Painkiller The Pigeon

The back cover of Superchunk’s “The...

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:31:00 -0500

The back cover of Superchunk’s “The Majestic/Reg” single.

“Could I have loved you more? Could I have changed my score? Did you think I wore rejection well?”

One of my favorite objects in the house; my copy of...

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:31:00 -0500

One of my favorite objects in the house; my copy of Superchunk’s “The Majestic/Reg” single, recorded during the sessions for Indoor Living in 1997, but not released until 1999. I love these songs, I love this artwork. I bought this at the (depressingly) now-closed Wax Trax Records in Boulder, CO, when I was 19.

"Tom: How many votes does that translate into, numbers-wise? Shawn In Rampridge: Well…if..."

Sun, 05 May 2013 14:49:00 -0500

“

Tom: How many votes does that translate into, numbers-wise?

Shawn In Rampridge: Well…if invisible was a number? It would be that.

”

- The Best Show On WFMU (Scharpling & Wurster)

Scharpling & Wurster pick three favorite Best Show Gems

Sat, 04 May 2013 11:53:02 -0500

Scharpling & Wurster pick three favorite Best Show Gems:

This is a great article that I somehow missed a few months back…probably because I haven’t read The Onion regularly for around 10 years, and also because I don’t pay much attention to The AV Club (or Pitchfork or anything like that). What I do pay attention to is The Best Show On WFMU (or at least the Wurster bits), and this article is very revealing about their working process (which I never want to know TOO much about…it does feel like magical alchemy when they are at their peak).

Roughly speaking, I agree with their choices here. I think almost every Newbridge lover would pick The Mayubenatorial Election episode as one of their prime cuts, but I’m equally sure we’d all pick our own favorites for the other two slots. I think, for me, I’d have to say the Billy Joel Tribute Band (“Glass Houses…we play Billy’s streetpunk stuff”) episode is probably one of my top three (Jon Benjamin’s reading of “Captain Jack” in that one is amazing), and I’ve already posted links to the Bruce Willis episodes on this blog before, which I think are incredible. It’s hard to say, there are so many winners in the BSG podcast archives. Others that spring readily to mind would be the call from Darren From Work where he won’t stop talking about “shaking his moneymaker to the greasy funk”, the visit from Beatles expert Milt Mortner, and of course the call from Kenny Dupree, pushing his patriotic single “Freedom Bombs” is a stone-cold classic.

There’s too many to pick only three favorites. I’ve just recently started combing through the archives of the actual Best Show itself, from the beginning, making my own bootlegs of all of the Wurster and Benjamin bits which have yet to be awarded Best Show Gems status. It’s a deep, dense, intertextual world, which is my entire bag (see also: my Guided By Voices/The Fall/Doctor Who fetish), but nothing is making me cackle like Scharpling & Wurster these days.

Superchunk - Basement Life My week-long ‘Chunkfest...

Fri, 03 May 2013 09:14:55 -0500

Superchunk - Basement Life

My week-long ‘Chunkfest continues unabated. I’ve bought, ripped, downloaded, every single track (with the exception of that stupid, elusive, Matador single from February of this year), and I’ve organized them into a master playlist arranged by recording date. It’s really interesting to hear the other tracks recorded for Foolish, or Indoor Living, alongside their better-known contemporaries, as opposed to bundled into the flow of the Incidental Music or Cup Of Sand comps. All of the other tracks recorded for Indoor Living are gems (“The Majestic”/”Reg” single is still one of my favorite things they’ve ever released), but the Foolish tracks are very interesting indeed. The back half of Foolish has always confused me, the way that it slows down and “stretches out” (that’s a Superchunk joke!); the other tracks recorded in that marathon 3-day, 17-song session at Pachyderm Studios in Canon Falls (where Nirvana had recorded In Utero just a few weeks previously), are really intense rockers such as “Dance Lessons”, “Still Feed Myself”, and this track, “Basement Life”. Foolish might have been a very different record if they’d decided to end with a bang instead of a “stage whisper” (that’s another Superchunk joke!). Also, why the record doesn’t end with “Home At Dawn”, also from these sessions, is beyond me. Anyway, just random musings on one of my favorite bands of all time, as I sift through their catalog in new and interesting ways!

Young ‘Chunks.

Thu, 02 May 2013 08:59:49 -0500

Young ‘Chunks.

Superchunk - Under Our Feet One of the many hidden gems on...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 18:22:00 -0500

Superchunk - Under Our Feet

One of the many hidden gems on Side 2 of Indoor Living.

