In 1977, the Jersey sound was getting hot. Some guy named Bruce Springsteen had put out a record called Born to Run in ’75 and while everyone waited for the next album (and then waited some more), the word was there were more bands out there in the “flats of Jersey”. The Sugar Miami Steve …
Like a Duracell 9volt battery to the tongue, Henry shows he’s always ready to confront and stimulate. If he had a third hand, it would be jostling what lies below his third arm. – Paul Johnson . . .
. A bombastic, guttural onslaught. Keith Moon appears as a mischievous child with a hand grenade, moving me to the commode when coffee and cigarettes have failed. Wipe this. – Paul Johnson . .
Here’s one for the iPod, Fireflies, a slightly less well known Fleetwood Mac song, one never captured in the studio. This version was recorded during a tour sound check and thrown into the mix on the long-forgotten Live (1980) album, a collection which, by the standards of the time and of live albums, was fairly …
A million souls have viewed these Jakarta college students and their a capella version of Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance.” This is just another fact to convince you that the world you remember is gone. You’re just a lurker in the new one.
. . Not sure if this has been done elsewhere, or if there would be any interest, but I’ve always had a soft spot for great lyrical couplets. Elvis Costello is pretty much the master (and Dylan, of course) but it might be interesting to see a link where posters could put up their own …
East Portland blog loves the Beastie Boys as they are one of only two musical phenomena from back in the day which still send promotional emails. Here’s their latest. Read and learn, Philistines: BEASTIE BOYS HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE PART 2 TRACK LISTING REVISED, REPLACED ENTIRELY WITH SONGS ORIGINALLY RECORDED FOR HOT SAUCE COMMITTEE PART 1 …
In my book, music is supposed to be fun, and why not. But it also should reach out and grab my ears, arrest my attention, lock in and not let go until its finish. Much like a growling dog biting down on the leg end of your jeans, it’s music that must be attended to. …
Seattle trumpeter Thomas Marriott’s upcoming release on Origin records, Constraints & Liberations, is now available for preorder from Amazon (http://tinyurl.com/22rh3lh), and will be available in stores Nov. 16, 2010. The video above is the electronic press kit for Both Sides of the Fence, Marriott’s 2007 release (http://tinyurl.com/2aozvt7). The vid gives you a feel for Marriott …
If you love the Chicago Blues, you’ll count yourself lucky that Hubert Sumlin is still alive and playing guitar. His stunningly original and powerful technique, structured unlike any other in recorded blues, has many admirers but no successful imitators. As the lead guitarist for Howlin’ Wolf, he helped create a body of work that formed …
. I’ve always loved the sophistication of Joe Jackson’s “Night & Day” (1982) album — “Cancer” seemed like an ’80s update of Steely Dan, and “Steppin’ Out” showed Joe learning some melodic Cole Porterisms. I still like both those songs a lot, but at the end of the day, the album as a whole just …
According to Onion AV Club, in the true part of the Onion, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards says bandmate Mick Jagger has been “unbearable” since the ’80s and has a tiny penis which bored Marianne Faithfull. Richards states all this and more in his upcoming autobiography, Life. Click here. Thanks to Jon Chick for the …
This is the Max Raabe take on the old Britney Spears classic, Oops I Did it Again. According to the Wik, “Max Raabe (December 12, 1962 in Lünen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German singer and band leader of the Palast Orchester. He and his orchestra specialize in recreating the sound of German dance and film …
Boston! Come on. You can do better than this. This looks like socialist aerobics crossed with the worst high school half time show of all time. And why “Don’t Stop Believin”? Why not “More Than a Feeling” (Boston) or “Tonight She Comes” (The Cars), both from local bands? The next great flashmob will dance to …
It’s been getting colder at night, which really gets my Celtic blood pumping. With the sunlight fading and the ale growing darker, my senses are filled with the drifting sounds of pipe music and the lights that dance in the bonfire’s flames. It’s just this time of year that gets me thinking about fusion music …
