Mrs. Tart, aka MeatPocket, and I truly enjoy bad movies. Especially with monsters and cute guys and beautiful women and the like. So we were especially pleased by all the corniness that was The Mummy 3. There was even a yakking yak, (insert groan here), but with the gratuitous Brendan Fraser bare chest scene (yes I googled for it, and the internets failed me, dear reader!) and the debut of a beautiful Chinese actress, Isabella Leong, we were ready to forgive them their sorry jokes. (MeatPocket insists that I note that she is "much more enamored of the classic beauty and intense presence of Michelle Yeoh" and adds that Jet Li is also still a hottie. Whatever).
The music was not particularly memorable I must add. However, the graphics and titles were spectacular. MeatPocket reads a bit of Chinese and she was ecstatic to see how beautifully and er, correctly they were done. She said the historical details like armor, weaponry, architecture, etc. were also largely accurate as well which, to our minds, is quite refreshing in mainstream Hollywood films. But honestly, Isabella Leong, was so, so, gorgeous in those snow scenes! Oh, I'm such a philistine! xoxoxo



A Call To Adventure (Theme from The Mummy 3 mp3, Randy Edleman, from The Mummy 3 OST

The Reign of Terror mp3, Randy Edleman, from The Mummy 3 OST

Buy it if you must, but I'm warning you, it's movie music, meh.... nothing else really to say.

Rol, at Sunset Over Slawit posted last week about a book that is going right on my xmas list this year, Chuck Klosterman's Fargo Rock City. One question that Rol takes from the book, is the mystery of why some girls (and women) actually like metal, or more specifically what Rol calls "glam metal" such as KISS, Poison, Thin Lizzy, Bon Jovi, etc... and I stumbled into the middle of a conversation on whether or not a particular Whitesnake video with a hot female model "having sex with a car" (as Rol describes) was sexist or not. Go see it here. I replied that some of us girls wanted to be the girl on the car, some of us wanted to have the girl on the car, and more importantly some of us knew exactly how to get the metalmen, namely by liking the music they liked regardless of the videos. So, sexist or not, we didn't really care. Scheming bitches aren't we?! Oh and thanks Rol, for a really thought provoking post! I'm not criticizing it in any way hun!

But seriously, what's so mysterious about metal? Or about any genre for that matter? Why divide the world so neatly so that The Carpenters are girly and Ozzy's for the boys? I admit, I started out listening to metal to piss off my parents like all you guys did :p Yeah, it worked for me too. Punk worked even better, I just couldn't do the satanic head trip on my poor christian mother that metal afforded me!

Now, this got me thinking, why have all the people in my life, who knew anything at all about music, been men? It's not just that certain genres of music are roped off for women, even musical knowledge is considered "a manly sport." Yeah, I know I lost some of ya there. You can smell a feminist rant coming, right? I'll try and take it easy on ya, I promise I won't go all Camille Paglia here. Just tell me when's the last time you had a real conversation about a band -- not a song, with a woman? When you go to gigs, look around? I was seriously the only woman at the Duke Spirit show the other week not wearing makeup and a low-cut fashionable blouse/dress, and I was one of maybe 5 single women there (probably the only one who wasn't "working" that night, lol!). Yeah, I'm odd that way sometimes, but this was a pretty scuzzy venue. I was there for the music (not that they weren't, of course, of course).

There's an ad in my local coffeehouse for an all women punk rock collective, they do gigs that spotlight local women's music. I usually avoid that crap like the plague. Maybe I just spent too many years in the dyke community, it was a fine place to visit but nobody wants to live in the ghetto, ya know? And yes, I understand that women don't have as much money to spend on entertainment as men, that women don't want to play by the rules of "the system" or "the man" etc... I got it. But I also see how "the industry" funnels us band after band that sounds the same, that has no female voices in the foreground and that sucks too, cause damn I love me some girly punk. Most of all, (and this is what was missing from the whole riot grrl phenomenon, in my memory) I love to see women having FUN with music and FUN with sexuality in music, for a change. Maybe I'll surprise you with a review of that local collective thing one day, who knows? ;)

Blender mp3 Amy Ray from Prom commentary on the industry
Buy it

More Rock More Talk mp3 The Butchies from Population 1975 Amy's queercore backup band for her first two solo projects, and an entity onto themselves, also known as Team Dresch
Buy it

