John Lefsky Poop 02


I had it all, written out. ..well, outlined. Then I cleaned my room. Then I took drugs. Ennui and I almost don’t want to do this and not because there wasn’t a lot of good
music or because my ex-girlfriend called me yesterday but hung up on the answering machine and I was anal and still in love enough to *69 in the fear/hope that it was her… no. Not for any of those reasons. Just a big sigh, is all. A big stoned sigh and.a shrug of the shoulders.

Martin Carthy is singing “the Deserter.” Usually I listen to something from the list, but Ineed to break something, so it may as well be my own lame-ass tradition. I like cheesecake.

1. BLACKLISTED – Neko Case. Country-Noir? Julee Cruise meets LorettaLynn? Calexico takes over from her usual Boyfriends and Neko writes most of the songs. Airports, deserts, childhood smells like engine oil and birds fry on the wire. And Mary Margaret O’Hara sings for five seconds.

2. LOST IN SPACE – Aimee Mann. Ya see, it’s all part of the same story, the same mood. Inertia? All the notes are neat and perfect where the emotions are fucked and scattered. Midtempo is what all these people can manage. One big sigh.

…I’m sitting in my car-at the same old stoplight
I keep waiting fora change, but I don’t know what
so red turns into green turning into yellow
but I’m just frozen here on the same old spot
and all I have to do is press the pedal
…but I ‘m not.

and some great cartoons.

3. OOOH! – Mekons. Middle-aged, Middle Ages, blasphemy, proudly pagan and pissed.

4. THE BLACKENED AIR – Nina Nastasia. Violin, cello, accordion, saw, a voice like dust on velvet, a whisper in the graveyard, a boo and a smile.

5. FASHIONABLY LATE – Linda Thompson. With Richard, I think she wrote half of one song. Here, Linda wrote or co-wrote most of these, and some sound like they were written around the plague years. Perfect, spare production. Richard, take note.

6. THE DAY THE EARTH MET THE – Rocket From The Tombs. The best song of 2002 was recorded in 1975. “Ain’t No Fun” was later overdone by the Dead Boys, but Peter Laughner’s version cuts that tight piece of flesh under the tongue. The rest is sonic eye peeling. Cleveland rocks.

7. REVEILLE – Deerhoof. I think the lead singer is Asian. That’s all I know about them. Other than that, Blonde Redhead on a trampoline during and earthquake.

8.THE EXECUTIONER’S LAST SONG – The Pine Valley Cosmonauts. Jonboy Langford and co. back up the likes of Steve Earle, Neko Case etc. for a good cause. More importantly, the songs are great, funny and bleak.

9. YOUR BLOATED CORPSE HAS WASHED ASHORE! – Puerto Muerto. Husband and wife pirates plunder the spirit of Kurt Weill on the sets of “The Gangs of New York” and “The Buccaneer.”

10. HEAVEN, HELL OR HOUSTON – The Naysayer. Love can be snotty. Comparisons are useless if you don’t know Retsin. I dunno. gentle electric guitar, forlorn phrasing sad and snotty. Love doesn’t just stink, it leaves a stain.

11. TITLE TK – The Breeders. Sounds like they were lying down, singing some random phrases written on the ceiling above. Kim sings “iguana” and sounds sexy.

12. TORINO – Cinerama. Bitter, jealous git. That orchestra’s for irony.
13. WHEN I WAS CRUEL – Elvis Costello
14. ORIGINAL SINNERS – Original Sinners
15. MULTIKONTRA CULTI VS. IRONY – Gogol Bordello
16. ALICE – Tom Waits
17. SWEETKORN – Michael Hurley
18. NEON GOLDEN – Notwist
19. WHAT IS IT? – Cordelia’s Dad
20. I’M SORRY THAT SOMETIMESBI’MMEAN – Kirnya Dawson
21. DUEL MONO – The Greenhornes
22. OH ME OH MY… – Devendra Banhardt

…and other stuff;
MURRAY STREET – Sonic Youth.
BEAT THE DONKEY – Cyro Baptista.
ST. ARKANSAS – Pere Ubu.
SHADYSIDE – Sue Garner.
WALKING WITH THEE – Clinic.
IMMORTALITY LESSONS – Cul De Sac.
ROMANTICA – Luna.
SMOTHERED AND COVERED – The Handsome Family.
TOTAL LEE – Various Artists.
ROOMSOUND – Califone.
UP ALL NIGHT – The Gore Gore Girls.
THE BOOK OF SPECTRAL PROJECTIONS – Outrageous Cherry.
SPECTRAL SOPRANO – Lol Coxhill.
ALL RELATIONSHIPS ARE DOOMED TO FAIL – The Meat Purveyors.
IT’S STILL ARTASTIC – The Styrenes.

REISSUES: A LOVE SUPREME – John Coltrane. TESTAMENT – The Blasters. Elvis C. and Ramones reissues. MY GENERATION – The Who (though I think the mix a bit dodgy)

OVERRATED OR DISAPPOINTING; Beck, Flaming Lips, Steve Earle, Wilco.

THINGS I JUST REMEMBERED: STEREO/MONO – Paul Westerberg. TEXAS SESSIONS CHAPTER TWO – Dr. Eugene Chadbourne.

CONCERTS OF NOTE: Elvis Costello at the Beacon. Aimee Mann at the Chance. Steve Earle in Albany. The Three Terrors at the Bowery Ballroom.

MOVIE BITS; SUNSHINE STATE, CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND, Alan Arkin in 13 CONVERSATIONS ABOUT ONE THING. LOVELY AND AMAZING. FAR FROM HEAVEN. ABOUT SCHMIDT. THE SLAUGHTER RULE. Parts of THE GANGS OF NEW YORK, mostly those without DiCaprio. Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN.

BAD MOVIE BITS: RED DRAGON, dull and unnecessary. PUMPKIN, might have worked with Reese Witherspoon and a script and less musical montages. FRAILTY, a pro Christian serial killer movie.

MORE STUFF THAT I LIKED; STEEL GUITAR AIRSHOW-Jon Rahouse. SPINNING WHEELS-Sugar Shack. COVER SONGS-Giant Sand.

done and done and done and done andoneandoneanddoneand doneandoneanddoneanddonedoneanddoneanddoneanddoneanddoneanddoneanddoneand anddoneanddoneanddoneand doneand doneanddoneandoneanddoneand