Disc of the day
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
Features Disc of the day
Dinosaur Jr
Where You Been
(Rhino, 1993)
Mid-period Dinos. Unfashionable but oh so lovable.
To celebrate Dinosaur's recent MOJO Honours List show (see issue 189) it seems only fair to right the great wrong of them not yet having had a Disc Of The Day. But what that's you say, not one of their life-changing (mine at least) trio of LPs from the mid-'80s? Well no. Those treasured discs undeniably shaped their career and helped re-energise US alternative rock but the following years, the J Mascis-solo-in-disguise years, deserve more than footnote status in a story that's now come full circle with the original triumvirate of J, Lou and Murph two albums into a reformation that's proved to be as strong (and only slightly less dysfunctional) than their '80s heyday.
Where You Been from 1993 was Dinosaur's second for a major label and first with their newly solidified line-up of Murph permanently back on drums and Mike Johnson as a full-time bassist. And if they lacked the passive-aggressive dialectic that drove the J Vs Lou era Dinosaur (skip to 2.35), they certainly didn't lack the power. From the off, here was J indulging his love of a windswept guitar epic, blowing through opening track Out There and Start Choppin's wailing guitars and whining sentiment ("it's not just you with problems mounting high...") over which the benevolent spectre of Neil Young looms large. J's winning combination of melancholic, 'what did I do now?' vocal and violent, sonic attack becomes amour plated on songs like Get Me and a vulnerable, string embellished What Else Is New; while Goin' Home offers a jangling, melodic anthem for all those negaholic indie types to wallow in. If some critics passed off Where You Been as just more of the same it still went top 50 in US and frankly, when your basic materials are this good, who needs diversity?
Jenny Bulley
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 26/06/2009
Further Listening
Dinosaur Jr - You’re Living All Over Me (Sweet Nothing, 1987)
Dinosaur Jr - Farm (PIAS,2009)
The Horrors - Primary Colours (XL, 2009)
Previous Disc of the day
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Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
Magnificent late-'50s singles round-up that keeps on giving.
6:00 AM GMT 20/11/2009
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Isley Brothers - The Brothers: Isley
The Cincinnati siblings bed into their heavy period.
6:00 AM GMT 18/11/2009
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Lee Morgan - Search For The New Land
The trumpeter's most soulful excursion entrances MOJO messageboarder.
6:00 AM GMT 16/11/2009
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