Ryan Bratty Adams and the problem with music journalism

Fuck journalism, man. Well, not really. I still have lots of love... but all the music journalism I consume has got to have some ill consequences, right?

I always seem to tell people about the way I got into Oasis. I seem to always have to preface it --defend it-- with, "Well, I HATED them at first." That's not entirely true. I liked "Live Forever"--which was the very first Oasis song I ever heard. I even saw 'em do it on Letterman. Then, since I was bout it, bout it for all Brit mags, I was hit with the barrage of infamous quotations from the Gallagher brothers. My take on them, like many other observers, was: these lads are fucking wankers. So full of shit, soooo arrogant! It was maddening. It was enough to make myself close-minded and resist the pleasures of the Oasis sound until my dad made me realize that the boys could write some damn fine rock anthems. It's funny, because, although my dad got me into a lot of the rock base...(the brit bands, etc.), it took his insistence for me to get into something that should've been a no-brainer for me. (British, young, brash and loved the Sex Pistols? My dad does not care for the Sex Pistols, or any punk at all.) In fact, it was the linking to the Pistols that made me understand and accept the Gallagher brothers' attitude.

So it went with one young, brash, arrogant Ryan Adams. I was inundated (again, my own fault--can't stop!) with negative, obnoxious press about the kid before I heard one note of music. Especially his infamous, bratty on-stage breakdowns and diva drug dramas. I tried to distance myself from him and his music.

I remember waking up from a jet lag nap in London (Catu and I were visiting Racho..this is 2002, mind you) and seeing Adams' album Gold. The beautiful Irish flatmate of Racho's (goddammit, can't remember her name, now) was playing Achtung Baby. And all I could think was, areyoufuckingkiddingme? Irish chick plays U2 whist cooking dinner in her London flat and I'm here right now? wtf. But, Gold was sitting there. I thought, damn, he's huge, isn't he? People just adore his music. Maybe I should finally give him a chance. But, no. I was still so turned off by everything I had heard about him -- and it was a lot of shit, too (remember what Westerberg said?). And, really, that album cover!? Upside down American flag...come. on.

OK, so I realize how *shallow* it sounds-- to base my judgement on poor Ryan Adams on the bullshit and not the music. Well, I had heard the music...and I was drawn to it...a bit.

"Burning Photographs" (off of Rock'n'Roll) is something that I couldn't resist, even though you could say that it was slightly overplayed in the radio world (not exactly true, but I head it more than any other Ryan Adams song...besides "Stars Go Blue," but it wasn't even his version that I heard). That song and "New York, New York," from Gold were both very familiar to me, but not enough for me to investigate his music any further. It took an extremely random moment of catching the beginning of the movie, "Old School," (a Will Farrell vehicle....?) and his song off of "Heartbreaker"** called "To Be Young..." and I knew I had to give the music a chance. It was such a perfect song. I dug how raw and 60's (albeit very Bob Dylan of him) it was...it sounded old and new and I didn't know it was Adams...but I did. I figured it must be him. All the ("whooo, man!"s...) old slang, man. From what I knew of him, it fit.

I saw him in December, opening for (who else!?) Oasis! He didn't say a damn word. He shut up and sang and played (how many fans had shouted that demand, I wonder, over the years...?) His set was varied and entertaining, if not low-key. One of the most impressive things about Adams is how much he can change his voice and his persona and his genre and still make it work. It's almost disarming how he can alter his sound--but it's a beautiful thing (Neil Young is the master of this, for me, of course). Sometimes he is too sad-bastard for me. Sometimes the harmonica is overused. But I am liking him more and more. (Alicia, I have you to thank very much for all of this, too!) The man is talented. Interviews with him lately have been very intriguing (lots of press of late, with the release of Cardinology). (Like learning that Gold is simply about the making of Heartbreaker, essentially. makes total sense. they are companion pieces.) He's supposedly sober (after years of alcohol abuse and doing fucking speedballs everyday. yuck.) and working with Phil Lesh a few years ago apparently changed his life--musically and otherwise. In interviews, nowadays, he comes across as a manic, passionate, eccentric total musichead nerd. I love it. And he calls his older (drugged and drunken) self an "asshole" and "prick" and says he used to be "full of shit." So, I guess I was right...

**I just read this: (from Rolling Stone)

Not only is Adams a huge fan of the R&B singer, he named an album after a Mariah Carey cut. "My manager called and said, 'You have 15 seconds to name this record,'" he says. "My eyes focused on this poster of Mariah wearing a T-shirt that said HEARTBREAKER. I just shouted, 'Heartbreaker!' Daydream is one of my most played records. People need to reinvestigate Glitter. I'm settled enough in my masculinity to say I don't see anything wrong with Glitter."

Randomania

*This morning I flipped on the Current (it was before 6:30 am, I know this) and I was dog tired. My spirits were immediately lifted with the sound of the Faces doing a (live?) version of "Maggie May" I had never heard before. It was awesome. THEN Seel busts out the most riff-laden, rocker Ryan Adams tune of late, "Magick."

*I still feel a giddy burst of joy when I hear ANYboday say the words PRESIDENT Barack Obama.

*Shuffle brought me some Chris Isaak today and listening to him always makes me think of the following things:

-moderate, fake, guilt-pleasure in even liking him.

-thoughts of Twin Peaks (he was in "Fire Walk With Me" and Audrey. Rarrrrr.

-the video for "Wicked Game" which was easily the most erotic thing I had ever seen at a very young age. (So, in turn, hearing that song makes me think of a nekked Helena Christensen

-I used to think he was kinda sleazy and not very good lookin', now, in my older age, I think he's kinda UglySexy.

-and he will always, unavoidably, every time, make me miss and love Roy Orbison.

