Let's have a ball

Yesterday I was forced to attend my sister's basketball tournament. Normally I would have been really, really bored (and I was), but I also got to go to the record store. That was worth having no Wi-Fi for almost the entire day. Strangely, I only got three CDs this time. And 2 of them were new. But I wanted them. So there.

Surfer Rosa - I'm embarrassed I haven't gotten this sooner. It's kind of hard to describe the Pixies, when every single great band in the 90s sounds like them. Well, are totally derivative of them, because Surfer Rosa is amazing. "Where Is My Mind?" is pretty good, but it gets annoying once every single Pixies interview uses the song. Actually, you have to listen to it as an album. To hear the Pixies as a unit. There are some tracks that stand alone, but the album as a whole does deserve the title as one of the best albums of the 80s ('80s indie rules). Of course, I only got this yesterday, so I can't do an in depth analysis, but there is one track that stands out. It's Kurt's favorite Pixies song, "Gigantic." It's the only song that has "Mrs. John Murphy" on lead vocals on the album (unfortunately). Hearing her sing makes me... happy, I guess. She sounds a bit different here, but I can't quite say why. During the pre-chorus, she sings "Hey Paul, Hey Paul, Hey Paul, let's have a ball." I'm pretty sure this isn't a reference to Paul Westerberg (considering the meaning of the song), but it'd be cool if it was. Collaboration? YES PLEASE.

Sorry Ma, Forgot To Take Out The Trash (Deluxe) - Finally! I've been looking for this for the longest time. And it is way worth it. Some of the songs on the album are much better live (and faster), but there are some real gems. "I'm In Trouble," is the first single the Mats released (backed by the very, very excellent "If Only You Were Lonely"), and it's really the first pop song Paul wrote. It's got a punk feel mostly, but the lyrics and singing are all very melodic. Actually, despite being more abrasive than their other releases (except the hardcore-esque Stink and maybe the awesomely-shambolic Hootenanny), it's more melody based than is let on. Especially "Shiftless When Idle," (that song on the album with the best chorus, the cool bass solo and rough, palm muted riff) which although not that popular, WAS popular enough to be included on Don't You Know Who I Think I Was, the fittingly named greatest hits compilation (which unceremoniously leaves out "I'm In Trouble," and to a lesser note; "Talent Show" and "Androgynous"). Sorry Ma does seem to rely on Bob Stinson's guitar solos than most of their other albums, and that's a good thing. Without Bob, the album wouldn't be half as good. This album isn't perfect, however (if I've been making it out to be). There are so many songs (many around the 2 minute mark) that some of them are going to be average or below. But a majority of them are really good. Especially some of the demo/outtakes ("Raised In The City," Bob Stinson's only songwriting credit "A Toe Needs A Shoe," and "Like You," which has a laughably good riff).

Tim (Deluxe) - I already have the original, but... this is the deluxe version. And Tim is one of my absolute favorite albums (although I actually like Pleased To Meet Me a bit more right now...). But I really got it for the bonus tracks. And there's new liner notes too. There's two versions of "Can't Hardly Wait" (and "airshaft version" and an electric one), and while not as good as the version on All For Nothing/Nothing For All (the so called "Tim Version"), they are still WAY better than the crappy, super-overproduced version on PTMM (the only bad song on the album). And alternate versions of "Waitress In The Sky" and "Here Comes A Regular," that sound much more natural than the versions on Tim, and shows how bad/weird/too trebly/tinny the mixing is on Tim. I don't hate Tommy Erdelyi (well, sometimes I do) but I wonder what it would be like if Peter Jesperson and Steve Fjelstad had helped with the original record. And then we have the two highlights of the reissue. "Kiss Me On The Bus" (the demo) was also produced by Erdelyi, but has the impact of the mixing on Let It Be. What happened? Oh well. This version is way different (read: straghtforward) than the album version, but not necessarily better or worse than it. It depends what kind of mood you're in. And of course there's "Nowhere Is My Home." Produced by the legendary Alex Chilton (who produced the two alternate versions of "Can't Hardly Wait" and was SUPPOSED to produce Tim. Again, what happened?) Best Replacements song never released on an album. I'd already heard the song, but it was in lower quality, so when I heard the remastered version, the opening chords and drum roll were pretty awesome. I can really connect with the song, especially the chorus. I know everybody says that for almost every song in existence, ("Like, OMG that song was written for just 4 me!!!!! <3 <3 <3"), but it's like Paul knows what I'm going through. Its like he's saying he doesn't belong anywhere, he's not sure about anything, and that nobody else cares what he's going through. And that's pretty much how I feel. I ain't got no answers. That's why I love Tim, by the Replacements.

On another note, you can now listen to previews from the Nevermind 20th anniversary box here: http://store.universal-music.co.uk/euro/box-set/boxset-nirvana-nevermind-super-deluxe-box-set-2011/invt/0602527779058/

You can also listen to most of the bonus tracks from the Replacements albums on Grooveshark. Because nobody cares enough to put them up on YouTube. And that's fine with me.

EDIT: Surfer Rosa was recorded by Steve Albini. In case you didn't know.