Another Friday. Therefore, more mindless, dance-y rock.
Drugscene calls Hollywood home and makes... well... mindless, dance-y rock. Did you already hear this music back in the '80s? Yes, you did. Were Drugscene listening to the Cure and Billy Idol in those days? I'd be willing to bet they were.
Some upcoming Drugscene shows >>>
Sep 20 10:00P/Club Moscow @ Boardners (Residency)/Hollywood, CA
Sep 27 10:00P/Club Moscow @ Boardners (Residency)/Hollywood, CA
Sep 29 10:00P/Hear Gallery - Club Cigarettes & Alcohol/Los Angeles, CA
Oct 14 10:00P/THE ROXY/Los Angeles, CA
[MP3] "Coronation"
[MP3] "Be My Dancer"
Just a few bands and songs that you may wish to get to know a little better...
The Clock Work Army is a trio from San Diego. They have an EP out now on Banter Records called A Catalyst for Change. You can purchase it through their MySpace page.
"The Day We Woke Up Without Mouths" may be one of the band's "poppier" songs, what with its "cute," skittering synthesizer line and handclappy background. But don't be fooled; there's danger here - especially as perpetuated by lead singer Emily Neveu. She's that scary aunt you had with the wild, bird's nest hair, the killer-clown lipstick, and the unfiltered cigarette forever perched between fingers and lips. She's the aunt you prayed would never be asked to babysit you, because you just KNEW that her soothing lullabies would inevitably turn into bitter, gin-fueled freakouts. And if she wanted to play the "Got Your Nose!" game with you, you'd damn well better have the number of a good plastic surgeon on speed-dial.Feel free to check out The Clock Work Army's MySpace page. But be forewarned: Auntie's hemorrhoids have been itching something awful lately, and she'd like to tell you all about it....
[MP3] "The Day We Woke Up Without Mouths"
Prophet Omega is the one-man show of Joe Magistro, who's based in the burrough of Brooklyn and has an album coming out on September 19. That album is called The Natural World and is being released through Astralwerks.
"The Right Thing"'s rolling-thunder drums and simple, filthy guitar licks evoke '60s garage rock at its most simple and straightforward. A breath of fresh air.
Be sure to visit Prophet Omega's MySpace page.
[MP3] "The Right Thing"
No Wait Wait is a four-man band operating out of Duluth, Minnesota. They released their second album, About You, through Chairkickers' Union Music on Tuesday.
Musically-speaking, "Don't Give Up (On Your Man)" features dark, lurching verses that carom into choruses that - while slightly lighter - do little to alleviate the bitter, angry tenor of singer Marc Gartman's message. One gets the distinct impression that the song's title isn't so much a suggestion as a demand.
And yes, No Wait Wait have a MySpace page.
[MP3] "Don't Give Up (On Your Man)"
I still remember the first time I heard Arcade Fire's Funeral. The experience was, in a word, "discombobulating." I had become so accustomed over the years to settling for albums containing just two or three worthwhile tracks (at best), that to discover one that brought me wall-to-wall ecstasy seemed almost a first-of-its-kind experience.
In fact, I would have had to go back a full seven years to find the last time I had so "lost" myself in a full-length CD. That CD was OK Computer, and, in that case, I had at least been primed for the possibility of a transcendent event by my on-going adoration for The Bends.
Before THAT particular experience, I would have had to set the wayback machine to 1992, when R.E.M.'s Automatic for the People was occupying all of my time and attention. It was then that I finally, finally got around to investigating that band's early works, and they were nothing short of a collective revelation. Murmur, in particular, remains a unique and exquisite aural experience, and I can't help but envy all of those prescient pioneers who jumped the R.E.M. bandwagon long before it became cool to do so.
Even now, 25 years after releasing their first single, R.E.M. and their early recordings retain a certain cachet in the music business. All of those early recordings were released by the now-defunct I.R.S. Records, but Capitol has gone ahead and broken into the I.R.S. vault, sifted through the one EP and five "official" albums of the period, and released And I Feel Fine: The Best of the I.R.S. Years (1982-1987). The collection is divided into two discs of 21 tracks each. As one might expect, the first CD collects the more "traditional" stuff - singles and popular album tracks. The second offers up the ephemera - live performances, alternate takes, and a personal favorite from each of the band members (including long-retired drummer Bill Berry).
As is usually the case with these things, the second, "bonus" disc is likely to appeal only to the most serious of R.E.M. fans. And even that presents something of a problem in this case, as the truly serious will have already collected these tunes and performances over the years, by one means or another. Thus, the sticker on the package proclaiming "10 unreleased tracks!" - while technically correct - will be scoffed at by the many who have been trading bootlegs and outtakes amongst themselves since well before any of the Arctic Monkeys breathed air on Earth.
