Licorice Pizza

Tony Rome

2009-11-21T18:52:00.004-05:00

The other night I happened to watch the 1967 Frank Sinatra classic, Tony Rome. The film was interesting in a couple of ways: First, it features Sinatra the way that I’d grown up imagining him: Tough, quick with a one-liner, and having to always dodge women who are non-stop throwing themselves at him.

The other interesting aspect is that Tony Rome shows a Miami completely different, yet remarkably the same, as the Miami I know. I laughed when I saw some of the Miami Beach structures in the movie that probably weren’t new then and are still standing today, only now they actually are home to the sort of low-lives the fictional PI was chasing 40 years ago.

The Tony Rome title track is ridiculously catchy and poppy, while being cool in a retro, Tarantino kind of way. Steven Van Zandt has it in rotation on his Underground Garage channel on SiriusXM radio and I figured if it’s cool enough for Little Steven it’ll probably do for this site. Besides, it’s been stuck in my head since I watched the movie.

Frank’s daughter Nancy sang the title track for the movie; her second go with a movie theme song, following on her earlier success with the title track for You Only Live Twice. Lee Hazelwood, who wrote most of Nancy’s earlier hits, also penned this sultry classic.

Also, just for fun, I’m including a not-too-bad cover of the Beatles’ “Run for Your Life,” which Nancy recorded for her 1966 album Boots.

Tony Rome.mp3
Run for Your Life (Beatles cover).mp3

Can You Go a Little Deeper: Warren Zevon

2009-11-20T14:48:00.002-05:00

Like many people “of a certain age,” my earliest exposure to Warren Zevon was 1978’s “Werewolves of London.” It would be years before I learned that the witty lyricism of that pseudo novelty hit carried itself into much of Zevon’s songwriting.

A more recent (within the last few years, anyway) discovery for me was “Carmelita,” a bittersweet song from Zevon’s 1976 debut. The song is ostensibly about a heroin-addicted writer in love with a Mexican girl. There is, however, another school of thought that, in keeping with the album’s leitmotif, “Carmelita” is actually about Los Angeles rather than a literal person. “I'm there with her in Ensenada / And I'm here in Echo Park ... Carmelita hold me tighter / I think I'm sinking down.” You could take it either way, I imagine.

Musicians as diverse as Linda Ronstadt and GG Allin have since covered the song, which initially attracted little attention. Interestingly, Ronstadt changed the lyrics from Zevon’s original “pawned my Smith Corona” to “pawned my Smith and Wesson,” essentially changing the song’s protagonist from a writer to a gunslinger. When GG covered the song, he left Ronstadt’s change while adding one of his own, altering the lyrics from “playing solitaire with my pearl handled deck” to “playing Russian roulette with my pearl-handled gun.”

Zevon’s original features – as does the rest of the album – a veritable who’s who of L.A. rockers of the era: Waddy Wachtel and David Lindley both make appearances on this song and if you listen carefully, that’s Glenn Frey singing harmony.

