After marching with Occupy Wall Street the last two days, my baby and I took some time to blow off steam and relax with some friends last night. Well, in the cab ride home, Franny cues up the perfect James Taylor song on her iPhone. Even more appropriate 35 years later…and a fun jam. Nice one, Fran :) Dig.
(and yes, my ‘JT’ is James Taylor, not Justin)
James Taylor-Money Machine
Talk about power-trio! Fuckin’ A, Radio Moscow is the shit. THE GREAT ESCAPE OF LESLIE MAGNAFUZZ is the Californian-based band’s third album for the highly-regarded Alive Naturalsound Records. It’s out October 11th, but you must taste you some now…and do yourself the favor of CRANKING IT!
Radio Moscow-Little Eyes
*flier by Justin Gabbard
I’m extremely psyched to welcome the Entrance Band to Beyond Beyond is Beyond this Thursday…
The killer West Coast psych trio will be performing live on EVR and we’ll chat about what’s going on in Entrance Land. Tune in at noon eastern at EVR.com.
They’ll be headlining at Glasslands on Thursday night and supporting The Kills and Cold Cave at Terminal 5 on Friday. I know which one I’d rather be at. ;)
Here are more tour dates:
April 28 – Brooklyn, NY – Glasslands – TEB Headlines
April 29 – New York, NY – Terminal 5*
April 30 – Montreal, QC – L’Olympia*
May 01 – Toronto, ON – Sound Academy*
May 03 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre*
May 04 – Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre*
May 05 – Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue*
May 08 – Vancouver, BC – Commodore Ballroom*
May 09 – Seattle, WA – The Showbox*
May 10 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom*
May 11 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore*
May 13-15 – Minehead UK – Butlins Holiday Centre – All Tomorrows Parties
*with The Kills & Cold Cave
And dig this cover of Arthur Lee and Love’s ‘A House Is Not a Motel’, which was just released on 7″ on Record Store Day on Black Tent Press…
I can almost hear the chorus of “who???” I choose Peter Farrelly for this series for one moment in my teenage concert going years. Peter was the bassist/vocalist with Irish prog-rockers Fruupp. Waist-length hair, a Gibson Les Paul recording bass, and knee-high boots, he cut a dashing figure, alternating the music with spoken passages, for which he would retire to a wing-backed armchair, by the light of an old standard lamp, reading their peculiar myths and legends. But the moment that had my jaw hitting the floor as an impressionable young lad was when they launched into their song “On a clear day”. Intricate bass lines underpinning his vocal, seemingly impossible to perform at the same time! It was the first time I’d seen live a bassist exhibit such skill, and it had a profound effect on me. He also designed most of the bands artwork for their album covers – and played the flute!
Fruupp released four albums in the early seventies, the final one, Modern Masquerades, being produced by King Crimson’s Ian McDonald (later to be part of Foreigner) who also played sax on the album. They developed something of a following in the UK and supported both Genesis and Queen on tour in 1974.
They finally split in 1976.
There were rumours of a reunion in 2006, and who knows , it may still happen. But do yourselves a favour, and check out the music of this undiscovered gem of a band!
Recommended listening: Tracks: One a fine Day, Janet Planet, Gormenghast
Albums: The Prince of Heaven’s Eyes, Modern Masquerades
Check out the new AC/DC tune. It sounds like something that would fit in on a classic AC/DC album like Back In Black, For Those About To Rock, or Flick of the Switch!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ba4xujkWeQ4&hl=en&fs=1]
A-maze-ing, no? Alice Cooper said that he was flattered when he heard that in a recent interview, Brian Johnson was complimented by the interviewer on the new album, and Brian said, “Yeah, but have you heard Alice Cooper’s new album?!” Nice. You likey?
…And it was great to see Saturday night at the Lower East Side’s Cake Shop! We were there to see the band Apache, whose debut album is excellent, and I wanted to see how they translated live. Well live is where the band really lives! It was complete sweat-drenched, classic style garage/glam rock & roll… reminiscent of the old Detroit masters of that game… the MC5, the Stooges, and even early Alice Cooper.
