Palmist Records’ sixth split release is grungy, gruesome, and growling…from both sides of the globe.  LA’s Growlers meet Leicester’s Thee Ludds for an oil-slicked slide through 60s garage rock, though both bands add their own spin and earn their own sides.

It’s rumored that Black Keys singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach will produce the Growlers’ next album, but while we wait for official confirmation, these five songs will sing us into submission.  The short but sticking “Graveyard’s Full” starts the side off with a sort of down-home, front-porch feel, mixed with creepy witticisms and the opposite of a sunny disposition.  A modern update on a tune that draws from early blues, “Graveyard’s Full” somehow also has a lilting, carnvial-esque vibe.  Check it out below: Read the rest of this entry »

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Richard Drexler, piano and upright bass (right), Berlin (center) and legendary drummer Mike Clark (left). A dangerous combo, promising intense music in February.

1/9/2012 – Clearwater, FL – Insiders who have heard bass legend Jeff Berlin’s newest CD are buzzing about the forthcoming release – a release that they are saying could possibly be among the greatest bass album of all time! The word is that Jeff Berlin has recorded a jazz CD so astonishing that the artist himself is in shock with what he played! “I prepared for it by practicing 5 hours a day for weeks,” Jeff explains. “What came of my preparation was to record solos on the bass that I believe have never been heard before from a bass player!”

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I just don’t get it. I thought this was supposed to be terrible? I read the reviews, “’Lulu is a catastrophic failure on almost every level”, “grueling, even by latter Lou Reed standards”,” quite possibly a candidate for one of the worst albums ever made”, “Lulu sinks to almost unimaginable lows.” I was ready to write a really bad review (for once!), hopefully with a dash of humor. Surely the near $40 I spent on the double vinyl set could have been better donated to HomeFront for example. But no, for me this negative depiction is just so far off the mark. I just wonder what was really expected of a collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica. This is Lou Reed is it not? Wasn’t he in The Velvet Underground? Didn’t they record White Light / White Heat? Didn’t he go onto record Berlin? Seriously, you can’t spend every waking music hour just tapping your foot and living in la-la land. Lou Reed certainly doesn’t.

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Just arrived: over 300 electronic/avant-garde/ 20thCentury LPs

Today we are pleased to talk about one of the most unique LP collections we have had in years. It comes from a professor of music who is down-sizing. For several decades he collected some of the most unusual, cutting edge records made. From the early 60’s on, there are fine examples of all sorts of electronic/ avant-garde: microtonal, fluxus-related, 20thcentury classical, experimental, drone, noise, minimal synth, gallery editions, and more.

This collection has many imports, primarily German and U.K., and quite a few private editions featuring many of the most sought-after artists in these genres. There is more Stockhausen then we’ve ever had at one time, and recordings by pioneering musicians like Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, John Cage, Glenn Branca, John Zorn, Alvin Lucier, Globe Unity, and many others. Read the rest of this entry »

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Yesterday, Austin’s T Bird and The Breaks tore it up during a live Daytrotter session.  Playing tracks from their most recent independent release, the awesome Never Get Out of this Funk Alive, T Bird and The Breaks infused a heaping mess of steamin’ retro funk swagger into Daytrotter’s daily routine stream.  These Texans play what they like to call Chunk Music: “A form of twenty-first century American music consisting of equal parts funk, hip-hop, and rock and roll…more characterized by its rough sonic quality and energetic, visceral performance. Commonly served hot with a side of girls and brass.”

During their Daytrotter session, they played three pitch-perfect and super-fun Never Get Out tracks: the give-it-to-me-now “Your Nasty Love,” the James Brown-vibing “Put it On the Spot,” and a version of Shirley Ellis’ classic “The Clapping Song,” called “The Clap Hands Song.”  The Breaks cooed, ooed, and hit it outta the park like a pack of hall-of-fame back-up singers, while the band’s lead singer, Tim Crane, ran on pure soul power. Read the rest of this entry »

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Yesterday, Maryland’s New God released their debut full-length, Motorcar, through indie label The Royal Army Recording Company.  Packed with psychedelic pop and tinged with experimental electro, including a few sound collages, Motorcar is the product of five-plus years of recording and re-recording, making it a very tight, almost conceptual debut album.