Carmelita.mp3

~~~~~
(Can You Go a Little Deeper is an irregularly recurring feature here wherein I resurrect old favorites, lost songs, and other things you maybe haven’t heard in a while)

Beachfront In Reno

2009-11-19T17:24:00.006-05:00

In case you haven’t been keeping up with Sublime, the band’s name has been coming up a lot lately. Unfortunately, it’s been in the context of a courtroom as drummer Bud Gaugh and bassist Eric Wilson have battled with Brad Nowell’s estate over use of the Sublime name.

To quickly bring you up to speed, Wilson, Gaugh, and singer/guitarist Rome Ramirez performed last month as Sublime at the Smokeout Festival in California. They were immediately hit with a threatened lawsuit from Nowell’s estate. “Out of respect for Brad's wishes," Nowell's representatives said in a statement, "we have always refused to endorse any group performing as ‘Sublime,’ and now with great reluctance feel compelled to take the appropriate legal action to protect Brad's legacy."

Despite efforts from Wilson and Gaugh, earlier this month a Los Angeles judge shut down an effort by the new lineup of Sublime to perform under the name.

Regardless of pending suits around Sublime, the two founding members have been staying busy with other projects. They worked together in the Long Beach Dub Allstars, and Bud Gaugh has just released an album, After the Quake, with his latest band, Del Mar.

Del Mar formed in 2007 when Mike Martinez and Matt Bode, who had been involved in the Reno music scene, decided to start a new band. Nicole Hutcheson, Gaugh’s wife, found out about the project and also wanted to participate. When the band needed a drummer, it was only natural to include Gaugh.

The music combines the sound of the harder Sublime songs with traditional surf music and just a touch of ska-punk. “I want to have an arsenal of punk music for the young fans and surf music for the older fans,” Bode says.

The band has foregone the usual record industry hassles, choosing to distribute the album independently, and taking a direct-to-fan and DIY approach in marketing and touring. For information on getting the disk, click over to Del Mar’s website. And on an unrelated, but cool, note, the album’s cover art is by Dennis “Lil Daddy” Roth, son of legendary hot rod cartoonist Ed “Big Daddy” Roth. Check these guys out.

Reno.mp3

Slash Turns Japanese

2009-11-18T14:35:00.002-05:00

Seriously. Slash is probably the hardest working rock guitarist around. If he’s not lending his talents to any number of artists, he’s either playing live or working on his own studio projects. So, while Velvet Revolver is on permanent hiatus, Slash has wasted no time in recording a solo album with guests ranging from Iggy to Fergie.

The album itself isn’t due out until early next year, but a Japanese-only single has already been released, featuring Koshi Inaba, of Japanese hard rock band B'z, on vocals.

The song, “Sahara,” sounds more like Slash’s Snakepit than it does Velvet Revolver; it’s harder, faster, and not as glossy. Bonus strangeness points – Koshi sings the song entirely in Japanese. It actually took me a couple of listens before I realized there was a reason I couldn’t understand what he was saying.

Sahara.mp3

From Below Sea Level, California

2009-11-17T17:05:00.004-05:00

From the Licorice Pizza files of “maybe you haven’t heard of these guys but you should have” comes a band from the deserts of Southern California.

Throw Rag comes from California’s Salton Sea, a barren, sub-sea level wasteland located more or less south of Los Angeles. Sean Wheeler – aka Capt. Sean Doe – has fronted the band since its formation in 1993. Capt. Sean, Dean McQueen, Franco Fontana, and Chango Von Streicher make up the current incarnation of Throw Rag.

The early versions of the band were compared to the Pogues, playing a kind of Irish folk-punk. This style was evident on their debut disk, 2001’s Tee Tot. It was just after the release of Tee Tot that Throw Rag starting getting national attention, grabbing opening slots for bands such as Green Day. They also got on board the 2002 Warped Tour.

By 2003, Throw Rag had signed with punk label Better Youth Organization and released the far noisier psychobilly-meets-Motörhead album Desert Shores. This is widely considered their break-out album, and got decent MSM reviews: Throw Rag takes the anything-goes attitude of early Damned,” wrote Billboard, “and grafts it to the purposefully sloppy riffs of boozy bar punk to get a record that celebrates punk’s cut-loose mentality that’s frequently lost in the dead-serious world of rock’n’roll rebellion.”

The follow-up to Desert Shores – 2005’s 13 Feet and Rising – continued in the punk-a-billy direction and featured a who’s who of punk legends: The Circle Jerks’ Keith Morris; Jello Biafra; and godfather to them all, Lemmy.

This afternoon’s music is from the 13 Feet and Rising album and happens to be the tune featuring Lemmy: a cover of Merle Haggard’s “Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down.”

Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down (Merle Haggard cover).mp3

Nick the Stripper

2009-11-11T21:37:00.005-05:00

Those of you with iTunes are probably already aware of the huge variety of radio stations available there for live streaming. I recently found one, Devil’s Night Radio, that I have become a fast fan of because of the insane variety in their programming. At any given time you’re as likely to hear Hank Sr. as you are the Stooges.

As often happens with music I hear, it was something I heard on Devil’s Night Radio that has inspired this post. While listening the other day, I heard a song called “Nick the Stripper” by a band called The Birthday Party. The song, driven by bass and horns, could have been a routine strip club grind number. Instead, the music is slowed to a dirty funk, and we learn that “Nick” is a male stripper who is “hideous to the eye.” Nick Cave’s truly scary sounding voice completes the picture of something you hope you never have to see.

Nick Cave, along with Mick Harvey, and Tracy Pew, played together in bands previous to forming The Birthday Party; the name change came as the band evolved from playing punk covers to playing darker, feedback-laden, raw blues-type music. The Birthday Party would split in 1983, with most of the members going on to successful solo careers.

The Birthday Party, despite lack of any real commercial success, has proven to be continually influential to modern bands, particularly “goth-rock” bands. “The Party have been indirectly held responsible for the rise of a visceral new hardcore, ranging from The Sex Gang Children, through Danse Macabre to March Violets,” the New Musical Express wrote in an early-80’s article.

“Nick the Stripper” comes from 1981’s Prayers on Fire, which was The Birthday Party’s first album with that band name (the two earlier disks were released under their previous name, The Boys Next Door).

