vain, selfish & lazy.

Friday, May 05, 2000

WILLIAM SHATNER - "MR. TAMBOURINE MAN"
inspired by josh's listening to captain kirk's version of "lucy in the sky," i decided to search for mr. shatner's version of "hey mr. tambourine man." i'd heard it once before and thought that the production was nearly good and that shatner's performance was compelling (and it is, in a ridiculous way).

well, i stumbled across the song and i was right, the production is actually better than i remembered. unlike most, i don't think it's too difficult to figure out whether or not shatner is being serious. having seen him being interviewed on a number of occasions, it's obvious that shatner is a very self-aware individual, and i'm nearly certain that he knew that he had a particular hammy acting style, which was used to devastating effect on "mr. tambourine man." his delivery sounds as if he was delivering shakespeare (which he did in fact do on the same album, the transformed man). and if anyone needed another clue, listen to the scream of "mr. tambourine man" that closes out the song.

upon listening to this song, and his version of "lucy in the sky," it occurs to me that on the transformed man, shatner is the ersatz richard harris. that's right, the ERSATZ RICHARD HARRIS, with "mr. tambourine man" as his "macarthur park." which means he's pretty damned bizarre given that harris himself was fairly out there and jimmy webb, who wrote both harris' late 60s album, was even more spacey, though the combo of the two was undeniably brilliant. i'm only left lamenting the fact that shatner and webb never got together -- the very concept is mind-boggling, and one can only lament that it wasn't to be.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

it's a beautiful day in new york city. that's all i want to say.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Thursday, May 04, 2000

sims like the real thing: a friend of mine has just purchased the sims; if it's anything like what it was when he got simcity, i will not be hearing from him for a few years. when i originally read this piece in the voice, i immediately thought of him. hopefully he'll see this and save himself before it's too late!
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

SOULS OF MISCHIEF - "CABFARE"
to my knowledge, this track has yet to make it to any album or compilation. too bad, because the album it was supposed to be on would've benefitted much from this one. the song samples "angela" by jazz keyboardist bob james; the reasons why the song never saw release can be found on mr. james' website. back when i listened to the radio often, i got a copy off of one of the hip-hop shows and i treasured it...until i inadvertantly taped over it. oops!

"angela," it should be noted, was also the theme for the television sitcom, taxi, best known best for introducing the talents of andy kaufman to the world and for unleashing tony danza on a public that has yet to recover. over a deft production which makes use of all of the songs' themes, the souls rap about experiences with cabbies that are often humorous, and always clever. i can't help but think that, if this was released, the souls would still have a record contract and might not have to work day jobs. alas, in the end, the big company won out and the souls have become yet another great rap group resigned to anonymity.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

MASSIVE ATTACK - MEZZANINE
now considered the least of their recorded output, this is an album that, at the time, i believe i wanted to like more than i did. i dug it out this week, and i'll be damned if i don't like it as much as i wanted to upon its initial release.

the press deemed this one their "dark "album, and from the cover photo on in, i can't really disagree with that tag. but they've never really been a cheery bunch, have they? i guess it all comes to the fore on this one. the lyrics and the soundscapes are certainly bleaker than before, and the album itself carries such an atmosphere of impending doom. it was rumored that the band was through after this one; the band even said as much, but later revealed that it was actually just a joke to compliment the music press' description of the album. funny guys, making me fear the breakup of my favorite group like that.

listening to it today, i'm amazed that i didn't pick up on the heavy influence of post-punk-funkers like magazine and public image limited. (actually, it's not so amazing; when the album debuted, i didn't own anything by either of those two groups -- what a fool i was!) the band learned to play instruments and brought in some more musicians: the move is most heard in the live drums and the squawking guitars. unlike previous massive attack albums, this album had no sort of tonal color -- it was totally black and white with a little grey here and there.

actually, i shouldn't say no color. the album features two versions of the song, "exchange": the instrumental version is thrown in the middle of the album; the vocal reprise (courtesy of the honey-voiced horace andy) closes it. the former is perhaps colored by the songs that surround it, removing the ocean-washed flourishes that are so abundantly clear on the latter. could this be another joke by those massive boys? could the "dark" and "gloomy" tone of this album have been all just a joke on us? the balmy "exchange" seems to say yes: its calming tones suggest that everything is alright, so chill out.

actually, this album is more than alright. i'm glad to say that i was wrong -- mezzanine is definitely a welcome addition to the massive attack catalog.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

"i love you?" i love you not!: today, i got in and there was something wrong with my e-mail system. i talked to tom and he told me of this "i love you virus" that has since sacked his mighty market research firm! i talked to the tech guys here, and they told me the same thing (how they knew tom is a mystery to me!). well, it turns out my problems had nothing to do with "i love you," but with a corrupt file sent from elsewhere. disaster averted.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Wednesday, May 03, 2000

