Archive for the ‘MUSIC’ Category

JEFF ROSENSTOCK – ” Ska Dream “

Posted: April 23, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , ,
0

On April 1st, Jeff Rosenstock tweeted a version of the album art for his 2020 album “No Dream” that was retitled “Ska Dream” and he captioned it “4/20.” It looked a lot like an April Fool’s joke, but to quote this amazing tweet from Craig of the Creek head writer/voice actor Jeff Trammell, “Jeff made April Fools of us all, for not believing in the power of Ska.” 4/20 came, and Jeff proved that Ska Dream was no joke; it’s a complete ska reworking of his album “No Dream” and it’s very real. “As with most things ska in my life, what started out as a fun goof with friends eventually morphed into ‘Hey, what if we tried to make it good though?,'” Jeff said, and they really did make it good. We named the excellent NO DREAM the best punk album of 2020, and Jeff’s roots in ska (Arrogant Sons of Bitches, Bomb the Music Industry!) have been coming up a lot lately, as a whole new generation of ska bands that follow in the DIY footsteps of ASOB and BTMI have been gaining steam, so the timing was perfect for Jeff to turn his already-acclaimed album into a ska album,

“Ska Dream” is a complete re-recording of Jeff Rosenstock’s critically-acclaimed 2020 record. however this time around all the songs are ska songs you’re welcome. The very good idea to make this record came together when, like many other bands throughout this pandemic that refused to participate in super spreading events, we were trying to find a fun way to make some music together to share with people. Otherwise we were just spending our evenings texting the group chat in dread about the collapsing world around us. Not the most fun band activity.

As with most things ska in my life, what started out as a fun goof with friends eventually morphed into “Hey, what if we tried to make it good though?” All of us have a pretty deep history playing and touring the country in punk/ska bands. We all understand the stigma that comes along with ska, we’ve all dealt with the pitfalls of it, and we’ve all kept on truckin’ regardless. If you are one of those people who loves music as long as it isn’t ska, that’s cool, we see you. This record isn’t for you and you don’t have to listen to it. 

http://

Jeff made the album with tons of cool collaborators (including members of We Are The Union, Mustard Plug, Deafheaven, The Slackers, Fishbone, Oceanator, PUP, AJJ, Laura Stevenson, Mike Park, and more , and it also includes a tribute to The Suicide Machines’ “Our Time” (on “No Time To Skank”) and a snippet of The Specials’ “Nite Klub” (on “Leave It In The Ska”). The whole thing may seem tongue-in-cheek, but Jeff really took it seriously and he came out with an album that’s just as good on its own as No Dream is.

JOHN DEDOMENICI – BASS
KEVIN HIGUCHI – DRUMS, PERCUSSION
MIKE HUGUENOR – GUITAR
JER HUNTER – TROMBONE, TRUMPET
RICK JOHNSON – HAMMOND, FARFISA, CASIO CZ101
CHRISTINE MACKIE – BELLS
DAN POTTHAST – ACOUSTIC GUITAR, PIANO, VOCALS
JEFF ROSENSTOCK – VOCALS, GUITAR, TENOR & BARI SAX, FARFISA, JUNO 106, MOOG PRODIGY, LYRA, WURLITZER, BELLS, SPACE ECHO
LAURA STEVENSON – VOCALS

DINOSAUR Jr – ” Sweep It Into Space “

Posted: April 23, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , ,
0

Ever since the original Dinosaur Jr line-up reunited in the mid 2000s, they’ve been even more prolific than they were the first time around, and they continue to be consistently great, reliable lifers. You always kind of know what to expect from a new Dinosaur Jr album, and they always deliver quality stuff, “Sweep It Into Space” being no exception. There are a few unexpected moments to keep things fresh (plus production and musical contributions from Kurt Vile), but mostly it’s the Dinosaur Jr you know and love.

http://

Nearly 40 years into their career, Dinosaur Jr are still delivering the indie rock goods. They don’t need help at this point to do so, but having pal Kurt Vile co-produce adds lift to J, Lou and Murph’s sails. It may be easy to take them for granted these days, but “Sweep it Into Space” reminds you why you loved them the first time.

Released April 23rd, 2021

SOUR WIDOWS – ” Crossing Over ” EP

Posted: April 23, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , ,
0

Sour Widows are a bedroom rock band from the Bay Area comprised of long time friends Maia Sinaiko, Susanna Thomson, and Max Edelman. Songs marked by driving harmonies address themes of relationship and reflection; layers of warmth, depth, and grit surface and fade in their two-guitar dynamic. Through progressions that shift from subtle to biting, Sour Widows expose tender moments with an edge.

