Stylus Magazine is closing!

Just a quick note that my favourite music review website, Stylus Magazine, is ceasing publishing from today (31st October 2007).

This is a very sad day for me. I am an avid reader of online music publications, and Stylus Magazine has always stood out from the crowd. Their website had a real sense of community about it, with the comments section (for each article) allowing everyone to have their say. While this was sometimes to the detriment of the site when some flame wars were flared up (sometimes amusingly), it always separated them from their peers like Pitchfork Media.

But it was probably their features sections which made them my website of choice. Staff Top Ten, Playing God, On First Listen, On Second Thought...these sections were Stylus inventions and they always made fascinating reads. Stylus Magazine has been one of the major reasons why I have such a passion for music, and was also probably the biggest influence on this blog (which I'll admit has been kind've quiet lately).

I'll miss you guys! I'm looking forward to a great spinoff website from some of your very talented writers (my favourite being the fascinating Nick Southall, but I'm also a fan of Ian Mathers' work). I'm hoping all of the great Stylus articles are archived somewhere for prosperity, but we can always resort to the Internet Archive I guess.

And just to show that I'm not just jumping on the Stylus Magazine bandwagon now that they are closing down, here's a blog post from over 3 years ago where I named them as one of my favourite music websites.

Radiohead - "In Rainbows"

Got hold of the new album In rainbows last night. This is a huge musical event -- the internet is buzzing with excitement that only a band like Radiohead can generate. Do a blog search for the album name, and you'll see blog posts and comments pouring in from all around the globe.

One listen through and it sounds very promising. It's hard to pick standout tracks at this stage, and I'm sure it will need about 3-4 listens before I can comment on the album as a whole. I guess the track which stood out for me on first listen was the haunting ballad Faust arp, which has a great cello (I think?) part throughout. Despite sounding like a cousin to I will (from 2003's Hail to the thief), it also sounds unlike anything they have ever released.

The album starts out with an Amnesiac-esque burst of electronica, which I'll admit did get me a little worried; I can now safely say this is probably their least electronic album since OK computer. Not to say it's a retread to more guitar-based territory, just that the experiments of the last few albums (Backdrifts, The gloaming, Pulk/pull revolving doors) seem to have been toned down in favour of actual songs.

I must admit that I cheated a little bit with the album - last week I previewed live versions of these songs which were available on this website. I was in two minds about doing this; I didn't want to ruin the experience of hearing these tracks for the first time, but at the same time I just had to hear them. I can now say (after listening through In rainbows once) that they really fleshed out these songs in the studio, and my first listen of the album proper wasn't tarnished at all by previewing the live versions first.

A lot of people are complaining that the pre-release (digital) version of the album was available only in 160kbps (albeit DRM-free) MP3. This doesn't bother me one bit, as this is the bitrate that I rip my music at anyway. It's also much better than the 128kbps DRM versions that you get on iTunes.

Oh, and how much did I pay? Knowing full well that I will purchase the official CD when it becomes available (tentatively scheduled for January 2008), I paid £1 for the pre-release digital version of the album. With the 45p transaction fee, this added up to $3.41 AUD. I don't feel guilty about this at all; I will purchase this album when it comes out on CD, as I always do. I am generally against paying for digital downloads; I like having the artwork and I also like having something tangible, which also works well if I decide I don't like something and want to sell it on eBay. Paying $16 (or whatever you pay on iTunes thesedays) for a digital version of an album is just ridiculous when I can usually buy the real CD, DRM-free and with artwork, for about the same price (or cheaper). And for an album that's been out for longer than 6 months, I can almost always find it on eBay for around the $10 mark.

New Radiohead album!

Many music fans (myself included) were punk'd on the weekend when this website featured a ticking clock countdown, hinting that Radiohead LP7 was being released after the time expired (sometime on Sunday here in Australia). Salivating fans who visited this site quickly learned that it was, sadly, a hoax.

But now, in a new twist, Jonny Greenwood posted this on the official Radiohead blog. It looks like this one is for real!

They are releasing the album (called In rainbows) as a digital download on October 10th, where you get to pre-order it and specify the price you'd like to pay for it. Let me repeat that. You name the price you are willing to pay. For old-fashioned types (like me) who want the real CD, it's being released in December.

