Cursive - "I Am Gemini" CD Review (Saddle Creek) / Two Shows at Bowery Ballroom in April

On Tim Kasher’s solo debut, The Game of Monogamy (2010), he created an impressively well-crafted musical and lyrical story arch that followed the rise and fall of a couples’ romantic relationship. Cursive's latest disc follows in this vein and, on their forthcoming seventh disc, I Am Gemini (Saddle Creek), the band tells the story of Cassius and Pollock, twin brothers who had been separated at birth. “One good and one evil, their unexpected reunion in a house that is not a home ignites a classic struggle for the soul, played out with a cast of supporting characters that includes a chorus of angels and devils, and twin sisters conjoined at the head.”

Recorded in the summer/fall of 2011 at Omaha, NE’s ARC Studios and mixed at Red Room in Seattle, WA with producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Minus The Bear, Isis), I Am Gemini marks the first time front-man Tim Kasher, holding the completed story already in mind, wrote album lyrics in a linear fashion, in order, from Song 1 to Song 13. There are a couple of potential alt-radio hits on the disc but the overall result is that the thirteen songs ("chapters") form a cohesive script for a play.

Musically, I Am Gemini is able to capture a sense of urgency and energy without sacrificing production quality. There is an overall darkness to this disc but this is balanced by the disc’s consistently changing musical landscape and production which gives each song room to breathe and find its own footing. The first and last songs on the disc (“This House Alive” and “Eulogy for No Name”) serve to, respectively, introduce and close the story and there are two instrumentals on the disc which serve to separate the “acts” of the “play”.

After the slow build of the “This House Alive”, the band aggressively picks up speed and listener is drawn in from the second song (“Warmer, Warmer”) onward. Tim Kasher’s clear, melodic vocals, the band’s musical hooks and their jagged post-punk stops, starts and twists in tempo pull the listener further and further into both the music and the story arch. This last song is particularly interesting as Kasher starts the song with subdued vocals which sound like Tim Quirk’s (from Too Much Joy) before bringing this number to its crashing conclusion.

Standout Tracks: “Warmer, Warmer”, “The Sun and the Moon” and “Drunken Birds”. After these three tracks land their back-to-back punches, the listener is going to need the instrumental “Lullaby for No Name” just to catch their breath.

Note: My promo copy came with a 12 page libretto that serves both as a lyric sheet and a “playbill” for the story of Cassius and Pollock and I assume this will be included in the disc's CD booklet.

Cursive kicked off their US tour last night in Denver, CO and the band is playing two nights at Bowery Ballroom on April 3rd and 4th with support from Cymbals Eat Guitars and Conduits. Tickets for each of the nights are $16 and doors are at 7:30PM.

To get anticipation going, below is the setlist from show in Denver:
01. "This House Alive"
02. "Big Bang"
03. "A Gentleman Caller"
04. "The Sun and Moon"
05. "I Couldn't Love You"
06. "Retreat!!"
07. "The Martyr"
08. "Gemini"
09. "The Ugly Organist"
10. "The Cat and Mouse"
11. "We're Going to Hell"
12. "The Recluse"
13. "Wowowow"
14. "Dorothy At Forty"

Encore:
15. "Art Is Hard"
16. "From the Hips"
17. "Mothership, Mothership, Do You Read Me"
18. "Sierra"
19. "Eulogy For No Name"

Links:
Cursive

Thin Lizzy - "The Boys are Back in Town - Live in Sydney, AU 1978" CD Review (IMV Blueline)

Thin Lizzy fans are long familiar with the video portion of this show which was released over a decade ago under the title "The Boys are Back in Town". For anyone not familiar, this show captures Thin Lizzy on one of the final dates of their Live & Dangerous tour, playing a free show on the steps of the Sydney Opera House. The show took place on October 29, 1978 and Lizzy played in front of an estimated crowd of 100,000.

This is one of the more short-lived lineups of the band but they sound great! Gary Moore had stepped in for Brian Robertson (who had a final falling out with Lynott) and drummer Mark Nauseef, from Ian Gillan's solo band, was filling in for Brian Robertson (who had taken leave of the band citing exhaustion).

The eight songs on this disc (below) runs just under forty minutes:
- "Jailbreak"
- "Bad Reputation"
- "Cowboy Song"
- "The Boys are Back in Town"
- "Waiting for an Alibi"
- "Are You Ready"
- "Me and the Boys"
- "Baby Drives Me Crazy"

The challenge with this disc is that the audio is a straight run-down of the DVD audio, which had muffled, almost bootleg-quality sound. As this was a pro-shot concert (not a bootleg), my guess is that the camera mic was the source of the audio and it overloaded. The other challenge with the audio is that the disc was recorded TAO so there are gaps between the tracks. The sound quality may scare off the casual fan but anyone not familiar with this concert should check out the video from the show (below) to see if this might be of interest.



Links:
Thin Lizzy

Thin Lizzy - "Live in Concert 1983" DVD Review (XXL Media)

Thin Lizzy - Live in Concert 1983 captures the band on one of the final legs of their Thunder & Lightning farewell tour and was filmed at Royal Dublin Society Showground on April 9th, 1983. While the farewell tour showed Thin Lizzy grinding to a halt and the tour was put together to pay off the band’s bills, this disc is still essential for any fan of the band.

This 55 minute show was originally broadcast on TV and was filmed with multiple cameras so there some nice shots of the full band and the individual members. This isn’t a big “glossy” pro-shot (by today’s standards) video though as the lighting isn’t always the best, which leaves some shots too dark. Overall, the video has the “feel” of something that was filmed for in-house broadcast rather than for TV. The sound on the disc though is perfect and sounds like it came straight from the mixing board. (Note: there is no crowd noise in the mix).

Performance-wise, Phil doesn’t seem very animated and looks like he is holding on for dear life - there is no trace of the breezy rouge from the “Live and Dangerous” or Sydney ’78 DVDs. The rest of the band sounds in reasonable form but, again, this isn’t the tightly honed performance of Lizzy’s earlier years. Brian Robertson looks to be in great form and John Sykes and Scott Gorham take frequent (but not overpowering) solos standing atop of pedestals on either side of Phil. (Darren Wharton’s contributions really aren’t heard in the mix).



The set list for this show seems close to other shows on the farewell tour though most of the other shows that I’ve heard include an additional song or two. What seems a little strange on this show is that “Dancing in the Moonlight” and “Whiskey in the Jar” aren’t played in their entirety but rather slotted into “Rosalie” and it is almost as though the band was racing against an “end of night” curfew.

RDS, Dublin 4/9/83 Set List:
1) Thunder & Lightning
2) Baby Please Don´t Go
3) Angel of Death
4) Are You Ready
5) Cold Sweat
6) The Sun Goes Down
7) Emerald
8) Still in Love with You
9) Rosalie / Dancing in the Moonlight / Whiskey in the Jar

Links:
Thin Lizzy

Miss Guy (Toilet Boys Vox) - "Dumb Blonde" CD EP Review

Miss Guy - established DJ and front-man for the recently reunited glam-punk band Toilet Boys – just released his first solo disc, “Dumb Blonde”. Miss Guy has been a fixture in the downtown NYC rock scene for over fifteen years, co-written songs with Deborah Harry (“Charm Alarm”) and Boy George (“Stay Away from Pretty Boys”) and is now stepping out under his own name with the release of this new EP (and he has a follow-up EP readied for later this year). Miss Guy always showcased a wide range of musical styles when DJing and his new disc spans a number of musical genres.

