warren_ellis

1. Obama girl, 2. KARIMBAH, 3. bottlerockets, 4. paper, 5. Hauling heavenward [8830], 6. Jacen Burrows

sunnybananas

• 14:16 Feeling like crap. #
• 16:31 Listening to Wes & Madison in the living room, making up silly songs about how much they love each other. #
• 16:34 Moment over, now they're singing about poop. #
• 20:20 Watching Kung Fu Panda. #
• 21:37 Introducing Blake to Boney M via snippets on iTunes. #
• 21:45 BONUS!!!!!! tinyurl.com/2huxba #
• 00:35 Headache/bed. #

warren_ellis

• I guess it’s Independence Day over the pond tomorrow. I trust you’ll all be doing your “solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” Right? #
• 12 people reply with exactly the same thing:”No, we’re going to blow shit up!” Ah, Americans, the world’s little helpers. With explosives. #
• @tikistitch : Guy Fawkes Night is where we burn an effigy of Fawkes to annually humiliate his name for failing to blow up Parliament. #
• FREAKANGELS 0019: http://www.freakangels.com/?p=44 #
• Also, happy 21st birthday to my cowgirl, @laurennmcc #
• @laurennmcc that’s because you look and work better at 40 than most people do at 21. July 4 is always Laurenn McCubbin Day to me. #
• @laurennmcc : also, I promise to stop telling people that you’re @mckelvie ’s mother, Soon. #
• July 4 - I now have 5111 silent stalkers — I mean “followers” — on Twitter. Soon I will issue the Secret Command Signal. Be patient. #
• @kellysue - in 1997, the only person I saw dress up for the Eisner Awards was George Perez, resplendent in tuxedo and vivid cummerbund. #
• Dear old George did, of course, stand out like a Maharajah at a convention for people who drink paint stripper recreationally. #

apod

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080704.html

A new star, likely the brightest supernova

sadclownrep

http://sadclownrep.com/?p=1363

Decent sounding tribute by Chris Von Sneidern:

And the kick ass original.

Yeah, basically one of the best songs of all time. I may be the only one who feels this way, but I haven’t searched the whole of the Internet yet.

The lyrics are, again, hardly what one would call positive. I am unclear on whether “get what you deserve” is a positive or negative thing in this context, but I can’t help but think that there is a hint of a threat buried in it.

Chris Bell may have contributed to this song - the experts are not sure.

I really feel all of Big Stars’ strengths came together in this song. While “September Gurls” is considered their classic and “In The Streets” is probably their best known song, the music, lyrics and production on this track just hit everything perfectly. Chilton’s vocal performance is outstanding. The guitar work, superb. Hummell and Stephen’s bass and drum work, outstanding.

More than any other Big Star song - more than almost any other song period - I find myself singing this one to myself when I’m in line at a grocery store, or getting ready to perform in a show.

Yeah, there’s sort of no way, I think, that this one could have been a big hit, so I won’t argue that, but it is a fabulous song all the same.

sadclownrep

http://sadclownrep.com/?p=1362

I am eternally grateful, Last FM.

“What’s Going Ahn” starts with a guitar line that almost sounds country. This is another song that is a little down on romance:

and I resigned everyone
Ever since I was young
Im starting to understand
Whats going ahn and how its planned

I like love but I dont know
All these girls they come and go
Always nothing left to say.

Andy Hummell is also given a writing credit on this song (as well as on “Life is White”).

While this track is totally overshadowed by the next track, it is a pleasant enough ballad.

sadclownrep

http://sadclownrep.com/?p=1361

Clip from 2006:

And the whole thing on The Last FM.

You may recall that I don’t care for Bassist Andy Hummell’s “India Song”. You may also recall that I said he wrote one of my favorite Big Star songs. Well, here we are!

“Way Out West” is Hummell’s contribution to music history. After this album, he left music to return to college and, subsequently, went on to a lucrative career as an engineer.

The song, while hardly a positive look at a relationships, does have a hopeful chorus:

and why dont you come on back from
Way out west
And love me we can work out the rest

Love can still make things work, even if the odds seem a little against it.

Hummell, in the linked interview above, proposes that this was sort of the last Big Star album and that Third/Sister Lovers could be regarded as a bit more of a Alex Chilton solo effort. I think there is some truth to this, though this means Chilton never again was able to create that quality of music again as a solo artist.

Anyhow, hat’s off to you, Andy Hummell! You’ve lived a successful life so far and contributed to one of the great rock bands! Not too shabby!

sadclownrep

http://sadclownrep.com/?p=1360

Last FM.

Radio City is a very different sounding album than either #1 Record or Third/Sister Lovers. “Life is White” is a prime example of this.

While most of the songs on #1 Record sound like they were made for radio, many of the songs on Radio City sound like inspired jams. Of course, that’s sort of exactly what they were, since Chilton preferred to record “live in the studio.”

This song is decidedly more pessimistic than anything on #1 Record, though the singer doesn’t sound defeated the way that he does on Third/Sister Lovers.

sadclownrep

http://sadclownrep.com/?p=1359

On Last FM. Stick it in your 8-track, put the roof down on the convertible and let the wind blow through your sideburns.

“O My Soul” is the first track off Big Star’s second album, Radio City.

The Pop Culture Press site has a fascinating account of this album. The main point they make is that this was, in a sense, three different sets of tracks. Two with Chris Bell and one as a Trio. Bell was definitely involved with 4 or 5 of the tracks.

Chilton, according to that link, said that this song was his music and Bell’s lyrics. Here is my favorite snippet from this song:

I can’t get a license
To drive my car
But I don’t really need it
If I’m a big star.

I can’t help but think that, even at this early stage, that was ironic. I also like that there is a very small lyrical connection between that and Joe Walsh’s “Life’s Been Good.” Also, I am a fan of band’s cleverly sticking their name into lyrics.

Anyhow, I think Radio City is a distinctly different sounding record, and this is because Chilton had an increased influence on how the music was recorded. Chilton, who has been called “the laziest great artist in the history of American rock & roll”, preferred to record songs live in the studio and then fiddle with them later. Bell was more of a late-Beatles guy, laying down tracks and tinkering.

This song is notable for its great guitar work. The drum work on this whole album, by Jody Stephens, is especially excellent and worth paying close attention to if you have the time.

While I like this song quite a bit, it is eclipsed by nearly ever song that follows it. Now that, my friends, is the sign of a great album.

garethness

01:13 @jephjacques These comparisons to coffee are getting a bit scary now. #

01:23 4chan! why are you down! i actually wanted to check out the other forums other than /b/ for once! grrr #

18:05 Someone just bought 50 cases of Moet champagne. 300 Bottles. £4700 Down from like 6k. Oh and they used their clubcard. #

22:15 i'm tired @_@ #

23:03 Im bored '_' #

officialgaiman

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2008/07/with-still-milion-things-to-say.html

warren_ellis

Babe, Terror is a band (or maybe a single guy?) out of Sao Paulo who appear to be fashioning their recordings in a tumbledown Portuguese church somewhere off the ninth circle of Hell. It has the same feel as the earliest Sigur Ros, but significantly more lo-fi, Satanic and loveless.

Their demo is up on PureVolume — I’m listening to "Nasa Goodbye" right now.