Hey All,
If you’re in NYC, be sure to come by my DJ-event and super-badass New Year’s Eve party at Heather’s Bar in the East Village. It is being billed as ‘Journey Into 2009: Werewolve Bar Mitzvah’. It will be a night full of great music, awesome people, and plenty of drinking and debauchery! And the small $6 cover will go to the NY Times Neediest Cases Fund to help the hungry and homeless in NYC during the brutal winter months. Hope to see ya…
*poster art by Macho Mel Shimkovitz (whose amazing work is currently on display at Capricious Space in Williamsburg till mid-February)
So what is everyone else up to tonight, wherever ye may be?
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!
On what LP is the Alice Cooper tune “Dead Babies”?
Wow…this is painful to watch, Jon. Have a Verry Merry one, all! And a big thanks to Kev and Miki. You guys rule!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GYW9Y3pRBs]
This one’s more palatable…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBbV57sJFHY]
Well, here’s the first, and hopefully last, ammendment to my Best Albums of 2008 post. Late last night I totally realized that I had left this absolute 2008 gem off of my list…and I knew it was a crime. So here it is…you’ve heard me talk about these guys a couple times before in 2008…it’s Bryan Scary and the Shredding Tears with their brilliant Flight of the Knife!
Flight of the Knife is a poppy prog-like concept album, full of complex and quirky arrangements, which are all irresistably catchy and satisfying. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up…you will be pleasantly surprised that such a new band has the chops to pull this kind of music off and has the balls to make something this unique these days.
All right, you’s guys, I’ve got opinions about albums and since everybody likes to show off their super-important and highly-refined musical tastes by way of year-end lists, I’ve decided to join everyone…like a sheep to slaughter. I’m gonna have some oldies which I’ve just been turned onto in 2008 sprinkled in there too, so please don’t be alarmed that I don’t only listen to new music. In fact, it’s not healthy to only listen to new music.
After mine, you have to show me yours though…as creepy as that sounds. So start thinking about everything you heard in this last great year of our unruly despot’s reign, and be ready to list ‘em by the time you finish looking at mine.
In no particular order…
Frances – All The WhileOkay, yes, they are friends but this album is truly original and stands out in a sea of indie-rock music that is becoming more and more boring. Hooks abound, beautiful harmonies, and amazing arrangements…all with a good sense of humor too.
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MGMT – Oracular SpectacularHere’s an album I was all over when I got an advance copy. It’s totally trippy and neo-psychedelic and totally up my alley. Here’s me singing it’s praises last January…lalala. The backlash is already present but isn’t it always there for bands who get any kind of recognition for actually being good?! They sounded great at a super-packed McCarren Park Pool this past summer too! I look forward to a second album from these cats.
Black Mountain – In The Future
Here’s another one that I got an advance of and I picked it for my year-end list last year even though it came out in 2008. Trippy , heavy, ter’riff’ic! These guys have a great loud live show too. On the album, “Wucan” will hypnotize you…and live, “Wucan” will bewitch your skull. You’ve been warned!
What was the first LP by Krokus?
Clown him all you will for his lifestyle, but Keith Richards has longevity. Happy Birthday, Keef! Keep doin’ whatever you’re doin’!
Check out “Wicked As It Seems” from Main Offender. I love that album!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85aCbRjtV9w]
Steve Hall and I went to Madison Square Garden last night to see the one and only Sir Neil Young…and boy did he not disappoint. Maybe there was a bit much (and too many in a row) of new stuff, but it is evident theat Neil has not lost a step from his younger days. This guy was rockin’ hard, jumping around, rippin’ out some killer distorted and crunchy guitar solos. There were a lot of highlights, but I loved starting out with “Love and Only Love” from the oft-overlooked 1990 album, Ragged Glory, and a blistering “Cowgirl In The Sand”. But man, that “Rockin’ In The Free World” had people in a frenzy, and the “A Day In The Life” encore was amazingly raucous.
As you can see from this crappy iPhone pic, our seats weren’t so great (since we’re only middle class..and this was after we snuck down another level), but we had a great time and the sound was very good at MSG.
