Kickin' Out the Jams, Mofo!

Neil Young in 1984/1985

2011-06-06T18:49:00.001-05:00

Neil's tours with the "International Harvesters" in 1984 and 1985 have provided me with some of my favorite concert bootlegs. The new "A Treasure" release next week provides us official release of 12 live tracks from those tours. The new album probably won't stack up to the complete Austin 1984 soundboard tape or 3-disc 1984 tour compilation that have been in circulation for a long while, but I look forward to hearing it nonetheless.

My Upcoming Disaster Songs Compilation (Coming Summer 2011, mofos)

2011-04-25T21:53:00.001-05:00

I have been working on my disaster songs mixtape for many a month. Here are two of the selections:

O'Death -- "Fire on Peshtigo":

Obviously, side B will open with Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald":

The 4 things I am currently liking about TV on the Radio

2011-02-26T00:19:00.002-06:00

1. New single from the forthcoming album Nine Types of Light which comes out April 12th on Interscope Records:

TV On The Radio - "Will Do" by Interscope Records

2. I preordered the new album on amazon.com.

3. The new album cover -- photo by band member Dave Sitek.

4. I just bought tickets today for a TV on the Radio show in April.

I am one happy TV on the Radio fan, mofos.

I've Been Partying with Jann Wenner

2011-02-20T17:44:00.013-06:00

All apologies for the lack of updates in the last 7 weeks.

Ever since this blog was featured in the year-end music coverage in Rolling Stone (well, actually by a music column on rollingstone.com), I have had little time to post. Once Jann's private jet picked me up on December 31st, I have been hitting the international rock-n-roll party circuit on Mr. Wenner's dime. Chatting about surrealist poetry with David Bowie and Chevy Chase at a party in Paris? Check. Making fun of Mick Jagger with Keith Richards and Johnny Depp on a rooftop in South Beach? Check.

I ducked out of the non-stop Jann-guided party right before the Grammys. I had to draw a line somewhere.

I hope to provide capsule reviews soon on some of the new albums that I have heard this year--from the likes of PJ Harvey, the Decemberists, the Drive-By Truckers, New York Dolls, Wire, Radiohead, Gang of Four, Ghostface Killah, Yuck, Hayes Carll, The Dirtbombs, Wanda Jackson, Iron & Wine, Destroyer, Smith Westerns, etc.

I haven't watched the Grammys since 1998 [then it was mainly to watch the Dylan lovefest that culminated in Time Out of Mind winning album of the year], but I sought out this fine Janelle Monae clip from this year's Grammys. I am still beating myself up over missing the Monae/Of Montreal tour this past fall. Arghhh.

Be cool, stay in school.

Today was a Day for "Unreleased Demos & Instrumentals" by The Smiths

2010-12-29T19:00:00.001-06:00

About 10 days back a handful of new demos and outtakes from The Smiths started circulating--the best copies seem to come from a gray market double-LP set that hit various record stores in the U.S. and Great Britain earlier in the month. Some of the demos have not been in wide circulation before this release. I am trying to track down the rumored connections to the Wikileaks document dump but haven't solved the case as of yet. I'll keep you posted.

Download this treasure trove of high-quality tunes for yourself here.

Tracklist:
The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
Reel Around The Fountain
Rusholme Ruffians
The Queen Is Dead
Sheila Take A Bow
This Night Has Opened My Eyes
Untitled One (Marr Instrumental)
Ask
There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
Is It Really So Strange?
Frankly, Mr. Shankly
Shoplifters Of The World Unite (Reprise)
Girlfriend In A Coma
Death Of A Disco Dancer
Paint A Vulgar Picture
Untitled Two (Marr Instrumental)

My Favorite Albums of 2010

2010-12-27T23:53:00.029-06:00

Last week I posted my list of Favorite Archival Albums of 2010. Today's list is comprised of albums of "new" material released during this calendar year. It wasn't really too hard to keep up with new releases in 2010, as streaming services like lala.com [for the first half of the year], soundcloud.com, NPR's First Listen, and grooveshark.com allow one to stream albums for free. As well, vinyl and CD prices are fairly low right now which allowed me to purchase a good amount of PVC and polycarbonate platters, respectively.

Anyway, let's get to the list. I have known my likely favorite album of the year since early summer, though the rest of the list has been in flux up to this morning. I was shooting for a top 15 list, but I couldn't make 'em all fit without cheating. Here is the list of my 16 favorite albums of 2010, along with some honorable mentions:

1) Janelle Monáe – The ArchAndroid (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

It was not really much of a competition for the number one slot. This was by far and away my favorite album of the year. This release is all over the map musically, with no song sounding the same as the one before it--funk, soul, Disneyesque interludes, tripped-out folk, paranoia-infused crooning, sharp electric guitar licks, wistful ballads, etc. Plus it has the added benefit of being a concept album set in a futuristic sci-fi world with an interlocking storyline of survival and rebellion. It is as if Ms. Monae intentionally set about the task of punching all your faithful blogger's buttons, both musically and lyrically. I hope she "keeps it weird" as her career moves forward and that she stays this ambitious.

2) Titus Andronicus: The Monitor (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Angst --> Ambition --> New Jersey -->Indulgence -->Brilliance

3) Blitzen Trapper – Destroyer of the Void (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Few albums were in more frequent rotation this summer than the 5th album by Portland's BT. Starting with the prog turn(s) in the opening track and on through the laid-back vibe of the remainder of the album, it was the perfect soundtrack to my June through August. I think I am probably in the minority on this album as I like it even better than 2009's Furr (and also 2007's Wild Mountain Nation). BT have a knack for getting away with some fairly schmaltzy lyrics at times (on par with early career Neil Young). Yet they somehow work. I am not sure how they pull it off. After the Gold Rush, mofos.

4) Ty Segall -- Melted (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

The Bay Area's one and only garage psych king. One of my great finds of the last year. I am now working my way backward through the Segall oeuvre. Don't make him carry the Jay Reatard (RIP) mantle--give him some breathing room.

5) The Soft Pack – The Soft Pack (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Yes, there are Jonathan Richman, Velvets, and surf rock influences here, but I think the band gives us considerable value-added with the nifty songwriting and the churning arrangements. Play this loud, mofos.

6) Bee vs. Moth -- Acronyms (at amazon.com)

I reviewed this album (well, sorta reviewed it and linked to some of the album's tunes) a few months back.

7) Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me (at amazon.com and stream disc 1 on grooveshark)

I gave this wonderful triple-vinyl album a lengthy review back on the 1st of May.

8) The Budos Band – III (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

The soundtrack to what you should be doing right now instead of reading my blog.

9) Roky Erickson with Okkervil River – True Love Cast Out All Evil (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Look, I’m not one of those dudes who is at your local indie record store, flipping quickly through the crates of vinyl, wearing a Roky shirt, and muttering about creatures with atom brains; but I am a fan of Roky and glad he can surface again with this great artistic update. I am not a big fan of the Okkervil River production and some of the arrangements, but the albums rises above those shortcomings. Goodbye Sweet Dreams.

10) The Fall – Your Future Our Clutter (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

American translation: Get off my lawn. Get off my Goddamn lawn.

11) Of Montreal – False Priest (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

I know that this album is underwhelming to certain OM fans, but Side 1A of the double vinyl set contains the best LP side of pop songs of the year for me. Sides 1B, 2A, and 2B are each a nice spin as well. I look forward to seeing where OM go next. "I participated in all your protests / Supported your stupid little blog / Got a Bowflex / Wore colored contacts to match your dress."

12) Grinderman – Grinderman 2 (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Keep on keepin' on, Mr. Cave. Weird to be following you into middle-age. Who woulda thunk it? Mofo is 53. I hit the big 4-0 next month. Listen to this album instead of reading ~~Tom Wolfe's~~ Jonathan Franzen's Freedom. And certainly don't do both at the same time, etc.

13) Various Artists -- Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

A tribute album to one of my very favorite songwriters. The album includes prime Prine covers by the likes of Bon Iver, Conor Oberst, My Morning Jacket, Josh Ritter, Lambchop, Justin Townes Earle, The Avett Brothers, Old Crow Medicine Show, Sara Watkins, Drive-By Truckers, Deer Tick, and Those Darlins. I am only a fan of about half of these artists, but the majesty of Prine's songwriting shines through on each and every respectful track.

14) Ted Leo And The Pharmacists -- The Brutalist Bricks (at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Contains my favorite opening line of an album this year: "When the café doors exploded, I reacted, too. Reacted to you, reacted to you.”

15) Maximum Balloon -- Maximum Balloon [tied](at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

This is Dave Sitek's (from TV on the Radio) solo album. Lots of special help on here: David Byrne, Karen O, Kyp Malone, and Theophilus London. I am very ready for a new TVotR release. Signs point to 2011?

15) Midlake -- The Courage of Others [tied](at amazon.com and stream on grooveshark)

Grap your flute, don your cloak, and meet me in the forest. Hurry up, we have little time.

Some honorable mentions, in no particular order:
•White Denim – Last Day of Summer
•King Sunny Adé – Bábá Mo Túndé
•Mulatu Astatke – Steps Ahead
•Merle Haggard – I Am What I Am
•Various Artists -- Twistable Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to Shel Silverstein
•Willie Nelson – Country Music
•Harlem – Hippies
•Thee Oh Sees – Warm Slime
•Trampled by Turtles -- Palomino
•Justin Townes Earle – Harlem River Blues
•Magnetic Fields – Realism
•AfroCubism – Afrocubism
•Superchunk - Majesty Shredding
•Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band – Legacy
•Nels Cline Singers – Initiate
•Ray Wylie Hubbard -- A: Enlightenment B: Endarkenment (Hint: There Is No C)
•Arcade Fire – The Suburbs
•Marc Ribot -- Silent Movies
•Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – I Learned The Hard Way
•Phosphorescent – Here’s to Taking it Easy
•Wolf Parade – Expo 86
•Alejandro Escovedo – Street Songs of Love
•The Steeldrivers - Reckless
•Bryan Ferry – Olympia
•Laurie Anderson - Homeland
•The Dead Weather – Sea of Cowards
•Orquestra De Tambores De Alagoas -- Bantus E Caetes
•The Black Keys – Brothers
•Mavis Staples – You are Not Alone
•Konono No. 1 -- Assume Crash Position
•Richard Thompson – Dream Attic
•Menomena - Mines

This Morning is a Morning for Willie Nelson singing "Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down"

2010-12-17T10:54:00.002-06:00

My sincere advice is to listen to Willie's 2010 [and/or Uncle Tupelo's 1992, and/or Medeski, Martin & Wood's 2009] version of this traditional song to cleanse the awful 2010 Robert Plant version from your brain (in case you have been exposed):

Tonight is a Night for the Decemberists covering the Grateful Dead (Row Jimmy edition)

2010-12-17T00:13:00.001-06:00

A couple of days back the Decemberists released this Dead cover as the B side of a vinyl 7″ single.

The Decemberists - Row Jimmy (Grateful Dead cover) by jp917

My Favorite Archival Albums of 2010

2010-12-12T23:47:00.005-06:00

Within the next 10 days or so, I'll make sure to post my Favorite Albums of 2010 list. I don't have it completed, though I have started to make some progress.

Today's list, however, is comprised of music that wasn't released for the first time in 2010. These albums contain recordings from many years or even many decades ago. It is an exciting time to be a fan of music from earlier time periods, as new archival releases on vinyl and CD have been coming out at a remarkable clip.

I spend increasing amounts of time "living in the past" with my musical choices, and in recent years I have explored three main (related) areas of interest [beyond the standard rock/c&w/jazz/bluegrass that I usually listen to]: 1)hard driving U.S. regional funk from the late 1960s and early 1970s; 2)Nigerian and other W. African rock/funk/fusion music from the late 1960s and early 1970s; and 3)traditional/modern psychedelic/fusion music from other corners of the globe--most recently this has concentrated on Peru, Colombia, Turkey, and India, with the music primarily from the late 1960s and the 1970s.

The following 15 archival releases were my favorite of 2010 (in no particular order):

•Various Artists – The Roots of Chicha 2: Psychedelic Cumbias From Peru (available on amazon.com: Roots of Chicha 2)

A truly wondrous second collection of the formative years of chicha in Peru from the late 1960s into the 1970s.
Read an excerpt from the liner notes on the Barbes Records website and stream the album for yourself. A musical cup of coffee--day or night.

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•Various Artists – The World Ends: Afro Rock & Psychedelia in 1970s Nigeria (Parts 1 & 2) (available on amazon.com: Soundway Records Presents The World Ends Afro Rock And Psychedelia In 1970s Nigeria)

The Nigerian Civil War lasted from summer of 1967 to the beginning of 1970. How many people eventually died as a result of the conflict? 1 million? 2 million? More? This two-disc collection compiles some of the rock music that was created in the wake of the brutal civil war and the humanitarian emergency that followed. It is 32 tracks of hard-rocking psychedelic mish-mash as traditional forms of Nigerian music were incorporated into Western, late 1960s rock music (or was it the other way around). Simply fantastic. Read a bit more on the album and check out some tracks for yourself on the Soundway website.

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•Various Artists – Turkish Freakout! Psych-Folk Singles 1969-1980(available on amazon.com: Turkish Freakout!)

A groovin' compilation of 7" singles originally issued primarily in the 1970s on various labels based out of Istanbul. This is a hypnotic and hard-driving mix of traditional Turkish instrumentation with influences coming from the Western rock and psych scenes of the late 1960s.

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•Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune
(available on amazon.com: Valleys Of Neptune)

Perhaps you remember all of the hype about these "new" Hendrix tunes from back in March. A very fun listen all the way through. RIP Jimi.

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•Bob Dylan – The Witmark Demos (The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9, 1962-1964)
(available on amazon.com: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9))

While I have had these heavily-bootlegged demos on tape for 15 years and on CDR for nearly a decade, this comprehensive official release in Dylan's bootleg series has cleaner sound than what I had from my Dylan tape trading days. This is must-have for collectors and an interesting listen for even the casual Dylan fan.

