NPR’s got it going on in their First Listen feature, with Justin Townes Earle’s Harlem River Blues and the Walkmen’s Lisbon in the rotation right now. Additionally, although it’s a little older now, is the latest from A.A. Bondy-favorite James Blackshaw.
Also at NPR, an All Tomorrow’s Parties preview playlist from NTSIB favorite Jim Jarmusch, which includes T-Model Ford, Raekwon and Ohio’s Greenhornes.
Muzzle of Bees brings us some special downloads from a lost session Roadside Graves recorded for Aquarium Drunkard.
Spinner offers a free download of the Black Angels’ “Telephone”, which has nothing to do with who you’re thinking of, as well as “I Got a Treme Woman” by Kermit Ruffins.
There’s a Ray Davies collaboration album in the works, which will reportedly include Frank Black, Bruce Springsteen and the late Alex Chilton, among others. Pitchforkgathered some reports for you.
I am in the midst of writing a feature post that I’ve been planning since I started this blog. It’s, uh, taking a little longer than I thought it would, so I am left content-less today.
In lieu of a post, I encourage everyone to watch It’s Everything, and Then It’s Gone (link to the video at the bottom of the page), a documentary on the almost-the-next-big-thing music scene in Akron, Ohio, in the 1970s – a scene which spawned Tin Huey, the Rubber City Rebels and, of course, Devo, among others.
I find myself drawn to the music of Ohio artists. It could be some innate loyalty to or a sharing of basic ideas with my fellow Ohioans. Or it could be that Ohio turns out more excellent music per capita than the rest of the world. I may be biased, but I’m going with option B.
Die, Sloopy, Die is a tribute to great Ohio bands of the past and present. The name is an anti-tribute to our official state rock song “Hang On, Sloopy” by the McCoys because, while it is awesome that we were the first state to declare an official state rock song (and, so far, we are one of only two states to do so, Oklahoma having declared the Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize??” their official state song), we chose one of the lamest songs it was possible for us to choose.
The Afghan Whigs
“Ladies, let me tell you about myself…”
The facts: The Afghan Whigs formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1986 with Greg Dulli on vocals/guitar, Rick McCollum on guitar, John Curley on bass and Steve Earle (no, not that Steve Earle) on drums. They were the first band not from the American northwest signed to Sub Pop Records. They released six studio albums, beginning with Big Top Halloween in 1988 and ending with 1965 in 1998.
The first time I heard the Afghan Whigs, they scared me. I was about twenty years old, and while I was not prim and proper, I had a frigging lot to learn. The tones of anger, which projected both outward and inward, that colored Greg Dulli’s vocals in the songs on their seminal album Gentlemen translated to menace in my ears.
It took me a couple of years to come around, and I don’t remember how it happened, but it seems like I went from being horrified by them one day to wanting to be all up in Greg Dulli’s business the next day. My then-husband and I set about collecting every album, EP, single, video, magazine article and any other items emblazoned with “The Afghan Whigs” that we could get our hands on (I retained possession of the collection when the husband and I split up, possibly because he feared grievous bodily harm if he tried to come between me and my treasures). They became, and remain, my favorite band.
“I’ve got a dick for a brain…”
If I had to use only one word to describe the Afghan Whigs cannon, it would be “swagger”. The story set forth when listening to their albums in chronological order is one of a group of angry, young punks who got into their mamas’ Stax and Motown collections one day, put on suave suits and never looked back. The anger remained, but now it was topped by a layer of strutting, smooth-talking cockiness.
Gentlemen is considered by many to be the Afghan Whigs’ masterpiece, concisely marrying their early punk energy to the soul spirit that would become their trademark. While their earlier albums showed promise, they were scattered, directionless. Gentlemen was a clear vision, sharp, slickly jagged, cleanly dirty.
Their next effort – and one of my all-time favorite albums – Black Love, pushed the music further into soul territory while still retaining a metallic edge. A Curtis Mayfield influence weaves itself throughout, wrapping around images of sex, violence and religion. The whole album is a challenge: Step up or be stomped.
Then everything fell apart in the glorious mess that was 1965. It is an unrepentant party album, though it still carries Dulli’s characteristic Catholic guilt and flashes of brilliance within its decadent atmosphere.
“And my brain is gonna sell my ass to you.”
The Afghan Whigs became known for their way with a cover song, often taking songs that seemed innocuous, cutting them open and turning them inside out to expose their viscera. Songs like the Supremes’ “My World Is Empty Without You” and Freda Payne’s “Band of Gold” became suicide notes of abandonment in their hands. Al Green’s “Beware” turned from a plea to a threat. And if you never thought you’d want to get naked to a song from The Wizard of Oz, just listen as the quartet turns “If I Only Had a Heart” into a slinky, steamy torch song.