I like Fucking mp3 Bikini Kill from The Singles great song, but honest to god, this doesn't sound like a woman who likes to fuck!
Buy it

Slide mp3 L7 from Bricks are Heavy: not a happy camper either :(
Buy it

O Bondage, Up Yours! X-Ray Spex from: The Rolling Stone Women In Rock Collection [Disc 2] mp3 * now there's a reason this is my all time favorite girly punk song! I'm just so unevolved xoxox
Buy it

*also available on Germ Free Adolescence (2005) expanded version

Um yeah. I was really gonna try and clean up this blog, what with all the sex songs and the Pup's obsession with bitches this week, but alas, I find myself blogging on another Friday. And as you know, Fridays in Tart-land are the let-it-loose-and-be-a-little-wild day of the week! Mrs. Tart (MeatPocket as she's chosen to be called here, oh my!) and I have opted out of seeing a gig tonight, so apologies all you Fiest fans, just not our cuppa right now. And at the moment, in the wee hours of Friday morning, I'm just basking in the afterglow and picking out movie times for this evening.

What better album to turn you on to than Puscifer's V Is For Vagina. God, I am so in love with this sound. Dark, broody, so masculine and yet not exactly angry or violent as it is simply just mmmmmm meaty and er, dare I say, throbbing? Maynard James Keenan, from Tool, and A Perfect Circle, created this gorgeously sexy sound to be "groove-oriented music that makes you feel good" and without a doubt he succeeded on these two tracks. Other tracks on the album seem out of sync here but these two shine, and while the project as a whole seems to lack focus I'm content with scooping the cream off the top.

Now I know, some of you will ask, how can a Tart like this stuff after you've seen some of her latest pop/funk/posts? What can I say? The dark side is hawt. No, I'm not one to espouse guns and violence and that kind of death/dirge, metal music. But when Keenan growls

Out to run the train at the railway station,
Shotgun Betty stoppin' dead at my shoes.
Cock on lockdown, she said learn the damn alphabet.
I come before you, get to payin' your dues.

I just see some kind of poetry in that. Call me crazy if you will... :)

Vagina Mine mp3, Puscifer: V Is For Vagina

For your auditory/sensual delights our second Friday track is just too too obvious, but indulge me, it's been a long week full of computer viruses and whatnot and did I mention that afterglow? ;)

Queen B mp3 Puscifier: V Is For Vagina

This lady got the thickness
Can I get a witness
This lovely lady got the thickness
Can I get a Hell Yeah

Grab them saddlebags and
Toss em over me
Let's ride all night

Hell Yeah, the Tart's feeling that tonight... hopefully you'll be feeling it too later on my darling reader(s) xoxo

buy it direct from the Puscifer website it's pretty cool to just go peek at too

I'm still around just very tied up in stuff (no ropes involved Tart) so to prove it I leave you this post. Thus I give Tart two things she needs 1.) Ben Folds as he is a piano musical genius 2.) Cover songs as she LOOOOOOOooves covers songs.

Here is a complete and very sad list of shows I will not be reviewing for you next month:

• Sept. 24 - Sigur Ros $145.00-$306.00!!! omg
• Sept. 25 - James $24.00
• Sept. 27 - My Bloody Valentine $40.00 SOLD OUT whew!
• Sept. 28 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - $34.00

I've added the admission prices to cheer myself up, hehehe. That Sigur Ros show is really outrageous, eh!? I guess waiting til the last minute to buy your tickets is a really bad idea. And in the interest of full disclosure I should add that I've secretly entered myself in a drawing for free tickets for that Nick Cave show ;)

It's not money that's keeping me at home those evenings, however. You see, on occassion Mrs. Tart and I (yes, yes, there's two Mrs. Tarts, we each call the other "Mrs." it's no big deal, I assure you) entertain "guests," what more er, normal people would call fuckbuddies, and on that week we are "entertaining" not just any "guests" but out-of-town "guests." In fact, "guests" who are coming to our big city from a far away country (!) just to "entertain" with us, wowza! while on their way to a conference in San Francisco. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

What? You thought I simply liked to eat little fruity cakes with whipped cream on top? Tut, tut! But this isn't a sex blog, per se. I just wanted to get that off my chest and explain to you my horribly painful predicament. Some goddamned good live music will be missed over here! Perhaps you'll share in my misery but take comfort in my er, promise of comforting?

Oh you wanted songs too? Hmmmm.....

