Been awhile since I've done one of these round-ups of music I'm currently listening to and you oughta be listening to. Hopefully, it will serve as an introduction for some of you to a band or two you might never have heard otherwise. In the four previous Now Hear This posts, which you should check out here, here, here and here if you haven't already (and are worth revisiting if you have!), I've culled a fairly eclectic mix of goodies. This post follows in that spirit.
It's a big wide Internet out there, and it's full of tunes. Some are good, some are bad; some you can acquire legitimately, some...well, not so much. It's enough to make your head spin! Friend, I'm here to help. I've done the hard part - I've separated the wheat from the chaff and come up with a list of 10 more excellent musical curios for your musical curio shelf...er, iPod. These aural treats are not presented in any particular order, and I am receiving no compensation of any kind from the artists, other than the sheer enjoyment of listening to their creations. Almost all of these are very recent, but some are not. Some aren’t even actually released yet. That's just the way it is – deal with it. Let's dig in!
Rancid - ...Honor Is All We Know
Might be my most highly anticipated release of the last half of 2014 – the first new Rancid album in six years is scheduled to hit shelves October 27. Thanks to a three-song preview video (and allowing those songs to be had in advance through iTunes), we can rest assured that …Honor Is All We Know will see the mighty Rancid doing what they have always done so well. Their particular brand of 1977 punk rock nicked directly from The Clash’s playbook and strained through filters of two-tone, rockabilly, and street life has always been right in my musical wheelhouse – I love this stuff, and cannot wait for the entire LP. Meanwhile, this trio of tunes has been played regularly and loudly in anticipation…
James Williamson - Re-Licked
Also looking forward to this one, scheduled for official release on October 29. James Williamson joined The Stooges in 1970 and continued writing and recording with Iggy even after the band dissolved. Here he takes a handful of leftover Stooges material and presents all-new recordings paired up with a variety of vocalists from Gary Floyd of The Dicks to Jello Biafra to Jim “Foetus” Thirlwell. This re-imagined “lost” fourth Stooges album takes a better swing at it than the old Kill City release, if the early leaked tracks are any measure. “I’m Sick Of You” (with Mario Cuomo of The Orwells on vocals) is one of those tracks and has been on high rotation here in Ruttville for the past week or so. Re-Licked can be pre-ordered over at Amazon.com.
Sonic Scream - Up Your Sleeve
Sam Sergeant and Terry Knight make one heckuva racket for two people, but it’s a racket worth raving about (as I did back in May of 2013!). The lads from Hertfordshire are back with a brand new batch of brain-thumping grungy goodness. Up Your Sleeve continues in the same vein as its predecessor; tracks like “7” and “Ain’t Having That” roll in like thunder and shake the floorboards. It’s meant to be played loud, friends, so crank it…
The Electric Mess - “Better To Be Lucky Than Good”
Another favorite of the blog, NYC’s The Electric Mess, released House On Fire this past April. With it came the simply fantastic clip for the single “Better To Be Lucky Than Good,” which demonstrates that even though MTV may have abandoned the music video, the format is still viable and, in the right hands, powerful. This one is the running for song of the year if’n you ask me, and the whole album is well worth picking up.
Wheels On Fire - "I'm Turning Into You"
Every now and then something turns up on the ol’ iPod that’s been hanging around in my collection but somehow always just stayed under the radar. Then, one day, it leaps through the earbuds, grabs me by the eardrums and shakes some freakin’ sense into me. Like this track from Ohio’s Wheels On Fire. How on Earth I haven’t been raving about this since its release on their 2009 album Get Famous I can’t say – I can only apologize and insist that you listen to it and revel in its farfisa-driven wonderfulness with me now. Ready? Go!
The Mystery Lights - The Mystery Lights
The Mystery Lights have apparently arrived here (or at least in NYC) from 1968. They play a seething, eerie kind of psychedelic lo-fi freak-out music that all but demands to be played loud wherever swirling lights and neon colors and altered states of mind abound. Their four-track debut is uniformly excellent, with the standout being the final track, “What Happens When You Turn The Devil Down,” which will snake its way into your skull and slither down your spine in a most pleasing fashion. Hit up their Bandcamp site for more.
Radiohearts - Nothing At All
Fans of bands like The Buzzcocks, The Knack, Generation X, The dB’s and other like-minded late-70s powerpop/punk bands (the younger set might use The Exploding Hearts and The Cute Lepers as frames of reference), rejoice! There exists a band today who knows what you want to hear, and it is exactly what they play. Well. Radiohearts’ new EP, Nothing At All, practically bubbles over with high energy melodic hooks dressed in skinny ties and wraparound shades. The only drawback here is that there are only four songs. More! Give us more!
Lexxi Vexx & the Modern Gentlemen - The Evolution Of The Modern Gentlemen
Punk done Portland style. Lexxi has been around for a bit in the underground scene; this is her latest combo, and possibly the best of the bunch. A lot of ground is covered on The Evolution Of The Modern Gentlemen. At times the sound develops a decidedly metallic glint; other times echoes of west coast punk groups like The Nuns, UXA, and even The Avengers ring out. Lexxi doesn’t come by that booming voice by chance – her dad, Todd McPherson, in addition to being one of the Modern Gentlemen backing her, has been a member of The Kingsmen (yes, those Kingsmen) since 1992. That’s about as killer a Portland rock ‘n’ roll pedigree as you can ask for. This is one not to be missed – get over to Bandcamp and grab this’n. If you need proof, listen up:
The Empty Hearts - The Empty Hearts
The Empty Hearts are Wally Palmar of The Romantics, Elliot Easton of The Cars, Andy Babiuk of The Chesterfield Kings and Clem Burke of Blondie. And that, my friends, should tell you roughly what it sounds like, why I like it so much and why you need to get yerself a copy. If it doesn’t, I’m afraid you’re going to have to retake That’s What I Was Going To Say 101 next semester. The video for the single “I Don’t Want Your Love (If You Don’t Want Me)” will make a good study guide in the meantime.
The Cheap Cassettes - All Anxious All The Time
“Big guitars and big hooks” is how The Cheap Cassettes describe themselves on their Bandcamp page, right after listing a sizeable selection of their musical influences ranging from Big Star to Redd Kross to The Replacements. OK, sold! Their debut LP, All Anxious All The Time, is out now, and you can hear a couple of tracks from it on their page as well. They even offer up a pair of bonus free downloads of otherwise unreleased covers of The Vibrators’ “Whips And Furs” and The Jesus & Mary Chain’s “Happy When It Rains.” What are you waiting for?
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Friday, September 12, 2014
You've Been Comped!
10 of the Best Compilation Albums from the Punk/New Wave Era
The compilation album is a wonderful thing. In the times long before you kids had your newfangles digital doohickeys that allowed you to set up playlists of your favorite songs we had, of course, the mix tape. But before even the mix tape, the compilation album was the only way to go to have a mix of artists and songs all in one place. Part musical sampler platter, part musical buying guide, the compilation was a great way to be introduced to new bands that you were pretty much assured you were going to at least tolerate, if not like enough to go out and find their record. (One friend of mine built the foundation of his record collection on his stated goal to buy "every record by every band on that fuckin' Burning Ambitions album!")
My collection, too, experienced growth as a result of more than one compilation album brought into the house, and I can say from my own experience as a DJ on WDCE in Richmond, VA, that the comp is certainly the disc jockey's friend - a portable record collection in itself if you will.
Today, we celebrate the compilation album with this round up of ten of the best. You could begin with these ten and branch out from there to create a record collection that would be the envy of all your friends. So let's get to it! In no particular order:
1. Burning Ambitions: A History of Punk (1984) – If you are looking
for one compilation to point to as a basic primer on UK punk rock, this
double-record import on the Cherry Red label is the one to pick, hands
down. Though they weren’t able to get
the licensing to include the Pistols, The Clash or Siouxsie & the Banshees
(a fact bemoaned in the album’s liner notes), they were able to include just
about everyone else! The Exploited, The Damned, Adam & the Ants, Generation X, The Stranglers, The Lurkers, Cockney
Rejects, Sham 69 – they’re all here.
Even a couple Yankee acts (Dead Kennedys, The Heartbreakers) show up in
the mix. I remember whole weeks going by
when this album did not leave my turntable.
Why would it? It’s a virtual punk rock jukebox! Essential.
3. I RS’s Greatest Hits Vols. II & III (1981) – A
two-record set that begs the question, “Whatever happened to Volume I?” (Bonus points to the first person commenting
with the correct answer.) IRS (The
International Record Syndicate, silly) was one of the most awesome record
labels of the early 1980s, and this compilation of artists on their roster at
that time is flat-out mind-blowing array of talented artists with the chops and
the attitude to not only ride that somewhat tenuous line between punk and new
wave, but to stomp it fully into submission.
The Damned, The Cramps, The Fleshtones, Oingo Boingo, The Buzzcocks, The
Fall, The Payola$, Squeeze, Skafish, Alternative TV, The Humans, Fashion, Klark
Kent and more! This one was a standard
party album for many years around these parts…
4. This is Boston Not L.A. (1982) – A wicked good
encapsulation of punk rawk done Boston style and, honestly, one of the best
hardcore albums ever. With bands like
Jerry’s Kids, The F.U.’s, Gang Green and The Freeze, how can you possibly go
wrong? Loud, hard, fast and fun – we
used to call this stuff “skate punk,” and while it certainly was a youthful
scene this old punk still smiles when he hears it. The Freeze’s stuff is the best here, in my
opinion, including classics like “Idiots at Happy Hour” and an otherwise
unavailable version of “Trouble if You Hide,” but there really aren’t any duds
here either. The CD adds the 7-inch
Unsafe at Any Speed comp released not too long after the album.
