"Shut the Door and Cover Me..."
The other day, while searching through eMusic for a couple of songs, I stumbled across a bunch of compilation disks. These disks all have names like those old
KTEL releases – things like
Trailer Park Hits and
Monster Mullet Rock. If I saw these in the cut-out bin (do they still have those?) I probably wouldn’t even give them a second glance.
As I skimmed the song titles, though, I saw these disks were filled with cover versions I’d never heard: Roger Daltrey and Slash doing “No More Mr. Nice Guy.” Ted Nugent playing “Rag Doll.”
I’ve ‘fessed up before that I love to hear a good cover of a good song. Rarely can a cover surpass the original, but it’s almost always interesting to hear a musician stamp a song with their own style. Case in point: Faster Pussycat. I’m not going to even get into their whole evolution from Motley Crue wanna-be’s to Marilyn Manson wanna-be’s, but did you ever think you’d hear an
industrial version of “Misty Mountain Hop”? Also, check out Yngwie Malmsteen’s take on “Dream On.” Whoever’s singing is no Steven Tyler, but Yngwie just
shreds the song. Joe who?
No More Mr. Nice Guy (Alice Cooper cover).mp3 ~ Roger Daltrey and Slash
It’s a Long Way to the Top (AC/DC cover).mp3 ~ Lemmy
Squealer (AC/DC cover).mp3 ~ Genitorturers
Viva Las Vegas.mp3 ~ Johnny Ramone
Tie Your Mother Down (Queen cover).mp3 ~ Lemmy and Ted Nugent
Misty Mountain Hop (Led Zeppelin cover).mp3 ~ Faster Pussycat
Dream On (Aerosmith cover).mp3 ~ Yngwie Malmsteen
Rag Doll (Aerosmith cover).mp3 ~ Ted Nugent
Money (Pink Floyd cover).mp3 ~ Edgar Winter
If you haven’t done so already, you need to check out
eMusic. For a fair price, they have become my number one source for independent, DRM-free music.
~~~~~
(
Picture Note: The pic is of Gen, singer and founding member of the Genitorturers, from the band's MySpace)
Labels: AC/DC, Aerosmith, classic rock, covers, guitar heroes, industrial, Led Zeppelin
Where's my bailout?
I’m waiting to hear what the president has to say about why I don’t have any money. Somehow I don’t think he’s going to give me a raise, but you never know. The talking heads at CNN have set expectations so high for this speech that anything short of an immediate economic 180 will be a deemed a failure.
While I am waiting, I thought there’d be no better way to pass the time than to listen to some 70’s guitar rock. Specifically, some Pat Travers-style 70’s guitar rock.
Pat Travers is one of those guitar cult heroes. With the exception of a couple of late 70’s singles, he never seemed to really hit it as big as he could have. Travers is a fantastic blues rock guitar player, heavily influenced by the likes of Hendrix and Jeff Beck. His 1979 live album,
Live! Go For What You Know, was my introduction to the Pat Travers band. This album and the band’s follow-up,
Crash and Burn, both recorded with band members Pat Thrall, Tommy Aldridge, and “Mars” Cowling, are probably Traver’s best releases.
Following those two albums, Travers was on the cusp of stardom when both Thrall and Aldridge left the band to pursue other projects. Then, in 1981, Travers released
Radio Active, which was more keyboard-oriented than his previous efforts, serving to alienate his new fans and getting him dumped from his record label.
Travers battled through the 1980s and 90s, returning to small club shows but still recording and releasing albums through small, independent labels. He’s still recording and playing live, and is now – almost ironically, it seems – considered one of rock’s most influential guitarists.
So, as the president prepares to take the podium, if you get tired of listening to him, turn the sound down and check out some classic Pat Travers. You can always catch the highlights later.