The disc opens with the glammed-up autobiographical song “Dumb Blonde” which, with its big hooks and melodic gutter punk riffs, sounds like it could have come from the Toilet Boys back catalogue. From there, Miss Guy goes into the slinky and pulsing dance club grind of “Take It Off” and follows this with the winsome power-pop number “Magic”. “Don’t Stop” is a mellow semi-acoustic love ballad the combines an acoustic guitar with an electronic beat. The disc’s final track, “Sometimes”, is a hazy, late-night mix of acoustic instrumentation and electronic feedback that ends the disc on an ethereal note.



Miss Guy is the resident DJ at the NYC parties DropOut at WiP (Deborah Harry joined Miss Guy for a song at the party this past week) and POGO at Hotel Chantelle.

“Dumb Blonde” was co-written and produced by Super Buddha’s Barbara Jean Morrison and Charles W. Nieland and is available via iTunes and Amazon.

Links:
Miss Guy

Pearl and the Beard (Folk-Pop) Play Music Hall of Williamsburg on Feb. 16th

DOWNLOAD: Pearl and the Beard - "Sweetness"



"Neverland's got nothing on the whimsical world constructed by Pearl than the Bear. The N.Y.C. based trio carries listeners on their backs through a DIY dreamland that is unpredictable yet safe and warm like the comfort of one's own bed." - Bust Magazine

Pearl and the Beard is three voices, one cello, one guitar, one glockenspiel, one melodica, several drums, one accordion, ninety-six teeth, and one soul.

Pearl and the Beard will also be touring this month supporting Ani DiFranco, celebrating the release of their extended single for "Prodigal Girl" at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and tearing through the Midwest and Southeast throughout February and March supporting the release of said extended single. The single will feature Prodigal Girl and 3 solo songs from each of the members Jocelyn Mackenzie, Emily Hope Price, and Jeremy Styles.

Pearl and the Beard Tour Dates:
02.16 -- Brooklyn NY -- Music Hall of Williamsburg
(Tickets are $13 in advance and $15 DOS)

02.23 -- Philadelphia -- Kung Fu Necktie
02.24 -- Washington DC -- Rock N Roll Hotel
02.28 -- Evanston IL -- S.P.A.C.E.
02.29 -- St. Louis MO -- The Gramophone,
03.01 -- Columbia MO -- True/False Film Festival
03.06 -- Omaha NE -- O'Leary's Pub
03.23 -- Greensboro NC -- The Blind Tiger
03.25 -- Greenville NC -- Spazzfest
03.28 -- Shepherdstown WV -- Blue Moon Cafe
03.29 -- Easton MD -- The Night Cat, 8pm



Links:
Pearl and the Beard

Spiritual Beggars - "Ad Astra" CD Review (Music for Nations)

As part of an extensive reissue campaign, The End Records is bringing back into print UK metal label Music for Nations’ back catalogue. One of the many gems in the catalogue is the Spiritual Beggars albums with original vocalist Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand. For anyone not familiar with Spiritual Beggars, the band is led by former Carcass / Arch Enemy guitarist Michael Arnott and they play groove-oriented stoner rock that bares more than a passing resemblance to bands like Soundgarden and Corrosion of Conformity.

Ad Astra was the band’s fourth disc (originally released in 2000) and it brought the band significant recognition overseas as they played some high profile European festivals and toured with bands like Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stone Age and Monster Magnet. The disc starts strong with the bluesy, hard rock track “Left Brain Ambassadors” and this song should have cracked American radio wide open. While Spiritual Beggars didn’t break out in America, they did catch the ear of Greg Anderson at Southern Lord who released the song “It’s Over”, which was only on the Japanese pressing of Ad Astra, as part of the label’s 7” of Doom series.

Aside for the slow-burning intro to the disc’s final track, “Mantra“, the music on this disc is consistent throughout. The band build up a full “wall of sound” over which they add clean guitar solos (check out the solo on “Sedated”), chugging riffs and psychedelic keys over a big bottom-end that borders on grunge at times and Christian "Spice" Sjöstrand sings with a gruff voice that is part “Ben Ward” and one “Jim Morrison / Ian Astbury”. While there is a sonic similarity running between the songs, songs like “Left Brain Ambassadors”, “Save Your Soul”, “Angel of Betrayal” and “Wonderful World” should have been break-out FM-Radio hits.



Spiritual Beggars have just announced that they are "busy in the studio...writing new riffs and coming up with new songs"

Links:
Spiritual Beggars

Toilet Boys Open For Guns N' Roses @ Webster Hall (The Ritz) on Feb. 15

Toilet Boys will open for the legendary Guns N’ Roses at their sold out show at The Ritz (Webster Hall) on Wednesday, February 15th in New York City. Ironically, The Ritz (Webster Hall) was the location of Toilet Boys last big New York show prior to their European tour in January 2003 after which Toilet Boys disbanded and went their separate ways. Now almost 10 years later after reuniting, Toilet Boys return to perform in the iconic location of their last major NYC show.

Toilet Boys are the infamous neo-punk Glam Rock band that has toured the US, Europe, and Asia with Blondie, The Ramones, Rancid, The Damned, Joan Jett, Motorhead, The Donnas and The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The last great NYC rock n’ roll band, Toilet Boys grew out of the iconic club scene of Don Hill’s and CBGB’s where legends were born.

With one foot in a limo and the other in the dark heart of the NYC club scene, Toilet Boys have whipped crowds into a frenzy everywhere from the bullrings of Spain to the kinkiest, sexiest parties in the US to Madison Square Garden.

Revered by the New York Post, LA Times, and Rolling Stone, Toilet Boys have been deemed “a New York Rock Legend”. The UK’s NME states, “Miss Guy and the boys made rock history with their first visit to London."

Having reunited in Spain at the 2010 Azkena Rock Festival where they shared the stage with KISS, Bob Dylan, Slash and The Hives, Toilet Boys are currently writing new music and working on a cutting-edge stage show. A sight to behold, Toilet Boys are back!



Links:
Toilet Boys

Kory Clarke Quits Trouble and Slags Band on Exit

I never thought Kory Clarke was a great replacement for Eric Wagner in Trouble...Kory has apparently come to the conclusion that Trouble wasn't a great fit for his "talent" (or lack thereof).

Kory is quoted as saying "It will be so nice to be working without the shackles that a previous singer has left behind of a band that is over 30 years old and acts and sounds like it. I like to do progressive, pushing-the-boundary lyrics in an individualistic style. I don't want to sound like Ozzy, like [Trouble's] old singer [Eric Wagner] tried to do. I am also glad when I look to my left on stage from now on I will not be seeing 'Derek Smalls' in my peripheral vision. [Laughs]." He added "I just cannot play with people who are fundamentalist Christians, or too family-oriented to the point that they can't tour, do records or knock down a few margaritas with me at the bar. This is rock 'n' roll, guys, not the Family Channel."



I could make comments about how Clarke's voice is shot, Warrior Soul hasn't been a name (much less relevant) for years and how Clarke's second restart of Warrior Soul seems to be going the same way of his last restart of the band (fizzled - and Clarke joined Dirty Rig) but...this video says everything.