5. No New York (1978) – In the late 1970s, New York
City was not a pretty place. But there
were a lot of scenes happening all at once.
You had the Studio 54 disco scene, you had the CBGB’s punk scene, and
you had your mind-melting, ear-splitting No Wave scene combining the best parts
of both with a little (OK, OK, a lot)
atonal saxophone skronk added to the mix.
And you had Brian Eno there to document the latter in this nearly
indescribable album. The Contortions,
Teenage Jesus & the Jerks (featuring a shrieking Lydia Lunch on vocals),
DNA, and Mars each contributed four cuts of mutant funk-punk squawking and
screaming and searing sound. Some will
find it painful to listen to, others (like me!) will revel in its anti-art
defiance, but anyone who hears it will not forget it.
6. Not So Quiet On The Western Front (1982) – 2
records. 47 bands in 74 minutes. An insert booklet that doubled as the first
issue of Maximum Rock’n’Roll. About the
finest damn hardcore compilation you’re ever going to hear, and proof that
those who said all those bands sounded alike either weren’t paying attention or
were fucking posers, man. Just a
recitation of the band names will bring a smile to the face of anyone who was
into the scene at the time: 7 Seconds, Pariah, Code of Honor, Bad Posture,
Flipper, Angst, No Alternative, MDC, and on and on. It’s fast, it’s furious, it’s excellent. And oh how we used to laugh (and still do) at
the Naked Lady Wrestlers’ “Dan with the Mellow Hair.” This one has been given a really nice CD
reissue with every track intact.
7. Marty Thau’s 2 X 5 (1980) – Marty Thau had been
around the record business forever, and was an early proponent of New Wave,
helping many artists get heard through his Red Star record label. For this compilation he selected two songs from
each of five New York City-based bands (hence the album title) and damn if he
didn’t go 10-for-10 picking them! Your
big name band here is The Fleshtones, who check in with an early version of
“Shadow Line” and a typical ‘Shtones romp, “F-F-Fascination.” Bloodless Pharoahs go a bit over the top with
their purposefully odd vocals, but they did count a young Brian Setzer among
the cats in the band. Neither The
Student Teachers nor The Revelons ever made big splashes on the scene, but
their contributions here are fantastic (especially Student Teachers’ “Looks,” centered
around the great couplet, “I know I got my looks and you got yours/I guess it just wasn’t what I
was looking for…” A couple of tracks
from The Comateens, who would go on to become a second-tier band of some note,
round out the collection nicely. A
must-own.
8. Declaration of Independents (1980) – This early
comp collecting assorted regionally well-known independent label acts looking
to break big nationally is thoroughly undeserving of its relative obscurity
nowadays. (Granted, being on the fairly small but perfectly named Ambition
label meant the album wasn’t headed for a high-profile life from day one.) The biggest name on the album then – and now
– would be Pylon, whose debut single “Cool” is found here. But the music is start-to-finish solid,
ranging from the sparkly power pop of Luxury’s “Green Hearts” to the bar band
toughness of Robin Lane & the Chartbusters’ “Rather Be Blind.” There’s rockabilly from Tex Rubinowitz, surf
instrumental goodness from D. Clinton Thompson, Kevin Dunn’s giddy synth take
on Chuck Berry’s “Nadene,” and – only a few months removed from the Three Mile
Island nuclear scare – Root Boy Slim & the Sex Change Band teaching us to
do “The Meltdown.” Don’t miss Washington
DC’s Razz (featuring a young Tommy Keene, trivia buffs!), whose contribution
“You Can Run (But You Can’t Hide)” is a song begging to be covered for today’s
crowd.
9. Let Them Eat Jellybeans (1982) – Jello Biafra curated this collection released smack dab in the midst of the classic
hardcore era. The big names here read like a who’s who of that scene: Circle
Jerks, Black Flag, D.O.A., Bad Brains and the Dead Kennedys themselves all make
appearances slashing along at top speed.
From Flipper’s “Ha Ha Ha” providing an uneasy funhouse-mirror
opening to Voice Farm’s eerily unsettling closer “Sleep,” the album never lets
up. Even a brief side-step in
pseudo-reggae (The Off’s wonderful “Everyone’s A Bigot”) is a bit jolting in
its frankness, and the guaranteed-to-offend track from The Feederz (“Jesus
Entering from the Rear”) simply has to be heard to be believed. A stunning collection.
10. URGH! A Music War (1981) - Soundtrack to the movie of the same name,
the double-LP set compiles live performances by a simply fantastic collection
of new wave bands ranging from the famous (The Police, Devo and Joan Jett are
all here) to the infamous (Skafish’ s “Sign of the Cross” nearly got the whole
project banned in some places). Interesting
to note who was left off the album despite appearing in the film: punk poet John Cooper Clarke, the utterly
mysterious Invisible Sex (seriously, has anyone ever heard anything else from
them apart from their URGH! performance?) , and the only true punk band in the
picture, the Dead Kennedys, were all left off the vinyl. Still, it sits now as a nearly perfect time
capsule of what early 1980s radio would have sounded like in a perfect
world. Avoid the truncated CD reissue
and seek out the original vinyl.
So, there's my list - how about yours? What are the compilations that got your record collection started? Which ones do we just have to hear? Tell us about them in the comments!
My collection, too, experienced growth as a result of more than one compilation album brought into the house, and I can say from my own experience as a DJ on WDCE in Richmond, VA, that the comp is certainly the disc jockey's friend - a portable record collection in itself if you will.
Today, we celebrate the compilation album with this round up of ten of the best. You could begin with these ten and branch out from there to create a record collection that would be the envy of all your friends. So let's get to it! In no particular order:
1. Burning Ambitions: A History of Punk (1984) – If you are looking
for one compilation to point to as a basic primer on UK punk rock, this
double-record import on the Cherry Red label is the one to pick, hands
down. Though they weren’t able to get
the licensing to include the Pistols, The Clash or Siouxsie & the Banshees
(a fact bemoaned in the album’s liner notes), they were able to include just
about everyone else! The Exploited, The Damned, Adam & the Ants, Generation X, The Stranglers, The Lurkers, Cockney
Rejects, Sham 69 – they’re all here.
Even a couple Yankee acts (Dead Kennedys, The Heartbreakers) show up in
the mix. I remember whole weeks going by
when this album did not leave my turntable.
Why would it? It’s a virtual punk rock jukebox! Essential.
2. Rodney on the ROQ (1980, 81, 82) – As young punk
I remember being pissed off that I lived on the wrong coast to hear the
legendary radio station KROQ out of L.A. I
read about the station and the fact that they played -- an actual radio station
that actually played -- all these bands I was into. Longtime DJ and scenester Rodney Bingenheimer
led the charge with his Rodney on the ROQ show.
The closest I ever got to hearing the show live was in the form of the
three comps put out on the Posh Boy label under Rodney’s name. All three are excellent, with the first being
the best of them: when you begin with
Brooke Shields leading into Agent Orange’s “Bloodstains,” you know you’re in
for a helluva fun ride. Volume One also
features The Adolescents, Black Flag, The Simpletones and Cristina’s killer
rendition of “Is That All There Is ?”
Volume Two keeps the pace going with Social Distortion, Shattered Faith,
The Minutemen, The Little Girls and The Stepmothers; Volume Three counts Ill
Repute, Kent State’s killer “Radio Moscow,” Channel Three and a very early cut
from The Bangles (when they were still called The Bangs). Each splits the difference between a
definitely punkier side one and new-wavier side two, and each contains a
special issue of Flipside magazine. All
three are well worth picking up.
4. This is Boston Not L.A. (1982) – A wicked good
encapsulation of punk rawk done Boston style and, honestly, one of the best
hardcore albums ever. With bands like
Jerry’s Kids, The F.U.’s, Gang Green and The Freeze, how can you possibly go
wrong? Loud, hard, fast and fun – we
used to call this stuff “skate punk,” and while it certainly was a youthful
scene this old punk still smiles when he hears it. The Freeze’s stuff is the best here, in my
opinion, including classics like “Idiots at Happy Hour” and an otherwise
unavailable version of “Trouble if You Hide,” but there really aren’t any duds
here either. The CD adds the 7-inch
Unsafe at Any Speed comp released not too long after the album. 5. No New York (1978) – In the late 1970s, New York
City was not a pretty place. But there
were a lot of scenes happening all at once.
You had the Studio 54 disco scene, you had the CBGB’s punk scene, and
you had your mind-melting, ear-splitting No Wave scene combining the best parts
of both with a little (OK, OK, a lot)
atonal saxophone skronk added to the mix.