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•Various Artists – Good God! Born Again Funk
(available on amazon.com: Good God! Born Again Funk)

The second release of funk-tinged gospel music by the small label called Numero Group. I highly recommend putting this on fairly loud early on a Sunday morning, with hot cup of tea in hand. Has the Word ever been this funky?

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•Various Artists – Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas
(available on amazon.com: Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas)

Tropicalia and beyond. I talked about this release back in July.

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•Various Artists – California Funk: Rare Funk 45’s from the Golden State
(available on amazon.com: California Funk)

Another in the incredible regional funk compilations put out by Jazzman/Now-Again. These tunes collected from the original 7" recordings, are from the local early 1970s funk scenes in the Bay Area and Los Angeles. I would also recommend checking out the Texas, Carolina, Florida, and Midwest comps as well, mofos.

************************************************

•Various Artists -- The Afrosound of Colombia Vol. 1
(available here on amazon.com: The Afrosound of Colombia Vol. 1)

Since travelling to Colombia in the early summer, I have been exploring the country's musical past and present. This has been a gem of a find, as it contains a cornucopia of tracks: Salsa, Descarga, Funk, Boogaloo, Tropical, Chicha, Bomba, Cumbia, and Afro-Beat.

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•Various Artists -- Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro Roots in Colombia, 1975-91
(available on amazon.com: Palenque Palenque: Champeta Criolla & Afro)

More great music and "lost" recordings from Soundway. If music from northern Colombia fails to get you moving, then you have a problem. You can stream a couple of tunes and read a bit more about this release on the label's website here.

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•Various Artists -- Afro-Beat Airways: West African Shockwaves, Ghana & Togo, 1972-1979
(available on amazon.com: Afro-Beat Airways)

If you dig the sound of Fela Kuti and the classic Afro-pop vibe, do I have an album for you. This collection from the folks at Analog Africa explores musical nuggets from Ghana and Togo. It is a very fun listen. Read more here.

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•Various Artists -- Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sound in 1970s Nigeria
(available on amazon.com: Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sound in 1970s Nigeria)

More great 1970s Nigerian music from Soundway. We have had something like 12 Nigerian music collections from this time period and there isn't much overlap. It was a fertile time, mofos. Thankfully it is seeing the light of day outside of Nairobi record stores. More information and some MP3's on the label website here.

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•Various Artists -- Nigeria Special 2: Modern Highlife 1970-6
(available on amazon.com: Nigeria Special 2: Modern Highlife 1970-6)

Superb compilation. I am still totally enthralled with this one as I only recently picked it up. Check out more information and some MP3's here. Soundway delivers again (make sure to listen to the original Nigeria Special compilation from a few years back.)

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•Various Artists -- Psych Funk Sa-Re-Ga! Psychedelic Funk in India 1970-1983
(available on amazon.com: Psych Funk:Sa- Re Ga !)

This just came out last week and I have only listened to it a few times. Wow, it is a fun listen. The world needs more psych rock compilations from India! More info and some MP3's here.

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•Rikki Ililonga & Musi-O-Tunya -- Dark Sunrise (1970s Rock from Zambia)
(available at amazon.com: Dark Sunrise)

I just picked up this compilation of the king of rock music from Zambia. So, so good. Listen to a track for yourself and read more here.

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Viva globalization, mofos. We live in an amazing time of abundance with all sorts of dedicated labels that are collecting incredible music from decades past and releasing it. It is a glorious time to be a amateur musicologist. I'll be back with the list of my favorite new music from 2010 by the end of the year...

A Preview of My Favorite Albums of 2010 List (Budos Band edition)

2010-11-30T00:49:00.000-06:00

Sure to rank pretty darn high:

I haven't started writing my Favorite Albums of 2010 list as of yet, though I do hope to have in done by Christmas. I have a pretty good idea of the top 15 spots, but I am not sure about the order on a number of them.

What He Said

2010-11-29T22:31:00.001-06:00

Just When I Thought I Couldn't Dislike Bono Any More Than I Already Do (Sorry Spidey edition)

2010-11-25T18:03:00.005-06:00

This atrocity falls close on the heels of the mental anguish caused by my repeated accidental viewings of this advertisement on the back covers of The Economist and The New Yorker over the last few months:

Why won't a lawyer take my case? Please message me if you are an attorney willing to help me sue Bono for all the pain and suffering he has caused me in the last decade or so. He has to be stopped.

Today is a Day for "New Garage Explosion! (Part I)" [View Out the Jams edition]

2010-11-24T12:36:00.015-06:00

A couple of days back I watched part 1 of an entertaining and quite well-crafted documentary by Scion on the recent years (and historical context) of "garage rock" across the country. This first 25 minute segment contains live footage and interviews with bands that I was already familiar with (Jay Reatard, Black Lips, The Dirtbombs, and The Oblivians) and numerous bands that I had not heard about prior to viewing this documentary. The short explorations of the local Memphis and Detroit scenes are fantastic. The kids are alright, mofos.

Play it for free on the production company's site:

The promo description:
To find out what American garage rock looks like (and to know what it’s like to be in an independent band) right now, VBS toted a bunch of cameras around the USA and found a scene that was vibrant, loud, eloquent, effed-up, and nearly impossible to define. The musicians, artists, writers, deejays and label owners that we talked to could only be united by a single common thread—their commitment to music that they enjoyed, on their terms, at whatever cost necessary (or, in some cases, unnecessary). We met nice, smart, funny people who love rock and roll, don’t traffic in B.S., and had the wherewithal to pick up a guitar (or complementary instrument) at some point in their young lives, put their face to a microphone, and manage to not think too hard about what was going to come out.

Join us for Part One of New Garage Explosion!! With a nod to the genre’s founding fathers (bands like The Lollipop Shoppe and MC5), we travel first to Memphis to mind-meld with Magic Kids and to go head-to-head with Jay Reatard in the last interview he filmed before his death in January of this year. Next we hit Detroit, where watch The Dirtbombs wreck a bowling alley and talked to Dave Buick about the power of the hand-printed record.

I am very much looking forward to Parts II & III, mofos.

Tonight is a Night for Guateque Estelar by Matoraalman (2010)

2010-11-23T21:54:00.002-06:00

Matorralman is led by Mexico City musician and producer Miguel Rizo.

You can stream the entire album for free on their label's website here.

Information from the offical album promo materials:

Nacional Records is proud to announce the release of the U.S. debut album from Matorralman. ‘Guateque Estelar’ is a collection of songs that fuse electronic lounge music with surf rock and retro sounds like go-go, ye-ye and psychedelia. It’s a tribute to those classic times of science fiction and foxy ladies. The sensational destiny that is so unavoidable and ruthlessly ironic.

Matorralman is a project created by Miguel Rizo, a selector, composer and producer from Mexico City. “Back in 2000, I bought my first computer and made my first trip to Europe,” Rizo says.

“I came back with a suitcase full of music from the films of the 60s and 70s which used to dazzle audiences with so-called ‘sexploitation.’ These were times when orchestral conductors would help color the plots of feisty teenagers in search of parties and wildness. The beats were mostly instrumental, giving sophisticated and loutish environments where the girls are without a doubt the visual attraction. That’s how the search for Matorralman’s sound began.”

The album name ‘Guateque Estelar’ translates to “stellar party.” “That is what we imagine to hear with our music,” Rizo says. “It’s a party without end – complete with music to lose your manners to - and all with style.”

While Matorralman began as a solo project experimenting with computers, samplers, keyboards and effects in Rizo’s studio, it soon evolved. “After a couple of years, I began working with Armando Vazquez on the keyboards and the true sound of the songs became more defined,” Rizo explains. “Our process is to find a good groove and develop it through structures– the adequate kind of sound, intention and melody for each musical cut. While looking for the right musicians to form a live band, I invited Gustavo Murillo on guitar and Benjamin Vázquez on bass and trumpet.”

Matorralman’s live setup has now developed into somewhat of a mini-orchestra highlighted by background visuals. “Why not?” Rizo asks. “Playing along with clips and images from the 60s and 70s helps create that audiovisual experience that completely encapsulates the concept of the group.”

I Just Don't Understand the Music Marketplace (Beatles on iTunes edition)

2010-11-19T07:21:00.010-06:00

I'm sure you've heard the news by now, oh boy. The Beatles catalog is now going to be on iTunes.

I don't care if you are 16 or 64, you should be ashamed of yourself and renounce your Beatles fandom if you purchase these on iTunes. To every potential purchaser, young and old, I ask you this: why are you going to pay upwards of $1.29 a song (DRM-free) for sub-par, sonically-diluted, lossy music files of some of the richest studio work of the early rock era?*

You'll be paying yet more money for less. You will be downloading music of lower quality than what you can already get--Beatles vinyl records and CDs. Buy yourself a turntable (again or for the first time) and spin the wax, or buy the Mono box. Or rip FLAC or even 320kbs MP3 files if you really have to. But please don't listen to downloads that just don't sound as good (even over headphones on your iPod or iPhone or whatever).

I am sorry to say this, but iTunes downloads sound like crap. Yes, I know I riffed on this back in January, but these "finally, the Beatles are on iTunes!" stories are driving me insane.

*I would assert the same thing about music from more recent times. It still shocks me that people will listen to bands like Radiohead or Animal Collective via low-quality MP3's.

This Morning is a Morning for "Fuego" by Bomba Estereo

2010-11-14T11:17:00.006-06:00

I have been on a real LA rock/electronica/fusion/neo-cumbia/neo-tango/neo-tropical/rap-en-espanol jag in recent weeks. I'll post some of my favorites here in in the near future. Bomba Estereo is from Bogota and their second album was released in Colombia in 2008, with a U.S. market release of Blow Up (re-titled) in 2009. They are one of numerous bands in the traditional-music-meets-electronica sub-genere that has been pretty popular in Latin America for the last decade or so.

This movement has gone in numerous different musical directions and a few groups have had crossover success in the U.S. (see Nortec Collective as a prominent example). "Electro Tropical" is how Bomba Estereo describe thier own music. It is good stuff, Maynard. CD's and downloads at all the usual places, mofos.

This Morning is a Morning for "Amar y Vivir" by Tonino Carotone (Day after Halloween edition)

2010-11-01T08:54:00.003-05:00

Sometimes you just have to start your day with a song by the Spanish, Italophile singer-songwriter (and former punk rocker) Tonino Carotone:

Happy Halloween (Dead Kennedys edition)

2010-10-31T21:22:00.000-05:00

Whatcha gonna be?

Happy Halloween (Roky Erickson edition)

2010-10-31T14:04:00.001-05:00

We here at Jams, Mofo recommend listening to Roky all day and night on Halloween.

L.E.P. Bogus Boys - "Chicago Niggaz" (2010) [music video]

2010-10-26T21:51:00.006-05:00

I saw this music video by the L.E.P. Bogus Boys last week on a global music video show on public television in southern Minnesota. They played the L.E.P. Bogus Boys vid in between a New Zealand singer-songwriter vid and one from a rock band from Italy. For me, seeing this video was like watching a 4 minute version of The Wire set in Chicago--it is a hell of a song, mofos:

UPDATE: Know much about Blue Light Cameras and policing in Chicago? Curious? Here are some interesting links that I found on the subject: one, two, three, and four.

Vintage Violence

2010-10-26T14:10:00.000-05:00

Today is a Day for the Kashmere Stage Band's "Texas Thunder Soul, 1968-74"

2010-10-19T23:31:00.020-05:00

The best high school band ever? Ever.

One of the best performing bands of the modern musical era? Most certainly.

The Kashmere Stage Band was insanely good both in the studio and on the stage. Texas Thunder Soul, 1968-74 compiles most of the band's available studio and live work on two CD's. The sound is incredibly crisp and well-mixed.

The Kashmere Stage Band, populated by students attending Kashmere High School in northeast Houston during the late-60s into the 70s, played and recorded some of the deepest funk grooves this planet has ever known.

Led by the bandmaster and music educator "Prof." Conrad O. Johnson, the KSB dominated high school big band competitions throughout Texas, the region, and the entire U.S. for nearly a decade. They recorded 8 albums of material and played live shows, during holiday and summer breaks, to packed auditoriums and gyms across the United States, Europe, and Japan. [You can find a fascinating interview with Johnson from the record label Now Again here where he reflects on his years leading the KSB.]

I can't say this strongly enough: this guy was a musical genius and he and his band of high school kids were making some of the best music in the country during the early 1970s. Everyone should know the name Conrad O. Johnson. As his biography on the Texas Bandmasters Hall of Fame (year 2000 inductee) award page describes his background:

After first attending Houston College for Negroes and later graduating from Wylie College in the east Texas town of Marshall, Johnson began teaching in public schools in 1941. His 37 years of classroom service were highlighted by a distinguished tenure as director of the Kashmere High School Stage Band, which won 42 out of 46 contests entered between 1969 and 1977, recorded eight albums featuring more than 20 original compositions by Johnson and traveled throughout Europe, Japan and the United States.

"Prof" Johnson passed away at the age of 92 on February 3, 2008, after spending the previous two nights as the guest of honor at a pair of Kashmere Stage Band reunion shows. The Houston Chronicle sums up his final days and his legacy here.

NPR's All Things Considered did a wonderful story on Johnson and the KSB back in 2006, a short 15 months before his death. You can listen to and download the story here, along with links to 3 songs that you can stream.

In addition, most KSB songs can be streamed on grooveshark. Check out this live version of the song "All Praises" from 1972:

I would strongly encourage you to get yourself a copy of the 2-CD Texas Thunder Soul set somehow, someway. The Kashmere Stage Band kick out the funk-jazz-fusion jams, mofo. The compilation can be purchased/downloaded in all the usual places.

And while I'm at it, I recommend that every music-loving American look for the recent documentary that premiered at SXSW '10 about the Prof and his band which should be out on DVD soon:

It is available to save in your queue until it shows up on Netflix.

Ok, still reading? Are there any high school large bands that have written, composed and recorded songs this perfect? I intend that as a serious question. Here is the student-penned "Al's Thing" from the KSB:

Still clicking? Here's "Headwiggle":

I can Fly; I will Scream; I will Break my Arm

2010-10-17T11:29:00.002-05:00

A Show that Got Away (GbV edition)

2010-10-13T23:08:00.005-05:00

Arrgghhh. I really wish I could have been at the Guided by Voices show at First Avenue (Minneapolis) last night. I can't believe I am missing all the dates on their reunion tour. I saw 8 GbV shows between 1996 and 2004 (including 3 at First Avenue*), but couldn't make this one.