“watch my fingers!” she cried
as he hammered down hard on the stake
into the frozen ground
like it was her heart
by the frozen lake
it was his first mistake

and it rotted out from under our feet
yes it rotted out from under our feet
you were a song in the dark
a swan in the sleet
and it rotted out from under our feet

Abby, nonplussed by all the Superchunk.

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:45:02 -0500

Abby, nonplussed by all the Superchunk.

Superchunk - Indoor Living I’m revisiting this one again...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 17:36:28 -0500

Superchunk - Indoor Living

I’m revisiting this one again tonight; one of their most underrated, but most resilient, albums. This sucker really hangs together. I bought this copy new from the Merge Records Store sometime in 2010, and I was amazed they still had new vinyl copies nearly 14 years after the album’s release…now that’s what I call underrated!

Superchunk - Faith I’d feel remiss if I didn’t post...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 10:23:45 -0500

Superchunk - Faith

I’d feel remiss if I didn’t post the thematically-linked B-side of the “Void/Faith” single. Although this one has a very fresh, modern Superchunk-type of sound, it somehow reminds me of the Indoor Living era, too. That was definitely one of my favorite eras of the band, and although I’ve been a little slow on the uptake for Majesty Shredding, I’m starting to feel like this might be one of their peak eras as well.

Now if only I could find a copy or a stream of their recent Matador Singles Going Home Alone release, “I Hate History/Glue”…I’m just not that into the current Matador roster, and I’m not paying $85 for the whole series just to get that one Superchunk single. The only copy on Discogs is going for $99. Sigh…I suppose I could just wait another year or two for whatever the next in the Tossing Seeds/Incidental Music/Cup Of Sand series of B-sides & rarities compilations is called. WHEN IT COMES TO NEW SUPERCHUNK MUSIC I AM IMPATIENT!!

Superchunk - Void I haven’t posted in a little while; our...

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 08:15:00 -0500

Superchunk - Void

I haven’t posted in a little while; our band has been busy rehearsing for and recording our forthcoming 7”, and we’ve also played 6 shows in the last twoish weeks, so my free time has been mainly spent staring slackjawed into the middle distance. I did, however, manage to venture out on Record Store Day, and while I wouldn’t say it was the quickest I’ve ever spent $200 it certainly didn’t take long! I picked up the Hüsker Dü reissue from Numero Group, the reissue of Caribou/Manitoba’s Up In Flames, the PiL 7”, the lovely clear blue/green vinyl reissue of Oval’s Systemisch, and I failed to talk myself out of buying the 4xLP Zaireeka reissue boxset from Flaming Lips (I can’t wait to assemble four turntables for that!).

About the only thing I really wanted that I missed out on was this fantastic 7” from my heroes in Superchunk. I think I’m not alone in this, I’ve seen mentions by many other SC fans that they couldn’t find it either. Oh well, I’ll wait a minute and the price will settle down on eBayne. I kind of have to get it, though, “Void/Faith” contains two total gems from the seemingly infallible fuzz pop genies. “Void” is probably my favorite of the two at the moment, it’s set me off on a quest to collect all their recent B-sides and covers.

Today is the birthday of French Lebanese actress Delphine...

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 08:06:00 -0500

Today is the birthday of French Lebanese actress Delphine Seyrig, who starred in several of my absolutely favorite films (including Last Year At Marienbad, Accident, The Discreet Charm Of The Bourgeoisie, and, most importantly, Chantel Akerman’s hypnotic 1976 masterpiece, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles). She was born in French Lebanon, raised in New York and in Haute-Loire, spoke many languages fluently, directed several films of her own, was an outspoken advocate for feminism, and also starred in a few American action blockbusters for good measure. She was such a fantastic screen presence, her eyes were simply mesmerizing.

Here is Roger Ebert, one of my very favorite film reviewers,...

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:59:25 -0500

Here is Roger Ebert, one of my very favorite film reviewers, speaking to Michael Apted about The Up Series, one of my very favorite (ongoing) films. It warms my heart to know that he lived to see 56 Up.

RIP Roger.

Today is Peter Hawkins’ birthday, the voice artist who was...

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:39:23 -0500

Today is Peter Hawkins’ birthday, the voice artist who was first (and some would say best) at being the Daleks and the Cybermen. I would love to have this caption under my face in an interview!

It’s Sydney Newman’s birthday today, the Canadian...

