Foo Fighters—eponymous
I just really haven't been into music like I used to be after the suicide death of Kurt Cobain. Sure, it might sound a bit daft to jaded ears but it's the truth, so there. I used to buy a dozen records and compact discs a month but since Cobain's death I've averaged maybe one every two months with most of those being older discs to fill in my collection or various artists discs to get one song. I used to make a mix tape a month but since April of '94 I've made two.
One reason why I wasn't totally devastated by the forced break-up of Nirvana is that I had really spent a lot of time listening to all the harmonizing on In Utero. I picked that album apart to hear every part that drummer, Dave Grohl, sang. Then I went back and listened to Nevermind again (like I ever stopped) to hear how many harmonies our man had laid down. Quite a bit! So, at the moment that Cobain shot himself my favorite member of Nirvana was Dave, the quiet one, and that's also why I was so excited when the Foo Fighters disc came out.
I really dig this disc; pretty poppy stuff with some strong rhythms and great guitar work. The rumor is that Dave went in and did just about everything with just a little added guitar coming from ex-Germs and ex-Nirvana member, Pat Smear. I don't know if that's true but I do know it's possible: Grohl is one of those disgustingly multi-talented guys.
I only wish that the album were a little better produced. Like Nirvana (and just about every band on the radio now, it seems), they like to do that quiet-loud thing but the quiet parts aren't quiet enough and the loud parts aren't loud enough to make the difference as dynamic as it could be.
There are a lot of catchy songs on here and Grohl tries to do a few different styles: there's a nice love song and a few raucous and indecipherable ones. The more I listen to this disc the more I like it.
CASINO soundtrack
To tell the truth, I didn't buy this disc. I only had $15 on me and I really wanted to hear that cool opening to The Rolling Stones' "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" that was used in the trailer. Wouldn't you know it; there weren't any original Stones songs on the whole disc. Were the royalties too much? So, instead, I bought Sticky Fingers.
I'll probably end up getting the CASINO soundtrack, after I buy Let It Bleed to get "Monkey Man" so I can put that on a mix tape with Nillson's "Jump Into The Fire" and drive around looking for helicopters. No, Scorcese didn't use either of these songs in Casino but I still like Goodfellas better and would be more inclined to pick up music used in it just to remind me of what a great movie it was.
Garbage—eponymous
At first I thought I'd never listen to anything but the first single, "Vow" but I eventually got around to checking out the rest of this disc. Very nice! Very well produced (what do you expect, Butch Vig is in the band), nice vocals, and kind of noisy.
I like every song on this disc but at the moment I program my player to skip over "Queer" since it's so big on Alternative Radio. Did I say "Alternative"? Sorry, let's just stop this charade right now. Top 40. Okay? There, I've said it. "Alternative" radio stations play Top 40 music. Sure, the billboard chart has a lot of Urban Contemporary and Rap in it, but let's call a shovel a shovel.
The majority of white artists in the charts are now all on the same stations. It doesn't matter what kind of stuff you're playing. Hootie & The Blowfish, The Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveller, and other modern Fabulous Thunderbirds-type bands are not delegated to Frat Rock or Lite ("turn it on at work and torture everyone") FM stations like they should be. No, they share the airwaves with Christian Rock rejects like Joan Osborne, trend leeches like Bush, and the ever-detestable Smashing Pumpkins. It reminds me of my Junior High days where Top 40 stations were the lamest things possible. Those days are here again.
Let's get the semantics straight, please. Certainly there is "alternative" music, but it's what still doesn't make it to the radio. The stuff you hear when you turn on your payola-funded stations doesn't even have its own section at corporate record stores anymore. It's all Pop/Rock.
Uh, but yeah, I liked the Garbage disc and would recommend it.
Sicko—Chef Boy RU Dumb
Ah... this is more like it. It's been so long since I've heard any unpretentious, fun, three-chord power pop punk and this gives me my fix. Okay, there are a lot more than three chords on this disc, there have to be at least a dozen. Anyway, there's enough to justify the price.
This is just the type of band I was talking about in the Garbage review—they kick much ass but will never get played on mainstream radio until eMpTy starts greasing some palms. Let's help them by just going directly to the source and not having to hear it ad nauseum in between the latest Rancid and Green Day singles. Turn it on, turn it up, tap your toes, repeat. Dog gone good fun.
Write to eMpTy Records at P.O. Box 12034, Seattle, WA 98102.
Orgy of the Dead soundtrack
It's been at least seven years since I first watched Orgy of the Dead. I was at once repulsed but fascinated by this movie that only seemed to exist to show off women's boobs and some really wooden acting.
OOTD is the story of Bob and Shirley who happen to catch the evil full-moon rituals of Criswell and the Princess of Darkness as they judge spirits of the damned. They judge them by having them (all women, "no one wants to see a man dance") do little go-go routines.
This "soundtrack" is not just a collection of songs, it's the entire audio of the movie. A pretty good idea—I had the same one on that first night; my friend Steve and I both made copies of it. Later I cut it down into just the spoken dialogue since the songs go on for way too long. In other words, you may become bored on repeated listenings but this does provide some fantastic sound-bites: all these years later Steve uses Criswell's command for "a decided change" in entertainment for his radio show on WHFR.
But, instead of buying this, I'd recommend just picking up the video (I got it new for a measly $10) and just audio taping your favorite lines if you have the equipment, or know someone who does. It's a must-see but not necessarily a must just hear.