Blurbex

Atlantic Records partner and famed producer Jerry Wexler, pictured right with Dusty Springfield, helmed many of my most beloved albums. He also provided me with a cherished memory and one of my proudest journalistic accomplishments — two things for which I will always be grateful.

I knew death had been looming for years but when I saw the news online late last night it saddened me greatly. Still does. It’s not like Wexler and I were ever friends but the hours we spent together, which I recall vividly, and the kindness he showed me, made me feel like we had connected in way that rarely occurs during an interview.

Read this post in its entirety, and the Jerry Wexler interview I did in 2003, at TampaCalling.com.

Yeah, as you might have guessed, I’m a big fan of the Gonzo god. I’m also a big fan of William McKeen’s new biography Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson. Here’s an excerpt from my interview with McKeen:

McKeen’s bio smartly focuses on Thompson’s singular writing style, his mastery of invective and the lengths he went to make sense of a world gone wrong. McKeen adroitly dismantles the Raoul Duke persona exploited by uppity doodler Garry Trudeau, as well as Hollywood and Thompson himself. The book addresses the Gonzo journalist’s acts of brutality and self-destruction but keeps the emphasis on the writer and his ability to demonstrate the “power of language when used well.”

Click here to read the entire piece and for info regarding McKeen’s appearance at Inkwood Books in Tampa on Thursday. See ya there.

Cross-posted from TampaCalling.com.

I’ve attended some lame shit over the years. Poorly planned house parties, disastrous dates, a live sex show in the French Quarter that didn’t feature any actual fucking. But few events have struck me as silly as the Red Bull Flugtag spectacle that took place Saturday at the Tampa Convention Center.

By this point, I’m sure you heard about it. Thirty-six teams built would-be flying machines and ran them off a 30-foot high pier into the notoriously dirty ass Hillsborough River. One or more person piloted the aircraft  and took the plunge. Teammates typically jumped in the brown water after their apparatus for shits and giggles. I stood in the sun, cooking, cringing and losing faith in humanity, myself included.

I kept thinking of that old parental saying about if everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you? In Tampa, apparently that’s the case. Organizers expected a crowd of 50,000 to witness people place themselves in a flimsy contraption and then be willingly hurled into a body of water deemed not fit for swimming. More than 100,000 suckers, myself included, attended.

One of those participants was my coworker, London, the woman pictured working on building an aircraft out of newspaper. Good gawd. Creative Loafing entered the competition as the Bread Winners. Countless hours went into building what they billed as the Flying Cuban Sandwich. “We are closing in on the big day,” reads a message from “The Captain” posted on the Bread Winners’ website July 14. “We still have some work to do in order to make everything originally envisioned a reality, but in another evening we should be all but done.

“The pilot [London] and I spent another night getting some finishing details knocked out after work with a couple of cold beers. We had a mock assembly of our flying Cuban and it was quite a site to behold.”

The damn thing didn’t even have wings. Well, kinda, but they were about as wide as oars. From where I was perched Saturday afternoon it looked like a giant coffin and had me seriously worried that London would not emerge from it, or if she did it would be with some kinda severe spinal or brain injury. Or with a limb missing.

“You know it’s not too late to back out,” I told her about 20 minutes before she took the fall.

“I can’t,” she said, more than a hint of fear in her voice.

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This morning the cardboard sign attached to the St. Petersburg Times  newspaper box I use at the corner of South Howard Ave. and Swan read: “50 cents every day …. Effective Monday, June 30.”

In Tampa, a Times used to cost 25 cents Monday through Saturday and 50 cents only on Sunday.

A 100 percent price jump? Really? Shouldn’t we have had a stopover at 35 cents?

Of course, you can still get tbt* for free, which is a great read, if you have an IQ of, say, 54.

Former Flat Duo Jet (and one-time Venice, Fla., resident) Dexter Romweber, who I interviewed here, has inked a deal with the venerable cow punk label Bloodshot. St. Petersburg’s own Brett Steele of Steele Management (Mojo Gurus, Blind Buddy Moody, Some Dancing Skeleton), manages Romweber. The roots rock hero’s debut disc for the label will feature dutes with Cat Power’s Chan Marshall and Neko Case, among others.

Here’s the press release from Steele:

AMERICAN MUSIC LEGEND DEX ROMWEBER SIGNS MULTI-ALBUM DEAL WITH BLOODSHOT RECORDS NEW ALBUM FEATURES CAT POWER, NEKO CASE AND EXENE CERVENKA 

SUMMER TOUR ANNOUNCED!

