The first time I ever heard of The Posies and sort of figured out who they were is when I received a three CD Poptopia! Compilation put out by Rhino Records with their hit “Solar Sister” which is this amazing pop-gem all unto itself. The comp set is great because it covers tracks from the 70’s 80’s and 90’s. Fast forward to The Big Takeover 30th Anniversary show summer of 2010, some 15 years later and I actually get to meet Jon Auer. He plays an amazing solo set and does a few songs with Jack Rabid and the guy from The Nerves. Later, It’s the end of night and I’m working the camera and I find a drunk Auer saying all sorts of funny things. He was funny in-between songs too which seems to be true to form. Nothing for the record but he did express he was super thrilled to have played the show. Tonight I run into some cover record where he does a Madonna song and Baby Bitch by Ween from Chocolate & Cheese. I hit hypem and find this bizarre blog by this cockled guy named Blair who posted ‘Baby Bitch’ on his blog called Certain Songs and also posted songs in ode to Craig’s list posting. Interesting idea bag there. Kudos.
Anyway, I find this very public email about how his wife cheated on him and then he sleeps with her sister as revenge but does not tell her and divorces her later. Crazy shit. Which leads me to really appreciating the heart and song writing of Mr. Auer for some reason. He’s a dark guy and an artist who writes about some deep shit like Blair’s post. Personally Baby Bitch is much better song than Beautiful Stranger anyhow Auer drives that home in his performance of it but I digress. Check some tunes out. Hopefully it lead you down a worm hole.
Jon Auer @ The Bigtakover 30th Anniversary Show
Plastic Paperbacks MP3 by The Posies from their new one Blood/Candy. This is a great record. Highly recommended. [Buy] Solar Sister MP3 by The Posies from Frosting on the Beater (1993). Stick this on any pop mix and you’ll be humming it in your dreams. [Buy] Baby Bitch MP3 (Ween Cover) by Jon Auer from 6 1/2 [Buy]
I know how Albini loves digital. In respect i ripped this from the actual 7″. This is Shellac’s first record and first pressing. Each cover is created by hand so each is unique.
I’ll get the artwork scanned if I have it but below are two songs from Bubblegum Thunder‘s third 7″ on Model Rocket Records. Shortly after this came out I joined the band for awhile to play bass. Before that they were a tuned down trio with no bass player. So to make it one lower I came in. Total blast playing with Joseph, Sandor and Brett. This was recorded by Steve Albini winter of 94′ and released that summer. The photo above was from a return trip to record a full length with Albini in summer of 95’ sometime. I remember camping out and drinking some cheap-ass beer in the can on the way there and waking up with a pounding headache like no other. Also got to play the world famous Lounge Ax while we were there. This music will not help cure hangovers that but you will wish you were drunk. It’s pretty rocking stuff if you like the Cows, Poster Children or Don Caballero chances are you’ll dig this. The link above has more.
My old pal David Koslowski has been working on this Alice Donut documentary with Skizz Cyzyk for the past year or so called Freaks In Love. Here’s the very exciting trailer with Jello Biafra, Martin Bisi, Kirk Kirkwood, Greg Werckman, some live footage and band interviews. I had the pleasure of seeing this psychedelic punk band a few times when they were on Alternative Tentacles. One notable time they were one of the highest paid bands to ever play the Court Tavern. Another time they drew like ass and the bar ate it but they still kicked ass.
One of the photos from one of those shows is below. I have a crap load more somewhere but doesn’t matter the events are etched in my mind. The trench coat stunk like BO but the band fuckin’ rocked like nobody’s business. New York does not make bands like this anymore. Not even close. They are above categorization in the same way you need to think twice when confronted by a transvestite that is hot under the bridge. Your mind and loins say wow but there is something disturbingly wrong. You know it is not right. Your brainspace knows it but the words don’t come out. Oh and then they start playing and it makes sense when Jello says in an interview that Alice Donut “are the mising link between REM and the Butthole Surfers” This is just the beginning of the narrative for a genuinely alternative band compared to the bland rock-n-roll your’re used too imbibing these days. Take a deep whiff. That’s your mind melting…
Alice Donut Live at The Court Tavern, New Brunswick N.J.
