Author: Jennifer

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Name That Face: Randy Travis vs Randy Newman

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Good morning, NTSIBbers, and welcome to the first installment of Name That Face. It’s a new thing I’m doing, inspired by some of the epic and sometimes (often) ridiculous mistakes I’ve made over the years in confusing one artist with another for a wide variety of reasons. If you’ve got any suggestions (or puzzles you’d like solved), drop me an an email.

Up today: Randy Travis and Randy Newman.

This is Randy Travis. He started out playing country music in the early ’80s and apparently switched to gospel in the late ’90s but then swung back around to secular tunes again in 2008. Here I give you my two favorite songs: Diggin’ up Bones , from Storms of Life (1986) and Forever and Ever, Amen, from Always & Forever(1987).
 
http://youtu.be/VXjYB9tt7yQ
 
http://youtu.be/BLxhbxh6kMY
 
And this is Randy Newman, who has been specializing in pop music and movie scores since the early ’70s, and who I have repeatedly confused with Randy Travis for reasons inexplicable even to me.

The best I can do is it’s possible I decided that Randy Travis looked kind of like the cowboy in Toy Story and also absorbed the idea that someone named Randy had done the theme song for the film, and thus began conflating the two, even though they neither look nor sound anything alike.

In any case, here is Mr. Newman with You’ve Got a Friend in Me, from Toy Story, and I Love L.A., from Trouble in Paradise.
 
http://youtu.be/LXARdPb4YBs
 
http://youtu.be/BBOQiMxwk1o

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Jon Gant & His Band: A Rough Start to the Night

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A Rough Start to the Night is Canadian singer/songwriter Jon Gant‘s eighth album. It was recorded in Calgary with Lorrie Matheson, and Gant’s new band, which is Scott Munro (Chad Vangaalen, Gunther) on upright bass, Chris Dadge (Lab Coast, Samantha Savage Smith) on Drums, Chris Vail (Key To The City) on mandolin and Lawrence Nasen (No River) on banjo.

Gant’s been around for a while and done some hard traveling, and on this record, it shows. Though while these songs are world-weary, only two – Broad Street and That Way Again are really sad.

My favorites are the love songs: And I Always Will and Wild Irish Girl.

The former is wry and sweet – sample lyrics: I used to tell you through the radio / but the radio don’t play my songs anymore / I’m hoping somehow this song will make it to your stereo/I just want you to know / I love you / and I always will – and got me to thinking about both love songs and radio songs and the sometimes fleeting nature of both.

It’s also interesting as part of a dialogue, of a kind, a third voice in a conversation between Courtney Love’s Boys on the Radio and the Felice Brothers Radio Song.

The latter is an “I will always come home to you” song with a clap-and-sing-along chorus, and I have a special fondness for that sort of thing. Here it is so all y’all can appreciate it with me:
 

Plus also some videos. The first one is for Never Gonna See Me Again:
 
http://youtu.be/jTaeRuk-89M
 

And the second one is for Motorville:
 
http://youtu.be/lRNIn3_1j8c
 

If you like what you hear, you can get the rest of the record and a big chunk of Gant’s back catalogue at bandcamp.

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Dolly Varden: Mouthful of Lies

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Dolly Varden is: Steve Dawson (vocals, guitars, piano), his wife Diane Christiansen (vocals, guitar, organ), Mark Balletto (back-up vocals, guitars, lap steel), Mike Bradburn: (back-up vocals and bass) and Matt Thobe (back-up vocals, drums and piano). My favorite fact about them is that they named their band after a “rare and beautiful trout” that was named after a character in Charles Dickens’ short novel Barnaby Rudge and not, as it may sound, after Dolly Parton.

They are from Chicago, and Mouthful of Lies is actually their debut album from way back in 1995, freshly remixed and remastered and returned to the world. It’s a little bit like a time capsule: there’s some grunge echoes in there, some shoe-gaze-y filigree around the edges, and a couple that have some sweet pop shimmer.

This is the title track:
 

Dolly Varden "Mouthful Of Lies"

 
And this is the one I go back to over and over again:
 

 

And you can hear the rest of the record at their bandcamp page!