*Other 5 shows were: The Dingo Bar in Albuquerque in 1996, The Cotton Club in Atlanta in 1999, The Launchpad in Albuquerque in 2001, and the "final two" GbV shows at The Metro in Chicago on NYEE and NYE 2004.

This Week is a Week for "Acronyms" by Bee vs. Moth (2010)

2010-10-03T19:48:00.014-05:00

I have been listening to some of the tracks off of Acronyms, the second studio album by the Austin, TX-based progressive jazz band Bee vs. Moth in preparation for their show later in the week. Austin Sound calls their music a cross between jazz and Zappa: jazzappa if you will. NPR music labels it a cross between Ornette Coleman and Television.

Here is how the band describe themselves: Bee vs. Moth is a multiple-genre, weirdo instrumental rock band from Austin, Texas. Our mission is to bravely explore the little-traveled and oft-neglected territory between Ornette Coleman's doom metal band and Mr. Rogers' dude ranch. Along the way, we'll tromp through a few Latin tunes, knock over some perfectly good chords, and spill improvised solos on our nice, clean shirts. Or as our friend put it, "You guys sound like Sonic Youth meets the Tijuana Brass." Intrigued? Appalled? Come see us soon!

Hells yeah! Regardless of the description, it is good stuff Maynard.

*First vid and single is "Ugly is the New Black" :

You can stream some songs from their 2010 release and some live tracks from 2008 and 2009 on the band's website here.

I am looking forward to picking up a copy of the CD at their show.

UPDATE #1: the vid for the second single from the album was released today...

UPDATE #2: And these guys kick out the jams live, mofos. Their show tonight was one of the best lives sets of music that I have seen in the last several years. Do yourself a favor and go see them live if they come to a town near you. At the show I picked up Acronymns on CD and a t-shirt with their "CD & Shirt for $20" promotional price. It was a $20 wisely spent. The album will most certainly make it somewhere towards the top of my Best Albums of 2010 list at the end of the year...

Tonight is a Night for "Approximately Infinite Universe" by Yoko Ono (1972) [I Know I'm Probably in the Minority on this one...]

2010-09-25T21:47:00.010-05:00

[...and also on the fact that I vastly prefer Yoko Ono to Paul McCartney. John made the right choice.]

I really dig this album.

Here's the first cut "Yang Yang" off of 1972's Approximately Infinite Universe:

Over the course of the past couple of years I have fallen in love all over again with Lennon's post-Beatles work and with much of Yoko's solo work, and can hardly bear to listen to the Beatles at all (even though I own the Mono Box). [As to Macca's post-Beatles work? I find all of it to be absolutely dreadful save for one song. One song? That's right, one song. I'll reveal which song that is down the road.]

Here's song #2 on Side 4 of the double-LP:

Gosh, who is Joel Nohnn on this song? He sure is a great guitar player!

This Morning is a Morning for "Some Velvet Morning" by Lee & Nancy

2010-09-23T05:20:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite songs (perhaps my favorite duet) of all time, 1967's "Some Velvet Morning" by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra:

Today is a Day for "Mines" by Menomena (2010)

2010-09-18T13:46:00.000-05:00

Another album that has been in heavy rotation day and night at Jams, Mofo headquarters the last week or so is the fourth album, entitled Mines, from the Portland, OR group Menomena. A friend gave me the MP3s and I liked the album so much I purchased the vinyl record. Here they are doing TAOS, the second song off the album, on Oregon Public Broadcasting's music show:

Menomena - TAOS (Live at OPB) from opbmusic.org on Vimeo.

While this is an album that is best heard on the home hi-fi with the volume level way up, you can also check out the complete album for yourselves at grooveshark, mofos:

Today is a Day for "The Very Best of Wynn Stewart 1958-62"

2010-09-17T09:54:00.005-05:00

I have been on somewhat of a Wynn Stewart jag the last couple of days. Wynn was an early adopter of what would come to be known as the "Bakersfied sound" in C&W music--some of the first country music to incorporate the backbeat and shiny electric instrumentation. He paved the way for the Bakersfield scenesters Buck Owens and Merle Haggard who followed in his musical footsteps. Stewart was born in Missiouri in 1934, moved to California with his family soon after WWII, and died of a heart attack at the age of 51 in 1985 in the middle of an attempted musical comeback. If you want a collection of his material, find yourself a digital or physical copy of this album: The Very Best of Wynn Stewart: 1958-1962.

Today is a Day for Grinderman 2 by Grinderman (2010)

2010-09-16T04:29:00.002-05:00

Even better than Grinderman 1. Check out the latest release from this side project of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds for yourselves, mofos (and check out the guitar playing by guest Robert Fripp on track 3):

I have been listening to Nick Cave for 20+ years now and it makes me strangely happy that he is still relevant and kicking ass.

Wish I Could be There (Matador Records 21st Birthday Party "Lost Weekend" edition)

2010-09-14T22:09:00.002-05:00

Jeebus, the final lineup for the 3-day celebration next month in Vegas looks simply incredible:

Oct. 1
Pavement
Sonic Youth
Fucked Up
Chavez
Cold Cave
Guitar Youth

Oct. 2
Belle & Sebastian
Spoon
Superchunk
Cat Power
Perfume Genius
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Come
Girls

Oct. 3
The Clean
Times New Viking
Kurt Vile
Guided By Voices
Yo La Tengo
Liz Phair
The New Pornographers
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
Shearwater

Tonight is a Night for the nice FM recording of Luna, 6-12-1998, Hultsfred, Sweden

2010-09-14T22:00:00.000-05:00

Good stuff Maynard.
.

Let me know if you want it.

Today was a Day for Of Montreal on the Cemetary Gates Sessions

2010-09-13T23:04:00.000-05:00

I have been listening to the new of Montreal album a whole bunch this last week and am bummed that I will likely miss seeing a show on their joint tour with Janelle Monae.

Today is a Day for Frank Zappa (Age 22) on the Steve Allen Show from 1963

2010-08-29T13:43:00.001-05:00

It just doesn't get much better than this. Here we find Frank in his TV debut only a short 2.5 years before the March 1966 sessions that would result in his first album entitled Freak Out.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Today is a Day for "Expo 86" by Wolf Parade (2010)

2010-08-29T13:34:00.000-05:00

Sometimes it is the case that a band is better than the sum of its parts. For me, the band Wolf Parade is a clear example of this. I like Dan Boeckner's other band Handsome Furs pretty well. Likewise, Spencer Krug and his recordings with Sunset Rubdown are darn good. As well, I have fond memories for a couple of the Hot Hot Heat albums from earlier in the last decade and Dante DeCaro's guitar playing. But I like Wolf Parade better than these other bands. And I like the new Wolf Parade album Expo 86 a whole damn bunch. Though it came out in late June, it is only the last week or so that I have been listening to it on a regular basis.

I think it smooths out some of the raw edges (for better and for worse) of the band's first album (2005's Aplogies to the Queen Mary) and kicks out the jams as compared to 2008's At Mount Zoomer.

Listen for yourself, mofos:

Tonight was a Night for Richard Thompson Shooting Out the Lights with Elvis Costello

2010-08-22T22:40:00.001-05:00

If you want to know what my guitar playing sounds like today, take a listen to Thompson's two solos on this recent rendition of "Shoot Out the Lights."

RT with Elvis, December 2009:

Tonight was a Night for Lou Reed Covering Kurt Weill & Bob Dylan ("September Song" and "Foot of Pride" edition)

2010-08-18T23:38:00.000-05:00

Here we have Lou on the 1985-released tribute album Lost in the Stars: Music of Kurt Weill. This is the upbeat and rockin' version. [For the multi-artist Weill biopic soundtrack album from 1997 entitled September Songs: The Music of Kurt Weill, Lou rerecorded the same song, but that recording is a more low-key affair.]

Here is Lou from the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration. [Has it really been almost 18 (October, 1992) years since that pay-per-view broadcast and subsequent (in 1993) album/video release? I chipped in at a viewing party in a friend's Austin, TX house. Good times.] Anyway, here is Lou from that night:

Tonight is a Night for Tom Waits Covering the Ramones ("The Return of Jackie and Judy" edition)

2010-08-16T22:18:00.009-05:00

or here:

Track #15 on the almost completely atrocious release from 2003: We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to the Ramones. [The other songs on this are awful, just awful. This is perhaps the worst tribute album ever recorded. A great Tom Waits cover and 16 other horrible tracks. U2? Late-period Metallica? Rob Zombie? The Offspring? Green Day? Peter Yorn? Kiss? Give me a break. Tom Waits and the Ramones are easily better than all of the other bands/musicians on this album combined. Bono singing "Beat on the Brat" is f&%$ing atrocious. Seriously, this might be the worst tribute album ever made. Can anyone name one that is worse?]

The song was also released as track #12 on Disc 1 of the 2006 Tom Waits rarities boxset entitled Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards. If you don't have this 56-song set in some format, your life is incomplete, mofo.

Today is a Day for Janelle Monáe's new "Cold War" Video

2010-08-16T11:00:00.001-05:00

The simple and stunning new video for "Cold War" off of Janelle Monáe's stellar 2010 release The ArchAndroid:

I have had a half-finished review of the album sitting around for nearly 3 months now. I'll post it soon and I am sure the album will be near the top of my year-end "Best Albums of the Year" list. So, in sum, you are guaranteed at least 2 more postings about her before the end of 2010...

Today was a Day for "Live MCMXCIII" by the Velvet Underground (1993)

2010-08-14T17:04:00.002-05:00

I hadn't listened to Live MCMXCIII, the VU "reunion" 2.5 hour-long double-album from 1993, in a fair bit of time. It is quite the fun listen. Suprisingly so. It isn't where you would want to start with the band, but if you are familiar with the band and at least part of the VU story, it is a compelling listen. The double-CD set is a compilation of songs from a three-night series (mostly the second night) of reunion shows that the VU did at the L'Olympia Theater in Paris on June 15th, 16th, and 17th, 1993. These dates were part of a longer European tour that the reunited Reed, Cale, Tucker, and Morrison did during the summer of 1993.

I think wikipedia has the 1990s VU reunion timeline about right: In 1990, Reed and Cale released Songs for Drella, dedicated to the recently deceased Andy Warhol. (“Drella” was a nickname Warhol had been given, a combination of “Dracula” and “Cinderella”.) Though Morrison and Tucker had each worked with Reed and Cale since the V.U. broke up, Songs for Drella was the first time the pair had worked together in decades, and rumors of a reunion began to circulate, fueled by the one-off appearance by Reed, Cale, Morrison and Tucker to play "Heroin" as the encore to a brief Songs for Drella set in Jouy-en-Josas, France.

The Reed–Cale–Morrison–Tucker lineup officially reunited as "The Velvet Underground" in 1992, commencing activities with a European tour beginning in Edinburgh on June 1, 1993, and featuring a performance at Glastonbury which garnered an NME front cover. Cale sang most of the songs Nico had originally performed. The band's opening act was Luna. As well as headlining, the Velvets performed as supporting act for five dates of U2’s Zoo TV Tour.

Given the success of The Velvet Underground's European reunion tour, a series of US tour dates were proposed, as was an MTV Unplugged broadcast, and possibly even some new studio recordings. However, before any of this could come to fruition, Cale and Reed fell out again, breaking up the band once more.

On August 30, 1995, Sterling Morrison died of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

I spent most of 1994 thinking that we were going to get a reasonable U.S. tour by the VU and would have done anything in my power to make it to one of those shows, but it was not to be. I have seen Lou several times, but I am still holding on hope for a Reed/Cale collaboration some time down the road...

The "first set" from Live MCMXCIII jumps across all different VU albums and settles into a nice groove on "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "Some Kind of Love." The "second set" starts with a shot across the bow in the form of "Hey Mr. Rain" and thrashes some more later on the disc on "Black Angel's Death Song" and "Heroin."

Listen for yourself at grooveshark, or find this for yourself online mofos...

disc 1:

disc 2:

P.S. Hey Lou, John, and Mo. How's it going? Not to rush you or anything, but could you maybe put out Vol. 2 of the VU bootleg series? Vol. 1 came out in 2001, and it would be great to have another release. Send me an e-mail and I'll make some suggestions on what should be remastered and released from the VU archives...

Further Proof that the Music Video as an Artistic Medium is not Dead: "Pala Tute" by Gogol Bordello

2010-07-27T11:58:00.002-05:00

I recommend clicking over to youtube itself and watching in widescreen "hi-def":

Today is a Day for Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas: Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967-1976 by Various Artists (2010)

2010-07-25T08:47:00.022-05:00

It is a truly amazing time for free-riding off the hard work of other obsessive world music collectors.* The 2010 release Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas: Tropicalia Psychedelic Masterpieces 1967-1976 is an absolute joy to put on the hi-fi. Released and compiled by Joel Stones and the same folks that brought us the Psych Funk 101 compilation that came out in 2009 and had 14 prime cuts of late 60's and 70's global psychedelic music, Fuzz Bananas narrows the scope and examines the heaviest of the heavy 7" tropicalia releases from the heyday of the movement.

As to the Brazilian Guitar Fuzz Bananas release from the promo materials:

...this album should serve as a master class for those entranced by the funky, heavy psychedelic wonders of the Tropicalia movement and all that it spawned.

Each song contained on this album has never been reissued, and has been restored from the best source possible and remastered for near-perfect sound quality. The Enhanced CD comes with a 48 page full color booklet and contains a wealth of imagery and detailed annotation and liner notes in both English and Portuguese. The documentary contained on the CD – What Are Fuzz Bananas – details the making of this anthology and sources interviews from Rio de Janeiro to Los Angeles with the likes of the compilation’s Marisa Rossi and Cut Chemist, Egon and Elijah Wood. The gatefold 2LP comes with an oversized 12x12” full color booklet with all of the liner notes and photos from the CD and contains original artwork on the inside (3D glasses included in the first pressing).