This is not slacktivism, if wfmu had stock I’d own a healthy amount of shares. Just yesterday I was wearing my two-cow WFMU T-shirt and I was able to give my 91.1 foot description. “Its free form radio baby“… trust me the parents at the 3 year old’s birthday party thought I was a lunatic. Everybody shifted to the right. But for those of you inclined to flip to the left of the dial this Wednesday there is a quick end of year wfmu.org pledge drive starting at 9AM or now if you like. For every $1,000 you as a pledger can help add a helium balloon to lift the Director Ken’s lawn chair. Help blast him off into the sky. In lieu of maxing out another credit card and enable them to put some tinsel on the Marathon Chrismikah holiday tree by making a donation of any amount. So you can get your ears on into next year or field questions about your wears at kids parties.
Here’s five songs about love to help get you into the giving mood.
1) Turn On Your Love Light by Bill Black’s Combo from Michael Shelley’s Cut That Out! Vol. 2 WFMU marathon comp a great DJ Premium you can pledge towards. Trust me this is a great compilation.
2) Pink Love by Blonde Redhead from Misery Is A Butterfly.
3) Original Love by The Feelies from Crazy Rhythms.
4) I Love You [Demo] by The Velvet Underground from Loaded
5) ILoveGirlsWhoLoveRockandRoll by True Love from I Was Accident. This is best song ever written, recorded and produced on a 4-track!!.
Continuing, overall this year was a bountiful one musically with our best of list deserving 13 great albums. Yeah! Shit I cut a bunch just because they would have only eeked in based on the merits of previous releases but in fairness we all have our internal logic (See part I for our Best 2010 Album guidelines) which makes these lists so much fun. So please share yours. We’ll have a separate year in review post about the things that sucked and rocked in the music industry and only go into a few reasons why the music on these records is worthy of your time and money. What I would like to see is a Web Blog equivalent of a Grammy but that whole scene is more splintered. The VMA’s are a joke. So who knows. Might be too many disparate choices. I am interested to know what’s on your list though. Without further ado here’s 2K10 year’s best of albums!
6) Elvis Costello – National Ransom
Some of my favorite pop songs have been written by Costello from This Year’s Model and his whole 70’s era. This one is good old Americana rock and roll with just enough roots and blues to make it a tasty album all the way through and he’s a Brit! Great playing on here making it a great dinner party record to sip some whiskey to with a blaring fire with friends. I can hear the smoke and smell the cinder burning.
Listen: Download MP3: National Ransom [Buy]
5) The Gaslight Anthem – American Slang
This is Jersey pride stinging you in the face. These are the rock stories of youths gone wild in the suburban and urban streets. The ability to tell the tales and paint pictures is what catapults this band’s scenes in the tradition of Springsteen and Dylan. Yup close as classic rock as you’ll get without sounding too melancholy for the 60’s. Much respect.
4) Ted Leo & The Pharmacists – The Brutalist Bricks
It’s about time that Jersey’s native son is on a New York label again like Matador. Hopefully there will be many more releases like this one. He heaves his voice and modish riffs like he has a millions songs to give and no concern for the future. The record has a nice live feel minus all the emo hand clapping so lets hope that he see’s some bucks so he can keep making music like this for us.
Listen: Download MP3: Gimme The Wire MP3 [Buy]
3) Tame Impala – Innerspeaker
This is one of those bands that came out of the blue for me. Ripped it up in all sorts of interesting ways. They sort of remind me of British Sea Power in their big rock compositions but more Revolveresque vocally with these interesting dream groove space jams. Big Bonham drums that just power you into the future with flanger effects, phasers and small stones. This is near perfect psychedelic rock.
