Double Dip Chocolate Cone

Sorry for my lack of posts this week, here's a double treat for you all.

First off, remember Wang Chung? Of course you do..."Dance Hall Days," "Everybody Have Fun Tonight?" Yeah, yeah, I know, not songs you really want to hear right now. But think a bit more...back in 1985, the band looked like this:



and then, in 1986, they looked like this:



Notice anything different? Besides the lack of a scarf? That's right...someone's missing. That would be Darren Costin, who left the band to go off and do his own thing. His own thing, would be the band Heroes.



Doesn't he look so SERIOUS?

Now remember, step back a bit, put yourself in the EIGHTIES when you listen to the tracks, and, well, they aren't really that bad. Yes, it's very 80's sounding, and they do sound a lot like Wang Chung, although, one might argue, a bit better than Wang Chung after he left. The album was produced by Richard Burgess (scroll down on the link). Yes that's right, the guy who produced Adam and the Ants, Spandau Ballet, When in Rome, Shriekback and New Edition. Did I just mention New Edition in this blog...oh boy. Anyway, here you go:

Heroes - Driftaway REMOVED
Heroes - Here We Are REMOVED

Oh, I did say a double treat, didn't I? So to redeem myself (haha! Is that possible at this point?) Here's some Big Audio Dynamite. I know, I know, this is all old, you want something new. Ain't gonna happen today, kids. I'm stubborn that way.



Don't know who these guys are either...oh boy. Well, after Mick Jones left the clash he went on to form BAD. A band that pushed the boundaries of sampling and beats that the Clash were playing with....you can check out the full story over here.

Both of these tracks are from 12" albums, I don't think you can get them anywhere but on vinyl.

Big Audio Dynamite - Sightsee West London REMOVED
Big Audio Dynamite - Hollywood Boulevard (Club Mix) REMOVED

Here's the Amazon link for your Big Audio Dynamite fix. And Mick's latest project is Carbon/Silicon.

Mods rejoice!

Seen the new Vespa PX 150 yet? Only 500 in the States.

We are the mods! We are the Mods! We are, we are, we are the Mods!

Midi - Moog - Fairlight

Some interesting interviews over at New Scientiest with Dave Smith (MIDI), Bob Moog (Moog) and Peter Vogel (Fairlight)

Boing Boing: Interviews with electronic music pioneers

David Byrne launches internet radio station

Once again, it's Boing Boing on the scoop:

Boing Boing: David Byrne launches internet radio station

and he admits to having "illegally downloaded some songs." For shame!

...let's all sit down and cry...

If you've been here before, you know my on-going battle with posting music by my favorite artists...and how I keep threatening you with a Wolfgang Press post...well, I'm getting there. But before we get there, I wanted to share a little history with you. In 1980, 4AD records' 5th release was by the short-lived band Rema Rema. And by short, I mean one ep and a couple of compilations. Their release was the 4 song Wheel in the Roses. Rema Rema are more known for what they didn't do, than what they did: one of their songs (Rema Rema) was later covered by Big Black and another (Fond Affections) was re-made for the first This Mortal Coil album. And the members of the band went on to bigger things as well. Mark Cox (vox), Michael Allen, and Gary Asquith went on to form another short-lived band, Mass. But it gets more interesting later on. After Mass broke up, Gary Asquith went on to form Renegade Soundwave. Marco Pirroni was later a member of Adam and the Ants. The other member, Max, went on to make a name for herself in the ballroom dance circuit (I think she still drums now and then, though I don't know for whom).

And Mark and Michael, after quitting Mass went on to form Wolfgang Press. Ahh, see I told you this was going somewhere.

So, when you listen to these two songs, listen to them with the idea of where they're going and the ripples formed by their sounds. You can very clearly hear the future of Wolgang Press in here...and Renegade Soundwave as well. Whether or not Adam and the Ants are buried in the sound, I'll let you decide.

And listen to those Bauhaus like guitars on Fond Affections.

Rema Rema - Fond Affections REMOVED
Rema Rema - Rema Rema REMOVED

As so often, these tracks are only available on the used market...

UPDATE: Wheel in the Roses is availalbe on CD, direct from 4AD, go to the shop section and search for Rema Rema. I removed one of the tracks as a result, as there are only 4 on the release. Go buy it!

take this for what it's worth...

Back in 1981 and 1982, before the Thompson Twins were three, they released two albums (or three, depending on how you count them) that didn't get nearly as much attention here in the states as their later stuff did. Their second album, Set or In the Name of Love as it was known in the states is where I'm culling from today. The band, at this point, was made up of 7 members, it's the only releases that was, and included guest musician Thomas Dolby. In my opinion, it's one of their strongest releases, about the only one I can listen to without it sounding overly 80's. The reasons lie mainly in the complexity of the songs and their tempo - there are a lot more layers of percussion and sound. The results are an album that's less anchored in "pop" and more leaning towards mood.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are still very strong pop elements in this album. It just so happens that there is more experimentation than usual, and a lot more leanings towards reggae.

