A Note To The Readers

Would anyone mind sending me some information on the easiest, cheapest (preferably free) method of hosting a few MP3s to post on this blog every few days? A lot of other blogs I read have been doing this lately, and it’s a nice added bonus that I’d like to get in on.

A Note To Miguel, In Specific

Miguel, you’re absolutely right – the intro to Los Gatos “La Chica Del Paraguas” does sound a LOT like a garage rock version of Radiohead’s “Just”. And God bless you for introducing me to Los Gatos. They’re one of the best 60s garage bands I’ve ever heard.

Gift Or A Curse?

I still haven’t heard the new Jay-Z yet, and probably won’t for a week maybe. I can’t seem to get “’03 Bonnie and Clyde” out of my head though, which I must emphasize IS NOT A GOOD THING. It just loops around all day long, and it’s there when I wake up, it’s beginning to really grate on me. Jay’s verses are fine, it’s that chorus and obnoxious faux-Santana Cinemax soft porn guitar that bug me. Thing is, I really do want to like the song. I want to like Beyonce, I want to like Jay-Z, I enjoy so much of their previous material that growing to dislike one of their songs bothers this very loyal part of me that wants everyone’s artistic hot streaks to last forever. I’ve heard two more songs from The Blueprint 2, and I can’t say I like those songs much more. Jay-Z’s song with Lenny Kravitz is brought down by Kravitz’s flaws – ie, lame retro 70s rawk riffs, a typically weak Lenny chorus. I’ve got an mp3 of “Hovi Baby”, which I just don’t like very much, mostly because the backing track sounds like really bad 80s arcade video game music. Based on these three songs, I can’t begin to understand how this is a real sequel to The Blueprint, because in so many ways it’s the opposite of that record. The Blueprint is notable for its lack of guests (barring that one extraneous song with Eminem), its concision, and its musical cohesion – the whole thing save for the Eminem track is all Motown redux, these three songs are all over the place and there’s nothing to suggest that these are the three oddballs on a two disc set. My gut feeling is that we’ve got another Wu-Tang Forever on our hands, and I’m nervous about hearing this thing and hating it. Anyone want to write me and tell me what they think of it? I’d appreciate it. Especially if your name is Fred Solinger.

Is It Getting Better, Or Do You Feel The Same?

I think Chris Conroy is mostly right on the money in his analysis of the new U2 Best Of 1990-2000 collection, and that’s not just because he’s agreeing with me about that awful remix of “Numb”. I’m not sure if I share the same distaste for the new version of “Discotheque”, though I can’t say I’ve ever felt a particular affection for any version of that song that I’ve heard. I especially think Conroy nails it in this paragraph:

Why have they chosen to alienate every potential buyer? Fans want the band to release an album that accurately portrays them; the general public wants an album of appealing songs. Neither camp gets everything they want, which is, of course, how life is — but the bizarre thing is, they both easily could have! The single remix of “Elevation” and the radio edit of “Walk On” would have both fit onto this compilation right now, without deleting anything from the current tracklisting — the CD only runs 71-something minutes at the present moment, and 80 minutes are possible. Presumably the band want to keep catalogue sales for ATYCLB high by leaving it tantalizingly unanthologized; but (a.) they could’ve had the same effect by leaving the singles off The Best Of… entirely, and (b.) they’ve instead alienated customers by leaving them cheated by a technicality. The public affection for those songs won’t be as strong 10 years from now, when the next Best Of is released, as it is at this moment. (And of course, the question of sales figures reveals another curious decision — they’re putting the album on sale the same week as new releases from Jay-Z, who has trounced them in opening week sales before, and Justin Timberlake, practically guaranteeing themselves a #3-or-lower chart position.)

Me, I think they should’ve just save all four of those All That You Can’t Leave Behind hits for the next compilation, and not have forced themselves into such an awkward position of having those newer songs (along with the two new singles) sound so out of place among the more sophisticated 90s material, and having pretty much everyone scratch their heads wondering where “Walk On” and “Elevation” are. Chris’ ideal tracklisting is fine, in spite of inexplicably leaving out the enormous hit “Even Better Than The Real Thing” (this is a HITS album, right?); I obviously like the running order I’ve written in his response section a lot more. The thing is, most anyone could’ve come up with a more logical tracklisting that what the band did. It’s just ridiculous – in trying to rewrite their history, they make that era look a lot more uncommercial than it really was.