Joe Strummer is the patron saint of Now This Sound Is Brave, but Greg fucking Dulli is the love of my musical life. To celebrate his birthday, here is one of my favorite Dulli performances: The Afghan Whigs covering Barry White’s “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe” at the MTV party for the late Ted Demme’s Beautiful Girls.
It’s going to be a great year.
http://youtu.be/U5cY7YduMlU
In continued tribute to Adam “MCA” Yauch, who died yesterday after a three-year battle with cancer, I’ve dug up a couple of interviews with the Beastie Boys, one a 1987 appearance with Run-D.M.C., and the other a 2009 interview (separated into two parts), promoting Hot Sauce Committee Part One and a batch of album reissues, including the 20-year reissue of Paul’s Boutique.
If you want more Beastie Boys’ video action, check out the Canal de nutri871’s YouTube channel. It’s a treasure trove of live clips, interview clips, etc., separated into eras, including the Beasties on Yo! MTV Raps in 1989.
I’ve been listening to the Beastie Boys since I was 13 years old. That’s a startling thought. In junior high, I was one of those kids who could, and did, recite the entirety of “Paul Revere”. I still have my vinyl of License to Ill.
They were kind of goofy and, in retrospect, kind of corny. They could have kept up that image and probably burned out as quickly as they flashed to the top. Instead, over time, they reinvented themselves. As I grew physically (and, to some extent anyway, mentally), I watched the Beastie Boys grow as artists. They went from clown princes with songs like “Brass Monkey” and “Girls” to just plain kings with songs like “Sabotage” and “Intergalactic”. Their image also evolved from that of some jerky, kind of douche-y yobbos to mature, thoughtful and creatively-driven gentlemen who were loved and respected by many.
The announcement of Adam Yauch’s cancer in 2009 (has it really been that long?) shook many. I remember reading the news and adding my own well wishes to the stream of positive thoughts coming from all over. But the outlook at the Beasties camp was positive, and we all believed he would overcome.
When I received the news of Yauch’s death today, it knocked the wind out of me. The Beastie Boys wove themselves in to the cultural fabric of my generation, with their songs, their videos, their rhymes, their activisim. As I noted to my co-blogger, the phrase “no sleep till Brooklyn” has become a part of our vernacular. And Adam Yauch was more than just some guy in a band for us. He was someone we respected and admired.
It’s hard to know what to say now that he’s gone, but I think we’re pretty lucky that Adam Yauch was here.
Also: fuck cancer.
I’m late in posting about this, but you should know that Boom Chick have a limited edition 7″ vinyl and download available, comprising their songs “Shake Can Well” and “Sweaty Dress” with bonus track “Sharkbite”. I caught these kids at Deep Blues Fest last year, and they were a wonderful surprise. Engaging and hard-rocking, the two-piece draws influence from the blues, obviously, but they also display a big love for early r&b and rock ‘n’ roll, even writing songs about Bo Diddley.
Check out the session they did with Alive & Breathing late last year.
“Shake Can Well”
“Cryin’ Rooster”
The 7″ is available from their Bandcamp site. Check out tour dates, photos, and more at the official Boom Chick website.
This 1982 documentary paints a deep and complex portrait of a deep and complex man, Nigerian musician Fela Kuti.
We had a very positive response when we posted Cold Specks’ “Holland” back in February. Here’s a new one with that same beautiful voice, called “Blank Maps”.
And if you follow this link, you can hear Cold Specks covering Swans’ “Reeling the Liars In”. A sophisticated, intriguing, and wonderfully-executed choice.
Cold Specks’ album, I Predict a Graceful Expulsion, will be out May 22nd. She hits the road next week, dates below.
May 1st – Lincoln Hall – Chicago, IL
May 2nd – High Noon Saloon – Madison, WI
May 3rd – Cedar Cultural Centre – Minneapolis, MN
May 4th – West End Cultural Centre – Winnipeg, MB
May 6th – McDougall United Church – Edmonton, AB
May 7th – Central United Church – Calgary, AB
May 8th – Southminster United Church – Lethbridge, AB
May 9th – The Royal – Nelson, BC
May 11th – The Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC
May 12th – Alix Goolden Hall – Victoria, BC
May 13th – Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
May 14th – Doug Fir Lounge – Portland, OR
May 16th – The Independent – San Francisco, CA
May 18th – Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
May 19th – The Compound Grilll – Phoenix, AZ
May 20th – Club Congress – Tucson, AZ
May 22nd – The Prophet Bar – Dallas, TX
May 23rd – Stubb’s BBQ (Indoor) – Austin, TX
May 24th – One Eyed Jacks – New Orleans, LA
May 25th – Variety Playhouse – Atlanta, GA
May 26th – Grey Eagle – Asheville, NC
May 27th – Rock and Roll Hotel – Washington, DC
May 28th – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA
May 30th – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY
May 31st – Middle East Downstairs – Cambridge, MA
June 2nd – The Music Hall, Toronto, ON
I was introduced to Liars via 2010’s Sisterworld album, and it was one of those experiences that made me ask, “Damn, how am I just hearing about this band now?” Their sound, ranging from moody, off-kilter grooves to straight-up screaming punk blasts, littered liberally with striking and jagged imagery, really caught me. (Even my son, who normally doesn’t listen to anything not connected to video games, would make me play “Scissor” repeatedly on the morning drive to school – hell of a way to start a day of education.)
