Author: April

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Bits: Music for Alabama, Mike Watt, Vic Chesnutt, Boston Spaceships, Urge Overkill, Rockhall

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  • Artist from across the country have contributed to The Wind Will Carry the Voice of the People, a Bandcamp compilation to aid the tornado-ravaged areas of Alabama. All proceeds go to the Red Cross.
  • Mike Watt + the missingmen will perform Watt’s 3rd opera hyphenated-man in its entirety on KXLU on May 19 at 10 PM PST.
  • plan9films is making a documentary about the late Vic Chesnutt tentatively titled Vic Chesnutt – It Is What It Is. MusicFilmWeb reports that Michael Stipe has signed on as executive producer. The film is to be released later this year.
  • In 1986, Black Flag went on tour with Painted Willie and Gone. Painted Willie’s drummer, David Markey, filmed it. He’s now made his tour documentary Reality 86’d available to view on Vimeo.
  • Robert Pollard’s band Boston Spaceships will be release a new album, Let It Beard (how great is that title?), on August 2. Guttersnipe has a tracklisting, as well as a little commentary from Pollard.
  • Urge Overkill have released Rock & Roll Submarine, their first album in 16 years. You can check out a track, “Mason/Dixon”, at My Old Kentucky Blog.
  • Scene Magazine reports that, as promised, the next Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place back in Cleveland, Ohio, on April 14 at Public Hall.
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Rebirth of the Cool: Sinnerman

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Nina Simone and the song “Sinnerman” go hand-in-hand. If you think of “Sinnerman”, you probably think of Nina’s version, and if you think of Nina, you probably thing of “Sinnerman”. Simone’s version is so authoritative and brilliant that you might not realize that she didn’t write the song. “Sinnerman” (or “Sinner Man”) began life as a traditional spiritual and many other people had a turn at it before Simone made it her own in 1965. For instance, king of exotica Les Baxter did it up with Will Holt on vocals in 1956.

 

 

Kind of a shock after Simone’s version. It’s kind of… well… white. (Though not the whitest of the white. For that, check out versions by the Weavers and Tommy Sands.)

Peter Tosh had a long relationship with the song, beginning in 1966 (some sources say 1964 or 1965) when he recorded it with the Wailers. In the ’70s, he changed the name to “Downpressor Man”.

 

 

One of the most recent versions was recorded by the Black Diamond Heavies for their 2008 album A Touch of Someone Else’s Class. It clearly draws from Simone’s version, shaping the song out with John Wesley Myers’ distinctive Fender Rhodes sound and ravaged vocals.

 

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Notable Shows in the Greater Cleveland Area

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Shows worth checking out this week in and around Cleveland:

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

  • Sat, May 14| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    The Schwartz Brothers
    $6
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Sun, May 15| 7:30 PM (6:30 PM door)
    Marcia Ball
    Cats on Holiday
    $25
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Sun, May 15| 8:30 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Uncle Lucius
    Crooked River Blues Band
    $10
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Tue, May 17| 8:30 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Reverend Horton Heat
    Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
    (Preshow BBQ Tailgate Party in the Tavern)
    $12 adv (limited number of advance tickets) / $20 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages

Grog Shop

  • Sat, May 14| 9:30 PM
    Tape Toons
    Red Buttons
    Basement Ha Has
    $5
  • Tue, May 17| 7 PM
    Cake
    (@ Cleveland Masonic Auditorium)
    $28-$42

Now That’s Class

  • Fri, May 13| 8 PM
    Horrible Fest Day 2
    Human Eye
    Cola Freaks
    Natural Child
    Tinsel Teeth
    Psandwhich
    Plates
    Buzzards Luck
    $10
  • Sat, May 14| 2 PM
    Horrible Fest Bowling & Punk Matinee
    HORRIBLE FEST BOWLING & PUNK MATINEE
    The Ropes
    Cola Freaks
    Folded Shirt
    Southside Stranglers
    Holy Shit
    Bad Noids
    Brain Car
    $10 (admission includes unlimited bowling, shoe rental, unlimited pool table use and darts)
  • Sat, May 14| 8 PM
    Horrible Fest Day 3
    God Bullies
    Bake McBride
    Mickey
    Homostupids
    Flyin’ Trichecos
    Drugs Dragons
    Cauliflower Ass and Bob
    $10
  • Mon, May 16| 9 PM
    Vacant Fever
    Modulated Tones
    FREE
  • Thu, May 19| 9 PM
    Joey Ramone Birthday Tribute
    Riverburners
    Steve & Julies
    plus DJ
    All Ramones tunes
    FREE

