Tag: video

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Rockhall Nomination for 2012

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When the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum was newly-established and first began inducting musicians, writers, producers, etc., back in 1986, the pool of contenders was like the selections in a really good candy store, and the first class of inductees was pretty much unfuckwithable. Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Sam Cooke, Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, Robert Johnson, Jimmie Rodgers, Sam Phillips, Ray Charles, Jimmy Yancey, John Hammond, Alan Freed… it’s difficult to even place that list in a hierarchical order. And the inductees kept being good for several more years.

But in recent times, just knowing the nominees are about to be announced makes me cringe. A little piece of my soul shrivelled up when ABBA was inducted, and don’t even get me started on Neil Diamond. But who am I to say these music creators who make my skin crawl don’t deserve a place in the Incongruous Semi-Pyramid on the Lake? I realized that I was rejecting these artists based on personal preference when I attempted to debate with someone that his disdain for the choice of Public Enemy as a representative of the best of rock was wrong-headed. Yes, hip hop is not, specifically speaking, rock, but neither is soul, and I would volunteer to smack anyone who would deny the rightful place of Otis Redding in those hallowed halls.

(I won’t get into my torturuously conflicted feelings on the very idea of the Rock and Roll Museum, but if you’d like to play at home, you can begin by combining the fact that the Rockhall is one of my favorite places to visit in the world [I’ve been there approximately seven times and my first visit was six hours long] and my strong identification with John Lydon’s observation that something honoring the true heart of rock music should not resemble an ancient mausoleum.)

So, what do you think readers? What would be your criteria for inductees? Can you remain objective about such an emotional art form?

Here’s this year’s list of nominees, followed by a few videos from some of my favorites.

· Beastie Boys
· The Cure
· Donovan
· Eric B. & Rakim
· Guns ‘N Roses
· Heart
· Joan Jett and The Blackhearts
· Freddie King
· Laura Nyro
· Red Hot Chili Peppers
· Rufus with Chaka Khan
· The Small Faces/The Faces
· The Spinners
· Donna Summer
· War

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum Official Website

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He-Chaw Frunk: What?

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One of the biggest perks of this music blogger gig is getting to be friends with some really talented people. Case in point, they of the band name that people are never sure they’ve heard correctly, He-Chaw Frunk. Not only are they as local to me as you can get, but they have a dark musical sensibility that moves me. Here they are playing one of their original songs, “Time”, at Brothers Lounge.

 

 

How about the vocal chords on Chris Bishop? And that beautiful guitar-playing from Sasha Kostadinov? And the slinky groove held down by Matt Rusincovitch and Mark Slater?

Check out more of their songs and live videos at the He-Chaw Frunk website, and if you’re in the Cleveland area, be sure to catch them live.

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V-Roys Giveaway: Winner!

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First off, I swear on all my grandparents’ graves, plus the graves of Joe Strummer and Mark Sandman, that this wasn’t fixed. I put the names in a jar, and the NTSIB intern/helper monkey/my son picked a name at random. I repeat, at random.

So, as you’ve likely already figured out if you looked at the comments on the original giveaway post, the winner of the signed copy of the V-Roys lovely compilation album Sooner or Later is popa2unes. Congratulations, popa, and thanks to Jason and Ben for participating.

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The Payroll Union: There Are Songs to Be Sung

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Our favorite musical history professors are back. Pete David & the Payroll Union have dropped the “Pete David &” from their name (though lovely Pete David himself remains) and have released a new EP, Your Obedient Servant. The band from Sheffield continues to lay moody, moving music rooted in Americana traditions under stories of love, war, disease and death taken from the time when America itself was an infant.

 

 

Below you can get a sample from Your Obedient Servant as well as a sample from their previous EP, Underfed and Underpaid. Then you can follow the official site link to purchase both EPs. I happily and heartily recommend both.