Here are two tracks from Set, released in 1982.

Thompson Twins - Tok Tok/Good Gosh REMOVED
Thompson Twins - Crazy Dog REMOVED

The above image is taken from this very thorough discography site. Unfortunately, their first couple of albums are no longer available on CD, although they are available used at the usual places.

Justin Hinds

The Suburbs are Killing Us has a post up about Justin Hinds, one of the ska originals. He died on March 16th from Lung Cancer at the age of 62.

The Suburbs Are Killing Us

I've got to get away from here

I've been really short on time lately, another quick post...
________

Music is a table from which I sample freely...if you visit here regularly, you probably know by now that I venture everywhere. I've been negligent in discussing reggae, mainly because I'm not an expert and I tend to be pretty extreme about it. There are quite a few artists in the genre that I only like 1 or two songs by, mainly because I feel like there is a good amount of repetition.



That being said, here are two of my favorite tracks, both by classic reggae artists. The first is a track by Dennis Brown. The man is a legend within the reggae world. He began recording when he was 11 and had a huge number of hits. There's actually a good bio over at All Music, as well as a number of other sites about him out there. You can find his releases over at Trojan, as well as just about anywhere else. "Man Next Door" has that perfect laid back beat, and Dennis' vocals are so imploring and full of emotion.

Dennis Brown - Man Next Door REMOVED



The next is a track by John Holt, who got his start back in the 60's as the lead singer for the Paragons. He's done it all and he's still out their touring. This is one of my son's favorite tracks, he's six and can pretty much sing the whole song. It's one of those tunes, that in many ways, represents the sound and fills it up with a political message as well. John Holt has a voice that's sweeter than most reggae artists, and he's also a fairly powerful songwriter. He also began performing at a young age, when he was 12. There's also a pretty decent bio of him over at All Music as well. You can find his releases through the usual locations, including Trojan.

John Holt - It's a Jam In The Streets REMOVED

Again, both artists can be found over at Trojan Records as well as Amazon.

And on another note, Desmond Dekker is out there touring as well, and looks like he'll be hitting the states. You can find the dates over on Trojan Records' site.

UPDATE: In mentioning John Holt's songwriting abilities, I completely forgot to mention that both of these tracks are penned by him. Whoops!

recently...

Just got some new albums and I can't get over how good some of the songs are on the Even's album. The Evens are Ian Mackaye and Amy Farina, and well, there are a couple of tracks on here that just wonderful. It's really refreshing to hear Amy's influence on the whole thing and hear her sing. I'm so familiar with Ian's music that when you've just got two people in the band, you can almost dissect the creative contributions they've each made. Of course, I'm assumming a lot in doing so, but I can't help that. It's got this raw, stripped down sound to it, it's just refreshing.

I'm reluctant to post any tracks by them, the reasons are complex. I'm gonna have to stew on this one.

Apparently, Dischord will be offerring up their entire catalog within the month through the iTunes music store as well as on Downloadpunk.com. They're also working on making the catalog available through their own site as well as Microsoft Music.

Dischord | News

So sue me: Jon Lech Johansen's blog

This guy's pulled off his gloves and is going for the long haul. He just reverse engineered the iTunes fix that blocked third party access.

So sue me: Jon Lech Johansen's blog

If you didn't notice, Apple was all over the news this morning with the fix, specifically in regards to Jon's application, PyMusique, which has been followed on Boing Boing (and others).

UPDATE:
Boing Boing link to the story as well.

I stare and you stare back...

They've been blogged before, but with the recent addition of their own mp3 blog, I thought it would be a good time to give a nod to Sweet Billy Pilgrim.

Regardless, the main reason for mentioning Sweet Billy Pilgrim is the music. And it's good. Especially "Experience," which manages to perfectly meld the light sounds of found electronic sparks with the organic. It slowly builds and brings you down, washing over you and leaving you thirsty for more. Each of the songs have that softness to them, like you're sleeping through them, dreaming the songs. And recently they were involved with the David Sylvian remix album, "The Good Son Vs. The Only Daughter," so you know you can't go wrong.

Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Experience
Sweet Billy Pilgrim - God In The Details
Sweet Billy Pilgrim - Ain't No Jesus In Here

So visit their site and check out the blog, which features tracks by Hugo Largo and Joan as Police Woman (great song, go and listen!).

And that picture above, well it has nothing to do with Sweet Billy Pilgrim except that google brought it up and I couldn't pass it by.

I almost forgot, currently their releases are available on their site and Boomkat.

