San Francisco Bay Area-based power quintet Howlin Rain’s come howlin’ back with their third album, The Russian Wilds. Having been formed by bandleader-singer-guitarist Ethan Miller in 2004, as a melodic offshoot of blazing new-psych innovators Comets On Fire, Howlin Rain soon caught the attention of uber-producer Rick Rubin, who signed them to his American Recordings label and involved himself deeply in their subsequent musical evolution thereafter.
“There was a point when we were really trying to blend Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland, Steely Dan’s Gaucho and Bruce Springsteen’s Darkness On The Edge of Town,” says Ethan Miller. “I love the Boss’ singing, where he’s just blowing out his voice even when it’s just a pop ballad moment. And we were inspired by some of the grooves and close mic stuff on Gaucho, and by how Electric Ladyland runs the gamut from super long jams to blues numbers to drifting psychedelic pieces. There’s a sense of audacity to these records – a band chasing down strong, invisible connections – and there’s moments like that on our record. We didn’t always do the smartest or safest things [laughs].”
I’ve heard The Russian Wilds, and the album is incredible. If any of the above makes any sense to you, then you’ll want to pick up this record when it drops on Valentine’s Day. Check out “Phantom In the Valley” to get a first taste…
In the meantime, you can enter to win two tickets to see Howlin Rain on Tuesday at Mercury Lounge! The fucking fantastic D. Charles Speer & the Helix open the show. Just comment below with your favorite classic rock record. Or simply by Tweeting this post (tag it with @BBiB). Cool? Well, get to it then! Winner will be notified by Monday morning.
I love Field Music, and that’s solely based on their last album, Measure, which came out in early 2010. It won me over with its amazing hooks, harmonies, guitar textures, musical intricacies, and non-ironic nods to classic rock.
Field Music will have a new album called Plumb out in February, but in the meantime you can crank up this brand-new track from the album…
Field Music – (I Keep Thinking About) A New Thing by memphisindustries
In For The Kill Records is proud to announce its first release, a 7” by Brooklyn/NY acid-prog/psych rock trio LA OTRACINA. Having issued almost 20 releases in 8 years, including 3 critically acclaimed albums for the Holy Mountain label, this is their first 7” release!
“Skyblazer” is a trip through sound portals of complex densities; where the speed rush of Motorhead/ZZ Top fueled proto-metal/hard-rock meets the lysergic meltdown space boogie of Hawkwind and the progressive intricacies of King Crimson. This is the New Wave Of Psychedelic Heavy Music, a contemporary vision exploding with classic influences, forging a future of boundless (con)fusions between The Psychedelic Heavy and The Cosmic Weird!
Available on green vinyl in a limited edition of 300 copies. Highly recommended for fans of DANAVA, CIRCLE, WITCH, NAAM, SAVIOURS and EARTHLESS.
Cost Including Shipping By Location:
US $7.00 / Canada/Mexico $8.00 / Europe/Australia/South America $10.00 / Japan/Asia $11.00 /
Send money via PAYPAL directly to “inforthekillrecords AT gmail DOT com”.
Watch and listen to the Official Music Video for the LA OTRACINA “Skyblazer” 7” here: http://youtu.be/
In For The Kill Records - http://inforthekillrecords.
LA OTRACINA - http://laotracina.tumblr.
The prog-rock giants, Gentle Giant, just remastered and re-released their 3rd and 4th albums, Three Friends and Octopus, both originally released in 1972…a fine fine year! I’ll have Gentle Giant frontman, Derek Shulman, on Beyond Beyond is Beyond on East Village Radio on Thursday to talk about those amazing albums and spin selections from them. Join us from noon to 2pm on Thursday and get your afternoon prog on!
Panopticon360 is a visually groundbreaking new live music webseries, featuring 10 of New York’s most innovative bands playing live sets that were filmed with 360 degree, panoramic video cameras. Follow them at Facebook.com/Panopticonnyc or Twitter (@panopticonnyc) for the full Season 1 line-up, artist additions, behind the scenes photos, and more information.
