That Devil Music Dot Com

Remembering Sean Costello (1979-2008)

2008-04-16T19:29:00.006-04:00

Blues guitarist Sean Costello died yesterday, one day short of his 29th birthday. The talented fretburner and singer had recently released his critically-acclaimed fifth album, We Can Get Together, and was touring heavily in support of the album. No cause of death has been determined yet. Fans are leaving messages on Costello's MySpace page.

You can read the Reverend's review of We Can Get Together on the About.com Blues website. A phenomenal talent, Costello's death is a tragic loss for the music community. He is best remembered through the magical music that he created, some of which you'll find below.

Sean Costello - "Love Is Amazing"

Sean Costello - "Double Trouble" (live)

Sean Costello - "Hard Luck Woman" (live)

Sean Costello - "Hucklebuck" (live)

A New Look At Springsteen's Youngstown

2008-02-15T06:51:00.001-05:00

One of my all-time favorite Bruce Springsteen songs is "Youngstown," taken from the vastly underrated 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad. The most overtly political statement of Springsteen's lengthy canon of works, the album's diverse lyrical themes are drawn from then-current events, the songwriter suggesting that amidst the so-called prosperity of the Clinton years, that something was rotten beneath the surface. A new working class was created by poorly-paid immigrants while factory jobs that once offered a comfortable living wage were being exported to Third World countries, with American workers at the whim of the Clinton-signed NAFTA act. A once-stable American middle class was forced to scramble for the economic security that once seemed to be its birthright as the financial chasm between blue collar and boardroom grew ever wider....

"Youngstown" is a quietly elegant song, powerful in its emotion and pointed in its criticism of the economic forces that gutted the once-proud steel-manufacturing region of western Pennsylvania and northeast Ohio. This video collage is magnificent, capturing the spirit of the song while presenting Springsteen's stark lyrics in all of their potent simplicity, matching the words with indelible images. It's a message we should take to heart as another Clinton runs for the Presidency after eight disastrous years of the Bush administration.

Bruce Springsteen - "Youngstown"

(Click on the CD cover to buy The Ghost Of Tom Joad from Amazon.com)

Take A Good Look At The Fleshtones!

2008-02-12T16:58:00.000-05:00

For over three decades, the Fleshtones have cranked out their own unique blend of what they call "super rock," a high-energy, octane-rich brew of '60s-styled garage rock, rockabilly, early R&B and retro-roots music with raucous riffs and screaming Farfisa organ. Fronted by vocalist/keyboardist Peter Zaremba and guitarist Keith Streng since 1976, the New York City rockers have stayed true to their original musical vision, from the band's 1980 debut album Roman Gods, all the way up to the band's latest opus, Take A Good Look! (Yep Roc Records).

Along the way, the Fleshtones have had a fair amount of their history documented through the medium of music video, perhaps the next best thing to actually attending one of the band's legendary out-of-control live performances. We have a fine collection of suitably rockin' Fleshtones vids to offer, beginning with the their very first, a psychedelic-colored reading of the band's classic "Soul City." The performance of "Shadowline," from 1980, is taken from the "new wave" concert film Urgh! A Music War and was shot at the legendary CBGB club in NYC's notorious Bowery district. The 1984 video for "American Beat 84" received a modicum of airplay on MTV; the song was recorded for the film Bachelor Party and the video includes scenes from the movie interlaced with the band's performance.

Jumping to the '90s, we found an incredible video for "Take A Walk With The Fleshtones," taken from a French TV show sometime around 1993. Also from the grunge decade, here's a video for an exciting studio performance of "Accelerated Emotion," also from French television. There's almost a minute-and-a-half of of intro/discussion before the band kicks in, but it's well worth the wait! Finally, a performance of "Hard Lovin' Man" captured live in Chicago in 2007.

For more Fleshtones' videos and commentary on each from Streng and Zaremba, check out the band's fascinating Yep Roc video chronology. If you're already a Fleshtones fanatic, you should pick up a copy of Joe Bonomo's most excellent tome, Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America's Garage Band, available from Amazon.com through the book cover link to your right. Enjoy!

The Fleshtones - "Soul City"

The Fleshtones - "Shadowline"

The Fleshtones - "American Beat 84"

The Fleshtones - "Take A Walk With The Fleshtones"

The Fleshtones - "Accelerated Emotion"

The Fleshtones - "Hard Lovin' Man"

(Click on the covers to buy Take A Good Look! or Sweat from Amazon.com)

The Jesus of Cool returns!

