Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Album Review: Our Native Daughters - Songs of Our Native Daughters
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Album Review: Rival Sons - Feral Roots
Rival Sons have been the touted as the next best thing in Rock and Roll for almost a decade, and while their albums and concerts have been consistently good they haven’t yet exploded commercially as they were promised to. It now seems like the mantle of up and coming saviours of old school rock has been passed on to Greta Van Fleet, which is good news: Rival Sons no longer need to prove anything.
Album Review: Walter Trout - Survivor Blues
Album Review: Candlemass - The Door To Doom
Monday, February 25, 2019
Album Review: John Mayall - Nobody Told Me
We Will Mock You - Thoughts on Queen's Performance at the Academy Awards
A band that calls itself Queen + Adam Lambert opened up the Academy Awards ceremony last night playing truncated versions of their anthems We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. If you’ve been in a coma for the past year, the reason they were booked on the first host-less Oscar night since 1989 is because a movie entitled Bohemian Rhapsody, which tells the story of Freddie Mercury and Queen’s rise to success, has been nominated for several Oscars, and ended up winning one for best actor for Rami Malek in the role of Freddie.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Album Review: The Claypool/Lennon Delirium - South of Reality
The second album by The Claypool Lennon Delirium is delirious indeed, a bombardment of acid psychedelia and angular pop with progressive leanings.
Friday, February 22, 2019
Altitudes and Attitude @ le Zénith, Paris - February 22nd, 2019
Album Review: O.R.K. - Ramagehead
Album Review: Gary Clark, Jr. - This Land
Ever since signing to a major label, the Texan guitarist has dropped the blues guitar gunslinger outfit and taken on the mantle of a socially conscious modern soul storyteller in the vein of Fantastic Negrito.
Friday's Playlist: Power Pop
Are you in the mood for some alluring hooks over muscular arrangements? Do you like your music strong and sweet? Can you only swallow punk rock if it's been watered down with bubblegum? Are you looking for a playlist that can reconcile your appreciation for The Beatles and your love of loud drums and distorted guitars? Look no more: we'll hook you up.
Thursday, February 21, 2019
Andy Cairns from Therapy? checks in
Therapy? just finished the Mainland European leg of their tour in support of Cleave, their brilliant new record and we caught them in Paris where they played a blistering show and completely annihilated La Maroquinerie, the sweaty venue where they were booked.
We hit up singer/guitarist/songwriter Andy Cairns and he was kind enough to send us his thoughts on the band's seminal record Troublegum turning 25. We very much appreciate him taking the time out of a hectic schedule to check in.
Album Review: The Tedeschi Trucks Band - Signs
The Tedeschi/Trucks Band’s extended family has been hit hard recently and keyboard player’s Kofi Burbridge’s death last week, on the day of the release of this record, is another brutal if not unexpected blow to one of the best American bands working today.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Primal Stream: Thoughts On The Dirt Trailer
The Dirt is one of the best rock bios out there. Not because Mötley Crüe has made amazing music, not even because of its sensationalisation of sex and drugs but because of the honest exposé of the band’s dysfunctions and its members' deeply flawed personalities.
First Three Songs, No Flash
I started this blog a few years ago essentially so I could get accredited to concerts. And it worked! I've been lucky enough to get credentials for great gigs I would've paid for anyway. Anything from small indie bands to the Rolling Stones. Unfortunately, I still have to pay for most of the concerts I attend. And I can only take my little point and shoot. I'm not complaining, mind you.
Gateway
I remember distinctly how I got into music. Rock and Roll, to be exact. It’s nothing unique, in fact a lot of people I’ve talked to have had similar experiences. Maybe you did too.
Tuesday, February 19, 2019
Gary Clark, Jr. on SNL
Sorry Kanye, Paul Simon, Greta Van Fleet... Gary Clark, Jr. is the first great musical guest of this season of SNL and his performance last Saturday will hopefully bring him the widespread recognition he deserves.
Sunday, February 17, 2019
5 questions with Bubba Hodges from The Residents The Cryptic Corporation
Members of the Residents wish to remain anonymous, not to preserve any mystery but to make sure the trappings of fame and celebrity do not interfere with their work. Which is why the people from The Cryptic Corporation, the company that handles their business, have been appointed as their spokespeople. So today we talk to Bubba Hodges from the Cryptic Corporation who is definitely not a member of the Residents, honest!
Rock Fandom and the Ten-Year Theory
I know what it’s like to be a fan. Not just an enthusiast, not just an appreciator but a proper fanatic. To be obsessed with a band or piece of music. It used to happen to me all the time. It happens less and less as I get older but every once in a while something will trigger a new phase, awaken an old one. Like the first time I saw Sparks in concert five years ago. I’ve always liked them but after that brilliant gig I listened to them exclusively and obsessively for weeks. Or when the Beatles released their remasters about ten years ago, I fell into a Fab Four rabbit hole for what seems like the hundredth time.