[On the plus side, the full set seems to be selling for just $14.99 (U.S.) at Amazon.com, so that ain't a bad bargain.]
I heartily encourage anyone who hasn't heard much of R.E.M.'s early stuff to strap on a good pair of headphones, crank up the volume till you can barely stand it, and settle in for the ride. One way or another, it's bound to move you.
[A quick note: the songs below are my own mix and have nothing to do with the official release - though you'll find many of the same songs on both collections. Also, some of you sharper-eyed folk may notice that I neglected to include any tracks from Murmur. No doubt, your instinct is to scream, "Blasphemy!" I can only assure you that this was a conscious choice - made because I find that particular album to be so of-a-piece that to tear any of the leaves from the tree is to strip it of the very things that made it beautiful to begin with. Or something like that.]
To acquire the tracks below, please left-click [HERE].
TRACKLIST >>>
01) Radio Free Europe [Hib Tone single]
02) Can't Get There From Here
03) So. Central Rain
04) I Believe
05) The One I Love
06) Ages of You
07) Driver 8
08) Pretty Persuasion
09) Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)
10) White Tornado
11) Femme Fatale
12) Begin the Begin
13) These Days
14) Fall on Me
15) Welcome to the Occupation
16) Exhuming McCarthy
17) Disturbance at the Heron House
18) Green Grow the Rushes
19) Strange
20) Cuyahoga
21) Wendell Gee
22) It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
23) Superman
It's been all doom-and-gloomy around here lately - weather and otherwise - so I think I need to find me some sort of Rocky Mountain high. Or to fly like an eagle or... you know... something.
Not too long ago, I was thumbing through Rolling Stone's special 1000th issue and stumbled upon the following quote from David Bowie, circa the mid-'70s: "The cultural leaders used to be Humphrey Bogart, James Dean, and Elvis Presley. Now it's John Denver."
Why, the nerve of that snotty little punk, I thought - disparaging poor, dead JOHN DENVER like that! And why? Because John Denver didn't dress in drag (as far as we know) or sleep with Mick Jagger (as far as we know)? Because John Denver seemed as wholesome as Wonderbread, looked like Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch, and was constantly thanking God for making him a Country Boy? Well, my word, I thought. Wouldn't Mr. Bowie, of all people, have some understanding of the concept of TOLERANCE?
And let me tell you something directly, Mr. Thin White Dupe: You may have been "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (also: "Sir Roland Moorecock," "Jareth the Goblin King," "Julian Priest," and "Pontius Pilate"), but when God (aka "George Burns") came down to Earth looking for a human representative, who did he choose? That's right: JOHN DENVER.
(And do I also have to remind you that John Denver starred in two - not one, but TWO - TV specials with the Muppets. And you just know that he and Miss Piggy were doin' the back-bacon thang behind Animal's drum kit, so don't even think about calling the man a prude.)
Now, if you don't mind, Mr. Ziggy Stardunce, why don't you do us all a great big favor and drag that pale, androgynous ass of yours back to Mars, where it belongs. (And take your creepy Spiders with you.)
Okay, I'm done ranting at Bowie for now; now I'd like to talk to YOU. I'm sure that many of my loyal visitors (there are five of you now) weren't even BORN in the '70s, let alone know the music of that great visionary, JOHN DENVER. Just know that the man made singing about mountains and eagles and other suchthings immensely, intensely cool. (Hell, even his duet with Placido Domingo was darn purty, so long as you weren't listening too closely. Or at all.)
Truth is, John Denver is one of the voices of my youth - right there alongside Karen Carpenter, Jim Croce, and recent (and highly deserved!) Emmy winner Barry Manilow. So, yes, I truly do recommend that you download these tracks, crank 'em loud, crank 'em proud, and settle in for some peaceful, easy feelins. Who knows? You might just find yourself feeling that Rocky Mountain high I was referring to earlier. (Though, if you don't think the songs themselves are gonna be enough to get you there, feel free to engage in the ganja - just to sort of help things along.) (But only if you're 18 or older.) (And have cataracts.)
[MP3] "Annie's Song"
[MP3] "Looking for Space"
[MP3] "Fly Away" [w/Olivia Newton-John] [Mr. Bowie best not start talking smack about Ms. Olivia, either.]
[MP3] "Take Me Home, Country Roads"
[MP3] "This Old Guitar"