And you had Brian Eno there to document the latter in this nearly
indescribable album. The Contortions,
Teenage Jesus & the Jerks (featuring a shrieking Lydia Lunch on vocals),
DNA, and Mars each contributed four cuts of mutant funk-punk squawking and
screaming and searing sound. Some will
find it painful to listen to, others (like me!) will revel in its anti-art
defiance, but anyone who hears it will not forget it.6. Not So Quiet On The Western Front (1982) – 2
records. 47 bands in 74 minutes. An insert booklet that doubled as the first
issue of Maximum Rock’n’Roll. About the
finest damn hardcore compilation you’re ever going to hear, and proof that
those who said all those bands sounded alike either weren’t paying attention or
were fucking posers, man. Just a
recitation of the band names will bring a smile to the face of anyone who was
into the scene at the time: 7 Seconds, Pariah, Code of Honor, Bad Posture,
Flipper, Angst, No Alternative, MDC, and on and on. It’s fast, it’s furious, it’s excellent. And oh how we used to laugh (and still do) at
the Naked Lady Wrestlers’ “Dan with the Mellow Hair.” This one has been given a really nice CD
reissue with every track intact. 8. Declaration of Independents (1980) – This early
comp collecting assorted regionally well-known independent label acts looking
to break big nationally is thoroughly undeserving of its relative obscurity
nowadays. (Granted, being on the fairly small but perfectly named Ambition
label meant the album wasn’t headed for a high-profile life from day one.) The biggest name on the album then – and now
– would be Pylon, whose debut single “Cool” is found here. But the music is start-to-finish solid,
ranging from the sparkly power pop of Luxury’s “Green Hearts” to the bar band
toughness of Robin Lane & the Chartbusters’ “Rather Be Blind.” There’s rockabilly from Tex Rubinowitz, surf
instrumental goodness from D. Clinton Thompson, Kevin Dunn’s giddy synth take
on Chuck Berry’s “Nadene,” and – only a few months removed from the Three Mile
Island nuclear scare – Root Boy Slim & the Sex Change Band teaching us to
do “The Meltdown.” Don’t miss Washington
DC’s Razz (featuring a young Tommy Keene, trivia buffs!), whose contribution
“You Can Run (But You Can’t Hide)” is a song begging to be covered for today’s
crowd. 10. URGH! A Music War (1981) - Soundtrack to the movie of the same name,
the double-LP set compiles live performances by a simply fantastic collection
of new wave bands ranging from the famous (The Police, Devo and Joan Jett are
all here) to the infamous (Skafish’ s “Sign of the Cross” nearly got the whole
project banned in some places). Interesting
to note who was left off the album despite appearing in the film: punk poet John Cooper Clarke, the utterly
mysterious Invisible Sex (seriously, has anyone ever heard anything else from
them apart from their URGH! performance?) , and the only true punk band in the
picture, the Dead Kennedys, were all left off the vinyl. Still, it sits now as a nearly perfect time
capsule of what early 1980s radio would have sounded like in a perfect
world. Avoid the truncated CD reissue
and seek out the original vinyl. So, there's my list - how about yours? What are the compilations that got your record collection started? Which ones do we just have to hear? Tell us about them in the comments!
Monday, March 11, 2013
Now Hear This!
I just looked at my calendar this morning and realized that we're almost halfway through March already! Jeez, where does the time go? It's been awhile since the last round-up of good music you ought to be listening to. Figured it's time to catch you up with what's been blaring from the speakers around Ruttville lately.
It's a big wide Internet out there, and it's full of tunes. Some are good, some are bad; some you can acquire legitimately, some...well, not so much. It's enough to make your head spin! Friend, I'm here to help. I've done the hard part - I've separated the wheat from the chaff and come up with a list of 10 excellent musical curios for your musical curio shelf...er, iPod. These aural treats are not presented in any particular order, and I am receiving no compensation of any kind from the artists, other than the sheer enjoyment of listening to their creations. Almost all of these are very recent, but some are not. That's just the way it is. Let's dig in!
Grumpy Old Punks
Punk's not dead; it's just old and grumpy. Also, wickedly funny when served up by LouB, KRoy, Brian, and Guzda, collectively the Grumpy Old Punks. A grand old party perhaps (with the emphasis on old!), but this GOP seriously rocks. They don't take the easy Weird Al-style parody route; their songs are original and quite solid on their own merits. These would be killer tracks even if they weren't snarling about their adjustable rate mortgages or wondering where their glasses are. Two EP's are available, 2011's self-titled debut and last year's Anarchy in the Prostate. And you must head to their website to catch their as yet unreleased cover of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." Yes, you read that right. Now get the hell off my lawn!
GABBA
I am utterly embarrassed to admit that I completely missed these guys in 1999 when their simply astounding Leave Stockholm album was issued, but I am definitely playing catch-up now! The so-obvious-it's-oblivious crossbreeding of ABBA and The Ramones works more often than it flops, although the points at which it doesn't quite gel can be enormously disappointing (hopes were so much higher for their take on "S.O.S." than the results produced.) Still when Bjöey and Anneky harmonize on "Waterloo," you wonder why no one else ever thought of this. Genius!
Compressorhead
The machines have taken over, and as it turns out, they just wanna rock. Stickboy, Fingers, and Bones form "the world's heaviest metal band," the all-robotic Compressorhead. Whipping through head-thunking covers of AC/DC, Motorhead, and The Ramones, these precision machines are programmed to rock and roll all night and party every day. Listen up, meatbags!
Shear/Shazar
Regular readers of this li'l ol' blog are likely quite familiar with both halves of this husband-and-wife duo who have released their first official collaboration this year (what took them so long?!?). If you don't know Jules Shear or Pal Shazar, get thee to Google! Get yerself some Polar Bears and Slow Children records and get yerself schooled, kiddo! Or, better yet, join me in bopping along to some incredibly literate, deeply touching music that manages to be yearning without being unhappy, and manages to be crunchily hippie-ish without reeking of patchouli and weed. It's folksy, folk-y, and funky, just like the artists who created it. Outstanding!
Scott Walker
I discovered the music of the enigmatic and fascinating Scott Walker by happening across the excellent documentary 30 Century Man (find it and watch it!). Walker's story is compelling: he achieved and utterly rejected pop stardom in the early '60s UK, became a troubadour in the tradition of Jacques Brel, cultivated a rather purposeful obscurity, and began creating recordings of highly experimental and personal musical expression. His stunning and unmistakeable baritone may be the only continuity in his career's twisting, turning journey, but his works have inspired and influenced many: Brian Eno, David Bowie, Gavin Friday, and Marc Almond, among others, all show up to praise him in the film. Walker has a new album out, his first in six years, Bish Bosch. The first single from it, "Epizootics!," is jaw-droppingly good:
Palmyra Delran
In the 1990s, Palmyra Delran headed up all-girl punk band The Friggs. These days, she's a solo act; a girl with a guitar and an attitude and, as of last week, a brand new album, You Are What You Absorb. The first single from it, "Shut Out," has been being played often and loudly around here lately. Delran bears more than just a passing sonic and vocal resemblance to the late Paula Pierce of The Pandoras, so you know exactly what you're in for. Delran delivers on this cut; can't wait to hear the rest of the LP!
The Electric Mess
With a psychedelic paisley-punk farfisa snarl that brings to mind a chance meeting of The Fuzztones and The Three O'Clock on board a yellow submarine, The Electric Mess burst out of NYC a few years back with the in all ways wonderful "You've Become A Witch." This year, they've damn near topped it with the single "The Girl With The Exploding Dress," from their sophomore album Falling Off The Face Of The Earth. Awesomely good stuff, sez me!
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Also on the list of bands with new albums out - or, in this case, soon to be out - is this pleasant surprise: OMD! Always one of my favorites back in the day, OMD's brand of synthpop was a bit more erudite and sophisticated to my ear than the run-of-the-mill stuff of the early '80s. Songs like "Electricity," "Joan Of Arc," "Souvenir," and "Telegraph" were constantly on my high-school-era playlist, and even when they moved into the more commercial sound of "Tesla Girls," "If You Leave," and "So In Love," they were always a class act. And now they're back! Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries, just like the old days! (Yes, yes, I know, the comeback album was actually three years ago when History Of Modern was released. Jeez, do you hafta spoil all my fun?!?) The first sounds from the forthcoming album, English Electric, could have been happily ensconced in the grooves of 1983's majestic Dazzle Ships, which is a good thing - a damn good thing! Behold:
Lifestyle
Freezepop's The Other Sean T. Drinkwater's other band, Lifestyle, has a couple of new releases out via Bandpage.com. At the end of last year the synthpoppers issued a crisp new seven-song set, Artificial, and in January they gave a properly restored and remastered reissue release to 2005's Adventure. Both are excellent, and will carry you back to 1985 on the backs of glistening synth washes and memories of Simple Minds, Spandau Ballet, and later-era Roxy Music. But, as with Drinkwater's other other band, Lifestyle isn't a nostalgia act. Their work is solid and enjoyable pop music - and that's not a crime, right?
The Popdogs
If you don't find yourself smiling and tapping your feet along with The Popdogs' debut Cool Cats For Pop Dogs, you probably want to have your fun meter readjusted. If there isn't already a genre called Sunshine Power Pop, there needs to be, and The Popdogs need to be filed under it. They jangle like R.E.M. but wear much brighter colors; their songs are catchy and hummable bits of ephemeral ear candy that seem to evaporate upon arrival yet leave joyful echoes bouncing around your head. Check out the lead track, "Honest Guy," for proof:
It's a big wide Internet out there, and it's full of tunes. Some are good, some are bad; some you can acquire legitimately, some...well, not so much. It's enough to make your head spin! Friend, I'm here to help. I've done the hard part - I've separated the wheat from the chaff and come up with a list of 10 excellent musical curios for your musical curio shelf...er, iPod. These aural treats are not presented in any particular order, and I am receiving no compensation of any kind from the artists, other than the sheer enjoyment of listening to their creations. Almost all of these are very recent, but some are not. That's just the way it is. Let's dig in!
Grumpy Old Punks
Punk's not dead; it's just old and grumpy. Also, wickedly funny when served up by LouB, KRoy, Brian, and Guzda, collectively the Grumpy Old Punks. A grand old party perhaps (with the emphasis on old!), but this GOP seriously rocks. They don't take the easy Weird Al-style parody route; their songs are original and quite solid on their own merits. These would be killer tracks even if they weren't snarling about their adjustable rate mortgages or wondering where their glasses are. Two EP's are available, 2011's self-titled debut and last year's Anarchy in the Prostate. And you must head to their website to catch their as yet unreleased cover of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." Yes, you read that right. Now get the hell off my lawn!