Boom Boom (Out Go the Lights) (live).mp3 Snortin’ Whiskey.mp3 Last Child (Aerosmith cover).mp3Labels: Aerosmith, classic rock, covers, guitar heroes
"How can one Chandra be so Levy"
I’m assuming most of you by now have heard that police are
close to charging someone in the unsolved murder eight years ago of Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy.
It’s a sad case and I’m glad the family will finally be able to get closure.
With that in mind, here goes my un-PC post of the month. How many of you remember Eminem’s 2002 album
The Eminem Show? How about the single, “Business”? Well, since the resurfacing this past week of Chandra Levy’s name, there’s a line from “Business” that is stuck in my head: “How can shit be so easy? / How can one Chandra be so Levy?”
It’s a tossed-off line that doesn’t seem to mean much, just getting attention in its timeliness: Levy’s body was found four days before
The Eminem Show’s U.S. release.
Just after the album’s release, a member at one discussion board (who admitted he has too much time on his hands) analyzed the line as such: “It could mean that, since her disappearance has been such a big deal, her ‘leaving’ could have been tweaked by Eminem (i.e.) ‘How could one Chandra be so ‘leav-y’,’ as in ‘how can one person cause such a commotion for disappearing, or be so allusive [
sic ]?’” As far as I know, Em himself never commented further on the lyric.
However you figure it, the song is what Eminem does/did best: A smooth flow, interesting rhymes, and a badass beat.
file removed Labels: current events, rap
Miami Music: van*gloria
Anytime I hear a Miami band that doesn’t play Latin dance music or other people’s records, I am always happy to do what I can to help promote them. Such is the case with van*gloria, a Miami-based quartet that recently dropped me a note.
Van*gloria formed in 2005, in the midst of that year's seeming non-stop hurricane season. Music students Nick Kruge, Paul Bender, Luke Moellman, and Matt Gajewski used the time during post-hurricane power outages to play music and write songs. The result was brooding and somewhat jazz-influenced; something you might expect to have come from the calm after the storms. Once power was restored, van*gloria took their music into the studio, touched it up, and, in late 2005, released their self-titled debut through local label
Atomisk Records.
Right now van*gloria are planning to get out of Miami before this year’s hurricane season starts in June. They’ve just released their second album,
Bluebird, and are preparing a tour that will take them probably anywhere there are not hurricanes.
Today’s music is a couple of songs from the first album.
Headstrong Gotham.mp3 Hey Tuscaloosa!.mp3 For more information, more music, and to buy either album, click over to the van*gloria
Website.
Labels: indie, local stuff
“With a curtsy and a twirl...”
Again I have to confess ignorance as to how I learned about a band. One minute I’m online looking for porn, the next I’ve found a punk band from Scotland. Go figure.
The Try Hards are a quartet of punkers out of Dundee, Scotland, a place that claims to be Scotland’s only south-facing city. (No relevance to the band, just thought I'd toss that in.)
Kev, Andy, and Ryan got together about five years ago, drawing from such classic influences as the Descendents and the Circle Jerks to create a noise they call “Fun music for fun people.”
Deeker joined up in December 2005, replacing Simon Spaceboy, the band’s first guitar player. Deek “slotted in perfectly,” according to the guys. The Try Hards continued “practising, plotting, planning, drinking, laughing, crying, and bleeding,” releasing an EP in early 2006 and contributing to a split CD release in late 2006.
I don’t know if the band is still active or not. Regardless, they’re still a lot of fun to listen to. Check out these couple of songs, then click over to the Try Hard’s
MySpace, where you can download their entire catalogue for free.
Fanclub.mp3 Mongoloid (Devo cover).mp3 Should Have Been a Girl.mp3Labels: punk
Break out the flannel...
I owe these dudes a big apology.
Winston Audio, out of Atlanta, was kind enough to send me some tracks from their first LP,
The Red Rhythm, and it has taken me forever to get them posted and make sure you good people know about this band.
