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Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Very special "Friend of the Blog" post

One of the many great "friends of the blog" has kindly donated the missing third album from 1313 Mockingbird Lane, titled "Triskaidekaphobia".......as I've said so many times before THIS is how a SHARE BLOG SHOULD WORK......someone (me, or someone else) has something hard to find and we SHARE it with people who wish to hear it.......once again, there is a difference between "SHARING" and what the idiot fringe considers "Stealing" (Hi, Corrosion of Conformity, Green Day, and Molly Numan of Bratmobile......)when you STEAL something it's gone.....the offended party is MISSING his original material. When you SHARE something, both parties get the benefit of the material. This is so very hard for so many to comprehend, and yet look at the world in which we live. Why on EARTH would any professed musicin WANT TO DENY ANYONE from hearing their work? Baffles the mind.

TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA-01 Teenage Frankenstein/02 Grab My Guitar/03 Teenage Head/04 You'll Never Know/05 Tallahassee Lassie/06 Surfin and Draggin/07 I Like You Better Dead/08 Paper Bag Blues/09 (I Don't Wanna) Hold Your Hand/10 (I Want a) Teenage Girl/11 Shakin' The Jam All Over


Try to get this link up really quickly!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Every One a (Punk Rock) Classic

I like comp series like these, we'll see what the reaction is cause I have a BUNCH of them (the enormous "Bloodstains" series, the extensive "Punk Goes...." series, featuring pretty much obscure punk bands, at least obscure to all but the biggest devotees of the music. You're either going to love these or hate them, let me know, I'm not going into a lot of detail here due to the obscurity of the bands and the amount of typing involved for the whole series. Fans of 70's/80's punk that just can't get enough I will guess will want to hear these, unless they already own them. If they go over as big as the "Garage Greats" of last year, I (honestly) probably have nearly 1000 discs of these type of little known punk bands. Please let me know what ya think!

VOLUME 1-01 ACME ATTRACTIONS-Anyway/02 FASCINATORS-Blue Movies/03 ESCORTS-Bingo/04 ENGLISH-Hooray For the English/05 XPRESS-Junked Up Judy/06 HORRORCOMIC-England 77/07 WARM JETS-Big City Boys/08 MOVING TARGETS-The Boys Own/09 TRAINSPOTTERS-High Rise/10 FUN 4-Singing in the Showers/11 RIVALS-Here Comes the Night/12 SHADOWFAX-Calling the Shots/13 BLUNT INSTRUMENTS-No Excuse/14 LENNY & THE LAW BREAKERS-Me And Bobby McGee/15 NOW-Nine O Clock

VOLUME 2-01 PERFECTORS-YT50291D/02 QUALITY DRIVEL-Stagnent Minds/03 STA-PREST-Schooldays/04 KIDZ NEXT DOOR-Kidz Next Door/05 SILENT NOISE-I've Been Hurt (So Many Times Before/06 BEE BEE CEE-You Gotta Know Girl/07 MARTIN & THE BROWN SHIRTS-Taxi Driver/08 PSYKIK VOLTS-Horror Stories #5/09 LONG TALL SHORTY-Win or Lose/10 ACCIDENT ON THE EAST LANES-Tell Me What You mean Again/11 NOTSENSIBLES-The Telephone Rings Again/12 XTRAVERTS-1984/13 SHOCK TREATMENT-Big Check Shirts/14 RADIO CITY-Love and a Picture/15 CYANIDE-I'm a Boy

VOLUME 3- 01 FUTURE BODIES-Terrorist/02 BEEZ-Do the Suicide/03 LETTERS-Nobody Me/04 REALLY 3RDS-Everyday, Everyway/05 G SQUAD-In My Mind/06 DANSETTE DAMAGE-NME/07 CYBERMAN-Where's the New Wave/08 BLITZKRIEG BOP-UFO/09 BUZZARDS-We Make Noise/10 AV08-Gone Wrong/11 PUSH-Cambridge Stomp/12 PRIVATE SECTOR-Just Wanna Stay Free/13 VALVES-It Mean Nothin' At All/14 THE K9'S-Idi Amin/15 JOE 9T & THE THUNDERBIRDS-Joe 9T Theme

VOLUME 4-01 THE CIGARETTES-They're Back Again, Here they Come/02 HOAX-Nice Girl/03 DYAKS-Gutter Kids/04 SHAG NASTY-Looking For Love/05 VICTIMIZE-Where Did the Money Go?/06 U.X.8-Crazy Today/07 3RD MEN-You're So Fashionable/08 MORAL SUPPORT-Just Where It's At Tonight/09 SEVENTEEN BANK-Holiday Weekend/10 TOURS-Language School/11 SQUIRE-Get Ready to Go/12 PRIVATE SECTOR-Just (Wanna) Stay Free/13 VALVES-It Don't Mean Nothing at All/14 THE JUMP-Shake Up/15 SMART ALEC-Scotter Boys