Sexual Healing mp3 Neil Finn from Andrew Denton's Musical Challenge 2, 2001 I swiped this off a blog a while ago and I honestly can't remember who's, so apologies for not giving them a cite here. I love, love, love the original of this tune, I mean, Marvin Gaye is THE BEST! And when I saw a cover, I thought to myself, "no way, is this gonna be even listen-able." Well, reader(s), Neil Finn surprised the hell outta me. I hope he does the same to you, it's folksy, bluesy, simple and really um, white, but yeah, it totally works.

If you find somewhere to buy this album, please leave me a source in the comments, I'd love to have it! Here's A Neil Finn fan space on MySpace with more of his music.

You Sexy Thing mp3 Hot Chocolate from Hot Chocolate, 1975 (this version is from the soundtrack to The Full Monty) This was maybe the first song I heard on the radio that was explicitly about sex, and I remember it well! The percussion (bongos?) is simply amazing and when Errol Brown belts out "Kiss Me!" how can ya not wanna? Oh, and the scenes from that British movie were pretty good too ;)

Buy Hot Chocolate

Sexyback mp3Justin Timberlake from FutureSex/LoveSounds, 2006 Ok, ok, I know, this tracks seriously drags the blog down in coolness points, but there's simply a time and place for Timbaland/pop/trash music like JT. And boys, in the bedroom is that time and that place! Just tell me you don't want a gorgeous person of your desire to take off their clothes to this track? Be honest!

Buy FutureSex/LoveSounds

Sexplosion mp3 My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult from Sexplosion, 1991 (incidently a band for which I do have tickets to see in October!) Back to some quality tunes. This track is brilliant! This album is described by wiki as their " leap toward more psychedelic house beats and their later grind house lounge sound" from their roots in a purer industrial sound. Whaterver, you wanna call it, this is music to {...} to in my book. It's funky, the beat is solid, the sound effects are intriguing, the vocals are, dare I say, gutsy? I could listen to TKK all day and certainly all night.

Buy Sexplosion
MySpace for TKK

David-Sexy Thing mp3 by David... here's where I admit my total ignorance of not only source for this song but even genre (I don't even think I have the total attribution correct here)! So dance/trance/house music fans out there help a girl out. I saw it on YouTube. I loved it. I've looked for it but with a name like that, it's kinda hopeless, don't ya think? I think this is the first track on this blog of trance music but that's not to say that the Pup (my new nick for him lol...he's gonna kill me!) and I aren't fans, we are! At least I hope he'll admit to it in public, eek, more trouble I'm getting myself into while he's away, heheheh. Anyhoo, this kind of music is perfect for {...'ing}, for those moments when you just want to lose yourself in the moment and need a beat, ya know?

Now, you tell me...What do you listen to when you're {...'ing}?

Some days are rewarding, others are not. This day in blogland was a very rewarding day for we were rewarded with mention on two very nice and cool blogs of note, blogs that I've been a fan of since before I began this wee diary and mp3 collection.

Over on The Vinyl Villain JC has added us to his blogroll and linked to us in a post, which has sent more than a few music seekers our way. Thanks so very much! If you haven't been over there to read the fellas awesome posts on old music, new music, live gigs, and some great rare BritPop stuff .... There's plenty of The Smiths, James, some REM, Elvis Costello and so much more... well you really should go see for yourselves. But they don't just write reviews, the blog is also full of humor and memories and wit and ... well the verve of what music is, as it exists in their lives and in their past. I'm just loving learning about them through their music (well mostly JC to be honest) and that's what good blogging is all about, n'est pas? Don't miss the corresponding collection of video on The Video Villain too! JC really has a cottage industry going on over there.


Now, is the Tart just kissing up here? Hell yeah she is! I know that in the little incestuous land of blogging you gotta pay your dues. And I also mean every word of it. I know equally well that I walk in some pretty big footsteps here. Those closest to me are Puppet Show's and you all really should know something about us... (cue dramatic music here, damn where is that track from all those old Vincent Price movies?!)

I tease the living crap outta that man, but he really is the be-all and end-all of my music education and almost everything I know I owe to him at this point. Most of the tunes I throw up here he gave me, he pointed me towards, or he explained the history of to me. Sure, I came to the table with Amy Ray and The Duke Spirit, and anything Funk or pre 1980 is probably mine, but for specifics on Metal or Punk even (tho I'm a huge fan), Puppet Show is your man! I started this little music diary to give back something since I found I was swiping a lot of tunes from bloggers. That just didn't sit right with my socialist sensibilities so out came this here blog. I needed to give back. But as soon as Puppet Show got back in town I knew I needed help! I'm so glad he's climbed in the saddle to ride this pony with me.

