Top Ten Albums of 2008

Hojo Hi5's List
King Khan and the Shrines-The Supreme Genius Of..
The Hold Steady- Stay Positive
Jamie Lidell- Jim
Birdmonster-From The Mountain To The Sea
Two Cow Garage- Speaking In Cursive
The Replacements- Reissues (except All Shook Down)
Blitzen Trapper- furr
Roger Bryan and the Orphans -Recovery
The Gaslight Anthem -The '59 Sound



Dr. Jake's List
1. Tell tale signs:the bootleg series
2. Midnight Organ fight - freightened rabbit
3. Pete and the pirates - little death
4. Vampire Weekend
5. Fleet foxes
6. Attack and release - the black keyals
7. Army Navy
8. Oracular Spectacular - MGMT
9. Brighter than creations dark - drive by truckers
10. In loving memory of... - let's Wrestle

Honorable mention:
1. Bon iver for emma forever ago
2. Lesser deamons - My Teenage Stride
3. Ways to Make it through the wall .... Los Campesinos
4. Park Avenue - plants and animals



No Name's List
10. Marah - Angels of Destruction
9. V/A - Thank You Friends: The Ardent Records Story
8. Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs - Dirt Don't Hurt
7. Steve Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash
6. Kathleen Edwards - Asking For Flowers
5. The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
4. Black Mountain - In The Future
3. The Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creations Dark
2. The Gaslight Anthem - The '59 Sound
1. Bob Dylan - The Bootleg Series: Tell Tale Signs

Honorable Mentions List (In No Particular Order)
10. American Princes - Other People
9. The Baseball Project - Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes & Dying Quails
8. The Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost
7. David Garza - Dream Delay
6. Alejandro Escovedo - Real Animal
5. VA - Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-76
4. Nick Cave - Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!
3. VA - Miles From India
2. The Magnetic Fields - Distortion
1. Mudcrutch - S/T



Shrimp Cracker's List
1. Mike Viola - Lurch
2. Baseball Project, The - Volume 1: Frozen Ropes + Dying Quails
3. Marah - Angels of Destruction
4. Stephen Malkmus - Real Emotional Trash
5. Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creation's Dark
6. Jay Reatard - Matador Singles '08
7. James Jackson Toth - Waiting In Vain
8. Black Keys - Attack + Release
9. Hold Steady - Stay Positive
10. The Dutchess + The Duke - She's The Dutchess, He's The Duke

Top EP
John Prine - Fair & Square

Top Bargain Bin Pick
Paul Westerberg - 49:00

Top Reissue
Dylan - Tell Tale Signs: Bootleg Series V8 (3 disc version... go DL it)



Hendo's List
1. Jack Rose - Dr. Ragtime & Pals/ Self Titled
2. V/A - Spiritual Jazz
3. Hauschka - Ferndorf
4. King Khan & The Shrines - Supreme Genius Of..........
5. Brethren of the Free Spirit - All Things are From Him, Through Him, and in Him
6. Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire - Thatcher's Children
7. James Blackshaw - Litany of Echoes
8. Jay Reatard - Singles 06-07 + Singles 08 (06-07 is better though)
9. Cheap Time - Cheap Time
10. Black Mountain - In The Future

Honorable Mentions (alpha order - band name only, otherwise it would get unwieldy)
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO, Bipolaroid, The Black Angels, Boredoms, Brian Jonestown Massacre, C Joynes, Calexico, Deerhunter, The Dirtbombs, The Drive By Truckers, Dungen, Earthless, Giant Sand, The Hold Steady, Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs, Howlin Rain, Marah, Mister Lonely OST, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Pelt, Pete Molinari, Peter Walker, Religious Knives, Sennen, Seun Kuti, Spiritualized, Terakraft, The Baseball Project, Toumani Diabate, V/A - Imaginational Anthem Vol. 3, V/A - Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6, Valet, Wavves, Wooden Shjips


Pigs-on-a-Ticker-Tape Parade's List

1. Hold Steady - Stay Positive

2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

3. Bob Dylan - Tell Tale Signs Bootleg Series 8

4. Santogold - Santogold

5. Malcolm Middleton - Slight of Heart

6. The Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sound

7. Drive By Truckers - Brighter Than Creations Dark

8. The National - Virginia EP

9. Giant Sand - proVISIONS

10. Ray LaMontagne - Gossip in the Grain



Neighborhood's List
1. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
2. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
3. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
4. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
5. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
6. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
7. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
8. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
9. Cheesy Gordita Crunch
10. Choco Taco

Honorable Mention: Chicken Enchirito

.

Hendo Bendo Mix

Sir Richard Bishop - Black Eyed Blue
The Odd - Rock Rock Burn
Bipolaroid - Fell Right Out of Bed
South San Gabriel - Alabama Crusade
The Urges - So Uptight

Dream Baby Dream

We are so close to riding that wave again. Dream Baby Dream

Hendo Bendo Mix

Here's a batch of songs for you to prep you for the most important day in recent memory. There isn't really a theme (which I will try to focus more on in later posts...), beyond the fact that this is all stuff that I got recently, and has all been released relatively recently.

Hush Arbors - Gone
Juana Molina - El Vistido
Valet - We Went There
Shogun Kunitoki - Montezuma
Grails - Reincarnation Blues

Biases

One of my projects since moving to a new apartment has been to go through the collection of cd's I have which were affixed to magazines I bought. This has helped me to discover or re-discover artists and bands and helps pass time. 

Josh Ritter is an artist I know almost nothing about save he was on a label that merged with one I used to work for. And Shrimp Cracker and I saw him perform The River at a Bruce Springsteen tribute show. And he has curly hair. I guess I also know that he must be a decent songwriter/crafter as evidenced by Girl In The War, a track included on Uncut's April 2006 Playlist. 

While writing this, I googled Josh Ritter and found out he's from Idaho. If I had ever given it thought before, I would imagine singer-songwriters from Idaho would sound a lot like Josh Ritter but if that were the case then guys like Josh Ritter wouldn't be all that special, if they indeed are. 

I like this song but before you guys start making fun of me for that triple-A shit you pull whenever we're out together (however rarely that is) I just want to state that this song is no worse or better than some of the other crap we've posted on this thing. Also I've seen some of your emusic downloads. How's that for a complex?

Wavves

One of the coolest albums I've heard recently is the self-titled release from Wavves on Fuckit Tapes. I only first heard the album about a week ago, but this has really grabbed me by the charlie browns. Wavves is the work of Nathan Williams, and this MF likes to make some noise. The album ranges from heavy fuzz melodic garage, to full on trash/thrash, to tweaked out psych. There seems to be a follow up full length on the way, along with a slew of 7"s, and I for one am very eager to check out anything this guy releases.

Here's a few songs:

Wavves
Teenage Super Party

AC/DC Rocks Excel

WTF?