These guys are freakin' legends. Every album that have released since OK computer has been an exciting event, and they have really outdone themselves here. What they have done here is spit in the face of the corporate money-grabbing record labels, and in true genius have also helped to deal with illegal BitTorrent leaks by essentially releasing it for free anyway. They have brought the black market into the mainstream. Sure, there will be a minority who will put down $0 as the price they would like to pay, but they have such a dedicated fanbase, that this is a move that will surely pay off for them.

Radiohead truly are the Beatles of our generation, not only in their immense talent, but in their ability to drum up excitement with every album release. I'm sure being alive in 1967 when Sgt Peppers came out would have been very exciting, but in my life, Radiohead will have to play that part for me.

Let's hope the music lives up to the great marketing and PR job ;-)

Something For Kate gig [7th September 2007 @ The Forum]

On Friday night, Melbourne band Something For Kate played an excellent set covering the first 12 years of their discography at the superb Forum venue on Flinders Street. The gig coincided with the release of their latest best-of double-album The Murmur Years; the title references their Sony subsidiary record label Murmur, while also being a sly nod to the similarly titled R.E.M. best-of The I.R.S. Years, a band whose debut (and arguably best) album was itself entitled Murmur. Get it?

The gig started with frontman Paul Dempsey performing a solo acoustic version of Impossible, from their 2006 album Desert lights. This wasn't a track that had really stood out for me on Desert lights (which was not one of my favourite albums of 2006), but the track really grabbed me live and hearing it in this setting (and also as an acoustic number) gave me a renewed appreciation of it. It's always good when a live version of a song allows you to appreciate it in ways that you hadn't before.

The rest of the band took to the stage shortly after, and performed for a solid 90 minutes covering a good cross-section of their first five albums, from Elsewhere for 8 minutes (1997) through to Desert lights (2006) (although 2003's underrated The official fiction was a bit under-represented with only Deja vu making the cut).

They also threw in a couple of covers, and while this itself wasn't surprising (they have never been shy of a few well-placed covers during a show), the selection of covers were pleasantly surprising. They did a great version of the Elliott Smith classic Waltz #2 (XO), with the piano/guitar riff of the original performed on violin by touring 2nd guitarist/multi instrumentalist Phillip 'Pip' Branson. Credit has to go to the late Smith for writing such a fantastic song, but the band certainly did the song justice. It was the second time I had seen Paul Dempsey perform an Elliott Smith song live, the other being the stripped-down Needle in the hay at an Elliott Smith tribute gig at the Corner Hotel in late 2004. He must be a fan, and has therefore earned even more respect from me.

The band also covered the excellent Cold Chisel cut When the war is over, but this didn't work quite as well as the Elliott Smith number. In terms of SFK song selection (after all, this was an SFK gig ;)), the highlights for me included a great version of Pinstripe from Elsewhere, The Astronaut (from their excellent 2nd album Beautiful sharks and one of my favourite SFK cuts) and the slow-building epic Back to you from the same album.

The ended the gig with an encore of two of their absolute classics: Monsters from 2001's Echolalia and Captain (million miles an hour) from Elsewhere. All in all, an enjoyable (and thanks to the new anti-smoking laws, smoke-free) gig from these great Melbournians.

Here are some videos I took:



Paul Dempsey playing 'The astronaut'. I think the people in front of me were high on something because they couldn't stand still, hence the hands constantly waving in front of me, obscuring my vision.



The 'Waltz #2' Elliott Smith cover. This video cuts out before the end of the song, as my camera ran out of memory. The focus also wasn't very good on this one.

Top 10 consistently overrated albums

As you may have established if you have been a reader of this blog, I am a list-o-holic. I love reading lists. I love writing lists. I love lists.

And "best albums of all time" (and all its variations) is one of my favourite types of lists. I recently purchased the book 1001 albums you must hear before you die. This makes 3 oversized books in my possession which are all completely dedicated to discussing great albums and lots of them.

As the year comes to an end, I quiver in anticipation awaiting the top albums of the year lists from Pitchfork, Stylus Magazine, PopMatters and all the other music websites that I read regularly.

Because I quite regularly read top album lists, I am constantly exposed to entries in these lists which baffle me. Sometimes the lists include an album by an artist who has done so much better on another album which doesn't even get a mention. Sometimes the albums in question are simply not representative of the artist or band's best work. In some cases, they are simply mediocre albums.

Here is my top ten list of the most consistently overrated albums.

10. Neil Young - Harvest (1972)

This is Neil Young's most commercially popular album, spawning a few hits with the title track, Heart of gold and Old man. It's an extremely consistent country-folk album which sounds like lots of music that came out of the States and Canada in the early 70's.