Music has got me through some long-ass days, I've asked him some really dumb questions and he's never made me feel stupid yet (don't you dare start now! lol) countless times he's sent me some Morrissey or Jesus on Exasty when I really needed it. The blog has given us an outlet (I think, at least) to take all those music conversations and do something useful with them! So thanks so much, you know ... well, I owe ya, 'nuff said.

Speaking of ponies....
I can't listen to this song without thinking of you, LOL

I Wanna Be A Cowboy mp3 Boys Don't Cry, 12" Maxi-Single, (US 1985) 12" Saddle Mix

buy Boys Don't Cry

p.s. no Puppet Show's not gay... I didn't want ya to wonder, with this song being a gay anthem and all..., but I think this was the first song he ever sent me and it still makes me laugh :)

photo credit: wageslaves

Happy Monday (ok, still Sunday night to us Yanks, don't let's brag about it eh?) Even tho the Tart doesn't have to get up and clock in tomorrow I still have sympathy for all you out there who do. And organizing my music a bit tonight I found this dreamy Elvis Costello tune that just took me back to my youth, to the good days of summer, laying in bed listening to the radio and hoping to hear a track from My Aim Is True. Often late at night I was rewarded with "Welcome to the Working Week", (or with "Wave a White Flag" which to my 13 year old ears was very risque with all that beating and drinking, lol!) Sure the popular tracks like "Watching the Detectives" and "Alison" were easy to hear during the day, but to catch the more obscure ones you had to stay up late. But back to Mondays.... work.... ah right.

Later in life I figured out that working too hard was just not in anyone's best interest really. So no matter what the fucking Yuppies I was surrounded by told me, uh yeah, I was a working class slacker through and through. Of course, it wasn't until much later that I got radical about that, and by then I could afford to be ... ah the typical story of us lefties! Enjoy the tunes, don't work too hard this week, savor what's left of your weekend out there, and let music keep ya sane folks!

And, um, no I don't quite know why someone thought Elvis Costello likes pussy and heroin, he never struck me that way! But I loved this pic when I found it.

Of course no post on slacking would be complete without The Replacements, another band that absolutely formed my musical taste as a young person in the 80s, and I had to beat Puppet Show to the punch by plugging Depeche Mode and stealing one of his own tracks to do it with too! :)

photo credit: (waltzing) matilda

Welcome To The Working Week Elvis Costello from My Aim Is True

Bad Worker mp3The Replacements from Hootenanny

Work Hard mp3 Depeche Mode from Singles, Box 2, 08, Everything Counts

buy Elvis Costello

buy The Replacements

buy Depeche Mode

Well It's been one of those days, just a day when everyone totally erks the heck out of you, I would go into a long diatribe (but my last 2 posts were huge, and sometimes you like a quicky) about the idiot that rode my bumper today in his shiny mid-ninteys cool man black (I swear that's a real color) camaro, but I thought naw... I'll just dedicate this song to him.

So to all the ass wipes that tailgate in camaros this song for you!

Bitchin' Camaro Dead Milkmen Big Lizard in my Backyard

Buy Dead Milkmen

Dear Liela,

First off, thank you so much for a great show last night! I honestly don't know how you maintain all that energy especially at the end of a grueling tour and let me say, you went out with a bang last night. I could tell by your performance that you knew how to handle yourself on a stage with four gentlemen but even more admirably in front of an audience of about 300, comprised of at least 100 pervy and rude men. The way you heckled that heckler was truly inspiring, THANK YOU! Indeed, he would NOT know a babe if he saw one.

photo credit: mediaeater
Now, about your voice; I have to tell you how impressed I was that you were even more raspy-wonderfully-Gidgety (and I mean that as a compliment) than in your recordings. You told us you might need help on the high notes, pfffft. That was false modesty, my dear. You had it GOING ON last night! It's so refreshing to find a voice that's not dreary, cutesy, popstar-like sliding all over the long notes in that Mariah Carey fashion. I mean if you're Mariah do it, but please, if you're somebody else, do your own fucking thing! And you, Liela Moss, you do you own thing wonderfully! There's a certain bit of psychedelia in it, a dash of Grace Slick perhaps? I don't know what you think of all the comparisons to Blondie or to Nico, but I think you're just you: open, raw, out there exposed and bare with lyrics that cut to the quick in a way that none of those artists could do in their time. That, to me, is what indie should be, bravo!

