Perks of a Music Writer

As one of the roughly 17 million North Americans who write music reviews on the Internet, according to latest figures from the same people who did the exit polls that had John Kerry becoming the United States president, there is one perk to slaving away at praising and dissing discs. It ain't the pay, it's the promos. You start writing enough, you get sent a lot of free music.

For some writers, this probably results in spending a lot less money on music. For others who, like me, are obsessive music fans, the promos just free up money to spend on other music. At one level, this is illogical, since a lot of my listening time is taken up listening to the albums I'll be reviewing in a given month. However, as someone who's always looking for "some new kind of kick" (as The Cramps sang) in a musical sense, and also trying to learn more about music, I live to buy more CDs.

I thought that this month I'd spend some time on some discs that have been spending time on my stereo, my computer, my Discman and in my car. Recently, I've been snatching up some compilations, which are ideal to load on the iPod. One comp that was long overdue is the new Laibach release, Anthems. In the U.S., the industrial label Wax Trax introduced this group, who hailed from the former Yugoslavia and promoted themselves as some form of crypto-fascist rock stars. This came through loud and clear when I saw the video clip for "Geburt Einer Nation", the band's cover of Queen's "One Vision". Musically, the cover was genius, with military drums (that were somehow funky and danceable), faux horns and grunted guttural vocals. Visually, the band was in full Triumph Of The Will mode, and the vid ended with a burning iron cross. I took this to be ironic.

And I think this impression is the correct one. Much as the early Beastie Boys had it both ways with some sexist material (some would take it at face value, most would see it as being too over the top to be taken seriously), Laibach used their totalitarian image both to look cool and to be funny. More than half of the comp is comprised of the band's cover versions, hitting the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Opus, Europe and others. Time and time again, the band inventively arranges the songs to put that special Laibach stamp on them. And their originals were equally inventive. This isn't my usual listening fare, but this is my kind of dance music. (BTW -- Rammstein should give a portion of their royalties for aping Laibach's act).

Speaking of the Beastie Boys, I have yet to connect with their latest To The 5 Boroughs. After the first couple of songs, things blur together. I think that one of the worst things to happen to rap was all of the sampling litigation, as folks like the Beasties and De La Soul created some wholly original stuff out of old materials. Here, the backing tracks are fairly generic and there are so few hooks.

Some other disappointing new releases from major talents include Steve Earle's The Revolution Starts...Now. This was written and recorded quickly, the songs waxed within 24 hours of having been written, to keep things spontaneous. Unfortunately, this leads to a combination of rudimentary tuneage and a lot of political lyrics that are more obvious than observant. Earle has made some of the best records of the best decade, and his heart was in the right place here, but he can't just turn on his songwriting like it's merely getting cold water from the tap.

Tom Waits and Bjork also have gimmicks to keep themselves amused. Waits foregoes the piano on Real Gone, which isn't nearly as big a deal as it seems. Ever since he shifted his music from barroom balladry to post-Beefheartian weirdness, he has eschewed the piano on many a great track. What is more significant here is the deep bass heavy murk and the straight blues thrust of the songs. This record is frustrating, because it is an intriguing approach. However, it seems that more time was spent on the overall concept than on the individual songs, and a little of this goes a long way. I give credit to Waits for taking his already less-than-accessible music and going out on a limb. But an outsider might have helped him explore this intriguing direction more fruitfully.

Bjork went a bit further on Medulla, hearkening back to Todd Rundgren's A Capella, and making a record where her voice is manipulated to provide the backing tracks. This shows that Bjork clearly recognizes that her otherworldly voice is both a blessing and a curse. Confining it to ordinary songs seems to be a waste, yet it's hard to find new ways to give her a chance to cut loose from terra firma. Much like Waits, this record doesn't succeed due to the songs, rather than the approach. Unlike Waits, Bjork can't fall back on going to the basics, and her next move is unclear.

Back to the old stuff, which is what I spend a lot of my non-reviewing time listening to. I picked up two CD compilations from Steely Dan, Funkadelic and Terry Reid. I've always liked the overall Steely Dan sound, but their ubiquity on the Chicago airwaves never commanded me to buy their music. The Showbiz Kids comp has all the hits and a smattering of deep cuts. For such a successful band, very few artists have drawn much from them for inspiration, not that this would be an easy task. The perfect playing, insinuating hooks and Donald Fagen's voice, only made for his urbane lyrics, still sound great.

As for Funkadelic -- Motor City Madness is a compilation of the band's early years on Westbound. I had an old single vinyl comp covering that period, but it didn't prepare me for this funk education. The first cut on the first disc is the mind-blowing "Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow". This is hardcore funk, infectious and repetitious, 10 minutes of in-your-face music, keyed by the phenomenal guitar stylings of Eddie Hazel. This cat was the next best thing to Jimi Hendrix. There are a handful of other songs of that quality and barely any duds. Back in the day, the critical reaction to the early Funkadelic was mixed, but these post-Sly grooves state a strong case for their greatness.

Terry Reid was a singer with so much talent and so little direction. The Super Lungs collection certainly is accurately titled. Reid made shouters like Steve Winwood sound like Ben Stein. This guy could flat out sing. However, between the material chosen for him early in his career and the mix of covers and originals on his first two albums, reissued here in full, there seems no clear idea what to do with his voice. Some songs are pure pop, some are deep soul, there's some nascent album rock and a few other styles to boot. On his second album, Reid came up with "Speak Now (Or Forever Hold Your Peace)", a nifty insistent blues rock song. It was covered by Cheap Trick on their debut album, and they top Reid's performance -- which is saying something, as Reid's version is great. This disc is more of a curiosity, and not essential.

Now, I'm not sure if I'd dub the SRC compilation Black Sheep essential, but this Detroit band laid down some great psychedelic rock for Capitol in the ‘60s. This British compilation draws from two albums and other sources. And the compilers really did a good job of portraying a band that was as adept at psych-pop as they were with the heavier stuff.

Also on the psychedelic tip, I purchased Unicorn by Tyrannosaurus Rex. The pre-T. Rex catalog has been reissued in super deluxe versions with a ton of bonus cuts. I picked this album because it was supposed to be, and I think is, where Marc Bolan started to make the transition from fey folkie to glam rock stud. A few songs here are the blueprint of what was to come. The balance of the album is psych-folk that owes a heavy debt to the twee sides of The Kinks and The Small Faces, with a dollop of Donovan. I believe that this was a very influential album for Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks. It's not great, as too many songs are throwaways, but it's fun.

Finally, I've been hitting some old country. I recently picked up compilations by Porter Wagoner and Webb Pierce. Oddly enough, Wagoner only writes a few cuts on The Essential Porter Wagoner, even though he penned a lot of great songs for Dolly Parton in the early ‘70s. While I wouldn't put Wagoner up there with Merle Haggard or Buck Owens, he was a reliable honky tonk artist, and he picked ace material. Webb Pierce dates back a few years earlier, but King Of The Honky-Tonk is full of great early honky tonk. I keep throwing it on, which is always a good sign.

I've also been checking out The Cure, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, a Trojan ska compilation, Gang Of Four, Wings, Nikka Costa, Robyn Hitchcock and so many others. The problem with succumbing to the music bug is that once you really get into it, it's hard to be satiated. One discovery only increases the need to discover more.

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