Author: April

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On Joe Strummer’s Birthday: The Latino Rockabilly War

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To celebrate what would have been NTSIB patron saint Joe Strummer’s 60th birthday, I bring you a taste of the Latino Rockabilly War.

The Latino Rockabilly War – whose core consisted of Zander Schloss (Circle Jerks), Lonnie Marshall (Weapon of Choice), Jack Irons (Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Wallflowers), and Willie MacNeil (the Solsonics) – first came together with Strummer to record songs for the Permanent Record soundtrack in 1988. The soundtrack included “Baby the Trans”, “Nefertiti Rock”, “Nothin’ ‘Bout Nothin'”, and “Trash City”.

 

“Trash City”

 

“Nothin’ ‘Bout Nothin'”

 

Later that year, the Latino Rockabilly War joined Strummer on his Rock Against the Rich tour, playing new material as well as classics from the 101ers and the Clash.

 

 

The Latino Rockabilly War went on to back Strummer on his solo album Earthquake Weather, released in 1989. Songs such as “Gangsterville” showed the sprouting of what would later bloom into the sound of Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros.

 

“Gangsterville”

 

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

 

I’ve effused about JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound’s rump-shaking soul and phenomenal live show more than once. They are just really fucking good, people! And in advance of their return to Cleveland this Sunday, Uptown men Andy Rosenstein (keys) and Kevin Marks (drums) have given us some fine recommendations

 

Andy says: I’d suggest reading Hardboiled Wonderland and The End Of The World by Haruki Murakami while drinking a Manhattan and listening to Charles Mingus’ East Coasting. When Mingus ends, put on Talkie Walkie by Air. (Bonus enjoyment if you do your reading in the bathtub.)

 

“Memories of You” – Charles Mingus

 

“Venus” – Air

 

Kevin says: Anything by Hemingway, a bottle of Jameson and Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew and see where that gets ya.

 

“Miles Runs the Voodoo Down” – Miles Davis

 

For a little taste of what you’ll experience Sunday night, here’s a KEXP session recorded not long before JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound’s previous Cleveland appearance back in November.

 

 

Sun, Aug 19 | 8:30 PM (7:30 PM door)
JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
R.A. Washington & The Family Dollar
DJ Charles McGaw spins before & between sets

$10.00 adv / $12.00 dos
Tavern | All Ages

 

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

 

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Feel Bad For You, August 2012

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It’s one of those times when the FBFY coordinators have decided to suspend the usual laissez faire operation of our monthly mix party and ask the unruly horde to attempt to coordinate around a theme, vis:

“‘Rock and roll is all about sticking it to the man!’ – Someone

The dogs days of summer are only made worse by sitting in your cubicle and slaving away for THE MAN! At least that’s how I came up with the theme for the August Feel Bad For You Mixtape. Though THE MAN could be your boss, the government, whitey, your woman, Nashville record executives, your landlord, etc. I told the contributors to be creative with this one.”

 

Sidenote: @rockstar_aimz and @Truersound took to the Twitter waves last week to live tweet their reactions to the mix, tagging their tweets with “#fbfy”. In one of those quirks of the internet age, the hash tag grew tentacles, and, for one confounding, ridiculous night, #fbfy topped the list of Twitter trending topics (predictably, about 30% of those trending tweets were along the lines of “WTF is #fbfy?”). Here’s the visual evidence.

 

 

 

Download

 

1. Title: Corporate Slave
Artist: Snog
Album (year): Remote Control (1997)
Submitted By: Bryan http://ninebullets.net/
Comments: This one was easy. Snog was bashing corporate america long before it was fashionable to do so and I knew as soon as you said the theme was “The Man” I had to include one of their songs. This song originally appeared on their 1997 album “Remote Control” but this particular version of it is from their 2006 retrospective “Sixteen Easy Tunes For The End Times.” Hope y’all like it as much as I do.

2. Title: The Ascent of Stan
Artist: Ben Folds
Album (year): Rockin’ the Suburbs (2001)
Submitted By: @philnorman
Comments: You wondered why your father was so resigned. Now you don’t wonder anymore…

3. Title: Clampdown
Artist: The Clash
Album: London Calling (1979)
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: “The men at the factory are old and cunning / You don’t owe nothing, so, boy, get running / It’s the best years of your life they want to steal”

4. Title: American Man
Artist: Chuck Prophet
Album (year): ¡Let Freedom Ring! (2009)
Submitted By: hoosier buddy
Comments: Chuck Prophet is the Captain America of guitar-slinging singer-songwriters. His trademark scarf and vest let you know he’s comfortable with the way he looks. The musical influences in this one song alone are a veritable melting pot of American culture. Twang meets classic rock and celebrates the love child with shameless 80′s riffage, His shield is the honest truth about what’s wrong, what’s weird,and what’s going on: “American man, three times your size, with blood on my lips, milk in my eyes.” We all recognize this American man. Heck, some of us are him. Proud as hell, too!

