So there's a really nice cover story about my all-time fave band just out in the July issue of MOJO. Complete with a smartly programmed accompanying CD as a bonus.
I don't see MOJO as often as I used to, alas, for the simple and infuriating reason that I haven't been able to find an actual magazine stand that features it in NYC for what seems like years now. Anybody else having a similar problem where they are?
In any case, from that aforementioned CD, here's the irrepressible Dinosaur Jr. with their balls-to-the-wall yet still very effective cover of the feathered ones classic "Feel a Whole Lot Better."
From the CD liner notes (which are actually in the magazine, not on the CD sleeve):
A bratty 1989 tear through Gene Clark's beautiful song; J. Mascis later admitted he found The Byrds "too wimpy" and was not a fan at the time of recording. Nevertheless, Dinosaur jr.'s full-throttle version shows how robustly Byrds songs can not just withstand irreverent treatment, but also showcase much noisier guitar innovators.Mascis found The Byrds "too wimpy"? Really?
I knew there was a reason I never particularly cared for that pretentious punk-snob putz when his band was fashionable. (I keed, I keed!)
Anyway, the MOJO story is well-worth reading for Byrds fans of any age or musico-ideological stripe, and the CD -- which has a lot of interesting oddities, including one in Turkish (about which I will have more to say tomorrow) -- is definitely worth a listen. If I can figure out the tech issues, I'll see if I can post a link to a zip file of the disc as well.
I had to go to Casa Magazines on Hudson Street for all my UK mag needs. But then my friend told me about an app called Readly and it's a godsend.
ReplyDelete$12.99 a month, that's one issue of Mojo.
You can read hundreds of magazines in full. Every page, ads, letters, absolutely nothing missing.
You dowload the app on your phone, iPad or desktop and then just click on the mags you want.
Mojo, Uncut, Shindig, Classic Rock, Jazz Times, New York, Esquire, it's endless.
The issues come out within a day or two of the UK release and you cget alerts when your magazies are out and ready to read.
I can find Mojo (also Uncut) at my local Barnes & Noble.
ReplyDeleteThe Byrds' version of "Whole Lot Better" blows away the noisy, lame version by Dinosaur Jr. which is what I believe Dinosaur Jr. calls their male appendage. ;-)
The No-one fucks with The Byrds (except the last two albums) "Captain Al"
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ReplyDelete"Captain Al" -- the Barnes and Noble in my neighborhood closed eight years ago. It's a freaking Target now.
ReplyDeleteSal -- thanks for the tip!!!
I don't think Target will have the latest issue of Mojo, but check anyway, they might have the nice pillow cases you guys have been looking for.
ReplyDeleteAlways helpful Captain Al
This version sucks. Give me the original!
ReplyDeleteI find Mojo at my local grocery store (Price Chopper) (Columbia Cty, NY)
ReplyDeleteI've tried to love the Byrds, but have to agree with Mr Mascis. And the wimpiest human being/show I have seen on stage was Roger McGuinn, solo.
HTB
The DJ version was fine, save for the talk-singing along. But I love the image of Cheese N Crackers cradling the junior dinosaur. It's almost as if someone inputted "Feel A Whole Lot Better" and "Dinosaur Jr." into an AI program and that's what it spit out.
ReplyDeleteC in California
I have no trouble picking MOJO up every month here in Chicago, but the one that's intermittent is SHINDIG. I thought I was well-versed in Rock, but they feature scores of bands that I've never ever heard of.
ReplyDeleteThat Ready app that Sal mentioned sounds cool. But do you get the CD's?
ReplyDeleteMOJO's easy to get around SoCal. Most record stores stock 'em. Some of them sell used or outdated issues for a fraction of the cost. Barnes and Noble, which has three stores in a ten mile radius of me, carries them too.
I have every issue of MOJO from the beginning till now. At my old place I had a 3,000 square foot barn converted into "The Shrine To the Vine." At least that's what a friend of mine, who wrote for a Dutch rock mag, calls it. Though others, who don't get it, have called it a monument to stupidity. Myself, I can see it both ways. 35,000 LP's and 22,000 CDs. Around ten thousand music and counter culture mags bagged and boarded in racks you could flip through, thousands of posters shrunk wrapped and styrofoam backed in racks, photographs and a shitload of rock books. Not to mention bootleg paraphernalia like the rubber stamps, mothers, orignal art, jacket proofs, etc.
It was the fucking Temple. And it had our own personal batting cage next to it. That's because the guy I bought the property from played Pro Ball with the Angels. This was cool because my daughter was in travel ball and being trained by Olympic Gold Medalist Leah O'Brien. Plus Sandy and I, along with our husband, were in an adult co-ed harball league. Heavy on the "Adult," especially the aftergame parties. (Again, none of that fake "Fire In the Hole" wannabe bullshit:)
So we're in our dream home and here comes the goverment saying they need our property for upcoming freeway construction. They offered us about 15 cents on the dollar. We told them it wasn't enough. They said if you don't like our offer then we'll deposit it with the court and you can sue us for the rest. We did. But they took possession through eminent domain. It took five years of court wranglings to finally get our due and damages. The acronym for the agency in charge of the freeway project was SANBAG:) (San Bernardino Associated Governments). The freeway was built and operating before we got paid.
Anyway, because we still have not been able to find a similar property, the mags are in storage in multiple Pack-Rats. You can't fill the containers or you'll go overweight. I learned the hard way. Filled one up only to have the pick-up guy tell me I had to get at least two more containers to meet weight requirements. Paper's heavy. And the boxes of MOJO were the heaviest.
VR
They should have put Marble Phrogg's cover of I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better on the disc instead. Never could get into Dinosaur Jr. Liked me some Meat Puppets though. :) Speaking of dicks, did I ever mention that in high school, when getting a room with my boyfriend, he used to sign the motel register "Dix Handley". Or sometimes "Dixon Steele." My fake name was "Miss Heavenly Piecemeal." Sometimes "Kitty Twist." :) Young and innocent days.
Our local Barnes/Noble carries it in their magazine section along side other Brit music magazines here in Myrtle Beach
ReplyDeleteOne caveat -they are pricey
rob