Thin Lizzy - "Black Rose" Deluxe Edition CD Review

The early part of 1978 was a prolific period for members of Thin Lizzy. The late January / early February sessions yielded most of Black Rose (1979) along with tracks that appeared on Gary Moore’s solo disc Back on the Streets and Phil’s Solo in Soho CD.

To echo the same thing that I said about the Bad Reputation deluxe edition, the Andy Pierce remaster sounds great and one can clearly hear all of the subtleties and dynamics within the music. It has been years since I’ve heard this album and it has aged well to my ears. The somewhat dated 70’s funk/boogie of Johnny the Fox has been left in the past and this is classic arena rock featuring some stellar song writing and the twin guitar leads of Gary Moore and Scott Gorham. Even the casual Lizzy fans will know “Waiting for An Alibi” and “Do Anything You Want To” but other tracks like “Got To Give It Up” and Gary Moore powered “A Roisin Dubh (Black Rose): A Rock Legend” shouldn’t be missed.

I’ve got mixed feelings on the bonus tracks. While it is great to hear the embryonic versions of tracks that ended up on Black Rose and Gary Moore’s Back on the Streets (specifically “Don’t Believe a Word”) albums, I have nine of the disc’s ten tracks on the eighteen track “Black Rose Sessions” bootleg CD. The issue isn’t that these tracks were bootlegged but rather than the legitimate release doesn’t include half of the Black Rose sessions. It seems both curious and arbitrary that the slow version of “Don’t Believe A Word” (from Gary Moore’s Back on the Streets disc) was included and "Parisienne Walkways" wasn’t. (…or that “Rockula/Rock Your Love”, which was probably intended for Solo in Soho, was included and “Hate” wasn’t).

My view is that the recent slew of 2CD Deluxe reissues (from all bands) are targeted to the longtime fan as an “upgrade” rather than new fans. Given that the limitation (from the 80’s) of a maximum of a ~40 minute running time for CD is long in the past, this is a decent upgrade but it falls short of what it could have been.

Track List for Black Rose Bonus Disc

1. Just The Two Of Us (Do Anything You Want To B-Side)
2. A Night In The Life Of A Blues Singer (longer version)
3. Rock Your Love (unreleased)
4. Don't Believe A Word (slow version)
5. Toughest Street In Town (different version)

1978 Nassau Session
6. S & M
7. Got To Give It Up
8. Cold Black Night (unreleased)
9. With Love
10. Black Rose

Thin Lizzy – Black Rose Sessions Bootleg

1-21-78 Rampart Studios
1) Rockula [aka “Rock Your Love”] (unreleased/written by Jimmy Bain)
2) A Night In the Life of a Blue Singer (long version)

1-22-78 Rampart Studios
3) Cold Black Night (Unreleased)
4) Hate (Unreleased)
5) With Love (with Huey Lewis on harmonica)
6) Parisienne Walkways (with Huey Lewis)
7) Black Rose (with Huey Lewis)
8) Got to Give It Up (slower / different lyrics)
9) Toughest Street in Town (lyrics dubbed too nasty by record company)
10) Don’t Believe a Word (slow version – Lynott / Moore vocals)

Good Earth Studios 2-1-78
11) Ode to a Black Man (Original version)
12) Spanish Guitar (demo / different lyrics)
13) Parisienne Walkways (demo)
14) Are You Ready (Unreleased Studio Version)
15) Blackmail (Unreleased by Lizzy – on first Wild Horses Album)
16) Waiting for an Alibi (Slower / different Lyrics)
17) Fanatical Fascists (Lynott vocals)

Unknown Date / Location
18) Leaving Town (Unreleased)
19) Just the Two of Us ("Do Anything You Want To" b-side)



Links:
Thin Lizzy

Kiss Release Plushies, Announce Appearance in "Archie" Comic Book and New Album in 2012

Kiss has announced their 20th album, Monster, and the fourth volume of Kissology will be released sometime around the beginning of the year. In the run-up to these releases, Kiss has some new merchandise coming out.

First up are plushies of the original lineup (Gene, Paul, Peter and Ace) and each doll is 7" tall. The dolls were released yesterday and are available through Entertainment Earth and FYE stores. Each doll is $11.99 through Entertainment Earth.









(from KissOnline)
Come November, Riverdale will rock 'n roll all night -- not to mention, party every day -- for the four-part storyline "Archie Meets KISS" running through "Archie" #627-630. Written by Archie Comics' Executive Director of Publicity and Marketing Alex Segura with art by Dan Parent -- an Archie mainstay most recently known for creating Kevin Keller, the publisher's first openly gay character -- the story will find Sabrina's errant protection spell inviting a horde of demons to town, with the comics-inspired KISS personas of the Demon, Moonchild, Spaceman and Catman arriving just in time to help save the day.

CBR News spoke with Segura and Parent about "Archie Meets KISS" and how the two worlds will collide.

CBR News: First, guys, how did this unusual team-up come together?

Alex Segura: Pretty easily, actually. Gene Simmons called up our Co-CEO Jon Goldwater with the idea. Once the deal was struck, I pitched my story to Jon and President Mike Pellerito. I'd written an issue of "Archie and Friends" before, so they knew I was interested in writing more. The timing worked out really well and the chance to bring together two major pieces of Americana -- Archie and the KISS gang -- was impossible to pass up.

Lastly, Kiss' forthcoming disc Monster already has a Wikipedia page. In an interview, Gene Simmons said that this forthcoming disc is a "combination of three of the band's previous albums, Destroyer, Revenge and the album's predecessor Sonic Boom."

Links:
Kiss

A.A. Bondy - "Believers" CD Review (Fat Possum) / Show at Bowery Ballroom on Nov. 22nd

AA Bondy - The Heart Is Willing by fatpossum

A.A. Bondy is releasing his third disc Believers (Fat Possum) on Tuesday and this follow-up to 2009’s When The Devil’s Loose shows Bondy continuing to expand on the full band sound of When the Devil’s Loose but moving away from his folky/Americana past into darker “Dax Riggs” territory.

