I'm not ready to return to the States just yet. After spending the better part of last week in New Zealand, I now flap my arms northwest to India, a country not known for its rock bands. Despite their confusing name, Peter Cat Recording Co . is actually a band. The New Delhi four-piece released their excellent debut record Sinema back in early 2011 and the spaced-out followup Wall of Want last year (you can download both for free at their Bandcamp). They've [...]
The final installment, but not the enz of my current Split Enz obsession. I leave you with a short documentary on the band's calling it a day in 1984 (boo!), followed by a clip of The Enz performing "History Never Repeats" during a reunion show in 2007 (yay!). I'm realizing how many music videos these guys made-Split Enz were prolific, weird, and fantastic popsters. Dig it, and dig in. Like The Days of Lore on Facebook . Follow TDoL on Twitter [...]
Happy Valentines Day, the day I celebrate my love for my wife ... and also Neil Finn. Released as a single in 1978, and later added to 19792s Frenzy LP, "I See Red" is The Enz's punk rock song. It also seems kind of fitting for today. Frenzy was the first record to feature Tim's younger bro Neil, and it continued the band's progression into simpler pop. Like The Days of Lore on Facebook . Follow TDoL on Twitter .
I'm still deep in the Split Enz wormhole, and I like it ... it's great for productivity. This pre-Neil Finn clip comes from the band's 1976 Second Thoughts LP, their last with original member Phil Judd. More great pop, but this preceded the band's New Wave leanings that were to come. But the theatrics are still there, courtesy of member Geoffrey Noel Crombie, who served essentially as the band's artistic director. Like The Days of Lore on Facebook . Follow TDoL on Twitter [...]
I'm on a Split Enz kick ... now, so are you. For the rest of the week I'll be posting vids from my time down in the YouTube wormhole (not such a bad place if you can avoid the comments section). I start with this one-one of the great pop songs ... well, ever. And, of course, the video for "I Got You" shows why these kids from New Zealand were ready-made for MTV.
I didn't watch this year's Grammys . Instead I caught a blow by blow account on Twitter, which is just like being there. Yes, millions gathered to essentially Mystery Science Theater the shit out of the Grammys. Some of it was even funny. Steven Hyden of Grantland got this gem of a jab in: "Did you know they set jazz musicians on fire to keep Katy Perry's hands warm backstage?" What was even funnier (meaning sadder) was the number of people who still buy into the concept of the Grammys. They sent out heartfelt congrats to Mumford & Sons [...]
I'll be playing tunes this Friday at Hawthorne Theatre with my good pal, DJ Bob Ham . It's always a fun time-I mean, it is Happy Hour on a Friday. I suppose the goal will be to get things warmed up/getting people hot and bothered for the Hot Water Music show later that evening. I think we can do it. But despite what the photo to the left implies, we won't be spinning records. Instead we will be gazing into the glow of our laptops, which will likely resemble two grown men playing Battleship. Less sexy than [...]
I like Portland. I liked the Mint Chicks . I love New Zealand. I dig noisy pop music. But as much as I like these things it doesn't necessarily mean I'd like Unknown Mortal Orchestra. I'm easy, but I'm not that easy. But I do like Unknown Mortal Orchestra . That's because Ruban Nielson writes good songs. The PDX by way of NZ musician surprised a lot of people (including himself) in 2010 when he posted the song "Ffunny Ffriends" on his Bandcamp page. Blogs ate it up before they [...]
These days-more precisely, the past five years-it's taken rock music of a certain disposition to give me that little tickle in my belly. I'm more interested in what music can do for my body than what it can do for my brain ... OK, I've reverted back to my 23-year-old self. But until I get the urge to trade in my wife for a Sk8ter Grrrl and nix the idea of kids for having an entire room dedicated to KISS and '80s horror flicks, I refuse to believe this is a midlife crisis. Parquet Courts [...]
I like Ty Segall. I like glammy Satanic makeup. I like flesh. I like tongues. And I like blood. But I don't like feet ... disgusting things. Do with that what you will while you watch Segall's vid for "Thank God For Sinners" from last year's Twins album (his third LP of 2012). Like The Days of Lore on Facebook . Follow TDoL on Twitter .
