The hardest working band in rock and roll? The Hives certainly are in contention. After releasing their most recent CD Black and White in October 2007, the Hives have performed 200 shows on probably half the world's continents (my guess!). Heck, they even played Phoenix last year after I arrived - how sweet was that?
The band is playing its final dates in Japan this week, then they are DONE... until next time. From their Myspace blog page... "Here are the FINAL DATES of THE BLACK AND WHITE ALBUM TOUR: 1 April - Namba Hatch – Osaka 2 April - Diamond Hall – Nagoya 3 April - Shibuya Ax – Tokyo 5 April - Punkspring Festival - Makuhari Event Hall - Tokyo
If you're here in Phoenix (also Scottsdale, Tempe, Mesa, Gilbert, etc...) or visiting this fine city and want to hit a music show, you can find your live music needs on the web at SilverPlatter, a great visual site packed with info and pix on bands that are handpicked by local music fans and influencers. There's also its retail companion site of Stinkweeds, the famed champion of indie rockers near and far for this city.
Recently, another less visual but handy tool for local musicians launched, called The Phoenix Underground Calendar for Music Events, which allows bands and acts to post up their own shows to be viewed on a daily, weekly or monthly calendar basis. Good to know.
One tip - maybe The Underground guys can add in some social networked logo links at the bottom, so bands who add shows can also do a one-clickthrough for a short item on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and other site. Just a thought.
The reunited (never left?) Simple Minds, who are releasing a new collection of music called Graffiti Soul in May, has been announced as the Sunday headliner at this June's Isle of Wight Festival, which is shaping up to be a monster music event this summer. But will fans of the older acts like The Pixies and Neil Young brawl or play nicely along alongside the fans of newer bands like The Ting Tings and The Rifles? Mods against Rockers? Or more appropriately, Baldies vs. Skinnies?
The blurbists write... Now in its eighth year since its reincarnation in 2002, the Isle of Wight Festival brings together 50,000 free spirited, music loving, friends, families and festival goers in front of one almighty stage, in a simply stunning setting. It is undoubtedly one of the most distinctive and well-loved festivals on the calendar and the two UK Festival Awards for 'Best Major UK Festival' and 'Outstanding Contribution to Festivals' (awarded to John Giddings) is proof of just that."
I don't really know too much about rockabilly - apart from the mid-1950s guys like Johnny Burnette, early Elvis and Carl Perkins, and then the 80s groups like The Cramps and the Stray Cats. It's always been a alternative music genres that I liked hearing when I heard it, but never had the energy to chase it all down.
But I got a big history lesson in rockabilly history of Phoenix and the Southwest's Latino influences from a great cover story in this week's Phoenix New Times called Viva La Razabilly.
When I started reading it today, I thought it was just gonna be a tie-in piece to the AZ rockabilly scene because of last weekend's AZ Rockabilly concert - but it became much more. Part history lesson, part race relations course, part empathy for promoters piece, part car trivia lesson and more.
Writer Niki D'Andrea has really researched her old time Phoenix rockabilly history and turned in a splendid piece that anyone with a history of 'local music scenes' would totally enjoy.
The 1970s weren't all Elton John, America, disco and (later) punk. There were many little-known songs that touched on my teenage years in a twisted way. Today, I get to share 'em and you get to hear 'em.
Tonio K - The Funky Western Civilization ("they put Jesus on a cross, they put a hole in JFK...")
John Miles - Highfly (my UK pals are gonna snicker on me for this one, but what a melody!)
The Hounds - Drugland Weekend (alas, not live, studio version of the LP I own). Takes a bit to get to the goods, but what a chorus! Like Mott the Hoople, Bruce Springsteen and the Tubes rolled into one. Chicago band - hear this song and others at their MySpace page.
The Tubes - Don't Touch Me There - great naughty-ish song for a teenage boy. Yes. The tune kicks in after the first minute.
Montrose - Bad Motor Scooter (young Sammy Hagar, now a tender Chickenfoot! on vocals - he rocks!)
New York band Finding Fiction hits up local Mesa-PHX Hollywood Alley club tonight - their riveting guitars and world-weary-Casablancas vocals has been called "hook-heavy, shoegazing indie rock". Give it a go, #phx #mesa types.
Even the band knows its name is silly - read this from their page: "Rarely has a band come freighted with such expectation and promise than the new outfit that calls itself Chickenfoot. Yes, you read correctly - Chickenfoot. Say that name again, just to get used to its sound. Chickenfoot.
