There's just a small handful of artists these days that inspire me to rush out and buy their product with no advance listening as soon as it hits the stores. Chris Mills is somewhere near the top of the list.
I've posted about Mills before, and he's back with a new disc, Living In The Aftermath. On his last few releases, Mills has been moving away from the Americana/alt-country style that defined his earlier work to a sort of chamber power-pop (or is it power chamber-pop?) Living In theAftermath continues the trend with stunning results. My early candidate for disc of the year.
The Clintons, man, they would lie on a stack of Bibles. Snipers? That’s not misspeaking; that’s some pure bullshit. I voted for Clinton twice, but that’s over with. These old black politicians say, “Ooh, Massuh Clinton was good to us, massuh hired a lot of us, massuh was good!” Hoo! Charlie Rangel, David Dinkins—they have to understand this is a new day. People ain’t feelin’ that stuff. It’s like a tide, and the people who get in the way are just gonna get swept out into the ocean.
The tagline that is oft associated with the Waco Brothers is "Cash meets the Clash". While not only pithy, it is also a surprisingly accurate description of their amalgamation of country and punk. While the Wacos have been putting out a steady stream of excellent records since the mid-90s, they have never quite matched their sheer force as a live act.
I've never been much of a fan of live discs (with the obvious exceptions of Kiss Alive and Alive II, and Queen Live Killers), but the Wacos new Liveand Kickin' at Schuba's Tavern is as excellent a representation of a live gig as you are likely to find. Their live shows have always highlighted the punk side of their country-punk, and that comes through loud and clear on Live and Kickin'.
2008 is starting out strong for the aforementioned Yep Roc Records. March 4th will see the release of IV, the fourth disc from North Carolina's neo-bluegrass marvels, Chatham County Line.
IV marks a return to form after what I felt was a disappointing third effort, Speed of the Whipporwill . CCL has reunited with ex-dB Chris Stamey, who produced the band's first two discs with stunning results. Stamey lets the band's pop sensibilities shine through once again on IV , which punctuates their musical virtuosity and gorgeous harmonies.
You can stream the entire album here, and place your order to boot.
Since it began in the mid-90s, Yep Roc Records has quietly been quietly building an artist roster to make it one of the best and most relevant record labels in operation. Once a label for emerging Americana and alt-country acts, Yep Roc has slowly reinforced its portfolio by signing some of the most important and influential artists of the last 30 years, and invested the sort of time and money in them that is rarely seen among independent labels these days. Their current lineup is a virtual who's who of my musical heroes - Billy Bragg, John Doe, Bob Mould, Paul Weller, Nick Lowe, Robyn Hitchcock, the Go Betweens, Dave Alvin, Kristin Hersh. Not to mention a younger generation of greats like Robbie Fulks, The Sadies, Caitlin Cary, and Chatham County Line. It truly is an embarrassment of musical riches.
On the 30th anniversary of its release, Yep Roc has re-released Nick Lowe's pop masterpiece, Jesus ofCool, an album that had a profound impact on my very young musical leanings. As a result of protests by Evangelical Christians, Jesus of Cool was repackaged in the US and re-titled Pure Pop For Now People. Yep Roc has returned the album to it's proper name, and included all the songs from both versions.
You can purchase the deluxe package from Yep Roc here, or the download from emusic here.
Well, I'm back. Sorry for the unannounced extended absence, and thanks to those of you that have faithfully been checking in for updates. JC, you may feel free to remove me from your inactive list and put me back in the starting lineup.
If the last year or so has taught me anything, it's that the quality of a name is not a reliable indicator of the quality of the band. It has been a noteworthy period for the fact that I have run across more good bands with simply horrible names lately than any other time I can remember. Case in point, brakesbrakesbrakes (that's right, no capitals, no spaces).
I was unfamiliar with brakesbrakesbrakes until I saw their disc, TheBeatific Visions, on emusic's Top Albums of 2007 list. It's an immediately likeable record, with a sound that suggests the slanted country twang of The Broken Family Band and the airy pop of Gomez, with a little more muscle to boot.
The Obama campaign has become a full-fledged movement. The momentum and emotion are palpable and undeniable. I have seen it first hand, and surrendered to it long ago. When February 5 comes, let's hope it's enough.