Nick the Stripper.mp3

Steven Tyler Done With Aerosmith?

2009-11-08T11:27:00.005-05:00

The gossip around the Internet is that Steven Tyler is leaving Aerosmith. That move, which would for all intents and purposes break up the legendary band, seemed to be confirmed in an interview Joe Perry gave the Las Vegas Sun newspaper.

“Steven quit as far as I can tell,” Perry told the paper in an interview published Friday. “I don’t know anymore than you do about it. I got off the plane two nights ago. I saw online that Steven said that he was going to leave the band. I don’t know for how long, indefinitely or whatever. Other than that, I don’t know.”

Most of Aerosmith’s recent world tour was canceled in August after Tyler fell from the stage at a Sturgis, S.D., concert and broke his shoulder. The band members were unhappy with Tyler over the incident. However, Aerosmith salvaged the final leg of the tour, including two shows in Hawaii and one at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix before more than 50,000 fans.

Perry told the Sun he hopes to keep Aerosmith together, with or without Tyler, but he was so stunned by recent developments he doesn’t know what’s going to happen.

Meanwhile, talk on the AeroForceOne message boards was mostly about Tyler’s selfishness and the idea that “he's not Rod Stewart that split from the Faces while still in his 30's and had a whole career ahead of him.”

There’s no confirmation or denial from Steven Tyler at this point, other than a statement he made in an interview with Classic Rock magazine regarding his future plans: “It's definitely going to be something Steven Tyler, working on the brand of myself — Brand Tyler.”

In my opinion, Aerosmith is past their prime and would do well to call it a day. They haven’t been able to keep it together like the Stones have and they haven’t been able to consistently turn out rock music on a par with their earlier successes. The slick pop of albums like Just Push Play is an embarrassment to the band and to those of us who used to be fans.

Here are a couple of things from the 1991 Pandora’s Box compilation.

Lord of the Thighs (live-1978).mp3
I Wanna Know Why (live-1978).mp3
Chip Away the Stone (alt version).mp3
Helter Skelter.mp3

Tom Waits and Down by Law

2009-11-03T18:14:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I watched Down by Law, a 1986 Jim Jarmusch film. Not long ago I had watched an older flick of his and thought I’d check out some other things.

The movie, in case you haven’t seen it, is more or less about a pimp and an out of work DJ who land in, then escape from, a New Orleans prison. Along with them is an Italian guy whose knowledge of English is mostly limited to phrases such as “If looks could kill, I am a-dead now,” or “I scream. You scream. We all scream for ice cream.” (For a more complete synopsis, check the above link.)

Tom Waits is in the movie, as Zack, the DJ. I knew he’d had a couple of small roles in other films, but I’d somehow missed the fact that he’s in Down by Law. His relationship with his cellmate, Jack (played by John Lurie), is the movie’s main focus. Waits also has a couple of songs in the film, both from his 1985 album Rain Dogs.

Although the rough concept of the album revolves around New York City, the two songs used in this movie, “Jockey Full of Bourbon” and “Tango ‘til They’re Sore,” are both just as appropriate to New Orleans. Not just the music, which, especially in “Tango,” is overlaid with horns, but the noir-ishness of the music fits beautifully with Jarmusch’s grim, black and white New Orleans.

If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I need to recommend it to you. Here are the songs, which are great in their own right, but in the context of Down by Law, gain a whole new level.

Jockey Full of Bourbon.mp3
Tango ‘till They’re Sore.mp3

Alice for All Hallows' Eve

2009-10-31T19:54:00.003-04:00

Alright – here’s the deal. As you may or may not have noticed, posts have been few and far between these last few weeks. I’ll tell you the truth: I’ve kind of lost my excitement for blogging. I’ve been doing this for about three-and-a-half years. At first it was great fun and I was finding and sharing a lot of great music. Recently, though, I haven’t heard much that’s really excited me. When I feel half-arsed about the music, my lack of enthusiasm tends to come across in my posts, and as something I’m doing for fun, I don’t think I should have to fake anything.

I’ve paid for my host through June of next year, so I will continue to post until then, and continue to share new and old music that I enjoy. Once my host expires, I’ll make a decision as to whether I want to continue. Right now I’d have to say I probably won’t continue. But before you get all teary-eyed, remember that is still several months away.

With that said, Happy Halloween.

Ever since I’ve gotten too old for trick-or-treating I haven’t cared much for Halloween. Costume parties have never held an attraction for me – I usually get tired of the costume after a couple of hours and want to change. My last “costume” involved a mullet wig, which I might still have.

But since it is Halloween, I thought I could at least post something appropriate. I dug through my CDs for one of my all-time favorite live albums, The Alice Cooper Show.

Warner Records released The Alice Cooper Show in December 1977, while Alice was in treatment for alcoholism. The album came from two shows recorded in August of that year at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas. It was during that tour (the “King of the Silver Screen” tour) that Alice was reported to have hit his alcoholic peak, downing as much as two cases of Budweiser and a bottle of whiskey a day. You can tell on the album that he sometimes sounds a little frayed around the edges.

Under My Wheels.mp3
Is It My Body.mp3
I Never Cry.mp3

Can You Go a Little Deeper: Blue Öyster Cult

2009-10-19T17:59:00.002-04:00

...and we’re back.

I thought I’d jump right in with a “deep track” post, something I haven’t done in a long time. While driving out of town this past weekend, I listened to a lot of classic rock on SiriusXM and happened to hear a couple of tracks from Blue Öyster Cult, which put me in a mind for this post.

I only have one Blue Öyster Cult disk, but I figured I could go deep with that as well as anything else. Spectres was BOC’s 1977 follow up to their break through Agents of Fortune album. Although Spectres didn’t move platinum numbers like its predecessor, the album still did well, led by the success of “Godzilla.”

“Death Valley Nights” was the second single from Spectres, following “Godzilla.” The song never charted (ironically, neither did “Godzilla”), but I think it’s a great, forgotten BOC song and I’ve always gotten a kick out of the line, “What I need is a kiss from you, babe / Before it's hangover time.”

Death Valley Nights.mp3