GABBA
I am utterly embarrassed to admit that I completely missed these guys in 1999 when their simply astounding Leave Stockholm album was issued, but I am definitely playing catch-up now! The so-obvious-it's-oblivious crossbreeding of ABBA and The Ramones works more often than it flops, although the points at which it doesn't quite gel can be enormously disappointing (hopes were so much higher for their take on "S.O.S." than the results produced.) Still when Bjöey and Anneky harmonize on "Waterloo," you wonder why no one else ever thought of this. Genius!
Compressorhead
The machines have taken over, and as it turns out, they just wanna rock. Stickboy, Fingers, and Bones form "the world's heaviest metal band," the all-robotic Compressorhead. Whipping through head-thunking covers of AC/DC, Motorhead, and The Ramones, these precision machines are programmed to rock and roll all night and party every day. Listen up, meatbags!
Shear/Shazar
Regular readers of this li'l ol' blog are likely quite familiar with both halves of this husband-and-wife duo who have released their first official collaboration this year (what took them so long?!?). If you don't know Jules Shear or Pal Shazar, get thee to Google! Get yerself some Polar Bears and Slow Children records and get yerself schooled, kiddo! Or, better yet, join me in bopping along to some incredibly literate, deeply touching music that manages to be yearning without being unhappy, and manages to be crunchily hippie-ish without reeking of patchouli and weed. It's folksy, folk-y, and funky, just like the artists who created it. Outstanding!
Scott Walker
I discovered the music of the enigmatic and fascinating Scott Walker by happening across the excellent documentary 30 Century Man (find it and watch it!). Walker's story is compelling: he achieved and utterly rejected pop stardom in the early '60s UK, became a troubadour in the tradition of Jacques Brel, cultivated a rather purposeful obscurity, and began creating recordings of highly experimental and personal musical expression. His stunning and unmistakeable baritone may be the only continuity in his career's twisting, turning journey, but his works have inspired and influenced many: Brian Eno, David Bowie, Gavin Friday, and Marc Almond, among others, all show up to praise him in the film. Walker has a new album out, his first in six years, Bish Bosch. The first single from it, "Epizootics!," is jaw-droppingly good:
Palmyra Delran
In the 1990s, Palmyra Delran headed up all-girl punk band The Friggs. These days, she's a solo act; a girl with a guitar and an attitude and, as of last week, a brand new album, You Are What You Absorb. The first single from it, "Shut Out," has been being played often and loudly around here lately. Delran bears more than just a passing sonic and vocal resemblance to the late Paula Pierce of The Pandoras, so you know exactly what you're in for. Delran delivers on this cut; can't wait to hear the rest of the LP!
The Electric Mess
With a psychedelic paisley-punk farfisa snarl that brings to mind a chance meeting of The Fuzztones and The Three O'Clock on board a yellow submarine, The Electric Mess burst out of NYC a few years back with the in all ways wonderful "You've Become A Witch." This year, they've damn near topped it with the single "The Girl With The Exploding Dress," from their sophomore album Falling Off The Face Of The Earth. Awesomely good stuff, sez me!
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Also on the list of bands with new albums out - or, in this case, soon to be out - is this pleasant surprise: OMD! Always one of my favorites back in the day, OMD's brand of synthpop was a bit more erudite and sophisticated to my ear than the run-of-the-mill stuff of the early '80s. Songs like "Electricity," "Joan Of Arc," "Souvenir," and "Telegraph" were constantly on my high-school-era playlist, and even when they moved into the more commercial sound of "Tesla Girls," "If You Leave," and "So In Love," they were always a class act. And now they're back! Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphries, just like the old days! (Yes, yes, I know, the comeback album was actually three years ago when History Of Modern was released. Jeez, do you hafta spoil all my fun?!?) The first sounds from the forthcoming album, English Electric, could have been happily ensconced in the grooves of 1983's majestic Dazzle Ships, which is a good thing - a damn good thing! Behold:
Lifestyle
Freezepop's The Other Sean T. Drinkwater's other band, Lifestyle, has a couple of new releases out via Bandpage.com. At the end of last year the synthpoppers issued a crisp new seven-song set, Artificial, and in January they gave a properly restored and remastered reissue release to 2005's Adventure. Both are excellent, and will carry you back to 1985 on the backs of glistening synth washes and memories of Simple Minds, Spandau Ballet, and later-era Roxy Music. But, as with Drinkwater's other other band, Lifestyle isn't a nostalgia act. Their work is solid and enjoyable pop music - and that's not a crime, right?
The Popdogs
If you don't find yourself smiling and tapping your feet along with The Popdogs' debut Cool Cats For Pop Dogs, you probably want to have your fun meter readjusted. If there isn't already a genre called Sunshine Power Pop, there needs to be, and The Popdogs need to be filed under it. They jangle like R.E.M. but wear much brighter colors; their songs are catchy and hummable bits of ephemeral ear candy that seem to evaporate upon arrival yet leave joyful echoes bouncing around your head. Check out the lead track, "Honest Guy," for proof:
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Side Four
I've been trying to determine the best way to celebrate four years in today's post, when it struck me that perhaps it might be time to provide at least a partial answer to the question I am often asked, How did I start listening to all that weird music I write about so often in the first place? There are many factors which came together to shape my musical tastes, many of which are near impossible to truly pin down. But there is one major influence that is easy to point to. And what better time than Year Four of the blog to write about Side Four?
Side Four are words spoken in my family in the hushed tones reserved for Very Special Things Indeed. While our reactions to Side Four varied then and vary now, all of the members of my family know Side Four very well. We were all, in some way, affected by it.
Side Four held within its grooves a host of forbidden delights, a cornucopia of crazed cacophonies, the most geeked out stuff you ever heard. It was wild, it was vulgar, it was rude, it was in your face. And it changed the way I listened to music. Warner Bros. had given Frank Zappa a sub-label of his own, Straight/Bizarre Records, to which he could sign any act he chose and let them record with relatively unrestricted artistic freedom. Side Four collected several of these, along with some like-minded artists, in an offering of pre-punk underground anti-mainstream performances that, in hindsight, boggle the mind that they existed in the same world - on the same compilation! - with James Taylor and Joni Mitchell and Small Faces.
Side Four begins with Ed Sanders founder and leader of one of the more notorious subversive hippie bands of the era, The Fugs. Sanders warbles/shouts "The Iliad," a ironic character study of the typical insensitive intolerant good ol' boy of the day who hated those longhaired, drug-tokin', obviously queer hippies with their free love and peace and all that. Ed spits that hatred in your face and dares you to wipe it off, and in the process predates the far more "commercially acceptable" Charlie Daniels tale of "Uneasy Rider" by at least three years:
Up next, The GTOs warble giddily about "The Captain's Fat Theresa Shoes". The GTOs (Girls Together Outrageously...or Organically...or Orgasmicly...or, as they declare on their lone album, 1969's Permanent Damage, "all those other O's") were a group formed by a bunch of honest-to-goodness groupies led by the infamous Pamela des Barres. Their childlike chanting and simplistic music would have fit in perfectly with the New Wave era:
Following that, the Captain himself! The late Don Van Vliet, better known as Captain Beefheart, had recently released his yet-unequalled masterpiece Trout Mask Replica, and from it the stunning "Ella Guru" was plucked for this collection. With shifting rhythms and odd time signatures, the surprisingly catchy shoulda-been-hit inspired many, from Pere Ubu to Tom Waits. It remains a classic:
Zappa himself shows up for a bit of a doo-wop goof with The Mothers of Invention celebrating a well known poor-man's drink of the day. "WPLJ" (white port and lemon juice) goes down just a smoothly as its namesake...and slowly eats away at your guts, again just like its namesake:
At this point, Side Four hits its crescendo, with a visit from the legendary Wild Man Fischer. Fischer was a street singer who suffered from severe schizophrenia, who was known to hang out on Sunset Strip shouting his "songs" at the top of his lungs for anyone who would pay him a dime to hear one. Zappa corralled Larry (Wild Man's given name) into a recording studio, put a microphone in front of him and rolled tape. Zappa found studio musicians to put a musical bed under some of the more "melodic" compositions, allowing others to stand in stark a capella harshness. The resultant album, An Evening With Wild Man Fischer, is a stunning creation which will leave you wondering just how blurred the line between celebration and exploitation truly is. (For a truly emotion-wrenching experience, dig up the documentary on Fischer's life, Derailroaded, and then ask yourself where that line is.) For The Big Ball, Warner Bros. created an elsewhere unavailable hybrid of two tracks from Evening, the absolutely wonderful (if lyrically inscrutable) "The Taster" and its explanatory companion track "The Story Of The Taster." Here are both as they appear in their original forms:
Finally, the tour of the bizarre ends with a remarkably straightforward little piece of folky sunshine, Pearls Before Swine's "Footnote." Kind of like a palette cleanser after an exotic meal, "Footnote" brings you safely back to the real world after surviving Side Four:
In those six tracks, you can hear so many sounds that clearly influenced my musical choices later in life. And the most telling thing about Side Four? There is a seventh and final song on that side, one that I seldom ever listened to then or now. I have never been able to stomach much at all from The Grateful Dead. A few songs here and there are OK, but the endless, formless jam-band concept is one I've never been too keen on. So, for all my love of Side Four, the seven-plus minutes of "Turn On Your Love Light" that seems oddly tacked on at the end is as out of place as I would be at a Grateful Dead show. (Apologies to my Deadhead friends - I respect your love of the band. Just never was and never will be my thing. Peace?)
So, after four years, a peek into what made me, well, me. Stick around for the next four years, friends!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Now Hear This!