TOM WAITS - "A LITTLE RAIN"
beginning with swordfishtrombones, tom waits reposited himself as a kid in a candy store. except this kid has advanced throat cancer and a few screws loose, and the candy store is more like a garage filled with tools and the most obscure instruments ever. this sound was a stark contrast to the traditional singer-songwriter (and i do use "traditional" usely -- not many songwriters have had a persona as ornery as tom waits') records he made prior to 1983.

the more you read this blog, the more you'll learn about my musical tastes, so in this instance i'll spell them out. i much preferred those earlier records to his more recent output (though 1999's excellent mule variations was a good career survey). so imagine my surprise at stumbling across this song on perhaps his most dissonant album, 1992's grammy award-winning bone machine.

"a little rain" is among the most tuneful, most flat-out wonderful tunes he's ever written. it's not very complex -- barring a bridge, the melody repeats over and over -- but, oh, what a heart-wringing melody, and what evocative, heart-rending lyrics. waits, unlike any other songwriter i can think of, has the uncanny ability to throw out a slew of surreal images, and then somehow link them all together with one poignant, simple verse. in this case, amidst ice men with mules and dancing german dwarves, the last verse tells the story of a young girl who never saw the ocean and got into a van with a vagabond, her last words were, "i love you, mom."

corny? on paper, yes, but somehow, with that sandpapered larynx of his, he delivers this straightforward passage and it just works. and that is the magic of tom waits.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

mental images can be deceiving: one of the most bizarre phenomena i've encountered in my young life is finally seeing people that you've been in contact with for some time via the internet. by trade, i deal with a number of people who i don't see and will likely never see. meeting some of those individuals, i marvel at how far off my mental images of them are.

this comes to the fore because the various members of the star chamber, the mysterious, secret cabal that rules pop, have deigned to show pictures of themselves; some of these individuals i've been talking to for several years now. well, imagine my delight when some turn out to look like just how i pictured them, and my bewilderment when others look nothing like i imagined them. i've noticed a trend, though: if i've only known the individual for a short period of time, or if i saw a picture of them when i first began talking to them, or if they state a celebrity they resemble, my mental image of them usually falls in line with how they actually appear. on the other hand, when i'm dealing with people that i've talked to for ages and who never much discuss their appearance, i find that the image i create and how they actually look are totally disparate entities.

and that's all i have to say about that.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

BRITNEY SPEARS - "SATISFACTION"
and why shouldn't britney sing "satisfaction"? i admit that, when i first heard the news, i was bemused by the idea of the pop princess tackling the stones' evergreen, but that had little to do with ms. spears, herself. and all to do with the great difference in the sound of the two artists. (then again, britney is teen-pop now as the stones were for the kids of the 60s.) from reading the cover story on her in the latest rolling stone, i'm to believe that the virginal britney won't be feeling the sexual dissatisfaction aspects of the song, but rather, as jagger joshed at the time, the "philosophical" dissatisfaction it expresses. and, again, why not? teens are never satisfied; for a more recent example, check out the replacements' "unsatisfied." britney's young and not always totally in control of her life and feels often as if she's being misunderstood. why, "satisfaction" seems like a potential anthem for her!

so, finally, i have the results in my midst. britney promised a track that would be "hot," and with her selection pop/r&b hitmaker rodney "i can't believe it's not timbaland" jerkins, a man currently working on albums for michael jackson and the spice girls, she couldn't have chosen a "hotter" producer. so what does it sound like then?

it starts off deceptively, the song sounding like one of the ballads jerkins has done for the likes of monica, but you don't really think the song would continue on that way, do you? of course not, so in comes the switch to mid-tempo mode, with jerkins' trademark drum programming underscoring things. in her favor, britney gives one of the least adenoidal performances of her career, making the intro "torch song" section sounding downright vampy!

there aren't many surprises to be had, really. jerkins throws in a little fuzzed-out guitar during the pre-chorus and the lyrics are changed slightly (the man who isn't a man cos he doesn't smoke the same cigarettes as jagger has become a woman who can't tell britney how tight her skirt should be cos she can't tell britney who to be cos she's got her own identity. viva women's rights! oh, and she excises the verse about trying to make some girl. now that would've been interesting, ho ho). oh, and there's a key change and a shouty bunch of backing vocalists on the chorus a la "crazy", but this is teenpop, so what did you expect?

