Before I get into this one, do you think it’s possible that the best guitar rock song of the 70’s is Bachmann Turner Overdrive’s “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet”? I think it contains a little sample of all the elements that made the era great, and present the case as follows:
- Not too long – a pop song, not an indulgent masterpiece like your Hotel California or your Stairways to Heaven
- Distinct A and B parts with very different feels – I guess I’m setting up the previously-mentioned two songs as the prototypical ones of the era, but HC doesn’t have a lot of changes, while S2H has different but harmonically related parts. I love how UASNY starts with the acoustic on that I-bIII-IV stuff, then dips into singer-songwriter chords with the IIIm-VIm on the pre-chorus, and finally gives it up and dives into the crunchy I-V-IV thing.
- The guitar sounds – jangly acoustic giving way to sparse, massive electric that sounds like a classic LP-Marshall thing, but I think might be Strat based on pictures
- All the blustery, idiotic sexuality you could ask for
- Like a few other songs, tricks you into liking it before you remember that the band is actually Canadian
Thoughts?
With that said, Wadaya, almost directly across the alley from that place Umi that McNoonan and I loved last time (in spite of the impossible-to-read menus), is a good find. It feels very ‘family’, by which I mean the interior is almost like a big country house, and the cooking is a bit rustic. The food is decent (tolerable sashimi, then lots of normal things on a fairly big menu), but the focus is on providing a shifting selection of sake and sound advice to go with it (Woodie, take note). The waiter poured each of samples of 4 different things even after going through an extensive selection process. As a result, I fell in love with the wonderful junmaishu from Hiroshima’s “Ugonotsuki” or “Moon after rain”. I’ll remember this one, because my memory and liver need more things to keep them occupied. Argh.
Every time I think Kayabacho is tapped out, we go to another place and it turns out to be good. Still, I really think it’s tapped out now – we tried to go into this attractive kappou that I had seen several times (Tatsumi, 辰巳) but the master’s welcome was so unfriendly that after standing in the door for a little while we just left. That means there’s only the nice yakitori…and the modern izakaya…and the Koshu steak place…and that recommended tempura place Suzuko…nuts. Anyway, with McNoonan moving to Honkers next week, there’s going to be a lot less Kayabacho in my future.
What a ya!
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