Wow, has it really been more than two weeks since I last posted? Much has happened in the ensuing fortnight. Work at my full time job has hit the busiest time of the year, and a new client sits on the horizon for the marketing company I am helping to build - been putting in long days. The cats have been fixed, and yet have not calmed down an iota. They keep me sane, though, as do my family and friends and you, my dear readers. A sincere thank you to those who have sent messages through the Facebook and Twitter pages asking how I'm doing. Pretty well, actually - doctor gave me a clean bill of health, conditionally. (Still a few tests to run. You know, in all my free time...) Just have to work on keeping the stress levels down.
Another thing that helps me when the demons get to playing too rough with me, of course, is music, and there's been a lot of it to enjoy around here lately. If you haven't yet, please take a moment to read my reviews of new albums from The Dollyrots and Amy Gore & Her Valentines. And here I've created yet another handy guide for you of some of the coolest things blaring from my speakers lately - things that should be blaring from yours, too. Your ears will thank you, and so will these artists.
One Eyed Doll- "Comitted (2012)"
Honestly, I did not purposefully wait to do another one of these "listening party" posts until there was new music from my raving fave duo from Austin, Texas. Just a happy accident; an aligning of the stars; serendipity in action. That they've made a new recording of one of my favorites from their entire catalog, and a new video to go with it, makes me grin a big ol' grin; that it could be my theme song given recent events just adds to the cosmic convergence of awesome music and real life. And what are these rumors of a possible new album in early 2013?
The Dying Elk Herd - "Don't Let The Riverbeast Get You"
Also making a reappearance from the last Now Hear This list are local faves The Dying Elk Herd, whose second single (and first video) is decidedly killer. Campy fun and insanely catchy, the Herd strike a bit of a Presidents Of The United States Of America pose on this one. Which is a good thing. A damn good thing. Allegedly from the movie of the same name - at least we can hope so after seeing what they've done in just a three-minute music video. (The MTV-esque chyron at the beginning and end of the clip is a brilliant touch!)
Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave - "Where The Wild Roses Grow (2012)"
So there seems to be a lot of rerecording of oldies but goodies this year. The Dollyrots revamped "Because I'm Awesome," One-Eyed Doll took a new stab at "Committed," and one of the most unlikely yet eerily, hauntingly beautiful duets ever recorded has also been redone. Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue are musicians from Australia, but beyond that there isn't much you'd expect to find in the combined section of their Venn diagram. Yet in 1997 they came together to record a masterpiece. This year, they reunited on a new recording of the track for Minogue's Abbey Road Sessions album, and they nailed it again. Click the link to hear the new take on Soundcloud, and prepare for a shiver down your spine.
Blondie - "Rock On"
It's hard to believe Blondie is approaching four decades (!) of music, but it's not at all difficult to accept that Debbie Harry remains the coolest hot chick (or hottest cool chick) in all of punkdom, still going strong at age 67. (Remember when no one was supposed to trust anyone over thirty? Can we amend that to "under thirty" nowadays?) Just finishing up the wonderfully named Whip It To Shreds tour with fellow old fogies Devo, Blondie unleashed a few new tracks via ReverbNation.com. The best of the bunch is this bass-heavy slink through a song that's as old as the band, David Essex's 1974 hit "Rock On." Smooooth....
Iggy Pop & Zig Zags - "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up"
Speaking of old fogies still rockin' after all these years, the always amazing Iggy Pop surfaced again recently helping to launch an intriguing series of limited edition color vinyl 45s issued on the Light In The Attic label in which a cover version of track the label has reissued is flipped with the original. In this case, the former Jim Osterberg teams up with LA's Zig Zags for a murky gut-crunching take on Betty Davis's 1973 funk soul workout. (That's Betty with a "y," not Bette Davis with an "e," which would have made this an even more cool thing.) Check the clip, then pick up the vinyl:
Songs For Snakes - Charcoal Heather
You want people to hear your band? You gotta take the bull by the horns! You gotta step right up and introduce yourself and blast them with sonic joy. That's how I found out about San Francisco's Songs For Snakes and there seriously awesome Charcoal Heather album, currently available as a name-your-price download from Bandcamp.com. Band member Bill Taylor took it upon himself to send a message to the TWIWGTS Facebook page and point me in the direction of their music, which he describes as "Husker Du and Jawbreaker having a pleasant cup of green tea with Simon and Garfunkel." Well if a description like that doesn't pique your interest, there's something wrong. Nothing wrong with Songs For Snakes, though. My fave track is "St. Mary," but the whole dang LP is just as good. Get it and spread the word.
First Times - "(I Don't Wanna) Party No More"/"Girl On The Run"
Can't tell you a whole lot about First Times other than they're from Helsinki and they've been introduced to the world through this impossible-to-order import debut single. (Anyone read Finnish and willing to help me navigate the webstore for their label, Combat Rock?) Oh, and they rock. Hard. At least on the absolutely killer A-side, anyway. The flip slows the barrage about a half-step and underscores the band's sonic similarity to Sahara Hotnights. I NEED this single, dammit! Catch both songs here via Bandcamp:
Swilson - "Witchtrial Modern Day"
"If Roky Erickson was a member of the cast of Fast Times At Ridgemont High, he'd be Swilson," says Classic Rock Magazine in perhaps the most perfectly crystallized description of any artist ever. Swilson sounds like what every garage band made up of stoned kids thinks they sound like in their own heads. Swilson the man co-hosts the wonderful Advanced Demonology podcast, a monthly offshoot of the indispensable Movies About Girls podcast I've raved about on this blog before; Swilson the band makes wonderful music like "Cool Skull," the title track to a long-awaited EP you can hear at the link above, "Polyester Shirt Polyester Pants" from their debut Demonology LP, and the mindbending "Witchtrial Modern Day," presented for your listening and dancing pleasure here:
1-800-Band - "Maraschino"
For a long time I thought the world was basically out of good, clever band names. Then I found these guys and wondered why no one had thought of this one before. These Brooklynites keep the clever coming in their music, too, bringing an updated 1979-ish New Wave groove into the present day. They've got an album on iTunes and a live set from WFMU on FreeMusicArchive.com. They make me smile.
Angelspit - "Defibrulator"
Not sure how this Aussie electro-punk outfit has escaped my notice over the course of 8 albums. I mean with a punky/plinky sound like theirs and band members with names like Zoog and Destroyx, I should have been all over this. Instead, here I am playing catch-up. At least the oversight is being rectified. This was the shard of sound that first stabbed my eardrums and pulled me into their retro-future-industrial-robot world. It can be found on last year's Hello My Name Is Angelspit. It can be heard right here:
So there you go, a compendium of the sounds keeping my head on straight these days. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or speak up over on the Facebook or Twitter pages. For the record, these picks were made solely on my own enjoyment of the music. Ain't getting any kind of compensation from anyone on the list, save for the enjoyment of their work. If you like what you hear, please support the artists and spread the word.
Promise it won't be two weeks before the next post. No, really...
Another thing that helps me when the demons get to playing too rough with me, of course, is music, and there's been a lot of it to enjoy around here lately. If you haven't yet, please take a moment to read my reviews of new albums from The Dollyrots and Amy Gore & Her Valentines. And here I've created yet another handy guide for you of some of the coolest things blaring from my speakers lately - things that should be blaring from yours, too. Your ears will thank you, and so will these artists.
One Eyed Doll- "Comitted (2012)"
Honestly, I did not purposefully wait to do another one of these "listening party" posts until there was new music from my raving fave duo from Austin, Texas. Just a happy accident; an aligning of the stars; serendipity in action. That they've made a new recording of one of my favorites from their entire catalog, and a new video to go with it, makes me grin a big ol' grin; that it could be my theme song given recent events just adds to the cosmic convergence of awesome music and real life. And what are these rumors of a possible new album in early 2013?
The Dying Elk Herd - "Don't Let The Riverbeast Get You"
Also making a reappearance from the last Now Hear This list are local faves The Dying Elk Herd, whose second single (and first video) is decidedly killer. Campy fun and insanely catchy, the Herd strike a bit of a Presidents Of The United States Of America pose on this one. Which is a good thing. A damn good thing. Allegedly from the movie of the same name - at least we can hope so after seeing what they've done in just a three-minute music video. (The MTV-esque chyron at the beginning and end of the clip is a brilliant touch!)
Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave - "Where The Wild Roses Grow (2012)"So there seems to be a lot of rerecording of oldies but goodies this year. The Dollyrots revamped "Because I'm Awesome," One-Eyed Doll took a new stab at "Committed," and one of the most unlikely yet eerily, hauntingly beautiful duets ever recorded has also been redone. Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue are musicians from Australia, but beyond that there isn't much you'd expect to find in the combined section of their Venn diagram. Yet in 1997 they came together to record a masterpiece. This year, they reunited on a new recording of the track for Minogue's Abbey Road Sessions album, and they nailed it again. Click the link to hear the new take on Soundcloud, and prepare for a shiver down your spine.
Blondie - "Rock On"
It's hard to believe Blondie is approaching four decades (!) of music, but it's not at all difficult to accept that Debbie Harry remains the coolest hot chick (or hottest cool chick) in all of punkdom, still going strong at age 67. (Remember when no one was supposed to trust anyone over thirty? Can we amend that to "under thirty" nowadays?) Just finishing up the wonderfully named Whip It To Shreds tour with fellow old fogies Devo, Blondie unleashed a few new tracks via ReverbNation.com. The best of the bunch is this bass-heavy slink through a song that's as old as the band, David Essex's 1974 hit "Rock On." Smooooth....
