Author Archive
Top Ten Musician’s List for 2008
Author: Jeff Boule
Happy New Year to all! On my recent visit to the Princeton Record Exchange, the sheer volume of inventory overwhelmed me. The things that were available were equally astounding. Yes, I have been blogging about PREX site unseen until now. I can only further recommend getting down there and checking things out. That is, if you have a ton of time to peruse the massive inventory.
All those artists and genres, it would take hours upon hours to examine everything they have that one might have an interest in. The scope of the variety that the Exchange contained has inspired and reminded me that it is time for my picks of this past year and overall.
read comments (8)Foo Fighters Too Big For Their Britches? And Other Fan Casualties.
Author: Jeff Boule
Before you get mislead, no fans or audience members were harmed in the making of this blog. But it ain’t pretty.
For those of you not familiar with the name David Byrne, he was the strange man in the suit and horned-rimmed glasses chopping at his forearm in the Talking Heads “Once In A Lifetime” video. Talking Heads long-time producer, Brian Eno, has been a long-time collaborator of Byrne’s. The show was billed as The Songs Of David Byrne and Brian Eno, right there, you know it’s going to be…
The Death Of Rock and Roll, and Progressive
Author: Jeff Boule
I was asked why my blogs do not appear weekly. The simple answer to this question is: life. I am currently rehearsing my solo acoustic show, I am also participating in my company’s Christmas show, so I have to learn three X-mas songs. This should prove interesting, as I am not a religious person.
But this week, even more extraneous circumstances have arisen that makes one think perhaps everything we are doing is pointless.
Arena = Todd Rundgren + Guitars Guitars Guitars!
Author: Jeff Boule
The story behind the album Arena is simply a tale born out of situational necessity. You die-hard Rundgren fans remember a couple of years ago (around the time the movie CARS came out) Todd had replaced Ric Ocasek in The New Cars (the ‘New’ being added in light of the minority percentage of returning members, only Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes returned). Also joining Easton and Hawkes were Utopia and long-time Rundgren bassist and vocalist Kasim Sulton alongside drummer for The Tubes, Jefferson Starship and also a long-time Rundgren band member Prairie Prince. During the New Cars tour, the tour bus was in an accident and Easton fell from an upper bunk and broke his shoulder/collar bone. The tour was cut short, the cross-promotion with the Pixar movie was cancelled, and Rundgren found himself with nothing to do for a summer. Not wanting to waste a prime touring season, Rundgren spoke with Tony Levin band and long-time Rundgren guitarist Jesse Gress who contacted Levin and recruited him along with Levin Band drummer Jerry Marotta to do a two guitars bass and drums tour. Less expensive than touring with Midi and keyboards, etc.
Seeing as how he was going to be touring with a guitar-oriented band, not only did he have to limit his repertoire to guitar based or guitar-oriented or guitar adaptable songs, he also had to rearrange some keyboard-oriented standards for guitar.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Everything That Happens Will Happen Today. Enough said from Byrne/Eno.
Author: Jeff Boule
It seems that life is so high pressure these days. Economic crisis, housing crisis, Middle East crisis, everything in crisis. Sometimes you need something to bring your stress level down. The new album from David Byrne and Brian Eno is something that can keep your toes tapping while reducing heart rate and blood pressure levels. But the music is far too lively to be as coma inducing as some of the earlier Eno ambient albums. But it is far more cerebral than Talking Heads.
Any time Nine Inch Nails rolls into town, there is likely to be an event. Mostly because they ARE the event. The lineup sported by Trent Reznor was no exception. It was great to see Robin Finck, as well as seeing (again) Josh Freese, who was drumming for Devo at the Pier (see an earlier blog) in Philly. Alessandro Cortini is a breath of fresh air for all the musicians in the audience. Since Cortini joined the band, all the keyboard parts have been played as they should be as opposed to what other NIN keyboardists were doing, which was triggering one key to play an entire phrase.
No cheating at THIS show, it was ALL good.
Scars On Broadway Leave Marks on System, Serj.
Author: Jeff Boule
Once upon a time there were four Armenian boys who formed one of modern rock’s heaviest bands. I am recalcitrant to say heavy metal, as, especially with Scars On Broadway, all these artists can play soft as well as heavy. But back to our four Armenian friends, they formed a band. One considerably older gentleman (Serj Tankian), and the very unusual bass playing style and sound of Shavo Odajian, and two childhood friends Daron Malakian and John Dolmayan.
Now the childhood buddies had very distinct ideas on how the music should sound. But so too did the older gentleman and the unusual player. Four opinions in one small band is toxic.
At the absolute pinnacle of their career, nothing could go better, they decide now is the time to split up and do solo things. So the older Serj went and did his the fastest. His came out first to modest fan/critical response. Next came the project of the buddies Malakian and Dolmayan.
It is easy to see that Shavo will have a tough act to follow.
The heavy dissonances, speedy beats, time/tempo changes, humorous lyrics, inventive keyboards, all belong to the Malakian/Dolmayan connection.
Because as Scars on Broadway, these guys got it dead to rights!!!
The King Is Dead, Long Live King Crimson – Nokia Theater, NYC, Aug. 16.
