Where to begin? Last Thursday seems like so long ago, the start of a very long weekend of incredible music. With the Harvest Of Hope festival bringing bands by the boatload to Florida, many of them played shows throughout the state before and after the weekend. I (with my girlfriend and a few other friends) went to four shows in six days across the state. I did my best to document all of this with pictures and video; and even managed to score a short video interview with Bryce Dessner of The National. Read the rest of this entry »
On February 18th, both the Chicago Tribune and Pitchfork ran stories that put a knife through the heart of the punk/indie world. Venerable Chicago label, Touch and Go Records would be closing it’s distribution wing and massively scaling back it’s own output. This decision, that I’m sure was made after all other options were exhausted, effects more than just T&G’s roster. They provided distribution for 23 other labels Read the rest of this entry »
I flew into La Guardia on Saturday January 31st at about 2pm. The temperature was in the mid to upper 20s and slowly dropping. The Thermals were playing a late show at The Bell House in Brooklyn. How cold was it going to be when the show started at 11pm? I didn’t care. I was in New York and was going to catch The Thermals play a one-off show before jumping the pond to the U.K. for a small tour. Read the rest of this entry »
Over in the record reviews section, I’ve posted a write up of the new Dälek album, Gutter Tactics. Haven’t heard of them?
Give it a read and check them out. Here’s a teaser for you:
Dälek is not your typical rap group; in fact, they are something completely different altogether. Sure, there are beats and rhyming, but it’s not the sort of music that would pass for hip-hop on MTV or in dance clubs. There are no guest rappers littering every other track. There is no hook while the DJ revolves it. Read the rest of this entry »
Bad Brains was originally a jazz-fusion band called Mind Power formed in 1975 in Washington D.C. They soon became enamored with punk rock and changed their name, taking it from a Ramones song. Read the rest of this entry »
On Monday, which was one of coldest nights of the year in Tampa, Los Campesinos! and Titus Andronicus shared the stage at The Orpheum in Ybor and warmed the crowd with blisteringly hot tunes. Its rare for Tampa to get a chance to see two young bands in the early stages of their careers on the same bill. Read the rest of this entry »
Ron Asheton, the legendary guitarist for The Stooges, has passed away. There really isn’t much more that needs to be said. Ron was a guitar god in the eyes of those who had rejected the conventional, mainstream guitar gods (Clapton, Hendrix, Page, ect). Read the rest of this entry »
In 2008, I tried to take pictures at almost every show I attended. It’s a daunting task. Sometimes the lighting sucks, you may get stuck far from the stage or some venues may not let you bring a camera in at all. But when all goes right, you can go home with some swell shots of the bands.
These are my photo highlights of the year. Click on any image to view as full size.
It’s that time of the year again. The humidity levels are way down, sometimes. The night air is peppered with the smell of fireplaces, sometimes. Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa shopping is going as well as can be expected in our thriving economy. It all points to one thing…
Time to break out those “Top 10″ or “Best of” lists for 2008! Being the music snob that I am (obviously everything I listen to is far superior to the crap[alternate crap links, i couldn't decide between them, so you get 'em all! Crap,and even more crap!] you listen to), these are my favorite albums of 2008. As of starting to type this, I’ll say that I’m aiming for a list of ten, but it may turn out to be more or less. So, in order of release date, this is what I couldn’t stop listening to this year. I’ll name my favorite after the list. There can be only one…
Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Orlando 2008
Vampire Weekend – S/T (XL Recordings; 1/29/08) – Ok, these guys have been on everyone’s list since 2007 when an early version of the album leaked, but who cares? They really are that good; and catchy as all hell, too. If the one new song they played in Orlando this year is any indication, their follow-up to this great debut should be even better.
Why? – Alopecia (Anticon; 3/11/08) – This is one of the most cerebral albums I’ve heard in a while. The lyrics are smart, personal and sometimes quite funny. The instrumentation is somewhat non-traditional (as far as a “rock” band goes) and the music is full of playful and danceable counterpoint rhythms and melodies. Why? are “indie” but not quite “rock”; maybe at little like They Might Be Giants; if TMBG were Rhodes Scholars in addition to being super smart and clever. I caught these guys live this year and they more than delivered the goods in concert. If you get the chance, go see them.
On Saturday night at Czar, No Age (pictured left) and Les Savy Fav took the stage to help the Skatepark Of Tampa celebrate 16 years of ollies, kick flips, face plants and punk rock. The free PBR was flowing, the kids were ready to explode and the bands were melting faces. How could you not have a good time?
