Sunday , June 13, 2010
Heavy Rotation: The Replacements, Spoon, John Frusciante, Evan Dando, Trees, Lauryn Hill
The Replacements, "Kiss Me On the Bus"
My portion of Heavy Rotation this week is dedicated to what I like to call "amiable white dude music." Pavement is kind of the apotheosis of this made-up genre in my mind, but something about the Replacements' sloppy, bouncy drunken take on college rock makes them the progenitor of amiable white dudeness. Lately I'm on a huge Replacements kick, and I've concluded that their genius lies in how they can be so quasi-obnoxiously rawk and write songs about boners, like on Let It Be, but then they can write such a sweetie-pie song like "Kiss Me On the Bus." It's kind of the "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" of Midwestern post-punk, all boyish and impatient and "boppy." I like to surmise that the key to amiable white dude music is the willingness to be "boppy," and to be man enough to realize that boppiness doesn't compromise dudeness in the least. It only makes you cuter and girls like you more. (Kat)
Spoon, "Eddie's Ragga"
Now here's a conundrum: are Spoon amiable white dude music? Fact: they're a bunch of white dudes, so they fulfill that requirement. But do they fulfill the "amiable" part of the equation? Though often stripped-down, and though many of their songs are jaunty and danceable, their sound has always been meticulous and precise, which makes me wonder if they're really a bunch of slightly uptight Virgos or something. (Not that I don't love Virgos, being Virgo rising myself -- but you know what I mean. I don't know ANY Virgo "free spirits." I mean, there's Cameron Diaz, but she always seemed to have a studied kind of wackiness.) Plus, they're kind of arty and experimental in their own way, which is a little opposed to the whole indie Amiable Dudeness aesthetic. But maybe the final test of amiable white dude genre-ness is to look at the reasons you'd break up with these dudes. If things came to the skids with Paul Westerberg, for instance, it'd probably be because he was in a drunken stupor half the time you were with him -- he loves you sincerely, but you're tired of being puked on after midnight. That's definitely Amiable White Dude legit there. And you'd probably want to throttle Stephen Malkmus if you were dating him because he was just stoned and too goofball all the time. You'd have fun making out with him, but try having a real conversation with a cloud of pot smoke, okay? Essentially, things would end with these dudes because they were too busy being professionally Amiable to be personally amiable with you. But dating Britt Daniel, as bona-fide cute as he is, would probably be a piece of work because he'd just be emotionally withholding and self-absorbed, too caught up in studio techniques and guitar pedals and his Japanese anime DVD collection to pay much attention to you -- which is just Garden Variety Human if you ask me. Hell, I'm emotionally withholding and self-absorbed, and I'm definitely no Amiable White Dude. (Kat)
"Height Down" by John Frusciante
Tomorrow's the 40th birthday of John Frusciante, who used to be in my favorite band. But he quit, last year, just in time for Christmas/my birthday. "Height Down" is from a record he made the last time he left the band; it has River Phoenix singing. When I was little (nineteen), I used to play this song so much and think how cool I was for having a record with River Phoenix singing, because River Phoenix was dead. I still think that's really exciting, actually. Happy birthday, John! (Liz)
"Streets of Baltimore" by Evan Dando
Speaking of birthday boys: today's Evan Dando's 43rd birthday. "March forth on March 4th!", Evan always says (or he did once, in an interview I read 17 years ago). And the other day Tatyana asked me to tell the story of the two times I successfully stalked Evan Dando as a wee teen, but just as I started typing this sentence I remembered how that story's already told, in our fourth-ever Heavy Rotation. It's more torrid than any page outta I'm With The Band or Rebel Heart, really. And here Evan Dando and I are together, one of us maybe more stoked than the other. Happy birthday, Evan! (Liz)
Trees, "Little Sadie"
Do you believe in the realness of "vibes"? I do, and this song's are stellar, which is why I forgive it for being vaguely lame/Celtic-lame/Fairport Convention-y. I like to imagine that this song tells a story about Sexy Sadie (of "Sexy Sadie" fame) when she was a little girl. I would consider naming my daughter Sadie, except for that I'm naming my son Jude, and then I would always think of Jude Law & Sadie Frost every time I looked at my own children, which would be weird. In real life, the only Sadie I've ever known is my best friend's springer spaniel. Sadie is an amazing dog who belongs to an amazing person. She is the only remaining "dog from high school" left alive. This song is dedicated to my best friend, who turns twenty-six this Saturday. She is a Pisces and a Golden Delicious apple, the sun, and the great George Harrison of my life. I love you, Scrap Sister. Let's get stoned in malls forever, even when we have children, named after Beatles songs. (Laura Jane)
Lauryn Hill, "Doo Wop (That Thing)"
Have you ever wondered exactly what it felt like to be thirteen years old in the autumn of 1998? It felt like this song. I had just started high school. I was always a year young for my grade, because I skipped third grade, so there's a fun fact about Laura Jane. Skipping third grade has branded me with a rookie mentality for life, something I hope to never ever shake. I am happy I was reminded that this song exists, by Nadine on Facebook last week, because "Don't be a hard rock when you really are a gem, Babygirl," has done a lot for me lately. I refer to myself near-exclusively as "Babygirl" in my head. "Doo Wop (That Thing)" is culturally significant because it was the last time in human history that the most popular song in the Universe was the song that deserved to be the most popular song in the Universe*. We were so naive, sitting at the back of the bus, warbling it tin-earedly. We thought that more songs would come out, that would be as good as this one, but it never happened again. How were we to know? That, three months later, Will Smith would release a single called "Will 2K"? That was the beginning of the end. When Will Smith said, "Hold up, it is," and the world thought it was cool. (Laura Jane)
*Except for, I guess, when "Hey Ya" was popular. I hate to admit it, but "Hey Ya" was so awesome for a bit.
Tags: 1998, archetypal Georges, beautifully damaged boys, birthday boys, Evan Dando, Hey Ya, John Frusciante, Jude Law, Lauryn Hill, Nerd Barker, Pisceans, River Phoenix, springer spaniels, Will Smith
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you are speakin some troooths, lj.
also: the only 'sadie' i have known was also a spaniel, cocker tho.
By carlo on March 4, 2010 1:26 PM
"I used to play this song so much and think how cool I was for having a record with River Phoenix singing, because River Phoenix was dead."
We've got a judge here in western Virginia who also writes pretty good novels. Probably his most memorable character is a guy who won't listen to any recorded music made by someone who's dead.
There's a great bit about how that character listened to George Jones incessantly at one point because he thought Jones was about to kick the bucket and had to get his time in while he could.
By Masonic Youth on March 4, 2010 3:42 PM
that's COOL. why wouldn't he listen to music made by dead people? don't leave me hangin', masonic youth!!!!
By Liz
on March 4, 2010 5:36 PM
liz, amazing, amazingly awesome and eventually amazingly sad. evan dando inspires so many feelings and what a dreamboat he is in that photo! have you heard the juliana hatfield song about him?
also, kat, RE: "amiable white dude music," the designation i love btw, have you read the klosterman-malkmus tete a tete?
http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/201003/pavement-indie?currentPage=1
again, complex feelings.
By Tatyana on March 5, 2010 2:37 PM
tatyana: i know. I KNOW. which juliana song?
By Liz
on March 5, 2010 6:11 PM