Day 22: June 3, 2005

Donelly, Tanya, LOVESONGS FOR UNDERDOGS - I followed TD thru Belly and eventually to this album and then she lost me. For some reason, I was able to relate to her - we were born a few days apart and her favorite album is REVOLVER. I thought her songs with Belly were amazing, even though her voice can get a little too breathy and girly at times. With her first solo album, I kind of felt that she was taking her music in a very different direction than I was willing to go to remain a fan. And by the time this came out (1997), my musical attitudes had been undergoing a radical change and TD's new music didn't suit that. It's always difficult when you realize that you're just "not into" a particular artist anymore, especially when that artist saw you through some troubled times. Aside from a few songs, "Pretty Deep" and "Breathe Around You" for instance, I get kind of bored listening to this album. And TD's cooing and cawing, as occasional as they may be, is just plain annoying now. I haven't purchased TD's last two solo albums.

Doors, The, L.A. WOMAN - Up front, Jim Morrison was an asshole. The insipid cult that has sprung up around him, constantly claiming his poetic genius, makes me sick to my stomach. He was a BAD poet, and a drunk one at that. If it weren't for the Doors, Jim Morrison would have spent the 60's skulking through the streets of L.A. reciting his bad poetry at passersby for nickels. But, instead, he was blessed with good looks, a good band, and leather pants - and the fact that his legend is based mostly on his image and not his body of work is all the testament I need to his phony "artist" persona. That being said, LA WOMAN and the Doors albums that preceded it in the 60's are the anti-thesis to everything the 60's represented to most people. Along with the Velvet Underground, the Doors (when they are on), brought the dark side down on the flower power generation like a concrete wall. And for that alone, they should be congratulated. LA WOMAN is the blusiest (and jazziest) of the Doors albums - the dark matter prevails and even Morrison's alcohol ravaged voice works in the material they present.

Doves, The, LOST SOULS - Thank goodness for this band. We discovered Doves completely by accident and based on what we had read about them, expected something very different. At a time when all was Radiohead and those who wanted to be Radiohead, Doves were and remain a revelation. LOST SOULS is their debut album. It is cinematic and celebratory, with whooshes of guitar and psychedelia. "The Cedar Room" recalls the Beatles "Its All Too Much" and the rest of the album sways with rising and falling emotions. The follow-up THE LAST BROADCAST is even better.
unaired - THE LAST BROADCAST, LOST SIDES, SOME CITIES, WHERE WE'RE CALLING FROM (boot)