A-one, and a-two, and a...

Way back in the beginnings of YouTube, I recall stumbling on this classic video. But considering the copyright issues involved, I thought this would have been pulled ages ago. Well, I'm pleased to discover it's BACK!



Being "of a certain age", I actually remember watching Lawrence Welk at my grandparents' house as a kid on weekends. I must say they sound better now than they did then.

Colossal Youth

Combing around YouTube looking for something interesting, I see our friend Ian has his own channel and look what he's dug up.



A fine band, those Young Marble Giants were. Nice to see them again.

I feel a movement coming on

There's something foul clogging our system that needs to be expelled and flushed. A new Constitutional amendment would go a long way towards correcting the damage our transparently corrupt Supreme Court has just set into motion. I'd like to see this campaign pick up some real momentum and have America start living up to its own myth for a change.



The right wing in America has become highly skilled at selling false populism as a cover for policies that are destructive to the very people that buy into their rhetoric. I can't wait to hear their "proof" that complete corporate control of the electoral process will give the American people more freedom. We'll probably see commercials with Fortune 500 CEOs driving pickup trucks or something to show how authentic they are. Whatever.

A salute to the good people of Maryland for spearheading this crucial proposal. Let's stand behind it.

The best single of 2000

10 years ago I was thoroughly smitten with a local band called the Subtonix. Here they are at South Of Market bike messenger bar the Tempest doing their single, "Trophy". I know it's way too dark and the sound is wonky (you can't hear the sax for the first few seconds), but their blazing, audacious brilliance is not a bit diminished. I'm glad to see this online. I'm pretty sure I was at this show.



They used to go onstage smeared in fake blood and wearing dresses made of garbage bags and play the catchiest, most uninhibited reverb-slathered gothy post-punk with catchy sax riffs, spooky keyboards and whooping vocals. Plus, they were all really nice people, which never hurts. Several of them have gone on to become more well-known: yes, that's Jenny Hoyston, later of Erase Errata, on guitar. And the sax player is Jessie Evans, who then fronted the Vanishing for a few years and went on to become a star in Berlin. On lead vocals and bass is Jessy Montaigne, who moved to Portland and now leads the Magick Daggers. Drummer Cookie Tuff is doing some sort of burlesque performance art thing, and I don't know what happened to Adrienne the keyboard player. Hope she's doing well and being creative somewhere.

Can it be that an entire decade has passed since the Subtonix walked the earth? Glad I didn't miss it.

The place I made the purchase no longer exists

One of my favorite Fall songs, "Wings", a stompy potboiler about time travel, entropy, and the butterfly effect, is mimed by a young Mark E. Smith (with first wife/guitarist Brix standing by and pretending to be sullen) while the rest of the Fall hoist a few at the pub and ignore the camera. Top stuff.

Rowland around in that stuff

We have not yet officially observed the passing of ex-Birthday Party guitarist Rowland Howard. Sorry to see you go; you were one of the true originals.



This looks to be a fascinating movie, a glimpse into one of the most feral, wild bands of all time toiling in the studio. Here they are, playing against their own "madman" stereotype, caught being deeply focused on their art and perfecting all the subtle details. (What? You didn't know there were subtle details? Listen harder.) Hearing Howard's guitar all by itself is a revelation; the trebly, rubbery noises and haunting harmonics are so integral to the Birthday Party sound that you don't always notice the difference they made, until you hear them starkly naked as they are here.

Gotta pull out that Wings Of Desire DVD again.

The sun shines out of our behinds

Tonight I feel like taking a moment to bask in the sheer awesomeness of Sandie Shaw:



Morrissey fans would probably be appalled at me for saying so, but wouldn't it have been great if the Smiths had taken the plunge and recruited Sandie as their full-time lead singer? This version is 20 times better than the original as far as I'm concerned. (I can haz flamewar?)

We really appreciate all of you out there who click the thumbs up button to put

these artists on the top twenty. We don't vote and we are always pleased with results. That there is even a top twenty is a function of you all making your mark on this station. J Neo is devoted to keeping you all freshly entertained, and always open to hearing new music from all over the world. No guarantee he will think you are a match, but he is really great about pointing someone to their own genre. We don't play anything formula or status quo, and are pleasantly surprised when one of ours goes mainstream. Means our ideas are getting out there and that is a good thing.

Music is the most powerful medium for change. It can really inspire and move folks and people who make music where we come from inspire to cause movement on the other side. The space between order and chaos makes for a sweet ride, if in balance.

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20: December 2009

Primal epics top our chart this month! The Stooges' full-length version of "Ann" from 1969 is one of the most beautifully devastating rock and roll experiences to have been unearthed in the last decade. For 40 years, we knew this song as a brief, Doors-esque ballad of passionate submission, but now that we have the complete version we get a complete noise-catharsis with the late Ron Asheton's guitar leading the way to white light bliss. The mood of intense smoochiness continues with the Seeds' full-length version of "Up In Her Room". Oh yes, things are getting steamy here.

