It took friend and fellow blogger Colin Bell over at It's Bloggerin' Time to point it out to me, but 21st November marks a year of blogging here at 78sDW!
It's been an interesting old year, and to celebrate the anniversary I'm only going to post a short blog. However, what I'm leaving you with for today is a song that's extremely close to my heart for personal reasons, that always leaves me with a smile on my face and, in the words of John Michael Stipe, goes out to the one I love.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Spoon with "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb".
One bloomin' year! Here's to a more prolific second year, and thanks so much to everyone who has taken the time to read. I really do appreciate it.
Cheers!
Sunday, 21 November 2010
Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Album Review: The Walkmen - Lisbon
I've been a fan of The Walkmen ever since the collapse of the late, great Jonathan Fire*Eater led to three of their members moving on and forming a new band.
Matt Barrick, Paul Maroon and Walter Martin joined up with Peter Bauer and singer Hamilton Leithauser to release Everyone Who Pretended to Like Me is Gone, Bows + Arrows, A Hundred Miles Off, You and Me and now, Lisbon.
I first saw The Walkmen in King Tuts, Glasgow, in 2002, supporting Tanya Donnelly (remember her?) nd the brilliant Mary Lorson of Madder Rose. They absolutely blew her out of the water, my abiding memory being of the towering Hamilton Leithauser hanging on to the rafters in an attempt to avoid banging his head on the roof. Since then, the band have just got better and better.
Best know for the pulsating, thrilling "The Rat", the band's palette has added a bit more colour over the years, leading to the swooning, swinging songs found on You and Me, and more of the same can be found on Lisbon.
Apparently taking its inspiration from Sun Records, Lisbon is an eminently sad sounding record, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. Leithauser sounds as world-weary as ever on openeing track "Juveniles", his throaty, lived-in voice still calling to mind Bob Dylan and Lou Reed, but with that extra bit of fire.
You can understand the references to Sun in post-release interviews as the record sound fresh, crisp, immediate - like it was recorded in your own front room. The mariachi-style horns found on previous records return again on "Stranded", "Victory" reaches epic levels during the chorus, and the drums are always pounding and in-your-face.
Throughout, Leithauser's voice is a reassuring hug telling you that everything will be fine, contrasting with the music which at turns rattles and soothes, taking the listen on drunken, lovelorn carousing through the streets of New York.
In the words of Hamilton Leithauser, this is the only album of "power shuffles" you'll need all year.
Is it garage rock month or something at 78s? / Wild Flag and Eddy Current Suppression Ring
It's been a loud month so far in the 78s household.
First you get my Nuggets top ten, now you get the first bunch of tunes from riot grrrl veterans/supergroup (delete as appropriate) Wild Flag. It even includes a cover of The Standells' "Dirty Water". How's that for joined-up blogging?
Read on, via Pitchfork.
In other rockin' "news", I may be a latecomer to Australian rockers Eddy Current Suppression Ring, but I picked up their latest release Rush to Relax recently, and it's an up 'n' at 'em treat. Here's a short blast:
It's like being kicked in the face by Metallica's Kirk Hammett. In a good way, of course.
Poor child. First being dragged to that bilge, then being physically assaulted (allegedly).
First you get my Nuggets top ten, now you get the first bunch of tunes from riot grrrl veterans/supergroup (delete as appropriate) Wild Flag. It even includes a cover of The Standells' "Dirty Water". How's that for joined-up blogging?
Read on, via Pitchfork.
In other rockin' "news", I may be a latecomer to Australian rockers Eddy Current Suppression Ring, but I picked up their latest release Rush to Relax recently, and it's an up 'n' at 'em treat. Here's a short blast:
It's like being kicked in the face by Metallica's Kirk Hammett. In a good way, of course.
Poor child. First being dragged to that bilge, then being physically assaulted (allegedly).
Sunday, 14 November 2010
Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era
Nuggets is the story of a transitional period in US Rock n Roll, covering three rollicking years from 1965 to 1968. It was punk rock before punk was invented; it was garage rock long before the existence of CBGBs, and it was psychedelic before Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd et al jumped on that particular bandwagon.
