Blog: Flowering Toilet

I just wanted to pass the word along that one of the bands I wrote about previously, The Popes , are having a reunion show this weekend. The Popes will be playing their first live show in 20 years this Saturday, February 4 at Local 506 in Chapel Hill, NC. As I said in my original post on the Popes: Hi, We're The Popes neatly encapsulates everything that was fun, nice and good about late 80s collegiate rock, and if I wanted to explain what [...]

I hadn't realized it until recently but Black Friday has become a kind of mini Record Store Day. You can see the full list of releases on the Record Store Day webpage . The main thing that caught my eye was a limited edition Sharon Jones album, Soul Time! , which purports to represent the funkier side of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (does Sharon Jones have a side that isn't funky?). It's an odds and sods type compilation featuring some previously released singles, b-sides, compilation tracks, as well as studio versions of some previously unreleased [...]

With Thanksgiving Day just around the corner, I think we should all take a moment to be thankful that Paul Weller is alive and kicking and still making relevant music in the year 2011. Paul Weller will release a new solo album, Sonik Kicks , on March 26th, 2012, and his management has kindly made a preview track, " Around The Lake ," available for download. "Around The Lake" has a heavy psychedelic feel to it, [...]

If you missed out on scoring a copy of Omnivore's test pressing version of Big Star's Third on Record Store Day, you have a second chance. Omnivore has 500 copies pressed on clear vinyl available for sale exclusively at their web store . The price is steep (in my opinion) at $60, but that is much less than you would pay for a copy on eBay. I was lucky enough to score a copy in store on Record Store Day, and I don't remember paying that much for the black vinyl version. But I know [...]

After a forty-four year gestation period, Capitol records will release the Beach Boys' SMiLE Sessions tomorrow in a variety of configurations ranging from a two CD set, a two LP set, a box set with five CDs, two LPs and two 7" singles, not to mention a super-deluxe set that includes your own personal SMiLE surfboard signed by the surviving members of the band. How much SMiLE do you need? Since I don't surf, I settled for the two LP set (my local record shop had a few copies out [...]

This one was certainly worth it for more than just the album cover. But what what an album cover it is. Take a moment to appreciate the composition: a modern couple donned in formal attire embrace in a garden framed by large "primitive" idols. But take a closer look at the couple. Are they embracing, or is the woman rebuffing an unwanted advance from her male partner? Perhaps she is trying to control her mate's savage instincts. Or perhaps he simply failed to set the proper mood for their romantic interlude. If only he had played his copy of Les [...]

Maybe some people could pass on picking up a record with a cover like this, but I am not one of those people. This one was worth grabbing for more than just the cover. Tony Mottola was a very sensitive guitar player (he did a number of recording dates with Sinatra, and was a member of his touring band in later years). The orchestrations are brash and over-the-top in typical Enoch Light fashion. If you are not too hung up on the idea of "good taste" this is a very fun album to listen to. [...]

Some time ago I posted news that YepRoc would be reissuing the Soft Boys' 1980 classic album, Underwater Moonlight , on LP. At the time I passed along information in good faith that was provided by YepRoc via email that turned out to be inaccurate, and I feel a responsibility to set the record straight. At the time of my original post in November of 2010, the LP release had been delayed, and YepRoc passed along news from Robyn Hitchcock that explained the delay and described the recut version. After having purchased the LP, it [...]

I recently had the privilege of talking with Barrett Martin, the former drummer for the Screaming Trees who has issued the Trees' Last Words: The Final Recordings on his own Sunyata label . In addition to being available for download at the usual places, Sunyata is currently taking pre-orders for the CD. If you pre-order from Sunyata, you'll get the CD in September, a month before the street date. Barrett was driving into Sacramento while we chatted, and I was impressed by his ability to discourse intelligently about music while doing something else. [...]

I just had a great chat with Barrett Martin about the Screaming Trees new release, Last Words: The Final Recordings and other topics. I'll post the interview here soon. In the meantime, I wanted to pass along word that the CD is now available for pre-order from Barrett's label, Sunyata Records. If you pre-order from Sunyata you'll get the shiny silver disc in your hands a month before street date and be the coolest kid on your block.

