The Music Blog of the Infonistacrat!

A COOL BLAST OF HOT 80′S NEW WAVE!

Infonistacrat — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 10:00:13 +0000

Back after taking a couple days off to celebrate the forth of July, or as I refer to it “the first time America told the world to step aside, that we could do it better”. Anyway, taking a couple days off to drink too much beer, eat too much food and take long, luxurious naps was nice. Now it’s back to the wold of music.

It’s been a long while since I dedicated a post to 80’s new wave, so I thought this would be as good a day as any. I tried to find some reasonably obscure stuff, while not getting too crazy about it. I know Everything But The Girl isn’t exactly obscure, and Missing was a reasonably sized hit back in the day, but I ran across the song while surfing the net about a week ago, and have been waiting to find a list that it fits into. I don’t know if I would call it a new wave song, or the band a new wave band, but it’s close enough, I like the song, and I’ve been drinking, so on the list it goes.

I’m off…I’m watching the Olympic swimming trials tonight (I’m pretty mad for swimming and track and field). I just have no clue how these guys cover a quarter of the pool off the blocks in like 2 seconds. That crazy speed, I’m telling you. Anyway, enjoy the tunes, and I hope the weekend is going well!

THE GREATEST POST PUNK SONGLIST…EVER!

Infonistacrat — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:00:35 +0000

There are 3 or 4 posts I’ve done that really standout in my mind during the past year, posts that just had great tunes top to bottom. Not to say I’ve ever posted bad songlists….well, honestly, there have been a few I did that I wish I could do over again. But all in all, I post what I like, the stuff that has always meant something to me, or recent stuff that I think stands up to the old stuff I love. Well, I have to tell you, I am patting myself on the back. I think this could be the best list I’ve posted yet…some great post punk stuff from the late 70’s and early 80’s. It’s so good, I might as well just hang it up and quit right now. Don’t worry…I’m no where ready to do THAT!

I start this nice little list with Town Called Malice from The Jam, which is just a great little ditty buy a band I don’t put up here nearly often enough. The next highlight for me at least, is Boys Keep Swinging. There just something about older Bowie that I really love, especially the stuff he did with Brian Eno, and this is no different. In my mind, David Bowie may just be one of the most influential performers of all time. Sure, he went through some really lame years (Is there anyone who thinks that the Dancing In The streets duet with Jagger for Live Aid was a highlight in an otherwise stellar career?), his greatest hits album (which I have been listening to a lot lately) is one hell of a listen and not to be missed.

Another song here that is a stellar effort by a great band is My Perfect Cousin by The Undertones. Probably best known for Teenage Kicks (John Peels favorite tune of all time, if memory serves me right), I think My Perfect Cousin is just so much better than Teenage Kicks. It’s got all that snarky sense of humor I love so much. The rest of the list is just as strong as the highlights, so make sure you check em all out and at least give em a listen. Enjoy!

MUSIC FROM MINUTEMENS DOUBLE NICKLE ON THE DIME

Infonistacrat — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:00:26 +0000

What can I say about Double Nickles on the Dime that hasn’t already been repeated a million times over in 20+ years since it was released. It’s certainly one of the best albums of the 80’s, in my top five for sure. Maybe as high as number 3 (Sorry, but Gun Club’s Fire of Love is my pick for the best, and Pixies Surfer Rosa is number two). But if Fire of Love was the definitive American post punk album, then Double Nickles on the Dime was the definitive American underground/college rock/indie album.

It’s a huge, 44 song effort that sprawls all over the place. Sometimes it’s punk, sometimes it jazzy, sometimes bluesy, and sometimes, it’s just weird. But it’s always great. I wouldn’t say it’s an easy listen…I think I have rarely sat and listened to it end to end. Usually, I can make it through a quarter at a time, or I just put it on random and let it roll. I’ve picked out 11 tunes as a decent sample of the album…the highlights are two songs I featured here before. History Lesson Part II is just a sweet little tune about their love of music. Corona probably has the most popular opening riff of any song most people have never heard of. All in all, a great collection of great American mid-80’s underground.

WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!? QUESTIONABLE 90′S HITS

Infonistacrat — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:00:48 +0000

Last week, I did a post entitled WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!? QUESTIONABLE 80′S HITS, where I took a look at some of the hits from the 80’s that will never make it to the hall of fame, and yet were probably song that at one point in time, we all would have to admit to humming when they came on the radio. Well, I thought I would apply that same criteria to the 90’s, to see what I could come up with.