Author: Jeff Boule
Faithful readers have heard this from me before, but there is no more appropriate venue to bring forth this tired tidbit, this go-round of King Crimson is to herald the 40th anniversary of the Mighty Crim Beast. Not to promote an album, simply to celebrate the 40th year Robert Fripp has been sitting atop the throne of this massive monster. Read the rest of this entry »
Todd Rundgren Turns Atlantic City Borgata Into His Personal Hard Rock Arena
Author: Jeff Boule
Hello again, good Prexites, we have a surprise for you this week. Normally, we are in the middle of reviewing the Utopia Box set Last Of The New Wave Riders. But why settle for a box set when you can see the real thing? Well almost the real thing. Imagine my surprise when the opportunity to see Todd Rundgren live presented itself! Upon learning of the gig through his premiere fan site The TRConnection, I learned that this was a pre-release promotional tour for his upcoming album Arena, featuring songs written in a hard-rock context. What I was not expecting from this show was the ENTRIRE song list from the Arena album. I was able to fall in love with the songs before I plunk out the cash for the download or CD (in my rabid fan state, I will buy both!).
A Hapless Solo Bear Watches Man And Sighs
Author: Jeff Boule
Chris Arduser is not now, nor will he ever be a household name. But I would rather keep this Chris Arduser in tact as opposed to some record label machination. I have come to know and love Deathy (as he is known in the inner circles of the Bear’s cave) through his work with Adrian Belew and the Bears, the Psychodots and later Raisins, Graveblankets and his own solo albums.
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Utopia’s Last Of The New Wave Riders Hurtles Towards Oblivion
Author: Jeff Boule
As we recover from the Holiday weekend, we need to take it easy. With this in mind, we will be doing an abbreviated review (read: not a two-parter this week). During our lull in concerts this month, we are continuing with our examination of the Utopia box set, Last Of The New Wave Riders. A set of live performance CDs spanning from early in Utopia’s career up to almost the end. This particular show, the Oblivion Tour, is a single disc. Additionally, since the last entry about Devo generated some interest I need to address some comments that were left.
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Beautiful Mutants Were Heard In The Distance: Devo at Penn’s Landing
Author: Jeff Boule
When you think of Devo, certain things just don’t come to mind. Power chords, heavy, loud styles of music and guitars. Well at Penn’s landing on June 28th, Devo was all that and more! Performing their “stadium/festival” set; these are tracks that they can perform without the assistance of midi, sequencers or anything of that ilk. As if stripped down to their possible beginnings, Devo provided tones to enrage and engorge the attendees. Read the rest of this entry »
Utopia’s Last Of The New Wave Riders Deface The Beatle’s Music (Part Two)
Author: Jeff Boule
Picking up from where we (mercifully) left off last week, we are smack-dab in the middle of what is part of the box set from Todd Rundgren and Utopia chronicling their Deface The Music tour. To recap, Deface The Music was Utopia’s tribute to the Beatles. Rundgren and Sulton have frequently stated that the Beatles were tremendous influences on them both. Powell and Wilcox are more comfortable in the jazz realm, but also have Beatle-influence (come on, everybody has Beatle influence, even if you didn’t like them, odds are, many of the artists you DO like were influenced by the Beatles so vicariously, you are influenced).
But this isn’t about the Beatles, it’s about Utopia, maybe for this tour we should call them Beatleopia. Read the rest of this entry »
In conjunction with, but not necessarily a part of, The Summer Concert Series feature I have undertaken on this here PREX site, I am also reviewing some rare, unearthed, it took me several distributors to find this, live Utopia. Featuring a frequent blog topic, Todd Rundgren and his four-piece model of Utopia. This model was the version with Wilcox, Powell and Sulton. I can hear you all asking: “Who are these people?” Read the rest of this entry »
Summer Concert Preview: Devo – What Can We Expect Now That It Has Been Told?
Author: Jeff Boule
As part of our Summer Concert Preview/Review, we will be looking at a concert disc by the Spudboys from 1988. They were ten years in and disillusioned from all the abuse from critics, non-fans, their label at the time, Warner Brothers, and so on. Yet that disillusionment NEVER affected the music! Read the rest of this entry »
Summer Concerts Abound, Gas Prices Be Damned!
Author: Jeff Boule
As someone penning for this blog has already asserted, the summer concert season is upon us. For this reviewer, it is a highly pregnant season with many, many promising, quality, not-to-be-missed performances. You can pretty much rest assured, if I am interested in these shows, they are not your run-of-the-mill American Idol loser tours (read: I got your diversity right here!). Read the rest of this entry »
The Young Person’s Guide To Fripp & Eno
Author: Jeff Boule
Mr. Billingsworth,
Upon bringing in the email, I found your exchange with my Mrs., from earlier today regarding Fripp & Eno. I have a few points of interest and we can also discuss Prog matters in general.
Also, how are you enjoying the Todd Rundgren albums you have accumulated so far? Remember, your collection only goes through the Bearsville years. You have little of his Indie catalog.
The first issue would be the classification of Fripp & Eno. These are three distinct artists in themselves. Robert Fripp solo, Brian Eno solo, and Fripp & Eno collaborative. Each has their own merit. All have evolved. Read the rest of this entry »
Mondo Generator Revives a Dead Planet with SonicSlowMotionTrails
Author: Jeff Boule
Sorry folks, no nonsense about this recording, it’s all business with the Generator. It has to be. At least from Nick Oliveri’s point of view. After all, what do you do when you are asked to leave a band on the verge of breaking huge?
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Trent Gives Interscope “The Slip”
Author: Jeff Boule
TO: Jeff Boule
FROM: Trent Reznor
RE: something new
Hey Jeff, I figured I would let you know the new disc is almost ready to go out, but here are some new tracks I came up with that you might get a chuckle out of.
Hoping for good things, try not to pan it too bad! Trent