Tag Archives: Jay Reatard
CD Review: Stroke [2009]
Band: Various Artists
Release: 2009
***DISC ONE***
1. “Pull Down The Shades” – Jay Reatard – A+
2. “Rebel” – The Checks – A
3. “Ain’t It Nice” – The Bleeding Allstars – A+
4. “Don’t Catch Fire” – Peter Gutteridge – B+
5. “Luck or Loveliness” – The Chills – C
6. “Nothing’s Going to Happen” – David Kilgour – B-
7. “All My Hollowless to You” – The Crying Wolfs” – B+
8. “Beauty” – Stephin Merritt – B
9. “Nostalgia’s No Excuse” – Portastatic – B+
10. “Crush” – The Mint Chicks – B-
11. “I’ve Left Memories Behind” – Jay and Sam Clarkson – B-
12. “Burning Blue” – Sky Green Leopards – A
13. “The Slide” – Shayne Carter – B
14. “Grand Mal” -Pumice – C-
15. “Knoxed Out” – Hamish Kilgour – D+
***DISC TWO***
1. “Not Given Lightly” – Boh Runga – B+
2. “Bodies” – Bill Doss – C+
3. “Sign the Dotted Line” – Jeff Magnum – B-
4. “Lapse” – Bill Callahan – B+
5. “Growth Spurt” – Genghis Smith – B+
6. “Coloured” – Yo La Tengo – B
7. “Dunno Much About Life but I Know How to Breathe” – AC Newman – C+
8. “Glide” – Alec Bathgate – B+
9. “Inside Story” – Don McGlashan – B
10. “The Outer Skin” – Sean Donnelly – B+
11. “What Goes Up” – Lambchop – C
12. “Brave” – The Mountain Goats – B
13. “Round These Walls” – The Tokey Tones & Friends – A-
14. “Just Do It” – The Bats – A-
15. “My Only Friend” – Will Oldham – B+
16. “It’s Love” – The Pyjama Party – B+
17. “Becoming Something Other” – Jordan Luck – B-
18. “Driftwood” – The Verlaines – B+
19. “Song of the Tall Poppy” – Lou Barlow – B-
20. “Nappin’ In Lapland” – The Nothing – C-
21. “Sunday Song” – Tall Dwarfs – B
Comments: Jay starts off this cover tribute album to Chris Knox, a highly inspirational rock musician from New Zealand, with “Pull,” originally more of a punk sharp shooter. Jay managed (talking about him in the past tense is depressing) to make it really sound like his own with a softer combination of acoustic and electric. It’s awesome to listen to Jay’s faux Brit accent come out when he chants “pool down the shaydes” haha if you know what I mean. Fun bubblegum rock comes on “Rebel” which reminds me of “Buddy Holly” by Weezer. I had to double check that JR didn’t sing “Ain’t” because it sounds literally like something he’d do. I’m going to say he definitely stole (or playfully borrowed) elements of this song and incorporated them on various releases, namely “It Ain’t Gonna Save Me” but others as well. “Don’t Catch Fire” is a slow erotic shoe-gazer, I guess. “I watch your strip tease till I have to go.” That’s an intense line. “Burning Blue” is comparable to softer Jay stuff so obviously it’s awesome! And check out that song title…look familiar?