2008-01-22T17:58:00.000-05:00

A member of seminal early-70s pub-rock pioneers Brinsley Schwarz, Nick Lowe earned a reputation as a snappy songwriter with a skill for turning a phrase. That band’s roots-rock sound never caught on far beyond the streets of London and Camden Town, however, and Brinsley Schwarz broke up in 1975 after recording five now highly-collectible albums. After working in the studio as a producer for Graham Parker, Wreckless Eric, Elvis Costello and the Damned, Lowe toured the U.S. as part of Dave Edmunds' band, opening for Bad Company. Lowe launched his solo career in 1978 with the release of Jesus Of Cool, a whip-smart collection of pop-rock gems that welded contagious melodies with Lowe’s often-demented lyrical tales.

Because the album’s original British title was considered too “edgy” and controversial for the United States, Lowe’s debut album was released stateside under the title Pure Pop For Now People with different sequencing and songs. Under either title, the album won no little amount of critical acclaim; during the 30 years since Lowe has forged a lengthy and varied solo career that has resulted in a dozen studio albums and several hit songs. Long out-of-print, the original Jesus Of Cool album is being reissued on CD and limited edition vinyl on February 19th by Yep Roc Records. This thirtieth anniversary edition will include every song from both versions of the original album, as well as seven B-side and rare bonus tracks (including the original version of Lowe’s “Cruel To Be Kind” from his sophomore album).

One of the influential and defining albums of ‘80s-era “new wave” rock, Lowe’s Jesus Of Cool is a definite “must have” disc for any fan of intelligent power-pop, retro-sound fiends and those who have followed Lowe’s varied career from the beginning. To celebrate the return of one of rock's best albums, we decided to have us a little "Nick Lowe celebration" courtesy of YouTube. "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass" is a great tune from Lowe's Jesus Of Cool album. We have two different tracks from Lowe's collaboration with Edmunds in the band Rockpile, including the very cool tune "So It Goes." Finally, we have a pair of versions of Lowe's classic song "What's So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding," the first performed by Lowe with his own backing band, the second video from some sort of TV special that features Lowe swapping verses with Elvis Costello and a scorching guitar performance by the legendary James Burton. Enjoy!

Nick Lowe "I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass"

Nick Lowe w/Dave Edmunds "They Called It Rock"

Nick Lowe w/Dave Edmunds "So It Goes"

Nick Lowe "What's So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding"

Nick Lowe w/Elvis Costello "What's So Funny About Peace, Love & Understanding"

(Click on the CD cover to buy Jesus Of Cool from Amazon.com)

M.I.A. - Paper Plane

2007-12-18T16:57:00.000-05:00

Further proof that MTV has very little to do with real music, it came out over the weekend that the cable network censored the video for the song "Paper Planes" by British artist M.I.A. (Maya Arulpragasam), the third single released from her new album Kala. Built around a sample of the Clash's classic "Straight To Hell," M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" intersperses a shotgun blast with cash register bells in a very catchy sing-song double-dutch chorus. I'm not quite sure what "Paper Planes" is about (consumerism=violence? a critique of capitalism?), but the song and its accompanying video are both quite entertaining, the sound a mix of hip-hop style vocals and Worldbeat rhythms, with a hint of punkish aggression in the grooves. Besides, the Sri Lanka-born and London-raised Arulpragasam is quite fetching; if her radical roots and political leanings didn't scare the hell out of U.S. media execs, she could be a big star stateside.

Tom Briehan of the Village Voice points out the apparent double-standard when it comes to broadcasting videos on MTV and BET, that rappers are held to a different set of rules than are white rock bands (and, unfortunately, the U.S. corporate media seems to have pigeonholed M.I.A. as a rap artist although she is, really, so much more). Any overt reference to drugs, sex or violence is scrubbed from rap videos by bleeping or silencing the "offensive" language while rock bands can figuratively get away with murder in their videos. As rapper 50 Cent recently pointed out, the "music television" network changed the name of his song "I'll Still Kill" to "I Still Will" while they have no problem playing a song by the band the Killers. M.I.A., in a blog that appeared over the past weekend on her MySpace page (and since pulled?), called MTV's move "sabotage." Her performance of the song on Letterman's TV show was also censored...so is "Paper Planes" a dangerously subversive song or not? Somehow, I think that Joe Strummer would be pleased....

M.I.A. "Paper Planes" (2007)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Kala from Amazon.com)

One For The Old Folks...

