Gary
Glauber:
June, 2002

My Life at Fufkin, Etc: A Year Of Reviews In Review

Hello dear readers:

Hard to believe, but it was a year ago when I first started reviewing music for Fufkin.com. Amazing how things come full circle - to drive that point home, Neil Finn’s latest album has only now been released for the U.S. market (that CD, formerly One Nil and now repackaged with two replacement songs as One All was one of my first reviews here). Now that NotLame has released a marvelous two-CD tribute to the music of Jeff Lynne, I’m reminded that my other “first” Fufkin review was Jeff Lynne as ELO’s Zoom. Kind of nice the way things perpetuate in the realm of music.

First off, I want to thank our mentor and oft-under appreciated leader here - Casey Fundaro (a.k.a. David Fufkin). His many hours putting together Fufkin.com for your reading pleasure month to month go unheralded for the most part - additionally, his integrity in putting across a writer’s views sans interference guarantee the kind of music journalism that’s hard to find anywhere these days.

Fufkin remains one of the few forums willing to provide intriguing features, interviews and reviews of music (and writers) that might otherwise go unnoticed. While major labels continue to ignore what people want, Fufkin has its finger on the pulse of any number of artists that try to survive independently, carving out a niche whereby their music finds a receptive audience.

In a sense, that’s one reason I started reviewing. Always a champion of the underdog and a major junkie for less-than-mainstream music, this was a chance to give others a heads-up about what was spinning in my players, setting my musical world aflame. Share the passion, I say, and you can’t go wrong. Again, my thanks to Casey for letting me do so in a very public way.

July 2001 I went international, speaking the praises of two big finds: Greg Johnson, just an incredible singer/songwriter from New Zealand, and Taxiride, an acceptable alternative to most native boy bands, four Aussies who write their own melodic magic and make it work. I expect new releases are on the horizon for both of these artists in 2002 (and in the meanwhile you’ll like their latest efforts until then).

August I returned to the U.S. to give some notice to some independents: Portland Oregon’s The Minders, once part of the Elephant Six Collective, who had some fine psychedelic retro sounds, Ohio’s Scott Gorsuch (who I think has re-joined Lollipop Factory en route to an upcoming release) and Derek Cintron, a talented singer-songwriter out of Florida.

September 2001 I unleashed my inner teenager and served up reviews of The DumDums and Treble Charger, two finely melodic power punk pop units for those eager to pursue more than just Green Day and Blink-182. U.K.’s DumDums have since disbanded, but continue to look for good things out of Canada’s Treble Charger.

I work in New York City, in midtown. It was a beautiful Tuesday morning. I was in my office and got a call from one of my employees at about ten minutes of nine. He said he just witnessed the damnedest thing while crossing Sixth Avenue downtown, that a low flying plane just hit the WTC, and that’s why he was going to be a little late getting in. No one knew what was yet ahead on that horrible day of infamy.

I turned on the radio and listened along with the rest of the world as worst fears became realized. I started to get a slew of emails from concerned friends near and far, telling me to get out of the city ASAP. By ten to ten, our building was evacuated (bomb threats) and I had missed the chance to flee: the city was in lockdown mode. No commuter trains were running to get me home to my family in the northern suburbs, and frankly there was little way of getting anywhere.

Out on the street, there was a throng of teeming humanity, moving forward, confused, somewhat panicked and definitely unsure of what was coming next. At that point the prevailing wisdom was to avoid landmarks as probable terrorist targets. My office is right above Grand Central Terminal and close to the United Nations. The traffic was at a standstill, not a taxi or limo to be found. Cell phones weren’t working (the satellite had been located atop one of the towers apparently) and the lines for pay phones were often twenty to thirty people deep.

For those of you who live outside of NYC, let me tell you this: you won’t find a friendlier place when the chips are down. In this ultimate test of humanity, the people in the city came through big-time. People were walking uptown and there was a spirit of camaraderie that gave one a renewed sense of the goodness of humanity. Strangers talked to strangers, offered assistance and reassurance in this time of ultimate displacement and anxious fear; hearing a radio announcer give the address of where to go to donate blood, people stopped, wrote it down and went to help in any way possible.

I know you’ve heard it all before, and forgive my two cents worth from this online podium. I was lucky that day, eventually I got home to my loving family, but many did not. The events of September 11th changed our world forever. My heart goes out to the family and friends of all the innocent victims of the attacks. Let it serve as a reminder for all of us to live life to the fullest.

In October, when we all were trying to recover and make sense of what had happened, I chose to think back to my August vacation in the Canadian Rockies, and reviewed some fine music from our northern brethren, the alt-country sounds of The Cash Brothers and the engagingly kinetic charisma of the wonderful Hawksley Workman.

I also got to meet and interview Glenn Tilbrook that month (for the November Fufkin). He was busking at Grand Central, raising money for victims of the WTC attacks and was in town partially promoting the “UK in US” festival, partially promoting his new CD and accompanying solo acoustic tour. The former Squeeze guy truly is (as he puts it) “caring, sharing and lovely.” See him if you can; you won’t be disappointed.

In November I reviewed the latest from Yazbek, Jump,Little Children and Butterfly Jones. In my humble opinion, you hit the jackpot with anything from any of those three artists: I’m a sucker for intelligent, melodic, well-crafted songwriting. Sadly, we lost George Harrison that month.

November also was the first-ever International Pop Overthrow festival to be held in NYC. My kudos to David Bash et al for bringing this musical celebration to the east coast during a time of much-needed healing. Highlights for me included meeting with long-time email correspondent, powerpop savior and great guy Bruce Brodeen. His Not Lame night at Arlene Grocery was a wonderful night of “good music for good people” and the man himself lived up to all expectations (extremely highly recommended).