Richard Thompson's jaunty call to arms interrupts our reverie. "We're poisoned by the greedy who plunder on the needy." Still relevant, still kicks ass.

The Magnetic Fields bring back the romance with an enticing invitation, but throw in some subtle jabs at intolerance with the mumbled line "we got beat up just for holding hands". High time to do away with the ignorance of yesterday, we say. Jumping San Francisco girls Von Iva deliver one of their more low-key numbers, a sultry ode to a green-eyed lover. Then the Tall Dwarfs concoct an amusing collage of a distorted Jimmy Page quote that speaks the truth for many of us. (Time to note that a new Tall Dwarfs album is being worked on; despite Chris Knox's stroke, he is expressing himself with non-verbal vocals and according to what we're told on his blog, the results are amazing.) A classic from Sparklehorse, "Painbirds", goes out to all of our friends who struggle with their health.

Next up is a new San Francisco band, Society Of Rockets, who J Neo Marvin discovered when they shared a bill with the Conspiracy Of Beards. Harmonious, ecstatic Brian Wilson/Arthur Lee/Zombies pop. More, please. Then comes REM's 90s rant about America, "Ignoreland". So, is that us? Does it have to be?

The Mekons' Tom Greenhalgh offers up a wistful ballad about celebrity from his limited edition solo project, with his own children singing along poignantly. The awesome New Orleans singer Irma Thomas smolders on an irresistible soul love song, Gina Birch from the Raincoats (as The Hangovers) asserts herself admirably, obscure Santa Cruz banjo virtuoso George Stavis lets the sound unfold, and Dengue Fever show us the consequences of passive-aggressive behavior.

Cibo Matto make us feel like we're in New York with their vivid, surreal rap. Burning Spear chants down Babylon, the Pogues give you some more details of what Burning Spear is talking about, and Chumbawamba remind us that we have to take everything we hear with a grain of salt.

Bringing up the rear...what's that smell? Cab Calloway and the Wild Magnolias both seem to have the same thing on their minds. Be sure to have your card handy if anyone asks.

1. The Stooges - Ann (Full Version) - The Stooges
2. The Seeds - Up in Her Room [Long Version] - A Web of Sound
3. Richard Thompson - The New St. George - Henry the Human Fly
4. The Magnetic Fields - Take Ecstasy With Me - Holiday
5. Von Iva - Emerald Eyes - Girls On Film
6. Tall Dwarfs - Seduced By Rock And Roll - The Sky Above, The Mud Below
7. Sparklehorse - Painbirds - Good Morning Spider
8. Society of Rockets - I Am A Battery - Future Factory
9. R.E.M. - Ignoreland - Automatic For The People
10. King Tommy's Velvet Runway - Hello Star - Dance On The Volcano
11. Irma Thomas - Take A Look - Time Is on My Side
12. The Hangovers - I'm Glad I'm Me Today - Slow Dirty Tears
13. George Stavis - Winterland Doldrums - Labyrinths
14. Dengue Fever - Sober Driver - Venus On Earth
15. Cibo Matto - Sci Fi Wasabi - Stereo Type A
16. Burning Spear - No More War - Man In The Hills/Dry And Heavy
17. The Pogues - The Band Played Waltzing Matilda - Rum, Sodomy & The Lash
18. Chumbawamba - Everything You Know Is Wrong - Un
19. Cab Calloway - Reefer Man - The Hi-De-Ho Man: 1930-1933
20. The Wild Magnolias - Smoke My Peace Pipe (Smoke It Right) - The Wild Magnolias

Good things about the last decade

1. Meeting my wife
2. Making some music I'm pretty proud of
3. Ear Candle Productions
4. Ear Candle Radio
5. The world didn't end, despite many people's best efforts
6. All in all, on a personal level my own life is infinitely better on Dec. 31, 2009 than it was on Jan. 1, 2000.

But out in the world, things sucked pretty bad in ways that I can't even go into because as usual, Doghouse Riley says it all.

Put on that dress, I'm going out dancing

This is awesome in so many ways. Attempting to discredit and humiliate a male member of the Iranian resistance, the government publishes a picture of him dressed as a woman. The junior high tactic is less than successful:

Within hours of Tavakoli's photograph being published in the newspapers, hundreds of young Iranian men posted photographs of themselves dressed in headscarves, bed sheets and other forms of improvised hijab. This has spread online in chat rooms and websites and soon enough to the meetings of the opposition.

The message sent back to the men in charge in Iran is an invitation to wake up and smell the coffee. The contemporary opponents of the regime are not hampered by the symbolic language of oppression.

So much for the "ewwww! Icky girls!" approach to counter-revolution. A major turnaround in the ongoing struggle against misogyny.

Here's a song in these brave boys' honor. "Haystack" by the Granite Countertops is, on one level, simply a passionate and amusing love song; on another level, it's a wink in the direction of intellectual, cultural, and sexual freedom for the downtrodden citizens of Iran. Nice to see history taking place without our bombs getting in the way for a change.