And every movement must have a song, right? I must say that I don't recognize as many people in the video that I guess I'm supposed to, but no matter. This is a beauty. Sure beats buying an hour of airtime on the Hallmark Channel.
Not singles, not albums, just the songs that have been the soundtrack for 2007. Without the benefit of hindsight or retrospect, it seemed like a good year for pop music, if for no other reason than I found myself listening to more of-the-moment music than any year in recent memory. Here's hoping that 2008 is even better.
Mrs. Clinton has been touting herself as the inevitable Democratic presidential candidate, and indeed the next president in line. For awhile it appeared that her confidence was justified, but recent polls suggest otherwise.
Barack Obama has pulled ahead in the Iowa caucus, and is closing in rapidly in New Hampshire and South Carolina. Given our nation's track record as of late, I can't say that I have a great deal of faith in the American voters to send him to the White House. I am hopeful, however, that enough of us truly desire to restore some of the credibility and dignity that has been sold or squandered by the current administration.
Hillary's attacks on Obama have been egregious, unfounded, and bitter, and it finally seems to be catching up with her. For me at least, this is not an an election about about experience, but about character and judgment. And about change. And about hope. And about having something to feel good about again. As such, this one's an easy call .
If you hasn't seen it yet, have a gander at Obama's new Iowa campaign ad and judge for yourself.
When I began this site a little more than a year ago, it never occurred to me that it would attract the attention of independent bands and labels, looking to get some press for their music. Even with my limited readership, I am building an impressive collection of promo CDs from bands all over the country, looking to make inroads to artistic recognition. While this is both an honor and a nice perk of the job, it does not come free of a certain amount of guilt and pressure.
As I am not employed as a journalist of any sort, I decided early on that I would never disparage anyone that went to the effort of soliciting my approval or opinion. I will also never give praise to a band just because they sent me a free disc. I do feel badly at times about constantly receiving without giving in return, but I'm learning to accept it as a hazard of the trade. If you can't say anything nice.....Thus, as it turns out, I have never reviewed a promo disc to date, just because I haven't received anything that has really grabbed me. Until now, that is.
There is a comforting quality to the sound of Birmingham, Alabama's Wild Sweet Orange. Their new self-titled EP sounds like it could have easily pulled from college-radio playlists of the late 80's or early 90's. Reminiscent of a southern Dramarama, with a more overt British influence. The first song here, I'm ComingHome, borrows heavily from the Cure's Just Like Heaven with impressive results.
Comrade Paul over at STWOF has a very nice tribute to Gram Parsons' $1000 Wedding today. I share his love for the song, and concur that it is one of the finest things that Parsons bestowed upon us.
My introduction to the song, however - and indeed to Parsons himself - came not through his version, but from the Mekons version on their 1985 album, Original Sin, one of the high-water marks of a career that has too many to possibly count. On Original Sin, the Mekons first dipped their toes into the waters of American Country & Western, which would later lead to their alt-country classic, The Mekons Honky Tonkin'.
The Mekons Honky Tonkin' included a glorious cover of another Parsons tune, the oft-covered Sin City. This version also served as my introduction to the song, and to me stands up as the standard bearer of Parsons covers. In fact, I must admit that it was several years before I learned that Sin City was not a Mekons original.
Here are both Mekons covers for you, along with Evan Dando's quite respectable take on $1000 Wedding.
I saw John Wesley Harding back in 1995 or so, and he performed an unrecorded song that he introduced as a sequel to The Kinks' Waterloo Sunset. He joked that he cowrote it with Ray Davies, when actually he had simply lifted the chorus from Waterloo Sunset and inserted it into a new song. It was a song of memorable beauty, even to this day. A much reworked version of the song, called In Paradise, showed up on his next disc, John Wesley Harding's New Deal (fantastic!), absent of the Waterloo Sunset chorus. Presumably copyright issues forced Harding to remove that which was lifted outright from the original.
Thanks to my dear friend Andy for emailing me last week with some questions about The Kinks, inspiring me to spend much of the weekend digging deep into my Kinks collection for the first time in awhile. Every time I listen to them, I always wonder why I don't listen to them more.
