Paul Westerberg just released a bunch of songs recorded in his basement, all jumbled together on one 49 minute mp3 (actually it doesn't run quite that long) for the grand price of .49 cents. Get it here. Love the cover art (shown above)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sarah Borges - 'Daniel Lee' (at Sun Studios)
Seems to be a steady stream of great albums from talented alternative-country women over the past few years (Kathleen Edwards, Shannon McNally, Tift Merritt, etc.)... or maybe I'm just more receptive to this kinda music than I would have been when I was younger. Lately, I've been listening to Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles a lot. If you're not allergic to a bit of country, definitely check out her two albums, "Silver City" and "Diamonds in the Dark".
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Clinic - 'The Witch'
Caught Clinic the other night. They started by playing their new album "Do It!" in its entirety. Their sound hasn't changed all that much since their first album, 2000's "Internal Wrangler", but that sound was so eclectic and distinct from the get-go (they're about the last band I'd expect to have come out of Liverpool, England) that they can easily keep exploring it for another eight years. Their mix of eerie 60's psychedelica, garage rock, dub and the kitchen sink came off pretty well live, especially when they starting getting into some choice songs from previous albums. Loved the surgical masks and Hawaiian shirts get-up they had on too...
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Deep Blues Festival
Man, do I wish I was able to go to this. They have an unbelievable lineup-- pretty much anyone who's anyone in the blues-punk underground.
Friday, June 6, 2008
Polvo - 'Tragic Carpet Ride'
From the 9:30 show last month. Horrible sound quality, but the volume level of this show was deafening. Thank god I had earplugs!
Polvo easily surpassed any expectations I had of them as a live band. I couldn't believe how tight they were for a band that hasn't played together in ten years. Even the extended jams that many of the songs morphed into were riveting, rather than boring (as those type of things usually are).
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Sons and Daughters - 'Johnny Cash'
Recently stumbled on this Scottish band and their 2003 EP "Love the Cup", from which this song comes. Also worth listening to is their new self-described 'pop album', "This Gift".
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
RIP Bo Diddley
The eulogies for Bo have unfortunately focused on the use of the "Bo Diddley Beat" by others. However, the raw, driving rock of his 50's-60's albums can stand on their own, regardless of how big an influence they were. Point being that some records and artists are better noted as a progenator, not actually listened to. Not so with Bo.
If you can ever it find, the live "Bo Diddley's Beach Party" is mindblowingly raucous. This clip is a pretty good dose of Bo jamming in his prime, though.
The Kills - The Good Ones (Live @ Album de la Semaine)
Have missed these guys the last 5 or 6 times they've been in town. Supposed to be one of the most intense live acts around right now. Can't say I'm on board with the new direction they've taken with the latest album, though.
The Oranges Band
Caught these Bawlmer natives the other week and had a big smile on my face for their entire set of straight-up pop rock.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Polvo Returns
Bands just can't resist the pull of reforming. Lucre, reliving the glory days, what is it? Word is that Pavement and the Replacements turned down offers to reform for Coachella this year. As ambivalent as I am about bands getting back together, I would have booked a ticket immediately to see the 'Mats again. In the meantime, I'll content myself with checking out Polvo at the Black Cat next Friday.
I went to Virginia Tech, which was near enough to Chapel Hill to be closely tuned in to that music scene back in its heyday (Superchunk, Southern Culture on the Skids, etc). I generally wasn't down with the whole math-rock scene Polvo got lumped in with, but they had a fascinating twist on guitar rock that I loved.
From their best moment, the Celebrate the New Dark Ages EP, here' s Solitary Set:
Play or Download Polvo - "Solitary Set"
I went to Virginia Tech, which was near enough to Chapel Hill to be closely tuned in to that music scene back in its heyday (Superchunk, Southern Culture on the Skids, etc). I generally wasn't down with the whole math-rock scene Polvo got lumped in with, but they had a fascinating twist on guitar rock that I loved.
From their best moment, the Celebrate the New Dark Ages EP, here' s Solitary Set:
Play or Download Polvo - "Solitary Set"
Monday, April 7, 2008
Captain Beefheart - Big Eyed Beans from Venus
I don't know who posts all this stuff to You Tube, but I thank them just the same. How else would I ever get to see footage like this? One of rock's true eccentrics, Don Van Vliet (aka "Captain Beefheart") from a French TV broadcast, 1980.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Swervedriver Returns
Swervedriver have reformed and already lined up a few 2008 dates. My favorite of the UK "shoegazer" bands of the 90's, they leaned more towards driving guitar rock than their peers. They lost a bit of steam by the point of 1998's "99th Dream", but I'm looking forward to finally getting to see them live.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Flat Duo Jets
"No band has ever replaced the Flat Duo Jets as my favorite"
-- Neko Case, from the liner notes of Two Headed Cow
The first weekend I was at college, a freshman clueless about music (high school favorites had been classic rock, metal and AC/DC), I went to see "Athens Georgia Inside/Out" at the old Lyric Theater on Main Street in Blacksburg, VA. I can't quite remember why I went to see this movie, but I think it had something to do with getting into REM at the time. I've probably seen and completely forgotten a thousand films since then, but I can still remember sitting there absolutely awe-struck by the footage of the Flat Duo Jets playing on the porch of a frat house. I'd never seen a band play so intensely. I wish the footage was somewhere on YouTube to show you, but it's not. It started a lifelong love for me of the old rockabilly that inspired the FDJ's.