Tuxedomoon @ Cafe duNord 3-19-05

Tuxedomoon live...it's been years in the making for me...and it was a treat, even if some events conspired to try to make it not...mainly that the band didn't go on until 12:00, which is a little late for my blood and a lot late for my wife's, who ended up asleep at a table in the back. Normally, I wouldn't be too worried about it, but since I dragged her to the show I felt responsible and anxious as a result, wanting to leave early. But I had heard from a reliable source that Winston Tong was going to show up and play and felt like I had to stay for that.

And he did, show up that is. As for singing, well, he seemed very nervous and out-of-sorts. Standing next to the mixing board has it's rewards, as I could tell that the set list changed, from having a song (The Cage) in which Winston actually sings to playing one in which he accompanies Blaine and Steven on vocals.



It was still a real treat to see him with the rest of the group, and Steven seemed very happy to have him up there, putting his arm around him a few times. I saw Winston perform about 8 years ago here in San Francisco, where he lives. It was an interesting performance, mostly spoken word, and I was fortunate enough to meet Winston and spend a few minutes with him. He was very lively and animated then, and not at all like he seemed on stage at duNord, where he was very nervous.

Their performance was pretty strong, their new album isn't as challenging and unique as some of their earlier work, but there are some great songs on it. They played a lot of their older material as well, but re-worked it with great results. The crowd was pretty interesting. There was an older couple probably in their 80's hanging out in the back and some little kids running around as well.

Some friends of a friend have a late night radio show and they recently did a spotlight on Tuxedomoon with some rare tracks, you can check out their blog here, at no other radio network. And here's a direct link to the radio show. It also features the Legendary Pink Dots and Louis the 14th.

No Other Radio Network - March 16th, 2005

Here's a link to Winston Tong's site, there are a few tunes available there, including one of my favorite tracks he's recorded, (also one of my favorite Barrett songs):

Winston Tong - Late Night (Syd Barrett cover)

And here's a link to Tuxedomoon's official page,

Turkish Daily News - Jonathan Richman in Turkey

Turkish Daily News - Jonathan Richman in Turkey

check out the cool image...

and both of them began to smile

Wall of Voodo was a combination of western deserts and new wave posturing...a mix of dry beauty and the cold electronics of the dance floor. And the result was something strange...a concoction of which you didn't know what to do with...but you liked it regardless.

Wall of Voodoo - Lost Weekend REMOVED
Wall of Voodoo - Ring of Fire (from stanridgway.com)

Stan Ridgway is still out there, making music, good music. In fact his site has some musical links:

Wall of Voodo vs. NIN - Mexican Radio/Head Like a Hole mashup - Head Like A Radio

Stan Ridgway - Train of Thought (live at Great American Music Hall)

Be sure and check out stanridgeway.com, there's some great stuff over there. Including Stan's notes from the "Call of the West" recording sessions, and a link to a great interview from 1983. There's also some great images, like the one above.

You can purchase a load of Wall of Voodo products over at Amazon, including the CD from which the above track came from, Call of the West. Stan Ridgway is also well represented at Amazon. Surprisingly, neither have anything at iTunes.

Clearance Sale!

This is gonna be a real quick post tonight, running short on time.



Few of you youngsters know this, but back in 1988 Underworld was not the band you know. They were an 80's synth band, like so many others. They also happened to be very "marketable." I mean, just look at how cool they were.



Here's a track from their debut album, Underneath the Radar. This is from the promo single for "Show Me Some Emotion," and although it's listed as a remix, it's not that different, just a bit longer than the single version, which are both shorter than the album version.

Underworld - Show Me Some Emotion (remix) REMOVED

You can buy the album over at Amazon used or as an import (here in the USA).



Another collection I dug up is Rubaiyat, Elektra's 40th Anniversary release. I originally bought it for the Cure, Pixies and Beautiful South tracks on it, but the track that stuck out to me the most was a real surprise.

Faster Pussycat - You're So Vain REMOVED

Something about these guys seeing this song is just perfect. It's cheesy, but I like cheese. Here's a link to their site (yup, they're still together and touring it seems). Rubaiyat is also available used over at Amazon, as well as Faster Pussycat's releases.

Drawn!

I know it's not music related, but I'm loving this new blog, Drawn!

It focuses on art, and bills itself as "a collaborative weblog for illustrators, artists, cartoonists, and anyone who likes to draw." It's mainly about sharing what they find, trying to inspire in the process. There have been some beautiful links on their recently. Link this one for a comic strip called "Hunter and Painter."



Check it out at Cabanon Press.

I love you but I've chosen darkness...

Just found these guys through +/-. They're playing with them at SXSW. There's one song up at their site, I couldn't pass it up just based on the name of their band. I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness. Man. How beautiful is that?

I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - When You Go Out

They're out of stock on their CD, but go visit their site if you get a chance. The song's not half bad, either. Would like to hear the rest of the CD.