West Of Rome

Well-loved Southern singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt, who, despite living with paralysis most of his life, had a long and distinguished career in the folk/indie-rock scene, died on Christmas Day, while struggling with a lawsuit from a Georgia hospital trying to recoup thousands of dollars worth of medical bills from him. Is this an indictment of our system or what? Will the new, watered down, mandated health care bill do anything to prevent furture tragedies of this kind? In the UK, Robert Wyatt is taken care of and given the respect he deserves. Our homegrown wheelchair-bound geniuses are not so lucky. This is a crime.

I admit I had not followed Chesnutt's career very closely, but I saw him perform and liked his records when I heard them. He was a big favorite of my old editors at Puncture mangazine, and my friends Flavio and Fabrizio Steinbach, later of Barbara Manning's Go-Luckys and their own instrumental combo Crashing Dreams, called their first teenage band West Of Rome after one of his songs. He was a gruff, gravel-voiced little guy with a dark sense of humor, but his songs were full of heart. He deserved better.

Filmmaker Jem Cohen writes on Chesnutt's record label's page this morning:

"The most important story to report now is not Vic’s death but a life and work overflowing with insight, humor, and yes, resilience. This, after all, was the man who wrote: “I thought I had a calling, anyway, I just kept dialing.” Sixteen extraordinary albums, five in the last couple of years; countless live shows so powerful and sublime they deeply altered the lives of those on the stage with Vic and those looking up, yes up, at him. The second most important story here has to do with a broken health care system depriving so many of the help they need to stay around and stay sane, and a society that never balks at providing more money for more wars but fights tooth and nail against decent care for its citizens. Vic’s death, just so you all know, did not come at the end of some cliché downward spiral. He was battling deep depression but also at the peak of his powers, and with the help of friends and family he was in the middle of a desperate search for help. The system failed to provide it. I miss him terribly."

Due to that broken system, Vic's family and friends are stuck with the bill for the death of their loved one that the system failed to save. Ex-Throwing Muses leader Kristin Hersh has put up a website for donations to help them, if anyone has resources and Christmas spirit to spare in these rough times.

A Christmas gift for you

The Granite Countertops album, Crashing Into The Future, is coming in the new year. Here is a sneak preview for all you loyal lurkers. Check it out, and tell us what you think in the comments.

A note to other musicians and/or labels: we are available to create Flash pages like this one for you as well. Contact us at earcandle at earcandleproductions dot com if you are inspired.

And I made sure my hand was holding the string

Vision Philms in Atlanta sent us this cute video which uses J Neo Marvin and the Content Providers' cover of Yoko Ono's "Kite Song". What a cool surprise.

Most of their other videos are soundtracked by local hip hop acts, so we're quite impressed that they saw fit to put us (and, by proxy, the inimitable Yoko Ono) in their mix. Thanks!

Durian air freshener

For years, I have read references to the notorious durian, a Southeast Asian fruit rumored to be delicious, nutritious, and vile-smelling. The idea of it was always highly amusing, one of those oddities of nature that makes you wonder, who was the first brave caveman or cavewoman to chance upon one of these foul, thorny things and say, "gee, I wonder what that tastes like?" But even while living in a mostly-Vietnamese neighborhood in Oakland, I managed to miss out on the Durian Experience.

Yesterday at work, I came out of a meeting with two managers and something wasn't right in the air. I immediately announced, "I think there's a gas leak in the building. We might need to evacuate", and the two young Chinese girls in the billing department burst into uncontrollable giggling. "She brought it", one said, and the other started blushing. "Brought what?..." I started, then my memory for trivia kicked in. "Is that a DURIAN?" Turned out that they sell durian-flavored COOKIES too, which smell pretty strong in their own right. "Oh, I've always wanted to try them!" our Filipina CFO enthused, and took one. My coworker waved the package my way, asking if I wanted one too, but my nausea overpowered my curiosity. "Sorry, I can't handle it." "I'll cover it up", she said bashfully, wrapping her package in double plastic bags, while I felt like a xenophobic coward. (Multiculturalism FAIL, I thought to myself.) Another day and I might have gone for it, just for the experience, but phew. If that's how the cookies smell, I can only imagine what the real thing must be like.

Thank you, Dennis

Purely fudge together a snowman in your affectation meadow!

We get a lot of guestbook spam on our various websites, most of which is just a couple garbled sentences. This morning, however, the anonymous Russians or Seychellesians or whoever they are outdid themselves with this deathless prose. These boots are made for spammin'!

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Babelfish or Janusnode? You decide. The Mad-libbiness of this entry rivals even the delicious recipes Substance McGravitas occasionally deigns to share on Sadly No!

(UPDATE: Upon re-reading, it looks like it may actually be a badly translated version of a rant by a misogynistic curmudgeon bemoaning the appropriation of a respectable workboot by pretty fashion-conscious girls at the mall. Boo-effin-hoo, grandpa.)