Favorite Gentlemen Records released
The Red Rhythm February 12, so if you haven’t yet gotten your hands on it, you should. Winston Audio has pulled the flannel out of the closet, dusted it off, and is proudly wearing it.
I’ve been partial to fuzzed-up guitars since I first heard the dirty squall of “Hey Hey, My My.” I took fully to the so-called grunge movement of the late 80s, enthralled by a combination of the ragged sounding music and the driving beat; sort of punk, but melodic – well, you know that whole story.
Anyway, it’s hard now to dive into the grunge genre without sounding dated or, worse, sounding like Bush imitators, when Bush were just imitators of state-side bands. Winston Audio manages to avoid this pitfall by keeping the music a little more up-tempo and a little less dark. At the same time, they maintain the distorted guitars that should appeal not only to those of us who still have a couple of flannel shirts, but also to fans of any sort of guitar-driven rock. Check ‘em out.
Hey Ann.mp3 Devil’s Bed.mp3Labels: grunge, indie, new stuff
“I Don’t Care What Any Casanova Thinks...”
Another magical Valentine’s Day.
How better to celebrate than to break out one of the true romantic classics, J. Geils’ 1980 album,
Love Stinks. Of course I’ve got the title track for today’s music. I’ve also included “Night Time,” because it’s a stompin’ rocker that reminds me I should spend Valentine’s Day in a bar. Yes friends, I’m romantical like that.
Love Stinks.mp3 Night Time.mp3 And just for lulz, click
here to see Adam Sandler sing “Love Stinks” in a great scene from The Wedding Singer.
Labels: classic rock, holiday
Lux Interior, 1946-2009
How in the
hell did I not learn about this until yesterday?
Lux Interior, the legendary – LEGENDARY – front man of the legendary – LEGENDARY – Cramps, died February 4. It’s a shame and a sin that his passing seemingly slipped by. Without Lux, Poison Ivy, and the Cramps, there would have been no pyschobilly and countless bands we take for granted today would have been lost in the wilderness with no guiding light.
My introduction to the Cramps came through the movie Urgh: A Music War and their frenetic version of Johnny Burnette’s “Tear It Up.” I’ll never forget Lux caroming around the stage in skintight leather pants that seemed to defy gravity as they clung (barely) to his hips. Then shoving the mic into his mouth and grunting lewdly. It was just fucking amazing to watch.
A few years later, I had the opportunity to see the Cramps play live at the Hollywood Palladium. I wish my memories of that show were as vivid as my initial impression of the Urgh performance. All I can really bring to mind right now is that the show did not disappoint.
In Lux’s
obit, the
New York Times related the following anecdote, which took place in 1979 while the Cramps were guest D.J.’ing on WPIX-FM in New York. One of the station personalities asked Lux about the music. He replied, “Rock ’n’ roll has absolutely nothing to do with music. It’s much more than music. Rock ’n’ roll is who you are. You can’t call the Cramps music. It’s noise, rockin’ noise.”
Lux Interior was one of punk’s – nah, one of
rock’s – greatest front men. There is and will be a lot of imitators, but he was a true original and he will be sorely missed.
Today’s music comes from the 2004 compilation
How to Make a Monster. The two-disk set included tons of unreleased demos and rehearsals, as well as two historic live performances, both from very early in the Cramps’ career: One at Max's Kansas City and the other at CBGB's. Note that the sound quality isn’t always that great, but it’s nonetheless all worth hearing.
Domino.mp3 ~ Summer 1976 rehearsal
I Was a Teenage Werewolf.mp3 ~ October 1976 rehearsal
Lonesome Town.mp3 ~ 1981 rehearsal
Hanky Panky.mp3 ~ 1982 A&M Studio
All Women are Bad.mp3 ~ 1988 Home Demo
I Was a Teenage Werewolf.mp3 ~ Live at Max's Kansas City, 1/14/77
The Way I Walk.mp3 ~ Live at CBGB, 1/13/78
Human Fly.mp3 ~ Live at CBGB, 1/13/78
Baby Blue Rock.mp3 ~ Live at CBGB, 1/13/78
TV Set.mp3 ~ Live at CBGB, 1/13/78
Click
here to check out the aforementioned Urgh performance of “Tear It Up."
