New Jersey Noise

Soundtrack Albums Vol. 1: Punk Soundtracks

2011-08-12T08:10:00.000-07:00

The soundtrack album is an interesting art form. It could be a lot of different songs by a lot of different people that were in a movie all on one CD. It could also be a bunch of tunes written by one person/band all for one movie. Sometimes they serve as a really cool compilation of related songs. Sometimes they are very disjointed. Sometimes a soundtrack sounds amazing in the film and then you buy the album and it doesn't really work as a stand alone album (cough Friday Night Lights cough).

However, when it does work it's a beautiful thing. So this is the first part in a short series of articles where I'm going to shine some light on my favorite soundtrack albums. For this first installment I'm going to be highlighting some Punk soundtracks.

Return of the Living Dead (1985)

Return of the Living Dead is not only one of the greatest movies of all time but it also has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. For those of you who haven't seen the movie (you should be ashamed of yourselves) it's, for lack of a better term, a punk rock zombie movie. By definition it's a zombie movie but it's nothing like Romero's bleak social commentaries. It's a dark comedy within a horror movie with zombies. Sounds awesome, right? Well it is but enough about the movie; it's time to discuss the soundtrack. The album is 35 minutes of punk and death rock. It opens with "Surfin' Dead" by the Cramps, which is exclusive to this album and the main reason I bought it in the first place. Then one after the other you get classics from 45 Grave, T.S.O.L., The Flesh Eaters, The Damned, Rocky Erickson and more. It would be almost unethical of me to end the article about this album without mentioning the last two songs. The song's are both by a band called SSQ and they are the most fantastically 80's-ish songs on the album. They're still dark (they were used in a zombie movie) but they have that stereotypical 80's pop sound underneath the dark tones and lyrics about death. The first song is called "Tonight (We'll Make Love Until We Die)." I believe the title says it all and I don't need to explain to you exactly why this song is so good. The last song, "Trash's Theme" is a synth-y instrumental. It's dark and ominous in parts, it grooves in other parts. I love it.

Repo Man (1984)

Repo Man is the be all and end all of punk rock soundtracks. It also serves as a pretty decent introduction into L.A. Punk, which everyone knows I'm slightly obsessed with. If nothing else, this soundtrack goes down in rock and roll history for "Repo Man," a fantastic and exclusive Iggy Pop song. After Iggy Pop the soundtrack breaks the listener in slowly with something anyone buying this album is probably already familiar with, Black Flag's "TV Party." From there we move onto another veritable hardcore punk classic, "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies, quite possibly one of the greatest and most melodramatic pieces of teen angst ever committed to tape. Then We get "Coup D'Etat" from the Circle Jerks' classic third album, Golden Shower of Hits. From here on is where the album starts to tread unfamiliar territory and gets very interesting because of it. For the remainder of the album we get forgotten gems, obscurities, and just plain weird tunes. One band from either the forgotten gems or obscurity category depending on your own point of view is the Plugz who contribute "Hombre Secreto," "El Clavo Y La Cruz," and "Reel Ten." (editor's note: Anyone who's been keeping up with the L.A. Punk articles should recognize the Plugz as having been mentioned in the Flesh Eater's article.) Two songs from the obscurities category mentioned before are "Pablo Picasso" by Burning Sensations, which is memorable for the spoken lyrics and the reoccurring theme of "Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole," and "Bad Man" by the Juicy Bananas. The Juicy Bananas are interesting in that they weren't a real band. They consisted of Zander Schloss (who joined the Circle Jerks on bass in '84 and went on to play in The Weirdos when they reunited in the 90's) and Sy Richardson who played Lite in the film. Richardson speaks lines his character delivers in the film over the music completely composed and performed by Schloss. (movie dork note: Repo Man's director, Alex Cox, made what we will call his 1980's punk rock trilogy. Repo Man was the first, followed by Sid and Nancy, and then Straight to Hell. Sy Richardson was in all of them. He starred alongside Courtney Love and Joe Strummer in Straight to Hell.) The last song to mention is the Fear classic "Let's Have A War" which I would throw into the forgotten gem category I mentioned. Fear don't get mentioned enough but Lee Ving was one of the great front men of rock and roll in general and this is a sampling of his great shout then sing then shout some more vocal style and the sarcastic lyrics he's known for.

Downtown 81

Ever heard of Jean Paul Basquiat? Well this movie, filmed in 1980, is sort of a scripted day in the life of Basquiat. It was meant to be a portrait of the No Wave/Downtown scene happening at the time (which was mentioned in my article about scene comps and my article about my favorite Soul Jazz Records releases) but was never finished. In 1999 the movie was resurrected but the original audio track was lost so they brought someone else in to dub Basquiat's voice as he had been dead since '88. Thankfully, the soundtrack survived and acts as one of the best documents of a scene that was so crazy and original that it deserves every bit of documentation it gets and more. What makes it so special is that a lot of it was recorded during live performances which makes the recordings exclusive to this album and really gives you a feel for what it was like back in 1980. There is so much music on this disc that I can't go as in depth into everything as I'd like but I'll break it up into groups. No Wave is represented by DNA, James White and the Blacks, and Lydia Lunch (formerly of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks). DNA was recorded in the studio specifically for this album while James Chance and Lydia Lunch were captured live playing No Wave classics "Sax Maniac" and "The Closet," respectively. The Mutant Disco/Ze Records thing is represented by Kid Creole and The Coconuts and Liquid Liquid. The dark, mostly synth heavy new wave stuff is represented by Tuxedo Moon, The Plastics and Suicide, who are represented by their song "Cheree" which is actually a very pretty song and not one of their loud, confrontational songs. The hip hop which permeated the downtown scene is represented by a Melle Mel track and one of the greatest hip hop songs ever recorded, "Beat Bop" by Rammelzee vs. K-Rob. Then there's weird stuff that could have only existed in this time and place. Gray show off their dark soundscapes and percussion with the song "Drum Mode" while The Lounge Lizards bring their atmospheric, experimental jazz to the table. Then there's "15 Minutes" by Chris Stein of Blondie. The song is only 46 seconds long and sounds like a beat someone from Anticon would have produced. Walter Steding and the Dragon People's "New Day" sounds like a mix between Michael Leonhart and the Avramina 7 and a Bollywood musical. Last but certainly not least is a recording by the man himself, Basquiat. It's called "Palabras Con Ritmo" and is a spoken word poem recited over a brilliant rhythm track by Coati Mundi with a beat made by congas and other percussion instruments, harmonica, and noises such as crickets and the sounds of far off groups of people cheering. This soundtrack makes for an incredibly varied listen and acts as a very important document of a scene which came and went and can never be replicated which makes this disc an invaluable addition to anyone's collection.

R.I.P. Mitchell Dubey

2011-03-25T14:54:00.000-07:00

Mitch Dubey was killed last night in his own home in New Haven, CT. I've had the pleasure of knowing him for the past couple of years. I always looked forward to going up to Connecticut and seeing him whether it was for a Flaming Tsunamis show, a My Heart To Joy show, a Hostage Calm show, a Swear Jar show, or just to hang out and play Uno Attack or Monopoly Deal at his house. He was a great guy, a great friend, and a great musician.

His band, Swear Jar, released a demo tape in 2009. It was a 5 song cassette but those 5 songs summed up the band and the band members perfectly. The songs could go from soft, to long guitar buildups with feedback and then hit you in the face immediately with guitar work that was fast, heavy, but still extremely fun all at the same time. That's exactly how I knew Mitch. Occasionally he'd be calm and quiet, but most of the time he'd be running on full blast, always happy, always stoked to see you, and always excited just to hang. No matter what, he always had fun and you couldn't help but have fun if you were anywhere near him.

Here is a link to Swear Jar's tumblr. Right at the top is a link to download the demo for free. Download it, listen to it, spread it around. It's too good to be a footnote in the history of a friend who's no longer with us.

I'm gonna miss you Mitch.

There's a P.S. to the Swear Jar story. This demo is going to be released as a 7" EP. The A-side is going to be the full demo, and the B-side is going to be a new Swear Jar tune, one that Mitch had written but was never recorded. There's no date yet for when it will be released, but keep an eye out.

2.13.61

2011-02-13T12:19:00.000-08:00

Today is a very special day, Henry Rollins' 50th birthday. The punk legend responsible for some of the greatest punk and hardcore of all time (State of Alert, Black Flag, Rollins Band, and all the talking records) is officially middle aged. So what's Rollins' mid life crisis going to be? I'm sure he'll just travel some more and do some talking gigs like he always does. In fact, he already started. He's scheduled a tour around his birthday this year. He was at Joe's Pub in NYC from the 8th and the 12th, he'll be performing a special one night only show in Washington D.C. tonight and he'll be at Largo in L.A. from the 16th to the 19th. I wasn't able to get tickets to any of them but the D.C. show is being filmed and I'm sure it will be released within the next year on DVD.

I would like to take this space here to wish Rollins a happy 50th birthday. I tried to be down in D.C. tonight but the tickets sold out way too fast. He means a lot to a lot of people and I am definitely one of those people. I grew up on punk rock and the lyrics that he screamed out to me every time I popped in a Black Flag CD are permanently ingrained in my mind. I could identify with a lot of them. I felt as though the song could have been written about me and when you can make that connection to a band at such a young, formative age they become a special part your adolescence.

I also read Get In The Van: On The Road With Black Flag at a young age and to this day it is one of the most inspiring books I've ever read. For those of you who (for some reason) haven't read it yet, it's Rollins' tour journals from his entire stay in the band. I think you'd have a hard time finding a band that worked harder than the Flag especially since they always got so little in return, but they kept working, kept touring and kept playing because it was what they loved doing. When I read it, I felt as though I could accomplish anything; I just needed to want it enough and work at it.

Long story short, Rollins played a part in shaping me into the person I have grown up to be. He didn't know it, but he was there with me for all of my awkward teenage years and for that I can never thank him enough.

Happy 50th Birthday Rollins. I hope you you never stop doing what you're doing.

As a special treat, I'm putting up an interview I did with Rollins around this time last year. We talked about his recent adventures, homosexuality, and lots of other things.

The interview is split up into two 30 minute files and you can download both of them here

New Jersey Noise Radio

2011-02-13T01:34:00.000-08:00

I've decided to branch out the blog and use the name for my radio show on WRPR 90.3FM here at Ramapo College. Each show will feature a coherent theme, like each article I post (sometimes they will overlap). So far this semester I've done 2 shows and both are available for download in mp3 format here.

I've added a text box to the side of the website which has the link to download the shows and I will keep it updated with information about each episode.

Thanks for reading and now, thanks for listening. I hope you dig the shows.

Badass Women

2011-02-09T20:24:00.001-08:00

As I sit here putting off reading an introduction to the theories of gender scholar Judith Butler I started to think of all my favorite female musicians. While music outside of the realm of pop music still tends to be male dominated I can think of more than a few radical and, for lack of a better term, badass women who have undeniably shaped my musical tastes over the years. So tonight, as I continue to put off reading overly intellectual essays on gender I'm going to take a look at gender from the best perspective I can: The music I love.

There is one woman who always comes to mind first whenever I talk or think about female musicians and that person is Exene Cervenka. Exene, along with John Doe, sang for the first wave L.A. punk band X (one band that has yet to be given the New Jersey Noise treatment, mostly because of the popularity they have achieved over the past 25 years). She had barely any singing experience, if any at all, before joining X. John Doe wanted her to sing in the band because of her beautiful poetry. He felt the words she scribbled into notebooks would make great lyrics instead. She took the job in spite of her lack of conventional talent and became part of one of the most memorable vocal duos in rock music because of it. Exene had no formal music training and didn't know anything about chords and harmonies so she faked it. When a song called for her to sing along with John instead of singing a conventional harmony part she just sang what sounded good to her. What resulted was some of the greatest punk rock ever recorded. The beauty of Exene wasn't just in the vocals though. The real reason she has had such a lasting impression on me is because she wasn't just the singer. Far too often do women fall into the "front woman" role which does not necessarily allow them to exist other than being a pretty face in the front of the band. That wasn't Exene. She was an important part of the band and existed not just as the front woman but as an intellectual being, a poet and an integral force in the sound that X defined during the course of their career together.

Some highlights of Exene Cervenka's career include:

"Your Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not" from Los Angeles (1980)

"The World's A Mess; It's In My Kiss" from Los Angeles (1980)

"We're Desperate" from Wild Gift (1981)

"I'm Coming Over" from Wild Gift (1981)

"Some Other Time" from Wild Gift (1981)

"Motel Room In My Bed" from Under The Big Black Sun (1982)

"Under The Big Black Sun" from Under The Big Black Sun (1982)

"Breathless" from More Fun In The New World (1983)

Another woman who immediately pops up whenever I consider some sort of list of influential and talented women in music is Poison Ivy Rorschach of The Cramps.
Poison Ivy met Lux Interior (lead singer) in 1972 and they moved to Akron, Ohio together then to New York City in 1975. The band fully formed in 1976 and from then on they changed members every couple of years, but Lux and Poison Ivy were the constants. She was the lead guitar player from the time they formed until they broke up in 2009 after Lux's passing. She was a formidable guitar player and had one hell of a stage presence. She was beautiful and menacing at the same time, luring you in like a venus fly trap and then scaring the shit out of you. The Cramps' musical legacy is iconic to say the least and Poison Ivy played an integral part in shaping that legacy. She shared a passion for strange and obscure music with Lux. They dug for hours through record stores finding amazing and (a lot of the time) demented rock & roll, rockabilly, R&B and novelty records, many of which they ended up recording for their albums. She was just as responsible for making those cover songs their own, so much so that I had no idea they were covers for at least a year into listening to them. She is one of the most criminally underrated guitarists of all time. She never went for virtuosity and casual listeners might not notice how cool the guitar was because people don't usually believe that less actually is more anymore. She didn't need to show off; the music didn't call for it. She created the dark, scary tone that much of the Cramps catalog had and she did it with style.

Here is a list of selections from the Cramps catalog that highlight Poison Ivy's talent:

"Surfin Bird" from Gravest Hits (1979)

"I'm Cramped" from Songs The Lord Taught Us (1980)

"The Crusher" from Psychedelic Jungle (1981)

"Cornfed Dames" from A Date With Elvis (1986)

And check out her vocal work on these two:

"Kizmiaz" from A Date With Elvis (1986)

"Get Off The Road" from A Date With Elvis (1986)

The third name that needs to be mentioned for this list to be considered at all complete is Wanda Jackson, The Queen of Rockabilly. She effortlessly floated back and forth between country and rockabilly and has been recording and performing since the early 1950's but it is her late '50's rockabilly sides that have made her an important part of rock & roll history. Please allow me to take you back to 1950's America for a moment. Women enjoyed a breakthrough in independence in the 1940's when they got jobs in droves due to the country's men being overseas due to World War 2. However, when they came back the women were sent back home and expected to be wives, mothers and homemakers again. The second wave of feminism and the sexual revolution was still a decade away and it was barely even on the country's radar at the time. The ideal home was the Leave It To Beaver home. Then in walks Wanda Jackson to sing some of the hottest and meanest rockabilly to date, as good or better than her male contemporaries who dominated the genre. With songs like "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad" and "Rock Your Baby" she showed the world that she was an unapologetic, powerful, independent woman who didn't need a man's approval and had no problem making demands.

With the exception of the first song on the list all of my selections of Wanda's best material can be found on Rockin With Wanda (1960), a collection of her late 1950's rockabilly singles:

"Funnel Of Love" from the 45rpm single (1960)

"Rock Your Baby"

"Fujiyama Mama"

"Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad"

"Savin' My Love"

L.A. Punk Vol. 5- The Controllers

2011-01-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

The Controllers are yet another first wave L.A. Punk band. So far I have covered The Germs, The Weirdos, The Flesh Eaters and The Dils in my quest to inform you about the early L.A. punk scene. The Controllers, like the four bands already written about, released their first record in 1977 and were in the forefront of the original scene.

According to Johnny Stingray they formed on July 4, 1977. It was a drunken decision made after seeing some fireworks. The original line up which appeared on their first single, released on What Records towards the end of the year, consisted of Johnny Stingray on guitar and vocals, Kid Spike on rhythm guitar and vocals, DOA Dan on bass and backing vocals, and Charlie Trash on drums. At this time, the band was practicing at The Masque, in fact they were, supposedly, the first band to discover the Masque, and according to members of the band, they played the first advertised show at the Masque.

In January of '78 Charlie Trash and DOA Dan left the band, leaving Kid Spike and Johnny Stingray without a rhythm section. They played day 1 the legendary Masque Benefit at the Elks Lodge in MacArthur Park on Feb. 24 1978 with Paul Roessler (of The Screamers, brother of Kira Roessler, bassist for '84 Black Flag) and Bruce Barf (later of Wall of Voodoo), then Johnny Stingray switched to bass and they found "Maddog" Karla Barrett to play drums (Who was mentioned in an earlier article as one of the drummers on The Flesh Eaters' No Questions Asked LP). Maddog was not only a woman, but a black woman, which was an underrepresented demographic in the early L.A. punk scene. But when it came down to it, it didn't matter what she was other than that she was an amazing drummer. This line up recorded another single, this time for Siamese Records sometime in '78, and 3 tracks for Chris D.'s Tooth and Nail comp in '79.

The band broke up in spring of '79 after leaving behind a legacy of just 2 singles and 3 tracks on a comp LP. Though there wasn't much music, it was pretty groundbreaking at the time. The band incorporated a rootsy rock and roll sound into the '77 punk paradigm which would influence many bands at the end of the decade and throughout the 80s. Kid Spike would take that sound with him when he joined the Gears shortly after the Controllers broke up.

Neutron Bomb b/w Killer Queers

The band's first single was released on What Records in 1977 as What 04 (Seeing a pattern? The Germs' first single was What 01, The Dils first single was What 02). These two songs are classic pieces of punk history. "Neutron Bomb", now known as "(The Original) Neutron Bomb" because it came out months before the Weirdos song, is classic bone crunching punk rock. It's dark, it's got a great riff, and the lyrics are bleak at best. The b-side is a silly song about murderous hustlers with a really catchy guitar riff. All in all this single shows the rock and roll influences which would come out in full force in their next two releases but is the most "punk rock" of their original output

Slow Boy + Do the Uganda b/w Suburban Suicide

This single, The Controllers' second, was released on Siamese Records in 1978. It opens up with a straight up punk rock attack. The guitars on "Slow Boy" are almost Black Flag-esque (circa Nervous Breakdown) but faster. It's got that great riff AND it's fast and heavy. The second half of the A side is straight up rock and roll with a punk edge. "Do the Uganda" is very reminiscent of the sound Kid Spike would take with him to The Gears the following year. It's short, fast, and catchy. What more could you ask for? "Suburban Suicide" is almost 4 minutes long and is much slower and has some great bluesy lead guitar. The influence from the Detroit bands they said they loved so much really comes through on this one. (Although they said the MC5 were boring but had a couple of good songs. I can't get behind that at all) I hear a lot of Stooges in this song.

