At 8:16 AM -0700 6/30/02, skip Heller wrote:
In the "your heroes fail" category, I have to pick <snip> WALTER BECKER -- 11 TRACKS OF WACK The brains behind the outfit should know enough to hire a f*&king singer!
Y'know, as much of a Dan fan as I am, I have never gotten around to getting this. But I will agree with your assessment from the way things ground to a halt when he took the mike during the live shows of the last few years. I'm happy for Walter that he likes to sing now. I really am. But I'd prefer it if he didn't share that joy with me. Failing heroes: Tom Verlaine: _The Wonder_. Some good songs (an evaluation I came to after hearing them in other contexts), but the whole thing is just flat to me. Maybe it's the sterile drumming and the general lack of engagement in the playing or something, but it never latched. Tom Waits: _Mule Variations_. Again, some good songs, but the overall feeling to me is one of treading water. Much of the 90s Sonic Youth output. Sorry. Ambitious Lovers: _Greed_. Never let the synth player produce the record. There are others, of course, but I think I'm repressing them at the moment. -- Maurice Rickard http://mauricerickard.com/