Listen: Download MP3: Desire Be Desire Go [Buy]
2) Male Bonding – Nothig Hurts via Subpop The right mix of trashy bass, Melody and sing-song guitardness is up in this English bands tunage produced by John Agnello. At their heart they remind me of fIREHOSE but sound nothing like them. They use reverb like any proper British group of record geeks should. I don’t know… try it in case you haven’t already. This band has heart.
Listen: Download MP3:All Things This Way [Buy]
1) True Love – ¡Pas Net! via Mainman Records
Besides the fact I’ve known these guys since forever and the various groups they were each in before. They have never faltered to deliver quality rock-and-roll that nods to just the right amount of genres and musical stock. Any lame metaphor would not be perfect enough. They put a lot of care in their pop-rock which is alla The Creation, Nada Surf, Sweet, Bowie,gbv and feel free to insert any weird 70’s references. All three in this trio can sing and play an instrument which makes for better bubblegum chewing for us all at the risk of biting our lips in sobering retarded awe. This is fantastic marathon beer drinking rock music without breaking a swet. A sobering experience for critics and in my humble opinion this is what albums should be like from a start to finish. When it’s over you want more and you don’t know why. This one reaches the finish line breathlessly.
Listen: Download MP3:Bitter Wine [Buy]
Download Bonus: Here’s a track from their first self titled LP. If you don’t like this something is seriously wrong with you and I don’t think we can be friends.
Listen: DOWNLOAD MP3: Over The Rainbow [Buy]
Welcome, here’s the first 7 of my best of lucky 13 albums for 2010. I’m breaking it up so you get a chance to listen to this first batch. Lots of albums will be in a different list all their own like No Age, She & Him II, and Superchunk just to keep you guessing. Although great bands they did not make it to this particular list. Here’s the review stalker guidelines for selecting this years list. Pretty general stuff but anyway. Enjoy! Rule: 1 Don’t stick to any one sub-genre if you can help it although you like what you like. Rule: 2 These are albums not hit songs or singles although a good album has stand-out tracks it needs songs around them that make sense so the record needs to gel from the beginning to end. One song does not an album make unless it’s a amazing song. Rule: 3 Just because a band made great record in the past doesn’t automatically qualify them. Although if it’s kind to your ears for reason you can’t explain put it on the list! Rule: 4 These are not Grammys so don’t make obvious choices mix and shake it up some variety. Not even easy as a guideline unless it’s a specific black metal list. Rule: 5 Listen with your ears on and check out these songs if you’re not familiar with them already. Make a mix and share it with your friends. Then go support the bands you like and buy their music you cheap ass. That’s the point.
The Soft Pack via Kemado Records
13) The Soft Pack – Self Titled
This band used to be called The Muslims and not sure why they changed their name to something more PC. Sort of lame but whatever. My friend Albie turned me on to them and just based on this song alone they made it to my best of list. I don’t know a whole hell of a lot about them other than they know how to compose a good rock song or two. See I’m breaking my own rules already.
Listen: Download MP3: C’Mon [Buy]
The Hold Steady - Heaven is Whenever
12) The Hold Steady – Heaven Is Whenever
This is their Let it Bleed. This is band knows how to lay it down and are relentless despite the departure of their keyboard player, the rhythm section, the solos are right in the sweet spot, and big rock ideals make every track a keeper. Singing songs about girls and drinking doesn’t get any better than this. Shit there are only four chords anyway.
Listen: The Weekenders MP3 [Buy]
Nada Surf - If I Had a Hi-Fi
11) Nada Surf – If I Had A Hi-Fi
This is a cover Album. Wait what? Yeah and you know what it’s awesome all the way through. Every song sounds like it could be a Nada Surf song. They are songs that have inspired them or they inspired it seems to me. It’s confusing but hot damn they do everything justice. It’s a first here for sure. Here’s our review with all the original versions of the songs(almost).
