Top Ten Songs You Would Live In

Ever seen Mary Poppins? There's a scene where Bert, Mary and the kids with a little magic jump into sidewalk chalk drawings and end up in a cartoon world where the animals dance and the merry go rounds come alive. So I got thinking while listening to something earlier today about a strange idea that reminds me of that. If you could jump into a song or a world of songs by one specific artists what would they be? Desolation Row? Yoshimi? I think you catch my drift.

I'm working on a post cum essay about the music of Jackson Browne but wanted to post Take It Easy today because it's where my heads at. One of my favorite things to do is bash The Eagles and I hate them because they recorded this song, denying Jackson Browne's version from being the famous one. Hell, he wrote the thing so his should be the one anyway. The song is great though, and even if a shitty band like The Eagles cover it, they can't wipe out its' inherent magic. Gotta love all that pedal steel too.

The Detroit Cobras - Tied And True

The Detroit Cobras just released their new album, Tied & True on Bloodshot Records. The Cobras have easily been one of my favorite bands the last few years. I have really loved their 3 previous LPs as well as the 7 Easy Pieces EP. The combination of rollicking r&b rave-ups with slow-burning ballads has worked really well. When you add the amazing vocals of Rachel Nagy, you get some really great records. However, I've seen the band live 3 times, and have left dissapointed each time. At best, it was just a good show, not great, and at its worst it was uninspired. The energy level just isn't the same as it is on record, and the band has just seemed like they werent really into it. Needless to say, I was a little worried about what their new album would sound like. On first listen, I was not really blown away. It seemed like the band had lifted a little off the gas pedal. The song selection, which has always been stellar, didn't seem to highlight the band's strengths. On further listens, the album has really grown on me. The overall sound is really great, with the band's sometime guitarist Greg Cartwright manning the controls. Whereas on previous albums, the ballads were some of the better tracks, I think the slower paced songs on Tied and True drag a little bit. Overall, the album is definetly worth a purchase, it's just not as amazing as their other stuff. It also features "On A Monday", made famous by the man Johnny Cash.

Check it out:
As Long As I Have You

New Releases

Out This Tuesday:

Tori Amos - American Doll Posse
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
Doyle Bramhall - Foodland
Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond (ed. pick of the week)
Feist - The Reminder
Robbie Fulks - Revenge (2 disc live set)
The Puppini Sisters - Betcha Bottom Dollar (ed. pick - 3 part do wop female harmonies and covers of interesting tracks including The Smiths' Panic)
Rush - Snakes & Arrows
Tangerine Dream - Madcap's Flaming Duty (dedicated to Syd Barrett)
VA -Spiderman 3 Soundtrack

Reissue Front
Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy!, Trust, Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom, Punch The Clock, Goodbye Cruel World, King Of America, Blood & Chocolate, The Best of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years, Rock and Roll Music - Key Album Tracks, B-sides, and unreleased tracks

Steve Earle -20th Century Masters: The Best of Steve Earle - The Millennium Collection
John Eddie - S/T
Marcia Griffiths - Melody Life: Reggae Anthology
David Johansen - In Style
Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Architecture & Morality
VA - Dirty Dancing: 20th Anniversary Edition (20 years, man!)
Warren Zevon - Preludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordings (ed. pick of the week)

Books:
Captain Beefheart's Trout Mask Replica 33 1/3 Series
MC5 - Guitar Army: Rock And Revolution With The MC5 and the White Panther Party
Charlie Parker -Chasin' The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker
Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Legendary Neighborhood by Michael Walker
Warren Zevon: I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon

iPod on Random

Traces - Built To Spill - You In Reverse
Girl - The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Never Change - Jay-Z - Blueprint
I Just Wasn't Made For These Times - The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds
Shannon - Volebeats - Solitude
Greensky Greenlake - Dead Meadow - S/T
Watch Me Jumpstart - Guided By Voices - Human Amusements...
The Ballad Of Mott The Hoople - Mott The Hoople - Mott
I'm On Your Side - Patty Loveless - Honky Tonk Angel
What Do I Get? - The Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

ACPC

Every once in a while, girlfriends do something that just knock you sideways with something amazingly cool. That's just the way it is. Well, recently I was blown away with a group project that my girlfriend, fancypants (formermly known as Break Me Off A Piece Of That Kit Kat Bar) was working on for her graduate school program in Museum Studies. They had to design a mock museum from start to finish, and they were able to choose the topic that their museum would focus on. And while other groups in her class chose topics like The Rainforest (which I'm sure was great), her group decided to make a museum of punk rock (now thats pretty sweet). The place is called The American Center For Punk Culture (ACPC). If it were a real place, I would pay whatever fee they needed to become a lifetime member. The goal of the museum would be to document, archive, and celebrate punk culture, with a focus on the nascent punk scene in New York in the 1970s. The paper that they wrote is beyond overwhelming, but here a few good tidbits. The board members for the ACPC would include: Jello Biafra, Lee Childers, Danny Fields, Debbie Harry, Richard Hell, John Holmstrom, Lenny Kaye, Don Letts, Leggs McNeil, Jack Rabid, Patti Smith, Steven Van Zandt, and Tom Verlaine. Some of the people on the advisory board would be John Cale, Lux Interior & Poison Ivy, Mick Jones, Wayne Kramer, Hilly Kristal, Mickey Leigh, Tommy Ramone, Mike Watt, Ron Asheton, and a whole lot more. Some of the specific exhibits include : "Raymond Pettibone: Posters, Prints and Drawings", "East Coast/West Coast : Punk Across The USA", "Afro-Punk: From Ska to Hardcore", "From Pop Art to Punk Rock: Max's Kansas City", and "No Home For The Blank Generation: The Turbulent Relationship Between New York City and The Early Punk Movement". Honestly there are too many cool things about this proposed museum for me to fit in here. Let's just say that this place would be absolutely amazing. How cool would it be if there was a place like the rocknroll HOF, but done corectly.... Nicely done fancypants.

