Local H - Pack Up the Cats (CD, 1998)

This album will always remain Local H's crowning achievement. It's retardedly good, and yet destined to live forever in bargain bins. That must drive them nuts.

This record is such a step forward from As Good As Dead (which is pretty good, too) that it seems like Scott Lucas spent the two years in between the records holed up at a songwriting camp or some shit. The songs are bigger, smarter, and catchier. And once the thing gets started (with the awesome "All-Right (Oh, Yeah)," there's barely time for a breath. The tracks all run together, and they are all good.

Someone gave me this album, and honestly, after their debut, I didn't expect it to be great. As Good As Dead is plenty solid, but there are parts where it teeters. It seemed there was little room for things to get better, but plenty of room for stuff to either stay the same or slip a little bit. I was way off. This is one of the great underrated rock albums of the second half of the 90's. It came out at a weird time, and maybe that's why it got swept under the carpet. The poorly written Wikipedia page for this album suggests label issues, but who knows.

Man, I haven't listened to this in a while, but I forgot how consistent it is. Every song is great. There's even a track called "Deep Cut," a two-minute guitar-hammerer that (of course) is the penultimate song on the album. Nice touch.

"Fine and Good," "What Can I Tell You?," "Cool Magnet" - all the hits are here.

I'll be the first to admit that Local H ain't for everybody, but if you want to give them a shot, I'd start here. As far as a full album experience from them, it doesn't get any better.

"All-Right (Oh, Yeah)"/"'Cha!' Said the Kitty"

Local H - As Good As Dead (CD, 1996)

Go ahead and hate Local H. It only makes them rock more.

If you're comfortable with writing them off as the one-hit wonder behind "Bound for the Floor," that's fine. You're way off base and you're making a fool of yourself, but that's your right as a lazy music listener.

The funny thing is, "Bound for the Floor" was probably the first song I heard by them, and I didn't really care much for it. I don't have a problem with it, but it's neither representative of their sound nor one of their better songs. Fittingly, I cannot remember why I bought this record. I think it might have been after I caught the "Eddie Vedder" video on MTV (must have been one of the three times they played it), and just thought it was hilarious that they had a song with that title. Seemed gutsy. Seemed almost stupid. That works.

As with a lot of bands who had fleeting mainstream popularity yet still maintain an ardent fanbase, Local H is all about the deep cuts. The best songs on this record are the random ones, tracks like "Nothing Special," "I Saw What You Did and I Know Who You Are," and the blistering badassness of "Back in the Day." And while "High-Fiving MF" and "Fritz's Corner" are tailor-made for rock dudes to scream along with, they're also making fun of those same rock dudes. Yes, it's been done before (and yes, the Nirvana comparisons could go on for a while), but Scott Lucas has a way of making it not suck. Not sure how he does it, but though he comes dangerously close to letting his identity fade away into the murky sea of post-grunge, he somehow keeps his head above water.

It's fun to listen to, because honestly, this band could have easily been one that put out a few records and were never heard from again. Dude's a scrapper. I like that.

"Eddie Vedder"

Gordon Lightfoot - Cold on the Shoulder (LP, 1975)

After finding that I actually enjoyed Sundown, I decided to try my luck with other Lightfoot releases. I picked up four or five other records from various eras, but I've since parted with all of them except this one. Turns out I only like Gordon Lightfoot circa '74-'75.

This album picks up where Sundown left off, maintaining the same basic arrangements and not changing much of anything. While not quite as strong as its predecessor, I still enjoy this record. "Bend in the Water" is jumpy and fun, and though "Rainy Day People" is crazy corny, it's a nice little ditty. After that, though, the album really hits its stride. The title track is the best song on the whole LP, and "The Soul is the Rock," despite its heavy title and lyrics, is a light and likable track.

Things slide into a bit of a country way after that, and that's tough for me to handle. The second side is decent, but it gets a little watered down by ambitious arrangements attempting to make up for melodies that aren't too gripping.

It's a narrow window for me and Gord-o. Think I'm going to keep it that way.

Here's a fairly recent performance of "Rainy Day People."

Gordon Lightfoot - Sundown (LP, 1974)

Go ahead, laugh.

I was turned onto the song "Sundown" through karaoke years ago. I had never heard Gordon Lightfoot (or I probably had, but didn't realize it), but I thought the song was a damn fine one. I can't remember exactly when I picked this LP up; sometime in the last three years, I think. 50 cents. Figured I'd see what the rest of the record was like. I was pleasantly surprised.

Though the first side of this record contains some solid 70's wuss-folk, it's really Side Two where things get great. "The Watchman's Gone" is my favorite Lightfoot song, a rolling acoustic number (duh) with a killer melody. The title track's a winner as well, and when it's followed up by "Carefree Highway," it completes the trifecta of soft-rock sensitivity. "Carefree Highway" is AM radio personified, and I love it. "The List" is sappy-happy, but plenty nice, and the album closes with the reflective "Too Late for Prayin'," a ballad that brings some strings in to achieve the full effect. Pleasant.

I still have no idea why I like this. But if I'm in the mood, it gets me every time.

"Sundown"

Event Attendance: Portland's Night Owl Record Show - October 17, 2009

The air was damp, the nerds were stinky.