E-mails don't change the weather

For our friends who must visit their agitated Fox-head relatives in Texas and other similar states of mind for the holidays, here's a quick rundown of everything you need to know about the so-called "Climategate scandal", which should be renamed Swifthack.

And here I was, naively thinking that there was no point to this whole thing and people are dying for no good reason...

Why we fight, according to Fafblog:

Let us never forget just what's at stake in the war in Afghanistan: nothing less than the success of the war in Afghanistan. This war may be a mistake, a blood-soaked blunder, an unholy charnel house mindlessly consuming the bodies and souls of untold thousands, an open sore on the pockmarked face of history and an abomination before the sight of God and men, but it is first and foremost a war, and wars must be won. If the United States doesn't win this war, then will it not lose it? And if the United States loses this war, then won't the United States have lost it? And if the United States has lost this war, will that not then make the United States a kind of thing that loses wars? And then where would we be?

It goes on from there. Read it all. Funny, but mainly in the "keep laughing to ease the pain of all the mindless, senseless, stupid waste of human life" sense.

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20, November 2009

And the theme for this month appears to be comedy, what with the Firesign Theatre, the Bonzos, Eddie Izzard, the Coasters, and those wags in the Mod-Est Lads (in their alter-ego band, Danger Can, who show that they should have been commissioned to score the new Astro Boy movie), as well as reggae DJ star Trinity, who brings a whole battalion of chipmunks with him to pay tribute to Ali, and Zal Yanovsky, who infuses an old doo-wop great with a touch of Spike Jones looniness.

Topping the chart is the stately, stomping "Baby Come Rock" by the Wailing Souls, followed by an early T-Rex hit that shows yet more evidence that Marc Bolan copped his whole sound and persona from "Barabajagal" by the ever-underrated Donovan. From the astounding Eccentric Soul series comes a heartfelt piece of community criticism from Marion Black. We get the sole single by 1978 Canadian Patti Smith fans the Poles, who salute the tallest manmade structure of their day to a rocking groove. The Mountain Goats' John Darnielle emerges from the low-fi fuzz to ask the musical question, "Is that the most delicious thing you ever tasted in your life?" Hell yeah.

Neo recalls hearing, on 70s FM radio, a very rough, primal-sounding record of the old spiritual, "Travelin' Shoes". We never found that, but we did find a much sweeter and propulsive version by the great a capella gospel group the Golden Gate Quartet. Remember, the Devil can't take you if you're not wearing the right shoes. We hit a manic vein with the 13th Floor Elevators and the Cramps, Chris and Cosey throb and coo sexily, Chumbawamba bring back the a capella with one of their English Rebel Songs, and Bill Callahan returns to continue meditating on his void of faith and faith in the void.

As always, we tip our hat to non-dour multiculturalism, this time out with Joe Strummer's ballad of world cuisine on the high road and finally, with the mighty virtuoso warble of Yma Sumac.

20 more reasons to keep listening! We also have a widget on this very blog, so you don't need to stop reading.

1. Wailing Souls - Baby Come Rock - Inchpinchers
2. Tyrannosaurus Rex - Elemental Child - A Beard of Stars
3. Marion Black - Listen Black Brother - Eccentric Soul: The Prix Label
4. The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band - By A Waterfall - Tadpoles
5. The Poles - CN TOWER - CN Tower / Prime Time 7-inch
6. The Mountain Goats - Orange Ball Of Pain - Nothing for Juice
7. Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet - Travellin' Shoes - Rock My Soul
8. Firesign Theatre - W.C. Fields Forever - Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him
9. Eddie Izzard - Great Escape - Dress To Kill
10. Danger Can - Jet Turbo Theme - Let's Get Clecky!
11. The Coasters - Shoppin' For Clothes - The Very Best Of The Coasters
12. 13th Floor Elevators - (I've Got) Levitation - Easter Everywhere
13. The Cramps - I Was A Teenage Werewolf (With False Start) (Original Mix) - Songs The Lord Taught Us
14. Trinity - Mohammed Ali - Three Piece Suit
15. Chris & Cosey - This Is Me - Heartbeat
16. Chumbawamba - Poverty Knock - English Rebel Songs 1381-1984
17. Bill Callahan - Faith/Void - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
18. Zal Yanovsky - Little Bitty Pretty One - Alive And Well In Argentina
19. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros - Bindhi Bhagee - Global A Go Go
20. Yma Sumac - Chicken Talk - Mambo!

Get on the good foot

Time to dance off all the weight we gained yesterday. The late, great James Brown is here to show us how. Hat-tip to The Barman for this top find.

Creeple People on YouTube

My childhood next-door neighbor and original comrade in rock and roll fandom, George Galvas, had a band in the 90s called the Creeple People. You can't find much evidence of this band's existence anywhere, but they were a good, snarly garage-punk outfit with a lot of quality material from George's pen. I did stumble across this video somebody did that combines their version of the surf tune "Mr. Moto" with some wave-riding footage. Too bad there's not something more representative of them out there, but here it is:

If you want to be trite, be trite

Since I'm always trying to check out cultural touchstones from the past I may have missed, we put Harold And Maude on our Netflix queue. Well, after watching it for the first time, then reading all the glowing reviews on the IMDB, I am baffled that so many people think it's the greatest movie ever. What are all you people smoking?