10) The Black Angels – Phosphene Dream
Psychedelic or Psych or voodoo rock. This record is huge. The sound track for a all out acid war. Picture tar pits burning and people running around naked like a scene out of True Blood. That’s track 1 and it just gets wilder from there. These are images this music conjures up. A little Jim Morrison a little led zeppelin. This stuff is huge and simple at the same time.
Listen: Telephone MP3 [Buy]
The Fall - Your Future Our Clutter
9) The Fall – Your Future Our Clutter
Mark E. Smith is the grand creator of alternative punk among the best of the . A constant artist who keeps moving The Fall’s music even it should not be moved. His place in history was chiseled and yet he chooses to take the same old atonal ingredients using keyboards, drums, and bass bulldoze over his own castle and fill it with more crazy moaning alchemy. Great noise.
Listen: Hot Cake [Buy]
Sweet Apple Love & Desperation
8 ) Sweet Apple – Love & Desperation
Lots of big rock jams on here of the kind pot smoking variety. Another big rock entry on this best of list. Besides the fact it has variable rock star weight this is great. That’s all.
Listen: Flying Up A Mountain MP3 [Buy]
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Beat The Devil's Tattoo
7)Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Tattoo
This is southern black magic. This shit rocks hard and is relentlessly distorted with creepy church organs. I like them so much because they remind of the american version of The Jesus and Mary Chain sometimes. All the guitars sound great and fills a huge space.
Listen: Beat The Devil’s Tattoo MP3 [Buy]
No two bands are more concavely opposite in their genetic rock-n-roll make-up than Big Black and Supersuckers other than the fact that Steve Albini and Eddie Spaghetti have been prolific in their output and play music on a pretty consistent basis. In a drinking fight Supersuckers would win. In a cussing fight it might be a draw. Not sure about pool but it is a skill that does normally take place in bar, Albini might be a shark, regardless both much respected musicians at this here MP3 Music blog.
Unremarkable People Confirmation Bias EP via Ourselves Collective
Album Review:Unremarkable People are my New favorite band on so many levels if life were a video game. The group is the brainchild of one known as B. Mandelbaum. Not a very rockstarish name but then again neither is singer/songwriter Burt Bacharach.
The evidence is in the words and melodies that are apologetically so and prolifically free. How else are kids supposed to work? Mandelbaum and his collective of friends (Dan, Adam, Tom, Steve, Christian, Jeremy, Bill, Matt, Rowen, Mike, Joe..) remind us sincerely musically of the one man show known as Los Halos lead by Samezvous aka Eli Wenger or East River Pipe.
One way to come up with huge discography is to never stop recording and to release as much material as you can as if your life depended on it. This is what Unremarkable People have done in the tradition of cooperatives. A don’t stop. Don’t look back Clash philosophy where you are dared to quit. Maybe they edit out the shit (or maybe not) and move on. Not sure if it applies here since there is one beating heart creating the material and lots of friends are involved. To make them just show up to the scene is probably a job in itself.
The evidence is the debut a 16 track epic that was recorded in different places in and around Brooklyn, Queens and Shirley NY called A Rare Condition, in This Day and Age(2009) but this is not what I’m here to talk about today. The second release is compromised of 5 EPs! Not singles or 7 inches. The latest of five final installments in series is called Confirmation Bias EP. This is manicmusic the sort that blasts out of confetti cannons for good reason at all other than to celebrate imbibing air. Pop music with a infectious melodic sting not unlike a needle prick but in the 2 1/2 minute variety that is sure to bring out your best most awkward dancy dance.