Bloodshot Records and Dex Romweber announce the signing of a multi-album deal – a match made in heaven between two arbiters of the edgy side of rock, R&B and country. The first album, as yet untitled, will feature duets between Dex and Cat Power, Neko Case and Exene Cervenka. Recording commences in mid-August at Overdub Lane in Durham, NC; John Plymale (Meat Puppets, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Corrosion Of Conformity) is producing. Said Nan Warshaw, Bloodshot co-owner, “Dexter’s reputation as a musician’s musician is well-established and so deserved, but we here at Bloodshot are also in awe of the unbridled fury and raw soul he has unleashed for decades.”

 

The Dex Romweber Duo will stretch their legs prior to the recording with a tour that is bookended by two festival dates: Festival For The Eno July 6 in Durham, NC and the Deep Blues Festival July 19 in Lake Elmo, MN. All tour dates are listed below.

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Appears U.S. Sugar, aka Big Sugar, has lost its sweet tooth, which could be a very good thing for the Florida environment, particularly the everglades. Then again, how exactly is Florida going to pay Big Sugar $1.75 billion? It’s doubtful anything but crocodile alligator(?) tears will be shed for this bloated behemoth but let’s give U.S. Sugar a playlist anyway. Because, well, I’ve just been waiting too long to unleash my favorite songs about sugar and think this might be the closest I’ll come to a news peg.

Top 10: Songs about sugar

1. “Sugar on My Tongue,” Talking Heads

One of my all-time fave Talking Heads songs. Other than Zeppelin, this is the band I most want to see reunite … and play “Sugar On My Tongue.”

2. “Brown Sugar,” The Rolling Stones

Terrific song but this killer riff/sordid lyric lost its sex/danger appeal — and No. 1 ranking — when it was used to sell kahlua … and Pepsi. Mick, Keef, is nothing sacred?

3. “Sugar, Sugar,” The Archies

Fake band, I know, cheesy, I know, but I love this song.

4. “I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl,” Nina Simone

Allison Moorer does a fine cover of this song on her latest album.

5. “Sugar Baby,” Dock Boggs

One of numerous gems from the legendary Harry Smith anthology.

6. “Sugar Baby,” Bob Dylan

No one steals from the public domain quite as effectively as Dylan. Click here to read my rather amateurish review of Dylan’s Love and Theft (the album includes “Sugar Baby”), which dropped on 9/11, while I was in college, writing/editing for the USF Oracle and freelancing for Weekly Planet. Yes, I was taking a polite swipe at the proverbial feeding hand. To this day, my esteemed editor Eric Snider and I differ on the merits of Dylan’s past three albums.

7. “Sugar and Spice,” The Cryan Shame

Good lawd, I love vintage garage rock.

8. “Brown Sugar,” ZZ Top

Not a Stones cover.

9. “Blood Sugar Sex Magik,” Red Hot Chili Peppers

Ah, yes, the title track from one of my favorite CDs of junior high (and beyond).

10. “Falling Sugar,” The Palace Guard

Good lawd, I love vintage garage rock.

WHAT DID I MISS?

Cross-posted from Tampa Calling.

Like I predicted here, Boy George is having visa problems and it appears unlikely he’ll be able to make his July 27 date at Jannus Landing.

From Reuters:

“At the moment, Boy George cannot come to the United States of America because he has been refused permission to enter by the USA Administration,” read a statement from the artist’s management. “This is not in respect of anything he has done in the past but because he is facing a trial in November in London for something that happened in April last year.”

Who: Herman Dune

Seven-word description: Highly emotive and quirky anti-folk from Paris.

Should appeal to fans of: Kimya Dawson, Jonathan Richman, Hamell on Trial
Wait, hasn’t Herman Dune been around for like 10 years? Yes, but this might be the year the Parisian duo finally expands its following Stateside. Herman Dune played a well-received set at SXSW in March, has toured with Juno soundtrack star Kimya Dawson and today released the bouncy, poignant, folky, poppy, excellent 5-song EP 1-2-3/Apple Tree.

Breakout CD: 1-2-3/Apple Tree

Release date/label: June 24/Everloving

Listen/watch official video: “1-2-3/Apple Tree”

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Creative Loafing cover girl and Tropical Heatwave star Amanda Shaw returns to Tampa Bay to play Skipper’s Smokehouse on August 8. If you saw the singer/songwriter/fiddler in May then you’re already excited about catching this roots rock/Cajun pop act return for a headlining gig. Click here for my review/photos of Shaw’s outstanding performance at Heatwave. Here’s the WMNF press release, which includes an extended excerpt of my review, and me requesting Shaw play Skipper’s in near future (photos by Wade Tatangelo):

Amanda Shaw and the Cute Guys, plus Sara Hickman

Friday Aug 08 08:00PM — Skipper’s Smokehouse

$12 advance, $15 door.