The concept is cute, and the story is a nice reversal of the usual older-man-younger-woman cliche, but the execution? Not one character in this exercise in self-serious silliness resembles an actual human being, Harold's flighty straw-mother being the worst example. The script is riddled with loose ends where some action would lead to big trouble in the real world, and then we cut to the next scene like nothing happened. (Call me humorless, but while stealing a cop's motorcycle for a joyride might be a fun adolescent fantasy, the movie treats it as just another quirky day for lovable old Maude and we never hear about it again, which is asking a lot from the viewer in terms of suspension of disbelief.)

Ruth Gordon did a good job of making her character believable as someone a moody young man could fall for, despite what she was given to work with. Bud Cort came off more like a baby-faced Norman Bates than the poor, misunderstood, sensitive little rich boy he was supposed to be. Everybody else was a cardboard character set up for us to sneer at. The ending was a forced ironic cop-out. By the time it was all over, I was starting to really detest Cat Stevens. So that's the movie my high school friends were all talking about? Whatever, maaan.

Ouroboros

Tom The Dancing Bug lays it all out for you.

Spin around and fly, fly, fly

Our friends Junko and Mark of Cyclub know how to put on a party. Here is the video invitation for the incredible event they hosted last Saturday, Amid all the fun ambient video collage, you can hear their insanely catchy theme song, "Cyclub Cafe". This is a band/art project full of heart, imagination and international social consciousness. Pay attention.

Faces blur in the flash

Just because the mood strikes us...

The Content Providers' first and last shows at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco, featuring two completely different lineups, sounds, and attitudes. Such is life.

"Are You A Good Witch Or A Bad Witch?" in 2003 (I'm not really balding; it's just an optical illusion):



"Soft Shoulder" in 2008 (note: I am coming down with the flu here and my voice isn't at its best, so Davis steps in with some strong country harmonies):

Our new ad for Ear Candle Productions will be in the next Big Takeover Music Mag! Thank you Jack Rabid for reminding us to get one in!

You see it large and sooner here!

There are benefits to visiting our Blog!

EAR CANDLE PRODUCTIONS BTO AD Fall 2009

Note: It's a big file, but it's gorgeous. We're so stoked to have nine-going-on-ten albums.

Ear Candle Radio's Top 20: October 2009

Ex-Slits guitarist Viv Albertine, who was so impressive at the Part Time Punks show at the Mezzanine a month back, vaults to the top position with a track from her limited edition four-song EP. Close behind are our own Experimental Bunnies with a long, hypnotic jam from the Biology And Physics album, and A.J. In Evolution, who actually contacted our station asking for airplay, and won us over with a flamenco-flavored instrumental. Yoko Ono, with some help from Sean, gives us a potent dose of anti-nuclear thrash-punk while Tom Lehrer serenades us with a bit of vintage satire.

Porter Wagoner's tragic ballad of the poor man in the rubber room continues to resonate with our listeners. MC5's classic "what's going on in this world?? I can't handle it!!!" rave up follows, then LaVern Baker calls on the ultimate super-mensch, Jim Dandy, and East Coast Middle-East-jazz-rock-fusioneers Consider The Source lay some sensuous grooves on your ears.

Ex-Smog mastermind Bill Callahan instructs us to put away childish things, the late Willy DeVille cautions the youth not to make the mistakes he did (in a song that the Content Providers also covered on What Is Truth?), young SF band Festizio admonish their superficial peers, Ana Da Silva and the Raincoats take us on a surreal journey, John Cale serenades medieval Spain, and the Rutles rock out in a Rat Keller style.

Johnny Cash appears with the angry pro-Native American story-song that was banned from country radio in the '60s, the Mekons and Fairport Convention represent two threads of UK folk-rock, the Buzzcocks get stuck in a mental feedback loop, and Robert Wyatt holds the #20 spot with an instrumental tribute to multicultural London.

Keep tuning in! We are putting together a new playlist soon.

1. Viv Albertine - If Love - 4 Track EP
2. The Experimental Bunnies - Our Just Rewards Are Right Around The Corner - Biology And Physics
3. A.J. In Evolution (Aka A.J. Fritscher) - A Trip In Barcelona - A Work In Progress
4. Yoko Ono/IMA - Warzone - Rising
5. Tom Lehrer - Pollution - That Was The Year That Was
6. Porter Wagoner - The Rubber Room - The Rubber Room
7. MC5 - Over And Over - The Big Bang! Best Of The MC5
8. LaVern Baker - Jim Dandy - Soul on Fire: The Best of LaVern Baker
9. Consider The Source - Patterns - Esperanto
10. Bill Callahan - Faith/Void - Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle
11. Mink DeVille - Slow Drain - Le Chat Bleu
12. Festizio - Every Now And Again - Festizio
13. The Raincoats - Balloon - Moving
14. John Cale - Andalucia - Paris 1919
15. The Rutles - Blue Suede Schubert - The Rutles
16. Johnny Cash - The Ballad Of Ira Hayes - The Essential 3.0 Johnny Cash
17. The Mekons - Perfect Mirror - Natural
18. Fairport Convention - Genesis Hall - Unhalfbricking
19. The Buzzcocks - Hollow Inside - A Different Kind Of Tension
20. Robert Wyatt - On The Town Square - Comicopera