Happy Dog

  • Thu, May 19
    Filmstrip
    Herzog
    Company

The Winchester Music Hall

  • Fri, May 20| 9 PM
    Neil Innes
    $15

The LAByrinth

  • Sat, May 14| 9 PM
    Art, live acoustic music, interactive games, networking, live
    performances (dramatic/spoken word), food, etc.
    $10

Musica

  • Thu, May 19| 8 PM
    Murder by Death
    Whisper Signal
    Everything Is Illuminated
    $12
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We See Lights: Twee Love Pop

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I was going to begin this post by attempting to argue that, despite it’s name, We See Lights’ new EP Twee Love Pop is not actually twee. Considering the songs talk about holding hands, gifting a book of poetry and loving the way the object of affection’s hair curls when it rains, there was no way I was going to win that argument.

But it’s twee in a charming way.

Indeed, Twee Love Pop is so charming that my co-blogger Jennifer and I both like it. As Jennifer says, this “is one of the few times [we] agree on, well, anything, when it comes to music. Other examples: The Felice Brothers and A.A. Bondy. You are breathing rarified air, We See Lights!”

It may also be because they don’t hide their Edinburgh accents, and we’re accent whores.

We See Lights couch their sweet lyrics with acoustic guitar, banjo, bells, light percussion, a lot of happy bounce and, everyone’s weakness, harmony singing. Twee Love Pop is a sunny little love note of an EP. Take a listen to (and download) the first two songs.

 

My Oh My Oh My by We See Lights

 

I Hope You Like the Smiths by We See Lights

 

You can take a listen to the EP, plus a couple of their earlier releases, at their Bandcamp site, and then you can download the EP from Amazon or iTunes.

We See Lights Official Website

We See Lights @ Bandcamp

Twee Love Pop @ Amazon

Twee Love Pop @ Amazon UK

Twee Love Pop @ iTunes

Twee Love Pop @ iTunes UK

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Bits: Booker T. Jones, Buddy Holly, Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown, The Kills, Strand of Oaks, The Imperial Rooster,

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  • Booker T. Jones’ new album The Road from Memphis is out today. You can see and hear his recent Tiny Desk Concert for NPR here.
  • Fantasy Records will be putting out a Buddy Holly tribute album, Rave On Buddy Holly, on June 28, and the contributor list is wild. You can hear the Black Keys’ contribution, a cover of “Dearest”, here. And if you visit Liza Richardson’s May 7 KCRW show, you can hear Modest Mouse’s take on “That’ll Be the Day” (at the 6:00 mark) and Cee-Lo doing “(You’re So Square) Baby, I Don’t Care” (around 36:35).
  • A free 8-song sampler from artists on Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown Tour, including Austin Lucas, is available from iTunes.
  • Take a trip over to Vinyl Hounds to see a cool mini documentary about the Kills.
  • KDHX has a live in-studio set from the always beautiful Strand of Oaks.
  • A reminder that our friends The Imperial Rooster will be playing at El Farol in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on May 10 at 6 PM MST and the set will be broadcast live on Radio Free Santa Fe (you can catch it on the web at the Radio Free Santa Fe website or in the Santa Fe area on 98.1). They will also be a part of the Thirsty Ear Festival going on in Santa Fe June 10-12. They’ll be joining the likes of Calexico, the Handsome Family, the Cedric Burnside Project and many more.
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Patrick Sweany at the Lockview, Akron, OH, 5.8.11

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Patrick Sweany should be a household name. I believed that before I saw him live, and that belief grew tenfold last night. Setting up in a little corner of a little restaurant/bar back on his old home turf, accompanied by his dad on washtub bass, Sweany played a three-hour, acoustic show (with a short break in the middle) that drew from almost every one of his five albums as well as including a healthy dose of covers. Weaving in and out of favorites by Joe Tex, Howlin’ Wolf, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sam Cooke, Guitar Slim, Bob Wills and Willie Nelson, Sweany laid down his own fans’ favorites like “After Awhile”, “Your Man” and “Them Shoes”.