Would I call this his best album? Well, it's certainly his most polished and maybe even one of his most consistent. But this album doesn't represent what Neil is about, and it can very easily give the wrong impression about the man. This is MOR all the way, and Neil Young was famously quoted as saying "traveling [down the middle of the road] was really boring so I headed for the ditch." Nobody has summed up their career as well as Neil did here. Some of his other albums from the mid-late 70's, including the raw/bluesy Tonight's the night and semi-live Rust never sleeps defined his work so much better.

Buy instead: On the beach (1974), Tonight's the night (1975), Rust never sleeps (1979)

9. The Who - Who's Next? (1971)

Old-skool rockers will flame me for this one. Let me get this straight from the start -- this album does have its fair share of classics on it. I love Baba O'Riley, Won't Get Fooled Again and Behind Blue Eyes as much as the next guy.

But I still think its overrated. Those 3 classics make up about 40% of the album's running time, and while there are some other really good songs (John Entwhistle's My wife always amuses me, and it's got a great tune), the entire album doesn't completely gel with me. There's something about it I can't quite put my finger on, but I think it feels too calculated, too custom-made for stadiums. I prefer my music with more of a personal touch, and I would recommend the underrated The who by numbers as the better Who album. It's almost a singer-songwriter album, and Pete Townshend's lyrics steal the show.

Buy instead: The Who By Numbers (1975)

8. The Jam - Sound Affects (1980)

Frontman Paul Weller names this as his favourite Jam record and I just don't get it. It's certainly their most 60's sounding album, where they really embraced their Beatles influence and strayed away from their punk roots. And while it does have its fair share of classics (That's entertainment, the Taxman-ripping Start!, the Kinks tribute Man in the corner shop) there's also a helluva lotta filler (Music for the last couple, anyone?)

All mod cons is also considered one of their best albums, and for me it will always be their definitive statement (how could any album that ends with Down in the tube station at midnight fail?). I'd also pick Setting sons as another very solid Jam album, even if it does have a small amount of filler itself.

Buy instead: All Mod Cons (1978), Setting Sons (1979)

7. Big Star - #1 Record (1972)

Hopefully these guys (well, what is left of them) will get some overdue recognition soon. They are one of the most popular "cult" bands of all time (was that an oxymoron?). While The Who, Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones were knocking off blues riffs in the early 70's, Big Star were practically inventing power pop. They influenced bands and artists like R.E.M., The Feelies and Matthew Sweet, and in their 3 original albums they have left an outstanding legacy.

This, their debut album, contains its fair share of classics including the stunning The ballad of El Goodo (still possibly my favourite Big Star song) and gorgeous Thirteen (covered by Elliott Smith, Wilco and countless others). Excellent moments aside, there is way too much filler on this album to make it a solid listen all the way through (especially on the second half). Their 2nd album Radio city (without founding member Chris Bell, as he had left the band by this point) is a much more consistent album overall; their 3rd album Third/sister lovers is a tortured masterpiece which needs to be heard by as many people as possible. I haven't heard their reunion album In space, but from what I have read it is best avoided.

Buy instead: Radio City (1974), Third/Sister Lovers (1975)

6. The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers (1971)

The four albums the Stones released between 1968 and 1972 are all excellent in their own way. Sticky Fingers is usually the album which gets named as their definitive release. Like its predecessors Beggars Banquet and Let it bleed, it has its fair share of Stones classics (Brown sugar, Wild horses, Dead flowers). But it's also got Bitch, which never really did a lot for me (despite a great riff) and You gotta move is just a cover gone wrong.

My vote for the best Stones album is its successor Exile on Main St. The production is murky and there's lots of filler. But wait a second, I just bagged Sticky fingers due to a few filler tracks! That's true, but the filler on Exile on Main St just works. It's good filler. It's a double album (well, on vinyl anyway). Like many double albums, the filler adds to the the charm. And it's got that unbelievable vibe to it. Just trust me on this one, this is their definitive statement.

Buy instead: Exile on Main St. (1972)

5. The White Stripes - Elephant (2003)

Yeah look, I have never really understood how the White Stripes still manage to consistently get such critical acclaim each time they release an album. This one baffled me the most, with many critics calling it the best album of 2003. I just don't get it. It's got Seven nation army, and that's a great song. Ball and biscuit is a pretty good, albeit derivative blues number. Hypnotize is a great rocker that doesn't outstay its welcome. But there's some songs that I could quite happily not hear for a long time. Why are critics (and fans) constantly raving about There's no home for you here? I find it just annoying.

