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In the Blogs

In the Blogs: Slim Pickin’s and questions of punctuation

By 10.Sep.0815 Comments

In the Blogs

In case you missed it, Pitchfork has a great write up of the upcoming reissues of Tim, PtMM, Don’t Tell a Soul, and All Shook Down [September 23] and includes demos of Kiss Me on The Bus, Photo, and Talent Show.

I am quickly becoming a huge fan of 23/6. Here the offer an hilarious post-RNC roundup of things to pack, things they saw, and how the RNC compares to the Minnesota State Fair (pay special attention to that packing list).

(editor’s aside: is it bad that I am letting my nephews age 3 and 4 listen to Kings of Leon’s “Sex on Fire?” I mean just the mere mention of the word sex will not cause their ears to melt off or anything, right?)

The Beat Patrol does a nice write up for Our Man Paul’s 1996 release, Eventually and he likes it way, way more than I ever did. Eventually remains my least favorite of all of Westerberg’s albums.

It’s slim pickins (how does one punctuate that word) in blogland. I am sure things will pick up once the reissues come out, or if Westerberg decides to release some sort of magnum opus consisting of nothing but 66 minutes of him reading the Yellow Pages while will get a 9.8 from Pitchfork and land him at the top of Pazz and Jop poll.

Jodi

I am the queen of the underground, a bad ungrateful bunny.

15 Comments

  • RJ says:

    Regarding that “Talent Show” demo, here’s some Replacements math:

    Chris Mars – click track = real Rock & Roll

  • shelaka says:

    Jodi – Nice of you to mention Slim Pickens – “Blazing Saddles” was on last night.

    Okay, I’m not a comedian. Crackers.

  • Jimdracula says:

    Ah Slim Pickens…he will always be Major T. J. “King” Kong ridin’ a nuclear bomb rodeo style to oblivion in “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Bomb.”

    I also dig Peter Sellers…”Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here, this is the War Room!”

  • shelaka says:

    JimDrac – Classic. Actually I tried to attach that famous pic of King Kong, but I guess in comments it just does the link.

    I should try the “Wizard of Oz/Dark Side” treatment (or Return of the Jedi/PTMM, as Jodi linked in an earlier post, too lazy to find) on Dr. Strangelove with a Mats album! Which do you suggest – somehow, “All Shook Down” seems appropriate…

  • Jimdracula says:

    I dig “All Shook Down” but how ’bout a Westerberg solo treatment with political leanings…a photo of John McCain ridin’ the fucker out with an “Eventually” caption.

    A darker spin on an already dark ’64 LBJ prez ad…mushroom cloud, then voiceover “Vote Obama.”

  • Some Guy says:

    Try Hootenanny with Doc Strangelove. The eclecticism and sense of humor seems like it would fit well. I’m thinking the title track will work nicely over the erotic jet fueling open and then run it will kick in as Jack Ripper orders the attack. And of course it all ends with a mushroom cloud and “We’re getting nowhere…”

    BTW, I never saw the Jedi/PTTM post and I’m curious. Can anybody dig that one up?

  • shelaka says:

    SomeGuy – here’s that link:

    http://starwarssynch.blogspot.com/2006/08/sorry-ma-forgot-to-take-out-wampa.html

    It was called “The Great Star Wars Synchronicity Project” – in 2006 this guy tried different albums (a la Oz/Dark Side) to see which would synch up the best. Needless to say, he got pretty sick of doing it after awhile! But he’s a Mats fan and did several experiments, the best being EmpireStrikes/Sorry Ma…

  • Dfactor says:

    Robert! Ramble is right! But fun.

    btw, “Round & Round” is a 1950s Chuck Berry song, originally titled “Around & Around”, later covered by the Rolling Stones, which is the version The Mats take on that boot mentioned (which I also have).

    Absolute Best boot of Mats I have is taken from a UK club show (maybe Dingwalls?) in ’85 or ’86 – they open with the American military song “From the Halls of Montezuma, to the shores of Tripoli” and Bob Stinson’s lead guitars on some of the ‘slower’ numbers is flat out hilarious – zero sens eof the song – Bob’s just being Bob, going 180 with Nugent-styled leads – funniest shit ever….
    This is the back cover from Color Me Impressed.com site:
    http://www.colormeimpressed.com/covers/mats_1986-05-16b.jpg

  • Jimdracula says:

    The Mats’ take on “Halls of Montezuma” played over Slim Pickens doing it his way gets my vote (unless a Westerberg cover of This Land is Your Land is unearthed)

    …it’s a one finger salute to the end of the world.

  • Robert says:

    Thanks for the correction, Dfactor. Maybe the “Round and Round” spelling, rather than “Around and Around,” is why I had trouble finding the original artist. I saw Bowie’s name on a website, remembered I had his version on a tape from ten years ago, and thought, “I guess that is a Bowie song.” But it makes sense that the Replacements are covering the Stones since “Round and Round” comes right after Westerberg’s comment about the Stones being in Philadelphia that night. Time for me to do some editing!

  • shelaka says:

    Robert – very interesting read! I liked your take on the bootlegs, and PW’s stuff, although personally I still think 49:00 is one of the best “albums” he’s done. Maybe it doesn’t go under that category, so I’ll just say it’s one of my “Favorite Thing”s” he’s done.

    Also liked that you mentioned the great “quips” from the band on the bootlegs – I crack up every time I hear the Stones comment on SS&S. I’m pretty sure it’s PW on the “I don’t feel pre-teee” quote, though.

  • Robert says:

    Really? I’ll bet you one shiny penny it’s Tommy saying that. The voice is higher than Paul’s.

    Thanks for reading what I wrote. Maybe I’ll like “49:00” more down the road.

  • shelaka says:

    Robert – I stand corrected – after listening again, you’re right – it’s Tommy.

  • Robert says:

    You owe me a penny. My lawyers will be in touch.

    I’m not sure if the following post was mentioned here, but it’s a good one that mentions Steve Foley’s death:

    http://popdose.com/steve-foley-elvis-presley-america/