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Soundtrack Of Our Lives: Behind The Music (2001)

Lemon Jelly: Lost Horizons (2002) Polyphonic Spree: Beginning Stages Of (2003)

Thusfar at Freeway Jam, we've looked at a lot of music from the 60's, 70's, 80's, and 90's. With the exception of a few tunes that came up in genre playlists, we have yet to devote an entire playlist to the 00's, which I pronounce the oh!s.

Compared to the 90's at this point, early into the 5th year of the decade, the 00's seem relatively mysterious. There has been no enormous genre breakthrough like with grunge (Kurt Cobain was already dead by 1995). There have been no spate of universally accepted bands, transcending generations like Nirvana, Peal Jam, and those guys. Rock music, as an artform, gives the impression of deep hibernation if not death; never has its market share of the music consuming population been so small, never have its innovative bands existed so far on the margins of mainstream entertainment.

What has been going on since 2001? There have been the teen pop idols and the American Idols. There've been very conventional sounding bands like Creed and Coldplay; dull and uninspiring. We've seen electronica make further inroads with rock audiences in the form of Beth Orton, 4 hero, and Air. We've seen some very creative music in very small niches; from prog-rock revival to space rock and dream pop. But what's the trend? Where are we going?

How soon is now?

I doubt we'll be able to answer these tonight. But since I missed a day on Saturday, and since you helped me out with my artists query, I'll throw in an extra playlist tonight.

All titles dated 2001-2005 on their date tags were used to generate a random playlist, a pool of 1519 titles. The first ten songs randomly selected from this pool by Media Center are profiled, Jam Tags (1-5 stars) follow:

I give you the oh!s:

1. Bob Dylan: Lonesome Day Blues ***
Bob Dylan: Love and Theft (2001)

This opens like a good barroom blues, and then Dylan comes in with his tortured voice. Dylan never had what you'd call a good voice; that was part of his charm. Whatever he had is shredded and ruined now; it hurts my throat to listen to him. I realize that's unfair, but it does explain why I've failed to connect with the very well received Love and Theft. The lyrics, from what I could make out, are pure Dylan; full of bite and crackpot humor. I know he's a legend, and I love him too. But I won't be playing this one much, I fear.

2. Guided By Voices: Run Wild ****
Guided By Voices: Isolation Drills (2001)

Guided By Voices: Isolation Drills (2001)

The lo-fi band Guided By Voices has been releasing work since 1986. Once a cross between post-punk and jangle-pop, with a hint of prog-rock and British Invasion tossed in, they've since become a little heavier sounding, now that they record for bigger record labels. Run Wild has guitar in spades and a fine vocal from Robert Pollard. What it lacks is the homespun lo-fi charm the band once had when they were younger and more whimsical. Pollard announced the band's breakup last year.

3. Camper Van Beethoven: I Am Talking To This Flower ****
Camper Van Beethoven: New Roman Times (2004)

Camper Van Beethoven: New Roman Times (2004)

Easily the most welcome reunion of an 80's band, and fans like me are hoping it becomes permanent. Not only is it of a quality equal to their late 80's heyday, it is easily the most ambitious album these California slackers have attempted. They've lost some of their sense of humor, but they've perfected their chops; I Am Talking To This Flower is full of oddball harmonies, offbeat instrumental textures (here, augmented by paranoid sounding synths), plenty of guitar crunch and busy drumming. Lyrically complex, it builds to a tremendous crescendo.

4. 3 Doors Down: Here Without You ***
# Doors Down: Away from The Sun (2002)

The hardworking Kansas group 3 Doors Down hit big with Kryptonite in 2000. This is from their sophomore album, and struck a chord as an anthem of sorts for persons with family deployed overseas. I mention where this band is from, because this opens with a gentle acoustic guitar and vocal that recalls Kansas' "Dust In The WInd" Then, we get some pretty syrupy production, with sweet strings and very emotive vocal. If it reminds you of a loved one; go for it. It's pretty bland, though.

