Playstack 3/11/11

Dramarama - Vinyl
Bob Geldof - The Vegetarians of Love
Oceansize - Self Preserved When the Bodies Float Up
Percy Sledge - The Atlantic Recordings
The Spinanes - Manos

I'll always associate that Geldof album with an excruciating breakup almost 20 years ago. It was my constant companion for 2 or 3 weeks. Or was that 2 or 3 months?

"A Gospel Song" and "Crucified Me" are classic wallow-ers. "The Great Song of Indifference" and "The Chains of Pain" serve as kicks in the proverbial pants. I still have the notebook from my Shakespeare II class with this deep lyrical excerpt written 5 times down the margin (from the aforementioned "Chains of Pain"):

"Systems of belief well they come and they go babe
The myths we believe in they change from day to day
I believe belief will wrap your brains in chains
So I'm for changing!"

Ultimately, Vegetarians of Love was quite therapeutic.

And I'm listening to it for the first time since 1993 right now. It's damn good. I'd forgotten how effective leaving in Geldof's asides and snippets of studio chatter was.

I had to edit this to add one more thing two more things: "No Small Wonder"...! How could I forget that? It led to my reading up Tobias Wolff for the first time. And then "Walking Back to Happiness" ("...like Helen Shapiro, me and Helen, walkin' arm in arm")...oh, man, do I love this album.



Post Edited (03-11-11 16:57)

I still haven't gotten to it. I couldn't yesterday and it looks like it ain't happenin' today, either. Sheesh.

I ordered it on a whim when I found out Geldof is not only the keynote speaker at SXSW this year, but is also performing. I'm gong to miss both his speech and his show, though.

The funny thing is, I'm not really a fan of Geldof's stuff in general (Boomtown Rats or otherwise), and I understand why he's considered insufferable and humorless, but that album convicted me, man.

I wonder what he'll talk about in the keynote address? Looks like his new one's called How to Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell. That might be a clue.

my favorite lyric from this week's playlist:

I treated you like Radium
I treated you like god
You were my glass menagerie
Did you not find that odd?

I dwelt within and went without and broke my virgin flesh
I performed acts of devotion as if you were Ganesh
But now I'm crazy for you (but not that crazy)