MORE FUN/BLACK SUN

One of the most worn cassettes that I played in the '82 Corolla over and over was my 90 minute Maxell with the third and fourth albums by X on each side. More Fun In the New World was more slickly produced and therefore more commercially successful, but the one that sticks with me, speaks to me, marks a shift in the way I looked at things and never gets old was Under The Big Black Sun.




I was a freshman in college in 1984 and my hallmate was practicing his bass on "The Have Nots", the last song on the album. Something about the dischordant harmonies was oddly attractive, and soon addictive. I could turn this passage into an homage to John, Exene, Billy, and DJ but suffice it to say that there's enough of that out there. While their first two albums were even more raw and energetic, there was something about Black Sun that allows me to discover something new every time I hear it. From these 4 albums X put together a set at the 9:30 Club last month that just may be the last time they all play together as a band. I'm glad I got to see them, after many failed attempts.

This is especially helpful when I'm in one of those morose funks that I find myself in every once in a while, about "lost opportunities" and "what could have been," despite the fact that I have everything I want in front of me. Just writing also helps me process these green thoughts, and two solid days of riding this weekend should dispense of the rest of the accumulated flotsam and jetsam of the feeble mind.

That ability to dissipate the negative energy has been missing for much of this year, so that's gotta change now. And 'cross season is just 2 months away.