Communication Breakdown
Led Zeppelin’s 1997 release
BBC Sessions was welcomed in many corners – at long last an official version of what had been bootlegged for almost 30 years.
Although fans were happy to see an official release, die-hards complained that some of the songs were edited or (gasp!) omitted entirely. So... the other day I found an album helpfully titled
More Forgotten BBC. In the forum where I found this, there was a lot of back-and-forth over what had been officially released and whether or not
More Forgotten BBC was an actual bootleg.
What it came down to was a couple of tracks that never made it onto the official release. One of these, which I present to you today, is a five-minute version of “Communication Breakdown.” When
BBC Sessions was released, it was made up of two disks: Disk one consists of material from four different 1969 BBC sessions; Disc two contains most of the April 1, 1971, concert at the Paris Theatre in London. "Most" being the key word.
The first disk includes three different versions of “Communication Breakdown,” none of which is longer than three minutes. The song is excluded entirely from the second disk. Maybe Jimmy Page thought three versions were enough. He should have maybe dropped one from the first disk and instead included this smokin’ version from the April 1 show. In addition to being straight-up rocking, an extended bridge features Robert Plant vamping through a couple lines from different songs, even tossing in a little bit of the Supremes for good measure.
Communication Breakdown.mp3 Labels: Led Zeppelin, live music
Music from My Mailbox
Dumping out the mailbox one last time this month with hopes of starting fresh in July. For regular viewers, it should come as no surprise when I say again there is a good variety of music on the platter, from hip-hop to metal and a few stops in between.
One of the more interesting tracks is “Bad Driver,” by Dudley Saunders. Saunders, who looks more like Tommy Gavin’s sponsor on Rescue Me than a musician, spins an interesting tale in this song. I’ve listened to it several times and I’m still not sure if it’s about road rage, a redneck in a pickup, or male prostitutes. At any rate, it’s a cool song and I think you oughta think so, too.
A couple of other things worth mentioning: Drawing from the Jesus and Mary Chain school of distortion is Chicago’s Apteka. They sent me a really low-key email that I almost missed, but I’m glad I didn’t. I like this style of music even though it’s something I never seem to actively seek out. At the other end of the spectrum is D-Boyz, some hip-hop from The Big Easy. “Wipe ‘em Off” features former Cash Money producer Mannie Fresh, who has previously shown up on numerous tracks you’ve probably heard at some point.
As far as some decent heavy rock, my pick of the week goes to Verismo, a metal band from Brooklyn. They proudly wear their Metallica influence without sounding like they’re trying to rip anything off.
As always, follow the links for more information.
ides of spaceShoegaze
From: Melbourne, Australia
Band
MySpaceI Promise Not to Notice if You Promise to Pretend.mp3 
Caw! Caw!Pop / Punk / Psychedelic
From: Chicago, Ill.
Band
MySpaceToothless (demo).mp3
Grand LakeIndie
From: Oakland, Calif.
Band
MySpaceSandusky Sunset.mp3 D-BoyzHip-Hop
From: New Orleans, La.
Band
MySpaceWipe ‘em Off.mp3 
VerismoRock / Metal / Thrash
From: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceGreed.mp3 Shawn FarleyRock / Pop / Experimental
From: Seattle, Wash.
Band
MySpaceI Like You More Than You Do.mp3
EulogiesRock
From: United States
Band
MySpaceThe Fight (I've Come To Like) (live on WOXY).mp3 
AptekaRock / Psychedelic
From: Chicago, Ill.
Band
MySpaceThe Sheet.mp3
Will DaileyRock / Acoustic / Roots Music
From: Boston, Mass.
Band
MySpaceNever Be Your baby (live on WERS) .mp3
Dudley SaundersAlternative / Folk Rock / Pop
From: Los Angeles, Calif.
Band
MySpaceBad Driver.mp3 ~~~~~
(
Pictures, top-to-bottom: Caw! Caw!, Verismo, Apteka)
Labels: "alternative", hip-hop, indie, metal, pop muzik, rock
Michael and Farrah...
In the past hour, my childhood has passed in front of my eyes. Busy at work all day, I had no idea Farrah Fawcett had died until I got home this evening. I turned on the TV and saw that on the ticker while CNN was reporting first that Michael Jackson had been hospitalized, then that he had died. As of now (7 p.m. EST), the
L.A. Times is reporting Michael has died, although that has not yet been officially confirmed.
Neither star was in the best of health recently: Michael’s overall health was questionable, although he was reportedly in training for his planned tour; and Farrah had been battling cancer since 2006. While their deaths don’t come as a surprise necessarily, it is still shocking that two such iconic people have passed.
