Doom & Gloom From the Tomb

James Brown - Switzerland, 1973 Get on the good foot with this...

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:12:44 -0400

James Brown - Switzerland, 1973

Get on the good foot with this recording of the James Brown Revue, via Big O. Cool that the full JB’s warm-up set is included here. If you’ve ever wanted to hear Maceo and Co. play hits like “Theme From Shaft” and “Backstabbers” today is your lucky day, my friend. Also tons of good Danny Ray flamboyance to enjoy — and of course, Mr. James Brown himself is incandescent.

Robert Fripp - Bathurst Street Theatre, Toronto, Canada, August...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:40:00 -0400

Robert Fripp - Bathurst Street Theatre, Toronto, Canada, August 11, 1979

Eyewitness Account: “Fripp proceeded to melt the walls, including a rendition of what I believe was “1983,” with Fripp ending it by adding progressively longer muted silences, allowing you to hear only his rapid solo guitar arpeggios in the gaps. I recall as the silences got longer, he also progressively lowered his solo guitar volume, until you could only hear the sound of him picking the strings with no amplification. Quite amazing to have absolute total silence with that many in attendance. When he finally stopped, he received a standing ovation, which ended the performance. He may have returned for an encore, but that was undoubtedly the highlight. Another point of interest, at the August 12th show (and possibly at this show), a then completely unknown Jim Carrey opened the show with an incredibly entertaining stand up comedy routine.”

Van Morrison - Mechanical Bliss Here’s something fun...

Thu, 16 May 2013 11:34:43 -0400

Van Morrison - Mechanical Bliss

Here’s something fun — the Midnight Cafe has a speculative version of an unreleased 1975 Van LP, which was to be called Mechanical Bliss, Naked In The Jungle, Not Working For You or Stiff Upper Lip. And yes, the album art above is the same as the album art that graced the cover of Steely Dan’s Royal Scam — it was originally created for Van Morrison. Weird, right? Fagen and Becker later claimed it was “the most hideous album cover of the seventies, bar none (excepting perhaps Can’t Buy A Thrill).” Haha, those guys. Anyway, this is a pretty cool collection — the very detailed details of which can be found over at the Midnight Cafe. Some tunes would appear on subsequent LPs, some tunes would be finally released on the outtakes collection The Philosopher’s Stone and others would be lost to the mists of time — like the truly strange title track. Van has a weird sense of humor, that’s for sure.

“Across The Tappan Zee” - Glenn Jones with Laura...

Wed, 15 May 2013 14:00:26 -0400

“Across The Tappan Zee” - Glenn Jones with Laura Baird

Lovely rendition of this clawhammer duet, which appears on Jones’ My Garden State. Lots of love for the mighty Tappan Zee Bridge!

Chuck Johnson - Three Lobed/WXDU Day Show, Hopscotch Festival,...

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:24:00 -0400

Chuck Johnson - Three Lobed/WXDU Day Show, Hopscotch Festival, Raleigh, NC, September 7, 2012

Dig it — I reviewed three fantastic/fresh Takoma School/American Primitive releases for Aquarium Drunkard: new ones from Chuck Johnson and Glenn Jones plus the latest amazing Imaginational Anthem comp. Johnson’s Crows In The Basilica is out now on Three Lobed and you can go listen/buy at their Bandcamp site. Seriously beautiful stuff. You can also check out this killer live performance from last year’s Hopscotch Festival. Since we’re on the subject — is there some sort of fund drive I can do here so I can go to this year’s festival? It is pretty much the musical event of my dreams. HELP ME REALIZE MY DREAMS.

3 Blocks From Groove Street Yo La Tengo rolls through my neck of...

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:16:00 -0400

3 Blocks From Groove Street

Yo La Tengo rolls through my neck of the woods next week in support of their very very nice Fade LP. I’m excited! Incredibly, it’s been close to six years since I last saw YLT — they don’t make it out to Colorado all that often and I think the last time they were here my wife had just given birth to our daughter. Excuses, excuses! Anyway! Today, I’m digging back into ye olde Sunsquashed Archives to bring you this vintage recording of Georgia, Ira and Stephan Wichnewski playing The Cubby Bear in Chicago, IL in the bygone spring of 1988. They almost sound like a totally different band, to be honest — and a pretty ferocious band at that. The New Wave Hot Dogs-heavy set is packed with snarling guitars, snarling vocals and other snarling things. It’s a blast. Stick around ‘til the end for Ira’s solo (but very electric) rendition of the Jackson Browne favorite “Somebody’s Baby.”