Believers was recorded in the spring of 2011 by Rob Schnapf at Mant/Kingsize Studios in Glassell Park, California. The new ten songs (40 minute) disc sets a dark and melancholy mood and the disc’s press release states that these songs were “conjured during and between dreams, in bare rooms, and on the late night streets of America.” This is a lonely album where Bondy’s stark vocals and the steady undercurrent of neo-psychedelic echo and reverb will pull you into the restless night, right alongside of him.

In a 2009 interview, Bondy described When The Devil’s Loose as “something that more generates a feeling rather than telling someone how to feel” and I feel this new disc goes a step further in bringing out that emotive current within his music. This is also the closest that Bondy has gotten to replicating the sound of his live shows and he is joined on the disc by Ben Lester (drums, piano, pedal steel) and Macey Taylor (bass). Standout tracks are the slow burning “Skull & Bones” and the up-tempo disc opener “The Heart is Willing”.

"Believers is the last couple years in one long exposure" – Bondy



A.A. Bondy Tour Dates:
SEPT. 28 -- SAN DIEGO, CA -- THE CASBAH
SEPT. 29 -- LOS ANGELES, CA -- BOOTLEG THEATER
OCT. 4 -- PORTLAND, OR -- MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS
OCT. 6 -- SEATTLE, WA -- TRACTOR TAVERN
OCT. 7 -- VANCOUVER, BC -- MEDIA CLUB
NOV. 1 -- SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- URBAN LOUNGE
NOV. 2 -- DENVER, CO -- HI DIVE
NOV. 4 -- OMAHA, NE -- THE WAITING ROOM
NOV. 5 -- MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- 7TH STREET ENTRY
NOV. 7 -- MADISON, WI -- HIGH NOON
NOV. 8 -- CHICAGO, IL -- LINCOLN HALL
NOV. 10 -- NASHVILLE, TN -- MERCY LOUNGE
NOV. 11 -- LITTLE ROCK, AR -- STICKYZ CHICKEN SHACK
NOV. 12 -- DALLAS, TX -- PROPHET BAR
NOV. 13 -- AUSTIN, TX -- THE PARISH
NOV. 15 -- OXFORD, MS -- PROUD LARRY'S
NOV. 16 -- ATLANTA, GA -- THE EARL
NOV. 17 -- KNOXVILLE, TN -- PILOT LIGHT
NOV. 18 -- CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- THE SOUTHERN
NOV. 19 -- WASHINGTON, DC -- ROCK 'N ROLL HOTEL
NOV. 21 -- PHILADELPHIA, PA -- FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH
NOV. 22 -- NEW YORK, NY -- BOWERY BALLROOM

There is no opening act (currently) listed for A.A. Bondy's show at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets are $15 the Bowery Ballroom's site lists doors at 8PM and the show at 9PM.

Links:
A.A. Bondy

Girl on Fire Releases "Medicate" from "Revenge" EP / Show at Webster Hall on October 2nd

The only bio information that I can find posted on Girl on Fire comes from their Facebook page: "We are a rock band from Seattle, WA!"

Hmmm...I kind of figured that one out already.

Girl on Fire have a six-song EP, "Revenge", coming out on Sept. 13th and the tracks I've heard are melodic hardcore that sound something like Evergreen Terrace. The band kicked off a coast-to-coast tour with Get Scared and Dr. Acula earlier this month and are playing The Studio at Webster Hall on October 2nd.

For the show at Webster Hal, Airismine and Masses are also on the bill. Tickets are $12 in advance and $14 DOS - doors are at 6PM.



Girl on Fire Tour Dates
09/13/2011 - Seattle, WA @ El Corazon Lounge
09/14/2011 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
09/15/2011 - Boise, ID @ The Venue
09/16/2011 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Sound
09/17/2011 - Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
09/18/2011 - Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
09/19/2011 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Conservatory
09/20/2011 - Tulsa, OK @ The Marquee
09/22/2011 - Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live Studio
09/23/2011 - San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
09/24/2011 - Dallas, TX @ The Door (*Firefest with: Attack Attack!, Falling In Reverse, Eyes Set To Kill and more)
09/26/2011 - Jacksonville, FL @ The Pit
09/27/2011 - Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (downstairs)
09/30/2011 - Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Loft
10/01/2011 - Danbury, CT @ The Streets @ Tuxedo Junction
10/02/2011 - New York, NY @ The Studio @ Webster Hall
10/03/2011 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Barbary
10/04/2011 - Teaneck, NJ @ Mexicali Live
10/05/2011 - Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock
10/06/2011 - Providence, RI @ Firehouse 13
10/07/2011 - Montreal, QC, Canada @ Underworld
10/08/2011 - Toronto, ON, Canada @ Sneaky Dees
10/09/2011 - Buffalo, NY @ Xtreme Wheels
10/10/2011 - Cleveland, OH @ Privates Cove
10/11/2011 - Southgate, MI @ Modern Exchange
10/13/2011 - Joliet, IL @ Mojoes
10/14/2011 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
10/15/2011 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave Bar
10/16/2011 - St. Louis, MO @ Fubar

Links:
Girl on Fire

Hull: Beyond-The-Scenes Footage of the "Beyond the Lightless Sky" Video Posted

DOWNLOAD: Hull - "Fire Vein" (hosted on VillageVoice.com)

Metal Injection is currently hosting an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Hull's upcoming "Beyond The Lightless Sky" video, the title track from the band's new full-length. Set for North American release on October 11, 2011 via The End Records, the follow-up to the band's critically-acclaimed Sole Lord debut was co-produced by Brett Romnes and mixed by Billy Anderson (Sleep, Neurosis, Melvins, et al).