Psyched to welcome the Jacksonville, Florida-native boogie/soul/old-school rocker, Abstract Artimus to Beyond Beyond is Beyond on Thursday for a live performance. AA now lives in NYC and he just released his new album Rite of Passage on his own Dire Life Records this week and will soon be out on tour.
So tune in on Thursday from noon-2pm eastern to Beyond Beyond is Beyond on East Village Radio to get a taste of Abstract Artimus’ brand of killer lo-fi home-recorded rock n’ roll!
I’m very happy to be welcoming Brian Olive to Beyond Beyond is Beyond on East Village Radio on Thursday! The ex-Greenhorne, ex-Soledad Bro and fellow Cincinnati-native has released one of the best rock albums of the year in Two of Everything…on one of my favorite record labels, Alive Naturalsound. And he’ll be recording with the legendary Dr. John this year! We’ll talk about that stuff, his tour, Cincinnati chili and plenty more on Thursday, PLUS Brian will perform live for you in the EVR studio. Don’t miss! Noon-2pm eastern on Thursday.
Dig the first tune from Two of Everything in the meantime…
Brian Olive – Left Side Rock
Thanks to the good folks at MIG Music and Freeman Promotions, BBiB has a couple copies to giveaway of Epitaph’s amazing 1974 classic, Outside the Law, remastered with plenty of extra live and bonus jams! Holy Kraut Boogie!
Enter to win a copy:
…by Tweeting this post
…by posting this on Facebook
…or by commenting below
Contest will end July 23, 2011. U.S. entries only please. Can’t ship outta the States!
Cheers and Good Luck!
(via EVR.com): Smoke Fairies are Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies. The pair met at school back in the 90′s and did some singing together in their school’s choir before picking up guitars and studying their parent’s record collections, favoring the classic American sides of the 70′s. The pair eventually spent some time in New Orleans and soaked up even more U.S. blues. Neil Young must’ve been among those dusty LPs as the Smoke Fairies have recorded a stunning version of Shakey’s Alabama. Infusing those lessons with traditional British folk, the duo craft dark, humid, and intricately layered songs that have won over the likes of Bryan Ferry and Richard Hawley. Stateside, Smoke Fairies count Jack White as a fan—he produced and played guitar and drums on their single Gastown and released it on his Third Man Records label.
So come listen to them light up the EVR studio live on Beyond Beyond is Beyond on Thursday, noon to 2pm (EST)!
And grab their fantastic new album, Through Light and Trees, here.
I’m excited to announce that our friends in far-outedness, White Hills, will be joining me on Beyond Beyond is Beyond on East Village Radio for a chat and live ambient performance! It all goes down Thursday, May 19th between noon and 2pm (EST) on EVR.com.
On June 21st, White Hills new album, H-p1, will be released on Thrill Jockey.
Musically, H-p1, White Hills second full-length for Thrill Jockey, expands on the explorations of previous albums in ambience, noise, and space rock all led by guitarist Dave W.’s blistering guitar solos. This is the most fully realized White Hills album to date and the one that takes them furthest from their pure space rock roots. It is also their most angry record. It is a reaction to what White Hills sees as government co-opted and controlled by corporations. It is a wake up call.
…this fuckin’ Thursday!
And they’re gonna play live for us all in the East Village Radio studio this Thursday at noon eastern on Beyond Beyond is Beyond on East Village Radio.
Press Release: New York City’s Lez Zeppelin has been causing a sensation on stages all over the world including India, Europe and Japan since its 2004 inception. Now “…the most powerful all-female band in rock history…” (according to Chuck Klosterman) and “the ultimate turn-on” (according to Lenny Kaye) is planning another assault on stages nationwide.
