Things I've learned about Galaxie 500 from Wikipedia
1) The band's members were rich and/or smart kids. They all met at the Dalton School (the model for the school in Gossip Girl) and then formed the band while they were all attending Harvard.
2) Conan O'Brien lent his drum kit to the Galaxie 500 drummer for their earliest recordings. Is there anything that gigantic redhead CAN'T do?
3) Thurston Moor called Today, the band's debut album, the "guitar record of 1988." Didn't Daydream Nation come out in 1988? Don't be so modest, Thurston.
4) Galaxie 500 covered a lot of songs. Seven of the 14 songs on this playlist are cover songs!
For those unfamiliar with Galaxie 500, this playlist should serve as a terrific introduction to the band's three albums. But for heaven's sake, go out and illegally download On Fire if you've never listened to it. Those more familiar with the band might be surprised by this playlist, as it highlights the excellent guitar chops of guitarist Dean Wareham and the band's propensity to engage in extended, blissful guitar solos and jamming. Galaxie 500, much to my surprise, is a band that rocks, and this playlist focuses on those songs that reflect the heavy side of the band. It just so happens that those songs tend to be the band's best songs as well.
Enjoy!
1. Ceremony / Blue Thunder EP / 1990
2. Fourth of July / This Is Our Music / 1990
3. Parking Lot / Today / 1988
4. Crazy / Uncollected / 2004
5. Strange / On Fire / 1989
6. Listen, The Snow Is Falling / This Is Our Music / 1990
7. Final Day / Uncollected / 2004
8. Isn't It A Pity / On Fire / 1989
9. Instrumental / Today / 1988
10. Submission / Peel Sessions / 2005
11. Decomposing Trees / On Fire / 1989
12. Here She Comes Now / This Is Our Music / 1990
13. When Will You Come Home / On Fire / 1989
14. Don't Let Our Youth Go To Waste / Peel Sessions / 2005
Total Time: 64:56
No Snowstorm? Even with time to spare? Huh. Alright, maybe I should actually listen to the playlist before i start commenting on it...
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw your comment, I thought it was going to be a complaint about excluding "Blue Thunder," which I really wanted to include but couldn't fit in. "Snowstorm" is a good song, but I ended up focusing on the band's faster/louder songs, so I didn't even give "Snowstorm" too much consideration. Plus I didn't want to lean too heavily on On Fire.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you included "Crazy."
ReplyDeleteyou should identify the cover songs
ReplyDeleteyour wish is my command
ReplyDelete"Listen the Snow Is Falling" – Yoko Ono
"Ceremony" – Joy Division/New Order
"Submission" – Sex Pistols
"Don't Let Our Youth Go to Waste" – Jonathan Richman
"Here She Comes Now" – The Velvet Underground
"Isn't It a Pity" – George Harrison
"Final Day" – Young Marble Giants
Not to get an inch and ask for a foot, but I think it'd be helpful to go back and note the original bands in the post itself. I was curious about some of these too.
ReplyDeleteWell, I can't complain about the "Snowstorm" omission anymore. I get it. I like that you went mostly with their heavier stuff. I agree that this is their best side.
Some of the songs on here were nice new discoveries for me. Two, in particular, stick out. The VU cover works perfect. That song was tailor made for Galaxie 500, and they make the most of it. Also, "Fourth of July" is my new favorite original Galaxie 500 song. Man, the guitar work in the second half of that song is amazing.
One thing that I think is easy to overlook is Dean Wareham's terrific lyrics. In his memoir, he actually notes that some critics pounced on his lyrics for being nonsense, but I love how paranoid and deranged some of the phrases he turns are, it fits the affect he puts on his voice to a t. That speaks to part of what made this band so excellent--they knew their strengths. I think that's also why they were able to cover other band's work so well; their sound was so distinctive that they could make anything their own.
Two quibbles. The Jonathan Richman cover actually sounds pretty flat to me. That's the one song that I would have struck from your list. Plus, putting it as the closer kind of ends the playlist in an anti-climactic way, which is a shame, since so many of these songs build to dizzying crescendos. That leads to my other negative comment--the pacing. Didn't you knock my U2 playlist for opening with the best song? On here, you start with Galaxie 500's two best songs! Fourth of July could have worked great as an opener (especially since it starts with that inside-out distortion noise), and then you could have closed out with a perfect high note by putting Ceremony at the end of the playlist. Oh well. That's my two cents.
Overall though, this is a pretty stellar collection of songs. Too bad these guys couldn't hold it together a bit longer.
I'm not that big of a fan of the last track on the playlist, but it's considered a seminal Galaxie 500 track, so I kept it on the list. Maybe not the best closer, but I don't give too much consideration to the last track. I focus more on the first half pacing of the playlist because I figure if you don't get the listener's attention from the beginning, then the listener's not going to make it to the last track.
ReplyDeleteYea, Ceremony can be considered Galaxie 500's best song, but I think my problem with opening the U2 playlist with Gloria was that it was both the best song and the most emotionally intense/high energy song on the playlist. Definitely wouldn't want to close with Ceremony, because I wouldn't want one of the band's best songs lost in the mix. I just thought Ceremony was the best opener because it's pretty hard not to hear that song and not think "I want to hear more."
Dean Wareham is one of the best cover musicians of all time--too bad he is insufferable (as documented in his autobiography). However, I still love Galaxie 500 and have not listened to them freshly in years so thank you thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm currently reading Dean Wareham's autobiography. I wouldn't call him insufferable, but he is certainly one of the worst writers I have ever read. He's a competent writer from a technical perspective, but he has absolutely no voice as a writer. I've never read a book that has such dry descriptions of events, people, and places. Still, it's fairly interesting read since it gives a unique perspective on the music industry during the late 80's/early 90's.
ReplyDeleteIf Dean Wareham's autobiography does anyone the small favor of pointing out that record labels keep a running tab of the money they spend on a band and that the band will eventually be expected to pay the label back, it will all have been worth it.
ReplyDeleteThe smack talking on his Galaxie 500 bandmates is pretty classic, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was interesting to read how major record labels charge bands for almost every dollar they expend on their behalf, but i doubt record labels will even exist by the time i have grandkids or something. someone's gonna come along and create an ultra-cool website or P2P that will be able to profitably distribute music to mass on the internet.
ReplyDeletebut the book makes me want to listen to luna. someone put together a luna playlist, stat!
I have been thinking about a Luna playlist! Unless someone else is a superfan and wants dibs.
ReplyDeleteDo it! "Soho's got the boots, Noho's got the crack. New England's got the foliage, but, I'm not going back"
ReplyDelete