*Have you heard of Glasvegas? I hadn't until recently. I heard comparisons and refs to Bruce Springsteen, the Jesus and Mary Chain and Phil Spector, so I had to check 'em out. I am still really undecided on them. My shuffle helped me today. I heard "Daddy's Gone" and then "Richard" by Billy Bragg, and it made more sense to me. Gawd, I wanna be a DJ.

The Wrestler - haunted

I saw "The Wrestler" last night with my dad, and thoughts of it will not leave me alone. It was one of the best movies I have seen in a long while and Micky Rourke's personal, NATURAL performance was one of a kind.


If you've seen Rourke recently, you know what I mean when I say this: It might take you a while to get past his face. It did for me. I realized, hours after the movie, that he reminded me of the Cowardly Lion from the "Wizard of Oz." It's the hair, the movement, the mouth, the eyes...the skin tone...it's trippy.

The movie was made for practically nothing (Rourke literally worked for no pay) and the bumpy camera work can be, at times, distracting. The bloody realism is so striking--it had me covering my eyes when it got particularly brutal. But what I was continually amazed by was the naturalism of Rourke's portrayal of Randy "The Ram" Robinson. He *was* him. I just saw an interview with Rourke and he said that it was a hard role to play for many reasons (the training and gaining weight wasn't a picnic) but that the main reason was that it was so "close to home."

You know the story, right? In the '80s, Rourke was a hot (see above), young, brash up and coming actor's actor. Major gravitas, man. His life kinda got out of control (drugs, general recklessness, I think) and his career was all but dead. He gave up acting and started boxing professionally (!). He was *made* to play The Ram, a famous wrestler from the '80s. Right away we see that Randy, once a great wrestler and full-on celeb is now living in a trailer and has no one in his life. (Apparently Rourke himself got almost, if not exactly, as down-and-out as Randy.)

There's this scene between him and Marisa Tomei (playing an "aging" stripper named Cassidy) at a bar and the jukebox is blasting some godforsaken hair metal. They love that shit. They
make this adorable, realistic, Sopranos-esque love connection about how much the '80s ruled and the '90s sucked. Randy has this gross (but slightly funny) line about how "that pussy Kurt Cobain had to come along and ruin everything." Cassidy agrees heartily and spits, "like there's something wrong about wanting to have a good time!" I loved how just that one exchange say so much about them and their chosen careers--just not wanting to let the good times die, baby.

He fucks up a lot of shit in his life. It's hard to watch. But he makes fans (of this level of minor league wrestling anyway) happy and it's what he lives for. I won't go into the plot any more--I hate when people do that. I will tell you that his work in "The Wrestler" is explosive, haunting, touching, disturbing and awe inspiring. It's kinda like it's not really a movie…it's that good.

Please see this movie.

this morning

sure feels better than yesterday morning, huh?

What with the whole PRESIDENT Barack Obama thing...

((sigh)) yeah, it feels really, really good.

Yesterday, at 11:02 am, was one of the most amazing moments of my life. Pretty wonderful to share that feeling with so many millions of people 'round the world, man. First time I have ever felt *that* connected with the planet at large.

All day I was elated, but I don't think it fully hit me til the evening. It was Beyonce singing (beautifully, powerfully) "At Last" with tears in her eyes, as she watched Barack and Michelle dance that famous first dance that had it all sink in for me...and this:

Hello 2009!

I wanted to get my shit together and write about 2008--do a couple lists, perhaps...but I never got my shit together in blog-form.

Influenced by Festivus, and the airing of grievances, I would like to shed 2008 (and not list it up) and look forward. So, these are the things I am looking forward to, on the pop culture horizon:

*The Inauguration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and the music and celebration to accompany it, of course.

* LOST starting next week. Yes, I have become a devotee. It is intense, my new found love for the show. I was very hesitant to even get involved (cuz I was warned of the addiction risk: oh, and it is very, very real), but I was sucked in. I can safely say I have never seen such richly developed characters on tv. Ever. Oh, and the plot insanity is one-of-a-kind, too. It is a fucking long-ass MOVIE, really. It's really not very tv, at all... (it's not HBO, though, either. heh.)


*oh, and this might be the key to unlock the mysteries of the island and make you laugh thinking about this guy waxing his chest. hoo-ah!

*Michael Franti and Spearhead at the State in February!! Joyful, positive, political and passionate lust for life kinda dance party, baby. He is the closest thing to Strummer we have right now... word.


*Idol. (when auditions are over, that is) And the potluck fun that we enjoy with our friends. Such great cooks, my friends. sigh. Oh, and the auditions have had some hope and joy, which is awesome. So far, I like this guy...a lot. (his name's Asa, he has a precious young daughter and he's a marching band director. I shit you not.)

*Top Chef! More tv, I know, I know...what have I become? I fucking LOVE this show. It makes me appreciate food and cooking in a way I didn't know I could. Sometimes it gets snarky and highbrow, but really, I just love everything about it: Padma, the creative challenges that never cease to impress me, the fact that this season is in NYC, the rich and diverse personalities that only chefs can deliver and Padma...can you believe she was *married* to Salman Rushdie!? Kinda mind-blowing, huh?



*Story of the Sea's record release show at the end of the month. Yeeeeeeah!

* Ice skating, sledding and snow-storm exploring to beat the cold-as-a-muthfucka-winter bullshit blues!

***And, I need to give a shout out appreciation to the Current and it's new morning MUSIC programming. It starts my day out oh-so-right. I love hearing the gentle voice of Steve Seel to ease me into the morning. He's nerdy and funny and most importantly, he doesn't talk too much. I don't always love what he loves, but that's just fine. When I get to hear Beck, Sharon Jones and the Verve on a single, cold, shitty early morning-- it makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way.