Barbara Lehnhoff, the unique but engaging voice from Peter Kernel, has a new project called Camilla Sparksss. The first single from Camilla Sparksss dives into much more retro synth waters than Peter Kernel has, bringing to mind new wave dance music of the early ’80s.
“I’ll Teach You to Hunt” – Camilla Sparkss
On the other hand, this live video of “Europe” is angry and angular and instantly compelling.
You can pick up the single of “I’ll Teach You to Hunt” – backed with the punishing “For You the Wild” – at the Camilla Sparkss Bandcamp page, which offers digital, vinyl 7″, and Polaroid packages. Camilla Sparksss has upcoming shows in Switzerland, Italy, and France – check the official site for details.
“It’s a New Year! It’s a new curator (@BoogieStudio22)! It’s a new mixtape! We are starting afresh, in 2013, by looking back on 2012. Our motley crew of malcontent, miscreant, ne’er-do-well music lovers have chosen their favorite songs, their “Choice Cuts”, of 2012. Crank up the volume and check out 20 cuts from a variety of artists and genres.”
1. Title: All Over You
Artist: Dead Exs
Album (year): Resurrection (2012)
Submitted By: tincanman (http://tincanland.wordpress.com)
Comments: Rock and roll doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, it rarely should. Guitars. Attitude. Mud (see song video: http://bit.ly/Wcnsod). The Dead Exs (http://thedeadexs.com) are my favourite new band of 2012; what the Black Keys would be if Dan Auerbach didn’t have his head so far up his own ass.
2. Title: I Gotta Get Shorty Out of Jail
Artist: Andre Williams & The Sadies
Album (2012): Night and Day
Submitted By: @popa2unes
Comments: Canada’s soul singer/cult legend Andre Williams with The Sadies’ Jon Langford, long-time line-up of Dallas Good on guitars and keys, his brother Travis Good on guitars and fiddle, Mike Belitsky on drums, and the mighty Sean Dean on the bass, Matt Verta-Ray of Heavy Trash, Danny Kroha of Detroit’s own gutter-blues The Gories, featuring fabulously retro cool back-up vocals by Sallie Timms and Kelly Hogan and directed by Jon Spencer
3. Title: Impossible Sky
Artist: Woods
Album: Bend Beyond (2012)
Submitted by: Erschen
Comments: This is a sunny power pop gem. “without looking up, I can see the most impossible sky”. They can make a gloomy line like that so optimistic.
4. Title: Everyone
Artist: Ancient Whales
Album (year): Ancient Whales Birthing (2012)
Submitted By: The Mad Mackerel music blog
Comments: This track comes from a six track album released right at the beginning of 2012, which may mean it didn’t garner the attention it truly deserved. Everyone is anchored by a huge, catchy, insistent riff and a simple lyric while drums clatter away behind it. An absolute sonic treasure!
5. Title: People Of This Land
Artist: Lincoln Durham
Album: The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones (2012)
Submitted By: toomuchcountry
Comments: I discovered this song by listening all the way to the end of one of Bill Frater’s great Freight Train Boogie podcasts (ftbpodcasts.com) early in 2012. Great track in my opinion.
6. Title: Teenage Gravity
Artist: Kasey Anderson & The Honkies
Album (Year): Let The Bloody Moon Rise (2012)
Submitted by: Simon (Beat Surrender)
Comments: Love this version of the track from the 2012 album Let the Bloody Moon Rise, it first appeared on Kasey’s album Nowhere Nights that was released in 2010, I was in two minds whether to submit this track or one of the versions of his song Exit Ghost that’s also a big favourite of mine too, links for the Daytrotter version and with Star Anna. The man himself his currently on a hiatus – hope to hear from him sooner rather than later.
7. Title: Some Kind of Devil
Artist: Flint Hill Specials
Album (year): The Wigg EP (2012)
Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
Comments: This project from Jeff Moore of National Grain is pretty awesome, especially when you throw a few District Attorneys into the mix for the live show.
8. Title: Turn Away
Artist: forgetters
Album (year): forgetters (2012)
Submitted By: scratchedsoul
Comments: This record was the long awaited return of Blake Schwarzenbach (Jawbreaker, Jets to Brazil). He had last been heard from in 2012 with an (excellent) 4 song single and this full album is a real treat. Blake’s quality songwriting is throughout the record, this song being a highlight for me. The record was produced by J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Office of Future Plans) and his crisp production just adds to the enjoyment of the record. Only a full-length Paul Westerberg record would have been more exciting for me in 2012. There’s always 2013 for that.