The trio Sour Widows‘ first proper release was their self-titled 2020 EP, and as promising as that EP is, it couldn’t prepare you for how stunning “Crossing Over” would be. It casually blurs the lines between genre — incorporating elements of ’70s Laurel Canyon folk, ’90s slowcore and shoegaze, Sharon Van Etten-esque indie rock, and just a slight hint of psychedelia — and the results are genuinely alluring. It’s just a four-song EP, but it doesn’t feel like a low-stakes project. It feels complete, and it marks the arrival of a great new band. The EP as a whole is a better representation of this band than any individual song, but if there’s one major standout track, it’s the nearly-eight minute title track. It channels the spirit of jammy, psychedelic ’60s/’70s folk rock, and it’s as hypnotic as the genre’s pioneers were half a century ago.

http://

Released April 23rd, 2021

Songs Written by Sour Widows

Guitar and vocals: Susanna Thomson
Guitar and vocals: Maia Sinaiko
Drums: Max Edelman
Bass: Timmy Stabler

The PINK STONES – ” Introducing… The Pink Stones “

Posted: April 23, 2021 in MUSIC
0

The Pink Stones deliver a full serving of Peach State picked country-rock from Athens, Georgia with the release of their debut album, “Introducing… The Pink Stones”, via the New West Records imprint Normaltown Records. Mixing elements of classic cosmic country, raucous rock’n’roll and fresh humour and heartaches, The Pink Stones are authoring a new chapter in the annals of Cosmic American Music.

The journey to the Pink Stones debut album began in 2015, when freshman college-student and then punk rocker Hunter Pinkston bought a special single by one of his favourite bands. “It was the song ‘Brass Buttons,’ Pinkston says. “One side was The Lemonheads and the other was Gram Parsons’ original version. I bought it because I was a Lemonheads fan, but I flipped it over and that was the one of the first times I’d heard Gram Parsons. I was like, ‘Oh shit! I didn’t know I liked country until right now.’”

Inspired by his discovery, Pinkston not only began tracking down and listening to Parsons’ catalogue, but took the well-travel music fan path of seeking out similar artists and influences. It was actually a landscape he’d seen before but paid little attention to.

“When I was a kid my mom liked country music but my dad was totally a rocker,” Pinkston says. “They would constantly be switching the radio. I was definitely with my dad and had discounted country forever. Then it caught up with me and I became pretty much obsessed with it.”

“The songs on the record are, I guess, the first batch of tunes that I started writing three years ago, when I started doing this group…” Hunter Pinkston.

Pinkston formed the band about four years ago, after taking a while to find the artists that would be the right fit. Before landing on the current group—Will Anderson, Logan Brammer, Adam Wayton, and Jack Colclough and Drive-By Truckers founder John Neff— Pinkston played with various artists during the search. Now, these six members, based in Athens, Georgia, have been playing together for a little over a year. 

The tracks on their debut album range from early written tunes to the more recent with Pinkston pulling together a few songs he had written while the band was still in the process of forming. 

“It’s funny that we called it Introducing…The Pink Stones, because we were trying to come up with some themed album title that would go with the songs. Then we kind of realized that some of the songs aren’t exactly like the way we play and sound now because they’re older tunes,” explains Pinkston. 

“From breaking up to drinking and smoking, the songs on Introducing…The Pink Stones take the listener on a unique adventure. The latest single, ‘Love Me Hardly,’ a favourite of Pinkston, is among those that guarantee a good time to anyone who sits back and listens to it. “

From breaking up to drinking and smoking, the songs on Introducing…The Pink Stones take the listener on a unique adventure. The latest single, “Love Me Hardly,” is among those that guarantee a good time to anyone who sits back and listens to it.  “It’s a rocker song so it’s fun to play for people. Everybody in the band gets to shine on that one; there’s no lack of performance from anyone. It kind of shows everybody’s talent a little, I feel like,” Pinkston says. 

The accompanying music video, features the guys performing on a stage set up, playing their instruments as they are perched in front of a classic red backdrop. Each band member has their talent showcased throughout the song and the video.

“Love Me Hardly,” along with the 9 other tracks on the album, match the band’s image with its country, pop and psychedelic sounds that leave you feeling entranced. 