Iggy Pop & Zig Zags - "If I'm In Luck I Might Get Picked Up"
Speaking of old fogies still rockin' after all these years, the always amazing Iggy Pop surfaced again recently helping to launch an intriguing series of limited edition color vinyl 45s issued on the Light In The Attic label in which a cover version of track the label has reissued is flipped with the original. In this case, the former Jim Osterberg teams up with LA's Zig Zags for a murky gut-crunching take on Betty Davis's 1973 funk soul workout. (That's Betty with a "y," not Bette Davis with an "e," which would have made this an even more cool thing.) Check the clip, then pick up the vinyl:
Songs For Snakes - Charcoal Heather
You want people to hear your band? You gotta take the bull by the horns! You gotta step right up and introduce yourself and blast them with sonic joy. That's how I found out about San Francisco's Songs For Snakes and there seriously awesome Charcoal Heather album, currently available as a name-your-price download from Bandcamp.com. Band member Bill Taylor took it upon himself to send a message to the TWIWGTS Facebook page and point me in the direction of their music, which he describes as "Husker Du and Jawbreaker having a pleasant cup of green tea with Simon and Garfunkel." Well if a description like that doesn't pique your interest, there's something wrong. Nothing wrong with Songs For Snakes, though. My fave track is "St. Mary," but the whole dang LP is just as good. Get it and spread the word.
First Times - "(I Don't Wanna) Party No More"/"Girl On The Run"
Can't tell you a whole lot about First Times other than they're from Helsinki and they've been introduced to the world through this impossible-to-order import debut single. (Anyone read Finnish and willing to help me navigate the webstore for their label, Combat Rock?) Oh, and they rock. Hard. At least on the absolutely killer A-side, anyway. The flip slows the barrage about a half-step and underscores the band's sonic similarity to Sahara Hotnights. I NEED this single, dammit! Catch both songs here via Bandcamp:
Swilson - "Witchtrial Modern Day"
"If Roky Erickson was a member of the cast of Fast Times At Ridgemont High, he'd be Swilson," says Classic Rock Magazine in perhaps the most perfectly crystallized description of any artist ever. Swilson sounds like what every garage band made up of stoned kids thinks they sound like in their own heads. Swilson the man co-hosts the wonderful Advanced Demonology podcast, a monthly offshoot of the indispensable Movies About Girls podcast I've raved about on this blog before; Swilson the band makes wonderful music like "Cool Skull," the title track to a long-awaited EP you can hear at the link above, "Polyester Shirt Polyester Pants" from their debut Demonology LP, and the mindbending "Witchtrial Modern Day," presented for your listening and dancing pleasure here:
1-800-Band - "Maraschino"
For a long time I thought the world was basically out of good, clever band names. Then I found these guys and wondered why no one had thought of this one before. These Brooklynites keep the clever coming in their music, too, bringing an updated 1979-ish New Wave groove into the present day. They've got an album on iTunes and a live set from WFMU on FreeMusicArchive.com. They make me smile.
Angelspit - "Defibrulator"
Not sure how this Aussie electro-punk outfit has escaped my notice over the course of 8 albums. I mean with a punky/plinky sound like theirs and band members with names like Zoog and Destroyx, I should have been all over this. Instead, here I am playing catch-up. At least the oversight is being rectified. This was the shard of sound that first stabbed my eardrums and pulled me into their retro-future-industrial-robot world. It can be found on last year's Hello My Name Is Angelspit. It can be heard right here:
So there you go, a compendium of the sounds keeping my head on straight these days. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or speak up over on the Facebook or Twitter pages. For the record, these picks were made solely on my own enjoyment of the music. Ain't getting any kind of compensation from anyone on the list, save for the enjoyment of their work. If you like what you hear, please support the artists and spread the word.
Promise it won't be two weeks before the next post. No, really...
Friday, August 10, 2012
Now Hear This!
I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of traffic generated by last month's aggregation of niftiness, Things You Should Be Seeing, Hearing, Reading and Doing. It has turned out to be one of the most popular posts in the history of the blog. Well, don't accuse me of not knowing a good thing when I see it! If it's recommendations you want, recommendations you'll get. I figured that this time around, since my ongoing job hunt has cut dramatically into my blogging and as a result I've missed a few NW4NW posts along the way, I'd focus specifically on some of the best music I've been listening to lately.
It's a big wide Internet out there, and it's full of tunes. Some are good, some are bad; some you can acquire legitimately, some...well, not so much. It's enough to make your head spin! Friend, I'm here to help. I've done the hard part - I've separated the wheat from the chaff and come up with a list of 14 excellent musical curios for your musical curio shelf...er, iPod. These aural treats are not presented in any particular order, and I am receiving no compensation of any kind from the artists, other than the sheer enjoyment of listening to their creations. Almost all of these are very recent, but some are not. And, truth be told, there is one list item where two artists doubled up, meaning yes, 14 artists, but 13 items. Or more, actually, depending on how you're counting. That's just the way it is. Regardless, they are the artists I'm listening to at the moment, and think you should be, too. Let's begin, shall we?
1. Beaujolais
I recently discovered an excellent independently published quarterly magazine that focuses exclusively on cult films, Paracinema. I will certainly be singing this book's praises in later posts, but for now I mention it because it was through Paracinema's Facebook page that I found one of the most well done music videos I've seen in some time, Beaujolais' outstanding "Where We Came From." Beaujolais is the musical side of Joseph A. Ziemba, who, along with Dan Budnick, runs the website Bleeding Skull, wherein they review and celebrate the low-budget slasher film.
It's no surprise, then, that the video is made to look like one of those 1980s straight-to-video grade Z slashers. Fans of that genre will smile at every trope and cliche presented here, from the chase through the abandoned school to the slightly creepy sheriff who promises to come back and check on the terrorized girl to the final lightning-flash reveal that the horror isn't over. The song is actually from last year's Beaujolais release, Moeurs, which can be streamed or purchased for down load here. The clip is new, though, and is a perfect joining of concept, visuals, and song:
2 & 3. Nikki Corvette/The Dahlmanns
The split single is a great invention - two bands' A-sides and no B-side in sight! Now that's a bargain!
The split single Surfin' Ki Records issued earlier this year, shared by Nikki Corvette and The Dahlmanns, is even better, sporting two great tracks from each artist. Nikki Corvette delivers the ultra-fun bubblegum punk she's always been known for, and The Dahlmanns travel all the way from Norway to prove they can hold their own sharing the vinyl grooves with Nikki C. Picking up the vinyl also bags you a download code for the digital versions. This one was only done as a small run of 400, so pick yours up quick!
BTW, Nikki just finished up a European tour with her current band, The Romeos, with plans for more dates in the spring (hopefully some US dates!). The Dahlmanns' new release, Dumb Me Down, will be officially out this Monday, August 13. You can - and should - grab it here.
4. Magic Christian w/ Gord Lewis
A bit of backstory for those who need it: in the late 1960s, Cyril Jordan was a founding member of perhaps the greatest garage band of all time, The Flamin' Groovies. In 1971 they recorded the pre-punk classic "Teenage Head." Four years later, a group of snotty young Canadian kids headed up by a fellow called Gord Lewis formed an early punk band, and adopted the song title as their band's name. Teenage Head would become one of the more popular Canadian punk bands, scoring a hit in their home country with 1980's "Let's Shake."
Fast forward to 2009. After more than 30 years, Jordan had disbanded The Groovies and was now playing with a sort of power-pop super group, Magic Christian, whose members also included Blondie's Clem Burke and Eddie Munnoz from The Plimsouls. Cyril invites Gord Lewis into the recording studio, and this amalgam of amazing musical talents records both The Flamin' Groovies' "Teenage Head" and Teenage Head's "Let's Shake." This year, Schizophrenic Records released both tracks as an awesome 7-inch - on clear vinyl no less! Suffice to say, this is a must-have! Here you can catch some of the recording session for "Teenage Head." Enjoy:
5. Mud Pie Sun
I have pointed you before in the direction of the outstanding ...tapewrecks... blog. If you haven't added it to regular blog reading rotation, please do so. You think I tell you these things for my health? Jeez, I wish you kids would listen when I tell you stuff! Anyway, I've also mentioned before that Tom, who curates the wrecked tapes there, is one half of a spiffy lo-fi homebrew-recording duo known as Mud Pie Sun. They've got a new CD out called Wooden Circle, and are offering a free sampling in the form of a digital single, "Church of Bitter Souls." The single can be had here, and a measly $8 will get you the whole 14-song shebang in both physical CD and ethereal digital forms. Good folky freakout kind of stuff, courtesy of a pair of Philly musicians noodling around in their home studios. Listen:
6. Prefab Messiahs
One surefire way to discover good music is to find out who the musicians you already like listen to. It was through Tom of Mud Pie Sun that I learned of Prefab Messiahs, thanks to Tom's NW4NW request back in 2010. You can click back to that post to learn virtually everything I know about the band; two years later I haven't uncovered much more, except that this year they have released Peace, Love and Alienation, an 8-song collection of remastered recordings from another place and time. The Messiahs also offer a morsel of musical goodness to whet your appetite, a digital single of "Desperately Happy." The whole collection can be both digitally streamed (here) or purchased in pristine vinyl packaged with a fold-out 'zine (here).
7. The Dying Elk Herd
There's a new(ish) band on the scene here in my hometown of Lancaster, PA, and I bring them to your attention because they're damn good. The Dying Elk Herd is a trio that has been playing together under that name for a relatively short while, but all three are veterans of the local music scene. Dave Benner, Greg Cathey, and Curt Laudenberger have been bandmates in various permutations over the years, putting in time in Nobody's Fools, Kirk & The Jerks, and Jet Silver. These days their sound is more mature than that old skate punk, but carries a definite nostalgia for that time. Their track "Another Restless Night," recorded for this year's Music For Everyone charity compilation CD, is offered up for free download from their website. If this is indicative of where their sound is going (think later-era Stiff Little Fingers with a bit more power-pop in the mix), I'm eager to hear more!