9. Title: As Close As I Came to Being Right
Artist: Rhett Miller (w/Roseanne Cash)
Album: The Dreamer (2012)
Submitted by: Gorrck
Comment: Rhett played an opening set for the Old 97s shows in Phoenix and played some of his solo work. This is my favorite off his latest solo effort.
10. Title: Museum of Flight
Artist: Damien Jurado
Album (year): Maraqopa
Submitted By: Beldo aka @TheSecondSingle
Comments: I had never really gotten into Jurado, but starting with this song (maybe my favorite of the year) and working backwards through his catalog, I’m starting to think he might make a damn fine successor to Neil.
11. Title: House Carpenter
Artist: Lonesome Sisters with Riley Baugus
Album (year): Lonesome Scenes (2012)
Submitted By: Truersound
Comments: The Lonesome Sisters were a fantastic discovery for me this year, doesn’t hurt to have Riley Baugus on banjo either, but what really blew me away the first time hearing this album was this hauntingly beautiful rendition of House Carpenter. Also called The Demon Lover and other titles, House Carpenter is one of those timeless english ballads (this one a warning to women about the dire consequences of temptation and infidelity) that have survived the ages thanks to the tenacity of appalachian ballad singers. In this tradition, I think the Lonesome Sisters have done a damn fine job.
12. Title: Nostalgic For….
Artist: The Wind-up Birds
Album (year): The Land (2012)
Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
Comments: I first heard the Wind-up Birds’ first full-length album, The Land, back in May, and it still holds a prominent place in my personal listening rotation. The band are writing songs right now, so I’m excited about more charged and charging songs from the Leeds quartet.
13. Title: One Of Every Color
Artist: Browan Lollar
Album: For The Givers & The Takers (2012)
Submitted by: Corey Flegel (This Is American Music)
14. Title: A Few Towns More
Artist: McDougall
Album (year): A Few Towns More (2012)
Submitted By: Bryan Childs (ninebullets.net)
Comments: Favorite song from my favorite album of the year.
15. Title: Here Comes My Baby
Artist: Mic Harrison And The High Score
Album (year): Still Wanna Fight (2012)
Submitted By: annieTUFF
Comments: When I found out the theme this month was Choice Cuts I knew right away that I wanted to choose a song from this album…then I had to double check that I hadn’t already submitted a song from it this year. THEN my problem was which song from the album was I gonna choose! This was actually really hard, because I love all the songs, and it was a hard choice between this song and “This Is A Notice” (so check out that song too). I might be a little bit partial to these fellers, Mic Harrison and The High Score are as nice and genuine group of guys as you can ever meet. They’re road warriors, going out on to play shows just about every weekend, and then back to their jobs during the week. That’s dedication. Do yourself a favor and download/order this album, and check out their website and see when they’re rolling thru your town. www.micharrison.com
16. Title: Wrecked
Artist: Turnpike Troubadours
Album (year): Goodbye Normal Street (2012)
Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz
Comments: One of my favorite songs of the year from one of my favorite albums of the year!
17. Title: Wined And Dined
Artist: Men On The Border
Album (year): Shine! [2012]
Submitted By: hoosier buddy
Comments: This song is from an album of songs by Syd Barrett, as interpreted by Men On The Border. The band chose to emphasize the positive aspects of Syd’s spirit and music, and the resulting music is bright, breezy, and slightly psychedelic. Wined And Dined is a lovely sonic vacation to the countryside. Try the psilocybin tapenade!
18. Title: Movement and Location
Artist: Punch Brothers
Album (year): Who’s Feeling Young Now? (2012)
Submitted By: @philnorman
Comments: No album I listened to more in 2012.
19. Title: The Descent
Artist: Bob Mould
Album (year): Silver Age (2012)
Submitted By: Verbow
Comments: So I had about 12 songs I thought about using, but in the end I went the simpleton’s route and chose my favorite song off my favorite album of 2012. This song is classic Bob all the way – and after hearing this song you will not be able to get it out of your head for days. Rock on Bob!
20. Title: Guttersnipe
Artist: Bhi Bhiman
Album (year): Bhiman (2012)
Submitted by: BoogieStudio22
Comments: This is singer/songwriter Bhi Bhiman’s second album, but I first learned about him on Noisetrade earlier in 2012. I keep coming back to this album and this song in particular. This song ‘spoke’ to me while I was making some changes in my professional life. I love the last two lines of the song (felt like my mantra for a while in early- to mid-2012):
I never heeded the signs
But I’m well on my way to feeling fine
Wild Lignu is actually the amalgamation of Wildmen and Capputtini ‘I Lignu, and this song, “Drunkula”, is the B side of their split 7″. Side A contains Capputtini ‘I Lignu’s “He Never Tells” and Wildmen’s “Born After Midnight”. You can order the vinyl here and the digital here. Then keep an ear out for the Wildmen’s debut full-length next month.