Interestingly enough, I like the album that they released prior to this (White blood cells). Maybe it's because they took the time to write some really good tunes rather than just knock off boring blues riffs. And maybe it's because they were yet to hit the big time and their egos didn't get in the way of creating great music.

Buy instead: White Blood Cells (2001)

4. Beck - Odelay (1996)

Multi-layered. Textured. Seminal. Patchwork quilt. Masterpiece. These words and more have been used to describe Beck's apparent magnum opus Odelay. What these reviewers fail to mention is that Derelict is just an annoying song, Novacane is just a shout-fest, and what's this crap about rockin' the catskills? No thanks. There are some excellent moments on this album, including the folky Jack-ass, hip-hop influenced Where's it at? and almost-title track Lord only knows. But does it all work? Not quite.

The sober break-up album Sea Change is simply stunning; he couldn't really get more different from Odelay if he tried.

Buy instead: Sea Change (2002), Mutations (1998)

3. U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)

Bloody Joshua Tree. Bloody top-loaded Joshua Tree. Just look at those first three songs - Where the streets have no name, I still haven't found what I'm looking for and With or without you. That's tracks 1-3 for you. Have you ever seen a more shameless attempt at selling records than that? Kid goes into store in 1987, picks up Joshua Tree. Hey, I know track 1. Wait, I know track 2 as well. Wait a minute...track 3! Sold!

Those 3 were top-loaded to make this album sell. The fact they they are some of the most overplayed U2 songs on the radio doesn't help this album's cause either. You turn on Gold 104.3 and there's a pretty good chance you'll hear one of them within an hour. They have lost any emotional power they may have once carried through over-familiarity. What about the rest of the album? Well, there's some good songs on it. But there's also some merely okay ones on it as well. Let's leave it at that.

Achtung baby also has a lot of U2 classics on it, but they really changed their direction on this album, going for a more industrial/dance sound. All you can't leave behind was their "return to form" album after they went all experimental in the mid-90's; some songs may eventually be killed by overplay here, but at the moment I consider it a very solid album.

Buy instead: Achtung baby (1991), All that you can't leave behind (2000)

2. The Beatles - Revolver (1966)

This is a fantastic album by the greatest band of all time. The only reasons I am including it in this list are:

a) It is considered by many to be the best Beatles album;
b) It is considered by many to be the best album of all time;
c) The word "perfect" is often thrown around when discussing this album.

I'm sorry, but any album that has Yellow submarine, Doctor Robert, I want to tell you or Love you to can't possibly be praised as the best album of all time. Not that those songs aren't good in their own ways; I can appreciate the sonic innovations they introduced to popular music, but some of them just aren't that great. Maybe if I was alive in 1966 to hear this album for the first time, my opinion would differ.

Buy instead: Rubber Soul (1965), The Beatles (1968), Abbey Road (1969)

1. R.E.M. - Document (1987)

This was their last independent release on the I.R.S. label before they jumped on board to Warner Brothers. Why did they get a major label deal? Four words - The one I love. And to a lesser degree, It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine).

With the exception of those songs, and the jangly guitar gem Welcome to the occupation, this album offers nothing to me. I don't like the tunes. I don't like Michael Stipe's whiney vocals. And now that I can hear the lyrics, they don't particularly impress me either.

R.E.M. released 4 excellent albums prior to this one, with their debut Murmur being a masterpiece and still their best album. After Document, they released a few hit-and-miss major label albums with Green and Out of time before they recovered with the stunning Automatic for the people and the late-career gem New adventures in hi-fi.

Document stands out in their catalogue as the only time they were able to extend a double A-side over the course of a 40 minute album by padding it with as much filler as possible.

Buy instead: Murmur (1983), Automatic For The People (1992), New Adventures In Hi-Fi (1996)

Eye fillets #001

I have a playlist on my iPod called Eye fillets, which has all of my 5-star rated songs in it (geddit...choice cuts?). There are currently 301 songs in this playlist, from a total library of approximately 13,000 songs. That's about 2% of my collection* which I consider to be prime quality, and worth paying $34.99 / kilo for. Okay, that's enough meat analogies for now...

* NB: I am continually adding songs to this playlist as I see fit, so more may appear in the future!

