6moons audio reviews: GEM Dandy Hydraulic Record Cleaning Apparatus

Here's a little more hubris regarding record cleaning. It's very important information for us vinyl-o-philes. Also, quite frankly, I just wanted to try out my new "blog this" feature through all things Google.

I'm gonna paraphrase something I read on the Sundazed records site a couple years ago. Show me someone cleaning their records with the D4 record cleaner and I'll show you someone using Windows 3.1.

6moons audio reviews: GEM Dandy Hydraulic Record Cleaning Apparatus

The Outdoor Type

For those who know this song, has there ever been a song on more mix tapes, or in this day and age, playlists, than The Lemonheads version of "The Outdoor Type"? I say The Lemonheads version because most people do not know that Evan Dando did not write this song. It's a cover but they made it so much their own it's like Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" to Bob Dylan's original off of his record "John_Wesley_Harding", not to be confused with the singer of the same name above the title. Another example, how many times do you listen to The Isley Brothers version of "Twist and Shout"? Thank you. The original song was written by a man by the name of Tom Morgan.

I've listened to The Lemonheads long enough that the CD I bought of It's_a_Shame_About_Ray is one of the original releases because it does NOT contain the alterna-hit of the Simon and Garfunkel cover of, "Mrs. Robinson". I was however a little late to "The Outdoor Type". A friend of mine, Chicago musician Jim Green a.k.a "Wandering Endorphin" (check him out live. If you close your eyes it sounds like there several guitarists on stage but it's just Jim) put it on, what else, a mix tape for me circa 2001. I was immediately floored by this song. Let's give a watch and a listen to The Lemonheads.

The narrator is in the relational confessional. I see you nodding your head in identification. His girl suspects something, there's a chip in his armor of amor. It wasn't like he said he climbed The Matterhorn, it wasn't like he said he was a stuntman, or a skydiver. He's not Shackleton. He just stretched the truth a little to his, at the time, crush, about his abilities to go camping, put up a tent, build a fire, maybe even find chewing gum in a stick. He wants to get the girl. He gets the girl. Now,the fire, so to speak, doesn't start, her hands are on her hip, her eyebrow is raised, her foot is tapping . . . well? The jig is up. It's time to come clean. Who hasn't been in a similar situation in some form or another?

Another artist I've been listening to, Frank Turner, covers "The Outdoor Type". As I mentioned it's not even a Lemonheads song. As I read some of the comments on YouTube, some think it's a Frank Turner song. It's just humorous to read their disbelief when they find out Frank didn't write it. Turner, however, is a great songwriter in his own write. I'm always interested in what some of my favorite artists cover. It's like getting a secret peek in their record collection. I've come to believe that the version a person hears first is always the original, at least in their brain. It's been that way in my finite brain anyway. That's another blog entry for another day, I suppose, Cover vs. Original. Maybe not the same cache as Godzilla vs Rodan, but I digress, let's watch Frank Turner's version.

Pitchfork and Torches

This latest entry is in regards to backlash, namely the music website pitchfork.com. It seems to me that if Pitchfork really plugs a band, gives them a 9.something on their "we're-too-cool-for-you" scale, and launch them as the next big thing, there's the inevitable backlash. I don't dislike Pitchfork, I like Pitchfork, I mean, I

have their site bookmarked,

I go to it when the spirit moves me, someone sends me a link, or I see a reference on Facebook, or something like that. It's nice to have around sometimes. Actually, my favorite pitchforks are the ones used when a posse is organized, like in "Frankenstein" or those brave souls *cough* in the posse organized for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" My favorite artwork from that game "Masterpiece is American_Gothic. You know, the oft-spoofed farmer couple holding, what else? A pitchfork.

I'm here to say, hipsters, that sometimes Pitchfork gets it right. The band where I think Pitchfork got it right is with Girls. While that may seem like a search engine nightmare (well, the try searching the band, "The The") the name of their debut record is called "Album". What's next a song named, "Song"? Oddly enough, the two main components of Girls are two guys, Christopher Owens and Chet Jr White. It's chock full of little pop music nuggets. It's full of enough jangly guitar to make those fans of the Island years of R.E.M. smile. Well they'll smile long enough til they think of the wahwah peddle in "Stand" or about Bill Berry leaving the band and get grumpy. The song titles are either swear words ("God Damned", "Hellhole Ratrace" or "Bad Mean Motherfucker") or have a reference to a girl ("Laura", "Lauren Marie" or the ambiguous "Darling") in them. These are well-crafted pop songs with the record checking in at just around 44 minutes. "Laura" has this feel good hit of the summer feel to it, "Ghost mouth" has that 60's girl group wall-o-sound drum to tambourine sound to it. I realize it's rock critic-speak cliche to cite "Pet_Sounds" as a reference but with some of these songs the reference is apt. Pitchfork gave it a 9.1 on their ratings scale. Read more for yourself: Pitchfork Girls "Album" review.