Update: Edwyn Collins

I want to say thanks to Grace, Edwyn's wife, for keeping everyone updated on his condition. Maybe I'm paying to much attention to this here, but Orange Juice was one of my constants in my younger years and I believe one of the better bands to have been around during the 80's. Plus, Edwyn's a genuine nice guy.

Grace gave us another update on the bulletin boards:
My latest update

Here's the quote:
Dear All This is the most relaxed I've felt about giving you news since this all began. I think we can say that Edwyn is now virtually out of immediate danger. We are organising his next move, to intensive neuro rehabilitation, which should happen in the next few weeks at the latest. This is a tough challenge, but you know he's beaten the odds already and I fully expect him to go on in his customary stubborn manner. He is aware of the wonderful support he has received and I'm printing all the messages out so he can read them when he is able in the near future. If you wish, you can send cards to him at: West Heath Studios, West Heath Yard, 174 Mill Lane, London, NW6 1TB. Meanwhile, his doctors are delighted and a bit confounded at his progress. He's Edwyn. Love to you all Grace

Things can only go up from here.

The Entroporium: My so-called post-punk life, Part 4

Shawn at the Entroporium has an entry on Tuxedomoon today, and well, seeing as how the San Francisco show is this Saturday, I thought I should send you in his direction.

The Entroporium: My so-called post-punk life, Part 4

I had no idea...a good portion of Tuxedomoon's catalog is available through itunes...what is this world coming to?

She didn't notice anything was wrong...

So in rummaging through my old releases, I found a double compilation CD by C'est La Mort Records. I wish I could spread a wealth of information here on this one, but I can't. From what I can tell, C'est La Mort records was a subdivision of Beggars Banquet back in the late 80's and early 90's. I believe they were independant of Beggars at first and became affiliated with them a bit later. As far as the label itself goes, it apparently was "a small, independent goth label that Woody Dumas ran off of his porch in Baker, Louisiana." Back in 1990, it felt to me like it was the younger sibling to 4AD. The label didn't last too long, though, but there are some interesting things left behind.
I hadn't listened to this album in years, so when I pulled it out and started culling through it, imagine my surprise when I noticed that the Magnetic Fields were listed on the album. Strange. I looked at the date, which was 1990 and was a bit shocked. From memory, I was placing "The Charm of the Highway Strip" at around 1994. Then I remembered he had a couple of earlier albums with a female vocalist (Susan Anway). Well, I did some research over at Stephen Merritt's site and that's when I found out those were released in 1991 and 1992. I slipped the disc in, not really paying attention to the song title, and well, that's when I realized I knew the song...only the version I knew had Stephen Merritt singing, not Susan as this version does. And stranger still, this version doesn't seem to be on any of the earlier releases recorded with Susan. In the CD liner notes, it's listed as previously unreleased. So did this song ever make it to the public except on this compilation? As far as I can tell, it only exists here. I'd love to find out more info, though, so if you know, please fill me in. I did find this mention of the track here, in this Stephen Merritt discography.

Magnetic Fields - Crowd of Drifters REMOVED

It's especially interesting to note the differences in the music in this track and the version on Highway.

You can purchase a slew of Magnetic Fields/Stephen Merritt related music over at Amazon, of course.



There are quite a few decent tracks on this compilation, and as you probably guessed by my earlier description, they vary greatly in style. I'll serve up a couple of the tracks that stood out.

First, Blackgirls were a folk band out of Carolina who seemed to have disappeared, although Amazon has their two releases available for practically free...and here's a quote from the very brief AMG bio:

Blackgirls, including Eugenia Lee (guitar/vocals), Dana Kletter (piano/vocals), and Hollis Brown (violin/vocals), are a folk-pop band from North Carolina. Their two albums, released on the independent North Carolina label Mammoth Records, were produced by Joe Boyd, the head of Hannibal Records and a noted producer of such folk-rock performers as Fairport Convention.

One of their members, Dana Kletter, went on to form a band with her twin sister and released one other album, you can find more about it here, at AMG.

Blackgirls - Translator REMOVED

This last track, by a band called Critical Mass (and I don't believe they're the same as the ska band out of SF or the Christian/Religious band of the same name) seems to have completely disappeared. So, if you know anything, I'd love to hear it!

Critical Mass - Vacation REMOVED

You can purchase this compilation used over at Amazon for around $15.

Wanna come to my house and change the locks?

You all know who Joe Strummer is, there's nothing I could say that hasn't been said by someone better and brighter than me...so I won't even bother trying, really. If you don't know, well, go buy some Clash records and educate yourself.

Anyway, back in 1988 Joe Strummer & the Latino Rockabilly War recorded some songs for the little seen move, "Permanent Record." I didn't see the movie myself (I did say it was little seen, didn't I?), but picked up the album a few years later for almost nothing...wait, the sticker is still on it, $1.85. So, there you go.

