Friday, January 27, 2006

She had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes

In a rare move, I am taking a survey. I got the survey from my friend's blog (www.fosterity.com). You should check his answers out on his blog--and you should probably read it anyway, since it's hilarious.

My answers are here, in my blog:

1. Of all the bands/artists in your cd/record collection, which one do you own the most albums by?
Grateful Dead, but it’s easy to have tons of their music. Some bands, like Dinosaur Jr, only have so many that you can have. I have many Dinosaur Jr, many Descendents, many Ani Difranco, many Erin McKeown (check her out!), many more of many others. But I also get so attached to specific albums that sometimes I am resistant to buy more by that band, lest it get ruined. Silly, I know, but sometimes I'm scared to love.

2. What was the last song you listened to?

“Sweet Child O’Mine” GNR, dude.

3. What's in your record/CD player right now?

In my car: Descendents Cool to Be You CD (their latest) and Descendents All (old school) in the tape player. These albums may as well be made by two different bands. One is cheesy and indulgent and the other is kick ass and gratifying. Anyone who knows anything about Descendents knows that All is obviously the good one—and compared to their other old stuff, it’s not even that good.
On my iTunes right now: “I Want You” Dylan
At my house: My record player has begun to make an awful noise (via the speakers, so it’s and awful noise in stereo)

4. What song pretty much sums you up?

Either “Scarlet Begonias” by Grateful Dead or “Talk to Me Summer” by Screeching Weasel.

5. What's your favorite local band?

These days, Rilo Kiley. Though I like The Muffs a lot, too, and they can legitimately be said to be from around here, too.

6. What was the last show you attended?

I don’t know if you can call seeing your cousin’s husband play keyboard in a country band fronted by the former Miss Washington State in a bar called “Cowgirl’s Inc” in Seattle (think: poor man’s version of Coyote Ugly) a “show.”

7. What was the greatest show you've ever been to?

The last Dead show I went to: Seattle, Summer1994—I finally got to hear “Scarlet Begonias” live. Sigh. Also:
A previous Dead show: Charlotte, Summer 1992—Mere days before my high school graduation. I went with fellow Pizza Hut workers in a rented Cadillac with my friend Greg driving (I hearted him big time) and a guy named Dallas. We were in the parking lot earlier in the day and talking about what we hoped to hear that night, Greg told me that they probably wouldn’t play “Terrapin Station” (for reasons I can no longer recall, but he knew everything (sigh) so I didn’t question) Anyway, this was the one on a long list of songs I’d mentioned I really wanted to hear—except this was the one I wanted to hear most of all. That night, they played a lot of the songs I’d mentioned—it was a great set and a great show. I was all alone, doing that little hippie girl dance and a new song began. Yep: Second note in, Greg found me—from out of nowhere and hugged me and said in my ear “You got your Terrapin!” Glub glub (that’s my heart, folks). That night we slept next to each other in sleeping bags outside of a hotel parking lot. You know what: I was also going to mention the 1994(?) Phish/DMB show in Lexington, VA where ALL of my college friends and I went (even the punk rock ones) and camped out and something about that night made it all perfect and great; how shocked I was to love that Rush concert in 11th grade (making it one of my faves); the good times that was the Sugarcubes/PIL/New Order show (all in one show!!!) in 9th grade; just how great Violent Femmes are live after all; the first time I was in a mosh pit (Olympia, college, Summer 1994 once again); seeing Rancid before they were big time for the minute they were big time and thinking “Who were they?” in the most revelatory was possible, but I won’t, because THIS show—Charlotte, 1992, with Greg K and Terrapin Station—was my favorite.


8. What's the worst band you've ever seen in concert?

REM, The Green Tour, circa 1990. B-O-R-I-N-G. And if a suburban, always-looking-for-something/anything-fun-to-do 10th grader is saying that—which I was at time—that’s bad.

9. What band do you love musically but hate the members of?

Hmmm, how about this instead: Based on interviews, I can guess that I love Tom Petty. But that still won’t make me buy his music.

10. What is the most musically involved you have ever been?

I tried to play bass for a spell. I wrote a little song and used F and A and G a lot and called it “Effigy.” Because it’s true that saying F and A and G together slowly it spells a word a don’t really like but if you say the letters together really fast, it sounds like a word—a word that kinda described the song better anyway. (This is me being snobby about “my music.” Dig it.) Actually, it turns out that I am not that musical, but I am politically correct.

11. What shows are you looking forward to?

It would be Jenny Lewis (of Rilo Kiley) at the Vista Theatre next week—if it weren’t sold out. Boo. I’m not as good about going to shows as I used to be. Boo again.

12. What is your favorite band shirt?

I don’t really like my Descendents baby doll tee anymore because it shrunk to the point that my whole stomach shows—up to my ribs. And that’s just weird.

13. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?

Ice Cube. Dolly Parton. Kathleen Hanna. Guided by Voices. David Crosby. Tom Petty, so long as we didn’t have to talk about his music. That would be awkward.

