Weekend Music Roundup (Beatles vs. Stones)

I figured it was time for another theme week seeing as how I had a lot of releases by arguably the two greatest rock bands of all time waiting for reviews. The classic debate between the Beatles and the Stones is really just about a matter of taste seeing as the two bands are not so drastically different in the style of music they play. It's like watching Star Wars and sometimes you're drawn to the Rebels and other times, admit it, you like the Empire. I love both of these bands and both have the moments. Here's some of those moments captured forever.

The Beatles - Reunions 74 & 92: Well, not exactly a reunion but on these two different occasions, there were semi-reunions. The most interesting being the '74 home sessions with John and Paul (along with guests such as Stevie Wonder and Nilsson) got together simply to jam for fun. The result sounds a bit like band practice, a lot of aimless rambling, but when they do come together to play "Stand By Me" at the end, it's fantastic. The other reunion is Ringo joining George on stage for epic rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". Really, this bootleg is for music history nerds like myself and not the casual fan.

The Beatles - Acoustic Masterpieces: Aptly titled, this is one of the best Beatles bootlegs I've ever heard. It's basically early studio sessions for The White Album with acoustic takes on almost every song as well as a bit of Beatles weirdness, the odd little tracks that never made it onto albums. It's completely amazing. Even songs that I don't typically enjoy, (ie. Back in the U.S.S.R) are fantastic.

The Beatles - Songs for Eleanor: This bootleg covers the recording sessions for the Help! film and album. Now, I love the early period Beatles. Help! is one of my favorite albums and this is a great insight on the process of that album. There are multiple takes of many songs, but all in all not too different from the final versions. There's of course some tossed away tracks that are worth a listen, and the prize is really "Yesterday (Take 1)" in which Paul is still teaching the track to the rest, it's beautiful.

The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main Street Rarities Edition: There was lot of hype when this (one of the best albums ever) was re-released a few months back with addition songs originally left off the album. After listening to it, it's clear most of these tracks were left off for a reason. With the exception of "Pass the Wine", these represent a collection of decent Stones period tracks, but nothing essential. Still though, pretty much anything done by the Stones in the late '60 and early '70s is worth hearing.

The Rolling Stones - headin' for an overload: This concert bootleg features songs from the Sticky Fingers, Goat's Head Soup, Beggar's Banquet, Exile era, the best era of Stones music. The set list is phenomenal, and the band sounds great. However the sound quality leaves something to be desired. Plus, a big part of the Stones live is the energy that can't really be captured on tape. But if you're a nut for concert albums, this is a good one to have.

The Rolling Stones - Sympathy for the Devil: Like the Beatles acoustic album above, this one is a must have for any fan of Beggars Banquet. These are outtake sessions featuring completely different arrangements on some songs and acoustic versions of others. If you listen to this and then the original, you can really see how varied and talented this band was.

The Rolling Stones - (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction: I recently spied the '45 for this in a record shop and picked it up, mainly because the edition I bought had a B-Side credited to Nanker/Phelge, the pen name Jagger and Richards used for some raunchier material. The A-Side, though it's been played to death, is still such great song and one of the best riffs in rock.

The Rolling Stones - Bye Bye Johnny

The Rolling Stones - Tell Me

The Rolling Stones - Not Fade Away

The Rolling Stones - I Wanna Be Your Man

The Rolling Stones - Come On

Rather than review these separately, I'll talk about them as a collection. These are the Stones earliest singles from 1963 and 1964. A lot of tracks are covers (the best being the Buddy Holly "Not Fade Away"). The band hasn't developed it's edge yet, and these are very Beatles-esque tracks, more playful and raw than the Beatles, but in the same category to be sure. There's a lot of fun songs, "Poison Ivy", "Money" and "Tell Me" have always been favorites of mine. There are some tracks where you see the Stones trying to develop their own sound, and though they don't quite make it there, it's always interesting to hear the beginnings of what they eventually become.

