The Current Music Blog: September 18, 2006 Archive

Monday Morning: On A Solemn Note

Posted at 7:21 AM on September 18, 2006 by Hans Eisenbeis (10 Comments)

Elliot Smith died three years ago in October, and the world is a poorer place because of it. But someone keeps trying to pay it forward by selectively leaking demo sessions and bootlegs (dubiously offered as "B-sides"), round about the anniversary of Smith's premature departure. Doing the world a favor? Or prolonging the pain? You decide, in the comments.

(Where do WE stand on the issue, you ask? Let's just say selfish fanaticism should always yield to graceful respect for the dead, yeah?)

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Walkmen, party of five? Your table is ready.

Posted at 9:30 AM on September 18, 2006 by Hans Eisenbeis

The Walkmen are busy these days--but not so busy that they can't take time to write serious criticism of a socially relevant nature. At their website here, they've added a blog that so far features two restaurant reviews for eateries in Virginia. The Walkies are just as thorough and discerning as you'd expect, and they've introduced a new twist on the old restaurant formula--the group review, allowing commentary on one seating but a number of different dishes. Being a somewhat large party to seat, the Walkmen have a special cross to bear: service issues.

"To indicate to the waiter their desire to be served the food they tried the 'a couple guys stare at the waiter' tactic. When this didn’t work and another 5-7 minutes passed they tried the only other thing they could try: they all stared at the waiter. They didn’t know what else to do. They discussed asking the waiter, 'Can we have our food?' but that sounded too stupid and desperate."

That kind of passive-aggressive desperation, of course, wins the Walkies honorary Minnesota Male status. This remains provisional until we can confirm that the band regularly drives in the left lane, and does not initiate conversation with strangers.

Monday Laundry List: The Greatest Albums of All Space and Time

Posted at 1:00 PM on September 18, 2006 by Hans Eisenbeis (5 Comments)

As we've mentioned a couple of times, the British love to make endless Desert Island lists--top ten songs, top twenty worst public nuisances, five silliest Nick Hornby novels, that kind of thing. These are usually somewhat lighthanded and unambitious, and therefore relentlessly reworked according to deadlines and the price of tea in China. Americans, on the other hand, prefer to attempt the Massive All-Inclusive, All-Authoritative List to End All Lists in the Universe. Thus, the Rolling Stone list of the "500 Hundred Greatest Albums of All Time," posted to the web three years ago, continues to be a site of great internet traffic and consternation.

Let's take a moment to revisit the only Minnesotan records to make it into Rolling Stone's rock 'n' roll heaven:

495. New Day Rising, Husker Du
239. Let It Be, The Replacements
204. Dirty Mind, Prince
163. 1999, Prince
136. Tim, The Replacements
93. Sign 'o' the Times, Prince
72. Purple Rain, Prince

You will note that we did not include any Bob Dylan, who landed nine albums on the hallowed list. You will also note that we did not make any snarky comments about the Trashmen or Lipps, Inc. Nor will we attempt a Minnesota-centric list of the 500 greatest Minnesota albums of all time, probably because that list would--due to the limits of simple math--have to include "Gravedancers Union."

We leave that heavy lifting up to you, dear reader. In the comments.

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