Well, you could get stuck next to the asshole who forced his way up front and elbowed you in the ribs for the first 30 minutes of No Age’s set before he passed out on the stage. No Age’s vocal mics could completely crap out halfway through their set, resulting in the misuse and abuse of many microphones. You could be one of the folks who were accosted by Les Savy Fav’s very sweaty and very beardy Tim Harrington. You also could have thought that stage diving was still a good idea only to find out that no one wants to catch you if you’re not in the band (I wish I got a picture of that). All in all I would say that a good time was, in fact, had by all.
Out of morbid curiosity, I read through the list of this years Grammy nominations. I’ll admit, they are a little more left of center than most years; but it’s the effing Grammys. You might as well have just won your high school’s “Battle Of The Bands” that is judged by the school’s choir director and that one creepy guidance councilor that no one liked. But, buried way down the list, in “Category 88″ was No Age. Did I read that right? WTF did No Age get nominated for? Best Recording Package. That’s what I thought, so here is your answer.
So, a band that put out one of the best reviewed albums of the year; that has even spawned their own cover band (that one of the members of No Age then joined to form a new band with!) gets a Grammy nod for their cover art. Whatever. But kudos for getting noticed by the man.
You know, this does work to No Age’s advantage…
Grammy Nominated band No Age is playing Tampa Saturday!
Rock and roll has been looking for a savior for some time. Fads, new waves and trends have been coming and going for years. Sure, a lot of good (even great) music has been put out, but it’s been countered by bastardizations of the form. Has rock and roll ever had a savior? Is it better off without one? Is the journey to salvation more rewarding than actually obtaining it? Is the one who claims they are the savior really just the devil in disguise?
I can not offer you salvation, nor can I show you someone who can. I can, however, present to you The Thermals, one stepping stone on the path to rock salvation. Since 2003, they have been releasing pure and uncompromising rock and roll. They answer to no one. They are not idols; and as far as I can tell, they do not aspire to be. They claim they recorded their first album (from which the video below was the first single) for $10. I could try to explain The Thermals in more depth to you, but I won’t. I’ll let someone else do it. In 2007, shortly before he turned three years old, my son said (after hearing The Thermals) “This is rock music”. That is all you need to know.
Enjoy The Thermals. They’re putting out their fourth record soon.
With Sunday’s release of the long-awaited (by some, not all) Guns N’ Roses album, Chinese Democracy, Dr Pepper will make good on its promise of a free Dr Pepper for everyone in America. Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday November 23rd, Dr Pepper, for 24 hours, will offer a coupon on its website for a free 20-oz. soda. Will getting a $1.50 soda for free make spending $10 to $15 on a CD from a Hughesian, irrelevant, washed-up rocker a little easier to take in these hard economic times? Probably not. You could always do what you were probably going to do anyway and just download the damn thing for free from a torrent site. But be careful; it seems Axl needs all the money you could possibly give him and he may have you arrested for that! I vote for taking the Dr Pepper $1.50 economic stimulus package and not even bothering with Chinese Democracy.
Look deep inside yourself.
Search your feelings.
Do you really even care about Guns N’ Roses anymore?
So many GN’R fans — and, no doubt, fans of free stuff in general — tried to get the coupon that they choked the site and it crashed. Disgruntled and downright ticked off, some blamed the band.
“When you go on the blogs and you read the responses from the fans, they associated Axl with this promotion … and blame him for the fact that they didn’t get their free soda,” said GN’R lawyer Laurie Soriano.
Really? Really? People are getting pissed off about not being able to get a free Dr Pepper? And Axl Rose is coming to their rescue? Maybe his attorney will have one of those class action lawsuit ads running on latenight basic cable next week. Maybe the economy is worse than we all thought. Maybe GN’R is slumming for any press they can get for this very lackluster album. Maybe people really love Dr Pepper that much.
What makes this all the more amusing is CNN’s fine writing. Really.
That’s when GN’R became GN’RN’L. Soriano fired off a letter to Dr P. No one is LOL.
This just in from Touch and Go Records:The Jesus Lizard will reunite for “a very limited series of live dates in 2009.” The original line-up will first play the All Tomorrow’s Parties fest in England in May 2009 and will then head back to the states for shows which have yet to be announced. If you saw The Jesus Lizard at any point between 1989 and 1999, then I do not to explain the insanity and intensity of their live show. If you have not seen them, please read on (I’ll try to keep it clean, for the kids…).
