New Release Tuesday... Air'sSurfing On A Rocket EP is out today; Killing Joke's For Beginners (a collection of rarities and b sides), Ze Records' resissues of 2 Christina albums, Doll In The Box & Sleep It Off (these are imports), Elliott Smith's final album From A Basement On The Hill, Le Tigre's major label debut This Island and Ted Leo & The Pharmacists' Shake The Sheets. Happy shopping!
Monday 10/18
Tomorrow night is the big Interpol / Secret Machines show, which I will be attending with my bro. We are ready to rock. I've already seen Interpol so I know what to expect from them. I'm extra geeked up about the Secret Machines - their debut album is still getting played at least once a week, and I can't wait to see how they are live. Seeing as how the albums by these bands are two of my faves of the year I expect to be thoroughly entertained!
Time For Some Football
The Vikings stand alone atop the NFC Central division this morning. The Packers came back to life on Sunday and beat the Lions - all the Vikes had to do was beat the Saints. If you watched the game you know what happened - no defense from either side, plenty of offense, mostly from the Vikes (605 yards!!). The Vikes won 38 -31. Daunte Culpepper is having a tremendous season - 18 touchdowns in 5 games (an NFL first), making smart decisions with the ball, and spreading it around to all of his receivers. Due to injuries and suspensions the Vikes have been forced to play their 4th string running back Mewelde Moore for the last two games. He has had a tremedous impact in those games, with around 400 yards of rushing and receiving yardage. Unfortunately the D has not radically improved, so who knows how far this team can go. If the D can get better I think they could be unstoppable. We shall see...
Friday 10/15
I missed out on the music of Krautrockers Can when it was first released - I was a young pup with no exposure. I have plenty of records which many of the band members have played on over the years, and I've since heard enough Can to know that I like 'em. I was thrilled to read today that the first four albums are being reissued by Spoon/Mute on November 2. Very exciting news.
OK my fellow Durannies - you've had a couple of days to digest the new LP. Anyone care to share your opinions? I'd love to hear what y'all think - leave a comment!
Wednesday 10/13
This is absolutely HUGE Tracklist is in the comments, and what a stellar lineup it is!
Tuesday 10/12
New releases today...
As if you don't know by now, today is the release of the new DURAN DURAN LP Astronaut. Also out today, Moving Units'Dangerous Dreams, the Associates' Singles, TV On The Radio'sNew Health Rock EP, the label compilation / DVD combo Matador At Fifteen, Afrika Bambaataa's Dark Matter..., Frank Black's Pixies remakes Frank Black Francis and Dogs Die In Hot Cars'Please Describe Yourself. Not a bad day to do a little music shopping...enjoy!
Monday 10/11
With the Presidential election only 22 days away, this week's posts have taken a decidedly political slant. This really made me laugh a lot.
Sunday 10/10
Dusting Off The Cobwebs...
It's been deadly silent around here for a couple of weeks now. I haven't had a lot of spare time lately, and any time I have had has been spent over at s.i.a.r.2. As you can see from the new pic up over to your left, the big day is near - Tuesday sees the release of Astronaut, the brand spanking new LP from the the reunited line up of Duran Duran. As long time readers will know, I'm a big fan - my bro & I roadtripped to Chicago last year to see the boys live for the first time ever. Both of us are pretty geeked up about hearing this record on Tuesday - I've heard a couple of tunes from it and I haven't been disappointed so far. Let's hope the rest of the record is up to snuff...
All that's missing is the throne of skulls...
Tuesday 9/28
New releases today... Interpol'sAntics hits shelves today - go and buy it, it rocks! Also out today, Earlimart'sTreble & Tremble, (the formerly known as Jon Spencer) Blues Explosion'sDamage, Supergrass Is 10, a greatest hits collection, Joss Stone'sMind Body & Soul, Twin Cities rappers' Heiruspecs'A Tiger Dancing and a couple of remastered reissues - Thompson Twins'Quick Step & Side Kick and A Flock Of Seagulls'Listen, both with bonus cuts. As always, happy shopping!
