The Days Of Vine And Roses

 

Back then in 1982 popular music was ruled by electronic sounds and across the Atlantic ocean many bands returned to the guitar sound of the 60's/70's. Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Rain Parade and REM interpreted their musical history in a very new and great way. Another band that played in this league were The Dream Syndicate, formed in the early 80's in Los Angeles and set with their first albums trademarks in American alternative music. Steve Wynn was the mastermind of the band which combined the energy of punk with music inspired by CCR, Crazy Horse and yes, Bob Dylan because Tell Me When It's Over has a lot of fragments of Stuck Inside Of Mobile... Their first album is still one of those that I always come back to and at every time it is a great pleasure for me to listen to their guitar sound and Wynn's voice that is sometimes very close to Lou Reed.

The Dream Syndicate - Tell Me When It's Over

The Dream Syndicate - Definetely Clean

The Dream Syndicate - Halloween

Monday's Long Song

 

During the weekend I compiled an ICA for JC's long running series. And I have to say that it wasn't easy to select only ten songs by Neil Young from his more than 40 years lasting career. One of those that didn't reached the final list was Cowgirl In The Sand from Neil Youngs second album and is an example what kind of music we could expect from him and Crazy Horse. The album is filled with classics of overflowing guitar passages over a folk floor and a masterpiece of a rock song.

Neil Young - Cowgirl In The Sand

Cortez The Killer

Another day in the office ahead and I'm sick of all the rumors from my co-workers of major changes to the pending. I can no longer hear the complaints and would not let me ruin the day. Life's full of changes and most of them we don't have any influence. Today's track is from Neil Young's second LP with Crazy Horse from 1975 Zuma. Most of you will know but I listened to it a few times in the recent days and have to admit that it is a masterpiece.

Neil Young - Cortez The Killer