Here's a classic one that inspired one of the best, and most vivid dreams i ever head (not featuring a scantily-clad No Name.......). I wrote it down at one point, if asked, I'll go looking for it.



Long Live Bon.

My Study Mix

Today I was going through some stuff on my ipod and ran into my study playlist from the dark days immediately prior to when I took the NY bar exam. This is normally a hectic time for any person but my situation was worsened when my computer crashed and died taking all my bar notes along with it. The only plus to something like that happening is a. your backpack on the trips to and from the library becomes much lighter. b. you have less stuff to study. c. you have a good excuse if you fail the test. (though if this happens, I can assure you I will never post on this blog ever again-maybe you'd like that, huh?). 

Finding the mix reminded me of those days where you get up and study, take a piss, study, eat, study and sleep. Repeat. It reminded me of those days but it did not make me yearn for them. Here's my mix and some links. Now you will know why I may have failed. 

Slapped Actress - The Hold Steady

Coma Girl - Joe Strummer

Howlin' Down The Cumberland - John Hiatt

Buffalo - Kathleen Edwards

Lord I'm Discouraged - The Hold Steady

Old Downtown - Laura Cantrell

A Damn Good Disguise - The Mendoza Line

Scare Easy - Mudcrutch 

For Real - Okkervil River

Angels Walk - Paul Westerberg

Under The Boardwalk - Ricki Lee Jones

Killing The Blues - Robert Plant & Alison Krauss (the song from which this album comes from I am convinced is the best of all last year)

The Only One - Roy Orbison (get this man a stamp already)

Hard Rain - Shout Out Louds

A Higher Place - Tom Petty

Wake Up Time - Tom Petty

Hendo Bendo Mix

While I've been watching this "Town Hall" style debate tonight, I've been making a short playlist. Since McCain was pissing me off so much, the mix favors the short fast rocknoll/punkrock blasts. I think watching it on CNN and seeing that "squiggly line" on the bottom, and realizing that people were eating up some of the utter BS that McCain was spewing pissed me off further. What a dingus.

Anyway, here it is. Another short mix. Woop dee doo. Go break something.

The Pagans - Dead End America
Bad Brains - Pay To Cum
The Sins - Fighting in the USA
Ape City R&B - She's Candy Coated
The Hunches - Get Some Hate
The Dils - Class War
The Dils - I Hate The Rich
Sham 69 - Borstal Breakout
The Boston Chinks - Swollen Useless

Badar Ali Khan

One of my recent discoveries courtesy of Emusic is Pakistani Qawwali singer Badar Ali Khan. He was the cousin of world-renowned Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. I've had an appreciation for this kind of music for a while, but never really paid much attention to it. I've been drawn more to eastern music these past few months as I've been seeking the perfect drone.
Qawwali music is very rhythm-based, which makes it easy to get lost in the mesmeric groove of the longer songs. I'm not going to pretend to know much about it, and I'll just let the music do the talking.
Here's a song from Badar Ali Khan's album, Lost in Qawwali III. His voice really is insane. Dance the J5 (or whatever the kids call it these days), put on your headphones, and lay back. You'll be glad you did.


Badar Ali Khan - Black Night

Hendo Bendo Mix

Here's a short mix to satisfy the peanut gallery:


Sennen - Just Wanted to Know
The Out Crowd - Little Elf
C Joynes - The Village of Manea
Giant Sand - Well Enough Alone
Charles Mingus - Solo Dancer
Fury Lewis - Judge Harsh Blues

Thatcher's Children

One of the top releases of the past few months has to be the lastest from Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire, "Thatcher's Children". The album doesn't find Billy straying too far from the last 2 albums, but if you dig him, you'll dig this too. Once again, Billy doesn't handle all of the lead vocal duties, as Nurse Julie takes the mic a couple times. Some of the songs continue the "A Quick One" era Who-isms, while others are closer to straight up punk. He still likes to revisit melodies of past songs and give them new lyrics. At this point, there's not much new to say about the music, but he's still one of my personal favorites.

Here's a link where they each list their favorite movies of all time.
Here's a video clip of an interview he did with Ian Svenonius

Here's a few tunes from the new album:
Thatcher's Children
Loray Head
Back Amongst the Medway Losers

Dinosaur Jr

Thursday night, I got to go see Dinosaur Jr and Built to Spill courtesy of Shrimp Cracker. I really didn't know much about BTS, but I am a fan of Dinosaur Jr. I've liked them for a long time, which means I don't listen to their records that often anymore. I spent most of the evening thinking to myself, "hey, i wish they would play my favorite song "______________"'
and then completely drew a blank. I knew it was relatively poppier then most of their other songs, but I couldnt even remember the tune at all, or what album it was from. I asked the others I was with but my vague description did nothing to help them either. Needless to say, this bugged the hell out of me for the rest of the night. When I got home, I went online to do more detective work.

Turns out, the song was "Not You Again" from the EP, Whatever's Cool With Me.

Here's a youtube clip of J Mascis playing it solo:

ipod On Random (absence makes the heart grow fonder)

(I Got A) Catholic Block - Sonic Youth - Sister

Who's Gonna Find Me - The Coral - Roots & Echoes

Rich Folks Hoax - Rodriguez - Cold Fact

Cactus Wren - Mark Olson & The Creek Dippers - December's Child

Cold Days From The Birdhouse - The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns...

Momma Miss America - Paul McCartney - McCartney

Soon - Japancakes - Loveless

I Was Your Man - Tindersticks - Curtains

Oh Daddy - Fleetwood Mac - Rumours 

Give Him A Great Big Kiss - Shangri-Las -

Improvisation #4 - Miles Davis - The Cellar Door Session Box Set

Company - Rickie Lee Jones - S/T

My Baby Just Got Out of Jail - Camper Van Beethoven - Greatest Hits Played Faster

All Going Out Together - Big Dipper - Supercluster

Scare Easy - Mudcrutch - S/T

So Nice - The Mad Lads - The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Box #2

Liar - Built To Spill - You In Reverse

Revival - Soul Savers - It's Not How Far You Fall

Ho Na Nae - The Wild Magnolias - They Call Us Wild

Big Dipper - Cracker - Hello, Cleveland

Deer Ree Shee - The Black Angels - Directions To See A Ghost

For A Dancer - Jackson Browne - Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1

Messenger Man Version - Willi Williams - Messenger Man

Just Like Anything - Malcolm Middleton - Sleight of Heart

Top Ten Bands with "Black" in the name

1. Black Lips
2. Black Flag
3. Black Mountain
4. Black Sabbath
5. Black Keys
6. Black Angels
7. Band of Blacky Ranchette
8. Black Time
9. Ludella Black
10. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

McRib! It's back!

We are back mutha fuckas! Tell everyone you know!

