There is, if I say so myself, some pretty high-power stuff in this purge of my mailbox. Big names like Julian Casablancas, MIA, and Atari Teenage Riot don't usually go to the blogs to promote their wares. I like it. Speaking of MIA, "Born Free" is sort of unusual territory for this blog. I liked "Paper Planes" – the mix of the Clash, gunfire, cash registers, and MIA's original style made it interesting and new. "Born Free" continues in a similar vein with an intermingling of styles – rock, hip-hop, etc. Also, the video, if you haven't [...]
A little less than a couple of months ago – if you'll recall – I posted about a blues guitarist named Popa Chubby. As almost an afterthought, I also mentioned Galea, who sings on one of the tracks I posted. After I had heard about and posted about Popa Chubby, I continued investigating and tracked down some music by the lovely Miss Galea. I can't tell you much about her, other than I learned that – in addition to handling occasional bass and vocal duties for Popa – she is also his wife. And, a [...]
Fifteen or so years ago, when I was still married, the ex and I took a weeklong trip to Cabo San Lucas. Coming from the deserts of Southern California, we were ill-equipped to handle the brutal humidity we found there. But the subsequent sweatfest was only the beginning of the fun. A couple of nights into the trip, we made the obligatory trip to Sammy Hagar's bar, Cabo Wabo, where mucho drinking ensued, natch. The bar was way crowded and at some point another couple ended up at our table. [...]
This is a repost from 4/20 a couple of years ago. My thinking goes along the following lines: - I always kinda liked this post; - I can't be arsed to dig up five or six more songs about weed; - If you're really celebrating 4/20, you probably don't remember I've posted this before. Also note that Nirvana's "Marijuana" is likewise known by the name "Moist Vagina." ~~~~~ I've been more or less responsible all day, so it's time to go ahead and roll out (roll [...]
I just realized that the last time any of you heard from me I was on my way out of town to see BugGiRL. For all any of you know I never made it back. But I did. The BugGiRL show was great – they gave it their all despite the small crowd. If you get a chance, definitely you need to see them live. I've really had a lack of posting inspiration lately, so I thought the best solution would be to hit up the mailbox. It turned out there were a few gems hidden there. [...]
If you're in or around South Florida, I need you to join me tonight at The Monterey Club in Ft. Lauderdale to check out BugGiRL. Long-time listeners will know that I have posted before about this hard-rockin' Australian duo ( here and here ) and have been oh-so-patiently waiting for them make the 9000 mile trip to this side of the U.S. so I can see some Blood, Sweat, and Beers all up close and personal like. The first band is scheduled to go on [...]
I just heard this afternoon about Malcolm McLaren's death from mesothelioma at the age of 64. The following is a repost from November 2006. ~~~~~~ Malcolm McLaren: Clothing designer, impresario, rock 'n' roll swindler, and manager of some of the most unique musical acts ever to grace a stage. He began his career as a rock and roll manager by attempting to resurrect the fading New York Dolls. He brought to this – and his other efforts – the philosophies of the French Situationist [...]
Talk about a blast from the past. I found a new Krokus album in my mailbox yesterday. That's right – a new Krokus album. Hoodoo , the band's 21st release, is the first since 1983's Headhunter to feature the classic Krokus line-up of Marc Storace, Chris von Rohr, Fernando von Arb, and Mark Kohler. On-and-off-since-1977 drummer Freddy Steady is also back in the fold for this metal rendezvous. I'll admit I put the disk into my player kind of warily; I wasn't sure what [...]
Easter sort of snuck up on me this year, although I suppose it came the first Sunday in April just like every other year. Not that there are many traditions in Apt. 104, but at least I could have bought groceries last week in case my local market is closed today. As far as today's post, I went back and forth on what I could do. A couple of years ago I found some old, old blues songs that were somewhat religious in nature and thought those might make good [...]
I'm not sure what this means, but apparently my file host has disabled my hosting capabilities. If I understand the email correctly, I was getting something like eight requests per second for an Eminem song I posted back in February 2009. All I can think is spammers or a haxor or something equally nefarious. Unfortunately everything hosted under the "apt104" domain name is affected. I hope to have this sorted out shortly. If not, there are about three months left on my host and I may be pulling the plug on them (and, in [...]