And we got there in time to see one of the bands that went on before Apache called Electric Shadows, who rocked equally well and grittily…and who gave us a great Kiss “Strutter” cover! It was obvious that these guys have been touring with each other at least for a while, as they were all buddies and there were lots of Shadows playing with Apaches, and Apaches playing in the Shadows set. It was like one big happy rock family!
Check out these bands on Myspace now…that is, if you like to rock!
And also check out this other band that went on first that night, who I missed, but loved their songs on Myspace…
Hey you’s guys…I’m going on a mancation, like now-ish, with my dad and brother to St. John, V.I.! I can’t wait to get there…I wish we could just skip the waking up at 5:00 am and going to JFK, where we will be molested by security and jacked around by American Airlines, who has been in the news the last couple days for a luggage-losing fiasco. But that’s what one does to travel in these-here post-9/11 days. It WAS nice to hear from Lou Dobbs on the radio that Exxon-Mobil reported record profits today for the last quarter ($12 billion!)… which is the largest quarterly profit EVER reported by a US company! And it was not actually nice to hear that…that was sarcasm.
So now I cheer up and finish packing. But I wanted to leave you all with something before I left, and it is this:
Right now, you can go to Amazon and download a 256 kbps, DRM-free mp3 version of Nick Drake’s classic Pink Moon album for only $2.99! That’s a frickin’ steal for an excellent album. So, if you don’t have it…go get it now!
Anyway, it’s gonna be quiet here for a few days, but I’ll be returning mid-week with some more RT and probably some great St. John pics!
Cheers!
You might remember that I wrote a piece about the Welsh band, MAN, a few months ago when I was still a newbie to their music. Since then I have received some mind-blowing MAN albums, bursting with their eclectic blend of West Coast psychedelia, hard rock, blues, progressive rock, funk, Beatlesy harmonies, and top notch jamming. These albums have been beautifully remastered with excellent bonus material and packaging and new liner notes from one of the MAN legends himself, guitarist/singer/songwriter, Deke Leonard. The most recent reissues include the three albums, Back Into The Future, Slow Motion and Maximum Darkness.
I’ve got to say that these MAN reissues have been in very heavy rotation in my iTunes and iPod for the last couple months. I have gone from a complete ignorance of this band, not even having heard of them before 2008, to being converted to an unmitigated MAN fan by mid-2008. Why is MAN such a horribly overlooked band, you might ask? I’m really not sure, but my guesses are a) perhaps mismanagement (a la Moby Grape) and b) lack of radio hits. At least the Grateful Dead had “Truckin’” and “Casey Jones” But this isn’t necessarily mainstream music here either. This is music for music’s sake. Here’s my completely-biased account of the most recent set of MAN albums that have just been re-released on England’s Esoteric Recordings this summer.
Click on through for the juicy details…
I just saw the Hold Steady at McCarren Park Pool a couple weeks ago, and they put on a really good show…although I’m pretty sure Paul wasn’t impressed. His standards are immaculate. I’m not sure if they makes any sense, but it really sounds right. Anyway, the band was very fun on stage and the sound mix was perfect. Chip and I only wish they would’ve played Southtown Girls!
The fellas are streaming their new album, Stay Positive, over at Imeem and it’s sounding great so far, as I’m listening now. It also has the band talking about the songs before each song starts too, if you dig that kinda thing. I don’t really, to be honest. I kind of like the idea of an album just dropping out of space somehow, with no dissertations about overdubs and how ‘we had to get a lot of writing done backstage on tour’. But most people probably like that, so it’s there.
I recommend you go check it out though…it’s free! And you know what the Focus Factor commercial lady says about free, right?