2007-12-06T11:39:00.000-05:00

When the Reverend was a wee lad, tooling around rural Williamson County in his pimped-out '73 Satellite Sebring Plus (i.e. the car had lots of chrome and an eight-track tape player), Dutch band Focus ruled the airwaves with its bizarro tune "Hocus Pocus." From the band's 1971 album Moving Waves, the song still received significant AOR airplay through the mid-to-late-70s. I think that radio deejays just enjoyed announcing "Hocus Pocus by Focus," and then running off to take a bathroom break (since the song ran six-minutes and change). Whenever this jam came on the car radio, though, it was a sign to kick it into high gear and roll down Berry's Chapel or Old Hillsboro Road at high speeds to keep pace with the music.

Although Focus is known only for "Hocus Pocus" in America, the band remained popular in Europe long after the novelty had worn off stateside, disbanding at the break of the '80s and later reforming in 1990 for a Dutch television special. Focus has recorded new material as recently as last year (the New Skin album). Fronted by vocalist/keyboardist Thijs van Leer - notable for his yelping vocals and outrageous yodeling - and featuring extraordinary guitarist Jan Akkerman, the original Focus band was ostensibly a prog-rock outfit that gradually outgrew the stylistic straitjacket of the genre and incorporated elements of jazz, pop and classical music in their maddening mix.

This video clip offers a glimpse of vintage Focus, performing on what appears to be a television show. Van Leer's vocals and facial expressions are so OTT as to be hilariously absurd, but there's no denying the underlying musical talent displayed by the band. So, without further adieu, I give you "Hocus Pocus by Focus"! (Thanks to buddy Steve M. for the video link)

Focus "Hocus Pocus" (1973)

(Click on the CD cover to buy Hocus Pocus: The Best Of Focus from Amazon.com)

Nashville's Brightest, Vol. 1

2007-11-14T16:35:00.000-05:00

Nashville rocker Jonathan Bright has been kicking around the Music City for damn near 20 years now, both as a member of beloved local bands like Swing and Vagantis and, more recently, as a solo artist kicking out some great tunes. Jonathan pursues a genuine '70s-styled BIG rock sound with lots of guitars and riffs like Van Halen and fat melodies like Cheap Trick, i.e. he's not ashamed to play guitar-driven hard rock the way that it was meant to be played, with intelligent lyrics and solid strong structure.

Bright's six-song EP Radio Free Tennessee kicks off with the twisted rocker "Tweaking The Fine Tune" (see video below) and rapidly runs through five other unabashedly rocking songs like "Shine," "Turn Me On" and "Paralyzed." Jonathan has been doing some very cool things with video these days, as well, including this tantalizing clip for his version of Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" (I love the "audience" sitting on the couch in the basement) that's "based on a true story," and this hilarious clip for "The ABC Song" displays Bright's wit and humor and is about as twangy as you'll hear him get.

Jonathan's new band, Defense Wins Championships, rocks even harder than his solo stuff, if that's possible, mixing highly-amped six-string riffage with prog-styled instrumental flights of fancy to achieve a truly HEAVY throwback sound. This video for "Counting" by the newly-minted band reminds me a lot of the underrated music that was released from 1968-1972, a blues-based garage-rock derivative that incorporates elements of psychedelica and the proto-metal aesthetic that was being defined by bands like Dust, Buffalo and Sir Lord Baltimore.

Check out Jonathan Bright for yourself and I think that you'll agree that this rock & roll talent is one of "Nashville's Brightest" (no pun intended)....

Jonathan Bright "Tweaking The Fine Tune"

Jonathan Bright "Hot For Teacher"

Jonathan Bright "The ABC Song"

Defense Wins Championships "Counting"

Click on the CD cover to buy a copy of Radio Free Tennessee from CD Baby

It's a Weird Al celebration!

2007-10-25T16:11:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was "Weird Al" Yankovic's 48th birthday, so we thought that we'd fozz it up a bit and celebrate! "Weird Al" has always been one of my favorite comedians (behind George Carlin and Bill Hicks), and he's probably the most successful musical satirist that's ever tweaked our cultural idiocy (sorry, Tom Lehrer). For almost 30 years now, Yankovic has tickled our funnybone and made us think. Although his original songs are usually pretty funny and touch upon the human condition with no little amount of insight, others are cutting-edge topical – "Don't Download This Song," for instance, is a typically astute "Weird Al" commentary on the Internet piracy, the joke being, of course, that you had to download the song from Al's web site to hear it.

"Weird Al" has always been at his best, however, when he parodies other artist's songs. With his finger on the pulse of popular music and an eye on the Billboard charts, Yankovic has lampooned some of the biggest stars of the day, including Madonna ("Like A Surgeon"), Michael Jackson ("Eat It"), Joan Jett ("I Love Rocky Road"), James Brown ("Living With A Hernia"), Queen, the Knack, Green Day and many others, as well as other flotsam and jetsam of pop culture like the Star Wars films and television. Straight Outta Lynwood, Yankovic's latest album, offers the usual mix of comedy and satire, including the musical mimicry of "White And Nerdy," "Canadian Idiot," "Don't Download This Song" and the title track.