I've been getting a fair amount of supportive email about the blog lately, and I am truly grateful that people are paying attention, and occasionally motivated enough to send an email or drop a comment. The post that I continue to get the most mail about is this one from February, where I incorrectly claim that Gimme Some Truth was a Generation X original. Hippie types from far and wide have chimed in to inform me that the song was in fact penned by John Lennon, and some choice insults have been directed my way as a result of the inaccuracy. This was a careless error on my part, and I certainly should have checked my facts better. Quite honestly, however, the song simply seems too good to have been written by Lennon. I just assumed that it must be an Idol/James original. Koo koo ka choo. Peace, hippies. Now please leave me be.
Here, then, is a cover of an actual GenX original- Your Generation, given the full mod treatment by The Times from their 1985 disc Go! With the Times. This is a charming, lo-fi affair - a side project of Television Personality Dan Treacy and Teenage Filmstar Ed Ball- and well worth seeking out. You can pick it up on emusic here.
THE ROADSIDE IS LITTERED with thousands rock and roll bands that nobody's heard, and for most of us, that's probably a good thing. The fact is a lot of bands don't deserve to be heard in the first place. But every once in a while you find in the assorted debris a special band that works so tirelessly, creates works of such enormous and lasting value, and yet is so routinely ignored that you can only shake your head at the fickle vagaries of the music world.
-David Fischer Filler Magazine 1999
In what is the most uplifting bit of music news I've heard in some time, Fire Escape Talking reports that a new Verlaines disc is in the works, after a hiatus that goes back to 1999. I have been a passionate fan of the Verlaines since I first heard them in the late '80s, and I suspect I will go to my grave crying "Foul!" at the shamefully inadequate success they have achieved, both critically and commercially. Hope, however, springs eternal and maybe a new release will bring them some of the credit (and record sales) that is rightfully theirs. Maybe....
Like Jon Langford, Elia Einhorn is a Welshman living in Chicago. Einhorn and his band, the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, also share a record label with Langford, the Chicago-based Bloodshot Records. I picked up the new self-titled SYGC disc aweek ago, and I don't believe that I've listened to anything else since.
SYGC make what is best described as power chamber pop (or chamber power pop). Comparisons to bands like Belle and Sebastian are probably unavoidable, but there is much more heft and muscle here than B&S or any of their twee ilk have demonstrated. The disc sets the bar amazingly high with the opener Aspidistra, then manages to maintain the level of quality, almost without falter, to the very end. The album peaks near the end with Then and Not a Moment Before, an uptempo pop masterpiece which ambles along effortlessly, driven by pedal steel and a banjo.
The Bloodshot press kit for SYGC describes them as a "free-spirited collective of musical visionaries" and state that more than 50 musicians performed on the disc, including Bloodshot family greats such as Kelly Hogan and Sally Timms. These may be true, but SYGC is clearly the singular vision of Einhorn, who has produced an uncommonly cohesive collection of songs and distinguished himself as a songwriter of the highest quality. He also recognizes the simple rule that horns make everything a little better.
Now, readers, I ask you to turn your attention to the newest addition to my blogroll, Setting the Woods on Fire.STWOF is the creation of Paul in Michigan. Paul is a newcomer to the blogging world and, according to his bio, is as long of tooth as I am.
The name of Paul's blog is a nod to Hank Williams, and his tastes seem to favor the finest of Americana, with some British Invasion and modern indie to keep the kids happy. The site is off to a great start and well worth your time and support. Do yourself a favor and show some love.
Graham Parker has been making records since the '70s, but I swear his best work is yet to come. At an age when one could certainly be excused for kicking back and phoning it in from time to time, Parker just seems to be pushing harder and getting sharper.
His latest single, The End of Faith, is a scathing rant against organized religion with a twang that would sound right at home on a Waco Brothers disc.
Also included here is Haunted Episodes from 1996's 12 Haunted Episodes, my favorite album of Parker's.
Always late to the party that's me. Apparently Los Campesinos! have been an overseas hit for at least a few months, but they just entered my radar thanks to my contemporary music go-to guy, Mr. Toad. Their new single, International Tweexcore Underground, is a gloriously charming way to spend 3:17.
The B-sides include a cover of Heavenly's C is the Heavenly Option and Police Story, which sounds like an uncannily authentic bit of second wave British punk.
The whole package will cost you little more than some loose change on emusic.