well, frankly, i expected more. this track really is something of a bore, and i can't see it becoming an anthem for anyone let alone ms. spears who really does little to prove she has her own identity, as she insists in the verses. the stones have very little to worry about; ironic that "rockers" like the stones exercised more pop smarts than la spears. oh well, chalk one up to opportunities missed.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

hey, how about a little info about me, eh?
yes, i mean, i think it would be enlightening to reveal a little about the man behind the image. well, besides being devastatingly handsome, i also have wit and intelligence to burn (alas, if only money could be added to that list). i work for wenner media, l.l.c. which publishes us weekly, men's journal, and, the runt of the litter, a little bi-weekly rag called rolling stone. my official title is "online operations coordinator." basically, i work on the online advertising for all three pubs: getting the ball rolling on setting up new programs, implementing the programs, and making sure they work. but the burden falls not upon my shoulders alone, i have a helper (who happens to be my boss, actually).

yes, i'm an entry-level worker, with a chip on his shoulder because he feels that if only he had exerted any kind of effort in college, he'd be much farther ahead in this world. but, hey, i enjoy where i'm at and i like the job quite a bit. it's obviously not too strenuous or how would i be writing in this blog or downloading mp3s or authoring articles for tom ewing's excellent freaky trigger?

speaking of the latter, you should all do yourselves a big favor and visit freaky trigger. not only will you be able to read my "soul decade" column, but you'll also get the best writing on music and pop culture on the internet. sure, i might seem biased, but i stand by my statement so go check it out TODAY!
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

well, thank God for this: could you imagine what a move to nbc would've meant for the show? well, i doubt they'd be allowed to say "asshole" or "dick" or "pussy," that's for sure. cheers to parker and stone for not taking the money.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

the smile shop: this has got to be one of the coolest sites on the entire net, especially if, like me, you are a huge beach boys fanatic. you get links (and, hey, they even link to our essays at freaky trigger!), history, articles, everything you could want to know about the greatest album never made, PLUS you get the tracks. mmmmm, smile in stereo.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

Tuesday, May 02, 2000

HANSON - "THIS TIME AROUND"
pity poor hanson. several years ago, along with the spice girls, they made the charts safe for acts targeted at the teen market. well, now they're all grown up (and HOW! they're like giants) and they've released a new record called, this time around.

the first video (but not the first single, oddly enough) is called, "this time around," and, me, i enjoy it just fine. it's in the "thoughtful" vein of the latter singles from the middle of nowhere album, but a bit more rock-y. a lilting piano intro starts the proceedings off and all three hansons sing like they mean it (it's endearing, it really is, i say without a trace of irony). the chorus is a big hand-clappin', foot-stomping, call-to-arms kind of thing. i don't pay much attention to the lyrics (like i ever do), but i do make out the words, "i know why she died" twice. cheery little thing, eh? still, i find it a fun little song because of the sing-along chorus and because, like with the new radicals' "you get what you give," they really seem sincere about it.

unfortunately, pal tom has informed me that their first uk single, "if only," has flopped. i've heard it and i can see why: the chorus and feel is similar to "mmmbop," but a lot of the spunk, youthful enthusiasm (i say this like they're approaching retirement age) and production tricks that made that one a song for the ages. ah well. if you guys ever need a gig, you can come to my apartment anyday!
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

NEWSFLASH! NEWSFLASH!
our, ahem, "long-time" readers might have noticed a change in the name of the blog. no longer is it entitled the droll yet drab, "blah blah blog," but now it is called the altogether flashier, "steal this blog!" and i mean it! steal it and put a link to it on your WEBSITE! yes, do it.

soon, the machine will fall.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

pointless blog #2: i've just noticed below how i wrote "pointless blog" below and, look at that, again right here. isn't saying "pointless blog" being redundant? i mean, is there really a blog that the world can't live without? "mine," you say? you're far too kind. this, btw, is pointless.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

pointless blog #1: i've realized that you have to be a bit crafty in order to get your blog to fit into the webpage that you've created for it. when i first published, i had a dull, plain, blank white page with black text. yuck.

now, there's this page, with my lovely visage gracing it, welcoming all. (a note to my pre-teen fans: i am in fact 22 years old, and will be 23 in september. i appreciate you visiting this blog, but please, no more e-mail about wanting to date me. besides the fact that i'm happily monogamous, you're all at *least* 5 years too young for me. thank you.) do you like the header font? i think it's pretty cool and dramatic. perhaps i'll throw my e-mail address into this page so you can write me with your critiques and love letters! yes, yes, that is what i shall do.
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss

welcome to my blog! why did i decide to blog, you ask? well, i looked out into a world crammed with too many blogs as it is, and exclaimed, "why not one more?!" so, here we are, then.

what will be discussed? in theory, i'd like to discuss music, my great passion, and things i notice either here at work or on the net. in practice, you'll probably see a lot of bitching and moaning by yours truly about everything under the sun. i thought it fair to warn you.

so, welcome aboard! (i speak as if there's some sort of audience to all of this nattering, when, in fact, i'm all alone... well, it makes me feel better to pretend, at least.)
-fred solinger | steal this link! | discuss