Tooth and Nail

We've already talked about this comp, put out by Chris D.'s Upsetter label in 1979, twice; first when we looked at the Germs' catalog and again when we looked at the Flesh Eater's music. The Controllers offer up three great songs on this comp, "Another Day", Electric Church", and "Jezebel". "Another Day" is a harder, punkier version of the Punk/Rock N Roll hybrid people like Johnny Thunders and Richard Hell were doing in New York. "Electric Church" contains some bluesy riffing, guitar solos, and a catchy chorus. It's their simplest song yet and also one of their best. The last Controllers song found on this album is the often covered "Jezebel", originally recorded by Frankie Laine. They take the swing out of it and hammer out the riff while maintaining the dark, eerie qualities of the original.

The Controllers

This is THE Controllers CD to get (it's also the only one I'm aware of). It compiles both singles and the Tooth and Nail tracks. In addition to those 8 songs you get 2 previously unreleased songs, "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" and "Tail Lights to Texas". I think these songs are from the 1970's but the liner notes don't say anything about them other than that Johnny Stingray found them on old cassette tapes. "Barnacle Bill the Sailor" is a silly, pirate shanty-type song. "Tail Lights to Texas" is a cool honky tonk tinged song with some good guitar work. The last Controllers song on the CD is "White Trash Christ" from a 1996 session during the band's first and only reunion. Also included is one track, "Top Secret" from Johnny Stingray's post Controllers band, Kaos. Kaos formed in 1980 and put out one EP which can be found in its entirety on the What? Stuff compilation. The last 2 songs compiled with this CD are "Your World" and "Hot Stumps" by Skull Control. These tracks were recorded in 1992 and released in 1993 by a band consisting of members of The Controllers and another early Masque-era band, The Skulls. These two songs were apparently Controllers tunes dating as far back as 1977 but were never recorded until the Skull Control sessions.

L.A. Punk Vol. 4- The Dils

2011-01-11T18:57:00.000-08:00

I'm back with another addition to my L.A. Punk series. This time the subject of the article is The Dils. They were a hard band to track down concrete facts about. Neither of their CD reissues have any biographical information but here's what I've pieced together. The Dils formed in 1976 and go their start in Los Angeles. They later permanently relocated to San Francisco but their original ties to the L.A. scene make them an important part of the early L.A. scene. The core of the band are Chip and Tony Kinman who play guitar and bass, respectively. The band had a few drummers throughout their existence. The original drummer, Andre Algover (Endre Alqover), played on their first single and possibly their second. Other drummers included Rand Mcnally (co-founder of Dangerhouse Records), Zippy Pinhead, and John Silvers. Their first single was released by Chris Ashford on his What? Records label which had just been put in place to release the first Germs single and their second was released on Dangerhouse Records, both iconic labels associated with the birth of punk in Los Angeles. They were also featured in Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke in 1978 during the battle of the bands scene beating out many other classic L.A. punk bands for the part in the movie, including the Germs whose "Sex Boy" found on their first single was recorded during the try outs for the movie held at the Whisky a Go Go.

They were an overtly political band which seemed to get them in trouble a lot. They were self proclaimed socialists constantly calling for class wars. They never really seemed at home in the fun loving early L.A. punk scene which I'm sure was one of the factors which led to the move to San Francisco though getting banned from the Whisky may have also contributed. There are a lot of published interviews from the 70's to read if you want to get the Kinman brothers' perspective on punk and the new wave. I always found that they tend to come off as slightly pretentious in interviews. Whatever their politics and opinions may have been, the music speaks for itself.

The band broke up in 1980 but the Kinman brothers never stopped. They started Rank and File soon after the Dils which continued in the rock direction the Dils took on their final release. After Rank and File they regrouped as Cowboy Nation and later Blackbird.

I Hate the Rich b/w You're Not Blank

For those of you keeping track, this was released in 1977 on What Records as What 02. (What 01 was the Germs' first single.) "I Hate the Rich" is a lightning fast guitar onslaught. It also serves as an introduction to the Dils' politics which lean pretty far to the left. "You're Not Blank" is one of my favorite punk songs of all time. The mix, by today's standards, isn't very good but the fact that the guitar is so loud, just as loud if not a little louder than the vocals, adds to the charm.

198 Seconds of the Dils (Class War b/w Mr. Big)

This, their second single, was also released in 1977 but this time on the legendary Dangerhouse label. For their second outing the sound is bigger, the production is better, and the songwriting and playing is a little more rock & roll. "Class War" is up there with the best of the Dangerhouse catalog. The guitar is hard but catchy and the vocals are intense. "Mr. Big" is a great song but not the greatest tune of its time. The vocals are catchy but he lyrics aren't the greatest you'll ever hear (Hey Mr. Big/You look so big to others/Hey Mr. Big/I can see you're nothin); typical socialist punk lyrics.

Made in Canada (Sound of the Rain b/w Red Rockers Rule b/w It's Not Worth It)

Fast forward to 1979. There isn't a hint of punk left in the Dils' sound. They went soft. On this record there are acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies. It's not bad if you're not expecting punk. It holds up with the softer of the power pop stuff coming out around this time. "Red Rockers Rule" rocks the hardest (but it doesn't rock THAT hard...). "It's Not Worth It" is the catchiest of the three and "Sound of the Rain" is the softest. All in all not a bad release but I won't lie and say I wasn't disappointed the first time I heard it.

Class War

This is the first of two CD reissues by Bacchus Archives. There's no reason for there to be two because there's barely 80 minutes spread out between the two but they had to split up three singles worth of material with some live stuff so that fans would have to buy both...Anyway, This release opens with their first single, "I Hate The Rick" and "You're Not Blank" (Don't ask me why they called it Class War if the Dangerhouse single isn't on here...). In addition to those two classic pieces of punk history you get a decent live recording from 1980. Within those ten live songs you get a pretty cool version of "Mr. Big", a slower version of "You're Not Blank", a cover of Buddy Holly's "Modern Don Juan", "Red Rockers Rule", It's Not Worth It" and a few others. I would never have bought this for the live material, it's just not that great. But, the first Dils single IS that great.

Dils Dils Dils

This, number two in Bacchus's series of Dils reissues, covers far more ground than the first. The CD opens with "Blow Up", a demo from 1977 and The Dils first recording. It's a great song. It's got catchy vocals reminiscent of what they would end up doing on the Made In Canada EP but it's punk and the guitar is really crunchy. Next up is the two songs from their second single and all three from their third. Rounding out the CD are 9 songs recorded at 2 different shows in 1978 and 1 song recorded live in 1979. The band was about to go soft and there are definite hints of that on these 1978 recordings but they aren't entirely there yet. The first four live tracks are the best, being the most punk and the best recording quality; it even contains an 8 minute version of the Velvet Underground's "What Goes On".

Top 5 of 2010

2010-12-25T14:31:00.000-08:00

As 2010 comes to an end I like to look back on all the CD's that came out throughout the year. This year I fell behind. I really focused on filling in a lot of gaps in my collection that I didn't buy a lot of new albums. The new discs I did buy, though, are incredible.

Here's my Top 5 of 2010:

5. Bigger Thomas- Steal My Sound

Bigger Thomas formed back in 1988 in New Brunswick, NJ. They started as Panic! and then changed their name to Bigger Thomas and in 1989 put out their first album. 21 years later they are still playing and still recording. This, their 5th album, contains some of their best songs yet: "Matinee Idol", "Permanent Error", and "Pure". They are keeping that 1980's sound alive and doing it well. In keeping with that theme they even got John "Teflon" Simms, the artist behind much of the 2 Tone artwork, to design the cover. I've known these guys for about 6 years and I've never been disappointed with a show or an album and they've certainly kept the streak alive with this one.

4. Budos Band- III

Budos Band exploded onto the scene back in 2005 with the release of their debut full length. It is now 5 years later and they have released their 3rd album on Daptone Records. This might be their best one yet (I haven't spent enough time with it yet to say for sure). Budos Band are one of the best instrumental bands out there. The rhythm section never falters and they have the best sounding horn section I've heard in a long time. I bought this album as soon as I saw it and I was blown away. The production is far superior to their first two albums and the grooves are darker and scarier but just as funky.

3. Mondo Drag- New Rituals

I got turned onto this band pretty soon after this album was released and I bought it immediately after hearing it. I hadn't been so excited about a new band in a very long time. This album is a hard one to write about because it doesn't really fit under any umbrella terms other than "modern psychedelia" but that doesn't really tell you anything about what it sounds like. It is as bluesy as it is spacey. The guitar goes from heavy to soft from song to song and the bass player takes a page out of Geezer Butler's book and doubles the guitar melody/riff a lot throughout the album. Start to finish it's an amazing album but it was one specific song that made me buy the CD as soon as I did after my first listen. The song is "Serpent Snake" and it's equal parts early Queens of the Stone Age and Hawkwind.

2. King Hammond- The King and I

I went to England in June/July of '05 and bought tons and tons of records and CD's. It was like a trip to Mecca for me. I was finally able to get the Madness CD Box Set with all of the studio albums, a ton of 2 Tone singles, some Dave Clark 5, etc. One specific CD I found was a comp called Ska Crazy. It's focus is post 2 Tone British ska. This CD is soley responsible for getting me to look at the fact that there was a gap between 2 Tone and the so called "3rd Wave" which has now become something of an obsession of mine. It had songs by Bad Manners, The Loafers, The Hotknives, Maroon Town, Judge Dread, and King Hammond. I always loved the King Hammond song from this comp, "Skaville UK", and I noticed Bad Manners did this song too but I always preferred the King Hammond version. I always tried to find out more about this King Hammond guy but there never seemed to be any information about him on the internet other than a few other compilations he was on. It wasn't until recently that I found out the history of King Hammond thanks to The Duff Guide to Ska breaking the news that King Hammond was putting out a new album. Turns out King Hammond is the alter ego of Nick Welsh (late 80's Bad Manners and Skaville UK). He put out two albums back in the day and returned after many many years to put out The King and I. It's a fantastic album filled with great, danceable skinhead reggae like only King Hammond can do.

1. Danzig- Deth Red Sabaoth

This one should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me or read my Danzig/Misfits/Samhain article from last Halloween. I fuckin love Danzig and this is his best album since Danzig IV. His last album, 2004's Circle of Snakes was decent but not nearly as exciting as this one. For this album, as on Circle of Snakes, Tommy Victor(Lead singer/guitarist for Prong) plays guitar and adds a really interesting new sound to the band. The pinch harmonics mixed with the vintage, 1970's bass amps Danzig decided to record a lot of the guitar tracks through give it a really classic heavy metal sound. This album has Danzig's best songwriting since the early 1990's and the package features lots of busty undead women. Classic Danzig.

My Favorite Christmas Songs

2010-12-24T09:24:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas Eve and as I laid in bed this morning watching the Dr. Who marathon I began working on a list of my all time favorite Christmas songs. Here are the 15 songs I came up with:

15. Jona Lewie- Stop the Cavalry (1980)
Jona Lewie was an interesting character. He had a few singles on Stiff Records and this one was his biggest hit.

14. Vandals- Oi to the World (1996)
Who doesn't love this song? The No Doubt cover doesn't even compare to the original.

13. Run DMC- Christmas in Hollis (1987)
I always loved this song. It's a great beat (sampled from Clarence Carter's "Back Door Santa") and some great rhymes.

12. Crucial Youth- X-Mastime for the Skins (1988)
This song, from the Crucial Yule single is a punk rock Christmas classic. These guys had a sense of humor and this song's pretty funny.

11. Fishbone- Slick Nick, You Devil You (1987)
This one's from the It's A Wonderful Life vinyl only EP but you can get all 4 tracks from that on the Fishbone 101 CD. It's a funny song about a drunk, unruly Santa Claus.

10. James White and the Blacks- Christmas with Satan (1984)
10 minutes of James Chance singing a song about hanging out with Satan on Christmas while squeaking his way through holiday classics in between the verses.

9. Kinks- Father Christmas (1977)
This is a Christmas classic. Only the Kinks would write a Christmas song about a bunch of kids beating up a mall Santa. It is more of a criticism of the British economy at the time disguised as a Christmas song.

8. Bad Manners- Christmas Time Again (1989)
This is a re-recorded version of "Skinhead Love Affair" with some lyrics about Christmas.

7. Weezer- Christmas Song (2000)
6. Weezer- Christmas Celebration (2000)
Both of these Weezer songs come from a 2 song promo release simply titled The Christmas E.P. Both songs are great Green Album era tunes.

5. Waitresses- Christmas Wrapping (1981)
This one is from the first Ze Records Christmas album. This has been a Christmas favorite since I was young. The Waitresses were an amazing band and should be known better than just by this and "I Know What Boys Like".

4. Fear- Fuck Christmas (1982)
Do I even have to explain why I love this song?

3. Sonics- Don't Believe in Christmas (1965)
2. Sonics- Santa Clause (1965)
These two are from the Merry Christmas album on Etiquette Records and were added to the CD reissue of Here are the Sonics!!! along with a third Christmas tune that didn't make the list called "The Village Idiot". "Don't Believe In Christmas" was also released as a split single with the Wailers' "Christmas Spirit" on the flip. Both of these songs are classic fuzz rock at its finest.

1. Pogues- Fairytale of New York (1987)
It doesn't get much better than this song. This has been a favorite of mine ever since I first heard the album it comes from, If I Should Fall From Grace With God. It's a beautiful duet between Shane McGowan and Kirsty MacColl (fellow Stiff Records recording artist and daughter of Ewan MacColl who penned "Dirty Old Town" which the Pogues covered on Rum, Sodomy and the Lash).

Long Songs

2010-12-20T20:31:00.000-08:00

In revisiting the blog I decided I want to start getting a little more editorial and a little more personal. I love exploring the discographies of bands and labels I find to be criminally underrated but I want to start to branch out. I decided to start by posting some lists. I love making lists of favorites because of the challenge. It's hard to pick favorites but it's also fun and I think you can learn a lot about someone by what they love enough to call their favorite.

I also thought that this would be a good way to get some discussion going (if anyone is actually reading this).

So, for the first list I have compiled a list of my ten favorite long songs. There are two criteria for this list: the song has to be over 15 minutes long and it has to be a studio track. I've always loved long, epic songs. It takes a lot of talent to record a song this long and keep it interesting the whole way through.

The list is laid out like this:

Band- Song Title [Album Title, Year, Length]

10. Kyuss- Odyssey/Conan Troutman/N.O./Whitewater [Welcome to Sky Valley, 1994, 18:19]

9. The Cure- Carnage Visor: The Soundtrack [Faith, 1981, 27:51]

8. Hawkwind- You Shouldn't Do That [In Search of Space, 1971, 15:42]

7. Yes- Ritual (Nous Sommes Du Soleil) [Tales from Topographic Oceans, 1973, 21:34]

6. Pink Floyd- Atom Heart Mother Suite [Atom Heart Mother, 1970, 23:44]

5. Frank Zappa- Big Swifty [Waka/Jawaka, 1972, 17:22]

4. Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari- Grounation [Grounation, 1973, 29:50]

3. The Velvet Underground- Sister Ray [White Light/White Heat, 1968, 17:31]

2. Rush- 2112 [2112, 1976, 20:33]

1. Monster Magnet- Tab... [25......Tab, 1991, 32:15]

Moon Records Vol. 2

2010-12-16T22:29:00.000-08:00

So, It's been almost a year since my last post. I don't know what happened but time really got away from me. I have recently resurrected the blog, though, and have been going through an updating old posts and preparing some new articles for the near future. First up is the next volume of my trek through the Moon Records catalog.

Dieter Osten- East of Eden (Toast 11/ Toast 12)

This is another weird one from the early Moon catalog. This is a full length album released in 1986 by Dieter Runge, the man who brought you the East of Eden 7" single 2 years earlier, both songs from which can be found on this full length LP. There are only two reggae/ska songs on the album, one being "Sea of Happiness" from the single. The rest of the album is just really good rock and roll. Some of it almost borders on having a Mod influence.

Toasters/Beat Brigade split 7" (Toast 13/ Toast 14)

This 7", released in 1987, contains one song each from The Toasters and Beat Brigade. The Toasters song is "Talk Is Cheap" and is the same version of the song found on their album. The real gem is the Beat Brigade song, "Try and Try Again." Last time we heard from Beat Brigade it was "Armageddon Beat" from N.Y. Beat. That song was a catchy, fun calypso number. This time around it's completely different. "Try and Try Again" is a fast and incredibly catchy ska tune. It might be the fastest song they ever wrote and it's definitely my favorite. From that infectious guitar hook, to the horn lines, to the vocal melody that will have you singing the chorus in your head for weeks after hearing it, it's just about the perfect modern ska song.

Legal Gender/ The Scene split 7" (Toast 15/ Toast 16)

This split 7" between two very cool bands also came out in 1987. Legal Gender only released this one song before going through a slight personnel change and becoming the NY Citizens (more on them later). Their contribution to this split, "Overcast," sounds nothing like the fast, fun, danceable ska the Citizens would become known for over the next couple of years. Instead, it is more of a midtempo, dark, moody ska song with a punk chorus reminiscent musically of what The Scene and The Press were doing at the time. The Scene were a NY punk band who alligned themselves with the NYC ska scene. They had their song "Walking" on NY Beat a year earlier. This time they give us an even better song, "Bruise In Me." It has traces of the Oi the Press were doing at the time, while channeling the mod/punk of early Jam (circa In The City/This Is The Modern World). Where "Walking" was fast and fun in the spirit of '77 punk, "Bruise In Me" shows how they'd grown musically in just one year with a slowed down song that showed off much better and more intricate songwriting while maintaining the catchy, sing-a-long feel of "Walking."