The We’re Late For Class boys keep on cranking out some great stoned musical fodder for you heady pleasure. This time they create a great ambient soundscape to some Jim Morrison poetry…and, yes, it’s Jim reading! Grab the Oreos and give this shit a listen after you burn one down. And, oh yeah, you can download it for free right here. Far fucking out!
I’ve already told you about how great this band is and how excellent the album is… now Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears’ Flight of the Knife album is the editor’s choice at iTunes and it’s going for a mere $5.99 this week only, so get it now, and support killer new music! Do yourself a favor…
Think Queen meets Sparks meets Alice Cooper meets ELO meets Ben Folds meets your mom! Dig.
I just found this cool new way to share mix “tapes” with friends, called Muxtape. You upload the songs (which is quick), order the tracks, and it reads the titles and diplays them, and plays the songs back for your favorite cats. So go ahead, listen to this, it’s fun and easy, and it removes excess body fat!
And one more thing, God Bless America! Grace Potter is a cool rock chick.
Anyone else gonna share a Muxtape with us?
I was pretty blown away when I found New York’s super-hip independent paper, the Village Voice, writing up the recently remastered and rereleased Emerson, Lake & Palmer live document, Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends. Then I almost swallowed my eyeballs when I saw that the review was resoundingly positive! Check it out HERE.
We’re talking about what was a triple live album when it was originally released in the 70′s, which has a 27-minute long song, AND a 35-minute long song (and there’s still 7 other songs)! It is nice to see that someone has listened to the music before writing a review, in this age of albums which are super-rushed to press, and the reviews are even more rushed to print. Here are some of the quotable accolades that Phil Freeman thrusts upon these ‘bloat-tastic motherfuckers’…
- …the band’s brand of epic, classical-soaked prog was actually tight as hell
- Simply put, Emerson, Lake & Palmer fucking rocked.
- Revisiting this catalog 35 (!) years later, it’s amazing how little music has “progressed.” Snip 20 random seconds of Emersonian Moog-frenzy from the live album and play it for a Wolf Eyes fan—see if he can tell the difference.
- These six studio albums and two live discs are the gateways to a world of balls-out craziness the likes of which is nowhere to be found in rock circa 2008.
Mr. Freeman ends the review with that last line which not only compliments the Welcome Back My Friends live release, but the entire rereleased catalog that our friends at Shout Factory! have done such a beautiful job at remastering and packaging. Believe me, I’ve heard them all! But if you don’t believe me, here’s a couple samples so you can hear for yourself (but listen now, for they will soon be removed)…
Emerson Lake & Palmer – Hoedown (Live), kicks off the album
Emerson Lake & Palmer – Tiger In A Spotlight (from the oft-everlooked Works, Vol. 2)
So, what do you think? Are today’s music fans beginning to embrace progressive rock again. It does seem to be slipping into the rock music scene, as we’ve seen with a lot of newer indie bands. I think the one thing that most bands have to embrace about it, is it’s limitlessness. If you’re a going to be a band with staying power, you’re definitely not going to want to limit yourself to making the same album over and over, and I think that’s where the spirit of progressive rock will probably always live on. Have you been hearing any newer bands rocking the prog style lately?
First to answer correctly (or who I’m thinking it sounds like) wins a copy of this album…
Well, let me explain this before you do something drastic and decide to never frequent this blog ever again. Friday night, Franny (whose performance as Mrs. Bingley-Hardin in a the Impact Theater One-Act Festival was brilliant!) and I were out at a bar with Jess, Chippy, Jake, Kate, Richard, and an end-of-10-day-fast Cara, following the play and I guess somehow we got on the subject of rape-themed songs or desperate men or something like that, I forget, and Franny and I automatically thought of the 80′s-era Chicago song “Stay the Night”.
Now, I forgot about it until somebody randomly texted me yesterday exclaiming ‘blog stay the night, bitch!!!‘ S0, being the bitch that I am, I am now blogging “Stay The Night” by Chicago see we can all have a laugh together. Also, I might have just come up with my next Case for (Phil) Collins feature! Things to look out for in the song:
1. The crazy-ass 80′s snare drum sound
2. The lyric “And I wont take no if thats your answer/ At least thats my philosophy” in regards to the potential sleepover that Cetera is feeling, and it seems the woman is not.