5. Title: Ohio
Artist: Neil Young
Album (year): bootleg (1971)
Submitted By: tincanman
Comments: I had so many ‘Man’ punisms running through my head to impress you with I almost forgot the ultlimate ‘The Man hath run amuk’ song.

6. Title: Vigilante Man
Artist: Woody Guthrie
Album (Year): Dust Bowl Ballads (1940)
Submitted By: Gorrck

7. Title: I Am The Man, Thomas
Artist: Ralph Stanley
Album (Year): 1971-1973 (1995)
Submitted By: Truersound
Comments: I AM THE MAAAAN!

8. Title: Dear Employer (The Reason I Quit)
Artist: Minus 5
Album (Year): Down With Wilco (2003)
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: Oh yeah? Wow now you’re minus SIX my friend! I’m outta here.

9. Title: Heaven is a Half Pipe
Artist: OPM
Album (year): Menace to Sobriety (2000)
Submitted By: Ryan (Verbow @ altcountrytab.ca)
Comments: I remember this song getting a lot of play round the turn of the millenium. I don’t know if I would say its a good song but it makes me bob my head and laugh thinking, “yeah all I need is my board and my weed – the man can go eff himself!”

10. Title: Legalize It
Artist: Peter Tosh
Album (year): Legalize It (1976)
Submitted By: Simon
Comments: On the eve of Jamaican Independence 50th Celebrations http://www.jis.gov.jm/ja50/v2/ and on the day the country is poised to make it a male/female sprint double gold at London 2012, then it’s got to be Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It,” this Wailer gave the bird to The Man and if the stories are to be believed that’s what cost him his life. Beat this Snoop Dogg.

11. Title: This Is Not A Song, It’s An Outburst: Or, The Establishment
Artist: Rodriguez
Album (year): Cold Fact (1970)
Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
Comments: It’s the establishment, man.

12. Title: Jesus Christ Superstar
Artist: John Keating
Album (year): Sound Gallery Vol 1 (1972)
Submitted By: Bowood
Comments: Andrew Lloyd Webber on FBFY, it was always on the cards.

13. Title: I’m the Man (Def Uncensored Version)
Artist: Anthrax
Album (year): I’m the Man (1987)
Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz
Comments: Gorrck sent this CD to me in 2001 when the anthrax scare hit the east coast. We told one of our other friends that “I got Anthrax in the mail.” She said, “Are you serious!!!” Our friends are not too bright. And we are immature.

14. Title: We Love You Tipper Gore
Artist: Furnaceface
Album (Year): Just Buy It (1992)
Submitted By: Lord Summerisle
Comments: A song about “The Man” that’s about A woman.

15. Title: A New Tomorrow
Artist: Screeching Weasel
Album (year): 1993
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: So, when I heard the theme for this month was “The Man,” I thought of rebelling against status quo, rejecting the norm and living your life the way you want to live it. Instantly I thought of this song, Screeching Weasel is a band I’ve loved for years. It doesn’t matter what music I’m listening to, or if I’m going thru a “only listening to Buck Owens on repeat/surf music 24-7/or whatever else constantly” phase, I’ll always be able to add a Screeching Weasel song to my mixtape (or really…we all know it’s a playlist…but mixtape just sounds better dudes, ok?). Anyway, back to this particular song, anytime I’m starting to question my life choices I can listen to this song and instantly feel better, really. Sound dumb? Who cares, it works for me.

16. Title: Cars and Guns
Artist: Roger Alan Wade
Album (year): Stoned Traveler (2009)
Submitted By: Adam Sheets

17. Title: Puttin’ People On The Moon
Artist: Drive By Truckers
Album (year): The Dirty South (2004)
Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
Comments: This was the first song that came to mind when I thought about The Man keeping ya down, especially convenient with the Mars landing just happening.

18. Track: Friday Night is for the Drinkers
Artist: Bradley Wik and the Charlatans
Album (Year): Burn What You Can, Bury the Rest…
Submitted By: Cowbelle www.morecowbelle.net

19. Track: The Man
Artists: Pete Yorn (w/Natalie Maines)
Album (Year): The Nightcrawler (2006)
Submitted By: Trailer

20. Title: Money Man
Artist: The Countdown Five
Album (1969): B-Side/ Shaka Shake Na Na/Money Man
Submitted By: @popatunes
Comments: This theme seemed a bit of a challenge finding something that wasn’t an obvious ‘The Man’ protest song, (my interpretation of the theme) so I was lead deep into the garage for an enjoyable excursion that distracted me to from my initial, but thought this little b-side gem from Texas City’s The Countdown Five was worth sharing. Y’all know by now I have soft spot for low-fi psych garage grooviness. The band had two Billboard Top 100 hits, “Uncle Kirby” and “Shaka Na Na.”

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Friday Link Session

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JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound Return to Cleveland + mp3

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In the time since we lost wrote about JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, you may have seen their name thrown around some more, garnering more fans with their incredible live shows, and being added to this year’s Lollapalooza lineup. And maybe you’ve become curious enough to want to experience the ass-moving power for yourself. Or, at least, you damn well should have.