Mike Flanagan and Earl Weaver after game one of the 1979 World Series. Orioles great Mike Flanagan was found dead near his home this past Wednesday. The Orioles pitcher, executive and broadcaster was only 59 years old. My heart goes out to his wife and three daughters, and all those who loved him. I'll refrain from further commentary until more of the facts surrounding his death are known, but this is very sad news for all Orioles fans. Really it's shocking news that I'm still working hard to process. In [...]

The Screaming Trees have a "new" album out. Last Words: The Final Recordings documents some recently mixed demos that the band recorded in 2000 while looking for a new record deal. That new deal never materialized, the band broke up, and the recordings sat on the shelf for eleven years until former Trees drummer Barrett Martin and producer Jack Endino mixed the songs this year. Martin has released the album through his own Sunyata Records label. At the moment the album is only available as a digital download, but CD and LP releases are [...]

I can't say I remember him playing for the Baltimore Colts, but I do remember his Miller Light commercials, and my Dad talking about what a great defensive lineman he was. "I sure hope those horses can swim." That was pure comedy gold.

I was mightily impressed by the super-heavy, sludgy sound of New Orleans' Blackfire Revelation, who have recently issued their self-titled album digitally. Formed in New Orleans in 2003 by singer/guitarist J.R. Fields and drummer Hank Haney, the group released an EP, Gold and Guns On 51 , in 2004 on their own Southern Reconstruction label, and the EP was later re-released by Fat Possum Records. In 2005 the band undertook a long international tour with New York noise rockers Unsane, then not much was heard from them until this year, when their self-titled full-length album appeared as a digital [...]

I was mightily impressed by the super-heavy, sludgy sound of New Orleans' Blackfire Revelation, who have recently issued their self-titled album digitally. Formed in New Orleans in 2003 by singer/guitarist J.R. Fields and drummer Hank Haney, the group released an EP, Gold and Guns On 51 , in 2004 on their own Southern Reconstruction label, and the EP was later re-released by Fat Possum Records. In 2005 the band undertook a long international tour with New York noise rockers Unsane, then not much was heard from them until this year, when their self-titled full-length album appeared as a digital [...]

• blackfirerevelation - Flood

This Years Model - U.K. Edition (1978 Radar Records) I found a nice U.K. copy of Elvis Costello and the Attractions' This Years Model on Radar Records on my birthday this year. With its "misprinted" title and color reference bars (which were part of Barney Bubbles' original conception for the cover), I always thought these looked way cooler than the U.S. Columbia edition. I'm told the U.K. version sounds better as well. The run [...]

This Years Model - U.K. Edition (1978 Radar Records) I found a nice U.K. copy of Elvis Costello and the Attractions' This Years Model on Radar Records on my birthday this year. With its "misprinted" title and color reference bars (which were part of Barney Bubbles' original conception for the cover), I always thought these looked way cooler than the U.S. Columbia edition. I'm told the U.K. version sounds better as well. The run [...]

I just got my invite to try Spotify and installed it on my computer at work. I'm still trying to figure out what the limitations are. I just listened to a few songs from Bert Jansch's Toy Balloon album, and right now I'm listening to Davy Graham's Large As Life And Twice As Natural . At one point the program played about 30 seconds of some rap song, which I guess they think I might want to buy. Not sure what I think overall, but at the very least it seems like a good way to preview [...]

This is what my copy of Gillian Welch's The Harrow & The Harvest looked like before coffee staining it this morning: Here is what it looks like now: As you can see, coffee staining brings out the natural grain of the all cotton paper to a much greater degree than before. I did not have any Tanzanian Peaberry coffee handy, so I used a bit of extra Goya espresso that [...]

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings show you how to coffee-stain the cover of their new CD, The Harrow & The Harvest : I think it's pretty cool that so much love went into making the cover of their new CD. They have another video up describing the process behind the production of the letter-pressed cover at Aardvark Letterpress. Most of the online images of the cover I've seen don't look very much like the actual printed cover. Here is what mine looks like (pre coffee staining). [...]