VOLUME 5-01 PROLES-Stereo Love/02 UNWANTED-Bleak Outlook/03 LAST STAND-Just a Number/04 TERMINAL SPECTATORS-Another Day Another Dream/05 SNEAKY FEELINS-Private Mail/06 THE METHOD-Dynamo/07 FAST CARS-The Kids Just Wanna Dance/08 FLYING COLOURS-Abstract Art/09 STRATE JACKET-Too Soon Too Young/10 RUEFREX-Capital Letters/11 MOONDOGS-She's Nineteen/12 TERRY TRANZ N THE VESTITES-State Hand Out/13 SABOTAGE-Standing Alone, Cold Girl/14 FRANK DETAILS-False Pretences/15 NAMES-Scared

VOLUME 6-01 FX-South's Gonna Rise Again/02 LIMPS-Circa 2/03 THE RONG-Union Jack/04 NOISE ANNOYS-Livng (In the World Today)/05 TWISTED NERVE-Neutral Zone/06 COMMITTED-British Crimes/07 MACHINES-True Life/08 JERMZ-Power Cut/09 BLEACH BOYS-Stocking Clad Nazi Death Squad Bitches/10 MAD DOG-Someone Here Must Like Me/11 JIMMY EDWARDS-Drag It Back/12 INGNERENTS-I Won't Be There/13 NASTY MEDIA-Spiked Copy/14 THE HEAD-Nothing To Do In a Town Like Leatherhead/15 PROTEX-Don't Ring Me Up

Try to get maybe half (if lucky, ALL) of the links up tonight, I REALLY do enjoy these super-obscure punk comps, and as I said before I have a BUNCH of them. Let me know if you want me to go on with them for a while, It "feels" like something I might be in the mood for, for a few days anyway. We shall see........in the meantime, love yourselves and each other.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The best My Bloody Valentine post, ever

Back to mega-post mode, and this one will be kind of difficult considering the recorded history of this particular band......incredibly, they have released a new album VERY recently, their first since their 5 star classic "Loveless" many, many years ago. strange history, I'll try my best to recap.

Formed in the late 1970's in Dublin Ireland by singer/guitarist Kevin Shields, drummer Colm O Ciosoig, singer/guitarist Bilinda Butcher, and bassist Debbie Googe, thess guys created a semi-psychedelic shoe-gaze kind of sound that was/is fairly a unique niche for them, the High Violets a couple decades later would make an attempt to cop their groove, but My Bloody Valentine are the originals.

They released a TON of EP's in the 1980's, I THINK I have collected most of them for your inspection, they are, at worst, interesting, at best, unique and influential. As far as I can tell, the first "proper" LP they released was the not-that-well received "Isn't Anything", which is worth a listen.....in general, this is one of those bands that I have a diffiuclt time talking about because there is really NOTHING to compare them to. Multi-layered guitars, dreamy vocals, swirling, hypnotic, psychedelic passages. I love it myslef.

In 1991 they released "Loveless", a simply brilliant album, one of the best of the era.....the edition I have posted below is a special two disc version with alternate versions and the like......this is one of my favorite albums of the early 1990's, see what you think and leave a comment should you agree/disagree.......

It would be over  twenty years before they would follow up with "m b v", JUST recently.....in genreal, I don't put new releases up, and I ahve NOT listened to this yet, BUT I think it might be necessary to paint a complete picture of their work, and it's not like I'm putting up a new Aerosmith album or some such nonsense.

For a band with such a small body of "real" work, I have a MOUNTAIN of material from them.....if all you have heard is "Loveless", you will wish to check t of this stuff, if you've never even heard "Loveless", strat from there and work back.......this is a unique band with a unique sound, and if you dig into this stuff you will be highly rewarded......PLEASE let me know what you think of this post, it's really a good bit of work to sort through all their EP's and stuff to get a HUGE post out of a band whose true lagacy is ONE great album!

ECSTACY EP-01 She Loves You Not/02 The Things I Miss/03 I Don't Need You/04 (You're) Safe In Your Sleep (From This Girl)/05 Clair/06 You've Go Nothing/07 (Please) Lose Yourelf In Me

STRAWBERRY WINE EP-01 Strawberry We/02 Never Say Goodbye/03 Can I Touch You

SUNNY SUNDAE SMILE EP-01 Sunny Sundae Smile/02 Sylvies Head/03 Paint a Rainbow/04 Kiss the Eclipse

GEEK! EP-01 No Place To Go/02 Moonlight/03 Love Machine/04 Sandman Never Sleeps

THIS IS YOUR BLOODY VALENTINE EP-01 Forever and Again/02 Homelovin Guy/03 Don't Cramp My Style/04 Tiger In My Tank/05 The Love Gang/06 Inferno/07 The Last Supper

THE NEW RECORD EP-01 Lovely Sweet Darlene/02 By the Danger In Your Eyes/03 Another Rainy Sunday/04 We're So Beautiful

LIVE VANCOUVER CANADA JULY 1992-01 When You Sleep/02 I Only Said/03 Only Shallow/04 Slow/05 Nothing Much To Lose/06 Noise/07 You Never Should/08 Feed Me With Your Kiss/09 Soon/10 To Here Knows When/11 Honey Power/12 You Made Me Realise

LOST TRACKS AND RARE CUTS-01 Sugar/02 Cowboy Song/03 Good For You/04 Glider (long)/05 Just Like Us/06 The Time of Day/07 Map Reference 41 N 93 W/08 Instrumental No. 1/09 Instrumntal No. 2/10 We Have All the Time In the World