I just got back from the semi-annual Night Owl Record Show, and though I didn't spend as much time (or money) as I did last time I went, I still had a fine time. Not much had changed since last time. In fact, it was mostly the same dudes, in the same spots, selling the same kinds of music. But that's OK. The records were different. I think I only bought stuff from three different tables. Here's what I picked up:

Run-DMC - "Ghostbusters" 12": For some reason I have the 7" of this with no cover, so I decided for three bucks, I could step up to the 12" with the cover. This song is terrible.

Beck - Sea Change: I've been putting off replacing my CD copy of this for like two years. Finally found this at a decent price.

Fugazi - Red Medicine: Damn fine deal on a copy that looks like it's never been played. CD replacer as well.

Descendents - Milo Goes to College: Not an original copy. But for six bucks, I'll take it.

A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders: I originally bought a copy of Atmosphere's God Loves Ugly from this dude, but when I looked at it after I paid for it, I realized it was missing one of the records (glad I checked!). So, I went with this instead. Good one to have around.

UTFO - UTFO: An original, not-too-shabby copy of their debut. A five-dollar impulse buy, but I regret nothing.

Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full: Another one I had on CD. Seems so much more legit on wax. Looks way too clean to be an original copy, but I can't find a date that says otherwise.

N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton: I was planning on holding out for an original copy of this, but eBay hasn't been kind to me on that front. Dropped a ten spot for this reissue from 2002. Gatefold, some bonus tracks. Would have rather had the original, but this'll do. I didn't even have this on CD. Can you believe that?

Atmosphere - The Lucy EP: 1/3 of what makes up the Lucy Ford CD, and now I'm searching for the other two. I was stoked to find this. The price is inflated on eBay. I got it for six.

The Beatles - Second Album and Something New: It's time to beef up my Beatles collection, and at this point I'm working within the confines of their U.S. discography. Once that's settled, we'll see what happens. These were both decent copies, but nothing fancy. I can't afford to be a serious Beatles collector. I shoot for nice versions, but nothing ridiculous. Dude who sold me these (gray-haired guy in the picture - wasn't he in the last picture, too?) had a Butcher Cover going for $500 that was in good shape. Seems like the price on those has dropped.

Anyway, that was my haul. I'm feeling good about it.

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Dreams to Remember: The Legacy of Otis Redding (2007)

Wow.

If you have any interest at all in Otis Redding, do yourself a favor and Netflix the shit out of this movie. It does everything right. They only interview a handful of people (the important ones), and they show every musical performance in its entirety. There is nothing more frustrating than watching a music documentary where they cut off a song in the middle. Or start it in the middle. Or just don't show the whole fucking song. There are a gang of performances here, all in chronological order (yes!), interspersed with stories from Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the MG's) about the writing and recording of each track.

Seriously, this was my kind of movie. While it probably doesn't offer much new to the hardcore Otis fan, for someone like me who loves the music but hasn't gone out of his way to view rare clips, a lot of this stuff was new. Most of this stuff was new. Sure, Otis is lip-syncing a lot of it on American Bandstand and shows like that, but it's still fantastic just to watch him work. And the performances where he's actually singing are just insane. They show "Shake" from Monterey and it's enough to make you crap your pants.

Steve Cropper's got an air-tight memory, and his stories about the songs are like little liner notes before each performance. They also talk to the founder of Stax Records and one of the guys who played horns in the Mar-Keys. They've got some good stories as well, but it's Cropper who really relays the info.

Not really any notable bonus features, but the film itself is really well done. Listening to Otis sing for 90 minutes is a pleasure. I could have listened for an hour more. I mean, seriously. Have you listened to "I Can't Turn You Loose" recently? It'll make you question why they bothered to continue R&B music after they finished that song. They got it. It wasn't ever going to get any better.

Check a preview here.

Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire (CD, 2006)

At some point, I got so tired of waiting for a follow-up to Sean Lennon's first record that I just sort of forgot about him. I was still a fan of Into the Sun, but it didn't seem like he ever intended to put out another record.

But, word finally started circulating in 2006 that he was prepping his sophomore effort. And not only that, but it was going to be a double-disc extravaganza with film-style videos for every song. Still doesn't quite explain an eight-year gap between records, but this whole project is almost impressive enough in scope to warrant a break that long. Well, maybe not quite that long.

This is Sean Lennon all grown up. The songs are bigger, more calculated, and very well executed. It seems that public opinion on this record was mixed, but that seems to be the deal with anything he does. Seems like everyone just thought it was good. I'd say it's closer to great. At the least, extremely solid, and much better than most of the crap invading major labels these days.

Honestly, at first it didn't live up to my expectations. I wasn't prepared for the wider scope he was taking with the lyrics and the arrangements. But I eventually became excited by the fact that it hadn't reached out and grabbed me like his debut did. I was right: I've ended up loving this record, and I still get a lot of mileage out of it. Its density is confusing in spots, but he thins it out sporadically and a nice balance is set. The whole thing works.

I haven't watched the DVD part in a while, but I remember thinking it seemed a little self-indulgent. Lindsay Lohan's in it, I think. That's no good.

But the songs are.

"Parachute"