The Band of Heathens – Top Hat Crown and The Clapmaster`s Son
Picked up the new Band of Heathens album last weekend, titled Top Hat Crown & The Clapmaster`s Son. I haven`t heard Band of Heathens before, but been meaning to check them out. Hearing some good buzz about them around
town (Austin). The clincher that tip me over to an actual purchase was the attractive cover, a watercolor of a top hat by Joshua Marc Levy.
This is my first listen, but comparisons to Leon Russell are apt, then I thought of Dr. John also. This is the best example of New Americana I`ve heard of in some time. The last best example of Americana (in my mind) is Big Whiskey by the Dave Matthews Band. And don`t forget The Band, probably the best or most classic example of Americana.
I haven`t had enough time to break the record down yet (that may be a blessing), but just off the top of my head, the musicianship is marvelous. Right now, I`m favoring the final track, Gris Gris Satchel – just a bit gospel, great harmonies, and slow pacing sustains the mood. Come to think of it, the first three cuts are strong: Medicine Man, Should Have Known and Polaroid. Looks like Band of Heathens is heading for Germany in May. Would a writer please review their record?
Not ‘Picking Up Good Vibrations’ in Reviews of Coachella Music Festival!
Ben Ratcliff over at the New York Times review of Coachella comes off as a qualified, fairly good one. But it looks like he`s hiding something; when I read between the lines; he seems to be saying the California music festival (which has
been running for 12 years now) was a little stale and uninspired. The technical end of things, the organization and coordination, was strong however. The highlight seems to be the 2,000 giant white balls that spilled out from the stage during Arcade Fire`s finale.
Not much footage of Coachella has been uploaded yet over on YouTube, so I haven`t been able to make my own assessments of the festival. Chromeo`s performance of Night By Night is over there, and it seems to reinforce what Ben Ratcliff wrote, lots of high tech equipment but an apparent spiritual vacuum. I also noted how few hits the videos are getting; noone clicking on these Chromeo uploads.
Duran Duran`s video is anemic also; one video over there has zero hits. I almost clicked it just to break the ice. I wasn`t there, I`m in Austin, but Coachella may be somewhat pooped-out. If Kanye West was the headline act, that`s not a good sign. I`ve tried out Arcade Fire several times and I come up with nothing. I`ll try a different stereo or ipod, and maybe that will help. Hell, anything sounds good on Bang And Olufsen speakers!
Randy Wood and Dot Records – Key to Success of Early Rock and Roll?
Have you ever felt like you`ve come upon a parcel of treasure that may be worth millions? In this pipedream you fancy that you will horde this fortune for yourself and not let so many other thieves in on the illusory loot. I came upon just such a tidbit of bullion this morning, and here I go spilling the beans, now everyone and their pet parakeet will know. “That`s your gold Johnny! That`s your gold Johnny,” eyepatch Ricky perks sharply in his cage.
That`s a diversion within a diversion, a tangent of a tangent, in a random universe of inexplicable digression! What happened, is I read in The New York Times that Randy Wood had died at 94. Randy Wood was the founder of Dot Records, a label that holds a key to many of the mysteries of how early Rock & Roll got its jolt. I`m still wondering why I didn`t know more about this before?
As often happens, we can`t appreciate what has happened in the past, in terms of impact to history, until quite a bit of time goes by. This would include someone important dying, after a lifetime of little recognition. I picked up three tunes this morning, all of them product of the Dot Record label. They are: Calcutta by the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, Pipeline (Live) by The Surfaris and Aint That A Shame by Pat Boone. Three records that profoundly influenced my life. What was going on in that little store?
1926 Green Art Deco Piano Used To Compose Yesterday, Auctioned Off Today!
There will be an auction tonight in London for some Beatles paraphernalia. The auction is at The Theatre Royal Drury Lane and is put on by Entertainment Artifacts. The two items that most caught my eye were an acetate of the 1967 single All You Need Is Love and the piano that Paul McCartney used to write Yesterday, which was
originally titled Scrambled Eggs. Here`s a pic of the green piano which was a 1926 Art-Deco malachite “Eavestaff mini pianette”. (Source: BeatlesNews – Auction tomorrow includes Paul`s Yesterday piano – Posted by Dave Haber).
This single cover looks familiar to me; I remember the day I bought the single at The Melody Shop in Northpark Shopping Mall in Dallas, Texas. This would have been in the fall of 1965; it was actually just another record on for the Help soundtrack. The other Beatles didn`t feel as if it really fit as a Beatles song – it was more of a solo project for Paul. You will want to read some of the documentation for the song.