I remember watching the Jackson Five cartoons on Saturday mornings when I was maybe eight or nine years old. Some of the early Jackson’s singles were among the first records I ever got: “ABC,” “I’ll Be There,” all that old stuff. And of course,
Thriller, the biggest selling album ever. Even though by the time the album came out, I was hardly the Michael Jackson fan I had been as a kid, there was no way I could deny the impact of the record. I’ve never owned the album, but there is not a song on it I don’t know. That’s how influential and how much of a phenomenon the album was and, frankly, still is.
And Farrah, too. Wow – this is nearly overwhelming. You find me a male who was a teenager in the late 70’s and didn’t own the Farrah poster, and I’ll show you... well, whatever. That poster – in its way – was every bit the phenomenon
Thriller was. Sales estimates range from five million to eight million. Farrah said at one point she earned more in royalties from poster sales than from her salary for appearing in “Charlie's Angels.”
This is truly a sad day.
Billie Jean.mp3 Theme from Charlie’s Angels.mp3 Charlie’s Angels.mp3 ~ Mary Shelley Overdrive
~~~~~~
update: The L.A. County coroner has just confirmed Michael is dead.
Labels: current events, funk, industrial, TV
Get on the Chickenfoot
I like to think that I’m pretty much on top of new music insofar as the stuff that interests me. That’s why it totally took me by surprise when I read a couple of weeks ago about the latest supergroup, a band called Chickenfoot.
Chickenfoot, for those who haven’t heard, is the teaming of legendary rockers Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony, and Chad Smith. The band, as the members say, “kicks a donkey's ass six ways to Sunday and back again.”
Chickenfoot came together almost by accident, a result of jams held at Hagar’s club, Cabo Wabo Cantina, in Cabo San Lucas. “We were just having fun,” says Michael Anthony in the band bio. “After Sammy and I left Van Halen, we’d get together with musicians, and certain people seemed to really gel. Chad came down and we got on well with him. Gradually, we started talking about doing something more serious, but we needed a guitarist. Somebody smokin’ – somebody who could take us to the Promised Land.”
That somebody turned out to be Joe Satriani, who is happy to be part of a band. “I never mapped out a plan to be an instrumentalist,” he says. “I really wanted to be a part of a big vocal-oriented rock band. I had offers, but nothing seemed to fit. Everything seemed like a career move...until Chickenfoot.”
To me, this band fulfills what Hagar could – and should – have done during his tenure with Van Halen. In Satriani, Hagar has teamed with one of the few rock guitarists who can out-Van Halen Eddie Van Halen. If Van Halen would have kept rocking like this, instead of turning pop, maybe they could have kept their early reputation as rock gods.
“Soap on a Rope,” which I’m sampling for you tonight, is typical of the type of music Chickenfoot is putting out: Instead of playing woulda/coulda Sammy takes this band back to his days with Montrose. It’s great to hear him back with a band that wants to rock, and it’s also amazing to hear Joe Satriani in a band with a seasoned rock singer.
Soap on a Rope.mp3 Labels: guitar heroes, new stuff, rock
Happy Father's Day
Happy Father’s Day to those of you to whom it applies. I’ve been away all weekend, but I wanted to get this post up tonight, and I’d like to dedicate it to the memory of my stepfather.
My stepfather passed away last year. Due to some ridiculous circumstances beyond my control, there is/was a rift in the family and I had been out of touch with him for several years. He was part of my life much, much longer than my biological father, and I regret I wasn’t able to see him before his death.
When I think back about him, I have several memories. He was a very quiet person – an old school, strong silent type – kind of like Hank Hill without the accent. I rarely saw him express much emotion, although he did become noticeably more irritable for several months after he stopped smoking.
One memory that comes back to me because it was so out-of-character was one night driving back from a trip out of town. I was probably 11 or 12 years old at the time. My mom, my sisters, and I were all asleep when something woke me up. I heard something unusual and as I sat there in the dark, I realized my dad was singing along with some old country song on radio.
My step-dad wasn’t a big fan of music, preferring talk radio, but when he did listen to music it was always old country. For the life of me, I couldn’t tell you the name of the song he was singing that night. If I could, I’d post that. Instead, I’ve got Kris Kristofferson, which is the same era and style my dad enjoyed.
Sunday Morning Coming Down.mp3 Labels: country music
'Drug-fueled Stupidity' FTW
I am full on aware that when I post stuff like tonight’s band I get probably half as many hits as I would if I were to post, say, a Led Zeppelin boot. But here’s my thinking: First, you’ve probably noticed Licorice Pizza is – and will remain – ad free. “F” the corporate man. I do this for fun, not profit, and while I like people to stop by, hits do not equal dollars on this page.