8. Brandon Locher
If your tastes run to the more avant-garde sound-collage performance pieces of artists like Negativland or The Tape-Beatles, Johnstown PA's Brandon Locher's Conversations may be right up your alley. If you're looking for music you can sing along with and dance to, keep moving, but if you, like me, are fascinated by audio verite pieces and human psychology, you'll find these two tracks remarkable. Locher is part of Johnstown's My Idea Of Fun art collective, and in these works he takes the concept of a prank phone call away from small-minded juveniles and raises it to a level of stunning sophistication.
The process is simple: call person #1, say nothing when they answer, and record whatever they say. Then call person #2 and play back the recording of person #1. Person #3 then is called and played person #2's recording, and so forth. The result is an otherworldly version of the old children's game of Whisper Down the Lane. It's remarkable to hear people carrying on conversations, completely unaware that they are not talking to a live person. Before long, an odd rhythm starts to develop with various voices unwittingly repeating a chorus of "Hello? Hello?" Both tracks can be downloaded for free.
9. Buttress O'Kneel
How much time have you got? While we're off on this little sound-as-art side-trip, it seems the right time to mention a most remarkable series of recordings. These would be easy to dismiss as conceptual works where the idea of the thing is more the point than the substance, but if you are willing to invest the time they demand, there are rewards to be found. Let me explain:
Buttress O'Kneel has been a prolific mash-up artist for some time. Her ability to combine disparate songs and sounds into seamless new pieces is almost confounding and at times quite funny (check out "She Blinded Me With Shatner" from this year's Avant Retro: Post Tardcore album, or the utterly brilliant "Nyan Inch Nails"). But recently she has embarked on a rather different type of sound manipulation. She is creating a series of works based on the theme of spirituality, in which she takes well-known songs and slows them down extremely using a time-stretching software that allows pitch to remain relatively the same as in the original format. And when I say "slows them down extremely," I'm not exaggerating: my favorite piece, shared here, is "Heaven," which stretches Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" out over 77 minutes and 7 seconds (777 being the number of Heaven). Other works in the series include "A Devil Put Aside For Me" which stretches Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" to 75 minutes, since it was released in 1975, and "Neverending," in which Limahl's "Neverending Story" is made to almost literally reflect its title at 102 minutes, the length of the motion picture from which it comes. Listening to these pieces is an experience that's hard to describe. The music becomes ambient, almost trance-like, and when vocals finally appear (almost ten minutes into the track in the case of "Heaven"), they are otherworldly yet vaguely recognizable. The effect is meditative; at points you forget that you're listening to it as your mind wanders off into your own thoughts, occasionally being brought back to awareness that the song is still playing. Absolutely worth slowing your own day down to experience.
Buttress O'Kneel - "Heaven"
10. Plurals
I'm so very pleased to see Baltimore MD's Plurals making waves - New Wave waves, in their case. I was first exposed to this band last October when I saw them among the opening bands for Shonen Knife; I raved about them then, saying that I wanted to hear more. Well, ta-da! Plurals have released a 4-song digital EP, Laced With Boniva, which will hopefully begin to spread the word about this excellent band. If Boston's Freezepop is keeping the 1983 synthpop sound alive, then Plurals are doing the same for the angular New Wave sounds of 1979/1980. With B-52's-ish female backups, jagged guitars and hiccuppy synths, their sound brings back fond memories to my ears. They're a fun, danceable, good time to see live, and it's nice to hear that they translate so well in recorded form. Four songs isn't enough, though - we need more! (Hint, hint!) Listen here to "Mental Illness/Sooner Or Later," in which they invoke The English Beat rather directly, then go get the whole thing. They have it set up as a "name your price" download here.
11. One-Eyed Doll
Come on, you knew I wouldn't get through a list of music you need to hear like this without mentioning One-Eyed Doll! I won't spend a great deal of time discussing their incredibly awesome current album, Dirty, here - you can read my full review at this post. I include them in the list because the album is now finally available as a "name your price" digital download in addition to physical CD and vinyl formats. They're on tour right now with Otep; if they come anywhere near you, please go see them. Best live show you will ever experience, bar none. And, since I must unfortunately miss them this time around, do me a favor and tell Kimberly and Junior I said "Hi!"
12. Trebor Sor
Another case of finding a very cool artist by discovering who the artists you already like listen to. In this case, One-Eyed Doll mentioned independent musician Trebor Sor on their Facebook page, as both Kimberly and Junior helped out on his current digital release, On My Own. But don't think you're in for the same sort of sounds as One-Eyed Doll. Sor's music is a bit more subdued, smooth and glistening. His page on ReverbNation describes him as sounding like, among others, The Moody Blues, The Sisters Of Mercy, and Cat Stevens - and I'd have a hard time arguing that description. On My Own is yet another "name your price" download - do go get it. Listen to "Set Yourself Free," which includes helpful backing vocals from Kimberly Freeman from One-Eyed Doll:
13. Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School of Medicine
My friends and I have a standard line whenever we're at a show where the band onstage goes into generic rock band mode and starts encouraging the crowd to clap along with whatever song they're playing: "Jello Biafra never told me to clap my hands. Jello Biafra told me to think." 34 years after launching Dead Kennedys, Jello is still trying to get people out of conformist sheep mode and into thinking for themselves, and given his history of political and social protest, it's no surprise that he would find himself in alignment with the Occupy Movement (at least in theory, if not in specific practice.) "SHOCK-YOU-PY!" is the first glimpse of what will eventually be a new EP and full length LP from his current band. He offers it in two variations, one exclusive to the "name your price" download. Take some time to read his description of the song and why he wrote it; no need for me to rephrase his words here. Then listen. Download and share. And, most importantly, think.
14. The Dollyrots
If you are a regular visitor to the TWIWGTS Facebook Page (if you're not, what's up with that?!? Stop on by, "like" us, and hang with the cool kids!), you already know that the new Dollyrots album will be available September 18! But did you know you can get a free pre-release download of the single "Because I'm Awesome (2012)" just by visiting The Dollyrots' webpage? You can! Go there now and get it; I'll wait here. You're back? Good, where were we? Oh yes...The Dollyrots will be available as a CD, on vinyl, or digitally. You can pre-order here and get some nifty goodies to go along with the music. They'll be headed off to the UK for a tour in support of the new record; hopefully they will then come tour the US. They actually played right here in Lancaster on their last tour, and I missed them - I am still kicking myself for that! "Because I'm Awesome" is one of their very best songs, and this new recording of it stays true to the original. Can't wait for the whole LP!
Now, among those 14 artists, you're bound to find some new goodies for your listening pleasure. You're welcome. The only thing I ask from you is feedback. Which of these do you enjoy the most? Are you like me and love them all? Any you didn't care for? Why? Speak up! Also, if you have some music that you think others should be hearing, feel free to let us know!
It's a big wide Internet out there, and it's full of tunes. Some are good, some are bad; some you can acquire legitimately, some...well, not so much. It's enough to make your head spin! Friend, I'm here to help. I've done the hard part - I've separated the wheat from the chaff and come up with a list of 14 excellent musical curios for your musical curio shelf...er, iPod. These aural treats are not presented in any particular order, and I am receiving no compensation of any kind from the artists, other than the sheer enjoyment of listening to their creations. Almost all of these are very recent, but some are not. And, truth be told, there is one list item where two artists doubled up, meaning yes, 14 artists, but 13 items. Or more, actually, depending on how you're counting. That's just the way it is. Regardless, they are the artists I'm listening to at the moment, and think you should be, too. Let's begin, shall we?
1. Beaujolais
I recently discovered an excellent independently published quarterly magazine that focuses exclusively on cult films, Paracinema. I will certainly be singing this book's praises in later posts, but for now I mention it because it was through Paracinema's Facebook page that I found one of the most well done music videos I've seen in some time, Beaujolais' outstanding "Where We Came From." Beaujolais is the musical side of Joseph A. Ziemba, who, along with Dan Budnick, runs the website Bleeding Skull, wherein they review and celebrate the low-budget slasher film.
It's no surprise, then, that the video is made to look like one of those 1980s straight-to-video grade Z slashers. Fans of that genre will smile at every trope and cliche presented here, from the chase through the abandoned school to the slightly creepy sheriff who promises to come back and check on the terrorized girl to the final lightning-flash reveal that the horror isn't over. The song is actually from last year's Beaujolais release, Moeurs, which can be streamed or purchased for down load here. The clip is new, though, and is a perfect joining of concept, visuals, and song:
2 & 3. Nikki Corvette/The Dahlmanns
The split single is a great invention - two bands' A-sides and no B-side in sight! Now that's a bargain!
The split single Surfin' Ki Records issued earlier this year, shared by Nikki Corvette and The Dahlmanns, is even better, sporting two great tracks from each artist. Nikki Corvette delivers the ultra-fun bubblegum punk she's always been known for, and The Dahlmanns travel all the way from Norway to prove they can hold their own sharing the vinyl grooves with Nikki C. Picking up the vinyl also bags you a download code for the digital versions. This one was only done as a small run of 400, so pick yours up quick!
BTW, Nikki just finished up a European tour with her current band, The Romeos, with plans for more dates in the spring (hopefully some US dates!). The Dahlmanns' new release, Dumb Me Down, will be officially out this Monday, August 13. You can - and should - grab it here.
4. Magic Christian w/ Gord Lewis
A bit of backstory for those who need it: in the late 1960s, Cyril Jordan was a founding member of perhaps the greatest garage band of all time, The Flamin' Groovies. In 1971 they recorded the pre-punk classic "Teenage Head." Four years later, a group of snotty young Canadian kids headed up by a fellow called Gord Lewis formed an early punk band, and adopted the song title as their band's name. Teenage Head would become one of the more popular Canadian punk bands, scoring a hit in their home country with 1980's "Let's Shake."