Samantha Crain and Andrew Tanz- "Devils in Boston"

I'm in Boston for the day and thought I'd share one my favorite songs about this town.

Back home tomorrow for the Weekend Music Roundup.

The Hazards of Having Cat Assistants

My office isn't exactly a hustling bustling corporate atmosphere. It's basically just me with piles of paper and books stacked in ever-expanding mountain range across the varied surfaces and floor. There's of course my rather giant stuffed elephant and his basket of apples that he picked, the dolls in the corner that whisper inspiration to me from the toy world and the army of visual stimulation that covers the walls. And then....there's the cats.

Having two cat assistants has its perks, but don't doubt for a minute that there aren't hazards. I figured today was as good as any to do their employee evaluations.

1. Always On Time: My one cat's mental alarm is hard to change the settings. She's persistent when it comes to wake-up time and other is persistent in marching me off to the office. There is the occasional ability to put the first cat on snooze, but it's a highly complicated process. Even when it works, the other cat acts as a back-up alarm. Though annoying, I suppose these traits are a benefit and they need some credit for this.

2. Lap Time: Now it may seem that having a purring cat nesting in your lap as you attempt to work on the computer is a nice thing and for the most part it is as long as you ignore the fact that it is simply there to rob you of heat and attention. There's also the nudging of the hand if petting ceases for too long, which always risks the spillage of coffee onto the keyboard and complete loss of potentially days worth of work. I have had many near misses over the past year.

3. Lunch Time/ Nap Time: The mid-day break requires an intricate ballet of behavior with both of the feline help and takes up more time than it need. The biggest danger is the cat habit of immediately snoozing after the feast and the tempting looks they use to encourage you to join them in the abyss of afternoon sleep.

4. Quitting Time is Absolute: Again this might feel like a plus. One should have an established quitting time. The cats adhere to it diligently. Work too long, and they begin a wrestling match among the previous mentioned mountains of papers, which regardless of their beliefs, are actually important. Trying to finish up those last minute things becomes a high stress bout of referee jurisdiction.

But despite all the trials and tribulations, I suppose I'd rehire them again anytime.

The Great Rabbit Wars Pt. 35

Excerpt from The Cadet Manifest 002 (access previous Communications)

A gathering of the Order of Cadets was called while the civilians of the city slept. Bianca said it was critical that they and Our Angel know nothing of the plot to kill General Nippon. Secrecy is for their own good. They wouldn't understand. Bianca says they lack the courage to make harsh decisions.

The chosen Rabbit Girl was easy to confuse. Bianca introduced her to Cadet Riley, disguised as a village girl who was going to accompany her to the Great Warren to see Fival. The Rabbit Girl grew agitated. She wondered why she had to see Fival again. She did not like Fival. She believed when they followed Our Angel here that she would never need to see him again. "You won't have to," Bianca promised her. "You simply have to tell the Rabbit Soldiers guarding the warren that so they will allow you in. You tell them you need to have Riley given her ears. Then once you're in, you find General Nippon and you kill him. Riley will help."

The Rabbit Girl looked nervous but nodded. She took the small sonic weapon and hid it on her body. There was a good chance she would not be searched by the soldiers. And with that, the plot was sealed and along with it, our fate. The two of them set off before dawn. It's two days travel to the Great Warren. It will be four or five days before we know of their success or failure. Either they will return or an invading force will.

- Scout Master 155

(Tune in next Story Time Tuesday for the next installment)

My New Picture Book

Just a quick note to say my new picture book, Eight Spinning Planets is out now. It's a rhyming counting book with disappearing planets for preschoolers. It was a lot of fun writing in verse again, something I hadn't done since my first picture book The Shark Who Was Afraid of Everything. I still haven't seen a finished copy, but hopefully soon.

Weekend Music Roundup

Two of my favorite weekends of the year over the past few years have been Memorial Day and Labor Day thanks in large part to guy in a nearby town who holds a huge vinyl and CD sale in his yard. The guy is one of these of trade show people who travels to Record Fairs and has quite wide collection of vinyl and CDs for sale in all genres. I typically spend two hours going through the goods and make my selections. Many of this past weekends are here, some are from other sources, and there will be more come. It's been one of those weeks of sketching out a new story, which always means lots of music in the air.