Fast-forward a few years when I got the chance to see them live. It was at the old (now razed) Bayou in Georgetown underneath the Whitehurst Freeway. I was on Spring break from college and talked one of my best friends, Pat (also on Spring break) into heading down to see this band he'd never heard of. I have to thank Pat for always being open to my music picks, even when it started out like this night did.
Getting to the Bayou relatively on time for the show, there was no one to be found there. We were told to come back later, so when out for a beer elsewhere. Returning later, there was only a handful of people, so Pat and I grabbed a table in the back. A band called the Impotent Sea Snakes was opening. Smoke filled the stage and we saw the shadow what looked to be a giant moving around behind it ('Dude, is that guy on stage like 9 feet tall?!'). With the smoke clearning, the giant turned out to be the guitarist on stilts. I have trouble describing what else was going on on stage or the moritification at having dragged Pat down to see this show (god knows what he thought the Flat Duo Jets were going to be like at this point!). Events on stage included one member in a kilt grilling hot dogs for the audience (yes, there was a full gas grill on stage), a transvestite dancer, an artist painting a canvas that he would later saw in half with a chainsaw, and a two foot long rubber dildo. By the time the show was over, the seven or so of us in the audience were all just sitting there in open-jawed astonishment with uneaten hot dogs on our tables.
An attempt to clear the stage was slowly made, a drum set and guitar was brought out, and then nothing. Where were the Flat Duo Jets? About fifteen minutes later, the doors at the back of the bar flew open, and in stumbled Dexter and Crow. Dex seemed to be wearing a bright orange prison outfit. They staggered through the 'crowd' and across the dance floor to the stage. Without a word, they proceeded to absolutely blow the roof off the place. By this point, I had a couple of their albums, but the songs they were playing were unfamiliar to me. Mostly instrumental songs, played at maximum volume with Dex's back turned to the audience-- no acknowledgement whatsoever that anyone else was there, just total intensity. At some point, members of the Sea Serpents made their way on stage, much to Dex's displeasure. I remember his taking a running stab at one of them with the point of his guitar while still playing!
This remains one of the greatest live shows I've ever seen. The memories of it were all brought back by the recent release of "Two Headed Cow", the soundtrack companion to a documentary about the Flat Duo Jets, left dormant for many years and finally completed in 2007. The soundrack, released last month, captures the Jets in their prime.
-- Neko Case, from the liner notes of Two Headed Cow
The first weekend I was at college, a freshman clueless about music (high school favorites had been classic rock, metal and AC/DC), I went to see "Athens Georgia Inside/Out" at the old Lyric Theater on Main Street in Blacksburg, VA. I can't quite remember why I went to see this movie, but I think it had something to do with getting into REM at the time. I've probably seen and completely forgotten a thousand films since then, but I can still remember sitting there absolutely awe-struck by the footage of the Flat Duo Jets playing on the porch of a frat house. I'd never seen a band play so intensely. I wish the footage was somewhere on YouTube to show you, but it's not. It started a lifelong love for me of the old rockabilly that inspired the FDJ's.
Fast-forward a few years when I got the chance to see them live. It was at the old (now razed) Bayou in Georgetown underneath the Whitehurst Freeway. I was on Spring break from college and talked one of my best friends, Pat (also on Spring break) into heading down to see this band he'd never heard of. I have to thank Pat for always being open to my music picks, even when it started out like this night did.
Getting to the Bayou relatively on time for the show, there was no one to be found there. We were told to come back later, so when out for a beer elsewhere. Returning later, there was only a handful of people, so Pat and I grabbed a table in the back. A band called the Impotent Sea Snakes was opening. Smoke filled the stage and we saw the shadow what looked to be a giant moving around behind it ('Dude, is that guy on stage like 9 feet tall?!'). With the smoke clearning, the giant turned out to be the guitarist on stilts. I have trouble describing what else was going on on stage or the moritification at having dragged Pat down to see this show (god knows what he thought the Flat Duo Jets were going to be like at this point!). Events on stage included one member in a kilt grilling hot dogs for the audience (yes, there was a full gas grill on stage), a transvestite dancer, an artist painting a canvas that he would later saw in half with a chainsaw, and a two foot long rubber dildo. By the time the show was over, the seven or so of us in the audience were all just sitting there in open-jawed astonishment with uneaten hot dogs on our tables.
An attempt to clear the stage was slowly made, a drum set and guitar was brought out, and then nothing. Where were the Flat Duo Jets? About fifteen minutes later, the doors at the back of the bar flew open, and in stumbled Dexter and Crow. Dex seemed to be wearing a bright orange prison outfit. They staggered through the 'crowd' and across the dance floor to the stage. Without a word, they proceeded to absolutely blow the roof off the place. By this point, I had a couple of their albums, but the songs they were playing were unfamiliar to me. Mostly instrumental songs, played at maximum volume with Dex's back turned to the audience-- no acknowledgement whatsoever that anyone else was there, just total intensity. At some point, members of the Sea Serpents made their way on stage, much to Dex's displeasure. I remember his taking a running stab at one of them with the point of his guitar while still playing!
This remains one of the greatest live shows I've ever seen. The memories of it were all brought back by the recent release of "Two Headed Cow", the soundtrack companion to a documentary about the Flat Duo Jets, left dormant for many years and finally completed in 2007. The soundrack, released last month, captures the Jets in their prime.
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