THINGS LEFT BEHIND-01 No Place To Go/02 Moonlight/03 Love Machine/04 Sandman Never Sleeps/05 By Danger In Your Eyes/06 On Another Rainy Saturday/07 Lovelee Sweet Darlene/08 We're So Beautiful/09 Sunny Sundae Smile/10 Paint a Rainbow/11 Kiss the Eclipse/12 Silvie's Head

ISN'T ANYTHING-01 Soft As Snow (But Warm Inside)/02 Lose My Breath/03 Cupid COme/04 (When You Wake) You're Still In a Dream/05 No More Sorry/06 All I Need/07 Feed Me With Your Kiss/08 Sueisfine/09 Several Girls Galore/10 You Never Should/11 Nothing Much to Lose/12 I Can See It (But I Can't Feel It)

LOVELESS DISC 1-01 Only Shallow/02 Loomer/03 Touched/04 To here Knows When/ 05 When You Sleep/06 I Only Said/07 Come In Alone/08 Sometimes/09 Blown a Wish/10 What You Want/11 Soon

LOVELESS DISC 2- 01 Only SHallow (Alt.)/02 Loomer (Alt)/03 Touched (Alt)/04 To here Knows Why (Alt)/05 When You Sleep (Alt)/06 I Only Said (Alt)/07 Come In Alone (Alt)/08 Sometimes (Alt)/09 Blown a Wish (Alt)/10 What You Want (Alt)/11 Soon (alt)

MBV-01 She Found Now/02 Only Tomorrow/03 Who Sees You/04 Is This and Yes/05 If I Am/06 New You/07 In Anotehr Way/08 Nothing Is/09 Wonder 2


There are a BUNCH of links here (19 to be exact as I had to split the FLAC files.....anyway, the links may not be totally up until after work tomorrow, SOME should be up in the morning, but this is a big-time mega-post, from a significant band with a limited library of work.......if nothing else DO NOT miss out on "Loveless", one of the greater albums of the 1990's, and there is a LOT of other, good, unique work here that needs to be heard..........My Bloody Valentine did things their own way, and for that I congratulate them......but they did produce one certifiable masterpiece in "Loveless", and anyone smart enough to be reading this blog is smart enough to make certain they are familair with "Loveless"......and congrats to the band for finally getting the follow up, "m b v" out there, I plan on listenting to it tomorrow, and I hope it doesn't dissappoint. As always, rock on, and I'll think of something else for tomorrow!

 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, March 11, 2013

The best Heartless Bastards post, ever

From my home state of Ohio come the Heartless Bastards, a band still currently active (although, for my money, past their "sell by date").....they did turn out a pair of pretty decent semi-hard/semi garage-ish unique albums that I enjoy a good bit, pretty sure they were never recognized much outside of Ohio, but they were (here) pretty well recognized as a solid alt-rock act.

Formed in the early 2000's by vocalist/guitarist/pianist Erika Wennerstrom, they were (locally) notable for some very rootsy blues/country/back to basics live shows, 205 saw the release of theyvery good and underappreciated "Stairs and Elevators" (made at least MY Top Twenty album list of that year).....a good, fairly stripped mdown set with some good tracks such as "Gray" and "Pass and Fail".....nothing spectacular here, but in the right mood, this is some really good stuff.

Album #2, "All This Time", is something of a mellower affair, it still is not bad at all.....I am betting that MOST of you (outside Ohio) are 100% unfamilar with them, please let me know what you think. (I use this term alot) They aren't going to the rock n roll Hall of Fame, but they did release these two highly enjoyable albums in their short run.

The band is/has always been Wennerstrom's thing, the other personnel as been rotated in an out, so basically, the focus is on her, and shw is quite talented. The third album, "The Mountain",IS NOT a favorite of mine, but to their (her?) credit they did TOTALLY reinvent their sound, this is basically a country album (a genre I'm not a fan of) featuring violin/banjo etc.......if you like this type of thing, this is a fairly esoteric, quirky, and surprising effort, I can see people (some people) LOVING it......doesn't really get it done for me.

Now,just from snooping around, I see they have a "new" album, "Arrow", from 2012.....I have not heard it, BUT I will put it up since it is quite readilly available. I'll listen to it tomorrow, Im guessing (and ONLY guessing) mthat it further expands on the country-ish direction the band took with "The Mountain".

I DO have two super-rarities, since they were a "local" act, they twice appeared on WOXY's "Lounge Acts", I have both appearances, quite good and if by any remote chance you are a fan of them, these will be like gold to you, focussing on the earlier albums and showing off their (considerable) live chops.

As I say so often, I try to keep things a LITTLE diverse, I wouldn't want to pigeonhole my blog into NOTHING but stoner-metal or classic 1970's punk for example. I have NO IDEA why I opted for this band today, I bet it's been 2-3 years since I even listened to "Stairs and Elevators" or "All This TIme", but I remember I enjoy them a good bit......see what you think. If you like them, check out the later albums, and especially, if you like them, check out the WOXY appearances, they are quite good.

I suppose that tomorrow I will need to turn the amps back up to "11"......not sure what, just yet, but I won't make you go TOO long without your needed fix of riff-o-rama!