Anyway, definitely go see Neil on this tour if you have the chance. The guy is a true legend, who sounds as good as he always has. Here’s the setlist:
NEIL YOUNG & HIS ELECTRIC BAND
1. Love And Only Love
2. Hey Hey, My My
3. Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere
4. Powderfinger
5. Spirit Road
6. Cortez The Killer
7. Cinnamon Girl
8. Oh, Lonesome Me
9. Mother Earth
10. The Needle And The Damage Done
11. Light A Candle
12. “Cough Up The Bucks”
13. Fuel Line
14. “Hit The Road And Go To Town”
15. Unknown Legend
16. Heart Of Gold
17. Old Man
18. Get Back To The Country
19. “Off The Road”
20. Just Singing A Song
21. When Worlds Collide
22. Cowgirl In The Sand
23. Rockin’ In The Free World
—
24. “Get Behind The Wheel”
25. A Day In The Life
Who does vocals for The Jam on their In The City LP?
Don’t know who this guy is, but this song is pretty brilliant; it’s called ‘My Focken Glockenspiel’. And listen for the Phish reference…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dSOk3eIzII]
Who appeared with Jeff Beck on his live 1977 album?
Well, the Holidays are once again upon us, however heavily, and today I’ve got for you several things that I would love to find in my Christmas stocking on any of the days of Hanukkah or harvest nights of Kwanzaa. But wait, silly…don’t reach for your credit card to start buying them for me. For I’ve already received them from merry media mavens and poinsettia-pwning publicists, so that I could show you how wonderful they are so that you can buy them for your loved one or stalking victim. Be glad you didn’t have to wade through all the crap to get to this cream, because I did. You’re welcome.
Here’s Part One of my first annual Stalking Stuffer Shortlist (at least I have another full year to come up with a better title)…
The first item that you or your loved one should own is the DVD Sunshine Superman-The Journey of Donovan. It is the ultimate super-documentary of rock’s underrated mystic man. Donovan was never quite purely classic rock, singer/songwriter, world music, folk singer, or spiritual guru, but quite an amazing amalgam of all of those things, and a profound influence on many important recording artists…such as Jimmy Page, John Mellencamp, Graham Nash, Devendra Banhart, and lots more. The first disc is a 3-hour chronicle of rock’s underrated mystic man, which is narrated by the mystical man himself. The second disc is chock full of concert footage, TV appearances, music videos, and more about the private life of Donovan. Sunshine Superman-The Journey of Donovan is a must if you call yourself a Donovan fan and possibly the Lost Ark for the uninitiated.
The next item for your lover’s stocking is Ween-At the Cat’s Cradle 1992. Long-time Ween fans will rejoice and new Ween fans will befuddle at the sheer brown-ness of this 1 CD-1 DVD package. Up until 1994’s Chocolate and Cheese, Ween wasn’t a band at all…but a DAT machine for backing drum tracks, a guitar, an adventurous sound man, and two drunk silly potheads who fooled their way into making fantastic music a career for over 20 years now. Ween-At the Cat’s Cradle 1992 is a perfect window into the Ween live experience right before the duo decided (or could afford) to hire a band. The sound is great, the songs are genius, the video is deliciously lo-fi, and the package as a whole is decidedly brown. Ween’s legacy will far surpass Radiohead’s (at least in my mind)!
*Get the special edition that includes a 18″ x 15.5″, handmade, SIGNED silkscreened poster of the cover for the special Boognish in your life!
And third but not last (since there will be another Stalking Stuffer Shortlist installment), is by a fantastic band from my ol’ hometown, land of Skyline Chili, awful NFL football, and surprisingly good college football (go ‘Cats). Cincinnati’s Shake It Records was just a kick-ass record store when I left Cincinnati 8 years ago, and now it seems they are also a kick-ass record label. Wussy is one of Shake It Records’ most promising bands, and I’ve really been digging their recent Rigor Mortis EP. Wussy is an indie-rock band that hasn’t forgotten the second part of that genre title, as many indie groups have. In short, Wussy is an indie-rock band not afraid to bare its rock balls. Wussy writes smart and catchy songs, and plays them loud and tight with plenty of fuzzy drone guitar. And isn’t it just fun to say Wussy over and over. So put a little Rigor Mortis in your loved ones stocking this Christmas.
I’ll have the next Stalking Stuffer Shortlist here for you soon!
I have to post this! I missed SNL this past week, but I assume this was on it. Andy Samberg is really doing his best to keep SNL funny…and of course, Kristen Wiig. But check this shit out…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pXfHLUlZf4]
And whilst i’m jocking Andy Samberg, check out these recent gems…
How funny is this guy!?