This is one band that has to be seen to be believed! Guitarist Steph Paynes gives such good Page that one is hard-pressed to tell the difference with eyes closed. Her unerring note-for-note accuracy is stunning. The same attention-to-detail is evident in the tight rhythm section of bassist Megan Thomas and drummer Leesa Harrington-Squyres, the latter a true Bonzo beast. Vocalist Shannon Conley, rather than copying Robert Plant, is her own woman. Her phrasing, timbre and timing are totally her own. Her vocals, coupled with the bands musicianship, swagger and gender-bending audacity, makes Lez Zeppelin one of the more remarkable bands of this or any era.
Their sophomore effort, Lez Zeppelin I, is an incredible replication of Led Zeppelin’s 1969 debut: it is obvious that this band has cemented its considerable chops into one powerhouse behemoth of monolithic proportions. It was recorded at the analog Pie Studios on Long Island, New York, with producers Perry Margouleff and William Wittman, on the very same vintage equipment that Led used on its 1969 debut. The intent was to remain true to the sound and texture of the original vinyl recording and, as such, stands as a stirring document that proves the timelessness of this material. This is material that is simply too damn good not to be performed live in 2011 because of its ageless and vibrant aesthetic. The inherent splendor lies in the fact that Lez Zeppelin, in bringing their shock-rock to an already beloved and revolutionary sound, has created a whole ‘nother animal. And this stampeding charging rhino of an animal absolutely demands to be heard.
To that end, the band’s tour will include a stop at the Rock On The Range Festival in Columbus, Ohio May 20 where they will open the festivities for the two-day fest May 21 and 22 with Steel Panther at a “pre-festival anniversary party” at the Columbus Crew Stadium. Lez Zeppelin is excited about being tapped to open such a prestigious fest.
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’m currently loving these two albums just released by Trouble In Mind. Sample them below but they are really best heard as full albums…
Upon your first listen to this record you may think that you’ve stumbled onto some lost nugget from 1968. The Paperhead take their name from a lyric in July’s golden-age psychedelic single “My Clown” and while the record may have a vintage sound, it’s mind boggling to learn that it was written and recorded in the summer of 2010 by three 18 year old kids from Nashville, Tennessee. Neo-psych fans may hear a more ambitious ‘White Fence’ or a poppier ‘Spacemen 3’ while more classic minded listeners may recall ‘The Pretty Things’, their namesake ‘July’ or post-LSD ‘Beatles’.
Before they all went their separate ways to start college, Ryan Jennings and his closest childhood friends Walker Mimms and Peter Stringer-Hye holed up to record an album that combines all the orchestrated pop layers, eastern influence and groovy instrumentals of a classic British Psych record. With Cheap Time’s Jeffrey Novak as producer & “spritual advisor”, these guy’s technical and songwriting abilities far outreach their young age, while still maintaining a sense of wonder about the world and a dash of charming naivete.
The Paperhead-Back To Those Days
And then there’s The Wrong Words!
While there isn’t much left to be said about the current music scene in San Francisco, the Wrong Words have combined all of its best elements (power pop, punk and a dab of flower-psych) on this amazingly solid debut LP. This album has pop hooks galore, great lyrics and ripping guitar work.
Wrong Words “What Went Wrong” music video from Chris Anderson on Vimeo.
Nicole Atkins was on the show a couple months back and she and her killer guitarist, Irina, blew the glass doors off the East Village Radio studio with a couple of amazing live tunes. If you don’t believe me or you done missed it, check ‘em out here. Nicole has a fantastic new album coming out on February 8th called Mondo Amore and she and her band, The Black Sea will soon be out on extensive tour. Check all the dates on her site and catch them live…because they rule live!
So tune in Thursday at noon eastern to Beyond Beyond is Beyond on East Village Radio and listen to Nicole and I spin some of our favorite records. Nicole’s got great taste in jams…and preserves too. And dig this album cover. Talk atcha Thursday!