~~~~~
(Can You Go a Little Deeper is an irregularly recurring feature here wherein I resurrect old favorites, lost songs, and other things you maybe haven’t heard in a while)

Be Back In A Few

2009-10-16T10:18:00.005-04:00

I'm going to be out of town for a few days, so my already sporadic posting will seem even more so. In the meantime, have a look around...

Rolling Stones - Memphis '78

2009-10-11T16:04:00.008-04:00

I noticed it’s been a long time since I posted any live stuff. I imagine that sort of falls in line with my overall lackadaisical approach around here lately. But I thought it might not hurt to look through my things and see if I could find something interesting to share. What I came up with is this recording from the Rolling Stones’ 1978 tour.

For the U.S. leg of their ’78 tour, the Stones played 25 shows over the course of about two months: the first was June 10 in Lakeland, Fla.; the tour wrapped up on July 26 in Oakland. A lot of Stones “experts” consider this one of their best tours because of the back-to-basics approach the band took. They played a lot of older stuff, interspersing songs from the newly released Some Girls album, most of which fit nicely alongside the classics.

This recording comes from the June 28 show at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tenn. I believe part of this show was broadcast for the old King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show. One notable thing about this recording is the debut of “Hound Dog,” which the Stones would only play at this show and the following night in Lexington, Ky.

When I first got this recording, the songs were in no type of order. I’ve arranged them in what I believe to be the proper set list, first by listening, to see what seems to logically follow, and by using a couple of sources, including RocksOff.org, a great Rolling Stones fan site.

Let It Rock.mp3
All Down the Line.mp3
Honky Tonk Women.mp3
Star Star.mp3
When the Whip Comes Down.mp3
Miss You.mp3
Lies.mp3
Beast of Burden.mp3
Shattered.mp3
Just My Imagination.mp3
Respectable.mp3
Far Away Eyes.mp3
Love In Vain.mp3
Tumbling Dice.mp3
Happy.mp3
Hound Dog.mp3
Sweet Little Sixteen.mp3
Brown Sugar.mp3
Jumpin’ Jack Flash.mp3

or, if you prefer, you can UnZip it.

** NOTE **
update - I believe all links are back in working order now
thanks!

Trippin' with Toni Basil

2009-10-10T17:00:00.005-04:00

You know how sometimes, in old movies, the credits roll as the film opens? Well, I was watching Easy Rider (1969, my friends – it’s officially an old movie now) the other day and as the opening credits went across the screen, I saw a familiar name: Toni Basil.

I can’t honestly say if I knew she was in the movie and had forgotten, or if it came as a bit of a surprise. While I know she is a choreographer of some renown, to me, Toni Basil is, was, and always will be the “Oh, Mickey, you’re so fine” girl.

In case you didn’t know – or like me, you maybe forgot – Toni plays “Mary” in Easy Rider. Near the end of the film, when Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda finally arrive in New Orleans, they visit a brothel where they meet Mary and another girl, Karen (played by Karen Black). The four of them go to the Mardi Gras parade, and then visit a cemetery, where they drop acid. In your Mr. Skin moment, there is a little bit of Toni Basil nudity here. There is also an interestingly filmed representation of the group’s trip.

Easy Rider was probably Toni’s biggest role; prior to that she had a few parts where she was credited – if she was credited at all – in roles such as “Dancer” or “Pajama Girl.” She also had a few small roles following Easy Rider, mainly in classics such as Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood; and Angel III: The Final Chapter. I think it’s safe to say Toni found much more success as a choreographer.

But let’s not forget Toni’s musical career. Her 1982 album Word of Mouth and the smash hit “Mickey” firmly established her as one of the greatest one-hit wonders ever. Something else I didn’t know about Toni Basil until I started researching around: Most of the members of Devo played on the Word of Mouth disk. If you can believe what you read, Toni and Devo bass player Jerry Casale were dating at the time and Toni had been a long-time Devo fan.

One of the songs Toni chose for her album was “Be Stiff,” which was a Devo rarity. The song was initially released on their 1978 EP, Be Stiff. Devo wouldn’t officially release the song again until their 1990 compilation disk Greatest Misses. Toni’s is a fun version, with her pop vocals over Devo’s edgy new wave instrumentation.

