A Look at my CD Collection, part 6: Apostle of Hustle

Well, I hope I am not boring you with these musical excursions.  If I am, so be it.  So, on to Apostle of Hustle (as much as I hate to link to a myspace Page; is there anything uglier than myspace?).  By the way, I am still in the A section.

Andrew Whiteman, the guy who formed Apostle of Hustle, is also the lead guitarist for Broken Social Scene (note that I opted against linking to myspace).  By the way, more about BSS later.  In my opinion Folkloric Feel, the first A of H Album, is the best one, and Folkloric Feel is the best song.  You might disagree with me.

I read somewhere that Andrew Whiteman dated Feist for a while.  I think this was before she appeared on Sesame Street.  I don't keep up with celebrity gossip as it takes too much brain power.  I walk around in a state of blissful ignorance.  I can confirm that ignorance is bliss.  I am ignorant about so many things that my life is almost pure bliss.

And now, a very weird video from Apostle of Hustle:

Grammy's, part 4

Speaking of musical messes, there's Carrie Underwood. What kind of ridiculous song is that? It just occurred to me that there is no host. Why? I guess I should point out that I really hate country music, so I have nothing to say about that category. Country music just sounds ridiculous to me, and I mean both in lyrics and in sound.

Overrated, part 6 of 10

(see: parts 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5)

I acquired a few CDs at a lawn sale recently. I am especially enjoying the two Decemberists CDs that I got for essentially no money. What else did I get from that sale? .... oh, a Van Morrison CD, the Concretes, a couple of FemBots discs, a Flaming Lips CD and DVD, for example. There was also some punkier stuff, like Ikara Colt, The Hives, and the Fatal Flying Guilloteens. So, you see I have nothing against harder stuff with electric guitars, well some of it at least, which brings us to number 5 on my top ten list of overrated acts.

5) Guns 'n Roses - When I first heard that Axl Rose was working on Chinese Democracy, I took it literally and thought this was an admirable post-pock thing to do. Why him, I wondered? It makes no sense. I was quickly disabused of my false notion. Chinese Democracy is, in fact, a long-promised new album. I fear the worst for the legions of G 'n R fans awaiting an album that has been in production for 10 years. It will have to be a huge letdown once it finally sees the light of day. The weight of expectation will certainly overwhelm whatever they manage to put out on CD.

I have never appreciated the high-pitched vocals of the heavy metal set. I am aware that the blame for this might lay with Led Zeppelin, a band I have always admired. It may be so. And yet, there are major differences, I think, between Robert Plant's vocals and those of the heavy metal acts that followed. Plant's vocals have a lot of blues in them, at least to my ears, while the vocals of G 'n R sound more like the screeching of someone who really cannot sing.

Apparently, Appetite for Destruction is the second biggest-selling debut album of all time, just behind the first Boston album (no, I am not a Boston fan either, but I like the city very much). Maybe I was listening to the wrong radio station, but it was several years before I finally heard a song from G 'n R. At the time, I was TV-less, and paid no attention to commercial music, like G 'n R, so I missed it all. In hindsight, I am happy to say that I didn't miss anything, except for an interesting wedding gown.

As always, I like to branch out to the web to gather other opinions of acts. The Urban Dictionary is an unlikely place to look for opinions on bands, but in this case, it informs. I provide a few choice excerpts:

1. guns n roses

A REAL rock band. Unfortunately some people listen to a single song and say they suck, but you're wrong.

Over 9.6 million Guns 'n' Roses fans CAN'T be wrong!

Of course, s/he meant to write "they're wrong" so that it agrees with "some people." What I'd like to say to this person is: "500 million Michael Jackson fans can't be wrong! (Thriller has sold over 108 million copies alone). So there!" Of course, I hate Michael Jackson's music.

2. guns n roses

The Best Band Of The 80's, they made me feel so good about myself, before Nirvana came along (gives Nirvana Deathstare). Nirvana made 80's metal look artificial, when really, it was F**KING AWESOME! Axl's a babe! They're all babes!