*While not freeriding per se, $17 seems like an obscenely inexpensive price to pay for the work that went into this 2LP (or 1 CD) collection and documentation.

Stream the album for free on grooveshark (also available at amazon.com on vinyl and CD):

The Blog is Back in Town

2010-07-25T08:44:00.002-05:00

After a nice summer break, we are back with quite a backlog of music to cover...

El Rey de Vallenato has been Following us for 3 Weeks (or, Looking over my Shoulder I Always Spy a Royal Accordian)

2010-05-27T13:13:00.000-05:00

The 2010 King of Colombian vallenato music is everywhere these days. Seems like a really good kid and is burning up the vallenato charts.

Today is a Day for "Oye" by Aterciopelados (2006)

2010-05-13T06:31:00.001-05:00

I have moved Jams, Mofo HQ to Colombia for the month. As such, the posts will be sporadic for the next 4 to 5 weeks. I have been listening to the Colombian band Aterciopelados (in English: "The Velvety Ones") for some days on the trip. Here´s the song "Complemento" off their 2006 album "Oye":

I´ll bust out some links to other Colombian music when I get the chance in the weeks ahead, mofos.

Today was a Day for "Your Future Our Clutter" by The Fall (2010)

2010-05-07T23:29:00.013-05:00

The 28th(!) studio album by The Fall is the record that has been getting the most listens around Jams, Mofo headquarters the last week or so. I have played the new Hold Steady album a fair bit, but I have listened to Your Future Our Clutter several times a day for the last week. Not sure if I have much of a review to give. How does one review a new Mark E. Smith record anyway? Where to begin?

I think the Onion's A.V. Club review nails my take as far as they go. [UPDATE: This Popmatters review is spot on as well.]

First single (edited) from the album:

The Fall kickin' out the jams, mofo!

If you are a newcomer to the band, here's a recently posted story that makes for a nice introduction to Mark E. Smith and his assorted cast of band-members over the years, also from the A.V. Club. The Quietus goes one better as this essay on Smith's literary framework is a joy to read.

I bought the download for $6.99 on Amazon.

Here's the album on the soon to be defunct lala.com.

Doesn't seem to be at grooveshark.com as of yet, though there are some other great records by The Fall there to whet your appetite.

Tonight is a Night for "African Scream Contest: Raw & Psychedelic Afro Sounds from Benin & Togo 70s"

2010-05-05T18:41:00.006-05:00

African Scream Contest is a 2008 album release from the label Analog Africa. The collection is yet another of the fabulous W. African early-70s music compilations that have been released in recent years.

From album promo: "After releases by Zimbabwean 70s bands the Green Arrows and Hallelujah Chicken Run Band, the Analog Africa label now delves into the amazing history of music from 1970s Benin and Togo. This compilation highlights forgotten raw and psychedelic Afro sounds, and the well-researched liner notes tell fascinating stories to accompany the mind-blowing music. The essence of Analog Africa is clear; searching in dusty warehouses for forgotten music to keep the sound alive. Label owner & vinyl collector Samy Ben Redjeb arrived in Cotonou, Benin, "without any special expectations, just hoping to lay my hands on few good records--what I found in the process cannot really be described in words"."

"Like most modern music in French-speaking West African countries, the music of Benin and Togo was influenced by a few main musical currents: Cuban, Congolese and local traditional music, as well as Chanson Francaise. Additionally, the geographical location of Benin and Togo--sandwiched between Ghana and Nigeria--exposed Beninese and Togolese musicians to Highlife music."

"The cultural and spiritual riches of traditional Beninese music had an immense impact on the sound of Benin's modern music. Benin is the birth place of Vodun (or, as it is known in the West, Voodoo), and some of the rhythms used during traditional rituals - Sakpata, Sato, Agbadja, Tchenkoumé and many others - were fused to Soul and Latin music as early as the mid-1960s and later to Funk. In the late '60s and early '70s rock and soul music started creeping into the region. In particular, the music of James Brown and Johnny Halladay became immensely popular with university students. It was then that the music scene in Benin really started to take off. That fusion is the essence of this compilation. The CD includes a well researched 44-page booklet & rare photographs."

The album can be found plenty of places online and you can stream on grooveshark.com as well:

Today was a Day for "Precise Modern Lovers Order" by The Modern Lovers (Live 1971-73)

2010-05-04T01:02:00.003-05:00

Ain't none of the polish and shine as compared to the Modern Lovers studio output. (Note: This is possible.) It is straight-up gritty and raw Precise Modern Lovers Order. This offical compilation of some live sets from Boston and Berkeley in 1971, 1972, and 1973 was first released by Rounder Records in summer of 1994 on cassette and CD.

While it might be wise to start your introduction to this seminal band from Boston with one of the studio session compilations, I am going to suggest that you turn up your speakers just a bit and click play below (or find this album yourself online).

On the soon to be defunct lala.com

Precise Modern Lovers Order: L...

On grooveshark.com:

Willie's long-time drummer Paul English suffers stroke (Get Well Soon edition)

2010-05-02T12:21:00.000-05:00

At least that is the word on the street.

As someone commented, "He is my favorite drummer that wears a cape and carries a gun."

Today is a Day for Joanna Newsom's "Have One on Me" (2010)

2010-05-01T05:11:00.004-05:00

Ok, well, I have succumbed. Having not been too terribly fond of Newsom's previous two releases (2004's The Milk-Eyed Mender and 2006's Ys)[they were OK, but I found them a bit tedious and hard to listen to with any regularity], I have now been listening to parts of 2010's Have One on Me on a semi-regular basis over the course of the last 8 weeks or so. Parts? Did I say parts? When can an album not be listened to all the way through in one day? The answer is when it is a triple-LP that clocks in at around 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 57 seconds. Anyway, point is, I succumbed and am now a Joanna Newsom-convert.

While the obligitory Kate Bush and Joni Mitchell references are included in most of the album's reviews in the usual places, it is best to expand beyond those comparisons. That said, the Bush and Mitchell similarities are undeniable and one can't really be blamed for bringing them up. I have seen other music comparisons for Newsom ranging from Victoria Williams to Bjork, from "Olive" Oil (yes, Popeye's wife) to Cat Power, and from Syd Barrett to the Carter Family. While only the "Olive" reference would give the uninitated some pause for thought, I think we should be judging Newsom on her own merits and not get too caught up on her musical touchstones.

The new triple album is daring and really darn good. It is still revealing itself to me as I make my way through each of the discs. While I have some triple-studio albums that have gotten regular listens over the years (Sandinista! by The Clash, 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields, and George Harrison's All Things Must Pass spring to mind), there aren't too many of them out there. And there aren't too many of them out there for good reason--they are really tough to pull off. I hazard to guess that there are hundreds (maybe more?) of cases where record labels have pulled the plug on an artist's delusional thoughts that they could successfully put out a triple-album. Nonetheless, some artists get around this by releasing a bunch of single LPs over the course of a year to try and "sneak" triple albums on the market (eg. Ryan Adams, Robert Pollard, John Zorn, etc.) through the "he's/she's just so prolific" loophole.

But back to Have One on Me -- it is good that her label Drag City supported her on this release. It is outstanding. And this is coming from a guy who has spent a lifetime disliking the harp. And I really mean disliking the harp. I have hated harps as much as I have hated recumbent bicycles and polka-dotted ties--a whole damn bunch. Maybe I just hadn't heard the right harpist and the right songs.

I won't be going off the deep end and joining my good friend Dave Eggers in the Newsom cult quite yet, but I do expect that this album will be on my playlist for years to come and secure a high position on my Best of 2010 list. Her big story and small story lyrics along with the lush arrangements (and strengthened voice) transport this listener into all of her micro and macro narratives. Some are silly and some are dense. Some are confusing and some are literal. The map is hard to read and I find myself pausing and asking for directions a number of times, but the journey itself has been rewarding. This album will be referenced by many people for a long time to come. 3 loud cheers for Newsom and her crazy worlds. They are very fun to visit.

Today was a Day for the song "The Width of a Circle" by David Bowie from "Santa Monica '72"

2010-04-27T23:42:00.011-05:00

David Bowie and Mick Ronson kickin' out the jams, mofo.

While good copies of the "Santa Monica '72" bootleg have been around for a long time (black market and gray market), the first official release of this live set from the "Ziggy Stardust" tour came only in 2009. It still has a rough edge due to limitations of the source tape from an FM broadcast, but it sounds pretty damn good. The setlist is 16 Bowie songs and one Velvet Underground cover ("Waiting for the Man"). It is a very fun listen all the way through. Ronson is shredding and flying the whole night (as he often did in the early 70's).

If you want more info on the Bowie song "The Width of a Circle", take a look at this posting. Good stuff.

CD at amazon.com here.
Complete album on lala.com:

Live In Santa Monica '72 - Dav...

Today was a Day for "Weld" by Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1991)

2010-04-24T23:53:00.011-05:00

The live album Weld was released not that long (6 months) after the 1991 Neil Young & Crazy Tour wrapped up on April 27 in Los Angeles. All the tracks were recorded over the 13 weeks of 1991's "Smell the Horse" tour which took place during the first Gulf War. Also released the same day was a third disc Arc which is 35 minutes of feedback and guitar crunching compiled from some of the more distorted moments of shows on the tour. I guess the story is that Arc came about thanks to Thurston Moore's suggestion to Neil.

I was fortunate enough to catch the March 15th show at the Convention Center Arena in San Antonio, TX with opening acts Sonic Youth and Social Distortion. It was quite the evening of music.

One of the more fun aspects of the night was sitting next to a couple of old hippies during Sonic Youth's portion of the show. Our seat neighbors were pretty freaked out by the distortion and the feedback during the zanier moments of the Sonic Youth set (and this was coming from some dudes that had seen The Horse with Neil back in 1970 and 1978). Likewise, in the concourse bathroom right before Neil Young hit the stage, there were two other old hippies that were talking about the ear-piercing amplifier feedback that Thurston Moore was getting by rubbing his guitar all over his amp and the drum riser. The one turns to the other and says "Man, I've never seen anything like that before...not even in the 60s." The night was off to a good start.

In the show I saw, the Neil Young & Crazy Horse tour stage setup had an oversized microphone, yellow ribbon, and peace symbol backdrop. Additionally, there were several effects and props that were clearly harkening back to the stage design on the 1978 "Live Rust" tour (oversized faux amps towering above the band members and weird troll-goblin folks that came out and made exaggerated stage adjustments occassionally between songs.)

Gulf War I had just officially wrapped up a few weeks previous. It was very good to hear all the loud guitars that evening...

Weld - Neil Young

Today was a Day for the new Japandroids single "Art Czars" (2010)

2010-04-18T22:51:00.000-05:00

Here:

And here:

Art Czars - Japandroids

Their album Post-Nothing was on my Best of 2009 list. Japandroids kick out the jams, mofo!

Continued Pavement-mania (Crooked Rain edition)

2010-04-17T01:53:00.007-05:00

It doesn't take very much for me to go on a Pavement jag. They tend to happen about every year or so--usually in the spring or early summer. That said, I think there has been a distinct reason for this particular jag. All the Pavement news of the last month or so has swept me up in the Pavement-mania. A full-on swoon has swept the music journalism world. There have been fawning stories everywhere you look for weeks and weeks. Last month there was widespread coverage all over the place (NPR here, The Japan Times here, etc.) More recently, here is a report from a reunion tour Tokyo show. Some data-driven analysis of reunion tour clips from the NYT here, etc. I am sure that in the wake of the band's appearance tonight at Coachella we are going to get back to the full-scale Pavement-frenzy in the music blogs and press.

So, I have joined the virtual Pavement party and have played the band's albums over the course of the last month. I have all of their main releases and a few EPs here and there as well. Right now as I type this, I am listening to the 2nd disc of outtakes and assorted gems from the Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain 10th anniversary re-release. Very fun.

Pavement are a band that we always knew would reunion tour. Malkmus has been active throughout the post-Pavement years. There had been consistent reports over the course of the last decade suggesting that it was a matter of when, not if. But nonetheless, it will be fun to have them around for old times sake. I saw them twice--in Albuquerque and in Atlanta--back in the day (the mid-1990s). I sure hope I can manage to get to one of their shows later in the summer.

They weren't the best live act in the world as they often played shambolic and sloppy sets on a consistent basis. But on this point I buy-in to the greater narrative as well--the sloppiness and shambles adds to the charm in some weird way. Plus it will be fun to be transported back to a simpler period--the 90s lo-fi scene. Guided by Voices, Pavement, Sebadoh, New Radiant Storm King, the original Spoon, etc. Life was simpler then... [In related news, Superchunk is about to release a new album and play some shows.]

Pave out the jams, mofos!

P.S. I would steer clear of the new "bargain-priced" Pavement re-releases on vinyl. They look and feel like cheap pressings and I wouldn't be surpised if they popped and skipped right out of the sleeve the first time you drop the needle. As with most things, when it comes to vinyl, you get what you pay for. When the retail price is about $10 for a vinyl record in this day and age, you are likely getting a low-quality pressing.

Here is a link to the two-disc (49 track) Crooked Rain re-release from 2004:

Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain: LA...

Today was a Day for the Soundboard Recording of Frank Zappa, June 21st, 1980, Geneva, Switzerland

2010-04-15T22:57:00.001-05:00

While I realize Zappa's first 1980 tour (and tour band) isn't everyone's favorite, there are plenty of high points in many of the live recordings we have from the those spring/early-summer months. A decent representative of the period is the show from June in Geneva. You can find it various places online.

Here's a little bit from the show:

Frank Zappa
June 21, 1980
Patinoire des Vernets
Geneva
Switzerland
112 min.