In 2001, the Afghan Whigs went their separate ways (with a two-song reunion in 2006 for their Rhino Records retrospective Unbreakable), McCollum, Curley and their Spinal Tap-esque succession of drummers moving on to other projects, but none as successfully as Dulli. He has released four albums under the aegis of the Twilight Singers, with a fifth album on the way as of this writing. Additionally, he put out a solo album in 2005, an album with Mark Lanegan as the Gutter Twins in 2008 and in 2005, played in a live-only covers band called Uptown Lights – along with numerous other production jobs and guest spots.
Greg Dulli will be embarking on his first solo tour this October and on through November, playing stripped-down versions of his songs – including Afghan Whigs and Twilight Singers titles. He’ll hit the Grog Shop in Cleveland on October 16.
The Cramps seemed to permeate northeastern Ohio culture in an insidious way. Even if you had never heard of the Cramps before, you somehow instinctively knew that Lux Interior was from Akron. That’s the way it felt, anyway. And the fact that my mother clipped Lux’s obituary from The Akron Beacon Journal for me when I’m certain that, if I mentioned the Cramps to her at all, it was only once or twice in the distant past bares this out.
One of the Cramps’ best-known songs is the deliciously depraved “Goo Goo Muck”.
You may know that “Goo Goo Muck” is a cover of a 1962 tune by Ronnie Cook & the Gaylads. Little information is available about this band, and the only other song mentioned by them is the b-side to “Goo Goo Muck”, “The Scotch”.
In the 1960s, instrumental bands were a happening thing in American rock ‘n’ roll. Groups like the Ventures, the Surfaris and, of course, Booker T. and the MGs experienced success to rival their vocals-enabled peers. When I began researching instrumental band the Fireballs, their 1958 single “Torquay” struck me as sounding very familiar…
Cleveland. You might have heard of us. We’re known for hemorraghing talent* and that whole river-catching-on-fire thing.
But there are good aspects of living here, too. Sadly, we lost one of those aspects a couple of weeks ago when one of my personal idols, Harvey Pekar, died. If you’ve seen the film American Splendor, you know a bit of Harvey’s story. He was best-known for his American Splendor comic books, which are addictive, funny, inspiring… you should read them.
Here’s a snippet from the time Anthony Bourdain brought his show No Reservations to the CLE and met Harvey. (Tony baby loved Cleveland, by the way.)
Additionally, aside from all the good music that comes through Cleveland (you can see a show every night of the week at the Beachland Ballroom alone, and there’s also the Grog Shop, Now That’s Class, the Thirsty Dog… we’ve got a few venues – and when I say “a few”, I mean “a lot of”), some great music comes from Cleveland. Here’s Kid Cudi talking about home.
The big freaking news for me personally this week is Greg fucking Dulli’s (in my world, this is his actual, legal name) first solo tour. “An Evening with Greg Dulli” will be making the rounds in the U.S. and Europe in October and November. Afghan Whigs songs are promised, as are brand new Twilight Singers tunes.
The Alan Lomax Archive now has a YouTube Channel with footage of R.L. Burnside, Sam Chatmon and more.
Our friends at Buddyhead have a new Grinderman song for you, “Heathen Child”, along with the scary and possibly not-safe-for-work cover art.
The charming Futurebirds release Hampton Lullaby today, and you can take a listen at Spinner.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Cheyenne Mize have released a sweet and mellow EP of covers called Among the Gold. You can listen here and download here.
If the quality of a Black Keys show can be judged by the number of times Dan Auerbach shouts a non-lyrical interjection into a song (think James Brown), this show was stellar.
It was an intensely hot day in Cleveland, the kind where just standing in line can make you break a sweat, but spirits and anticipation were high, and I was pleased that the show had finally sold out.
The audience was decidedly split on opener Jessica Lea Mayfield, but this was not terribly surprising considering how different Mayfield’s music is from that of TBK. While it was disappointing that big brother David Mayfield was not on string duties, it was good to see JLM broadening her sound (and, one imagines, allowing David more time for his work with Cadillac Sky and his solo work) with keyboards and electric bass. And guitarist Richie Kirkpatrick is always entertaining to watch. The new song from Mayfield’s forthcoming album sounded solid, and early word is that the whole album is killer (in an interview, Dan Auerbach, who created the Polymer Sounds label in order to get Mayfield’s previous album out there, mentioned that he was trying to get the new album released on a bigger label to give Mayfield more exposure).