Bjork could be rolling in ungodly piles of money just jiggling to formula bubblegum pop; her hotness is impossible to ignore and her vocal range is supernatural. But instead of settling, the empress of Iceland dares to be an rock’n’roll auteur, a colleague of Byrne not Beyonce. A cappella album? She’s done it. Jazz? Here …
Midday Veil released their first studio album recently, “Eyes All Around.” The first video, “Asymptote II” is lovely, joyous, innocent and drug-fueled. Expect great things from this young Seattle combo: . . Here is the press release. Read and learn, Philistines: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Translinguistic Other Recordings p.o. box 23326 Seattle WA 98102 MIDDAY VEIL …
Things are tough all over. Even legendary recordist Steve Albini, the famed audio technician behind classic releases from Nirvana, Liz Phair, Bush, Bedhead, Built to Spill, Bottomless Pit, Cheap Trick and dozens of others is having trouble paying the mortgage on Electrical Audio, his impeccably designed analog studio. Tim Midgett, guitarist, bassist and songwriter for …
This from John Moe via Facebook: “Norwegian Recycling is the mashup king. Survivor, Gnarls Barkley, Britney, so much here. Survivor? Survivor.” .
For name alone, I’ve always wanted to love Gogol Bordello. Rumored to be best heard live, they’ve got a big time video out now, “Immigraniada (We Comin’ Rougher).” I’ll leave it to you to decide if there’s a phenomenom aborning here, a Ukrainian Pogues, or just Yakov Smirnoff with a backing band. If Imigraniada strikes …
Not a bad clip at all. I wish that I had something enlightening to say but I don’t. I’ve got nothing against blues/rock encounters except that in my experience, rock always wins out. Not surprising when you consider the economics. The intermingling of the blues with rock is such a complex theme, with so many …
When “With or Without You,” 1987, was released in advance of The Joshua Tree, several years after this lesser known, 1985, Wide Awake in America, gem, longtime U2 fans derided “With or Without You” as a mere reworking of this, supposedly superior, song. Because The Joshua Tree and “With or Without You” went on to …
This is the story that keeps on giving. If we concentrate on KP and Elmo long enough, we won’t have to think about upcoming elections, insane religious wars, the second great depression, Brett Favre… A children’s themed Katy Perry video, recorded with Elmo, was struck from scheduled Sesame Street airing recently because it showed too …
. Seeing this clip, i’m more worried about the shitty music being thrown at kids before they can understand it. [Look and click below to see what Sesame Street was jammin out to in the 70s.] Do we really want to live in a world populated with musicians reared on Katy Perry’s music? Also, when …
The recent Katy Perry vs. the latte-drinking, Volvo-driving, PBS liberals at Sesame Street brouhaha does nothing if not remind us that the quality of musical guests in Oscar Von Grouchland, the Street of SezMe, has gone way down in the last 35 years. This version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” sounds like a live take right …
Or at least she didn’t read, the dress code, for entertaining children in the home of the brave. Katy Perry’s video, below, was removed from Sesame Street because it shows too much creamy white cleavage. Full story is here. . . . . . . .
Although this clip looks as if it had been filmed at a Chicago Blues club, it actually took place at the Newport Folk Festival in 1966. The folklorist Alan Lomax had set up a faux juke joint where he could film blues players in a “realistic” club setting. Performers included Skip James, Bukka White, and …
An old time camp meeting hymn: .
This is the best 34 seconds of gospel music on network television ever. The harmonies tend to suggest Appalachian shape note singing, as they should, if the show was to be accurate in relation to its’ mountain setting. Griffith, a fine musician and singer in his own right, is joined by the Dillards, a sterling …
. I just had the thought, now that I’ve had some time to digest Ian Hunter’s release from last year, that Ian Hunter is probably my favorite for best rocker of the 21st Century. Who’d’ve thunk it? All three of his releases this decade have been way above average and OK, if I want to …