This is just a great example of the Connells, a band you can either kick back and listen to, or jump around and go crazy. This band from North Carolina never made it big, but they still keep playing their music for anyone who will listen. A great college band, only they stick with you long after college, as witnessed by the mix of frat baseball caps and balding heads at a recent concert.
The song is one of those songs you hear and hear and you can still hear after all these years without getting tired of it.
Why I like it so much? Hmm the question I should ask is, who doesn't like it so much???
When you are tired, you go home, light a candle, close your eyes, and listen to Chapman's song. It will take you to another dimension, Chapman's dimension.
-a.
from Tracy Chapman, available on CD
19 Apr 01 ·danko: is this a joke? 23 Apr 01 ·tinks: I think Chapman's dimension is located somewhere off Exit 73 of the Jersey Turnpike.
So far the best thing I've heard all year! The Minders return, this time they invite us into their neighborhood by way of Golden Street. We still feel the quaint influence of Britain's great pop secrets, the Kinks, but we also hear another side of this band that has been long overdue, themselves. The Minders have discovered their voice only glimpsed at in earlier recordings. And 'Right As Rain' is as good as it gets. There is no avoiding the contagions found in the head-bopping performance, you will be infected with a fever you may never wish to recover from. Put plainly, you will love this song, guaranteed! The drumsticks click, the bass rolls in, the electric guitars whir, the beat throbs and then, in a moment of pure expectation, we hear Martyn's vocals like honey dripping from heaven. It is Martyn's voice that carries us through this song and we are disappointed when he pauses to breath. The longest pause comes during the backwards guitar solo, complete with screaming feedback and enriched by keyboards and bass. The refrain is just as exciting when Martyn returns to refill our ears with his perfect British accent. By golly, I wish you could hear it now.
27 Apr 01 ·tinks: I should hope his British accent is perfect...being that he's British and all! It always amazes me when I hear praise come in for the Minders from places far & near...those cats live in my neighborhood! 02 May 01 ·tinks: Oh, and to clarify...I love the Minders, too! What I meant was that I still think of them as a local band!
I get the impression that even a lot of Pavement fans don't know this one very well, presumably because it's on a pretty duff album (wowee zowee). However, it's one of my absolute favourite pavement songs. Musically it is very quiet - it's essentially just an acoustic guitar, though the funny noises the band make are quite entertaining. However, I really love the structure: there's nothing that can be called a verse or a chorus there - he just rambles on until he is finished. It has the full extent of Pavement's lyrics - completely ridiculous, funny, and sometimes very moving. Plus, as ever, malkmus' weirdy voice is a joy to listen to. So, if you like the pavement style - slow, quirky, funny, and often amazingly beautiful musically, and you don't know this one, you should really look into it. There's a brilliant solo version of it you can get off Napster (legally - Pavement distribute this stuff) - search for "we dance acoustic" - means you don't have to cough up for the album too.
27 Jun 01 ·karlmort: this one has been among my fave pavement albums since it came out. this album has some stand out tracks like grounded , fight this generation and we dance. there is also a rare version of this song on a 7". it was released prior to wowee zowee. 30 Jun 04 ·your_namesake: absolutely love this track. can't agree with you on wowee zowee though, i think that's a brilliant album...