Be Stiff.mp3

Music from My Mailbox

2009-10-05T21:26:00.008-04:00

My first post of October – five days in – and my first mailbox purge. The inbox filled up insanely quick over the last couple of weeks. I was already trying to decide whether I should dump everything at once or split it into a couple of posts. But after I culled through everything, deleting the invites to things I can’t attend and the music you don’t want to hear, I was left with this single, decent-sized post.

A lot of this music veers toward the “indie” side of things. I’ve mentioned before that, as a general rule, I don’t care much for that genre. Using that admittedly flexible guideline, I’ve done my best to not subject you to a lot of things I wouldn’t listen to myself.

A couple of recommendations – for those who don’t want to sample a little of each: I like Red Cortez. “Fell on the Floor” has a sorta-U2 feel, for part of the song, then other parts go in another direction altogether. The Electric Tickle Machine, in addition to having a cool name, is a decent sounding psychedelic-cum-garage band from New York’s East Village. I also dig “Bare Hands, Bare Feet” from The Bright Hour Social Hour. It’s an up tempo rocker with a groovy riff.

But really, you may as well check out all the music; it won’t cost you anything extra and you’re likely to find something else you like even more.

As always, follow the links for more information.

City Light
Indie / Alternative / Rock
From: San Francisco, Calif.
Band Myspace
Apologies.mp3

The Bright Light Social Hour
Rock
From: Austin, Texas
Band Myspace
Bare Hands, Bare Feet.mp3

Chris Kirby
Blues / Pop / Soul
From: St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada
Band Myspace
Don’t Forget About Me.mp3

My Tiger My Timing
Pop / Idol / Visual
From: London, U.K.
Band Myspace
I am the Sound (Hook And The Twin Remix).mp3

Real Ones
Indie / Folk / Rock
From: Bergen, Norway
Band Myspace
Every Dog Has His Day.mp3

Electric Tickle Machine
Psychedelic / Garage / Pop
From: e. vill, N.Y.
Band Myspace
Gimme Money.mp3

Loch Lomond
Folk / Experimental / Pop
From: Portland, Ore.
Band Myspace
Wax and Wire.mp3

Mau
Electro / Alternative / New Wave
From: Lisbon, Portugal
Band Myspace
Toboggan.mp3

Lackthereof
Emotronic / Folk / Healing & Easy Listening
From: Portland, Ore.
Band Myspace
Safely in Jail.mp3

