longfadinginstant: sebadoh

Showing posts with label sebadoh. Show all posts

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Eric Gaffney's Sebadoh

lou barlow was always the big name in sebadoh, and so when i first got into them i pretty much assumed all my favorite songs were his. it wasn't till years later that i made the realization that in reality the majority of my favorite songs were eric gaffney tracks. his were the songs with mysterious names like "telecosmic alchemy" "elixer is zog" and "calling yog soggoth", with lyrics that were a mix of love, magic (of the sorcery type), monsters and mental illness.

sebadoh "as the world dies, the eyes of god grow bigger" (from the album "III") this song was my introduction to sebadoh. one of the music moments that i'll always remember. my friend aaron played it for me in his car during a journalism class errand off campus. we listened through it twice to the ire of our company, who was ultra-religious and who i'm sure had her belief that music was devil powered confirmed. really it's an autobiographical story of being raised by drugged up hippies and going crazy as a result. THIS SONG IS A MASTERPIECE. please be respectful and listen to the whole song. pay attention.

sebadoh "holy picture" (from the album "III") the way he sings "pussy cat" at the end is a career highlight.

sebadoh "moldy bread" (from the album "the freed man", also collected on "the freed weed").

sebadoh "elixer is zog" (from the album "bubble and scrape") despite the craziness of the music and vocal delivery, it seems to be a somewhat romantic song as gaffney imagines getting a "square of land" with his future wife. how very little house on the prairie.

sebadoh "crisis" (from the album "smash your head on the punk rock") this was the songs that kept the metal in my heart alive through the indie-snob years, and primed me for the metal i'd really be into years down the line. also the lyrics (see below) are pretty amazing and seemingly historical. not what you expect from such a song.

CRISIS
Story of water stronger than a man
Town crier: day of the dam!
More than a hundred years ago
The flood raged on fast and cold
Smashed barrels and broken chests
Bridgework carried along to rest
Crisis; cry sister
Crisis; cry sister
It's been real; it's been nice sis
I can't help with your crisis
C. Graves riding double speed
Clear the factories you all must flee
One in a panic turned to face the wave
Raised his arms; met his fate
Still in the riverbed you can see
The broken pieces of pottery
Cry sis; cry sister
Cry sis; cry sister
Yes, I'm gonna miss your kiss
But i can't go on like this
I AM A TRIBAL CHIEF
MY NAME DISORDER
FLESH AND BLOOD
A TANGO FLOOD
The antichrist is sleeping

and, then here's a playlist with all the above, and a bunch more. i think it's all his songs from "III" "smash your head..." and "bubble and scrape", with a few from "the freed man"

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Friday, February 1, 2008

5 songs for 2/01/08

the nerves "hanging on the telephone" (from their self titled ep)
i didn't realize blondie's "hanging on the telephone" was a cover till a cat power version showed up in a commercial a couple of years ago and pitchfork did a blurb about it, referring to it as a cover of the nerves. hmmm? of course i had to hear the original. finally came across it last night.

sebadoh "whole hog" (from the "lounge ax defense and relocation cd" compilation). generally compilations with exclusive songs suck, even when packed with your favorite bands. artists never give up their best material to albums that aren't their own. somehow lounge ax, a small club in chicago (owned by jef tweedy's wife), managed a good one. "whole hog" was one of barlow's best post-"bubble and scrape" songs, a concert favorite, and he gave it up to fight lounge ax's battle against a "yuppie" neighbor.

nofx "bob" (from the album "white trash, two heebs, and a bean"). i just think we all need to step back and re-evaluate nofx. just like the grateful dead, nofx was ruined by their fans. it's been awhile, and i'm not sure they even have fans anymore. it's safe.

new riders of the purple sage "you angel you" (from the album "brujo") and speaking of the dead, here's a dead offshoot, and safe cause i'm not sure the general dead-hating public knows about them. or maybe they do, i don't know. good 70's country rock regardless.

the mountain goats "going to georgia" (from the album "zopilote machine"). if you were a fan of the mountain goats back when the mountain goats were a local inland empire band, recording albums live to a cheap tape recorder and performing in coffee shops then you'd never have guessed they'd end up making a real career of it. "going to georgia" was the live highlight. we were all about this song in college.

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Wednesday, January 30, 2008

More Covers

some more covers:

the breeders "freed pig" (from the "head to toe" ep). written by lou barlow/sebadoh. the best thing about this cover is that it was produced by j mascis, the target of the songs attack. apparently he heard the breeders playing it in the studio and being unaware of it's subject or authorship, insisted they record it. also, the original appeared on sebadoh's album "III". drummer (when not performing his own songs) eric gaffney refused to play on the recording as he felt the energy of the songs was too negative. this story was confirmed by lou in the liner notes for the album's reissue.

the blood brothers "under pressure" (from the queen tribute album "dynamite with a laser beam") an EXPRESSIVE take on a classic.

and we might as well let bowie repay the compliment with his take on a blood brothers favorite:

david bowie "a little bit me, a little bit you" (i got it off the bootleg "chameleon chronicles vol. 2"). actually it's a cover of the monkees, though written by neil diamond. i'm guessing this is pretty early bowie, before he'd made a name for himself. funny enough that he had to change his name from david jones to bowie because of the already established davey jones in the monkees.

the crust bothers "tuesday's gone" (from the album "marquee mark") stephen malkmus (pavement) and his buddies in silkworm gathered for a one off show as the crust brothers. the highlight was this lynyrd skynyrd cover. i wanted to post a track with malkmus on the lead but his vocals that night weren't his strongest. he chimes in pretty loud on the chorus here however.

i'm not even gonna tell you what legend this next medley of covers comes from. if you don't know, then you can go home and go to bed.

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longfadinginstant