How can you say Nirvana and metal in the same sentence, dude? But, it does beg the question as to why certain women, and I think they are largely teenagers, fall for long-haired men who wear make-up and skin-tight leather or leopard-skin pants? And that brings us to definition number 9:

9. guns n roses

lame shitty 80's hair metal band
really big among teenyboppers

That's exactly what I am saying. And, on to definition number 11:

11. guns n roses

Worst band of the entire 80's!!!!
And that's saying something because the 80's sucked Satan's balls!!!!!!

Note the number of exclamation points! I wouldn't use such vulgar terms to describe the 80s, and I don't like the image of Satan being all dog-like, but you have to admire the passion in this person's definition. S/he seems to know music.

By the way, Knockin' on Heaven's Door was written by Bob Dylan, in case you G 'n R fans missed it.



See: part 7

Overrated, part 4 of 10

(see: parts 1, 2, and 3)

I have some Canadian content (the only Canadian content) for you today in my list of overrated artists. A list of my least favourite artists would be too easy. Right, on to number 7...

7) Bryan Adams - I will admit that certain tracks on Cuts Like a Knife still sound OK to my ears. Reckless, on the other hand, has aged very badly. I would be happy if I never had to hear It's Only Love, that messy disaster of a duet with Tina Turner, ever again. I think Tina was OK back in the day, and I mean waaaay back in the day with Ike. I blame Mark Knopfler for her resurgence in the 80s with that damned Private Dancer song. I can't believe he wrote that for Dire Straits! Bizarre. Her comeback led to a whole series of bad duets with the likes of Adams, Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, and David Bowie. I bet I could get Tina to record a duet with me.

After Reckless, Bryan went from bad to worse. There is the anemic (Everything I Do) I Do It for You with its ponderous chorus. If you think that is bad, check out All For Love:



Why in Hell would Sting get involved in such a piece of shit? I think he has more integrity than that. I could go on and on, but I think, once you have watched that clip, they will be no doubt in your mind. Bryan Adams sucks.

Just to prove to you that I am human and have nothing to hide, I will confess that I have two pieces of Bryan Adams vinyl: his first self-titled album and Reckless. I will sell those to the person with the best offer.

Oh, and I suppose I ought to say something about his photography. I think Bryan is quite a talented photographer.

See: part 5

Ringo has a Really Big Nose

My daughter, almost 7 years old, has a growing fondness for the Beatles, largely because she recently watched Help! She loved the madcap adventures of the four motley gentlemen from Liverpool very much. But, I now have a suspicion that she thinks Ringo is called Ringo because he was in possession of the sacrificial ring in that film.

We sat down and had a look at some Beatles clips on Youtube and had a wide ranging discussion of all things Beatles. Mostly, she wanted to know who sang what and why didn't Ringo sing more songs. That is not a complex question, but diplomacy won out in the end. I didn't want to slight Ringo in any way. But, then she said that Ringo is a really good drummer, perhaps the best she's ever heard, aside from the drummer in the Doodlebops, perhaps.

I resisted the urge to pass on my favourite John Lennon quote, which was his reply to an interviewer's question as to whether Ringo is the best drummer in the world.

John said: "He's not even the best drummer in the Beatles." Oh, so cutting and so true.

My daughter went on to ask:

"Why does George look depressed?" Hmmm, does he? I thought she would have said something about his ears.

"Why was John shot?" Now that is a tough question, and I really didn't answer it very well. I hardly knew what to say. I remember that day as clearly as it was yesterday, but I am not sure anyone could really answer that question, especially when the person asking is so young and innocent.

I wondered if she was so fond of Ringo because she knows that John and George are dead. Perhaps she is subconsciously aware of the McCartney-Mills fiasco, and so Ringo appears to be the least damaged, but then we did a quick Google image search and she read a caption beneath a photo of Ringo and said "Ringo had a second wife?" Maybe the infatuation died there, because she followed that with "Ringo has a really big nose!"

Grammy Awards #6

Randomness:

1) Man, Kanye West is conceited.
2) Ah, Feist has such a good voice, and I enjoyed her arrangement for this eve's show.
3) As for the Foo Fighters, well, I was never a big fan. They seem so yesterday.
4) Alicia Keyes has some junk in her trunk.
5) Who cares about Country music?