all my pieces set me free...human devices set me free...    
 
Been down so long, being down don’t bother me. Gonna take all my troubles, drown ‘em in the deep blue sea. In college I majored in Law & Society and minored in irresponsible behavior. In life I major in Music Appreciation and minor in Sports Appreciation, with a sub-minor (is there such a thing?) in NBA semicolon Los Angeles Lakers. The day after the MLB All Star Game till the Hall Of Fame game (the first NFL exhibition game of the season), is the “agony of defeat” of Sports Fandom. It’s so bad this week, with only mid-season meaningless baseball, that my favorite television show on the air Pardon The Interruption is taking the entire week off. This for me is akin to the lord almighty deciding to take the week off from spinning the earth on its axis. I walk the dog every night to the PTI podcast; without it the over/under of pounds gained by Rigby and I is 6.5. Take the over. When your minor is on summer break, one has to turn to their major. Thus, Music, I still appreciate thee. As I’ve described previously, my car comes equipped with the ipod integrated system that allows me to listen to a nice chunk of my music library while on the go. Usually I listen to playlists on shuffle, my own little kschnd radio station which is permanently awesome. Recently however I have rediscovered the joys of the Album. Remember those- a collection of songs assembled in an order of intelligence and representing a portrait of an artist at a given time in their career?! Didn’t think so. I’m sure my readership has tossed and turned for many a night in anticipation of the column to the left, outlining my top 100 albums of all time. Who isn’t up at 4AM every night wondering which Zeppelin album is schnd’s favorite? What ranks higher, Murmur or Automatic For The People? And of course, where does Buckner & Garcia’s Pac Man Fever rank?!?! I’ve pointed out previously that at the current rate of these entries I should be wrapping up the countdown sometime during the Chelsea Clinton presidential administration, which had more relevance about 9 months ago. Now by the time I get to #1, Obama will have gotten everyone a better paying job, cured the environment, and gotten the cost of gas down to $2/gallon and lattes at Starbucks down to $2/grande. The other reality is that a top 100 albums list is a fluid process. Albums jockey in and out of position, and I gotta make room for modern classics. From time to time I will adjust the list, and I am going to share some thoughts about certain albums from time to time. Hey it’s not much, but more interesting than the Dodger’s road trip to play the Colorado Rockies. 99. The Jayhawks - Tomorrow The Green Grass The post parental/college abode is such a key era of your life. Such a unique moment of personal lifestyle, adventurous hygene, lack of income, lack of responsibility, free livin L-I-V-I-n’ One of my significant stops on the Slacker Express is when I lived in a big square box of mid-century real estate in the Miracle Mile district AKA 5554 West 9th Street. Ah, the memories...New Years Eve, surrounded by close friends on illicit mindbenders; the time I passed out in my own dirt, drool y vomit (only the second time I have thrown up from alcohol in my illustrious career, the first being October 6, 1990), the time I almost fried my face off with a combustible duraflame log in the fireplace. Music, of course, serves as the soundtrack, the bookmark, the heart n’ soul if you will. Jeff Buckley’s Grace was a constant. Midnight purchase and listening of U2’s Pop on March 4, 1997 with Beej and Nellie. And while I honed our billiard skills, the background music was often the Jayhawks’ best album Tomorrow The Green Grass. The Jayhawks serve as one of those 90’s music tragedies- bands not being able to generate enough music label support to justify their deep talent and authentic voice as a group of musicians. That seems like a quaint problem now, with an industry ravaged by it’s own lead footedness and artists becoming their own virtual buskers. Pre-Napster, when luck and timing could also be accompanied by a wad of cash to an influential radio program director, the labels had most of the power. Now the fans have the power, and the power says it wants shit for free. Then and now, the industry was littered by woulda coulda shouldas, and The Jayhawks shoulda been the modern Crosby Stills & Nash. Or if you prefer, frontmen Mark Olson (acoustic guitar and vocals), Gary Louris (electric guitar and vocals) shoulda been the Lennon & McCartney of the alt country movement. Or perhaps a 90’s Flying Burrito Bros, but famous in their own time. Whatever the cliche, you can’t find a better slice of bittersweet heartbreak than “Blue”. Lost love never sounded so fun until you’ve heard “Bad Time”. It’s not easy to create music with a sunny exterior that gets darker as the listener gets deeper into the songwriting, but The ‘Hawks came through here. The Jayhawks Tomorrow The Green Grass American Recordings Released February 14, 1995   When I assembled the Top 100, I gave myself a couple rules- no “greatest hits” collections, which don’t display an artist’s vision at a particular moment in their career (might as well create your own best of playlist), and I limited the number of albums per artist to 4. Otherwise probably half of my top 15 would be Beatles records. The other day I was listening to three Albums back-to-back-to-back on my countdown: Nirvana’s Nevermind, REM’s Reckoning and Pearl Jam’s Vs. Whoa baby. Where will they rank on the countdown? Stay tuned. Happy listening. -schnd http://www.amazon.com/Tomorrow-Green-Grass-Jayhawks/dp/B000068FUMshapeimage_2_link_0
schnd’s blog
Friday, July 18, 2008
J*DaVey - Beauty In Distortion/Land Of The Lost
ALBUM
OF THE WEEK
 
 
 
 
schnd’s top 100 albums of all time:  100. Burnin’- The Wailers  99. Tomorrow The Green Grass - The Jayhawks  98. Pinkerton - Weezer  97. Zenyatta Mondatta - The Police 96. The Optimist LP - Turin Brakes 95. David Gray - White Ladder 94. Tom Petty - Wildflowers 93. Public Enemy- It Takes A Nation Of Millions.. 92. Turin Brakes - Ether Song 91. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born 90. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 89. Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of LIfe 88. PInk Floyd - The Wall 87. David Bowie - Station To Station 86. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water
 
 
 
 
schnd’s top 100 albums of all time:  100. Burnin’- The Wailers  99. Tomorrow The Green Grass - The Jayhawks  98. Pinkerton - Weezer  97. Zenyatta Mondatta - The Police 96. The Optimist LP - Turin Brakes 95. David Gray - White Ladder 94. Tom Petty - Wildflowers 93. Public Enemy- It Takes A Nation Of Millions.. 92. Turin Brakes - Ether Song 91. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born 90. Beastie Boys - Check Your Head 89. Stevie Wonder - Songs In The Key Of LIfe 88. PInk Floyd - The Wall 87. David Bowie - Station To Station 86. Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water 85. Beck - Odelay 84. Stevie Wonder - Talking Book 83. NWA - Straight Outta Compton 82. Fleetwood Mac- Rumours 81. Pearl Jam - Yield 80. B. Springsteen - Nebraska 79. Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet 78. Peter Gabriel - So 77. Led Zeppelin - Houses Of The Holy 76. Pearl Jam - Vitology 75. Talking Heads - Little Creatures