It was a breath of fresh air when I recently heard Fergus & Geronimo’s brand-new album Unlearn, released this month on Hardly Art. It’s almost impossible to compare them to other contemporary groups because they seem to avoid being pinned down. That’s probably what I dig. Well, that and the killer songs that run the gamut from Zappa-inspired pop-psych to classic soul and doo-wop (and a bunch of goodies in between)!
And guess what? They’re gonna perform live on Beyond Beyond is Beyond on Thursday! I think we can definitely expect some fun from these cats. So tune in from noon to 2pm ET on Thursday to East Village Radio and come play with us.
Get a taste of Fergus & Geronimo’s ‘Powerful Lovin” right here…
Fergus & Geronimo – Powerful Lovin’
And check them out in New York on these dates:
- Feb 23: MONSTER ISLAND w/ Air Waves
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BBiBest of 2010
East Village Radio
Thursday, noon – 2pm ET
I would like to open the ceremonies briefly by saying 2010 has been a good year for rock music. I wasn’t even forced to list reissues this year since there were so many great new albums! (And there were plenty of great reissues too). As there’s less and less money to be made in music, maybe we’re seeing more and more quality bands in it for the right reasons. And hopefully they’ll all one day make lots o’ money! ; )
Also keep in mind that I don’t listen to every album that comes out. I don’t even have a desire to do that. I just list the ones that I, Mike Newman, heard and loved in 2010. So please don’t ask why Kanye is not on this list…or the National.
Here are the 2010 albums that really did it for me (in no particular order, mind you)…
John Grant – Queen of Denmark : This album, a collaboration with Midlake, out on Bella Union Records, is so motherfucking good and emotionally powerful. But not in that played-out deep singer-songwriter kind of way, but in a way much more indescribable. Because isn’t that the way our lives are? At times transcendent, other times lonely, and other times straight-faced humourous…John Grant’s range shows what makes music so perfect: It’s ability to make the brutalist aspects of life bearable. Not to mention, as if designed just for me, there are plenty of great proggy keyboard flourishes! Own this album.
Mondo Drag – New Rituals : It seems like these young psych warriors came out of nowhere, and depending on how you view Iowa, that may just be true. A stunning and accomplished debut from a band that sound like they’ve been playing together for a decade. Locked in psychedelic magic.
Check ‘em out playing stripped-down on Beyond Beyond is Beyond on East Village Radio… Mondo Drag play Come Through on EVR
Wolf People – Steeple : Yeah man, these cats crept up on me too and released this phenomenal debut after showing a little promise with their Tidings EP. Well, it turns out Tidings was just some nice bits and pieces of what Wolf People have in their heavy duty arsenal. Sure, you hear all kinds of influences everywhere, especially Traffic and Cream, but what better stuff to be influenced by! And Wolf People don’t just do Xerox copies of their influences. These are all-new jams…that sound perfect in the 21st century.
Check out Tiny Circle on YouTube and become addicted.
Conspiracy of Owls – Conspiracy of Owls : I love this album. Made up of ex-members of awesome Detroit rockers The Go, as it says on the Burger Records website: “Conspiracy of Owls have created a mind blowing album of epic proportions!” My thoughts exactly! And you’re missing out if you don’t own it.
So grab the vinyl at Burger Records right here!
Check out the ‘Ancient Robots’ vid.
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Endless Boogie – Full House Head : Please don’t say that rock is dead. You’re just looking in the wrong places…and you’re being too dramatic. And if you actually believe that rock is dead, then you haven’t heard Endless fucking Boogie.
Chooglin’ and churnin’…endlessly.
Check out Endless Boogie’s Paul Major DJ’ing this BBiB show with me in September!
Mount Carmel – Mount Carmel : *Ditto to what I wrote above for Endless Boogie*
A true fuzzy blues-rock trio with absolutely zero ironic posturing. Thank god for bands like Mount Carmel, their fellow Columbus, Ohio rockers Main Street Gospel, and Endless Boogie who aren’t afraid to play killer long drawn-out guitar solos in what’s become a limp indie-rock environment.At least in my humble opinion.