It's not Joe's best work, there are only four of his songs on it, but as usual, there's something there that only Joe could bring to a song, a rawness and passion to his voice that never lets you forget the importance of what he'd did with the Clash. Trash City is the strongest of the four, and there are some moments when it almost becomes great, if they had just brought a bit more of the percussion and piano into it, it might've gone all the way.

Joe Strummer & the Latino Rockabilly War - Trash City REMOVED
Joe Strummer & the Latino Rockabilly War - Nothin' Bout Nothin' REMOVED

You, too, can dress like a rock star

Oh, Bono, you "big-mouth Irish rock star," you.

USATODAY.com - You, too, can dress like a rock star

The Dears Tourdates

For those interested, just got the Dears tourdates from their list, including a Carson Daly appearance:

It’s past 3AM. Having a bit of trouble staying asleep. This could be some kind of delayed jet-lag from our trip to Australia. We’ve been home for about four days. We leave on Sunday for various activities in the USA. Among those activities, we are scheduled to tape our American network television debut performance on Last Call with Carson Daly. Immediately following that we drive down to Austin, Texas for a packed two day schedgy:

03/16 - Austin, SXSW-Bella Union Showcase
03/17 - Austin, Waterloo Records in-store (Murray’s Birthday)
03/17 - Austin, SXSW-SpinART showcase

It is after that we will head to New Orleans for the very first time to begin a tour with one of our favorite bands, The Soundtrack of Our Lives:

03/18 - New Orleans, The Parish
03/19 - Atlanta, Smith's Old Bar (Martin’s Birthday)
03/20 - Raleigh, Lincoln Theatre
03/21 - Washington DC, 930 Club
03/22 - Philadelphia, TLA
03/24 - New York, Virgin in-store (52 E 14th St.)
03/23 - Boston, Axis
03/26 - New York, Bowery Ballroom (not with TSOOL)
03/27 - Detroit, Magic Stick
03/28 - Chicago, Cabaret Metro
03/29 - Minneapolis, Fine Line
03/30 - Lawrence, Bottleneck
03/31 - Denver, Bluebird Theater
04/02 - Los Angeles, Avalon
04/03 - San Francisco, Great American Music Hall
04/05 - Seattle, El Corazon
04/06 – Vancouver CANADA, Commodore

More dates to follow. They include; Japan, more UK, more Europe (Italy, France, Holland etc.) more US and quite possibly a couple of canuck gigs.

Thanks to everyone who came out on the last tour. Can’t wait to hook up again.

Yours,

The Dears

Another update on Edwyn

Edwyn Collins: Another update

Another statement from his wife, Grace, on Edwyn's site:

"Edwyn is getting a little stronger every day. Soon the focus will shift to his recovery and that will be a long and difficult journey, for which he is already preparing. He is beyond amazing. Keep thinking those thoughts. I don't know what's got him through this, but I'm hanging on to everything, including your wonderful kind wishes. Love Grace"

It seems as if he's getting better...so good to hear!

YACHT is MEGA!

YACHT's Mega release is finally here...it contains the most MEGA amount of stuff:

1 10" rekid
1 CD
1 DVD

All stuffed with MEGA goodness...just ordered mine...what are you waiting for? Here's a link to an earlier post I did on YACHT with some music and here's one about YACHT and BLOW.

Buy it here: Marriage Records
Scroll down, it's the second thing in the list.




On a similar note, and almost as equally exciting, the new volume in the Pregnancy Series is out over at States Rights Records, and it's an ep by the ever crazy Lucky Dragons, called Norteñas.

Here's a link to a track:

Lucky Dragons - Un Lagrima en la Discoteca

Quick! Spend your money!

I confess I'm the one with the broken heart

I can't remember a time in my life when I wasn't aware of Lenny Welch. This was the soundtrack to my parents courtship. It was "their" album. It was, to my young mind, the thing that made the magic happen, it was the reason my parents loved each other so much. Maybe if I listened to it something magical would happen to me.

I'm older and a little wiser now and, fortunately, my parents are still in love. Of course, this wasn't the reason for their love, but with songs like this, how could it not have at least influenced it?

Lenny Welch isn't the best of the crooners, and a series of events, including being drafted and his record label folding, ensured that Lenny Welch would have a difficult time making it big. He did have a few decent size hits before being drafted, including "Since I Fell For You," which went to #4 in 1963 and "Ebb Tide," which went to #25 in 1964, even though it was a re-release of a recording he had made almost two years earlier.

Lenny may not be the best, but he's certainly really good. And these two songs demonstrate his range and the smoothness of his voice. And how can you go wrong with opening like the one in "A Taste of Honey?"

Lenny Welch - A Taste of Honey
Lenny Welch - Father Sebastian

The album this came from, "Anthology", is out print and only available used. But you can purchase "Since I fell for You" over at Amazon new.

