Tuddd's Muddd

Tugggets #2

[Man, I love that crappy graphic.]

Well, Tugggets was originally meant to be a weekly thing, but I've had a bunch of other shit on my plate lately, thank you very fucking much.  Plus my post-Cheeseburger partying Sat night/Sunday morning/Sunday afternoon kinda put me out of commission there for a couple days.  Whatever.  I'll try to keep the Tugggets featurette going as long as I can, plumbing the depths of Tha Muddd (yuck!) in order to bring you only the finest in rare obscurities that only nerds like myself give a holy horsefuck about.  Enjoy!

[If you care, the first Tugggets installment can be found here.  And, again, any requests can posted in the Comments section below.]

11.) Television - Venus [1974 Rehearsal]

Considering the streamlined, uber-efficient, tidy riffin' machine that Television eventually became, it's pretty rad to hear them at an earlier, more ramshackle stage of their existence (yes, Richard Hell was actually still in the band at this point, and I'm pretty sure that's Hell's self-deprecating banter that follows the mercifully aborted attempt at Venus that starts the track).  Maybe next time I'll put up a more technically proficient version of this song for the sake of comparision.  Or maybe not. 

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12.) Guided by Voices - My Valuable Hunting Knife [live]

"THIS IS CALLED 'MY PSYCHEDELIC BUTTER KNIFE'"

--Robert Pollard

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VS.

13.) Van Halen - Walk Away [live Hollywood 1976]

In David Lee Roth's Crazy From the Heat autobiography, ghost writer Henry Rollins (!) notes that Diamond Dave's ability to improvise lyrics was/is legendary.  Of course, this was the same characteristic that was lampooned by Chris Kattan in his SNL impersonation of Diamond Dave (ZIBBITY BOP!).

    People's exhibit A.  Here, I'm giving you Diamond Daves' version of the lyrics from the verses compared with the real ones as sung by the James Gang on the original version.  Mind you, he's pretty damn close on the first verse and nails the choruses before just losing his shit and inexplicably repeating the second verse -- or, rather, his version of the second verse -- twice.  Brilliant.  Brilliant, I said.

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first verse: (again, he's pretty damn close early on)

Takin' my time [well done]

Choosin' my line [again, well done]

Tryin' to decide what to do [can he keep it up!?]

Looks like my stop [4 for 4!  Holy crap Dave!]

Don't want to... rock [ok, it's actually "don't want to get off" but "don't want to rock" is pretty hilarious]

Try to do best here without you. ["Got myself hung up on you"]

Chorus [nails it]

second verse:

"Places I've gone [it's "places I've known"]

Think that I'm goin' [it's actually "things that I'm growin'", but 'A' for effort]

Once again some day-yeah ["Don't taste the same without you"]

People I've seen, yessah ["Got myself in"]

See them goin' ["Worst mess I've been"]

Each and every way" ["And I find myself starving without you"]

Chorus - [nails it]

/guitar solo/

third verse:

Places I've gone [I've got to cool myself down]

Think that I'm goin' [Stompin' around]

Once again some day [Thinkin' some words I can't name ya]

People I've seen, yessah [Meet you halfway]

See that I'm goin' [Got nothin' to say]

Ohhh... every way [Still I don't s'pose I can't blame ya]

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**sigh**

BRILLIANT.

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14.) Dead Boys - Sonic Reducer [live San Francisco 1977]

Best live version of this great song I've ever heard.

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15.) Lou Reed - Street Hassle [live Cleveland 1977]

While we're in 1977 courtesty the Dead Boys, here's an excellent live version of Lou Reed's epic (13 minutes!) tale of sex, drugs and death.  (Oh, wait, all of his songs are about that.  Fine, I'll give you that.  But none of his other songs have as incredible a bassline as you get about 6:45 into this song.) 

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16.) Beck - Goin' Nowhere Fast

This is from one of the many pre-Mellow Gold demos Beck recorded, and which you can find in certain musty corners of the interwebz, if you know where to look. 

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17.) The Eurfians - Waaro!