5. Evanescence: Heart Shaped Box (live) ***
Evanescence: Going Under [CD-SINGLE] (2003)

Evanescence: Going Under [CD-SINGLE] (2003)

Acoustic cover of the Nirvana tune, featuring a strong vocal from Amy Lee and good guitar Ben Moody. This recording doesn't give you much sense of the band, which is a goth-inspired alt-metal band. But it is a worthwhile track for collectors of Nirvana covers, and Lee's enunciation is good enough for me to finally understand the seriously disturbed lyrics here. This Arkansas band originally had their product sold in Christian markets; when the band used some profanity during an interview, the Christian outlets dropped them.

6. Leann Rimes: Life Goes On **
Leann Rimes: Twisted Angel (2002)

Country-flavored adult contemporary. Rimes was a 14-year old prodigy when she burst onto the scene in 1996. Pushing 20 here, she has ditched most of her country roots in favor of a middle of the road approach. The result is blandness through and through; even her much balleyhooed voice slipped by so anonymously, I had no idea who I was listening to. The cover is a giveaway; the title suggests an edge, and her designer dress and expensive-looking suite take that edge right back again.

7. Natacha Atlas: I Put A Spell On You **
Natacha Atlas: Ayeshteni (2001)

Belgian-born Atlas first appeared with world-beat dance band Transglobal Underground, who provide her with the beats here. She certainly does very strange things to this old chestnut; arabesque belly dancing music, a reference of the oft-borrowed Indonesian Monkey Chant; plenty of drums n bass. Her vocals are quite something, though; you'll have to buy the accent, and accept her weird "la-la-la's". If you don't like Bjork, you probably won't like Atlas. Me, I'll give her another try. But I think I'm done with this track, which reminds me of karaoke night in Shinjuku at the old folks' home.

8. Sonic Youth: Stones ****
Sonic Youth: Sonic Nurse (2004)

Good old reliable Sonic Youth; passing their 20th anniversary they still come up with credible post-rock alternative noisefests. This one is sung by Thurston Moore, and is full of his strange tuning and features a full, noisy jam. Actually one of the lesser tunes from the very good Sonic Nurse, it probably won't win any converts. Some of the other stuff from the album, their 18th, might.

9. Arcade Fire: Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) ****
Arcade Fire: Funeral (2004)

This band has been hyped a lot lately, so my ears perked up when they came on the autoplay. This is almost like David Bowie's "Heroes"; a tale about lovers separated (and meeting in a tunnel). It has very Bowie-esque vocals, and a humming background full of distorted guitar, tinkling piano, synth haze, and an increasingly propulsive beat, as singer Win Butler works himself up just like Bowie did, but without falling over the edge. So for something that feels derivitive, it also satisfies. I'd have to hear more from Arcade Fire to tell if they're deserving of their hype. But this song makes the grade.

10. Secret Machines: The Road Leads Where It's Led *****
Secret machines: Now Here Is Nowhere (2004)

Secret machines: Now Here Is Nowhere (2004)

Secret Machines pretty much gets my vote for best band to issue a debut album in 2004 (they put out an EP in 2002). Best described as either dream pop or neo-progressive, Secret Machines plunder most of rock history to patch together their sound. This track is propulsive, with a kicking drum, a breathy vocal that leads us into a good harmonic bridge. The surrounding atmospherics rely largely on synthesizer and power chords, but has a spareness that recalls German rock bands like Can to a degree. Even oldtimer rock fans might get into this one.

Hmmm. Not the most satisfying playlist ever, aside from a couple of nuggets. Maybe it was just the luck of the draw; we'll just have to try again another day.

¶ 11:37 PM 4 comments

Right Place Wrong Time

Time once again for Freeway Jam's regular irregular feature we call "What were people looking for when they wound up here?" This is where we profile the search engine terms used in Google or Yahoo that bring visitors to Freeway Jam.

A little backstory for those just joining us. As a result of off-the cuff remarks I made in my first few posts about the song "Les Fleurs" (either by 4 hero or Minnie Riperton), the very obscure song "Costafine Town" by Splinter, and an obit for the guitarist from Bread, I have been attracting an unusually high number of seekers of lyrics, mp3's and the like for those artists, way more than for anyone else.

I'm sure they are disappointed when they get here; I try to throw them a little bone as a consolation prize.