Conceived by Lenny Kaye of The Patti Smith Group and Jac Holzman of Elektra Records, it brings together a collection of young men in quickly thrown together bands playing songs under three minutes long. These songs are incredibly raw, mostly done in one take in someone's basement, and featuring the fuzziest of guitars, the craziest of drummers and - more often than not - everyone under the influence of speed.
As a rule, it seems the subjects of the songs featured on Nuggets varies from getting with girls to, emmm....well, actually that's about it. The fellas aren't always successful though, leading to vitriolic attacks such as "Psycho" by The Sonics.
With the Vietnam War on the horizon and the death of President John F Kennedy fresh in the mind, it was a strange time for the youth of America. The shadow of nuclear armageddon hung over the country and no-one knew how much of a future there would be. Retreating to their bedrooms to listen to British Invasion bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals and The Kinks, and the popular west coast sounds of homegrown bands like The Beach Boys, the seeds of a idea began to take hold in the minds of some young men: what if we could combine the rawness and freshness of these British guys with the music we've grown up listening to? The idea worked, and what followed was some of the most thrilling, immediate and melodic music ever to come out of the USA, and would influence countless bands through the 70s, 80s, 90s and right up to this decade.
You'll be familiar with some of the bands: The Sonics, The Monks, Captain Beefheart, The Kingsmen and The Electric Prunes, but then there's lesser know (and extremely short-lived) bands like The Human Beinz, The Remains, The Standells and The Shadows of Knight.
With over 100 songs to choose from, it's been hard to pick a top ten or so, but below are some of my favourites (in no particular order), with appropriate links, of course........
The Standells - "Dirty Water" : This has got a fantastically dirty groove, and lyrics which led it to being banned upon its release around 1966:
The Premiers - "Farmer John" : One of many songs that takes it cue from "Louie Louie", it's a great call-and-response anthem, carried along by some funky brass. Most famously covered in an hilariously lascivious fashion by Neil Young and Crazy Horse on their live album Weld.
Human Beinz - "Nobody But Me" : Originally an Isley Brothers track, this version's grooves were so tight that it took the public weeks to realise that it was a bunch of white kids from Ohio that were playing:
The Shadows of Knight - "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" : This is simply wonderful. A slice of prime garage rock, in and out in 2mins 25secs. Terrific guitars and drums propel this one right along and it's over and out before you know it.
The Knickerbockers - "Lies" : Clearly indebted to The Beatles and Herman's Hermits, this is a track that has the garage hit, but with a large dollop of harmony. Nice:
The Sonics - "Strychnine" : One of the few bands to have survived through to the present, this lot were quite an intense band, responsible for "The Witch" "Psycho", and this marvellous paean to a drug that causes muscular convulsions....and death! Rock on! This is from 2008:
The Rationals - "I Need You": A blistering, and probably definitive, version of a song by The Kinks.
The Kingsmen - "Louie Louie" : No collection would be complete without the blueprint for all garage rock bands, ever:
The Music Machine - "Talk Talk" : This is brilliant, a staccato beat, swirling guitars and organ, and singer Sam Bonniwell yelping nonsense over the top of it all:
Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction" : To end, let's have a little bit of Count Five, who switch between gentle, almost country-ish harmonica led grooves, and what can only be classed as a psychotic middle section where the band are trying to keep up with themselves as the song threatens to fall apart/fly away at any moment:
So that's it, a basic introduction to the world of Nuggets. Basically just a bunch of lads making rock music, but aren't some of the simple things in life the most enjoyable?
Conceived by Lenny Kaye of The Patti Smith Group and Jac Holzman of Elektra Records, it brings together a collection of young men in quickly thrown together bands playing songs under three minutes long. These songs are incredibly raw, mostly done in one take in someone's basement, and featuring the fuzziest of guitars, the craziest of drummers and - more often than not - everyone under the influence of speed.