Disc 01
01 Chunga's Revenge 06:25
02 Keep It Greasey 03:06
03 Outside Now 08:31
04 City Of Tiny Lights 09:56
05 A Pound For A Brown 14:34
06 Cosmik Debris 04:10
07 You Didn't Try To Call Me 03:40
08 Ain't Got No Heart 02:02
09 Love Of My Life 01:56
10 You Are What You Is 03:22
11 fade-out 00:27 **

Disc 02
12 fade-in 00:26 **
13 Easy Meat 11:49
14 Mudd Club 02:57
15 The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing 03:08
16 Joe's Garage 02:23
17 Why Does It Hurt When I Pee? 02:26
18 Applause 01:40 *
19 1st Encore 00:35
20 Dancin' Fool 03:21
21 Bobby Brown 02:38
22 Miss Pinky 03:29
23 2nd Encore 00:41
24 Stick It Out 04:01
25 Applause 01:26 *
26 3rd Encore 00:44
27 I Don't Wanna Get Drafted 02:35
28 The Illinois Enema Bandit 09:44

Frank Zappa - vocals, lead guitar
Ike Willis - rhythm guitar, vocals
Ray White - rhythm guitar, vocals
Arthur Barrow - bass, vocals
David Logeman - drums
Tommy Mars - keybboards

Today was a Day for Learning of a Couple of Upcoming Tribute Albums (John Prine & Shel Silverstein edition)

2010-04-14T21:56:00.000-05:00

Wow, I hadn't heard about either of these two upcoming albums before today!

*Various Artists, Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows: Songs of John Prine (out June 23rd)
tracklist
1. Justin Vernon of Bon Iver – Bruised Orange (Chain Of Sorrow)
2. Conor Oberst And The Mystic Valley Band – Wedding Day In Funeralville
3. My Morning Jacket – All The Best
4. Josh Ritter – Mexican Home
5. Lambchop – Six O’Clock News
6. Justin Townes Earle – Far From Me
7. The Avett Brothers – Spanish Pipedream
8. Old Crow Medicine Show – Angel From Montgomery
9. Sara Watkins – The Late John Garfield Blues
10. Drive-By Truckers – Daddy’s Little Pumpkin
11. Deer Tick featuring Liz Isenberg – Unwed Fathers
12. Those Darlins – Let’s Talk Dirty In Hawaiian

*Various Artists, Twistable, Turnable Man: A Musical Tribute to the Songs of Shel Silverstein (out June 9th)
tracklist
1. Lullabys, Legends and Lies: My Morning Jacket
2. The Twistable, Turnable Man Returns: Andrew Bird
3. This Guitar Is For Sale: John Prine
4. The Unicorn: Dr. Dog
5. The Winner: Kris Kristofferson
6. Queen Of The Silver Dollar: Sarah Jarosz w/ Black Prairie
7. Daddy What If: Bobby Bare, Jr.
8. The Cover Of The Rolling Stone: Black Francis w/ Joey Santiago
9. Sylvia's Mother: The Boxmasters
10. Me And Jimmie Rodgers: Ray Price
11. A Boy Named Sue: Todd Snider
12. The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan: Lucinda Williams
13. The Living Legend: Bobby Bare, Sr.
14. The Giving Tree: Nanci Griffith
15. 26 Second Song: My Morning Jacket

I strongly suggest that we all spin some classic John Prine while waiting for these June releases. I myself will be starting with 1973's Sweet Revenge, mofos!

Sweet Revenge - John Prine

Today was a Day for Billy Joe Shaver (Court Case Wrap-up edition)

2010-04-12T22:25:00.001-05:00

I hope he gets his bullet back:

Full court case wrap-up here.

Note to self: don't ever walk up to Billy Joe at a bar and stir his drink with a knife (especially if we are in Texas.)

Decent Billy Joe career compilation (of one of the best "real country" artists still alive today) at lala.com:

Greatest Hits - Billy Joe Shav...

Today is a Day for "Don't Be a Stranger" by The Moondoggies (2008)

2010-04-11T12:20:00.006-05:00

Free album track "Changing" from the band's record label, Hardly Art.

In the last week or so around Jams, Mofo headquarters, there hasn't been an album in heavier rotation than 2008's Don't Be a Stranger by The Moondoggies. I am going to go so far as to retroactively place this record on my Best of the 2000s album list in the honorable mention category. I like it that much. [APRIL 14th EDIT: I am still listening to this album 2X per day. Wow. This reviewer's sentiment captures what I have been thinking to myself this last week or so.]

This Seattle (by way of Everett) band is rumored to be releasing their 2nd album quite soon. In addition, they are going to spend the month of June opening up for Blitzen Trapper. I am looking foward to catching them in July at the 5-day Winnipeg Folk Festival.

If you dig the cosmic cowboy sounds of the early 1970s, along with some Muscle Shoals-like chops, CSN harmonies, and/or modern day Seattle roots music sensibilities, The Moondoggies are for you. They kick out the jams, mofo.

Here is a short clip of them from SXSW a few weeks back:

The Moondoggies at Kayceman's Treehouse Party from Shane Tobin on Vimeo.

Here is Don't Be a Stranger on lala.com:

Don't Be A Stranger - The Moon...

Today was a Day for "Rising Mountains" by Capsula (2009)

2010-04-10T23:01:00.005-05:00

Capsula, originally from Buenos Aires, now hails from Bilbao, Spain. They have been around for about 10 years, releasing a number of albums that cross all sorts of genre boundaries. Last year's album Rising Mountain kicks out the jams, mofo. This is a band that creates their own unique sound after they had seemingly been locked in a basement for some months with records by the Velvet Underground, Love & Rockets, The Stooges, PJ Harvey, Brian Jonestown Massacre, and Sonic Youth. Word on the street is that they tore it up again at SXSW this year.

Here they are on the KEXP stage from SXSW a few weeks back:

Here is the official vid for track #1 "Sun Shaking":

Album on lala.com:

Rising Mountains - Capsula

Updates Coming Soon

2010-03-27T22:16:00.002-05:00

I have been slammed with work the last 12 days, but I never stopped kickin' out the jams. Posts soon on:

1. Joanna Newsom
2. Sly & the Family Stone
3. Upcoming Graham Central Station with Slave concert
4. Johnny Thunders
5. The Dead Milkmen
6. "The Loudness Wars"
7. Book review of "Best Music Writing of 2008" edited volume
8. The return of Pavement

...and some more stuff too. Stay tuned, mofos!

Today was a Day for "Nigeria Disco Funk Special"

2010-03-15T23:52:00.005-05:00

The 10th day of gloomy early spring weather had me reaching for the 2008-released funkified collection Nigeria Disco Funk Special that covers the 1970s funk scene in the capital city of Lagos. There have been a plethora of supreme African funk/rock 70's compilations in the last several years, and this is one of the best. It is available on CD and the usual places online.

Track 1:

Official album promo blurb: Lagos Nigeria – the funk & disco capital of West Africa from 1974-79. More nightclubs, bars, spots and dance-floors than any place along the coast from Dakar all the way to Kinshasa. The only 24 track recording studio in the same stretch with more DJs & imported American LPs and 45s than any of it’s neighbours. Soundway presents 9 slabs of rhythm from a time when Saturday and Sunday nights in Lagos City were for looking good and going out. All of them vital musical feathers in the Lagos DJ bow alongside the latest Brass Construction, BT Express & James Brown imports that were hot off the plane.

Track 5:

Helps to groove those clouds away as the funk rays shine down, mofo.

Nigeria Disco Funk Special: Th...

Today was a Day for the new Jimi Hendrix 180g Vinyl Releases

2010-03-12T22:06:00.017-06:00

Actually, to be more specific, it was a day for the 1 new release and 4 new re-releases that just came out on Tuesday. I'm sure you have heard the hype for Valleys of Neptune [best album review that I have seen for it is here at the Telegraph, though this one at Popmatters is quite good at updating the big picture of Jimi's studio work], the first new officially-released Hendrix studio recordings in 13 years. The fine folks at the family-run business Experience Hendrix also re-released Jimi's other 4 big studio albums--his original 3 and the 1 other quality posthumous release from 1997 (First Rays). I was able to pick up all 5 of these LP's on some beautiful 180g vinyl:

1967's Are You Experienced? by the Jimi Hendrix Experience (1LP)
1967's Axis: Bold As Love by the Jimi Hendrix Experience (1LP)
1968's Electric Ladyland by the Jimi Hendrix Experience (2LP)
1997's First Rays of the New Rising Sun by Jimi Hendrix (2LP)
2010's Valleys of Neptune by Jimi Hendrix (2LP)

In order to pay for recent big music purchases, I have been selling some of my CD's to downsize my collection by a bit in order to reinvest the monies elsewhere. Of my 2,400 or so CD's/CDR's/bootlegs I have put about 125 of the original CDs up for sale on Amazon.com. Thus far I have sold around 60 which has given me several hundreds of dollars to play with for "new" music purchases. I suppose the question you might be asking is why I am selling CDs to buy more vinyl? Let's just say the short answer is that I think the vinyl will last longer. And I got rid of some of the crap in my collection and replaced it with stuff I otherwise wouldn't be able to afford (the 5 Hendrix vinyl releases, the 10-CD Complete Hank Williams, and the 13-CD Beatles Mono Box, etc.).

But anyway, back to my new Hendrix LPs. They are glorious. Wonderful packaging/artwork and perfect vinyl discs. They were pressed in one of the best plants making vinyl in our current times. There is not much I can say about the first three albums that hasn't been said. If it has been a while since you pulled them out and played them, give 'em a spin (either on vinyl, CD, or digital). You won't be disappointed. The same can be said for 1997's First Rays--a very fun listen.

As to the "new" album, Valleys of Neptune, I'll write a more extensive review sometime soon that explores the nature of posthumous releases in general and two albums in specific. It will be a review of the latest Hendrix release coupled with an album review of the latest (and last) Johnny Cash American Recordings album (which I also picked up on vinyl earlier in the week.) Not sure when I can get around to that, but hopefully soon. Until then, spin some Hendrix, mofos!

Today was a Day for Steve Almond and Toto (Special Book Preview Edition)

2010-03-09T22:00:00.002-06:00

I am so looking forward to Steve's new book Rock 'n' Roll Will Save Your Life: A Book by and for the Fanatics Among Us (with Bitchin' Soundtrack) that comes out in April!
Preorder on amazon.com for $15!

As detailed here on Steve's site, this is going to be one of the great music-related books of the year:

Who is the book for?
Drooling Fanatics.

What's a "drooling fanatic"?
I couldn't shake the notion that we had gone wrong somewhere, that we belonged to some special category of the thwarted. We spent an inordinate number of hours mourning the fact that we had not wound up as rock stars or one-hit wonders or near-misses or bar bands or wedding bands or KISS cover bands or midget KISS cover bands. We had wound up, instead, as wannabes, geeks, professional worshippers, the sort of guys and dolls who walk around with songs ringing in our ears at all hours, who acquire albums compulsively, who fall in love with one record per week minimum and cannot resist telling other people—people frankly not that interested—what they should be listening to and why and forcing homemade compilations into their hands and then calling them to see what they thought of these compilations, in particular the syncopated handclaps on track fourteen.

Any defining symptoms?
Chances are, we've loaned money to musicians.

Chances are, we were DJs in college and had a show with a name so stupid we are vaguely embarrassed to mention it now, though we are quite happy to mention that we were DJs in college.

Chances are we've spent weeks in puzzled anguish over why our favorite band isn't more popular, given how much the songs on the radio suck, though if our favorite band suddenly hit it big we'd feel more resentment than pride.

Chances are, the only periods of sustained euphoria in our lives have been accompanied by music.

Is drooling fanaticism contagious?
I've been trying to make the case—in my own discombobulated case-making fashion—for Drooling Fanaticism as a spiritual condition, that music is, for certain of us, the chosen path toward what William James called "a larger, richer, more satisfying life." James was talking about God, but I'll happily regard that as a term of convenience for That Which We Worship with Irrational and Perhaps Head-Banging Glee.

In fact, I'm willing to argue at this point that we are all Drooling Fanatics, that every single human being carries within her or him the need for music and that we differ only in matters of degree and expression.

What sort of stupid things do drooling fanatics do?
Once his manager was gone, James Cotton turned and, as if noticing me for the first time, said, "You suppose you could do me a favor, young man?"

"Of course," I said.

"I need to get some medicine."

"Sure," I said.

This would make awesome color for my story. What could be better than fetching medicine for a dying, legendary bluesman? I pondered what sort of medicine the old fellow might need. Hopefully it would be something dramatic, such as nitroglycerin tablets.

"We gotta drive somewhere," Cotton said.

He was whispering and so I whispered back, "Okay, let me get my friend. He has the car."

"Hurry now," Cotton said.

It did not occur to me to question why Cotton had entrusted this medical task to me, rather than (say) his manager, or a person in some way affiliated with his tour. I was really a very sheltered human being. Nonetheless, I fetched Holden and Cotton stood up and placed himself in our custody.

"You all got a liquor store around here?" he said.

I understand the book includes several "obnoxious lists." What sort?
Ten Things You Can Say to Piss Off a Music Critic
1.Sonic Youth—are they the ones that do "Pass the Dutchie"?
2.People who don't like Steve Miller should fucking move to Canada.
3.Jack Johnson is our generation's Woody Guthrie.
4.Don't you sometimes wish "Free Fallin'" were the national anthem?
5.Do me a favor and hold my beer. Thanks, dude. I'll be right back.
6.Yeah, but have you ever seen Michael Bublé play live?
7.Don't you wish these jazz dweebs would learn to play a real song?
8.Exile on Main Street is okay, but it's no Steel Wheels.
9.Did you ever want to be, like, a musician yourself?
10.Paradise Theater is an American classic.

What was it like for you to cover the Grammys?
Here's what I figured would happen: I'd arrive at the Shrine Auditorium and there'd be this giant diamond-studded vacuum device which would suck me into the inner sanctum of The Music Industry, a softly lit pillow lounge sort of place where Prince and Springsteen would be jamming with the remaining Beatles and someone would hand me a drink and I'd get spun into the arms of Linda Ronstadt, who would be dressed in a mariachi garter-belt type ensemble and who would muss my hair in aroused proto-cougar fashion and reach into my back pocket and toss my reporter's notebook away and laugh girlishly, then whisper into my ear that her "needs" would have to be met before she could go out and do her song, and by the way could Toni Tennille tag along?