Red Cortez
Other
From: California
Band Myspace
Fell on the Floor.mp3

Flood of Red
Rock
From: Glasgow, Scotland U.K.
Band Myspace
Paper Lungs.mp3

~~~~~
(pictures, top-to-bottom: The Bright Light Social Hour, Electric Tickle Machine, Red Cortez

Check Out Chalant's Special Place

2009-09-30T19:39:00.005-04:00

Those of you who have been around for a while will remember almost two years ago when I first posted about Alabama hip-hop trio Chalant. That post remains one of my most popular, not only because the songs were great, but because one of the songs I posted was “Suck My Pussy,” which seems to attract a lot of random Googlers.

It’s taken some time, but Chalant has finally released some new music. They were kind enough to drop me a note the other day to let me know about the new EP, Special Places.

While not at all short on the sexums, Special Places is a lot darker and angrier than The Trill Life. “Freaky Secret” and “Cop Killer,” which more or less bookend the disk, are sort of a matched set of songs about revenge killings. And “Dead Men Don’t Rape” is singer Jenital Candies getting back at a father who molested her by putting him in a cage and making him “eat his own poop.”

The music is slow groove, synth-based hip-hop, sort of along the lines of Prince’s old protégés from the 80’s, Apollonia 6. Something you could grind to in a club, maybe.

Check out this track, then click over to Chalant’s MySpace, where you can download Special Places for free.

Dead Men Don’t Rape.mp3

'Praying to the God of Giving Up'

2009-09-27T17:38:00.004-04:00

Today’s music is a great, fun band out of Portland, Ore. And, really, how often do you hear that?

The Taxpayers are a four-piece whose music ranges from folk-sounding punk to hardcore and pretty much anywhere in between. “Probably the best aspect of The Taxpayers is that it's damn near impossible to tell what they're going to do next,” the Free Music Archive said in a review.

I don’t know much about these guys; they’ve been together a few years I think, and they’ve released a couple of albums. The latest, A Rhythm in the Cages, is out on Quote Unquote Records, a purely donation-based record label (take that, you corporate weasels!).

The Taxpayers remind me much of early Against Me! in their full on, mostly acoustic and percussion punk assault. Singer Rob Taxpayer also sounds more than a little like Tom Gabel.

Check out these couple of songs, then click over to the Taxpayers MySpace, where you can find the download links for their albums and some older, live stuff.

No Lodging for the Mad.mp3
Cuyuahoga Canal.mp3
Montana.mp3

'Click, Click, Bang, Bang'

2009-09-21T21:27:00.002-04:00

I have had an old song from Miss Derringer on my iPod forever it seems like. I love the band’s combination of blues, country, 60’s girl-group, and noir. There’s something that gets me every time I hear that kind of dark music sung in a voice as smooth as Liz McGrath’s.

A little earlier this year, Miss Derringer released their third disk, Winter Hill. The album is based on the true story of an Irish gang war in Boston. The 1960’s setting for the album’s tale lends itself perfectly to the lead single, “Click, Click, Bang, Bang.” That song – and a lot of the others on the album – combines the rock-a-billy of the Detroit Cobras with the pop of early Blondie, bands who also draw / drew big time from 60’s groups.

While still steeped in darkness, Winter Hill is, musically anyway, a lighter album than its predecessor, 2006’s Lullabies. There’s nothing remotely like the latter’s title track; despite its subject matter, the new album seems altogether much more upbeat.

Click, Click, Bang, Bang.mp3

'All I Want is Beer and Damage'

2009-09-20T18:55:00.003-04:00

It has, apparently, been nearly a week since I’ve posted anything here. That’s probably my longest unplanned, non-ISP-caused absence in recent memory. And there’s no reason for it – I just felt like taking a break from posting.

During that time, I’ve found or been sent a fair amount of really good music and I’ll try to get that up here over the next few days. But today I want to go back about 30 years to the halcyon years of Los Angeles punk rock.

A couple of nights ago I watched What We Do Is Secret, a biopic about Darby Crash and The Germs. The movie left me impressed at the influence The Germs had over the LA punk scene. I’ve written ad nauseum about being such a fan of the LA punk bands of the late ‘70s, but for some reason I never really got into The Germs. I was familiar with them, of course, and I knew the song “Manimal” from The Decline of Western Civilization soundtrack, but I never owned the (GI) album. I guess I just didn’t get The Germs.

What I got out What We Do Is Secret is that not listening more to The Germs has been my loss. After watching the movie, I located a copy of MIA: The Complete Anthology, a 1993 Rhino Records compilation that features most of the band’s studio output. I’ve listened to the disk pretty much nonstop since and I have come away amazed. For being such a volatile mess of a live act, in studio The Germs were phenomenal. They pack the musical power of the Stooges and, Darby, as he describes himself, really is a “lexicon devil.”

I’ve pulled a handful of songs from the MIA collection: The first song, “Forming” was originally the A-side of the 1977 “Forming / Sex Boy” 7-inch, the single widely regarded as the first LA punk single. “What We Do Is Secret” and “Lexicon Devil” both originally appeared on the (GI) album; “Caught in My Eye” is an outtake from that album; and “Lion’s Share” was from the band’s only other studio sessions – six songs they recorded for the Al Pacino movie Cruising. “Lion’s Share” is the only one of the songs to appear in the movie.

Forming.mp3
What We Do Is Secret.mp3
Lexicon Devil.mp3
Caught in My Eye.mp3
Lion’s Share.mp3

Music from My Mailbox

2009-09-14T21:12:00.010-04:00

I actually started this post yesterday, but I got sidetracked by the NFL’s opening weekend. I’m not a major fan of the Dolphins, but they are the local team, so I had to get out and show my support for what turned out to be a pretty sorry effort. By the time I got home, the only thing I was thinking about posting was my ass in my bed.

So, to pick up where I left off, this harvesting of the mailbox yielded some decent stuff. I was a little surprised to see emails from three pretty big bands that are plugging records through the blogosphere. I think this really attests to the power bloggers can have. Well, maybe not my little blog specifically, but all of us together.

The Flaming Lips, The Raveonettes, and Wolfmother all sent me music, urging me to help spread the word about recent or upcoming releases. Since government radio has become such a shit show, really, the Internet is the only place you’re going to hear about new music. I know I’m preaching to the choir, but when was the last time your local “alternative rock” station played the Raveonettes?

A couple of other things worth bringing to your attention: The kinda groovy, 60’s vibe of “Coffee in the Morning” by Drug Rug; and “1-2-3-Go!,” which is the kind of song that should have come out at the start of the summer, not in these dog days. But it’s fun and stupidly catchy anyway. And completely out of left field is jazz singer Rochelle House. Check out her version of the old Roberta Flack song “Feel Like Makin’ Love.” There are actually several good things here, so don’t be afraid to give them a listen or two.

As always, follow the links for more information.

Raveonettes
Other / Other / Other
From: New York City & Los Angeles, Baby!
United States
Band MySpace
Last Dance.mp3

Drug Rug
Soul
From: Boston, Mass
Band MySpace
Coffee in the Morning.mp3

Tim Williams
Indie / Alternative / Acoustic
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
I Hit Another Wall.mp3

Wolfmother
Rock
From: Australia
Band MySpace
New Moon Rising (Fontan version).mp3

Stricken City
Pop
From: London, U.K.
Band MySpace
Pull the House Down.mp3

Hopewell
Soul / Psychedelic / Religious
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Stranger.mp3

Ladyhawke
Pop / Classic Rock / Electro
From: Wellington / Sydney / London
Band MySpace
My Delirium.mp3

U.S. Royalty
Americana / Idol
From: Chinatown, Washington DC
Band MySpace
Every Summer.mp3

The Flaming Lips
Experimental / Psychedelic / Rock
From: Oklahoma City, Okla.
Band MySpace
Silver Trembling Hands.mp3

Hottub
Punk / Crunk / Funk
From: Oakland, Calif.
Band MySpace
1-2-3-GO!.mp3

Calypso
Punk / Grunge / Tropical
From: New York, N.Y.
Band MySpace
Casually Sad Mercedes.mp3

Rochelle House
Jazz / Neo-soul / Other
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Feel Like Makin’ Love (Roberta Flack cover).mp3