Hailing from the streets of Brooklyn, New York, Hull has yet again emerged with a creation to outlive the ages with latest saga, Beyond The Lightless Sky. Digging further into the past, the Mayan epic takes the listener through a division of two brothers and the struggles that they are faced with. One finds salvation amongst the stars and the wisdom of a stranger, while the other is mesmerized with the bloodthirsty belief of sacrifice and self mutilation. In silence lies a realm that exists outside the plane of fear.

Beyond The Lightless Sky features guest appearances by vocalist Jarboe, keys/ambiance by Fade Kainer (Batillus/Jarboe/Inswarm ) and cello by Joe Merolla with artwork by Tamara Waite-Santibanez. Pre-order Beyond The Lightless Sky HERE.

Links:
Hull

Wolves in the Throne Room - "Celestial Lineage" CD Review (Southern Lord) // NYC Shows on Sept. 12th & 14th

On September 13, Wolves in the Throne Room are releasing Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord), which finishes the trilogy that began with Two Hunters (2007). This new disc is more organic (and perhaps less malevolent) than Black Cascade and, while these seven tracks are a noticeable step toward a more open sound, the disc incorporates all of the elements from the band’s past. Immediately noticeable is the return of angelic vocalist Jessika Kenney (who added vocals to Two Hunters (2007) and “Malevolent Grain” (2009)) whose voice starts off the first track “Thuja Magus Imperium”.

In describing the writing process for Celestial Lineage, drummer Aaron Weaver stated: “An ornate constellation of imagery is what that guides the songwriting process. Cedar temples crowned with burnished bronze domes glimpsed in a remote valley. Wild Midsummer bonfires and feasting on roasted flesh. All of the sounds serve to evoke the images that exist in our minds eye. With this record we’re going to explore an entirely new palette of sound. We want the instruments to sound like the liturgical music of a cedar cult.”

Celestial Lineage’s seven tracks run just under fifty minutes and brunt of the disc is comprised by three epic tracks: "Thuja Magus Imperium" (11:41), which opens the disc, and "Astral Blood" (10:16) and "Prayer of Transformation" (10:57) which close the disc. “Theja Magus Imperium” opens with a majestic soundscape before heading into black metal darkness and then the song resurfaces back into the light before the ending. The band utilizes these contrasting moods and sonic colors on a few other tracks such as “Subterranean Initiation” which includes delicately picked guitar work along with the sonic blast beats and “Astral Blood” which has an acoustic interlude which break up the black metal fury.

The other four tracks include the brooding “Woodland Cathedral”, which features clean vocals from Jessika Kenney; two short instrumental interludes, “Rainbow Illness” and “Permanent Changes in Consciousness” with the later including chanting courtesy of Aaron Turner (ISIS) and the pounding black metal of “Subterranean Initiation”. Celestial Lineage is not your run-of-the-mill black metal disc and drummer Aaron Weaver has said "Wolves in the Throne Room is not black metal, or, more accurately we play black metal on our own terms, for our own reasons."

In support of the album, Wolves in the Throne Room kicked off a US tour earlier this month and plan on eventually engulfing many other regions of the planet. In the US, they will travel with their own PA system thus “enabling them to perform in warehouses, groves and collapsed barns rather than the well-worn circuit of the clubs and bars”.

Wolves in the Throne Room Fall Tour Dates
Fri, Sep 30th 2011 - Denver, CO, Rhincoeropolis

Wed, Sep 28th 2011 - Fort Worth, TX, Lola's Saloon
Playing with: Garuda and Megton Leviathan

Tue, Sep 27th 2011 - Austin, TX, Red 7
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan

Sun, Sep 25th 2011 - New Orleans, LA, Nowe Miasto
Playing with: Thou and Megaton Leviathan

Sat, Sep 24th 2011 - Tallahasse, FL, The Far Side Collective
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan

Fri, Sep 23rd 2011 - St. Petersenburg, FL, The Chop Shop
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan

Thu, Sep 22nd 2011 - Atlanta, GA, Club 529
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan

Wed, Sep 21st 2011 - Nashville, TN, The Little Hamilton
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan

Tue, Sep 20th 2011 - Sheffield, AL, JD's
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan

Sun, Sep 18th 2011 - Greensboro, NC, Legitimate Business
Playing with: Mt. Eerie, Megaton Leviathan

Sat, Sep 17th 2011 - Richmond, VA, Strange Matter
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan

Fri, Sep 16th 2011 - Bethlehem, PA , Steel Cty Firehall, Lower Saucon. Adress: 2121 Riverside Drive Bethlehem, PA 18015
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan and Fursaxa
Additional info: Buy advance tickets here: www.angeldess.bigcartel.com

Thu, Sep 15th 2011 - Philadelphia, PA, Broad Street Ministry
Playing with: Megaton Leviathan, Vit and Woe

Wed, Sep 14th 2011 - NYC, Death By Audio
Playing with: Thou

Mon, Sep 12th 2011, 20:00 - NYC, The Bell House
Playing with: THOU



Links:
Wolves in the Throne Room

Peter Case Kicks Off Fall Tour In Support of "The Case Files" (Alive Records)

DOWNLOAD: Peter Case - "Round Trip Stranger Blues"

Peter Case - Steel Strings No1 by alivenaturalsound

Peter Case released the well-received collection of demos, out-takes, one-time live performances & other rarities, The Case Files (Alive) earlier this year and All Music Guide said "these 12 songs make for an entertaining and empowering album that delivers the goods with smarts and simple, sweaty force. The Case Files proves this man’s cast-offs make for a better album than most acts’ level-best efforts, and with any luck, he’ll offer another look into his archives before long." Case is heading out on a Fall Tour in support of this disc that starts today in Palmer, AK.



The closest show is Saturday, Oct. 1 at The Turning Point, 468 Piermont Ave. Piermont, NY. The show starts at 6PM and tickets are $20.