Links:
Trouble

The Buddies (x-Welcome to Ashley) - Drummer Diagnosed with Cancer / Vocalist Starts GiveForward Campaign

All I can say is "d*mn" - life is complicated enough without having to deal with serious illnesses.

The Buddies’ drummer, Kim Collins, has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her band leader, Coley Kennedy, has set up an online fundraiser to help with medical and living expenses.

Our friend, Kim Collins, was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Please help us offset/assist with medical/daily living expenses to alleviate the financial burden.

Kim plays drums, sings, and plays the accordion in our band, The Buddies. She's the pretty one. Kim is also the better half of the folk-duo, Smoking Flowers, along with her husband of 12 years, Scott Collins.

TennCare will be providing Kim with some financial assistance. but it's merely a drop in the bucket compared to the many thousands of dollars in expenses that she and Scott will have to pay out of their own pockets.

Anyone who knows Kim, knows of her lust for everyday life, her passion for making and performing music, and how much she cherishes time spent with friends and family; and her dedication to living a healthy, and holistic lifestyle. Kim's a strict vegetarian. She meditates and practices yoga daily. Her body is truly her temple. She's kind, caring, and compassionate. and, she's also stubborn as a mule! and Kim does NOT accept defeat. So, of course, Kim's prepared to fight this head on. She's been strong and positive from day 1. In addition to surgery to remove the cancer, Kim has already begun (and will continue) a strict cancer fighting raw vegan diet, rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. For starters, Kim would love a nice food dehydrator. (see wish list on bottom right of screen).

We don't know what the total expenses will be, but we wanted to get something started. Whether you give $10 or $1000, or simply choose to pass this fundraiser along to someone else, know that Kim and Scott will be forever grateful of your generous contributions. Every little bit will help tremendously.

Links:
The Buddies

Harley's War: Harley Flanagan Signs with Southern Lord

I'm both impressed and glad to see Harley back in action...

Harley Flanagan, bassist/vocalist of Cro-Mags and Harley's War fame, has officially signed with Southern Lord for several upcoming releases!

Southern Lord owner Greg Anderson released the following statement regarding this new alliance with Harley's newest endeavors:

"Harley Flanagan is one of the most revered, controversial and infamous musicians of the last 25 years of underground music. His resume and reputation speak equal amounts of vitriolic decibels as does his bass stack blaring in your face. I have personally been a huge fan of Harley and his work with the Cro-Mags from the first time I heard their debut album Age of Quarrel in 1986. Much like the feeling you got when you first heard Bad Brains, Discharge or Minor Threat, Cro-Mags were musically and aesthetically on another level that was matchless. Through the power of the net and sheer luck I started talking to Harley Flanagan over emails and telephone past year. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the intensity and honesty of his playing also carried through in his personality. Harley is humble, raw, intelligent, driven and focused. To say it is an honor for Southern Lord to be working with Harley Flanagan is a enormous understatement! We're in shock and CAN NOT WAIT to get this shit going! The first release we will be doing together will be the forthcoming Harley's War album. The demos of the material he has shared with us for this are fucking phenomenal! The new Harley's War material has the same feeling as the initial musical impact the Cro-Mags first had in the mid-'80s. Killer songwriting, raw lyrics and Harley Flanagan's trademark bass playing. As mentioned above this is "other level" shit! Expect nothing less than a brutal musical beatdown from the master!"



Links:
Cro-Mags

Queen - "In the Mirror Again - More Lost BBC Sessions" CD Review (Unofficial - not an EMI Parlophone release)

This disc is being sold by major retailers as a Japanese EMI import but is allegedly a Russian bootleg. Regardless, it is a beautiful package and the two live shows on this disc document what a powerful live act Queen was early in their career. Both shows are sourced from radio broadcasts and are bookended around the release of the band's under-appreciated Queen II album.

The first show captures the band a month after Queen II was recorded but six months prior to the album's release. During this show, the band premiers three songs from Queen II and goes out with a 50's rock medley that was dropped from the band's set by the following year. The recording is crisp and clear - my only complaint is that the mix is off and Freddie's voice isn't as loud as the instruments.

Queen in Concert From Golders Green Hippodrome,
London, September 13, 1973
01. Alan Black Introduction (00:20)
02. Procession (01:22)
03. Father To Son (05:21)
04. Son And Daughter (07:21)
05. See What A Fool I've Been (04:39)
06. Ogre Battle (04:50)
07. Band Introduction (00:28)
08. Liar (07:38)
09. Jailhouse Rock (02:07)
10. Stupid Cupid (00:15)
11. Be Pop A Lula (00:45)
12. Jailhouse Rock (Reprise) (00:42)
13. Big Spenser (01:10)
14. Bama Lama Bama Loo (02:11)



The second show was recorded a few weeks after Queen II was released and shows the band already switching up the set list. The 50's medley has been dropped and the band is playing a slightly different mix of songs from the first two Queen albums.

In Concert From Rainbow Theatre
London, March 31, 1974
15. Procession (01:10)
16. Father To Son (05:44)
17. Ogre Battle (05:04)
18. Son And Daughter (07:36)
19. Keep Yourself Alive (04:05)
20. Seven Seas Of Rhye (03:01)
21. Modern Times Rock'n'Roll (02:45)
22. Liar (07:44)

(Note: YouTube video cuts halfway through the song)


Sadly, this is the sort of recording that should have been used as the bonus disc for the 2011 reissue of Queen II rather than the cobbled-together five tracks (~20 min) that EMI did release.

Links:
Queen

Van Morrison - "Live on Air" CD Review (XXL Media)

While I've been able to identify the (with reasonably certainty) the dates and location all of the previous "Live on Air" releases that I've reviewed, Van Morrison's Live on Air release had me stumped until I realized it was a compilation. The disc's set list makes this disc look like it is from Van's 1973 show at the Rainbow Theater with the Caledonia Soul Orchestra. While there are a number of tracks from that show included on this disc, a few tracks are sourced from different live shows that span Van's career.

Like most Live on Air releases, the disc was recorded "track at once" (gaps between the tracks) which makes it sound like a live greatest hits compilation rather than a 'concert recording'. Here is how the track list breaks down:

1 - "Warm Love" from Musikladden, Bremen, West Germany July 10, 1974


2- "Take Your Hands Out of My Pocket" - from Rainbow Theatre, London 1973


3 - "Here Comes the Night" (this is really "Here Comes the Knight") - ??, Video is below


4- "I Just Want to Make Love to You" - from Rainbow Theatre, London 1973


5 - "Brown Eyed Girl" - from Austin City Limits, November 18, 2006


6 - "Moonshine Whiskey" - from Rainbow Theatre, London 1973


7 - "Moondance" - from Rainbow Theatre, London 1973


8 - "Help Me" - from Rainbow Theatre, London 1973


9 - "Domino" - from Rainbow Theatre, London 1973


10 - "Caravan" - from Rainbow Theatre, London 1973


11 - "Cyprus Avenue" - from Ireland 1979


12 - "Wild Night" - from Pacific High Studios 1971


Links:
Van Morrison

Rob Sacher (former owner of Luna Lounge) Readies New Book "Wake Me When It's Over" (out March 1st)

Former Luna Lounge co-owner, Rob Sacher, has a brand new book, Wake Me When It's Over, a story of his life as a New York club owner filled with stories about meeting, partying, or working with many iconic bands of the alternative and indie rock world.