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Video Grab Bag: Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

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Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears were the 2nd opening act at the Flogging Molly show I went to earlier this week, and they were excellent. Because of a combination of factors (being late because of school and mysterious venue shenanigans) I only got to hear maybe two and a half songs, but those two and a half songs were amazing.

I’d say about 25% of the room was dancing – including me, I was totally doing a slow twist-frug with a stranger – 25% of the room was at least swaying and clapping appreciatively and the rest of them I guess either wanted Flogging Molly or nothing at all or might be dead inside.

Anyway. Here are some videos, as an introduction. Some of these songs are a little slow, but I assure you that live, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears are an electrifying jazzy-funk sensation.

Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Sugarfoot

 
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Livin' In The Jungle

 
Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - I'm Broke

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Postcards from the Pit: TESLA / Built By Stereo, Irving Plaza, 2/17/12

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IMG_5237TESLA, on the 25th Anniversary of the Five Man Acoustical Jam.

 I waited 25 years for this show, and it was worth every minute. The experience was all the sweeter because I made new friends in the line, and they saved me a spot on the rail. So not only did I get to see a band I never thought I’d be able to see live, but I got to be up close and personal with them while I was at it. Best Valentine’s Day present I bought for myself ever!

Built By Stereo opened the show. They rocked as hard as they possibly could without falling off their chairs. I was especially impressed with their drummer, who brought some real power and pizzazz to their set. Here are some pictures of them:
 

IMG_5124The left half of Built by Stereo: Brandon Hood (bass) and Daniel Espinoza (vocals, guitar).

 

IMG_5121And the right half, with part of the left: Daniel Espinoza again, and also Derek Diesen (drums) and Tony Ricker (guitar).

 
And then it was time for TESLA. In the early ’90s they got lumped in with other “hair metal” bands largely, I suspect, because they had long hair. (And because early on they toured with Poison, Def Leppard and David Lee Roth.) But they really aren’t hair metal. They sit at the intersection of Led Zeppelin and the Grateful Dead – both of whom they covered at this show – and they have a much bluesier, jammier sound.

I got into them somewhere around the original release of Five Man Acoustical Jam (1990), and, while missed seeing them when they toured on that record, their covers of Lodi (CCR) and Signs (Five Man Electrical Band) were on a whole bunch of my high school mixtapes. They didn’t play Lodi at this show, but they did do a rousing rendition of Signs as the final song of the evening.

Before that they played a mixture of old and new material, including Hang Tough , Heaven’s Trail (No Way Out), 2nd Street, Better Off Without You and, of course, Love Song. The cover songs were Comin’ Atcha Live/Truckin’, which is a combination of TESLA and the Grateful Dead; Thank You by Led Zepplin; and I Love You, by the Climax Blues Band.
 

IMG_5150Jeff Keith; his trademark rasp is still intact.

 

IMG_5145Brian Wheat, sitting on his bad-ass acoustic perch.

 

IMG_5136The bad-ass acoustic perch, sans Brian Wheat. My corner of the rail totally wanted one of those for our offices.

 

IMG_5159Jeff Keith and Frank Hannon

 

IMG_5178Dave Rude, who they found on MySpace, after original guitarist Tommy Skeoch left the band. True story!

 

IMG_5194Frank Hannon wearing an electric guitar while playing an acoustic that was mounted on a stand. He switched off between them during the song.

 

IMG_5198Troy Luccketta, in one of my all-time favorite drummer pictures.

 

IMG_5218
Brian Wheat and one of the several basses he had with him.

 

IMG_5213A whole-band shot. Brian Wheat is at the keyboard and hidden behind his Wall of Basses, but he’s in there!

 

IMG_5248Dave Rude and Brian Wheat

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Wasara: Hehku

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Wasara is a death metal/folk hybrid from Finland, and they just recently released a new record called Hehku (“The Glow”). It is a dark, brooding gem of a record, and as soon as I heard it I wanted to know more about both the songs and the people singing them. Here, lead singer/lyricst Antti Ã…ström (lower right corner, above) and I chat about the record and the band:

Where in Finland are you all from?