Grinderman

Someone decided to give Nick Cave a guitar and told him to rock. For his latest project, Grinderman, Cave hand-picked 3 members of his long standing backing band, The Bad Seeds for a scaled-down, return-to-basics rocknroll outfit. The band consists of Cave, Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, and Jim Sclavunos. Notably missing is Mick Harvey, who has been playing with Cave since pre-Birthday Party days. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of Cave's work, but I liked his last dual album Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. When there was talk of Cave releasing a "garage rock" album, I was eager to hear it. The album does not dissapoint, as it features some gritty, demented rock/hard blues. With song titles like "No Pussy Blues", you know this one's a keeper. Also worth noting is that according to a recent interview in Harp magazine, this project marked the first time that Cave was open to any input whatsoever from bandmates on his lyrics.

Here's the first track from the album, which along with a few others is also available on their myspace page:
Get It On

Tonight Will Be Fine

"By and large, the more famous you are, the less of a journalist you are.” - David Halberstam

I've got an anal side to me. My bookcase would tell you that. I've had a series of books written by David Halberstam scattered throughout that piece of wooden furniture that I was purposefully saving so that over the course of my life, I would have something worth reading. Right now, there's a book about Vietnam, Basketball, the decline of this country's manufacturing force, a New York City Firestation, and the civil rights movement of the 1950's. But now there will never be another new book added to my shelf and in turn into my mind.

Taking a look at the quote up top from Halberstam is paradoxical in a way. If the statement is a true one then David Halberstam defied it. He won a Pulitzer early in his career for his Vietnam reporting for the New York Times and went on to a life of reporting. His topics were so vast but always interesting whether it was the rise of big media, the 1964 World Series or the decade of the 50's. And yet, he never became the story, never the main character in a Washington Post article about hobnobbing with his subjects. More importantly for a guy who wrote numerous books, there is no accusations out there that he plagiarized or anything of the sort. These days that is pretty commendable.

I think if I ever had chosen a career in writing non-fiction I would have tried real hard (and I mean real hard) to emulate a Halberstam-esque style. It wouldn't have been easy. Rather than just brainstorm a topic, conduct interview after interview, and finally begin the process of setting it all to paper, he made sure there was something else included in his account. Halberstam made sure that each and every topic he wrote about became the definitive work on that topic. One could obviously argue that no topic exists that can be definitively written about and that may be true in essence but in reality once a writer goes near something and makes it his own, other writers are thereby warned to stay away. This I believe, was not a tangible warning, instead the works spoke and speak for themselves.

Hitting to something close to creating definitive works, Halberstam could be trusted. As I recall the end of his books are filled with pages of his sources. Sometimes you read something in a book and want to to know how it got there and why you should believe it and most of the time there is nothing to support the point. I don't know why that is but I do know the credibility factor regarding the accuracy of the work goes down as does the interest one is willing to devote. Maybe I should have, but I never doubted what I was reading in one of his pages, I took it at gospel.

There is no doubt that Halberstam was a great journalist but it would be unfair to say that that was all he was. He was like the favorite college professor who condensed a whole area of life into an understandable course that was both interesting and riveting. I've sort of always equated a book like The 50's or The Powers That Be as being as important to my knowledge of this country's history as any classroom experience I've ever had.

I once heard the quotation upon a songwriter's death that went something like, "Now that the singer is gone where shall I go for the song?" The line is a powerful way to conjure up the importance of the recently deceased, but almost a trick to get some emotion out of your audience and come off poetic at the same time without having really done your work. The reason I bring the line up isn't for a cheap emotive pull, though that is always nice, but because I'm not really sure how else to say that Halberstam is gone and I don't believe anyone will be able to replace him or those books that slowly peel off my bookshelf.

GIVING AMERICANA BACK IT'S GOOD NAME

Not that it ever really had that good of a name 'till the Kamikaze Hearts came around....

Here's a scan of the May Uncut review No Name was speaking of:



VICTORY!!!! That definitely reads like a 4 Star review to me.. don't know where that 3 came from. Uncut, why you always so stingy??

If you haven't picked up a copy of Oneida Road yet, you're in for a big, tasty treat. Go grab it from now Collar City Records.

The Sonics

In the early-mid 1960s, the Pacific Northwest music scene was ruled by the kings of raunchy rocknroll and r&b, The Sonics. The Sonics followed in the footsteps of the legendary band the Wailers, and played the same rave-ups that the trailblazers had pioneered. In 1964 (?), Gerry Roslie joined the group on lead vocals, and they began to break away from the instro/r&b mold. Roslie was full of energy, had a great voice, and an even greater scream. Songs such as "Strychnine", "The Witch", "Boss Hoss" and "Cinderella" were instant classics and have become Garage staples over the years. Norton Records has just released Busy Body!!! Live In Tacoma 1964, an album comprised of two live radio broadcasts from 1964. The first set is all instrumental, and is overlowing with energy. The second set, from the Red Carpet Teen Club features Roslie on vocals and again, the band is smoking. My only complaint is that the mix isn't stellar, and the vocals are a little buried. Still, it is a record well worth picking up, as it captures a band on their way to greatness.

iPod on Random

Somebody Else's Girl - Randy Wilburn - Yellow Pills: Prefill
Kappa - Mogwai - Gov. Commissions: BBC Sessions
I Never Dreamed - Slumber Party -Psychedelicate
Accidents Will Happen - Elvis Costello & The Attractions - Armed Forces
Jets - Blur - Think Tank
Soul Serenade - King Curtis - Live At The Fillmore West
Please Stay (Once You Go Away) - The Twilight Singers - She Loves You
Lonesome Billy - Ennio Morricone - The Legendary Italian Westerns
Here & Now - Ride - Nowhere
License To Kill - Bob Dylan - Infidels