Our men from Sheffield, the Payroll Union, are preparing to release their first full-length album and have offered a preview in the form of the rousing “Peggy’s Tavern” (available for free download).
A reading of singer/guitarist/songwriter Pete David’s blog (a read I definitely recommend) indicates more fascinating stories of early American history will be coming our way, set, of course, to the fine stomps and dirges we’ve come to expect from the Payroll Union. If you’re in the Sheffield, UK, area, you can help the men welcome their new album, The Mule & the Elephant, into the world at their album launch show at Club 60 in Sheffield on January 19.
I was a massive fan of Jeff Buckley when his album Grace came out. Obssesive. I remember much about the day I bought the album, which is unusual for me. I had picked it up mostly on a feeling, based on just one song I had heard, the title track, on a Rock Video Monthly tape (who remembers those?). I was hooked immediately and listened to the album repeatedly (“Lilac Wine” via headphones, do it). I was able to see Jeff play live once, at the Agora in Cleveland, and met him briefly after his set. My lingering impression was that he was small, quiet, and had a heavy sadness about him. I remember when the news first came across that he had gone missing in the Mississippi River, and how I was glued to the computer for days, waiting for him to be found.
I learned of this BBC documentary today via Open Culture (if you haven’t heard of the site before, you’ll want to bookmark it now – they share tons of fantastic free content from around the internet), and wanted to share it here.
Like any portrait of Jeff, the documentary leaves out a lot. Here, Glen Hansard shares his own experience with Jeff.
You know the best thing to do on Christmas day? Stay home and watch horror movies. May I suggest choosing titles from this fine holiday-centric list?
But if you need a weightier excuse for foregoing Christmas activities than a Bartlebian “I prefer not to”, the Wind-up Birds have a suggestion (and the song is available at a “name your price” rate).
Or, if you can’t find it in your heart to be festive this year because some cold, selfish lover stole that heart and then tossed it like so much discarded wrapping paper, Daniel Knox has set his warm baritone to work on a love-torn carol some of you may recall from that foreign land known as “The ’80s”.
Here we are, on the 10th anniversary of the death of Joe Strummer. I still miss Joe so much that it’s difficult to believe it’s a decade since he died… but maybe that’s because his presence is still so strong in the world. Things that Joe said and did still inform a good deal of what I do here and now, and I know it’s the same for people all over the world. He wasn’t perfect, no, but on his good days, he inspired more people than most of us will in our entire lives.
In Chris Salewicz’s biography of Joe, Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer, director Jim Jarmusch had this to say about his friend: “He talked a lot about the bad times that ended the Clash. He seemed to feel guilty. He felt really bad about Cut the Crap, said it was crap. I said, ‘You only learn from your mistakes. You can’t learn things without fucking up.’ We had a lot of discussions about mistakes and accidents, how circumstance and fate affects our lives, how if you want to find your dream lover, you’ll never find it, but as soon as you dismiss the possibility, then it arises again. I was trying to relate that philosophy to him when he was down. I was throwing back his own attitude, because he was very good when people were down – just give them a few little words. He was very good at picking you up again.”
Joe went out just when his star was ascending again, getting better and better with the Mescaleros, and its heartbreaking to think of all that he had left to give that he didn’t have the chance to share with us. But he left a lot with us already, including a huge spirit that we can carry on in our own lives and share with others.
“In fact, punk rock means EXEMPLARY MANNERS TO YOUR FELLOW HUMAN BEING.”
-Joe Strummer1
Below, I’ve collected some of my favorite songs from Joe. I encourage you to share your own favorite Joe songs and memories in the comments.
From 1999 into 2002, Joe Strummer had his own radio program on the BBC World Service, called “Joe Strummer’s London Calling”. This show epitomizes why Joe is the patron saint of NTSIB. Joe spun everything from Harry Belafonte to Thu Zahina, from Eddie Cochran to Francoise Hardy. He drew from all over the timeline and all over the world. For Joe, music had no boundaries.
Below are a series of podcasts that collected most1 of Joe’s half-hour broadcasts. Hosted by musician and artist Jon Langford, the series is bookended by two half-hour segments featuring Langford presenting interview clips.