Monday 9/27
Some news tidbits of note - Luna have long been a fave of mine. They have toiled away in relative obscurity for 12 years now, never quite making it to the mainstream, crafting melodic, moody indie rock with a more than a hint of VU. They've announced on their website that forthcoming LP Rendezvous will be their last. Another one bites the dust. Oh well, I'm sure Dean Wareham will continue to record music - hopefully with Britta Phillips, because their little side project from a year or two ago was ace. New Mos Def LP New Danger on October 12th... SFA singles comp / DVD, Gruff solo LP forthcoming... It's Minnesota in the mid '80s all over again at this Oct. 23 benefit concert for Soul Asylum bassist Karl Mueller who has been fighting throat cancer - appearances by Bob Mould, Paul Westerberg and longtime local heroes The Gear Daddies, as well as Midwest super group Golden Smog.
If you visit many of the places I link to you've probably heard about a couple of records that have really generated a lot of excitement - Arcade Fire'sFuneral and Diplo'sFlorida. Allow me to jump on the bandwagon and say that everything is true and they are as good as everyone makes them out to be. The former is a beauty of an indie rock record - it touches so many different bases - New Order, Flaming Lips, Broken Social Scene, David Bowie - it has gorgeous strings and amazingly catchy songs and I could go on and on. Suffice it to say it's great. The latter is a mind warping trip down hip hop lane, stopping at New Orleans jazz, crunk, trip hop diva Martina Topley-Bird, psychedelic rock and I could go on and on again. A remarkable album.
Sunday 9/26
New mp3s today... The Original Techno Boffin - Thomas Dolby
The first time I heard Thomas Dolby was in 1981 when he released the single Europa and the Pirate Twins I promptly took my pocket money and bought the 45. The combination of electronics and real instruments (that's XTC's Andy Partridge on the bitchin' harmonica) and that huge, catchy melody (and drum machine clappy noises) made it a big song for me, and I was amazed that it didn't chart higher. The rest of the album The Golden Age Of Wireless was an equally good batch of tunes, a mix of new wave rockers and arty synth pop. The record was largely ignored, and so was he until She Blinded Me With Science came out, and the proverbial "one hit wonder" was born. Even though I love the goofiness of that tune, there are so many other, much better songs to consider.
Second album The Flat Earth remains, for me, his peak achievement. Opening with the ultra funky Dissidents it fades into a blissful other worldy vibe with The Flat Earth - a big bass riff, some beautiful Soweto style guitar and the weird rubber band like noises through out the song enthralled me in 1984 and still sends shivers down my spine today. The musicians on the LP are top knotch - former Soft Boy Matthew Seligman on bass (also Robyn Hitchcock, who does a spoken bit), Kevin Armstrong on guitars, original NY No Wave scenester Adele Bertei contributes stellar vocals, and usual cohorts Bruce Wooley and Lesley Fairbarn all contribute. At this point things drifted towards the US, and TD moved to LA to do film music (Howard The Duck, anyone?) and continue to record records.
The last Thomas Dolby record I bought was 1988's Aliens Ate My Buick. By now he was working with LA session musicians, and his songs began to began to lose that distinctly British feel he always had. It's a OK album with a couple of great tunes. There's funk on a cover of George Clinton's Hot Sauce, dance pop on Airhead, Zappa-esque jive on The Key To Her Ferrari, and cod reggae on My Brain Is Like A Sieve. My favorite tune on it is the hardest one to peg - Budapest By Blimp. It rides a very US r'n'b groove - a very funky bass line, chikka guitars, all very slick, and mixed in with it is a gorgeous Hungarian aria. Yes, it's the classical funk hybrid. Sounds like it should really suck, but it doesn't. The aria's melody is beguiling and recurs often. The tune builds up to a giant funk rock break with a searing strangled guitar solo before it all drifts back into the original funk groove. Somehow all of these disparate styles that shouldn't work together do, and it's always amazed me. I gave up on Dolby at this point - he continued to write and record, and I heard a few things here and there, but nothing that grabbed my attention like the first 2 records - albums in dire need of the remastered reissue treatment!
