Power Rankings — Wu-Tang Solo Albums

I have recently taken up the (so difficult, I know) task of re-listening to every single Wu-Tang Clan solo debut album at least once.

Unsurprisingly, Liquid Swords is still ranked No. 1, mostly due to an all-star starting lineup (of well-known hits) as well as an extremely deep bench. Every single track, even a relativity unknown deep cut like "Hell's Wind Staff/Killa Hills 10304, sounds ominous yet inviting — the sonic equivalent of a kick in the teeth from Shogun Assassin while under some heavy drug-induced coma.

Only Built 4 Cuban Linx is No. 2 because I don't like Raekwon's flow quite as much as I like GZA's, and I also prefer weird pseudo-sci-fi underworld aspects of Liquid Swords to the whole "Let's rip off Scarface!" concept behind Cuban Linx. Really, though, the top two are a matter of preference.

What is non-negotiable, however, is Tical. The beats sound like RZA created them underwater, then dumped beer on his mixing board juuuuust in case. Also, Meth's flow is horrible (slow and sluggish) and he sounds high the whole time. This is not always a drawback in rap music (or even on Meth's Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) verses), but in this case it just makes the entire record feel sloppy and incomplete.

Here's the whole list. Judge for yourself.

Also, this is the solo debuts albums only... If you were to take the entire Wu-Tang solo oeuvre Ghostface wins by a landslide, no questions asked. But competitively, Iroman sucks.

And, technically, Liquid Swords isn't GZA's debut but it's his first put out after the Wu-Tang got big and entirely produced by RZA, so it counts.)

1. GZA - Liquid Swords
2. Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
3. Ol' Dirty Bastard - Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version
4. Ghostface Killah - Ironman
5. RZA - Bobby Digital in Stereo
6. Inspectah Deck - Uncontrolled Substance
7. Masta Killa - No Said Date
8. U-God - Golden Arms Redemption
9. Method Man - Tical

Unreal Is Here: Fall Mix 2011

Those of my readers that live in the more Southerly states (i.e., the ones that have no seasons) may be laughing at me when it is December and I am essentially scraping glass off my car's windshield after an ice storm, but there's really no better season than the fall in a flyover state.

Recently I had to drive to a teeny town in west-central Illinois to cover, of all things, a soccer game. This meant meandering on state highways through cornfields and small towns with brick European style downtowns, and also wide places in the road with wood and stone Old-Western style "downtowns".*

*Never go to Van Brandenburg, Ill. If you blink, you'd miss it, and also be slapped with a $100 speeding ticket for blinking.

I don't say this so that you might pity me (although, I did hurt my back while carrying around a camera on the sidelines). I say it because it might be the most enjoyable drive I have made this year.

It rained the entire way. I never once got on the interstate, instead opting to look at the colors of the country. Well, the colors that were left. It had been so windy that many of the leaves skipped the transformation stage altogether and just flew off branches in waves.

I was listening to this fall mix I just made. (Mark always has good ideas about these things and made me want to make one of my own.) It's sad bastard music, maybe, but it's autumnal. Autumn is a sad bastard time of year. It makes you think — mostly about how cold it's going to be in a short amount of time and why didn't you spend more time outside and what the hell happened in the ALCS and what am I still doing here with myself?

Hopefully that's a good thing and not a bad thing. If you'd like to see for yourself, you can download said mix here. I don't think it's as good as Mark's (which you should go find here) but it works for my current Midwestern mood.

1. "Tractor Rape Chain" - Guided By Voices
2. "Route" - Son Volt
3. "Trans Canada" - The Constantines
4. "In The Morning" - Junior Boys
5. "Should Have Taken Acid With You" - Neon Indian
6. "Cause = Time" - Broken Social Scene
7. "Age Of Consent" - New Order
8. "Vapour Trail" - Ride
9. "The Boy In The Bubble" - Paul Simon
10. "Everyday Is Like Sunday" - Morrissey
11. "Going To Acapulco" - Bob Dylan & The Band
12. "Unreal Is Here" - Chavez
13. "Ice Hockey Hair" - Super Furry Animals
14. "These Days" - R.E.M.
15. "Feel The Pain" - Dinosaur Jr.

Pitching Pioneers

Here's the story I wrote for the Effingham Daily News on a couple of local prospects that were selected in the most recent MLB draft and pitched in the Pioneer League this season. You can find a link to the full story here, but if you want to see the front page of Thursday's sports section (for which I designed the main centerpiece graphic), I'm including it here. Click on the photo for a bigger view.

Late-Night Summer Mix (For the Workin' Man)

Hello.

Spurned on by Dan Nick Sean Mark Sam Tom (a blog, yes, but also a bunch of dudes that I know... complicated), I decided to take up their idea (challenge?) of making a summer mix.

I was inspired by the kinds of music I listen to as I drive home from my second shift job at night, with the windows down and the cool, humid Midwestern air blowing through.* Sometimes, I am smoking a cigarette.

*Strangely, the title and idea for this mix was inspired by one song that did not make the final cut, "Factory," by Bruce Springsteen. ("And you just better believe, boy, somebody's gonna get hurt tonight/ It's the working, the working, just the working life".) But there are two other Bruce songs from the same album on here, so hopefully that makes up for it. Also, a very similar song ("Factory Belt" by Uncle Tupelo) did make the cut. What kind of Midwesterner would I be if I didn't include a Tupelo song on a mix about working?

So without further ado, here is the aforementioned summertime mix, "Late-Night Summer Mix (For the Workin' Man)". Don't worry, it's got fun songs on it too. Enjoy. (Download here: http://www.mediafire.com/?7xcgp7a7hjg084p )

1. "Two Angels" - Jayhwaks
2. "Factory Belt" - Uncle Tupelo
3. "Tonight's The Night, Part II" - Neil Young
4. "Chest Fever" - The Band
5. "The Promised Land" - Bruce Springsteen
6. "People Got A Lotta Nerve" - Neko Case
7. "Before They Make Me Run" - The Rolling Stones
8. "Stay Positive" - The Hold Steady
9. "Dig A Little Deeper" - Peter Bjorn and John
10. "The Corner" - Common
11. "No Future Shock" - TV On The Radio
12. "Valley Hump Crash" - No Age
13. "Linus Spacehead" - Wavves
14. "Still New" - Smith Westerns
15. "Melody Day" - Caribou
16. "Battery Kinzie" - Fleet Foxes
17. "ELT" - Wilco
18. "One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong" - Leonard Cohen
19. "Streets Of Fire" - Bruce Springsteen

'Bout to make some bodies turn cold

I might have something more meaningful here in coming days (I'm working on it), but until then, a song that I've been playing contless times since his death last week:

I never should have given up animation rights....

"I mean, I guess it would just be a guy who, you know, grabs bananas and runs. Or, um, a banana that grabs things. I don’t know. Why would a banana grab another banana? I mean, those are the kind of questions I don’t want to answer."

Stones

Not much to post, except I figured I should give a little update at least.

I'm in the middle of reading this book about the history of delta blues. Also, finished reading that Greil Marcus book I put on the side (it's like a "Studies in Classic American Literature," only for music). As a result, Robert Johnson's been in heavy rotation.

I guess I'd also ask: Anyone have any favorite blues guys for me to check out? Both books have opened up some new listening for me, but there's so much out there to process. I'd like to find out if any other readers have any favorite bluesmen.