Next, to me blogging has always been about discovering new music. I love classic rock and I will still post it when the urge strikes, but if I can share some lesser-known music and even one person enjoys it, I feel like I’ve done my job as a blogger. I was ecstatic to get a couple of notes from people who dug
Peter Pan Speedrock. I went to bed happy that night.
So, off my soapbox and on to the music....
The Bulemics are a four-piece punk rock band from Austin, Texas. I forget how I found these guys, but their music is exactly what I need from a punk band: Mindless fun. They’re not preaching anarchy or hate or anything other than “drug-fueled stupidity.”
They’re known in some circles as Austin’s most savage band, following in the footsteps of punk legends The Dead Boys, The Germs, and GG Allin. Austin’s alt-weekly paper,
The Austin Chronicle went so far a few years ago as to refer to The Bulemics as “the heirs to the crown of ugly, irritable garage punk.”
The Bulemics have been together 13 years, which is forever in punk time. Remarkably (or not, considering the seemingly ever-rotating line-up), The Bulemics have only released six full-length albums during their time. And the last one, 2007’s
Still Too Young to Care, doesn’t even really count because it’s a retrospective / greatest hits disk. They are, though, reportedly working on a new album.
Tonight’s music comes from that retrospective, which collects music spanning from the band’s formative years to more recent tracks.
Still Too Young to Care also features some alternate versions and a few previously unreleased songs. And for extra fun, the physical version comes with a DVD (I got mine from
eMusic, so, sadly I didn’t get that).
There’s a great review of
Still Too Young to Care from a site called
No Front Teeth (a site itself well worth checking out): “This is band that is resolute in wreaking havoc and keeping rock ‘n’ roll evil and who the fuck can blame them?” the review starts. “Someone has to do this before we lose rock ‘n’ roll altogether to the faggy mall chains.”
The review goes on to say, “There's no danger left in rock ‘n’ roll anymore...everyone's calmed down or dead or signed their soul away or whatever so it's all so fucking boring now and when you get a release like this it just ignites that rebellion and complete unpredictability.”
I mean, if that that paragraph alone doesn’t make you want to hear this music, well, I just don’t know what else to say.
Snuff Queen.mp3 Fat Bottom Girls (Queen cover).mp3 Labels: covers, punk
'Your Kids Will Love It or We'll Eat a Bug'
Tonight’s musical selection is strictly for those who like a little horror theatre with their rock ‘n’ roll.
From Pensacola, Fla., comes Demon God 7, a four-piece, self-described “touring Halloween carnival.” Thematically, DG7 may remind some of White Zombie, particularly with such song titles as “Zombies” and “Rape Me With a Kiss.” Musically, however, I really have to say these guys have a sort of unique sound. They claim influences from Motley Crue to Johnny Cash (!), but bandleader / vocalist Dr. Robert has an almost crooning vocal style, which is overlaid with distortion. If there is anyway I can say “rockabilly metal” and have that make sense, that might describe Dr. Robert and Demon God 7.
“We've been described as ‘pop-y swamp punk,’” Dr. Robert said in a September 2008 interview with
Famecast.com. “But as far as comparing ourselves to anyone, I think we're pretty original. I don't necessarily think we're better than everyone else, but we're definitely different.”
Dr. Robert said what DG7’s audiences witness is something completely different from any other live performance. “We are like a fun house,” he said. “Funny but a little scary. Our shows are designed as over-the-top horror comedy themes with magic and props.”
I wish I could tell you a little more about DG7 – maybe where they’re playing or what they’re up to. The “news” link on the band Website has a clock counting down to the next scheduled apocalypse (Dec. 21, 2012) and their
MySpace has even fewer clues. What you can do, however, is check out these songs, then click over to the Demon God 7 Webpage. There, after you look at the
apocalypse countdown clock, you can download some more of their
music.
She’ll Ride.mp3 Zombiez.mp3Labels: metal, psychobilly
Music from My Mailbox
Tons of stuff in this early month mailbox purge. Even as I compile this, more music is flooding the LICORICE PIZZA inbox, so with luck and proper organizational skills, I may actually get out another mailbox post this month. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed.
You’re going to see a couple more than usual electro-dance sorta things. Everybody wants to be the next Lady Gaga. I usually just delete these and move on unless I think the song is catchy or somewhat interesting, or if I just happen to be in a good mood. Two of the more interesting are the tracks by Ze! and Emma. Ze’s in particular has an 80’s synth vibe to it.