Jeff Conine And The Infield Fly Rule

Earlier this week I had Jeff Conine on my fantasy baseball team. He's a player on the Cincy Reds whose is listed as a DH. So, the story goes, I was watching Baseball Tonight on mute when I caught Conine and his manager screaming at the umpires. I flipped the volume on and what I heard was the tail-end of a situation that resulted in my boy Conine not getting the RBI's nor fantasy points he and I so deserved. Conine's bat broke as he made contact with the ball that flew over an infielder's head and was not caught. Conine landed safely on first but was told a few seconds after his arrival that he was out under the Infield Fly Rule. There's an article from the local Cincinnati paper describing the incident here - article.

The Reds naturally were upset as they had been robbed of a base hit and some runs. I wish I had heard the beginning of the conversation on Baseball Tonight talking about what had happened regarding the rule and incident because I just spent the last little while flipping through the MLB rules trying to figure out what the fuck happened.

The purpose of the Infield Fly Rule is to squelch fielder's from easy double plays when there are less than two outs. The ump calls an infield fly when there are runner's on first and second or bases are loaded, but not when there is only a runner on first. The ball must be hit into the infield and catchable. When the ump calls it, the batter is out and the runners on base have to tag the bags as normal, even if the ball is subsequently dropped by the infielder.

One such circumstance where the rule becomes necessary is when there are runners on first and second and the ball is hit to third. Rather than catch the ball, a third baseman, say A-Rod could drop it (purposefully), pick it up, step on the base and then throw to second to get the advancing runner out, leaving only a man on first. So basically, the rule allows the runner's already on base to not be duped by the shyster that is A-Rod. Really, it allows runners to advance and runs to be scored.

The reason Conine and the Reds manager, Jerry Narron, made a big stink about the play and call was that the ball hit the top of the infielder's glove and did not look like it could be easily caught so the play should not have come under the rule.

Here's the wiki page, though it makes less sense then what I wrote but this article makes some sense of the rule.

Below is applicable parts of Major League Baseball's rules regarding the Infield Fly.

Section 6.05 states a batter is out when an infield fly is declared.

It is defined in Section 2 as a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out. The pitcher, catcher and any outfielder who stations himself in the infield on the play shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule.
When it seems apparent that a batted ball will be an Infield Fly, the umpire shall immediately declare “Infield Fly” for the benefit of the runners. If the ball is near the baselines, the umpire shall declare “Infield Fly, if Fair.”
The ball is alive and runners may advance at the risk of the ball being caught, or retouch and advance after the ball is touched, the same as on any fly ball. If the hit becomes a foul ball, it is treated the same as any foul.
If a declared Infield Fly is allowed to fall untouched to the ground, and bounces foul before passing first or third base, it is a foul ball. If a declared Infield Fly falls untouched to the ground outside the baseline, and bounces fair before passing first or third base, it is an Infield Fly.
Rule 2.00 (Infield Fly) Comment: On the infield fly rule the umpire is to rule whether the ball could ordinarily have been handled by an infielder—not by some arbitrary limitation such as the grass, or the base lines. The umpire must rule also that a ball is an infield fly, even if handled by an outfielder, if, in the umpire’s judgment, the ball could have been as easily handled by an infielder. The infield fly is in no sense to be considered an appeal play. The umpire’s judgment must govern, and the decision should be made immediately.
When an infield fly rule is called, runners may advance at their own risk. If on an infield fly rule, the infielder intentionally drops a fair ball, the ball remains in play despite the provisions of Rule 6.05 (L). The infield fly rule takes precedence.
Regarding the scoring of an infield fly section 10.09(c)(1) states, When the batter is called out on an Infield Fly that is not caught, the official scorer shall credit the putout to the fielder who the scorer believes could have made the catch.

If all that isn't enough for you the League's official rules can be checked out here.

Two Cow Garage

On Friday night, I went to Valentine's to go see the CD Release show for Two Cow Garage, from Columbus, OH. Their brand new album, "III" officially gets released on April 24th, and I highly reccomend it. Anyone that like rootsy rocknroll will most likely enjoy it. They also put on a hell of a show, with guitarist Micah Schnabel and bassist Shane Sweeney telling funny stories and jokes between songs. You can tell these guys actually enjoy playing live, and their shows are all the better for it. I had only seen them live once before, and they played as a trio. The other night, they were joined on stage by an organ player, who appearantly is the only member of the group to be a huge Beatles fan (which they explained right before launching into a great cover of "Oh Darling"). The new album is similarly great, and shows their range from americana ballads to full throttle rockers. This one's a definite for the thumbs up list for 2007.

Here's a song from the new album: The Great Gravitorn Massacre

Check out their myspace page for some more songs and tour dates

Buy their album

The Kamikaze Hearts at The Living Room

Bubbaluvzbutta was kind enough to take some photos at the Hearts show last Thursday night at The Living Room in NYC.








In case your not in the know, The Kamikaze Hearts released Oneida Road last year. The current issue of Uncut raves about the review writing that "Like The Band before them, The Kamizake Hearts paint their upstate New York home as a havenfrom current musical storms...It's Gram harmonies and ambient, woodsmoke warmth give America back it's good name." Not bad guys, not bad at all.