 

 

 

The Payroll Union Official Website

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Everything All The Time: Mojo Fury

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Mojo Fury is: Michael Mormecha (guitar/vocals), James Lyttle (guitar/vocals/keys), Ciaran McGreevy (bass) and Gerry Morgan (drums), and they are from Lisburn, just outside of Belfast, in Northern Ireland.

The title of this post is a lyric fragment from Pill Pigeon is an Orange Wheel, song number six on Visiting Hours of a Travelling Circus, their first record, released earlier this year by Graphite Records. It is also an accurate summation of their overall sound.

There are sharp syncopated synths layered over precise quasi-industrial drums, and the remaining space is filled with heavy, slightly fuzzy guitars and Michael Mormecha’s voice. (If there are any fans of Pretty Hate Machine-era Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine in the audience, this band is for you.)

There are two breaks from the whirlwind: the first one is We Should Just Run Away, which is as close to a pop love song as they get, which  is not all that close, really. The (somewhat) softer side of Mojo Fury still contains thudding industrial echoes.

The second one is Electric Sea, which really is the aural equivalent of walking into the sea. It starts with a simple almost-acoustic guitar and cymbals that skitter through like foamy wavelets on a shell-strewn shore, and then layers of sound build gradually, until suddenly you’re out past the breakers and it’s time to play jump or dive with the whitecaps, or, rather, a sudden wall of guitar. In this case the correct answer is dive: just sit quietly for a moment and wrap yourself in the last minute or so of the song.

As an examples/enticements to explore further, here they are with (WARNING: CONTAINS CLOSE-UPS OF BUGS!) The Mann:

 

Mojo Fury - The Mann

 

and (BUGLESS!) We Should Just Run Away:

 

Mojo Fury - We Should Just Run Away

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Giveaway: The V-Roys

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The V-Roys – Scott Miller, Mic Harrison, Paxton Sellers and Jeff Bills – only released two studio albums (and one live album), but they garnered much acclaim and some very enthusiastic fans in their short lifespan. On September 27, Sooner or Later, an 18-track V-Roys compilation, drops. It’s a nice primer for new listeners and includes 5 previously-unreleased tracks to please old fans (my favorites are the V-Roys’ take on Lieber and Stoller’s “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” and an original called “Someone to Push Around”).

Like the sounds of that? How do you like the sound of winning a sexy signed copy of the CD? Just drop your name (and don’t forget an e-mail address where you can be reached) in the virtual bucket (i.e., the comments section of this post) by September 26 at 5 PM EST for your chance to get you some. A winner will be chosen at random and announced on September 27.

(Note: Despite what’s going on between popa2unes and “HAL” in comments, ballot-box stuffing and flirting with the blog owner will not increase your chances of winning.)

 

 

The V-Roys Official Website

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Wayne Hancock at the Beachland Tavern, Cleveland, OH, 9.14.11

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“My name is Wayne Hancock. I’m opening for myself.”

Sometimes it feels like the musicians who work the hardest and contribute the most time to honing their craft to be the best it can be are the least known. Thus how Wayne Hancock, who has been recording for 16 years and writing and playing music for even longer, comes to play a three-hour set to a half-full bar in Cleveland on a Wednesday night. Granted, it was a respectable crowd for a mid-week night in the CLE, but to fairly equate Hancock’s energy and caliber as a music maker, he should have been playing to a capacity crowd in the Ballroom.

While the man also known as “The Train” and his boys – Jerry Cochran on Fender Telecaster, Wyatt Maxwell on a Gretsch Falcon and Joe Deuce on doghouse bass – lurched a little as they launched their set, it only took a few songs before the wheels were properly greased, and they were ready to fly.

 

 

Pulling from his own healthy catalogue, as well as throwing in some classic covers, Hancock kept the crowd – many of whom were clearly Hancock stalwarts – happy with songs like “Johnny Law”, “Viper of Melody”, “Wedding Bells”, “Miller, Jack and Mad Dog”, “Take Me Back to Tulsa”, “Highway 54”, “That’s What Daddy Wants”, “Milk Cow Blues” and on and on, playing much of the show by request.

