Early in the Morning, I'm Callin' YouTube, Vol. III

I'm going back upstate for the weekend, so I won't be posting again until Monday. Due to that, I'm making two posts today: the one I've already put up about the Wilco concert and this collection of interesting YouTube videos. But when I get back, I'll have reviews for both the Levon Helm Band in Albany and Bob Dylan and His Band in Bethel. Have a good weekend.

You had to know I was going to post some kind of Dylan video and this, a clip of "Visions of Johanna" from the '66 tour, might just be the greatest acoustic recording he's ever made.

As a huge David Bowie fan, I felt slightly aghast when I realized I had never seen Labyrinth when I was a child. When I finally did watch it about a week ago, I realize that a) it's not the greatest thing in the world but still pretty good and b) Bowie as a Goblin King is the most inspired casting call this side of making Marlon Brando Superman's daddy. Here's the video of a young Jennifer Connelly dancing around with creepy pink Muppets to "Chilly Down," a song with little rhytm, has a creature sound like Louis Armstrong and is just really good.

"Hoochie Coochie Man" performed by Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon, Junior Wells, Johnny Winter and Mike Bloomfield. All at once: Wow!

People rave about the version of "Caravan" on It's Too Late to Stop Now, but it never sounded better than it did with The Band at The Last Waltz. Plus, you gotta respect any man wearing that suit.

Speaking of Van the Man, here's a live performance of my favorite song of his, "Saint Dominic's Preview."

And lastly:

A great Simpsons scene.

When There's a Wil, There's a Co

When I was young, the way my family would judge how much fun I was having was by the amount of perspiration I was, well, perspiring. If that connection proved to be true, then I had one hell of a time seeing Wilco on Tuesday night at Warsaw in Brooklyn.

There’s so much about the concert I could focus on (from Tweedy coming out looking like a young Bob Dylan or Neil Young with shabby looking clothes, harmonica holder and beat up acoustic guitar to the fact that they performed for roughly two and a half hours because there was no noise curfew) that I’m just going to do a

Five Best…Performances by Wilco on June 26th at Warsaw

#5. “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart”

Wilco playing this song is like The Ramones doing “Blitzkreig Bop” or Tommy Tutone performing “Jenny (867-5309),” so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that I’d hear it. But it’s one of the first Wilco songs I ever knew (the first was “Jesus, Etc.” which they performed and got a sing-song’y feel to it) so for sentimental reasons, it was great to hear it. If Wilco ever had a hit, I suppose this would be it. The Warsaw version was very similar to the one appearing on Yankee Foxtrot Hotel: Tweedy’s vocal leading the way, lots of feedback, a sneaky piano in the background and great drumming by Glenn Kotche.

#4. “On and On and On”

Nearly every song that they performed from Sky Blue Sky, their new album, got a reworking—with the exception of this song, the last on the album. I’m not a huge fan of Sky in the same way I am of Yankee or Being There, but the songs really came alive when hearing them in concert. “On and On and On” was the last song played before the encore, which made my concert counterpart, Nadia, quite happy because it’s her favorite song on the album. The song starts slowly and the lyrics are near schmaltz (“On and on and on we’ll stay together, yeah/On and on and on we’ll be together, yeah”) but Tweedy saves it with his passion and as it continues, the band kicks in and gives a very convincing feel. I think it’s become a favorite on Sky.

#3. “Outta Mind (Outtasite)”

Putting it on the list is bittersweet because it was the last song performed of the night. But to end the concert on something some upbeat and just plain rocking is a great choice. It’s also just a fun song it sing: “Well I know we don't talk much/But you're such a good talker/Ooh, whoa.” As the counterpart of “Outtasite (Outta Mind)” on Being There, they’re both pretty much the same song except “Outta Mind” is slightly slower and has the emphasis on the words, not the music. But live, this song kicked ass and took names—you know, if songs could take names, that is.

#2. “Hoodoo Voodoo”

A rarity of Wilco to perform, “Hoodoo Voodoo” is actually a Woody Guthrie tune that appears on their album with Billy Bragg, the fantastic Mermaid Avenue. While the Avenue version is one of the best on that album, it became that much better live. To quote a famous someone, they “played fucking loud.” The lyrics are nonsense (“Jinga jangler, tinga lingle, picture on a bricky wall/ Hot and scamper, foamy lather, huggle me close”) but you forget you’re saying words like “chooka” when Wilco kicks it out. But it was nothing compared to…

#1. “Spiders (Kidsmoke)”

Never in my the furthest reaches of my mind could I think about someone writing a song about spider going through tax forms. But that’s exactly what Tweedy does and, wouldn’t you know it, these archanids accountants were the highlight of the night. The song is long (the A Ghost is Born cut is slightly under 11 minutes while the live version must have run nearly 15) and I had this drunk girl push her away in front of me, but the only song I think it could rival hearing live was Television’s “Marquee Moon” from the week before. Even thinking about it now, they got more sound of their instruments than a band like Metallica could any day of the week.