Spanning the gauntlet of Strokes or Shins-style pop numbers like “On and Off” and “Drag the Lake” to the more jazzy vibe of “Governors Lap” and “To the Gallows With You,” New God incorporate incredibly diverse influences into a seamless and delectable debut. Read the rest of this entry »

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Wakeman ( r ) and Anderson test drive some new material from their new collaborative LP The Living Tree as well as cruise some classic YES tunes in the Poconos. Photo by Lynn Vala

This blog has exposed me to a lot of new music.  It has also brought me close to many artists, opened many musical doors for me, and I learn something new every time I write something.  This review is unique in that while I was fortunate enough to work with the promoter for Jon Anderson, and his subsequent projects, I got to experience what many say is the heart and soul of progressive rock mainstays YES, Jon Anderson and Rick Wakeman live playing songs from the YES catalog that we all know and love, but also songs from Anderson/Wakeman’s new album The Living Tree.  While this is a review of the live act, I will make a quickie commentary on the album The Living Tree: I am going to get the disc based on the performances I saw at the Sherman Theater.

The Sherman Theater is an old venue in the heart of Stroudsburg, which is undergoing a touch of a renaissance lately.  The Sherman, I would say is undergoing it’s own renaissance, with some new elements and some signs of age.  Will call got our order confused, but such associations with promoters, press agents, etc., usually leads to snafu situations.  Unless person A talks directly to person B, and when I get there I talk to person B, then the situation usually devolves to Situation Normal, All Fouled Up.

While I most likely will recognize the YES tunes, the new pieces from The Living Tree and if Anderson does anything from his new disc Open, I may need help naming them.  Thanks to a cooperative soundman and an equally cooperative stage manager named Neil (if memory serves, no chance of that happening), we managed to take pictures of Jon’s personal set lists.

Rock Journalism 101: "… if you need information about anything pertaining to the show, providing you have an actual business purpose for being at the performance and aren't just an overzealous fan…" Photo by Lynn Vala

Ask and you shall receive… Read the rest of this entry »

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Chicago’s Pool Holograph, a one-man experimental pop band comprised solely of the multi-talented Wyatt Grant, recently released a new single, “Incognito.”

“Incognito” slowly hums into existence, building into a breathy verse balanced by a creeping, tension-building beat that soon explodes into a sweet, almost wordless chorus.  Quiet and obscured, “Incognito” slips away from you with a sweet whisper.  Listen to the single (and download it for free) after the jump.

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If She & Him were real human beings, and not just the unearthly pairing of an uber-cute hipster doll and the chilled-out reincarnation of Bob Dylan before his time of dying, they might sound a little more like Mahoney & the Moment.  This duo is a little less rock star, a little more kids you knew in high school.  Charming and heartfelt, their self-titled debut feels like a true collaborative effort and sounds soulfully sincere.  With a touch of country and a dollop of folk, listening to Mahoney & The Moment is like sinking into a pile of pillows — a comfortable lullaby. Read the rest of this entry »

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What makes Bruce Springsteen and Tom Petty great?  Aside from memorable haircuts, it’s their ability to redefine simplicity and embrace the everyday, heading straight for the greater glory hidden in simple truths and shared experiences.  Local band The Grand Nationals‘ love for their all-American forefathers echoes through their debut record, Tennessee Rain.  The Grand Nationals’ folk-tinged tunes and like-able lyrics are absolutely enjoyable and reminiscent of the heartland rock of yore.

The Grand Nationals‘ “Movin’ On” is so heavily influenced by these kings of yesterday’s rock radio that I would almost swear I’ve heard it before.  With a bopping melody, narrative lyrics, and an unstoppable sunshine smile, “Movin’ On” sounds like a mix between Simon & Garfunkel’s “Cecilia” or solo Simon’s “Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard” and John Mellencamp’s “Jack and Diane.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Anticipation is not something I can say I have felt waiting for the release of the last few Dream Theater albums. Their frequency (no more than two years apart) doesn’t help, and ever since 2003′s Train of Thought I think they have been releasing music with the same kind of variations on a theme. The last two records, Systematic Chaos and Black Clouds really were pretty indistinguishable. They needed a break or a change. And as is well documented, they rejected the break idea and went for the change. No more Mike Portnoy, no more band leader. The time was now for the other four in Dream Theater to take the responsibility. They replaced Portnoy with Mike Mangini and got on with the music. The result of which meant I was actually keenly anticipating the new release, this their first album of the new era, A Dramatic Turn of Events
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Slow and steady wins the race for this Black Animal.  The mysterious MH’s latest release, recorded in Chicago and New York, is a mix of hazy, dark folk reminiscent of Leonard Cohen and ambient Beach House-style tunes.

Independently released, this record falls heavy on your ears, driving the message home with a resounding, mournful tempo that ticks through the whole album.  Black Animal begins and ends slow and mellow, keeping a consistent mood but exploring variations within its sullen sound.  Black Animal is designed for lying on the floor, purring, and wallowing in thoughtful moments. Read the rest of this entry »

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Who are Gomez? Another great, esoteric band from a small town in England? Perhaps a truly great band from a small town in England? They haven’t made much of an impact in the US, just a small splash at the end of the 90s around the time of their debut Bring it On, and the follow up Liquid Skin. Since then, they have produced consistently and have a back catalogue of all sorts of wonderful and interesting music behind them. And here they are with their seventh album, Whatever’s On Your Mind which I picked up on a recent trip home. Another out of genre mix of this and that, diverse lyrics, tunes and melodies.