A little bonus, Dolby related tune - Ryuichi Sakamoto'sFieldwork from 1985 features Dolby on vocals. This is the 12" London Long Mix, and it's an odd electro tune - it starts with a very Art Of Noise style synth line and develops into uptempo synth pop (with a nod to New Order's Blue Monday beats). The key is the killer weird break in the middle - all of a sudden it's tight, quirky art funk for a couple of minutes before it returns to the synth pop. A strange little record.
Thursday 9/23
The music news story of the day has to be the deportation out of the US of Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) because he has "connections to groups involved in terorist activities". This is the man who wrote freakin' Peace Train! Another example of the crazed Arab phobia paranoia that has taken over this country.
New releases today... The Clash's 3 disc deluxe edition of London Calling, with never before released demos and a DVD, VHS Or Beta'sNight On Fire, Elvis Costello & The Imposters' The Delivery Man, Jean Grae's This Week, Canuck rapper K-Os'Joyful Rebellion, Little Axe's Champagne & Grits, Money Mark's Demo Or Demolition on Chocolate Industries, Regina Spektor's Soviet Kitsch, a Scissor Sisters Remixed EP and Yuka Honda'sEucademix on Tzadik Records. Happy shopping...
Sunday 9/19
A Few Of This Week's Favorite Things Tears For Fears have just released their new LP Everybody Loves A Happy Ending here in the US (it was out in Europe in June). After a few years apart Curt & Roland have reunited, and after some trepidation about it (as well as having read a few bad reviews) I am happy to report that, IMO, the record doesn't suck. It pretty much picks up where Seeds Of Love left off - super melodic, adult oriented pop. There's plenty of Beatlesque moments, and the production is pretty sweet - lush, and full of nice touches. Ladybird is definitely Beatles inspired, a swoony, summery song with a fabulous chorus and some very George Harrison guitar. I always loved the dynamics of these two singing and writing together, and it's good to hear them again. Jill Scott has really impressed me with her new album Beautifully Human. It's some class act soul music that hearkens back to the golden days of her hometown Philly's vaunted soul scene. Talk To Me spends it's first 2 minutes bumping to a fantastic hip hop soul groove while Jill asks her distant lover to talk to her - then suddenly it's a swinging, big band jazz tune, all breezy horns and scatting. Not too many singers can try this kind of thing and be successful, and Jill carries it off effortlessly. A great album. Deceptikon is Zack Wright, out of Portland, Oregon. His album Lost Subject is out now on Merck Records, and if you are a fan of well crafted instrumental hip hop grooves then look no further - this dude's got 'em. He does a deft job of blending samples and beats, and creates jazzy moody soundscapes that never fail to get my head bobbing. Ox Conservatory is one of the more uptempo tunes on the album, riding a funky ass beat, some killer keys and a few beautiful horn samples. Highly recommended. Ultra Vivid Scene'sHow Sweet is this week's flashback track. I have always felt that Kurt Ralske's band was one of the great under appreciated acts of the late '80s / early '90s rock scene. He had great song writing ability, creating catchy pop songs swathed in all manner of cool production sounds. How Sweet is from their second album on 4AD, Rev (the first is Joy 1967-1990 - a great record!) and rocks like T.Rex infused with a even bigger dose of psychedelia. Also of note on this track are the guest musicians - Matthew Sweet on bass and Fred Maher on drums. Kurt's guitar playing is blazing on this track, and the melody is very beguiling. If you ever come across these old albums you must buy them!
Thursday 9/16
RIP Johnny Ramone, age 55. He passed in his sleep after battling prostrate cancer.
Tuesday 9/14
Some new releases today... The Prodigy'sAlways Outnumbered..., the Bloc Party EP, The Thrills'Let's Bottle Bohemia, Dizzee Rascal'sShowtime, Paul Weller's covers LP Studio 150, The Arcade Fire'sFuneral, The Faint's Wet From Birth and the return of Tears For Fears with Everybody Loves A Happy Ending. Happy shopping!