This is the first entry in a new type of post which I like to call Eye fillets. This is a similar idea to the random mixtape post, except for the following:

• The tracks chosen will all come from my Eye fillets playlist;
• I will only choose 5 tracks instead of 10;
• I will post temporary MP3s of each song so you can listen and enjoy.
  

Here's my first random selection:

Suede - The asphalt world [Link removed]

This is the penultimate track from Suede's superb 1994 album Dog man star. It's pretentious, epic and utterly brilliant. Many people look back on Suede as a has-been Britpop band, and they did eventually become that. But DMS was and still is an excellent album, an excellent artifact from the Britpop era that was different to everything else being released at the time, and has aged much better because of this. This song is one of its finest moments, a Bowie influenced epic which feels a lot shorter than its 9:25 running time. I have always said to myself that if I was ever going to make a movie, this song would have to feature in its soundtrack.

Elvis Costello - The beat [Link removed]

Elvis Costello's 2nd album (and first with the Attractions) This year's model was one of the first albums of his that I purchased, and is still my favourite album by the man. This is him at his punkiest; while the classics Pump it up and (I don't want to go to) Chelsea make up the core of the album, minor nuggets like this one made me realise that he was a songwriter to be reckoned with. This is a brilliant toe-tapping tune which for many lesser artists would be a hit, but for Elvis was merely tucked away as a lost album track.

Al Green - Let's stay together [Link removed]

Sentimental value here, as this is "our song" for Lorin (my wife) and me. In fact, this was the song we [tried to] dance to for our bridal waltz at our wedding. Most people will know it, as it was on the soundtrack to Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece Pulp fiction. A beautiful song.

The Jam - Down in the tube station at midnight [Link removed]

Now here is a real eye fillet - possibly one of my favourite songs of all time. This is the final song on their excellent album All mod cons from 1978; a good decision, as nothing could really top it. The bassline at the start sets the urgency, and then Paul Weller sings a chilling tale about a bunch of skinhead thugs beating up a helpless Pakistani man who had bought a "take-away curry" and was bringing it back home to his wife. The song still gives me chills, from a lyrical and musical standpoint.

When I was in London last year, I was actually down in the tube station at midnight. I didn't listen to the song on my iPod at the time (it probably wasn't the best place or time to bring out expensive electronics), but I did give All mod cons a listen while walking around London a few days later. A potently powerful song.

Neil Young - Powderfinger [Link removed]

A song so good it inspired a band name (I wish I could say the same about the song Radio head by Talking Heads, but that is the topic of another thread. Or a band as mediocre as Pretty girls make graves stealing a great Smiths song title. Okay, enough now.)

This is one of my favourite Neil Young songs. Opening up the "electric" side of Rust never sleeps, this song has some of the Mr. Young's finest axe work. It's catchy, it rocks and it seems to have something deep to say lyrically (although, not really being a lyrics person, I have yet to interpret them). Great song.

UPDATE: Song links removed.

Important announcement

Hi Everyone

Just thought I would hijack the Wireless Cranium to let everyone know that tonight, Saturday May 19, sbs will be repeating the episode of Rockwiz that featured Wireless Cranium's very own Jiggy!!!

For those of you that missed it first time around, hopefully you can catch it tonight.....

Jiggy, sorry for placing a post on your blog without informing you first!!

Upcoming 2007 album releases

Just a quick post (for a change). Please check out MetaCritic's list of upcoming album releases.

I've said it before, but 2006 was a big disappointment for me music-wise. But look at those big names who have albums scheduled for 2007 (categorised for my amusement):

Artists who have never let me down

Elliott Smith (posthumous collection of rarities and B-sides)
Wilco
Blur (with the exception of their patchy debut Leisure)
Noel Gallagher (first solo album, very exciting stuff)
Oasis (actually...Standing on the shoulder of giants was pretty shite)
Super Furry Animals

I have at least one excellent album of theirs, and I'll be keeping my eye out

Bjork
Interpol
Spoon
Doves
Massive Attack
The Notwist
The Polyphonic Spree
The Streets
The Wrens
Wolf Parade

Clearly past their prime, but they could surprise me

Manic Street Preachers (could they release another classic?)
Travis (expectations set very low)
Coldplay (will they continue down the commercial road?)
The Cure
R.E.M.
U2

Reunion albums (where have they been?)