Rob's last club was Luna Lounge, which started out on the Lower East Side, and the bar featured the first shows from some awesome bands that have gone on to be some of the world's most important and successful music artists. Luna was the room were The Strokes first performed, where Interpol formed and played their first shows, and where The National, Longwave, stellastarr*, The Bravery, and many other bands got their start. Also, it's the place where Elliott Smith wrote the album XO and first performed those songs for folks who just happened to be at the bar.

Among the people and bands about whom Rob has written are stories about Ray Davies of The Kinks, Debbie Harry of Blondie, Rick Danko of The Band, Joey Ramone, The Psychedelic Furs, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Bjork of The Sugarcubes, The Strokes, Interpol, Longwave, Marty Willson-Piper of The Church, Elliott Smith and Longwave (the title of the book is taken from a Longwave song).

Rob is self publishing his book through his own DIY imprint and is raising promotion money through Kickstarter, a funding website that has helped creative projects raise tens of millions of dollars since its inception. Rob is offering some pretty cool merchandise for helping support this project which include limited edition Hurricane Bells music (Steve Schiltz's post-Longwave band) and copies of a unique edition of the book with your name on a dedication page. The funding campaign ends on February 29th and the official release date of the book is March 1st.

Rob has been in the business for more than thirty years and owned two clubs before Luna Lounge, the Mission and the Sanctuary. Sanctuary was punk, Mission was an East Village bar where Joey Ramone, The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Psychedelic Furs, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and other bands would party together among friends.

Links:
Satellite Lounge (Rob's latest bar)

Mutts - Chicago Blues Rock Band Release New Full-Length as a 'Pay What You Want' Download / Show at Rockwood Music Hall on March 10th

Chicago's Mutts have been called a cross between Tom Waits and Nirvana...while I can hear the Tom Waits comparison, I think the band's music is sounds closer to 70's blues-rock though the band can quickly switch from a psychedelic head-nodder with a pulsing bass and drums beat to a mellow number driven by an acoustic piano and Mike Maimone's vocals. Regardless, this is great stuff and the inability to put an exact label on the band's music is a complement to their unique sound.

Mutts first played together with tape rolling on "Pretty Pictures" EP in July 2009. Bob Buckstaff pitched the idea of recording Mike Maimone’s new material after they met as hired musicians for Company of Thieves. The pair instantly clicked over respect for honest, unrefined recordings and love of Tom Waits, Nirvana and Elliott Smith. They called mutual friends Jon Alvin and Chris Faller to engineer and play drums, respectively. Over a 3-day session in an old warehouse on the north side of Chicago, Mutts wrote, arranged and recorded their seminal release.

In their first year together Mutts independently put out 3 EPs: "Pretty Pictures", "We Float" and "The Tells of Parallels". Having quickly developed a unique sound and composed a repertoire of genre-bending tunes, Mutts are “poised to become one of Chicago’s top acts,” according to Loud Loop Press. Mutts decided from the outset to give away their first 3 EPs. By tracking them in a few days and releasing them immediately, the band has kept fresh, honest and spontaneous music flowing to their growing fan base. They have sold out of the first pressing of each CD, but all three are available as free downloads. The new album, Pray for Rain, is also a name-your-price download, and available on CD with a fold-out poster as well.

Mutts are playing two local shows in March. The first is on March 9th at Hank's Saloon in Brooklyn and the second is March 10th at Rockwood Music Hall. At the Rockwood Music Hall show, Mutts are sharing the bill with Sara Lewis, Monica Allison and Caroline Smith & the Goodnight Sleeps.



Links:
Mutts

Paul McCartney - "Kisses on the Bottom" CD Review (Hear Music)

“I always thought artists like Fred Astaire were very cool. Writers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, all of those guys - I just thought the songs were magical. And then, as I got to be a songwriter I thought it’s beautiful, the way they made those songs.” – Paul McCartney

(Photographer: Mary McCartney)
On Feb. 7th, Paul McCartney is releasing his first new disc in five years, Kisses on the Bottom. The disc takes its name from a lyric in the Fats Waller song “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” and McCartney’s cover of this song serves as the lead-off track on his new disc. This new disc is predominately comprised of little-heard cover songs and Paul’s approach to this disc is similar to his 1999 disc Run Devil Run on which he covered 50’s rock and roll songs and wrote some originals in the style of that era. The fourteen tracks on Kisses on the Bottom offer a glimpse into “the songs which inspired the songs”; twelve songs are Tin Pin Alley era covers and Macca wrote two new originals that fit perfectly with the music of that era. The impetus for this release is that Paul believes it is about time “the songs me and John based quite a few of our things on” received the recognition they deserve.

On Kisses on the Bottom, McCartney is backed by Diana Krall and her band and orchestral accompaniments are added to some songs courtesy of the London Symphony Orchestra. All of the songs have a soft jazz flair that is accentuated by Tommy LiPuma’s open-sounding and organic production. This disc marks the first time that Paul performed exclusively in the vocal booth without any instruments and his warm and lo-key vocals set the emotional tone for each song. Macca described this album as “very tender, very intimate…an album you listen to at home after work, with a glass of wine or a cup of tea.”

Songs range from the bouncy jazz of “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter” and “My Very Good Friend the Milkmen” to the orchestral “Bye Bye Blackbird” to smoky jazz torch songs ( Irving Berlin’s “Always” and “Home (When Shadows Fall)”). Macca stays true to the original versions of the twelve cover tunes and the stellar production brings out the piano, brushed drums and open bass notes. For the two originals, Eric Clapton adds some blues riffs and an understated solo to “My Valentine” and Stevie Wonder plays soulful harmonica on “Only Our Hearts”.



While I prefer McCartney’s rock numbers (and am waiting impatiently for more of the Wings’ reissues), kudos to Macca for pulling off such a stylistic leap without it sounding dated or “retro”.

Links:
Paul McCartney

Natur Kicks Off Spring Mini-Tour with Windhand and Pilgrim on March 1st at Public Assembly

Local NWOBHM band(and recent Earache signee) Natur is kicking off a Spring mini-tour at Public Assembly on March 1st. The band is playing alongside Windhand (Richmond doom/stoner-metal), Pilgrim (Black Sabbath/St. Vitus influenced power trio) and Magic Circle (features members of Mind Eraser, The Rival Mob and The A-Team); tickets are $10 and the show starts at 8:30PM.

Formed in 2008, Natur channels the old school, high energy sound reminiscent of legendary artists Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate, and Motorhead with New York intensity. The band has already achieved cult status among Brooklyn's developing metal scene, joining prominent acts like Tombs, Krallice, and Black Anvil and catching the eye of popular publications Revolver Magazine and Vice. Steadily gigging locally and abroad, Natur has earned a reputation for putting on an explosive live show. Appearances at Maryland Deathfest IX and the Live Evil Festival have established them as a force to be reckoned with. The band has shared the stage with Ghost, Marduk, and Aura Noir, as well as Earache's own Cauldron and Hour of 13.



Links:
Natur

Lord Mantis Release First Track "At the Mouth" from Upcoming Sophomore Album (Out March 13th on Candlelight Records)

When did NPR become hip enough to cover black metal releases?

The first track, "At the Mouth", from Lord Mantis' sophomore release, Pervertor, premiered on NPR's All Songs Considered Blog which was accompanied by an interview with guitarist Andrew Markuszewski (snippet below).