New Releases

Out This Tuesday

The Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

Bill Callahan - Woke On A Whaleheart

The Detroit Cobras - Tied and True (ed. pick of the week)

The Electric Soft Parade - No Need To Be Downhearted

Fishbone - Still Stuck In Your Throat

Bebel Gilberto - Momento

Maria McKee - Late December

The Nightwatchmen - One Man Revolution

John Prine & Mac Wiseman - Standard Songs for Average People (duets of American Country Classics. Produced by Cowboy Jack Clement)

Patti Smith - Twelve (Covers Album)

Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back (Produced by Ry Cooder on Anti)

The Toasters - One More Bullet

VA - A Tribute To Joni Mitchell (Incl. Elvis Costello, Emmylou and Bjork)

The Veils - Nux Vomica

Dale Watson - From The Cradle to the Grave (recorded at Johnny Cash's cabin in TN. The same one that just burnt down?)

Reissues:

The Asylum Choir - Look Inside The Asylum Choir (Feat. Leon Russell w. Gene Clark, Harpers Bizarre)

The Band - The Best of a Musical History (Best of from their 2005 box set)

Leonard Cohen - The Songs Of Leonard Cohen, Songs From A Room, Songs Of Love And Hate

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - S/T

Sneaky Pete Kleinow - Anthology

Sly and the Family Stone - Everything (Ed. Pick of the Week: Every one of their ablums remastered. Following the release of a box released earlier this year compiling the catologue. Def. worth checking out.)

VA - Evil Dead: The Musical

Highlights for the next few weeks: Dinosaur Jr., BRMC, Bjork, Sea & Cake, Dungen, Ian Hunter, Wilco, re-issues from Elvis Costello, The Remains, Joe Strummer, and Warren Zevon's rare and unreleased and more collection on Ammal Records via New West.

CocoRosie's The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

CocoRosie's The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn is a concept album of sorts. About what, I really haven't figured out yet, though the curious side of me, I must admit, is not all that curious about finding the answer. It's also a hip hop opera or hip hopera or something to that tune. But it's also good so the fact that I can't aptly describe it isn't really bothering me at the moment.

CocoRosie is the sisterly duo of Sierra (Rosie) and Bianca (Coco) Casady. They are on Touch & Go Records. The album got slammed by Pitchfork (though who knows what that means anymore) but has gotten solid reviews in other respectable and proven publications. To be honest the album is good in parts, almost verging on great without ever getting to that level, but depending on when you are listening The Adventures... is also a bit repetitive in places. Overall the album is an interesting blend of genres and does have its moments.

The first time I listened to the album, the voices emananating out of my stereo sounded like they were coming from a scene in an old black and white movie where a man or woman is in their bedroom getting ready to go out with an old time record playing in the background. Sometimes nuanced beats are layered underneath those voices turning the black and white image into bright technicolor.

Japan sounds like what one would expect to hear if Tom Waits and Bjork were locked in a room together (or even sicker, if they had a child). Tom's esoteric collection of instruments, maniacal ravings, sense of rhythm and lyric books would have to fight it out with Bjork's grandiose singing style of singing and devotion to all things operatic. Who would win? I'm not so sure I would be willing to place a bet against either one as both have proven themselves to be real shitkickers, though it is a winning combination.

If you enjoyed what you heard, you know the deal.

The Young Fresh Fellows - Picture Book

Quotes

Hemingway
You go to the races?

Interviewer
Yes, occasionally.

Hemingway
Then you read the racing forms...
There you have the true art of fiction.

-Conversation in a Madrid cafe, May 1954

Honey Where You Been So Long?

Steubano turned me on a few days ago to this awesome blog titled Honey, Where You Been So Long? of primarily pre-war blues postings with lots and lots of tracks for download. If not for the realities of life, I would spend all day reading and listening to the posts.

iPod on Random

Music I heard on this rainy day

Driving Along - Harry Nilsson
Shining Light - Ash
I Saw The Light - The Raspberries
I Remember You - The Ramones
A Quiet Man - Jim Noir
You Can't Walk In Your Sleep - The Go-Go's
I'm Not Sad - Slumber Party
Soldier of Love - Marshall Crenshaw
Si, Se Puerde - Antibalas
Lay Down Freedom - Waylon Jennings

New Releases

Out this Tuesday:

Joesph Arthur - Let's Just Be

Cowboy Junkies - At The End Of Paths Taken

The Comas - Spells

DJ Shadow - Bay Area EP

Dolly Varden - The Panic Bell

Richard X. Heyman - Actual Sighs (re-working of power pop Actual Size)

John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers - In The Palace Of The King

Page McConnell - S/T

The Nields - All Together Singing In The Kitchen

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

Noisettes - What's The Time Mr. Wolf?

W.A.S.P. - Dominator

David Bowie - Young Americans (2 CD reissue)

Guy Clark - Live From Austin, TX

Definitive Collections from the Flying Burrito Bros., Bo Diddley, Howlin' Wolf

The Idle Race - Back To The Story (Pre-ELO group of Jeff Lynne)

McGuinness Flint - Lo And Behold - (reissue of 1972 album of dylan penned tracks)

Michael Penn - Palms, and Runes, Tarot and Tea: A Collection

Pere Ubu - Cloudland; Story Of My Life reissues

Slade - Rockers: A Collection of their Hardest Hitting Tracks; In For A Penny: Raves Faves

The Soft Machine - Volume Two

Superdrag - Changin' Tires On The Road to Ruin (B-sides and Rarities)

VA - Hard To Find 45's, Vol. 9: 1957-59; Vol. 10 1960-65

The Mendoza Line

The story behind my coming into contact with The Mendoza Line's 2002 Lost In Revelry is that I picked it up while abroad in England during college. It became a soundtrack of sorts to the end of my trip there which found me ending up in various parts of that country and into France. The thing is though the ML are a Brooklyn based band out of Athens, Georgia and there albums aren't cheap especially when buying them on import. The Virgin sticker on the case reads 14.99 and that would be in pounds. Quite the moronic spender I was those few months in the U.K. but at least I got some fine music out of the deal.