Louisiana teenage fiddle sensation Amanda Shaw returns after her triumphant set at Tropical Heatwave.

Heatwave review:
“Shaw’s poise, charisma, and chops belie her age. Then again, she’s been performing in public for a decade, and it showed Saturday. Shaw elated the crowd with her singular brand of Cajun-flavored roots rock. Boasting a strong and expressive voice colored with genuine twang and beat-the-devil fiddle skills, the diminutive frontwoman turned in a dynamic performance that included interestingly reworked blues (”Got My Mojo Workin’”), traditional zydeco (”Hot Tamale Baby”) and Cajun-spiced punk (The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go?”).

Shaw’s originals, mostly culled from her Rounder Records debut Pretty Runs Out, were equally varied and impressive, with the teenager revealing a knack for mature lyrics and catchy hooks that make her rustic sounds appealing to pop fans — without sounding too poppy. Could Shaw bring Cajun music to the masses? Perhaps. For now, I just hope she returns to play a local venue like Skipper’s in the near future.”
- Wade Tatangelo, Creative Loafing

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In honor of the late, great George Carlin, today’s Top 10 is dedicated to songs that contain one (or more) of the cusses included in the famed comic’s classic routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.”

Top 10: Songs for George Carlin

1. “My Shit’s Fucked Up,” Warren Zevon

2. “Bitches Ain’t Shit,” Dr. Dre/Ben Folds

3. “Cocksucker Blues,” The Rolling Stones

4. “Fuck Me Pumps,” Amy Winehouse

5. “Little T & A,” The Rolling Stones

6. “Fuck the Police,” N.W.A.

7. “Piss and Vinegar,” Against Me!

8. “Still Don’t Give a Fuck,” Eminem

9. “Funk Shit,” The Prodigy

10. “Sure As Shit,” Kathleen Edwards

Cross-posted from Tampa Calling.

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Phish reunion? Phor real? Anybody give a phuck? (Actually, this is pretty exciting news, especially for a large chunk of Creative Loafing’s editorial department. Let’s just hope this doesn’t inspire a similar move from those jamband hacks String Cheese Incident.)

• Michael Jackson touring? For real? Anybody give a f—? (From MTV.com.)

• New Order finished? For real? Anybody give a f—? (From Pitchfork.com).

• CL Political Editor Wayne Garcia reports “Vicki Santa steps down at WMNF.”

• Blac Soap to open for Flo Rida June 28 at Club 360 in Ybor City. Look for my Blac Soap interview in the CL hitting newsstands June 25.

• Lil Wayne rules. Los Angeles Times explains why.

• U2 remasters first three albums. Do I detect a healthy whiff of irony in the CMJ headline “Oh, Boy!”

• Really, more Ryan Adams songs should be under 2 minutes long (Aquarium Drunkard).

• The Chicago Reader (aka Creative Loafing Chicago) dares to ask “Oh yeah, chicks play guitar too, don’t they?”

• Billboard reports Bruce Springtseen to extend tour, play Hershey, PA, which means it’s time for me to visit my hometown, aka “The Sweetest Place on Earth.”

• I’m totally feeling Sean Daly’s blog post, “Brother, Can You Spare a Song?”

Cross-posted from Tampa Calling.

When we went to press with my profile of Summer Jam 4 headliner, Dennis “Dow Jones” Shaw (South Rakkas Crew), it had yet to be determined exactly which acts would be playing Crowbar and New World Brewery on Saturday. On Wednesday, I received an email from the promoter that straightens everything out. Should be good times. Here’s the email:

NWB NEW WORLD BREWERY]
8-830 – DISH
845-915 – JINX
930-10 – PETROGRAD IN TRANSIT
1015-1045 – DYNASTY
11-1130- XOXO
1145-1215 – THE BASIQS
12-15 - ??? – POSITIVE RESPONSE
+ DJ TERAS, SCOTT IMRICH, JOLAY & DJ COLONIC

CROWBAR
8-830 – JUICE CITY
845-915 – KING OF SPAIN
930-10 – HARD TARGET
1015-1045 – TIDES OF MAN
11-1145 – BIRD STREET PLAYERS
12-??? SOUTH RAKKAS CREW
+ DJ SANDMAN, SOFT ROCK RENEGADES, MIN.E HORSE & DEACON
FREE BBQ & LIVE MURAL BY: NOAH DELEEDA

Saturday June 21

Summer Jam 4 w/ South Rakkas Crew, Bird Street Players & Much More

$7/$10/$12 » 18 and Up

Cross-posted from Tampa Calling.

