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Jan. 19th, 2007 07:54 pmStill a bit sick today, but my spirits are much better.
I actually spent the bulk of the day reading Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad. It was a Xmas gift for me two years ago, but since I'm such a freaking slow reader (honestly, if it's not on a computer screen, I won't read it until I'm sitting on my porcelain throne) I finally launched into it today. I'm about a quarter of the way through and I must say that I'm really enjoying the book.
While I'm acquainted with nearly all the bands (I don't think I've listened to Big Black, but am familiar with Albini's music with Shellac and his producing work), I'm not that familiar with the full breadth of the work performed by the bands. That lack of knowledge of specific tracks hasn't been a hindrance while reading this. It is a great history book with the mental-masturbatory descriptions of the songs/performances that one would expect from a music critic. The chapter on Black Flag was fantastic. I'm a fan of Henry and it was interesting to see the depiction of his and Greg's chemistry (or complete lack of it) to the folding of the band. Anyone who has read Henry's recollection and diary of his Black Flag days - Get in the Van - needs to read the first chapter of Our Band...
All of this got me thinking about my first "hardcore" song. Sure, I was indoctrinated into modern/college rock in '88 with the Violent Femmes debut album, but I think it wasn't until the next year that I heard Fugazi's "Waiting Room" and started checking out Black Flag, Minutemen, and the like. I remember them coming to town and playing at the hotel near Jordan & University. I didn't go because I was certain someone would pick a fight with the doughy-looking, tall guy I was (am). Because I got "Waiting Room" stuck in my head after thinking of it, I went to the obvious source of the song since I sold off most of that music years ago...YouTube!
( And don't you know I found this clip from a concert in December of '88! )
( And I also found a funny version of Waiting Room performed by a school band at a kickball game. )
I actually spent the bulk of the day reading Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 by Michael Azerrad. It was a Xmas gift for me two years ago, but since I'm such a freaking slow reader (honestly, if it's not on a computer screen, I won't read it until I'm sitting on my porcelain throne) I finally launched into it today. I'm about a quarter of the way through and I must say that I'm really enjoying the book.
While I'm acquainted with nearly all the bands (I don't think I've listened to Big Black, but am familiar with Albini's music with Shellac and his producing work), I'm not that familiar with the full breadth of the work performed by the bands. That lack of knowledge of specific tracks hasn't been a hindrance while reading this. It is a great history book with the mental-masturbatory descriptions of the songs/performances that one would expect from a music critic. The chapter on Black Flag was fantastic. I'm a fan of Henry and it was interesting to see the depiction of his and Greg's chemistry (or complete lack of it) to the folding of the band. Anyone who has read Henry's recollection and diary of his Black Flag days - Get in the Van - needs to read the first chapter of Our Band...
All of this got me thinking about my first "hardcore" song. Sure, I was indoctrinated into modern/college rock in '88 with the Violent Femmes debut album, but I think it wasn't until the next year that I heard Fugazi's "Waiting Room" and started checking out Black Flag, Minutemen, and the like. I remember them coming to town and playing at the hotel near Jordan & University. I didn't go because I was certain someone would pick a fight with the doughy-looking, tall guy I was (am). Because I got "Waiting Room" stuck in my head after thinking of it, I went to the obvious source of the song since I sold off most of that music years ago...YouTube!
( And don't you know I found this clip from a concert in December of '88! )
( And I also found a funny version of Waiting Room performed by a school band at a kickball game. )