That night I got to eat pizza and chat with some members of Norway’s Badger, met up with Cliff Hillis (congrats to you and Beth on your recent nuptials), fellow Fufkineers Gary Pig Gold and Dawn Eden, and a good time was had by all. The music was superb.

I also had the good fortune to attend the IPO Smile Records night the following Saturday at The Knitting Factory, where cold and rain did not dampen the good spirits musically. While there were fine performances from the likes of The Andersons, Sparklejets UK, Supremium, The Churchills and The Rosenbergs, my ulterior motive was to meet (at long last) Fufkin’s own Casey Fundaro, who allegedly was in attendance.

I spotted Bruce Brodeen and spoke with him for a bit. He told me that Casey was there and that I could find him because “he’s wearing this leather jacket.” With that to go on, I started my quest. I knew vaguely what Casey looked like (I had seen his photo), but there didn’t seem to be anyone that really seemed to fit.

Still, I was resolved not to let the evening pass without meeting the man behind Fufkin. In a task that I knew might be horribly misconstrued, I set about during act breaks, bravely tapping on shoulders of men in leather jackets, asking them if their name happened to be Casey. Luckily I didn’t get punched by Kevin and all the others who, in point of fact, were NOT Casey (but were outfitted in leather that evening). At the last set/act break, I finally did meet Casey (a happy ending), though I’m sure he didn’t realize all the pretenders I had to grill before finding the genuine article

At the advent of the holiday season, I reviewed two great McCartney tribute CDs, as well as nifty comeback albums from The Knack and The Rembrandts, and a lovely psychedelic compendium from Greg Watson, better known as The Orange Alabaster Mushroom. I also had the pleasure of hearing The Beatles’ White Album performed live by The Fab Faux at The Bowery Ballroom. This amazing feat was a holiday treat for the ears, and an incredible accomplishment for what surely is the world’s greatest Beatles cover band.

January 2002 was my examination of Christian crossover music, encompassing strong efforts from Rick Altizer, The Elms and Switchfoot (all of whom are actively working on new material as we speak). If you’re a pop fan that hasn’t yet ventured into this arena, please do so. All three of these artists have lots to offer with strong melodic pop.

A relatively mild winter was spent trying to catch up with all of the great music that people had recommended from 2001. As such, February reviews were a mix of old and new. I recommended the highly touted release from Dallas’ Sugarbomb, who had been cut loose from RCA, and came late to the game discovering Adam Marsland and company’s greatest Cockeyed Ghost album yet, the often somber yet ever tuneful Ludlow 6:18.

Israel’s own RockFour wowed me with their high-powered rock (I can’t wait to see them live) and I was equally taken with the great fun of sparklejets u.k. and the great multimedia package that is Bamboo Lounge.

March again mixed old and new (hey, I’m still catching up on music from 2001), this time reviewing new releases from Bruce Witkin’s Supremium and the high-powered musical fun of The Andersons! I played a little bit of catch-up reviewing Chomsky (who really master some XTC-like sounds of the early 80s) and the appealingly tuneful tales of romantic woe spun by Eytan Mirsky on his latest Was It Something I Said?

That busy month I spent a wonderful evening just talking about music and life with musician George Usher (check out his superb release Days Of Plenty) and also managed to get time in for an interview and dinner with Sean Altman. We discussed his new release, the very catchy alt.mania and his career to date, and I managed to capture the gist of it in April’s issue.

That month I also got to review the latest efforts from two of my favorite singer/songwriters: Mike Viola and Wes Cunningham. Both of these new releases feature somewhat softer, more intimate music than their immediate musical predecessors, yet both are well worth your listening efforts.

I also had a chance to catch Adam Marsland performing solo live at a small venue downtown as part of his recent four-month tour. While the crowd in attendance could have been larger, it was a gathering of kindred spirits and Adam rewarded us with original tunes and requests. It was inspirational proof positive that it’s the music that matters, no matter what.

Last month I used this forum to convey the heartbreaking tale of Josh Clayton-Felt, who lost his life to cancer but left us a legacy of wonderful life-affirming music. I also had occasion to review Phantom Planet, a talented and well-connected bunch that make good music while still finding their own unique sound, the sophomore release from eclectic and entertaining popster Brendan Benson

I rounded things out with a review of a new EP from Connecticut’s The Dent and the intelligent fun music of Belgium’s quirky Pascal Deweze and friends as Sukilove.

So again, my thanks to Casey and all here at Fufkin.com for allowing me to be part of this highly entertaining, intelligent monthly read about so much music that might otherwise be ignored. My thanks to all the great musicians out there, some whom I have had the good fortune to meet, and many whom have given me hours of great pleasure through their aural art. Your quest is a noble one, and I salute you all.

My greatest thanks, however, goes out to you the reader, whomever you are. I hope I may have helped steer you toward some artists and music that you might not have known about otherwise. I always try to do whatever research I can to try and capture the feelings the artist puts into these musical efforts, and if I can capture my own enthusiasm for an artist in the process, all the better.

Reviewing often is a lonely art. I’ve been happy to get positive feedback from a number of the artists I’ve reviewed, as well as the occasional reader who has enjoyed a review or recommendation. It’s not a science, and musical tastes are a subjective thing (imagine my horror at realizing a song I pegged to be about either masturbation or this artist’s love sword turned out to be a tribute to a woman he loved and wanted to marry).

Excuse this gentle nostalgia trip - I know it’s an indulgence, but I’m amazed at how it’s really been a whole year. Oh well, you live and one hopes you learn in the process. And the best part is that the music keeps coming…

If you feel so inclined, do drop me a note care of Fufkin.com. It’s always nice to know there’s someone on the other side of the computer screen. And thanks for letting me share a year’s worth of musical picks - I’ve had great fun writing them, hope you’ve had as much fun reading them.

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