The Ladders - A Tribute to the Beatles - 2014

I discovered this band as I was building my Beatles cover song compilation last month.  Their versions aren't spot on, and most of them are trying to be direct translations.  But, there's something about their passion and hard work that I find endearing and inspiring.  You can tell that they are having the best of times while doing this....

I know that not everyone is a fan of the Beatles. But, to understand Rock n Roll today, you have to realize that if it wasn't for the work that those four musicians did in a short span of 6 years, we wouldn't be where we are today.  They inspired millions of people and introduced a format of writing and album-making that was unheard of before.  And, as proof here, they still inspire people today.

AND...  some more inane and boring soul-searching on my part.  Skip the purple if you're not interested and head straight for the bottom.....

I'm still feeling pretty rough today.

It's not like I was happy and carefree, and this one incident sent me over the edge.  I can handle A LOT of shit before I melt down.  I just see my life as one crisis after another, overlapping and layered one on top of another.  One crisis doesn't even get resolved before another one pops up.  Sometimes it just gets too much to handle, and I crack.  And after I crack, I fall into a depression that seems bottomless.

I know I have personal flaws that cause a lot of my issues...

1 - My Attention Deficit Disorder affects my ability to stay focused on any one project for very long, especially if I don't enjoy what I'm doing.

2 - I find it hard to filter my thoughts when I speak.  Sometimes I'm either too direct and my words are cutting or hurtful, OR I just say stupid shit, as it's the first thing that pops in my mind.  Usually, it's something that is totally the wrong thing to say at any given time.

3 - My tactfulness is for shit.

4 - I tend to over think things way too much, to the point of causing enough anxiety to make me sick.

5 - I have a history of making the wrong choices in my life.

6 - I can be lazy.  Especially if I am unmotivated.

As for things outside of my control....  I can only think of one...  Due to the economy, the job market in my city/state is horrible.  My only skill sets that I have nurtured (sales) limit me in what I can do.  Sales jobs are a dime a dozen, but most of them involve a lot of cold-calling which I suck at, or are selling products that are near impossible to sell and make a living at (which is why they are available to begin with.  Nobody wants them.)

It's like a vicious cycle, and the best thing I can do is distract myself and escape into music, or politics, or my love for Star Wars, Japanese tokusatsu, Sci-Fi, fonts or cooking.  I tend to let my troubles and distractions take priority over things in my life that are important like basic housekeeping, home repairs, looking for other jobs, and most importantly, time with my family.  When I do spend time with my family, especially during these crisis modes, the underlying anxiety causes me to be on edge and short with people, especially when they don't deserve it.  And there are times, more often than not, that I try and use humor to disguise my pain, but it's relatively transparent and obnoxious.

Hopefully, there won't be too many more posts like this.  It has suddenly become a journal for me to get my feelings out, and try to understand them myself.  If I can articulate them, maybe it will be easier for me to work with them, change them, overcome them.  For the time being, at least it makes me feel a little better.

Boy, I really feel vulnerable right now.  I've been airing my issues to thousands of people.  It's like I posted a dick pic of myself or something.  Fortunately, all I am to you is a computer screen.  I'd be even more embarrassed if you actually knew me.  Hopefully, maybe, in expressing my pain and problems, I'm helping people realize that they are not alone in the world.  I know that I can't possibly be the only one who feels this way.  And we all know that misery loves company.

Let's all hope these depressing posts end soon!!!!

Thanks for listening to my problems...

The Ladders - A Tribute to the Beatles - 2014

The Vickers - Ghosts - 2014

I've really been anticipating posting this album for some time.  I had forgotten about it for a while, and finally remembered it as I was building my albums for Compilation Week (coming in a week and a half!).  I discovered them a little over a year ago, and have been fascinated with them ever since.....

From their website -
The Florence based new psychers will take you on a musical kaleidoscopic journey made of colours and space voices on flowing waves. They are influenced by the immortal 60′s melodies mixed with a touch of 90′s spleen. They toured Europe several times (recent tours December, February and May 2014) and they played at Primavera Sound Festival in Barcellona (May 2014). The Vickers released the new album “Ghosts” at the end of March, an example of their new sound, a clear example of modern expanded pop/rock! “Sounding like The Beatles after one too many acid trips”

 Also, here is the song/video that first grabbed me and impressed the shit out of me....

I've always thought they were a stellar band ever since...

I know that they aren't the bestest best band out there, but I find them very enjoyable, entertaining, and fun to watch.  I would really like to see them, but I'd have to go to Italy for that to happen.

Some of the best bands out there are undiscovered (or only very little "discovered").  I spend a lot of time on Jamendo , Soundcloud, and Bandcamp (I know I should probably look on Spotify and Reddit, but I found that I find better music on those three.)  There are a lot of great bands that given the proper exposure, could lead to something big.  This is how I found the Vickers, among a dozen other great outfits.

So, listen up, let me know what you think, and we'll see you tomorrow...