I feel a little embarrassed that we gave you such a small stage... surely you and the boys in The Duke Spirit deserve a much grander space. I could hardly see Olly and had to sneak sideways glances at him before the show, in all his dandy grandeur, yummmmmmmmmm! (Not to mention his performance on "This Ship Was Built To Last") Maybe you could point him towards this blog for me? ;) I would have really loved to see Toby stretch out and hit that bass in the way I know he wanted to last night. God, I love his lines in "Send a Little Love Token" and "The Step and The Walk."
photo credit: richt/tlobf
Now Liela, I need you to do some smoothing over for me, ok? I'm terrible with guitarists, oi! I also was pretty far back from the stage, alas and well, I'm quite short. So who ever did that amazing fret work on "Into the Fold" really deserves a toffee pudding or a pint or whatever they want over there in Prague where you are off to next. So Luke or Daniel ( well both of you, ok?), throw it back, men! Well done! The encore, Neptune's Call was brilliant as well! Thank you.

Please come back and give us another show. I swear I'll buy 50 tickets and make them give you a better venue with excellent sound and more room to romp around and kick and prance and throw your arms about as I know you like to do. Because you all were fucking awesome. And I meant that when I hollered it to you from the street as you were getting into your tour bus. And wow, Liela, thanks SOOOO much for dashing over to me in the street and shaking my hand last night. You ROCK! :)

xoxoxoxo,
a tart - and yeah, like I said, I'm blogging about ya'll today! And thanks for the kind word about Obama, I'm glad you're a fan too!

p.s. Did that guy who climbed on stage at the end actually grope you? OMG, I saw you throw him off and all I can say is wow. If that wasn't an act, where the hell was security when we need it, eh? Don't think all of us in Chicago are animals hun!



Send a Little Love Token mp3
Neptune's Call mp3
Buy the album directly from them
---------------------------------------------------------------------
venue: The Empty Bottle

Opening Bands:
The Pale Gallery
MySpace
Brian Boes: Electric Guitar, Pale Jonny: Electric Bass, Brent Larson: Electric Guitar/Vocals, Jeff Massey: Drums/Vocals. They came on strong and not too loud, confident and for a local band, I'd give them kudos for a good sound. It's kinda like Green Day meets Wheezer.... a good, tight band, Pale Jonny is a good, funky bass player, Bred Larson did a fine guitar solo on "Autograph", but damn they need some work on vocals and "Drop the Deadbeat 4/4" honestly didn't show off the lyrics in my opinion, but tell me what you think. To be fair, the venue did them no favors in terms of acoustics. "Autograph!" was incredibly danceable tho!

from The Pale Gallery EP:
Autograph mp3
Drop the Deadbeat 4/4 mp3
They're not signed yet, here's hoping they are soon!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skybox
MySpace
Tim Ellis: Lead Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Christian Carpenter Fields: Background Vocals, Keys & Lead Guitar, Mike Holtz: Drums, Percussion & Background Vocals,
Dan Ingenthron: Bass Guitar & Background Vocals. Think Jerry Seinfield doing an impression of an Indie Rocker, add Tina Weymouth, bass player for the Talking Heads, and then make it a dream sequence wherein the band does some Sigur Ros songs but in English and you pretty much have the Skybox. Now granted, I am most definitely not an indie rock fan (how do you people dance to this stuff??) In fact, I generally use the term "indiecrap" much like I use the term "fucktunes" to disparage the younger generations' love for all things "wacky" and "fun" grrrr. So when these guys started singing about their relationship with their right hand, especially their thumb, forgive me if I felt it was dumb. The sing-songiness of it all doesn't help me get over the fact that I babysat these brats when I was in my 20's and listening to the really good music of my time. It's as if they never really outgrew Sesame Street, ffs.