The band’s rhythm section redefined “tight”. The thundering bass punctuated with dizzying runs in perfect lock-step with the uber-methodical and driving drums laid the ground work. The guitar cut through you like a rusty knife, blending punk and jazz like no one else had (or ever will, for that matter). The music, though, was merely a canvass for singer David Yow to lay waste to the audience with. He prowled the stage, antagonizing the crowd. He spit in their mouths. He dry humped the faces of those against the stage. He got naked, a lot. I won’t even explain what the “tight and shiny” is, but you can probably figure it out. He would leap out into the crowd with an extra long mic cable and sing from the floor while rolling around doing god knows what to some poor dude who thought he was far enough back to avoid the mayhem. I have personally held David Yow in my arms while he was fully naked, covered in sweat, still singing. I had a girlfriend break up with me because I took her to a Jesus Lizard show. She got kicked in the head by Yow.
I probably haven’t sold everyone on this band as they aren’t for everyone (ask the aforementioned ex-girlfriend). I do ask that if you are a bit curious, please check them out. If you are so inclined to see what will be one of the most intense shows of your life, I implore you to try and catch them next year.
The Jesus Lizard – Gladiator (live at CBGB’s 12/31/1997)
Dumbwaiters, Woven and Kingsbury @ New World Brewery 11/22/08
On a rather chilly Saturday night, Tampa’s New Granada Presents put together a show like only they can. Orlando’s Kingsbury drove over to serve up a most excellent set of atmospheric rock. Woven, from Los Angeles, brought more effect pedals on tour than most bands would know what to do with. And last but not least, Tampa’s long-running and highly reclusive Dumbwaiters came out of hiding just long enough to remind us why they are (and have been) one of the area’s best bands.
Cadence Weapon, the Canadian rapper (well, “rapper” doesn’t fully explain what he does; it’s more like some form of outsider electro-pop coupled with hip-hop) has dropped a new video from this year’s Afterparty Babies. The track is called “Real Estate”; which was a nice little piece of social commentary when it was released, and makes an even bigger point now. Kudos to Mr. Weapon for a very timely release of this video!
Many years ago, I played bass in a band called The AmeriCar Underworld. Of all of the shit we pulled (we were once banned from the Ritz, Brass Mug and Stone Lounge simultaneously), one story seems to keep floating around. To this day, if I meet someone who remembers me from the ACU, I still hear “Oh, didn’t your band get in a fight with The Afghan Whigs?”. Maybe we did, maybe we didn’t…
I’ve been in Cincinnati, OH (home of the defunct Whigs) on vacation for over a week and I’ve seen John Curley (former bassist for the Whigs) lurking around the neighborhood and at a few shows. On Saturday, I headed down to the MidPoint Music Fest to catch Wussy’s set and there he was again. I approached him after the band played, in hopes of making peace after 14 years. I had noticed him eyeing me during the show; and sure enough, he said I looked familiar. Then without warning, before I could atone for past sins and transgressions, I was in a headlock getting the shit beat out of me.
John Curley (formerly of The Afghan Whigs) beating the snot out of me. (photo by Jen Sandwich)
When forced to choose between the truth or the legend, always go with the legend.
Once I’m back in Tampa on Tuesday, I’ll share the truth behind the legend, some insights into why Cincinnati of all places has a flourishing music scene and reviews of two amazing ‘Nati bands, Wussy and Why?, that I saw play while up here.
Sonic Youth, having fulfilled their contract to Universal/DGC, have made the jump back to the indies.
Via the Matablog, Matador Records confirmed the signing this past Tuesday. The new LP, to be released in 2009, will be the 28-year-old band’s 30th release (not counting singles, compilations and fan-club-only items).
Sonic Youth made the jump from indie to major back in 1990 but continued to release music through various indie imprints as well as on their own. Having survived their time working for the man, the Matador deal will have them operating as a full-fledged indie band once again.
Last week, in an admittedly lame (but somewhat funny) post about how Billy Corgan’s lost his mind, a commenter had this to say:
Fan of Fan says: August 22nd, 2008 at 12:16 pm:
Do you think people think you’re hip because you have such great taste? Consistently putting others down to make yourself feel better is a vicious cycle.
Why not try blogging about something you feel passionately about? Why not try turning others on to these amazing tastes that you have rather than pointing out the flaws you think you see in others?
On Monday, which was one of coldest nights of the year in Tampa, Los Campesinos! and Titus Andronicus shared the stage at The Orpheum in Ybor and warmed the crowd with blisteringly hot tunes. Its rare for Tampa to get a chance to see two young bands in the early stages of their careers on the same bill. 
Ron Asheton
Out of morbid curiosity, I read through the list of this years 