Peter Case 2011 Fall Tour
Sep. 9 - Vagabond Blues, Palmer, AK
Sep. 10 - Out North Theatre, Anchorage, AK
Sep. 14 - The Geomatic Attic, South Lethbridge, AB, Canada
Sep. 15 - The Palomino, Calgary, AB , Canada
Sep. 16 - The Roxy Theatre, Saskatoon, SK Canada
Sep. 30 The Record Collector Concert Series, Bordentown, NJ
Oct. 1 (12:30PM) - Bridge Street Live, Collinsville, CT
Oct. 1 (6PM) - The Turning Point, Piermont, NY
Oct. 2 - Roots Hoot House Concerts, Peace Dale, RI
Oct. 4 - Stage On Herr, Harrisburg, PA
Oct. 5 - Thunderbird Café, 4023 Butler Street, Lawrenceville, PA
Oct. 6 - Rumba Café, Columbus, OH
Oct. 8 - Trinity House Theatre, Livonia, MI
Oct. 9 - Columbia Street West, Ft. Wayne, IN
Oct. 10 - WYCE Fall Hat Trick Series,Grand Rapids, MI
Oct. 11 - Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
Oct. 12 - The Good Neighborhood @ The Sportsman, Buffalo, NY
Oct. 13 - Lovin' Cup, Rochester, NY
Oct. 14 - Buffalo Film Festival Opening Night, The Screening Room Cinema Café, Amherst, NY
Oct. 15 - This Ain't Hollywood, Hamilton, ON, Canada
Oct. 16 - Hugh's Room, Toronto, ON
Oct. 20 - Bayport BBQ, Bayport, MN
Oct. 21 - Lee's Liquor Lounge, Minneapolis, MN
Oct. 22 - House Of Righteous Music, Madison, WI
Oct. 23 - Old Town School of Folk Music, Chicago, IL

Links:
Peter Case

Crock - "Grok" CD Review (Jackpot Records)

STREAM/DOWNLOAD: Crock - "No More Dumb Fun" (from forthcoming CD Grok - out Sept. 27th)

Crock is a new project from Quasi's Sam Coomes and Hella's Spencer Seim. The band's sound is built off the fuzzed-out / freaked-out urban electonica of bands like Suicide to which the band add elements of space rock, Zappa / Pavement style free-form deconstruction, dark stoner riffs and pounding industrial squiggles and rhythms. The disc's cover art was done by Janet Weiss (Quasi / Sleater-Kinney) and its montage of colors visually sums up Crock's debut - there is a lot going on but but there is a sense of structure around the chaos which allows you to hear different elements of the band's sound with each spin of the disc.

Seim is credited with the spazzy, sputtering drum work so I assume that Commes handled all of the other instrumentation and vocals. Most of Commes' melodic vocals are low in the mix so the listener can hear his melodic harmonies but his lyrics are mostly unintelligible. Coomes delivers his vocals with the punk fervor of Nation of Ulysses' Ian Svenonius but when the vocals are on top of the mix ("Corpsecrystal Mountain"), he sounds a bit more like Stephen Malkmus on the early Pavement discs.

Grok comes out on Jackpot Records on September 27th. The CD edition is limited to 500 copies and the pre-order edition of the LP comes on neon green vinyl.



Links:
Crock

Tyler Ramsey (Band of Horses) Releases "The Valley Wind" in Advance of His Third Solo CD

The Valley Wind by tylerramsey

After steadily writing while both on and off the road over the course of last year, Tyler Ramsey headed to Nashville, TN, to record his third album The Valley Wind at Alex The Great studio in early January. Friend and bandmate Bill Reynolds (who’s worked with The Avett Brothers and Lissie) produced and aided on bass, while friend Seth Kauffman (Floating Action) sat in on drums and guitar, also singing background vocals. Over a rare snowy set of six days in the southern city, Ramsey crafted nine, finely spun songs, keeping the focus on performance as they were played, and letting fresh ideas reveal themselves as they would. The sessions were intense; the three musicians separated and insulated from most normal daily goings-on during the recording period. The result: a crystalline yet warm album, filled with Ramsey’s rich, plaintive vocals and expressive, intricate guitar playing.

This new disc is due out September 27th and pre-order links are up on Fat Possum's website and iTunes.

Ramsey is perhaps most immediately recognizable as the tall, lean guitarist in Band Of Horses, having played with them since 2007, starting before the release of their breakthrough album, Cease To Begin. A well-established and praised guitar player and singer in the burgeoning music scene of Asheville, NC where he calls home, he first learned to play music on piano before moving to the guitar. Ramsey grew up listening to and studying country-blues guitar players like Mance Lipscomb and Mississippi John Hurt, and American finger pickers like John Fahey and Leo Kottke, absorbing their sound and making it all his own.

Ramsey released his self-titled debut in 2004 and followed it in 2008 with A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea (Echo Mountain Records), which was praised by NPR (World Café – “Heartwarming, delicate, and comforting”), Stereogum (‘Artist To Watch’), WNYC’s Soundcheck, and Popmatters, among others. That album – a collection of haunting and atmospheric songs that exude a markedly fluid, easy grace – was re-released by Brown Records/Fat Possum in January 2011.

Links:
Tyler Ramsey

The Residents - "Ten Little Piggies" CD Review (Ralph Records)

After reviewing The Residents’ Randy’s Ghost Stories DVD and Lonely Teenager CD, I wanted to go back to where the music from the band’s Talking Light project first surfaced. In 2009, The Residents released a “futurist compilation” entitled Ten Little Piggies which consisted of fourteen tracks from ten projects that may or may not be released in the future. “The Unseen Sister” and “Talking Light” (both from the Talking Light tour) first surfaced on this compilation.

With The Residents’ music shifting in focus in recent years to more narrative-based stories, this disc is a nice change of pace. Aside for The Bunny Boy and Talking Light tracks, Ten Little Piggies is predominately comprised of complex and innovative instrumentals that almost sound like something from a David Byrne & Bryan Eno collaboration. These instrumentals range from atmospheric, cinematic soundscapes to complex, polyrhythmic percussion-driven tracks to minimalist avant-garde. As this disc served as the jumping off point for many of The Residents’ recent and upcoming projects, this is essential listening for anyone wanting to hear where the band is heading next.