It's a silly name for a band - - and album - - that kicks a donkey's ass six ways to Sunday and back again. Maybe that's because long before the four men who comprise Chickenfoot came together they already filled the pages of rock history with enough individual mind-blowing chapters to boggle the mind."
Thanks to the One Little Indian PR team in the UK, I've learned about a blisteringly cool band from Edinburgh, Scotland called We Were Promised Jetpacks (great name, that).
Here's the fab rockin' single out in May - track called Quiet Little Voices. Smokin' good rock for any fans of Arctic Monkeys, Chameleons UK, early Jam and more...
More Information: "We Were Promised Jetpacks’ ‘Quiet Little Voices’ represents the lead-up to a debut album that is already highly touted, several months before release. The band’s youthful energy (their average age is 21) explodes thunderously as ‘Quiet Little Voices’ reaches its indescribably huge chorus. Every space is filled, the tension bristles achingly in Thompson’s vocal delivery as the rest of the band crashes around him with a perfect balance of force and harmony, but the romanticism and accessibility of a pure pop sensibility is never hidden too deep."
Here's a video of the band doing Quiet Little Voices at a club gig last summer:
Assembled in Edinburgh as high school friends in 2003, We Were Promised Jetpacks’ first ever gig saw them winning their school's battle of the bands competition. Proceeding shows were after-school performances around the city of Edinburgh which were well attended and fuelled the band with a hunger and ambition. The 4-piece came to FatCat’s attention when listening to some of the friends on the (label mates) Frightened Rabbit Myspace page.
Before even releasing a single, WWPJ have laid claim to some recent successes which suggest the heralding of a major talent bursting to emerge. A well recorded three-track demo was circulated and managed to pick up a KEXP track of the day over the pond, and plays on national stations in the UK were popping up on XFM, BBC and Q radio.
Fresh off the heels of a successful SXSW jaunt (performing alongside Glasvegas and Primal Scream) and with an album scheduled for 15 June 2009 titled These Four Walls, the forthcoming year of releases and touring is set to be a busy one for We Were Promised Jetpacks.
Press: Blistering post-punk anthems of the highest pedigree: powerful and tuneful in just the right measures, with lead singer Adam Thompson's understated vocals keeping proceedings in check just as they threaten to spiral out of control. It's a definite statement of intent.” - Q Magazine (TOTD) "Classic musicianship and songwriting." - Scotsman "Intense." - The Fly “Indie-pop pickery with brazen aplomb.” – The List "An impeccable grab bag of influences and a miraculously accessible romantic sensibility." – Skinny "Seething with a newfound intent, their crisp, flighty choruses and sure-footed narratives are bolder and more purposeful than ever before." - Drowned in Sound "Euphoric melodies and lyrical defiance." - Clash "Conquering heroes even though they've yet to release their debut album." - Daily Record
Passing along a fine blog post (from August 2008) by Sport is a TV Show about The Clash and their soccer-playing ways that helped forge the sound and unity of London Calling.
"It wasn't just music, passion and work ethic that drove the process along. Across the road from Vanilla was a playground, on which the band and assorted friends and associates would every day have a game of football. The band attributed the nurturing of this atmosphere within which their creativity could flourish to this daily ritual. "We'd play football 'til we dropped and then start playing music," said Strummer. "It was a good limbering-up thing." "What they got out of that was unity, a sense of togetherness," said Kosmo Vinyl, trusted member of The Clash's entourage. Lead guitarist Mick Jones concurred: "I just think we really found ourselves at that time and it was a lot to do with the football. No, I'm serious! Because it made us play together as one".
Greetings Hives Fans! The Hives are taking over Scandinavia this week in what will be an epic week of touring! If you are in the area be sure to come out and say "hej!" We promise to rock your Swedish socks off!
22 March 2009 - Helsinki, Finland - Nosturi 24 March 2009 - Göteborg, Sweden - Trädgår'n 25 March 2009 - Malmö, Sweden - KB 26 March 2009 - Norrköping, Sweden - Flygeln 27 March 2009 - Karlstad, Sweden - Nöjesfabriken 28 March 2009 - Umeå - Umeå Open
So, I was reading over at Brooklyn Vegan about the Metallica/Guitar Hero show at SXSW and of course some commenters started getting pissy about a HUGE band like Metallica playing a music fest that *should* be about unsigned bands. In theory, yo. One commenter on the post explained away the nonsense about SXSW being a place to discover unsigned bands, and it's worth reposting here. Thanks, Anonymous.