Recap: It was a short run for Richard Thompson being my all-time favorite concert.

Full Setlist:
Sunken Treasure
You Are My Face
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
Handshake Drugs
Pot Kettle Black
Side With The Seeds
A Shot in the Arm>
Wishful Thinking
Impossible Germany
Sky Blue Sky
Why Would You Wanna Live
War on War
Jesus, etc.
Theologians
*happy birthday to Matrix (the guitar tech)*
Walken
I'm The Man Who Loves You
Hummingbird
On and On and On
-----------------------------
Either Way
Ashes of American Flags
Reservations>
Spiders (Kidsmoke)
-----------------------------
Hate It Here
The Late Greats
Hoodoo Voodoo
Outta Mind (Outtasite)

Next Up: Levon Helm Band today! Bob Dylan tomorrow!

Five Best...Songs from Flowers

#5. "My Girl" (for pure camp value alone)

#4. "Out of Time"

#3. "Let's Spend the Night Together"

#2. "Mother's Little Helper"

#1. "Ruby Tuesday"

Perfect Pop Pantheon, Vol. III

"Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC is meaningless, stupid, overproduced, has terrible lyrics, way too self-referential to be sung by a boy band, and actually has Joey Fatone singing some of it. But I love it.

This past season of Scrubs began with Dr. Turk trying to bring "Bye Bye Bye" back because it had slipped out of the public consciousness since being released in early 2000. His colleague, Dr. Reed, is skeptical but when it's played as his ring tone, the whole hospital gets up and starts dancing. Right after their boss, Dr. Kelso, tells them that they work at a hospital, not a "discotech," he is soon caught under the song's spell when the phone goes off again.

So, can someone actually bring it back?

"Bye Bye Bye" was written by the team of Kristian Lundin, Jake Schulze and Andreas Carlsson and was originally supposed to go to 5ive, a shitty boy band even by boy band standards. When they passed, the song went to *NSYNC and appeared on their No Strings Attached album. It would soon become the best song of any BSB or *NSYNC or Britney or Christina. Granted, that's like saying you'd rather die through lethal injection instead of drowning because it'd hurt less, but it's still a compliment.

The song is mostly sung by Justin Timberlake, the one with the talent, and JC Chasez, the one who's first solo song was about lesbians, while the rest are pretty much on background harmonies. The lyrics, although quite shallow, talk about *NSYNC's breakup with their manager, Lou Pearlman, King of the Creeps. Sample:

“Just hit me with the truth,
Now, girl you're more than welcome to.
So, give me one good reason,
Baby, come on
I live for you and me,
And now I really come to see,
That life would be much better once you're gone.”

As I typed that, I was listening to “Maybellene” by Chuck Berry, so I think I died a little. But although they’re lines someone as horrific as Phil Collins could write on a bad day, it really doesn’t matter because the song is catchy as all hell. And isn’t that an indicator of a great pop song?

Here’s what I’m calling for: A few years ago, Richard Thompson took a stab at “Oops…I Did It Again,” the title track of Britney Spears’ second album. Basically, the Britney version is terrible but when Thompson sings it with nothing more than his acoustic guitar, the song sounds fantastic. So, Mr. Thompson, I plead that give “Bye Bye Bye” a try and see the gem buried underneath the thick beats and bad lyrics.

Perfect Pop Pantheon:
"I Love LA" by Randy Newman
"Train in Vain" by The Clash
"Bye Bye Bye" *NSYNC

Five Best...Songs from With the Beatles

#5. "Please Mr. Postman"

#4. "It Won't Be Long"

#3. "Little Child"

#2. "You Really Got a Hold On Me"

#1. "All My Loving"

Bob and Nick

This quote comes from Nick Cave:

"I was standing in the mud backstage, and I looked up and there was this old guy making a beeline across the muddy field, and I thought 'Ok, here we go.' And when he reached me he said, 'I just wanted to say, I really like what you do.' And it dawned on me that it was Bob Dylan. And then we stood there in the mud saying nothing, and I thought, 'Ok, one of us should really go now."

I'm not sure what's funnier: Nick Cave and Bob Dylan being in the same room or that they have nothing to say to one another.

Five Best...Bob Dylan Songs that Nick Cave Would Sound Good Covering

#5. "Cold Irons Bound"

#4. "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"

#3. "If You See Her, Say Hello"

#2. "Every Grain of Sand"

#1. "Desolation Row"

Five Best...Ramones Albums

#5. Mondo Bizarro (only for "Censorshit")

#4. Leave Home

#3. Road to Ruin

#2. Rocket to Russia

#1. Ramones