The Most Halfway Decent Album Of All Time

So, this year happens to be the 20th anniversary of the debut album by Manchester band The Stone Roses, and the UK music media are falling all over themselves. Polls are coming out voting it "the greatest album of all time", and I realize I have never heard a note of it. Don't ask me why; I guess I had better things to do in 1989. I know they were often grouped with Happy Mondays as exemplars of the "baggy" scene, and I've always thought Happy Mondays were utter crap. Also, it wouldn't be the first time the British have made an icon of a phenomenally unimpressive rock band (Manic Street Preachers, anyone?), so no, I never once sought out this alleged cultural touchstone until now. But you know, I'm a curious sort, so one day, with some record store credit burning in my pocket, I decided to check it out.

What's it sound like? Well, to these ears, kind of like a slightly watered-down Brian Jonestown Massacre. (Yes, I know the Roses probably came first.) Or maybe an '80s New Zealand band with a huge studio budget. Catchy tunes, driving beats, lots of reverb, a hazy psychedelic tinge, some neat guitar bits, and breathy, somewhat colorless vocals. It did live up to the "sounding like you're coming on to ecstasy" hype, frankly. It's quite pleasant. I can play it all day at work and it rolls over my ears in an agreeable way without sticking out too much.

I like the song that runs the previous song backwards with new lyrics that sound like a phonetic interpretation of the original reversed vocals. And I like the fact that the song entitled "I Am The Resurrection" turns out to be about some jerk who has wronged the singer in some way, but the singer is too cool (and probably high) to engage said jerk on his level, instead rejoicing in his own ability to rise above such pettiness and "resurrect" himself. It's so gleefully over-the-top egomaniacal in a benignly enlightened way that I have to smile at the presumption of it.

My copy has one bonus track called "Fools Gold" that sounds different from the album: a long, plodding percussion-heavy attempt at a funky jam that goes nowhere and takes forever to get there. But the album itself is nice. Greatest of all time? Hardly. But it's nice.

The most refreshing thing to see after a long, stressful workday

I had to google "Bill Of Attainder" to refresh my memory on this. All I remembered from junior high civics was that the Framers specifically targeted it in the Constitution and it was a fucked up loophole in British law that allowed all kinds of unjust abuse. Well, it turns out that it totally applies to this "Defund ACORN" bill running through the House right now, and my current favorite Representative, Alan Grayson, is on the case.

Man, this guy is such a breath of fresh air. "Will the gentleman yield?" "NO." Watch it, and keep giving this brave, audacious lawmaker your support. We need a few hundred more like him.

Busy little bees, we are! Working on our new release. Previews in shock wave flash files!

Hi Visitors!

We are having so much fun making our next digital album by The Granite Countertops!

We have a new routine. We make them, show them off in flash player so you all can know what is coming.

Then we release it on iTunes, and on our radio show.

This is the preview stage. We've been leaking them for a while. And we know you are enjoying them and passing them around because we check our hits and visits everyday and see what is moving around. The Blame's version of Leonard Cohen's anthem Democracy, from the EP The Full Disclosure Principle, is still getting loads of attention, along with some other great tunes. Check it out at iTunes. You can google it or go to our website for links.

On this new material, hits and visits seem pretty constant. We have uploaded previews of 5 and adding these three we now have a total of 8 finished mixes. Once we finish the next four, we will release the album on iTunes and notify you all at that time to get out your dollars and humor us with your choices!

But for now, check out these three newest ones J Neo uploaded today. We have some guest appearances.

The horns in Lullaby For Hamza, a Robert Wyatt cover song, are played by Junko Suzuki Parsons from Cyclub. Every time I hear them, I feel for the children of war, and want it to stop.

Lullaby For Hamza

On our cover of Donovan's Riki Tiki Tavi we revisit the notion that there really isn't anyone out there anymore to kill our snakes for us, so we have to do it ourselves, just like in the sixties/early seventies. Good to revisit, hopefully re-inspire. We saw a recently-produced Donovan DVD and recommend his music for the younger set, and offer our version for your pleasure.

Riki Tiki Tavi

And finally one for the more mature crowd (you know who you are), we originally wrote this song during the Iranian upset and were empathizing with the struggle for freedom of expression in Iran and wanted to share a sense of what freedom might sound like when they finally produce a Democracy of choice, and what it might sound like when two equal human beings make love. I am both pleased with this and shocked often. It's nice.