Last time, I thought they were gone; the site was re-indexed and I didn't get any Les Fleurs or Splinter maniacs for a week. That was good, since it gave me a chance to focus on new searches, like the Budgie fan who showed up, and the Grace Slick fan. Not to mention the freeway killer.

From Yahoo: costafine town lyrics
From Alta Vista: splinter costafine town mp3

The Splinter/"Costafine Town" fanatics are back again. Warner Brothers, are you listening? We've seen 11 of them now, all searching for a Warners song that never got higher than #77 on the charts, and has never appeared on CD. I've done all I can do; I gave them rare sheet music art, rare album cover art, a profile, here's the lyrics too...

COSTAFINE TOWN (words: Robert J. Purvis and William Elliott; music: Robert J. Purvis) Splinter: Costafine Town/Elly May [West Germany 45]

Splinter: Costafine Town/Elly May [West Germany 45]

Dirty old hole in the side of the road for the man who cleans the streets
Open pub doors where the working class goes at night
Written on walls where the cats never crawl for the glass along the top
Man, I was born there, I'm gonna walk right back

CHORUS:
Costafine Town, it's a fine town, I'm coming home
I feel so lonely, I've been too long away
Costafine Town, it's a fine town, I'm coming home
I wish I'd never made up my mind to stray

Nobody owns all the dirty old clothes that are lying in the lane
Whistling loud, the four-thirty shift has gone
Little old man with a pole in his hand lighting lamps along the way
Hurry me back there, I wish I'd never gone

repeat CHORUS 3 times

Costafine Town, it's a fine town, I'm coming home...

That's all I can do for our Splinter hunters; here's even a Splinter Library for them. Godspeed, seekers, godspeed.

From Google: the united states of america psychedelica mp3
The United Startes of America: The United States of America (1968)

The United Startes of America: The United States of America (1968)

The United States of America was profiled in the "not rock" playlist. Big time favorites of mine, they recorded only one LP, a self-titled debut for Columbia. The record sold poorly, peaking at #181 on the album charts, and the band vanished.

The band was formed in 1967 by Joseph Byrd, an assistant teacher at UCLA with a jazz background. he recruited a group of UCLA students: vocalist Dorothy Moskowitz (whose pipes recalled Grace Slick's), bassist Rand Forbes, electric violinist Gordon Marron and drummer Craig Woodson. Byrd and the band used no guitars and built their sound around a ring modulator, a primitive synthesizer later popularized by the Krautrock bands in the 70's. The album garnered significant critical acclaim, and its reputation has grown, but it still remains largely unheard to this day. A 1992 reissue adds two outtakes, both on my wishlist.

It's an album that should be listened to in one sitting, but standout tracks include "The American Metaphysical Circus", "Hard Coming Love", "The Cloud Song", and "Garden of Earthly Delights". After the band broke up, Byrd formed another experimental band, Joseph Byrd and the Field Hippies, which released one album to little critical or commercial notice. He also produced Ry Cooder's Jazz album. Dorothy Moskowitz turned up on Country Joe's Paris Sessions album in 1973, but hasn't been heard from since.

From Google: "90's"
Prince: 1999 (1983)

That's pretty short and sweet. Not sure what they meant by "90's" though. 90's music? 90's fashion? 90's history? It's a little soon for 90's nostalgia, isn't it? Well, a salute to when we partied like it was 1999...

From Yahoo: freeway jam blogs
From Yahoo: freeway jam blog
From Yahoo: freewayjam.com
From Yahoo: freeway jam

This looks very exciting on paper, although I know two of those are the same guy, a personal acquaintance, who forgot the url. Still, the other two are mysteries. Who knows? Someday Freeway Jam'll be bigger than Splinter ever was.

Jam Tags: Splinter: Costafine Town *** (and after looking over the lyrics, it's leaning towards a **, but Splinter fans have it tough enough already)
The United States of America: The American Metaphysical Circus *****
The United States of America: Hard Coming Love *****
The United States of America: The Cloud Song ****
The United STates of America: Garden of Earthly Delights ****
Prince: 1999 *****

¶ 9:28 PM 0 comments

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