My favorite bit of trivia is what George said, since Paul was always talking about the song. “Blimey, he`s always talking about that song. You`d think he was Beethoven or somebody.” Yesterday has more than 1,600 recorded cover versions floating around. I use to flip the single over equally on my record player and listen to Ringo do a charged version of Buck Owens` Act Naturally. Perhaps, the origins of The Beatles` split can be pinpointed to Yesterday? *(Some musicology stuff for Yesterday).
Bobby Dylan Plays China – Is ‘Blood On the Tracks’ His Greatest?
Read the articles, watched the news, took the pics and downloaded the tunes, now I got to pen the damn thing. Got the Bobby Dylan bug this morning when I heard Zimmerman played China last night. Amazing that oldtimer can
still garner news. Washington Post has the best pictorial of Dylan at the Workers` Gymnasium in Beijing. NME has published the set list, which was vetted by Communists. The Los Angeles Times has the best actual news article on the historic concert.
I went with Blood On the Tracks this morning, which has been missing from my collection since the late 1970s. Some of my buddies believe Blood On the Tracks is Dylan`s very best album. That can be aptly argued. My favorite cut is Lily, Rosemary and the Jack Of Hearts. Gives me a feeling of the Old West, the days of Dodge City – gun fights, barrel house saloons and poker games that spilled some blood for cowboys with an ill-fated hand.
I`m reading Bob performed two songs from Blood On the Tracks, Tangled Up In Blue and Simple Twist of Fate. It sounds like the folk/rock legend went over pretty good in China. I wonder if his voice was okay. When I saw him at Dell Diamond a few years ago (with Bertha) his voice sounded like a frog. Maybe Dylan loosened up those Communists a little. Those social crackdowns can`t last forever. Bobby stands for freedom!
I Wax Nostalgic For New Wave Music – XTC`s Drums and Wires
Some incredible music came out in the late 1970s, especially in the way of British New Wave Pop/Rock. I don`t see much coming out currently that can really compare with it. I`m always looking out for the next big sensational
band or record that will turn the music industry on its head, but it aint happening! With the British band XTC is was happening.
I know in the past I`ve had a very fragile grip on their catalog, so I decided to go through some of their titles and see what I could come up with. I picked up their 2nd record on Sunday, Drums and Wires. It was released on August 17, 1979; let`s see, I remember what I was doing then! I was on vacation to LA, where I visited many of the New Wave clubs. Don`t recall their names anymore?
Drums and Wires is a tremendous record! Has everything I love, that current records don`t have. Lots of Ska rhythms, varied guitar parts, clever lyrics and different types of songs (fast ones, slow ones, pop, textured conceptual/experimental songs). The music is far too complex to fit into a simple Punk Mold. This is why its New Wave music, which allows itself to be more advanced and eclectic. For now, my favorite song on the record is Real By Reel, which brings me to life. Let`s see, where are my polka dot party shirts that I`d where to New Wave parties? In storage? Hubert, you were right, XTC rules!
Radiohead`s ‘The King of Limbs’ is out, Or Is It?
I was late to the game (slow to the punch bowl…missed the train) with Radiohead. A few years ago I succumbed to
the super-modern-techno-digital-age-Nosteramus-esque-underground-anti-band, and purchased every one of their LPs. Loved em all. In Rainbows, their most pop-accessible, is my favorite. This morning I picked up The King of Limbs on itunes, and am on my first listen, but I`m paying attention.
As I listen, I`m looking up some reviews to get an idea what others (as in people in the know for Alternative Rock) are thinking. I always check out what Pop Matters says, because they often have actual record reviews. Arnold Pan rather likes The King of Limbs, and it sounds as if he knows what he`s talking about. A bit about a dynamic balance between the technological and human seems to be on the mark. (That`s the fifth paragraph in the review).
My first impression is that I love the way the bass is mixed up front, as if it`s the dominant instrument. Bloom puts me on a spaceship trip with a syncopated rhythm that has a Martian time signature. Okay, I just punched the mouse again on Bloom – don`t know what`s going on? Stanley Donwood did the art work for The King of Limbs (Here`s The Guardian review). Something about trees and Northern European fairy tales…in the music too. Okay, I get it! Fairy Tales filtered through the new digital age? Lotus Flower is danceable techno pop…Back to the drawing board.