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Hair Rocket's Punishment Cookie and The Great Afternoon's Self-Titled EP

Now on consignment at the Princeton Record Exchange are two exciting new projects from local bands, Hair Rocket and The Great Afternoon.  Hair Rocket, from Lumberville, Pennsylvania, recently released their first full-length album, the upbeat, edgy Punishment Cookie, and Lambertville’s The Great Afternoon just released their first official, and extremely folksy, self-titled EP.

First, let’s start off with Hair Rocket, whose Punishment Cookie is surprisingly rewarding.  Pop-punk in the best possible way, Hair Rocket shoot through their first full-length with a witty, high-energy, yet irreverent sound, playing rough and fast while managing to pull off the polish. Read the rest of this entry »

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Black Milk and Jack White: Together, White Milk

Third Man Records recently proved that you should never say never with the release of their latest project: a 7″ single from Detroit rapper Black Milk.  The first hip-hop music Jack White’s label has ever released, Black Milk’s single is, not surprisingly, more than your average rap track.  Laced with touches of funk, soul, and sax, both songs rock retro while rapping righteously.

White stepped in to play guitar on the A-side, “Brains,” and drums on the B-side, “Royal Mega.”  According to Black Milk, the collaboration was White’s idea.  On his website, Milk describes the encounter: Read the rest of this entry »

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Just Arrived: Over 800 Jazz LPs! 

This collection has a great selection of the standard repertoire from the classic bop/post-bop era of the late 50’s through the late 60’s; from East Coast giants like Miles to West Coast artists like Art Pepper and Gerry Mulligan.

However, before you serious collectors get too excited, please be aware that these titles are almost all later reissues.  Most of these records were pressed from the mid 70’s to the early 80’s.  There are about 60 Blue Notes, mostly the all-blue label with some Liberty blue/white and UA blue/white 70’s pressings.  Also many blue label Prestiges, later pressing of Savoy, Contemporary, Impulse and other major labels, and a couple dozen Japanese pressings.   Lots of “two-fers”; double LP repackages of classic records on Blue Note, Prestige, Milestone, Impulse, etc. 

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On the cusp of summer, I sat in a living room in Lambertville listening to members of High Hearts pick a mandolin, banjo, and acoustic guitar.  Aided by these three unusual instruments, the simple yet resounding chorus of “Gypsy Girl” drifted through the warm air and out the screen door, greeting neighbors with the wistful reminder that “the world is a lonely place/yes, the world is a lonely place.”

Though the lyrics may sound sorrowful, the true feeling of High Hearts isn’t rooted in melancholy, but in the comforting yet confronting attitude of old-time folk music.  Formed by Shaun Ellis and Matt Pillischer in 2005, these local musicians have now released their first album Your Heart is a Muscle the Size of Your Fist, available at the Princeton Record Exchange. Read the rest of this entry »

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Damon Albarn is on a creative high right now (notwithstanding a Blur reunion album!). Anyone who saw the Gorillaz at Madison Square Garden last year could see he was having the time of his life, and probably has to pinch himself that he managed to put together the multi talented supergroup that he did for that tour, and that even Lou Reed came out to play that night. As has been well publicised already, Albarn had a mini studio set up backstage and with the aid of his new toy iPad was able to record each night as and when the mood took him.

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Redundancy strikes deep in our constant observance and cyclical critique of  American entertainment. We love, we laud, we loathe, we praise and then down comes the proverbial hammer and we destroy. We pick apart every piece of the soul, spirit and sense of artistic creativity our artists give us. We tear into their works with teeth gnashing against their souls laid bare, we ravage each aspect constantly devouring their works we can relate to but turning their works in which we cannot relate to into refuse, we spit it back at the artist and devalue them in such a way that they become distant and reluctant to expose themselves to us again. They attempt to connect and to love their audience and we are fickle lovers that throw them out over the most trivial reason possible. This is our dynamic and this is why we look to them for guidance both parties lost we look for ourselves in each other. Read the rest of this entry »

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Blackfield – Welcome to my DNA

Steven Wilson is a very busy man, with his solo records, producing, mixing, a ton of surround sound work, side projects like No-Man and Blackfield, and even a regular job with that exceptional band of his, Porcupine Tree. Blackfield is the duo of Wilson and Israeli singer Aviv Geffen. Aviv Geffen in many ways seems pretty similar to Steven Wilson, in that he is a singer, a guitarist and a producer in his own right. Makes you wonder if a combination like this can work. Well let me tell you, it certainly does.

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