What was originally planned as a brief business trip turned into a 10-day, Griswald-style road trip. DC to Dallas and back, with stopovers in New Orleans, Ashville, Tuscaloosa, and a few other spot that I can't even recall. 3,421 miles on the car and an obscene amount of fuel consumption.
It was my second trip to New Orleans, and the first post-Katrina. While the French Quarter and was pretty much as I remembered, the areas that suffered the worst damage were still shockingly devastated, with miles upon miles of abandoned homes and residents living in trailers where their houses once stood. It was sobering and impossible not to wonder if there will ever be a true recovery.
It certainly doesn't seem like two years since we watched the unbelievable devastation of the Gulf Coast, but then again, I don't live there. I'm sure it's been an eternity to many of the residents.
President Bush says New Orleans is "coming back strong", so that's good enough for me. Seems like he's usually right about most things, and I've never known him to mislead us.
I've been a bit out of the musical loop of late, so I just learned that Drag The River called it quits a few months ago. DTR never exactly broke any new ground musically, but I think they were one of the better and more consistent alt-country bands going. They quietly became one of my fallback bands that I would invariably turn to when I couldn't settle on something, in large part because of the pedal steel of Zach Boddicker and Casey Prestwood. Even though singer Chad Price was my third-favorite frontman for punk/pop pioneers All, his smooth, raspy twang was a perfect fit for Drag The River.
Fuck me, it's hot. Summer in Washington is never enjoyable, but this just sucks. "It's not the heat, it's the humidity", is a commonly-heard phrase around town this time of year. Well, it's the heat AND the humidity this time around, I'm afraid.
Hopefully it's cooler in Buffalo, where Neal is working on Willfully Obscure, the newest addition to the F&S blogroll. Neal has a keen taste in music and he's anxious to share. Show some love and head over for a visit.
And now a little Headburn from the woefully-overlooked Halo of Flies. A classic bit of noise from the 20th century Minneapolis threesome.
Oh dear. Two weeks passed since my last post. That's a fortnight to many of you. I wish I could say that I've been on vacation or in a deep state of hibernation, but no such luck. Just busy, that's all, along with the fact that another Washington summer has succeeded in draining me of my get-up-and-go. Enough, already. I need to see some leaves turning soon.
To pick up the original train of thought from my last post, bands like REM and the Replacements exposed me to scores of great artists for the first time through covers and interviews. One of these bands was Big Star, an oft-cited influence of Paul Westerburg. Big Star's guitar-driven power pop proved to be hugely influential to bands in the 80s, though their commercial success was unfortunately limited. Their two songwriters, Alex Chilton and Chris Bell, varied greatly in both style and approach. To oversimplify things for you, one may call Chilton the Jeff Tweedy to Bell's Jay Farrar. (Regular readers can probably tell where this is going at this point. No Tweedy fan am I).
Chris Bell left Big Star in 1972, after only one album. He struggled to generate a solo career before going to work in the family restaurant, and was killed in a car crash in 1978. His solo album, I Am the Cosmos, was released after his death, and stands up as a wonderfully-brooding testament to his brief career.
There was a time, during my college years, that R.E.M. was the center of my musical universe. I still look back at their IRS output as nothing less than astonishing. They were "in the zone", as they say, with hardly a misstep to speak of. And it wasn't just them. The quality of American music during the mid/late 80's was arguably the best period in rock and roll, anytime, anywhere. The Minutemen, Husker Du, X, the Replacements, Soul Asylum, the Pixies, Throwing Muses, it was all going on and this is just the exposed tip of the iceberg. To ice the cake, Sid Griffin was introducing Gram Parsons to a whole bunch of us that thought country music was just for stupid rednecks. Let's not forget the fact that bands like Rank and File, Jason & the Scorchers, Blood on the Saddle, and scores of others were beginning to make the connection between punk and country, and a whole new subcategory was being born. I am far from a flag waver, but this is one area where I will fight for my country, at least until everyone else is asleep.