"I've been attending SXSW for 12 years, and it ceased being an "unsigned band" discovery showcase about 5-6 years ago with the advent of label showcases, which means that by definition the bands playing are NOT unsigned. the SXSW of today is about networking, not discovering new acts like in the past (bummer).
Up until 5-6 years ago it was a small music conference with 3500 attendees- today it is more than double that number, and the worst part is half of the current attendees are not even in the industry- they come just for the vibe, to hang out, in other words, posers. whereas in the past we could see 10-12 different bands at 10 differnet venues in one evening, today we can't even get into the venues to see 3 bands because the venues are already full to capacity of posers. our $600 passes are pretty much worthless as a result.
SXSW is a victim of its own success.
posted by a music industry veteran who was at the metallica show last night."
When CNN anchor John Roberts was a young stud, he worked in Canada for CITY TV in Toronto - No embeds, so you gotta click over to the film where Roberts holds a sharp interview and grills The Clash's Joe Strummer on The Buzzcocks, the film 'Rude Boy', Northern Ireland and more. Good stuff.
Electric Light Orchestra formed out of the ashes of the great 60s British band The Move. In the early 70s, Britain was celebrating the 1950s styled rock n roll songs. The band's leader Jeff Lynne concocted this awesome monster of a song from Chuck Berry's original spunky little rocker (also covered by The Beatles in their performing heyday).
From Wikipedia..."The new lineup performed at the 1972 Reading Festival. Barcus Berry pickups, now sported by the band's string trio, allowed them to dance on stage with their instruments. The band released their second album, ELO 2 in 1973, which produced their first U.S. chart hit, a hugely elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven". ELO also made their first appearance on American Bandstand.
- NY Times writes about the Internet's role in exploding music out to the masses: "For others, the concerns are more about day-to-day practicalities. As South by Southwest has grown bigger and more decentralized — this year it has twice as many acts as in 2003 — bands have been adding more and more performances to their itineraries, hoping to register the most impressions on the crowd. Shilpa Ray, an unsigned Brooklyn singer with a powerfully raw voice and a fierce technique on the harmonium, has eight showcases lined up, and for her the big question is simply endurance. “It’s a challenge: how good of a musician are you?” she said. “I wonder if I can do it, if I can sustain my voice for so long and stay consistent.”
The past week or so, I've been reading Pat Gilbert's "Fashion is a Passion - The Real Story of The Clash", a historically interesting book on "The Only Band that Matters". For a longtime Clash fanboy like me, it's a worthy read, full of lots of drugstabbing tales featuring the likes of ... * Bernie Rhodes psychobabble (always entertaining, but what a pain in the ass he must've been), * Mick Jones' musical instincts (much more than I had given him credit for), * Joe Strummer's wayward kookiness (and general kind aloofness) * Topper Headon's great drumming (and heavy horse play) * Paul Simonon's deadly cool art ways (foreshadowing his modern day art career).
There is good dirt throughout, too much to write here, but for example, how Rude Boy the film was pretty much a disaster. All the Clash live music had to be later rerecorded in a studio because of all the live audio from the filming was unusable (and that's the best part of the film!). There is much input from 'insider-yet-outsiders' Clash cohorts Johnny Green, Kosmo Vinyl and former Strummer pals. It's a 4 out of 5 book - deeply researched, solidly written, but missing a little of the utter chaos that made The Clash great.
Today, we learn in a Reuters story that Mick Jones has put a bunch of his memorabilia in the Chelsea Gallery in London to 'show and tell' his musical interests over the past few decades in an exhibit called the "Rock and Roll Public Library" that runs until April 18. Some clips are here from the show.
And just when I was thinking that "hey, what about the rest of us collectors fanboys with rock memorabilia? Where can we "show and tell" our collection (for monetary gain or not)? Oh wait, we do - it's right here at Rock Immortal - the site built by Sapient to help the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony 2009.
Gene Simmons tells Rolling Stone that KISS is recording a new record - 10 years after 1998's Psycho Circus - and it's gonna be just a cool old 70s feel KISS record... "Simmons says. “There’s nothing to prove to anybody. We’re not interested in musical trends or anything else. We’re too long in the tooth for that. So it’s going to be sort of a classic ’70s rock & roll vibe. Meat and potatoes. You know, sometimes you just want to go out and have a meat and potatoes thing [and] forget the French dressing.”