In non-music terms, The Mendoza Line is a phrase used to describe a batting average in baseball that is .200 which separates the piss poor from below average hitters or the abdominable from the respectable. Mario Mendoza's (.215%, lifetime) last name serves to describe this status and was coined by George Brett. A search of the term will give you more information on it if you so desire but this site is interesting if your feeling lazy.


In music terms, The Mendoza Line are on Misra records. Lost in Revelry is their fourth albumand received much critical praise upon its release and even made its way to a few notable best of lists at the end of the year including Uncut and Magnet. Like most bands of its caliber, The Mendoza Line didn't earn much attention apart from the critics. So it goes. Besides releases for Misra, Cooking Vinyl, Kindercore and Bar/None have also serviced consumers with TML product.

The thing I really like about this band is they have a few singers, some men and some women so when you get tired of one voice you are soon faced with that of another.

Allmusic called the album "Stunning" and a mix of indie rockand back porch country j.i.c. you didn't believe me before downloading. To that I would add that the music also incorporates some great songwriting that is obviously thought out and the product of lots of honing in on the skill that these guys have.

A Damn Good Disguise

As always if you like the track and want to purchase more music by the band you should. I believe they have a best of compilation of sorts coming out soon. Check out Misra for more details and a few more tracks for download. Some of the guys/gals in the band have a side project called Slow Dazzle, also on Misra.

Black Mountain

The first time I heard about Jagjaguwar's Black Mountain in what an album review for their 2005 self titled debut album and the writer described them as a mix between Sabbath, Dinosaur Jr., and Neil Young or something or other. Needless to say I was intrigued and none disappointed when I picked the album up. The band are a composite of genres bound to perk your ears up as any record of theirs will do to mine. Murky Psychadelica, Acid laced Rock 'n' Roll, and Blues that roll and tumble right in to your headphones or out of your set of speakers.

The below track comes from the bands 2005 EP Druganaut, also released on Jagjaguwar. I posted it because as I was listening it reminded me very much of a certain Stooges song, though with vocals by someone that sounds a tid like Lucinda Williams. That too picqued my interest. Just imagine Lucinda or someone of her ilk sitting in with a band like the Stooges. That alone is the reason the recording industry must live on in some shape or form. Adding to The Stooges thing, the liner notes to the EP thank Iggy and co. so perhaps Black Mountan riffed too hard or have some other connection to The Stooges. No matter any thanks The Stooges get from anyone is deserved.

Before moving onto the track, a few weeks back I bought another Jagjaguwar album by The Pink Mountaintops and noticed that the cover to the album was the same, though in a different color shade, as The Black Mountain album. Upon a little discovery it was revealed that PMT is a side-project for some of the guys in BM. Additionally, Black Mountain who hail from Vancouver are one of the bands in The Black Mountain Army which is sort of like an Elephant 6 thing I guess. Their Wiki page decodes all of this if you are at all interested.


If you visit the band's webiste you can download a couple of tracks from their various enterprises. Black Mountain also has a track included on the upcoming Spiderman 3 soundtrack.

Bicycle Man

If you like this track, check out the EP which is full of some excellent spaced out tracks or the band's self titled album. Both can be purchased from Jagjaguwar. You should check out their site no matter since they have plenty of kick ass bands and tracks for download or sampling.

Photo taken from the bands website.

Punk Rock At The British Legion Hall

Billy strikes again. This time, Billy Childish has unleashed the debut LP of his latest band, Wild Billy Childish And The Musicians Of The British Empire. Punk Rock At The British Legion Hall takes the two songs from the debut 7" from the new band and adds 12 more new songs the fold. The MBE consist of his wife Nurse Julie on bass (and lead vocals on "Date with Doug") and Wolf Howard (his cohort from the Buffs) on drums. Now, it would be a lie to say that this album is groundbreaking, but it sure does rock. Within the last few years, Billy's songwriting has developed a much more melodic sense then he used to display. He has always been one to wear his influences on his sleeve, but recently he has been displaying a massive Who (A Quick One era especially) influence. Backing vocals, harmonies, and falsettos are appearing in songs that sound almost "pretty" (albeit in a trashed-up form). There are a few songs that fall into this category on Punk Rock... including "Birthday Boy". Don't be fooled though, because there is also a rough instro song, and plenty of the good old rocknroll that has been his bread and butter for almost 30 years.

One of my favorite songs is "Bugger The Buffs", which appeared with a different title on the "Last Of The Buff Medways" 7", which was that band's final release. It's a bare-bones rocker with an excellent rant-style vocal from Billy in a similar vain to classics of his such as "punk rock ist nicht tot", "you are all phonies", and "We Hate The Fuckin' NME". The song more or less tells the story of his career, while name dropping people like Kurt Cobain and "Jackie" White who have revered him. There's also the requisite swipe at ex-lover Tracey Emin. He's bitter that people who have been hugely influenced by him are making millions while he's still living in relative poverty. "We pick up the crumbs that fall from the tables". You got to hand it to him, he has continuously gone out of his way to remain an outsider in every aspect. I may be a bit biased, but I recommend this album for anyone reading this blog right now. And don't be surprised if you see this at or near the top of list for best albums for 2007 at the end of the year.