In celebration of the birthday of Mr. Alfred Matthew Yankovic, here is a hand-picked batch of six of the Reverend's favorite "Weird Al" music videos:

"Dare To Be Stupid" (an homage to Devo)

"Don't Download This Song"

"Amish Paradise" (Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise")

"Smells Like Nirvana" (Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit")

"It's All About The Pentiums" (Puff Daddy's "It's All About The Benjamins")

"White & Nerdy"

(Click on the CD cover to buy Straight Outta Lynwood from Amazon.com)

Pat Bacon's Rebellion - Harley Girl

2007-10-24T17:17:00.000-04:00

A talented singer/songwriter with a flair for positive tales of hard work, high-flying dreams and the power of rock & roll to save your soul, Minnesota's Pat Bacon walks proudly on the working class side of roots-rock. Let's Live Forever, Bacon's third album and his first with the equally impressive backing band Pat Bacon's Rebellion, is a magical collection of uplifting songs and transcendent performances. The song "Harley Girl" is from an earlier Bacon album, but the song does a wonderful job of displaying the sincerity and empathy that comes embedded in his work, nonetheless. This video clip, courtesy of Bacon's web site, offers a solid live performance of this wonderful ballad.

Review of Let's Live Forever from Trademark Of Quality blog
(Click on the CD cover to buy Let's Live Forever from CD Baby)

J Church - My Favorite Place (live)

2007-10-22T15:54:00.000-04:00

Punk rock icon Lance Hahn of the band J Church passed away on Sunday, October 21st after a lengthy battle with kidney disease. A singer, songwriter, journalist and record label owner, Hahn was beloved by the international punk rock community and will be missed. At the time of his death, Hahn had nearly completed a book on anarchist punk bands, and J Church released its first album in four years, The Horror Of Life, in April.

You'll find my obituary [link] for Hahn at the Ryan Adams Sucks blog. In the meantime, enjoy this live J Church video clip that was captured by a fan of the band.

(Click on the CD cover to buy The Horror Of Life from Amazon.com)

Pete Berwick - Hello Hand

2007-10-15T18:47:00.001-04:00

Pete Berwick is a talented roots-rock singer/songwriter with a great new album in Ain't No Train Outta Nashville [see CD review] that has received uniformly positive reviews and charted highly on XM Satellite Radio's "X Country" charts. Every now and then, however, even a serious songwriter has to have a little fun, as shown by this video for Berwick's hilarious "Hello Hand." Sure, other artists have created songs with double-entendre lyrics, but few have done it with the wit, humor and cleverness that Berwick pulls off with "Hello Hand."

(Click on the CD cover to buy Ain't No Train Outta Nashville from CD Baby)

Paramore - Crushcrushcrush

2007-10-15T13:21:00.000-04:00

Nashville's Kings Of Leon might have the European audience, and the Pink Spiders may have captured the little girl's hearts, but I'd put my money on Paramore to be the biggest-breaking band from the Music City.

This video for the Paramore song "Crushcrushcrush" from the band's recent album Riot! showcases all of the band's talents: an undeniably catchy melodic pop-punk attack, Hayley Williams' passionate vocals and her heartbreak ache lyrics that appeal to the band's teen audience.

(Click on the CD cover to buy Riot! from Amazon.com)

Mel Gibson's Iraq

2007-10-10T17:02:00.000-04:00

It popped up in my email, unexpectedly, as these things often do...

"This week the UK prime minister Tony Blair stood down and to celebrate the fact we might see a little less of his grinning, murderous face, we at Pandaz Pop are giving out this preview of the video to the forthcoming double A-side single from Plans & Apologies."

British band Plans & Apologies have recorded a hilarious song titled "Mel Gibson's Iraq," which the good folks at Pandaz Pop Records were nice enough to share with Trademark of Quality readers. The song will be issued on 7" vinyl on September 17th, backed with the song "Meetoo," and is currently available for pre-ordering through the Pandaz Pop web site.

Strangely enough, the "Meetoo" side will be released by Exercise1 Records, and the single will feature different artwork on each side. This is the first time in the Reverend's admittedly feeble memory that two different record companies have released songs on the same disc, but what do I know? Check out the video and/or download an mp3 of "Mel Gibson's Iraq" through the link below. Both songs will be available on iTunes in September as well.

Plans & Apologies "Mel Gibson's Iraq" [mp3 link]