Introducing… The Pink Stones is out NOW via Normaltown Records​:

The WHO – ” Face Dances ” Record Store Day 2021

Posted: April 22, 2021 in MUSIC
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

“When I say ‘I love you,’ you say ‘You better!’” There’s a lot to love on the RSD expansion of The Who’s “Face Dances”.  This 2-LP presentation expands the original 1981 album which was the band’s first with drummer Kenney Jones following the 1978 death of Keith Moon.  The first LP in the RSD reissue is the original album with its nine tracks including “You Better You Bet” and “Don’t Let Go the Coat.”  The second LP, cheekily entitled Face Dances Part 3 as Pete Townshend recorded Part 2 for his solo album “All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes”, has another nine tracks beginning with a clutch of Session Rough Mixes.  These encompass the previously-issued outtakes “I Like Nightmares,” “It’s in You,” and “Somebody Saved Me” as well as the previously-unreleased “Dance It Away” and a take of “Don’t Let Go the Coat” with Townshend rather than Roger Daltrey on lead vocals.  Side Four has a quartet of live performances of Face Dances songs as recorded for Rockpalast in 1981. 

The album was remastered and cut at half speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road.  LP 1 will be pressed on blue vinyl and LP 2 on yellow.  Four 12 x 12 art prints are also included within the jacket famously designed by Peter Blake.

For Record Store Day 2020, The Who expanded their 1974 rarities collection Odds and Sods for a 2-LP, 25-song deluxe presentation.  This year, the band celebrates 40 years of 1981’s Face Dances with another double-disc, expanded presentation.  It’s due on Drop 1, June 12th, from Geffen Records in a limited edition of 6,500 copies.

Face Dances was the first of two Who studio albums recorded with drummer Kenney Jones following the 1978 death of Keith Moon.  While many missed Moon’s explosive and unpredictable touch, interest remained high and the album (produced by Bill Szymczyk ) peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and No. 2 on the U.K. Albums Chart. 

The shimmering lead single “You Better You Bet” showed that Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle hadn’t missed a beat in a new decade. 

A tough but poppy tune with an irresistible call-and-response hook (“When I say ‘I love you,’ you say ‘You better!’”) .  Second single “Don’t Let Go the Coat,” a catchy ode to Meher Baba, was moderately successful.  Both songs were bolstered by the emergence of MTV; “You Better You Bet” was one of the first videos aired on the channel and the first to be repeated.

The first LP in the RSD reissue is the original album with its nine tracks. The second album, cheekily entitled Face Dances Part 3, has another nine tracks beginning with a clutch of Session Rough Mixes.  These encompass the previously-issued outtakes “I Like Nightmares,” “It’s In You,” and “Somebody Saved Me” as well as the previously-unreleased “Dance It Away” and a take of “Don’t Let Go the Coat” with Townshend on lead vocals. 

Side Four has a quartet of live performances of Face Dances songs as recorded for Rockpalast in 1981.

The album was remastered and cut at half speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road.  LP 1 will be pressed on blue vinyl and LP 2 on yellow.  Four 12 x 12 art prints are also included within the jacket famously designed by Peter Blake.  The expanded Face Dances will be released for RSD Drop 1 on June 12th. 

“Face Dances” celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2021 with this 2-LP expanded coloured vinyl version, both discs have been mastered by Jon Astley and cut at Half Speed by Miles Showell at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios.

Disc One contains the newly re-mastered version of the album while Disc Two has a side of studio out-takes and four tracks from the bands Rockpalast show in 1981 which appear for the first time on vinyl. The vinyl is housed in a slim line 12” box with 4 bonus art prints of the band members.

The Who, “Face Dances” (Polydor WHOD 5037 (U.K.)/Warner Bros. HS 3516 (U.S.), 1981 – reissued Polydor/UMC, 2021) Record Store Day 2021

EMMA SWIFT – ” You’re A Big Girl Now “

Posted: April 22, 2021 in MUSIC
0

In celebration of the 80th birthday of legendary songwriter Bob Dylan, Nashville-based Australian singer Emma Swift is returning to Australia this June for a series of live shows performing songs from her Dylan tribute album “Blonde on the Tracks” as well as other favourites and rare gems from the Bob Dylan songbook.

In her first-ever national tour with a full band, Emma will be backed by Darren Middleton (Powderfinger) on guitar, Marty Brown (Clare Bowditch Band) on drums, Mark Wilson (JET) on bass, Louis Macklin (JET) on keys and Kathleen Halloran (Kate Ceberano Band) on guitar.