Black mountain live blogging

Gillian welch's voice is too high

Jesse sykes is good airplane music (opening act)

Noah is a deutch

Kim loves miss ohio

Brooklyn people all look the same esp shrimp cracker

Do cats come with retractable dicks?

Disco's a bitch when he pe-pe's

iPod on Random

1. The dB's - Dynamite ; Stands for Decibels
2. The Flamin' Groovies - Sweet Roll Me On Down ; Flamingo
3. Man Man - Man Who Make You Sick ; The Man In A Blue Turban With A Face
4. The Louvin Brothers - The Great Atomic Power ; The Best Of...
5. Thee Fine Lines - Open Up My Heart ; S/T
6. Jennifer Gentle - The Garden Part 2 ; Valende
7. Jon Rauhouse - Mannix ; Steel Guitar Heart Attack
8. The Dukes Of Strasosphear - 25 O'Clock ; Children of Nuggets Box Set
9. Twink - Suicide ; Think Pink
10. The Leaving Trains - Osmosis ; The Big Jinx

iPod On Random

400th post (!!????)

1. Otis Redding - I Cant Turn You Loose ; In Person at the Whisky a Go Go
2. Roky Erickson - Things That Go Bump In The Night ; Dont Knock The Rok
3. Harlan T Bobo - God's Lamb ; Im Your Man
4. NRBQ - Bats In My Room ; Tapdancin Bats
5. The Cramps - Chicken ; A Date With Elvis
6. The Knitters - Trail Of Time ; Poor Little Critter On The Road
7. The Brian Jonestown Massacre - Monkey Puzzle ; Take It From The Man
8. The Replacements - The Ledge ; Pleased To Meet Me
9. The Gentlemen - Let's Be Gentlemen Please ; Blondes Prefer Gentlemen
10. The Waco Brothers - Do What I Say ; Cowboy In Flames

Top Ten Albums of 2007

As a wise man once said:
"Alas, 2007 has come and gone and hopefully we have more to show for it than this collection of albums. Oh, let us raise our arms and heads to the Gods, and offer this music in repentance for our many collective sins. We shall pray that our chosen selections are worthy to enter the pantheon of the greats that have come before and will surely come after. Our Gods are not very forgiving Gods but they love to Rock with their Cocks Out. "

Here they are, the Top Ten Albums of 2007:

Hendo's List

1. King Khan & The Shrines - What is!?
2. The Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil & Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo
3. Billy Childish & The Musicians of the British Empire - Punk Rock
at the British Legion Hall LP & Christmas 1979 LP
4. Mark Sultan - The Sultanic Verses
5. Demon's Claws - Satan's Little Pet Pig
6. The Warlocks - Heavy Deavy Skull Lover

7. Grainbelt - Trouble Coming Down
8. Brian Glaze - Rainsplitter
9. Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments

10. Mary Weiss (w/ Reigning Sound) - Dangerous Game

Honorable Mentions: Harlan T Bobo - I'm Your Man ; The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On ; The King Khan & BBQ Show - Teabag Party 7" ; The Final Solutions - Songs By Solution ; The Chesterfield Kings - Psychedelic Sunrise ; Two Cow Garage - III ; Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra - Space & Time ; CPC Gangbangs - Mutilation Nation ; Tinariwen - Aman Iman ; Six Organs of Admittance - Shelter From The Ash ; Wooden Shjips - Wooden Shjips ; The Sadies - New Seasons


Niedermayer's List
1. the national - boxer

2. spoon - ga ga ga ga ga

3. the clientele - god save the clientele

4. elliott smith - new moon

5. charlotte gainsbourg - 5:55

6. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew Spirit If...

7. black lips - good bad not evil

8. the treasury - the treasury ep

9. the warlocks - heavy deavy skull lover

10. radiohead - in rainbows


Shamsky69's List

1. The Black Lips-Good Bad Not Evil

2. Bruce Springsteen-Magic

3. Detroit Cobras- Tied and True

4. Jason Isbell- Sirens Of The Ditch

5. Terry Adams- Rhythm Spell

6. Tommy Womack- There I Said It

7. Two Cow Garage-III

8. Black Lips- Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo


Shrimp Cracker's List
1. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4. Bruce - Magic
5. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
6. V/A - I'm Not There OST
7. Dr. Dog - We All Belong
8. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
9. Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
10. Marah - Can't Take It With You EP

HM: 1990s, Black Lips, Robert Wyatt, Bright Eyes, Kings of Leon, John
Fogerty, White Stripes, Grinderman


No Name's List(s)
New Releases:
1. The Good, The Bad & The Queen - S/T
2. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
3. Rilo Kiley - Under The Black Light
4. The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
5. Jarvis Cocker - S/T
6. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
7. Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge
8. Dinosaur Jr - Beyond
9. The Mendoza Line - 30 Year Low
10. Lucinda Williams - West
11. Devandra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon

Reissues, Comps etc.
1. Miles Davis - The Complete On The Corner Sessions
2. Sly & The Family Stone - There's A Riot Going On
3. Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall
4. Johnny Thunders & Patti Palladin - Copy Cats
5. V/A - The Sandinista Project: A Tribute To The Clash
6. Warren Zevon - Stand In The Fire & Excitable Boy
7. The Afghan Whigs - Unbreakable
8. VA - Music From The Motion Picture I'm Not There
9. The Beach Boys - The Warmth of the Sun
10. Carlton Patterson & King Tubby -Black & White In Dub

Honorable Mentions
1. Josh Rouse Bedroom Classics: She's Spanish, I'm American
2. Betty LaVette - The Scene of the Crime
3. Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade
4. Oakley Hall - I'll Follow You
5. Buffalo Tom - Three Easy Pieces
6. Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raising Sand
7. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
8. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
9. Antibalas - Security
10 The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse
11. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
12. Coco Rosie - The Adventures of...
13. Great lake Swimmers - Ongiara
14. Tegan & Sara - The Con

The Chesterfield Kings

I've always had a bit of a problem with a great deal of the music coming from the tail-end of the '70s, all the way through the '80s. For some reason, someone decided that over-producing a record was cool. Well, it aint. Due to my inability to look past the crappy production values, and appreciate the songs for themselves, I kind of missed the boat on a lot of the seminal 80s bands. For some reason, I had always kind of lumped The Chesterfield Kings in with a group of bands that had badly produced records, rendering them unenjoyable to me. Boy was I wrong, The Chesterfield Kings were one of only a handful of bands that really seemed to get it from this era. Forming in the late '70s in Rochester, NY, these guys were wearing much different influences on their sleeves from their pop contemporaries. Instead of looking to the future with bullshit synthesizers and awful dance music, the Kings looked back to the glory days of teenage garage bands - the mid '60s. Check out their website if you want a full history, basically, these guys have been the real deal for a long time.
Their new album, Psychedelic Sunrise, on Little Steven's Wicked Cool Records doesn't skip a beat. The album's opener, Sunrise (Turn On) is another one of my favorite songs of the past few months, but the whole album is pretty killer. The album is another entry into the ever expanding Thumbs Up '07 list.