Rock with KISS right here on an AWESOME cover of The Ramones' "Do You Remember Rock 'n Roll Radio?" Classic - Two NYC bands that started round the same time ('73-'74) and took different routes, but loved the same good ol' rock and roll. It works.
Take a listen to the new Pete Doherty release "Don't Look Back Into the Sun" up and streaming on Pete's MySpace page. From the bit I've heard, it's loose, fun, rollicking, acoustic, sadly beautiful and possibly insanely cool. Time will tell.
Cool clip time! It features all-around rocker good guy Chris Slusarenko (and Robert Pollard collaborator) who, with the help of John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask, the original brains behind Hedwig & the Angry Inch, put out "Wig in a Box". The clip below features Chris meeting Jonathan Richman and talking about covering The Origin of Love (Jo Jo's version), among songs from the Hedwig & the Angry Inch soundtrack. Good stuff, worth a watch. Lots of love within the frame.
No,this is not a retro Jonathan Richman/Modern Lovers post, but rather a look into the (gosh!) present and possible future. Since I'm a music blogger, I get lots and lots of emails from band publicists for new buzz bands, especially those headed to South by Southwest this weekend.
Here's a quick rundown about a few of the bands I've been hearing buzz buzz buzz: - We Have Band - The promo words say "We Have Band (mixes) dark dance rhythms, washy electronic synths, post punk funk bass and individual pop vocals from each member, layered in a way that really makes them sound like nothing else today." It's not bad, in a sort of updated Sheffield British Electic Foundation way.
- Ringo Deathstarr - An awesome name? Maybe. Their bio reads... "Ringo Deathstarr are from Austin, Texas... Ringo Deathstarr like to play short sets... Ringo Deathstarr are very loud... Ringo Deathstarr fucking rock..." The band was profiled in MAGNET Magazine last fall and it's here for the reading. More punk rock than shoegaze. That totally works for me.
- Montreal's The HighDials will be playing The Musebox party, right before Echo & the Bunnymen (sure to be a good crowd for 'em). I like their elegant pop, sucking on that 1966-1968 teet for Zombies-Who inspiration. The High Dials most recent CD "Moon Country" got great raves, including... "Psych pop perfection" 8/10 - NME (UK) "The golden era of Canadian cool continues apace" The Sun (UK) "(Songs) breathe new life into pop's romantic lexicon" 4 stars - The Independent (UK) "Dazzling second album" 4 stars- UNCUT
- Dublin band The Urges picks up on Van Morrison's early earthy Them sound and cranks it up to 12. The band just backed up The Soundtrack of Our Lives in New York, and is playing about 18 separate shows at SXSW. Perfect sound for the garage rock days of 2009.
The cool kids at Paste Magazine have put their spreadsheet skills to the test and have determined some trends for band names for the upcoming SXSW music fest. It seems that the leading band names are ones that exclaim some 'dudeness' in their names, using variations of the word 'boys' 'man' or other. Great stuff.
Sweeeet! Lumpytwangage on YouTube has been posting up some early GBV vidclips for us popkids. Here's another blast from his videotape collection - GBV pre-B1000 roaring through 'My Impression Now' and 'Postal Blowfish'. Thank you.
The new 2CD release "Communion" from The Soundtrack of Our Lives (aka TSOOL) is out and streamable over at its label site Yeproc. It's sounding great so far, the mix of loud raunchy guitars with padded layers of harmonies and the rockness of it all.
BV writer Bill Pearis had an email exchange with TSOOL singer Ebbot Lundberg and guitarist Mattias Bärjed. It's cool. It also helps explain the hideous cover, which is explained with the following, and now it makes some sense to me.
"I have to ask about Communion's cover art. Like who are they and what are they drinking?
Ebbot: Suicide drinks. They are on their way back to Sirius or Orion. These people represent the alienation. The fruit of corporocracy. The living dead."
Blabbermouth wrote a few months ago - "THIN LIZZY's seminal double live album "Live & Dangerous" is consistently featured in polls as one of the greatest live albums of all time. Yet it is not really a live record at all as it features overdubs and post-production across the album. March 2, 2009 sees the release of the "Still Dangerous", the real "Live & Dangerous"!
Here's Thin Lizzy doin' the classic 'Cowboy Song' from Germany's Rockpalast (but without original guitarist Scott Gorham - who's the blond German looking guy in the lineup?)
