Phife Dawg - Ventilation: Da LP (2xLP, 2000)

I'm not the biggest Tribe Called Quest fan, but I got into their stuff for a while. Q-Tip had some solid lyricism, but for me, Phifey was always the one I looked forward to. He had some insane verses on all the Tribe records, with one of my favorites being, "And if I ever went solo my favorite MC would be me."

Phife Dawg did go solo, and while Q-Tip was wearing fur coats and rocking the idiotic "Vivrant Thing," Phife was keeping it realer than real. And I dug the shit out of it. This record never got the props it deserved, and that's probably because Phife made a point of calling out all the materialism in hip hop. Funny how that works. The beats on this LP aren't all winners, but they're solid, and the Five-Footer drops some serious knowledge.

It's a shame he hasn't put anything out since. I got really into this record for a year or two and then sort of lost track of it, but it's always nice to come back to when I want to hear some full-on MCing. It's good to have records like that around. Someone's got to keep these rappers in line.

"Flawless"

Liz Phair - whitechocolatespaceegg (CD, 1998)

I could have sworn I owned a copy of Whip-Smart on CD, but it's nowhere to be found. So, apparently we'll be skipping Liz Phair's awkward sophomore LP and moving on to her I'm-all-grown-up-now one.

whitechocolatespaceegg, once you set aside its dumb title (it came to her in a dream!) is a solid little record. It was released only five years after Exile in Guyville, so it's not completely removed from that era yet, but it's got one foot out the door. Tracks like "Polyester Bride" and "What Makes You Happy" tread dangerously close to Sheryl Crow territory, but they don't step quite that far. Which is good.

And though I haven't listened to this album in ages, I do remember liking it quite a bit when it came out. In fact, the one time I saw Liz Phair live was when she was touring on this record. It was at La Luna here in Portland and it was crazy packed with hardcore Phair devotees. This asshole in front of me and the girl I was with felt the need to scream every single lyric to every song while drunkenly slobbering all over himself and it drove me fucking nuts. Some other asshole also got a "Fuck and Run! Fuck and Run!" chant going that made me sad for humanity. But, otherwise it was a pretty great show. (Note to shitty concertgoers: People still remember how you ruined the show for them over a decade later. Get your shit together.)

Anyway, this is the last good Liz Phair album before she disappeared for five years and reappeared as a completely different artist. And coupled with her first two, it makes for a nice trilogy.

I actually got a copy of Liz Phair's 2003 self-titled CD from a friend when it came out, and I really gave it a go. I just couldn't do it. And I'll leave it at that, because the rest of the world has already said way too much about how shitty it is. Stick with her first three records. Whip-Smart, while no Exile, is a really good album. Wish I could find my copy...

"Polyester Bride"

Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville (CD, 1993)

Oh, if only we could have frozen Liz Phair in 1993. She was perfect. Exile in Guyville is such a stupidly good record that it's amazing it even exists. I fear that her semi-recent idiocy has forever tarnished her standing with some of the folks who held this record so dear, but it still deserves to be discussed when you're talking about the most important records of the 90's.

And the thing is, people wouldn't be so damn pissy about Liz Phair "selling out" if she hadn't meant so much to people in the first place. It wasn't only the incredibly personal shine of the songs on Exile (though there is plenty of that) - it was Phair herself. She famously started out recording little handmade cassettes of her Girly Sound project, fell in with the Chicago indie-rock glitterati (Nash Kato, anyone?), and scored a record deal without even having to meet the Matador people. She was frail, stricken with crippling stagefright, and just vulnerable as all get-out. She could also write a melody that would get stuck in your head for a year. It's no wonder every girl in the world wanted to be her, and teenage boys like me wanted to have a hard makeout session with her.

Spin dubbed Exile in Guyville Album of the Year for 1993, but I think I had purchased it even before that. They had hyped it so much that I just had to see what the deal was. It was not what I was expecting. It was way better than what I was expecting. Phair's voice was shaky and took some initial getting used to, but once you got past that, it was just a matter of realizing that every damn song on this thing is good. I am, for whatever reason, not a person that listens to a lot of female artists, but this one hit me in a way that no other had or has since. And I'm still not sure why that is. Every girl I knew around the time this came out immediately adopted it as their go-to album, and that didn't surprise me. The fact that a track like "Divorce Song" brought up actual emotion in me - and still does - was something I have little explanation for.

And I'm not sure I care how or why this album gets to me the way that it does. It just does, and it's the same way Sonic Youth's Goo gets to me or the Pixies' Surfer Rosa gets to me. It just makes me feel like I might vomit awesomeness. And very few records can do that.

If you think I'm laying it on a little thick, think again. This record is every bit as good as everyone says it is, and I'm one of those everyones. This record also, in every cheesy way you can imagine, takes me back to what I perceive to be a simpler time in my life, and does it in a big way. Again, not sure why this one in particular really reminds me of my senior year of high school (when I was listening to forty other tapes on the regular), but it's right up there with Doggystyle for memory-jogging. Quite a pair, huh?

This record seems to get remembered for "Fuck and Run" and "Flower" - the naughty songs! - and that's a shame. Because some of the deeper cuts - particularly "Explain it to Me" and "Shatter" - are just as vital to the whole scheme of things. Man, those songs are sparse and huge at the same time - tough to do.

So forget about what Liz Phair's doing now. And forget about her claim that this is a song-for-song answer to Exile on Main Street, because that idea barely holds water. Just listen to this record and like it. Because it is good. That's what I do, and it's been working out for me pretty well.

