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
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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

First of all, you must go over to !Viva La Mainstream! and read TJ's rant/review on Chris Cornell's latest release (and listen/download four tracks from Scream). It's thoughtful, thought-provoking, and downright fair. And even though I hate what Chris has done I have to agree with TJ, let the man be, he's got every right to evolve as an artist and go where he wants with his music and well, we can just go fuck ourselves! I give him loads of credit for having the balls to do it.

And yeah, if you listen to it enough and squint your eyes a bit and turn your head and just push Soundgarden outta your mind, it's not THAT bad....

Lots of folk thought that Carry On was pretty awful too. Here's a little reminder of how much better it was, in my opinion, (no, I'm not really saying "I told ya so!")

from Carry On
Arms Around Your Love mp3 Chris Cornell
This is maybe the best song about breaking up I've heard in a long while, it's heartfelt, it's ugly and raw and sobering, and I love the way Chris' voice wraps around this tune. The guitar work's not so shabby either.

Killing Birds mp3 Chris Cornell
I chose this one for you because it's got a totally different sound to it and yet that VOICE, omg, it just sucks you in. Sure, the lyrics are a little forced, but still catchy. I'd like a better drumline on this, it's mechanical and unimaginative, but hey, it's a pop song, it's o.k. Again, the guitar solo doesn't suck :p
Buy Carry On

from BBC Sessions
Orignial Fire mp3 Chris Cornell
Just Chris and a guitar, and sometimes that's all you need.

Redemption Song mp3 Chris Cornell
Bare bones and well, what do we expect from our aging rock gods folks? Honestly, yes, like the Stones, they are CAPABLE of belting it out well into their 60s but some of them may not want to, so why should we demand them to? Let them rock when they wish, mellow when they wish, and god-smite-me for saying this, but even go mainstream on us if they will, eeek!

Have a great weekend!
photo credit to f_day

I love music of all sorts and this blog will soon show, if it hasn't already, how wide my taste ranges. I think my number one pet peeve in music blogs today is how narrow minded they are. Do you music bloggers really only listen to the music you blog about? Or perhaps you only blog about a specific genre in order to create a theme to your output? Maybe it's a function of age, I certainly listen to much more variety now than I did in my late 20s and early 30s. I have a lot more patience for music and for new forms of music.

But, one thing has always stuck with me, and for that I blame my formative years, as they were firmly footed in the late 70s, funk's heyday. I just have a natural affinity for funk music, I can't help it.

What follows might be a mysterious incarnation of funk music to you, but not to me. Listen carefully, it's in there. And enjoy this little lounge act of 1991.

A Martini Built for 2 mp3 My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult Sexplosion!

The International Sin Set mp3
go to their myspace page
buy Sexplosion

Over at Licorice Pizza I've been enjoying the "Ultimate Led Zeppelin Session Disks" which are a Zeppelin lover's delight. Some are just re-takes, some are session recordings, all are another glimpse into the genius of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page in their heyday. No one that knows me understands why I get glassy eyed listening to this stuff. It's nice to realize that all two or three readers here might appreciate it :)

And as I'm quite partial to crazy covers, I'll post my all-time favorite one for you. Now, I'm not into all covers. For me the perfect cover has to fulfill three goals

1. the original song as to have been a major hit and still be quite recognizable - no esoterica allowed
2. the cover artist has to be well known, you shouldn't have to look at the label to know who's covering what
3. it can't sound too much like the original, whoever is covering it should give the cover their own flavor, style or hue

This cover far exceeds my three goals, it is perfection! And it makes me giggle every single time I play it. I hope it does the same for you. Aikin, I really hope you've never heard this one before :)

Stairway to Heaven mp3 Dolly Parton Halos and Horns

buy it off of Dolly's website

and you really can't describe what you've seen for perhaps a week or two. Yeah, that happened to me. Honestly. I just thought I was going to see Billy Bragg. You pretty much know what you're gonna get at a Billy Bragg concert: good tunes, tunes you've heard for years, some new stuff off his latest album, (which I quite like, by the way), some political rants, (which I also quite like, by the way), a lot of warm fuzzies, a roomful of middle aged to aging middle class folks like me. What can I really tell you? Billy Bragg always does it for me.

But, WHAM, right before his set this crazy looking guy waltzes out on stage with giant geek-glasses, goofy wrinkled geek-buttoned down shirt, baggy but not too baggy geek-nondescript pants and shoes, but wearing a red keytar. He whips out a harmonica and starts making these odd hip-hop beat noises with his mouth into the microphone and this middle-aged white woman stifles a laugh, claps her hand over her mouth for the next 40 minutes and is amazed at what comes out of this, er, spectacle on stage.


Here, I give you a taste of C. R. Avery folks. He's part performance artist, part one-man band, part genius and part slam poet. I think he's brilliant and he needs you.

Like right now.

Hell Of A Hotel Of Harm mp3 C.R. Avery Magic Hour Sailor Songs

The Ballad of Charlie Parker and Patsy Cline mp3 C.R. Avery Magic Hour Sailor Songs

The Boxer Who Just Returned From London mp3 C.R. Avery Magic Hour Sailor Songs


go to his MySpace site to buy it!

I began perusing mp3 blogs in search of a song that I couldn't find anywhere and didn't want to pay for. Yes, I'll admit it, (a) we're feeling the "recession" that supposedly isn't happening here in the US, and (b) I'm so sick of fucktunes ripping me off and the aggravation I've been through reloading and unloading and reloading my damn fuckpod. So, thanks to the generosity of you good bloggers out there, I've found my song (no, no idea anymore what it was) and quite a few more good ones too. And in the process I've found my feet back in the land of music, a place I once knew a thing or two about. If I find a track on a blog that I like I buy the CD, I rarely read the review, I'll be honest but yeah you guys have turned me on to some fabulous new music like Sigur Ros and Lightspeed Champion, not to mention Meho Plaza and Holy Fuck. So while I won't get any attention from the record companies on this little blog, I can at least share one or two of my own niche faves, eh?

this is the song from whence came the blog title...

From Your Mouthmp3 God Lives Underwater Life in the So-Called Space Age

buy it!