Labels: current events, psychobilly, punk
"Welcome to Destruction"
I found another little chunk of rock infamy for your listening pleasure.
As you may be aware (insert “sarcasm” tags here), Guns N’ Roses, in particular Axl Rose, is no stranger to controversy. Throughout Guns N' Roses’ career, Rose has been notorious for personally addressing disruptive fans and giving instructions to security guards from the stage, at times stopping concerts to deal with issues in the crowd.
In a 1992
Rolling Stone interview Rose explained, “Most performers would go to a security person in their organization, and it would just be done very quietly. I’ll confront the person, stop the song: ‘Guess what – you wasted your money, you get to leave.’”
In 1988 and again in 2006, Axl was involved in incidents in England involving the audience; the first ending tragically when two fans were crushed. (Note: The final report into the 1988 incident at Castle Donnington noted that Rose had immediately cooperated with venue security when advised of the dangerous crowd conditions, and had attempted to calm the crowd.)
Maybe the most infamous Guns N’ Roses riot happened in July 1991, during the
Use Your Illusion tour. The incident known as the “Riverport Riot” happened at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Mo. during the July 2, 1991, show.
During the band's performance of “Rocket Queen,” Axl jumped into the audience and tackled a fan that was taking pictures of the show. After being pulled out of the audience by members of the crew, Rose said, “Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home.” He then threw down his microphone and left the stage.
According to a report from Babu Barat, the editor of St. Louis music tabloid
Just Rock, the house lights came up about 20 minutes after the band left the stage. At that point, all hell started to break loose: The crowd threw anything they could get their hands on, including chairs, tables, and pieces of the stage. (Read the full article
here, including Barat’s interview with Axl a short time after the riot.)
Today’s music is the final song leading into the riot. I thought about posting the whole show, but the sound quality isn’t that great. Naturally these make more sense listened to in context, i.e. if you only listen to the track titled “Riot,” you’re gonna be like, wtf?
Rocket Queen.mp3 Axl Jumps Into the Crowd.mp3 Riot.mp3 There are also several
videos on YouTube depicting the incident.
Labels: live music, riots
South Florida Music Calendar (new blog!)
I don't think there are a whole lot of people reading my little blog who live in the South Florida area. But for those faithful who do, I wanted to clue you in to a new blog I only just discovered this morning.
The SoFla Music Calendar blog is pretty self-explanatory: "A listing of local shows and live music events for Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, and other areas of South Florida."
The blog creators are Fanless and Balou (I know nothing else about them) and they decided to create this blog because they thought it "would be pretty cool to find a simple list of local musical events – both big-name and local acts – all in one place online."
Fanless and Balou are actively soliciting show info from any and all bands playing locally. If you fit that category, click over to
SoFla Music Calendar and drop them a note. If you don't fit that category, well, mentally file this information away so that when you visit South Florida, you know where to go for your live show info.
Peace & love - Peace & love
I'll be back tomorrow morning with some music...
Labels: blogroll, local stuff, no music
Love Comes in Dim Stars
How damn long has it been since I’ve posted any punk rock? Too long, by my count. If I ever veer too far away from real rock, I’m giving each and every one of you permission to come by Apt. 104 and give me a kick in the ass.
That said, a while back, while looking for information about the song “Blank Generation,” I stumbled across a band called the Dim Stars. Richard Hell came out of “retirement” in the early 90’s to join this punk supergroup of sorts. The band featured guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer Steve Shelley from Sonic Youth, Gumball's guitarist Don Fleming, as well as some guitar playing by Hell’s former Voidoid bandmate Robert Quine. Hell played bass and sang lead vocals and wrote the lyrics for the albums.