Here is the breakdown of the ten projects:

Duck Stab Re-Imagined - The album, Duck Stab, was recorded in 1979 at the height of the "New Wave" era. It epitomized everything that was good about New Wave: catchy, raw and above all fiercely independent. But that was 30 years ago and the Residents thought this would be a good time to rethink this quirky recording. The rethinking was conceived as a live performance connected to a gallery exhibition of New Wave art.

The Voice of Midnight: Instrumental - Perhaps no project The Residents have ever recorded produced as much material as The Voice of Midnight. This 2007 opus not only produced the album, but also a shorter work, The Sandman Waits, contributed to a collection of songs called Smell My Picture, and the parallel universe album, The UGHS! The Voice of Midnight was theatrical in style so in order to showcase the music, often overshadowed by the album's narrative, this instrumental version will be released through The Residents download store at www.residents.com.

Strange Culture (OST) - The Residents wrote a minimalist score for Lynn Hershman Leeson's 2007 film, Strange Culture, (combined two short sentences here) based on the surreal nightmare of internationally-acclaimed artist and professor Steve Kurtz.

Arkansas - Since it was based on the unpredictable story line found in The Bunny Boy internet series, the Bunny performance also evolved over time, with new music being added to the show as it toured. Ultimately, some of the music written for the project was never used, so now these extraneous pieces of The Bunny Boy will be released as Arkansas.

Tweedles: Instrumental - Following in the footsteps of the successful release of River of Crime: Instrumental and Animal Lover:Instrumental, Tweedles: Instrumental will be more than just non-vocal versions of the songs. Instead, the album will be a three piece suite that was originally written to represent air, earth, and water. Originally, the project's working title was "Tabasco" and over time, it evolved into "Casanova's Clown" until finally becoming Tweedles.

The UGHS! - When 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.

Talking Light - The Residents have wanted to experiment with looser forms of music and lyrics. Talking Light is designed for performance and is based on a mix of improvisation and scoring. The concept for this project is interpretive story telling with an interactive electronic score.

Hades - Dark, abstract, scary. Hades was originally composed to accompany an art opening, but when the exhibit was postponed the recording was misplaced and not incorporated into the eventual opening. For years this music has been ignored, waiting to be heard and appreciated by anyone whose taste runs toward the unpredictable and the macabre. Not for everyone.

Haeckel's Tale (OST) - The Residents were commissioned to write a score for this Showtime film, but for unspecified reasons the music was not used.

The Bunny Boy Live - When The Residents toured their epic adventures of The Bunny Boy in 2008, the show was shot as a special for French television. Media from this documentary is expected to surface in 2010.

Continuing to use this compilation as a jumping off point, The Residents will be releasing a special-edition 2CD version of their new forthcoming album Coochie Brake (due in 2012) which includes a second CD of music that did not make it onto the album. Coochie Brake is a swamp in Louisiana and the music on the album is described as warm and damp. Officially, Coochie Brake will be the second release under The Ughs concept.

Links:
The Residents

The Residents - "Lonely Teenager" CD Review (MVD Audio)

The Residents have been so prolific these days that it is hard to refer to any disc as “their latest”…so, the band’s latest “factory pressed / commercially available” CD, Lonely Teenager, is the latest in the series of discs that have been released around the current Talking Light project. A limited edition version of Lonely Teenager was sold on the Talking Light tour and the disc was commercially released in June on MVD Audio.

This disc breaks from the industry norm of a release followed by a tour as it was released after The Residents’ Talking Light tour wrapped up. The press release for this disc described the impetus for this as: “during a time when little interest is being paid to CDs, the idea of developing a touring show without the restriction of promoting an album made perfect sense. This time the group could just play whatever they wanted instead of a predetermined show. It would be fun - and it was.

But after forty or so performances, The Residents started wondering: what would the album that "might have been" sound like? ...and they begin to imagine the fictitious album they would be supporting - had they actually recorded one. As usual with Randy, Chuck & Bob, imagination quickly leads to action, and, in a short time this action produced the curious Lonely Teenager.

Featuring pieces that were performed in the show as well as others that were considered but ultimately rejected, Lonely Teenager is "the studio album that might have been." Benefiting hugely from the Talking Light tour, the CD also includes additional tunes featuring new arrangements of Lizard Lady (from Duck Stab Re-Imagined sessions) and The Bunny Boy's Boxes of Armageddon."

Track List:
1 - Six More Miles (8:38)
> Original version on Stars & Hank Forever (1986)

2 - My Window (4:18)
> Original version on Animal Lover (2005)

3 - The Unseen Sister (7:56)
> From the Talking Light tour

4 - The Lizard Lady (3:05)
> Original version on Duck Stab (1978)

5 - The Sleepwalker (3:33)
> Original version on the Demons Dance Alone ltd. Edition Bonus CD (2002)

6 - The Old Woman (6:45)
> Original version on Gingerbread Man (1994)

7 - Boxes of Armageddon (3:35)
> Original version on The Bunny Boy (2008)

8 - Talking Light (9:51)
> From the Talking Light tour

The tour edition of Lonely Teenager contained a ninth track which is a unique rehearsal version of "The Unseen Sister" from October of 2009.

Lonely Teenager runs just under fifty minutes and the tracks are atmospheric and disconcertingly dark. While this disc contains the same two Talking Light tracks as Ten Little Piggies, these are longer version and the narration is down-played. The one notable exception to this predominately instrumental album is “The Old Woman” which takes on a more deranged overtone with new narration from Randy.



Residents' spokesperson Hardy Fox gave an interview with LA Weekly earlier this year where he was asked about the vision behind Lonely Teenager.

LA Weekly: The new album, Lonely Teenager, which grew out of ideas germinated on the Talking Light tour, reveals the music growing more subtly complex — and beautiful, and scary, too. "The mirror has two sides" is a sample lyric. What do you suppose the Residents mean by this?