Final Evaluation: Very Positive (Disc 1>Disc 2)
Film Review: Avatar
Full Title: Avatar
Director: James Cameron
Year: 2009
Grade: B+
If you are thinking of seeing this in any other venue then IMAX, then you need your head examined and then chopped off and kicked down the street like a soccer ball a la George Bush Sr. for you Bill Hicks fans :) But, seriously, it’s worth shelling out the extra smackers to experience this 3D Sci Fi mega blockbuster in an IMAX theater. The sound is simply exquiste. Of course your 3D glasses make the film all the more epic and exciting i.e. people running past you, objects thrown in your direction, and my personal favorite, being chased by an enormous, ferocious animal about to tear you to shreds as you pathetically attempt to foil his monstruous ability to jostle you to and fro. Now, I must admit, I am biased here, in the sense that I am not the biggest fan of Sci Fi, War, Action, or any sort of “epic” film, for the most part. Perhaps if this was an off colour comedy with some young, chic, unconventionally beautiful actress and her hipster, male co star with a soundtrack dominated by my low fi favorites I would probably rate it higher than this even if it was of lesser quality. So, keep that in mind while I disect the film for the remainder of the review. To begin, of course it was visually goregous and the action was entertaining. The story was sound and actually unexpected, at least for me. Briefly, the plot concerns a young jarhead marine named Jake Sully, who is sent on a mission in which he becomes part of an entirely foreign world called Pandora, literally becoming like this new species: blue, tail, etc. As his tenure on the planet continues he questions the military’s motives for his mission and their future plans with the planet. Soon, he finds himself at home and decides to follow a new path. SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!
I must say that I really dig the way Jake joins his new blue comrades and does the right thing by helping them fight off their oppressors/occupiers: the American Military. Kinda subversive for such a mainstream film! It would be like an American soldier in Vitenam, who is sent on a mission to be a Viet Cong informant and then he “betrays” the yankies for his new KONG brothers. That would be cool sorta ahah.
Overall: Once again, I don’t typically get boners over these kinds of films, but it was a decent flick, certainly worth seeing at least once. All in all, overrated, with that being said, the story was solid, the acting was nothing special, but worked just fine, and well you know in terms of visual/special effects and what have you, it was top notch.
P.S. Jay Reatard- Turning Blue should have appeared on the soundtrack. What did they expcect Disco? Boring fucks…
Chris
Jay’s Amoeba Bag
His liking of Galaxie 500 surprised me. I can hear subtle influence on a few of his slower tracks.
Song of the Day: Fluorescent Grey
This is the original by Deerhunter as most of you know it was famously covered by the late, great Jay Reatard. The kid who made this vid edited some clips from George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead. Enjoy!
Chris
Jay Remembered
Stephen Pope (Former Bassist) Eulogy:
When he signed with Matador he called me and said, ‘Stephen, let’s go celebrate.’ So we went to Checkers first and got a few Big Bufords. We got a $4-bottle of champagne. Two or three. Then we went to Men’s Warehouse. He bought a purple and black suit and he forced me to get a purple velvet blazer. Then we went to a spa Downtown, where we decided to get the most expensive couple’s massage. We drank more champagne, got an hour-long massage right next to each other, then we got in a hot tub filled with rose petals and drank more champagne. Then we got a manicure. A gourmet lunch was supposed to be included, but in true Jay Reatard fashion, he said, “Screw that. Go get me a bacon cheeseburger.” So we ate bacon cheeseburgers while getting a pedicure. And I just remember sitting there getting a pedicure with bacon and grease and cheese and champagne all over me, and looking over at him on his cell phone, telling the story of what we were doing right then.
No Man Is An Island
No man is an island entire of itself; every man
is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe
is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as any manner of thy friends or of thine
own were; any man’s death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind.
And therefore never send to know for whom
the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
Jay Reatard Covers Oblivians?
Listen to the striking similarity between this song “Bad Man” by Oblivians and Jay Reatard’s “A Whisper/There Is No Sun.”
Reatard’s Last Interview?
Pop Master
Perhaps two of the best words to describe the late, great (it still sounds strange) garage rocker. In my opinion he wrote the catchiest music in the history of Rock and Roll. Well, The Ramones probably have him beat and The Misfits are close, but yeah I’d say he is the 2nd catchiest artist of all time. At least for my money. In his own words, he described his aesthetic: “I make it up on the spot, improvise lyrics, usually start with a drum beat, come up with a chord progression and then start layering melodies and pulling ones out that don’t work. I end up with what I end up with. It’s kind of like a Polaroid of your music. It’s right then and there and I think that’s how it should be… It’s easier to hear they’re pop songs now.You can add anything you want to a pop song, but when you get away from that being a base, you kind of lose people.”- http://newsroom.mtv.com/tag/jay-reatard/
Chris
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 