3. The Beatles-ish section that makes the forced sex seem somehow quaint, which ends with a weirdly resounding “I wanna tell you something, make it perfectly clear/ We’re gonna have a very good time” (please note the way it is sung).
Here it is, and listen up. Is there anything else that stands out?
Would you let this man in your bed?
Click through for another 80′s “Stay The Night” which I actually dig…
I found this over at Hidden Track. It’s David Lee Roth‘s isolated vocal from ‘Runnin With The Devil‘! You must hear it now, so go there…
So, I’ve recently stumbled on some new music that I really like, but of course that’s because it’s music that isn’t afraid to go in new (old) directions. It may sound confusing, but how uncool has it been in the last 20 years to sound like prog-rock at all? Correct, very. But throughout that time I’ve still always harbored a love for progressive rock, in all it’s ‘indulgent‘ grandeur. The argument against prog rock has always been that it’s over-indulgent, which I never understood because I figured music would be the perfect place to indulge. It’s every other facet of life that we must curb our indulgences…but why not let’s make the music freer than we?
All right, now that I’ve confirmed that I’m a dork, I wanted to turn you on to some examples of new Indie bands who aren’t afraid to borrow from some of rock’s taboo past. All of these bands had albums that just dropped this month too, that I recommend any and all of. Let me start with this video from a duo called MGMT, who have a prog thing going on in their music. They’ve got something pretty magical going on…this video will prove that… See the video for “Time To Pretend” here.
And here’s the same song performed on Letterman, with capes, mind you…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqzoRQv2UIU&rel=1]
Now check out this band, Black Mountain, who have a heavy prog thing going on. Their new album, In The Future, is one of my favorites right now. Check out them performing ‘Wucan‘ at ATP…wicked riffin’…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhvE-D9osY8&rel=1]
And here’s Vampire Weekend whose album just dropped today, who are not afraid to use African rhythms, rock-style, like the Talking Heads did…and Paul Simon. The Dirty Projectors kinda have the African thing going on too, but first check out this brand-new Vampire Weekend video, and dig their style…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XC2mqcMMGQ&rel=1]
Click on through to the other side, to see the amazing Dirty Projectors video, as promised…
Okay…I got a quick schooling on the legendary soul singer, The Mighty Hannibal last night at Magnetic Field, where we went to see a new throwback 4-girl singing group called the Sweet Divines. What’s cool is that in the super-packed house, I got to stand next to the blind soul legend right there at the bar in front of the stage, where I helped him whenever he needed the bartender to pour him another Jack on the rocks. He also shared with me the moments when he thought the girls (and amazing backing band) were totally on point…and there were a lot of those times.
As soon as the girls hit the stage, they went into Hannibal’s biggest hit, ‘Somebody in the World For You‘ (which you can listen to right here). Hannibal seemed to love it! It was nice to see him so excited to hear these young white cats completely nailing his material…because it would be pretty sad if they sucked. They played for a good hour, the rest of the songs originals, and sounded fantastic. I should’ve seen it coming, but when encore time came, the band said they were out of songs. But they could play an old soul song but it requires a male vocal. Up jumped Hannibal, as a couple helping hands reached out to guide his way to the stage, and they launched into another Mighty hit, ‘Get in the Groove’. It was tons of fun.
So only having heard of Hannibal only here and there, on What It Is R&B and Soul compilation, and remembering hearing about him singing withe the Dansettes at McCarren Pool last summer, I just did some searching and re-listening and found some cool stuff. And I will share three things with you now:
1) The song above…”Somebody in the World For You” by the Mighty Hannibal
2) This picture, so that you can see that he used to wear a turban…
3) This killer series of YouTubes that I found from last January when Hannibal performed with one of my favorite newer bands, The Black Lips…