STAIRS AND ELEVATORS-01 Gray/02 Onions/03 New Resolution/04 My Maker/05 Runnin'/06 Autonomy/07 Pass and Fail/08 TheWill Song/09 Swamp Song/10 Done Got Old/11 Piano Song/12 Lazy

ALL THIS TIME-01 Into the Open/02 Searching For the Ghosts/03 Finding Solutions/04 All This Time/05 Brazen/06 I Swallowed a Dragonfly/07 Blue Day/08 Valley of Debris/09 No Pointing Arrows/10 Come a Long Way

THE MOUNTAIN-01 The Mountain/02 Could Be So Happy/03 Early In the Morning/04 Hold Your Head High/05 Out at Sea/06 Nothing Seems the Same/07 Wide Awake/08 So Quiet/09 Had to Go/10 Witchypoo/11 Sway

ARROW-01 Marathon/02 Parted Ways/03 Got To have Rock N Roll/04 Only For You/05 Simple Feeling/06 Skin and Bone/07 ARrow Killed the Beast/08 Late in the Night/09 Low Low Low/10 Down in the Canyon

WOXY LOUNGE ACTS #1-Unsplit Tracks

WOXY LOUNGE ACTS #2-Unsplit Tracks


Links will be up when they are up, ya know......please leave a comment if you have the time and are of the mind to.

Please always remember, too, seriously, I REALLY love all you folks and you are the reason I do this each day......thanks for reading/listening/commenting/whatever.




Saturday, March 9, 2013

The best Mondo Generator Post, ever

Something of a stoner rock super project, many of the "legends" of the genre have appeared under the monkier of Mondo Generator. I'll try to summarize their history as best I can with some help from Wikipedia. Formed in 1997 as song of a Queens of the Stone Age/Kyuss side-project by Nick Oleveri, Brandt Bjork, Josh Homme, Rob Oswald and Karl Doyle, they threw together an album entitled "Cocaine Rodeo".....if you didn't know any better you'd simply swear it was a great lost QOTSA album, down to the titles ("Another Tension Head", "Miss Mary Gets a Boob Job", "Dead Insects".......you get the idea. The band/project emerged a few years laer with "A Drug Problem That Never Existed" (detect any themes running through this?).....this time getting help from stoner notables such as Mark Lanegan and Molly McGuire as well as the previous participants, might as well toss up some of the goofier titles for ya just fer a laugh: "Meth I Hear You Callin'", "Girls Like Christ".......I happen to love stuff like this, but you know, sometimes the "drug-fueled "zaniness" " tends to feel a tiny bit forced. Whatever.

So, evidently, Oliveri was fired from QOTSA by Homme and took on the Mondo Generator moniker for his own.....resulting in a more "permanent" band type thing rather than simply a Kyuss/QOTSA offshoot project, and in 2007 the album "Dead Planet" resulted....I have kind of mixed opinions on it, while it actually doesn't really "get it done" for me as much as the previous two albums, it does have more of it's own "identity" and really isn't bad. Not a "future forgotten classic", but not bad. I also have the Australian version, entitled "Dead Planet: Sonicslowmotiontrails", which has NO additional material and merely revises the track sequence, why I have both I'll never know, but I am not going to put the Aussie version up, same music, actually......

Since then they have put up some sporadic efforts, 2010's EP "Dog Food", and a VERY recent effort (just last year!) "Hell Comes To Your Heart" which I am fairly certain that although I have it back there, I don't think I have ever listened to it, so I will withhold the critique......let me throw in Oliveri's 2009 solo effort "Death Acoustic" (really surprisingly good) and you about have it.

I try to hit on a lot of different segments of the music I listen to with these posts. Sometimes I am putting up someone like Ian Hunter (yesterday), for my money one of the most important and significant figures in rock n roll history, or, like today,someone like Mondo Generator, who in ten years will be 99% forgotten........but there is some good stuff on these albums, obviously if you are a fan of Kyuss or Queens of the Stone Age you'll want to check these out to "complete the picture" if you haven't previously.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday my loves, and I'm really not doing shit today, so back to the shelves I go to find something (hopefully) cool to talk about/write about/present to you tomorrow. Until then, love yourselves and love each other!

COCAINE RODEO-01 13th Floor/02 Shawnette/03 Uncle Tommy/04 Miss Mary Gets a Boob Job/05 Unless I Can Kill/06 Pigman/07 Simple Exploding Man (Extended Version)/08 I Want You To Die/09 Dead Insects/10 Cocaine Rodeo/11 Another Tension Head

A DRUG PROBLEM THAT NEVER EXISTED-01 Meth I Hear You Callin'/02 Here We Come/03 So High, So Low/04 Do the Headright/05 Open Up and Bleed For Me/06 All I Can Do/07 Fuck You I'm Free/08 Detroit//09 Me And You/10 Like You Want/11 Girls Like Christ/12 Day I Die/13 Jr High Love/14 Four Corners

DEAD PLANET-01 Basket Case/02 I Never Sleep/03 All the Way Down/04 She Only Owns You/05 Lie Detector/06 Mental Hell/07 All Systems Go/08 Like a Bomb/09 So High/10 Sonicslowmotiontrails/11 Take Me Away/12 Life of Sin/13 Paper Thin/14 Sam Hell/15 There She Goes Again/16 Bloody Hammer/17 Sleep the Lie Away