On the rock side of the street is where you’re going to find my pick of the litter, which goes this time to The Perms for their solid indie rock – not a ZZ Top cover – track, “Give Me All Your Lovin’.” I’m also liking the county-tinged tracks by Leslie and the Badgers and the interestingly named Donny Hue and The Colors.
As always, follow the links for more information.
The PermsPowerpop / Indie / Rock
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Band
MySpaceGive Me All Your Lovin’.mp3 
Ancient AstronautsDown-tempo / Funk / Hip Hop
Cologne, Germany
Band
MySpaceEverybody.mp3 Zé!Electro / Pop / Disco House
Kuala Lumpur / Brussels / London, UK
Band
MySpaceI Am Glam.mp3 Leslie and the BadgersIndie / Folk Rock / Country
Pompadourous Angeles, Calif.
Band
MySpaceLos Angeles.mp3 Jessie Murphy In The WoodsIndie / Lyrical / Glam
New York, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceIn the Woods.mp3 
EMMARap / Electro / Club
Essen // Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
Band
MySpaceCouch Potato.mp3Donny Hue and the ColorsOther / Experimental / Country
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceI speak of the Hayseed Cousins.mp3 Jeannine HebbPop / R&B / Rock
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceThings Haven’t Been So Bad Lately.mp3 The Plastic RevolutionPop / Rock / Electronica
San Diego, Los Angeles, Calif., & New York, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceSex-Crazed.mp3 
TPF!Electro / Punk
Los Angeles, Calif.
Band
MySpace143.mp3 new numbersIndie
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Band
MySpaceWhatever I Want.mp3 ~~~~~
pictures, top-to-bottom: Ancient Astronauts, Emma, TPFLabels: alt.country, electronic, funk, hip-hop, indie, new stuff
'Long Cool Woman'
The Hollies’ 1972 hit “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress” is one of my all time favorite songs. And here’s why: Until the Internet age, when all information is available to all people, I could never completely decipher the lyrics. All I could ever figure out for sure was something about bars, FBI agents, DA’s, and, of course, a long cool woman.
Not knowing the lyrics made it all the more fascinating and mysterious to me. I’ve always pictured the events of the song taking place in a noir-type setting. “Long Cool Woman” preceded MTV by about 10 years so fortunately no video ever came along to ruin that image.
Even now, when a click of a mouse gives me not only
lyrics, but a
plot description, the song still takes on an almost Coenesque beauty when I hear it.
Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress.mp3 Labels: classic rock
The Truth About the 'Legendary Motor-Rockers'
The other day I mentioned in passing the “legendary motor-rockers” Peter Pan Speedrock. I’ve got to admit I was sort of making things up as I went along: I’d never heard of those guys. I was just taking for granted that since BugGiRL had brought them all the way to Australia from The Netherlands, PPSR must know their way around some rock ‘n’ roll.
But while I was doing that
BugGiRL post, I was also doin' me a little research on Peter Pan Speedrock. As it turns out, these guys are somewhat legendary, just not so much here in the U.S.
PPSR hail from Eindhoven, in The Netherlands. Guitarist Peter van Elderen, drummer Bart Nederhand, and bass player Bob Muileboom formed the band in 1996. Muileboom left after the first album, to be replaced in 1997 by Bart Geevers. Peter, Bart, and Bartman still make up PPSR.
Over the last decade, PPSR have released only seven albums and a handful of singles and split disks. Their most recent full album was 2007’s
Pursuit Until Capture. I found a Dutch review of the album, which roughly translated, says, “The complete album is vigorous and up-tempo and ensures a common festive poll.”
Seriously, though, if you’re a fan of heavy rock, you need to be a fan of Peter Pan Speedrock. This is a serious, gritty, blues-based hard rock ‘n’ roll that is equal parts Motorhead and Nashville Pussy. Tonight’s music is a couple of songs from various PPSR albums and one from a Johnny Cash tribute album called
An International Underground Tribute To The Man In Black. All three are very indicative of what you can expect to hear from this band.
Go Satan Go.mp3 Sailor Man.mp3 Ghost Riders in the Sky.mp3 Most of Peter Pan Speedrock’s albums and some of the compilations they’ve contributed to are available on
eMusic. You can (and should) also go to their
MySpace for more information.
Labels: hard rock, psychobilly, rock
Iggy upsets the universe
There seems to be no middle ground with Iggy’s new album,
Préliminaires; people seem to either
love it or
hate it.