This year is flying past like they all tend to do. In fact, we’re more than halfway through, which means time to assess the year in music (so far). It’s difficult to compare one year’s music output to another’s, but I do feel 2008 is shaping up to be one of the strongest of recent memory. Anyway, here’s what I’ve dug the most.

Top 10 Albums of 2008 (so far)

1. Evil Urges (Ato Records/Red), My Morning Jacket (Photo by Danny Clinch)

At my editor Eric Snider’s suggestion, I just bumped my MMJ review from a 4.5 to a perfect 5 (it will run in next week’s Creative Loafing.)While still at USF, I started doing freelance CD reviews for CL (back when it was the Weekly Planet) in 2001 and during my two stringer stints with the paper and my current full-time gig have easily done hundreds of reviews. This marks the first time I 5-starred a new release. Read my MMJ review here.

2. The Odd Couple (Atlantic), Gnarls Barkley

Dark, cerebral and highly danceable, this batch of spaceflight soul is pure brilliance. And by the way, complaining that it doesn’t have a “Crazy” equivalent would be like knocking Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy for not featuring another “Stairway.”

3. Robyn (Konichiwa/CherryTree/Interscope), Robyn

This Swedish star still hasn’t blown up here and that’s a shame. The pop world would be a far better place if Madonna, Spears, etc. could pen lyrics this poignant and implement beats this fresh. Read my review here.

4. Fleet Foxes (Sub Pop), Fleet Foxes

Debut albums really have no right to be this fantastic: dreamy organic pop, perfectly recorded so that the band sounds like they’re playing your living room; with close, gorgeous vocal harmonies that will melt your ears. Read my (mini) review here. My proper review will run in the CL that hits newsstands July 3.

5. Accelerate (Warner Bros), R.E.M.

It’s official: R.E.M. has made its best album in more than a decade. Nothing new here, just a first-rate collection of the band’s finest attributes. Read my review here.

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Creative Loafing’s marketing wing (aka Joran) continues its concert series focused on spotlighting purveyors of original local music. The roster for the Sat., July 5, installment at the State Theatre will feature five acts ranging from punk (Car Bomb Driver) to alt-country (Have Gun, Will Travel) to math rock (Military Junior; pictured). Should be a great evening so don’t get too wasted the night before and be careful with those bottle rockets, which can prove hazardous when you and your buddies are stumbling drunk, firing the missiles at each other, indoors.

Here’s the info with listening links to each band:

Independence Fest

Saturday, July 5
State Theatre
687 Central Ave. St. Petersburg

Doors 8 p.m. / Show 9 p.m. / All Ages

$8 DOS / $5 with Voter ID / $2 Drafts

On-Site Voter Registration

$50 Gas Card Giveaway

Military Junior (9 – 9:30)

Grey Market (9:45 – 10:15)

Have Gun, Will Travel (10:30 – 11)

Mouse Fire (11:15 – 11:45)

Car Bomb Driver (12 – 12:30)

Cross-posted from Tampa Calling.

Evil Urges
MY MORNING JACKET
Ato Records/Red
Pundits have been trying to define My Morning Jacket since the band first arrived on the scene a decade ago. In the beginning, people filed the reverb-loving rockers under “alt-country” and even “southern rock” thanks to the band’s Bluegrass State homebase. A galvanizing 2004 performance at Bonnaroo and subsequent, more experimental releases, especially 2006’s live album Okonokos, landed My Morning Jacket in the “jam band” bin.

But none of the labels truly did the quintet’s music justice and MMJ’s latest release, Evil Urges, is the quintet’s most gloriously eclectic studio album to date. It’s also the band’s finest, with each stylistic leap serving the song rather than sounding like hubris-driven experimentalism. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than on the title-track that opens the disc, a thick-yet-fluid hybrid of futuristic funk, precision prog and dream pop that serves as a genius update on the free love and tolerance ethos of the 1960s. Frontman Jim James adopts a sexy falsetto to winningly deliver memorable lines like, “It ain’t evil, baby, if ya ain’t hurting anybody.”

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Cross-posted from Tampa Calling.

Who: My Brightest Diamond (aka Shara Worden)

Seven-word description: Diva-voiced singer/songwriter delivers operatic pop.

Should appeal to fans of: Joanna Newsom, Dresden Dolls, Regina Spektor

Isn’t she pals with Sufjan Stevens? Yes, she appeared on his Illinois tour. You might also know Worden from her first two My Brightest Diamond full-lengths, 2006’s Bring Me the Workhorse and last year’s Tear It Down. Both were released on Stevens’ label Asthmatic Kitty.