Crowded House
The Pixies
Portishead
Guns 'n' Roses (not interested, but worth a mention)
The Eagles (not interested, but worth a mention)

Artists who have already released albums (* are the ones I have)

The Shins* (not as good as Chutes too narrow, but a solid album)
The Arcade Fire* (up there with Funeral, a fantastic album)
Air
Apostle of Hustle
Art of Fighting
Bloc Party
Modest Mouse
Rosebuds
Silverchair

--

Seriously, I can't remember a year with so many anticipated releases in a long time. C'mon artists, don't let me down. Let's make 2007 another killer year for music! It is a decade since 1997, and that was a brilliant year for music (one of the best). Will 7 be a lucky number again?

What are your anticipated album releases for 2007?

Rodriguez gig [8th April 2007 @ Corner Hotel]

Sixto Diaz Rodriguez is one of the most enigmatic musical cult figures of recent times. Born in Detroit in 1942, he released two albums in the early 1970's -- the cult classic Cold fact from 1970, and a follow up Coming from reality released in 1971. I have talked about Cold fact many times on this blog (see my review here); there is no need to reiterate what I have said before about it. It is a lost classic which deserves to be heard by as many people as possible.

Sixto (who has also gone by the name Jesus Rodriguez, and just plain old Rodriguez) never made it in his home country. He did, however, develop a fairly significant cult following in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Australia and New Zealand, even going platinum in South Africa. But Rodriguez was unaware of his popularity overseas, and had already decided to give up the music business after failing to crack the big time in the United States. He played a few shows in Australia in the late 70's and early 80's (his 1981 tour in support of local act Midnight Oil) before returning to Detroit where he continued to lead a normal life raising a family and working various jobs including a petrol station attendant and labourer.

In the late 90's, Sixto's daughter realised her father had an overseas fanbase when she discovered a fan website dedicated to him. In the meantime, his cult following in Australia only became bigger; Cold fact had become a word-of-mouth classic and his popularity continued to grow. He was eventually tracked down in an internet campaign in the late 90's, completely oblivious to the fact that he had such a huge following. To add to the mystery that is Sixto Rodriguez, there were also rumours that he had committed suicide while on stage; rumours which he was completely unaware of.

When I heard that he was touring in April, I was very excited at the opportunity to see the man live. I wanted to go because he is a brilliant musician, but I also wanted to go to unravel the mystery that is Rodriguez. I wanted to see the genius who had written and recorded Cold fact, this mysterious man who had recorded such a classic and then faded into obscurity. I wanted to get some answers.

Rodriguez was supported by Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience from New Orleans, and they were one of the best support acts I have seen in a long time. Here for the Blues & Roots festival in Byron Bay, they were an incredibly tight 6-piece band, incorporating accordion and different types of percussion (including an interesting metal vest) into an awe-inspiring New Orleans sound. While most giggers tend to kick back during the support act, I was impressed by the amount of people watching these guys; they definitely deserved it.

Rodriguez took to the stage with some help from a roadie amidst cheers from the crowd. He is 65, and clearly a frail man. Opening with the classic I wonder from Cold fact, his demeanor throughout the 90-minute set could only be described as languid, taking a few minutes between songs to either regain his composure, work out what song to play next or say a few words to the audience. When he did speak, he spoke in fragments, dropping a few odd comments: "Don't trust women. You know why? Because you can't trust men!" and "The zeroes are the heroes" (referring to those born after 2000, from what I could understand).

His setlist covered most of the songs from Cold fact (highlights being Crucify your mind, Sugar man and pre-encore set closer Forget it); the only notable omission for me was Hate street dialogue which is one of my favourite Rodriguez songs, but he may not have a personal connection to this song because he didn't write it. He played quite a few songs which I didn't know, and I presume that they were either from his second album or his best-of compilation At his best. He also did a few covers -- a great medley of old rock 'n' roll songs including Shake, rattle & roll, Subterranean homesick blues, Have some fun tonight and Hound dog; and a nice version of At last by Ella Fitzgerald.

Did this gig unravel the enigma that is Rodriguez? Well, yes and no. I can now truly say that he is one of the most truly humble musicicans I have ever seen. What was most apparent when he spoke was how simultaneously bewildered and appreciative he was of his fan following in Australia. Here was a man who was completely unaware of his own popularity, and it was so refreshing seeing someone of his popularity exhibit such a modest persona. This made the gig an emotional experience for me as a fan; while most gigs are very much one-way in their audience->artist connection, I couldn't help but feel that our applause and cheering meant as much to him as his performance meant to us. But while I did finally got to learn a bit more about the man, there's still something incredibly puzzling about him and you can't help but feel that there's more to him than he lets on.