I wouldn’t have minded trying to make Elliott Smith laugh.

14. What musician would you like to be in love with for a day?
Eminem. Just kidding. I had a dream once in which he loved me. He was so creative and talented in the dream (and real life), that I loved him, too. I had a crush on him for a few months because of that dream. Prior to the dream (and 8 Mile), I hated him so much I had to jokingly refer to him as “My Personal Lord and Savior.” I thought it was dangerous for someone with so much charisma and influence to spout such hateful things. So…I think we’d fight in real life. Plus, I’m not as good at putting on lip liner as his wife is.

I probably would be okay with any really smart, handsome, sensitive-but-not-in-an-“ask me about my menses”-way musician being in love with me. So long as they weren’t gone half the year on tour making it with other girls and falling off stage because of all the damn booze. I mean, how am I supposed to raise a family with this kind of chaos?!

Oh. Wait, The question asks about one day…hmm, I’d probably be okay with Dwight Yoakam serenading me. Or Ryan Adams if I promised not to make Bryan Adams jokes and he weren’t being a baby.


15. Pat Benatar or Cyndi Lauper?

I wouldn’t have taken this survey if I’d know the questions would be so cruel. This is me conscientiously objecting to respond.

16. Sabbath or solo Ozzy?

I’ll take Ozzy any way you’ll give him to me.

17. Commodores or solo Lionel Ritchie?

I wouldn’t have taken this survey if I’d known the questions would be so insulting: solo Lionel. I like him pure, unadulterated, and in a teacher role, calling his teenage blind students to say “Hello, I love you.”

18. Punk rock, hip hop or heavy metal?

Punk rock, often. But why isn’t AltCountry a choice?

19. Doesn't Primus suck?

Beyond “Jerry was a Race Car Driver,” which I kinda dig, I would have to agree. I think. I never liked enough of what I heard to hear more.

20. Name five flawless albums:

Now THIS is a survey question!

Joni Mitchell-Blue
Concrete Blond-Bloodletting
Built to Spill-There’s Nothing Wrong with Love
Guided by Voices-Bee Thousand
Ice Cube-Lethal Injection
Erin McKeown-Distillation
GNR-Appetite for Destruction
Bikini Kill-Pussy Whipped
Operation Ivy-self-titled
Misfits-the one we call “Plan 9” but I think is actually self-titled
Screeching Weasel-Anthem for a New Tomorrow (which I just found out is now out of print. This is criminal. Another crime is that “Sunshine” is on a different record. Hmm, maybe that’s this album’s one flaw. Let’s call this one an Honorable Mention.)

I have the horrible feeling that I am forgetting some crucial records here. To those, I apologize.

21. Did you know that filling out this survey makes you a music geek?

Oh, this only ONE of the ways that I am a geek.

22. What was the greatest decade for music?

This one—since we have all the music up until now. Had I been around at the right time, though, I would have loved to have seen The Doors live. And David Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust phase. But see #26 for more thoughts on this one.

23. How many music-related videos/dvds do you own?

2. But technically, 3. One is a video of videos (follow me?) for an awesome Dwight Yoakam record. My brother gave it to me. (Hi Andrew!) The other one is a beta tape (that’s right) from 1989. I was a black-wearing, earth-saving, Amnesty International letter-writing (well, letter-signing—I was lazy then, too) high school freshman. So, the beta tape WAS an episode of 120 Minutes that I taped from MTV as soon as we had a Betamax AND cable. It had a Smiths video as well as videos from PIL and several other great alternative bands that I would have an easier time remembering if I hadn’t taped a Grateful Dead show over it when I was in 12th grade and a giant hippie. You’d think I could have found different beta tape to record the Dead show. I mean, how hard could it have been? But, no, the Dead were suddenly way more important than Morissey and so I threw the baby out with the bathwater. Damn my phases.

24. Do you like Journey?

Yes I do like Journey.

25. Don't try to pretend you don't!

I didn’t! I came clean!

26. What is your favorite movie soundtrack?

Pretty in Pink: Psychedelic Furs, Suzanne Vega, OMD, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Smiths, and more. I am so glad that I was alive and listening to good music when it originally came out.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the Grease 2 soundtrack. It's soooo cooool. Like Pink Ladies Cool.

27. What was your last musical phase?

It’s safe to say that I have lately been re-romanced by Naught by Nature. On a scale of one to DAMN! They get a DAMN! Twice. (I wish I could make the song “Sunshine” just appear on your iTunes. If I see you, I’ll give you 99 cents to make it happen. This reminds me of Ice-T’s “99 Problems.” You should probably give that a listen, too. I’ll give you a $1.98 instead.) I am sad for people who don’t get to listen to KDAY (Hip Hop Today and Back in the Day--93.5 on the LA Dial).