Whose version of “You Keep Me Hanging On” did Vanilla Fudge cover?
Hey all, so I’m back from taking two trips in the last couple weeks and then getting sick the last couple days, and this seems to be at the height of music news, and certainly of interest to me. Coldplay is being sued by Joe Satriani for stealing his song, and to tell you the truth, I would be suing them too…coincident or not!
Check out this comparison…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ofFw9DKu_I]
Pretty damn convincing, huh?
Not only that, I remember when the album first dropped and this song was being used in iPod commercials, there being some hubbub over it sounding a bit too much like a song by a band called the Creaky Boards.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUhFLiw6h6s]
So what do you think? Either we have a case (or two) of plagiarism, or people just need to get a little more creative!
I’d only had a passing acquaintance with Reggae courtesy of a college friend who introduced me to Bob’s “No woman no cry” back in the Seventies, and, truth be told, these uneducated ears (at least back then) couldn’t deal with it. But, fast forward to the punk explosion and a bit of bandwagon-jumping by three newly-peroxided punk masqueraders. and Reggae, albeit a radical version - was served up again, and consumed with relish. I still believe The Police laid the path that joined Marley’s Reggae with the rest of the world, a “back door” if you will, through which we could explore it further.
Sting, in conjunction with the wonderful syncopated rhythms of Stewart Copeland, left acres of space across the sonic landscape I had never encountered before. Sparse, beautiful bass lines, weaving in and around those luscious hi-hats and Summer’s expressive guitar tapestries.
He could write a mean lyric too. but when you crown this package with a totally unique vocal delivery, you have a world beater. All I can say is, if Sting doesn’t deserve a place in this series, I don’t know who the hell does.
A comeback World tour with his original partners in crime (or should that be against crime?) shows that he can still bring it to the table.
Recommended listening:
Spirits in the Material World – Try playing the bass line to this and singing it at the same time. You WILL go insane. It is pure genius.
Walking on the Moon – Less is more. Three bass notes, some hi-hat, and THAT voice, voila: Gold Dust!
Check out this amazing portrait of our next President! It was made by Kev Moore’s partner, French artist, Miki. It really shows the worldwide respect that our country has gained by taking a step in the right direction by electing Obama. Maybe it takes the U.S. hitting rock bottom to spur our citizenry off of their couches and into realizing that many of the ways we do things need to be changed.
Below the portrait are some words about the piece from the artist, Miki, herself. Cheers, Miki! Very well done!
(Based on a photo by Bill Burke, pageonephoto.com)
So, my first Barack Obama portrait is finished.
I think it is quite different from the portraits I have seen from him on the net. On most of them the artists emphasize only one aspect of his personality.
This is not what I wanted.
I wanted to paint Obama as a human being, with all his facets:
his humanity, his leadership, his honesty, his hopes, his decisiveness…
Of course I never met him personally, so it can only be the Barack Obama I perceive through the TV and the photos I have seen from him. And I saw all of these qualities on his face.
I can only hope that I have caught a little bit of his soul…
And if you are wondering what he is counting…. words of course:
“Yes We Can!”
Uh…this is gonna be a cool rarity, methinks. Do you guys know Flower Travellin’ Band? Should I post something to hear. I think I’m gonna need to skip out of work early to catch this show!
Tuesday, Dec 9, 2008 // SHOW 7:00 PM // ADV $25 / DOS $25
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Flower Travellin’ Band’s first ever US performance! With special guests Silver Summit & many more -tickets from 11/22 and 23 will be honored. |
I got an email from livephish.com telling me that I could get 25% off of all Phish show downloads, and I said ‘boy’. Then I went over to Hidden Track and noticed that they had a very nice 25th Anniversary post for the Vermont fellas who are reuniting to tour next year, and I said ‘man’. Then I saw the absolutely enthralling YouTube montage that Hidden Track featured, care of Jared Slomoff, and exclaimed ‘SHIT’!
So if you wanna exclaim ‘shit’ too, take the time to check out this amazing 25th Anniversary montage of the Phish boys. There’s a LOT of fun shit in here. Dig…
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvjHYYpZ7tw&eurl=http://www.glidemagazine.com/hiddentrack/celebrating-12021983-25-years-of-phish/&feature=player_embedded]
Happy Anniversary, Phish!