In the event, I spent three hours standing in line outside the Shrine Auditorium, the wrong line it turned out, a line intended for those media with "floor credentials," which explained why the others in line were so tan and nicely dressed and attractive, why they had monstrous heads and blinding teeth and hair that didn't move: they were TV reporters. The situation was clarified by a kindly security official named DeWayne, who directed me to a second, much uglier line in the back of the building, located downwind from the septic outflow. Ah yes, the Shrine Auditorium's anus.

What, in your fanatic opinion, are songs supposed to do?
They remind us that emotions are not an inconvenient and vaguely embarrassing aspect of the human enterprise but its central purpose. They make us feel specific things we might never have felt otherwise. Every time I listen to "Sunday Bloody Sunday," for instance, I feel a pugnacious righteousness about the fate of the Irish people. I hear that thwacking military drumbeat and Bono starts wailing about the news he heard today and I'm basically ready to enlist in the IRA and stomp some British Protestant Imperialist Ass, hell yes, bring on the fucking bangers and mash and let's get this McJihad started. I feel these things despite the fact that:

a. I am not Irish
b. I sort of hate U2
c. The song actually advocates pacifism

What else is in the book?
■Sometimes drunken interviews with America's finest songwriters
■The terrifying specter of Graceland stoned
■Recommendations you will often choose to ignore
■A reluctant exegesis of the song "Africa" by Toto

Can you talk a little about the mating habits of drooling fanatics?
Did I honestly believe Elise lacked the emotional depth required to be involved with me simply because she loved Air Supply? Was this even possible? Indeed, wasn't my willingness to dismiss this woman based solely on her earnest devotion to a soft rock duo proof of my own spiritual disfigurement?

In a word: possibly.

What was it like to visit your musical heroes?
It will sound hokey, but I honestly felt like I was standing in a holy place. I had 559 Bob Schneider songs in my iTunes library. I had listened to his music for entire days at a time and thought about him, in some capacity, every day for the past five years. I recognized the chance that we would run off together was extremely low, but I also believed—and I think Drooling Fanatics cannot help themselves in this regard—that I understood Bob in a way nobody else on earth did, that we were soulmates and though he didn't know this yet he had a secret message to impart. This is perhaps the most annoying aspect of Fanaticism, from the musician's point of view. They owe us nothing beyond their songs, but we keep hounding them for more.

Why was it so hard for you to interview Dave Grohl for SPIN magazine?
Because there was a protocol, predicated on the fact that a reporter was an interloper, a non-famous person, an envoy, in fact, from the larger world of non-famous people. The idea that a non-famous person would make a demand on the time of a famous person is inherently offensive to the keepers of celebrity.

Journalists are dependably loyal to this protocol, because their professional stature depends on access. When that access is promised then suddenly denied in irrational ways, when you are basically standing around in a strange place far from home with an unctuous publicist as your only ally, it makes you angry, but more than that it makes you very very needy. I hope this helps explain why, the first time Dave Grohl spoke to me, approximately 59 hours after we were first supposed to meet, six hours before my return flight to Boston, I was so instantly grateful, so starstruck, so possibly and confusingly in love, that I could only nod my head and fight back tears.

What did Ike Reilly teach you about rock and roll?
It occurred to me, as we cruised along the darkened shoreline of Minear Lake, that this was the central allure of rock and roll: the creation of a personal mythology. Rock and roll allowed people to lie about themselves, and to be sanctified for the extravagance of their fictions. This was how a mama's boy from Tupelo became our gyrating Jesus, how a nasally Jew from Hibbing, Minnesota, reinvented himself as a hipster messiah. Rock had enabled Ike Reilly to buy Gatsby's mansion and still shout the savage truths of punk rock.

How about Boris McCutcheon?
Music lay at the center of everything. He had led us astray and risked the injury of his lead guitarist, but now, as the sun set over Buzzards Bay and golden light flooded the room and dust motes made wild circles around his head, we stood behind him swaying and nobody said anything for a long time. Later there was dinner and booze and pot. Boris busted out his guitar and played a few new songs. He was writing all the time, between gigs and travel and the jobs taken and not quite kept. We all waited, in those months, for what he would write next, our desire being not a greed for proximity or ownership, but for particular forms of beauty and what they might reveal about ourselves.

Are you concerned about your children inheriting your fanaticism?
So Josie and her little brother will probably dream of being rock stars, too. Why not? They'll grow up with two parents who dreamed of being rock stars, in a house filled with instruments those parents can no longer play. And probably (this must be said) they won't be rock stars. How many of us get to be? But what they will have, what we all get, is the chance to be Drooling Fanatics. And I hope they feel as I do—a bursting gratitude for those musicians brave enough to speak the first and final language of our hearts.

Finally, how will Rock and Roll Save My Life?
One song at a time.

Read Out the Jams, Mofo: "Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music" by Greg Kot [book review]

2010-03-06T09:05:00.002-06:00

Greg Kot has been a music columnist, blogger, and reporter for the Chicago Tribune since 1990. His previous book, Wilco: Learning How to Die was published in 2004. Kot's new book, Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music, came out in May 2009. The book is a collection of re-worked and expanded essays that Kot wrote over the last decade and covers all sorts of interesting topics that explore the intersection of technology and music. Each chapter focuses on an issue (filesharing, the political economy of record labels, the death of print music magazines and the rise of internet music sites, etc.) and/or a band/musician (Prince, Bright Eyes, Death Cab, Wilco, Arcade Fire, Metallica, etc.) that is trying to play/succeed under the new rules of the game in the music business.

Kot writes very well and has a deep knowledge of both the 'music' and 'business' sides of the music business. While some of the chapters bog down a bit in repetition of the core argument(s), most of the book is a quick, fun read that explores music-related topics that are currently of great interest. I particularly enjoyed the Prince chapter and found the smattering of quotes throughout the book from 'young people' about their views on music and downloading to be quite interesting. In addition, one certainly gets the feeling after reading the book that the big music labels might have been able to save themselves at some point earlier in the last decade, but they made crucial errors in judgment and fell into the sea-of-music-business-oblivion without enough life preservers as a result of their mistakes.

Verdict: Recommended if you want a readable synopsis of where the music business has been and where it is likely going, written from the perspective of someone that has followed the industry for over two decades.

Lucky Record Collector 1, Clueless Librarians 0

2010-03-05T21:28:00.000-06:00

Wow. Heckuva story from Chatanooga, TN:
Library Tosses Rare Vinyl Record Collection

Today was a Day for "Florida Funk -- Funk 45s from the Alligator State" by Various Artists

2010-03-05T01:12:00.013-06:00

Although I cannot absolutely pinpoint the reason(s) why this is the case, I listened to some funk most every day in February. March thus far has been a continuation of February--a bit (or a bunch) of funk every day and/or evening on the office or home speakers.

Today's album is yet another of the Jazzman/Now Again Records compilations of '60s and '70s singles that was gathered by some professional funk music collectors and put out in a series of wonderful geographically-based releases. The album was researched and compiled by Gerald Short, Malcolm Catto, and Angelo Angione and was the 3rd in the series. Florida Funk -- Funk 45s from the Alligator State was released in 2007 and covers the Florida funk scene from 1968 to 1975. It can be found on CD at amazon.com and at various places online for download.

This one has a lot of James Brown and Caribbean influences alongside the deep time period funk grooves. Like I did for my posting on the label's Midwest Funk compilation, I'll let the official album introductory notes do the rest of my work for me:

...have now spent the past 3 years travelling the length and breadth of Florida – trekking through the everglades to snatch rare 45s from the jaws of 20ft gators – before escaping back to the UK with an amazing selection of music that highlights Florida as one of the funkiest states in the USA! From driving percussive instrumentals by obscure small-town groups, to heartfelt slabs of soul; from tropical Latin grooves to funk 45s so raw that they were blessed by James Brown himself!

Florida Funk - Various Artists

Today is a Day for "Ordinary Millionaire" from the album "Propellor Time" by Robyn Hitchcock (forthcoming, 2010)

2010-03-04T08:19:00.003-06:00

Color me excited. One of my very favorite artists, Robyn Hitchcock, continues to crank out the albums. I just pre-ordered this one on vinyl. Propellor Time comes out on March 22nd on Sartorial Records. Here is an advance single from the album (and BTW, Johnny Marr is on guitar on this song):

From the official album promo press release:
Over the past three decades, UK singer/songwriter/guitarist/painter/actor Robyn Hitchcock has amassed an extensive and distinguished body of work that has established him as one of rock music’s most respected and beloved iconoclasts. A musician’s musician, and still criminally underexposed despite a long history of critical appreciation, Hitchcock’s vivid surrealist song craft has over the years earned him a devout international fan base – including filmmaker Jonathan Demme who in 1998 directed Hitchcock’s live performance film Storefront Hitchcock, shot in a derelict shop window on 14th Street in NYC.

A prolific renegade and visionary cult artist, Hitchcock has released numerous albums with his longstanding outfits The Soft Boys and Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians, as well as his own ample solo work of which Propellor Time (Sartorial Records) is the very latest. Recorded at home in London’s Tropic of Hounslow over the Summer of 2006 and beyond, Propellor Time is no single-handed effort: The Venus 3, Hitchcock’s backing band for this recording boasts the rhythm section of Scott McCaughey (Young Fresh Fellows) on bass and Bill Rieflin on drums (formerly of Ministry and Revolting Cocks). Making a rare appearance as a sideman outside his usual group, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck (on 12 string and acoustic guitars) completes this esteemed line-up and is co-writer of the album’s title track with Hitchcock. This same Venus 3 configuration of Buck, McCaughey & Rieflin appears on Hitchcock’s 2006 release Olé Tarantula!, and were featured in John Edginton’s BBC Four documentary Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death… and Insects. Additionally, a star-studded array of illustrious guest musicians collaborate with Hitchcock on Propellor Time; selected tracks feature contributions from John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin/Them Crooked Vultures), Johnny Marr (The Smiths/Modest Mouse) who co-wrote the track he plays on, “Ordinary Millionaire” with Hitchcock, old pal Nick Lowe; and former Soft Boy/Egyptian band mate Morris Windsor among many other notables.

Out March 22nd 2010, Propellor Time is Hitchcock’s second release on Sartorial Records, its predecessor being 2008’s Shadowcat (a collection of ‘90s outtakes). But 2009 was hardly a fallow year for Hitchcock having seen the advent of both a studio album Goodnight Oslo (on Yep Roc Records with the Venus 3), as well as the recently released live concert DVD, I Often Dream Of Trains In New York, shot by acclaimed director John Edginton and featuring Sartorial head honcho and multi-instrumentalist Terry Edwards. Having recently participated in Graham Coxon’s Power Acoustic Ensemble concert at The Barbican, Hitchcock will be making several other special appearances in the run-up to the release of Propellor Time.

Today was a Day for "This Nation's Saving Grace" by The Fall (1985)

2010-03-03T06:20:00.002-06:00

This Nation's Saving Grace is one of The Fall's stronger releases, and certainly the best from their "middle period". The album reached #58 on the British charts after its release in 1985.

While the band has put out countless singles and 45's over the years, they have also released 27 studio albums. This one is in my top 5 of their releases. It can be found on CD and many places online. Mark E. Smith and The Fall kick out the blistering-sarcastic-and-loud jams, mofo!

This Nation's Saving Grace - T...

Today was a Day for "Gotta Groove" by The Bar-Kays (1969)

2010-02-28T22:09:00.005-06:00

As history turns out, Gotta Groove is a somewhat influential album of the 60s in terms of album samples later incorporated into a fair number of high-profile rap/hip-hop albums (by Ice Cube most notably). And it signaled where one strand of funk and R&B was going to be headed in the 1970s--with some rock/pop cross-over song selection and a hard-driving rhythm section. The Bar-Kays, a Stax band through and through, put out Gotta Groove 18 months after four of the original members of the band died in a plane crash near Madison, WI on December 10, 1967. Also killed in that crash was Otis Redding. The members of the Bar-Kays were touring with Otis and serving as his backing band. Two surviving members, trumpet-player Ben Cauley (who survived the crash) and bassist James Alexander (who wasn't on the flight), reformed the band. Gotta Groove came out in 1969 and contains some nice vintage funk grooves:

Black Rock/Gotta Groove - The ...

Illustrate Out the Jams, Mofo: "Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country" by R. Crumb [book review]

2010-02-26T22:45:00.002-06:00

A couple of good friends were kind enough to give me a wonderful addition to my music book collection last month. R. Crumb's Heroes of Blues, Jazz & Country was first published in 2006. The book contains the collected prints (108 of them!) by Crumb from his 1980s illustrations that were featured on 3 different sets of trading cards of classic blues, jazz, and country musicians. Each illustration is accompanied by a capsule biography of the artist in question. A fan of these types of music, Crumb pays his tribute to the legends of the genres, but also selected some relatively obscure artists. Every turn of the page is a feast for the eyes. The book also comes with a CD of some of Crumb's favorite selections from 21 of the artists--7 each from the jazz, blues, and country sections.

Here is a cut from one of Crumb's featured artists--"Hard Time Killin' Floor Blues" by Skip James from 1931. It is a favorite song of mine as well:

Today was a Day for Cheap Trick's "Heaven Tonight" (1978)

2010-02-25T23:17:00.021-06:00

I picked Heaven Tonight up on NM vinyl recently at an area thrift store. This is the third album by the Rockford, IL band that rose to some arena-rock prominence in the late 70's and into the 80's.

In early November of 1998 in Minneapolis, after walking out of the Target Center following a Bob Dylan concert (which we attended with front row tickets!), I was given a bunch of comp tickets by some First Avenue (the downtown Minneapolis nightclub that helped to launch the careers of Prince, the Replacements, Husker Du, etc.) volunteers. I am not sure if it is still common, but during the mid-90's to the early-00's, 1st Ave. would circulate a fair number of complimentary concert tickets to boost crowds at their wintertime shows. On this particular night after the Dylan show across the street from 1st Ave., we secured a couple of handfuls of comp tickets, including a pair for a Cheap Trick show that was coming up later in that week, in early November of 1998.

At the time, Cheap Trick was on a nationwide tour of select cities where they were playing a 3-night stand of their first three complete albums from the 1970s in each town. They played a complete album, track by track, on each of the nights (album 1 on night 1; album 2 on night 2, etc.). A good friend and I went to one of the 3 shows on their Minneapolis stop. We saw night #2 and 1977's In Color album. The opening act was local art punks (and Devo/Talking Heads carry-the-torchers) Flipp.

