failure, stevie wonder, calexico

Some random music notes:
– Band I should probably be ashamed of feeling affection for: Failure, a sort of paint-by-numbers mid-’90s L.A. alt-metal band. I totally dug Magnified, their second album, which I got as a freebie sent to my college paper.
(By the way: Doesn’t this biography of Failure co-leader Ken Andrews read like it was written by a slavering fanboy? I’d always thought of Allmusic as having some editorial standards, but this reads like something that’d get overwritten on Wikipedia. “The career development of Andrews…is an amazing testament to his intelligence, talent, and commitment to recording rock music at only the highest level”? Really? I mean, I like his band, but…really? Or this, on Failure’s mediocre last album Fantastic Planet: “although practically unknown, a record considered by a small but extremely passionate group of followers as the post-grunge bookend to Nevermind“? Huh?)
– Classic performer who indie kids should pay more attention to: Stevie Wonder. Seriously, go listen to Innervisions. Just the 26th best album of the ’70s? I’d sacrifice a lot of Neu and Eno to save this from the big magnet eraser in the sky. The handholding swirl of “He’s Misstra Know-It-All”? The burble-funk organ of “Living For The City”? The seduction soul of “Golden Lady”? Essential, as is just about everything he did from 1972 to 1978.
(By the way, if you’re ever wondering if an impossibly creative stretch of your career is coming to a close, ask yourself: Am I considering recording an album entitled “Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants”? If they answer is yes, your time may have run out.)
(By the way, this is a good site for reviews of ’70s funk albums.)
– Album I’m ashamed I didn’t know existed until a couple days ago: Tete a Tete, the “secret” (to me at least) Calexico album, recorded in 2001 with the French Amor Belhom Duo under the name ABBC. I’ve no idea if it’s any good; I’m mostly ashamed because I’m a proud (and annoying) Calexico completist. Note to self: Must track down. Speaking of my annoying completism: the set list from the 10/29 Calexishow around these parts — songs 1, 2, 6, and 8 being unreleased numbers we can probably expect on the new album this spring.