For Those About To Rock

This Week, Nick Would Buy ... #35

I'm gonna mail this one in cos it's kind of a slow week. The biggest release this week has to be The Jonas Brothers' A Little Bit Longer, but I can't summon a dollop of enthusiasm for it. If you really absolutely have to have me tell you what to buy this week, go get Jeff Buckley's Grace. It might be nearing 15 years old, but his voice is still amazing after all these years.

A look at new releases for August 11 through August 17
— The Bug, London Zoo (Ninja Tune)
— Daddy Yankee, Talento de Barrio: El Soundtrack (Machete)
— Daz Dillinger, Only on the Left Side (Dog Pound Gangstaz)
— Extreme, Saudades de Rock (Open E)
— Inara George and Van Dyke Parks, An Invitation (Everloving)
— Zach Hill, Astrological Straits (Ipecac)
— Hillsong, This is Our God (Integrity)
— The Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer (Hollywood)
— Kalmah, For the Revolution (Spinefarm)
— Janelle Monáe, Metropolis: The Chase Suite (Bad Boy)
— New Kids on the Block, Greatest Hits (Sony Legacy)
— Nine Inch Nails, The Slip [Vinyl] (The Null Corporation)
— Laura Nyro, Nested [Reissue] (Iconoclassic)
— Laura Nyro, Seasons of Lights ... Lauro Nyro in Concert [Reissue] (Iconoclassic)
— David Sanborn, Here and Gone (Decca)
— S.M.V., Thunder (Heads Up)
— Irma Thomas, Simply Grand (Rounder/UMG)
— Various Artists, The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 10: 1970 [6CD box set] (Hip-O Select)
— Various Artists, Songs for Tibet — The Art of Peace (Art of Peace Foundation.org)
— Leon Ware, Moon Ride (Stax)
— Ben Weaver, The Ax in the Oak (Bloodshot)
— Yung Berg, Look What You Made Me (Epic)

Swing a Little More ... (An Ode to My Betrothed Musical Buddy)

For Sean and Amanda (pictured at right)

I love when a song marries itself to a moment in your life. One person sort of amasses a library of these little trinkets, times when one forms an emotional bond between the mere sound of a song and a sliver of time.

Some reveal their treasures over time. Picking up a song years later can make one think, "I remember the time I was listening to this when ___________."

Others instantly make their mark. For me, an example of this is Flogging Molly's "Devil's Dance Floor."

I spent last week in Colorado, visiting friends and family before playing best man in my friend's wedding. In our second decade of friendship, the groom, Sean, and I have a rich catalog of such shared musical moments already. We went to the same high school and the same college and remained friends across several states, still sending each other text messages to get the other's opinion about new albums to this day.

In fact, as he's a fellow music geek, one could say our entire friendship turns on music. Our friendship blossomed when he copied The Wallflowers' Bringing Down the Horse to both sides of an audio cassette for me during my freshman year in high school. Before long, we were close enough that my friend, a year my senior, would give me a ride to school every day.

When he was a senior, we dressed in identical Hootie and the Blowfish T-shirts and jeans for our high school's "twin day." Upon picking me up for school, my dad looked at me, his dark-haired, 5-foot-7, 200-pound son, and the 6-foot-3, 300-pound dirty blond Irishman and remarked, "you guys look like day and ... later that day."

In 2003, we saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform near the tall business skyline of the Denver Tech Center. As rain and lightning peppered the all-weather event, we marveled at the massive steel structures silhouetted by cracks of lightning against the dark Denver sky.

After close to a dozen years as friends, there are just too many moments like these to list them all. But now there's another special one.

At the wedding reception, hours after his first dance with his bride, Amanda, the DJ played Flogging Molly's "Devil's Dance Floor." Sean, a devout fan of Celtic punk and especially Flogging Molly, bolted to the floor. As the beat surged into overdrive, there were the groom and his best man, poorly attempting an Irish jig and do-si-do-ing during the song's chorus — "Swing a little more, the more o'er the merry-o." We had to stop on several occasions because our pants felt as though they were falling off, laughing all the while.

The day after the ceremony, while on the plane ride back to the Golden State, I thumbed the iPod to "Devil's Dance Floor" and smiled, recalling the fun from the night before.

I know I'll never hear "Devil's Dance Floor" without thinking of Sean — my friend, my brother — and dancing with him at his wedding. Congratulations, my twin.

That's a choice addition to my collection of memorable musical moments.

This week, Skinner wouldn't buy

Hey, gang, Skinner here filling in for Nick while he’s home in Colorado for a friend’s wedding.
You know, when Nick first asked me to fill in for him on his “This week Nick you buy” column, I was a bit skeptical. Nick and I listen to very different kinds of music – him: rock, rock, classics – me: good music like Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, Gregorian chants, Yoko Ono, John Denver, etc.
Skinners are from Mars and Nicks are from Venus, I suppose.
What would I have to say about his music? Well, nothing good, for starters. I have never even heard of most of these bands.
I doubt there is one country song in the whole bunch.
Nick just hasn’t been to enough clothing-optional dance parties to really appreciate a good O-Zone song or enough NASCAR races to love a good Toby Keith track.
Still, I feel the need to do my duty, as I am a man of my word.
So here it is, the things that Nick would buy, Skinner would not, and no one should listen to.

New releases for Aug. 5 to Aug. 12
— Lewis Black, Anticipation (Comedy Central)
— Blue October, Argue With a Tree ... (Universal)
— The Faint, Fasciinatiion (blank.wav)
— Mike Gordon, The Green Sparrow (Rounder)
— Hawthorne Heights, Fragile Future (Victory)
— Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians, Luminous Groove [Box set] (Yep Roc)
— Bobbi Humphrey, Fancy Dancer [Reissue] (Blue Note)
— Jamey Johnson, That Lonesome Song (Mercury Nashville)
— Lloyd, Lessons in Love (Universal)
— Randy Newman, Harps & Angels (Nonesuch)
— Heidi Newfield, What Am I Waiting For (Curb)
— Luciano, Fabric 41 (Spkg) (Fabric)
— Mandi Perkins, Alice in No Man's Land (RCA Victor)
— Nappy Roots, The Humdinger (Nappy Roots Entertainment)
— Ne-Yo, Year of the Gentleman (Def Jam)
— Nine Inch Nails, The Slip [Vinyl edition] (The Null Corporation)
— Norma Jean, The Anti Mother (Solid State)
— Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Conor Oberst (Merge)
— Outlawz, We Want In (Cashville/Gold Dust Media/1Nation Entertainment)
— Penetration, Live 1978-79 (Easy Action)
— Elvis Presley, The Complete '68 Comeback Special (RCA)
— The Three Sounds, Elegant Soul [Reissue] (Blue Note)
— The Three Sounds, Soul Symphony [Reissue] (Blue Note)
— Trapt, Only Through the Pain (Eleven Seven)
— Reuben Wilson, Set Us Free (Blue Note)
— Within Temptation, Mother Earth [Reissue, remaster] (Roadrunner)