The Vickers - Ghosts - 2014 

Pet Shop Boys - A Man From the Future - 2014

While looking for new and interesting material for the blog, I happened upon these PSB tracks that I never knew existed.  Wow.  Who the hell is Alan Turing?  Well, the Guardian had an article about it, here.  An interesting story, but lacking in any sort of traditional PSB trappings.  Yes, you have Neil's nasally, whiny vocals (don't get me wrong, I like them) but as the article said, not enough Chris.  And the narrator was boring as well.

BUT, it is some more PSB.  I'd almost like to see a studio version of this album with just Neil and Chris, and nix the orchestra and the narration.  Then, it would be so much better.  Either way, though, it really shows how the Boys (especially Neil) have always tried to broaden their abilities beyond the synthpop genre that they usually do their work.  It gives them a sense of depth, intelligence and maturity.

As for the track listing, I'm not sure exactly how many tracks there are supposed to be, as I found to different sets, with different numbering.  I'm not sure yet if whoever posted this "Prom" cut it into tracks at different moments, and more parts, or if there's portions missing, or whatever.  To be honest, I haven't listened to the whole thing all the way through in one sitting yet, so I'm not sure about it.

Regardless, it's another fine example of PSB work that you can confidently place right between Electric and Super.  Who knows, you may love it more than I did.  And I have no problems including it in my PSB collection.....

Pet Shop Boys - A Man From the Future - 2014

Bad Lieutenant - Never Cry Another Tear - 2014

I always get a funny feeling in my heart whenever I see my heroes age.  I know that the glories that they once had are a thing of the past, and they are slowly sliding down that hill to eventual retirement.  As I watch DM, Erasure, Cure, PSB and New Order get older, and I feel myself creak and groan and hold my hip and rub the back of my neck, I know that I'm getting older too.

I watch Youtube and the TV and I see these young punks up there jumping around and holding their microphones upside down acting like they're the shit, and I laugh mockingly to myself.  Look at them, they don't know what it means to be cool.  But, I catch myself and I realize that I'm probably thinking the same way my Dad did when I was jamming out to New Order and the like.  HE grew up with the Beatles and the Stones and the Doors.  Now THOSE guys were cool, he probably thought.  And they were, for their time, just as New Order and DM were cool for their time.

Not that they aren't cool.  I still think they're cool.  They really are.  And the music they write is still great, too.  They are Elder Statesmen of the Post Punk genre and era.  But, the youth of today will never understand.  They won't understand what it was like to live in the 80s, see Reagan and Thatcher on TV, watch the astronaut plant the MTV flag on the moon, wear fluorescent laces in their Chuck Taylor high tops and be considered cool, shave lines in their sideburns, and fall in love with an 80s girl with the sprayed wall of hair that stood up 6 inches off her forehead. 

I still watch the Young Ones on DVD and get a kick out of Vivian and Rik.  I still pull out my Dark Knight Returns and V For Vendetta issues and reread them.  I still wear my Chuck Taylors and my checkerboard Vans. And I still, and always will listen to New Order.

Bad Lieutenant has already put this album out, but I didn't like the cover.  I changed that up, and added Barney's AOL acoustic session, to capture all the music he was releasing at that time.  Although he is aging on the outside, his voice and his lyric are timeless and crystal.  He has a way with constructing his music that is uniquely his own, and no one will ever be able to duplicate it.  They may get close to sounding like him, but they will never be the same.

This album isn't a great album, but it is well worth the listen and a must for completists, for those longing to hear something new from Barney and crew.  And, it's way better than PH and the Light.

But, it harkens back to Jack Black's (and Neil Young's) infamous line from High Fidelity...  Is it better to burn out than fade away?  When it comes to NO, I say let them fade away, as long as they're giving me something new to listen to that will make me feel like a kid again.

Thanks, Barney!  I love your work!!!!

Bad Lieutenant - Never Cry Another Tear - 2014

Paul Oakenfold - DJ Boxes - March & September 2014

Well, it worked once, so we'll try it again.  easy out for me, I guess.  Just have to make the fancy covers for them.  The September 2014 was the first cover I made when I started doing the Oakenfold boxes.  I titled it after one of the songs on the disc, and realized that it made it harder to tell which months I had and which I didn't.  So, after that one disc, I made sure to title the rest of the boxes as their date.

You may also notice that the September cover has the same graphic as one of my Peter Gabriel compilations that I posted previously.  I love that graphic.  Also, I love the eyeball graphic on the March disc.  I still don't know how they did that pic....

Anyway, I love Oakenfold's selections.  He definitely has an ear for good music....

March 2014

September 2014

Temples - Sun Structures - 2014

Nothing too fancy today.  Just a tasty slice of British Psychedelic Rock.  Pretty good album from 2014 that sounds like it was made in 1967.  I collected the b-sides and one remix and tacked them on the end. 

Feeling rather withdrawn today, I don't have anything else to say.  I am making a few more covers, though, tonight.  I'm roughly two weeks ahead of schedule, so all is good....

Good night...

Temples - Sun Structures - 2014