However, I have to say, even with the bad acoustics, (did I mention the horrible venue already?) the horrible audio mix and the absolutely rude locals, it was blaringly apparent that these guys have loads of talent and will be huge if indeed they are not already huge (I know little to nothing of the local indie scene). Vocally, Tim Ellis has a terrific falsetto, and a lot of energy. Christian Carpenter Fields is a perfect accoutrement to him, I'd be surprised to learn that the two were NOT long time friends, they seemed so in sync with one another, musically. Mike Holtz gave a very good performance and Dan Ingenthron simply blew me away. I don't often think of Tina Weymouth, few bassists cover the frets the way she does. He saved the night for me, honestly, with this band. They opened with "Various Kitchen Utensils" and I couldn't stop smiling, even as I gritted my teeth. Slower songs like "Gravity Can't Keep Us Down" were lost on the audience which talked through most of it. This is a band that needs a captive audience. The fast songs work well live but the rest don't fill the stage enough to keep the mood going yet. Yes, you indie freaks out there, you will love this band and all their sappy-love-filled harmonies and fun songs and on CD the melancholy stuff is pretty good I'll admit. Go hear them, go buy their CD. Here, taste the love! :)
from Arco Iris:
Various Kitchen Utensils mp3
Gravity Can't Bring Us Down mp3

Buy Skybox's Arco Iris

After yesterdays post on "Fish", I have been playing some of my old Marillion discs and reminiscing to myself. I decided to pour through all my CD's and check out items I haven't heard in a while.

As I have been absent for a few days it doesn't mean I haven't thought of music, or what I would bring to the plate next. So I thought I would drastically change direction of where I have been going and introduce you to (in my personal opinion) one of the best lyricists I have ever heard in my lifetime.

In about 1985 I was introduced to this band by a rather eclectic friend, though he always had decent taste in music, it was a bit out of my taste range during those years (he listened to a decent amount of Rush, Cult, Genesis - while I was listening to Anthrax, Dokken, and Malmsteen ) but my taste was maturing quickly as this was the time in my life I was devouring new sounds and looking a different sounds.

I was asked to listen to "Assassing" by Marrillion off the Fugazi album. It was different, heavy keyboarded very twisting melodies and a singer with a different sound, but the lyrics were deep and meaningful and the sound was luscious. The albums my friend showed me had cover art was incredible and literally had a piece of every song "drawn" right into the art. But unlike most covers of the time it was thought out and put together in a manner that wasn't overkill, it was almost a normal Salvador Dalí painting. All of the art work from the Fish era of Marillion as well as Fish's solo career was done by artist Mark Wilkinson.


"Fish" or Derek Dick (his given name) was the Scotsman lyricist and singer of Marillion. Derek as I understood it in the day, was extremely shy and would paint his face up and use "Fish" as a stage name, almost ala Peter Gabriel of Genesis in his day. Fish also seem to have gotten his deep perspectives writing ability from Jack Kerouac and a good stiff drink which would later give way to the downfall of the greatest progressive rock bands ever. Fish was with Marillion from 1982 to 1990 when there was a decent deal of friction in the band, the years of touring and inter band fighting had worn them thin. Fish was then replaced by Steve Hogarth, and Marillion quickly carried on. I personally think Hogarth mellowed the sound of Marillion out way to much, it was like very watered down 30 year old scotch.


With much relief I found that Dereck went on to do solo material using his moniker of "Fish". Though I never thought that his solo albums reached the level introspectiveness as when he was in Marillion, it was still great, his lyrics were still strong works of art.

Fish is still active in touring and has a huge cult like following just as Marillion still does even in it's new modern "Hogarth" era. Fish's new album 13th Star shows he still can write some master pieces showing the simplicities of life in a complex way. So have a listen, enjoy, and listen to the best lyricist I have known.

*as a side note, I am in no way trying to lay out bands I put up here as me being the all knowing God of information on them. What I write and put up relate to my life and what I knew at the time. Though I am no huge fan of Wikipedia I will say it is a wealth of information, so if you want more info on the artists feel free to go to the artist them self (which is what I do) or feel free to wiki info.. that is all :)


Script for a Jesters Tear - Marillion - Script for a Jesters Tear

The Web - Marillion - Script for a Jesters Tear
(An absolute favorite of mine)

A Gentleman's Excuse Me - Fish - Vigil In a Wilderness of Mirrors

Zöe 25 - Fish - 13th Star

Buy Fish here

Buy Marillion here

It's always nice when great music aligns itself with beautiful women. In the case of The Duke Spirit, I found the music first, the woman second. I'm quite proud of that! Those who know me by my rakish nature probably won't believe it but honestly, I was simply scanning the music files on the SXSW website late one night and heard "Lassoo" and whamo! like a lightening bolt this voice from Venus smacked me right down to the center of my you-know-where.