Here's a song: Bugger The Buffs

Buy the album from Damaged Goods Records

The Woggles - Rock And Roll Backlash

The Woggles know how to party (All Night Teen Dance Party that is). Since forming 20 years ago, they have knocked audiences on their asses with their brand of ultra high energy good time rocknroll. They take the best elements of rocknroll, garage, surf, r&b, and soul and come up with a sound that makes everyone wanna dance. With the release of their 8th (?) album, Rock And Roll Backlash, Buzz Hagstrom, Flesh Hammer (Montague RIP), Dan Elektro, and The Professor Mighty Manfred have signed with Little Steven's brand new record label, Wicked Cool Records. This is after Little Steven awarded their single, "It's Not About What I Want (It's What You Got)" as the "Coolest Song Of The Year For 2006". As a whole, the album is pretty cool and may end up winning them some new fans. Go pick it up, and check it out for yourselves, and you'll see why Little Steven likes them so much. Also, go out of your way to see them play live, they put on a hell of a show. When I saw them while on tour with the Greenhornes a few years ago in NYC, they tore it up, and the crowd was going nuts (especially Jack White).

Here's the song Rock And Roll Backlash

Ring Of Fire

Fire destroys Johnny Cash's home

Top Ten

Ok, ok. I promise we are nearing the conclusion of our rounding out a full band. Only two more lists to go.

First up, provide us with singers you'd like to hear backing a band. I'm thinking two or three singers per a slot but do as you may. Additionally if you'd like to sub a singer for say a horn player a piano/keyboard musician hey, why not.

The last list for which you will have to go to your record collections to take a peap, will be based around songwriters you want your band to be playing tunes by. I'll make a post for that later in the week so put your thinking caps on.

REAL COOL TIME: TEAM HENDO GOES TO CHURCH

Last night, the three Hendo contributors (or, the two main contributors and the every-so-often Shrimp Cracker) went to church. The Christ United Church, to be exact, now re-commissioned the United Palace Theater. We were going to see The Stooges in a church, the day after Easter. The resurrection was official, and we were going to bear witness.

He had really tight French cut pants that were way too short. He just wanted to be normal -- at least for the next few blocks -- and he wasn't wearing any socks. This was the first character we'd encounter on our uptown oddessy. A super strange dude walking down the street with his girlfriend. She coulda been his wife I guess, though for her anonymous sake let's say girlfriend, cuz the dude was NUTS.

"Sick it's here dude," No Name exhorts.

"Yes!" Hendo non-ironically replies.

We were waiting for the 1 Local train to bring us 150 blocks to the north. Don't know if we were going to Harlem or the Bronx or Washington Heights, but whatever the preferred dominion, our minds were well beyond that realm cuz we were on our way to church. We were gonna have a Real Cool Time -- TONIGHT. We make our way to grab some seats, or for now at least two. Shrimp Cracker is stuck standing-room-only.

"I'll get up in like 70 blocks," No Name offers. So sweet.

"Do we have to transfer?" Hendo asks.

No Name: "Are we there yet?"

"The next stop is 50th Street," the voice overhead informs. We've traveled 25 blocks.

Hendo is in the middle of contemplating the state of self-releasing a record. "I wanna do a 7 inch next. But that shit's more expensive now. How shitty is that."

No Name is caught in his own reflection. "How come no one else on the train looks like they're going to see The Stooges?"

Almost there. Under 100 blocks to go...

New Releases

Out today:

Blonde Redhead - 23

Bright Eyes - Cassadaga

CocoRossie - The Adventure of Ghosthorse and Stillborn

Grinderman - S/T

Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers

The Waterboys - Book of Lightning

The Hollies - Finest: Best Of

Sly & The Family Stone - The Collection (Box Set)

Drugs Are Bad

Posted below is the b-side from Tom Petty's Last Dance With Mary Jane. That was from a time when artists still released singles in hard copy. It's was a pretty cool idea. You wrote and recorded a bunch of songs. Some of them made it onto the album and others either got thrown into the vault or used for the flip side for a single. Some bands were even gutsy enough to insert one of their better songs into the b-side slot. See Oasis and Acquiescence.

Now we can download tracks not included on the proper album release but I can't really recall having heard an awesome b-side as of late (though I bet I've downloaded one or two) but that doesn't mean they aren't out there

Sort of to the same point, groups used to include bonus tracks on foreign releases, especially for the territory of Asia so as to induce consumers to buy their albums locally rather than cheaper American or British import copies. I'd be interested to know if that's still the case.

Girl on LSD - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

BTW - I've been listening to various parts of Tom Petty's Playback box set, and got to say, there are so many non-album tracks on there that kick ass. Part of me is surprised that no one around TP encouraged and succeeded in getting him to release a few more albums, but thank god he didn't because Playback is a treasure. Much as Springsteen's Tracks has gems. To me those two boxes have multiple albums full of throwaway tracks for Petty and the Boss that would be 5 fucking star albums for most other albums. Allright enough classic rock blah for one night.

iPod on Random

Faithful Night, Listening - Great Lake Swimmers, S/T
Learning The Game - Buddy Holly, The Buddy Holly Collection
All LA Glory - The Band, Stage Fright
Stephin Merritt - Auntie Toothache, Showtunes
Trains Gonna Roll - The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Walk Alone
Tomorrow Will Bring Rain - Green Pajamas, Through Glass Colored Roses
River Bank, Revolutionaries, Earthquake Dub
I'm So Gone - Jackie Greene, American Myth
End Title - Elmer Bernstein, To Kill A Mockingbird
(You're) Safe In Your Sleep (from This Girl) - My Bloody Valentine

Here's A Nice Piece of Shit

Johnny Dowd is an artist I wouldn't even try to describe. All I can say is sometimes he's on and sometimes not with his brand of Americana. The track below is one I believe where Dowd is very much on. The album title says it best because Dowd writes about characters and places that we do not, or I assume, do not encounter on a daily basis, perhaps every fortnight or two and no more.

Pictures From Life's Other Shide came out in 1999 on Koch Records. Dowd has released seven albums in all and is now currently on Bongo Beat. His first record came out when he was in his 40's. There is hope for all of us yet.