Second Step- Do You Know This Man? b/w 2 Men In Suits (Toast 17/ Toast 18)

Another 7" was planned for release in 1987 but it, unfortunately, never saw the light of day. It's a real shame because Second Step were fantastic and apparently unstoppable and unmatched in a live setting from what I've heard from people who were lucky enough to have been there. There are obvious parallels to be made between Second Step and The Selecteras both had charismatic front women with the occasional male vocal. Neither bands had large horn sections either. The Selecter sometimes used Rico Rodriguez and Dick Cuthell on recordings for trombone and trumpet respectively and Second Step had a permanent sax player and, at least for part of their career, a trombone player. All similarities aside, Second Step did their own thing and did it well. They generally went for a slower reggae sound as opposed to the uptempo ska happening all around them though they indulged in the Manhattan funk/rock sound which permeated through the scene in the late 80's with the song "Friction" (See Urban Blight and the Skinnerbox's Tales of the Red). It's really a shame this single never came to be because both songs are amazing. I have an interrupted live version of "Do You Know This Man?" and a demo of "2 Men in Suits." "Do You Know This Man?" is a very fun song with an incredibly catchy horn line. The verses border on early reggae and ska and is the fastest and most upbeat song I've heard by the band while the chorus goes into a darker reggae before the horns come back in and speed it up. "2 Men in Suits" is a slower reggae with a hypnotic sax riff and a very mod/soul chorus. I recently had the opportunity to see Remi (Second Step's lead singer) perform "2 Men in Suits" with the Beat Brigade at B.B. King's. I'm sure it was the closest I'll ever get to seeing Second Step.

*thanks to Marco on the Bass and Dave Barry for hipping me to more Second Step music than just the one track on the New York Beat LP. They were always one of my favorite bands on the comp and finding out there was more and actually being able to hear it was a great surprise.

Learn more about the Moon Records catalog by reading my previous article on the label here.

Moon Records Vol. 1

2010-01-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

The Music

Toasters- The Beat b/w Brixton Beat (Toast 1/Toast 2)

This was the single that started it all. It was released in 1983 and technically wasn't even released on Moon Records, the label on the record says Ice Bear Records. This single is incredibly rare, however, the two songs are available on the out of print Thrill Me Up CD Reissue on Moon Ska (which is WAY easier to find). If I had to compare the A-side, "The Beat," to anything I would compare it to The English Beat. The English Beat (or just The Beat in the UK) were a big influence on Bucket and I hear that in this song. It has that great mod guitar and is only barely a ska song (the keyboard and the drummer are the only instruments that maintain a typical ska beat, and the keyboard cuts in and out throughout the song) however, that doesn't make it any less of a ska masterpiece. "Brixton Beat" is the first version of what would eventually turn into the Toasters' classic "East Side Beat" on their debut LP, Skaboom!. It starts out as a slow dirge and then turns into a mid-tempo, dark ska song with very prominent bass. There's also some chilling female vocals harmonizing with Buck at points but mostly singing Ooooooooh's during the verses. The only thing similar to the more well known version found on Skaboom! is that the horn line on that one is played by the guitar once or twice on this original version.

East of Eden- Mystic Mood b/w Sea of Happiness (Toast 3/ Toast 4)

This single was released in 1984 and was the first release with a proper Moon Records imprint. My info on this is a bit hazy, but from what I understand the main musician is Dieter Runge, and he used a revolving cast of characters for this and the full length he put out a few years later. What I know for sure is he is German and was in a punk band called Rotzkotz from 1977-1981 before moving out to New York and recording this. (I've tried to find some Rotzkotz singles on the internet and the few times over the years they've popped up, they go for far too much money for me to afford.) His East of Eden material is very interesting. "Mystic Mood" is a cool mod-rocker. "Sea of Happiness" is a simple yet incredibly catchy ska song. The chorus will have you singing along immediately and you'll have the melody stuck in your head all day.

Toasters- Recriminations (Toast 5/Toast 6)

It's now 1985, and the Toasters are back with a 4-song 12" EP. This is the beginning of my favorite period of the band's music. These 4 songs are where they begin finding that classic late 80's sound they would perfect on the Skaboom LP. The first side is "Recriminations" and "Razor Cut," two of my favorite Toasters tracks. The flip side is "Run Rudy Run" and "Radiation Skank." This record is their most new-wavey, and since the band still hadn't added any horns to the lineup it's heavy on the guitar and keyboards and "Run Rudy Run" features the melodica work of Joe Jackson, of "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" fame. Bucket knew Joe Jackson through working at Forbidden Planet in London. One day after Buck moved to New York City to work in Forbidden Planet's Manhattan location, Joe Jackson walked into the comic shop and the two caught up. The two British expatriats became friends and drinking buddies. Joe Jackson ended up producing this EP under a pseudonym, due to contractual obligations, and would play melodica with them live whenever he was in town. This EP was re-released twice in 1988 with a new cover on Unicorn Records in the UK and also on Moon Records. It was also added to Skaboom! on both CD reisssues (Moon Ska and Megalith).

Kill Me- s/t (Toast 7/ Toast 8)

This is a funk rock LP released in 1985. I haven't heard it yet (but I did just find a copy which should get to me in the mal in a week or two) but apparently the band consisted of a couple members of the Toasters and Bucket's friends from Forbidden Planet, a comic shop he used to work at.

Various- N.Y. Beat: Hit & Run (Toast 9/ Toast 10)

This comp came out in 1986 and is a landmark album in American ska history in that it was the first American ska compilation. It also means a lot to me as an album because this album is what got me into '80s American ska. Unless you really look deeper, not much is said about American ska music from the 1980's. The Toasters, Fishbone and Bim Skala Bim are the only bands that really get any credit. While those bands are/were great, they were not the only ska bands in town. N.Y. Beat opened my eyes to the fact that there was a coherent ska scene in New York City in the mid-eighties. There was more than just The Toasters, and some of the songs on this LP are arguably better than the 2 Toasters tracks. The bands on this comp are: The Toasters, Beat Brigade, The A Kings, Cryin Out Loud, City Beat, The Daybreakers, The Scene, The Press, Urban Blight, Second Step, The Boilers, Too True, and Floor Kiss. Every song is amazing and every band should have gotten the fame they deserved. My personal favorites are "Armageddon Beat" by Beat Brigade, "Escape from Reality" by Urban Blight, "Oppurtunity" by Second Step, "Brighter Days" by the Boilers, and "Why is the Boat so Small?" by Floor Kiss.

For more info on N.Y. Beat, you can check out the Marcoonthebass blog here and join this Facebook Group to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the album and read up on all of the bands that were featured on it.

Also, for those of you who love scene comps as much as I do, there is a NY Beat-esque comp devoted to what was going on in Boston called Mash It Up that you should definitely check out if given the chance. The LP is pretty hard to come by, but like NY Beat it was released on CD by Ska Records under the title Skaville USA Volume 2.

****As will be the case in all of these posts dedicated to the early days of Moon Records, The Duff Guide to Ska and Marco On The Bass provided invaluable information. I couldn't have written it without them, and EVERYONE should read those two blogs!*****

Danzig

2009-10-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

It's getting close to Halloween, and with Halloween comes a few traditions. First, I always watch at least the first Halloween movie on Mischief Night, over the past few years it has turned into a full on Halloween marathon consisting of as many movies in the series I can stay awake for. The second is, since college, I've gone to a show every October 31st. Two years ago it was World Inferno's Hallowmas, last year it was The Flaming Tsunamis/The Fad/Hostage Calm/My Heart To Joy/Coldsnap in Connecticut and this year I'm going to Hallowmas again. The third tradition is that I start listening to a lot of Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig. Nobody gets me pumped for Halloween quite like Glenn Danzig. So in the spirit of my favorite holiday this post is all about Danzig.
Glenn Danzig is a personal hero of mine. He's a run of the mill Jersey kid who made it big and all on his own terms. He also kept a variety in his career, never sticking to one sound for too long. His story starts in 1955 in Lodi, New Jersey. He grew up as an outsider, liking "dorky" things like comic books and b-movies. He formed the Misfits in 1977. They went through many lineup changes, had a handful of releases and broke up in 1983. In 1984 he began work on his next project which would be called Samhain. The band released 2 LP's and 1 EP, then around 1987 morphed in the band Danzig. Danzig released its first album in 1988, and the band has continued ever since though Glenn Danzig is the only original member remaining. On top of these three bands, which account for the vast majority of his work, he has also released a solo 7", 1981's "Who Killed Marilyn" b/w "Spook City USA", had the song "You and Me(Less Than Zero)" appear on the Less Than Zero Soundtrack credited to Glenn Danzig & The Power and Fury Orchestra, though it's actually played by the everyone in the original lineup of Danzig except Eerie Von. He has also released two CD's of classical compositions called Black Aria and Black Aria II released in 1992 and 2006, respectively.

The Misfits
The Misfits formed in 1977. I'm not going to go into much of this history, because I'd have to name a ton of people who went in and out of that band over the 6 years they were together. I'm not going to go release by release either, because they put out a fair amount of 7"s that are so incredibly rare I doubt I'll ever own them and some of them are so rare I'll probably never even see one in real life. I'm instead going to talk about what's available on CD and what I know about them off the top of my head. In order to have as complete of a Misfits discography as you can you need 3 things: The Box Set, Static Age, and Walk Among Us.

The Box Set has almost everything in it. It is 4 discs and contains Collection, Collection 2, Evilive, Earth A.D., Legacy of Brutality, Static Age, and a disc of unreleased demos. It's a lot of music. It runs the gamut of the entire Misfits lifespan, from the very first 7" ("Cough Cool" b/w "She" which was never released in their original mixes before) through the 7"s, the Static Age Sessions, and their hardcore period when they released Earth A.D. It does not contain their final LP, Walk Among Us due to licensing issues but it does contain every song on that album found throughout the collections and the disc of unreleased demo sessions. This set was also the first time the Static Age sessions were ever released in their entirety. A lot of it had made its way onto 7"s and compilations like Collection and Legacy of Brutality, but some were still unreleased. It is my favorite Misfits material, however, you really need to get the reissue by itself.

Static Age is my favorite Misfits release. It was recorded during 1978, my personal favorite time period of the band, and contains some of my favorite Misfits songs, including "Bullet," "Angelfuck," "Hybrid Moments," and "Last Caress." The CD reissue is necessary because it was remastered and expanded after its original release with the box set. Not only is the sound remarkably better but they give you 3 songs that were claimed to have been found since the release of the box set. Those songs are "She", "Spinal Remains" and "In The Doorway." The last track is studio outtakes, like an audio blooper reel from the recording sessions.

Last on the list is Walk Among Us, their final LP, released in 1982. One year earlier, the Misfits had dabbled in hardcore with Earth A.D. and it was great. For this album they took that hardcore and mixed it with the classic Misfits sound for the most varied release of their career. It went from classics like "Skulls" and "Night of the Living Dead" to really heavy hardcore with "All Hell Breaks Loose" and the live version of "Mommy, Can I Go Out And Kill Tonight?" All of it is amazing and absolutely necessary for any Misfits fan.

Samhain
Samhain was Danzig's next band. They formed out of the ashes of the Misfits. Originally, the band featured Brian Baker and Lyle Preslar, formerly of Minor Threat. Neither of them remained in the band for very long, although Preslar's guitar can be heard on four tracks on the band's debut album, Initium ("Black Dream" "Macabre" "Horror Biz" and "The Shift). The band was a transitional band for Glenn Danzig. The sound was much darker than the Misfits, but not yet the outright blues/metal sound he would perfect once changing the band's name to Danzig in 1988.

Samhain released Initium in 1984, Unholy Passion in 1985, November Coming Fire in 1986, and Final Descent, a posthumous collection of unreleased material, in 1990. All of this can be found in the Samhain Box Set, along with a live CD featuring 2 shows, one from 1985 and another from 1986. The box set also contains a VHS (it's never been updated from VHS to DVD) of a few live shows which were heavily bootlegged, and a reprint of a Samhain comic book.

Samhain is an interesting period of Glenn Danzig's career. It usually goes overlooked and is his least celebrated work. Don't let that fool you though, the music is great. It's got the horror-themed lyrics you loved in the Misfits but the music is much darker and heavier. They also reworked a few Misfits classics ("Horror Business" "All Hell Breaks Loose" and "Halloween II").

Danzig
In 1988, Glenn Danzig changed Samhain's name to Danzig when they signed on to Rick Rubin's Def American label. The band now featured Glenn Danzig on vocals, Eerie Von on bass, John Christ on guitar, and the legendary Chuck Biscuits on drums. There was also a distinct shift in style. The band now played bluesy riff-based metal. Danzig are still playing together and occasionally release albums, however this original band only lasted through 1994. In that time Danzig released four amazing albums, Danzig in 1988, Danzig II: Lucifuge in 1990, Danzig III: How The Gods Kill in 1992, and Danzig IV in 1994. All four of those albums are great, though the first two are really essential. Those two albums were landmark albums in Glenn Danzig's career and in what was happening in metal at the time. The metal genre mostly consisted of thrash bands at the time, and the stoner metal scene was just beginning, but not many bands were bringing it back to the basics and just focusing on a good, heavy, and bluesy guitar riff.

All of this music is great year-round, but every October when I start getting psyched on Halloween I start listening to copious amounts of Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig.

Early Heavy Metal

2009-09-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

I've been a huge Black Sabbath fan since I was an awkward 7th grade boy. I got into Ozzy's solo stuff first because Down To Earth had just come out, which is actually a really good album. Then I got the Ozzman Cometh best of which had two early Sabbath demos of "Black Sabbath" and "War Pigs." When I heard the riff from "Black Sabbath" I fell in love. I knew I needed to immediately go out get all of their albums. Ozzy, Tony, Geezer, and Bill have been a huge part of my life ever since. Every time I'm walking or biking around at night, I listen to Black Sabbath or Masters of Reality. From the 1970 debut all the way to Heaven and Hell with Ronnie James Dio, I've spent more hours than I could possibly ever recount listening to Sabbath. After a while I started to wonder where this music came from, who were the bands that were playing this heavy music who influenced Sabbath, and which other bands from the 70s were playing this heavy music at the same time or slightly after. Sabbath are called the fathers of heavy metal, but it couldn't have come out of nowhere. I was a little surprised when I found out where Sabbath got there sound from (though now that I'm older and wiser it makes perfect sense)...it came from the blues.

Sabbath started out as a blues band who experimented with heavy riffs. From there, I started to discover other heavy bands based in the blues, namely Blue Cheer. Blue Cheer formed in 1966 in San Francisco and were extremely radical in that they combined the blues with hard rock and psychedelia. Some of you might be saying to yourself, it's not that radical, Cream were doing it at the same time...Well, Blue Cheer were doing it much heavier and freakier than Cream. They could go from a straight ahead blues rock tune to the craziest, distorted freakouts being made at that time. Their first two albums, Vincebus and Outside Inside, both released in 1968, are essential listening. No other band at the time or since has done it quite like Blue Cheer, and every band based in blues rock, especially the entire stoner metal scene with bands such as Monster Magnet, Kyuss, Fu Manchu, etc. owe a lot to Blue Cheer for paving the way more than 40 years ago.

Then there was the MC5. Though the MC5 are considered more of a proto-punk band than a proto-metal band like Blue Cheer, they used the blues as a starting point for creating something much heavier which is why I would argue they were both. All you have to do is listen to "Borderline" "I Want You Right Now" and "Come Together" to hear what I'm talking about. Though all three of their albums are great, their 1969 live debut Kick Out The Jams is essential, and fits the proto-metal sound I'm talking about best. (I reviewed this album in my 1969 article).

Now fast forward one year. The '60s are over, having officially died on December 6, 1969 at the Altamont festival organized by the Rolling Stones. With this new decade came heavier music. Black Sabbath released their first two albums in 1970. Two other bands also released their debut albums in 1970, and these albums should have been huge but for some reason just faded into obscurity. The first was Wishbone Ash, a British rock band formed in 1969. Their self titled debut album released in 1970 was grounded in the blues but it had an edge to it that set it apart from the other British blues rock bands of their time, such as Fleetwood Mac and Cream. It was heavier than what was going on in pop music but today it just sounds more like a blues rock album than a hard rock album because of how hard rock and metal have progressed. The band also sported two lead guitarists. Their twin lead format was really incredible and the vocals were very bluesy. Their first album, which sported 6 songs in 42 minutes was their crowning achievement. After this album they moved on to softer territory incorporating folk into their sound, and from then on they were never as heavy again.

The second band, Sir Lord Baltimore, formed in 1968 in Brooklyn. They released two albums, Kingdom Come and Sir Lord Baltimore in 1970 and 1971 respectively. These guys were HEAVY. They, along with Sabbath, were some of the first people to get really heavy and write bone crunching, distorted riffs. They also straddled the line, keeping it really bluesy while also making it distinctly heavy metal, as you can hear on heavy metal blues freakouts "I Got A Woman" and "Hell Hound" off the first album. In addition, they also did straight up heavy metal in songs like "Kingdom Come" from the first album and "Where Are We Goin" and "Woman Tamer" from the second album. These two albums are incredible from start to finish. They were both reissued on one CD, but that reissue is long out of print. If you ever come across a copy, GET IT.

There was another band who embodied the early heavy metal sound perfectly. They were second only to Black Sabbath themselves. The band was called Pentagram. I felt they deserved their own article, so stay tuned for more 70's metal, because if you were at all interested in this article you'll need to hear about Pentagram...

Rorschach, Deadguy, and Kiss It Goodbye

2009-08-31T17:09:00.000-07:00

Rorschach

One of my favorite NJ hardcore bands is reuniting for a show at the Asbury Lanes at the end of the month, so I figured I'd write an article about them because I don't think they get enough recognition. I also figured I might as well advertise the show as well (assuming someone's actually reading this). So...

Rorschach formed in 1989 with Charles Maggio on vocals, Andrew Gormley on drums, Nick Forte on guitar, Keith Huckins on guitar, and Chris Laucella on bass. Laucella stayed with the band until 1991, when he was replaced by Tom Rusnack who stayed with the band until they called it quits in 1993. The back cover of their discography CD sums up the band very succinctly: "Rorschach existed from May 1989 until August 1993. Their first show was in August of 1989 at the Pipeline in New Jersey with Chain of Strength, Insight, Turning Point, and Poor Excuse. 25 people attended that show. 247 shows, 3 tours, and 31 songs later Rorschach played their last show on July 31, 1993 in the Basement of Mama Joe's Pizza in Kent Ohio with Spork and Splinter. 20 people attended this show."

In the band's lifetime they released two albums (Remain Sedate in 1990 and Protestant in 1992), three 7"singles (a split 7" with Neanderthan in 1990, Needlepack in 1991, and a split with 1.6 band in 1992), and two exclusive songs on two different compilation albums( Fear of Smell and God's Chosen People). Almost everything was compiled in 1995 for the band's discography CD called Autopsy released on singer Charles Maggio's own label, Gern Blandsten. Later, in 2001, Maggio released a Rorschach live album consisting of a show recorded in Italy in 1992. Also, specifically for this reunion the band released both full lengths as a limited edition double LP.