See, it's always the vocals: the actual way the voice sounds*, how it resonates and transforms the words, how it reverberates through the song - over the instruments, around the (sub)text of the melody or lack thereof (as is often found, in my opinion, in indie rock these days) and most importantly out the lips of the singer, out the very body of the person who breathes it and groans it and exudes it. In the case of Liela Moss it's a very lovely body indeed and I can't wait to witness it in action ... and indeed I will, on Thursday night! Yay me!

But don't let my goofy ramblings about embodied utterances distract you from the music of The Duke Spirit, it's freaking great too! Listen to these two tracks and prepare yourself for my ridiculously overenthusiastic report of the show on Friday, I'm sure I'll be in a stupor over it all.





photo credit: Afraid Of Ducks


In the meantime, roll these songs around in your mouth a bit, and yeah... if you're an avid blog reader you've likely heard them before, sorry, nothing new here!

The Duke Spirit: from Neptune, 2008
Lassoo mp3
Wooden Heart mp3


photo credit: CC Chapman

The Duke Spirit's Website buy their album!
The Duke Spirit on MySpace

Now why is this a good week? Yesterday's post brought me such a treasure! Amy Ray's new album, Didn't It Feel Kinder. The second track hit me with that lightening bolt described above but alas, no time to devote to it today! I'm going to soak it in for a few more days because well, Amy always evokes something very personal in me. Lucky you, eh? Goddamn, women rock!

*after a few conversations with Puppet Show, I have come to the conclusion that this is why I am seemingly genetically adverse to a lot of what's known as metal these days. The "growl" just doesn't do it for me like other kinds of singing do, even though I do relish in the girl-punk sounds of Pretty Girls Make Graves and The Butchies and others... go figure!

Well, over in Tart-land Fridays are the let-it-loose-and-be-a-little-wild day of the week. I'm spending my day packing up for a short road trip...ending with a romp in the country with some deliciously trampy people. You know music's gotta be a part of that! What better way to put you in the mood than some Luscious Jackson, eh?

My ever reliable (?) Wiki tells me that the group is named after Lucious Jackson, a basketball Player whose name was mispronounced "luscious" during a sportscast. They formed in 1991 and disbanded in 2000, taking the riotgrrl phenomenon to another level, sexing up what was looking for a while to be just feminist anger, and creating a sleek and accessible sound for the late 90s, urban dance scene.

from Greatest Hits:
Naked Eye (Radio Version) mp3
Ladyfingers mp3


It's the weekend, go have yourselves some SEX people!

So I'm toolin' around the interwebs as normal looking at all the pron I want to download when I receive a message from one of my old friends... he has a package waiting for me to download. So I begin the download.

I wait for 2 days as the download seem to take forever. So while we wait let me take you back, a little over a year ago I found a band that I fell in absolute love with, Murder City Devils. To me it was the kind of music that made you want to go buy a 50's rat rod (or make one, even better) and cruise til the wheels feel off. It was pure rock n roll made from the necture of the gods, raw and powerful. The sad thing I found was that MCD is no longer a band and have been split since "2001" (except a couple of reunited shows in the years after)

So in my sadness I went looking for anything that the members did after leaving MCD. I found front man Spencer Moody and several members of MCD went on to make a short lived attempt at Dead Low Tide that lasted for 9 months. I also found bassist Derek Fudesco went on to make a band... ok this shouldn't be to hard I thought, I quickly located 3 Pretty Girls Make Graves EP's (named for either the Smiths song or a line from Kerouac's The Dharma Bums) I was not sure what to think first on the first listen as I was expecting to have a bit of MCD sound, what I got was punk n roll with a female touch. Front woman Andrea Zollo took control of the mic and wouldn't let it or the song go, I was hooked. So since then I have been spreading the EP's to my friends with the caveat of... they are no longer around folks, split since 2006.

So back to the package, I am now in possession of the PGMG discography, as I type I drool and listen. Do yourself a favor and remember the your modern underground heroes that molds your underground future.

Speakers Push Air - Pretty Girls Make Graves off of Good Health
Buy Pretty Girls Make Graves

Broken Glass - Murder City Devils off of Murder City Devils (self titled)
Buy Murder City Devils

but I am such a sucker for Steve Miller. And today over on The World Forgot, Billy muses about Obama's campaign choice in music. I suggested (with a smirk on my face, I admit) they use this:



And, yeah that song is a real ear worm, isn't it?

