Day 16: May 21, 2005

Coldplay, PARACHUTES – Well, they’re all the rage now but when this album came out in the UK they were barely a blip on the US radar screen. The only reason anyone American bought this record was because Coldplay were being endlessly compared to Radiohead (wasn’t everybody at that time?) – which I don’t hear at all. We bought this as an expensive import about six months before it came out in the US. It’s a great record, even though we’ve kind of lost interest in Coldplay.
unaired – A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD, BSIDES AND LIVE (Boot)

Coltrane, John, LUSH LIFE – Coltrane with only bass and drums, no piano to ground the melodies or chords, ‘Trane has to cover both and comment on each. Amazing.
unaired – COLTRANE TIME, A LOVE SUPREME, BLUE TRAIN

Colvin, Shawn, FAT CITY – This is about as good as singer-songwriter music gets. Colvin is a fantastic lyricist with a smoky smooth voice. The seeds of A FEW SMALL REPAIRS were sown on this album, which moves Colvin away from her folky roots and into a glossier production style.
unaired – STEADY ON, A FEW SMALL REPAIRS

Cornell, Chris, EUPHORIA MORNING – I don’t know at what point Chris Cornell became a heavy metal hippie, but this album remains a huge disappointment. It’s only saving grace is Cornell’s backing band, Eleven. This album lays there like the guy who won’t leave the morning after the party. A big bore.

Costello, Elvis, MY AIM IS TRUE – Still my favorite EC album. I’m not so much into the fact that EC has become my generation’s Burt Bacharach. I’d rather remember him this way – as the poster boy for the moment punk grew a brain.
unaired – SPIKE, BRUTAL YOUTH, GREATEST HITS, ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY

Counting Crows, ACROSS A WIRE – Yawn. I personally dislike these guys. Even in a live setting, they offer no spark. I could never figure out why they needed six people to make this music. Harmless but dull.
unaired – AUGUST AND EVERYTHING AFTER, THIS DESERT LIFE

Cowboy Junkies, MILES FROM OUR HOME – AMG calls this a “solid album from a reliable band”. Pretty accurate – its good adult-contemporary for brunches and dinner parties.

Cranberries, NO NEED TO ARGUE – Some good songs on this one. This is one of those albums that nobody can remember buying, but its there.

Lots of music today, though nothing to really put an “oomph” in our Saturday. Elvis Costello was a welcome break from the adult-contemporary lull. Standing alone, the Colvin, Counting Crows, and Cowboy Junkies albums are ok, but all in the same day it’s a long slow ride. We still love the Coldplay cd because it takes us back to another time and place in our lives. I even remembered where and when I bought that cd – at Virgin on Lower Broadway in NYC on the way to meet my wife and some friends for dinner before a Grandaddy show at Irving Plaza.