DOG FOOD (EP)-01 Dog Food/02 Smashed Apart/03 This Isn't Love/04 Green Machine/05 Endless Vacation (Live)/06 Bloody Hammer (Live)/07 Dungaree High (Live)/08 Pushed Aside (live)

HELL COMES TO YOUR HEART-01 Dead Silence/02 The Way I Let You Down/03 Burn the Bridge/04 Won't Let Go/05 Like the Sky/06 This Isn't Love/07 The Dirt Beneath/08 Hang 'em High/09 Central Nervous System High School/10 Smashed Apart/11 Night Calls/12 The Last Train

(NICK OLEVERI) DEATH ACOUSTIC-01 Start a Fight/02 Invisible Like the SKy/03 Dairy Queen/04 I'm Gonna Leave You/05 Love Has Passed Me By/06 U BLow/07 Hybrid Momets/08 Unless I Can Kill/09 Follow Me/10 Oulaw Scumfuc/11 Jealous Again/12 Chainsan Shackles (with Slash)


I be working on the link, just as hard as I can.....I'll hopefully get the up tonight.....still thinking about that Pink concert the other night, a phrase I'll use for not the first (and far from the last) time......"As long as I have a face, Pink will never, ever, under any circumstances, lack for a place to sit!"

Friday, March 8, 2013

The best Ian Hunter post ever



For the most part, Ian Hunter WAS Mott the Hoople, as much as I hate to admit that.....his overwhelming personality trumped all, Mott albums such as "All the Young Dudes" and "Mott" would have been TOTALLY forgotten relics had it not been for Hunter's genius......his solo career also had sparks of brilliance, (Mott the Hoople's post-Ian Hunter efforts, "Drive On" and "Pointing and Shouting", are two of perhaps the worst recorded albums in the history of music)

Hunter's first post-Mott solo LP is damn near a classic, a simply classic rock n roll album, with the fantastic "Once Bitten Twice Shy" which was later covered by some ridiculous hair metal band in a suck-shit version, the great "Who Do You Love", and the mind-dissolving slide guitar classic "The Truth, The Whole Truth, Nothing But the Truth" which is, I don't know, one of maybe the underappreciated tracks in rock history? Brilliant "solo" debut, but there was yet more to come....."All American Alien Boy" is a fine effort as well, there are some great tunes here ("Rape", "You Nearly Did Me In", "Apathy 83"(sample lyric: "There ain't no rock n roll no more, just music of the rich"), and especially, "God (Take 1)" (lyrically a very odd conversation between Ian and the Lord, lyrically there are some VERY clever moments, opening line: "Oh, God said to me, gonna kick your ass")....Hunter had some great songs still in his cranium, this is nearly as fine an album as his solo debut.

Next came "You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic", which is a fine album as well, an unusual circumstance for a rocker "striking out on his own" after leaving "his" band......but this album is an amazing triumph as well, "Just Another Night" and "Cleveland Rocks" are great, "Standin In My Light" ("they take my pictures off the walls, I still won't trade with the pay of the New York Dolls") and "Wild East" are good, and "Ships" (in the GUESS WHAT?) was covered by (wait for it) Barry Manilow for which Hunter more money than he made in his entire career with Mott as well as his solo career........life can be so ironic at times......ANYWAY.....

Hunter has released several albums since "Schizophrenic", none of them have really impressed me a lot, I am including "Overnight Angels" simply because I happen to have a copy (it ain't much), but he did release a pretty good live LP."Welcome to the Club", which is a fair-to-good three sided live effort, including some  great Mott material ("All the Young Dudes", "All the Way from Memphis" for example), as well as some of Ian's solo work.....it is a fine album, actually, and the fourth side includes some new Hunter studio material including two fine new rockers("We Gotta Get Out of Here","Man O War")
Gotta coupla boots here, don't get too excited, the sound quality is something "less than stellar"...."Drunk on Wine and Wisdom" is not dated and is credited to the "Hunter/Ronson Band", while not great it does include some rare tracks such as "England Rocks" and "Traitor".

We have a 1975 Hunter boot from Detroit, which is frankly fairly awful, if you are a Mott/Hunter fanatic have at it.....and a 1989 Hunter/Ronson Band BBC Boot from 1989, which is not bad and contains some material not available on the previous releases.

Hunter has released other albums since "You're Never Alone With a Schizophrenic"....other than the lame "Overnight Angels" I don't think I've ever heard any of them,(I think I may have heard "Short Back and Sides" and, if I recall, pretty much considered it the "write him off" moment of a fine and brilliant career) nor do I want to, especially......memo to Ian Hunter: "It's a mighty long way down rock n roll, and as your name gets hot then your heart grows cold".........hey, Ian.....THEN your name gets cold. In the 1970's/early 80's he was as bad-ass as they come though, BOTH fronting one of the best bands of an era AS WELL AS turning in a VERY VERY good few solo albums before the final turn towards suckville. Without question one of the finest and most important artists of that most crucial (and best) of rock n roll decades, those fantastic 1970's.........