But any who.... back to my childhood and the really good music of the seventies! The song that Obama's political campaign should choose is obviously Steve Miller's Don't You Let Nobody Turn You Around recorded in 1970. This song however, is much much older, stemming from a Negro Spiritual and recorded as early as (maybe earlier) 1935 by Blind Willie McTell. Give it a listen and you'll see why no politician but Obama would dare to use it or maybe get away with using it today.

from Steve Miller's Anthology Don't You Let Nobody Turn You Around mp3
and one more that you really should have
from Steve Miller's Greatest Hits Rock 'N Me mp3
buy them both
visit his site

Well, er, ..... welcome to my co-host here on this here blog, LOL. Puppet Show has graciously accepted an invitation to help out and hoist the sails over here. He's got loads of great tunes and a wealth of musical knowledge which almost makes up for his unbearable personality so I hope you enjoy (put up) with him as much as I do!

And yeah, I have no idea what his picture means either. Hopefully he's got some explanation and a few songs for us. In the meantime I'll leave you with this musical image, it's the best I can do with this pic in my sights! And dear reader(s) I do feel for you!

Chaka Khan from: The Rolling Stone Women in Rock Collection, Disk 2: I Feel For You mp3
buy it

So, I often run to Wikipedia to help me figure out my music quandaries. What genre should I put My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult in or The B 52s, and is Sting still New Wave if he's no longer with The Police? Yeah most people just follow fucktunes and don't care if Apple determines how their music is organized, but I like to do it myself and I like to know why certain artists fall into genres and sub genres. Perhaps it's because I'm obsessed with history in general, perhaps it's because I like to connect the dots so that when I hear GLU I can go back and listen to Depeche Mode and figure out what they borrowed and where they put it. And it's important to me that even if the sound quality is kinda crappy and the style may sound a bit dated, the music of a band like God Lives Underwater is amazing because it was created in a specific time and place, and that time and place is NOT 2008 with the computer technology that recording artists today enjoy. So, listen to this track and remember it was created sometime between 1999-2001 (?) but not released until 2004.

See it's difficult to know exactly when this album was recorded. And honestly I don't feel like wading through fan forums to find out. All I can tell from either Wiki or the official band site is that the release was delayed as the label went broke, but delayed for how long? And then David Reilly died in 2005 and well.... it all gets murky.

So to Wiki or not to Wiki? See, there's a project over at Wikipedia. Some Wikipedians have formed a project to better organize information in articles related to music. And I've been wondering what role music bloggers have or should or might have in that. I know I use Wiki, do you?

this first one is for bitterandrew who's giving really bad (ok, andrew, omit the adjective!) love advice over on Armagideon Time tonight, lol! This song just sprung to mind.

God Lives Underwater: from Up Off The Floor, Tricked mp3

White Noise mp3 buy it


photo credit: birdfarm

There's some great new music by Trapt coming out. I've been a fan of Trapt for a while now, it's a sound that combines terrific melodies with a good old fashioned head-banging beat and yet doesn't quite drive my lover mad like NIN or Puscifier or Cold does. And the words mean something, full of angst and well just plain old heartbreak, yeah I'm a sucker for that. Plus, it's not the kind of death-dirge sound of Metallica and other bands in that genre that makes me want to take a knife to my tender bits.

The single off their new album, Only Through the Pain, titled "Curiosity Kills" is the best one I've heard so far. And the lyrics made me think of another great song by my favorite all time artist Amy Ray. No, the songs have nothing in common musically. Amy has roots in punk/folk/country music and her solo efforts are in no way comparable to the hard-hitting output of a band like Trapt. But when Amy is cut loose from the Indigo Girls (no offense meant to Emily Sailers of course!) she gets to let go a bit, stretch the lyrics and turn up the amp and well, kinda butch the whole thing up some. And this song, Rural Faggot does that. It's all about how what you don't know will break your heart. But sometimes there's folks along the way to help. And yeah, it's full of angst and pain and that rawness that comes from being different in a world where being the same as everyone else is what matters.

Yeah I know, a corny ending, but hey, it's a beautiful summer Sunday afternoon here!

Trapt: from Only Through the Pain (due out soon), Curiosity Kills mp3
their website

Amy Ray: from Prom Rural Faggot mp3
her website buy it there

photo credit to Freelance Dreamer