Very happy to be playing as set on Saturday night at the first-ever-in-Phoenix International Pop Overthrow. Should be a corker. If you're out and about in Mesa/Tempe/Phoenix, AZ, come on out to the Hollywood Alley this weekend. Look for me hanging tonight and Saturday night. I'll be this guy.
Been listening to a lot of my old hardcore records and CDs, so we'll make this scrabble rabble Friday one of the slammers.
One of Black Flag's old slogans was "What the fuck, fuck shit up!" Here they are doing just that, with early singer Ron Reyes singing, the great slammer "White Minority". Have a nice day.
And Husker Du started out in Minneapolis bending an ear toward the West Coast for its early hardcore statement "Land Speed Record". Here is the band doing songs from that era live - classic. You think your band plays fast? Think fucking again.
In a related note, did you know that Husker Du's Bob Mould predicted the Internet, cybercrime and Facebook back in the 1980s? That's a tip straight from the gent below, who wrtote that at Husker Du's Facebook page:
Andrew Barnes Rutherford (New Zealand) wrote at 1:10pm on February 20th, 2009 Husker Du predicted the internet, cybercrime and Facebook!
Look at the lyrics for Divide and Conquer written in 1985, ten years before public access to the internet.
We'll invent some new computers Link up the global village And get AP, UPI, and Reuters To tell everybody the news
We'll be one happy neighborhood Spread out across the world But who's going to stop that burglar From breaking in my house If he lives that far away
We'll be just like old friends No means to your ends The police state is to busy And the neighborhood's getting out of hand
It's not about my politics Something happened way too quick A bunch of men who played it sick They divide, conquer
His note read: "Hello, David Vandervelde here.... When living in Chicago I made a record with my good friends Where The Moon Came From called "Psychedelic Saturday". This name perfectly describes the initial path we chose to wander, while creating this epic jam masterpiece. It has just been released for free download at Rockproper.com. I hope you get a chance to check it out, LOUD."
I'm listening now - it's a psychedelic freakout - about 16 minutes long. Definitely not built for laptop speakers, so I'll have to give this a full run on the stereo this week. For the moment, I hear sounds wandering from speaker to speaker, loud wailing guitars, some singing, chimes, woodwinds and more blowing around - it's pretty wild. The site said it was recorded in dead of winter 2006, so it might've taken a few years between David's touring to get it all mixed and together for your stoned enjoyment. A fine bit of music to throw on post-midnight at your weekend party. More details at David's MySpace page.
"Everyday I have to find the courage to walk...out...into the street"
U2 played 'Breathe' from new CD on the first night of their four-night stint on the David Letterman Late Night show - solid execution. Sounded good. Look for U2 to play ABC's morning show on Friday (their first ever, we're told, by the announcer at this link) and possibly a 'secret' show somewhere. You all remember the U2 at Brooklyn Bridge shows a few years ago, right?
Good rock and roll juicy nibbles found on this Monday:
New Art Brut exclusive MP3s! - Pitchfork has a track "Alcoholics Unanimous" ("Bring me tea! Bring me coffee!")from the upcoming Art Brut vs. Satan release (which has a song called "The Replacements" listed among the tracks - can't wait to hear that one!) And when you listen to it, ask yourself, did Frank Black (producer) suggest the little "oooh, oooh" part at the end of the song? That's so Pixies!) - RCRDLBL is offering up another MP3 called Just Desserts", a track that didn't make the LP, which has a cool guitar riff but I think Eddie let the band down with this lame chorus..."Whenever I get hurt, I skip dinner and have a big dessert".
- Rolling Stone has a piece on an impending Faith No More reunion and asks... "So what other fractured bands should mend fences and return to the stage? Here’s a wish list, as well as the reasons why you probably shouldn’t hold your breath." Good suggestions pop up in the comments, especially this one, as incredibly wishful as it would be: "The surviving members of The Who - Pete on guitar, Roger on vocals - with the surviving members of the Beatles - Paul on bass and Ringo on drums…how cool would that be?"
- Powerpop Overdose offers up downloads of music from bands tht pop and rock. Get your fill at the link (beneath the way big Nick Lowe advert at the top).
The hardest working band in rock and roll? The Hives certainly are in contention. After releasing their most recent CD Black and White in October 2007, the Hives have performed 200 shows on probably half the world's continents (my guess!). Heck, they even played Phoenix last year after I arrived - how sweet was that?