The 90’s were a pretty decent decade for music…not as good as the 80’s, of course, but at least for a few years, the alternative, underground scene busted wide open and acts that had been ignored a few years earlier were enjoyed by the masses. But not everything that came out was great. In fact, there was a lot of crap that came out in the 90’s that still managed to make it to the top of the charts….fueled in large part, I suspect, by that bastion of good taste know an MTV.

Of all the groups in the 90’s, the worst group to gain mass stardom was Hootie & the Blowfish. I swear, a worse band never existed, and I struggle to come up with one redeeming thing about them. Their music was pop at it’s worst…simplistic melodies and inane lyrics combined to make crap songs, yet from some reason, they were the biggest thing on the planet for a couple years. Go figure. But even I, in my moments of insanity, will catch myself singing along to I Only Wanna Be With You. Can any song with the lyrics “I’m such a baby, the Dolphins make me cry” ever be considered good?

The irony of this list is that I actually have Paula Cole’s album, and I’ve seen Counting Crows in concert. I guess in the 90’s I must have had more money laying around than brains. But then again, that’s not really fair…Counting Crows was opening up for Live when I saw them, and Paula Cole…well, OK, I was an idiot on that one. But the CD cover look nice.

The rest of the list…well, it’s packed with real winners. I liked Friend in the mid to late 90’s just as much as anyone else, but was the theme song really that good? Of course not. In fact it sucked released as a single. But people ate it up. Talk about coat tails. And Ace of Base. Another band right up there with Hootie, albeit not as popular. Then the list gets to the plain old sad and pathetic…Spin Doctors and Deep Blue Something. I can forgive Spin Doctors…I’ve had friends who’ve seen them live in small clubs tell me their actually a great show. So they get a little break. But Deep Blue Something? Not a chance in hell. Breakfast at Tiffany’s was the worst song EVAH! And yet, if it comes on, I find myself singing along. In those moments, I know the true meaning of self-loathing. I really do. Enjoy!

A BUNCH O’ GREAT SONGS FROM THE 90′S, VOL 2

Infonistacrat — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:00:08 +0000

I was enjoying Friday yesterday, much as I do every Friday, and got into a pretty cool little conversation via email about Joy Division and New Order. That got me into listening to some New Order from the 80’s, which was all good, believe me. And then I heard Bizarre Love Triangle, and that led me to YouTube, where I stumbled across the video of the remake by Frente!. I remember when it came out in the 90’s and it was a decently sized hit. But the radio station I listened to in Chicago, Q101, wasn’t really very friendly towards the song. Anyway, I knew I had to put that on today’s list, and off I went, listening to some cool as hell 90’s alternative. We did have some seriously nice music…where did it all go so damn wrong with the music industry? Oh wait. I know. It’s when they insisted on shoving talentless assclowns like Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake down our damn throats. But I digress!

This is about real music, good music…hell, it’s about real good music! Frente! led to Garbage…which I have to watch because I have a secret crush on Shirley Manson (I guess that not so secret anymore!), and #1 Crush. You’ll notice that there are a lot of female bands and female singers in the list today. I think the 90’s had some great women singers leading some great bands. There has always been great female rockers out there, but it seems in the 90’s there were so many at such a high level. So, enjoy the weekend, and enjoy the tunes!

10 GREAT 80′S BANDS, 10 GREAT SONGS!

Infonistacrat — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:00:14 +0000

Whats better on a Friday than to get the party started with some great tunes from some great 80’s underground-ish bands? Trust me, you do NOT want to miss the songs on this list. All the great ones are here…Minutemen, The Vaselines, Mission of Burma, Galaxie 500 (it’s been WAY too long since I played any Galaxie 500!) and on and on. And speaking of Galaxie 500, I even have another cover for Miss Parker over at Rave and Roll…a great cover of Joy Division’s Ceremony.

So, enjoy the trip back in time to the great 80’s, and enjoy the start of the weekend!

ROCKIN’ THE OLD SCHOOL UNDERGROUND!

Infonistacrat — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:00:28 +0000

This post is really kind of a celebration of sorts. If you’ve been around awhile, you know that in March, my ISP deleted all my tunes. It was pretty devastating, and now I have almost 8 months of posts that have no music that works. Bummer. Well, spurred on by a reader, I got off my ass and finally restored what are probably my two favorite posts in the almost one year I’ve been doing this. The posts are titled “THIRTY YEARS OF GREAT UNDERGROUND MUSIC” and “THIRTY YEARS OF GREAT UNDERGROUND MUSIC, PART 2“. Listening to the great tunes put me in the mood for another post of some great underground music from mostly the 70’s and early 80’s. I think I produced another winner. At least I really like it.

