There will come a day, probably long after we’ve all developed telepathy, that you will accidentally hear a Silver Joos song on the ray-dee-o, and you’ll want to know who it is. Then somehow, as if merciful fate herself has smiled down on these very proceedings, you will find a way to like AT LEAST one Berman song, whether his voice appears on it or not. And when you do, as you most assuredly will, a nosehair in my left nostril will twitch in a most peculiar yet demonstrative way, and I’ll send a knowing glance to a passing cloud overhead acknowledging that this long-forgotten conversation has finally come full circle, just as I always knew it would. It’s destiny.
10/8/03 9:45 pm
It’s not like I wouldn’t want to like a Silver Jews song, man. It’s just that I don’t.
10/8/03 9:51 pm
what does soi disantra mean?
10/8/03 10:36 pm
It probably has something to do with this.
10/8/03 10:46 pm
ok, lets remember pavement is a silver jews spin off band.
how you can dig malkmus and not see any beauty in the silver jews is well beyond me, but, you know, taste is a weird thing.
youre dissing bermans voice. malkmus has had the same problem, right? we all know that he cant sing and it only helps.
kate
psssst: BA is a berman classic and he never lost it.
10/8/03 10:53 pm
No, it’s not really a technical singing thing - being a singer isn’t just about being in tune. The very sound of Berman’s voice ugly and dull to me. He lacks character, and doesn’t even seem to be trying. The very sound of Malkmus’s voice is wonderful to me, plus he does all kinds of wonderful things with his enunciation and deliverary. Berman sounds like he just doesn’t even bother. So no, there is no comparison between Berman and Malkmus to me - Berman is a guy with no technical ability who can’t sing, and Malkmus is a guy with limited technical ability who can sing.
10/8/03 10:59 pm
Also, what difference does it make if they are a spin-off band? I don’t care about Marble Valley. I like the Preston School, but I don’t really care about them either. I’m a Malkmus fan. That’s why I love the Jicks and Pavement. It’s him, and his songwriting. With only a small handful of exceptions, Malkmus doesn’t write the songs in the Silver Jews, so why should I feel obligated to like them?
Isn’t this like saying that I’m obligated to like someone’s entire family because I like that person as an individual?
10/9/03 2:27 pm
The piano version of “Vanity Fair’ isn’t on my 7″ of ‘Is That Love’ (instead it’s a song called ‘Trust’. Is it from a boot or that B sides album I never bothered getting? I have a few things by Pavement but could never work up that much enthusiasm for them (except for that fun REM parody), while I think Squeeze were one of the great bands of the 80s - saw them many times (and Tilbrook’s solo shows are worth catching too - he does requests). Unfortunately, their post ‘Sweets from a stranger’ albums tend to average only one good song each. Oh well, I shall download Vanity Fair when I’m finished with Elton John (slow dial up connection here). Thanks.
10/9/03 2:31 pm
All my favorite singers couldn’t sing. David Berman said that.
David Berman is one of my favorite singers. I said that.
10/9/03 2:39 pm
I really should learn to read - you said ‘If It’s Love’ not ‘Is That Love’. Have to admit I don’t even remember ‘If It’s Love’ ….
10/9/03 6:12 pm
I love the Vanity Fair song. Possibly my new favorite Squeeze track. And twenty years from now no one will remember Silver Jews, but Squeeze will still be on all those Ryko Best of the 80s CDs. So, pick yr. poison.
10/9/03 6:19 pm
silver jews are excellent. my fave albums of theirs are The Natural Bridge and American Water in that order. Those two records are better than anything Pavement put out after Wowee Zowee. Berman is a genius, a great songwriter, and he is NOT riding SM coattails.
We love you DC.
10/9/03 11:23 pm
technically, Silver Jews were around BEFORE Pavement, so hardly a spin-off band.
10/10/03 1:04 pm
How about this: the Silver Jews are just a different band with a totally different songwriter and a totally different aesthetic, and Malkmus and Bob just lent their talents to their friend because they liked him?
10/10/03 3:11 pm
or because DB taught SM how to write lyrics that people would fawn over?
10/10/03 4:24 pm
Bullshit. He may have been an influence, but you’re taking it too far now.
Malkmus’s lyrics are SIGNIFICANTLY better than anything Berman writes. And just really different, even if you don’t agree with that assessment - I don’t think their lyrical style is all THAT similar, really.
10/11/03 2:14 am
i pointed out theyre a silver jews spin off band because you said something about people only liking the silver jews because david is malkmus’ friend. and thats just kinda stupid and insulting.
10/11/03 3:53 am
Malkmus has better lyrics than Berman? now you’re simply drunk or something.
10/11/03 2:38 pm
Kate, I know what you mean - a lot of people love Berman on his own merits. It is true, though, that a substantial number of people only bought his records because Stephen Malkmus was on them.
10/16/03 7:40 pm
No one will see this now, probably, but I just realized how much that Vanity Fair track sounds like later Elvis Costello around his “Beautiful” period. Fantastic.
1/10/06 12:39 am
for the record, I dig Squeeze… or rather I liked “Hourglass” and the phone number song and like the 45s best of. keep the squeeze coming. But, n reading a lot of rock criticism, a lot is made of the song writing quality of Difford and Tilbrook matching Lennon/McCartney; I’m not buying that. Nevertheless, an underappreciated band in the states.