We're Not Who You Think We Are
Album: Amazing Disgrace
Year: 1996
I obviously didn’t plan on writing about this song today.
I was going to do it whenever I got to The Posies — let’s say 2019 — but given that Grant Hart has died, and I’m kinda reeling from the news, I figured that I could let Ken Stringfellow do some of the heavy lifting, as this song from 1996’s great Amazing Disgrace now plays as a prescient obituary.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #988: The Posies – “Grant Hart”
Album: Candy Apple Grey
Year: 1986
(Hart)
After the double-bummer of “Too Far Down” and “Hardly Getting Over It“, what Candy Apple Grey needed more than anything else was some uplift.
Of course the Hüskers knew this too, and in an absolutely dynamite bit of song sequencing, the dying embers of Mould’s dirge were transformed by a vicious Grant Hart drum roll into the opening sparks of “Dead Set on Destruction,” my favorite song from Candy Apple Grey.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #656: Hüsker Dü – “Dead Set on Destruction”
Album: The Argument
Year: 2013
Despite immediately following the break-up of his band with the 2541 EP and Intolerance, Grant Hart has only recorded sporadically in the intervening years.
There were the Nova Mob albums in the mid-1990s, which showed that for all of his melodic gifts, his rock tunes could use a great drummer & guitarist to make them less generic, and he then followed those with a pair of solo albums, 1999’s Good News For Modern Man and 2009’s Hot Wax.
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #537: Grant Hart – “Is The Sky The Limit?”
Album: Intolerance
Year: 1989
Both Grant Hart and Bob Mould released solo albums in 1989, and both albums were surprising in that they completely abandoned the ferociously melodic punk rock that that Hüsker Dü had pioneered.
So while Mould’s Workbook featured precise, acoustic-oriented songs, Hart’s Intolerance was full of big, ramshackle arrangements, piling on the keyboards and whatever else was lying around the studio that day.
Both albums had their charms and their confessions, but while Workbook was an anomaly for Mould, who soon returned to the roaring guitars, Intolerance set the template for much of the rest of Hart’s solo career.
And the best song on either record was Hart’s unnervingly frank tale of heroin addiction, “The Main.”
[Read more…] about Certain Songs #536: Grant Hart – “The Main”
Album: 2541 EP
Year: 1988
The breakup of Hüsker Dü in early 1988 caught me by surprise and broke my heart. After all, they’d released more great music in the previous few years than any other band, and were only getting better.
Out of all of the bands I loved, surely they were going to last forever. Or at least long enough for me to finally get to see them in concert. Which hadn’t happened yet, for two reasons: 1) they never made it to Fresno, and 2) they weren’t quite popular enough with my peer group to gather folks for a road trip like we did for The Smiths or R.E.M. or U2.
This week, Tim, & Jim and a very yelly Kirk tackle the following subjects:
First, in a brand-new segment entitled “Explain it to Kirk,” Tim & Jim explain the Twilight phenomenon to Kirk. (3:35 – 8:50)
Then, it’s reported death of the Compact Disc, which — according to some reports — is going to be abandoned by the major labels as soon as the end of this year. (08:53 – 18:00)
Here’s the chart we’re talking about in the podcast:
Also, iTunes Match has been launched, and we debate whether or not it’s worth shelling out $25.00 a year for. The answer may surprise you, though probably not if you’ve ever listened to our podcast. (18:13 – 26:10)
Once again, Medialoper Bebop Commissioner Gordon Loper harasses us with a phone message. And to spite him, you should probably follow us on Facebook. (26:11 – 28:07)
Finally, it’s a very deep look at a very deep album, Hüsker Dü’s landmark Zen Arcade, as it is inducted into the Medialoper Bebop Great Albums Hall of Fame. (27:22 – 47:58)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:47 — 75.3MB)
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This month, on Musical Moments to Die For: secrets, influences, and secret influences, all book-ended by the two best bands to ever come from Athens, GA.
We’ve also got the front-runners for greatest guitar and organ solos ever; Neil Young’s most despairing moment; and not one, not two, but three variations of the beat solidified by the late, great Ellas McDaniel.
As always, I’m not necessarily talking about hooks here, more like traps. The parts of these songs that bring me back to them over and over again.
This is the sixth in a series: The first one had 25, the second one had 24, the third one had 23, the fourth one had 22, the fifth one had 21.
And yeah, you probably see the pattern and think you know the endgame, but I can promise you that there’s a twist!