As a rule, it seems the subjects of the songs featured on Nuggets varies from getting with girls to, emmm....well, actually that's about it. The fellas aren't always successful though, leading to vitriolic attacks such as "Psycho" by The Sonics.
With the Vietnam War on the horizon and the death of President John F Kennedy fresh in the mind, it was a strange time for the youth of America. The shadow of nuclear armageddon hung over the country and no-one knew how much of a future there would be. Retreating to their bedrooms to listen to British Invasion bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Animals and The Kinks, and the popular west coast sounds of homegrown bands like The Beach Boys, the seeds of a idea began to take hold in the minds of some young men: what if we could combine the rawness and freshness of these British guys with the music we've grown up listening to? The idea worked, and what followed was some of the most thrilling, immediate and melodic music ever to come out of the USA, and would influence countless bands through the 70s, 80s, 90s and right up to this decade.
You'll be familiar with some of the bands: The Sonics, The Monks, Captain Beefheart, The Kingsmen and The Electric Prunes, but then there's lesser know (and extremely short-lived) bands like The Human Beinz, The Remains, The Standells and The Shadows of Knight.
With over 100 songs to choose from, it's been hard to pick a top ten or so, but below are some of my favourites (in no particular order), with appropriate links, of course........
The Standells - "Dirty Water" : This has got a fantastically dirty groove, and lyrics which led it to being banned upon its release around 1966:
The Premiers - "Farmer John" : One of many songs that takes it cue from "Louie Louie", it's a great call-and-response anthem, carried along by some funky brass. Most famously covered in an hilariously lascivious fashion by Neil Young and Crazy Horse on their live album Weld.
Human Beinz - "Nobody But Me" : Originally an Isley Brothers track, this version's grooves were so tight that it took the public weeks to realise that it was a bunch of white kids from Ohio that were playing:
The Shadows of Knight - "I'm Gonna Make You Mine" : This is simply wonderful. A slice of prime garage rock, in and out in 2mins 25secs. Terrific guitars and drums propel this one right along and it's over and out before you know it.
The Knickerbockers - "Lies" : Clearly indebted to The Beatles and Herman's Hermits, this is a track that has the garage hit, but with a large dollop of harmony. Nice:
The Sonics - "Strychnine" : One of the few bands to have survived through to the present, this lot were quite an intense band, responsible for "The Witch" "Psycho", and this marvellous paean to a drug that causes muscular convulsions....and death! Rock on! This is from 2008:
The Rationals - "I Need You": A blistering, and probably definitive, version of a song by The Kinks.
The Kingsmen - "Louie Louie" : No collection would be complete without the blueprint for all garage rock bands, ever:
The Music Machine - "Talk Talk" : This is brilliant, a staccato beat, swirling guitars and organ, and singer Sam Bonniwell yelping nonsense over the top of it all:
Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction" : To end, let's have a little bit of Count Five, who switch between gentle, almost country-ish harmonica led grooves, and what can only be classed as a psychotic middle section where the band are trying to keep up with themselves as the song threatens to fall apart/fly away at any moment:
So that's it, a basic introduction to the world of Nuggets. Basically just a bunch of lads making rock music, but aren't some of the simple things in life the most enjoyable?
Thursday, 11 November 2010
Album Review: Glasser - Ring
One-woman orchestra Cameron Mesirow (aka Glasser), seems to constantly be compared to other female performers. Thankfully, she's not as much of a hippy, Fleetwood Mac derivative as Bat for Lashes, nor is she as scary or doomy as Fever Ray. That's not to say I don't love Fever Ray, cos I do, right? And Bjork. Always Bjork.
Ring is a mighty fine record. It's beautiful, complex, lush and takes me to places in my mind that I rarely visit. Songs are rarely predictable and veer off in the direction of pop, jazz and dance at various points.
Beginning with the tribal drumming of "Apply", it continues along hypnotically for 8 more tracks, carrying the listener along with it. There's the wonky glockenspiel of "Home", "Glad" which almost gets funky, and the gorgeous symphony of "Clamour"brings the album to a close.