Monday 9/13
A few brief impressions - Bjork'sMedulla is interesting, challenging, and, on a few tracks, transcendent. Not for everyone tho'. DJ Krush'sJaku is more of the deep, zen turntablist action you'd expect, with a few new twists plus the addition of more traditional Japanese instrumentation in the mix. I love this guy's style, and where some reviews have been unfavorable, I'd give it a thumbs up. The Libetines' self titled 2nd Lp is more of the shambolic punk they played on their debut, but this time around colored a bit more with the personal issues of the band. I'm amazed at the production on it - it just jumps out of the speakers, every note clear. Good job Mick Jones and Bill Price. Radio 4'sStealing Of A Nation I'm a bit meh about - it's definitely over produced, and features a lot more electronics - you know me, I like the electronics - but I miss the grimy DFA grit from their last couple of records. Some good songs, not a great album. Jill Scott'sBeautifully Human is the bomb, in that "quiet storm" kinda way. She has a great set of pipes, writes smart, memorable songs, and can span any number of genres. I wish she'd try more uptempo stuff, but that's a small complaint. This is one of the best soul records of the year. Let's see, what else am I digging? Mouse On Mars'Radical Connector for some seriously glitched up future pop, The Blue Niles'sHigh for the moody,arty adult oriented listening hour, The Twilight Singers' covers album She Loves You for some pretty good takes on some fairly different material, Deceptikon'sLost Subject for some deep, underground instrumental hip hop vibes, and Talking Head'sThe Name Of This Band Is... for some seriously shit hot live oldies. One of the best reissues of this year.
Time For Football
The Vikings got off to an excruciatingly slow start against the Cowboys, but once the offense got it's rhythm going it was touchdown city, and the Purple won 35 - 17. Next week it's Monday night at Philly - Donovan McNabb to Terrell Owens or Duante to Randy? I think offensively it's a great match up, but I suspect that defensively they hold the edge. Yay, football!
Sunday 9/12
Crate Digging - Some Classic 12" Singles
This week's 12"s are all from the late '80s / early '90s Madchester - Baggydelic era... Frazier Chorus were initially signed to 4AD Records, where their brand of dream pop fit in with that label's aesthetic. They eventually moved on to Virgin Records, where they released the single Nothing (Raid Mix). This is the killer Paul Oakenfold remix of this swoony, string laden electro-disco song - before Oakey became the dodgy trance DJ saviour of the world he actually did some pretty cool remixes. It's got the Italo- disco piano stabs and a truly dreamy feel to it, right down to singer Tim Freeman's fey, whispy vocals. A big tune that never fails to get me grooving. Electronic burst out of the inactivity of New Order and the demise of The Smiths. Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr introduced themselves to the world with Getting Away With It (Extended), their debut single. Featuring the guest vocals of Neil Tennant from The Pet Shop Boys, it's a fantastically lush disco tune - the cool electro beats and synths of New Order/PSB combined with the always inspiring Johnny Marr jangle works wonders. There are also some lovely strings, and a cooler than cool acoustic solo that never fails to send shivers down my spine. Happy Mondays were, for me, the height of the baggydelic scene. OK, The Stone Roses are in there too, but the Mondays were a different kettle of fish. They rocked, they funked, they were always on the verge of collapse, and they were groovier than shit. The afore mentioned Paul Oakenfold had a big hand in their success, taking them from their gloomy Martin Hannant produced roots and turning them into a drug splashed (OK - they were already that) funk rock and soul band, ready to get people's asses on the dancefloor. At the height of their popularity they released the single Loose Fit, which was backed by Bob's Yer Uncle. The 12" was remixed by Oakey and his partner Steve Osbourne. Factory also issued a companion 12" - the same two songs , but remixed by techno boffins The Grid instead. From that 12" I give you Loose Fix - a truly huge guitar riff, the great soulful backing vocals, all spaced out nicely for the dancefloor. The flip side is Bob's Yer Tune, a very pervy space disco tune - a bit of flute, some breathy backing vocals and Sean's mumled sex talk all make for a very smooth ride on this remix. Ah, those were the days...