Getting back to Pitchfork backlash. I realize there has been music backlash probably since the first lute but I think some music is shoved aside because of the hype or from Pitchfork. "Oh, that's just one of those 'pitchfork' bands", which translates for some to "they are wimpy indie rock bands with fey lyrics and dudes who look like douche bags". While, that sentiment may hold true for some Pitchfork bands or indie rock bands, not always. What if Pitchfork was around when Neutral Milk Hotel's "In The Aeroplane Over the Sea" was released? The Replacements "Tim"? What if Neutral Milk Hotel was new today and played the Pitchfork festival and not Lounge Ax like they did in the late 90's? Would NMH experienced similar backlash? Would people have tossed them aside as some sort of "pitchfork band"?

Granted, water seeks it's own level and if something is great, it'll be regarded as such despite the hype. But before you dismiss the next big thing from Pitchfork (Okay, you can dismiss F--- Buttons) some of these bands to bear a listen for yourself and are really good despite some sort of 9.something on the pocket protector scale.

Funny, as I was writing this I looked up NMH's "Aeroplane" on Pitchfork and they gave it a 10.0, seven years after it's initial release. Hmmm, Pitchfork gave it a 10.0, I guess if I'm like all the cool kids I'll have to take "Aeroplane" off of Desert Island Disc status. Bon Voyage.

In the meantime, here is Girls with "Lust For Life". Iggy, stop shaking your head!

Wynonie Harris "Mr. Blues"

I was recently reading Jack Kerouac's "On the "On_the_road (again). My intentions were to read the Kerouac-penned book "Big Sur" which I had never read. This was because of the recent Jay Farrar and Ben Gibbard record with songs inspired by "Big Sur". My library didn't have "Big Sur" (criminal, I know) but they had "On the Road" so I decided to read it again. Within the pages of "On the Road" were mentions of hip jazz clubs, blues clubs, artists of that ilk, and of course the travels of Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise. A couple of artists I took note of on that giant roll of "On the Road" were Lionel_Hampton and Wynonie_Harris. I jotted their names down on a small piece of paper and stuffed it in my wallet (along with receipts and coffee stamp cards, and maybe a buck or two) until I was at a record store (the online variety or the brick and mortar type).

I eventually found a record of both of them about a month ago. While the Hampton record I procured is good, I'm not the biggest jazz fan in the world. I have a few of the classic records just to say I have them. Perhaps in time, my pallet for jazz will be enhanced. What did trip my trigger was the rhythm and blues of Wynonie Harris. This music is alive! The Omaha born singer never did get quite the fame he may have deserved but if you want a good taste of post WWII R&B, look no further than Harris. In an age when people didn't write their own songs, Harris wrote many of his own songs. Just file him under: "If the world of music was truly just, ___________ would be a huge star." One could also say that he didn't quite get the fame because they hadn't found the right handsome white guy to sing his songs. How in the blazes had I never heard of Harris before? Perhaps I had and I just never filed his name away. Then there was this guy named Elvis who covered a song Harris had sung, "Good Rockin' Tonight". You'd think I would have backtracked from there, alas, no. Then the mid-80's rock super group, The Honeydrippers sang a song Harris had also made his own, "I Get Thrill".

Another little musical 6 degrees of separation I found just recently that goes along with my discovery of Harris is that Harris' music was the part of the namesake of Bloodshot Records. Part of the inspiration of the Bloodshot name was the Harris song, Bloodshot Eyes (along with the X song "Nausea"). Here is a recent interview with Rob and Nan from Bloodshot regarding the recent state of Bloodshot and a mention of the namesake: .xpn.org

Wynonie Harris lived the rock n roll life of his day with his elaborate living of big spending, woman, and song. According to the liner notes written by Preston Love of a record I did pick up, "Wynonie Harris: Oh Babe!" on Route 66 records (a 1982 re-issue), Harris died broke in 1969 of Esophagus cancer. By 1963 he was reduced to being a bookie in Brooklyn. I'm just "hear" to just tell a little more of my exuberant music find but if you want more history look to some of the links I highlighted. However, if you want to listen to some R&B that is truly jumpin' and a great precursor to rock n roll, look to Wynonie Harris.

Buy some Wynonie Harris records: Wynonie Harris