Check it out:
Sunrise (Turn On)

The Warlocks

I just saw The Warlocks at the Knitting Factory last week. I picked up a copy of their album Phoenix when it came out several years ago. I dug it then, but for some reason, it never really sunk in with me at the time. This past summer, I kind of rediscovered them, and was listening to them a lot more, especially that album. The song "Shake The Dope Out" is in my top 5 songs of the past 6 months (for me that is, not new releases).
Live, they were mind blowing. With the stage lights turned off except for some low red and blue lights coming from behind them, Bobby Hecksher and co. were just oozing VU cool. They made a huge racket too, with 2 drummers, a bassist, and two guitars layering fuzz on top of fuzz.
The new album on Tee Pee Records, Heavy Deavy Skull Lover is another great notch on their belt. With their past few releases, they've slowly moved away from the more 3 minute psych/rock song format and into more extended fuzzed out jams if you will. The droney repetitiveness works really well for them. Except for one song around 3 minutes, most on this album are at least 5 minutes in length, and somewhat mid-tempo or slower.

Here's a tune:
So Paranoid

It's worth noting that the openers for The Warlocks that evening, Darker My Love, also completely blew me away. More on them later, but check out the video on the post below this, and you'll see what i mean

Darker My Love

Darker My Love - "Summer is Here"

The Sadies

Fresh off the heels of last year's Double Live Album and Rat Fink Soundtrack, The Sadies have returned with their first new studio album in a few years, New Seasons. When it comes to cosmic americana music, The Sadies deliver the goods better than anyone else out there. They effortlessly pull off that Meat Puppets/Byrds style of country rock, and then can easily switch gears and lay into some Morricone-worthy spaghetti western. These boys from Canada can really do it all. I also just came across a live bootleg where they are the backing band for Andre Williams, which is also amazing. Pick up the album when you get a chance, thank you.

Here's a tune:
Never Again

Metalocalypse

Last night I picked up the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse on DVD, and it rocks. "Throw it at that guy!...". I really don't like or care that much about Metal, especially Death Metal, but Dethklok kicks ass.
Seriously, check it out.

Top 10 pickups from the WFMU Record Fair

Me and no name hit up the most overhwelming record fair I've ever seen. Granted, that's not really saying much for me, but it was still an amazing amount of records. WFMU knows how to throw a party. For instance, at the Norton Records Table, I easily could have spent upwards of $500, no problem.

Here are my top 10 pickups from this afternoon thus far, and I haven't even been able to listen to everything else yet.
1. The New Chesterfield Kings CD from the Wicked Cool table
2. Les Sexareenos "Do The Nose Mustache" 7"
3. Roky Erickson "Don't Knock The Rok"
4. various CPC Gangbangs 7"s
5. James Blackshaw "The Cloud of Unknowing" - cool 12 string guitar shit in the Fahey vein - a style I've recently been digging
6. Knights of Fuzz DVD and interactive CDrom
7. Back issues of Big Takeover for $1
8. Dan Melcior's Broke Revue - Heavy Dirt
9. Mighty Hannibal - Hannibalism!
10. that sausage place with all the mustards......

Wooden Shjips

The Wooden Shjips new album has helped make my commute to work a little easier the last few weeks. I had always avoided bringing my iPod along for the ride, but I figured I'd give it a try recently, and I've listened to their album a handful of times on the commute. With headphones on, its been really easy to lose your train of thought, and let the mountains of fuzz wash over you. The guitars and organ are turned up to 10, and the delay and reverb-heavy vocals add to the psych feel. The songs are relatively simple and repetitive, and they've definitely listened to their fair share of Spacemen 3. I gotta say I've been digging the drone aspect of these guys along with a handful of other artists recently. Unfortunately, I missed their set during CMJ a few weeks ago, I'm sure they would be a cool band to see live. Add it to the thumbs up list for '07.
Here's a tune:
Losin' Time

I have seen the light

Last night I saw perhaps the best concert I have ever seen. Hendo Bendo HallofFamers King Khan and BBQ Show played Cake Shop and blew the roof off the basement. Fellow rocknrollers Benn and Alex (not to be confused with the famous CD binder of the same name...) and I got a front row seat for the mayhem. They're mix of 50s rocknroll/r&b ballads with balls out punk rock is not to be missed. It should also be noted that King Khan looks lovely in a dress that is at least 7 sizes too small for him.
Here's a photo of the opening raga jam courtesy of Benn


It's also worth pointing out that openers Live Fast Die fuckin ruled also.

BFF

Hey Buddy

Brian Glaze

Of all of the musicians/bands currently doing the psych/folk/fuzz thing, Brian Glaze may be one of my favorites. My cousin turned me on to one of his older albums, Let's Go To The Sea, and I've been really enjoying that for the past year. I was down at Other Music the other day with noname, and saw his new release on Birdman Records, Rainsplitter, I had to pick it up. I've got to say that this new release is another classic. The way he layers sounds/swirls is truly amazing. He also has a knack for writing really catchy tunes. Everything has a similar feel to the earlier Brian Jonestown Massacre stuff, who he was a member of at one point. I got to say, I'm not as wild about the drum-machine song 21-31 (the song itself is cool, but the drum machine is grating), but everything else is great. Appearantly, this whole thing was recorded in Greg Ashley's apartment during Thanksgiving of 2005. Thumbs up for sure.
Here's a tune:
Welcome To The Cinema



Also, check out this video of one of my favorite songs from Lets Go to The Sea, "Don't Believe In Love":

Hendo's Song Of The Day

It's a Tuesday morning, and I'm heading in to work early today to take minutes at another meeting. This seemed like an appropriate song for the day.

The Third Bardo - Lose Your Mind

Government Cheese

The Shake

The Shake. They're from Spain, and thier album Trippin The Whole Colorful World is out on Rainbow Quartz Records. They got a nice '60s pop/garage thing going on, and you should check 'em out.

Here's a tune: Untitled




Here's the video for Can't Fight Your Loving:

Hendo's Song of the Day

Here's a song by the Japanese band The Raydios. The band has ex-members of upper echelon MFs Teengenerate, so you know they kick ass. Enjoy.

The Raydios - Turning Blue

Hendo's Song of the Day

Here's an installment of my song of the day. I made a mix last night for my roomate that was supposed to be based loosely on the movie Terminator 2. While looking through my library of songs at my disposal, I found this one by Rose Tattoo, and obviously it fit the bill perfectly. Needless to say the mix sucked except for this one song. I just finished a long day at work, and I've had this stuck in my head all day. Enjoy

Rose Tattoo - Nice Boys

What I did on my summer vacation

Top 3 albums of the moment:
1. Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
2. The Warlocks - Phoenix
3. V/A - Songs The Detroit Cobras Taught Us

What do you crave (besides White Castle that is...) ???