Shows:
Fri 12/10 Union Pool w/ Roadside Graves
Sat 12/18 Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt Christmas Spectacular @ SILENT BARN
Sun 12/19 Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt Christmas Spectacular @ THE OASIS
Fri 1/14/11 Brooklyn Fireproof East
Influences and stuff I hear in Unremarkable People but decide for yourself:
Baltimore (mp3) East River Pipe from Tape op [Buy]
Lioness (mp3) by Los Halos From Leaving VA and here’s an outtake called Loveless(mp3) that did not make it onto the album and was only available if you got the box set of cds mailed to you. This cd was called a new kind of joy. In the liner notes he goes on about that there was a girl that inspired LVA, then they broke-up and the friend thing was ruined when he played her the song and she laughed. Ouch. [Buy]
I can’t believe it’s December already! Where has the year gone? After this list the next big one I have to do is my year in review for 2k10 but first here’s a bunch of Christmas / Holiday songs for ya’ll to add to your X-mas playlist compilation. Some punk, alternative and some indie ones. Geesh, something for every body then I swear once this is done that’s it for me until next year. A few more presents to buy maybe I swear too! Need to figure out a way to slow the holiday down so we can enjoy it.
Christmas MP3s are here! You’re A Mean One Mr. Grinch By the Whirling Dervishes. If there is one thing you do this year is promise me you buy this version of The Grinch song on iTunes. once you’ve checked it out. They are a New Jersey band and I’ve been waiting a long time for them to finally get out there digitally. Check out Everlounge if you really want to boogie down.
Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home) by the New Bomb Turks from the Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus – Volume 1 Compilation from Sympathy for the Record Industry. Classic Ohio Punk.
Assasination on Xmas Eve by Archers of Loaf Live. I have no idea where this was recorded but love it when it comes up in random play.
All Fucked Up On Christmas by Billy Filo and the Christmas Allstars. Mostly Hoboken and Jersey punks rocking on this jam. It’s actually a really good song.
Dear Santa-stress,
Lots of price points with a mixed bag of items for this Seasonal Holiday known as Chrismika. This list of present ideas is for your beloved music fan. Along with a few tunes to help ease the tension for the ensuing shopping.
Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus - Volume 1
Expensive Executive gifts:
Giant box of uber Beatles in a box set(279) or a 1970’s era Rolling Stones catalog of CD($179) complete with Book with essays by the Stones from Restoration Hardware. Your dad may just have the vinyl but doesn’t have them like this also will give you something to read while you are there. The spine of the Beatles box is cool because it has the spines of the LP’s on the side which is a minor detail a collector would like.
Gold Top Gibson Les Paul. A dude can dream. Cost: Priceless.
Joe Strummer Fender telecaster ($895?). If you can find this it’s a
little more affordable and price of a fancy LV purse so the argument is built in just shop around. I played one last year and it was worn in just in the right spots.
Dan Electro 67′ Hornet reissue. This plays awesome, the bottom fret is a little gritty but nothing a little playing won’t cure. I got one last year in red for $299. I’ve seen them for $100 more now but well worth it if dig long next blues guitars.
MP3 I Wish It Could Be Christmas Ever by the Devil Dogs from Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus – Volume 1 compilation
For the Record Collector snob: Bay Area Funk I & II series from the California’s Ubiquity Records. Throw in T-shirt or one of series 7 inches for good measure and the snob will be happy. Hint I already have the first CD and it’s totally amazing.
MP3 06 What It Is Pts 1&2(1976) By the artist known as Apollis from the Bay Area Funk series I. This is some serious groove making only credit I could find as of this writing is that it was produced by Soul Set Productions out of San Francisco for La Val Records on a 7 inch!
Groove Merchant Turns 20! CD/lp ($22) – This too is super cool compilation I picked it up at the Sound Station in Westfield, NJ but is also avail from Ubiquity direclty. Great to add into the holiday music mix. Their anniversary T’s are hip too. Great site although mp3s are not available immediately after download it’s ok because they are old school.
For 2+ i found a oldschoolxlyaphone. You hear these on all sorts of
recordings all the time. This is a pretty nice one from Drum Bum.
Lullaby Renditions of your favorite alternative rock on CD is available by The Cure, radiohead, ramones, nirvana. Trust me you will go insane after 100x times listening to twinkle twinkle little star and this stuff is made by awesome musicians.
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