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The Dropper

Band: Medeski Martin & Wood
Album: The Dropper
Best song: The title track.
Worst song: I don't know enough about this record to make this distinction.

Today is the second anniversary of the saddest day of my life. It goes without saying that May has now become a dreaded month; Memorial Day is not the celebrated holiday I love anymore.

Five Man Acoustical Jam

Band: Tesla
Album: Five Man Acoustical Jam
Best song: No idea. I guess "We Can Work It Out" isn't a total disaster, but it's pretty bad. "Signs" was a hit, for what that's worth.
Worst song: Gah. This album is a mess.

Technically, this isn't an album that I own, but rather an album that I borrowed. Thanks to the good folks at the Prince George's County Library System, I took Five Man Acoustical Jam out from the library, largely on the success of the band's minor success in its cover of "Signs." So, let's be clear: I don't own this album.

A Tramp Shining

Band: Richard Harris
Album: A Tramp Shining
Best song: "MacArthur Park" is both the greatest and worst song.
Worst song: See above.

As evidenced by the beautiful Scarlett Johansson, actors-turned-singers need to have some grounding in musical theater to successfully make the transition to just singer. Richard Harris's background in musicals make him someone who could phrase songs properly. The Irish actor's turn in Camelot a year before made him perfect to intone songwriter Jimmy Webb's songs.

Anywhere I Lay My Head

Band: Scarlett Johansson
Album: Anywhere I Lay My Head
Best song: "Town with No Cheer" is admirable
Worst song: "Song for Jo" is terrible.

Mitch Hedberg was an outstanding comedian, a stoner-generation's Steven Wright. One of my best jokes was about how he'd been asked to write a screenplay by some Hollywood folks because they'd seen his standup act. He then compared it to a chef: "You're a good cook, but can you farm?"

Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future

Band: The Bird and the Bee
Album: Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future
Best song: I'm kind of a sucker for tributes to, say, David Lee Roth ("Diamond Dave"). The title (?) track, "Ray Gun" is pretty nice, albeit a cheap Cardigans ripoff in some ways. "Birthday" sounds album like an Asian pop song, in a good way. "Fanfare" is awesome.
Worst song: "My Love" is just OK.

OK, so I've been swamped at work the last couple of weeks, so to keep on a normal publishing schedule, I've written something of a review. It's in haiku form. Double haiku, actually.

The Dark Side of the Moon

Band: The Flaming Lips (with Stardeth and White Dwarfs)
Album: The Dark Side of the Moon
Best song: Let me say that I don't think the album is really all that good, but rather kind of daring. The version of "Money," while not necessarily to my liking, is a really intersting update. That's probably the best song on the record.
Worst song: Hmmm. "Eclipse" isn't 1/10 as good as the original and is pretty boring.

I love the Flaming Lips. The single greatest rock and roll show I've ever seen is the Lips on the first leg of the Soft Bulletin tour in Columbia, Mo. in 2000. It was before the band had started playing arenas. Soft Bulletin had broken, but the band hadn't created the arena-show side of it; instead, Wayne & Co. simply had a projector, a bunch of puppets and a fuckload of moxie. It was awesome.