Thursday 9/9
Life in my general area has been hectic these last few days - no time to write about much. This week's episodes of Bands Reunited have been fun. New Kids of course failed to get back together, and ABC could only muster 2 of the original 4 members. They still sounded bloody great when they sang though - Martin Fry has aged pretty well, as has his voice. The Lexicon Of Love to me is one of the great records of the '80s, so it's fab to hear these songs played live after so long. My only beef with VH1 is that they only give us the one song at the end - I'd like to see the whole set played. Maybe one day they'll put these out on DVD with the extra footage... Tonight's episode is The Beat, and tomorrow night ends the mini season with The Motels.
Big record news - Bloc Party's self titled debut LP gets a US release next week on Dim Mak Records - also home to Automato & Dios Malos. Bloc Party rock, and I recommend picking up this record!
Time For Football
The NFL season kicks off tonight, and my daughter and I will be watching the pre-show off to catch the return of Destiny's Child, who are putting out a new LP on November 16th. My daughter is a big fan, as is her Dad, so we're totally geeked. Now bring on the rest of the games this weekend - the Vikings host the Dallas Cowboys. Let's see - Vinny Testaverde to Keyshawn Johnson or Duante Culpepper to Randy Moss? I know who I like :-)
Tuesday 9/7
New releases today... Radio 4'sStealing Of A Nation, The Black Keys' Rubber Factory, Paul Westerberg's Folker and finally, the US release of John Cale'sHobosapien - produced by Lemon Jelly's Nick Franglen, it's a great record of art rock electronica - highly recommended!
Monday 9/6
Tonight is the debut of season two of VH1's Bands Reunited. First up this season is Haircut 100, who had a run of catchy pop hits in the early '80s but never made more than one album, Pelican West. I'll admit that I watched the last half hour of it this morning (VH1 always shows the shows in the AM too) and that the reunion does occur, and that they sounded great. I always loved their debut - smart, melodic pop songs that were funky, full of nice horns and groovy percussion. This show is a lot of fun even if you don't like the featured bands. The rest of the week plays out like this...Tuesday it's New Kids On The Block, Wednesday it's ABC, and it winds up on Thursday with The (English) Beat.
Sunday 9/5
The NME's Big Four from 1986
The NME used to give away cool 45's with issues of their paper. Today's new mp3s are all from the '86 EP The NME's Big Four....
Tom Wait's Downtown Train (NME Version) is a great tune that most people know of because of Rod Stewart's hit version in the '80s. It's a more traditional style song than a lot of Tom's stuff - straight up rock with a fairly straightforward vocal, instead of swampy voodoo cabaret. I think that's why I like it so much. It's a hell of a lot better than Rod's rendition too... The Jesus And Mary Chain'sSome Candy Talking is from the earliest years of their career, when it was all about the huge, Phil Spector-like reverb laden VU riffs. When I first heard this song all those years ago I thought it was rubbish - but then, I was young and foolish. A lovely melody buried in a wall of sound. Husker Du were Minneapolis' garage rock gods at the time of this recording - a great little cover version of the Beatles classic Ticket To Ride. It captures the trios raw energy - big drums, the bristling guitars and the vocal interplay between Grant and Bob. Big rock music. Troublefunk burst out of DC with their vibrant, big band sound - "go-go" music's rising stars, fusing the energy of rap, the funk of bands like Parliament and the instantly recognizable "go-go" drum rhythms of this uniquely DC/Maryland/Virginia scene. For a year or two there was a lot of hype and a bunch of fresh records, but it never crossed over. Let's Get Small is a typically funky number with a very memorable melody line that sounds like it's played on a harmonium, and lots of call and response shouts. Definitely a booty shaker.
Saturday 9/4
Over the last few months I've been hearing about cool remixes of Air's Surfing On A Rocket and Alpha Beta Gaga, both on Euro singles. I have had no luck finding them, and finally today comes news from Astralwerks of a US release - 7 tracks on one EP, featuring remixes of both songs and a new track Easy Going Woman. I've heard the DJ Mick Ronson remix of Alpha... and it's pretty fresh - it's out October 19th. Also via Astralwerks is the new VHS Or Beta single Night On Fire, out on October 5th, and featuring remixes by Carlos D (of Interpol), Tommie Sunshine and my big faves this year, Cut Copy. VHS Or Beta do the live-band-playing-disco-funk-like-Daft Punk thing and are very groovy.