Apparently Ring bases its circular motif on Homer's Odyssey, which is helpful as once this album is over, there's a strong temptation to listen to it from the start again immediately.
Below is a wee video for "Apply". Oooh trippy!
Ring is a mighty fine record. It's beautiful, complex, lush and takes me to places in my mind that I rarely visit. Songs are rarely predictable and veer off in the direction of pop, jazz and dance at various points.
Beginning with the tribal drumming of "Apply", it continues along hypnotically for 8 more tracks, carrying the listener along with it. There's the wonky glockenspiel of "Home", "Glad" which almost gets funky, and the gorgeous symphony of "Clamour"brings the album to a close.
Apparently Ring bases its circular motif on Homer's Odyssey, which is helpful as once this album is over, there's a strong temptation to listen to it from the start again immediately.
Below is a wee video for "Apply". Oooh trippy!
Monday, 8 November 2010
What's coming up in November?
As events outside of the blogosphere take over every now and again, I've been a bit light on posts of late. Never fear, faithful reader(s)!
Coming up this month we'll see reviews of the latest releases from Glasser, The Walkmen and others, and live reviews of Wild Nothing and Titus Andronicus. We'll also be taking a closer look at the Nuggets series of garage rock/psychedelic singles, and you might get a list of my top ten faves woo hoo!
I'm not making promises, but I may resurrect the Lost Gems series so look out (possibly) for krautrock pioneers Harmonia, famous sons-of-Jimmy The Webb Brothers, and maybe even a look at perennially missing-in-action The Wrens.
In the meantime, here's a little taster of the unpredictable brilliance of The Wrens just to tide you over:
Coming up this month we'll see reviews of the latest releases from Glasser, The Walkmen and others, and live reviews of Wild Nothing and Titus Andronicus. We'll also be taking a closer look at the Nuggets series of garage rock/psychedelic singles, and you might get a list of my top ten faves woo hoo!
I'm not making promises, but I may resurrect the Lost Gems series so look out (possibly) for krautrock pioneers Harmonia, famous sons-of-Jimmy The Webb Brothers, and maybe even a look at perennially missing-in-action The Wrens.
In the meantime, here's a little taster of the unpredictable brilliance of The Wrens just to tide you over:
Great Musical Moments Captured on Film, part fivezzzzzzz.....
In the latest installment of bone-idle blogging, I'm moving on from actual artists appearing on-screen to the use of music on film. Many directors, from the good to the bad, have used music on film to convey moods or to enhance a scene, even breaking Cameron Crowe's rule that the lyrics from a song should never match what's going on in a scene. To be fair, even CC has broken that rule with Pixies' "Where Is My Mind?" during Vanilla Sky.
I decided, however, to focus down on kick-arse openings to movies. After considering being bang-up-to-date with The Social Network beginning in media res with The White Stripes "Ball and Biscuit" blues howl over Mark Zuckerberg and Erica Albright's breakup, I then moved on to ruling out High Fidelity opening with The 13th Floor Elevator's "You're Gonna Miss Me".....anyone sensing a theme here?
Finally, I settled on the intro to Wes Anderson's Rushmore, which makes wonderful use of The Creation's garage rock classic "Making Time". A terrific introduction into the world of Wes Anderson, a man who always seems to come up with the goods on his soundtracks. Enjoy!
I decided, however, to focus down on kick-arse openings to movies. After considering being bang-up-to-date with The Social Network beginning in media res with The White Stripes "Ball and Biscuit" blues howl over Mark Zuckerberg and Erica Albright's breakup, I then moved on to ruling out High Fidelity opening with The 13th Floor Elevator's "You're Gonna Miss Me".....anyone sensing a theme here?
Finally, I settled on the intro to Wes Anderson's Rushmore, which makes wonderful use of The Creation's garage rock classic "Making Time". A terrific introduction into the world of Wes Anderson, a man who always seems to come up with the goods on his soundtracks. Enjoy!
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