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 18:05:57 -0500

It’s Sydney Newman’s birthday today, the Canadian television impresario who created The Avengers and Doctor Who. He was also a major force in bringing grittier stage dramas to the BBC.

“The Bells Of Saint John” was just so great. That is...

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 04:19:05 -0500

“The Bells Of Saint John” was just so great. That is all.

Please skip to 6:12 in this video to celebrate Eric Idle’s...

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:46:36 -0500

Please skip to 6:12 in this video to celebrate Eric Idle’s birthday. One of my favorite of his monologues. “And in any case rhubarb was cheap, and what was the harm in a sauna bath?”

I finally have a night off, I can open up my copy of the new...

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:25:00 -0500

I finally have a night off, I can open up my copy of the new Gloss 7”! Such classy packaging. Nicely mastered, too, it sounds great on vinyl; that bass is tasty! I need to just buy all the rest of the ManicPop 7”s.

I have become unreasonably obsessed with the 90s British...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:50:00 -0500

I have become unreasonably obsessed with the 90s British sitcom/drama Goodnight Sweetheart. I say “unreasonably obsessed” because the first thing to make clear is that the show isn’t very good (as an example, I have just finished Series 2 and its Xmas special, making for a total of 17 episodes thus far, and I believe I have actually laughed on exactly 7 occasions). The second thing to make clear, however, is that the show is amazing. Yes, it is both rubbish and genius, it’s terribly confusing.

It is based around a fantastic premise; TV Repairman Gary Sparrow, who is in a not-entirely satisfying marriage to Yvonne (a relatively terrifying Northern blonde), accidentally wanders down a hidden street in London’s East End (Duckett’s Passage, to be precise), and walks through a hole in time into 1940 (the middle of The Blitz). There, he asks for directions in The Royal Oak pub and falls almost instantly in love with Phoebe, the plucky, gorgeous, heart-of-gold brunette daughter of the pub landlord. Phoebe is married, however, to a serviceman who is overseas fighting The Hun in North Africa, and so, while she is immediately taken by Gary, they each have their reasons to try and control their desire for each other. Gary discovers that he is able to cross back and forth between the two time periods, which move exactly in parallel, and begins to lead a strange kind of double life.

So, we have a series that has the potential to deal in a very interesting way with issues of marital fidelity, male fantasies vs realities, the multi-layered nature of love and dependence, etc, but Goodnight Sweetheart doesn’t (usually) bother with that. It is almost doing those things despite the writers’ best efforts to make this time-traveling two-timer into the star of an amusing sitcom, which, as I mentioned initially, it sort of isn’t at all. In fact, it is at its best when they forget to put in any jokes.

The best thing about the show, apart from the quite-brilliant setup, and the fabulous performance from Dervla Kirwan as Phoebe, is the way that the show doesn’t simply reset at the start of each new episode. Rather, it moves along more like a soap opera with a sci-fi twist and a laugh track, picking up each week from essentially where it left off the week previous.

The main flaw of the show, however, is that, if one imagines oneself into this same situation (the time travel bit, that is, rather than the cross-generational bigamy), there are all kinds of things one might do with 1990s foreknowledge transplanted into the 1940s, and Gary Sparrow does almost none of them. He has, to quote the comedian Richard Herring, “a paucity of ambition” which is truly maddening. I find myself wanting to reach through the screen and slap Gary Sparrow’s gormless face without end.

I am aware of this show specifically because Richard Herring used to bang on about it during his podcasts with the Film Editor Of The Radio Times, Andrew “Collings” Collins (although I realized last night that I had seen one or two of these episodes decades ago on PBS late at night). It always sounded intriguing, but he constantly made it clear that it is not at all satisfying for a wide variety of reasons. Recently, I saw episode 1 and thought “alright, might as well give this a try”, and was instantly hooked.

Yesterday I was home sick, and watched all 11 episodes of Series 2. I can’t stop thinking about it today. I mentioned to Richard Herring, via the medium of Twitter, that I was watching it, and he told me that he has a new piece about the show coming out next week in The Metro, which I look forward to reading tremendously.

I just can’t not mention this new obsession. I’ll be moving on to Series 3 tonight after I get home from band practice. Let’s see if Gary decides to actually do anything with his time travel capabilities in the third series, other than string along a very sweet barmaid and ignore his actual wife. Oh, Gary Sparrow.

Today is also Patrick Troughton’s birthday, who was great...

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 13:11:00 -0500

Today is also Patrick Troughton’s birthday, who was great in everything, but was particularly frisky and commanding as The Second Doctor.