 

 

Hancock and band played a rockabilly and western swing-heavy set, but if you could stop dancing long enough to pay attention, watching the scene onstage was much like watching a jazz quartet. Hancock surrounds himself with top-notch players, and there is a dialogue that goes on between them spoken in music. Hancock, Cochran, Maxwell and Deuce could often be seen making each other laugh with musical jokes that non-musicians and novice musicians like myself just don’t get, but added to the enjoyment of the show just the same. There’s nothing that makes a show better than seeing great musicians enjoy what they’re doing.

Wayne Hancock’s road has had some major bumps in it and reviews haven’t always been the best, but like his nickname, he keeps rolling forward, and when he’s on, he’s a grade A entertainer not to be missed.

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Mark Lanegan. Enough Said.

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Mark Lanegan doesn’t get enough attention, as far as I’m concerned. So, for your Friday enjoyment, here’s a selection of some of my favorite Lanegan-led songs. Warning: knee-melting may occur.

 

Mark Lanegan – “Methamphetamine Blues”

 

Isobell Campbell and Mark Lanegan – “Back Burner”

 

Soulsavers, featuring Mark Lanegan – “Revival”

 

The Twilight Singers with Mark Lanegan – “Live with Me/Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”

 

Mark Lanegan Band – “I’ll Take Care of You”

 

Mark Lanegan – “Man in the Long Black Coat”

 

Isobell Campbell and Mark Lanegan – “Come on Over (Turn Me On)”

 

Mark Lanegan Band – “Wedding Dress”

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The Jim Jones Revue: Got Me So Messed Up, but I’m Feeling Fine

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Sometimes you don’t know what you need until it’s given to you. Rock ‘n’ roll, I give you the Jim Jones Revue because you have been missing rock from your roll for far too long.

Although the British band have only been around since 2008 and have just released their third album, Burning Your House Down, stateside – and the second album, Here to Save Your Soul, was a compilation of singles and previously unreleased songs – the Jim Jones Revue already has a more-than-solid reputation as a dependably superior band. I’d been hearing the buzz myself for a long while but didn’t focus in on them until John Wesley Myers (Black Diamond Heavies, James Leg) recommended them. It didn’t take long after that – about 4 minutes, the length of “Foghorn” – for me to fall in love.

The Jim Jones Revue’s rabid, rough, rapid-fire boogie woogie rock ‘n’ roll is like a cleansing fire, Jones’ voice scouring you like industrial-strength steel wool while the piano/guitar attack rains down on you. Then, for good measure, the rhythm section kicks you in the head from behind. Example? Here’s JJR’s performance of “High Horse” from The Late Show with David Letterman this past Tuesday:

 

 

Now, it would be nearly impossible for most bands to capture that kind of energy in the studio. The Jim Jones Revue makes it sound like second nature. Beginning to end, Burning Your House Down is the most throttling blitz of pure rock ‘n’ roll id I’ve heard in at least a decade. It is sexy, raging, exultant, and not a damn second of it is phoned in.

Short of setting a match to you, there’s really no way to convey to you how much Burning Your House Down fires me up (no pun intended). Just go buy the album and experience the inferno for yourself.

Then if you’re luckier than me and have a gig within driving distance, check the Jim Jones Revue out live and see how much hotter it gets.

9/8/2011 – Los Angeles, CA – Echo
9/10/2011 – Brooklyn, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg
9/11/2011 – Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
9/12/2011 – Montreal, QC – Casa del Popolo
9/13/2011 – Toronto, ON – Horseshoe Tavern
9/14/2011 – Chicago, IL – Schuba’s Tavern
9/16/2011 – Philadelphia, PA – The Blockley Pourhouse
9/17/2011 – Washington D.C. – Black Cat
9/18/2011 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s

The Jim Jones Revue Official Website