Hardy Fox: As people age, they stop recognizing themselves when they look in the mirror. There's a two-sided mirror in the show, one side reflecting Randy and the other reflecting the audience. The audience has to face the mirrors just like the performers do — just like your death, each person has to deal with that at a very individual level.

Links:
The Residents

Samantha Ronson Plays Bowery Electric on September 9th

This show is sure to draw an eclectic crowd...

Uber-DJ Samantha Ronson (who is the one-time girlfriend of Lindsay Lohan, step-daughter of Foreigner's Mick Jones, sister of producer Mark Ronson, etc.) has started to play some live dates with her new band Samantha Ronson and the Undertakers. According to Huffington Post, the band played their first "real show" in July at the Blue Note Jazz Club and the "audience responded well to Ronson's songs and banter, and though the singer seemed a bit nervous at times, the show seemed to go off without a hitch... those who see her live will be shocked at the transition from chronic photographer-flipper-off-er to gentle love song crooner."

Ronson's album, Chasing The Reds, was co-written with Jimmy Messer (from Kelly Clarkson's band) and, while that says a lot for the musical direction of the album, Ronson also co-wrote the song "Save Me" from the new Foreigner album.



Tickets are $13 and Ronson is sharing the bill with indie-punkers The Happy Problem and Brooklyn What.

Links:
Samantha Ronson

D Generation Announce New Disc in 2012 / Show at Irving Plaza on Sept. 17th

I guess you can go home again -- twelve years after D Generation's last CD Through the Darkness and their "final" show at Coney Island High, D Generation are playing a eight city tour and have announced a new disc for 2012.

The band will be playing material from their three full-length albums D Generation (EMI, 1994), No Lunch (Columbia 1996) and Through The Darkness (Sony 1999) and plan to write new material post shows for a release in 2012. Breaking up in 1999, the members last got together as D Generation in 2008 to play three songs at the John Varvatos Store Opening (on the site of the legendary CBGB’s).

Composed of Jesse Malin, Danny Sage, Howie Pyro, Michael Wildwood and Richard Bacchus, D Generation formed in the early 90’s and during the age of grunge and mainstream alt rock, were as Rolling Stone Magazine proclaimed “the stuff that popped-up 70s punk was made of" "tailor-made for grimy pinball arcades and Brand X beer-drinking binges." In addition to a 4 star review, legendary Rolling Stone writer David Fricke went on to comment "There is no better sales pitch for the snot-rock classicism and teenage-warfare spirit of D Generation than [the song] "No Way Out." Richard Bacchus’ and Danny Sage’s guitars spit bullets, singer Jesse Malin seethes with rabid impatience. Malin, Sage, Bacchus, bassist Howie Pyro and drummer Michael Wildwood embrace the values of aggressive brevity." Fricke went on to label the song a "stone classic" and fervently predicted more to come from the band.

A live force to be reckoned with D Generation toured with such artists as Social Distortion, L7, Green Day, Cheap Trick, The Misfits, and The Offspring, among many others. Most notably, the band also played on The Ramones’ farewell tour and the KISS reunion tour.

Speaking on the upcoming D Generation shows Sage says “We all still talk and have stayed in touch over the years. I’ve worked on all of Jesse’s solo albums. Over the years we have gotten a lot of offers to play but just were busy working on our own things. This year we decided to do two shows together and the offers began to fly in from all over the world and it just grew from there.”

Echoing the sentiment Malin said “There's a lot of love amongst the five of us, we grew up together. It's like a little gang, a bunch of friends hanging out on a street corner. I miss the good jokes, the unspoken understanding that people have that have such a real history. I miss putting on my creepers and screaming at the top of my lungs.”

In closing Sage says of the new era of D Generation “I think it’s a good time for D Generation, the state of rock & roll is so pathetic and somebody needs to kick it in the ass and I’m glad it’s us.”

D GENERATION TOUR DATES:
9/02 Benidorm, Spain @ Turborock Fest
9/03 Santander, Spain @ Turborock Fest
9/05 London, UK @ Borderline

9/17 New York @ Irving Plaza
Tickets are $25 and supporting acts are Alexis James, Tyburn Saints and The Biters

9/23 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
9/24 Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
9/25 Oakland, CA @ The Uptown
10/08 Chicago, IL @ Double Door / Riot Fest

Links:
D Generation

Thinning The Herd - "Oceans Rise" CD Review (St Mark's Records)

I missed Oceans Rise (St. Mark’s Records) when it came out (April 5th) and probably would have never gotten around to listening to this disc if I hadn’t received an email that it was going to expire from my promo pool. I’m glad that I grabbed this disc when I did as I would have been missing out a good thing. Oceans Rise is groove-based stoner metal crossed with a healthy dose of grunge and the disc sounds like what you would get by throwing Metallica, Alice in Chains and the current incarnation of Pentagram into a blender.

Thinning the Herd has been around since 2006 and the band is a power-trio comprised of guitarist/vocalist (and fine artist) Gavin Spielman, bassist Nick Lee and drummer Ben Proudman. Spielman sings with a raw but clean vocal style that leads to comparisons to Layne Staley or Pepper Keenan and his clean guitar riffs and solos adds a distinctive element which keeps the band from ‘sinking’ while mining the well-traveled grunge and stoner-metal genres. Adding to the mix, Lee and Proudman lay down the disc’s bottom-end with some muscular grooves and tight fills that sound like they came out of St. Vitus (or any of Wino’s other projects).

The disc’s eight tracks (35 minutes) go by fairly quickly in a haze of slow-burning, dirgey blues riffs (“On Fire”), Sabbath grooves (“Chill in the Air”), greasy hard rock (“Defiler”) and Soundgarden-style grunge (“Binge”, "Look Behind") which make a memorable impact without over-staying their welcome.



