Dragging My Own Tombstone

Is today a mental Health day? Probably not. Won't stop me from doing some music though, and then I've got a couple of other things I need to do before I get into billable work, but those fuckers are taking their own sweet time to pay me, so what's the fucking rush?





35,917 songs. 149 gigs. The whole collection no longer fits on my large iPod, even when it's working. But I DIDN'T cut the Love Sounds of North American Frogs!


1. Kiss Off, Violent Femmes. I first saw them in 1983, playing the UWM ballroom. I think it cost two bucks to get in. Joel McNally played a typewriter with them. This is from a show recorded in 1982, for Michael Feldman's radio show.

Of course, the egos grew too large too fast. Lately, Gano sold the rights to a song to Wendy's - facking WENDY'S? - and Brian Ritchie sued him. Now the attorneys have taken over, Ritchie lives on the west Coast, Gano lives in NY, and the drummers still hang out in Milwaukee. But really, Gordo, Wendy's? I know it's a paycheck, and I am certainly NOT entitled to talk about what we do for money, but come ON.

2. Statue Of A Bum, Victoria Williams. Victoria is kind of an acquired taste, like Tom Waits, but well worth it. A few years back, she became one of the first in a long string of musicians who developed health problems (MS) and needed her friends to record a benefit album to pay her bills, eventually creating the Sweet Relief Fund to pay for other musicians hospital bills. The albums are still out there and are well worth it, some great artists covering her songs. Most notable are Pearl Jam doing Crazy Mary and Soul Asylum doing Summer of Drugs (they still do it in concert).

Seriously, bake sales to pay for musicians to stay healthy? For fuck's sake, if we can't save the lives of people who feed our souls, what the fuck are we doing? Just dissolve the country now and let anarchy take over. Other, more highly developed societies revere the creators in their lives. We toss them to the trash heap if they can't hit the top twenty. And if they do, we toss them out also. It's sick, it's uncivilized, and now I'm getting pissed and think I will go kick Paul Ryan's motherfucking Insurance-bought ass.

3. World Class Fad, Paul Westerberg. A minor rocker from his first solo album. Westerberg's minor songs are better than anybody else's A-list material. I've seen him a few times with the Replacements, both drunk and sober. Him I mean. I am pretty sure I was drunk every time. I even have a few of the live cuts recorded at one of the shows by one of the local radio stations.

4. Set Out Running, Neko Case. I was introduced to Neko by her work on Mekons albums. But of course, she's worked with the New Pornographers also, as well as her fine solo work like this one. I have been forced to miss her last couple of shows in town due to cash flow issues, and now she regularly sells out the venues. Don't miss live music, is what I'm saying here.

5. Here, Gravity Kills. Good old fashioned aggro-industrial from a few years back.

6. Ziggy Stardust, Bauhaus. I saw them a couple of years ago opening for NIN at Summerfest. Bauhaus is NOT a band to see in the daylight. It needs to be dark, yanno? Anyway, great song, great band, a little too faithful. Why not a little Bela Lugosi freakout?

7. Knock It Right Out, Paul Westerberg. Okay, I like Paul Westerberg, but jeez, ITunes, calm down, willya? This is a pretty good sloppy rocklet. After his first solo album, Westerberg started recording in his basement in the DIY aesthetic, and due to label fights (those labels. who's gonna miss em when they're gone? Plus, they have driven out all the people who knew anything about music) released the result as Grandpaboy. He released later stuff, the more garagey stuff, under the same monicker later.

8. My Heart Is A UFO, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. Clyne used to front The Refreshments; this is more Americana than that band. Obviously a healthy dose of humor.

9. Zero, Smashing Pumpkins. Melon Collie is one of the worst titled albums ever. And while it seems every double disc ever released will eventually be negatively described as 'sprawling' by some critic, this one seems to really deserve it. There's some good stuff on here, but really, buy a little focus, Corgan.

The Pumpkins used to come up to Milwaukee on a regular basis, playing a basement club called the Unicorn. Often, they would be trying out new material, in front of a smaller crowd. Another unfortunate miss on my part, it seems that much of Siamese Dream was acid tested there.

10. Century Plant, Victoria Williams. iTunes seems to want to double up all day. Oh well. More Victoria.

11. Some Postman, The Presidents Of The United States of America. heh. The later stuff, after the novelty hits on their first album, is really pretty good power pop. And I am ALL ABOUT the power pop.

12. Captain America, Styx. OK, this one is pretty cringeworthy. Moral, kids: Don't drink and go to iTunes with a credit card.

13. Sultans of Swing, Dire Straits. Holy hell, that's a bit of whiplash. Pretty good song to go out on, though. more...