Addendum

Add the Hold Steady's Craig Finn to the bad/good vocals list.

More idiocy from Bode Miller:

"If things went well," Miller told The Associated Press, "I could be sitting on four medals, maybe all of them gold."

Yeah, and if things went well, I'd have hair, the Cubs would be champions, etc. This guy is getting more annoying by the day, if that's even possible.

It's the Singer, Not the Song

Or is it?

Was listening to some Afghan Whigs this morning, and it struck me just how bad/ordinary Greg Dulli's voice is on certain songs. It got me thinking (which is rare for the train ride into work): What are some other singers, either solo artists or from good/great bands, whose voices aren't stereotypically "great" but are cool in other ways? The short list off the top of my head -- checking the iPod is just too easy -- and in no particular order:

• Bob Dylan
• Lou Reed
• Greg Dulli
• Stephin Merritt
• Mac McCaughan
• Gerard Langley (Blue Aeroplanes)
• Kevin Salem
• Billy Bragg
• Johnny Rotten

Thoughts, dear reader(s)?

Switching gears, props to Bode Miller for proving to be a huge fraud. Way to go!

American Superdream Wow, A Positive Review

My friend Jerry over at Fort Recovery introduced me to GBV "back in the day" but ended up kind of souring on the band. Personally, I think the tension-filled ending to the GBVerde lineup (featuring his friend John Petkovic) -- scroll down to 1997 in that article -- had something to do with it, but only he can say for sure. (Note about that article: The final GBVerde show was in Columbus, not Newport, Ky. I know because I was there, as was Jerry.) Anyway, it warmed my heart a little to see that Jer had written a fairly glowing review of Bob Pollard's recent show in Columbus.

I especially enjoyed the note about seeing Tommy Keene at the old 9:30 Club in D.C. I don't think we ever went to a TK show together, but we must've been at the same show(s) before we knew each other. We went to a number of other gigs there, that's for sure, and that club was my favorite place in D.C. without question. Ah, youth.

Shuffling About

I've mentioned before (and it's not worth linking to) that my iPod shuffle kind of annoys me in that it doesn't usually give me enough variety, artist-wise. Now, it doesn't help that my iPod only has about 2,600 songs on it -- mostly because I dislike the uploading-CDs process -- and the number of bands is somewhat slanted toward major faves like GBV, Tommy Keene, Superdrag, etc., but I still wish it wouldn't spit out the same band back to back (and every once in a while, three times in a row).

However, the shufflemaster occasionally does plenty to amuse me. To wit:

My friend JT made me a mix recently, and in the middle of it is a snippet of Dubya's infamous "Fool me once...you can't get fooled again" comment. So that plays yesterday and what follows it? "You Can't Kill Stupid" by the late, great Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments. Insert appropriate comment here.

Then this morning, I'm listening to a live version of "Boxing About" from Bob Pollard's upcoming Normal Happiness. This was from the D.C. show I attended in January, with D.C.-area legend Tommy Keene playing in Bob's band. What follows? A live version of "Teenage FBI" from GBV's Electrifying Conclusion tour (from the Fillmore in San Fran) featuring -- you got it -- guest vocals from one Tommy Keene. Freaky, eh?

Worst. Band. Ever.

A while back, I posted a video of what had to be the worst band in the world. (Unfortunately, I can't link to it because it's dead. The link, not the band, though I suppose the band is, too.) Anyway, a new contender has emerged. Enjoy.

All That Pazz

The Village Voice 2005 Pazz and Jop Poll is up. As usual, my ballot contained at least one album that only I deemed worthy (this year, it was two). I think that says more about how few records I hear in comparison to the other critics than my lack of taste (or theirs), but I still have a difficult time thinking that out of 795 writers, only I thought enough of the John Davis and Longwave records to vote for them. Surely I missed out on a lot of records, but the fact that no one else tabbed these tells me they missed out.

To compare my previous ballots dating back to 2000:

• 2004
• 2003
• 2002
• 2001
• 2000

I've gotten enough jokey-but-truthful comments from my friends (I think I need new ones) about how awful I look in the Pollard/Keene photo that I have to post this other one to prove that my admittedly deteriorating appearance isn't helped by flash photography at 1 a.m. after drinking about 12 beers. And that, yes, I still have some hair. Of course, holding a baby this damn cute doesn't really help my cause, does it?