The show itself was pretty good. I had never been a big fan of Cheap Trick and, to be honest, my core knowledge about them revolved around memories of slightly skanky older girls in my high school wearing "Cheap Trick 86", etc. shirts while they smoked cigs around the corner from the school gym. But anyway, the show was pretty darn fun. We got to see them play In Color straight through, and then they played another half-hour of other songs. The real magic of the night happened in the encores, however. They introduced their friends who had played across the street earlier (at the much larger Target Center) and asked us to welcome them to the stage. Out bounded Steven Tyler and the rest of Aerosmith! Cheap Trick and Aerosmith proceded to kick out the "Train Kept a Rollin'" jams for a while. It was maybe the most amazing rock moment of my concert life. And this is coming from a guy who isn't really much of a fan of either band and who has seen several hundred concerts over the last 2 decades. It was mofo-ing awesome!

For what it is, Heaven Tonight is a very fun listen. It is CT's best album and the wall of heavy, crunchy sound is set within a nice production job that was done in the studio. Listen to some late 70s arena rock from Rockford's finest, mofo:

Heaven Tonight - Cheap Trick

Today was a Day for Dylan's "Street Legal" (1978) in general, and "Changing of the Guards" (Side A, Track 1) in particular

2010-02-24T23:25:00.005-06:00

Changing Of The Guards (Album ...

Sixteen years,

Sixteen banners united over the field

Where the good shepherd grieves.

Desperate men, desperate women divided,

Spreading their wings 'neath the falling leaves.

Fortune calls.

I stepped forth from the shadows, to the marketplace,

Merchants and thieves, hungry for power, my last deal gone down.

She's smelling sweet like the meadows where she was born,

On midsummer's eve, near the tower.

The cold-blooded moon.

The captain waits above the celebration

Sending his thoughts to a beloved maid

Whose ebony face is beyond communication.

The captain is down but still believing that his love will be repaid.

They shaved her head.

She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo.

A messenger arrived with a black nightingale.

I seen her on the stairs and I couldn't help but follow,

Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil.

I stumbled to my feet.

I rode past destruction in the ditches

With the stitches still mending 'neath a heart-shaped tattoo.

Renegade priests and treacherous young witches

Were handing out the flowers that I'd given to you.

The palace of mirrors

Where dog soldiers are reflected,

The endless road and the wailing of chimes,

The empty rooms where her memory is protected,

Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times.

She wakes him up

Forty-eight hours later, the sun is breaking

Near broken chains, mountain laurel and rolling rocks.

She's begging to know what measures he now will be taking.

He's pulling her down and she's clutching on to his long golden locks.

Gentlemen, he said,

I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes,

I've moved your mountains and marked your cards

But Eden is burning, either brace yourself for elimination

Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.

Peace will come

With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire

But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall

And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating

Between the King and the Queen of Swords.

Rare live vid from Nashville '78 (tracks fast but we'll take what we can get):

Today was a Day for "Rare Funk Liberation, Vol. I" by Various Artists

2010-02-21T00:14:00.005-06:00

The 1999 release Rare Funk Liberation, Vol. I by the UK label Goldmine/Soul Supply contains two things in spades that make it a fantastic listen: 1) 18 tracks of rare, deep, hard funk from a bygone era (late 1960s & early 1970s). 2) A relatively large percentage of female vocalists. While the CD is out of print, you can find downloads of it various places online.

Track 1, "Good Things" by Pearl Dowell:

Track 6, "Strike" by Union:

13.69% of the Way Through 2010: Any Good Albums Yet?

2010-02-19T21:16:00.015-06:00

Well, we are nearly 14% of the way through 2010 and I have yet to hear an album that impresses me to any great extent, but there are two that are right on the cusp of clinching positions on my best of 2010 list...

What are some of the 2010 albums that I have listened to thus far and disliked?

*Vampire Weekend - Contra: I find them to be very, very boring. I thought their first album was lame but this one is even worse.

*Spoon - Transference: Ho-hum, painting by numbers by this Austin-based band. Maybe they will lift from the holding pattern sometime again soon, though this might be a band that has simply exhausted the supply of possibilities.

*The Magnetic Fields - Realism: Arrghh, I had such high hopes. Just makes me want to put on 69 Love Songs instead. Not bad, but just disappointing. Still better though than most new stuff I have heard.

*Beach House - Teen Dream: Can I have that 20 minutes (before I switched to something else) back? Do we really need a new Cocteau Twins?

*Cold War Kids - Behave Yourself EP: They seem to be headed in the wrong direction

*Los Campesinos! - Romance is Boring: I know this has gotten good reviews, but sounds like LC! tune retreads mixed with "oh-so-edgy-lyrics" to my ears. I liked Hold on Now, Youngster but these last 2 have been tepid.

What have I listened to from 2010 thus far and find growing on me?
*Charlotte Gainsbourg - IRM: I might even love this album if it wasn't for Beck's overproduction and "studio cleverness" which gets in the way on some of the tracks. Beck oftentimes suffers from the "Lanois Overeach Syndrome (LOS)" which is the tendency to use too many bells and whistles (figuratively and literally) in the studio just because you can. Sometimes soundscapes can add to the music; sometimes they can subtract. Luckily the album doesn't suffer from the rarer "Manu Chao Siren Syndrome (MCSS)" which is the tendency to employ a siren on every 4th song on any album he records or produces.

*Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is No C): While currently in the lead for worst album title of 2010, I like the music on this album a whole bunch but need to listen to it more.

What am I missing? I haven't had a chance to hear too much new stuff yet this year as I have mostly been listening to 1970-77 funk and 1975-79 Brit and American avant-punk for the last many weeks.

I am holding out hope for new and upcoming releases from:

*Gil Scott-Heron
*~~Watson Twins~~ [edit/update Feb. 24: Ok, well, this album isn't so good]
*~~Peter Gabriel~~ [edit/update Feb. 24: Ok, well, this album isn't so good]
*the final Johnny Cash American Recordings album [so says Rubin; but we have heard this twice before (after the Unearthed box and American V); this time he promises] (I have preordered it on vinyl)
*Robert Pollard
*David Byrne and Fatboy Slim (a concept album about Imelda Marcos? I am so there!)
*Drive-By Truckers
*The Hold Steady (though I am worried about what Franz's departure means for albums and shows by the band)
*Jimi Hendrix (I have already preordered "Valleys of Neptune" on double-vinyl)
*Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
*New Pornographers
*Willie Nelson (new one produced by T-Bone Burnett that comes out mid-April)

Today was a Day for "Midwest Funk -- Funk 45s From Tornado Alley" by Various Artists

2010-02-16T23:03:00.003-06:00

Incredible 2004 Jazzman/Now Again Records compilation of 1960s and 1970s singles that were released from the heartland on 45s. Midwest Funk -- Funk 45s From Tornado Alley can be found on CD at amazon.com and at various places online. I'll let the official album introductory notes do my work for me:

This time collector Malcolm Catto and I drove 1000s of miles across the endless cornfields of the American Midwest, a vast expanse of farm land that covers the region between the Rockies in the West and the Appalachians in the East. Summer is typically stifling hot and winter extremely harsh - Tornado Alley also runs through the entire region. We worked hard but were lucky too - not only did we avoid the tornadoes, but we also found some incredibly rare 45s and some amazing unreleased master tapes! And we've presented the best of them here in this CD/double LP.

It was great to be the first people to meet and hang out with the often-bootlegged Soul Toranodoes, guzzle whiskey in Henry Peters’ basement, and chill out in one of Jessie Wallace's vintage white Cadillacs. We chatted about their wild gigs and gruelling recording sessions in the ‘60s & ‘70s, they gave us amazing photos, told us fascinating stories and shared priceless anecdotes filled with their inspirations and their failures. Their life story in music was often captured on one solitary, but brilliant, 45, and that musical story is told here.

Midwest Funk - Various Artists

"Hank Williams: The Biography" by Colin Escott [book review]

2010-02-15T08:40:00.006-06:00

The first music book I read in 2010 (back in early January) was the definitive Hank Williams biography by Colin Escott that first came out in 1994. I read the "updated" edition that was released in 2004. I cannot recommend this fine book enough if you are at all interested in early country music. Or, to be more accurate, interested in the time period in the late 40s to the early 50s when hillbilly music and western music were becoming the "Country & Western" genre.

You can't tell this story without placing Hank in the center of your tale. While he didn't make it to 30 years-old, his impact on country music, Nashville, the nature of songwriting, etc. cannot be overemphasized. Escott provides great detail on recording sessions, tours, the history of what would become the ‘Nashville Scene' (and other scenes like Shreveport and the 'Lousiana Hayride' show in particular), and the currents of country music that were flowing in the late 40s to the mid-50s. As well, there is some interesting “gossip” along the way: like tales from the house that Hank and Ray Price shared in Nashville, the parameters of the fallout from Hank stealing Faron Young’s girlfriend at the time, and the best existing account of what probably took place in Hank's final weeks and days.

I would suggest that you start reading the book with a copy of the 1998 10-CD box set The Complete Hank Williams at the ready, or at a minimum, a copy of his 40 Greatest Hits compilation. During the discussions of the Fred Rose-produced recording sessions, you will feel an overwhelming need to set down the book and listen to the relevant track(s).

Overall verdict: Highly (highly!) recommended.

Today was a Day for "What's Up Front that Counts" by The Counts (1971)

2010-02-14T00:18:00.007-06:00

Wow. Another recent album find that brings the funk. What's Up Front That Counts by The Counts came out on the funk-famous, and Detroit-based, label Westbound Records (home in the early 1970s to Funkadelic and the Ohio Players) in September of 1971. Though The Counts would release two more average albums in the next few years, their first LP is one of the grooviest funk albums ever recorded.

The album is still in print on CD, and can be found many places online. And, if you are real lucky, maybe you will score this gem on vinyl when perusing your local record store. If you like Funkadelic, the Ohio Players, or the Bar-Kays, you need to hear The Counts. This Michigan-to-Atlanta band brought the thick-groove-funk in late '71, mofo.

Opening the Mailbag, Volume I

2010-02-10T23:15:00.006-06:00

The emails have been streaming into our "Jams, Mofo" headquarters in recent days asking questions like: Why such a focus on older albums? Where are some references to newer releases? Etc. etc. I think this is a fair line of questioning. For the most part, my listening habits have been stuck in the 1960s to the 1990s for the last 7 or 8 weeks to compensate for how much 00s-era music I listened to in the waning weeks and months of 2009. I spent a lot of time listening to 2009 releases for my Best of 2009 list and the whole decade's music for my Best of 2000s list.

As a result, I have needed to spend some time digging around my vinyl, CD, and digital collections for some older stuff that I hadn't listened to since before mid-autumn. I expect that this trend of listening to older albums (the 70s in particular) will continue for the near future. That said, I have heard a dozen or so albums from 2010 and I will crank out a couple of capsule reviews of the new year’s disappointing (thus far) releases sometime soon.

Keep the emails coming. I have especially liked the haikus and the riddles, mofo.

Today was a Day for "Pink Flag" by Wire (1977)

2010-02-10T22:55:00.001-06:00

Wire's 1977 album Pink Flag is an album that would probably go on every "influential albums" list of British punk albums (and perhaps of music in general). After Wire released this album, they started pushing the edges of their style in quite interesting directions on 1978's Chairs Missing, and 1979's 154, and left Pink Flag's more minimalist approach by the wayside. Reasonable people can disagree about how that turned out, but I think everyone can agree that this album kicks out the jams, mofo.

Pink Flag - Wire

Today was a Day for Axiom Funk - "Funkcronomicon" (1995)

2010-02-08T22:27:00.006-06:00

Is there a better funk album from the last 20 years? This Bill Laswell-produced collection of some 1989-1993 recording sessions gets the prize IMHO, and the fact that it is a double-album makes it #1 by a funk mile.

For Funkcronomicon, we have what constitutes a reunion of Parliament-Funkadelic, plus an array of all-star guests across the 16 tracks. These are the last known Eddie Hazel recordings before his death in 1992. Other participants include: Bernie Worrell, Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Anton Fier, Buckethead, Herbie Hancock, Robbie Shakespeare, Sly Dunbar, Nicky Skopelitis, Jerome "Bigfoot" Brailey, Maceo Parker, Sly Stone, Umar Bin Hassan, Joseph "Zigaboo" Modeliste, Brain, Fred Wesley, and more!

It turns out that my CD copy is worth a bit of money. Used copies of this now rare 2-CD set go for $60 used to $125 new online. Heck, the original cassettes go for $45! That's funked up! Glad I have my copy as it is worth its wait in funk, mofo:

Today was Another Day for a Roir Records Re-release on Vinyl: Bad Brains by Bad Brains (1982)

2010-02-07T21:42:00.003-06:00

The other album that arrived in the post a couple weeks back with the Skatalites double LP set: a new vinyl copy of the best hardcore album of all time (Bad Brains - Bad Brains - 1982, 1 LP). Just your typical album recording of a group of religous D.C.-based African-American Rastafarians with musical roots in reggae, progressive rock, and free jazz getting together to help launch a new subgenre of music. Only play if you want to hear Bad Brains kick out the groundbreaking-speed-punk-hardcore (with sprinkles of reggae) jams, mofo.

Bad Brains - Bad Brains

Today was a Day for Dinosaur Jr. (or, An Answer to the Question, 'Can a 90s-era Band Reform after 10 Years and Kick Maybe More Ass Than they Did Way Back When?')

2010-02-06T23:48:00.006-06:00

Late period, career resurgence Dino Jr., "Over It" from the album Farm (2009):

Beyond from 2007 is basically just as good, if not better. Two remarkable albums by Dino Jr. since the reunion. So nice that the J. Mascis/Lou Barlow détente of the last 5 years has worked out. I never expected it, but I am very glad it happened.

Farm - Dinosaur Jr.

************************

Beyond - Dinosaur Jr.

