Nuggets
I knew it was going to happen. I stopped my regular routine of mp3 of the week on mondays, cliches on wednesdays, and nuggets on fridays, and I basically stopped doing those posts entirely. I am a creature of habit.
The mp3 of the week posts have morphed into everyday music posts with mp3s in them. That's fine.
But the Nuggets and Cliches have disappeared from the blog and I miss them.
So I'm back with a Nugget. I was exercising this morning and wanted something with energy. But I also wanted something I hadn't heard in a while. I was scrolling through my iPod and came across this gem from 1988 from The Pixies.
Surfer Rosa has all the energy you'd ever want in a record. But it also was incredibly influential. People say Kurt Cobain got the inspiration for Smells Like Teen Spirit from this record. It really doesn't matter if that's true or not, because Surfer Rosa is a hell of a record.
It starts with Bone Machine, peaks with Gigantic and Where Is My Mind?, and ends with the awesome guitar riffs of Brick Is Red. But the thing about this record that stands out most to me is the drums. Wow. I am going to play this record for Josh tonight. He's got to hear the drums on it.
If you've got Surfer Rosa buried away gathering dust, do yourself a favor and pull it out and put it on and turn it up. It's a Nugget for sure.
Fred, I am completely in agreement with you about the Pixies.
Posted by: stormville | January 03, 2007 at 12:16 PM
Damn right! Great group.
Posted by: Eric Jackson | January 03, 2007 at 01:02 PM
Hey Fred! Good call. You know, I just had a Pixies drumming epiphany the other day, too. I don't remember ever thinking the drumming was very special when I listened to their albums upon release. In fact, I remember seeing them live and thinking their drummer was kind of a, excuse the phrase, douchebag -- he was playing behind some plastic screen and wearing special gloves and biking shorts. And this is coming from a drummer! I was so fixated on the other amazing aspects of the band, I'd overlooked the drums for nearly a decade.
A good drummer friend of mine basically told me I was on crack and I re-listened and, sure enough, he was right. The drums were pretty sweet.
But the other day, I watched the following youtube video:
http://halfass.com/blah/2006/10/14/vamos/
And I was absolutely floored. Holy crap!
Posted by: scotty the body | January 03, 2007 at 05:01 PM
And then there's the really amazing OLD SKOOL version:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=4HhugmzqXWU
Posted by: scotty the body | January 03, 2007 at 05:03 PM
This is one of my top 5 all-time favorite rock albums without a doubt. I just got done watching the documentary on their reunion tour, loudQUIETloud. It's quite an interesting view into the personalities behind the band and where their lives have lead.
Posted by: Timothy Appnel | January 06, 2007 at 02:46 PM
An absolute Classic. A pivotal record in the evolution of Rock.
Posted by: jackson | January 06, 2007 at 06:16 PM
Been listening to another fave of yours today in Tapes'n'Tapes (yes, I'm a bit off the pace ;-) They certainly have listened to Surfer Rosa and picked up the quietLOUDquietLOUD- here-comes-some-ba ba ba-backing-vocals thing. It still works, 20 years on.
Posted by: tobias | January 07, 2007 at 10:05 PM