Check out ‘Still Listening’ on Youtube
The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night : Jagjaguwar has put out some killer records in 2010 and this might be my favorite of them all. I like the Amazon description: “The album is a dark bliss-out that folds the eerie guitar epics of the Montreal band’s breakthrough into a wall of affected drones and atmospherics, but with a toughened immediacy and grit that gives the form a much-needed shove over the cliffs, making for a haunting, provocative swan dive into the crushing tide.” That’s what I wouldn’t have been able to say quite as well! Saw them live in 2010 and it was one of my favorite shows. I hope these cats are here to stay for many many more years!
Masters of Reality – Pine/Cross Dover : Do you know about Masters of Realty? Do you know Chris Goss? Do you know he’s the mastermind behind Masters of Reality and that he produced Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age? And did you know that I like his albums better than I like those albums? Why do I keep asking you questions? What’s wrong with me?
Trippy, rocking, melodic, swinging, majestic, psychedelic, pounding.
Dig ‘Always’ on Youtube, and prepare for liftoff.
Field Music – Measure : This one is addictive just like your favorite Steely Dan or Supertramp album. Great pop hooks everywhere, snappy arrangements, beautiful vocal harmonies, smart lyrics that ain’t overly clever, and guitars that occasionally even snarl at you. Makes me think of Lol and Kev a lot too! Not many folks are making records like this these days, treading the line between indie rock and classic rock. But Field Music’s swing is enough to tell you which way they lean.
Crank up ‘Effortlessly’ and you’ll see.
Steve Hackett – Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth : There aren’t so many prog heroes these days that are still making the same kind of mind-blowing music that they made in their prime, but Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis guitarist, in case you don’t know) is a big exception. Many are calling ‘Tunnel’s Mouth’ his best solo work of his career. I don’t know enough about all of his solo ventures to make that claim, but I do know that this is a thoroughly solid and engaging progressive rock album that doesn’t sound at all dated or embarrassing.
Check out my interview with Steve Hackett on BBiB from the past summer.
Tame Impala – Innerspeaker : I guess it seems so strange to me that this kind of great psychedelic music would become so popular. But that doesn’t change the fact that this is a fantastic new psychedelic album. And I guess it’s good to know that people who might not usually listen to psych music are able to dig this. I’m telling ya, music’s seeing a rebirth…moving further away from the business model and inching closer to the creative. Or maybe I’m reading too far into things. What the fuck ever, this album is tasty psych bubblegum…so getcher chew on!
Velcro Lewis Group – White Magick Summer : This is a band I stumbled on at the end of the year, somewhere in November, and what a great stumble! White Magick Summer if full of foot-stompin’, R&B-tinged, bloozy-rockin’ hooters and hollerers. Pure rhythm and power from Chi-town.
Check out their killer Daytrotter session from October and then try to resist buying the album!
Dungen – Skit I Allt : Every year that Dungen makes a new album, it will certainly make my year-end ‘Best Of’ list simply because these psychedelic Swedes are all about quality. Still refusing to record albums in English, this is the kind of music that you don’t need translated. To me it always translates to beautiful, transcendent rock & roll.
Check out Dungen on BBiB from the Fall of 2010.
Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti – Before Today : I gotta say, I’m so happy that Ariel Pink decided to upgrade his lo-fi aesthetic to medium-fi. I had been a fan of his super-hooky bizarro-pop style for several years, but I just don’t have it in my constitution to be able to listen to those lo-fi recordings for more than a song or two. It was like listening to Hall & Oates on acid via my neighbor’s stereo through a plaster wall. If ‘Bright Lit Blue Skies’ isn’t one of the best tunes of the year, then ‘Round and Round’ is. Super-addictive in a great way.