My favorite here is most definitely The Psychedelic Furs’ Flowers. This ain’t your Pretty In Pink or Love My Way Furs. This is a rougher edged Furs, from their first album, and it’s stellar. In fact the whole first album is stellar, and if you’ve never given it a listen, you need to pick it up and throw it on the old iPod. It’s one of the better albums from that time.

And speaking of timeless, Twenty Four Hours has to be one of the best Joy Division songs most people don’t know. Ian is at his haunting, dark best here, and you can almost feel how torn up the dude was at that time. Joy Division can be dark (one of the reasons I love them as much as I do!), but even for them, this is dark.

The whole list is pretty top notch, and is pretty indicative of what I’ve been listening to lately. For some reason, I’ve been on a huge Velvet Underground/Lou Reed kick. Hey, if you have to have a temporary musical obsession, that ain’t a bad one to have! Enjoy!

EVEN MORE ALTERNATIVE DEEPCUTS, VOL 2

Infonistacrat — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:00:50 +0000

Well, I survived terrible Tuesday yesterday, a day that unfortunately, I spend on the phone at work. A more miserable experience I can’t imagine. Well, yeah I could. I could still be working in that little factory in Ohio I worked in back in the mid-80’s. THAT would be worse.

So, anyway, on to the deep cuts. One of the reasons I really love deep cuts (defined as singles from an album that were never really meant to be released as singles), is that you really get a true feel for the artist. Usually, their not songs that are created only to be released as singles. Some of the best tunes I’ve found are tunes that were never release, and were buried on the “B” side of the world. Enjoy!

WHAT WERE WE THINKING?!? QUESTIONABLE 80′S HITS

Infonistacrat — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:00:14 +0000

I thought I would mix it up a little today, and post some 80’s hits that while they were hits, I doubt many people would actually fess up to actually liking these songs. But I’ll bet no matter what your taste in music is, there is at least one or two songs on the list that you actually remember and can sing the words to, even if it is only when your alone. I’ll admit…there is a song or two here that don’t bother me too badly. Still, I wouldn’t call any of these songs stellar examples of songwriting.

Maybe the worst offender on the list is Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top. Now, don’t get me wrong…there are some ZZ Top songs that are crazy great. Blue Jean Blues and Jesus Left Chicago are two that comes to my mind. But for a couple years in the early to mid-80’s, ZZ Top put out some absolute crap. Remember those inane music videos with the cars and furry guitars? Garbage. Yet, I bet there isn’t anyone reading this that doesn’t at least hum along to this song when you hear it. Amazing, huh?

The second biggest offender is U2. To me, U2 is a band that when they are good, they are really really great. On the flip side, when they suck, they really suck. You would think that collaborating with a blues legend would produce something memorable. Unfortunately, it produced When Love Comes To Town. Suckius Optimus.

It all goes to show you…it doesn’t have to be good to be a classic, and it doesn’t have to be good to have been a hit. So I ask again, what the hell were we thinking back in the 80’s?

PARTY PUNK FOR THE PEOPLES!

Infonistacrat — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:00:18 +0000

Happy Monday. To help get the week started on the right foot, I’m rocking a little “party punk” today. My love of great, old school punk is both obvious and well stated elsewhere in this blog. To me, punk is not noise, or screaming, or any of the other terms that the haters love to bandy about to describe it. Punk is, to me, just about the truest form of music there is. It’s not a romanticized version of what like should be, or a fantasy version of what like can be. It’s all about what life is. And sometimes it’s angry and full of angst. But sometimes, it’s also aggressive in a wild, fun kind of way. That’s what today’s list is. Great, fun, wild, aggressive music to grab you and get the week started right.

Two of the bands here that are among my favorite are Sham 69 and X-Ray Spex. Germ Free Adolescents is one of the top five punk albums from the 70’s, and I would doubt a month goes by I don’t crank it up a little and give it a listen. Of course, not when my wife’s at home. Unfortunately, she’s not as enlightened to the glory of punk as we are. I try, but she just doesn’t get it. But hey, lets not let that ruin our good time! Enjoy!