NPR: What role does blasphemy and perversion take in Lord Mantis?

AM: You'll find blasphemy and perversion in various states of practice in every member of this band. Pervertor comes straight from our beating black hearts. While I won't exactly go into specifics on what each of us does in our lives to communicate evil, if you listen to the music and read the lyrics — understand that we practice what we preach, for the most part. I mean, none of us have committed the act of murder on a physical level, yet, but everyone in the band has realized that evil eye in them. Bill [Bumgardner] hates everyone, for the most part. Charlie [Fell] is one demented and twisted soul. He's probably the last guy you'd want to be at the mercy of. He actually bit me in the leg once. I still have a scar. Granted, I did teabag him while he was in a straitjacket, though. Greg [Gomer] is dating an intense and professional dominatrix. I'm a blasphemous and hedonistic monk.



Chicago-based Lord Mantis is comprised of bassist/vocalist Charlie Fell (Nachtmystium, Von, Von Venien), drummer Bill Bumgardner (Indian), and guitarists Andrew Markuszewski (Avichi, Nachtmystium, Von, Von Venien) and Greg Gomer. Undoubtedly one of the most vile releases of 2012, Pervertor is the follow-up to the horde's 2009-released Seventh Rule Recordings debut, Spawning The Nephilim, the new LP exemplifying their pungent, hateful surge more than ever. Pervertor was put to tape with Sanford Parker (Nachtmystium, Pelican, Indian), liberating the organic filth of the hymns with maximum destroying power.

Pervertor Track Listing:
1. Perverter Of The Will
2. Septichrist
3. Vile Divinity
4. Levia
5. Ritual Killer
6. At The Mouth
7. The Whip And The Body

Links:
Lord Mantis

Witchery - "Symphony for the Devil" CD Review (The End Records)

The UK-based Music for Nations label put out some pretty cool indie-metal releases in the 80’s and 90’s and its artist roster included Metallica, Godflesh, Trouble and Warrior Soul. The label shuttered in 2004 after which many of its titles become hard to find but The End Records recently secured a deal to re-release over 50 of the label’s titles. Physical copies of the first twelve titles were released on Jan. 31st.

The first title that I picked up off this new stack of releases is the third release by blackened Swedish thrash band Witchery, Symphony for the Devil (originally released in 2001). At the time, Witchery consisted of x-Satanic Slaughter members Jensen (guitar), Richard Corpse (guitar) and Toxine (vocals); x-Opeth drummer Martin” Axe” Axenrot and Sharlee D’Angelo (Arch Enemy, Mercyful Fate) on bass. As Witchery has had some long periods on inactivity, band-leader Jensen is probably best known as guitarist for The Haunted and he pulled double-duty on the 2001 US tour for this disc when Witchery opened for The Haunted.



Witchery’s music is similar to The Haunted with its melodic thrash guitar riffs being a focal point of both bands’ sound. Where the bands diverge is that Witchery’s sound is more old-school thrash (with some death metal leanings) than the “Gothenburg metal" of The Haunted. Witchery also appears to be “less serious” than The Haunted as, in addition to the band’s animated skeleton mascot, “Ben Wrangle”, Witchery’s lyrical themes deal with murder, death and other occult-themes and the band uses plays on words as both song and album titles: "Symphony for the Devil", "Hearse of the Pharaohs", etc . Vocalist Toxine sings with a hoarse and evil rasp (and only stays with a ‘pure’ death metal growl on “Storm”) so most of the melodies come from the interplay of Richard Corpse expressive solos and Jensen’s thrashing riffs.

There is a mix of styles on this disc which are all built around the band’s riff-oriented thrash core and the fourteen tracks on Symphony for the Devil include two instrumentals and two covers from the first Satanic Slaughter album (which were bonus tracks on some pressings of the original release of this disc). In an interview with Metal Rules, Jensen described the band’s creative process as a “’We don't give a shit’ mentality. We play exactly what we want; Black/Thrash/Heavy or even Death metal songs.” Special guest on the disc include Johan Larsson (Séance vocalist) and Hank Sherman, guitarist for Mercyful Fate.

Links:
Witchery

Lou Reed - "Live Performances 1972 & 1974" DVD Review (XXL Media)

I was excited by this release as Lou Reed – Live Performances 1972 & 1974 is the first live recording from Lou’s Sally Can’t Dance tour to be commercially released. The first video segment shows Lou and his band recorded live at the Paris Olympia on 5/25/74. This segment, which was originally broadcast on French TV, captures the first six songs of Lou’s thirteen song set. The second segment contains four tracks that were recorded in Brussels in May 1974 and the final track is from Lou’s reunion with John Cale and Nico at Le Bataclan in 1972.

On Lou’s 1974 tour, the songs have been given a radical reworking to take on an urban, funky vibe. Most of the songs are longer than their respective studio versions which give the band room to jam and highlight prominent bass and keyboard. While Lou has always been the leader of the band, he had now moved to be the focal point as well. Lou is a peroxide blonde, dressed all in black, with large “Marty Rev” style sunglasses – he has completely handed off guitar playing off to Danny Weis and makes some pretty ‘interesting’ pre-disco dance moves while not singing. Lou mostly seems lost in his own world in front of the mic but does tell the crowd “Hey! Shut Up!” as the band is starting into “Ride Sally Ride”. This DVD is a great bridge between Lou’s experimental solo work and the polish of his later work as Lou was a veteran performer by the time of his next concert video – A Night with Lou Reed, which captures Lou live at the Bottom Line in 1983.

Track List - Paris 1974
- Intro/Sweet Jane
- I'm Waiting for the Man
- Lady Day
- Vicious
- Sally Can't Dance
- Ride Sally Ride



Track List - Brussels 1974
- Rock 'n Roll
- Heroin
- Walk on the Wild Side
- Goodnight Ladies



Reed/Cale - "Heroin", Le Bataclan, Paris '72 (Uploader disabled embedding)

There is some variation in quality between the three segments on the disc. The Paris footage is the best quality footage – it is filmed in color and is clear throughout. The source footage has deteriorated so this isn’t nowhere near comparable to “MTV style” live footage but it is very watchable (B/+) and the sound is solid. The Brussels footage is of noticeable lesser quality – while this segment was filmed in color, wide angles along with a good bit of generational loss make the video portion muddy. There are also some source video glitches in this segment. The redeeming factor is that audio is comparable to the Paris segment. The Le Bataclan footage was filmed in B&W and this footage is pretty good – the camera starts behind Reed and Cale but ends up with some nice close-ups of both men.

Links:
Lou Reed

Flipper (the band): Resurfaces in 2012 and Announces SXSW Show(s) and Upcoming European Tour

After a quiet couple of years, Flipper has resurfaced in 2012! The band is playing a local warm-up show in Oakland on March 2 with East Bay Way & the Killer Smiles which is a precursor to playing SXSW in March and Europe in April.

Flipper's last studio disc Love came out in 2009 on MVD Audio.

"LOVE, the brand new studio album from the incredible Flipper was recorded with the great Jack Endino at the helm, known for having recorded many of Seattle's greatest Grunge albums, including Nirvana's Bleach. Recording took place at the Murky Slough Studios, on Krist Novoselic's property in Washington. Bruce Loose, Ted Falconi, and Steve DePace would regularly travel to Krist's for writing and recording sessions, and affectionately referred to it as 'Band Camp." With Krist providing bass, the band dug in and recorded one of their best efforts yet combing noisy guitars with that perfect low end bass and the grind of life and love. LOVE was designed to be a twin and companion to FIGHT. A well balanced experience from the one and only FLIPPER."