Today was a Day for "Fire" by the Ohio Players (1974)

2010-02-04T22:04:00.001-06:00

As mentioned in the listing of albums I purchased one day in Austin, TX last month, I recently picked up the Ohio Players 1974 album Fire on vinyl. This was the 7th album by the funk warhorses from Dayton, Ohio. Not content to be known solely for their suggestive and risqué album covers [read about the controversy surrounding their 1975 album cover for Honey here], the Ohio Players also kicked out the jams, mofo, in the early to mid-1970s.

Over the course of the late 60s to the mid 70s, the Ohio Players went from local funk heros, to black radio royalty, to widespread appeal. 1974/75 finds them near their career peak in terms of radio airplay and song popularity.

35 years ago this week (and last week as well), this song was #1 on the Billboard R&B Chart--the album's title-track "Fire" (Side A, song #1):

"What the Hell" (Side B, song #3):

If you dig classic period funk grooves, start your Ohio Players collection now. Get a hold of 1974's Fire then move on to Pain from 1971, acquire 1972's Pleasure, and definitely find Skin Tight from earlier in 1974. Then, spread that funk, mofo.

Fire - Ohio Players

Today was a Day for "Prairie Home Invasion" by Jello Biafra/Mojo Nixon (1994)

2010-02-03T22:48:00.010-06:00

"Are You Drinkin' With Me Jesus?" from 1994's Prairie Home Invasion:

Mojo Nixon, king of Texas Alternative Goof Roots Psychobilly (TAGRP), and Jello Biafra, of Dead Kennedys fame, put out this fine album in 1994. Jello doesn't need any introduction and remains active as a recording artist to this day (new album out in October of 2009), and is highly visible in his Green/lefty political circles. [And down the line maybe we'll investigate the current status of the Jello/DK back catalogue dispute and repercussions.] On the other hand there is Mojo Nixon. Somewhat of an Underground Shitkicker College Radio Star (USCRS) in the mid 80s and into the 90s, he had two minor hits with 1989's "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child” and 1990's "Don Henley Must Die". He is mostly retired as a recording and touring artist, though in late 2009 he did release a digital-only album of "lost hits" and performed a handful of shows to promote the release. In addition, he has a weekly radio show on Sirius radio on the "Outlaw Country" station. Here is a live version of "Don Henley Must Die" from 1994:

Full Prairie Home Invasion album stream:

Prairie Home Invasion - Jello ...

The End is Near (or, Warning: Impending Metal Machine Apocalypse)

2010-02-02T23:21:00.001-06:00

Didn't Lester Bangs predict this would signal the end times? [Note: Seriously, you have to click on that last link. It might be one of the best record reviews in the history of recorded music.] It looks like Lou Reed will be touring parts of Europe this April with his Metal Machine Trio and playing shows "drawing from" the 1975 album.

Note to self: run up credit cards and stop paying bills as this world can't stand long.

Metal Machine Music - Lou Reed

[Edit: PS. Lou, I give you such a hard time 'cause I luv ya!]

Today was a Day for "The Modern Dance" by Pere Ubu (1978)

2010-02-01T22:18:00.008-06:00

Like a weirder, less refined version of the Talking Heads meets Beefheart meets Faust meets Syd Barrett meets the Ramones.

Did art punk get any stranger or more compelling than early Pere Ubu? From the mean streets of Cleveland in January, 1978 came their first album The Modern Dance. Here is Side A, song #2:

And, let it be known, David Thomas could have outdanced David Byrne in a dance-off.

Today was a Day for "Death Letter Blues" by Son House

2010-01-31T20:27:00.004-06:00

I got a letter this mornin, how do you reckon it read?

It said, "Hurry, hurry, yeah, your love is dead"

I got a letter this mornin, I say how do you reckon it read?

You know, it said, "Hurry, hurry, how come the gal you love is dead?"

So, I grabbed up my suitcase, and took off down the road

When I got there she was layin on a coolin' board

I grabbed up my suitcase, and I said and I took off down the road

I said, but when I got there she was already layin on a coolin' board

Well, I walked up right close, looked down in her face

Said, the good ol' gal got to lay here 'til the Judgment Day

I walked up right close, and I said I looked down in her face

I said the good ol' gal, she got to lay here 'til the Judgment Day

Looked like there was 10,000 people standin' round the buryin' ground

I didn't know I loved her 'til they laid her down

Looked like 10,000 were standin' round the buryin' ground

You know I didn't know I loved her 'til they damn laid her down

Lord, have mercy on my wicked soul

I wouldn't mistreat you baby, for my weight in gold

I said, Lord, have mercy on my wicked soul

You know I wouldn't mistreat nobody, baby, not for my weight in gold

Well, I folded up my arms and I slowly walked away

I said, "Farewell honey, I'll see you on Judgment Day"

Ah, yeah, oh, yes, I slowly walked away

I said, "Farewell, farewell, I'll see you on the Judgment Day"

You know I went in my room, I bowed down to pray

The blues came along and drove my spirit away

I went in my room, I said I bowed down to pray

I said the blues came along and drove my spirit away

You know I didn't feel so bad, 'til the good ol' sun went down

I didn't have a soul to throw my arms around

I didn't feel so bad, 'til the good ol' sun went down

You know, I didn't have nobody to throw my arms around

I loved you baby, like I love myself

You don't have me, you won't have nobody else

I loved you baby, better than I did myself

I said now if you don't have me, I didn't want you to have nobody else

You know, it's hard to love someone that don't love you

Ain't no satisfaction, don't care what in the world you do

Yeah, it's hard to love someone that don't love you

You know it don't look like satisfaction, don't care what in the world you do

Got up this mornin', just about the break of day

A-huggin' the pillow where she used to lay

Got up this mornin', just about the break of day

A-huggin' the pillow where my good gal used to lay

Got up this mornin', feelin' round for my shoes

You know, I must-a had them old walkin' blues

Got up this mornin', feelin' round for my shoes

Yeah, you know bout that, I must-a had them old walkin' blues

You know, I cried last night and all the night before

Gotta change my way a livin', so I don't have to cry no more

You know, I cried last night and all the night before

Gotta change my way a livin', you see, so I don't have to cry no more

Ah, hush, thought I heard her call my name

If it wasn't so loud and so nice and plain

Well, listen, whatever you do

This is one thing, honey, I tried to get along with you

Yes, no tellin' what you do

I done everything I could, just to try and get along with you

Well, the minutes seemed like hours, hours they seemed like days

It seemed like my good, old gal outta done stopped her low-down ways

Minutes seemed like hours, hours they seemed like days

Seems like my good, old gal outta done stopped her low-down ways

You know, love's a hard ol' fall, make you do things you don't wanna do

Love sometimes leaves you feeling sad and blue

You know, love's a hard ol' fall, make you do things you don't wanna do

Love sometimes make you feel sad and blue

Father Of The Delta Blues: The...

Today was a Day for "Subspace Biographies" by Robert Pollard (1998)

2010-01-30T18:40:00.007-06:00

Side A, song #4 from the album Waved Out by one-time (and at that time) Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard. From his 1998 solo release on Matador:

Has there been a break today,

Stoned comedian Ringo?

Should I put the plates away?

Captain, are you sure they're coming in?

I am quail & quasar

I picked you up on radar

I do my job each day

Empties crushed and filed away

And there is nothing worse th'n

An undetermined person

Can I abuse you please

In my subspace biographies?

Today was a Day for Camper Van Beethoven's "Telephone Free Landslide Victory" (1985)

2010-01-29T23:44:00.010-06:00

Take the Skinheads Bowling

Every day, I wake up and pray to Jah
And he increases the number of clocks by exactly one
Everybody's comin' home for lunch these days
Last night there were skinheads on my lawn

Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling
Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling

Some people say that bowling alleys got big lanes
Some people say that bowling alleys all look the same
There's not a line that goes here that rhymes with anything
I has a dream last night, but I forget what it was

Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling

Take the skinheads bowling

Take them bowling

I had a dream last night about you, my friend
I had a dream--I wanted to sleep next to plastic
I had a dream--I wanted to lick your knees
I had a dream--it was about nothing

Take the skinheads bowling
Take them bowling

Take the skinheads bowling

Take them bowling

I am going to see David Lowery and the Cracker 'Acoustic' Duo (with guitarist Johnny Hickman) next month. Over the next couple of weeks I am going to work my way through the entire Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker discographies. I have all 15 of the Camper and Cracker studio albums on vinyl and/or CD, so I am going to try and listen to one per day or so. This process started earlier in the evening with a spin of Camper's debut album, 1985's Telephone Free Landslide Victory. One of my very favorite albums of the 1980s by one of my favorite bands of all time:

Telephone Free Landslide Victo...

Where the Hell is Bill?

Where, where the Hell is Bill?
Where, where the Hell is Bill?
Where, where the Hell is Bill?
Where, where the Hell is Bill?

Well, maybe he went to get a sideways haircut

Maybe he went to get a striped shirt
Maybe he went to get some plastic shoes
Maybe he went to get some funny sunglasses

Well, maybe he went to get an Air Force parka

Maybe he went to get a Vespa scooter
Maybe he went to get a British flag
Maybe he went to go Mod Ska dancing

Well, maybe he went to get a mohawk

And maybe he went to get some gnarly thrash boots
Maybe he went to go ride his skateboard
Maybe he went to see the Circle Jerks

Where, where the Hell is Bill?
Where, where the Hell is Bill?
Where, where the Hell is Bill?
Where, where the Hell is Bill?

Today was a Day for Japandroids "Post-Nothing" (2009)

2010-01-28T23:50:00.001-06:00

"Wet Hair" from 2009's Post-Nothing which was on my Best of 2009 list:

She had wet hair
Say what you will
I don't care
I couldn't resist it

These girls are all
Bikini Kill
We need a ride to Bikini Island

We run the gauntlet
Let's get to France
So we can French kiss some French girls

Today was a Day for The Mekons

2010-01-27T22:07:00.002-06:00

from 1978:

This single and more can be found on the compilation Heaven and Hell: The Very Best of the Mekons that came out in 2004:

Heaven & Hell - The Mekons

Today was a Day for a Roir Records Re-release on Vinyl: The Skatalites -- Stretching Out (1987)

2010-01-26T23:01:00.011-06:00

Great news arrived in the post yesterday: a nice, new vinyl copy of the best live ska album of all time by the best ska band of all time (The Skatalites - Stretching Out - 1987, 2 LPs). Stretching Out was originally put out as a cassette-only release by Roir Records in 1987, but last year they finally released the set on vinyl for the first time.

The music on the two LPs comes from a recording of a warm-up show that The Skatalites did on June 27, 1983 in preparation for their reunion performance in July at the Reggae Sunsplash festival in northern Jamaica, and from a recording of a show later in the month on July 17, 1983. Both shows took place at The Blue Monk Jazz Gallery in Kingston, Jamaica. The performances that summer constituted the first full Skatalite shows in 18 years--almost two decades after their short-lived, but legendary tenure in 1963-65.

I was fortunate enough to see a Skatalites reunion show at the "old" 9:30 Club in D.C. in the spring of 1994. It was a helluva show and a great night of music. By 1994, however, there were missing members from the original 1960s lineup. Not so on this double album--this is the original lineup playing and improvising together for some of the initial times after an 18-year hiatus. The Skatalites kick out the jams, mofo. Listen for yourself below (and buy the vinyl if you can):

Stretching Out - The Skatalite...

100 Years + 2 Days ago Today: Django Reinhardt was Born in Belgium

2010-01-25T07:50:00.001-06:00

Bio and discography here.
Recent NPR story on his legacy 100 years after his birth here.

Today was a Day for "The Best of the Black President" (or, Waiting for the Fela Kuti remasters on vinyl)

2010-01-24T15:02:00.007-06:00

I highly recommend spending $5.00 at Amazon.com to download over 2 hours of remastered Fela Kuti music. This new career overview collection, "The Best of the Black President" is the first release from Knitting Factory Records in their Fela reissues series. According to stories like this one, all 45 titles in the Fela catalogue are going to be re-released on both vinyl and CD over the course of the next couple of years!

Go slow, go slow! Take a listen:

Best of The Black President - ...

Today was a Day for Crack Sabbath

2010-01-23T15:07:00.000-06:00

Grunge jazz from Seattle:

Skerik & Crack Sabbath kickin' out the jams, mofo!

Today was a Day for "Twelve" by Patti Smith (2007)

2010-01-22T22:30:00.003-06:00

Oops, I forgot about this album. It should have gone in the Honorable Mention listing for my Best of the Decade list. Fun stuff:

Twelve - Patti Smith

Or get the CD here pretty darn cheap at amazon.com.

I am also looking forward to reading Patti's new (published December, 2009) memoir "Just Kids" about hangin' out with her pal Robert Mapplethorpe, but that is going to have to wait until summer...

Today was a Day for "The Hardness of the World" by Slave (1977)

2010-01-20T21:47:00.008-06:00

Slave was one of the top late-period funk bands from one of the the capitals of funk music: Dayton, Ohio! While not as funk famous as fellow funk Daytonites The Ohio Players or nearby funk neighbor Bootsy Collins (from Cincinnati), Slave put out two great albums (their first two) in 1977. I picked up their second album The Hardness of the World on NM- vinyl last month, and it grooves like a mofo, mofo. Feel the funk, ya'll:

Hardness Of The World - Slave

Slave also had a #1 hit on the R&B chart for one week in late July of 1977 with "Slide" from their first self-titled album released earlier in the year:

Want to know more about the extraordinary 1970s Dayton funk scene and its underpinnings & implications?
Check out this paper. And this paper.

Happy 64th Birthday Dolly, from Your Pals at "Jams, Mofo" & Jack White

2010-01-19T22:12:00.002-06:00

I read the news today, oh boy.

About a lucky man who made the grade.

Today was a Day for Booker "Bukka" White (1906-1977)

2010-01-18T21:22:00.000-06:00

Today was a Day for Carl Smith, aka "Mr. Country" (RIP edition)

2010-01-17T20:42:00.000-06:00

Country Music Hall of Fame member Carl Smith, known as "Mr. Country", died today at the age of 82. He was married to June Carter Cash at one time and had 30 "Top 10" hit songs in the 1950s. Good obituaries on him here and here.

RIP "Mr. Country".