I'm either innocent or just plain stupid

Terry Hall started making music back in the early 80's, with the Specials. When he left the Specials, he went on to form and participate in a number of bands. Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield, Terry, Blair and Anouchka, and Vegas. More recently, he's worked with Tricky and the Gorillaz. His last full length collaboration was Terry Hall and Mushtaq, an excellent album with a heavy Arabic influence.

But for the moment, let's focus on Vegas, an album he did back in 1992 with Dave Stewart, of the Eurythmics. Apparently, Dave had a contractual obligation to produce one more album for RCA /BMG and he convinced Terry to work with him on it. In some ways, it's not that surprising how the album turned out. Heavy on the synthesised sound of the time, about the most surprising thing about it is that it wasn't a lot better. There are some great moments on it, but there are also quite a few let-downs, especially lyrically. It doesn't sit high on my list of favorite Terry Hall related works, but I do continually go back to it, it captures the time pretty well, and vocally, there are a couple of tracks on which Terry stretched himself a bit more than normal. He isn't a strong vocalist, his style is much too cool to imply any sort of effort on his part. It's more about his delivery than anything else.

Vegas - Possessed REMOVED
Vegas - Theme/Wise Guy REMOVED

As usual, it looks like your best bet for purchasing this album is going through the used market, as it's no longer available new. Here's an Amazon link to Terry Hall related projects, though.

flipside

Remember Flipside Fanzine? Well, The Punk Vault just pointed out that there's a website dedicated to its memory, including a vintage punk rock flyer section. Very cool.

Flipside Fanzine

There's even pictures...including punks hanging out at the Cookoo's Nest.

Toyota launches record label

Seems like the Toyota owned Scion brand is gettin' busy...launching their own label.

Agenda Inc. Live Feed - Toyota launches record label

JLoDown.com

Seems PETA has their sites on JLo...

Say Hell No to J. Lo

Adidas Commercial

Spike Jones recently finished this beautiful Adidas commercial, featuring the music of Squeak E. Clean w/Karen O. It's not a typical Jones commercial...and it's very beautiful.

'boards - Screening Room

The agency was Chiat Day, out of San Francisco.

Looking for a Thrill : An Anthology of Inspiration

The new Thrill Jockey DVD is out:
Thrill Jockey - Looking for a Thrill : An Anthology of Inspiration

It features 112 different musicians talking about one of their "defining musical moments of inspiration." The list is huge, obviously, and includes Ian MacKaye, Thurston moore, Bjork, Yo La Tengo, Tortoise, Jon Spencer and more and more....

Danceteria

Again, Boing Boing with the scoop:
Boing Boing: Danceteria flyer archive from the '80s

and here's a direct link to the gallery:
Danceteria Gallery

away from what I want to do..

So I'm going through a bunch of links I've accumulated over the years and well, some interesting things are popping up here and there. Unfortunately, I can't remember why some of these things are in here, or how they got to be where they are. So, I thought I'd share some with you.

First off, here's the Brother Kite. It sounds like these guys cut their teeth on bands like Ride and My Bloody Valentine. At times, they sound like someone put a Codeine album on and played it at 45rpm. Now imagine taking that and adding 3/4 cup of the Beach Boys and 1/2 cup of the Jesus and Mary Chain and that's the second tune, "The Way That You Came Down." In other words, give all three of their tracks a listen, even if the first one doesn't hit you right. There are four more songs over at there site, so be sure and pay them a visit.

The Brother Kite - Say My Name
The Brother Kite - The Way That You Came Down
The Brother Kite - Mere Appreciation



Next up is Park Avenue Music. Completely different from above, electronic music in the laptop vein, but something more. Very ethereal, and drifting...at times a bit of Tarwater. The first track is beautiful...light vocals over the top of a broken, static-filled soundtrack. Walking through the woods, the sun breaking through the leaves and temporarily leaving you unable to see. There are eight more tunes to be had over at their site, don't miss out!

Park Avenue Music - Sun So Bright
Park Avenue Music - Cutter
Park Avenue Music - Refurbished



And I'll stop with one more link, an off-shoot of Park Avenue Music: Lifeliner. Lifeliner is the home for the discarded Park Avenue Music tracks...they are then re-worked and re-made into something new. And it's not a bad thing, this recycling. There are only two tracks up at the site, but both stand on their own.

Lifeliner - Blue Tree
Lifeliner - Another Story

I'll try to do this more often, as there are quite a few more links to explore.

Teenbeat 20th recap

Check out Bradley's Almanac for a recap of the teenbeat20th anniversary, night two. He's also posted a bunch of tracks.

Worth the visit.

wolfgang press

Being the Wolfgang Press fan that I am, and I'll do a posting on them soon, I promise, I had to share this link with you.