 

 

And, of course, as it was the day that would have been the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson, a blues-influenced musician like Sweany wasn’t going to get away without playing a Johnson song. Though instead of echoing the covers of “Cross Road Blues” and “Sweet Home Chicago” that were surely being played in bars throughout the nation, Sweany chose the lesser known “Walking Blues”, treating the crowd to some delicious slide action. Though, I have to say, my favorite cover of the night was Sweany’s take on Howlin’ Wolf’s “Moanin’ at Midnight”.

Early Sweany tracks like “Sleepy Town”, “Bring the Money Home” and “Bad Luck, Bad Luck” nestled seamlessly with the old blues and country covers, showing how artfully he has incorporated his influences while still making it all truly his own. Sweany’s newest, and sweetest – on a number of levels, album That Old Southern Drag was, of course, well-represented with rockers like “Sleeping Bag”, “Heavy Problems (Peavey Rage)”, the bouncy “Shoestring” and the heartfelt “Same Thing”.

 

 

The highlight of the evening was probably “More and More”, a song written for and dedicated to Sweany’s soon-to-be-wife Missy. He poured his heart into it, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a man happier about his upcoming nuptials.

Seeing Patrick Sweany live not only amplifies just how skilled and talented the man is as a vocalist and guitarist – he’s the kind of player who has probably frustrated more than one hopeful young guitar player because he makes it look so damn easy – but shows that his stage presence and charm are equal to his musical gifts, joking with his dad and the audience (ask him about his imaginary dead brother Chip sometime) and making everyone feel like a friend.

Sweany and his pops finished the show with a cover of “Having a Party” that gave truth to the title, and, had there been room for it, there would have been dancing. Instead, the audience used that energy to call Sweany back for an encore that ended with a tour-de-force version of “Smokestacks” that included nods to everything from “Smoke on the Water” to the Rolling Stones and left everyone smiling.

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Notable Shows in the Greater Cleveland Area

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Shows worth checking out this week in and around Cleveland:

The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern

  • Sat, May 7| 9 PM (8 PM door)
    Cloud Nothings
    Afternoon Naps
    Fishtank Apostles
    $8
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Sun, May 8| 7 PM (6:30 PM door)
    A Benefit for Crazy Marvin & Blues Boy Lonnie

    Vernon Jones Blues Cartel
    Blue Lunch
    Schwartz Brothers

    Also appearing –
    Butter Scotch
    Hollywood Slim
    Wallace Coleman
    Collin Dusault
    Becky Boyd
    Alan Greene
    Fletcher Barton
    Donnie Baker

    $10
    Ballroom | All Ages

  • Tue, May 10| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Bad Manners
    Wanyama
    All Over The Place
    $15
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Tue, May 10| 8:30 PM (8 PM door)
    Vandaveer
    Ferraby Lionheart
    Lowly The Tree Ghost
    $8.
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Wed, May 11| 8:30 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Les Nubians
    Torrey Canyon Ltd.
    $18 adv / $20 dos
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Wed, May 11| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs
    Scissormen
    Rebekah Jean
    $10
    Tavern | All Ages
  • Thu, May 12| 8 PM (7 PM door)
    Greensky Bluegrass
    JP & The Chatfield Boys
    One Dollar Hat & Louise Keller Square Dance
    $12
    Ballroom | All Ages
  • Thu, May 12| 8 PM (7:30 PM door)
    Mahavishnu Orchestra Project
    Dave Hammer’s Power Supply
    The Sleestaks
    $5
    Tavern | All Ages