The Final Solutions

There must be something in the water down in Memphis...So much good music over the years (think about it, really). Another in a long line of Jay Reatard projects is The Final Solutions. For this band of merry men, Mr. Reatard bashes away behind the kit instead of up at the front of the stage. Handling vocal duties for The Final Solutions is a fela by the name of Zac Ives. Their new album, produced by Jay himself, is titled Songs By Solutions, and recently came out on Goner Records. These guys really rock, and some of the songs are insanely catchy. A lot of them straddle the line between arty punk, Pebbles garage, and more power-pop punk. All of this is done with a lot of distortion and snottiness. I could waste your time coming up with lots of comparisons, but lets allow the music to do the talking here:

Tammy
Brown Panther

Here's their myspace page

The Dilletantes

Joel Gion is back. The ex tambourine man for The Brian Jonestown Massacre has a new band, The Dilettantes. Musically, they don't stray too far from his former band. Perhaps there's a slight leaning towards the rockier side of the BJM stuff. Unfortunately, Gion doesn't have the prettiest voice, but it works for this kind of stuff. Gotta love the tambourine.
check it:
Like Crazy


Here's their myspace page

iPod on Random

1. The Reigning Sound - Straight Shooter ; Live At Maxwell's
2. The Singing Loins - Honest Man ; Songs To Hear Before You Die
3. Les Fleur De Lys - Mud In Your Eye ; Nuggets II Box Set
4. Wire - Strange ; Pink Flag
5. Drive-By Truckers - Your Daddy Hates Me ; Decoration Day
6. Link Wray - Friday Night Dance Party ; Missing Links Vol. 4
7. The Handsome Family - Down In The Ground ; Through The Trees
8. Radio Birdman - Anglo Girl Desire ; Live in Sydney '76
9. The Rolling Stones - Factory Girl ; Beggars Banquet
10. Loli & The Chones - I Hate Your Guts ; P.S. We Hate You

Teengenerate

This band kicked so much ass in the mid 90s. How did I not know they were back??????


Teengenerate Live at The Tote, Melbourne, Australia
12/29/06

Miss Alex White And The Red Orchestra

This is some of the best rocknroll being made right now. Miss Alex White has a great Patti Smith-esque (yes.) voice, and it is the perfect accompaniment to the Red Orchestra's brand of Fuzz. Space and Time is the new album on In The Red Records, and it fuckin rocks.

Checkit:
She Wanna

Turbo Fruits

A few weeks ago, I saw The Black Lips play at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ. Needless to say it was one of the better concerts I'd been to in quite some time. The show solidified their place near the top of my favorite current bands list. However, tonight, I wanna discuss the band that played right before them, Turbo Fruits. Turbo Fruits are a three piece from Nashville, TN who also blew me away. I rarely give a crap about stuff like this, but they even looked cool. They had a bluesy take on the typical 3 chord garage/rocknroll. I think what most impressed me though was how loud and explosive they sounded. (A drummer who loves to pound makes a huge difference). Singer/guitarist Jonas Stein has a great laid back drawl of a voice, and I was honestly dissapointed when their set was over. I think they won over a good chunk of the crowd that night. Unfortunately, I missed them a few days later when they were part of another equally cool bill at the Bowery Ballroom (along with Jay Reatard and The Ponys). Their self titled record is out on Ecstatic Peace Records, and here's a track:
Murder
You can stream the album on their website

These guys are also apperantly huge stoners, for whatever that's worth

iPod on Random

1. Ween - I'm Dancing In The Show Tonight ; The Mollusk (hell yeah wspn circa '00-'01)
2. The Cramps - TV Set (live at Max's Kansas City 1977) ; How To Make A Monster
3. Calexico/Iron & Wine - Red Dust
4. Neko Case - Brown Eyed Handsome Man ; V/A: Hard-Headed Woman
5. Aretha Franklin - Don't Let Me Lose This Dream ; I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You
6. The Clash - Clash City ROckers ; Clash On Broadway
7. Hawkwind - 7 By 7 ; Space Ritual
8. Husker Du - The Baby Song ; Flip Your Wig
9. Spacemen 3 - Mary Anne ; Live In Europe 1989
10. The Makers - Waste Of Flesh ; The Makers

Harlan T Bobo - I'm Your Man

A few weeks ago, Goner Records released I'm Your Man by Harlan T Bobo. Like a lot of the musicians on Goner, Bobo is from Memphis, and has an impressive resume including Viva l'American Death Ray Music, Jack Oblivian and the Tearjerkers, and a member of King Louie's band. Stylistically, Bobo is all over the map, similarl to the various musical projects of Howe Gelb. Some of the songs are superb hushed-voice Americana that wouldn't sound out of place on a Giant Sand record. Elsewhere, the honky tonk comes even more to the forefront, and on other songs he embraces the bar-rock sound somewhat like The Band in there more badass moments. Sometimes, these changes take place within the same song. Although there are moments where he digs in and unveils some crunchy fuzz-rock, from what I've previously heard on Goner, this overall sound is quite a departure from their usual garage/trash mainstays. This is a welcome addition the roster though, and a nice change of pace.
Check him out:
Pragmatic Woman
Last Step

King Khan & His Shrines - What Is?!

First off, sorry for being such a dingus and being lazy about posts the last few months. I have a whole bunch of current releases I want to write about, so hopefully we can kickstart this thing again. Post. (discount beverages)


What Is?! is the new album from Perrenial Hendo fave King Khan. He's back to his old tricks with his backing band The Shrines. Imagine the most badass soul/r&b group you can think of, and make the frontman a shriekeing, shouting lunatic with an affinity for punk rock, and you've got some fine rocknroll my friend. This new one may be my favorite of his records at this point. It's some killer r&b grooves and skronky Sun Ra freakouts coupled with some raunchy garage. I didn't realize this earlier, but apperantly, KK and some other cool bands like Black Lips, and The Spits did the soundtrack for some German film (??). Khan lives in Germany, so I guess it makes sense, but still, thats pretty cool.
Here's some stuff from the new record:
No Regrets
Le Fils de Jacques Dutronc

Radio Moscow

When I was flipping through the racks of a cd store, and saw a cd on the Bomp offshoot label Alive, it caught my eye. On closer inspection, I realized that the band is basically a two piece, and was produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys. This was more than enough information for me to pick it up, and I was not disappointed. Radio Moscow is not your typical two piece. Front man Parker Griggs apparently plays guitar, drums, percussion, and sings, and the other dude just plays bass. Griggs used to be the drummer/singer of the band Duck and Cover, and later the solo project Garbage Composal. The band's myspace page gives a good history of the band, and also describes Radio Moscow as "garage-y but now channeled through the blues with experimental breakdowns, unpredictable tempo changes, crazy rave-ups and fuzzed out psychedelic guitar work." That's about as good of a description as I could come up with, so we'll stick with it. To my ears, there are definite parts that are straight up like the Black Keys, but they seem to take the psych/boogie rock aspect farther. So even though they wear their influences on their sleeves, they never sound like they're ripping anyone off. There's a few songs on the myspace page, (including a cool version of I Just Wanna Make Love To You) and here's one of them: Frustrating Sound.
If you dig the fuzz, it's worth checking these guys out.