Download

This is also a good time to plug Jesse Jarnow’s excellent bio of the band, Big Day Coming. Buy!

Henry Flynt I wrote a bit about Superior Viaduct’s highly...

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:39:35 -0400

Henry Flynt

I wrote a bit about Superior Viaduct’s highly recommended reish of Henry Flynt’s avant hillbilly opus, Graduation, over at Aquarium Drunkard. A really awesome, one of a kind record. If you want to sample some of Henry’s other work, head over to Ubu Web, where there are some out of print recordings and a great WFMU interview from 2004.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Roxy Theatre, West...

Mon, 13 May 2013 18:48:11 -0400

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood, CA, October, 17, 1975

Hot on the heels of Born To Run’s release, Bruce and co. burned down the Sunset Strip. A classic via BB Chronicles.

Holy Wave Planning on checking these guys out in Denver this...

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:25:00 -0400

Holy Wave

Planning on checking these guys out in Denver this weekend, on the recommendation of Erik/Lightbulb Head. Don’t know much about ‘em except that they’re from Texas and they sound kinda like My Bloody Valentine playing the Ventures, with a little bit of Syd-era Floyd thrown in for good measure. More tour dates here and a bunch of mp3s here.

Basho Live New to me — and new to you, too? There are...

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:52:36 -0400

Basho Live

New to me — and new to you, too? There are several amazingly wonderful Robbie Basho live performances/radio sessions over on Archive.org, shedding new light on this astonishing guitarist. Great to hear some of these interviews — for a guy who made spiritual music of the highest level, he’s quite down to earth.

Ode To Gravity: An Interview with Robbie Basho, KPFA, San Francisco, CA, November 6, 1974

Deli Natural Restaurant, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 21, 1978

Sinclair Auditorium/Coe College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July, 22,1978

Stone City General Store in Stone City, Iowa, 1982

Live From Studio One, KUNI, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Febuary 7, 1983

Thanks to Dying For Bad Music for the heads up and RobbieBasho.com for getting it out there.

You may also be interested to know that there is a Basho documentary in the works.

Florian Fricke - Die Erde Und Ich Sind Eins (I Am One With The...

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:25:00 -0400

Florian Fricke - Die Erde Und Ich Sind Eins (I Am One With The Earth)

Guitar – Daniel Fichelscher
Vocals – Anni Morris Wieland, Bettina Fricke Waldthausend, Dieter Prym, Florian Fricke, Friedemann Berger, Friedemann Wieland, Gisela Von Doering, Ingeborg Jahnke, Jan Lorck-Shjmerning, Jana Faust, Karl F. Weber, Klaudia Wieland

Never reissued and very out of print! Doomy vocal chants emanating from deep within the collective subconscious, transmitted onto cassette by the Popol Vuh mastermind. Ohmmmmmm.

The Grateful Dead - May 5-9, 1977 Since today is the anniversary...

Wed, 08 May 2013 11:24:03 -0400

The Grateful Dead - May 5-9, 1977

Since today is the anniversary of the Dead’s famed Barton Hall show in ‘77, let’s all listen to this stellar run of shows. New Haven, Boston, Ithaca, Buffalo! Take a step BACK.

FIVE MIXES Here are some groovy things I’ve been enjoying...

Tue, 07 May 2013 11:10:39 -0400

FIVE MIXES

Here are some groovy things I’ve been enjoying recently. You will enjoy them too.

Yeti Listening Hour #3 - Mike McGonigal mix of kiwi pop, raw gospel, Otis Redding Coke ads.

Stoner Loners II - “Put this on, smoke a spliff, curl up in a blanket, and push through.”

Nashville Eye and Ear Control, vol. 3 - A fantastic comp of tunes from William Tyler, many of which he says were references for his highly, highly recommended album, Impossible Truth.

Don’t Puncture My Tranquility - Mix tape from the great Steve Gunn, with a whole bunch of wonderful stuff. Gunn’s forthcoming Time Off album (out in June) is easily one of my top 5 LPs of 2013. More on that later!

