Hammering In My Head

Woke up with a headache this morning. And before you start casting aspersions, I did no drinking last night. I think it's a preemptive attack because Riversplash has erected a beer tent outside my office front door and I can't go out to play this afternoon.


So herewith is the FRT, Can You Keep It Down edition.


0. Hammering In My Head from the album “Version 2.0” by Garbage Not even remotely random. just hanging in there from when I selected the post title.

- (oog. I'm taking a mulligan on this first one). -


1. Burning For You [Live] from the album “A Long Day's Night” by Blue Öyster Cult . One of my favorite has-been bands, who are taking the Cheap Trick philosophy: “We may not be selling out stadiums any more, but it can still be about the music.” They still put on a very good show, even without laser lights, and Buck Dharma is still an amazing guitarist, and they're gonna be at Summerfest on Opening Night, so I'm gonna be one hurtin cowpoke the next morning. (Hey, Silent Mike, we gonna get together that day? I got some tix for ya).

2. Rain Song from the album “Rising Tide” by Sunny Day Real Estate Semi grunge band who went prog, before The Mars Volta did it. This is a superb disc, and obscure as all get out.

3. The Seeker from the album “The Revolution Starts Now” by Steve Earle This is a GREAT album. That's all there is to say about it. Read the new Rolling Stone article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and put this on. The Revolution Starts...NOW.

4. In The Mood from the album “Different Stages 1” by Rush Old stuff, back when they were more of a Zep tribute band, before they developed a style of their o

5. One Hundred Years from the album “Pornography” by The Cure pounding, industrial goth, from their first great album. I thought we were going to keep it down, weren't we?

6. Last Song About Satan by Slim Cessna's Auto Club Yes, it's just as great as the title. Neo-bluegrass stomp. Gives Split Lip Rayfield a run for their money.

7. Flowers from the album “Camper Vantiquities” by Camper Van Beethoven

8. Special from the album “The Blind Leading The Naked” by Violent Femmes

9. Submarine Bells from the album “Submarine Bells” by The Chills

10. See A Little Light from the album “Workbook” by Bob Mould First solo album. very nice and pretty quiet for this Loud Boy.


Beginning of Fest Season Bonus Five:


10.5 4th Of July from the album “The Unforgettable Fire” by U2 Little nothing song, so it only gets a half.

11. Bravado from the album “Rush In Rio (Disc 1)” by Rush more Rush, dood!!!11!! Rawk!1!!

12. New Day Rising from the album “The Living End” by Hüsker Dü Here's Bob when he's being LOUD. Given that Kennedy article, We can hope there's a New Day Rising. We have to; or else the America that was founded 230 years ago is gone, replaced by an oligarchy at best, an arguable autocracy, with demonstrable fascist tendencies. Yes I said it.

13. Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man) from the album “At the River's Edge - Live in St. Louis” by Styx Normally I might have mulliganed this one, but I already took one mulligan, and besides, they are playing at Summerfest Has-Been Theatre, so I'm gonna let it slide. This one's for Zelmo. And Van, who had all the keyboard solos memorized in college, and I'm certain that he doesn't read this crappy lil blog. (Silent Mike- did you ever connect with Van to get the Geeks tape duped?)

14. Frederick from the album “Land (1975-2002) (Disc 1)” by Patti Smith Fantastic song.

15. Love on a Farmboy's Wages from the album “Mummer” by XTC A friend of mine saw them on their only real tour of America, opening for The Police in Madison. He maintains that XTC was far better Gordon and the boys, which I have no trouble believing. I wish I had been there.




An inconvenient Truth is going to run at The Oriental this month. You can pledge to see it here. Unless you've decided to swallow the bilge being spewed by the petro industry, it's an important piece of scientific journalism and purportedly points toward some possible solutions, in lieu of being simple disaster hyping. Regardless of whether global warming is attributable to human causes or natural variations, the potential impact on humankind is disastrous, and ameliorating the effects should be of concern to everybody. Ask the dinosaurs; it doesn't matter that you may not be directly linked to the environmental changes.



The new MacBooks are offered in black. Meh. I don't think it's that great. Black laptops are for normal drones. I guess if you work for The Machine and don't want to stick out with a frosty chillin white Book, or a smooth aluminum techno-slab, but otherwise, it's a bit too retro for me. Apple books were black and curvy while the rest of the world was still lugging anonymous grey blocks around. I still miss the bright orange iBooks. But then, I think rain is wet, so who am I to judge?