(TV) LA a bad Omen? / Old Christgau Archives to Cheer us/me up?

["Casey, Leo J" <CaseyL@VOLPE.DOT.GOV>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Strell 
Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 8:04 AM
To: tv@obbard.com
Subject: Re: (TV) Alan Licht / Christgau / "Big Bad Love" Soundtrack

>What do you folks think Mr. Christgau meant by this? 
>Does he know something we don't?
>Jeff
--- "Casey, Leo J" <CaseyL@VOLPE.DOT.GOV> wrote:
>>From The Village Voice's "Choices/Short List (Robert Christgau): 
>>so this reunion  matters even if no  new songs come out of it.  
>>But don't bet that they won't either. 
--------------------     

I'd put my money on it just being a wild-ass guess by Christagau.

After the depressing report(s) regarding Television's less than stellar 
performance in LA, are there any more theories by people who were there? 
Could it have been due to no time for a proper soundcheck/run-thru earlier 
in the day; or failing auditorium equipment; getting only 60 minutes; or 
how about: they stunk or they were criminally underehearsed, totally 
unprepared, and just going through the motions?!?

This is a depressing state of affairs so to try and cheer us up (and because 
it's St. Patrick's day) here's a collection of short scraps from my paper 
Archives of Robert Christgau that might remind us of what the members of 
Television are capable of on a good night.  (Still hoping for a great and 
heart-felt performance in NYC, but steeling myself for a possible disaster.)

TELEVISION: MARQUEE MOON (Elektra 1977) 
"I know why people complain about Tom Verlaine's angst-ridden voice, but
fuck that, I haven't had such intense pleasure from a new release since I 
got Layla three months after it came out, and MM took about fifteen seconds. 
The lyrics, which are in a demotic-philosophical mode ('I was 
listening/listening to the rain/I was hearing, hearing something else'),
would carry this record alone; so would the guitar playing, as lyrical and 
piercing as Clapton or Garcia but totally unlike either.  Yes, you bet it rocks. 
And no, I didn't believe they'd be able to do it on record because I thought 
this band's excitement was all in the live raveups.  Turns out that's about 
a third of it."   GRADE:  A+

TELEVISION: ADVENTURE (Elektra 1978) 
"Those scandalized by Marquee Moon's wimpoid tendencies are gonna try to read 
this one out of the movement. I agree that it's not as urgent, or as satisfying, 
but that's only to say that MM was a great album while Adventure is a very good 
one.  The difference is more a function of material than of the new album's 
relatively clean, calm, reflective mood.  The lyrics on MM were shot through 
with visionary surprises that never let up.  These are comparatively songlike, 
their apercus concentrated in hook lines that are surrounded by more quotidian 
stuff.  The first side is funnier, faster, more accessible, but the second side 
gets there---the guitar on "The Fire" is Verlaine's most gorgeous ever."
	GRADE:  A-

TOM VERLAINE:  TOM VERLAINE (Elektra 1979)
"In which he deploys backup choruses and alien instruments, the kind of stuff 
that bogs down all solo debuts, with modest grace and wit.  And continues to 
play guitar like Captain Marvel.  Neater than Television, as you might expect, 
but almost as visionary anyway, and a lot more confident and droll.  
Inspirational Verse:  'My head was spinning/My oh my.' "
	GRADE:  A-

RICHARD LLOYD:  ALCHEMY (Elektra 1979)
"Lloyd really has his pop down, and this record never fails to cheer me when 
it comes on---the songwriting and guitar textures are consistently tuneful 
and affecting.  I don't mind that he always sings off-key either---part of 
the charm of his pop is how loose it is.  But the voice is so whacked-out 
that even if you've never seen Lloyd lurching around a stage or matching magic 
with Tom Verlaine you'd sense that where for The Shoes or The Beat teen romance 
is a formal structure, for him it's an evasion---he's not telling us what he 
knows."
	GRADE:  B+

TOM VERLAINE:  DREAMTIME (Warner Brothers 1981)
"A pop boho and an ecstatic mensch, an exalted lead guitarist who loves to 
chunka-chunk that rhythm, Verlaine is a walking, cogitating rock and roll 
contradiction.  Granted, the solo-with-backup hierarchy does constrict his 
wild gift a little.  But Ritchie Fliegler's Richard Lloyd simulations get 
the job done, and anyway, this is Verlaine's best batch of songs since 
MM---two years' worth, ten in all if you count the one that goes 'Hi-Fi.' 
Elsewhere, Verlaine evokes the touchy ironies of urban love---passion 
and detachment, adoration and despair---with deftness and soul."
	Original Grade: A     GRADE:  A-

TOM VERLAINE:  WORDS FROM THE FRONT (Warner Brothers 1982)
"Verlaine's ever-resourceful guitar has always been more richly endowed 
with mood and effect than with the hook riffs that make him a great 
rock-and-roller, and here for the first time things get too atmospheric. 
'Postcard From Waterloo' is a classic, but the strangulated vocals and 
expressionistic structures suggest that he really should get out more."
	GRADE:  B+

TOM VERLAINE:  COVER (Warner Brothers 1984)
"Anglophiles and wimp bashers won't hear it, but Verlaine's light touch 
constitutes a renewal and an achievement.  Synthesized ostinatos and 
affected vocals are deplorable in themselves only when they're ends in 
themselves.  Here they're put to the service of tuneful whimsy that has 
brains and heart, a sense of beauty and a sense of humor.  Goofy 
romanticism at its driest and most charming."
	GRADE: A-

RICHARD LLOYD:  FIELD OF FIRE (Mistiur import 1985)
"In crucial ways he predates punk, and formally this is more Warren Zevon 
or Tom Petty than Tom Verlaine.  What makes it go isn't the songwriting---
please, kids, never ever rhyme 'fire' and 'funeral pyre."  It's Lloyd's 
concentration, plus of course his guitar, which I'll take over Mike Campbell's 
or Waddy Wachel's nine tries out of ten."	  [Later on Moving Target Records]
	GRADE:  B+

TOM VERLAINE:  FLASH LIGHT (I.R.S. 1987)
"Supremely self-conscious, utterly un-schooled, Verlaine writes like nobody 
else, sings like nobody else, plays like nobody else.  His lyrics sound like 
his voice sounds like his guitar, laconic and extravagant at the same time.  
After three years off the boards, he's de-emphasized keyboards in a quest for 
dynamic riffs, and he's found enough to thrill any fan.  As usual I'm not sure 
just what the songs mean.  But that bothers me mostly because it may bother you."
	GRADE:  A-      
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