Old Gold: Sonoran Country, Garage Blues, Pop, Soul, and Avant-garde from Arizona 1951-1971 - A fine, eclectic mix over at Aquarium Drunkard.

Mikal Cronin - MCII When I first heard Mikal Cronin’s...

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:33:25 -0400

Mikal Cronin - MCII

When I first heard Mikal Cronin’s latest solo release a month or so back, I was a little underwhelmed. I had just seen Cronin perform as a member of Ty Segall’s incendiary live band and the glorious, off the rails racket of those shows was still ringing in my ears. But I’m glad I went back to MCII, because this is one infectious album, stuffed full of soaring melodies, sunkissed vocals and classic songcraft. Over ten tracks, Cronin establishes himself as a true contender in the power pop sweepstakes, giving AC Newman a run for his money in terms of pure, unadulterated catchiness. This is a record that’ll sound even better in the summer months, too.

Stream MCII

Late Breaking: Check out Cronin covering The Proclaimers and Six Pence None The Richer (!) at Aquarium Drunkard.

“Manic Monday (Demo)” I started reading...

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:47:00 -0400

“Manic Monday (Demo)”

I started reading Touré’s I Would Die 4 U: Why Prince Became An Icon over the weekend — some interesting stuff, though I’m not sure I love the author’s primary thesis that divorce is the driving force behind Prince’s ambition/brilliance/tortured soul. Not that it’s wrong, necessarily, but that kind of armchair psychology feels unworthy of the dude’s mysterious genius. Actually, reading it has mainly just made me want to read a big collection of interviews with people who have worked with Prince in the studio. Does such a thing exist? Anyhoo, for your personal manic Monday, here’s the Purple One’s original demo for the Bangles’ smash hit. Guess what, the Bangles didn’t change much.

Opal - Early Recordings I wrote a little bit about Kendra...

Mon, 06 May 2013 11:11:35 -0400

Opal - Early Recordings

I wrote a little bit about Kendra Smith’s very obscure Guild of Temporal Adventurers mini LP for Aquarium Drunkard this week — go check it out and then go check out Smith’s best work, this amazing (and amazingly out of print) collection. Someone’s gotta figure out how to reissue this stuff!

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 - 930 Club, Washington, DC,...

Fri, 03 May 2013 16:31:00 -0400

Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 - 930 Club, Washington, DC, April 27, 2013

An excellent recent show! I’ve been a bit on the fence about Robyn’s new one, Love From London — some good tunes, some unfortunate production choices. But the Venus 3 make those songs their own here to great effect. Lots of other good stuff too, including a shredding VU/Dylan/Beatles/Byrds finale.

“Help Me Rhonda” Session - The Beach Boys,...

Fri, 03 May 2013 13:00:00 -0400

“Help Me Rhonda” Session - The Beach Boys, 1965

Important things to learn here about:

Southern California
Fame
Record-making in the 1960s
Fatherhood

[Link fixed…]

“Give It Up Or Turn It Loose” - James Brown,...

Fri, 03 May 2013 11:46:00 -0400

“Give It Up Or Turn It Loose” - James Brown, Bologna, Italy, April 1971

James Brown would have turned 80 today. Here he is bringing the funk to Italy in the early 1970s. Can we put James’ face on the $1 bill already? George Washington has had his time. Here are a bunch more classic clips.

The Smiths - Paseo De Camoens, Parque del Oeste, Madrid, Spain,...

Thu, 02 May 2013 13:38:00 -0400

The Smiths - Paseo De Camoens, Parque del Oeste, Madrid, Spain, May 18, 1985

I’ve been reading the new, excellent, and lengthy Smiths bio, A Light That Never Goes Out, and it’s sent me in search of live clips of the band. This one, from the Meat Is Murder tour, was apparently the biggest gig The Smiths ever played, and it’s a good reminder of why this group was so unique and so beloved during their short lifespan. Morrissey’s majestically goofy stage presence, Marr’s deceptively simple jangle, and the lithe rhythm section of Rourke/Joyce all add up to something strangely magical close to three decades later. What’s most amazing about reading about the Smiths saga is how much they crammed into just about five years. Meteoric isn’t quite a strong enough word to describe their rise (or fall, I suppose). A one of a kind band, if ever there was one.