Lou Reed - Growing Up In Public

Growing Up In Public - 1980

This album has two great songs, three good songs, four ok songs, and two I could've done without. I guess this makes it somewhat uneven, but as usual I can forgive Reed for any inconsistencies, because when he gets it right it's more often than not a grand slam home run. He hits two here as far as I'm concerned with "How Do You Speak To An Angel" and "The Power Of Positive Drinking".

After listening to "How Do You Speak To An Angel" for several years I'm still not entirely sure what it's about. I think it's almost a love song in a way, but who writes love songs that sound this angry? Lou Reed.

"What do you do with your pragmatic passions
With your classically neurotic style
How do you deal with your vague self-comprehensions
What do you do when you lie"

I love these lines because they're questions I could have justifiably asked any woman I dated before MrsDrReverend.
And for those who haven't heard the song, the answer to the title question is "Hello baby". Who knew it could be so simple?

"The Power of Positive Drinking" is one of rock and roll's best drinking songs. Reed wrote a few of them, "The Last Shot" and "Bottoming Out" from "Legendary Hearts" come to mind. Drinking was something Reed knew quite a bit about and he wasn't at all shy in letting his listeners know it. This song is funny as hell and that's all it needs to be great.

"Growing Up In Public" is probably the best description I've ever heard of Reeds career. Especially if coupled with the line from the song, "with your pants pulled down". That's what I think this album was suppose to be, hence all the confessional songs about his family, ("My Old Man", "Standing On Ceremony", "Smiles"). They're not bad songs and can make the listener a little squeamish, but what would a Lou Reed album be without a little discomfort? Probably as shitty as (insert name of Bruce Springsteen album here).

"So Alone" also stands out for me on this record. I know the woman he's singing about. Her name is Sharon. I went to high school with her and I'm sure she's as fucked in the head now as she was then. "So Alone" and "Keep Away" are interesting looks at the relationships between men and women. Lots of attraction mixed with hostility. Not your usual rock and roll bullshit, but amusing insightful comments on reality.

Musically none of the songs are outstanding, but the stronger ones have catchy melodies. The songs are dominated, (as is typical with Reeds work) by guitar and in some cases keyboards. The keyboard parts in "How Do You Speak To An Angel" and "Standing On Ceremony" are particularly effective.

Overall I'd say that this isn't one of Reed's greatest records, but it's a worth a lot more than the two and a half stars that douche bag at allmusic.com gave it.

Fantastic Plastic Machine - Fantastic Plastic Machine

Fantastic Plastic Machine - 1998

I've never understood Japanese culture. I find their food disgusting for the most part, their pornography bizarre, and their traditions incomprehensible. And what's with their economy? Haven't they been in a recession since 1972 or something like that? So it's kind of surprising to me that I like this album as much as I do. If you've never heard Shibuya-Kei before I suggest you check it out.

This is the most interesting pop record I've heard in the last 10 years. FPM has taken elements of various musical styles and put them together in fascinating ways. "Dear Mr. Salesman" for example sounds very much like 60's "Swinging London" pop as it might be done by Esquivel. In fact I hear tinges of Esquivel throughout the entire album, (which of course can only be a good thing). The vocals, often female and wordless, are great, although unfortunately often buried in the mix a little more than I would have liked. The cover of Joe Jackson's "Stepping Out" is surprisingly good. My theory with covers is this, never do the big hits. Use a b-side gem, or a minor hit and find some way to highlight it's strengths. For example, if one were to pick a Warren Zevon song to cover, don't do Werewolves of London for fuck-sake. No one's is going to do that song better than Zevon. That's why it was his hit. Do Gorilla Your A Desperado instead. It's a great song no one knows and if done right could be a hit. But FPM did one of Jackson's biggest hits, and they pull it off admirably. It's not better than the original, but still a great interpretation.

Overall this is a refreshing take on pop music. I don't know if their reconfiguration of pop idioms is intentional, or just a by-product cultural interpretation, but either way it works and makes the crap coming out of West, (see Lily Allen review below), look embarrassingly shitty.

Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You

It's Not Me, It's You - 2009

I acquired this album for the most part because I kept seeing it on "Top Album of 2009" lists. To be honest I was kinda surprised to see it on those lists beside records like St. Vincent's Actor, and Wild Beasts Two Dancers. I didn't know much about Allen. I'd seen the video for Alfie, thought it was momentarily amusing but ultimately dumb and just categorized Allen as some crappy, ditzy Brit chick.

So I listened to It's Not You, It's Me and it's far worse than I imagined. It's one of the worst albums I've ever heard. My God, what do music critics see in her? (Then again should I really be surprised? It was "the critics" after all who told us at one time that The Knack were the next Beatles and that Steve Forbert was the next Bob Dylan).

Lets break this down into form (music) and content (lyrics). First form. The music on this album is at best unspectacular. It's mostly the same tired over produced dreck that passes for pop music these days. Let's just compress everything so that it's all at the same volume to ensure that we produce as flavourless music as possible. Let's not do anything interesting. Lets not take any chances because people will only buy what they know. This isn't music it's product. I do wonder though if Allen programs her own drum machine.

Let's now look at content. This is even worse than the form. Allen sounds like a 12 year old trying to pass herself off as 14 year old. The know-it-all didactic nature of her lyrics is about as nauseating as contemporary music gets. What is she, 23 years old? What exactly does she think she has to tell the world? When I was her age she was still running around with shit in her pants. What exactly is it about life that she knows that I don't? The first track "Everyone's At It" seems to be about how everyone is on some drug or another and how society is in denial about the whole thing? What the fuck? Really? This is your message? The second track "The Fear" provides such gems as "I'm not a saint, but I'm not a sinner and everything's cool as long as I'm getting thinner". Seriously? This is pretty much the worst high school poetry I've ever heard. "Back To The Start" seems to be Allen's attempt to show us all how mature she is by writing an apology of a song. But two tracks later on "Fuck You" she reverts to the mentality of a 7 year old. If you don't agree with me "Fuck You". What remarkable intellectual discourse. The few songs that seem to deal with Allen's life, (I'm just guessing that they're actually about her, I could be wrong), portray her as a self obsessed, ego-maniac slut. I think the lowest point on the record is "Him". It's gotta be the stupidest song about God since "What If God Was One Of Us" by Joan Osborne. Is it suppose to be cute or funny singing about God's favorite band or financial situation? It's not. It's sub-mental.

Lily Allen pretty much sums up a lot of what's wrong not only with music today, but with society. She endorses a vain mindless existence dedicated to morbid self obsession and the endless constant satisfaction of one's own desires. It's about as immature and obnoxious an attitude as one can assume. Worst of all it's really fucking boring.