Liars are preparing to release their next album WIXIW (wish you) on June 5th. Check out the disturbing video for lead single “No. 1 Against the Rush”.
It was a part of the deal for me, sometimes consumed before the music was even played. Vinyl had them. CDs had them. Even fricking cassettes had them. And in the pre-internet age when all of the information I sought was not gathered in one convenient location, it was a cornerstone on which I built my reputation as someone who knew too much shit about music.
Liner notes – sometimes stately and elegant, sometimes silly, sometimes anemic, I would pore over every word of them. From musician histories to who played what instrument on which track to “The band would like to thank…â€, I digested it.
Taken as a whole, stories and portraits began to emerge from seemingly unrelated albums. Hey, that bass player from that other band I used to like is now playing with these guys, and the guitarist from this band is thanked in the liner notes from that album, and those two bands use the same graphic designer, while this album and that other album were produced by the same person. Previously errant bits of information began to fit together in a great jigsaw puzzle of musical minutiae enlightenment. It was a continuing education with strands that could take you into forever if you had the mind to follow wherever they led. I learned who was most often involved in making the music I liked and was able to more successfully choose future albums to buy and enjoy, as well as being led to bands I never would have known about otherwise. I got to feel like an insider for catching on to certain jokes. And I gained an arsenal of facts that no one but me really cared about and was able to annoy my friends with them accordingly.
For someone who is a devourer of words as well as a lover of music, liner notes are a beautiful synthesis of the two, like an extra gift with every album. The more extensive the liner notes, the brighter my eyes light up.
But as the digital download becomes more prevalent, with some albums never released in a hard copy format, I watch with dismay and genuine sadness as liner notes begin to disappear. Every once in a while, a band will make me happy by including full liner notes in a .pdf with the digital version of their album (bless you, James Leg and the Dad Horse Experience), most albums only include a cover art .jpg and the songs, and sometimes even the cover art is dispensed with.
But… who produced this? Where was it recorded? Who is that playing zither on the third track? In what coy way does the guitarist wish to thank his girlfriend? I NEED TO KNOW THESE THINGS, PEOPLE!
Why are liner notes growing rare? As mentioned previously, such things can be produced in the form of a .pdf file or by other electronic means. And your average band website (which, in the case of some bands I listen to is just a Facebook page or an outdated MySpace profile) doesn’t bother going into production minutiae of each song.
Look at it this way, musicians: In a time when many of you are working your asses off by taking on the additional role of being your own PR rep, liner notes can add another avenue of connection with listeners. Aside from including the more technical notes that some of us really-I-promise are interested in, you could share stories, in-jokes, candid photos that haven’t already been reproduced on countless websites. Give the people a little more incentive to come see your live shows and buy your tour merch by giving them a deeper look into who you are and what you’re about.
The gradual disappearance of liner notes has been on my mind for a while, but this post was given a swift kick into existence by the fact that I was recently a part of creating liner notes for a forthcoming album. A close friend was asked to write these notes for one of his favorite bands, and I was honored when he asked me to be his editor. The experience of getting that first view of the words my friend chose to communicate the essence of the music brought to mind another, rarer connection that can be found in liner notes, that of reading what someone else has written about what you’re listening to and thinking, “Yes! That’s how I feel, too!†(And isn’t that personal resonance the basis for much of our love of music?)
So, musicians, while you’re busy connecting to your audience on an unprecedented personal level, don’t let the actual transmission and digestion aspect of your recorded output grow less personal. What I’m saying is: Give me my fucking liner notes! Junkie needs a fix!
This documentary about the lead singer of Irish-by-way-of-London band the Pogues paints a complex, heartrending, and ultimately frustrating portrait of an artist who could still be contributing so much to music if he could just get his shit together. But it’s never as easy as that, is it?
The Soulsavers first came to my attention through their work with Mark Lanegan on It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s The Way You Land, and I was bowled over from my first listen of “Revival”.
(Do this: In the evening, after dusk, when the sky is deep blue, just before black, turn out every light and turn on “Revivalâ€. Turn it up loud enough to fill the room and immerse yourself in it as if it was the sea. Feel it push and pull you, gently drift you, threaten to smash you against the jagged rocks just off the coast. Do nothing but listen, let it turn into a meditation. And when the song is over, slowly emerge back into the world, like walking out of the sea onto the sand. Feel a little water-logged, a little battered, with salt in your mouth and grit in your hair, but somehow cleansed)
The band have also put Richard Hawley, Will Oldham, Gibby Haynes, Mike Patton, and Jason Pierce in the singer capacity. This time around, with The Light the Dead See, the Soulsavers are collaborating with Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan – who is a self-professed Soulsavers fan and “Lanegan junkie”. Take a listen to “Longest Day”.
Soulsavers – Longest Day by Cooperative Music
By all accounts, the recording was an effortless and magical experience, even despite Soulsavers’ head man Rich Machin being hit hard with a case of tinnitus shortly after the process began. The end result will be released May 22nd.