"Stratford-On-Guy"

I Went to a Show: Henry Rollins at the Aladdin Theatre (May 29, 2010)

Great picture, huh? Well, at least you can tell I had a solid view. I think I was one of maybe five people who didn't have somebody sitting in front of them. I lucked out. The place was packed. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Through my sweet job, I was able to get the wife and I two free tickets to see Henry Rollins do his spoken word thingy on Saturday night. I saw Rollins Band play the Roseland back in in '97 (my friends and I taped their performance of "Starve" on SNL and became obsessed with it - we had to go), but I had never seen him speak in person. I used to watch his Talking from the Box VHS when I was a teenager and I have a few cassettes of his spoken word stuff (great for road trips), but I never took the plunge to see it in the flesh. I'm glad I did.

Before we got there, I was wondering out loud to my wife if he was going to say anything about the recent passing of Ronnie James Dio and Dennis Hopper. As we walked in and Dio was playing over the theatre speakers, I became fairly certain he'd be touching on Ronnie James, at least. (Rollins has always been an proud fan of Dio, so that's sort of why I was expecting it.) He said a little bit about Dio and explained that the music was a mix CD he had made of Dio's music. He then told a little story about Dennis Hopper and said a few nice things about him. A cool move, I thought.

Then he dove into his material, and once he got going, he didn't stop. Apparently he had me locked in, because he spoke for almost three hours and it felt like about one. Trying to go over all the stuff he talked about wouldn't do it justice, but needless to say, it was awesome. I didn't see him take a drink of water until the whole thing was done. Yes, he remains a lunatic, the only guy who can make a spoken word engagement an intense endurance ritual for himself. And I loved every minute of it.

I'm definitely seeing him the next time he's in town, even if I have to pay for it. Certainly a unique experience, and a good one for us aging rockers who like to sit down for their entertainment.

Pedro the Lion - Achilles Heel (CD, 2004)

I was listening to this in my car the other day, and my wife goes, "What the hell is this? Coldplay?" Fair enough.

Somehow this is the only Pedro the Lion album I own (though I do have a caseless copy of Control that drives me mad with its caselessness and therefore doesn't count for our purposes), and I don't think I even bought it. I'm fairly certain a friend gave it to me. Listening to it recently, I remembered why I never really got into it. It doesn't exactly sound like Coldplay, but it is lacking some of the darker moments of their earlier work. "Discretion" almost gets back to it, but not quite.

There's also the slight current of Christianity that runs through these songs, and that just doesn't work for me. Ever. So maybe that's skewing the whole thing for me. But maybe not. Control still sounds pretty solid to me. This was the band's (or just really David Bazan, I guess) last record, and it sounds like that. Sort of the last stab at something lighter that doesn't really work.

I'll keep it because maybe I'll change my mind. Maybe I'm missing something. Though I don't think so...

"Foregone Conclusions"

Peanuts & Corn - Factory Seconds (CD, 2001)

I picked up this CD at the same time I bought the Park-Like Setting album, when my brother and I saw mcenroe and Pip Skid live many years ago. Apparently I had both of them sign this one. mcenroe wrote, "mcenroe is kar-oké king!" and Pip scrawled (with an arrow pointing to mcenroe's signature), "this guy is a genius!" And then he circled a dollar sign and signed his name. So hard, those two.

So this is a collection of P&C odds and ends that I have not listened to in years, and now that it's almost a decade old, it's even cooler. Lots of random stuff from the main dudes on the label, and I'm always a sucker for unreleased tracks. And it includes the "CD-ROM" (remember that?) version of Pip Skid's "Hypochondriac" video.

Not too much else to say about it, because I really have not heard this in forever. But if you're a fan of the label (and you should be), this is obviously essential listening. So get on board.

"Hypochondriac"

Stallion Alert at the Movies: Pavement - Slow Century (2002)

If you're a Pavement fan, you already own this. Or you've at least seen it. Or you haven't seen it and you're an idiot. If you're not a Pavement fan, you'd probably still enjoy the 90-minute documentary that makes up part of the first disc of this set.

It's actually a pretty straightforward documentary of the band, containing both old and new interviews, some rare footage, and tons of random stuff. Sadly, no current interviews with Gary Young, but you can't have it all. I have watched this documentary at least once a year since it came out, and it always welcomes me back with open arms. It's just that nice. And because it's a music documentary, Thurston Moore's in it. So there's that.

The second part of the first disc contains all of the band's videos, along with alternate versions for three songs. Pavement's videos reflect their music nicely, by being both witty and frustrating at once. It works. The videos also have commentary by some of the band members, but I haven't listened to those in a while. Can't remember if they're any good or not.

The second disc is one full live show and one partial live show, both sets being from their final tour. Each of the concerts are shot with two (maybe three on one of 'em?) cameras, and you get to use your "angle" button - or whatever it's called - to control which camera you see the show from. Pretty cool use of that DVD feature, which rarely gets taken advantage of. The live shows are great, though it's towards the end of the band's existence, so you sort of get the vibe that Malkmus doesn't want to be there. Still, he tears through some nice guitar work and definitely seems enthused in parts.

There's a few easter eggs with some bonus live footage, and all in all, this thing is long as shit. I have watched all of it way too many times. It's actually one of my favorite music DVDs. Shocking, I know. Seriously though - if you like the band and you haven't checked this out, you're a sucker. Get with it.

Sweet clip here.