Friday, February 15, 2019
Steel Panther @ Bataclan Paris - February 15th, 2019
Once again I’m late to the party. I’ve been meaning to check out those guys ever since they turned their week-end side-gig as L.A.’s best metal cover band into a bona fide international touring act with original material and sol-out shows the world over.
Size matters
I came of age musically right as the CD began taking off. My first records were on vinyl and cassette but early on I was given my first CD (Queen’s News of the World) right as the format was taking over everything. Ry Cooder had released one of the first albums recorded entirely on digital. Dire Straits was hawking Phillips Compact Discs. The first wave of transfer of classic albums to this new format was underway, with the disastrous sonic consequences we all know (I still have some Beatles and Miles Davis AAD CDs from that period and they are unlistenable, even by today’s mp3’s standards).
Friday's Playlist: 60's & 70's B-List
Today we celebrate the runner-ups, the second division. Led Zeppelin, The Stones, The Who... they were the juggernauts. They reaped the fruits of their (and others...) hard work.
The artists on the playlist, not so much. Some did manage to carve out a nice niche for themselves,. Some even found success in other bands. But others found themselves slumming it in bowling alleys before throwing in the towel. And it's a shame, because some of those second or third-tier bands were real trailblazers. But how do you compete against Deep Purple or The Eagles?
Hard Rock, Pop Rock, Prog Rock, Psych Rock, Kraut Rock, Funk Rock... This playlist is very long and sings the praises of unheralded, underrated or forgotten heroes of rock music's greatest era. Enjoy and share!
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Happy Birthday Black Sabbath
Forty nine years ago yesterday, the founding statement of Heavy Metal was released to the unsuspecting masses, just like witches at black masses. Wrong album, I know. It would be easy nowadays to overlook the importance of Black Sabbath, the first record by Black Sabbath. After all, metal is everywhere these days: your average pre-fab pop star wears Iron Maiden t-shirts, Motörhead's Ace of Spades is used in commercials, Alice Cooper shows up in every TV show and you're probably reading this on your phone while sitting on a KISS-branded toilet.
Monday, February 11, 2019
6 Questions with Boris Pelekh of Gogol Bordello and Hey Guy
Sunday, February 10, 2019
Therapy? @ La Maroquinerie, Paris - February 10th, 2019
Therapy? is not only touring behind a great, heavy scorcher of a new album, it is also celebrating twenty-five years of Troublegum so the audience that has packed itself into that great little venue knows they are in for a great setlist. The trio from Northern Ireland walked onstage to the tune of Metallica's "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and that right there is an indication of how rabid, frantic and just plain fucking heavy the set was going to be.
6 Questions with Mark Fain
Mark Fain is a journeyman bass player who is probably most famous for his association with Ricky Skaggs but has done sessions or tours for everyone in country music, from Loretta Lynn to Dolly Parton, John Fogerty, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Bruce Hornsby, Ry Cooder, the Dixie Chicks, Chris Hillman... Is that enough credentials for you? We hit him up with a few questions and he was kind enough to give it a lot of thought and impart some of his wisdom upon us. Thanks Mark!
Friday, February 8, 2019
Friday's Playlist: Acid Casualties of the 60's
Remember, kids: just say no. Unless it turns you into Marianne Faithfull, in which case just say more.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
5 Questions with Autry Fulbright II of ... And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
For our second interview we are delighted to welcome Autry Fulbright II, who has been playing bass in Trail of Dead since 2010 as well as singing for the lesser known but just as cool Midnight Masses. We appreciate the time and effort that he put into the replies, and the fact that he sent them back within the hour!
Monday, February 4, 2019
5 Questions with Ken Stringfellow of The Posies
Today we introduce a new feature on the blog: INTERVIEWS! And for our first interview we are pretty stoked to have Ken Stringfellow (he's the one with the cool hair), an indie rock hero who has forged quite a career for himself by being half of pop/rock legends The Posies and having a great solo career as well as playing with R.E.M. and being part of the Big Star reunion concerts up until Alex Chilton's death in 2010. A great musician and all-around good dude whose answers to our questions are like his music: intelligent and cool.
If you ignore Maroon 5, they will go away.
Atlanta 2005 - This is the only relevant picture that I took that I could find. |
However I am not going to get all up in arms about how lame it is. Of course it's lame. It's supposed to be lame. It's plainly written on the label. It's a safe, dumbed down, pandering pageant. It has to be. If you want danger, intellectual and emotional stimulation and real performances then turn off your television.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Friday, February 1, 2019
Friday's Playlist: Songs of Bile and Acrimony
The title says it all, really. There are love songs, there are protest songs, there are silly songs. And then there are songs born out of contempt, spite and resentment. Here are a few of them.
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