Links:
Thinning The Herd

Xoe Wise: Chicago Dream Pop Artist Plays Sept. Shows at The Living Room and The National Underground

DOWNLOAD: Xoe Wise - "Echo" (from Xoe's 2010 CD Echo)

Chicago Innerview described dream-pop artist Xoe Wise as "the singer/songwriter and pop counterpart to Columbia native Chaz Bundick’s (a.k.a. Toro Y Moi) laconic chill-wave synth ballads. Both share an evanescent “dreaminess,” as if washing in the aquamarine surf of their native environs."

Xoe will be playing two NYC shows next month: 9/7 @ The Living Room (9:30PM set time) and 9/9 @ The National Underground (8PM set time). Xoe is touring behind the critically acclaimed album Echo and she has shared the stage in the past with John Legend, Colbie Caillat, Lisa Loeb, Greg Laswell and Andrew Belle.

The first video from Echo was for the song "Before Waves" (below) and Xoe talked about the story behind the video late last year with OurStage.com.



OurStage: You have a music video for the song “Before Waves.” Can you tell us the story behind the video?

Xoe Wise: The song “Before Waves” regards a love story where two people fall in love by the ocean. The lovers do not realize their connection to the warm air and sea until returning to where they first met. I think we constantly do this in life. We feel something and then explore it more and watch our heart expand its senses to other beauties of the earth. Things we don’t even realize impact us, will resonate in our souls and play a role in our destiny. The video was directed by Ryan Eakins with help editing from his friend Lev. Ryan and my God moms and my friend Casey contributed to stunning ideas like Ryan’s concept of our walk creating words. The idea of our journey painting love in sand absolutely parallels this love story. Emily Blood is a character in the video who not only did beautifully on camera but is one of the most hilarious and life filled people I’ve met. Her presence added to what love is.

Links:
Xoe Wise

The Jesus Lizard - "Club" DVD Review (MVD Visual)

When thinking about audience-baiting lead signers, David Yow ranks up there with likes of Tesco Vee and Lee Ving. The Jesus Lizard’s new DVD, Club, captures the first night of the band’s 2009 reunion tour and Yow started off the set with the ‘joke’: "What's the difference between Farah Fawcett and Michael Jackson? About 5 hours" before the band launched into an explosive version of “Puss”.

Age hasn’t slowed The Jesus Lizard and you wouldn’t know by how tight they sounded that this was the band’s first US show in over ten years. Once launched, the band didn’t slow their hammering rhythms and Yow was in the crowd from the first song onward and had his shirt off by the fourth. While Yow made some crack about apologizing for his belly, he did some mad leaps and dives into the crowd that would put a younger stage diver to shame. Surprisingly, all of his clothes stayed on and he only pulled his d*ck out while singing “Blockbuster”.



The band played a sixty minute set and a fifteen minute encore and the set list focused on material from their Touch & Go years. While Yow was in and out of the crowd during the show, only one fan made it onto the stage and the camera crews capture this fan being chased by a VERY heavy security guard (who ultimately falls on his arse) while the band thunders through “Then Comes Dudley”.

The Jesus Lizard
Club Exit/In, Nashville, TN, July 14, 2009

Set List:
Puss
Seasick
Boilermaker
Gladiator
Destroy Before Reading
Mouthbreather
Blue Shot
Glamorous
Killer McHann
One Evening
Then Comes Dudley
Chrome
Nub
Blockbuster
Monkey Trick
7 vs. 8
Thumbscrews
Fly on the Wall
My Own Urine
Dancing Naked Ladies
Bloody Mary
Wheelchair Epidemic

The show was shot by a film crew that obviously knows the band’s work as the angles and transitions are great but the cameras lose Yow during some of his crowd surfing. The audio has both top and bottom-end depth and it is some of the best sound that I’ve heard on a live disc. Bonus features on the DVD include downloadable MP3s of the band’s performance and a photo montage of pictures from this show (which a shot of a chunky David Yow yanking it). If you missed the reunion tour – Club is probably as close as you are going to get to the intensity of a live performance from The Jesus Lizard.

David Yow and David Wm. Sims will hit the road later this year for a very brief Scratch Acid reunion. The only announced show is the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in the UK in December 2011 but Sims announced on his blog that Scratch Acid will play some dates in November and December in the US and possibly in Europe.

Links:
The Jesus Lizard

EULA Posts "Maurice Narcisse" as Free Download / Multiple Area Shows in September

DOWNLOAD: EULA - "Maurice Narcisse"

Punk rock trio EULA is coming coming back through town next month and the band is playing five shows in Brooklyn over the course of the next few weeks.

EULA is continuing to tour behind their new 10-track disc Maurice Narcisse which, in parts, sounds like the bastard child of Big Black. Check out QRO Magazine's in-depth review of the new disc.

EULA Sept/Oct Tour Dates
9/03-- The Lamp Post (Jersey City NJ)
9/10-- Tinderbox Music Festival @ Knitting Factory (Brooklyn)
9/15-- Elm City Pop Fest @ Popeye's Garage (New Haven CT)
9/17-- Paper Garden Records' Multiverse Playground III Fest (@ 106 Emerson Place, Brooklyn) ~ EULA @ 6pm
9/17-- Living Bread (2 Knickerbocker Ave., Brooklyn) w/ Shark? & Dinosaur Feathers ~ EULA @ 11pm
9/18-- Brick City Sound Riot Music Festival @ Kilkenny Ale House (Newark NJ) ~ EULA @ 9pm
9/22-- Bar Matchless (Brooklyn) w/ Ritz Riot
10/8 -- The Gutter (Brooklyn)



Links:
EULA

East Bay Ray & The Killer Smiles CD Review (MVD Audio)

Dead Kennedys guitarist East Bay Ray’s latest project, The Killer Smiles (out Sept. 13 on MVD Audio), may be the closest thing to a new DKs album since 1986’s Bedtime for Democracy. This new disc features Ray along with current DKs vocalist Skip McSkipster and Greg Reeves (who was the touring bassist for the DKs last year) along with drummer Steve Wilson.