Rare 4AD

There's a demo versiion of the song "Prostitute" there, which will only be up this week.

allofmp3.com legal?

Seems the russians gave the O.K. on the site.
Boing Boing: Russian MP3 site given thumbs up by investigators

I've never purchased anything from them, any comments?

...and your hair is in your eyes...

I don't know when or where I first heard Ponies in the Surf, but there was an instant connection there...an oldness and a newness to their sound. At moments, there are bits of Architecture in Helsinki, in their vocals and the gentleness of their delivery. And then a small bit of heaven floats by and you realize you're up in the clouds...the music making you weightless.

There are three songs up at their site, of which I'll give you direct links to two of them.

Ponies in the Surf - Ventricle
Ponies in the Surf - See You Happy

You can find the rest over at Ponies in The Surf.

Boing Boing: SXSW music as a torrent

The SXSW folks just published a BitTorrent file containing music from a lot of the artists performing this year. You can get it through this Boing Boing link:

Boing Boing: SXSW music as a torrent

An Update on Edwyn Collins

Grace, Edwyn's wife, posted another update on his bulletin board:

An Update on Edwyn

Here's the quote:

I'm sorry I don't do this enough but I'm sure you understand. Edwyn is making progress although it is still early days. He is very tough. I'm able to tell him about this truly lovely outpouring of good wishes . It raises a smile. Keep thinking of him. With my love and gratitude, Grace.

Rock & Rule!

Seems like Rock & Rule will see the DVD light:

Cartoon Brew: Rock & Rule on DVD

Features Debbie Harry, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick and Lou Reed.

CITIZENPod

News of the dead: CITIZENPod

If you're going to SXSW and own an iPod, you should check this out...

Martin Denny, RIP (April 10, 1911 - March 2, 2005)

Wow...he lived to 94, which is excellent, and apparently died in his sleep, which is the best way to go. Thanks for your music, Mr. Denny.

Boing Boing: Martin Denny, RIP (April 10, 1911 - March 2, 2005)



Here's a link to some of his wonderful album covers and a link to The Temple of Martin Denny.

Mashup of Beatles/Aretha/George Michaels/Scissor Sisters -- phenomenal?

Boing Boing: Mashup of Beatles/Aretha/George Michaels/Scissor Sisters -- phenomenal

I don't know that it's phenomenal, but there are some nice moments in there.

Here's a direct link to the song over at DJ Earworm:

No One Takes Your Freedom

New Order: Krafty

Here's the link for the new New Order video, Krafty. (windows media)

At least they use a condom, eh?

Lejo

These are brilliant...go visit Lejo and check out the videos (hit the GB button for the englilsh version).

It's hightime you told me that you love me!

One thing all you regulars are probably starting to realize is that I don't have a "sound," grapeJuiceplus doesn't really fit into a catagory. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, but it's a reflection of my musical taste. My collection is wide and vast, there's almost no musical genre that isn't represented. To me, music is something to be explored, a landscape upon which you can't make a wrong turn. In fact, if you stay on the same road, to me, the landscape starts to get repetitive. That's why I tend to drive all over the place, ignoring the charted routes and making my own. I love being able to listen to anything and finding similarities in music that people may not normally see. To me, it's all about a good song, a feeling, a sound or a voice. The limits don't exist. I don't know why I'm attempting to explain this, maybe you don't really care. I think it comes from visiting a lot of blogs and finding a bit of comfort in the steadfast holding to a genre the majority of them follow. But, I find, that the ones that surprise me are the ones that I'm just a bit more excited to visit, because you never know what you'll find.



Restless are one of the neo-rockabilly bands that get it right on so many levels. Their roots are strong, and their guitar can be oh so fat. Mark Harman's voice is right on, sliding right in and filling in the cracks. Restless formed way back in 1980, with their first single following in 1981. They called it quits back in 1988, but reformed in again 2002, I believe, with the original line-up. There's a great bio over at Rockabilly Hall, worth checking out if you have the time. They've released quite a few discs over the years, I think the count has broken 10. You can find more info about their releases and buy them over at Nervous, as well as Amazon.

Restless - HighTime REMOVED
Restless - Something I Said REMOVED

Statler & Waldorf

I don't know, there's something funny about this...and they're pretty honest, surprisingly:

Watch Muppet cranks Statler & Waldorf as they review recent movie releases on Movies.com.

Devendra Banhart: A Ribbon

I hadn't seen this yet, don't know how new it is, but Devendra's got a video for A Ribbon. Interetingly, it's directed by Lauri Faggioni and the ever-incredible Michel Gondry.

Unfortunately, it's in the Real format.

You don't like my ramblin...

