“The Wait” – Built To Spill
From You In Reverse

My uncontrollable obsession for all things live bootleg has led me to have a different kind of musical appreciation. There were several years that went by in which I didn’t buy hardly any music at all. It always seemed a waste, when I could find so much great music from live concerts, for free.

By doing this, I learned a great deal about how a band performed in a live setting, but very little about how they sound with all the polish of a studio. There are many bands that I own several bootlegs of, but have absolutely nothing of their official releases. It’s also kind of skewed the types of artist I actually know. Gnarles Barkley? Fall Out Boy? Never heard of them. But mention the Hot Buttered Rum String Band or Railroad Earth and I’ll bring out some excellent bootlegs.

I have since moved away from that, and have now spent much of the last many months trying to catch up on all the studio work I missed out on.

Built To Spill is one of those bands I knew of from trading circles, and collected a few of their bootlegs, but never got around to purchasing an album…until now. In a very recent moment of music collecting, and after reading Mark Saleski’s excellent review I found myself scooping up several Built To Spill albums.

Mark pretty much said all there needs to be said about this album, but I’ll go out on a ledge and state that it’s pretty danged good. This is the last song on the album, and it has that drifting off to sea feel, like the song could go on forever, and I wouldn’t mind if it did (unfortunately it ends after a bout 4 ½ minutes, but that’s what repeat mode is for, right?).

“Lie In Our Graves” Dave Matthews Band
From Crash

I’ll probably get creamed from anti-Davers out there, but the dude has written some pretty catchy tunes over the years.

I caught the DMB during the Crash tour way back when in Birmingham, Alabama. It was the middle of summer in an outdoor venue where everything was just about perfect. I went with my friend, Scott, who is as big as a brick wall, and about as congenial. Funny, he reminds me of Paulie in Goodfellas where Ray Liotta says that the mobster didn’t move for no one, because he didn’t have to. Scott was like that, except nicer. He was a cool guy, but a very funny juxtaposition against all the crazy, grooving hippies at that show.