Worried Mind - (if this song doesn't make you feel cool there may be something wrong with you)

As always, if you like what you heard, you know what to do and where to go. you may as well go soon because it won't be around forever and then you'll have to order your albums off the net and we know that's just not as fun.

Dylan Covers

The Eels - Girl From The North Country
Christie Moore - The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Robin Hitchcock - Not Dark Yet
Wilco - I Shall Be Released
Emmylou Harris - Every Grain Of Sand

Kurt Wagner and Joe Maddon

The other night I was watching the Yankees play the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and noticed something funny. The manager of the Tampa Bay, Joe Maddon, with his hat and rimmed glasses looked a lot like Kurt Wagner or how I would think Kurt Wagner would look in many years. Take a look for yourself if you are in doubt.















Here's a track from a tour album the band was selling at the Is A Woman shows.
The Fadeaway Jumper

Patti and Bruce

Just wanted to write one more thing about that Boss Tribute show. Jewel was supposed to play it, but dropped out last minute and thankfully for us Patti Smith filled in. Earlier in the day, I told Shrimp Cracker that I would be psyched to hear one of the performers do a version of Because The Night so seeing Patti walk out on stage was a pretty nice sight.

Midway through the song, Patti hocked a loog onto the stage of Carnegie Hall. I think she has an authority problem.

Top Ten

OK - guys and (girls?), we are nearing the finish line with only a few more lists to be made before our bands are complete. So to get us one step further, who are you favorite drummers?

BRUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight Shrimp Cracker, Myself and Bubba saw The Bruce Springsteen Tribute at Carnegie Hall. I'll write more about this later but Marah and The Hold Steady killed it on The Rising and Atlantic City, respectively.

The highlight though was when the man himself came out and treated us to solo versions of The Promised Land and a hilarious Rosalita.

The real deal highlight was when Bruce lead everyone (Jesse Malin, Ronnie Spector, Steve Earle, Marah, Joseph Arthur and more) through a full band version of Rosalita (2x in one night!!!) and Craig Finn of The Hold Steady took the mic and with Bruce's ok, owned that song. An ending to a night I will never forget.

Thank you D. Rothenberg for posting the photos.

Magazine Update

Every month HBBB lets you know what's in the newest Brit mags.

Uncut
Arctic Monkeys article
An Interview with Matt Bellamy of The Muse
Introducing Andrew Bird
10 Best/Worst Concept Albums
Jeff Tweedy In His Own Words featurette
Brett Anderson featurette
Interview with Kele Okereke of Bloc Party
Psych album art
Trees - The Stars That Fame Forgot featurette
LCD Soundsystem's Life In Music
The Making of Kick Out The Jam w/ interviews from Mr. Kramer, Davis, Thompson and John Sinclair
Willy Mason featurette
A Columb by Craig Finn of the Hold Steady
From The Vault: Oasis Interview Uncut 2000
Pink Floyd Cover Story - focus on a Roger Waters interview and the turmoil of the Floyd
Jeff Buckely oral history feature
Midlake feature
Patti Smith feature
James feature
Album by Album: The Grateful Dead
Over My Dead Body: Reunions never to happen
The Eagles in photographs
Uncut Classics: EmmyLou Harris' Red Dirt Girl
Film by Film: David Lynch
Lots and Lots of Reviews

Mojo
CD of new music by British bands - looks pretty cool
Au Revoir Simone featurette
Ian Anderson featurette
In the Studio with Dr. Dre, Ian Brown, Dungen
Introducing The Besnard Lakes
Tori Amos interview
Willy Mason featurette
Bloc Party's Kele Okereke on Mogwai's Young Team
The Only Ones featurette
Storm Thorgerson featurette (album cover artist_
Time Machine to 1979
Steven Tyler Interview
The Proclaimers, a feature
Disco! The feature
Feature about Joe Strummer and a film about him by Julien Temple film
Tom Waits feature
Artctic Monkeys feature
Merle Haggard/Neko Case concert review
How To Buy: U2
Lots and Lots of album reviews

Top Ten

Allright, give us your all time top favorite bass players.

The Ponys - Turn The Lights Out

Over the last few years, The Ponys have emerged as one the musical high points in Chicago, a city overflowing with creativity. Their blend of up-tempo garage and indie/post punk has seen The Ponys gradually rise up the ranks of underground bands on the national scene. The band was formed in 2001 by singer/guitarist Jered Gummere.

Their first full length release, Laced With Romance, created a small buzz within the garage community. Their frantic energy, slashing guitars and driving rhythm section set them in line with many of their peers on In The Red Records. However, it was Gummere’s vocals, which alternated between shouting and more subdued crooning, as well as slightly dissonant guitars which them set them apart. With their second full length release, Celebration Castle, The Ponys started getting attention outside of the underground fanzines and were getting reviews and write-ups in Rolling Stone and Spin Magazine. With great songs like “Get Black”, it was nice to see a band get the kind of attention that it deserved.

The band was poised to make a big splash with their latest album, Turn The Lights Out, which is their first recording for indie heavyweight Matador Records. The album is a natural progression from their previous releases, and does not stray too far stylistically, although the explosiveness is slightly toned-down. That’s not to say though that the album is boring in any way. Even on more subdued songs, such as the reverb-laden and organ-led title track, the passion is still there, as well as the hooks. My first impression of the album is that it will be a strong contender to make my albums of the year list. I can’t get “Double Vision”, “Everyday Weapon”, and “Turn The Lights Out” out of my head, and you’ll probably feel the same way upon first listen.

Here's the band's myspace page where they have several other tracks
Buy the record

Come On And Do The Loco Motion, Bakersfield Style

Dwight Yoakam - Loco Motion

Top Ten

Today's list is dedicated to 5 guitarists you can get down with. Remember at the end of all this were gonna match up your choices with one another so have fun.