And Mayfield managed to finish her set looking just as fresh as when she started.
The Black Keys, on the other hand, seemed to be sweating as soon as they started. Making a triumphant entrance to the strains of GZA’s “Liquid Swordsâ€, TBK got right down to business with “Thickfreaknessâ€, possibly the best show-opening song ever written with its build-up-to-an-explosion intro.
The setlist was split nearly 50/50 between Brothers and older material. They played one of their fine Junior Kimbrough covers, “Everywhere I Goâ€, and “Till I Get My Way†blew a few heads off. Really, it is impossible to note how balls-out shredding any one song was without mentioning how equally rocking all the other songs were. TBK are probably the most consistently high-energy, high-quality live band around.
That being said, the songs off of Brothers seemed to light the audience up even more, and, in turn, fed into TBK’s energy. “She’s Long Gone†packed a magnificent punch, with “Ten Cent Pistol†making a great follow-up. Auerbach bounced behind his mic while singing out the “da da da-daâ€s of the “Howlin’ For You†chorus as the audience shouted along with him, fists pumping. The breaking out of “Chop and Change†(from the soundtrack of that movie the kids like so much) was an excellent surprise with Auerbach taking maraca duty very seriously (and putting out some of the best vocals of the night).
Even in heat that would debilitate other people, TBK went full throttle all night and Auerbach could frequently be seen smiling as he took in the cheers and screams of the “hometown” crowd (one wonders if he might have been remembering his early days playing in bars when he would break into N.W.A. covers when the audience stopped paying attention). Between Auerbach’s wall of guitar sound and Patrick Carney’s ever-evolving drumming, if you can come away from a Black Keys show without being energized, then I don’t envy your mental landscape.
I wasn’t going to post anything remotely Black Keys-related today because it seemed too obvious in light of their Cleveland show tomorrow night (which somehow isn’t sold out, even though several shows on this tour are sold out – no damn wonder Pat moved away and Dan will probably be moving soon) and my inability to shut about them lately. But then the awesome Freddie Gibbs collaboration “Oil Money” turned up yesterday, and I haven’t been able to stop listening to it. Featuring Dan Auerbach along with Chuck Inglish (of the Cool Kids, who will appear on the next BlakRoc joint), Bun B and Cleveland’s Chip Tha Ripper, this is a gorgeous piece of hip hop. You can download the mp3 at It’s A Rap.
It’s been a while since NTSIB has expressed feelings of blog crush-ness, but we have been admiring Rubber City Review from afar for a while. Based out of Akron, Ohio, RCR covers a wide range of classic music: rock, blues, funk, soul, country, jazz… if it’s good, RCR is feelin’ it. Hallmarks of RCR posts include myriad song samples, mini music history lessons and personal recollections/reflections.
Run by Tim Quine, RCR also comprises contributions from Kevin Swan, Andy Moore, Jack Quine, photographer James Quine and Dan Auerbach. What? Oh yeah, did I fail to mention that Tim is Dan’s uncle? Maybe that’s because, even though I was led to Rubber City Review through a post to the Black Keys’ MySpace, I would be crushing on RCR even without Mr. Auerbach’s involvement.
It’s good, people. And while RCR doesn’t spotlight much new music, you will find a lot of great music that is probably new to you. Check ‘em out.
There’s never a shortage of news from the Wu-Tang Clan, and our first four items are devoted to them. Up first: The Wu will be playing the Rock the Bells festival tour at the end of August, performing their masterpiece Enter the Wu-Tang Clan (36 Chambers) in its entirety. This year’s bill also includes Rakim, KRS-ONE and Slick Rick, among others.
Raekwon has released a new mixtape, Cocainism, Vol. 2, and you can download it here.
It was inevitable: RZA is making a kung fu film. The Man with Iron Fists was co-written by RZA and Eli Roth and will be directed by and star RZA.
Filmmaker Don Letts has produced a documentary about the creation of Strummerville, the foundation that carries on Joe Strummer’s work of promoting music from beyond the fray, and the DVD of the film is being sold exclusively through the Strummerville site where you can also watch a trailer for the film.
Pitchfork’s One Week Only feature this week is The Shield Around the K, the story of K Records, the independent label founded by Calvin Johnson of Beat Happening in 1982 and still operating to this day.
And because you know I can’t let an opportunity to push the Black Keys pass, here’s a web exclusive of the guys performing the excellent “Ten Cent Pistol” during their appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week. (And you can see their televised performance of the bangin’ “Howlin’ for You” here.)
