Michigan people? Is it true? Big Bear is gone?! Discontinued? I was just planning out my 40th birthday party where I was going to import some exotic 40's for the festivities and found out you couldn't buy it anymore! Bummer! My day is ruined!
Well, maybe I 'll go check ye olde mailbox...A big stack of bills and disconnection notices oughta cheer me up...
WHAT?! YES!!! A package of CD's from my old friend, Joe! Score! I haven't got a chance to listen to all of them yet, but I have made it thru most...Here's what was in there...
Ryan Adams III/IV. I looooooved this...I'm a huge fan of the more rocking side of Ryan Adams and a lot of my favorite songs on the legendary Joe Mix Cd's are on here..."Dear Candy" has rocketed to the top of my favorite Ryan Adams tracks since I heard it...This stuff makes me feel so warm and nostalgic even though I've never heard most of it before...Like listening to the radio as a kid and hearing great rock song after great rock song...I had the same visceral reaction towards his 2014 self-titled album, but III/IV feels a lot more contemporary, as opposed to the throwback 80's Tom Petty vibe of self-titled...
Nada Surf: You Know Who You Are. I am and always will be a frothing Guided by Voices addict. I was talking to Joe a few years ago and he hepped me to the fact that none other than Doug Gillard was playing guitar for Nada Surf...I went out and bought "The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy" and loved the shit out of it...It probably became one of my most listened to albums that year, as the guitars brought back sweet memories of GBV's "Isolation Drills" and "Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department"..."You Know Who You Are" sounds like another good one...On first listen, it seems a little softer and the instrumentation a little more diverse than the standard guitar/drums/bass indie rock lineup, but manoman are there some thumping good pop songs on the second half of this thing...Looking forward to wearing this one out too,..
Red Fang. YES! Just what I needed to prop up the sagging final hour at work...Some stripped down, fuzzy, heavy shit...I'm very happy with the current heavy metal landscape...I talk about this a lot, but for the longest time it seemed metal had become irredeemable...With all the rappers, wrestlers, and cookie monsters that characterized the '95-'09 era it had become nothing but a big joke...I viewed it in the same way I view country and rap..A good artist here and there, but for the most part, a creatively bankrupt genre that really needed to be put to sleep...But then around 2009, there were great new metal records coming out left and right...I'm hoping punk goes through a similar resurgence soon...
Jesse Malin: New York Before the War. I picked up Jesse Malin's "Fine Art of Self Destruction" yeaaars ago and enjoyed his classic singer/songwriting style...A good mix of grit and slick and he continues that style here...There's maybe a bit more straightforward pop and some punk in it, but it's still characterized by a twinkly, latenight vibe...I always like his stuff...
And there are three more CD's in the package! Thank you so much, Joe! I'll continue this listening session later...
Awesome reviews! Glad you liked everything and can't wait to hear what you think of the rest! I haven't got a whole lot of new stuff that you probably don't already have since the last mix I made you so that's why I figured i'd make you some full cds of stuff I thought you'd like! I can't believe they don't make Big Bear anymore. I haven't looked for or seen it in years. Love the fish mailbox haha!!
ReplyDeleteI was able to find Big Bear the last time I was in Michigan, which was 2012, but apparently it was discontinued shortly after that. Luckily, I saved my label from last time, so I can frame it and sit it on my desk at work.
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