Vikings & Beekeepers

“Accidentally Like A Martyr” by Warren Zevon (from Excitable Boy)

“Accidents Will Happen” by Elvis Costello (from Armed Forces)

“Achin’ To Be” by The Replacements aka Paul Westerberg (from All For Nothing / Nothing For All)

“Acorns & Orioles” by Guided By Voices aka Robert Pollard (from Under The Bushes Under The Stars)

“Acoustic Guitar” by The Magnetic Fields aka Stephin Merritt (from 69 Love Songs, Vol. 3)

“Across The Antheap” by XTC aka Andy Partridge (from Oranges & Lemons)

Six different singer–songwriters, six totally different types of music. These guys really have nothing in common except that their songs magically appeared in alphabetical order on my iPod. My familiarity with each individual varies, but my enjoyment of them is consistent.

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Artist: Neil Young

Background: With maybe the exception of David Bowie, no artist had a better 1970’s winning streak than Neil Young. From 1970 to 1979, Young released nearly a dozen albums that ranged in quality from very good (American Stars n’ Bars) to downright classic (Tonight’s The Night). Every year yielded another stunningly strong album of Young’s unparalleled songwriting.
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“Acadamy Award” by The Dismemberment Plan (from The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified)

The Plan’s most accomplished early spaz rock song and my third favorite song on …Is Terrified. I used to belt out this song in my car everyday on my way to my job at the lumber mill. That motor-mouthed breakdown (“And the Acadamy Award for ridiculous…overacting goes to YOU! So get on up their and GIVEUSASPEECH!”). Travis Morrison at as batty best. For most people, the Plan’s first two albums (! and this one) are what you pick up once you’ve fully embraced Emergency & I and Change. If this was your first exposure to the Plan I wouldn’t be surprised if you dismissed them outright, but if you had grown more accustomed to their last two albums and then heard this, it might make a little bit more sense and, as in my case, actually become preferred listening.

Oh, and speaking of Acadamy Awards, No Country For Old Men absolutely needs to win. It just ruled so hard.

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Part 3: Brian’s Back! (1976-1979) 

After a handful critical and commercial flops, paired with the monstrous success of 1974’s greatest hits collection Endless Summer, the now totally Brianless Beach Boys decided to move away from recording any new material and fully embrace their “oldies act” status. The band hit the road and kind of, sort of, rebuilt their fan base by comprising (or compromising) their performances of mostly pre-1968 material.

By this point, the Boys had been a ship without a captain. Since the SMiLE fallout, Brian had been 95% out of commission, only lending the odd SMiLE track, or a chord arrangement here or there. When he would contribute a new track it would be a fairly disturbing illustration of his growing mental illness. While the rest of the group were out busting their asses trying to keep the band going, Brian was back in his LA mansion, bingeing on fatty foods and heavy drugs.

Cue Eugene Landy. The controversial psychiatrist, who would prescribe a whole buttload  of illegal psychotropic drugs to Brian, eventually giving him a condition called tardive dyskinesia, began pushing his patient to step out of his self-imposed shell and back into the public eye. Landy persuaded Wilson to join with the Beach Boys and the “Brian’s Back” tour and ad campaign was born.

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