The Black Angels - Phosphene Dream: This the third album from the psychedelic Texas band and like the previous two albums, it's full on fuzzed out retro '60s psychedelic rock. It's ripe with heavy grooves and and an obvious 13th Floor Elevators influence. This one is a step-up from a solid, but slightly repetitive second album and is probably as good as the first, which is to say, pretty good indeed.

Miniature Tigers - Fortress: I'd read good things about this album which came out two months ago and was excited to hear it. At times, it has a Monkee's pop-weirdness from their great period the culminated with Head. I love those bits. At other times, it reminds me more of Animal Collective's more minimal period, which is okay but nothing that grabbed me. Overall, a solid OK.

Manchester Orchestra - Live at Park Ave.: I always find this band to be quite good and was excited to see this live EP that I hadn't been aware of. It's seven previously released tracks, but the acoustic arrangements make each song sound completely new. A nice slice of indie heaven.

Goldfrapp - Head First: The new album sees the former electronica-dream pop artist move into the ever popular '80s retro thing that is going on. I'm still not quite sure why there is so much emulation of bad early '80s going on, it rarely sounds good. There are few songs on here where she nails it. But as a whole it sounds like a bad Olivia Newton John movie soundtrack and a handful of catchy songs don't make up for it.

Gossip - Music For Men: Another 80's inspired album, but this time it works great. Gossip chose a heavy disco sound that just grooves. It doesn't hurt that Beth Ditto has an amazing voice. Certainly not an album for every occasion, but when your in the mood for it, it's super catchy.

Tapes 'N Tapes - Walk It Off: This is a holdover from 2008 wishlist that I finally picked up this past weekend. It's face paced indie rock that reminds me a bit of Arcade Fire only with more fuzz. Nothing earth shattering by any means, but a fun album that I'm really enjoying.

Bowerbirds - Hymns for a Dark Horse: This one is a holdover from the late great 2007 wishlist. Last year, their second album made it on my best-of list, but I think this one might be more intriquing. It's less polished and has a carnival folk feel. It sounds like a lounge singer in a dusty saloon of other times, out of place and beautiful.

Odetta sings Dylan: I found this LP on mono in the bins and was pretty thrilled. In fact, it was first album I listened to from the haul. Odetta is a fantastic blues singer and she has this really deep and beautiful voice. I couldn't wait to hear how her voice would transform Dylan's songs. The end result is that she takes these songs and makes them spiritualized. Amazing.

Stina Nordenstam - And She Closed Her Eyes: A few weeks ago I reviewed one of Stina's newer albums and promised to get a hold of some of her older stuff. This 1994 album is her second album and significantly more lo-fi than 2001 album I reveiwed before. This soft folk sound suits her voice perfectly. This is one of those ideal morning albums and I plan on using it to wake up on many occasions of the next few weeks.

The Animals - Animalism: The Animals are one of the truly unsung bands of the British Invasion, in my opinion they deserve to be in the same conversation with the Beatles, Stones, and Kinks. They brought the heavy British blues sound over with them and rocked it. This album came in 1966 (the band's third album of the year) and it's brilliant. This was a nice find on original vinyl.

The Fox and the Child

I'm always looking for unique styles of storytelling. This week I watched an interesting movie that was a good example. The Fox and the Child (from the director of March of the Penguins) is a mixture between nature photography and fictional narrative. It's a children's the story about a lonely little girl who befriends a wild fox over the period of one year. It reminded me a lot of classics like Charlotte's Web and The Yearling, but much more realistic and with minimal story. But it's great story and the movie is shot beautifully in the mountains of France, Italy, and Romania.

The girl's story is made to look like a fairy tale, which mixtures surprisingly well with the amazing nature photography that really makes the fox into a complex character. It was a very literary kind of story. A wonderful piece of storytelling.