I'm not gonna go through this band's discography item by item like I've done in the past, but suffice to say EVERYTHING is worth owning. This band is one of the heaviest bands I've ever heard and I've yet to hear someone scream as well as Chuck Maggio. My personal favorite songs include "Pavlov's Dog" from the Remain Sedate LP, their cover of King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man" from the God's Chosen People comp, "Bone Marrow Biopsy" from the Needlepack 7", and their cover of Black Flag's "My War" from their split 7" with 1.6 Band. I'm not entirely sure what happened to Gern Blandsten, whether they're still operating or not, but I believe the Rorschach CD is out of print. All of the original vinyl is long out of print as well, but not too hard to find if you look hard enough. As an interesting side note, more than a few bands list Rorschach as a big influence, the big famous on is Converge.

Deadguy

Fast forward to New Brunswick, 1994 and Rorschach guitar player Keith Huckins is now in a new band called Deadguy. Deadguy built on the Rorschach sound keeping the heavy as fuck attitude but making the music more technical. They were also influenced by one of my favorite metal bands, Unsane. For their first 7", the band consisted of Crispy (Chris Corvino) on guitar and vocals, Dave Rosenberg on drums, Pops (Tim Naumann) on bass, Keith Huckins on guitar, and Trim (Tim Singer) on vocals. That 7" was 1994's White Meat 7" which contained the songs "Extremist", "Druid" and "John Dear." These three songs are such an incredible debut they need to be heard to be believed. Later that year they released the Work Ethic 7" which again contained three songs that will blow your head off. Both of these singles were repackaged on CD as the Work Ethic EP.

From there, with two 7"s under their belts, they singed to Victory Records and put out a full length. Fixation on a Coworker was released in 1995. It's louder, heavier, faster, and angrier than the 7"s, and it kicks ass for a half hour. By the end of the tour they did supporting this album, the band was split. It was Dave, Crispy, and Pops against Keith and Tim. Keith and Tim ended up quitting the band and moving to Seattle, where they would form a new band, but before we talk about that band, Deadguy still had one EP left in them. Pops switched to vocals, and they recruited Tom Yak and Jim Baglino to play second guitar and bass, respectively. The EP they made was called Screamin with the Deaguy Quintet, and it came out on Victory in 1996. While not as instantly classic as Fixation, it's still really good. It has more of a metal sound than hardcore sound this time and Pops' voice works really well. The band called it quits the following year, playing their last show in May of 1997 in New Brunswick.

Kiss It Goodbye

After leaving Deadguy in 1996, Tim Singer and Keith Huckins formed Kiss It Goodbye with Huckins' former Rorschach bandmates Andrew Gormley and Tom Rusnack. Soon after forming they moved to Seattle and signed to Revelation Records. Their first release was their only full length, She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not... in 1997. The album builds on what they had done with Rorschach and Deaguy, and it would have worked as a really good followup to Fixation on a Coworker for Deadguy had the band not split up. It takes the sound they had on Fixation and slows it down just a bit, giving it just a touch more atmoshphere and suspense in the music while Tim Singer screams his fucking head off at you for 45 minutes straight. After the album, Revelation released the "Preacher"/"Target Practice" 7". The two songs were from the She Loves Me sessions, but were left off the album. After a tour with Unsane and Obituary in 1997, Huckins left the band, and was replaced by Demian Johnston. They recorded an EP in 1998, but then according to Johnston, Tim Singer only wanted to tour once a year and the rest of the guys wanted more out of it so they went their separate ways.

That's some of the musical lineage stemming from Rorschach. Nick Forte put out a few solo ambient LP's and some of the members have gone on to other bands as well, so if you dug what you read, go out and keep searching for more. Maybe I'll see you in Asbury at the reuinon...

UPDATE: I got home from the Rorschach reunion show a few hours ago and it was incredible. Torchbearer were amazing, and the drummer was in Deadguy back in the day. Black Kites were also really good. Rorschach's set, however, was life-changing. It was honestly one of the most incredible shows I've ever seen and I've seen my fair share of bands play. 20 years later, and they still rocked out like they were 19 years old, flinging their guitars all over the place and jumping around like lunatics. I spent $50 on Rorschach merch and do not regret it at all.

The Wailers + More!

2009-08-14T11:52:00.001-07:00

The running joke is that there are a lot of reggae fans out there but only about 10% of them have anything other than Legend. However, on the flip side, there are reggae fans out there who dismiss a lot of Bob Marley's work because he was/is internationally famous (it's not like he ever pulled an Inner Circle and went from classics like "Tenement Yard" and the Killer Dub and Heavyweight Dub albums to doing "Bad Boys" and "Sweat"), and everyone equates him as the personification of reggae music. There is a happy medium and that's what I'm going to be writing about tonight.

Bob Marley brought reggae to a wider(whiter) audience and though he wasn't the first (Desmond Dekker's "Israelites" was a number one hit in the UK, and Johnny Nash had a few reggae hits in America even if he wasn't actually Jamaican) he did it on a much more massive level with his albums on Island Records. However, there is more than Exodus and Legend so I'm going to explore the Wailer's musical realm and hopefully you'll come across a few new gems in the process. If not, maybe you'll pick up some interesting info on these classic albums.

The Wailers-African Herbsman

This is a compilation album put out by Trojan Records in 1973. The Wailer's gained commercial recognition with Catch A Fire, their Island Records debut, but they had actually released a few albums before that. One was a ska record for Coxsonne Dodd's Studio One label in 1965 called The Wailing Wailers. Their next album was called Soul Rebels, this time for Lee "Scratch" Perry's Upsetter label. Both are great and highly reccomended, but African Herbsman compiles tracks from their second album for Scratch called Soul Revolution, which came out in 1971, with a few singles from the period. Actually, all but 2 songs from the Soul Revolution album found their way onto the set. Not only is this classic Wailer's material (a lot of these songs would end up resurfacing on their Island albums) but its got that classic Upsetter production. Many people consider the Wailer's time with Lee Perry to be their best and I have a hard time disagreeing with them. Just listening to "Put It On," "Kaya," and "African Herbsman" will prove it. While I am a fan of Marley's later work, none of the re-recordings of these songs recapture the beauty of these original versions. The CD reissue also offers up 10 bonus tracks, including a Peter Tosh melodica instrumental called "Memphis" and 9 dubs and versions, including a deejay version of "Keep On Moving" done by Big Youth.

Also of note, there was a dub companion to Soul Revolution
aptly titled Soul Revolution Part II. It is considered the dub
companion to the album, however there is no echo or delay or anything
to hint at the dub albums Perry would release in the following years.
They are actually just the rhythms, with the vocals turned down,
though still audible in many cases. This album was reissued as
Upsetter Revolution Rhythm with a bonus version of "Kaya".

The Wailers-Catch A Fire

This was the album that "started it all." It was The Wailers' Island Records debut, released in 1973 (though, like all of Marley's work for Island, it was released by his own Tuff Gong label in Jamaica). It really is a classic album from start to finish. There are remnants of Lee Perry's guidance, but the music lacks the Upsetter feel which dominated the African Herbsman and Soul Rebels material, which is neither good nor bad. The band has instead found their own sound. I'm not sure whether this was the case for their entire Island catalog, but for Catch A Fire there was a Jamaican version of the album, and a version for rest of the world. The album which was released in Jamaica was played by a band consisting of Marley on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, Peter Tosh on piano, organ, guitar, and vocals, Bunny Wailer on congas, bongos, and vocals, Aston "Family Man" Barrett on bass, and Carly Barrett on drums, with Rita Marley and Marcia Griffiths providing backing vocals. This version was released as disc 1 of the Catch A Fire Deluxe Edition. It also contains two songs not included in the final Island record, the beautiful "High Tide or Low Tide" and "All Day All Night." For the "English" version, Chris Blackwell, head of Island Records, enlisted the help of some session musicians to add instrumentation which he felt would appeal more to rock fans which included lead guitar played by John "Rabbit" Bundrick, synth played by Wayne Perkins, and more percussion and organ. Also Robbie Shakespeare (of Sly and Robbie fame) overdubbed a new bass part on "Concrete Jungle." While I prefer the more organic feeling Jamaican version, there is nothing wrong with the alternate version. Also, Peter Tosh wrote and sang two songs on this album: "400 Years" and "Stop That Train." While Bob Marley was the frontman, Peter and Bunny were also important parts of the group.

As a fun vinyl note, the original pressing of the LP came packaged like a Zippo. The top third was on a hinge and actually opened up like a Zippo to reveal the disc and the Zippo flame. This design had to be done by hand and became too expensive so only 20,000 were made. All subsequent pressings were pressed as the instantly recognizable photo of Marley smoking a massive spliff. Needless to say, they have become collectors items. The cheapest I've seen them go for on the internet was $40-50, but they tend to change hands for much higher amounts. I've kept an eye out for a copy for years, so far I haven't had much luck in finding a copy I could afford.

The Wailers-Burnin'

This, the Wailer's second album for Island records, was also released in 1973. This one is much more a collaborative record and also contains a fair amount of re-recorded songs from the African Herbsman material. For this album Peter Tosh wrote and sang "One Foundation" and "No Sympathy" and Bunny Wailer wrote and sang "Hallelujah Time," "Pass It On," "Reincarnated Souls," and "The Oppressed Song." That's 6 out of the 13 songs on the album not sung by Bob Marley and also Tosh sings a verse on "Get Up Stand Up," which happens to be my favorite part of the song. The 3 songs which were recycled for this album are "Put It On" (which was originally recorded for Studio One, then re-recorded for Perry, making this the third version), "Small Axe," and "Duppy Conqueror." The songs are stripped of that signature Upsetter sound, and given a whole new life. Though I prefer the original recordings simply because I am a huge Lee Perry fan, these versions are great as well. They have the roots feel that The Wailer's were perfecting at this time, rather than the crunchy, early reggae style Perry did so well.

This album was also the last album Bob, Peter, and Bunny would do together. After this album the three parted ways, and Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer went on to pursue their own solo careers. The story is that Bob Marley was becoming very ambitious at this point in their career, while Peter and Bunny wanted to spend more time in Jamaica as opposed to the constant touring the band was starting to do due to their rise to fame. After this album The Wailers became Bob Marley and the Wailers, and went on to make such critically acclaimed albums as Natty Dread in 1974, Rastaman Vibration in 1976, and Exodus in 1977. While these are the albums which are generally considered the best and most important, I don't think Marley's music ever topped the music made by the original Wailers, which goes to show how integral Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer were to the group though they never became household names like Bob Marley did.

Peter Tosh- The Toughest

This is a collection released by Heartbeat Records compiling nearly all of Peter Tosh's solo recordings for Studio One and Upsetter (only two songs are missing from this set and both are covers from his Studio One years. "Lemon Tree" was released as a single, but according to the liner notes, a decent copy has yet to turn up. He also recorded Dylan's "Blowin In The Wind" but it was never released and the tape couldn't be found). The Studio One songs were recorded between 1963 and 1966, and the Upsetter songs were recorded in the late 1960's/early 1970's. The earlier tracks cover the Ska and early Rocksteady periods while showcasing a heavy R&B/early Rock 'n Roll influence, specifically on tracks like Nina Simone's "Sinner Man," the Temptations' "Don't Look Back" (which he would later re-record in 1978 on his Bush Doctor album as a duet with Mick Jagger), "When the Well Runs Dry" (which is a straight ahead R&B song with no signs of ska or rocksteady anywhere in the recording), and the straight ahead rock 'n roll of "Can't You See" which would have fit right in with anything from the 60's mod scene in England. The Upsetter portion of this set is the early reggae Lee Perry does so well, however it is much more dread minded than what the Wailer's were doing at the time. "Rightful Ruler" is a straight up nyahbinghi, which features a spoken introduction from Tosh, first spoken in Ahmaric then followed by the English translation. It is also an important record, because it was U-Roy's first appearance on wax. Many of these songs would be re-recorded: "Don't Look Back" was re-recorded for Bush Doctor, "When the Well Runs Dry" was re-recorded for Legalize It, "400 Years" was re-recorded for Catch A Fire, "No Sympathy" was re-recorded for Burnin' and Legalize It, "Brand New Secondhand" was re-recorded for Legalize It, and "Downpresser" which is a re-recording of "Sinner Man" was re-recorded for Equal Rights.

note: There is also a Peter Tosh best of called The Toughest which just compiles 10-12 songs from his albums. The CD reviewed above is worth getting, the other best of is not .

Peter Tosh-Bush Doctor

Peter Tosh released his debut album Legalize It in 1976. That album is fairly well known, and the song has become a standard for every weed smoking teenager. He followed that up with the equally classic Equal Rights in 1977. However, it was in 1978 that he released Bush Doctor, his third album in 3 years and the one I find most interesting. When discussing Peter Tosh's post Wailers career, everyone brings up Legalize It, and if it goes any farther than that, Equal Rights will be mentioned, but I hardly ever hear any mention of Bush Doctor. It was Tosh's first album after being signed by the Rolling Stones to their label. In fact, the album opens with a cover of the Temptations' "(You Gotta Walk) Don't Look Back" with Tosh singing it as a duet with Mick Jagger. The album is a mix of fun reggae songs ("Don't Look Back", "I'm The Toughest", "Soon Come") and spiritual roots ("Moses The Prophet", "Stand Firm", "Creation"). Of course, there is also a song which calls for the legalization of marijuana, "Bush Doctor." Two of my favorite Tosh songs are also found on this album: "Soon Come" and "Dem Ha Fe Get A Beatin." "Soon Come" is just a perfectly crafted song, it's catchy, it has great distorted lead guitar which mixes well with the synth and horns, and a female chorus for backgound vocals. "Dem Ha Fe Get A Beatin" is a beautifully infectious song. It's got a groove you just can't deny which mixes with a heavenly female chorus singing oooh's and aaah's on top of funky clavinet and horns.

Bunny Wailer- Blackheart Man

Like Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer released his solo debut in 1976. Blackheart Man is a landmark roots album from the opening of track one with Tommy McCook's beautiful flute playing on "Blackheart Man" to the very end of the 8 1/2 minute long "This Train." This is one of the most beautiful roots reggae album ever recorded because of the beautiful songwriting and also Bunny Wailer's beautiful voice, which was one of the best parts of the vocals on the early Wailer's recordings. Wailer re-records 2 of his Wailer's songs for this album with amazing results. "The Oppressed Song" has an added beauty in it's slightly slower tempo, and the addition of the horn section playing the melody between verses instead of the synth found on the Burnin version makes it sound more organic this time around. "Reincarnated Souls" is funkier on this album than it was in its original version. The rhythm is turned around and it's got a funky groove. Bunny's vocals are much more soulful due to his change in phrasing, and once again the addition of horns, especially Tommy McCook's jazzy improvisations during the verses give it a fresh new life. Also of note is Bunny's choice of musicians. He borrowed heavily from past Wailer's musicians, including The Barrett brothers (who played with them during the Upsetter and Island years), Tyron Downie (who played organ on the Island albums), and Tommy McCook and Dirty Harry (who played horns on the Upsetter recordings). Also featured on the album is Peter Tosh playing guitar on almost every track, and lending his vocals to a few, and Bob Marley lending his vocals to "Dreamland." I can't reccomend this album enough.

L.A. Punk Vol. 3- The Flesh Eaters

2009-07-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

The Flesh Eaters are a fascinating band in the history of L.A. punk. They aren't as much a band as they are a group of musicians revolving around Chris Desjardins. Chris D. is the singer and and main songwriter for the Flesh Eaters (he wrote nearly every song in the bands catalog). He is considered by many, including myself, to not only be a punk poet but to be one of the most poetic lyricists in L.A. punk, and maybe even American punk in general (the only person who comes to mind who gives him a run for his money is Darby Crash). Chris D. knew how to get his ideas across, whether it was writing Flesh Eaters lyrics or writing for Slash magazine. The band formed in 1977 with the first wave of L.A. punk, and became a Los Angeles punk supergroup with a revolving cast of musicians including members of X, the Plugz, The Eyes, Black Randy, and The Blasters. He is a list of their releases during the original run as a "band" between 1978 and 1983.

Disintegration Nation, Agony Shorthand b/w Radio Dies Screaming, Twisted Road

This single was recorded in the summer of 1978 and was released on Chris D.'s own label, Upsetter Records (an homage to Lee Perry). This 7" contains 4 songs, "Disintegration Nation," "Agony Shorthand," "Radio Dies Screaming," and "Twisted Road." "Disintegration Nation" is one of the best Flesh Eaters songs, and one of the classic L.A. punk songs of all time. Chris D.'s vocals are in great form, the music is loud, fast, blaring, and yet has one of the catchiest melodies of the early Flesh Eaters canon. "Agony Shorthand" is another classic. The verses have the idiosyncratic guitar melody and seemingly offbeat vocals, but when the chorus kicks in it turns into a catchy punk sing along: "It's alright with me/It's alright with me" etc. "Radio Dies Screaming" fits in with the early L.A. punk scene better than the other three songs on this single, while "Twisted Road" hits at the roots rock tendencies which would emerge some years later.

Tooth and Nail Compilation

This compilation was released in 1979 on Chris D.'s Upsetter Records. The LP features songs by The Controllers, U.X.A., Negative Trend, Middle Class, The Germs, and 3 songs by the Flesh Eaters. The first two songs, "Word Goes Flesh" and "Pony Dress" were recorded for the compilation. They hint at the sound the band would take on for the upcoming debut album, No Questions Asked. These two songs are also very interesting because of the band members. Pat Garrett (Co-founder of Dangerhouse Records, drummer for the Dils, and guitarist/singer for the Randoms) plays guitar, John Doe, of X, plays bass, DJ Bonebreak, also of X, plays drums, and Exene Cervenka, also of X, contributes background vocals. Basically, all of X but guitarist Billy Zoom are on these two songs. The third song is called "Version Nation." It is a different version of "Disintegration Nation" in which Chris D. kept all of the original music but re-recorded the vocals.

