Here Comes Love Forever

Scritti Politti “Jacques Derrida” – R.I.P. Jacques Derrida. Fear not, you won’t need to know anything about literary theory or deconstruction to enjoy this song. Like most everything in the Scritti Politti catalog, this song is as slick and poppy as it is literate and brainy. The song concludes with a somewhat cheesy rap by Green Gartside which includes what I believe to be the best usage of the word “rapacious” in the history of pop music. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

LiLiPUT “Might Is Right” – Here is another old family favorite. This song was one of my staples back when I still made a lot of mix tapes and cds. I almost always sequenced it after the Silver Apples’ “Program” and immediately before Royal Trux’s “Back To School,” so now whenever it ends I expect to hear Neil Haggerty’s spacey guitar. “Might Is Right” has a distinct nostalgic quality to it which brings to mind vague images of the countryside and sense memories of things I’m not even sure that I’ve ever experienced first hand. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Emotions, Books, Outlooks On Life

Sonic Youth @ Irving Plaza 10/13/2004

I Love You Golden Blue/Stones/Pattern Recognition/Unmade Bed/Skip Tracer/White Cross/Mariah Carey/New Hampshire/Paper Cup Exit/Drunken Butterfly//Expressway To Yr Skull

This was just a good Sonic Youth show, nothing particularly amazing, but fine enough. I’ve seen SY enough now that they need to really be on fire to knock me out(Webster Hall ’04, Central Park ’02). I wish that they had played at least one song that I hadn’t seen before, but I certainly can’t complain about “Skip Tracer,” “White Cross,” and “Expressway.” But c’mon, please, just one show without “Drunken Butterfly”! Please!

Gang Gang Dance were like the most incomprehensible glam goth band in the world. If I was going to make a Star Wars movie, I’d have them supply the music for an alien band.

Saul Williams was very impressive and charismatic. He played a tight, quick set with his band which was well received by the audience, though it was kinda weird to see an extremely white crowd respond when he shouted “where are my niggaz?” in “African People.” “Grippo” was excellent – the Chrome sample was played live on viola and violin.

The Moving Units were awful. It was like Rapture with all the catchy bits removed. No thank you.

The Head Set were mediocre, but had a few somewhat catchy songs at the end of their set. Someone needs to tell them that they’d be better off if they weren’t going so far out of their way to ape The Strokes and The Walkmen. That singer guy needs to stop with that affectation, right away. Playing less trad rock arrangements should be the next step after that.