Enjoy
1To find all the broadcasts, sans the podcast framework, click here.
Today’s Strummer week post covers Joe Strummer’s sideline career in films. While Joe composed film scores and wrote songs for films, he also appeared in a few of them. The first was 1980’s Rude Boy, a film conceived by the Clash’s manager Bernie Rhodes, likely in a chess move response to frenemy Malcolm McLaren’s film project for the Sex Pistols, The Great Rock ‘n’ Roll Swindle. While the main attraction of the film is live footage of the Clash, a story involving “roadie” Ray is woven in. The success of the film is debatable, and while it is a must-see for hardcore fans, the band ended up hating it in the end.
Rude Boy excerpt
Joe’s next foray into film would be his own creation Hell W10. Written and directed by Joe in the summer of 1983, the black and white gangster film featured members of the Clash as well as their friends and business associates. The film was thought lost until, as the story goes, a rough copy was purchased out of the back of a car by a pair of fans. The found film was given a Clash-driven soundtrack and can be found on The Essential Clash DVD.
Hell W10 excerpt
While Joe does not appear in this clip, he does show up in the film as a police officer, as shown here:
Joe and members of the Clash, along with friends, also appeared in Martin Scorsese’s King of Comedy in 1983. And “appear” is about the only word for it. The eagle-eyed can spot Joe, Mick Jones, Joe’s then-partner Gaby Salter, and Clash manager Kosmo Vinyl can be spotted in the background of a scene between Robert De Niro and Sandra Bernhard. The scene has been kindly slowed by an obsessive Clash fan.
King of Comedy excerpt
1981 -- NYC TIMES SQUARE --- THE CLASH playing "Street Scum" in the movie KING OF COMEDY
Scorsese and the members of the Clash got along well, and the band was Scorsese’s initial choice to provide music for his years-in-the-making film The Gangs of New York.
Joe’s next role would be his first without the Clash. In 1987, he co-starred in Alex Cox’s absurd western Straight to Hell. It takes a rarefied mind to enjoy this film – and by that I mean, it’s terrible, but in a very enjoyable way. See how many familiar faces you can count in this video.
Straight to Hell excerpt
There is a featurette included on the Straight to Hell DVD that is filled with interviews with Alex Cox and cast members, including Joe. You can watch it here.
Joe’s next film appearance was in a bit part in another Alex Cox film Walker, for which he also composed the score. The film can be watched here. But good luck spotting Joe as he’s virtually unrecognizable with a full beard and long, shaggy hair.
In 1988, Joe had another bit part in a Rober Frank film called Candy Mountain, which included appearances from Tom Waits, Dr. John, Arto Lindsay, David Johansen, and more. I didn’t find any clips with Joe in them, but someone has put together a reel of Tom Waits’ role in the movie.
Next comes Joe’s best role – and I’m not just saying that because it’s one of my favorite films by my favorite director. Joe played “Johnny” in the last segment of Jim Jarmusch’s Mystery Train, a rockabilly Englishman who has just been dumped by his woman and ends up having an insane night in Memphis with his friend Will Robinson, played by Rick Aviles, and his brother-in-law Charlie, played by Steve Buscemi.
Mystery Train excerpt
Director Sara Driver (who also has a bit part in Mystery Train) has said of Joe, “He was interested in being an actor. He was a very good actor, and I never understood why more people didn’t put him in things. He had a wonderful presence.”1
In 1990, Joe played a very natural role in Aki Kaurismäki’s film I Hired a Contract Killer, a singer in a pub.
I Hired a Contract Killer excerpt
In 1997, Joe appeared in (and contributed music to) a French short called Question d’honneur, which featured boxer Jake LaMotta. There are no clips of Joe available, but a trailer for the film can be viewed here.
Joe’s last film role was in another French film, Docteur Chance from filmmaker F.J. Ossang. Joe played an arms trafficker named Vince Taylor. The observant among you will recognize the name: there was a rockabilly singer named Vince Taylor, and the Clash covered his song “Brand New Cadillac” on London Calling.2
About a Q&A he did with F.J. Ossang after a screening of the film, Joe said, “And they went so, perhaps you could tell us what the film’s about. I had no fucking idea what the film was about! I was trying to get hold of it as it was. Then I felt, this is the proper behavior for a rock ‘n’ roller – to get involved in this type of thing.”3
Docteur Chance trailer
1 from Chris Salewicz’s book Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer
2 According the Chris Salewicz in Redemption Song: The Ballad of Joe Strummer, the real Vince Taylor had been approached to play the part before his death in 1991.