Links:
Flipper

The Doors - "L.A. Woman" 40th Anniversary Edition CD Review (Rhino)

This album is heavy as f*ck and will melt your face off!

I always wanted to write a review that says absolutely nothing about the music on the disc (trying Googling “heavy as f*ck” or “melt your face off” and see how many times these phrases have been used in CD reviews). Most reviews that I’ve read of The Doors’ 40th Anniversary edition of L.A. Woman use most of their inches talking about the disc’s original release in 1971. With this disc having now been out 41 years, is there anyone out there who doesn’t already know that this was the last Doors album with Jim Morrison, ‘Mr. Mojo Rising’ was an anagram of Morrison’s name, etc, etc.? As most deluxe editions are targeted at the collector/completest, I think the real question is whether the bonus disc offers anything new or interesting.

Unfortunately, I found the bonus disc pretty much a ‘snoozer’. The first seven tracks are alternate studio takes of tracks from L.A. Woman. The musical arrangement on most of these tracks is noticeably different from the final studio versions but the differences really aren’t radical so there is nothing to get excited about. The two ‘major’ differences among these alternate versions are that “The WASP” ends with an instrumental breakdown and the band goofs around with a short cowboy/campfire song prior to starting into ‘Take 9’ of “Riders on the Storm”. The two ‘new’ bonus tracks – “She Smells So Nice” and “Rock Me” – are part of an extended blues-based jam that is interesting but unessential. “She Smells So Nice” sounds like it was cut out of a longer jam and "Rock Me (Baby)" is a studio run-through of the Muddy Waters' staple. Unfortunately, Morrison sounds like he isn't always singing in the mic and, which he does, his vocals are overloaded on both songs. For anyone who is curious, there are better recordings of “Rock Me Baby” on a number of the official Doors live recordings.



Bottom line is that this looks like a ‘cash grab’ as the two bonus tracks from the previous Rhino reissue – “Orange County Suite” and “(You Need Meat) Don’t Go No Further” have been dropped from this release and both iTunes (“L.A. Woman (Take 1)” and “Crawling King Snake (Run Through and Studio Chatter)”) and Amazon (“Love Her Madly (Take 1)” and “The Changeling (Take 9)”) are offering bonus tracks with digital copies of this release. I can’t reminisce about 1971 but this bonus track nonsense reminds me of when LPs were the dominant format in the mid-80’s and the record companies would release a single bonus track on the CD edition and a different bonus track on the cassette edition. This marketing approach had limited success then so I don’t know why the record companies think it should work now.

Links:
The Doors

Meat Puppets - "Mirage" CD Review (MVD Audio)

DOWNLOAD: Meat Puppets - Live at City Gardens, Trenton, NJ 5/9/87 (Part 1 and Part 2)

In April of 1987, the Meat Puppets released their fifth disc, Mirage. This disc was the band’s first that sounded intentionally geared toward commercial accessibility and Derrick Bostrom has referred to the disc as the Pups “psychedelic epic”. This is a transitional disc for the Pups, which catches them between the blissed-out country-punk of Up on the Sun and the pre-grunge alt-rock of Monsters. The music on this disc falls somewhere in between these two points and most of it ends up sounding like the country rock of the Grateful Dead.

There are some good cuts on Mirage but this is my least favorite of the original seven Meat Puppets albums as it is “too produced”. Curt’s new Roland guitar synthesizer and a drum machine feature prominently on a few tracks which, unfortunately, gives these tunes a very dated “80’s sound”. It seems that these tracks didn’t hold up well for the band either as Derrick Bostrom said “By the end of the [Mirage] tour, however, we pretty much decided that doing this sort of material night after night was a drag. We jettisoned the stuff we didn’t enjoy playing, and began woodshedding a set of comparative “barn burners,” which became the “Huevos” album. We focused on creating more energy on stage, got looser still, and started breaking our songs open into extended jams and medleys. The party was just beginning.”

I’ve never noticed this on earlier discs, but the best songs on Mirage are where drummer Derrick Bostrom plays fast and loose; these tracks include “Quit It”, “Get on Down” and “Beauty”. The country rock songs aren’t bad and “Confusion Fog” shows Curt’s finger-picking prowess but they are missing that off-kilter charm that made Up on the Sun so memorable. “Liquified” is a great “guitar hero” song that is a big hairy rock number that showed what was to come on Monsters. Skip “Mirage”, “The Mighty Zero” and “I Am a Machine” (which sound either dated or like mid-period Paul Westerbeg [boring]).

Five instrumental bonus tracks have been added to this reissue along with the promo video for “Get on Down”, which seemed to get a lot of play on MTV at the time. This time out, the bonus tracks are an interesting assortment and the early versions of “The Mighty Zero” and “I am a Machine” seems to have more life than the final studio versions. One of the other bonus tracks is an instrumental version of “Rubberneckin”, which was made popular by Elvis Presley (but I’m not familiar with the original so…no comment) and a previously unreleased track of Curt working through some riffs entitled “Grand Intro”.



Bonus Tracks:
1. "The Mighty Zero (Demo Version)" (Curt Kirkwood/Cris Kirkwood) - 3:40
2. "I Am A Machine (Demo Version)" - 4:05
3. "Liquified (Demo Version)" - 3:39
4. "Rubberneckin’" (Dory Jones/Bunny Warren) - 2:46
5. "Grand Intro" - 2:03

Links:
Meat Puppets

Wino & Conny Ochs Stream "Heavy Kingdom" From Forthcoming Collaborative Album (out March 13th)

STREAM: Wino & Conny Ochs - "Heavy Kingdom" (title track from forthcoming album)

Earlier this week, the folks at The Obelisk posted the title track, "Heavy Kingdom", from the forthcoming collaborative album from Wino & Conny Ochs. This new LP is confirmed for North American release via Exile On Mainstream Records on March 13th.

Wino & Conny Ochs have also confirmed their first full tour in support of Heavy Kingdom, set for performances across Europe for all of March and through mid-April. More dates are still being confirmed; catch the confirmed itinerary and watch for more updates over the coming weeks at Exile on Mainstream's website.

The legacy of Scott “Wino” Weinrich in the world of heavy music is indisputable and ever evolving, and here he teams up with Conny Ochs, a songwriter so pure and honest in his output that he seems to be the perfect partner for the straightforward Weinrich. The two met for the first time in 2010 when Ochs was supporting Wino on his acoustic solo tour promoting his acclaimed solo album, Adrift.



Through music they discovered a very similar approach to life and art, and a shared wisdom in creating music. It really seemed like two souls becoming one after they got to know each other. Together the two wrote, performed and recorded an incredible set of soulful tunes that speak for themselves, as well as a Townes Van Zandt cover. The artwork contains drawings by both Weinrich and Ochs, and follows the dedicated and deeply personal approach of the whole album.