No Questions Asked

This album was recorded and released in 1980, also on Upsetter Records. This was the band's debut full length. There is not a cohesive band throughout the entire album, different people play on different songs. Featured throughout the album are Joe Ramirez (of the Eyes and Black Randy's band), Pat Garrett (of the Randoms, the Dils, and co-founder of Dangerhosue Records), John Richey (of the Eyes), John Doe (of X), "Maddog" Karla Barrett (of the Controllers), Joe Nanini (of the Eyes), DJ Bonebreak (of X), and Judith Bell (writer/artist who also did the album cover for the Gun Club's Fire of Love album). The album has fast, spastic punk songs (like "Police Gun Jitters" and "Jesus Don't Come Through the Cotton"), more straight ahead, mid-tempo, melodic punk songs ("Suicide Saddle" and "Crazy Boy"), and Chris D. and co. even dabble in reggae with "Cry Baby Killer" which clocks in at 4 minutes and 20 second, at least twice as long as any other song on the album. Every song, even the ones which are more reminiscent of what was going on around them in the L.A. punk scene, has that specific Flesh Eaters feel, with weird rhythms, weird melodies, and those signature Chris D. vocals. Considering the entire album is played by musicians with their own bands, sometimes playing with the other musicians from their other bands, to keep such a distinct sound throughout the entire album is nothing short of amazing.

AND as a bonus, the CD reissue also gives you the 3 tracks from the Tooth and Nail comp, the 4 tracks from the Disintegration Nation 7", and the band's very first demo, recorded in 1978 while Tito Larriva was still in the band (he left soon after to form The Plugz).

A Minute To Pray A Second To Die

This album was recorded and released in 1981, and unlike No Questions Asked, features a consistent band. This time around, the band consists of Dave Alvin (of The Blasters) on guitar, John Doe (of X) on bass, Steve Berlin (of The Blasters and later, Los Lobos) on sax, D.J. Bonebreak (of X) on marimbas, snare, and maracas, and Bill Bateman (of The Blasters) on drums. This album sounds NOTHING like anything The Flesh Eaters had done to date. All hints of Los Angeles hardcore are completely gone. If I had to describe it as briefly as possible, I'd have to use what a friend of mine called this album when I showed it to him, "punk rock Zappa." It is not a typical album of any sort, specifically because of the weird rhythmic patterns the Flesh Eaters are known for, and because on this album the melody (or melodious noise in some cases) are in three very different instruments: guitar, marimba, and saxophone. The combination of the three form a very unique sound, that is almost incomparable to anything else I've ever heard, however at the same time, you can hear the roots rock that this particular incarnation of the band are so deeply a part of and in love with (The Blasters were a rockabilly revival band, and X were a punk band who's roots were planted deep in rockabilly and early rock and roll). I feel like this is what rock and roll bands would sound like if I were to die and go to some Beetlejuice-like dimension.

*interesting fact: The song "Cyrano De Berger's Back" is one of the only songs in the Flesh Eater's original history not written by Chris D. It was written by John Doe way back in 1976/1977, and a very early demo of X playing this song in 1977, very differently, can be found on the CD reissue of Los Angeles by X.

Forever Came Today

This album was recorded and released in 1982. Unfortunately this album has never been released on CD, and I haven't yet found myself a vinyl copy. If I do, or if "They" ever decide to release this on CD, I will be sure to include a write up here in this section.

A Hard Road To Follow

This album was recorded and released in 1983, and was the last album to come from the Flesh Eaters' original run. This time the band consisted of Don Kirk on guitar, Robyn Jameson on bass, Chris Wahl on drums and percussion, Jill Jordan with the backing vocals, and Steve Berlin on saxophone for a couple songs. This happens to be the same band as was used on Forever Came Today, the first time in the band's 5 year run that Chris D. used the same band twice. This album is also COMPLETELY different than A Minute To Pray. It's very heavily based in roots rock this time, as opposed to just being an influence you could pick out. This makes A Hard Road To Follow the most conventional rock album of their career (although it still has that Flesh Eater's deathrock sound, it's less prominent on most of the songs). This album also features two very interesting covers. The first is "Rhymes" by Al Green, and it just might be my favorite song on the entire album. The second is "I Take What I Want" by Sam & Dave, and it features great duet vocals between Chris D. and Jill Jordan. Who knew the Flesh Eaters would be able to handle classic soul songs SO well. Besides those two tracks, the standout originals are the album opener, "Life's a Dirty Rat" and "Eyes Without A Face," which was also featured on the soundtrack to the classic punk rock zombie movie Return of the Living Dead (the soundtrack is highly reccomended, featuring bands like The Cramps, Rocky Erickson, Flesh Eaters, Damned, 45 Grave and T.S.O.L.)

The CD Reissue features 5 bonus tracks, including "A Hard Road To Follow" and "Lake Of Burning Fire" which were from the album sessions but not included on the original album, re-recordings of "Pony Dress" from Tooth and Nail and "Impossible Crime" from No Questions Asked, and a version of "Divine Horseman" from A Minute To Pray recorded live in 1982.

Hard Road was released in 1983, and later that year the Flesh Eater's broke up. Chris D. began singing in front of a new band which he called The Divine Horsemen. This band lasted until 1988, then in 1989 he released an album with a band he called Stone by Stone. By this time SST had released a Flesh Eaters greatest hits LP in 1987 called Destroyed By Fire, and Homestead Records released a life album called Flesh Eaters Live in 1988 (which I found an original copy of once in Cambridge, Mass down the street from the Middle East, but it was beat to shit and the store wanted far too much money for it, so I passed it up, which I sometimes regret doing).in 1990, Chris D. started using the Flesh Eaters name again. SST released another greatest hits package called Prehistoric Fits and then in 1991 the Flesh Eaters released their first new album since Hard Road in 1983. They have continued to release albums sporadically over the past 19 years since reforming, but they don't even compare to the revolutionary music this band made from 1977 to 1983.

L.A. Punk Vol. 2- The Weirdos

2009-07-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

The Weirdos were one of the most unique bands to come out of the first wave of L.A. punk. They formed in 1976 with the original lineup of John and Dix Denney, Cliff Roman, Dave Trout, and Nickey Beat.

Note: Nickey Beat also did stints with The Cramps, The Germs, The Dickies, and later the L.A. Guns. On top of all of that, as the reigning king of L.A. punk drumming, he filled in on drums for just about every early L.A. punk band when they needed it. At the famous Masque Benefit show at the McArthur Park Elk's Lodge in 1978 he played with at least 3 bands: The Weirdos, The Germs, and The Bags. He also got some face time on the big screen in Penelope Spheeris' punk classic Suburbia as the dorky concert promoter who stops the show when the girl gets her clothes torn off.

According to the liner notes of the CD reissue of Destroy All Music/Who What When Where Why?, the inspiration for the band came from Cliff Roman seeing The New York Dolls and the Stooges at The Whiskey A Go Go, on separate occasions. In 1977 they told Slash magazine, "We're not punks, we're weirdos from Hollyweird." They were punks though, just not playing the kind of music anyone had ever heard before. There were bands in L.A. that had a very heavy New York punk influence and there were bands who obviously worshiped the British bands but the Weirdos were just the Weirdos. Everyone who was their at the time knew immediately that they were special. The infamous Kickboy Face of Slash magazine wrote in 1978, "The Weirdos are one of the most important things to come out of L.A. for a while." Alice Bag of early L.A. punk band The Bags, said this on her website, www.alicebag.com, about the first time she saw them, "The Germs opened the show. They played horribly, but were funny and very interesting to watch. The Zeros played a rocking set, but it was the Weirdos who brought down the house. When they were done playing people were screaming for more."

Here is an annotated discography(to the best of my ability) of the Weirdos recorded output:

Destroy All Music b/w A Life of Crime, Why Do You Exist

This, the Weirdos' debut, was released on Bomp! Records in 1977. The three songs comprising this 7" EP, "Destroy All Music," "A Life Of Crime," and "Why Do You Exist" were all recorded in August of 1977, just a month after the Germs released their first single on What? Records. "Destroy All Music" is a loud, fast, and completely UN-sloppy punk rock song and the double guitar onslaught of Dix Denney and Cliff Roman was never done better than on this particular song. On top of all that the vocals are incredibly catchy. "A Life of Crime" is a little slower, and has a bit of a Stooges feel deep down. "Why Do You Exist" is even faster than the title track and the music is a bit like early Johnny Thunders but twice as fast.

We Got the Neutron Bomb b/w Solitary Confinement

This was the Weirdos second single, recorded November of 1977, and released by the legendary Dangerhouse label. "We Got The Neutron Bomb" is one of the catchiest songs to come out of the entire L.A. punk scene. Its got fast and powerful verses, and a brilliantly catchy singalong chorus all set to loud, heavy guitars, once again provided by the team of Dix and Cliff. Around the same time, another early L.A. punk band, one that has not retained the popularity of other bands like the Weirdos and the Germs, called the Controllers had a song called "Neutron Bomb." Once the Weirdos released this single and gained the attention which the song would give them the Controllers changed the name of their song to "(The Original) Neutron Bomb." "Solitary Confinement" is another great early Weirdos song that would have fit beautifully on the first 7". If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Who? What? When? Where? Why? EP

This 6 song EP was recorded in February of 1979 and released, once again, on Bomp! Records. By 1979, the band's sound had evolved along with their lineup. Nickey Beat and Dave Trout were gone, and instead Danny Benair (formerly of L.A. rock legends The Quick who had just recently broken up in '78) was on drums, and Billy Ford Persons was playing bass. On this EP they slowed down a bit and the band was incorporating more rock and roll into their songs, in fact, "Big Shot" has a saxophone and "Jungle Rock" is a straight up rockabilly raveup originally written and recorded by Hank Mizell in the 1950's (I'd like to think the Weirdos were influenced by X, The Cramps, The Blasters, and The Gun Club to venture into rockabilly). The opening track, "Happy People" and the closing track, "Fort U.S.A." are the strongest on the EP. "Happy People" is a slower version of the early Weirdos sound. It's got the two guitar attack, catchy choruses, and its loud and heavy, it just happens to not be as fast as "Destroy All Music." "Fort U.S.A." is as catchy a song as they've ever written. The chorus is a total singalong, and the guitars are very early rock/NY Dolls influenced.

Message from the Underworld b/w Teenage

From what I understand, this is their 3rd single, recorded in July of 1980. I haven't been able to find any info about this single, and what I did find was ambiguous. I found what I think is the cover art, but the liner notes to the Weird World CD lists the song "Message from the Underworld" as previously unreleased. Either way, the title track is a great song. It is very reminiscent of the original Weirdos sound but with their modern approach. I've never heard the single version of "Teenage," as far as I know it's not available on CD, but there are two demo versions out there on Weird World from 1978 and Destroy All Music from 1977. It was one of the first songs the band wrote and its snotty lyrics and loud, fast musicianship are a perfect pairing.

Action-Design EP

This, The Weirdos' second EP, was recorded in June 1980 and released on Rhino Records. It would be their last release before they broke up in 1981 (though they reformed throughout the 1980's and recorded an album in 1990, nothing after this initial breakup will be covered in this blog). The EP consists of four songs, the first of which being "The Hideout." The song is slow and very dark. There isn't much in these recordings which resemble the early Weirdos sound. This is much more of a rock song with a punk influence, especially in the drumming. The second song, "I Feel" is even more of a straight ahead rock and roll song, very much like the garage rock/powerpop thing going on at the time with bands like The Real Kids. It's a fun, upbeat toe-tapper of a rock song. Next up is a cover in which the band pays respect to L.A. legends, The Doors, not unlike the Weirdos' contemporaries X who covered "Soul Kitchen" on their 1980 debut album Los Angeles. The Weirdos take on "Break On Through" and they do it very well. Ending the album is the frenetic rock and roll of "Helium Bar." The band takes on the rockabilly sound once again, except unlike "Jungle Rock" on their first EP, this one's fast as hell. The only lyrics are "Bop to helium bar tonight" repeated over and over again but it never gets annoyingly repetitive. It's a great way to end their last EP.

Weird World vol. 1

This is the first CD which takes on the task of compiling the Weirdo's catalog. It contains bits and pieces of every release discussed above, plus 7 demo recordings from 1977-1981. It goes in reverse chronological order, and starts with 3 previously unreleased demos from March of 1981. The songs are "Weird World," "Arms Race," and "Pagan." Next up is "Helium Bar" from the Action-Design EP. After that are two songs from a 1980 demo, "Rhythm Syndrome," and "Fallout." The next two songs are "Fort U.S.A." and "Happy People" from Who? What? When? Where? Why?, however, "Fort U.S.A." is an alternate mix. Next is "Message From the Underworld" followed by "Teenage" and "I'm Not Like You" from a demo session recorded in 1978. The CD ends with both sides of their second single, "We Got The Neutron Bomb" (which is another alternate mix) and " Solitary Confinement," and "Life of Crime" from the Destroy All Music 7". This is a great compilation and covers their entire career up until the initial breakup, however, it is only 36 minutes long and that is inexcusable when there were B sides and even A sides left off this release. They could have fit at least the rest of the Destroy All Music single, the B side to the "Message From the Underworld" single, and more from the 2 EP's. As a bit of a neurotic completist, it bothers me. However, the demo tracks are really cool so they kind of make up for that.

We Got The Neutron Bomb: Weird World vol. 2

This set compiles previously unreleased live performances and studio recordings from 1977-1989. I don't own it, but it seems to contain material mostly from the original band, and only a few from the reformed, late 80's version of the Weirdos.

Destroy All Music CD

This CD reissue from Bomp! Records compiles the entire Destroy All Music single, the entire Who? When? When? Where? Why? EP, and 4 songs from their very first demo recorded in 1977. The demo songs are "Teenage," "Destroy All Music," "A Life Of Crime," and "Why Do You Exist?"

L.A. Punk Vol. 1- The Germs

2009-07-05T22:18:00.000-07:00

The Germs are one of the more important bands in the history of American punk. They were part of the original wave of L.A. punk bands. The original band, formed in 1977, that performed at their historic first show ever opening for the Weirdos was Bobby Pyn (soon to be Darby Crash) on vocals, Pat Smear on guitar, Lorna Doom on bass, and Donna Rhia on drums (who replaced Dottie Danger a.k.a. Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Go's). The band's recorded output is limited. In their very short time together they recorded 2 singles, 1 album, did a session for the soundtrack to the movie Cruising, and then released on posthumous EP, almost all of which is compiled on the Rhino set (MIA): The Complete Anthology. Tragically, the band would break up in 1980. However, months later, they decided to get back back together for one more show. The Germs final show was booked at the Starwood for December 3, 1980. Darby then overdosed on heroin just four days later, and died. It was widely accepted to be suicide.

UPDATE: The legendary final Germs show was just released on Rhino Handmade.

Darby Crash was a poet and that's just one of many reasons why the Germs have never gone out of style. In fact, since its release in 1979, their album GI has NEVER gone out of print.

Forming b/w Sex Boy (Live)

This is the Germ's first single, released on What? Records (What 001) in July of 1977. This was also the first punk single released in L.A. The drums on both tracks were provided by Donna Rhia. "Forming" is a slow, sloppy punk song. It shows the band in its infancy and though they leave a lot to be desired by the musicianship and Darby's vocals were completely lacking his trademark snarl, there's something about the song that hints at the greatness to come yet still holds its own. The flip side is a live recording of a song called Sex Boy. The song was recorded at the Roxy during the auditions to be in the battle of the bands scene in Up In Smoke. The Germs were the only band not to be used in the movie. The recording is muddy, the playing is sloppy, and you can hear bottles breaking, talking in the crowd, and even cigarettes lighters. It all adds to the charm.

Lexicon Devil EP

This is the Germs' second single, and Slash Records' first release. It was released in May of 1978. The A-side is "Lexicon Devil" and the B-side is "Circle One" and "No God". "Lexicon Devil" is one of the Germs' best songs. This version of the song is slower and tamer than the version that would end up on GI. They had yet to master that fast and crunchy sound they would have on the album. "Circle One" is a guitar frenzy in which Darby sings his mission statement: "I'm Darby Crash/A social blast/Chaotic master" and "I'm Darby Crash/Your Mecca's gash/prophetic stature." "No God" is Darby crying out against religion (Catholicism specifically). The lyrics are arguably the best of his early work: "I'd pray to anything out there/As long as I was given some sign to bear/But while I wait I'm gonna live/See...there's no God to watch over me/No God for human beings"

GI

This is the Germs' debut album. It was released on Slash Records in October of 1979. The album features 16 Germs classics in just over 38 minutes from the classic 42 second blast of "What We Do Is Secret" to the re-recorded, harder, faster version of "Lexicon Devil", and the slow(er) dirge of "Manimal." The real gem here, though, is "Shut Down (Annihilation Man). The song is 9 and a half minutes of bluesy/garage rock-y riffing. If it weren't for its length, this would be the closest thing to a conventional rock song the Germs ever recorded. Every song on this album is essential.

What We Do Is Secret
This was released in August of 1981, less than a year after Darby's death. It contains the Lexicon Devil EP, "Caught In My Eye" (an outtake from the GI sessions), "Round and Round" (a Chuck Berry cover recorded in 1977 with X's DJ Bonebreak on drums), and 2 songs recorded at the Germs' farewell show in 1980: "My Tunnel" and "The Other Newest One." Only "Caught In My Eye" and "Round and Round" were included in the (MIA) Anthology. Also, from what I've read, the version of "Lexicon Devil" is a different version than the EP and LP versions. So if you ever find a copy, pick it up. I know I will.

The Germs also appeared on a few compilations, including the infamous Yes L.A. comp released by Dangerhouse in 1979. It was a who's who of early L.A. punk which also included The Bags, Black Randy, The Alleycats, the Eyes, and X. They also contributed a track to Tooth and Nail released by Chris D.'s Upsetter Records. Lastly, they recorded 6 songs for the soundtrack to the movie Cruising. Only one was used in the movie and on the soundtrack, but all 6 are included on the (MIA) anthology.

If you ever get the chance to see reformed Germs, I highly recommend it. I saw them at the Asbury Lanes last Friday and was blown away. They are fronted by actor Shane West, who played Darby in the biopic, What We Do Is Secret. West does a fantastic job as frontman. His singing voice is reminiscent of Darb, but he doesn't do a full on impression. Pat Smear still has his magic touch, and Lorna Doom, though she doesn't move around much, looks completely comfortable on stage still and seems to still really love what she's doing. Don Bolles is a completely different story. He's goofy, funny, and cracked jokes in between almost every song. Not only was their set amazing but afterward they all hung out and took the time to talk to anyone who wanted to talk. Shane West was funny and extremely friendly. Don Bolles again stole the show for me though. It seemed as though he looked forward to meeting all of us who came out to the show, and really enjoyed bullshitting and telling us stories.