Fast forward to 2009. After more than 30 years, Jordan had disbanded The Groovies and was now playing with a sort of power-pop super group, Magic Christian, whose members also included Blondie's Clem Burke and Eddie Munnoz from The Plimsouls. Cyril invites Gord Lewis into the recording studio, and this amalgam of amazing musical talents records both The Flamin' Groovies' "Teenage Head" and Teenage Head's "Let's Shake." This year, Schizophrenic Records released both tracks as an awesome 7-inch - on clear vinyl no less! Suffice to say, this is a must-have! Here you can catch some of the recording session for "Teenage Head." Enjoy:
5. Mud Pie Sun
I have pointed you before in the direction of the outstanding ...tapewrecks... blog. If you haven't added it to regular blog reading rotation, please do so. You think I tell you these things for my health? Jeez, I wish you kids would listen when I tell you stuff! Anyway, I've also mentioned before that Tom, who curates the wrecked tapes there, is one half of a spiffy lo-fi homebrew-recording duo known as Mud Pie Sun. They've got a new CD out called Wooden Circle, and are offering a free sampling in the form of a digital single, "Church of Bitter Souls." The single can be had here, and a measly $8 will get you the whole 14-song shebang in both physical CD and ethereal digital forms. Good folky freakout kind of stuff, courtesy of a pair of Philly musicians noodling around in their home studios. Listen:
6. Prefab Messiahs
One surefire way to discover good music is to find out who the musicians you already like listen to. It was through Tom of Mud Pie Sun that I learned of Prefab Messiahs, thanks to Tom's NW4NW request back in 2010. You can click back to that post to learn virtually everything I know about the band; two years later I haven't uncovered much more, except that this year they have released Peace, Love and Alienation, an 8-song collection of remastered recordings from another place and time. The Messiahs also offer a morsel of musical goodness to whet your appetite, a digital single of "Desperately Happy." The whole collection can be both digitally streamed (here) or purchased in pristine vinyl packaged with a fold-out 'zine (here).
7. The Dying Elk Herd
There's a new(ish) band on the scene here in my hometown of Lancaster, PA, and I bring them to your attention because they're damn good. The Dying Elk Herd is a trio that has been playing together under that name for a relatively short while, but all three are veterans of the local music scene. Dave Benner, Greg Cathey, and Curt Laudenberger have been bandmates in various permutations over the years, putting in time in Nobody's Fools, Kirk & The Jerks, and Jet Silver. These days their sound is more mature than that old skate punk, but carries a definite nostalgia for that time. Their track "Another Restless Night," recorded for this year's Music For Everyone charity compilation CD, is offered up for free download from their website. If this is indicative of where their sound is going (think later-era Stiff Little Fingers with a bit more power-pop in the mix), I'm eager to hear more!
8. Brandon Locher
If your tastes run to the more avant-garde sound-collage performance pieces of artists like Negativland or The Tape-Beatles, Johnstown PA's Brandon Locher's Conversations may be right up your alley. If you're looking for music you can sing along with and dance to, keep moving, but if you, like me, are fascinated by audio verite pieces and human psychology, you'll find these two tracks remarkable. Locher is part of Johnstown's My Idea Of Fun art collective, and in these works he takes the concept of a prank phone call away from small-minded juveniles and raises it to a level of stunning sophistication.
The process is simple: call person #1, say nothing when they answer, and record whatever they say. Then call person #2 and play back the recording of person #1. Person #3 then is called and played person #2's recording, and so forth. The result is an otherworldly version of the old children's game of Whisper Down the Lane. It's remarkable to hear people carrying on conversations, completely unaware that they are not talking to a live person. Before long, an odd rhythm starts to develop with various voices unwittingly repeating a chorus of "Hello? Hello?" Both tracks can be downloaded for free.
9. Buttress O'Kneel
How much time have you got? While we're off on this little sound-as-art side-trip, it seems the right time to mention a most remarkable series of recordings. These would be easy to dismiss as conceptual works where the idea of the thing is more the point than the substance, but if you are willing to invest the time they demand, there are rewards to be found. Let me explain:
Buttress O'Kneel has been a prolific mash-up artist for some time. Her ability to combine disparate songs and sounds into seamless new pieces is almost confounding and at times quite funny (check out "She Blinded Me With Shatner" from this year's Avant Retro: Post Tardcore album, or the utterly brilliant "Nyan Inch Nails"). But recently she has embarked on a rather different type of sound manipulation. She is creating a series of works based on the theme of spirituality, in which she takes well-known songs and slows them down extremely using a time-stretching software that allows pitch to remain relatively the same as in the original format. And when I say "slows them down extremely," I'm not exaggerating: my favorite piece, shared here, is "Heaven," which stretches Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" out over 77 minutes and 7 seconds (777 being the number of Heaven). Other works in the series include "A Devil Put Aside For Me" which stretches Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" to 75 minutes, since it was released in 1975, and "Neverending," in which Limahl's "Neverending Story" is made to almost literally reflect its title at 102 minutes, the length of the motion picture from which it comes. Listening to these pieces is an experience that's hard to describe. The music becomes ambient, almost trance-like, and when vocals finally appear (almost ten minutes into the track in the case of "Heaven"), they are otherworldly yet vaguely recognizable. The effect is meditative; at points you forget that you're listening to it as your mind wanders off into your own thoughts, occasionally being brought back to awareness that the song is still playing. Absolutely worth slowing your own day down to experience.
10. Plurals
I'm so very pleased to see Baltimore MD's Plurals making waves - New Wave waves, in their case. I was first exposed to this band last October when I saw them among the opening bands for Shonen Knife; I raved about them then, saying that I wanted to hear more. Well, ta-da! Plurals have released a 4-song digital EP, Laced With Boniva, which will hopefully begin to spread the word about this excellent band. If Boston's Freezepop is keeping the 1983 synthpop sound alive, then Plurals are doing the same for the angular New Wave sounds of 1979/1980. With B-52's-ish female backups, jagged guitars and hiccuppy synths, their sound brings back fond memories to my ears. They're a fun, danceable, good time to see live, and it's nice to hear that they translate so well in recorded form. Four songs isn't enough, though - we need more! (Hint, hint!) Listen here to "Mental Illness/Sooner Or Later," in which they invoke The English Beat rather directly, then go get the whole thing. They have it set up as a "name your price" download here.
11. One-Eyed Doll
Come on, you knew I wouldn't get through a list of music you need to hear like this without mentioning One-Eyed Doll! I won't spend a great deal of time discussing their incredibly awesome current album, Dirty, here - you can read my full review at this post. I include them in the list because the album is now finally available as a "name your price" digital download in addition to physical CD and vinyl formats. They're on tour right now with Otep; if they come anywhere near you, please go see them. Best live show you will ever experience, bar none. And, since I must unfortunately miss them this time around, do me a favor and tell Kimberly and Junior I said "Hi!"
12. Trebor Sor
Another case of finding a very cool artist by discovering who the artists you already like listen to. In this case, One-Eyed Doll mentioned independent musician Trebor Sor on their Facebook page, as both Kimberly and Junior helped out on his current digital release, On My Own. But don't think you're in for the same sort of sounds as One-Eyed Doll. Sor's music is a bit more subdued, smooth and glistening. His page on ReverbNation describes him as sounding like, among others, The Moody Blues, The Sisters Of Mercy, and Cat Stevens - and I'd have a hard time arguing that description. On My Own is yet another "name your price" download - do go get it. Listen to "Set Yourself Free," which includes helpful backing vocals from Kimberly Freeman from One-Eyed Doll:
13. Jello Biafra & the Guantanamo School of Medicine
My friends and I have a standard line whenever we're at a show where the band onstage goes into generic rock band mode and starts encouraging the crowd to clap along with whatever song they're playing: "Jello Biafra never told me to clap my hands. Jello Biafra told me to think." 34 years after launching Dead Kennedys, Jello is still trying to get people out of conformist sheep mode and into thinking for themselves, and given his history of political and social protest, it's no surprise that he would find himself in alignment with the Occupy Movement (at least in theory, if not in specific practice.) "SHOCK-YOU-PY!" is the first glimpse of what will eventually be a new EP and full length LP from his current band. He offers it in two variations, one exclusive to the "name your price" download. Take some time to read his description of the song and why he wrote it; no need for me to rephrase his words here. Then listen. Download and share. And, most importantly, think.
14. The Dollyrots
If you are a regular visitor to the TWIWGTS Facebook Page (if you're not, what's up with that?!? Stop on by, "like" us, and hang with the cool kids!), you already know that the new Dollyrots album will be available September 18! But did you know you can get a free pre-release download of the single "Because I'm Awesome (2012)" just by visiting The Dollyrots' webpage? You can! Go there now and get it; I'll wait here. You're back? Good, where were we? Oh yes...The Dollyrots will be available as a CD, on vinyl, or digitally. You can pre-order here and get some nifty goodies to go along with the music. They'll be headed off to the UK for a tour in support of the new record; hopefully they will then come tour the US. They actually played right here in Lancaster on their last tour, and I missed them - I am still kicking myself for that! "Because I'm Awesome" is one of their very best songs, and this new recording of it stays true to the original. Can't wait for the whole LP!
Now, among those 14 artists, you're bound to find some new goodies for your listening pleasure. You're welcome. The only thing I ask from you is feedback. Which of these do you enjoy the most? Are you like me and love them all? Any you didn't care for? Why? Speak up! Also, if you have some music that you think others should be hearing, feel free to let us know!
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