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

40 years later, Mary Weiss -- the genius lead vocal of The Shangri-Las -- is back. And with a new record.

After a full post-girl-group career as a woman, wife & commercial interior designer, Mrs. Weiss teamed up with the soon-to-be-legendary Reigning Sound and released the fruits of that labor, Dangerous Game. With the Reigning Sound backing & songwriting help from Greg Cartwright (RS, The Oblivians), Dangerous Game harnesses the same no-bullshit, dropdead gorgeous feeling captured on those early Shangri-Las songs. As a band, Cartwright & co. don't shoot to carbon copy the Shangri-Las sound or Shadow Morton's arrangements, and for that we're better off. This is grown-up garage rock, which of course shares its form with early rock & roll, which can also be said for the original Shangri-Las songs.

One way I think about The Shangri-Las is they make you feel like you're having a crush on some aimless someone or something -- you can't exactly place the feeling or what direction it's traveling in. Maybe it's like your first crush (or maybe all crushes feel the same), but when you're in the throes of it nothing feels more terrific. On this new record it's a little different, since this Shangri-La is four decades older. If she wasn't less teenage & less doe-eyed, there'd be cause for concern (see Ronnie Spector at the recent R&R Hall Of Fame induction ceremony).

For me, this Shangri-La offers some proof that puppy love can grow up, marry, live a life & have a career, and come back still sounding like love.

Apparently though, she never had kids.. which is probably the missing variable.

Mary Weiss - "My Heart Is Beating" [written by Greg Cartwright]

Mary Weiss - "Stop and Think It Over" [written by Greg Cartwright]

Mary Weiss - "Tell Me What You Want Me To Do" [written by John Felice]

Special props to the lovely Billy & Miriam of Norton Records for putting in the elbow grease needed to get this record out. After you check-out your online shopping cart (Dangerous Game, QTY 1, $12), look for the in-depth interview they conducted with Mary over on the Norton website.

Top Ten

A couple of recent posts got me thinking about a series of top ten lists I thought would be interesting. Who are your top 5 or 10 singers, the voice that kicks you square in the gut everytime you hear it or even think about it?

Provide your list in the comments.

Tomorrow we are gonna post our favorite guitarists - those who get a sound out of their axes that, you know, kick you in the gut. From there we will move along until we have rounded out a couple of full bands in your ranking order. Perhaps not our most desired bar band but groups made up of those musicians we respect the most. Those lists will be posted on the main site as we get them in full.

New Releases

Out tomorrow

Brett Anderson - S/T

Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis (The heads of both britpop allstars Suede and Pulp releasing their first solo albums on the same day!!)

Fountains Of Wayne - Traffic and Weather

Idlewild - Make Another World

Kings of Leon - Because Of The Times

My Life With The Thrill Kill Cult - The Filthiest Show In Town

Throbbing Gristle - Part Two: The Endless Note

Timbaland - Timbaland Presents Shock Value

Soundtrack to Death Proof


Reissues:

The Barracudas - Drop Out With The Barracudas

Mink DeVille - Cadillac Walk

The Dillards - Back Porch Bluegrass/Pickin' and Fiddlin'

The Fall - Rebellious Jukebox (3 Discs)

The Honeydrippers - Volume 1 (Plant/Page/Beck/N. Rodgers)

John Lee Hooker - The Best of Friends

Alison Krauss - A Hundred Miles Or More (The Soccer Mom is Back!!!)

Yoko Ono - Open Your Box (Gross, please don't)

Dolly Parton - 3 reissues inclusing Jolene and Coat of Many Colors

Pentangle - The Time Has Come (Box Set)

Robert Plant - 3 reissues

Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen

Suzi Quatro - If You Knew Suzi/Suzi...And Other Four Letter Words

Reverand Horton Heat - 20th Century Masters Best Of

Run DMC - Live in Montreaux 2001

The Stanley Brothers - The Definitive Collection '47-'66 (Box Set)

Rachel Sweet - Fool Around

Various Artists - Joe Meek's Freakbeat - 30 Freakbeat, Mod and R&B Nuggets

Johnny Winter - Nothing But The Blues/White Hot and Blue

The Zombies -Live at the Bloomsbury Theater (Argent/Bluntstone)

Happy Birthday D. Boon!

Top Ten Movies (From When You Were Growing Up)

The other night I was struck by a memory of going to the local video store (long since closed up and replaced by a bagel shop) and vividly remembered wanting to rent all the new releases which probably sucked. I know now, I never have that feeling in the video store but that's the best part of being a kid. I recalled the old video boxes for movies like 48 hours, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, The Burbs, Repo Man, Little Monsters, Willow, the list goes on and on and I think I just dated myself.

So what were your favorite movies growing up? The ones you remember enjoying at the time?

iPod on Random

Due to a mix I'm in the process of making for Shrimp Cracker, today's iPod on random is all reggae.

Don't Get Crazy - Ja Man Allstars - In The Dub Zone
Greedy Dub - Israel Vibration - Dub Vibration
Freedom Dub - Wackies - African Roots Act 1
Natty A General Version - Channel One - Maxfield Avenue Breakdown; Dubs and Instrumentals 1974-79
Leaving Babylon Dub - King Tubby and Soul Syndicate - Freedom Sounds In Dub
All Babylonians - Jacob Miller and The Inner Circle and Fatman Riddim Section - Heavyweight Dub/Killer Dub
Steppers Rock - Aston Familyman Barrett- Familyman In Dub
Real Born African - Jah Stitch - Oringal Ragga Muffin
Nature Dub - Augustus Pablo - East Of The River Nile
So Long - Junior Byles and Friends - 129 Beat Street ja-Man Special