Seeing the Germs was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had at a show. I never thought I'd be able to say I saw the Germs, let alone that I met and had a conversation with Don Bolles(or Don Whatsisname as his autograph says on the title page on my copy of Darby's biography).

1969

2009-06-24T00:21:00.000-07:00

I was listening to Sounds of 69 by Crazy Baldhead today, which is an album of covers of songs originally released in 1969 given the Crazy Baldhead reggae treatment, and it got me thinking that 1969 was a great year for music. I started flipping through my collection and realized just how great a year it was. I decided to make a post about a few of my favorite albums which turned 40 this year that Agent Jay didn't cover songs from.

MC5- Kick Out The Jams

The MC5 were part of the (un)holy trinity of proto punk bands including The Velvet Underground and The Stooges (both of which released classic albums in 1969 but aren't being discussed in this article because Crazy Baldhead covered a song from both of them). Kick Out The Jams was the MC5's debut album and cemented them as total badasses not only because the album kicks ass but because they debuted with a heavy, loud, LIVE album. The album is THE prime example of what an MC5 show was like when they were at their loudest. This band did everything that rock bands weren't doing or were too afraid to do at the time. Their political affiliations were more than radical. Joh Sinclaire, leader of the White Panthers,a companion group to the Black Panthers which consisted of white people assisting their cause, gives a speech at the opening of this album. They were doing blues and r&b covers ("Motor City's Burning" by John Lee Hooker, and the r&b standard, "Ramblin Rose") which was not too out of the ordinary for their "hard rock" contemporaries but crediting one of their songs to Sun Ra because they borrowed the lyrics from one of his poems is not something many rock bands were doing and still isn't something I've ever heard of a rock band doing. They also opened the first track on the album with a call to arms for everyone who knew what was what and which horrified everyone who didn't: "KICK OUT THE JAMS, MOTHERFUCKERS!"

Johnny Otis- Snatch and the Poontangs/Cold Shot

Johnny Otis is an R&B pioneer. He also happens to be white but that never stopped him. He grew up in a black neighborhood of Berkeley and gravitated towards "race music." When he was younger it was swing. Eventually he fell in love with rhythm and blues and became completely intertwined with the genre despite being one of the very few white men involved in it. A few of his accomplishments include many #1's on the R&B charts, discovering Etta James, and producing Big Mama Thorton's "Hound Dog." By 1968 the hits had stopped coming in and he was getting a little old (47 to be exact) but that didn't stop him from putting out two amazing albums that year, Cold Shot and Snatch and the Poontangs. Musically they are both very similar albums. They are blues raveups, updating that R&B sound that Johnny had made his mark playing all those years. Lyrically, however, they are worlds apart. Cold Shot is a straight ahead blues album, whereas Snatch and the Poontangs, as the name suggests, is filthy, raw, X-rated blues. Not only is the music incredible but the songs are hilarious. It should also be mentioned that featured on both albums is Johnny's 15 year old son, Shuggie, who plays the blues so well he rivals some of Hendrix's best blues playing. Shuggie would go on to become a cult hero in his own right, releasing 3 solo albums, Here Comes Shuggie Otis, Freedom Flight, and Inspiration Information, and playing guitar on Al Kooper's Super Sessions follow up called Kooper Sessions.

*Both of these albums plus two bonus tracks from the Snatch and the Poontangs album sessions were compiled onto one CD.

Herbie Mann- Memphis Underground

In keeping with the theme of incredible albums made by white guys in a predominately black genre, here we have Herbie Mann with the soul jazz classic, Memphis Underground. On this album are jazz legends Roy Ayers playing the vibes, Larry Coryell on guitar, and Sonny Sharock also on guitar. The band is rounded out by the Memphis rhythm section. This album is Herbie Mann's tribute to soul music. 3 of the 5 songs on the album are soul covers ("New Orleans" originally recorded by Gary U.S. Bonds, "Hold On, I'm Comin" originally recorded by Sam & Dave, and "Chain of Fools" originally recorded by Aretha Franklin). Of the remaining 2 songs, "Memphis Undergound" is a Herbie Mann original and "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is a traditional song arranged by Herbie Mann. The musicianship is incredible and the grooves are tight. Once you hear Sonny Sharock's guitar solos you'll understand that this is more than just a jazz album and more than just a soul album.

Frank Zappa- Hot Rats

This was Zappa's second solo album, the first being the incredibly experimental Lumpy Gravy. It is also Zappa's first album of jazz compositions (not his first foray into jazz however, as he was composing classical and jazz before forming The Mothers). This is not your father's jazz album though. This is jazz fusion as only Zappa could do. The band features Zappa on guitar, octave bass, and percussion and Zappa regular Ian Underwood playing piano, organ, flute, all clarinets, and all saxes. Beyond that the musicians are not the same for each song but feature special guests Captain Beefheart lending his vocals to "Willie the Pimp", Jean Luc Ponty playing violin on "It Must Be A Camel", and the aforementioned Shuggie Otis playing bass on "Peaches En Regalia" This is the first installment of what has come to be known as Zappa's jazz trilogy which also includes Waka/Jawaka and The Grand Wazoo. This album is much more rock oriented the the other two, especially in Zappa's guitar playing and his solos.

Chicago- Chicago Transit Authority

When people think of the band Chicago, they think of the pop songs such as "Saturday in the Park" or "Just You N' Me." While I still enjoy those songs for what they are they couldn't be farther, stylistically, from what this band started out as. They formed in 1967 in Chicago and then moved out to Los Angeles and signed to Columbia who released their self titled debut album, which also happened to be a double LP which was just as unheard of as debuting with a live album. The band has 7 members including trumpet, trombone, and various woodwind instruments. 5 of the 7 members share vocal duties. All of the 7 members of the band were amazing musicians but one should have been a legend. Guitarist Terry Kath should be a household name mentioned in the same breath as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page. In fact, in the liner notes, sax player Walter Parazaider recalls playing a show at the Whiskey in L.A. before the album was recorded and having Jimi Hendrix come up to him and say, "Your horns are one set of lungs, and you know your guitar player is better than me." Kath's genius is all over this album in his incredible solos on "Introduction," "Listen," "Poem 58," "South California Purples," "I'm a Man," and "Liberation." But where he really shines is his epic "Free Form Guitar." The song clocks in at just under 7 minutes of what some would call noise and feedback but I call it guitar virtuosity. In those seven minutes Kath gets sounds to come out of his guitar you've never heard before and yet as a whole, it works surprisingly well as one piece of music. This album is full of heavy songs with a heavy R&B influence. My favorite thing about this album, however, is playing it for people who have never heard it. When they hear I want to play them a Chicago album they're usually surprised and don't want to say no but don't believe me when I say it's going to blow their mind. As soon as the horns kick in on the first track, "Introduction," and Terry Kath starts singing in his bluesy growl it always blows their minds.

Brooklyn Funk Vol. 4- Truth & Soul Records

2009-06-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

Here it is, the final chapter in my Brooklyn funk saga. So far I've gone through Desco, the label that started it all, Soul Fire, the label that kept it all going and Daptone, the label that brought it all to the spotlight. Now it's time to go through the last label. This one, like Daptone, is still going strong.

Truth & Soul was born out of the ashes of Soul Fire. It is run by Jeff Silverman and Leon Michels. Jeff Silverman was Desco's DJ; he spun records at all the NYC Desco shows. Later on he became involved in Soul Fire with Phil Lehman. He also played drums and bass on the JD & the Evil's Dynamite Band album. Leon Michels first came into the scene as a member of The Mighty Imperials recording for Desco then with El Michels Affair for Soul Fire.

When Soul Fire went under, Silverman and Michels teamed up and started Truth & Soul in 2004. For more info about Jeff Silverman, you can read an interview he did in 2006 here and for more information on Truth & Soul you can check out their website here.

TSCD-001 El Michels Affair- Sounding Out The City (2005)

This is El Michels Affair's debut album. The album consists of their patented brand of hard hitting yet polished instrumental soul. The horns are really in the forefront of this entire album. The rhythm section keeps it solid and interesting throughout each of the songs but all of the melody is in the horns and they're arranged beautifully. This album blew my mind the first time I heard it. I had never heard anything that sounded like this before.

TSCD-002 Various-Fallin' Off The Reel vol. 1 (2006)

This is Truth & Soul's first singles collection. The first single released on the label was an afrobeat split 7". It featured Soul Fire's Bama & the Family and Asiko. The Asiko track is all drums and percussion. Next up are 3 songs by Bronx River Parkway playing the latin-funk they do so well. Following them are 2 laid back soul tunes by Timothy McNealy, originally released in 1972, reissued here by Truth & Soul. Next up are two beautiful ballads by the one and only Lee Fields followed by 2 El Michels Affair tracks which were on the Sounding Out The City album. After El Michels Affair comes two instrumentals by The Expressions who back Lee Fields in all of his Truth & Soul endeavors. Closing out the album are two Wu Tang Clan covers by El Michels Affair, two more reissues, this time from the Funky Music Machine, and a song by Evil D, a band I would imagine has some relation to JD & The Evil's Dynamite Band, but I don't know for sure.

TSCD-003 Tyrone Ashley & The Funky Music Machine- Let Me Be Your Man (2007)

This is a reissue of the work of Sammy Campbell, a Plainfield, NJ native. He grew up singing doo wop in a group called the Del-Larks whose biggest competition was a local group called The Parliaments led by George Clinton. Eventually Sammy started making soul music under the moniker Tyrone Ashley and sometimes Tyrone Ashley and the Funky Music Machine. This album compiles previously released and unreleased instrumental and vocal songs from the Funky Music Machine. Bernie Worrell said that he, "had a voice like velvet," and I have to agree. Certain members of George Clinton's funk mob even make appearances on this album, including Eddie Hazel and Billy "Bass" Nelson.

TSCD-004 Various-Fallin Off The Reel vol. 2 (2008)

Here is volume 2 of Truth & Soul's Fallin Off The Reel series. This time we've got 4 singles by T&S bands, 3 reissue singles, and 2 bonus tracks. Of the new singles, there are 4 shortened single versions of songs from Bronx River Parkway's debut album, San Sebastian 152, 2 songs by Lee Fields, and 4 from El Michels affair, one of which is a hip hop song featuring Raekwon. As far as the reissues go, we are given 2 more by the Funky Music Machine which can be found on their album, two more great Timothy McNealy songs, and 2 by a female soul group called Black Velvet. The two bonus tracks are an interlude by Truth and Soul mainstay and former Inspecter 7 bassist Quincy Bright and a previously unreleased song by Soul Fire's The Fabulous Three.

TSCD-006 Bronx River Parkway and The Candela Allstars- San Sebastian 152 (2008)

This is Bronx River Parkway's debut album. They've been around for quite some time and released singles on Soul Fire records. The band features scene regulars Thomas Brenneck, Leon Michels, Nick Movshon, and Quincy Bright and is fleshed out by the Candela Allstars. The album consists of 10 songs done in that unique Bronx River Parkway style, mixing hard edged funk grooves with Latin music. The music varies from being more on the funky side of things, to being more on the Latin side. The percussion is spot on, and the horns never miss a beat.

FB5127 El Michels Affair- Enter the 37th Chamber (2009)

Though this album isn't technically a Truth & Soul release I'm including it anyway. This was released by the Fat Beats label in conjunction with Truth & Soul and is an entire album's worth of El Michels Affair's Wu Tang covers. They are (almost) all instrumental interpretations of songs from the Wu Tang catalog, though ODB's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" features a chorus of children singing the refrain "Shimmy shimmy ya shimmy yeah shimmy yay/gimme the mic so I can take it away". For a Wu Tang fan this album is A LOT of fun. But even if you're not a Wu Tang fan or just don't know their music too well the album stands alone as a beautifully produced El Michels Affair album.

TSCD-007 Lee Fields and the Expressions- My World (2009)

My World is Lee Fields' third full length album with the Brooklyn funk crew. His first, Let's Get A Groove On, released on Desco Records, played to his James Brown-ish tendencies. His second, Problems, released on Soul Fire Records, really fit in with the entire Soul Fire catalog. It went back and forth between great soul tunes and gritty funk like only the Soul Fire guys could do. This time the album has that undeniable Truth & Soul sound. It's a beautiful soul album that really let's Fields' vocal prowess take the lead. The band backing him, The Expressions, reads like a Truth & Soul/Daptone's greatest list: Leon Michels, Nick Movshon, Quincy Bright, Homer Steinweiss, Tommy Brenneck, Jeff Silverman, and Michael Leonhart. Other notable members of the band include The Del-Larks, a Plainfield, NJ doo wop group and rivals of George Clinton's The Parliaments. The Del-Larks included Sammy Campbell, sometimes known as Tyrone Ashley who Truth & Soul released a compilation of back in 2007. The other notable member of the band is conga player Johnny Griggs, who played with James Brown way back when. The combination of the best musicians from the scene and some of the strongest material of Lee Fields' career makes this an album you cannot pass up. Some of the tunes worth mentioning are "Money I$ King" and "These Moments" which some of you may remember as instrumentals by The Expressions from the compilation Falling Off The Reel Vol. 1, another beautiful version of "Honey Dove" from Problems, and the haunting title track.

TSCD-008 El Michels Affair- A Tribute to Isaac Hayes (2009)

El Michels Affair have supplied us with yet another masterfully done album of cover songs, this time from the repertoire of the late, great Isaac Hayes. Technically it's an EP, however it's a 27 minute EP, which only comes in 6 minutes behind Sounding Out The City anyway. "Shaft" is a very bare bones instrumental while "Walk On By" is definitely the sexiest song they have ever recorded. "Hung Up On My Baby" is the most indicative of the El Michels Affair sound we have all come to expect. All in all, this is a fantastic tribute to Isaac Hayes and like Enter the 37th Chamber a great album for all El Michels Affair fans.

TSCD-009 Michael Leonhart and Avramina 7- Seahorse and The Storyteller (2010)

From the opening of the first track, "Seahorse and The Storyteller", with its dark and ominous yet funky guitar/bass line you know you're in for something completely new and original the likes of which have never graced the catalog of Truth & Soul Records before. The song begins to build with the addition of drums and some spacey background sounds. Then come the vocals, always at least 2 voices singing every word found on the record, one low and one singing harmony in a much higher register and you realize that nothing has ever sounded like this before. Throughout the song different textures are added that set the scene for the entire album to come: horns, strings, noises, sounds that might be voices, and instruments that cannot be identified just by listening. As the album progresses styles change, different instrumentation comes and goes, but the two things that stay constant are the breakbeat style drums and the amazingly original vocals. Throughout the song cycle the music shifts from experimental pop/funk with heavy afrobeat tendencies(The tile track and "Scopolamine") to beautiful and haunting ballads ("The Story of Echo Lake"), to exotic, vaguely soul/funk tunes("Gold Fever", "Jaipur", "Madhouse Mumbai") to songs that leave me completely unable to categorize them. This is a concept album and instead of trying to capture it in a sentence or two I'll give you what is written on the back of the package itself: "Seahorse & The Storyteller is the story of two mythical creatures who meet, fall in love and begin piecing together the mysteries of each other's past. They set off on an adventure that will lead them to the ends of the world. Along the way, they encounter a cast of colorful characters who will forever change them". All of these different musical styles I have mentioned already are used perfectly to convey the story of the Seahorse and The Storyteller. There are songs that will make you want to leap out of your seat and start dancing, there are songs that are creepy and dark to convey certain parts of the story and exotic sounding songs that paint a picture of the exotic creatures the two main characters meet along their journey. Every song pulls you into the next and you won't be able to pause it in the middle even if you wanted to. It all leads up to the last song on the album, "Here Comes The Dragonfish", an uplifting and beautifully written, produced and performed pop song. I honestly think it is the best song on the album simply because the entire album leads up to it so perfectly. When it comes, you feel relieved because even though you weren't aware of it yet, you had been waiting almost 40 minutes to hear that specific song.

TSCD- 010 Various- Fallin Off The Reel Vol. 3 (2011)

Yet another installment in the fantastic Fallin Off The Reel series. Volume 3 brings us the latest and greatest of the limited edition 45's Truth & Soul have been putting out since Volume 2 hit the shelves. It opens up with two smooth, disco-y funk tunes. The second track being the most disco but also my favorite as it's an 8 minute trombone/flute duet. Then we get some new Quincy Bright, including "Stay The Night" which is an actual song with a structure and vocals as opposed to his usual short instrumental sound collages. The following two songs are two more Timothy McNealy reissues. These two being heavier and funkier than anything on volumes one or two. I really hope they will eventually put an entire disc's worth of Timothy McNealy tracks together for a proper full length. I'm going to skip around a bit now. The next new band to be featured are The Olympians. They offer up their own brand of smooth, cinematic soul. It's El Michels Affair-esque but different enough to be really exciting.

TSCD-011 Lee Fields- Problems (2002)

This is a Soul Fire reissue. For a review see my article on Soul Fire Records.

TSCD-014 Various- African Music Today (2010)

This album is a compilation of rare and unreleased modern afrobeat music, though you will think you're listening to a collection centered around 1970's Nigerian bands. There is no information about any of these bands to be found within the packaging of the CD, however I do know that the Bama & The Family and Jojo Quo and his Challengers tracks were pulled from the Sou Fire vaults. Besides those songs the album is comprised of amazing, obscure afrobeat which just get better and better as the album progresses.

TSCD-017 The Fabulous Three- The Best Of The Fabulous Three (2010)

Those of you paying close attention to the Brooklyn Funk articles will recognize the Fabulous Three from the Soul Fire article and earlier in his article about Truth & Soul. The Fabulous Three were a Soul Fire band in every sense of the word. They shared members with just about every band on the label, they were all friends, and they made soul music that was as heavy as it was beautiful. It is only fitting that they finally receive a full length reissue on Truth & Soul since most of their members are still active in the label's output to this day. The album opens up with "Answer Me Softly Pt. 1" and "Answer Me Softly Pt. 2" which both appeared on Soul Fire's Up From The Vaults Vol. 1 after being released as a 45rpm single. Of the following 11 songs, all but one, "Odyssey Revised" which was included as a bonus track on Falling Off The Reel Vol. 2, are seeing daylight for the first time. The drum beat mixed with the handclaps and clave pattern on "Nightbird" is mesmerizing. The organ melodies on "Whitesands Pt. 1," "Whitesands Pt. 2," and "No Name Bar" will be stuck in your head forever. All in all we are finally given the chance to fully appreciate the distinct sound of The Fabulous Three. These songs sound like nothing that came before them and nothing that has come since (although I noticed today that the JD and the Evil's Dynamite Band album does come pretty close). The minimalism in the instrumentation is what sets them apart from everything else. Most of the songs only feature drums, bass, organ and sometimes flute and some horns. Only five of the tracks actually have guitar. Most of the tracks are mixed in a way that the drums are way up front and it gives them a fullness I have yet to hear on anything else. It also gives the song a completely different personality because the mixing is telling you the drums are the focal point of this recording which is something you don't often hear.

