Thursday, October 30, 2008

BEST LIVE BAND I HAVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME

Somewhere beyond nostalgia, beyond the garage, somewhere beyond the fireside song and supposed goo-rock, you will find the latest incarnation of Thee Oh Sees, now a quartet composed of John Dwyer (OCS, Coachwhips, Pink & Brown), Brigid Dawson, Petey Dammit!, and Mike Shoun. Following 2007's understated and unjustly ignored Sucks Blood, The Master's Bedroom weaves Dwyer's signature AM radio howl with the catchiest of driving tunes, Dawson's gorgeous harmonies, heightened fidelity, thick spring-reverbed bombast, mighty drums (at times in pairs), and an undeniable pull.

The tracks were recorded by Chris Woodhouse in San Francisco except three which were done with Chris Moore and Dave Sitek in New York City. From the introductory wailing feeback of "Block Of Ice" to the heavy-footed trudge of "You Will See This Dog Before You Die," you will be captivated. The Master's Bedroom is undeniable.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

DOO RAG!

The members of Doo Rag first began performing together at a party in Tucson in 1990. "I had a snare drum with a guitar bolted onto it, and I was playing Fred McDowell songs when a friend jumped up and started banging a cheese grater with a spoon," guitarist Bob Log recalls. "The next day we went out on the sidewalk and played, hoping to scrounge up cigarette money." The band recorded a cassette together, which they self-released, and then began touring, despite the unsigned nature of the band and their lack of record label promotion.
Doo Rag first gained recognition outside of Tucson playing in San Diego at the Casbah nightclub when members of the late 80's and early 90's cult underground band Crash Worship. Crash worship had gotten ahold of their first self released cassette tape, "Chunked and Muddled", some months before and hadn't even believed that they were an actual band although they had been listening to it repeatedly as they had become fans of the mystery duo. Soon after Doo Rag was opening for Crash Worship on several U.S. tours.
Soon after they had started playing semi regularly in L.A. at a former bowling alley turned nightclub where they first caught the attention of Beck before his hit "Loser" had garnered him national attention. Beck asked Doo Rag to open for him on his first major U.S. tour after his first Geffen Records release.
Doo Rag was soon after touring Europe and playing everything from small clubs to the huge outdoor summer music festivals in Holland. In 1995 they played the side stage of Lollapalooza where they met Sonic Youth who had become ardent fans of the pair.
The next summer found Doo Rag touring with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Delta Blues legend R.L. Burnside.
While on tour in support of the band Ween, and after six years of working together, Malling left the tour to spend time with his new wife. Rather than end the tour, Bob decided to finish the tour as a solo act. He purchased a drum machine and attempted to recreate Malling's rhythms. He still employs this technique after 12 years.

MEMPHIS LEDGENDS!

The initial '68 Comeback lineup consisted of Monsieur Evans on vocals, guitar, and blues harp; Jack Taylor of the Monster Truck Five and Darin Lin Wood of the Red Devils on guitar; ex-Gloryhole member, Dan Brown, on bass; and Peggy O'Neil, formerly of The Gories, on drums. With this lineup the band released a number of well-received 7" singles and then began the first leg of a 60-day, 42-city U.S. tour. The tour immediately ran into problems when drummer Peggy O'Neil was unable to perform, leaving the band without a drummer in the midst of a cross-country tour. This position was eventually filled by then-Compulsive Gambler and future Oblivians frontman Greg Cartwright.
With the success of their first tour under their belt, the band re-entered the studio, completing their first EP, "Paper Boy Blues", in 1993, and their first full-length, "Mr. Downchild", in 1994. The band continued its rigorous release schedule, issuing a number of 7" before heading back into the studio, this time with Walter Daniels and backed by former stand-in drummer Greg Cartwright's Oblivians for what would eventually become the Walter Daniels Plays With Monsieur Jeffrey Evans & The Oblivians At Melissa's Garage" EP, later re-released with additional tracks as "Melissa's Garage Revisited."
In 1998, following a number of personnel changes, the band released the 21-track double LP, A Bridge Too Fuckin' Far. The album was dedicated to original guitarist Jack Taylor who had recently died of a drug overdose. This album was followed in 1999 by Love Always Wins, an album primarily of cover songs which is widely considered to be the band's most accessible album to date.
The 2000s saw '68 Comeback on hiatus as Monsieur Evans pursued a solo career, releasing albums with the C.C. Riders, the Porch Ghouls, and eventually reuniting with Walter Daniels and ex-Oblivan, Jack Yarber, for the band South Filthy.

BO DIDDLEY PULLED A BONER!


The Gibson Bros came howling out of Columbus, Ohio with a reckless, feckless brand of semi-competent minimalist American roots revisionism, twisting blues, hillbilly and gospel gems — as well as their own already bent tunes — dementedly passionate, loosely played music that never stooped to gimmicks or camp. The quartet, which included rock-critic-turned-drummer-turned-guitarist-and- singer Don Howland (ex-Great Plains), did their level best to put their town on the map. Although often compared to the Cramps (also from Ohio, as it happens), the Gibsons cast a wider musical net, digging their wildly reverbed guitars, super-simple drumming and Jeff Evans' frantic vocals into obscure blues and hillbilly tunes, gospel classics and derivative originals (where the lyrics can get pretty bizarre), all with equal fervor. Not always focused — or tuned up — enough to be enjoyable, the willfully hapless Gibson Bros were still capable of deep wit and high excitement.

Big Pine Boogie boasts the hysterical mantra of "Bo Diddley Pulled a Boner," while Dedicated Fool (on which the group dispenses with bass and has a guest saxman on two songs) has clearer crappy production and reveals a taste for rock'n'roll ("Tight Capris," Elvis Presley's "Trying to Get to You," Alice Cooper's "Caught in a Dream") amid the blues ("No Way to Get Along"), gospel ("Lone Wild Bird") and junkabilly ("Poor White Trash").

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

DUNEDINS NEWEST HIT MAKERS

From wikipedia - The Stones - named cheekily after The Rolling Stones - were a band from Dunedin in New Zealand. One of the earliest bands to record on the Flying Nun label, they helped form the style of music known as the Dunedin Sound, along with label mates such as The Chills, The Verlaines and Sneaky Feelings, all of whom appeared alongside the Stones on the seminal Flying Nun release The Dunedin Double EP.
Whereas the other three bands to appear on this record went on to increased fame both in New Zealand and overseas, the Stones split up not long after its release, although all members of the band went on to success in other local bands. Most important of these was Wayne Elsey's time in The DoubleHappys, a band which itself led to the formation of Straitjacket Fits.

Monday, October 27, 2008

LOOKING FOWARD TO HEARING THIS ONE!

(TRANSLATED FROM HIS MYSPACE PAGE) Likes God d' to embellish ***** and its faithful by giving long life to Yussuf Jerusalem, by helping them by the tinkling of its tambourine and its lamentations, by sheltering them in l' width of its shade! And as it has, for them, washed of any impurity the sources of its merits, can it in the same way subject the ground to its very high capacity to order or defend, and the heads of its enemies to the sentence of his guitar. (well i can't make much sense of that,but the tunes sound great!)

ALBUM OUT NOW ON FLORIDA IS DYING

http://www.floridasdying.com/

http://www.myspace.com/ridersofallah

Sunday, October 26, 2008