Heavy Kingdom Track Listing:
1. Somewhere Nowhere
2. Heavy Kingdom
3. Dust
4. Vultures By The Vines
5. Dark Ravine
6. Traces Of Blood
7. Heavy Kingdom Jam
8. Highway Kind
9. Dead Yesterday
10. Here Comes The Siren
11. Labour Of Love

Links:
Wino (Scott Weinrich)
Conny Ochs

Quiet Riot Plays B.B. King's on Feb. 1st w/ All Points West (Spread Eagle) and Saviour

I’ve never figured out why there seemed to be a mainstream backlash against Quiet Riot. When Quiet Riot last came though New York (they played the St. George Theatre in Staten Island in 2006), I asked some of my friends who have mainstream musical tastes (i.e. Nickelback and Poison fans) if they wanted to go with me to the show and they gave me looks like I asked them if they wanted to see (i.e.) The Wiggles open for Miley Cyrus. My friends missed a fabulous show – Rehab (which the band was touring behind at the time) has to be one of the band’s strongest discs and it showed them moving toward a 70’s “classic rock” sound that was akin to Rod Stewart & The Faces. Adding to the mix, love him or hate him, Kevin DuBrow was one of the best front-men in rock.



With the blessing of Kevin’s mom, drummer Frankie Banali reactivated the Rehab lineup of Quiet Riot and recently added vocalist Keith St. John from Montrose. This new lineup of the band is making their first appearance in NYC on Feb. 1st with a show at B.B. Kings. There are a strong set of bands opening for Quiet Riot (unlike the terrible Iron Maiden tribute band that opened for QR in Staten Island) – Ray West’s All Points West and long-running Long Island metalers Saviour. Tickets are $18 in advance and $22 DOS.

Links:
Quiet Riot

The Residents - "Rivers of Hades" CDR Review (Ralph Records)

The Residents’ Rivers of Hades is currently available as a CDR which Ralph is selling through its eBay store. The band describes this release as “music conceived as an aural art piece to accompany the release party of The Residents toy figures recently designed by Steve Cerio. The original music was conceived to utilize two DVD players that were programmed to randomly play abstract bits of music. They would play 5.1 surround audio and each would play different things. The project (which required 12 speakers placed in a circle around the gallery) was entitled “Chaos is not just a theory”. In Greek mythology, Hades was a child of Chaos.

As these kinds of things go, it never quite worked out. The gallery never agreed to provide the sound system and some people felt it would be unpleasant for attending guests (correct) so by the time the toy release actually happened (there were several lengthy delays) The Residents had lost interest and had moved into other projects which did not allow them to even attend the toy release opening. “

A track from this project, “Hades” (which includes the music that ended up as "Acheron River"), first surfaced on the Ten Little Piggies compilation and The Residents adapted the music on Rivers of Hades from part of the music written for “Chaos is not just a theory”.

River of Hades is an instrumental disc which contains a mix of dark cinematic soundscapes and polyrhythmic and syncopated percussion. “Acheron River” starts with a percussive intro which leads into dark, cinematic synths and woodwinds. “Cocytus River” is a dense cuisinart of sound which is similar to the blend of percussive and cinematic music heard on THE UGHS!. “Lethe River” is less musically dense than its predecessors on the disc and its hazy atmosphere has a constant undercurrent of a pulsing organic beat. “Styx River” sounds like a couple of kids running amuck on Bill Bruford’s electronic drum kit and there are a couple of rock guitar riffs (Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak”?) thrown in for good measure toward the end of the song. The final cut, “Phlegethon River”, reverses the percussive/cinematic blend of “Cocytus River” and is (predominately) sweepingly atmospheric.

Tracks:
1. Acheron River - 3:23
2. Cocytus River - 13:14
3. Lethe River - 8:33
4. Styx River - 11:01
5. Phlegethon River – 8:46

Links:
The Residents

The Residents - "present THE UGHS!" CD Review (MVD Audio)

To call The Residents “prolific” would be an understatement as the band seems to releases new and archival releases almost monthly. If you follow the band closely though, there are a number of themes that reemerge across the years and most of the band’s recent projects first surfaced on 2009’s Ten Little Piggies compilation (see previous review). The Residents will be releasing a new CD next month, Coochie Brake, which is the second release under “THE UGHS” concept so I thought this would be a good time to go back and review THE UGHS! disc (originally released in Nov. ‘09).

THE UGHS! is a return to the minimalist avant-garde music of the band’s Eskimo era. The band described the concept behind THE UGHS! as “[w]hen The Residents begin work on their 2007 opus to insanity, The Voice of Midnight, the group felt the need to shake things up, consequently they created an alter ego through which they could act out new roles. Proudly, The Residents christened this conceptual alter ego as THE UGHS! The group then fashioned "written music" from the raw, impulsive ideas created by The UGHS!, building the musical structure of The Voice of Midnight on these pieces. Two years later these original UGHS! recordings were rediscovered; freed from its previous role supporting The Voice of Midnight's narrative, the music suddenly sounded as fresh as when it was first recorded. The time had come to resurrect THE UGHS.”

THE UGHS! is a primal, percussive-based album that, aside for some inarticulate grunting and chanting, is all instrumental. The band uses this rhythmic foundation as a base to which they add a variety of instruments which twist and turn the music in different and often unexpected directions. The disc starts with “The Ughs”, which mixes industrial percussion with a prominent jew’s harp and xylophone and jumps from there into the free-form freak-out of “The Dancing Duck”. This later track builds up a wall of organic and industrial sounds over which soft woodwinds and crazed duck quacking are layered. On different numbers on the disc, the band works in assorted organic and electronic percussion, reeds and strings along with ambient synths. The music ranges from the Middle-Eastern note-bending tribal stomp of “Floating Down the Nile” to the movie soundtrack gone astray (“Squeaky Wheel”) to the free form jazz of “The Horns of Haynesville” to the King Crimson sounding “In the Dark”.



For anyone who got lost in some of The Residents’ recent narrative-based projects, THE UGHS! is the perfect road out.

Links:
The Residents

Fort Frances - Chicago Alt-Country Trio Plays Pianos on Jan. 28th

Ghosts of California by Fort Frances

DOWNLOAD: Fort Frances - "Hard Earned Heart" (from the band's 2011 debut The Atlas)

"Wilco is an easy comparison to make here, and it’s an apt one; there are times during The Atlas when David McMillin sounds as if he’s channelled Jeff Tweedy." - - Tympanogram.com

What initially began as a solo project for singer/songwriter David McMillin gradually transformed into Fort Frances: a three-piece band whose debut album represents more than two years of drawing their own map for musical exploration. With an all-instruments-on-board approach to writing and recording, their heavily textured style introduces you to a band with a Beatles influence that shines through every note.

Produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Langhorne Slim), The Atlas was recorded in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere Maine. If you listen closely to the album, you will discover some of the hidden secrets of what it means to make a record: trumpets in the open New England air, lampshades substituted for drums, dog barks and a continuing directional thread that runs between each of its 10 songs.



Fort Frances are headlining a show at Pianos on January 28th (11PM set time) and cover is $10. Also on the bill is Camden Joy (10PM), Life in a Blender and Mark Donato.

