[This weekly feature is a snapshot of what the Stranger Dance staff can't get out of our collective head each week. On any given week, we might be digging a new local act, an old jazz chestnut, the newest Japanese electro-folk or whatever else we've got on the turntable/iPod that week.]
This week we’ve got some serious guitar anti-heroes on rotation, with tunes from Pavement (Stephen Malkmus), Sonic Youth (Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo), Richie Havens and SF’s own The Dodos (Meric Long). These guys don’t get much love at the local Guitar Center, but they’ve all got chops that would make you go cross-eyed.
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Uncle Corey: Pavement - “Transport is Arranged”
You know that girlfriend you had – the one that you really, really loved – that one day, just up and left? It wasn’t you it was her – she had to figure some stuff out and it just wasn’t the right time. For me, Pavement was that girlfriend, and that breakup in 2000 was rough on me. I loved Pavement.
As with any relationship, however, there’s always breakup sex to remind you of the glory days, so every four-to-six months, I throw Pavement on and get reminded all over again of why they were one of the great bands of all time. “Transport Is Arranged” is a quintessential Pavement song – bizarre, twisting lyrics and song structure; dense, very thematic instrumentation – but still so simple. Eleven years old, but still better than 99 percent of what’s out there now. That’s real classic rock.
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The Stranger: The Dodos - “Red and Purple”
These local-boys-made-good have been getting some well-deserved national press. The duo’s newest release, “The Visiter” is on the short list for album of the year here at SD.
This song is a great example of The Dodos’ sound. I really love bands that can pack a punch with a simple song. This song gets a lot out of a little - vocals, acoustic guitar, drums, and background piano and xylophone create a driving sound that somehow mixes folk, pop and psychedelia in a surprisingly appealing package. Plus, I’m a sucker for almost any song with background shouting (no idea why, but it’s true).
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Scooter: Richie Havens - “San Francisco Bay Blues”
Richie Havens is a bit of a paradox. In a time when African-Americans were still best known for “race-records,” he got his start in the same small jazz clubs and coffee shops as Dylan and Dave Van Ronk. He gained a small following in the late ’60s/early ’70s with a series of records for the Verve folk label. 40 years later, he’s still going strong; his latest, Nobody Left to Crown, is due out late 2008.
The breezy melancholy of this song sounds like summer in San Francisco and, while it’s a fairly straightforward song, Havens’s distinctive style as a folksinger and guitar player shows through. If early era Tom Waits, Van Morrison, and Tim Buckley are your bag, you’re sure to dig this as well.
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Vague Panther: Sonic Youth - “Teen Age Riot”
This was playing at Brainwash, my favorite place to get a cup of coffee before work, the other morning. I mean it’s Sonic Youth - enough said. Ok, I guess I like it because I Daydream a lot? Just enjoy it.