But do you want more (eh? See what I did there?) to entice you? Check out the video for “Sister Ray Charles” (eh? See what they did there?) below and download the mp3.

 

 

Download: “Sister Ray Charles” – JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound

 

Now that you realize the regret that would dog you all the days of your life if you didn’t experience this fantastic band of entertainers live, mark your calendar for August 19, when JCBUS will return to the Beachland Tavern. R.A. Washington and the Family Dollar will play support (Washington was named among the most interesting people of 2012 by Cleveland Magazine) and DJ Charles McGaw will keep the sounds rolling between sets. I cannot properly express here how worth your time this show is, so go see and hear for yourself.

Sun, Aug 19 | 8:30 PM (7:30 PM door)
JC Brooks & The Uptown Sound
R.A. Washington & The Family Dollar
DJ Charles McGaw spins before & between sets

$10.00 adv / $12.00 dos
Tavern | All Ages

 

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

 

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Record Club: Kick

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Remember when Beck’s Record Club – Annie Clark and Vincent Hart from St. Vincent, Sergio Dias from Os Mutantes, Liars, etc. – got together to cover INXS’s Kick album in its entirety? Here’s video of all the songs from the session.

It doesn’t all work, but then, not all of the original album worked, either. And the Record Club definitely did interesting things. The final track is completely unrecognizable as an INXS song outside of the lyrics, and it’s rather compelling.

 

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Video: “Jolene”, The White Stripes

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Challenge!

I couldn’t let my co-blogger’s post about the Sisters of Mercy’s cover of “Jolene” pass without throwing in another great cover of Dolly Parton’s tortured plea. The White Stripes released their version as a B-side in 2000, and Jack White’s strained vocals and angular guitar work add a note of desperation not found in the original.

This video comes from the White Stripes Under Blackpool Lights DVD.

 

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Popa’s Tunes

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It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.

 

We first “met” David Horton, a.k.a. @popa2unes, at the inaugural Couch by Couch West, where he was rightfully voted “Favorite Twitterer”. It was clear from the start that “Popa” was an enthusiastic and proactive guy who loved to help promote the writers and musicians he liked. So proactive that he sent this read/listen/drink submission in without even having to be asked! But we are more than happy to celebrate David for all the love he’s thrown our way.

Now David is funnelling that proactive enthusiasm into his own gig, writing for his music blog Popa’s Tunes.

Without further ado, the incomparable Popa…

 

Good Read:
In His Own Write by John Lennon
Sometimes it’s hard to herd your words into a sentence let alone curb the words you heard in your head. I love to sit down with this book after a tasty toke or two or three and just let John Lennon’s play on words meander around in my head. It is an adventurous journey into the English language by someone who has been a hero to me throughout my life.

Good Listen:
A Space in Time – Ten Years After
Released in 1971 this is the bands seventh album and a departure from their earlier Alvin Lee fast fingering heavy blues releases, here they mix a more progressive rock flavor into the songs, with more acoustic guitar and echoey vocals and a bit more social commentary content in the lyrics. On no other Ten Years After album will you find, for instance, two tracks as moody as ‘Here They Come’ and ‘Let The Sky Fall’. ‘Here They Come’, is based on a slow, entrancing acoustic riff with a slight medieval influence; it’s dark and a little bit creepy. ‘Let The Sky Fall’, on the other hand, features a reworking of the ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’ riff, but with an entirely different purpose: the song is supposed not to let you rock your ass, but to contemplate some vivid psychedelic associations, what with all the backwards guitars and special synth effects.

 

 

As with the above book it is best served with a tasty toke or two or three, cause everywhere is freaks and hairies, man.

Good Drink:
A cooler full. Cause really, is one enough?

 

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Friday Link Session

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  • Viva Joe Strummer: The Clash and Beyond turned up for free viewing on Hulu recently. I haven’t watched it yet, but a glance around the web shows fair-to-middling reviews. (But I’m a completist, so you know it’s going into my eyeholes.)

     

  • Through some happenstance of internet serendipity, I learned of Cleveland band Harvey Pekar. As a fan of late Cleveland comics writer Harvey Pekar, I can’t imagine the jazz-loving worrywart listening to this heavy band, but I feel better about the world just knowing they exist.

     

  • A recent episode of the Nerdist podcast had me digging up this ’90s treasure:

     

    “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” – Crash Test Dummies

     

    I still like the song, but I know haters are gonna hate. I wouldn’t have brought it up here, though, if it hadn’t led me to this “Weird Al” Yankovic parody. Those of you who were cognizant in the ’90s might want to brace yourselves for the time warp.

     

    “Headline News” – “Weird Al” Yankovic

     

    Then, confluence as Al joins the Crash Test Dummies for a performance at the 1994 Canadian Music Video Awards.

     

    “Headline News” (snippet) – “Weird Al” Yankovic with Crash Test Dummies

     

    Now step outside for a moment and appreciate the fact that it is no longer the ’90s.