Despite playing an abbreviated, thirty-minute set in a dance club with terrible sound, Voxtrot still excelled, playing a mix of material from their excellent new album (“Kid Gloves” and “Brother in Conflict” were definite highlights) as well as songs from their early EPs (including the title track of “Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Wives” and “Soft and Warm”) and a new song called “New Love,” which they bravely opened with. The biggest crowd reaction, however, was reserved for “The Start of Something,” their first single and perhaps most well-loved song, though it’s by far the oldest in their repertoire.
Sicko
See my full review here.
Goldapples – “Green”
I don’t usually accept unsolicited friend requests on MySpace, but when this band from the UK sent me one, I checked them out based upon their impressive list of influences. The three songs up on their MySpace page have a heavy XTC feel, particularly reminscent of their orchestral-pop side on albums like Apple Venus and what not. I hear a bit of Sweets from a Stranger-era SQUEEZE here as well as a bit of PREFAB SPROUT, though it’s all much more low-budget than any of those bands. You can check them out here.
I attended a reading of this book at Robin’s Bookstore, the same place I saw JOE BOYD read excerpts from his book a few months ago. This time, the reading was held in the smaller downstairs area and it was a blast. Although there were only about ten people present, this gave us a chance to ask the author questions about the various songs on the album as well as related things as well. After the reading, Fournier stuck around to talk to fans, sign books and talk about music. As for the book itself, it’s an excellent work of criticism filled with meticulous research (including excerpts from two days of interviews with MIKE WATT). Our own JACK RABID even makes an appearance midway through, describing the difference between THE MINUTEMEN and many closed-minded hardcore punk fans who rejected their stylistic detours.
While I still don’t think this is quite up to par with their first two EPs, this is still an excellent album that I’ve been spending more time with lately, perhaps because of the fact that they played here last week. My current favorites are “Firecracker,” “Kid Gloves,” “Brother in Conflict,” and the beautiful ballad “Real Live Version”.
When I was 15, I was a big fan of this album, which I then had on cassette. I remember buying it on the strength of “Blue Sky Mine,” the excellent first single from this album which I used to see on MTV’s 120 Minutes all the time. Fast forward 17 years and “Blue Sky Mine” comes on the “First Wave” Sirius station a few weeks ago. This gets me to pull out this album, which I hadn’t listened to since I was a teenager. It still holds up quite nicely, with the socio-political concerns of songs such as “Mountains of Burma,” “Forgotten Years” (about Australia’s involvement in World War II), and the rest of the songs on this album just as relevant, if not more so, than they were back in 1990.
Nam Phuong
This excellent Vietnamese restaurant has been a favorite of mine for several years now. You can check out their menu here and if you’re a fan of this cuisine and in the Philadelphia area, make sure to pay them a visit.
Last week, I wrote about “Did I Tell You,” one of the few original songs on this mostly covers-filled album from 1990. While not a cover, that song fits the mood of this mellow, acoustic, folk- and country-flavored album. It includes covers of DANIEL JOHNSTON’s “Speeding Motorcycle,” THE KINKS’ “Oklahoma U.S.A.” and “Emulsified,” a ‘60s garage rocker that still shows up in their setlists today (like the last time I saw them play here at the Trocadero).
Along with Naturally by SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS, this is the best soul record I’ve heard in a long time. The fact that it’s massively popular is a surprise, but as long as the song are as hard-hitting as “You Know that I’m No Good,” the title track, and the great single “Rehab,” I’m a fan. It’s also telling that THE DAP KINGS were Winehouse’s backing band when she toured the U.S. earlier this year as she mines the best ‘60s and early ‘70s soul and r’n’b that Jones and the rest of her Daptone labelmates do.
Starting at about 9:20 PM and not finishing until almost 2 AM (with only a fifteen minute break), Biafra delivered a riveting, exhaustingly long (though never boring) spoken word show. Predictably, the vast majority of the topics he covered involved the Iraq War, corporate deregulation, religious conservatism and how they all relate to our current political situation. However, he peppered the discussion with downright hilarious anecdotes, thus preventing things from getting too heavy-handed. Still, it felt more like a political rally, albeit an entertaining one, than anything else. With the age and experience of an old radical, he wisely warned the audience to avoid self-righteously criticizing others not as politically-inclined and also advised that now is the time for action, not mourning, if our voices are to be heard and if the Iraq war is to be stopped.