With a sound described as a blend of classic folk, Americana and indie rock, the release of “Blonde on the Tracks” has seen Swift likened to iconic artists such as Joan Baez, Marianne Faithfull and Cat Power.

An ARIA nominated singer-songwriter, Swift’s 2020 album of inspired interpretations of Bob Dylan songs garnered stellar reviews from Rolling Stone, The Guardian, the BBC and the Sydney Morning Herald. Swift even made US Rolling Stone’s list of 15 of the best Bob Dylan covers, alongside Sonic Youth, The Roots and The White Stripes.

Blonde on the Tracks debuted in the Top 10 on the ARIA chart and was also the #1 Country album and the #1 selling vinyl album.

“I am so, so thrilled to be returning to Australia to play songs from the Blonde on the Tracks album live this year. This will be the first ever full band performance of these songs in a live setting, and I can’t wait to bring the album to life on stage,” she said. “The album has had an enormous amount of love and I can’t wait to come home and sing these songs, as well as a selection of classics and fun rarities from Dylan’s magnificent canon.”

“After living in lockdown in the United States for most of the past year, it is going to be a real thrill to be taking the record on tour with a five-piece band. As a long-time Powderfinger fan, it’s especially exciting to be working with Darren Middleton as band leader. He’s an exceptional musician and wonderful collaborator and we’re planning a very special experience for the live show.”

CREAM – ” The Goodbye Tour: Live at the Forum 1968 “

Posted: April 22, 2021 in MUSIC
0
I’m So Glad: Cream’s “The Goodbye Tour: Live at the Forum 1968” Arrives as 2-LP Set

Cream was a shambling circus of diverse personalities who happened to find that catalyst together…any one of us could have played unaccompanied for a good length of time. So you put the three of us together in front of an audience willing to dig it limitlessly, we could have gone on forever…And we did…just going for the moon every time we played.”

That’s how Eric Clapton described his time in one of rock’s first supergroups. And while Cream released four fine albums during their four years together –”Fresh Cream, Disraeli Gears, Wheels of Fire”, and “Goodbye”– it’s onstage that the band really got the chance to shine with extended blues jams, solos, and psychedelic twists and turns.

This Friday, April 23rd, UMe/Polydor records will release one shining example of the band’s onstage might, “Goodbye Tour: Live At The Forum 1968”, as a limited edition, 2-LP set on blue vinyl. Released last year as part of the 4-CD Goodbye Tour: Live 1968 box set, this marks the first official standalone release of the landmark Los Angeles gig from October 19th, 1968.

The concert was mastered from the original 1968 analogue mix reels by Kevin Reeves at Universal Mastering, Nashville, TN. The 2-LP set is available exclusively from uDiscover Music’s online storefront. 

Cream, Goodbye Tour: Live At The Forum 1968 (UMe/Polydor, 2021) (uDiscoverMusic)

SHEVERB – ” Rattle Can Thrash “

Posted: April 21, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , , , , , ,
0

The viewer is lured in by the serene scene of a glorious sunset…perhaps piqued by the mysterious renegades looking toward the orange and purple horizon. Then Boom – cue the surf/garage punk-rock-a-go-go. It’s got the dance and tumble psyched-out film stock vibe of your favourite ’60s exploitation film, the edge of civilization, only Russ Myer’s gotta sit this one out. Sorry, pal. No mercy from the unleashed beasts of the Bombay Beach brigade.

It’s a cool lo-fi badass video Sheverb released this month for “Rattle Can Thrash,” one of ten desert-fuelled surf-psych instrumental treasures from “Once Upon a Time in Bombay Beach”, a conceptual piece literally inspired by tuning in and dropping out.

Cut to pre-pandemic February 2020: The band leaves behind the bustle of Austin, heads out to the “semi-abandoned” Southern Californian resort town the LP is named for, and completely immerse themselves in the songwriting process, including building a makeshift recording studio in a barn and crashing out in bunk beds in communal living spaces. Totally a family affair.

“We wanted to write an album that had elements of Southern California 1950’s/1960’s surf culture, psychedelics, real rock ‘n’ roll, Texas honky-tonk Western vibes, and of course, our kind of signature desert rock sound,” says Sheverb co-founder and guitarist Betty Benedeadly. “The Bombay Beach really embodied all of those elements, and we thought, what better place to go live for a month together?”