If you like old style country swing, then check this guy out. Johnny Dilks captures the sounds of yesteryear, you can hear the tumbleweeds as he yodels.... I stumbled upon him completely by accident. Picture this, a small town christmas parade, bundled up with your wife. Through the horns and drums of the local high school marching band, a distant yodel breaks through. My ears perk up and there, down the street, I see the coolest dressed guy I'd seen all day. Hat perched back on his head, he yodels away and the parade, well the parade melts away.



In my small western swing collection, he's one of the few new guys who gets it right and then some. Unfortunately, his only CD is out of print. Fortunately, you can check out a good number of his tunes on his site. Which is good for me, because I was going to post some and well, he took care of it all for me. So spread the good news and listen to Johnny Dilks and his Visitacion Valley Boys. They just don't make 'em like this anymore.



Johnny Dilks & His Visitacion Valley Boys - Lose That Woman Blues
Johnny Dilks & His Visitacion Valley Boys - Jelly Roll Blues
Johnny Dilks & His Visitacion Valley Boys - Mama, I'm Comin' Home

There are a lot of previews of his other songs over at his site, at a lower bit rate, though. There's also some video of some of his performances to check out, including non-album tracks.

You can still pick up the album used over at Amazon.

All Hail The Death Of Radio

All Hail The Death Of Radio / Clear Channel suffers and rock radio is gasping its last and, more importantly, does anyone care?

Can it come soon enough? When was the last time you heard something new and surprising on mainstream radio?

Boing Boing: Revolved: Beatles mashup album

This is probably already everywhere, but here it is:

Boing Boing: Revolved: Beatles mashup album

Boing Boing: Ex-Sex Pistol damns cursing

Boing Boing: Ex-Sex Pistol damns cursing

I would agree with him...I'm not one for cursing...it's seems kinda silly usually. But who am I?

So you wanta get in the business?

I just now noticed Soul Sides' great piece on starting your own audio blog, and since I've been getting repeated inquiries about advice, here you go:
soul sides: so you want to start an audioblog...

Downhill Battle - Ian MacKaye Interview (Fugazi)

I just now released that Downhill Battle has a bunch of interviews with musicians up, including this one:

Downhill Battle - Ian MacKaye Interview (Fugazi)

Check out the full list over at their interview section, which includes TV on the Radio, Mirah, Robb Nansel (of Saddle Creek) and the newest one with DJ Z-Trip.

Now the time has come for the robots to attack!

Frenzy formed way back in 1983...in the rockabilly revival made popular by the Stray Cats (here in the states)...and they've managed to stick around throughout the years. The thing I like about their early stuff is they had the guts to add some keyboards to the mix, sometimes with not so good results, but in tracks like Robot Riot, it just, well, added a bit of charm. There's also something about their drumming that reminds me of early Adam and the Ants.

Steve Whitehouse is the only constant in the band, he plays stand-up bass and sings. The other two current members are Steve Eaton (guitar) and Rob Chapman (drums). I haven't heard much of their newer stuff, about the only rockabilly/psychobilly band from that era I still listen to is the Guanabatz, who also formed back in 1983.

At that time, there was a huge scene in England. At least, from my eyes peering across the ocean it seemed huge. Maybe that was because there was no scene here. But anyway, a lot of rockabilly/psychobilly bands formed at that time overseas: Frenzy, the Guanabatz, Batmobile, Frantic Flintstones, Demented are Go!, etc. But that's another topic entirely, one which I am not an expert, by any means.

Frenzy - Robot Riot REMOVED
Frenzy - Misdemeanor REMOVED

Both of these tracks come from their 1990 release, "The Very Best of Frenzy," which has been reprinted and can be purchased here.

You can get more info about Frenzy over at their official site. Nervous Records actually has a lot of their tracks available for download, at $.99 a song. If you like these two tracks, please head over and buy a couple of tracks from them. You can also purchase their albums through Amazon, of course. And I'd also recommend Raucous Records for all of your rockabilly and psychobilly needs.

Early Scritti Politti

Check out this early Scritti Politti track over at silence is a rhythm two. Having never heard the track, "Doubt Beat," I would never have guessed it was Green singing...


The image came from this site, The Pop Group.

CoCo: US Market (Not) Antagonistic towards DRM

Also found via Boing Boing:

CoCo: US Market (Not) Antagonistic towards DRM

You can spin anything...

Boing Boing: Consumers' Union's awesome advocacy animation

Via boing boing:
Consumers' Union's awesome advocacy animation

There's a free mp3 download there, but the real gem is the video clip, especially the end, when the legal is read. Pretty funny.

Here's a direct link:

The Drugs I Need!

:: Edwyn Collins :: UPDATE

There's an update over at Edwyn's site:
:: Edwyn Collins ::

Here's a quote from Grace, his wife:

Edwyn had an emergency operation on Friday. He has come through it as well as can be hoped for and is continuing to fight. Thank you for all the loving thoughts. It means a lot. Grace