Dim Stars recorded one album, which they put together in three weeks; and one EP, both called
Dim Stars. The band never played in public and that was the end of Richard Hell’s foray into rock music. He’s now an author, poet, and sometime actor.
In a 2005
interview with 3:AM Magazine, Hell said he left the music business because he wasn’t really cut out for it. “All the elaborate business around making records,” he said. “There's a lot more required of you than writing songs and recording them. Not to mention finding a way to sound a way you can stand when you're not a natural-born singer. As an author, I just sit down and write.”
Here are a couple of songs from the Dim Stars EP
The Plug.mp3 Dim Stars.mp3 Labels: punk
Music from My Mailbox
I made a promise to myself that this year I would try to keep on top of my mailbox and post new music in a timelier manner. Well, you can see how that’s going. I really need to dedicate one post a week to whatever’s in my mailbox, that way it’s out there and fresh, rather than gathering dust like a souvenir from a Grand Canyon trip three years ago.
As usual, the mailbox dump yields a large variety of music. My pick of the litter is “Youth Against the Empire” from King of Conspiracy, a neo-punk band from London. They sound young, loud, and snotty.
Probably the most astray from my usual postings is the joint (as the kids call it) from XRabit and DMG$. I don’t know anything about these guys, but the song was interesting enough to post. See what you think.
Like always, follow the links for more info.
Mi AmiTropical / Punk
From: San Francisco Calif.
Band
MySpace New Guitar.mp3 
King of ConspiracyRock / Progressive / Punk
From: London/Paris, UK
Band
MySpaceYouth Against the Empire.mp3 IllinoisIndie / Folk Rock / 2-step
From: Bucks County, Penn.
Band
MySpace Missing Piece.mp3 XRABIT + DMG$Hip Hop / Experimental / Pop
From: East London, UK; Dopeside, Texas
XRabit
MySpace DMG$
MySpace Damaged Goods (Photomachine Dubplate Remix).mp3 Sweet Sweet ConcordeIndie / Pop
From: Sweden
Band
MySpaceCarrot Cake.mp3 
OvermanRock / Blues / Pop
From: Joliet, Ill.
Band
MySpace Move On.mp3 The SubmarinesFolk / Ghettotech / Shoegaze
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band
MySpaceWaiting for a War (Benders cover).mp3 Labels: "alternative", folk, hip-hop, indie, new stuff, rock
One Night Only: A Polar Bear and a Rock Lobster
I only just found out last night that locals the JeanMarie have been picked to open for the B52’s at the latter’s Saturday night gig at Miami Beach’s Fillmore Theater.
If you think back to May of last year, I
introduced you to the JeanMarie and posted a couple of their songs. I liked these guys, their unMiami-like polar bear mascot, and their catchy music.
Over the course of the past year-and-a-half the JeanMarie have recorded and released their full-length debut,
Annie Jump Cannon. The album stays true to the unpretentious sound of the band’s two EPs; non-corporate rock music with a beat that’ll have you up and dancing if you’re so inclined. And you know what else? The music put me in a better mood than I was in earlier.
Saturday’s show with the B52’s is the first of several the band is playing up and down this wonderland known as The State of Florida. You can get more information about dates and places from the JeanMarie
MySpace page. You can also find links there to purchase your very own copy of
Annie Jump Cannon. And I do encourage you to do so.
Vampires Pt. 2.mp3 If you are in the Miami area and care to see the B52’s and the JeanMarie this Saturday night, you can get tickets from
Live Nation or at the theater box office. It looks like individual tickets start at about $36.50. The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater is at 1700 Washington Ave. on South Beach. Doors open at 7 p.m.
~~~~~
Note:
photo taken by Hector A. Parayuelos, from the JeanMarie Web site.Labels: indie, local stuff
The Day the Music Died, 50 years on
"But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step."