After the gig, I said goodbye to Pete who was with me, and as I was heading back to my car I noticed a small crowd gathering outside the back entrance to the Corner Hotel. I realised they were queueing up to catch a glimpse of their idol, and since it wasn't a school night I thought I'd hang around as well. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing between the front and back of the Corner, we discovered that Rodriguez was at the merchandise desk signing copies of posters which they were selling. I joined the queue and managed to get a card signed, as well as two ticket stubs (one made out to me, one to Pete). I also had a brief chat with him, telling him that Cold fact was my favourite album of all time (only a slight exaggeration, as it's almost up there), to which his typically humble response was "Oh thank you, thank you so much. Are you a musician?". "No", I said. "Just a big music fan."

Here some notable photos and videos from the night:

Rodriguez posing with me after the signing.

Terrance Simian & The Zydeco Experience in action.


Some other members of The Zydeco Experience.


One of the more common poses adopted by Rodriguez while on stage.




Rodriguez performing I wonder.
Pretty poor video and audio quality, because I took this with my digital still camera.




Rodriguez performing Forget it. Ditto about the video and audio quality.
Unfortunately my camera ran out of memory while recording this, so it cuts out before the end.

A musical milestone

I reached a significant milestone two weeks ago which I feel deserves a mention - I purchased my 1000th CD*.

Yes, you saw that * next to CD. That's because I have some very specific rules about what I define as a CD - it's not always the physical disc that I'm counting.

A CD could be one of the following:

• Album (LP using the old-skool terminology)
• EP (Bigger than a single but smaller than an LP)
• Single
• Soundtrack
• Live recording
• Compilation (Same artist or various artists)
• Miscellaneous release (e.g. interview disc)

Now for some of my rules:

• Double albums on CD (e.g. The Beatles, Being there) are counted as a single CD in my statistics. This is because they are sold and marketed as a single release.
• Sometimes artists released 2-for-1 CDs -- i.e. 2 albums on the 1 disc. Some examples of this are Big Star #1 record / Radio city, Pixies Surfer rosa / Come on pilgrim and several Beach Boys releases. These are counted as 2 CDs, because when originally released they were separate; it's only the record company who have decided to release them together on the same disc. They are listened to and reviewed as separate releases.
• If a CD comes with a bonus disc, it is not counted as a CD. Some examples of this are Live Four songs (which was bundled with my version of Throwing copper), and the Guided By Voices Tigerbomb EP (which was bundled with my version of Under the bushes under the stars). This is because although the CD often has a sticker on it such as "Buy me now! I come with a bonus disc!", they are generally not releases which have been previously marketed separately; they are a bonus and deserve to be treated that way.

Statistics

Since this is a significant milestone, I thought I would unload some interesting (well, to me anyway) stats about my CD collection.

My century milestones (nth CD):

• 100: Portishead - Portishead
• 200: Elvis Costello - Imperial bedroom
• 300: Sting - Fields of gold
• 400: Weezer - Pinkerton
• 500: Nirvana - Nevermind
• 600: David Bowie - Scary monsters
• 700: Spiritualized - Lazer guided melodies
• 800: The Replacements - Let it be
• 900: Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
• 1000: Tom Petty - Greatest hits

Note that these numbers are valid as of this moment. If I ever end up selling an old CD on eBay, it would cause a shift in the numbers (and I have done this in the past).

This is my breakdown of the 1000 CDs into my categories:

• Albums (LP) - 872
• Albums (Live) - 18
• Compilations (Same artist) - 64
• Compilations (Various artists) - 4
• EPs - 11
• Singles - 4
• Soundtracks - 20
• Miscellaneous - 7

Musical phases

Now for an analysis of my purchasing history, with regard to phases that I went through. The numbers in square brackets indicate where the first and last CD purchased by the artist fit into my purchasing order, and the years that the phase covered.

Billy Joel [8-73, late 80's to early 90's]

I'm not ashamed to admit that the first artist I really got into was Billy Joel (first CD of his was purchase 8, last CD was purchase 73). Not sure about exact dates of purchases as this was before my proper record-keeping, but it was in my early to mid teens when I was into his music in a big way. Most people associate him with soppy AM radio hits like Just the way you are, but he does have more musical depth than that. Even though I don't listen to him much thesedays, he was the first artist I truly admired, and the first artist who I made my mission to collect their entire discography. I even went to great lengths to do this, purchasing his greatest hits boxset when I already had all of the songs on it (except the few standard ones tacked on by the record company to sell more copies). He was a great influence in my appreciation of music.