All of us are from southern part of Finland. I’m from this small town called Lohja, about 50km from Helsinki. At this time of year there’s nothing “southern” in here… 50cm of snow and -20 Celsius – just cold and dark.

How did you get together as a band?

We started this in ’96 with our bass player Ipi and ex-drummer Mikko, we have known each other since childhood. First our music was improvised punk, played as loud as possible in our basement, but it soon developed to more metal-like Finnish rock/punk with influences from every possible genre.

There was a time we had a few songs with synths and techno-beat and on the other hand we had songs that were pure black-metal. We were about 16 when we started this and we all had wide musical backgrounds despite our young age – hence the chaos.

There have been few changes in the Wasara camp along these years, but this line-up (Antti, Ipi, Tuomo, Saku, Harri) has shown its power, like our new Hehku album proves.

First demo was recorded in the year 2000 and it was the first “official” thing under the name of Wasara. It’s been long road to finally be at this point and have our third album in our hands. It was truly a journey with many ups and downs.

The first demo was recorded in 2000?

Yes. It turned out to be too “rock” ‘cos the guy who recorded it was a hip hop guy and didn’t quite get what we tried to achieve soundwise :D Second demo was more what we wanted and that got us the record deal with Firebox Records in 2003. Wasara’s first album Kaiken kauniin loppu was released in the same year.

Your music is a really interesting combination of death metal and folk music. What inspired you to meld those genres?

We haven’t really given it any thoughts . . . we just write the kind of music that we want to listen. And like I said before, every one of us have long history of listening and playing different kinds of music. I, for example, have been a huge death metal fan since I got my hands on Grave’s Into the Grave album.

I also love traditional Finnish music and instruments. One of my favourite Finnish folk bands is Värttinä. They capture perfectly the Finnish atmosphere with different kinds of instruments and with beautiful female vocals. Other bands which have been huge inspiration for me are Amorphis, CMX, Mana Mana, Paradise lost, 3rd and the Mortal, Käsi, etc etc.

Are your songs variations on existing Finnish folk songs, or are they new songs written in a traditional folk-y style?

They are new songs as far as I know. Some of the songs were born in a completely different style than folk or death, but after every one of us had put their own layer on the songs they transformed in their present form. We don’t care if the song is folk or doom or something else, if it sounds like Wasara, then it must be Wasara.

Main thing for us is to achieve the right atmosphere for every song. In the process of Hehku we had all the strings in our hands and we took our time to make it as good as possible, without any compromises. If we wanted to put violin or a piano to a song, we just put it. It took almost a year to record Hehku but it was worth it. Now we just hope that people will find it amongst the endless stream of new music.

Is there a lot of overlap between the death metal and folk scenes in Finland?

Not sure what you mean but there are very few bands that combine folk and deathmetal and sing in Finnish. It is not that common, but bands who go abroad and get some publicity, usually are those who combine folk and other Finnish stuff in their music. In Finland it’s not that popular to play folkish metal.

I was wondering how the song titles translate. I tried Google translate but I have a feeling they got quite thoroughly mangled in the process. (Saatanaiset, for example, is rendered as “Bring Women.”)

And what is the instrument at the start of Saatanaiset, is that an organ? A guitar?

The instrument is an accordion (Finnish: haitari) and it is used almost on every song on the album.

The titles of the album are (roughly translated):

1. Saatanaiset ( she satans or she devils)
2. Ikuset ( eternals )
3. Minulla on monta nimeä ( I have many names )
4. Saunalaulu ( saunasong )
5. Kuollut on kuollut ( dead is dead )
6. Totuudennäkijä ( seer of truth )
7. Unohdetun mielenvirtaa ( mindstrem of the forgotten )
8. Kainista kasvaneet ( risen from Cain or grown from Cain )
9. Kymmenen unohdimme ( We forgot the ten )
10. Hehku ( the glow )

Saatanaiset was most likely written in a post-hangover depression. Saatanaiset as a word translates to something like “she satans”.