Grog Shop

  • Fri, May 6| 8 PM
    The Death Set
    Win Win
    The Very Knees
    MisterBradleyP
    $10
  • Sat, May 7| 8 PM
    The Foreign Exchange
    The Funny Sound
    Hosted by Q-Nice
    $20 adv / $25 dos
  • Thu, May 12| 8 PM
    honeyhoney
    Winters Warm
    Heelsplitter
    $10

Now That’s Class

  • Sat, May 7| 2 PM
    A.D.D. Short Film Festival
    (6 hours of short films start @ 2 PM, a DIY film fest that will feature low-budget, no-budget films, microcinema and student work, plus live music afterward)
    Dikes of Holland
    Mr. California
    Leah Lou
    Cereal Banter
    The Possibilitarian Puppet Theater
    $3
  • Wed, May 11| 9 PM
    Sawyer Family
    Viva le Vox
    Scoliosis Jones
    $5
  • Thu, May 12| 8 PM
    Horrible Fest Day 1
    Alarm Clocks
    Darvocets
    Prisoners
    Apache Dropout
    Mr. California
    $8
  • Fri, May 13| 8 PM
    Horrible Fest Day 2
    Human Eye
    Cola Freaks
    Natural Child
    Tinsel Teeth
    Psandwhich
    Plates
    Buzzards Luck
    $10

Happy Dog

  • Fri, May 6| 9 PM
    Omine Eager
    Jill Hartmann
    John Kalman
    Bill Fox

Peabody’s

  • Thu, May 12| 7 PM doors
    T.S.O.L.
    Shot Baker
    (@ Pirate’s Cove)
    $12 adv / $14 dos

The Warehouse

  • Fri, May 6| 7 PM
    Shivering Timbers
    Ashley Brooke Toussant
    $5

Annabell’s Bar & Lounge

  • Sat, May 7| 10 PM
    Shivering Timbers
    The Chocolate Horse
    Good Morning Valentine

The Lockview

  • Sun, May 8| 7 PM (5 PM doors)
    Patrick Sweany
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Austin Lucas: Constant Sound of Thundering Rails

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As has likely become obvious to regular NTSIB readers, I’m a sucker for a good voice. A voice full of pathos and urgency – and especially one that has been roughened with whiskey and cigarettes – will get me every time. Austin Lucas has a classic bluegrass voice. “High lonesome” is a good phrase for it. And while this sort of voice would seem best paired with quiet instrumentation and pretty guitars, as Lucas has often used in the past, on his latest album A New Home in the Old World, Lucas shows that bringing up the intensity of the music to match the intensity of the voice benefits both the singer and the song. Check out a little of what I mean on my favorite song from the album, opening track “Run Around”.

 

Run Around by Austin Lucas

 

It’s a sharp smack in the face of an introduction to an album that pulls a taught thread of emotional intensity throughout. Later on in the album, such as on lead single “Thunder Rail”, electric guitar is pulled into the mix, recalling some of the best roots-minded alt.rock.

 

Thunder Rail by Austin Lucas

 

Lucas is an earnest songwriter, but New Home doesn’t fall into the usual singer/songwriter trap of using the music as nothing more than a bed of lettuce for the entrée of the lyrics. This is not a poetry reading. This is music flowing with blood, guts, yearning and hope.

You can purchase the album directly from Last Chance Records (my advice is to purchase directly from the label whenever possible – they’ll put much more care into your order than a megawarehouse would and often at a better price), where a live album from Lucas is also available. You can also catch him on Willie Nelson’s Country Throwdown 2011 Tour that starts up toward the end of this month.