ipod on random

The Fake Headlines - The New Pornographers, Mass Romantic
Soul Deep - The Box Tops, Dimensions
Slow Rollin' Low - Waylon Jennings, Nashville Rebel
Cynthia - Bruce Springsteen, Tracks
If I Have To Go - Tom Waits, Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers
Rebel Am I - Aston Familyman Barrett, Familyman in Dub
Justice Tonight/Kick It Over - The Clash, Super Black Market Clash
I Should Of - The Pretenders, Loose Screw
Don't Let The Sun Catch You Crying - Ricki Lee Jones, Live At Red Rocks
Crystal Frontier (Widescreen Version - Calexico, Even My Sure Things...
Somebody Changed - The Clientele, God Save The Clientele

Vegas Men Accused of Enslaving Chinese Acrobat Troupe

This is the best headline I've seen in a while:

"Vegas Men Accused of Enslaving Chinese Acrobat Troupe"


here's a little bit about in case your curious.

By the Associated Press
LAS VEGAS -- Three men enslaved more than 20 members of a Chinese acrobatic team, feeding them little, paying them next to nothing to perform and confiscating their passports and visas, federal authorities said.

CPC Gangbangs

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

The Black Lips

The Black Lips seem like an odd choice to become a hipster chic band, releasing their latest live album on hipper than thou label Vice records. With their insane sloppiness, rudimentary playing and loads of feedback, i wouldn't assume they'd be one of the more accesible or listener friendly rocknroll bands out there. But through it all, they have a great melodic sense, and I suppose thats what the kids are latching on to. Songs like "Boomerang" were meant for campfire singalongs. On Los Valientes Del Mondo Nuevo, the self proclaimed flower punks recorded themselves live in the city of sin itself, Tijauana. Just from listening to the crowd's reaction, you could tell that the show must have been a crazy party. The band is smokin also, in all of their sloppy, gritty glory. From the drunken introduction in Spanish to the psuedo spaghetti western outro, this album is a lot of fun. These guys are also touring this summer, they're playing at Maxwells next month, just before taking the stage as part of this summer's Siren Fest on Coney Island. Check it.

Los Straitjackets

Instrumental rock heavyweights Los Straitjackets released their first album of songs sung in Spanish a few months ago. They usually team up with a stellar list of guest musicians to handle the vocal duties for them. For Rock En Espanol Volume 1, they worked with Big Sandy, Little Willie G (from LA legends Thee Midniters) and Cesar Rosas (of Los Lobos). The album is filled with covers of rock/r&b covers sung in Spanish like: De Dia y de Noche (All Day and All of the Night), Loco Te Patina el Loco (Wild Thing), and Dame Una Seña (Gimme Little Sign). The band is as tight as ever, and each of the guest vocalists compliment the band nicely. The slower paced songs (which sometimes bore me, but not these ones) work just as well as their rave-ups. They're touring the country and Europe this summer, so make sure to check them out when they come by you. I've never seen them live, but I'm sure they are really fun.

Here's a tune for you: Calor
Here's their website

Mark Sultan - The Sultanic Verses

Mark Sultan has done it again. Over the last year and a half or so, Sultan (aka BBQ) has steadily risen up the charts of my favorite musicians. I had long been a fan of The Spaceshits/Les Sexareenos, but his work as BBQ, King Khan and BBQ Show , Mind Controls, etc. has also blown me away. This new record (officially his "solo" debut??), The Sultanic Verses on In The Red Records certainly does not break the mold that Sultan has created for himself. It has more of the simple, trashy three chord rocknroll that fans of his have found on his other releases. It seems effortless for his to come up with insanely catchy songs at an alarming rate. I honestly feel that he has one of the better voices in rocknroll right now. He can croon with the best when he wants to. No news of another east coast tour at the moment, but I'll be there wherever he plays around NY.
Here's a tune from the record : Two Left Feet
Here's his official website

Philadelphia

Fancypants just forwarded me an article from the New York Times about the Philadelphia Phillies. Apparently, the team is about to achieve a milestone that no one would want to reach. They are 14 games away from losing their 10,000th game as a franchise. They have already officially lost more games than any other professional sports team. Philly fans have gotten accustomed to losing. Can you make a case for another team to be considered among the most pathetic in all of sports?

New Releases

Out Tuesday:

Sandra Bernhard - Everything Bad and Beautiful
Eli Cook - Miss Blues'es Child
Richie Furay - The Heartbeat of Love
The Ladybug Transistor - Can't Wait Another Day
The Long Blondes - Someone To Drive You Home (prod. by Steve Mackay)
Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
Glenn Mercer (of the Feelies) - Wheels in Motion
Poison - Poison'd (Pick of the week as this is a covers album featuring Poison taking on Bowie, The Cars, The Romantics and The Stones).
Serena Ryder - If Your Memory Serves You Well
Sean Na Na - Family Trees: Or Cope We Must
Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound
Bruce Springsteen w- The Seeger Sessions Band - Live in Dublin (CD/DVD)
Tesla - Reel to Reel (Pick of the week #2 - This is a covers album of 70's hits. How many times do we get washed up hair bands releasing covers albums? Let alone in the same week!)
VA - Anchored In Love: A Tribute To June Carter Cash (feat. Elvis Costello, Loretta Lynn, Emmylou Harris)
VA - We All Love Ella: Celebrating The First Lady of Song
Porter Wagoner - Wagonmaster

Reissues
The Afghan Whigs - Unbreakable: A Retrospective (Pick of the week: This is more of a mix tape of Whigs tracks than a greatest hits)
The Avalanches - Ski Surfin'
Chet Baker - Chet
Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Caravan
David Bowie - Young Americans (CD/DVD Special Edition)
The Clash - The Singles
Stewart Copeland - The Rhythmatist
Bill Evans - Everybody Digs Bill Evans
Ella Fitzgerals - Lullabies of Birdland; Sweet and Hot; Love, Ella: The Original
Jimmy Heath - Really Big!
The Idle Race - Back to the Story
The Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
The Mugwumps - S/T
Tom Petty Highway Companion (w- demo tracks and unreleased recordings)
The Police - S/T best of
Elvis Presley - Elvis at the Movies
The Pretenders - Learning To Crawl; Get Close
Jimmy Smith - Straight Life
Stanley Turrentine - A Bluish Bag
Frankie Valli & The 4 Seasons - Jersey Beat: The Music of Franki Valli & The 4 Seasons (Rhino Box Set)
VA - Monterey International Pop Festival (2 Disc Set)
VA - New Wave: Gold
Muddy Waters, Johnny Winter, James Cotton - Breakin' It Up, Breakin' It Down (live concert from 1977)