Haystack

Give us some feedback!

UPDATE: Fixed the "Haystack" link. Check it out!

More sound judgement from the Values Party

Missed this when it was on. Worth seeing again. Rub it in their faces, Jonny.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Rape-Nuts
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

Delta 5 on Top Of The Pops

Excellent vintage clip of this once-forgotten band from Leeds, who recently had their old material reissued by Kill Rock Stars on a CD that used a couple of my photos. You can actually hear both bass parts here! Hot stuff.

Song and dance man

We can now cross "see Bob Dylan once in your life" off our to-do lists, despite the best efforts of unknown malevolent forces out there.

Word to the wise: if you're taking your car from San Francisco to a show at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, come early, find a safe parking space and make a day of it. We gave ourselves an hour and a half to get there only to be stuck in a huge traffic jam from South of Market to Treasure Island, then by the time we got to Berkeley, every parking lot was full. We finally found a paid UC campus parking lot with a broken ticket machine and took our chances. (The fate of our car loomed in the back of our minds through the whole concert; we hoped that we would just be ticketed rather than towed or booted.)

Shaking off our stress (we're here at last! Let's have fun!), we tromped down Bancroft and up the hill on Piedmont, hearing cheers and bits of harmonica, organ, and a familiar wheezy voice. Shit, he's started already. Hope he hasn't been playing long. We finally found the right set of stairs to reach the entrance while the guitar line from "I Don't Believe You" wafted over our heads. Once we got in, everything was cool. Two little bowls of Thai food and a couple beers later, we strolled into the enormous amphitheatre.

The entire band was dressed in black with black gaucho hats to match. Bob looked as old as the hills, but he was extremely animated, prancing and grinning from ear to ear. He only played guitar on a handful of songs, preferring to cup a harmonica and a big microphone together in his hands, bluesman-style, or stand behind a keyboard pumping out warm, vibrato-laden Al Kooper-like organ parts (which he did quite well...maybe he really did play piano for Bobby Vee all those years ago) and apply his strange, dessicated croak to songs from the 60s or from his most recent albums, leaving out pretty much everything in between.

New Bob Dylan songs tend to be bouncy Jimmy Reed-style shuffles with mischievously flirty lyrics. He brought down the house with the final verse of a song called "Spirit On The Water":

You think I'm over the hill
You think I'm past my prime
Let me see what you got
We can have a whoppin' good time!

The multi-generational crowd ate that one right up.

The biggest surprise was a soulful, organ-led take on "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll", done as if it was a Percy Sledge ballad. Wow. When Bob came out from behind the organ to deliver a harp solo, it sounded nothing like the endearingly dissonant high-pitched squeals that have punctuated his songs for years. A lot of that familiar sound comes from using a harmonica holder while playing a guitar; close-miked and cupped, the tone was rich and expressive. News flash: Bob Dylan has actually been a really good harmonica player all these years after all! Who woulda thunk it?

What I had not expected was how much fun Bob was clearly having. It suddenly became clear why he has taken on such a rigorous touring schedule (popularly known as the "Never-Ending Tour"); he's got a band who know his every move and can play any style they choose, a massive catalog of material to draw from, and even more pertinently, a guy on rhythm guitar who's so solid that Bob can fart around on other instruments all he wants with no loss of groove. Bob Dylan (an artist who is infamous for never rehearsing and changing set lists at will) goes onstage knowing he has total musical freedom to follow any tangent he chooses, knowing those guys are right there. And he's having a whopping good time.

So yes, old man Dylan is still worth seeing. Caveat: you have to accept the state of his voice. Personally, I like how he sounds these days, even though lyrics sometimes get obliterated in the phlegmy grumble. In the 80s, I couldn't handle the way his voice had deteriorated into a high nasal whine, but by the late 90s, his throat had achieved such a completely wrecked state that by Time Out Of Mind, it had evolved into something bottomless, emotional and compelling. Now it sounds like the croak of a an old sage with a heart of a trickster. Nice to see an illustration of how an angry young man may run the risk of turning into a cranky middle-aged man, but if he can keep delving into the heart of his craft, he has the chance of becoming a wise old man in the end.

Oh, and the car was fine when we got back. No tickets, no nothing. Win!

Here they come, la la la la la la...

Quick notes from last night's Part Time Punks mini-fest at the Mezzanine:

We came in just in time for Death Sentence: Panda!, who make an incredible racket with drums, shrill girl vocals, and a heavily-treated, distorted clarinet. They were something like a cross between Teenage Jesus and the Jerks and Henry Cow. Occasionally the singer added flute or glockenspiel to the maelstrom. The only band of the night that I felt the need to stuff cocktail napkins in my ears for. An adorable hurricane.

The Magic Bullets were catchy, Postcard-style indie-pop with snappy soul-funk riffs and warm vintage keyboards flickering amid the jangle. Their singer was a hyperactively bouncy six-foot-plus warbler. The lyrics were droll slice-of-love vignettes. Fun.