Jack Rose – Luck in the Valley : Well sadly enough, the world lost a great guitar talent in Jack Rose in December 2009 to a heart attack at the young age of 38. Crazy. He was quite the picker and this album is full of amazing acoustic Americana. Thrill Jockey also released Jack’s final recordings that were done with D. Charles Speer and the Helix, and you’ll want to own that EP too, so here’s a link to Ragged and Right!
Listen and watch this guy play. Wow.
AND HERE ARE SOME OTHER ALBUMS THAT I LOVED IN 2010 THAT MUST BE MENTIONED (that are just as good as the records above but I just couldn’t do all the work of fully listing 30 albums, geez, gimme a break) :
Main Street Gospel – Love Will Have Her Revenge (Tee Pee)
Barn Owl – Ancestral Star (Thrill Jockey)
Citay – Dream Get Together (Dead Oceans)
Sleepy Sun – Fever (Dead Oceans)
Cornershop – Judy Sucks a Lemon for Breakfast (Ample Play)
Black Angels – Phosphene Dream (Blue Horizon)
Charlie Alex March – Home/Hidden (Lo Recordings)
White Noise Sound – s/t (Alive)
Phosphorescent – Here’s To Taking It Easy (Dead Oceans)
The Lovetones – Lost (Planting Seeds)
La Otracina – Reality Has Got to Die (Holy Mountain)
The Electric Mess – s/t (self-released)
The Growlers – Hot Tropics (Everloving)
Runaway Suns – Emerald Door (self-released)
Hacienda – Big Red & Barbacoa (Alive)
Blitzen Trapper – Destroyer of the Void (Sub Pop)
Black Keys – Brothers (Nonesuch)
The Greenhornes – **** (Third Man)
What else am I missing? What are your faves o’ the year? Lemme know below…
The great Mexican Summer Records has just released the version of cult psych folk singer, Linda Perhacs’ one and only album, the way that Linda herself hoped it would be released originally. It may have taken forty years, but now Linda and the rest of us lucky listeners can hear and see her album the way it was meant to be heard and seen. I will be talking to Linda about the album and about her life on the next Beyond Beyond is Beyond show on East Village Radio, so come on along and take the trip with me…
Beyond Beyond is Beyond live on East Village Radio, Thursday noon-2pm ET
UPDATE: LISTEN TO THE ARCHIVED INTERVIEW HERE!
About Parallelograms from Mexican Summer’s website:
Mexican Summer is beyond psyched to present a hefty, heavy gatefold edition of Linda Perhacs’s lone album, Parallelograms. On the strength of this single album, recorded in 1970, Linda Perhacs remains a towering figure in the world of psychedelia, folk, female singer-songwriters, and acid-visionaries alike. Lauded by artists as diverse as Daft Punk, Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, and Swedish metal band Opeth, in the 21st century, her album remains a testament to her singularity of vision.
Born Linda Arnold in northern California, Perhacs spent her childhood amid the region’s giant redwoods. By the time she entered college at USC in the late 60s, she was oblivious to Flower Power and instead focused on a degree in dental hygiene. After graduating, Perhacs took up residence in the infamous Laurel Canyon area and began writing the songs that would make up Parallelograms at her kitchen table. Inspired by the wilds of the Pacific Northwest, the dolphins at play in the Sea of Cortez became “Dolphins,” while a storm on the Olympic Peninsula led to “Chimacum Rain.” It was a dental patient of hers, Academy Awards-winning film composer Leonard Rosenman, who asked to hear her demos and soon landed her a record deal. While driving home late one night, she had a vision of light that became the album’s centerpiece, “Parallelograms.”
Ignored upon its initial release, Parallelograms seemingly sank without a trace, and Perhacs gave up making music for the next forty years. Psych fans the world over unearthed and began to obsess over this album in the meantime: a spine-tingling blend of crystalline vocal melodies from Perhacs, mind-expanding sound effects, and on the title track, one of the finest aural hallucinations ever captured, equal parts “sound sculpture” and “visual music.” Open up Parallelograms and enter Linda Perhacs’ magical world.