The lyrics tells a story where women uses their beauty and looks in general to lure men to their slaves:

They watch without remorse those men those worms /
they sing their songs, they sing to their slaves /
how could they dominate, how could they make their men to be the darkest soil /
They took us with them…Saatanaiset!

 
http://youtu.be/gohrcJWGHE4
 

Two of the songs on Hehku struck me as being more folk than metal: Saunalaulu and Kainista kasvaneet. What are those songs about?

Saunalaulu (saunasong) is a song about my familys sauna which is over 100 years old. It tells a story [about] how boys are turned to men in the sauna and how sauna is the place for truth. Elderly people tell their stories in there. It is a place for cleansing ones body and soul. For me it is the album’s most personal song.

 


 

Kainista kasvaneet is a song about going to hell. We were condemned to hell from the very beginning when Cain turned to the darkside. We are constantly lured by different kinds of things. No one is so pure they could ever get to heaven.

 
http://youtu.be/A7QFU7K4uCg
 

I’ve also gathered from the internet that “Wasara” translates as “Hammer”. Is that right?

Yes, but it is nowadays spelled vasara.

 

Wasara on Spotify.

Wasara on Facebook. (In Finnish)

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Meet Me Where The Crow Don’t Fly, Water Tower

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The last time I wrote about Water Tower Bucket Boys was in September. Since that time they have changed their name to just Water Tower and become a trio. They’ve also put out a new record, called Meet Me Where the Crow Don’t Fly, and if, like me, you are into high-quality punk-infused bluegrass, you will want to get ahold of those tunes right away.

Meanwhile, after listening to (and LOVING) their earlier record, Sole Kitchen, I had some questions. Below, Kenny Feinstein (guitar, mandolin, harmonica and vocals) has some answers.

Is it difficult, being a (mostly) bluegrass band, and hailing from an area of the country (i.e. the Pacific NW in general) that’s best known as the epicenter of grunge?

It is not difficult really. We are just as connected to grunge as we are to country music generally speaking. In fact, our most intense/hardcore fans seem to come from Seattle.

I understand Gil Landry of Old Crow Medicine Show has given you a copy of a very special map. It sounds like the Marauder’s Map, but for buskers. I bet he doesn’t give that out to everyone. What are some of the stories of the map? And also what states does it go through? (Are you allowed to give excerpts? Like if you find yourself in Nebraska and have to sing for your supper, where should you go?)

The map started in Asheville, North Carolina for us because that is where we met Gil. The trail winds down through New Orleans, through a few hot spots in Texas (had to miss these), a few spots in New Mexico and Arizona, and plenty in California. Because of our schedule, we had to drive from Baton Rouge, Lousiana to Madrid, New Mexico pretty much non-stop.

We started out at around 3 pm or so and drove late into the night. Somewhere outside of Dallas at 2 am we ran into an insane lightning storm. The rain was so bad we had to stop on the side of the road and wait. After 20 something hours of driving we finally made it to New Mexico and took a little nap in middle of the desert.

A very valuable piece of the map is in Madrid, New Mexico. This is a one-street town/artist colony with a pub called the Mine Shaft Tavern at the end of the block. The houses that line the street all seem to be inhabited by different types of artists. Behind the stage in the tavern is an entrance to a now defunct mine.

Basically Gil said “you need to get to this town.” Even though the place is so small, tourists come from miles around to see what wonders lie there. Gil said you can busk across the street from the bed and breakfast any day and make good money, so we did. He also mentioned that the people at the tavern would ask us onstage, which they did. We had a great adventure in that town, and a great couple of shows.

Why did you name the band Water Tower?

We live close to a water tower where we used to spend a lot of time hanging out and playing music.

Normally I ask what was the rock and roll lightning strike song. This time I’m going to ask: what was the country lightening strike? (Though you can tell me the rock and roll lightening strike song, too.)

Bill Monroe- Shady Grove. Rock song: The Offspring- Bad Habit

What was your first show (that you went to, not that you played)?

Red Hot Chili Peppers in Mexico City.

What was the first record/tape/cd/etc you acquired? What was the last one?

I found a Paula Abdul tape in my brother’s trash can. I cherished it until it was gone. Latest record I got was Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV.
 
