MUSIC THREAD

To all my good Canuckistani friends -- the new Neil Young solo acoustic live set from 1971 is a little treasure. Neil's in fine voice and playing very well. I'd forgotten how much I liked, for example, "Don't Let It Bring You Down." The ordinarily electric numbers -- "Down By The River," "Cowgirl," and even "Ohio" -- sound splendid, and it was nice to hear "See The Sky About To Rain" three years before he put it on an album. Even the Harvest material sounds fresh.

 

The Harvest material is fresh. He debuted it there, and it was startling to hear the opening of Heart of Gold without wild applause. There's also a DVD that comes with "Live at Massey Hall." It's classic.

 

I think it also sounds fresh because the Stray Gators were a fairly lame backup band, IMHO.

 

Got the new Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers album yesterday, with bonus DVD. What I've heard so far is good, rockin' fun. However lyrically its not as strong as some of his past work.

 

The parts of Tom Morello's solo album as The Nightwatchman "One Man Revolution" I've heard so far are good. I'm looking forward to hearing the rest of it.

 

If you could only buy one, would you rather buy the new Arcade Fire or the new Patty Griffin?

 

Well, the new Arcade Fire has more legroom, but the new Patti Griffin has more trunk space.

 

I'm not familiar with Arcade Fire, so I say Patty Griffin.

 

I head the Arcade Fire record this weekend and it knocked me flat on my ass. It's just anthemic, heavy and dark -- a cross between early U2 and the Velvet Underground. "No Cars Go" is an amazing song.

 

Not to over-enthuse, but the more I listen to the Neil Young set, the more amazed I am. "Ohio" is more powerful, and much deeper, as an acoustic number than it is in the CSN&Y electric version. It's mournful, almost elegaic. An astounding performance.

 

See, I LOVED the first single off Arcade Fire's last record, and then everything else I heard was, I don't know, just a little too weird for me, for the lack of a better word. I've heard the new stuff on XM and I really like it.

 

Has anyone ever heard of I-Nine out of S.C.?

I've heard them once, missed a chance to see them open for someone nearby, and have never heard them again. Yet I can't get the song out of my head. Really liked it, the chick lead singer sounded like early Alanis.