Breakout CD: A Thousand Shark’s Teeth

Release date/label: June 17/Asthmatic Kitty

Listen to the track “Inside a Boy.”

Cross-posted from Tampa Calling:

That’s right. The grunge rockers have reunited (but you already knew that) and are scheduled to perform Fri., Aug., 22 at Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa. Here’s the press release:

WHO: STONE TEMPLE PILOTS

“2008 REUNION TOUR”

WITH: BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB

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It’s a rainy Monday and I have a shit-ton of work to do this week. My former employer McClatchy just announced widespread layoffs, leading to the dismal of an editor I highly respected and worked with directly and indirectly — and drank with off the clock on his dime, and attended a couple shows with that we both enjoyed — for several years at the Bradenton Herald. A talk with another former editor confirmed that the smell of death permeates every news room in the nation.

Others have it worse, I know, but that’s not much comfort. Is it? Anyway, whenever I feel myself slipping over to the dark side, which has been the case today, I put on something like the compilation I recently made called “Mellow My Mind.” It’s mostly ’70s stuff. A great decade for laid-back songs that celebrate being on the losing end. Here are 10 tracks from it. Not exactly uplifting (except for Rev. Green’s glorious gospel number), but soothing, like brown whiskey.

Top 10: Mellow songs

1. “Jesus Is Waiting,” Al Green

2. “These Days,” Gregg Allman

3. “Roll Um Easy,” Little Feat

4. “A Man Needs a Maid/Heart of Gold” (Live at Massey Hall), Neil Young

5. “Handbags & Gladrags,” Rod Stewart

6. “Hickory Wind,” The Byrds

7. “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” Willie Nelson

8. “I Forgot to Be Your Lover,” William Bell

9. “Love Is a Losing Game,” Amy Winehouse

10. “Long Way Home,” Tom Waits

Cross-posted from Tampa Calling.

Matt Butcher, of Orlando, performing Sat., June 14, New World Brewery, Ybor City. Photos by Alfie.

Tampa singer/songwriter Will Quinlan and his ace, twang backup unit the Diviners packed New World Brewery in Ybor City on Saturday for the CD release party of the band’s strikingly poignant new CD Navasota. Quinlan went on shortly after midnight and turned in a moving set of songs inspired by the life and death of his mother. He also debuted new numbers that were equally impressive. Navasota co-producer/guitar bad ass/Nationals band member/singer-songwriter Steve Connelly sat in on lap steel.

Never-let-you-down Bradenton alt-country ensemble Have Gun, Will Travel elated the audience with a first-rate serving of folk-rock, as did opener Matt Butcher, who, in addition to entertaining with a clutch of solid originals, wowed attendees with a gorgeous, fresh rendition of the Bob Dylan standard “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”

A slew of local talent showed up for the show: Ronny Elliott, his buddy/Nationals band mate/singer-songwriter Walt Bucklin; Car Bomb Driver frontman Dave Reeder; Daylight District bassist Tim Heller; Nessie leader Scott Harrell and his buddy/bassist Joey Neill; Poetry ‘n Lotion guitarist Matt E. Lee and Sean “Crash” Mitchell were all present, and probably more, which I simply failed to spot/recognize.

New Granada chief/Zillionaire drummer Keith Ulrey, who assembled Saturday’s impressive show, was also in attendance. He told he’s excited about Win Win Winter’s debut album, which is scheduled to drop in October. Look for a Creative Loafing feature on the local indie rockers to coincide with the disc’s release.

OK, that’s all for now in regards to the homegrown talent. What’s your band up to? Shoot me an email.

Matt Burke, of Have Gun, Will Travel.

Will Quinlan at closing time.

Cross-posted from Tampa Calling. 

Teared up during Meet the Press, one of my favorite shows for years, which is saying something since it airs 10 a.m. Sunday and my Saturday nights typically don’t end until about 4 a.m.

Watching Brokaw, Carville, Ifill and others lovingly remember their old pal was truly moving. And the closing montage, with Russert’s favorite rocker, Bruce Springsteen, doing “Thunder Road,” yeah, that’s when I had to wipe my eyes.

Russert was the high priest of objective, illuminating broadcast journalism. He was one of the few good men left on television, a medium dominated by blow hards, hams and agents of misinformation.

Sunday mornings won’t be the same.

On a lighter note, it’s Father’s Day, and like Russert and Big Russ, my dad and I are very close. We will celebrate the holiday by going to lunch and then by attending the The Three Stooges screening that kicks off 3 p.m. today at Tampa Theatre.

Here’s to great fathers and great men like Russert.