 

Austin Lucas Official Website

 

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Bits: The Imperial Rooster, Bang Bang Boogaloo, Modest Mouse & Big Boi, Craig Wedren, The Twilight Singers, Wolfgang’s Vault

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  • The Imperial Rooster will be playing at El Farol in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on May 10 at 6 PM MST and the set will be broadcast live on Radio Free Santa Fe. Tune in locally at 98.1 or via the Radio Free Santa Fe website.
  • New York label Bang Bang Boogaloo has put together a killer compilation of unsigned New York bands called New York Rock & Roll 1. You can listen to and download it for free on their website.
  • Big Boi revealed, via Twitter, that he’s working on an album with Modest Mouse. “Been camped out in the Lab with Modest Mouse all week, workin on the new mouse LP, coolest cats ever. Long Live The Funk.” Cannot wait to hear the results of that collaboration.
  • Both Craig Wedren and the Twilight Singers are offering new songs for free download. Wedren’s “Cupid” is a Shudder to Think-era tune re-purposed for his upcoming solo album, WAND. The Twilight Singers’ “Don’t Call” is a non-album track, as well as being a Desire cover.
  • Wolfgang’s Vault has added a video section to their mammoth live music archives. While you’ll find the old stand-bys you’d expect from WV – the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers Band – you’ll also find some NTSIB favorites like A Place to Bury Strangers, the Builders and the Butchers and even the Gutter Twins. Worth a dig.
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Feel Bad For You, May 2011

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Feel Bad For You hosts a monthly mixtape comprised of submissions from music bloggers and Twitterers, and it’s always a good time. This month’s compilation has a theme, killer basslines, and you can enjoy it all below, by stream (maybe, barring technical difficulties) or by download.

Download

Title: Waiting Room
Artist: Fugazi
Album: 13 Songs (1989)
Submitted By: Romeo Sid Vivicious
Comments: This one took no thought at all. The opening to this song is what comes to mind any time any one mentions a bass line. This album this one is off of was an icebreaker between me and my now best friend when we first met and to this day still makes my playlists 22 years later. God damn it now I feel fucking old…

Title: Chicken Strut
Artist: The Meters
Album: Struttin’ (1970)
Submitted By: Phil Norman – @philnorman – www.bluemoonshineband.com
Comments: I dig the current neo-funk-soul revival of bands like Sugarman 3, but I dig The Meters even more. Also, this song has chicken noises.

Title: Yes
Artist: Morphine
Album: Yes (1995)
Submitted by: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: Since the general makeup of Morphine was drums, baritone sax and two-string slide bass, nearly every song they recorded was built around a killer bassline. But the bassline on “Yes” is the one that most frequently makes me rock out and say, “Damn.”

Title: Queen of Canton Street
Artist: Eleven Hundred Springs
Album: Welcome to Eleven Hundred Springs (1999)
Submitted By: @mikeorren
Comments: In my mind, the best country acts use bass to create an R&B rhythm behind the fiddle, slide and twang. This is one of my favorite examples, as well as some nice songwriting from Matt the Cat. (Hint: “Naomi” was one of Dallas’ best country bars, not a woman.)

Title: Comfortable In Your Arms
Artist: Tom Freund
Album: Copper Moon (2005)
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: Before pursuing his solo career, West Coaster Freund played in a couple of fantastic bands: first with then unknown Ben Harper and later with The Silos. His bass playing is as smooth as a tumbler of Kentucky bourbon. Be sure to check out the video of this song at www.youtube.com/watch?v=l98sRV-TXkY.

Title: Testarossa
Artist: Sir Mix-a-Lot
Album: Mack Daddy (1992)
Submitted By: Autopsy IV (ninebullets.net)
Comments: The 808 kick drum makes the girlies get dumb.

Title: Young Man Blues
Artist: The Who
Album: Live at Leeds (1970)
Submitted BY: Rockstar_Aimz
Comments: I recently heard the Foo Fighters cover of this song, and while their version is good, Nate Mendel is no John Entwistle. This song has so many killer parts, but it’s Entwistle’s driving base line that makes it kick so much ass. Although it’s not an original, this song represents The Who musically at their very best

Title: People, Let’s Stop The War
Artist: Grand Funk Railroad
Album: E Pluribus Funk (1971)
Submitted by: Truersound
Comments: What Homer Simpson calls “The bong-rattling bass of Mel Schacher”

Title: Mona
Artist: Quicksilver Messenger Service
Album: Happy Trails (1969)
Submitted By: Shooter Jennings

Title: The Real Me
Artist: The Who
Album: Quadrophenia (1973)
Submitted By: erschen
Comments: My introduction to this song was by the 80′s Metal Band W.A.S.P. Which got me to look into deeper cuts from The Who. Thanks, Blackie!! John Entwistle sure could play. What a rhythm section, Keith Moon & John Entwistle.