This was an unrivaled period of creativity and purity and America seemed like a very small place. These bands belonged to us and you felt like you were in on the coolest secret around. Independent labels ruled, and a kid with five bucks in his pocket could go out and buy a record on Twin Tone, SST, or New Alliance and know that it was going to be good. But it couldn't last and it didn't. "Alternative" became a musical genre in the record stores and the radio dial, and the party was over. Thank your local record exec, along with Kurt Cobain, the Beastie Boys, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers for fucking it all up. Then grunge came along and took a giant dump in the middle of the room whilst giving us all the finger. Thank Led Zeppelin for fucking it all up. Most horrid band ever.
This was to be a post about Chris Bell and Alex Chilton, but I seem to have gone off the track. So here are some examples of what I am talking about, for those of you that missed it the first time 'round.
Soul Asylum - Never Really Been.mp3 A band that was just about to hit its' stride. Pre "Runaway Train" moderate stardom. Still one of my favorite songs.
And a video of the Minutemen at the old 9:30 Club in DC, in 1984. It was to be a double header with Billy Bragg, but Bragg wasn't allowed a visa to perform, so he just spoke to the crowd for about an hour. I was there and still have the ticket stub to show for it.
Some provocative political banter going on these days, as the summer heats up and the Bush Administration seems to have almost no supporters left on the field. Two of the best blogs that I know of - Song, By Toad, and Pretending Life Is Like A Song - have introduced me to some fantastic music of late. The most recent little bombshell is the bouncy political Britpop of Plans and Apologies.
Both of these songs have been posted on Toad and PLILAS in the past week, but I can't help passing them along. The hysterical/terrifying lyrics of Mel Gibson's Iraq make it one of the greatest political songs that I've heard in quite some time.
Blair was ecstatic
Getting his bum felt by Rumsfeld.
Donald said to George,
"You're a filthy-minded whore,
but you're the one that I adore,
please darling, can I have a war?"
While Sarah Borges' debut album, Silver City, showed flashes of greatness, it also signaled that the best was yet to come. Her new disc, Diamonds in the Dark, delivers on that promise with much more consistency and should expose her to a much wider audience.
I was first introduced to Memphis' Compulsive Gamblers when I heard Sarah cover Stop and Think It Over at a show last summer. I posted the original version here last year, and it now appears on Diamonds In theDark. The second song, Streetwise Man, is one of the high points from her first disc, Silver City.
Borges will be thoroughly covering the US on tour this summer, and she is a fantastic live catch. Check out her website and tour schedule here.
With Mrs. Fits and Starts befelled by a kidney stone, I spent most of Father's Day watching the final round of the US Open with the sound down, listening to the Broken Family Band and Airport Girl.
I awoke this morning to an email from the Broken Family Band, directing me to a new video on YouTube and informing me that they will performing at the Glastonbury Megafest. This is of no good to me in the States, but I plan to be in the UK at this time next year, so maybe I'll have an opportunity then. In the meantime, I will continue to promote these guys as my favorite musical discovery of 2007 until people take notice, and do my small part to keep food on their plates and gas in the Broken Family van.
As our president continues to fight for his immigration reform bill (while never making an effort to enforce the current policy), I am frequently reminded of the great and underappreciated El Vez. As the self-proclaimed "Mexican Elvis", it would be easy to dismiss El Vez as cheesy novelty act. Behind the schtick, however, is a highly creative and talented artist that uses the Elvis thing as a framework to incorporate punk rock, latin music, country, and anything else that inspires him.
To boot, El Vez is one of the most impressive live performers that I have seen - a complete perfectionist with the tightest backing band imaginable. See him if you get the chance.
Hailing from my old stomping grounds of Richmond, Virginia, the Wrinkle Neck Mules are one of the finer unsung Americana/alt-country bands working today. There third long-player, The Wicks Have Met, is easily their most accomplished work.
Another perfect addition to the soundtrack of the Long Hot Summer, Wicks blends Bakersfield country with Appalachian bluegrass and throws in a generous dose of pop hooks all along the way.
As the days grow longer and hotter, I usually see my musical tendencies lean toward American bands. More specifically, southern American bands. Somehow, when it's 96 degrees with 100% humidity outside, Billy Bragg or the Smiths just don't call my name as often. This special brand of American punishment is best accompanied by an American soundtrack.
So the new Dexateens disc couldn't have reached my mailbox at a better time. On their third album, Hardwire Healing, the Dexateens turn down the sonic assault a bit and let the songs speak for themselves. Their bluesy swagger still shines through for an uncommonly consistent record from start to finish. Produced by Sugar bassist David Barbe and Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers, Hardwire Healing is the 'Teens most impressive work to date.