This is pretty much my favorite thing ever.  If anybody has any idea what "MUSTARD!" means in Dutch, hook me up.  Once again, this comes from Distortions Records splendiforous archive of '60s garage-psych goodies n' rarities.

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VS.

18.) Lindsey Buckingham - Holiday Road [from National Lampoon's Vacation]

Or, if you'd rather, watch the video here if you're interested to see which phase of Lindsey Buckingham's ever-evolving Coke Monster sang this particular song.  [Spoiler alert: it's the mid-80's American Psycho one.]

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19.) Deerhunter - Calvary Scars [live 2007]

Microcastle version is too short.  Weird Era version is too long.  This one is just right. (Yes, I'm aware that there's a little crackling at the beginning of the track.  Deal with it.) 

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20.) Roger McGuinn - Take A Whiff [live 1976 Long Island]

"Cocaine's for horses, not for men.

The doctor says 'it kills ya' but he won't say when"

--Roger McGuinn

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Tugggets #1

    

[Note- I am fully aware that the above "Tugggets" graphic is terrible.  Well get used to that shit since this is probably going to be a recurring Muddd feature.  Or design me a new logo, I don't care.]
  

    It's already February and I still haven't come close to finishing all my '09 End-of-Year lists ("more Best Albums"; "more Best Concerts" and "biggest assholes I encountered at shows in '09" are still in the pipeline).  And at the moment I'm too exhausted to do anything that actually involves any "creativity."  But this should be fun nonetheless. 

    OK.  I have literally thousands of bootlegs.  Despite maintaining this blog for over 3 years, I've practically never really resorted into dipping into my archive of music to share the wealth with y'all.  For that I am sorry, and I intend to begin remunerating for that shit forthwith.  

    So here's the first installment in my personal Nuggets, aka "Tugggets."  ("Tuddgets"?  Nah.  "Tudddets"?  That sucks too.  Sigh.  "Tuddd-nuggets?" //BARF) If there's anything y'all want to hear, feel free to make requests... I've been working on a few "best-of live/rare" playlists from different groups (Velvets, Magnetic Fields in particular, and my GbV one is constantly getting additions.  Also I think having a compilation of Diamond Dave's or Phil Anselmo's stage banter would be hysterical).  So give a shout if there's shit u wanna hear. 

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1.) Neutral Milk Hotel [Jeff Mangum solo] -  Gardenhead_Leave Me Alone

Totally prefer this version to the On Avery Island version- Jeff Mangum's voice gets positively Cobainian on the "AND SOME YOU LEAVE BEEE-HIIIIIIIIND!!!" line in this one.  Taken from an XFM station session in 1998, in which it's also revealed during an interview that Jeff Mangum has never heard of Captain Beefheart.  Huh.  Anyway, enjoy this shit.

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2.) Various Artists - Distortions Funkadelphia_14_Loving Spell

Somewhere else in the bowels of the Muddd I raved about Distortions Records' From the Kitchen to the Garage compilation (of Dutch girl-fronted bands in the '60s) which came out in '08.  Last week I grabbed Distortion's Allentown, PA-centric garage compilation and immediately became obsessed with this song, by Allentown's own Shillings.  How was this not a huge radio hit alongside like Herman's Hermits and The Turtles and that type of stuff?!  [Here's the link to Distortions Records' website... you can buy most of their stellar comps for $8, and they have a buy-3-get-one-free deal.  I'm going to be hearing a LOT more of this stuff in the coming months.]

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VS.

3.) Mogwai - Don't Cry [2_17_98]

Yes, this is Mogwai covering -- earnestly, no less -- the classic Guns N' Roses song.  Fucking unreal that this exists, and I think they do an exceptional job with the straight cover. 

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VS.

4.) Guided by Voices - Let the Good Times Roll [live Cars cover]

"Let the story be told,

Let them say what they want.

Let the story be told,

Let them call you a cunt."

--Robert Pollard

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VS.

5.) Matthew Sweet - Do Ya [live ELO cover]

This makes perfect sense/it's probably the most Matthew Sweet-ish song ever written by an artist that isn't actually Matthew Sweet himself.