 
And now, as further enticement, I present some recent videos for new songs:
 
Meet Me Where the Crown Don’t Fly, the title track on the new record:

Meet Me Where The Crow Don't Fly (Official)

 
Easy Way Out, recorded at the 2011 Pickathon:


 

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Band I Really Love: Pop Will Eat Itself

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This is Eich Bein Ein Auslander from Dos Dedos Mis Amigos, first released in 1994, and the first PWEI song I ever heard.

It was in a club – I think it was the Electric Ballroom in London sometime in 1998, but I could be wrong – and what I remember is watching the people on the dance floor swaying and stomping to the thudding beat, all gracefully synchronized within their personal space bubbles and not smushed into each other, as I had experienced elsewhere.

It was mesmerizing, and I immediately wanted to join them.
 

Pop Will Eat Itself - Ich Bin Ein Auslander

 
Also very popular in clubs at the time was Def Con I, from This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!, originally released in 1988.
 

Pop Will Eat Itself | Def Con One

 
Because this was the Dark Ages Before mp3s, I then spent some time digging through used CD racks and bins on both sides of the Atlantic in search of their records.

Dos Dedos Mis Amigos was easily acquired, but all I could find from their earlier work was a kind of greatest hits compilation: the 1997 live album The Radio 1 Sessions 1986-87. YouTube is sadly deficient in my favorite tracks from that record (Demolition Girl and Illusion of Love) but here are some other ones that I like a whole lot:

First up is Evelyn, originally released on their first record “proper album” (cf. Axel, see comments for details) Box Frenzy in 1987. You will notice it is totally unlike both Eich Bein Ein Auslander and Def Con I in every way possible. I nonetheless love it very much:
 
http://youtu.be/kMlZMZKp_yw
 
This one is called Back Country Chainstore Massacre (not Chainsaw, as the video is labeled), from the Now for a Feast! compilation record in 1988:

http://youtu.be/PNc-DeKtW0I
 
Oh Grebo I Think I Love You is another one of my favorites:

PWEI Oh Grebo I Think I Love You

 

Finally, one that I haven’t listened to as much but still love: Not Now James, We’re Busy, from from This Is the Day…This Is the Hour…This Is This!. Be sure to turn it up so you can feel the bass rattle your bones.
 
http://youtu.be/GHsBSVgPSJQ

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Video: Valentine’s Day Grab Bag

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Because we’ve all got that one, you know the one I mean: it never works but you always want to think it will. And they always know exactly when to call.

Joshua Kadison Jessie LIVE

 

Sometimes it goes so, so well, for a while:

http://youtu.be/0peTfMOdDoo

 

Other times, you end up going all the way down the rabbit hole:

Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings [OFFICIAL VIDEO]

 

When it finally crashes and burns, you have to remember, you are still a rock star, with rock moves:

 

Though not everyone is so into all that DRAMA.

BIRDHOUSE IN YOUR SOUL - THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS ( Complete Original Video )

 

Though, okay, maybe a LITTLE bit of drama is fine:

Joshua Kadison - Painted Desert Serenade

 

Just enough to get your pulse going:

Nicki Minaj - Super Bass

 

And maybe lead to shenanigans in public:

John Legend - P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)

 

Especially if it ends  happily ever after:

Christina Perri - Arms [Official Music Video]

 

Because against all odds and in defiance of experience and good sense, I do believe in a thing called love:

THE DARKNESS - I Believe In A Thing Called Love [Hammersmith. Nov 2011]

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Video: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Whitney Houston

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Whitney Houston - I Wanna Dance With Somebody

I was 12, in 1987. I was also a dancer. A terrible one, it must be said, but I loved it. And I loved (still love) this song because it put the words to the daydreams I had about being a grown-up. Or even just going to high school.

I’ve been struggling since yesterday to put this into words, but I think what this song did was make being a grown-up and having serious relationships seem like both an attainable goal and something that might be fun.

There are other Whitney Houston songs I’m fond of (So Emotional, How Will I Know) and some that I’m not (Greatest Love Of All) but this one remains my favorite.

Rest in peace, good lady. We shall miss you very much.