I have, over the past couple of months, gotten a lot of hits on a Runaways post I did more than two years ago (the links are still up if you want to check it out). Oddly, the referrals are almost exclusively from Google images, which made it hard for me to figure out at first. The conclusion I finally came to is that the spike in hits has more or less coincided with the attention to The Runaways, which opens nationally April 9, and people searching images for the band. [...]
Wow. I just can't get the motivation or inspiration lately to post. I look through my CDs and the stuff on my computer and think, Nah, that's all been done. Then I look through the 100-plus emails clogging my inbox and think, There's gotta be something interesting in there. So out of those hundred-some emails, this is what I culled. Can you see why I'm not feeling too inspired these days? My pick of the litter this go-round is Univox's "Pi," which I think I had attempted to post before but there was a problem with the link [...]
This past weekend I bought the new White Stripes live disk, Under Great White Northern Lights . I went the route of going to my local big box retailer to get a physical copy so I could get the bonus DVD. The set documents the White Stripes' 2007 trek across the Great White North, and while the CD is the expected collection of live hits, the DVD contains a few surprises. During the three-week tour, Jack and Meg made stops at several out-of-the-way towns and played some unorthodox venues, such as local cafes and bowling alleys. [...]
I found this Beatles "recording of indeterminate origin" a while ago and was impressed by two things: First, the sound quality is almost at a professional level; and next, the fact that they tear through 10 songs in less than half an hour. I wasn't sure if I was hearing the Beatles or the Ramones. This recording comes from the Aug. 18, 1965, show at Atlanta Stadium in Atlanta, Ga., the third stop on the tour. Beatlemania was at its peak and the band was just coming off one of the most amazing concerts ever – the [...]
I considered a fair number of songs for this St. Patrick's Day post. Had I managed to get around to it earlier in the day, probably any one of them would have been apropos. But, seeing as it's going to be after 9 p.m. (EST) by the time this post sees daylight, the Dropkick Murphy's "Kiss Me I'm Shitfaced" seemed the most appropriate. Here in Miami, St. Patrick's isn't the event it is in other cities. Sure, there's green beer, and people wearing green, and bars with Irish names, but [...]
Happy SXSW week to you and yours. Once again I will not be attending, although I recently wondered if I could have gotten a record label or PR firm to cover my airfare and bar tabs while I whore myself for whatever bands they have in attendance. On the other hand, I harbor a dislike for much "indie" music and can see where it may have ended up as a "Fear & Loathing on 6th Street" type of occasion. "We were somewhere over Louisiana when the drugs began to take hold..." Anyway, as you might guess, my [...]
For David Lee Roth lightening struck twice when he tapped guitar virtuoso Steve Vai for his first full-length solo album, 1986's Eat 'em and Smile . Following a decade alongside Eddie Van Halen, anything less would have seemed as if Diamond Dave were just settling for what he could get. Instead, he dove into his solo career with a big splash, introducing to the world one of the few guitarists who could arguably out-Van Halen Eddie Van Halen. Steve Vai had, of course, been around for [...]
In this age of iPods and iTunes and random singles, it's unusual to sit and listen to an entire album. This past week, though, I've been in the mood to put on an album (OK, a CD, whatever) and listen to the whole thing. Call it random song burnout, but I've gotten tired of hearing whatever comes up on "shuffle." I want control over my musical destiny. One of the disks I listened to this weekend was AC/DC's U.S. debut, High Voltage . I specify the U.S. debut, because that's the one I have, and also [...]
When I was back there in seminary school.... Oh wait, that's a different story. How about "when I was back there in high school..." ... I saw Devo make their network television debut on Saturday Night Live. Although many of my tastes were very white bread and mainstream, I was also drawn toward music that was outside of that box. In the harsh world of high school, those tastes were seldom met with approval. Such was the case when, the Monday after their October 1978 appearance [...]
Is it too early in the day to star drinking whiskey? 'Cause dammit that's what Popa Chubby makes me want to do. Popa Chubby (more on the name in a bit) plays the kind of raunchy blues / rock-a-billy / old-school country that you want to hear in a bar, not sitting on the couch in your living room at 10 in the morning. Last year he released his 19th album, Vicious Country , a disk that not only showed off his talent on the guitar, but also paid tribute to the legendary music that has influenced [...]
Licorice Pizza
Check Out: d’Eon – “Transparency pt. II”
the Weekender ::: New music from Catcall // the National // Summer Camp
KNIFE PARTY – RAGE VALLEY EP