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6.) Lou Reed - Sweet Jane [live Long Island 1972]

Perfect version of the perfect song.  In the late '70s, Lou Reed's live band would often trick this song out with a 4 minute Remain in Light-ish guitar solo intro, but this is a version at it's leanest, cleanest and (consequently) meanest.  Had to choose between this and a stellar live version of Lou Reed's epic "Street Hassle" from Cleveland in 1977/you'll probably see that one next week.

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7.) Doug Martsch - Pale Blue Eyes [live acoustic Velvet Underground cover]

While we're on the Lou Reed/VU tip, why not another excellent cover.

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8.) Dinosaur Jr - Feel the Pain [live Santa Monica 1994]

While we're on the Indie-Rock-Guitar-Super-God tip, why not some J for that azz. 

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9.) Mad Season - Lifeless Dead [1-8-95 Self-Pollution live]

If you were ever subjected to one of my mixtapes between 1995 and 1999, there's a very good chance you've heard this version of this song at one time or another.  I fucking love it and think it's probably among the finest 100 or so songs ever written.  Mad Season were, of course, the little-beloved Seattle supergroup that consisted of Alice in Chains' singer, Pearl Jam's lead guitarist, Screaming Trees' drummer (who I think eventually became a Buddhist monk) and a guy they met in rehab on bass. 

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10.) Van Halen - Tour Song [live Montevideo 1983]

If I were posting shit based on sheer hilarity, I'd post some early club-era Van Halen where they're covering classic rock standards and Diamond Dave -- who clearly didn't bother learning the lyrics to songs by Zeppelin/Mountain/Joe Walsh/etc. -- basically "zibbidy-bop"s his way through the lyrics.  But that's not what this song is-- it's a kind of faux-impromptu moment that the Halen whipped out towards the end of their marathon set to thank the fans-- in this case an Uruguayan crowd-- over a simple, pleasant acoustic chord progression.  The best part is when Diamond Dave, always the panderer extraordinaire, exclaims that Montevideo is "NUMERO UNO EN FOOTBALL!!!" towards the end of the song.  Fuckin' awesome. 

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Okely dokely, that's it for this round.  Again, any requests just post 'em in the comments section.  Mealz. 

Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Limburger

http://adage.com/songsforsoap/post?article_id=129865

David Lee Roth's isolated vocal track from "Runnin' with the Devil"

    This is the funniest thing I've heard in forever.  If you thought "Diamond" Dave's yelps, screams and assorted sound effects were awesome/confusing before, then sink your teeth into this.  (Courtesy WFMU's "Beware of the Blog")

    Note that at no point does he sing the words "Runnin' with the Devil."  No, such a menial task as singing the song's actual fucking chorus was left to Michael Anthony and Eddie, as Dave was clearly more preoccupied with hootin' and hollerin'.  Good shit.

GODDAMNITBABYYOUKNOWIAIN'TLYIN'TOYAI'MONLYGONNATELLYOUONETIIIIIIIIIIME!!!!!

NYC Show Listings, November 12th thru November 16th

    Sadly, my camera is still broken, so I can't publish pics from the A Place to Bury Strangers show from last week (opening for Black Angels at Bowery Ballroom), or the Witch show at Luna Lounge, also from last week.  Or the pics from the Damo Suzuki show a couple of weeks ago.  Meh, so what, so be it, fuck it.  This week's shows deserve attention, too. 

Monday, November 12th

Show: Pipettes with Nicole Atkins at Gramercy Theater
Why I'm not going: Well, first off, the show was yesterday so attending this show would require some severe metaphysical tinkering.  I have a serious soft spot for classic era Motown and girl groups but the Pipettes really are somewhat of a poor facsimile of what I truly dig.  Plus the "I like to disco" verse of "Pull Shapes" reminds me too much of an unironic update of the Muppet Babies theme song ("I like adventure/I like romance/I love great jokes/ANIMAL DANCE!").  And Nicole Atkins and the Sea, who I saw opening for the Raveonettes at both of their recent NYC shows, are just too middle-of-the-road to hold my attention.  Pass.