The experiment proved to be an eye-opening, magical time for the womxn-led collective, capped off with a finale performance at local dive Ski Inn, followed by their “Rattle Can Thrash” video shoot extravaganza in – where else? – a graffiti-covered abandoned house. True, most folks might skip a visit to Bombay Beach, but the remote, dystopian setting was perfect for Sheverb’s latest adventure. The entire journey was, in their own words, a dream come true.

The Band:

Betty Benedeadly Guitar, railroad spikes
Xina Ocasio  Drums, wooden frog
Lainey Smith  Bass
James Ruthless Mescall Trumpet, flute, percussion
Braden Guess Guitar, synth, fish bones

This tune is off of Sheverb’s album “Once Upon a Time in Bombay Beach”. This psychedelic, desert-fueled neo-surf album was the result of a month-long music-making adventure in a semi-abandoned seaside resort town in the Southern California desert.

T.HARDY MORRIS – ” The Digital Age of Rome “

Posted: April 21, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , , , ,
0

Heading into the spring of 2020, T. Hardy Morris had 12 demos that he thought would make-up his next album, then, everything changed. The world took a break and so his plans to record did as well. As we all watched and waited out the storms; viral and societal, we seemed to wake up scrolling through a whole new century, a time Morris began to refer to as The Digital Age of Rome.

He scrapped the demos and began a collection of songs in quarantine where the unprecedented times and topics were unavoidable. He wanted to document the era sonically and lyrically in some way.

“I wanted it to sound like how the world felt to me in the second half of 2020. Uncomfortable and chaotic, dystopian but still beautiful.”

http://

The Digital Age of Rome was recorded in a deserted downtown Athens, Ga. With long-time collaborator / producer Adam Landry.

Releases June 25th, 2021

The Band:

Lead Vocals: T. Hardy Morris
Additional Vocals: Faye Webster, Shelly Colvin, Adam Landry
Drums: Brad Morgan (Drive-by Truckers), Adam Landry
Bass: Vaughn Lamb, Adam Landry
Electric Guitar: Charlton Eugene Woolfolk III, Adam Landry, T. Hardy Morris
Acoustic Guitar: T. Hardy Morris, Adam Landry
Steel Guitar: Matt “Pistol” Stoessel
Keys: Adam Landry
Percussion: Adam Landry, T. Hardy Morris
Programming: Adam Landry, T. Hardy Morris, Nate Nelson

The WALLFLOWERS – ” Exit Wounds “

Posted: April 21, 2021 in CLASSIC ALBUMS, MUSIC
Tags: , ,
0

Rock ‘n’ roll is often hard to define, or even to find, in these fractured musical times. But to paraphrase an old saying, you know it when you hear it.

And you always hear it with The Wallflowers. For the past 30 years, the Jakob Dylan-led act has stood as one of rock’s most dynamic and purposeful bands – a unit dedicated to and continually honing a sound that meshes timeless song writing and storytelling with a hard-hitting and decidedly modern musical attack. That signature style has been present through the decades, baked into the grooves of smash hits like 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse as well as more recent and exploratory fare like 2012’s Glad All Over.

But while it’s been nine long years since we’ve heard from the group with whom he first made his mark, the Wallflowers are silent no more. And Dylan always knew they’d return. “The Wallflowers is much of my life’s work,” he says simply. That life’s work continues with “Exit Wounds”, the brand-new Wallflowers studio offering. The collection marks the first new Wallflowers material since Glad All Over.

Exit Wounds, which, true to its title, is an ode to people – individual and collective – that have, to put it mildly, been through some stuff.

“I think everybody – no matter what side of the aisle you’re on – wherever we’re going to next, we’re all taking a lot of exit wounds with us,” Dylan says. “Nobody is the same as they were four years ago. That, to me, is what Exit Wounds signifies. And it’s not meant to be negative at all. It just means that wherever you’re headed, even if it’s to a better place, you leave people and things behind, and you think about those people and those things and you carry them with you. Those are your exit wounds. And right now, we’re all swimming in them.” 

http://

The Band:

Jakob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Butch Walker: guitar, keyboards, percussion, backing vocals
Mark Stepro: drums
Whynot Jensveld: bass
Aaron Embry: keyboards
Val McCallum: guitar
Shelby Lynne: vocals (Maybe Your Heart’s Not In It No More, Move The River, Darlin’ Hold On, I’ll Let You Down (But Will Not Give You Up))
Brian Griffin: drums (Move The River)

Releases July 9th, 2021

Older Entries
Newer Entries