Links:
Fort Frances

Meat Puppets - "Monsters" CD Review (MVD Audio)

DOWNLOAD: Meat Puppets - Live at Georgia Theater, Athens. GA 11-08-89

The Meat Puppets kicked off the tour for Monsters tour in December of 1989 at The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and, in a review of the show, the L.A. Times said: “As individual and uncompromising as the band's approach is, it is still difficult to fathom why the Meat Puppets haven't found the larger success of the Replacements, Bob Mould and other contemporaries. There is a distinctive, imaginative song craft at work in the Puppets' recent material which, coupled with the trio's blistering musicality, could easily snare fans from such disparate camps as R.E.M. and Metallica.“

The Meat Puppets released their 7th album, Monsters, in 1989 and, while the band came extremely close to signing with Atlantic, this disc was their final for SST. In the liner notes, Derrick Bostrom mentions that this disc was the Pups attempt to take their career more serious and "[court] the major labels in earnest". Listening to this disc for the first time in twenty years, I can hear the sound that band Nirvana and Soundgarden capitalized on in the early 90’s. This disc was recorded instrument by instrument and Bostrom used a drum machine to lay down the initial drum tracks, all of which gives the music the sort of ‘high gloss’ radio-friendly finish first heard on Mirage. Derrick Bostrom comments in the liner notes :"We...kept the electronic drums a secret to see if anyone noticed. Not only did no one notice, but some people even said that Monsters was the 'livest' sounding album that we'd done yet!"

Monsters is a big alt-rock album that could and should have been the hit that Nevermind was…but the Pups seemed to be cursed by bad timing and a lack of interest in sticking with one particular style of music. In the liner notes to Monsters, Curt Kirkwood said “We could have done Up on the Sun the first time around, but we didn't want to. The sound of that first record wasn't an accident...we needed the debut to have a ferocity and weirdness to it.”

As compared with Up on the Sun, Curt dominates this album with controlled vocals (that are in-key) and some chunky guitar riffs that are a mix between Billy Gibbons and Jimmy Page. “Attacked by Monsters” and “Party Til the World Obeys” are an indicator as to what Nirvana would became and “The Void” isn’t that far off from Alice in Chains 1991 debut CD. Never keeping to one style, “Light” shows Cris and Curt singing in Byrdsian harmony. One of the disc standouts is “Touchdown King”, which is the jangle-pop song that R.E.M. never wrote. Curt flexs his guitar hero muscles with the ZZ Top-style instrumental boogie “Flight of the Fire Weasel” and two very different takes of this song have been added as bonus tracks. The disc closes with the mellow, psychedelic and layered “Like Being Alive” which is a precursor to the similarly-veined bonus track “Wish Upon a Storm”.

As a point of interesting trivia, Derrick Bostrom notes that Curt was unhappy with the final mixes of "Attacked by Monsters" and "Like Being Alive" so he replaced these tracks with his rough mixes. This reissue also includes the promotional video for "Light” which features concert shots of the band spliced with footage of the desert.



Meat Puppets – “Monsters” Bonus Tracks
"Wish upon a Storm" – 4:27
"Flight of the Fire Weasel, Pt. 1" – 4:25
"Flight of the Fire Weasel, Pt. 2" – 4:44

Links:
Meat Puppets

Town Hall: Brooklyn Indie-Folk Band Cover Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" / New EP Available as Free Download

Town Hall "sold me" with their acoustic re-interpretation (and the vocals trade-offs between Stefan Weiner and Phoebe Ryan) of Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle" so I gave the band's new EP, "Sticky Notes & Paper Scraps" a spin. This is a mellow "late night" disc that is powered by the two vocalists with instrumentation like mandolin and omnichord carefully woven in beneath the vocals. Most of the songs fall into the "alt-folk" genre but the exceptions are the Appalachian/alt-country track "Pandora" and the indie-pop of "Mary A. Longden".

I'm going to have to see the band live after listening to this...

This EP release marks the beginning of three crazy months for us. Between now and our full-length album on March 12th, we’ll be releasing a series of cover videos, filming (and drawing?!) three music videos for singles off the LP, and to top it all off, Jesse will be teaching music to children in Africa.

Needless to say, we’re going to need your help- the most valuable thing you can do for us is share the music. Put it on your Facebook, Tweet about it, send a postcard to your weird Aunt Sally… give it to your friends, your enemies, even complete strangers.

Why?

Well, we put our hearts into it, it’s pretty good, and it’s free. There ya go.

Love and gratitude.

-TH

Links:
Town Hall

Il Abanico - LA-to-Brooklyn Post-Rock Band Plays Goodbye Blue Monday on Feb.11th

Los Angeles-to-Brooklyn post-rock band Il Abanico plays music that sounds like one of the bands from the Teen Beat / Slumberland roster crossed with a heavy Latin influence.

Il Abanico is an Indie/Experimental band created in 2010 by Nicolás Losada (guitar) and Juliana Ronderos (Voice). They expose their personalities with innovative melodies, an upbeat rhythm section and unorthodox guitars. Originally from Bogotá, Colombia, this duo spent fall of 2010 composing what would become their first work “Crossing Colors” (February 2011); a 5 songs EP, recorded in well renowned Studio G (temporal studio for the Black Keys) in Brooklyn, NY. Established in Boston, MA, and playing around the east coast area, Il Abanico started to play with a full band. The new band members captured the attention of many blogs and interviews because of their diverse nationalities.



Il Abanico has recently moved from Los Angeles to Brooklyn and the band is playing their first show as a "local band" at Goodbye Blue Monday on Feb. 11th. This show is free and Jahn Xavier (who has probably done a million things over the past 20+ years and I'm still going to remember him as "X Sessive" from Richard Hell's band or from his stint leading The Nitecaps) & the Bowerytones, The Nu-Sonics, Mic Raygun and Band of Outsiders are also on the bill.

Links:
Il Abanico

Lou Reed - "Walk on the Wild Side" CD Review (XXL Media)

Lou Reed’s Walk on the Wild Side CD (XXL Media) is a re-release of Lou’s live-in-the-studio performance from Ultrasonic Studios which was recorded on Dec. 26, 1972 in Hempstead, NY. At the time this show was recorded, Lou’s second solo disc, Transformer, had come out the month prior and the songs on this ten track disc are predominately drawn from Transformer and the Velvet Underground’s back catalogue (Lou amusingly refers to one of the Velvet’s tracks as a ‘blast from the past’).



This disc is an important addition to Lou Reed’s catalog as his performance and the sound of his backing band, The Tots, sound like a logic extension of the Velvet Underground’s Loaded. In addition to the accessibility and spontaneous urgency of the performance, Lou seems (surprisingly) cheerful and upbeat, both of which stand in sharp contrast to some of his later live discs, specifically the heavy metal bombast of Rock & Roll Animal, which was recorded a year later, or Reed’s venom spitting performance on 1978’s Live: Take No Prisoners. Lou re-interprets most of the Velvet Underground tracks – playing a languid “I’m Waiting for My Man” and he adds back the verse that was dropped from the Velvet’s version of “Sweet Jane” during Loaded’s final mixing – and he gives a “punch” to the Transformer songs that David Bowie wasn’t able to capture in the studio. Lastly, this is the only legit live recording of “Walk It Talk It” and “I’m so Free” and the early version of “Berlin” (from Reed’s self-titled debut) only appeared elsewhere on the now hard-to-find live disc Le Bataclan ‘72.

For completists, there is one minor downside…this disc is missing two tracks that were part of the original radio broadcast. The first track is a brief interview that took place midway through the set where the interviewer asks Lou where Doug Yule is. The second missing track is “Rock n’ Roll”, which Reed closed the set with.

Links:
Lou Reed