I begin 2013 by going back to the year 2012. It was a simpler time, filled with hope and promise ... OK, it was a great year for rock music, filled with some terrific records from The Men , King Tuff , Ty Segall , Ty Segal l ... Ty Segall , and a lesser-known band out of Saint Louie (Go Cards!) called Tilts , whose self-titled debut made numero uno on TDoL's Best of 2012 list. I bring them up again in these early days of 2013 because a) [...]
It's been a long while since I've written anything substantial on The Days of Lore . Keeping up with it is difficult when you don't have an editor breathing down your neck to make deadlines. You sort of have to breathe down your own neck. Is it hot in here? For the 17 of you with impeccable taste who've followed TDoL over the past four years, I have heaps of reasons (excuses?) for the draught-most of them good. A quick rundown: The site got hacked (fixed it), I got hitched ( and planned it), and somewhere in there [...]
1. Tilts - Tilts ( Robotic Empire ) 2. Swans - The Seer ( Young God ) 3. Lisabö - Animalia Lotsatuen Putzua ( Bidehuts ) 4. King Tuff - King Tuff ( Sub Pop ) 5. Ozarks - Ozarks ( Wil-Ru Records ) 6. Sic Alps - Sic Alps ( Drag City ) [...]
11. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Alleluja! Don't Bend! Ascend! ( Constellation ) 12. Titus Andronicus - Local Business ( XL Recordings ) 13. Ty Segall & White Fence - Hair ( Drag City ) 14. Plankton Wat - Spirits ( Thrill Jockey ) 15. Cloud Nothings - Attack On Memory ( Carpark Records ) Like The Days of [...]
16. Frank Ocean - channel ORANGE ( Def Jam ) 17. Spiritualized - Sweet Heart Sweet Light ( Fat Possum ) 18. Fellwoods - Wulfram ( At War With False Noise ) 19. KISS - Monster ( Universal Music Group ) 20. Baroness - Yellow & Green ( Relapse Records ) Like The Days of Lore on [...]
21. Tyvek - On Triple Beams ( In The Red ) 22. La Sera - Sees the Light ( Hardly Art ) 23. Skelator - Agents of Power ( Metal On Metal Records ) 24. Rhett Miller - The Dreamer ( Maximum Sunshine ) 25. The Pharmacy - Stoned & Alone ( Seayou Records ) Like The Days of Lore on [...]
Yesterday was the longest day of the year, and I can finally say summer weather finally hit Portland like an electric blanket on a tanning bed. I think it got up into the upper 80s ... More important, it signified the first day of summer. It's interesting how change in weather-the heat, in particular-immediately conjures up memories of family vacations, my brothers and me in the back seat wreaking havoc; playing baseball in the 115-degree heat, a bucket of Kool-Aid the only thing saving you from heat stroke; floating down the river getting well-done on one side; roadtrips [...]
San Francisco by way of Chico, Californ-I-A four-piece the Mother Hips have gone through loads of changes over the past two decades. The band is currently in the studio working on a new record-their eighth long player- but we're here to talk about what went down back in 1992 ... you know, the year Nirvana's Nevermind hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Chart, Quentin Tarantino made his directorial debut with Reservoir Dogs , a tribute to Freddie Mercury was held at Wembley Stadium ... ... it was a long time ago. In [...]
Portland's The Steven Lasombras have been lurking in their basement lair, keeping a distance from our recent stretch of sunny weather. Now that everything's back to normal here in Portland, I think they're ready to come out of hiding. TDoL has lured them out with the promise of beer and some sort of bacon and cheese tater tot concoction for a night of post-apocalyptic noise at Record Room Saturday, May 26. I'll be spinning records along with DJ Bob Ham with the promise of making the gray weather a few shades darker. We're all [...]
I've been rawking to this quite a bit lately ... and I will stop at nothing to find Judas Priest's Rocka Rolla on vinyl. The album was released in 1974, back when Rob Halford and the crew were more hippie-dippy than motorcycle gang-bangy. This clip come from the band's 1975 appearance on the BBC's The Old Grey Whistle Test - sure to make you forget Halford ever sported spikes. Like The Days of Lore on Facebook . Follow [...]
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