IAN HUNTER-01 Once Bitten Twice Shy/02 Who Do you Love/03 Lounge Lizard/04 Boy/05 3000 Miles From Here/06 The Truth, the Whole Truth, Nothing But the Truth/07 It Ain't Easy When You Fall/08 Shades Off/09 I Get So Excited

ALL AMERICAN ALIEN BOY-01 Letter to Britannia From the Union Jack/02 All American Alien Boy/03 Irene Wilde/04 Rape/05 You Nearly Did Me In/06 Apathy 83/18 God (take 1)/19 Restless Youth

YOU'RE NEVER ALONE WITH A SCHIZOPHRENIC-01 Just Another Night/02 Wild East/03 Cleveland Rocks/04 Ships/05 When the Daylight Comes/06 Life After Death/07 Standin' In My Light/08 Bastard/09 The Outsider

WELCOME TO THE CLUB-01 FBI/02 Once Bitten Twice SHy/03 Angeline/04 Laugh At Me/05 All The Way From Memphis/06 I Wish I Was Your Mother/07 Irene Wilde/08 Just Another Night/09 Cleveland Rocks/10 Standin' In My Light/11 Bastard/12 Walkin With a Mountain/Rock N Roll Queen/13 All The Young Dudes/14 Slaughter on Tenth Avenue/15 We Gotta Get Out Of Here/16 Silver Needles/17 Man O War/18 Sons and Daughters

OVERNIGHT ANGELS-01 Golden Opportunities/02 Shallow Crystals/03 Overnight Angels/04 Broadway/05 Justice of the Peace/06 (Miss) Silver Dime/07 Wild N Free/08 The Ballad of Little Star/09 To Love a Woman

DRUNK ON WINE AND WISDOM-01 Intro/02 FBI/03 Once Bitten Twice Shy//04 Life After Death/05 Laugh at Me/06 Letter to Britannia From the Union Jack/07 Just Another Night/08 Angeline/09 Standin' In My Light/10 Bastard/11 Cleveland Rocks/12 England Rocks (rare A-Side)/13 I'm the Teacher (soundtrack)/14 All American Alien Boy (Single Version)/15 Traitor (B Side)/16 Great Expectations (soundtrack)

DETROIT 1975-01 The Truth The Whole Truth Nothin' But the Truth/02 Lounge Lizard/03 Unknown/04 Who Do You Love/05 White Light/White Heat/06 Boy/07 Unknown/08 Once Bitten Twice Shy/09 Roll Away the Stone/10 Unknown/11 All the Way From Memphis/12 All the Young Dudes/13 Encore

HUNTER/RONSON BBC 2/15/89-01 Once Bitten Twice Shy/02 How Much More Can I Take/03 Big N Little Love/04 Following In Your Footsteps/05 Just Another Night/06 Sweet Dreamer/07 (Give Me Back My) Wings/08 Standin' In My Light/09 Bastard/10 The Loner/11 You're Never Too Small to Hit the Big Time/12 All the Way From Memphis/13 Irene Wilde


Links will be up when they are up, zippy has gone back to its previous, inconsistent self...... oh well, it was a great week!

Be whisking away to the magical land of Strat-O-Matic baseball here in an hour or so, perfect plan would be I cet the remaining two discs to upload (ITunes seems to be having reading a couple of these CD's, they are REALLY old), but should I succeed, I will get them all started in Zippy, who will do me right and have everything uploaded after I go kick some Strat O Matic ass, I'll return and post the links before midnight.........hopefully that's how it goes.

Dunno WHAT I'll put up tomorrow, but you know it will be something GREAT.......by the way the ultimate in congratulations to my son Grant Miller for being named Most Valuable Player of his High School JV Team as a freshman (he also got PLENTY of varsity playing time).....making it MORE impressive is the fact that he missed seven games with a bad leg injury, but in my highly prejudiced opinion, it was still a sound and logical selection. I hope to see him win three more of them, then maybe one or 2 in college? World's proudest Daddy, give me a LITTLE latitude for a minute!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

The best Fiery Furnaces post, ever

Welcome me back, I've been away from the blog for a day, believe it or not to escort my wife to a Pink concert, and, beleive it or not again, enjoying it quite a bit. Pink is a fine entertainer and REALLY puts out live, a very awesome visual experience....as for the music, well, I've heard LOTS worse, including in particular the Hives who opened and whom I have always thought sucked and who did little to change my opinion Wedensday night.....don't worry I am NOT going to do a post "about" Pink", that would be limited to my wet dreams regarding her, but lets touch on someone I've wanted to do for a while, the Fiery Furnaces, one of my favorite, and most original, acts of the past decade or so......THIS IS NOT going to be for everyone, but I really DO love these guys and wanted to give them some props.

The Fiery Furnaces formed  Brooklyn NY, they are composed of brother/sister tandem of vocalist Elanor Friedberger and guitarist Matthew Friedberger, a brother/sister combo (ONCE AGAIN allow me to point out how many great bands of the recent era were male/female duos: Mommy and Daddy, The Raveonettes, The Kills, The White Stripes, The Fiery Furnaces, SAMAX (haven't heard from you guys in a while!).....anyway, the Friedbergers are awesome, and produce some WAAAAAY out there sounds, and then turn around and reinvent the whole thing in their brain-mashing live shows.