Books
Tearing Down The Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector by Mick Brown

iPod on Random

How Can I Love You If You Won't Lie Down - The Silver Jews
I'll Pretend - Dwight Yoakam
Changing Colors - Great Lake Swimmers
The Archetypal Man - Judee Sill
The Call Up - The Clash
Kids - The Pretenders
I Don't Want To Know - Fleetwood Mac
Dub Star - Wackie's
Neptune's Net - M. Ward
I Wish I Was In New Orleans - Tom Waits

Muswell Hillbillies

Check out the beard on Dave "Death of A Clown" Davies:

The Broken West

A certain fella I used to work with is a big fan of KEXP out of Seattle. He used to listen to that station at work on the computer every day. Overall, the selection of music is pretty cool (although if i ever hear that f'in Peter Bjorn & John song again I'll kill, i promise), and for a while they used to play this really cool power pop/rock song a few times a day. Every time it came on, I would ask my colleague to turn up his speakers. That song was "Down In The Valley" by the LA band The Broken West, whose album "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On" came out (relatively) recently on Merge Records. The song rocks kicks so much ass that I find myself listening to it several times every day. It has one of the most infectious choruses I've heard in a while, and the harmonies are amazing.
Check it out: "Down In The Valley"
Here's their myspace page

Also, I just noticed right now that The Broken West is playing TONIGHT at the Bowery Ballroom, but they are also playing at Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ on the 31st. I really want to see them live, who else is down??

New Releases

Out tomorrow:

Johnette Napolitano (of Concrete Blonde) - Scarred
Russian National Orchestra - Dead Symphony: An Orchestral Tribute To The Music of The Grateful Dead
Satellite Party - Ultra Payloaded
Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior

Reissues:
Jeff Beck - Official Bootleg USA '06
Black Oak Arkansas - Live Mutha
Richard Hawley - S/T
Nils Lofgren and Grin - 1+1/All Out
Ray Price - The Essential
Judee Sill - Live in London: The BBC Recordings 1972-1973
The Smithereens - Green Thoughts
The Spinners - Love Trippin'
Various - The Transformers: The Movie (1986 Soundtrack)
Various - '90's Anthems (Import) (ed. Pick of the Week).
Various - Real Life Permanent Dreams: A Cornucopia of British Psychadelia 1965-1970 (Import Box Set)

DVD
Dinosaur Jr - Live From The Middle East

Creedence Clearwater Revival, Day 1

I was up in the Northeast area this weekend and by default found myself in a Newbury Comics. Amongst other finds, I discovered they had all the remastered "20 Bit K2 Super Coding" Creedence Clearwater Revival albums brand new for $5. I picked up a handful of the band's classic albums and have thoroughly enjoyed listening to them.

I figured I would do a series of CCR related posts (to justify my spending habits) including some album tracks, live cuts, John Fogerty solo work and cap it off with some selections of Fogerty backed by Bruce and the E Street Band from the good intentioned Vote For Change tour.

To get things off is Susie Q from CCR's first album. The reason I am posting this well known track is twofold. First, I went to summer camp with a girl named Susie Q (though I don't know how her family name was actually spelled). We pondered whether she knew of the song and would sing it to her along with playing her the track but sadly I feel she had no clue that the song was legit and felt we were horsing around at her expense.

The second reason is that Susie Q is a killer track. The band jam this rockabilly wonder out to over 8 minutes, something you will not have actually heard if your memory of this song is from the radio or the band's greatest hits which has an edited version at half the length. Trust me that this song has a groove that is indestructible and fucking jams.

Susie Q as mentioned is featured on the band's first album and is the standout track. It's a good portrayal of what CCR would unveil on its audience in the future. Sometimes I forget (because of their presence on the radio) just how dynamite an act CCR was and the power of their catologue. I'd even go as far as to state, that Creedence may be one of the more underrated groups of its time and its caliber as of today. There aren't many young bands citing them as influences or much scholarship noting their impact on popular music but it would be hard to ignore them in the pantheon of rock.

So take a listen and come back in the next few days to check out more tunes from CCR.

CCR- Susie Q

Antibalas and Your Gut

Antibalas started out as an afrobeat band, albeit a very good afrobeat band. But by their fourth release, Security, they have begun to reinvent the wheel and turned themselves and the genre into something that can be both traditional, experimental and a fucking hoot.

If you've never heard Antibalas before let me paint you a picture. Imagine your at the circus and in front of you is that tiny car and clowns just keep exiting from the passenger door. After a few moments you begin to wonder just how many clowns can fit in one damn car. No, maybe there's a trap door underneath the vehicle. Now imagine each clown is carrying an instrument. Congas, organs, piano, clavinet, synths, trumpets, saxophones, guitars, trombones, basses, drums, dulcimers, and things I can't spell and you may not be able to pronouce. Once out the car, they all assemble on some stage that can barely contain them, let alone, instruments, and begin to make music as magical and wondrous as the clowns piling out of the car.

That is Antibalas.

Security is comprised of only a few tracks but clocks in at a normal length. It's filled with horns that both pucker and blurt, synths galore and a rhythmic madness that is always dedicated to the groove which is why Antibalas remains great. For all the new sounds and fresh ideas the band keeps everything revolving around that groove, never letting it get out of its site for even a moment. Like a cautious parent at Disneyland. Except Antibalas aren't particularly cautious, at least they don't come off as such, they just know what is best to serve the music.

As with the group's last album, Who Is This America?, Security is political fare with tracks titled Filibuster X and War Hero and artwork featuring a painting of lots of colorful people pact in a stadium and lots of different flags running through the space's center. This record came out on Anti.

Antibalas - Sanctuary

The Go - Howl On The Haunted Beat You Ride

Detroit retro rockers The Go have released their new album, Howl On The Haunted Beat You Ride. I've followed the band since getting turned on to their 1999 Sub Pop debut "Whatcha Doin", which blew me away. With catchy tunes, and killer fuzz, The Go would have fit in well with their Detroit brethren circa 1970. They've since moved away slightly from the full throttle garage stompers to more mid-tempo rock songs. Their last self titled album from '03 had an almost glam/rock feel to it. On the new album though, songwriters Bobby Harlow and John Krautner have fully embraced '60s British pop/rock. Howl On The Haunted Beat You Ride has songs that sound like they could have been outtakes from Revolver, Between The Buttons, or Something Else. If you're into the Stones, Beatles, Kinks, Hollies, Creation, Pretty Things etc. then check out this album as soon as you can.
Heres a song: You Go Bangin' On, which is also available on their myspace page, where you can see their upcoming tour dates also.
Or Better yet, screw myspace and go to their own website.

