I’ve written extensively about my love for this band’s new full-length Mosaic and their self-titled EP over the past month or so, but I haven’t mention this five song gem yet. It includes “No Way Out”, which is also on the self-titled EP, but the real reason to get this is for the two extra tracks “Waiting” and “In the Red” along with remixes of “No Way Out” and “In the Red” that are fun and interesting as well.
I missed openers THE ORANGES BAND, but got there just in time to see Spoon deliver a fantastic performance that combined several new songs from their forthcoming album along with the “hits” from the previous three albums including “The Fitted Shirt” (from the brilliant Girls Can Tell), “The Way We Get By,” “Me and the Bean,” “I Turn My Camera On” and many more, though oddly no “Sister Jack”. One can tell that at this absolutely packed, sold-out show, this may be the last time Spoon will ever play such a small venue in this town.
Despite a bunch of drunken idiots behind us shouting the entire night making it difficult to enjoy the show, Parker and his Latest Clowns (featuring two members of his long-time backing band THE FIGGS) played a great set show that satisfied the diehards with several songs each from the neglected but excellent albums The Real Macaw, Steady Nerves and Struck By Lightning along with the usual late ‘70s material and stuff from his terrific new album. While as a long-time fan it was thrilling to hear material like “You Can’t Take Love for Granted” and “Break Them Down” that I would never, ever thought I’d see Parker perform live, the inconsiderate nature of the people directly behind us made it an endurance test as well.
I’m about halfway through this thus far excellent book that details Boyd’s journeys and adventures as a mover and shaker of the ‘60s rock scene. A man who practically saw and did it all during this time, his remarkable recall and writing skills are also evident here. I saw him do a reading from this book about a month ago and when I read certain passages, the ones he read seemed to come to life.
Saturday Night Live (Saturday, NBC)
I don’t actually watch this show, but I would’ve watched last week’s program had I been home since the host was SCARLETT JOHANSSON and the musical guest was BJORK. Nevertheless, I did watch the YouTube clips of Bjork’s performances and despite the poor quality, I was very impressed with the quality of these two songs “Earth Intruders” and “Wanderlust”. They have an unmistakable energy that’s reminscent of her first two solo albums Debut and Post, but yet are startingly different, unique and beautiful at the same time. I can’t wait for the new album Volta and I’m also eagerly awaiting her performance at the Sasquatch Festival next month. You can watch the clips here.
After two solid albums of hazy, lazy, post-shoegazer rock coming across like a cross between JESUS AND MARY CHAIN and LOVE AND ROCKETS, this band took a left turn with 2005’s Howl, a blues, folk and country-influenced affair that confused many of its fans. While I enjoyed that album and in hindsight it’s easy to see the link between quieter songs on their earlier albums like “And I’m Aching” and the material on Howl, this is a welcome return to form much like IDLEWILD’s excellent new album that finds them revisiting the territory they mined so effortlessly on their earlier efforts. Thus if you liked their first two albums but felt let down by Howl or if you liked them all along, you won’t be disappointed by this one.
I’ve been listening to a lot of early ‘90s music lately, so I was grateful to stumble upon this excellent five-song EP earlier today at a gate sale. It’s notable not only for having two different, non-album versions of the excellent “Cath Carroll” but for having two non-album tracks as well. In particular, it concludes with the over 33-minute (!) “Hydro”, a Krautrock or spacerock jam worthy of the epic heights of NEU!, ASH RA TEMPEL or even HAWKWIND. Who knew that Unrest could create such inspiring atonal drones (that’s meant as a compliment)? In a way it reminds me of SONIC YOUTH’s CD single for the 25-minute plus version of “The Diamond Sea”.
I’ve always liked this band from their excellent debut Moon Safari onwards, but while their debut is a tough act to follow, I really like how they’ve progressed over the years without ever losing their core aesthetic. This album is no exception and in fact it may be the most enjoyable thing they’ve done since Moon Safari. JARVIS COCKER guests on the single “One Hell of a Party” (which he also wrote) and THE DIVINE COMEDY’s NEIL HANNON guests on “Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping” (a song which Cocker also co-wrote), but while these songs are enjoyable, the real stunner here is “Napalm Love”. It is the type of song that simultaneously gives you goosebumps on every listen but will also stay lodged in your brain for hours.
The name of this album is also notable, as these avowed BEACH BOYS fans are paying tribute to the “Good Vibrations” single.
A very little known but absolutely incredible early to mid ‘90s hardcore punk band from Columbia, South Carolina, Assfactor 4 were one of the many bands back then bred in basements, VFW Halls and Unitarian churches and influenced by the likes of the more well-known (though only marginally so, of course) BORN AGAINST and HEROIN. In my opinion, this record (their second 7”) is them at their finest, though their first 7” “Sometimes I Suck” is pretty close in terms of quality as well. This is blazing, fast and furious stuff with 9 songs clocking in at just over 11 minutes. Lyrically, they could be a bit obtuse, but songs like “sheepskingraft” (which concerns having to get a job after finishing college and the reality it implies) really hit home so many years later after I first heard this material as I’ve actually experienced these things since then. Still, I’ll never forget seeing them play an absolutely smoking set in JON HILTZ’s swelteringly hot basement in the summer of 1994 and watching them silk-screening their own shirts (one of which I bought later) in the backyard (which had a pool) while interviewing them for my zine and then watching them a few days later at the Central Unitarian Church in Paramus, NJ. What a great band!
Most Beefheart fans will already know this, but for those who don’t, this is the shelved and never officially released Bat Chain Puller album from 1976. If the title and songs (presuming you can find it) look familiar, it’s because most of this material was re-recorded a few years later and released as Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller). While many fans and Beefheart’s musicians claim to like this original version better, I can’t say that I agree. Partially this is because I’m much more familiar with the officially released versions of these songs, but also it’s because the only discernible difference between this version and the widely available one is the rougher production on this one. Nevertheless, if you’re more than a casual Beefheart fan, this is a must have.