Veteran Slits guitarist Viv Albertine (who sat in on a few recent shows, but announced recently she has no intention to rejoin the band permanently because in her view they have become Ari's backup musicians rather than a group of equals) played a brief but stunning solo set of new songs. Wry lyrics, elastic rhythms, and that same ticklish guitar style that helped give the Cut album such a distinctive sound. She's got a new four-song limited edition CD, but judging by her set, there's a lot more where that came from.

Savage Republic are as mesmerizing as ever. Big sonic landscapes that sound like they are reverberating across the desert. A sound full of wild, open space and relentless rhythm. They ended their set with a cover of "Viva La Rock And Roll" by Alternative TV. The crowd went wild when they recognized it; that's the kind of show this was. Post-punk is here to stay!

In the early 80s, Section 25 was considered "one of those OTHER Factory bands", and not given much respect. The title of their best-known song didn't help matters. It seems they're all too aware of that themselves these days; when someone in the audience requested it, the singer sheepishly mumbled, "Ehhhh, sorry about that one. Girls DO count!", to thunderous applause from the audience. The songs they did do were mostly driving, propulsive, one-chord bass-and-drums led motorik chargers over which the singer chanted and sneered (when he wasn't delivering nakedly romantic love lyrics) and the guitarist alternated between spiky Manchester post-punk riffs and oddly incongruous flashy high-velocity rock soloing. Later in the set they shifted from one-chord songs to two-chord songs, including a faithful cover of Joy Division's "Shadowplay", which they dedicated to the late mad genius producer Martin Hannett.

What we came for was the first-ever west coast performance of the Raincoats, a band I have wanted to see for thirty years, ever since their debut single, "Fairytale In The Supermarket", came out on Rough Trade in 1979. I'd already heard and liked the Slits, Kleenex, X-Ray Spex, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Essential Logic, but here was an all-female band who had invented their own radiantly messy take on the Velvet Underground with frantic, yowling vocals, crudely strummed folk-rock guitars and mad, scratchy violin: totally up my alley. The Raincoats didn't have the accessibility of many of their post-punk peers and they weren't fashion plates (though they always looked cool and gorgeous in the same thrown-together way that gave their music so much appeal), and they didn't have any problems with the "f" word (feminism, I mean), so they were always a little-known cult band with a select few devoted fans until Kurt Cobain convinced them to reform in the 90s. Now that a new generation has embraced them as pioneers (check how the New Bloods totally bite their style and put their own unique spin on it at the same time), they have reformed yet again and San Francisco finally gets a chance to see them in person.

Offstage, Ana Da Silva was incredibly sweet, gracious and friendly, perfectly happy to look a couple of gushing fans in the eye and listen to what they have to say. Onstage, she was grave, serious and reserved, like a lightning rod around whom the giddily exuberant Gina Birch and the confidently powerful Anne Wood could fly wildly. Her guitar sound is as primitive as ever (a good thing in this case!), but no one else plays quite like her. Occasionally when picking out a melody line or trying to get a sound out of a small cymbal and then dropping it haphazardly, she seemed more like someone grumpily puttering around in the attic than a musician putting on a show. Then she would open her mouth and unleash that haunting Portuguese-accented contralto moan, and you just got carried away by the emotion and knew you were in the presence of a true artist who is authentically herself every single moment. She made mistakes sometimes, but she never made a wrong move.

The other original Raincoat, Gina Birch, was a perfect foil and co-frontwoman, irrepressibly chatty and hilarious, a lanky bundle of energy and laughter. Her own songs are quirky, blunt, and neurotically wise, her once-chirpy voice has matured into a craggy Marianne Faithfull-like rasp, and her bass was bubbly, snaky, and all over the place. She seemed to enjoy teasing her relatively stern bandmate Ana, who indulged her antics like a slightly annoyed big sister. She joked, "We break up after every show! David Thomas told us that's a sign of a great band!"

Anne Wood, who replaced founding member Vicky Aspinall when the band first reformed in the 90s, tore into the violin parts with relish and joined in the bass-and-guitar roulette with Ana and Gina. Vice Cooler, a young veteran of bands like XBXRX, did a great Palmolive impersonation on drums. Speaking of whom, at one point Viv Albertine joined the Raincoats onstage to perform "Adventures Close To Home", a Palmolive song recorded by both the Slits and the Raincoats. Gina gushed, "We're all going to visit Palmolive in New York soon!"

The best thing: we were treated to two unfamiliar songs: one performed solely by Ana and Gina with two slashing guitars, and one by Gina with verses that went "You ask me if I'm a feminist/if I'm angry/if I'm happy...why would I not be?" and a chorus of "I'm a city girl!* I'm a warrior!" Profound and goofy at the same time. Is there a new album in the Raincoats' future? That's something I look forward to hearing.

*I did originally hear this is "I'm a silly girl/I'm a warrior", which is kind of a cool lyric in its own right, but it's incorrect. Thanks for the heads up, everyone.