Jesse Malin and Bruce Sprongsteen - Broken Radio

Check out whose driving cabs in NYC.

iPod on Random

So the Mets reader's of HBBB must be a pretty happy bunch while the Yankees fans around here are pondering their team's existence at the moment. Word is that the Yank brass may be getting trigger happy soon and there are a few heads in the barrel to shoot at though the most obvious choices to aim at really can't be blamed (it's not like Torre or Gator created Murphy's Law, though the Cash-Master could readily be at fault for putting this staff together). My favorite quote from this whole debacle, outside of all the amazing subtle threats to Pavano is Torre talking about the reserve pitching staff in AAA. He said something like, I knew we had a bunch of good players down there but I didn't expect to be seeing them all this year.

Anyway, I sort of hope they don't ax Torre and install Bova, Girardi or Matts since this is a mess no one should have to inherit and Torre deserves to ride the season out with his boys.

Up to tonight is John Maine against some guy named Tyler Clippard (11th Yanks starter of the season) who is making his major league debut tonight on national TV. The pressure is on.

Dead Faces - Okkkervil River - Down The River Of...
Blue Angel - Roy Orbison - The Essential
When You're Walking Away - Jackie Greene - American Myth
Get Off This - Cracker and Leftover Salmon - O' Cracker Where Art Thou?
Mrs. Robinson - The Lemonheads - It's A Shame About Ray
Fixture In The Park - Kate And Anna McGarrigle - Pronto Monto
Three Changes - The Good, The Bad & The Queen - S/T
Simply Thrilled Honey - Orange Juice - The Glasgow School
I and I Are The Chosen - Prince Far I - Free From Sin
Lullaby For A Girl Friend (Happy Trails) - Memphis - I Dreamed We Fell...

New Releases

Out this Tuesday:

Tim Armstrong - A Poet's Life
Meg Baird - Dear Companion
The Bravery - The Sun and The Moon
Michael Brecker - Pilgrimage
Chick Corea and Bela Fleck - The Enchantment
Erasure - Light At The End Of The World
Handsome Furs - Plague Park
Kidz Bop Kids - Kidz Bop Country
KRS One - Hip Hop Lives
The National - The Boxer
Uncle Monk - S/T
Loudon Wainwright - Strange Weirdos - Music From and Inspired By The Film Knocked Up
Adrienne Young - Room To Grow

Reissues:

The Beach Boys - The Warmth Of The Sun (ed. pick of the week: This looks like an excellent Beach Boys mix and not so much a best of).
Jeff Buckley - So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley
Maynard Ferguson - The Essential
Benny Goodman - The Essential
Charles Mingus - Tijuana Brass
Nina Simone - Just Like A Woman: Nina Sings Classic Songs of the '60's

On The Horizon:
Bruce Springsteen, Afghan Whigs, Mark Olson, John Doe, Sonic Youth, Traveling Wilburys, Bryan Ferry, The Mooney Suzuki, Nick Lowe

Warren Zevon Stand In The Fire

In the last few weeks a plethora of Warren Zevon material was released. First up was a wave of reissues on Rhino including two never before released on CD albums (Stand In The Fire and The Envoy). Also reissued and remastered was the classic and near perfect Excitable Boy.

New West Records released Preludes: Rare and Unreleased Recordings and Crystal Zevon, Warren's ex-wife just published I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life And Times Of Warren Zevon. The book is supposed to be pretty interesting and very revealing of the Zevon that not many people knew.

Stand In The Fire is a Zevon live album recorded at the Roxy. It's pretty killer and makes me sad that the man ain't here to rock like this.

Here's Excitable Boy from that record.

Afrobeat

So far this year I think my favorite new album of the year has to be The Good, The Bad and The Queen. It's been the album I have given the most listens to and oddly enough the second most listened to new album I can claim is Jarvis Cocker's Jarvis so if one of the Oasis guys decides to record and release a side project or solo album I'd may have a Brit-pop trifecta on my shelves.

The other day, I thought I'd check out some music by Tony Allen who plays drums in TGTBTQ and is a well known and regarded afro-beat musician. I'd read somewhere that Damon Albarn appears on an Allen record and planned on picking that up and thought I did. Apparently though, I read the sticker on the album wrong and ended up purchasing an Afrobeat comp on Honest Jon's Records, Albarn's label, of tracks selected my him and his buddies while abroad.

I was bummed at first, but put Lagos All Routes - Juju & Highlife, Apala & Fuji on and was pleasantly surprised to find myself enjoying the whole thing. Afrobeat is a lot like Reggae in that it is highly effective in putting you in a good mood and keeping you there. It's music that keeps your head bopping and body a grooving and you got to love that.

The posted track is Eyi Yato / Elere Ni Wa by Ebenezer Obey. Enjoy

TREY DAY 1: UPDATED....

Dearest Readers,

I come to you with exciting news from the land of upstate New York! All you post-college, post-tour, post-post folks who pretend that you never listened to Phish, never jammed out to dank, crispy board tapes, never jumped the fence to sneak in to a summer tour show listen up... we've got a mystery on our hands....

Rumors have been flying about former Phish frontman Trey Anastasio and his current whereabouts since his sentencing for a recent drug possession and driving violation. He has been seen quite a few times in downtown Saratoga Springs, NY in the past month. I have been hired by the Hendo Bendo team to seek out as much information as possible, in the hopes that I can find the hero that is Trey. My identity will remain secret as I cannot let my "inside sources" be known.

RUMOR #1:
Trey is living in a mansion apartment on Circular Street in Saratoga Springs, NY; chance that this is true - 50/50 - certainly an appropriate location for Trey.

RUMOR #2:
Trey is living in a luxury condo above Banana Republic on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, NY; chance that this is true - 50/50 - also another appropriate location, although a bit "nouveau faux riche" for our hero.

RUMOR #3:
Trey was seen playing guitar in Congress Park in Saratoga Springs, NY; chance that this is true - 10/90 - would our red-headed wonderboy risk revealing his location by playing in such a publicly populated place?

RUMOR #4: (*New!*)
Trey will be teaching a music class at Skidmore College; truth chance - 80/20 - 95% of the Skidmore College population would drop their bongs and head for the music building if they heard that Trey was teaching.

TRUTH #1:
Trey was seen buying a large coffee at a local Saratoga Springs coffee shop this morning. No Starbucks for this star! Go Trey!

TRUTH #2: (*New!*)
Trey was seen at Borders on Broadway last week buying books. Boo Trey -- skip the chain and stop by the Lyrical Ballad!


Stay tuned for more Trey in 'Toga updates as the plot thickens! Feel free to share any intel you have in the comment section below....

Signing off,
Kenneth Gaines