As a little bonus, here's a small list of some Brooklyn funk guest appearances.

New York Ska Jazz Ensemble- Skaleidoscope (2005)

NYSJE are veterans of the ska scene. Their first album came out on Moon Ska Records way back in 1995. The band is centered around sax/flute/vocalist and former member of the Toasters, "Rocksteady" Freddy Reiter. This album features the beautiful vocals of Sharon Jones on the songs, "Makin' Whoopee," "Isn't It Funny," and "Making Love."

The Scorchers- Stuntin' (2005)

The Scorchers are a traditional ska band from Brooklyn featuring two ex members of the Slackers. Their debut album features the saxophone and organ of El Michels. The album is about half instrumental, half vocal. El Michels also helped record the album as well, giving it a bit of that Truth & Soul analog feel.

Amy Winehouse- Back to Black (2006)

This woman needs no introduction. You either love her or hate her, depending on how much celebrity gossip you pay attention to. I personally don't care what kind of person is, I think she has an amazing voice, and the songs are extremely catchy. It also doesn't hurt that the music on this album, and the subsequent tour, was provided by Daptone's own The Dap Kings.

That's it for my Brooklyn funk chronicles. I'm going to do my best to keep these updated as Daptone and Truth & Soul release more and as I get the ones I don't already own. A lot of these bands are still playing shows, and you should really go out and see them if you ever get the chance. I've only gotten the chance to see Budos Band, but my friends have seen Sharon Jones, Lee Fields, Sugarman 3, and Menahan Street Band and I've never heard a bad review. Read more about the Brooklyn funk scene with my articles on Daptone, Soul Fire, and Desco.

Brooklyn Funk Vol. 3- Daptone Records

2009-06-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

Now it's time to talk about the most famous of all the Brooklyn funk record labels, Daptone Records. The label was formed out of Desco's ashes in 2000 by Gabriel Roth and Neal Sugarman. Without further ado, here is the Daptone catalog (it's much longer than any of the other labels because it has lasted so long).

Dap 001 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings- Dap Dippin With... (2002)

Daptone's first full length release by Brooklyn's own funky diva, Sharon Jones. However, she's no rookie; she had a single or two out on Descoback in the 1990's. This is her first full length, and its the nastiest, grittiest, and funkiest of her career to date. Every track is fantastic and they will all have you up on your feet dancing your ass off.

Dap 002 Sugarman Three and Co.- Pure Cane Sugar (2002)

This is the Sugarman Three's third album. This time the band is fleshed out with a bunch of guests including trumpet, congas, clavinet, and baritone sax. Along with those guests there are three guest vocalists on the album, Charles Bradley, Naomi Davis, and Lee Fields. On top of that, as if that wasn't enough, there's one more guest, the drum LEGEND Bernard "Pretty" Purdie. All of these special guests really make it an exciting album, however it is the one I go back and listen to least. That's not to say it's a bad album at all. I honestly don't think the Sugarman Three are capable of putting out a bad album, it's just not as good as Sugar's Boogaloo or Soul Donkey. That being said, the vocal cuts are great and though the instrumentals are in a different style than their previous two albums they've still got it.

Dap 003 The Mighty Imperials- Thunder Chicken (2004)

This album was recorded way back in 1999(ish) and was supposed to be put out by Desco but was never officially released until Daptone was kind enough to let us have it in 2004. There was a bootleg released in 2000 which caused some controversy, enough so for the Daptone issue to have a note on the back cover that says "*Any other issue of this album with different cover art is an unauthorized BOOTLEG for which the artists have recieved NO ROYALTIES*." I've seen that bootleg, whoever made them tried to pass them off as a Desco release with the label logo and everything. Anyway, this band consists of Leon Michels (of El Michels Affair), Homer Steinweis (later to become drummer for the Dap Kings), Nick Movshon (also of El Michels Affair, and Antibalas), and Sean Solomon (also of El Michels Affair). The music on this album is Meters style funk straight down to the album cover (just compare this artwork to Struttin by the Meters) and they do it flawlessly. I remember when this was released and being blown away by how well they pulled off that New Orleans organ/guitar funk style. There are also four vocal cuts on the album sung by Joseph Henry. They are in more of a James Brown style and are very good but the real gold on this CD is found in the instrumentals.

Dap 004 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings- Naturally (2005)

Sharon Jones and her band return for their second full length, this time with a much more polished product. I have a hard time picking favorites but this may be my favorite Sharon Jones album. It's not too slick or over produced, it's just right. It's also got a beautifully sung ballad duet with Lee Fields called "Stranded In Your Love" and though the lyrics get a bit corny at times the song is too great for that to matter. From the slower paced songs like "Stranded..." and "All Over Again" to the dancefloor funk of "Your Thing is a Drag" and "Natural Born Lover", this is another great album from Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

Dap 005 Budos Band- Budos Band (2005)

This is the debut album by The Budos Band. They are an 11 piece "afro soul" band hailing from Staten Island. What that means is that they mix afrobeat rhythms and instrumentation with that Daptone soul sound we've all come to know and love by now. On the album, as if 11 members isn't enough, they are joined by 5 very talented guests: Neal and Daisy Sugarman (of the Sugarman Three), Bosco Mann (a.k.a. Gabriel Roth of the Dap Kings), Duke Amayo (of Antibalas), and the great percussionist, Johnny Griggs (of the J.B.'s). This album is the perfect mix of afrobeat and soul and the musicianship is out of this world. Every groove is spot on with just the right amount of percussion and the horn section is always spot on. Also, on a side note, if you ever get the chance to see this band live, do it. They're fantastic.

Dap 006 Sugarman Three- Sugar's Boogaloo (1998)

This is the Daptone reissue of this album which originally came out on Desco. For a review see my article devoted to Desco records.

Dap 007 Poets of Rhythm- Practice What You Preach (1993)

This is another reissue, however not of an old Desco title. The Poets of Rhythm were a prior incarnation of the two men behind The Whitefield Brothers (who's album In The Raw came out on Soul Fire Records). In fact, this was their debut album, originally released all the way back in 1993, as the Daptone website says, "years before Desco, Daptone, DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, or any of the rest of us ever got covered in the filth of raw funk." This album just wreaks of the 1970's. The title track feels like an outtake from an old J.B.'s LP. After listening to this album you won't believe that it came out as late as 1993 and that the band is from Germany. You'll think this came out in 1974 and was recorded by a band from Georgia.

Dap 008 The Sugarman Three- Soul Donkey (2000)

This is another Desco reissue. For a review see my article on Desco Records

Dap 009 The Daktaris- Soul Explosion (1998)

This is another Desco reissue. For a review see my article on Desco Records

Dap 010 Bob & Gene- If This World Were Mine... (2007)

This is another reissue. It collects songs recorded by Bobby Nunn and Eugene Coplin between 1967 and 1972 for for Mo Do label, run by William Nunn, Bobby's father. Bob and Gene were two boys from Buffalo, New York who had a passion for music. They devoted themselves to writing these beautiful love songs. According to the liner notes a full length album was in the works but Mo Do records ran out of money before a full album by Bob and Gene could be made. Daptone remedied this by releasing this collection. This album is full of fantastic sweet soul from the duo filled with great horn work and beautiful harmonies.

Dap 011 The Budos Band- Budos Band II (2007)

Budos Band return to offer another amazing piece of Staten Island Soul. This time it's a little less afrobeat and a little more soul, however that African influence is still very obvious and very noticeable throughout the entire album. There is not much to say about this album other than it's a great album. More great grooves brought to you by this world class rhythm section and more great horn work from one of the best horn sections in music today.

Dap 012 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings- 100 Days, 100 Nights (2007)

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings return with their third album. This time around the production is even cleaner and more slick. Some songs, such as "When the Other Foot Drops, Uncle" and "100 Days, 100 Nights" have a strong gospel feel. The songwriting and instrumentation is much bigger this time around. There is orchestration, gospel backup vocals, more horns, piano, and organ. While some would criticize this album as saying that Sharon Jones has gone soft, I'd say she's just taking a step in a different direction. Would I like to hear another album of gritty funk in the style of Dap Dippin? Of course, but that doesn't make this a bad album. It's a great soul album, with very rich instrumentation.

Dap 014 Various- Como Now: The Voices of Panola County Mississippi (2008)

In 2006, Daptone started advertising in Panola County Mississippi for people to come to a certain church on a certain day and Daptone would record their songs for them. The result was this album full of a capella gospel music, originals and standards. I don't own this one yet because I'm not that big of a fan of gospel music and the fact that it's a capella also makes me hesitant. When/If i buy it I'll update this with a review.

Dap 015 Menahan Street Band- Make the Road by Walking (2008)

The Menahan Street Band, as far as members go, are an amalgamation of the Budos Band, El Michels Affair/Mighty Imperials and the Dap Kings. The music on their debut album, however, stands alone. It's a very clean and polished soul sound, reminiscent of El Michels Affair but the songwriting is slightly different. Every song on this album is as beautiful as it is catchy. They even dabble in reggae with the song "Montego Sunset."

Dap 016 Naomi Shelton & the Gospel Queens- What Have You Done My Brother (2009)

This album is brand new, no more than a month old. I have not had the chance to pick it up yet. However, Naomi Shelton also went by Naomi Davis back when she released a classic single on Desco Records "41st Street Breakdown b/w Catapult" and when she guested on Pure Cane Sugar by The Sugarman Three. The Daptone website says this is just as much of a soul album as it is a gospel album. I'll be sure to review it when I'm able to buy it.

Dap 12002 Budos Band- Budos Band EP (2009)

-Review coming soon-

Dap 017 Pax Nicholas and the Nettey Family- Na Teef Know De Road of Teef

Nicholas Nettey joined Fela Kuti's Africa 70 as a conga player and backup vocalist in 1971 and recorded with Fela through 1978 (For those not in the know, Fela is the King of Afrobeat and 1971-1978 is his greatest and most influential period). This album, one of 2 which he recorded on the side during his time with Fela, was recorded in 1973 at Ginger Baker's studio in Lagos, Nigeria. It is a lost afrobeat classic and the story of how it was found seems to good to be true. The man behind the Voodoo Funk blog found it in the back room of a record store in Philadelphia among a stack of African LP's. He found Nicholas Nettey who had been living in Berlin for quite some time and approached Daptone Records about reissuing it. There were no master tapes so luckily for us the record he found in Philly was in beautiful condition and this CD Reissue was remastered directly from that LP. The album was 4 songs, each masterpieces in their own right. They are slower, more low-key, and more groove oriented than Fela's material at the time. The stars of the album are the organ, the horns, and the percussion. The organ is comes to the front no matter what its part in the song is. The horns are simplistic and catchy, the percussion makes the beat infectious, and the vocals really add to the groove. We are all indebted to Daptone for bringing this lost classic to our attention.

Dap 018 Various- Daptone Gold (2010)

This is a compilation covering the first ten years of Daptone Records. It has material from the albums released by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Budos Band, Menahan Street Band, and Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens. It also has singles by Binky Griptite & The Mellomatics, Lee Fields, Antibalas, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and Charles Bradley. This set is worth it for any Daptone fans for the songs which were only previously available on 45's and for the 2 exclusive songs: "A Love Like Me" by Binky Griptite and The Sugarman Three, "Giving Up" by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings.

Dap 019 Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings- I Learned the Hard Way (2010)

This, the fourth album by Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, is another beautiful soul album we have all come to expect from the band. It isn't as smooth and polished as 2007's 100 Days, 100 Nights and the gospel tinge found on that album is nowhere to be found. What we have is just a very danceable sweet soul album, though some songs are sweeter than others. There aren't any surprises on this album but there doesn't need to be. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings know how to play soul.

Dap 020 Budos Band- III (2010)

This is their best, most haunting album yet. The grooves are scary and the production is very dark but it will still immediately make you get up and dance. The playing and songwriting is top notch and the Budos horns are just as amazing as they always are.

Dap 021 Charles Bradley- No Time For Dreaming (2011)

Daptone's newest release, Charles Bradley's No Time For Dreaming is being released this Tuesday. The man has been singing for many years but has only made a few appearances with the Brooklyn funk crew so far. His first, to my knowledge, was "Take It As It Comes" with the Sugarman Three on Pure Cane Sugar. He has also released 3 singles on Daptone, one of which being a Christmas 45, the three others being songs from his upcoming album. Menahan Street Band are backing him for his full length debut. Review coming soon.

Daptone has also released two singles collections, however they are download only through Itunes and emusic. Since I don't ever buy music through itunes and I really hate having to buy music through Itunes, I haven't gotten either of them. It actually kind of bothers me that a record label so addicted to vinyl would release something that is only available as a download instead of putting a nice package together. However, because it IS Daptone and I know I'll love the music once I finally get my hands on it, I'm sure I will cave and get them eventually.

For more information on Daptone Records check out their website here.

Coming Soon: Truth & Soul

Brooklyn Funk Vol. 2- Soul Fire Records

2009-06-19T09:22:00.000-07:00

Now that we got Desco out there it's time to talk about my favorite label of the bunch and some of my favorite music to come out of the entire scene: Soul Fire Records. The label was formed by Phil Lehman in 1999 or 2000. Now that Lehman parted ways with Gabriel Roth he had complete control, which meant a label dedicated to the raw, gritty funk he loved. Here's what Soul Fire did in their few years as a label:

SFCD001 Calypso King and the Soul Investigators- Soul Strike (2001)

The first full length to come from Soul Fire is one of the best so far. It is 40 minutes of raw, instrumental, organ driven funk. The guitar melodies are worthy of the Meters and every drum beat is just begging to be sampled. The band is actually from Helsinki, Finland. Who knew something this funky could come from Finland...

SFCD002 JD & The Evil's Dynamite Band- Explodes Across the Nation (2001)

Once again, this CD is another batch of instrumentals, every one of which dirtier and more soulful than you could ever imagine. These guys know just how to hit a groove and keep it going for as long as they want. In my opinion, this is the pinnacle of everything that would be released in this entire scene. If you had to pick one CD out of this whole Brooklyn scene, this is the one I'd recommend.

SFCD301 Various- Grazing in the Trash vol. 1 (2001)

This is Soul Fire's first singles collection and its filled to the brim with heavy hitting funk. All of the tracks are instrumentals except for the two Lee Fields songs. They are also all exclusive to this CD except for one Lee Fields song which is also on Problems. The CD features songs by Calypso King and the Soul Investigators, Speedometer, JD and the Evil's Dynamite Band, Lee Fields and the Explorers, Third Point, The Soul Command, and 2 tracks of Soul Fire Educational drum beats.

SFCD302 Various- Grazing in the Trash vol. 2 (2002)

This is the second volume of singles compiled onto CD. This is the only Soul Fire CD I don't own so I can't give a review of the music on here. But I can tell you a little bit about some of the bands. The first two tracks are by Bama and the Family and if these two songs are anything like they're first single on Truth & Soul then this is some heavy afro-soul. Next up is the Soul Diggers, whom I unfortunately know nothing about. Next up are two songs each from the Sugarman Three and Lee Fields. None of their tracks appear on other albums. Next comes a Soul Fire funk reissue by The Detroit Sex Machines on the Soul Track label. They were a heavy funk band with a good horn section who knew how to hit a hard groove. The set closes out with two by Joseph Henry and the Soul Command (one's a vocal, one's an instrumental) and two by the Whitefield Brothers, one of which ended up on the Soul Fire issue of In The Raw, and the other was included on the Stones Throw reissue.

SFCD303 Various- Up From the Vaults vol. 1 (2002)

This is the third and final CD compiling the Soul Fire singles catalog. It opens up with what I believe is Bronx River Parkway's first single. Two heavy pieces of latin funk, a style which they would only keep perfecting as time went on. Next up are two organ-driven instrumentals by WQLJ and two instrumental soul ballads by the Fabulous Three. Then we get two more amazing tracks by the Whitefield Brothers in the same style as the two tracks on Grazing in the Trash vol. 2 and their album In The Raw. The next single here is by Mauri Bailey. The first features her vocals, which aren't amazing but the band behind her more than makes up for it. The second song is a laid back soul instrumental. Then comes the straight up party funk of the Herb Johnson Settlement, two great afrobeat songs by Massak, another Detroit Sex Machines reissue, and the beautiful soul of El Michels Affair.

SFCD004 Lee Fields- Problems (2002)

Mr. Fields is back after a 4 year absence with another full length which easily tops his Desco outing. This album has everything and it's all covered in that patented Soul Fire grit. If its psyched out funk you want then you're gonna wanna check out "Bad Trip." If its a raw soul ballad you want done in a way only Lee Fields and the Soul Fire musicians could do then you'll wanna give "Honey Dove" a listen. This album has everything from slower love songs to the soul rave ups you've come to expect from Lee Fields mixed with the raw funk you've now come to expect from the Soul Fire funk mob. This album was recently reissued by Truth & Soul Records.

SFCD005 The Whitefield Brothers- In The Raw (2002)

I always lump the Whitefield Brothers (sometimes known as the Poets of Rhythm, and most recently, Karl Hector and the Malcouns) in with the Brooklyn funk scene simply because this album was released on Soul Fire and because Daptone reissued an old album by the Poets of Rhythm, however, they are not from Brooklyn at all. They are two guys based out of Munich. This album was recorded by Gabriel Roth and might have been meant for release on Desco. The band features Jan and Max Wesseinfeldt, a.k.a Jay and Muggy Whitefield, and also the cream of the crop of Brooklyn's musicians including, Gabriel Roth, Neal Sugarman (of the Sugarman Three), and Leon Michels (of El Michels Affair and The Mighty Imperials). This album always felt, to me, like an African soul album. It's heavy on the percussion which gives it a very African feel but its still got that Brooklyn soul aesthetic. This album was just recently reissued on Stones Throw Records with a bonus track.

Comin Soon: Daptone Records

Brooklyn Funk Vol. 1- Desco Records

2009-06-18T22:35:00.000-07:00

There has been an incredible funk scene in Brooklyn for the past 15 years. It's been getting some press over the past couple of years due to Sharon Jones' rise in popularity and Amy Winehouse borrowing her band The Dap Kings, a group of musicians who have been part of most projects to come out of these 4 Brooklyn based record labels: Desco, Soul Fire, Daptone, and Truth & Soul. I'm gonna take you back a few years and tell you about Desco Records first.

