|
 |
 To Nordstrom and Back: My Mother Reviews 4 Albums by travis lodolce While I'm not one to get excited for the Half-Yearly Women and Kids Sale at Nordstrom, my mother certainly is. Propositioned with a free dinner, I accepted the date and driving privileges. Due to a recent transfer of funds to Amoeba Music, I have been inundated with a large amount of compact discs. I decided to bring four albums as featured accompaniment on the half-hour journey. Four albums my mother had not previously heard. Four albums I enjoy very much. Four albums my mother may not have understood.  Meanest Man Contest Merit (Yet To Be Released) Before we depart the driveway I decide our first feature will be the not yet publicly released, but much anticipated, Meanest Man Contest-EP Version. Thanks to my friends at Weapon-Shaped Records I was able to score an advance copy without too many public nudity humiliations. "Wow, I didn't know (vocalist) EricSolo sang like that," my mother exclaimed, proving she's down with dope MCs. I ask, for the first time, a question that would be repeated throughout the night: "Do you like it?" She always gives honest answers. "Yeah the beat sounds good. Who's playing all that music?" I explain that it's Quarterbar behind the boards and that he is probably playing music from a wealth of areas, which include samples. Positive response on the MMC, but I am anxious to move on, believing my next selection will be my mothers favorite.  Badly Drawn Boy The Hour of Bewilderbeast As co-pilot, it is the duty of my mother to control the stereo. I ask her to please find and load the Badly Drawn Boy disc. It's dark and the road is winding, so the task almost proves too difficult. But after a roulette wheel of albums manually loading with erred results, we finally strike oil with "The Hour of Bewilderbeast." Sure enough, I receive immediate positive feedback. The slow melody of "The Shining" hooks her. When the classical guitar strums and the calm crooning begins, I'm not sure if my mother is in love with the relaxing nature of the song or if she is more enthralled with the rare occurrence of understanding the words to a song I enjoy. Voice accompaniment to preferred Travis music is usually inaudible to ears of mothers. Track two, "Everybodys Stalking," receives an "I like this song, but not as much as the first song" approval. I ask, "Do you understand the words to this song?" "Not really." Excitement does build, however, with each passing jam. I skip ahead to "one of my favorite tracks" as we near Walnut Creek. I begin to fear I'm losing her. "Do you like it?" "Yeah but I like the first song most." Badly Drawn Boy rebounds with "Once Around the Block." "This reminds me of the Beatles" is a positive remark from any progressive 50-ish adult. The quick pace encompasses my toe-tapping mother, even if a large percentage of the lyrics are lost through the bass. Slower tunes of pristine voice quality are the clear winner and it's later admitted through embarrassed laughter that "Pissing in the Wind" is a new favorite.  The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots We arrive at Nordstrom and, much to my dismay, purchase only one pair of shoes. After some window shopping (I'm looking at getting some new windows) and some Windows XP shopping (ditto), I collect my free meal and return to the automobile. After a couple extra blocks with Badly Drawn Boy we replace the lad with hot lips, The Flaming Lips to be exact. Unsure how this new entry would be accepted, I am met with quiet results. "Do you like it?" I ask this question near the completion of "Fight Test." "Yeah, but I like Badly Drawn Boy more." Like a young lover separated from her new beau, my mother can't keep her mind off the last album. "I can't understand what they're saying. I can pick up words here and there, but that's it." In order to facilitate a relationship, I sing along with "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt.1." With minimal feedback I ask that our final entry take center stage. I am told, "I like this song though!" Well I suppose my battle plan is a success. Still, it is time to introduce my mother to another new friend.  Beck Sea Change Within the first minute, I jump the gun and ask a double question: "Do you like this, and can you understand Beck?" "It sounds nice, but I donšt know what he's saying." Stillness sets inside the vehicle. After a couple more tracks I shatter the silence with a rousing "You hangin' in there?" "Yeah, I'm just so tired." Lack of energy is never a positive sign when introducing a new subject. "I really liked the Badly Drawn Boy." I bet. "Do you want to listen to that again?" We do. Spirits perk and a definite favorite is solidified. Final thoughts Back at the ranch (as ranchers like to say), my mother peruses the four CDs. * "I like all of the albums. I didn't hear a lot of Meanest Man Contest, but I liked it a lot." Did you understand what they were saying, mother? "Oh... no." *"I liked Badly Drawn Boy a lot. I could pick up some words. I love the beat and the music. There wasn't one song I didn't like. I would even go to his concert...but only if I could sit." * "The Flaming Lips was pretty good. I thought it was going to be lousy. (Snarls lip) The Flaming Lips, I thought 'Oh!'.. Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robutts (sic)... (unsnarls lip) but it actually had some catchy tunes." * "I liked all the music. Even Beck, I liked his tunes. He sounds too much like Bob Dylan, too slow for me. When he first starts out the music sounds good, but then when he starts singing he ruins it." (laughs) * " I would buy Badly Drawn Boy. And Meanest Man Contest too. Out of 10 I would give Badly Drawn Boy a 9 and Meanest Man Contest an 11." Well thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed these motherly reviews. Remember, mother knows best. I also would like to thank this articles sponsor, The Council for Badly Drawn Boy and your friends at Weapon-Shaped. Goodnight. |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| lunchboxing.com 2003 | all content © | all rights reserved | suck it so hard | feel the rhythm of the night |