I’m on the love it side of the fence. Although nothing will ever come close to the raw greatness of the first Stooges disks, this album is as much a “fuck you” to the industry as those albums were. “I just got sick of listening to idiot thugs with guitars,” Iggy said about his decision to record an album with more sax then violence.
Préliminaires is influenced by New Orleans jazz artists such as Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton, and includes a cover of the 1940’s French jazz standard “Les feuilles mortes” (Autumn Leaves), which Iggy sings in French (“Finally, I can say, ‘Thank God for that junior high French class,’” Ig told
Rolling Stone ). There are also spoken-word and acoustic blues tracks on what has to be Iggy’s most diverse collection ever. Everything fits together very nicely, though, even the one guitar driven track, “Nice to be Dead.”
The songs are based on images and ideas from The Possibility of an Island, a 2005 novel by the French writer Michel Houellebecq. A couple of years ago, Iggy was commissioned to write some music for a documentary about Houellebecq.
Préliminaires came out of that project.
King of the Dogs.mp3 Iggy has also set up a great
Website to accompany
Préliminaires, including videos, links to interviews, and information about ordering the deluxe version of the album.
Labels: alt.jazz, new stuff, punk
Down the 'Fire Highway' with BugGiRL
If you, like me, are a fan of Australian rock ‘n’ roll, you’ll remember me writing
a while ago about Sydney duo BugGiRL.
That being the case, I was pleased to recently get a note announcing the release of a new BugGiRL EP,
Blood, Sweat, and Beers. For this five-track disk, singer/guitarist BugGiRL and drummer Mallets of Mayhem teamed with producer and engineer Mark Opitz, the man behind AC/DC’s great
Powerage and
Let There Be Rock albums. “Mark has captured the BugBeast in the studio in its rawest, wildest form,” the band says.
With
Blood, Sweat, and Beers, BugGiRL take on the familiar topics of “guitars, cars, brawls, long hauls, bras, and bars” branding the subjects with their own Motorhead meets The White Stripes style of heavy rock.
BugGiRL just came off a series of Australian shows with Peter Pan Speedrock, the legendary motor-rockers from The Netherlands.
Blood, Sweat, and Beers is due out sometime in late July or early August, then the duo will return to Europe for a series of early fall shows. Still no scheduled U.S. dates, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
To pre-order
Blood, Sweat, and Beers, and for your other BugGiRL needs, click over to the band’s
Website. In the meantime, here’s the title track.
Blood, Sweat, and Beers.mp3 Labels: new stuff, rock
'Just an indie band out of Boston...'*
Wow. Even though day-to-day the week seems to drag by, as a whole it has flown by. The blogosphere relevance being that I haven’t posted since last weekend. I even have some new stuff waiting to post. Just seems like the days have slipped away from me.
anyway....
I got a note last week from Dan Perlman, guitar player for a Boston band called The Big Heavy. Dan sent me a copy of the band’s new EP,
Bombs Away, and asked if I were interested in checking it out.
I’m always up for hearing new rock bands and The Big Heavy do their Boston heritage proud. Their music straddles that line between classic rock and alternative rock. I guess you could say these guys play old-fashioned, no frills rock ‘n’ roll, all the while bringing a solid modern sound.
The Big Heavy has been around the Boston area for a few years, becoming local favorites by working the clubs relentlessly. They got voted one of the top ten bands in the New England area after taking first place in the semi-finals of the national Bodog Battle of the Band competition. They’ve also had the honor of having one of their songs, “Red Sky,” featured in the 2007 cheerleader flick, “Bring It On: In It To Win It.” Like the band says, “TBH + half naked cheerleaders = buy it today!”
Seriously, The Big Heavy is a solid rock ‘n’ roll band. The four tracks on
Bombs Away nicely showcase the band’s range, from the driving beat of the title track to the not-quite-a-power-ballad “Body Shines.”
Bombs Away.mp3 track deleted - go
here to buy...
For more information, or to buy
Bombs Away, click over to The Big Heavy’s
MySpace.
*
credit where credit is due dept: This Boston homage comes from a line in the email Dan Perlamn sent me.Labels: new stuff, rock
Led Zeppelin’s 1997 release BBC Sessions was welcomed in many corners – at long last an official version of what had been bootlegged for almost 30 years. 
The first disk includes three different versions of “Communication Breakdown,” none of which is longer than three minutes. The song is excluded entirely from the second disk. Maybe Jimmy Page thought three versions were enough. He should have maybe dropped one from the first disk and instead included this smokin’ version from the April 1 show. In addition to being straight-up rocking, an extended bridge features Robert Plant vamping through a couple lines from different songs, even tossing in a little bit of the Supremes for good measure. 