~~~~~
(pictures, top-to-bottom: The Raveonettes, Wolfmother, Ladyhawke, Hottub)

9/11

2009-09-11T07:00:00.001-04:00

Wish You Were Here.mp3 Limp Bizkit Feat. John Rzeznik ~
from America: A Tribute to Heroes

So this is who Visqueen are

2009-09-08T20:26:00.004-04:00

The new Visqueen album, Message to Garcia, is out today. I’ll tell you the truth – until a few days ago I had no idea who the hell Visqueen were. But they were nice enough to send me a copy of the first single from their new album, so I thought I’d check it out.

“Hand Me Down” is a pop rock song, but it’s the good kind of pop rock: more rock than pop and with a chorus that reminds me a lot of Cheap Trick. The song also has big rock ‘n’ roll drums, which I dig a lot. And I gotta also say I'm digging this song a lot.

Message to Garcia is Visqueen’s third album, and their first since 2004’s Sunset on Dateland. The band took a lengthy hiatus so front woman Rachel Flotard could care for her father, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Rachel’s father, who passed away in April, would ultimately prove a major influence on her writing for this album.

“He was our unrelenting hero for 35 years and never let us drop,” Rachel says about her dad. “These songs are my friends. I wrote them through a long ride of self-conscious anguish and joy. They are braided with sunny, ubiquitous problems and snare drums. They reflect the part of me that wants to be happy and make out with Bad Company.”

So, now that we all know who the hell Visqueen are, I’ll suggest you check out the first single from Message to Garcia, then get to your favorite e-tailer and get the whole album.

Hand Me Down.mp3

‘Sad Songs Swinging In My Whiskey Head’

2009-09-07T21:21:00.002-04:00

I ran into something kinda interesting a couple of days ago and I thought I’d share it with you good people. I’ve never heard of a German band called Madstateworld, but apparently their singer, Tom Mess, went solo last year.

Like I said, I wasn’t familiar with Madstateworld, but I have listened some to Tom’s solo stuff, which is pretty interesting. Mess’ gravely voice and songs of heartache and drunkenness bring to mind a little bit of Tom Waits, if Waits had a near indecipherable German accent and was loaded on whiskey.

Mess has released a couple of albums in Germany, the most recent being The Krämer Tapes. He was with Madstateworld for seven years before deciding to go it on his own. And on his own he is: it’s only Mess and his guitar now. “I have tasted new blood,” he says about his solo career.

You can check out some of Mess’ music on his MySpace page. From there you can also get to the link to download The Krämer Tapes, which I encourage you to do. You can also bounce over to the Madstateworld page. In the meantime, though, try these songs on for size.

Whiskey and Water.mp3
Already Done.mp3

'Last Rose of Summer'

2009-09-05T19:28:00.005-04:00

I’ve been on a posting dry spell of late – struggling to find things that are interesting not only to me, but things that I think will be interesting to others. And then find an interesting way to present them. I’ve been at this a couple of years now and I’m wondering if maybe it’s not time for a short break. If I decide to do that, I’ll let all of you know – I promise I won’t just disappear. And I’m not saying I’m going to do it, I’m just thinking I need to recharge. We’ll see.

On that note, happy Labor Day. A friend of mine from outside the U.S. asked me the other day about Labor Day, and what it meant, etc. After I explained, she asked me about the tradition of not wearing white after Labor Day. As I sit here wearing a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, I can assure you I am no fashionista, but I hazarded a guess that it had something to do with east coast debutantes and upper class families and bore no relevance to my life, particularly since I rarely wear white anyway.

It turns out I may have been somewhat correct. The tradition might actually have started in the South, though, where it is said “Southern girls know bad manners when they see them,” and a clear sign of bad manners is wearing white shoes before Easter or after Labor Day. Others say it started as a way to teach societal rules to the nouveau riche.

These days, I believe most agree it’s an obsolete tradition. One local newspaper columnist even wrote, “Here in Florida, where we wear flip-flops and shorts on Christmas Eve, avoiding white seems silly.”