Tuesday, November 13th

Show: Battles with A Place to Bury Strangers and White Williams at Webster Hall
Why I'm going: Can't beat Battles' in the live setting.  Sure, Mirrored may be overrated, but their live show is fucking fantastic: energetic, sweaty and precise.  Plus I have a semi-sexual man crush on John Stanier, the sweatiest man in show business.  I've seen them twice already this year but it's been awhile since I headbanged so hard my glasses fell off (AKA the Battles show at Studio B in July) so that should be fun.  Also, I've already gone on record several times as having totally drank the Kool-Aid on A Place to Bury Strangers, so their opening set is icing on the cake.

Show: Van Halen (with Diamond Dave!) at Madison Square Garden
Why I'm not going: Van Halen has finally reunited with the erstwhile lead singer of the band's formative years, showman galore, "Diamond" David Lee Roth.  That's all well and good, but when you think about it, the main reasons for wanting to go to this and not wanting to go pretty much hand in hand: major trainwreck potential and unintentionally self-parodying arena rock misery.  And, of course, the reviews from the tour up to this point have been rife with accounts of Eddie Van Halen's petulance and pomposity (throwing equipment at his guitar tech, pitching a monitor into the crowd, playing full songs out of tune, and getting caught air-guitaring to pre-recorded rhythm tracks).  The way I see it, if they're going to have a legendary meltdown, where better than The World's Most Famous Arena?

Wednesday, November 14th

Sorry folks, no interesting shows.  Move along, nothing to see here.

Thursday, November 15th

Show: Japanther Dinosaur Death Dance Show at PS 122
Why I'm not going: Hold yer horses, this sounds pretty fucking bizarre.  According to PS122's website:

Williamsburg's favorite noise-rock band Japanther (Ian Vanek and Matt Reily) unveils a new comedic rock-opera of unpredictable scale, repercussions, and decibel levels. Using a high-energy multi-media format - their "tool kit" integrates live music, dance, an interactive set, video projections plus an animatronic robot dinosaur - the band and their collaborators create a full-immersion theatrical concert experience that sports a a sharp political edge and an equally edgy heart.

What starts as a post-modern funeral becomes an uplifting and entertaining ceremony. The set, designed by conceptual artist Dan Graham, becomes a canvas for simultaneous stimuli: a large optical glass wall not unlike his "pavilions" is situated next to a circular band stage, a la the Rolling Stones on Ed Sullivan, where Japanther works their musical magic. While Sonya Robbins and Layla Childs dance up a storm, an animatronic dinosaur narrator, designed and built by industrial artist Doyle, inhabited by the text and voice of peace-punk Penny Rimbaud (spoken word artist and the co-founder of anarchist punk band Crass) lies on his deathbed recanting his belief systems. Darkly humorous intersticial commercials advertise the sunny plight of the American Indian and advocate arresting those who feed the homeless. By daring the audience to laugh at sad truths, Japanther opens up a door to hope and makes it cool again.

Uh, wow.  You can catch this show from the 15th thru the 19th at PS 122.

Friday, November 16th

Show: Aloke at Matchless
Why I'm not going: I have some incredibly uninteresting family shit to take care of.  But I saw Aloke at the "old" Northsix sometime last year, and I was impressed with their brand of dissonant, noisy, emotive, catharsis-mongering.  Good shit, check these kids out if you have a chance.

Show: Tommy Ramone's Uncle Monk with Used to Be Women at Knitting Factory
Why I might go: Well, Tommy Ramone's the last surviving original Ramone, so that's cool.  His Uncle Monk project, according to the Knitting Factory website is

an alt-country indie-bluegrass duo featuring Tommy Ramone on vocals, mandolin, guitar, banjo and dobro, and Claudia Tienan on vocals, guitar and bass. The duo’s music is rooted in old-time and bluegrass influences, to which they have added unique musical textures to create a sound with a new sensibility.

Sounds pretty lame.  But Used to Be Women, as I've written here before, are among my favorite Brooklyn bands: gritty and grimy with a distinct '60s R+B/garage flavor.   I dig 'em and so should you.