... Don McLean, "American Pie"
The story of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson is one of those rock ‘n’ roll legends that it seems like I’ve always known about: At about 1:00 a.m., on Feb. 3, 1959, a single-engine, four-seat Beechnut aircraft took off in a snow storm from the Mason City Airport in Iowa. Within minutes the plane went down, killing all three passengers and pilot Roger Peterson.
As the fiftieth anniversary of the crash has approached, there naturally have been a lot of stories about that tragic day. “The Day the Music Died” has, for me, gone from being an abstract idea to something more real, more concrete. It’s been sad this past week to read about the crash and the events leading up to it. Even more tragic is the fact that these musicians were taken at their prime.
U.K. music critic Philip Norman, in an
article originally posted online last week, called Buddy Holly “the father of rock.” Norman acknowledges Elvis’ contribution, but says of Holly that he was “a pioneer and a revolutionary.”
“Unlike Presley and other guitar-toting idols of the mid-Fifties, Holly was a gifted instrumentalist who had grown up playing country music in his native West Texas,” Norman writes. “As a songwriter, performer and musician, Holly is the progenitor of virtually every world-class talent to emerge in the Sixties and Seventies.”
There are literally pages and pages of information about Buddy Holly and about the plane crash. As jumping off points, I can recommend Holly’s
Wiki page, as well as
The Day the Music Died Wikipedia page. Both of those sites have links to more information and suggestions for further reading.
In memoriam of Buddy Holly (but with no slight to the Big Bopper or Richie Valens), I’ve got a few songs that come from a Purple Chick collection titled
The Complete Buddy Holly – Volume One. Like all Purple Chick releases, there are tons of alternates, demos, home recordings, and live performances that were left off the commercial releases. Volume one of this 10-disk set reaches back to a 1949 home recording and goes through the April 1956 sessions at the Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, NM., just before Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded their debut album. The notes came along with the file, so I can’t necessarily vouch for their accuracy. I just plays 'em like they deals 'em.
My Two Timin’ Woman.mp3 ~
c.1949: Home Recording, 3315 36th St., Lubbock, Texas.
Buddy Holly: vocal, acoustic guitarI’ll Just Pretend.mp3 ~
c. 1952: Home Recording, 3315 36th St., Lubbock, Texas.
Bob Montgomery (poss. Jack Neal): lead vocal, guitar; Buddy Holly: second vocal, mandolinI Gambled My Heart.mp3 ~
c. late 1954/April 1955: Nesman Recording Studio - Wichita Falls, Texas. Bob Montgomery: lead vocal, acoustic guitar; Buddy Holly: duet vocal, electric lead guitar; Sonny Curtis: fiddle; Don Guess: bassBaby Let’s Play House.mp3 ~
mid-1955: Nesman Recording Studio - Wichita Falls, Texas.
Buddy Holly: lead vocal, acoustic guitar; Sonny Curtis: lead guitar; Larry Welborn: bass; Jerry Allison: drumsLove Me.mp3 Midnight Shift.mp3 ~
Jan. 26, 1956: Bradley's Barn Studio - Music Row, Nashville, Tenn. (Owen Bradley: producer)
Buddy Holly: vocal; Sonny Curtis: lead guitar; Grady Martin: rhythm guitar; Don Guess: bass; Doug Kirkham: percussionI’m Gonna Set My Foot Down.mp3 ~
February-April, 1956: Norman Petty Studios - 1313 W. 7th St. Clovis, NM. Buddy Holly: vocal, guitar; Sonny Curtis: guitar, lead guitar; Don Guess: bass; Jerry Allison: drumsLabels: current events, demos, oldies
The other day, while searching through eMusic for a couple of songs, I stumbled across a bunch of compilation disks. These disks all have names like those old KTEL releases – things like Trailer Park Hits and Monster Mullet Rock. If I saw these in the cut-out bin (do they still have those?) I probably wouldn’t even give them a second glance. 