They released their first album "Gallowsbird's Bark" in 2002, it's loaded with some of their better songs, such as "Tropical Iceland", "Athsma Attack", "Don't Dance Her Down", and "Leaky Tunnel", all very cool tracks that would later be absolutley blown apart by killer live versions of the same. This is very unique stuff, can't think of a sngle thing to compare it to, I love Elanor's incredible vocals and Matthew's guitar wizardry.

Album #2 "Blueberry Boat", in  my view, is quite good as well, it did not receive a lot of critical acclaim, the lead off track "Quay-Cur" is ALL over the place in ten minutes, when we talk about "alternative" music we throw that term around REALLY loosely, but where the hell else can you slot an act like this? The album also contains "Chris Michaels" and "My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found".......fine stuff, again, which would later be bowlderized into steaming in-concert versions.

Next they released "EP", this is an actual TITLE not a designation.....it rounds up some thier singles and B-sides and a couple of new tracks, the highlight being a fine reworking of the folk standard "Single Again", which was released as a single to attempt to gain the band some sort of mainstream exposure.

2005 brought "Rehearsing My Choir".....I am NOT crazy about this album, it is a very ambitious effort in which the Friedberger's GRANDMOTHER narrates stories about her life, for me it really doesn't work, I know some who do praise it, judge for yourself.

Album #5 was entitled "Bitter Tea" and seemed to be searching a bit for mainstream acceptance, don't think it really worked out that way for them, but, again, some good songs here, ("Benton Harbor Blues", "I'm in No Mood"), if you like the Furnaces, there is a good chance this is your favorite album by them.....I really like the bizarre leadoff track "In My Little Thatched Hut"......

Next, in 2007, they released yet another fine album, one of the better efforts of that year "Widow City", which contains the wonderful "The Philadelphia Grand Jury", the very cool "Clear Signal From Cairo",  and lots of other cool stuff, VERY few bands mature/age as well as these kids have. They released, that same year, a live compilation, "Remember" that I have been looking for ever since 2007 and have NEVER ONCE seen or heard of a copy, I wonder seriously whether it truly exists.

In 2009 they released their SEVENTH studio album, "I'm Going Away", for my money it is a success as well, but as you can probably tell I REALLY like these guys, it's another fine collection of Elanor's awesome vocals and the instrumental dexterity of Matthew. Truly, these guys were one of the most unappreciated bands of the so-called "alternative" era, when bands like Pearl Jam, who, in all honesty, sounded like 1000 OTHER hard rock bands wore the label of "alternative", THIS band was REALLY alternative, impossible of being compared to ANYONE else.

In thier typical way of doing things, they released an album entitled "Take Me Round Again", which featured DIFFERENT VERSIONS of the songs on "I'm Going Away".....It is a Fiery Furnaces trademard to take their songs and constantly reinvent them (live, at least), this is a studio version of the same, and, again, I have NEVER seen of heard of a single copy of it.....woule LOVE to have one, attention all minions!

OK, that WOULD be, perhaps the end of  the story, and it would not be ALL THAT exciting of a story, except for this: Thier live shows are off the charts awesome. They are one band that is many, many times greater on stage than in the studio. As I alluded to above they have released one "official" live album (that I have never even seen a copy of), but I do have several boots here that paint the proper picture of them live. if you are dabbling, this is one of the VERY few bands that I would advise you to begin dabbling with the live boots, they are tremendous.

Let us begin with one of the greatest "unoffical" live boots I have ever heard from ANYONE, "Washington DC 6/30/06"....this is an incredible set, not a single dull moment on it, as they take their catalouge and completely STAND IT ON IT'S HEAD,. Elanor is generally the focal poinnt on record, but on stage, Matthew can be just incredible.....If you are dabbling, PLEASE try this one, and THEN GO BACK and listen to the studio versions of these tracks, you will be amazed. Geez, I don't even know where to start....a great opening version of "Chris Michaels"....a fine "Athsma Attack"....great versions of "Don't Dance Her Down" and "Single Again", but the TRUE highlight is the absolute smoked up version of "Leaky Tunnel/Tropical Iceland" which redefines these tunes (espeically the latter)......if you have never heard this album (most haven't) you are doing yourself an injustice.

What else we got? "Live On KCRW 2007" contains some later material, a lot from "Widow City", and is a good look at their live shows as well (not as good as the DC set), and a couple of MORE sets from right around the same time, both late 2007, one from Portland Oregon and one from Ausitn Texas......I recommend them both ONCE YOU GET INTO this band, these recordings are gems that I love and want to share with EVERYONE.

I have here also a super-rartity, the Furnaces appearing on "Lounge Acts" on WOXY, unsure of the date, but if you happen to  a fan of these folks, (as I obviously am, after all this), you'll want to add this radio performance as well.

The Fiery Furnaces were not/are not for everyone......they incorporate a LOT of elements into their music that for some are hard to deal with........BUT I think they are great, YOU may hate them and that is fine too......but that Washington DC set for my money is a five star bootleg, and fairly hard to track down, so if some of you at least appreciate THAT one it will be worth it........


See ya tomorrow with God only knows what?