28. What's the crappiest CD/record/etc?

I love women in rock. I love that women rock. I mean, women rock! But I have some tape compilation called Women in Rock and I’m here to tell you that it is really a compilation of the unrockingest or lamest rockingest women ever. I got it for free from some bizarre rock/artist showcase in Baltimore—an event that I still don’t know how I got roped into going. Worse, I dragged my bff—visiting from far away—there with us. The whole thing makes me uneasy to think about, really. I might need to go home and crush that tape Office Space style. Or, more likely, place it gingerly in the trash.

I think it would be awesome if each of you answered one of these questions, too. Any question you want. I changed the settings so ANYONE can leave a comment in the comments section--no special sign-in or anything. And you know who you are? ANYONE. (And by anyone, I mean Someone Special.)

Kisses!

4 Comments:

Blogger Madelyn said...

Where is Pyromania?! Get back to your roots, girl.

And I must lob a vote in there for AC/DC Back in Black as a perfect album, as well as the first Violent Femmes. Good Will Hunting soundtrack never gets old, either.

7:21 AM  
Blogger mfleckca said...

24. Do you like Journey?
Yes. Not only did they come at a time when I pretty much liked anything on the radio, capitolist automaton that we all are at that age, but also because of the undeniable dreaminess of frontman Steve Perry.

7:21 AM  
Blogger Claudia said...

1. Of all the bands/artists in your cd/record collection, which one do you own the most albums by?

Tom Waits, for better or worse.

2. What was the last song you listened to?

Madonna, Like it or Not

3. What's in your record/CD player right now?

Madonna at home and Miles Davis Milestones at work.

4. What song pretty much sums you up?

I can't answer this question. Em?

5. What's your favorite local band?

Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah. But this would imply that I have been following local music with any degree of attention, which would make me a poser.

6. What was the last show you attended?

The Pixies? (After they got back together, not back in 1993.) Feel like I saw something since then, but am not sure and thus I believe it did not make a big impression. This would have been last fall.

7. What was the greatest show you've ever been to?

Tom Waits was pretty good. PJ Harvey also. The Pixies. Bob Dylan. The greatest hasn't happened yet, I guess. Still waiting to see Prince.

8. What's the worst band you've ever seen in concert?

I went to that REM concert in Greensboro actually. And I loved it, being a the 10th grader looking for something fun to do. Makes me lame a I guess. Anyhow I was easily pleased.

The worst band in some group that opened for Laura Cantell at the Village Underground.

9. What band do you love musically but hate the members of?

I think that would have to be Oasis.

[What in god's name is wrong with Tom Petty's music?]

10. What is the most musically involved you have ever been?

Involved? I usually try to keep my options open, not commit to any one thing in particular. In college I took voice classes and spent my senior year trying to hit a particular note in a particular Schubert (Schumann?) lieder in preparation for a voice recital.

11. What shows are you looking forward to?

This would imply that I actually go to rock shows. And that would be a false impression to give and make me a poser. See answer #5.

12. What is your favorite band shirt?

I don't have any any more. I have bar shirts. The Green Room, Durham North Carolina, but no more band shirts. The REM Green Tour from 1990 disintegrated in 1995.

13. What musician would you like to hang out with for a day?

David Bowie. Emmylou Harris. Dunno.

14. What musician would you like to be in love with for a day?

Mick Jagger?

15. Pat Benatar or Cyndi Lauper?

Tough one, but Pat Benatar

16. Sabbath or solo Ozzy?

Black Sabbath

17. Commodores or solo Lionel Ritchie?

Lionel Ritchie, but only for purely nostalgiac eleven year old Claudia reasons.

18. Punk rock, hip hop or heavy metal?

Punk rock. Hip hop.

19. Doesn't Primus suck?

Does it really suck anymore than anything else on the radio in 1997?

20. Name five flawless albums:

Kind of Blue
Raindogs
Achtung Baby
The Low-End Theory
Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea


21. Did you know that filling out this survey makes you a music geek?

There are so many ways that I am faking it, even though I am doing the survey, I actually don't have enough varied knowledge to be a geek. So there

22. What was the greatest decade for music?

What kind of question is that?

23. How many music-related videos/dvds do you own?

None

24. Do you like Journey?
On the radio sometimes.

[How can someone like Journey's music and NOT like Tom Petty's music?]

25. Don't try to pretend you don't!
"I came clean!"
I want you come clean about Tom Petty.

26. What is your favorite movie soundtrack?

Amores Perros

27. What was your last musical phase?

I think the last real phase was Wilco. Which was kind of cut short by how arrogant they seem to be. Oh and salsa. I listen to lots of salsa now, to try and get into the groove.

28. What's the crappiest CD/record/etc?

Where does one begin?

7:30 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

em, I have to agree with our beloved big sis on the top five plawless albums, Back in Black definatley good as I Pyromania...(I mean HELLO 'POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME PHOTOGRAPH AREYOU INSANE) But as for your Ice Cube choice while "leathal injectoin is good in my humble opinion Cube's 'War' album is much much better I highly Fo' Shissy my neezzy
Peace out homey
P.S. good lookin out on the shout out

1:28 PM  

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