Some of you may recognize Manic Pop Thrill as the title of the first album by That Petrol Emotion. It is also the inspiration for Manic PopThrills, the newest addition to my blogroll. Mike at MPT has a great site going, and a taste in music that I can enthusiastically endorse.
That Petrol Emotion emerged from the wreckage of The Undertones in the mid-80s, and achieved some minor success stateside on the college charts. Their abrasive sound was a stark contrast to the more pop-oriented Undertones, and singer Steve Mack provided the vocal muscle that Feargal Sharkey lacked. Their first two albums, Manic Pop Thrill and Babble, were solid classics of the period and stand up quite well today.
I remember seeing them on the Babble tour at the old 9:30 Club in DC. Steve Mack was wearing an absurd, day-glo, neoprene wetsuit and his hair was done up in tiny little dreadlocks (braids, really). The rest of the band was totally nonchalant and understated, and I couldn't help but shudder a bit at how uncool my fellow American had been by trying so hard to be cool. I think that it was a decent show, but all that I can recall is that yellow and black wetsuit.
At any rate, have a gander at Manic Pop Thrills, and sample some That Petrol Emotion before you go.
That Petrol Emotion - Cheapskate.mp3 (from The Peel Sessions)
This should be a tall order, I suppose, given the wince-inducing amounts of time and money that I have spent over the course of my lifetime listening to and accumulating music. Over the past few years, I have tried to minimize my "musical footprint" through periodic purging sessions, but I still reckon that I probably have more than 30,000 songs on hand at any given time, in every imaginable format except for reel-to-reel. Reader, you would be shocked at the things that I am unable to part with.
Therefore, one might expect it a difficult, if not impossible task to choose a song - one single song- as my favorite above all others. I am quite certain that I couldn't choose a favorite film or novel, but a favorite song comes surprisingly easy. Though I would list my favorite band as the Clash (no surprise to regular readers), my song of choice is Boredom, by the Buzzcocks. To me, Boredom is three minutes of heavenly perfection.
Boredom was released on Spiral Scratch, the Buzzcocks' first recording, in 1976. I first heard the Buzzcocks in 1980, when my upperclass friend and punk rock mentor Dave Smalley introduced me to Singles Going Steady. I was blown away, and I played that album raw throughout high school.
By this time, Spiral Scratch was already out of print and I didn't hear Boredom until 1985, when my girlfriend returned from study abroad trip to Germany with a compilation album called Burning Ambitions - A History of Punk. Unknown to me at the time, that two-record set would become the soundtrack of my life for years to come, and the girlfriend would later become Mrs. Fits & Starts. Appropriately, side one opened with Boredom, which was followed by Wire, the Fall, Slaughter and the Dogs, ATV, the Adverts, the Swell Maps, and Spizz Energi. Things started to go off the rails by side 4, when bands like Vice Squad and the Cockney Rejects appeared, but Burning Ambitions still remains one of the best compilations I have ever run across.
To this day, Boredom remains the archetype of the perfect song to me, and it never fails to wind me up every bit as much now as it did more than 20 years ago. You can't ask for much more than that.
Memorial Day weekend typically marks the unofficial beginning of summer here in Washington, and Mother Nature seems to be in lockstep with the calender this year. After a wildly unpredictable winter and spring, the thermometer has jumped from the 70s to the mid-90s without so much as buying us dinner. Three days ago there wasn't even a whiff of a mosquito, now there is no safe haven.
A long, hot summer seems at hand.
So here is an abbreviated soundtrack for the onset of another scorcher. Keep yourselves hydrated, and don't forget your sunblock.
In my defense, aside from being outrageously busy, I didn't even know that there was a Joe Strummer Day, much less the date. Apparently, however, there is and I missed it.
Even if you are not a Clash fan (though I've no idea why you wouldn't be), this eulogy to Strummer is all but guaranteed bring on the weeps. Thanks to Dusty 7s for the tip.
There's just a small handful of artists these days that inspire me to rush out and buy their product with no advance listening as soon as it hits the stores. Chris Mills is somewhere near the top of the list.