GALLOWSBIRD'S BARK-01 South is Only a Home/02 Im Gonna Run/03 Leaky Tunnel/04 Up In the North/05 Inca Rag/Name Game/06 Asthma Attack/07 Don't Dance Her Down/08 Crystal Clear/09 Two Fat Feet/10 Bow Wow/11 Gale Blow/12 Worry Worry/13 Bright Blue Tie/14 Tropical Icelande/15 Rub-Alcohol Blues/16 We Got Back the Plague

BLUEBERRY BOAT-01Quay Cur/02 Straight Street/03 Blueberry Boat/04 Chris Michaels/05 Paw Paw Tree/06 My Dog Was Lost But Know He's Found/07 Mason City/08 Chief Inspector Blanchfelmer/09 Spanisbited/10 1917/11 Birdie Brain/12 Turning Round/13 Wolf Note

EP-01 Single Again/02 Here Comes the Summer/03 Evergreen/04 Sing For Me/05 Tropical Iceland/06Duffer St. George/07 Smelling Cigarettes/08 Cousin Chris/09 Sweet Spots/10 Sullivan's Social Club

REHEARSING MY CHOIR-01 The Garfield El/02 The Wayward Grandaughter/03 A Candymaker's Knife in My Handbag/04 We Wrote Letters Every Day/05 Forty Eight Twenty Three Twenty Second Street/06 Guns Under the Counter/07 Seven Silver Curses/08 Though Let's Be Fair/09 Slavin Away/10 Rehearsing My Choir/11 Does It Remind You Of When

BITTER TEA-01 In My Little Thatched Hut/02 I'm In No Mood/03 Black Hearted Boy/04 Bitter Tea/05 Teach me Sweetheart/06 Waiting To Know You/07 The Vietnamese Telephone Ministry/08 Oh Sweet Words/09 Bornero/10 Police Sweater Blood Vow/11 Nevers!/12 Benton Harbor Blues/13 Whistle Rhapsody

WIDOW CITY-01 The Philadelphia Grand Jury/02 Duplexes of the Dead/03 Automatic Husband/04 Ex-Guru/05 Clear Signal From Cairo/06 My Egyptian Grammer/07 The Old Hag Is Sleeping/08 Japanese Slippers/09 Navy Nurse/10 Uncle Charlie/11 Right By Consent/12 Restorative Beer/13 Wicker Whatnots/14 Cabaret of the Seven Devils/15 Pricked In the Heart/16 Widow City

I'M GOING AWAY-01 I'm Going Away/02 Drive to Dallas/03 The End Is Near/04 Charmaine Champagne/05 Cut the Cake/06 Even in the Rain/07 Staring at the Steeple/08 Ray Bouvier/09 Keep Me In the Dark/10 Lost at Sea/11 Cups & Punches/12 Take Me Round Again

WASHINGTON DC 6/30/06-01 Chris Michaels/02 Crystal Clear/03 Straight Street/04 Police Sweater Blood Vow/My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found/05 Athsma Attack/06 Benton Harbor Blues/07 Quay Kur/08 The Garfield El/The Candlemaker's Knife In My handbag/09 Evergreen/10 Teach me Sweetheart/11 Waiting To Know You/12 I'm in No Mood/13 Leaky Tunnel/Tropical Iceland/14 Single Again/15 Don't Dance Her Down/16 Blueberry Boat/17 Up In the North/18 Chief Inspector Blancheflower/19 Slaving Away/20 Bitter Tea/21 Rub-Alcohol Blues

KCRW 10/23/07-01 Intro/02 Duplexes of the Dead/03 Automatic Husband/04 Ex-Guru/05 My Egyptian Grammar/06 Japanese Slippers/07 Widow City/08 Interview/09 Navy Nurse/10 The Philadelphia Grand Jury/11 Clear Signal From Cairo/12 Outro

AUSTIN TEXAS 10/27/07 (EMO'S)-01 Inca Rag/Name Game/02 Birdie Brain/03 Navy Nurse/04 Duplexes of the Dead/05 Automatic Husband/06 Ex-Guru/07 Straight Street/08 My Egyptian Grammar/09 Evergreen/10 Black-hearted Boy/11 Bitter Tea/12 Japanese Slipper/13 Widow City/14 Restorative Beer/15 The Garfield El/Candymaker's Knife In My Handbag/16 Forty Eight Twenty Three Twenty Second Street/17 Seven Silver Curses/18 Slavin' Away/19 The Philadelphia Grand dJury/20 Clear Signal From Cairo/21 Encore Break/22 Blueberry Boat/23 My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found/24 Tropical Iceland

PORTLAND OREGON 10/17/07 (ALADDIN THEATER)-01 Intro/02 The Philadelphia Grand Jury/03 Navy Nurse/04 My Egyptian Grammar/05 Evergreen/06 Duplexes of the Dead/Automatic Husband/Ex-Guru/07 Name Game/Birdie Brain/08 Right By Conquest/09 Black-Hearted Boy/Bitter Tea/10 The Garfield El/11 Candymakers Knife In My Handbag/4823 22nd Street/12 Seven Silver Curses/13 Slavin Away/14 Japanese Slippers/15 Widow City/16 Clear Signal From Cairo/17 Don't Dance Her Down/Single Again/18 My Dog Was Lost But Now He's Found/19 Restorative Beer

WOXY LOUNGE ACTS-01 (unsplit tracks)


The links will be up when they are up......zippy has been treamendous as of late, so they may be up tonight yet but I sure wouldn't bet Mom's meth money on it.