The Beatles [54-220, 1997-1999]

My second great musical love, and one that still carries on to this day (even if the power of their music has somewhat diminished due to overplay and familiarity). I had always known Beatles music (how can you not?), but there were a few events which made me get into them in a huge way. Firstly, there was the Anthology series on TV which tickled my interest. Secondly, I received Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from my uncle as a birthday present. Thirdly, there was the now infamous (well, to me and a few friends anyway) Beatles night in which Pete, Brett and myself got drunk over a slab of Melbourne Bitter (and later Kahlua and Southern Comfort) and listened through [almost] the entire Beatles catalogue from start to finish. I say almost because by the time we got to the White Album and Abbey Road we were too physically drunk to listen to much more.

Anyway, Beatles were a huge influence on my love of music to this date. Just because you know a lot of Beatles hits doesn't mean you really know the Beatles -- you really need to listen to their albums so you can hear the lesser-known gems. I envy those who have not explored the music of the Beatles yet, because there is still a chance for you to experience that great feeling of discovering one of the great bands of all time.

Elvis Costello [187-678, 1999-2004]

It took me a while to warm to Elvis Costello, but there was a phase where I was purchasing his albums like they were going to go out of print. I went through a huge phase of listening to his music at the turn of millenium, and I still regard him as one of my favourite artists of all time. I have seem him live twice, with the 2nd gig at the Palais (in November 2004) being one of the best gigs I have ever been to (3rd row seats and all).

Over time, I have certainly come to appreciate some of his albums over others, and I'm at the point now with his music where I'll give a few select albums a spin rather than his whole back catalogue. Some of my personal favourites are This year's model (1978), Trust (1981), King of America (1986), All this useless beauty (1996) and The delivery man (2004).

Bob Dylan [62-961, 1997-2006]

Bob Dylan is probably the artist here with the widest gap between the first and last albums I have purchased by him. Saying that the man is an acquired taste is a huge understatement. I'm a big Bob Dylan fan but even I have to be in the mood to listen to him. But if you have an open mind musically, and you can get past his voice (personally, I'm at the point where I love his voice) then there's a huge back catalogue to immerse yourself in this man's genius.

My first Bob Dylan purchase was Highway 61 revisited, which I bought in New Zealand in late 1997. I can even picture the shop I bought it in; funny how you remember these things. Since then I have slowly acquired most of his essential albums (a sale at JB where they were selling some of his albums for $6.99 kicked this along a lot), and his 1966 release Blonde on blonde has recently become my favourite album of all time.

Tom Waits [251-972, 2000-2006]

Everyone has heard of Bob Dylan, but I'm willing to bet that there are people out there who haven't heard of Tom Waits. This is criminal; this man is a musical genius and deserves to be heard and loved by as many people as possible. Be prepared to work hard to appreciate the music of Tom Waits; with the exception of his first two albums, his music is about as far from radio-friendly as you can get.

My first Tom Waits purchase was Mule variations from 1999. While I enjoyed some of the ballads on it, I just couldn't get past that voice. And the rockier bluesier songs just put me off the album. I purchased his 1985 album Rain dogs shortly afterwards, and I still couldn't get past that voice, even though the music intrigued me a bit more on the album. I decided to give him another go, and decided to go for one of his earlier jazzy albums -- so I picked up Small change from 1976. This album was a bit more "normal" musically, and thus more accessible. It wasn't until I bought The heart of Saturday night from 1974 that I realised that the man started out with a normal singing voice.

To cut a long story short, I eventually got past the voice, and started to appreciate his music. I have all of his albums now (except for Black rider, which I will eventually get) and I do not hesitate to say that this man is a freakin' genius. I will also proudly say that the man has one of the greatest voices I have ever heard. He can express more emotion in one syllable than many vocalists can in an entire album. And don't even get me started on his music. He is probably my favourite solo artist of all time now.

An absolute legend, and unfortunately he'll probably have to die before he gets more widely recognised.

In conclusion

There have been lots of other phases, but they are the artists with big enough back catalogues to justify talking about.

Anyway, this was supposed to be a short post. I always end up rambling...

Thanks for reading!