All of this is apropos of nothing in regards to today’s post, which happens to be “Last Rose of Summer” from Judas Priest’s 1977 Sin After Sin album. I’ve just always thought “Last Rose” was a cool end-of-summer song, and since Labor Day is an end-of-summer holiday, it seemed to come together neatly.

Last Rose of Summer.mp3

Perfect 80's Metal

2009-09-01T21:37:00.004-04:00

I finally saw The Wrestler last weekend. If you’ve seen it and if you paid attention, you probably noticed there’s a decent soundtrack’s worth of 80's metal in movie: Quiet Riot (The Ram’s theme song), as well as Ratt, Accept, and a couple of others. Where I’m going with this post, though, is one song in particular: The Scorpions’ “Animal Magnetism.” For the life of me I can’t remember the scene where it played, but I was impressed as hell Darren Aronofsky (or whoever) decided to use this particular song.

The Scorpions had a brief period, before they lapsed in Spinal Tap-like self-parody, when they were one of the best metal bands around. Between 1979 and 1982, they released Lovedrive, Animal Magnetism, and Blackout, three classics of the genre. Without a doubt, 1980’s Animal Magnetism is my favorite Scorps album and arguably, one of my favorite all-time metal albums.

“Make It Real,” the opening track, may have been the first Scorpions song I ever heard. It was on a live Castle Donnington album that I got when I was in high school, so would have been the song that put me onto the band. The last song on side one, “Lady Starlight,” has the kind of classic guitar solo that was once a trademark of the Schenker brothers. Just past the halfway point of the song, everything comes to a stop except Rudolf Schenker’s electric guitar. It’s cheese power ballad, but damnit, I love it! And I loved it when Michael Schenker did it with UFO.

The two songs that really make the album for me, though, are “The Zoo” and the album’s title track. Both are near perfect metal songs, with heavy riffs and Rudolf Schenker back for the hard and dark version of the earlier power ballad solo.

It was “The Zoo” that made me want to see 42nd Street in New York before I’d ever been there. Picture my disappointment when I arrived 10 years later and found it Disney-fied. And it was “Animal Magnetism” that I shared with the first girl who broke my heart. Here’s to hoping she’s living in a singlewide trailer and is miserable. Ha!

Here are my two favorites from the album. No hard feelings.

The Zoo.mp3
Animal Magnetism.mp3

Music from My Mailbox

2009-08-30T12:14:00.007-04:00

Oops – looks like it’s been a couple of weeks since I purged the mailbox. There was a lot of stuff in there, but probably half of it was either random PR things or music you probably don’t want to hear.

From the surviving half I managed to pull several decent items. Of particular note is Spider Problem, a rock band out of El Lay. They are without a doubt my pick of this post, with a sound that kinda sorta reminds me of X.

Another interesting band is The Bad Dogs. The Bad Dogs are fronted by two teenage girls (one is 16 years old and the other is 18 years old), who, rather than going the power pop route a la Avril Lavigne, they’ve instead turned out a tasty little garage rock number, “Power to My Amp.”

A couple of bands are making encore appearances in my mailbox: Amanda Zelina just released her version of “Try a Little Tenderness,” the oft-recorded track made big in 1966 by Otis Redding. Also returning with another track from their soon-to-be-released debut is garage super group The Almighty Defenders.

As always, follow the links for more information.

The Bad Dogs
Rock / Soul / Indie
From: Brunoy, Ile-de-France, France
Band MySpace
Power to My Amp.mp3

The Wooden Birds
Indie
From: Austin, Texas
Band MySpace
Hometown Fantasy.mp3

Sean Bones
Indie / Pop
From: Cobble Hill, U.S.
Band MySpace
Dance Hall (Bodega Girls remix).mp3

Electric Tickle Machine
Psychedelic / Garage / Pop
From: e. vill, NY
Band MySpace
Part of Me.mp3

The Antlers
Indie / Ambient
From: Brooklyn, NY
Band MySpace
Two.mp3

Tiny Vipers
Gothic / Acoustic / Ambient
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Development.mp3

Spider Problem
Rock / Rock / Rock
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band MySpace
Bullet.mp3

The Radiant
Rock / Indie
From: New York, NY
Band MySpace
I Don’t Need a Reason.mp3

The Almighty Defenders
Rock / Garage
From: Beverly Hills, Calif.
Band MySpace
Cone of Light.mp3

Amanda Zelina
Pop / Soul / Alternative
From: swamp water, Canada
Band MySpace
Try a Little Tenderness.mp3

Boat
Indie / Pop / Soul
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band MySpace
Prince of Tacoma.mp3

Logan Lynn
Indie / Pop / Emotronic
From: Portland, Ore.
Band MySpace
Feed Me to the Wolves.mp3

~~~~~
(Pictures, top-to-bottom: The Bad Dogs, Electric Tickle Machine, Spider Problem, Amanda Zelina)