My CD Collection (4)

CDs for Friday, January 30, 2004 – Carole King, the Connells, Travis, Love and Rockets, Freedy Johnston

Alrighty, let's get back on track with this CD listening party I started a few weeks ago.

Carole King, Tapestry – I feel the earth. Move. Undermyfeet. I don't remember what prompted me to buy this CD, because it's not as if I'm a huge Carole King fan, and I'm sure I've never listened to it all the way through. So this will be enlightening. "So Far Away" is a beautiful song. I think I like her songs because the emotions she conveys in her lyrics are so universal and easy to relate to.

Ah, yes, it's too late, baby, now it's too late. Though we really did try to make it. I absolutely love the final sentiment of "It's Too Late" - There'll be good times again for me and you, but we just can't stay together, don't you feel it too? Still, I'm glad for what we had, and how I once loved you.

That sums up how I feel about Ryan.

Oh! I like this song ("Home Again") a lot too:

The Connells, Ring – The Connells are one of my favorite bands. I got turned on to them when I was in college and have seen them perform almost 30 times over the years. They got dropped by their record label a few years ago, though, and I haven't kept up with them since. But one of the highlights of moving to Raleigh (where the band is from) for me was driving around one day and accidentally hitting Boylan Avenue, the namesake of the band's first release, Boylan Heights (named after the community where they grew up).

One thing I love about the band is that on every CD there's at least one song that guitarist George Huntley wrote and sings. I have a wee li'l crush on George (on the left). Okay, maybe not so wee (I bought his solo CD)(he has wonderfully sexy sideburns).

HOLY CATS! George Huntley is now a realtor in Raleigh! Dammit, if I still lived there I would totally buy something from the guy, just to get to meet him again. I met him in a record store in Durham right before I moved back to FL to get treatment for Hodgkin's, and he was, seriously, one of the nicest people I have ever met.

I really love the first three songs on this CD ("Slackjawed," "Carry My Picture," and "'74-'75"). The Connells are one of those bands that really never "surprised" me on any of their releases, but it's something I like about them. They're solid, if a little predictable. Doug MacMillan has a great voice, and their songs are always very tuneful and catchy and pleasant and perfect for singing along to. Listening to the Connells always puts me in a good mood.

"Hey You" and "New Boy" are also excellent.

Travis, 12 Memories – I didn't like this CD all that much the first few times I listened to it. One day I put it in the CD player at my work computer and then got so busy with work that I ended up listening to it for 10 straight hours. After that, I really liked it. The best tracks are "The Beautiful Occupation," "Re-Offender," "Peace the Fuck Out," (handbags at dawn) and "Mid-Life Krysis." Looking at this page in my CD case reminds me that I've misplaced the band's The Man Who and it will really upset me if I don't eventually find it.

Love and Rockets, Seventh Dream of a Teenage Heaven – This is one of the first CDs I ever bought, and I remember being peeved at the fact that they used the "Canada version" of "If There's a Heaven Above" - which has a drum track through the background - rather than the original version, which is more ethereal and dirge-like. Not to mention SO MUCH BETTER. Anyway, that aside, I was severely into Love and Rockets when I was in high school. I saw them in concert twice (once at the Tampa Theater for the Express tour, with the Bolshoi opening, and once at Jannus Landing for the Earth, Sun, Moon tour, with Gene Loves Jezebel opening). Both times I was hypnotized by guitarist/singer Daniel Ash's "package." Ahem.

The goth-girl teenage me had a HUGE HUGE HUUUUUUUGE lust for Daniel Ash, but let me tell you, the man has not aged well. Yeesh. I'm not going in search of any photographic proof, you'll just have to trust me. He and Adam Ant (nee Stuart Goddard) could be the poster children for Just Say No.

Anyway, LNR is basically Bauhaus minus Peter Murphy, with Daniel Ash and David J sharing vocals (sometimes within a single song). This was their first release, and there are several solid tracks - the aforementioned "Heaven Above," "The Dog-End of a Day Gone By," and "Haunted When the Minutes Drag" stand out. The band's cover of "Ball of Confusion," a highly popular song in dance clubs, is included on this CD but it is not on the album.

Freedy Johnston, Blue Days Black Nights – Well, I love Freedy Johnston's This Perfect World, and although I've had this CD - two releases past TPW - I can't say I remember ever having listened to it. Ha! I'm sure I listened to it once or twice, but obviously, it never connected with me. We'll see if it does today.

Ugh. This is depressing. His earlier two CDs are so much better.

Posted by Highwaygirl on January 30, 2004 07:04 PM to the category Stuff About Me