Rick Wakeman: The Six Wives of Henry VIII
I went to Cheapos yesterday in search of Liz Taylor titles, but could find nothing. The clerk told me whenever someone famous dies, they were cleaned out for that artists` titles. This made sense to me. I did, however, happen on
a `70s classic of progressive rock, that I`ve privately wanted for some time. That`s Rick Wakeman: The Six Wives of Henry VIII. For five bucks I got a vinyl copy in mint condition. Okay, there are a few pops on the A & M Record, but this platter dates from 1972.
This was Rick Wakeman`s first solo album and was recorded when he was still in the band Yes. There are six tracks, and each track is a musical simulation, on keyboards of course, of one of King Henry VIII`s wives. They are: Catherine of Aragon, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, Jane Seymour, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Parr. I favor either track I or track IV, depending on what kind of mood I`m in.
The pic in the middle of the album (when you open it) gives you all the keyboard instruments employed in this monumental production. They are: Custom Built Hammond C-3 Organ, RMI Electric Piano and Harpsichord, Mini-Moog Synthesizer, Mellotron 400-D Brass, Strings, Flutes, Mellotron 400-D Vocals, Sound Effects, Vibes, (another) Mini-Moog Synthesizer, Custom Mixer, Frequency Counter and Steinway 9 Grand Piano.
The story of how this unusual record was put together, the inspiration derived from a book on the private life of Henry the VIII, read on an airplane flight, has been widely documented in the press. For me, a reciprocal relationship exists between studying the wives, then wanting to hear the record, and listening to the musical biographies of each wife, then desiring to study up on the wife to see if Rick got it right. Boy, he nailed Catherine Howard, from the park bench I`m sitting on!
Ancient Astronauts ‘Into Bass and Time’ Will Send You To Other Galaxies!
When attempting to find a tight fit for me, in terms of units making a splash on SXSW, I must dance and dodge the beaucoup H Bombs that will only make a beeline to my ominous cut-out bin of CDs, that looks more like a landfill
than an audio library, and unfortunately enjoys only a one-play shelf-life. A convoluted way of saying, as I get older, I`m more and more pickie, and don`t much relish many projects that come down the pike.
A rare winner for me, is Ancient Astronauts and their new one, Into Bass and Time. The AA`s are: Kabanjak and Dogu, from Cologne, Germany. Can`t find much about them on the internet, but I`m really diggin` their record. You can, however, find lots of stuff on this hair-brained idea that spacemen have come down to ancient man and intervened in history. I`ve half-watched some of this programming on the History Channel.
Into Bass and Time would be appropriate listening while you research some of this zaniness. Some hip-hop, some rap and lots of other-worldly sounds will greet you as you gaze in awe at Sumerian artifacts, where dorky looking stone-dudes wear space helmets, or marvel over the spacie Moia of Easter Island. The only music that comes to mind is Sun Ra, but somehow this is different. How do you research a band like this? Good scratchin` on Still A Soldier.
Kurt Vile`s ‘Smoke Ring For My Halo’ Plays On My Stereo!
Yesterday was crazy as hell, it was St. Patrick`s Day and SXSW is ragin` out of control! At my lunch break I raced over to Waterloo Records with the lamed-brained idea that I would pick up a couple of discs, new issues, from bands that
are playin` at SXSW. Waterloo was crowded with ‘In Stores,’ and you couldn`t even move about. Didn`t see what band the groupies were ogling over?
Some of the records I was looking for were irretrievable for all the humanity. Specifically, I was searchin` for Ha Ha Tonka`s Death of A Decade, a Missouri band that caught my eye. I don`t believe Death of A Decade has been released yet? I did manage to get Kurt Vile`s new one, Smoke Ring For My Halo, and am enjoying it even as I type. Got Chico Trujillo`s Chico de Oro and the Ancient Astronauts` Into Bass and Time also.
I`m going to walk over to the Auditorium Shores free stage tomorrow and see Kurt Vile`s 3:30 PM performance. On a second listen, Smoke Ring For My Halo is getting better and better (I seemed to be in a testy mood last night). Calm as a Box Turtle this morning. I didn`t know the mix console could get that much reverb and echo? I`m a reverb freak anyway, so that`s no problem for me.
And the record has a nice booklet with it where each song`s instrument assignments are documented for you. Also, the lyrics are printed; Kurt Vile mumbles in a strange street vernacular, so it helps to see the printed words. My favorite song so far is the last one, Ghost Town. (Although an interesting sound effect trailer acts as final footnote).