The label was founded by Gabriel Roth (a.k.a. Bosco Mann) and Phil Lehman in 1996. The label made it until 2000, then the two parted ways and Roth formed Daptone, and Lehman formed Soul Fire.

Roth and Lehman preferred different sounds, which became apparent when they parted ways. Lehman prefers a dirtier, more raw funk, which is apparent on all of the Soul Fire releases, while Roth prefers cleaner, more polished sound, which categorizes most of the Daptone releases.

All of these labels put out 7" singles like crazy, however I don't own any of them, so I'm going to focus on the albums and singles comps.

Desco 001 The Other Side- (Don't Look Back) Behind the Shack (1998)

This album, the first in a long line a Brooklyn releases, really sets the bar. The band featured a young Gabriel Roth, AKA Bosco Mann, on bass who would go on to produce and play on an overwhelming number of the albums to come out of this scene. The Other Side is a horn driven, instrumental funk band. The songs range from midtempo soul to super fast funk freakouts. It has a definite J.B.'s feel to it, and the trombone player definitely grew up listening to Fred Wesley blow his horn, while the sax player has a more subtle Maceo Parker influence during his solos. While the horns are on the front lines during this album, the organ playing should not go unnoticed, as well as the fact that the rhythm section for this band pretty much defined what the rhythm sections for every Daptone release would sound like. I hear an influence on the guitar, drum, and bass from this album in The Dap Kings and Budos Band.

Desco 002 The Sugarman Three- Sugar's Boogaloo (1998)

This is the Sugarman 3's debut full length, a well crafted set of polished soulful instrumentals. The band consists of guitar, drums, organ, tenor sax, and flute. It's odd for a soul/funk band not to have a bassist, but it works so well that I honestly never even knew there was no bass until sitting down to write this. This is a great album, and they only got better with their second album. This album was reissued on Daptone, and is readily available.

Desco 003 The Daktaris- Soul Explosion (1998)

The Daktaris consist of the usual cast of Desco musicians, however they aren't playing funk or soul anymore, they are playing afrobeat. Since the musicians are familiar, and it was recorded and mixed by Gabriel Roth, it has that familiar Desco feel to it. You can hear the polished Desco soul shine through this hard hitting, sometimes militant afrobeat. This album is HIGHLY reccomended, and like Sugar's Boogaloo, it is also available on Daptone Records.

Desco 004 Lee Fields- Let's Get A Groove On (1998)

Lee Fields was born and raised in North Carolina and his career began way back in the 1970's. His first album, Let's Talk It Over was released in 1979 and is considered a funk classic and is nearly impossible to find. This is his first album for the Brooklyn funk mob, and it can best be described as Desco meets James Brown. It's got hard hitting funk grooves, but it also features Lee singing the beautiful ballad, "Take It or Leave It."

Desco 005 The Sugarman Three- Soul Donkey (2000)

This is my favorite Sugarman Three album. They took what they were doing on the first album, and they perfected it. This album, like Sugar's Boogaloo, is an album of instrumental funk, played by the same band, augmented this time by Roth adding some tambourine. However, the songwriting is better on this one, and the songs are funkier. This is the kind of album you put on at a party to get everyone up and dancing. This album is also available on Daptone Records.

RM 7 Nino Nardini and the Pop Riviera Group- No. 7 Pop (1971)

Nino Nardini, born Georges Achille Teperino in 1912 in France, is about something of a mystery. Nothing about this guy is ordinary. I couldn't find too much information about him other than his real name and year of birth but I did find samples of some of his other work and this guy is weird. He put out an album called Jungle Obsession in 1971 and it's cinematic soul with all the songs named after things from The Jungle Book. This guy is a rare groove DJ's wet dream because all of his stuff is so radically different and strange and not many people know who he is. This album was originally released in 1971 (released by Desco in 1997) and is organ heavy funk; I'm pretty sure Nardini was an organ/keyboard/synth player. A lot of the album has a slow, slinking backbeat to them which make them sound like the soundtrack to an exotic, late night party but there are a few faster tunes with "Popcorn"esque drum beats. The horns are usually there for texture and to compliment the melody which is almost always in the organ. Thanks to the good people at Desco Records this album got another shot to make people dance.

Desco CD 201 Various- Spike's Choice (1998)

This is Desco's first single's colleciton. Like i said, the label put out a good amount of 7" singles. These singles were very limited, only 500 of each were pressed. This CD compiles the first 12 singles onto one disc. It features the Sugarman Three, The Other Side, The Soul Providers, Lee Fields, and Sharon Jones

Desco CD 202 Various- Spike's Choice vol. 2 (1999)

Here's the second volume to the single's collection, this time around featuring songs by The Daktaris, Naomi Davis, The Sugarman Three, The Mighty Imperials (who recorded an album for Desco, but didn't see the light of day until Daptone released it in 2004), The Unstoppable S. Robinson, and Joseph Henry.

That is the Desco catalog. If you ever come across these CD's or LP's, buy them. They're really hard to find and every single one of them is incredible.

Coming Soon: Brooklyn Funk vol. 2: Soul Fire

Scene Comps.

2009-06-18T12:23:00.001-07:00

I've always loved scene comps. They tell a story of what was going on at that particular time in that particular city. There's a sense of camaraderie between bands in a particular scene. You know they know each other, they've played shows together, they probably even hung out. These are the bands you'd see on the bill every week if you went back back in time to these cities. This article is going to be dedicated to four of my favorite scene comps.

No New York

This compilation is an aural snapshot of what was happening on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in 1978. The compilation features four bands: DNA, Mars, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and James Chance and the Contortions. The story behind the album is that Brian Eno was in town working on More Songs About Buildings and Food by the Talking Heads and he saw all four of these bands play the same festival. He immediately decided this scene needed to be properly documented.

Like I mentioned in my last article, No Wave is NOT for everybody. For the most part, its dark, noisy, and ugly music (James Chance's music is ugly and noisy, but not usually very dark).

Each band contributes 4 songs to the album, and they were all recorded specifically for the album. At this point in time, this is pretty much the only way to hear these bands, because most of their recorded material has been out of print for years.

Flex Your Head

Flex Your Head was Dischord's 7th release and first LP. This LP showcases all of the bands important to the early years of Dischord Records which, loosely translated, means the best of the best in DC Hardcore. It was released in 1982 and features tracks by The Teen Idles, The Untouchables, State of Alert, Minor Threat, Government Issue, Youth Brigade, Red C, Void, Iron Cross, Artificial Peace, and Deadline. Like No New York, all of these songs are exclusive to this album.

The Teen Idles were Ian Mackaye and Jeff Nelson's (of Minor Threat) second band (their first was the Slinkees). Besides these three songs, they only released one E.P. which is available on Dischord's 1981: The Year in 7"s. They played fast, fun, immature hardcore.

The Untouchables were another early Dischord band that aren't too well known these days but whose members went on to more well known bands. This was Alec Mackaye's (Ian's brother) first band. He went on to form Faith and Ignition. The Untouchables also features Eddie Janney on guitar, who went on to play guitar for Faith and Rites of Spring. Bert Queiroz and Rich Moore also went on to be in the Meatmen. Their songs on this comp are great. They were one of the fastest and angriest of all the early Dischord bands.

State of Alert are probably my favorite band on this album. This is Henry Rollins' first band. S.O.A. formed out of the ashes of another band, The Extorts. When the Extorts' singer, Lyle Preslar, left the band to play guitar for Minor Threat Henry Rollins stepped in after being encouraged to sing by H.R. from the Bad Brains. With a singer in place, S.O.A. was formed. He doesn't think too much of these recordings, which I can't blame him for considering he went on to make a string of amazing Black Flag albums after leaving this band, but these songs are great. They cover "(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone" by Paul Revere and the Raiders (also covered by the Monkees, Minor Threat, The Untouchables [ found on disc 3 of the Dischord Box Set] The Untouchables [the L.A. mod/ska band] and the Sex Pistols, which was the version all of the D.C. kids knew and loved at the time) They, like the Teen Idles, only released one E.P. which you can get on 1981: the Year in 7"s.

Minor Threat contribute two songs to this album: "Stand Up" and "12XU". "Stand Up" is a classic and "12XU" is a cover originally by Wire.

Void were one of the coolest bands involved in the early D.C. Hardcore scene. Their 3 songs on the comp are amazing. They were the most brutal band in the scene. After this comp they released a split with Faith called Faith/Void.

The remainder of the bands are great as well, and this comp has to be heard to be believed.

This Is Boston, Not L.A.

Here we have an album on the Modern Method label compiling the early Boston Hardcore scene (except for SSD, DYS, and Negative FX who felt they already had theyre own XClaim crew and didn't need to be associated with the Modern Method guys). It was recorded and released in 1982 following on the heels of Dischord's Flex Your Head. The album features Jerry's Kids, The Proletariat, Groinoids, The F.U.'s, Decadence, The Freeze, and Gang Green, who were only 15 years old at the time. It's a diverse record; no two bands sound alike. Jerry's Kids are a straight ahead fast hardcore band, a sound which they would perfect on their later albums. The Proletariat leaned more towards post-punk (think Wire or Pop Group) than hardcore. The Groinoids have one song on this album and it's fast, loud, and short. The F.U.'s are more of a punk band than a hardcore band. It's almost reminiscent of the hardcore punk going on in L.A. in the late 1970's early 1980's. Gang Green's material is possibly the best on the whole album. It's definitely the fastest, loudest, and rowdiest and considering they were 15 years old at the time, that's quite an accomplishment. The Freeze are the most melodic on the album (not melodic like Rites of Spring, though. This is still fast and heavy early hardcore).

N.Y. Beat! Hit & Run

N.Y. Beat, released on Moon Records in 1986, chronicles the early NYC Ska scene. It was also the very first American ska compilation. Moon Records was formed by the Toasters to release their own records and eventually they began releasing more and more. This LP was the label's 5th release. The Toasters are the only band on this album that went on to any sort of fame but that does not make the rest of these bands any less important. The Toasters contribute "Matt Davis" and "Shocker" to this comp while every other band contributes one song each. Beat Brigade, who released a split 7" with the Toasters the following year then seemingly disappeared from the scene contribute one of the albums catchiest songs, the calypso ska of "Armageddon Beat". Also on this album is Second Step, a personal favorite of mine from the early NYC scene. Another one of my favorite early NYC bands, The Boilers, contribute a song as well. This is their first release. Soon after this LP, Jeff Baker (King Django as he would be known as later) joined the band and they released Tap It in 1988 on Ska Records in the UK, which was renamed Rockin' Steady by the label without the band's consent. That same year they contributed a track to Moon's second ska compilation, Skaface and then they called it quits. Though Django was not in the Boilers at the time, he is still on the N.Y. Beat album as a vocalist for Too True. Though this is a mostly a ska album there are three non-ska bands included in the LP. The Press were an oi band and are considered to be America's first oi band. Also included on this album is Downtown favorites Urban Blight. Urban Blight mixed funk, rock, ska, reggae, dub and dance music and they did every style superbly. The third was The Scene. They were punk band in the style of the early Jam records.

This was never released on CD domestically though it was released on LP and CD in the UK as Skaville USA vol. 2.

Many of these bands were immortalized in the first verse of the Toasters' classic "East Side Beat":

"In a beat up Ford Cortina on Saturday night
Second Step and Urban Blight
Here come Boilers to check out The Scene
But that's never Too True if you know what i mean
The reception is cool, so turn up the heat
Come on boys do some East Side Beat"

For more on the 80's NYC Ska scene, see Marc Wasserman's blog "Marco on the Bass." He just recently interviewed Dave Barry about that scene and what it was like playing in all the bands that mattered.

Soul Jazz Records

2009-06-17T20:44:00.000-07:00

Soul Jazz Records is a British record label. Their catalog consists mostly of compilations and they have it down to a science. I'm going to highlight a few of my favorite releases from the label and I figured I'd start with the first one I ever bought.

Sudio One Story

This release is devoted to the history of one of the most important record labels in Jamaican music history, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One. It contains a CD, DVD, and a 90 page book. The CD spans from 1959 to 1979 in 16 tracks and contains many of the big names in the label's history and many of the landmark songs to come from the label from "Easy Snappin" by Theo Beckford, the first record Coxsone ever recorded and released, to "Nanny Goat" by Larry Marshall, which is widely recognized to be the first reggae song. Throughout the course of the compilation many of Studio One's greatest voices are showcased; singer's such as Delroy Wilson, Alton Ellis, Sugar Minott, and the beautiful harmonies of the Abyssinians and the Heptones as well. Studio One were not just known for their vocalists, however. They were also known for their world class musicians. The Skatalites were comprised of some of the best musicians on the island. They are represented on this disc with two songs, "Guns of Navarone" and "Man in the Street." Two members of the band also make appearances on this disc as solo musicians. Tenor saxophonist and band leader Tommy McCook has a beautiful rocksteady track on the disc called "Tunnel One" and keyboardist Jackie Mittoo, who stayed with Studio One after the demise of the Skatalites throughout the 60's and the 70's as musical director, also has a solo outing on the disc with his laid back reggae instrumental "Freak Out." Lastly, the work of the label's best deejays are represented with a couple of classic tracks. First, Dennis Alcapone's version of the Delroy Wilson classic "Run Run" represents the early deejay style. Then there are two rub-a-dub classics, both of which came out in 1979. First is "Nice Up the Dance" by Michigan and Smiley which features the duo's best vocal work over one of my personal favorite riddims, "Real Rock" by the Sound Dimension. Then there is Lone Ranger's "Love Bump." This CD not only acts as a history of Studio One but as a history of Jamaican music as well, covering the early R&B of "Easy Snappin", through ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, deejay, and early dancehall.

On top of this amazing compilation, Soul Jazz also gives you a 4 hour DVD with a documentary on Studio One featuring interviews with the artists who were part of the label's history and arhcival footage AND a book which explains the history of the label and gives info about all of the musicians and the different styles the music kept evolving into.

New York Noise

This compilation, along with being the inspiration for the name of this blog, is a portrait of what was happening musically on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in the late 1970's and early 1980's and it all began with No Wave. No Wave is fascinating but it's not for everybody, in fact most people would hardly even call it music. In the late 1970's there was Punk Rock and New Wave in New York and there was Punk and Post-Punk in England. New York bands like DNA, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks (featuring a young Lydia Lunch), James Chance and the Contortions, Mars, and the Theoretical Girls all wanted to separate themselves from what was going on in music at the time. Together, by wanting to be as radically different as they could be, they invented No Wave, a visceral, noise driven art form specific to this particular time and place. (For your best introduction to No Wave see the Brian Eno produced, 1978 compilation, No New York.) This compilation features DNA, Theoretical Girls, and The Contortions, and Mars (There song is the only one taken from the No New York album). It is this body of music that this compilation builds off of because as the liner notes say, all of the music of the Lower East Side through the mid-1980's was influenced by No Wave, whether it was their sound or their attitude. What came later was a mixture of Punk, Funk, and Dance Music. Bands like the all girl Bush Tetras (featuring Pat Place, original guitarist for the Contortions) and Bloods(featuring Contortions keyboardist, Adele Bertei) mixed the punk feel and punk attitude with spastic funk based grooves.
Liquid Liquid, Dinosaur L, Lizzy Mercier Descloux and Konk were playing what was called Mutant Dance music or sometimes called Mutant Disco. It took the dance elements of Disco, Funk, and sometimes Latin Music and combined it with the experimental sounds of the No Wave bands. Though they completely dropped the dissonance, which was what made No Wave so radically different, it maintained that experimental edge which was what kept these musicians at the forefront of what was going on musically during this time.

This CD compiles the music of one of the most interesting, diverse, and yet cohesive music scenes in the past 40 years and does it beautifully with great, informative liner notes and great pictures.

Impact!

This is another reggae set from Soul Jazz. This time the focus is on the Randy's label and its subsidiary, Impact, run by the father and son team of Vincent and Clive Chin.
Vincent opened Randy's Record shop in the 1950's and eventually added a recording studio to the building. The label came about in the early 1960's. Eventually he would move to New York and start VP Records, which is one of the largest reggae music distributors in the world, however, this compilation focuses on a specific time and style. It compiles the funky and soul-driven reggae being released by the Chins between 1969 and 1975. It features world class musicians and some underrated vocalists such as Hortense Ellis, Donovan Carless, Winston Cole, and the vocal group Psalms. Contributing to the instrumentals on this CD are legends such as Augustus Pablo versioning Tommy McCook's "Cloak and Dagger" with his first class melodica work on the track "Dub Organizer." Tommy McCook appears on the album twice, one of which being a personal favorite of mine called "KT88," which is actually a cover of Herbie Mann's "Memphis Underground." Jackie Mittoo is also represented by two soul-driven organ instrumentals. Skin Flesh and Bones, which featured the great Sly Dunbar on drums and were also known as Sly and the Revolutionaries for Channel One and The Professionals for Joe Gibbs, contribute a track to this compilation which feels like Sly and the Family Stone(1969-1970 heavy Sly) playing reggae with Paul Butterfield on harmonica. I'm not exagerating, it's that good. If you didn't know reggae could get this funky, you should definitely check out this CD.

The Sexual Life of the Savages

This last compilation I'll be talking about is one of the most interesting. Soul Jazz took it upon themselves to scrounge up 18 songs from a scene that you probably never would have heard of otherwise. The time is the 1980's and the place is Sao Paulo, Brazil, the music is Post-Punk influenced by the New York scene documented in the New York Noise compilation, from the dissonant No Wave to the spastic Funk Punk, its all here... in Portuguese. It all started with a band called Gang 90 e As Absurdettes. Their lead singer, Julio Barroso lived in New York in the 1970's and frequently went to check out the No Wave shows. When he went back to Brazil in the 1980's, he brought it with him. Out of this, a Post-Punk scene formed in Sao Paulo with such bands as As Mercenarias, Fellini, and Patife. The music ranges from slow, dark, Siouxsie and the Banshee-ish songs to the frenetic, funky, punk of As Mercenarias and Patife and everywhere in between. This compilation serves as a great snapshot of a fascinating and little known musical revolution.

My First Post

2009-06-17T20:39:00.000-07:00

I decided to start this blog because I feel like I have a decent collection of music that some people might not know about and might enjoy reading about. I've amassed a pretty good sized CD collection over the years and generally love spreading the word about what I've been listening to, and the music that I love. I think it's mostly going to be about CD's with a little bit of vinyl sprinkled in. I hope you dig it, and please let me know what you think.