Title: The Escape
Artist: Radio Moscow
Album: Brain Cycles (2009)
Submitted By: @popa2unes
Comments: Comprised of singer/songwriter/guitarist Parker Griggs, drummer Corey Berry and bassist Zach Anderson –the rebirth of the Power Trio. Call it blues rock, call it psychedelic, call it hard-grooved stoner rock, it’s Cream on steroids

Title: Nice ‘n’ Sleazy
Artist: The Stranglers
Album: Black and White (1978)
Submitted By: The Second Single
Comments: With regards to killer basslines, when in doubt, pull out some late ’70s/early ’80s British punk.

Title: My Generation
Artist: The Who
Album: My Generation – Deluxe Version (2002)
Submitted By: Simon
Comments: No choice to make on the track, other than which version to submit.

Title: Potential Suicide
Artist: The Wipers
Album: Is This Real
Submitted By: verbow1
Comments: Another band I discovered thanks to one Mr. Kurt Cobain. Very heavy song – and pretty depressing – stay away from the handguns after listening to this one.

Title: Myage
Artist: Descendents
Album: Milo Goes To College (1981)
Submitted By: @marioegarcia (@imperialrooster)
Comments: If we’re talking killer basslines it’s hard not to submit something by Motorhead or the Minutemen (or Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five). I’ve been struggling with this selection for a little bit but decided to submit this Descendents song. It’s the song that made me fall in love with punk rock, a relationship that has alternately ruined my life and made my life worth living at various points. Let’s talk about that bassline. The Ventures after about six pots of coffee this is one of those lines that’s guaranteed to get my motor going in the morning, especially when Bill Stevenson’s Wipeout drums lock in time with the bass.

Title: The Hanging Garden
Artist: The Cure
Album: Pornography (1982)
Submitted by: Slowcoustic
Comments: Because I was every alternative outcast character of a mid 80′s John Hughes film, I listened to said ‘alternative’ music because it made me better than the rest of the Junior High/High School normals. Because of this early emo angst, I was introduced to The Cure. And it changed music for me forever. The bass lines on the album might not be killer, as they are fairly straight forward, but are also quite pronounced. The album is dark & echoing due to the heavy bass & percussion aspect, and it almost pushed me to eyeliner….almost.

Title: Your Mama Wants Ya Back
Artist: Betty Davis
Album: They Say I’m Different (Originally released in 1974; reissued with bonus tracks in 2007)
Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
Comments: This was a very tough choice. Whittled my library down to 32 songs with “killer bass lines”. Then down to five songs. In the end, went with this Betty Davis track, with nasty sounding vocals to complement the “killer bass line”. BTW, Betty Davis was married to Miles Davis in ’68, divorced in ’69.

Title: Six Pack
Artist: Black Flag
Album: The First Four Years
Submitted by: AnnieTUFF
Comments: After a lot of thinking about Killer Bass lines, and about technical skill vs just sounding badass. I had to choose this song. Because it doesn’t matter where I am, who I’m with or what is going on with my life, when I hear the first couple of notes of this song I wanna get rowdy. And who doesn’t wanna get rowdy?

Title: Belle
Artist: Al Green
Album: The Belle Album (1977)
Submitted By: Adam Sheets
Comments: Great bass here courtesy of Reuben Fairfax Jr. and an excellent performance from the undisputed King of Memphis soul. This is perhaps Green’s most ambiguous number and those who aren’t paying close attention to the lyrics are likely to interpret this one far differently than the artist intended.