In a recent interview, Ray said that this new disc was originally conceived as a DKs disc but McSkipster’s lyrics are “more 'personal politics' and more 'poetry,' rather than 'journalism' and 'regular politics.'" Regardless of the lyrical focus, the new disc fully captures the current sound of the Dead Kennedys. While the band hasn’t lost their fervor, this new disc is melodic and musical diverse and it is a logic extension of the band's post-hardcore sound during their final years with Jello. This would have made a solid Dead Kennedys disc and the DKs played two songs from this disc, “Area 51” and “You’re Such a Fake”, at their concert last year at Irving Plaza.

Musically, this twelve-track/forty minute disc is raw melodic punk that is a healthy mix of power-punk (comparisons to The Atom Age came immediately to mind), Social Distortion/X-style rockabilly and surf rock. Given that this is an East Bay Ray disc, Ray’s guitars are featured prominently on each of the songs and producer (& Butthole Surfer) Paul Leary balances this off against McSkipster’s vocals and exploding sing-along choruses. Long-time Ray accomplice Chuck Lindo (Jumbo Shrimp, etc.) adds backing vocals on about half the tracks and other notable guests are Paul Leary and Paul Roessler, who respectively add guitar and piano to the track “The Heart is Something”.

Standout tracks are the punkish opener “Raising the Stakes”, the roots-rock track “I’m a User” and “It’s Broken”, where this last track has an immediately recognizable guitar riff that sounds like a holdover from Fresh Fruit for Rotten Vegetables.



East Bay Ray Tour Dates:
Oct. 6 - Old Town Pub, Pasadena, CA
Oct. 7 - Juke Joint, Anaheim, CA
Oct. 8 - The Shakedown, San Diego, Ca

Links:
East Bay Ray

The Jam - "Trans Global Unity Express" DVD Review

There are a number of concert/music videos that I remember from the early days of VHS and Beta that never made it to DVD so the DVD release of The Jam’s "Transglobal Unity Express" concert film comes as a welcome surprise. This disc captures nine tracks from The Jam’s show at Bingley Hall in Birmingham on March 21, 1982 where the band was touring behind their final release, The Gift, which was released earlier that month.

While this disc only captures thirty minutes of what was probably a ninety minute concert, the band is on fire and the energy of the capacity crowd adds to the performance. The Jam played as a five piece this tour, with Keith Thomas (Saxophone) and Steve Nichol (Trumpet) onboard, to reproduce The Gift’s strong R&B/Motown sound. The Gift charted at #1 in the UK and contains some brilliant songs by Paul Weller that are still relevant and poignant today so it seems a crime that Weller disbanded The Jam later in 1982. As much as I’d love to see the original Jam reunite, you have to give Weller credit for sticking by his beliefs and refusing to be a “reunion tour dinosaur” like The Who and Rolling Stones.

As to be expected, the material on this DVD mostly comes from The Gift (six of the nine tracks) and the band’s cover of “Move on Up” also comes from this period and was later released as the b-side to “Beat Surrender”. While this show was originally filmed on tape, it doesn’t have the ‘crispness’ of a recent concert film but that doesn’t detract from either the audio or video portions of the show. This video was filmed with multiple cameras and the sequencing of shots was done with care so there are seamless cuts between camera angles. The audio portion is also stellar and captures the fullness of The Jam’s sound.

Here is the complete track list:
“Town Called Malice”
“Carnation”
“Precious”
“Ghosts”
“Move On Up”
“Private Hell”
“Pretty Green”
“Trans-Global Express”
“The Gift”



Now that this concert has finally surfaced on DVD, I vaguely remember seeing a Japanese VHS release of the band’s final show at the Brighton Centre that I’d love to see make it onto DVD sometime in my lifetime.

Links:
Paul Weller
The Jam

Thin Lizzy - "Bad Reputation" Deluxe Edition CD Review

Thin Lizzy’s Bad Reputation is the latest in an on-going series of deluxe reissues from the band. Breaking from the last set of reissues, this disc doesn’t include a second bonus disc but rather appends six bonus tracks to the original disc’s nine tracks to take the total running time up to 58 minutes. (Strangely, this reissue was originally announced as coming with a nine-track bonus CD).

Bad Reputation was originally released in 1977 and the band benefited from a switch to producer Tony Visconti as he captured critical elements of the band’s live sound and swagger that were missing from Johnny the Fox. This new reissue sounds great – there is a notable improvement over the previously released versions of Bad Reputation and this set of reissues (which includes Black Rose and Chinatown) are the first to actually use the 2010 remasters by Andy Pierce. The five of the bonus tracks are from a John Peel Session that the band recorded for the BBC in 1977. Four of the five tracks were released on Thin Lizzy’s Peel Sessions CD in 1994 but that disc is way out of print and used copies generally sell for too much on Amazon and eBay ($40+). The last track is a soundcheck recording of “Me and the Boys” which was recorded at an unspecified location.

The high point of this reissue is that it sounds great and it is selling at a reasonable price point (~$16.00, which includes shipping to the US if you order from Amazon.co.uk; the US version will be released next month and is posted at a pre-sale price of $17.99 on Amazon.com).

The only potential negative is that Thin Lizzy announced last month that “October 2012 will see the release of a lavish collection of BBC material 'At The BBC’ that will be available in three formats ' a 7CD, 1 DVD boxset, a 2CD anthology and a 5 LP vinyl set”. Given this, it makes me wonder how quickly these five BBC tracks are going to be redundant.



Bad Reputation Bonus Tracks:
1. “Killer Without A Cause” - BBC Session, 01/08/1977
2. “Bad Reputation” - BBC Session, 01/08/1977
3. “That Woman's Gonna Break Your Heart” - BBC Session, 01/08/1977
4. “Dancing In The Moonlight (It's Caught Me In A Spotlight)” - BBC Session, 01/08/1977
5. “Downtown Sundown” - BBC Session, 01/08/1977
6. “Me And The Boys” – Soundcheck

Links:
Thin Lizzy