Ginger Baker's Air Force - Beat-Club 1970

 Ginger Baker's Air Force - Beat-Club 1970 - Part 1

 

 

 

Ginger Baker's Air Force - Beat-Club 1970 - Part 2

 

After Eric Clapton left Blind Faith in late 1969, Ginger Baker came up with the idea of forming a kind of big band that mixed African music with popular Western music. This innovative concept was ahead of its time and would later be called 'world music'. He brought together an all-star ensemble (Steve Winwood, Ric Grech, Chris Wood, Graham Bond, Denny Lane, etc.) and played two concerts at the Royal Alber Hall in London and the Town Hall in Birmingham. Shortly after the concerts, the live double LP 'Ginger Baker's Air Force' was released in Europe and America. It was a very idiosyncratic mix presented to fans accustomed to rock, but the critics praised this musical excursion and Ginger was surprised by the remarkable sales figures.
He decided to continue the project, recruiting new young musicians for his Air Force and entering the studio to record the follow-up album 'Air Force 2'. In October 1970, the band traveled to Germany with the current line-up to play some concerts and made a detour to the north to perform at the TV studio of Radio Bremen on the legendary music show Beat Club. Air Force also drew on Cream classics such as 'Sunshine Of Your Love', which was rearranged in an African big band sound and flowed seamlessly into 'Toady'. A 9-minute epic by the band with numerous solos and a Ginger Baker bursting with energy, drumming one of his best solos.  From: https://mvdshop.com/products/ginger-bakers-air-force-what-a-day-beatclub-1970-dvd-cd?srsltid=AfmBOoqiH8ircvFNX8li-k-uLBmRL1Gli6NZFBPqAi4C5FiokMr-GDDE 

 

Heavy Temple - Extreme Indifference to Life

With Garden of Heathens being Heavy Temple’s sophomore full-length release, how did the recording and songwriting process differ from your first full-length Lupi Amoris that came out during 2021?

For most of the songs on Lupi Amoris, I had already written them beforehand, so it was just a matter of getting us together to record it. This album was our first truly collaborative writing effort and I also think that this album is a lot more dynamic than the other one. I’d like to think that I’m a pretty good songwriter, but sometimes you need the checks and balances that writing with other people gives you that you don’t have when you’re writing by yourself.

That makes sense. Where did you end up recording Garden of Heathens?

Well, all of our other albums have been super DIY and we recorded Lupi Amoris ourselves. For this album, we went to The Animal Farm, which is a studio in New Jersey and it’s a super cool place. It’s a converted barn with a beautiful studio and the bottom half is a little Airbnb situation, so you can stay there while you’re recording.

That’s awesome.

Yeah, it was different, and it was nice. I’m sure that Baron [Lycan] was thrilled because he didn’t have to record himself this time. It was nice to have somebody else in charge and all we had to do was write, show up and play. John [Forrestal] is a great producer, and he has all of these extra instruments, so we were able to have a real studio experience where we had the freedom to sort of experiment.

It’s been said that this album has a more sophisticated and diverse approach while maintaining a heavy sound, so how did you go about achieving this balance?

Again, the collaboration is a huge part of that. I like to think of this album as sort of a monument to all things heavy. We each have different influences with Baron being more into extreme metal, I’m from a classical background while having an appreciation for heavy music and [Lord] Paisley is super into psych-rock. It’s a really nice blend of a bunch of things and that’s how we were able to really write this record while having such a diverse musical well to pull from.

Heavy Temple has been known for their extensive amount of touring ever since their start in 2012, so what would you say is the best way to keep from getting burnt out while being on the road for a few months?

The key for me, at least the last couple of tours that we’ve done, is plotting out where we’re going to be able to stay. I’m somewhat of a lodging expert, so I like to make sure that we get a nice place, especially if we have a day off or we have two shows within short distance of each other. For example, one time we had two shows in Tennessee, so we got a place in between both locations that had a pool and a slide. We had a little bit of R&R while not getting too dumb, drinking too many beers and all that. I’m not going to say that we eat healthy, but we try to pace ourselves while still trying to have a good time when we’re on the road. We’ll maybe go see the world’s largest frying pan or something like that to kind of break up the monotony. Definitely sleep, sleep is the best thing along with having clean underwear.

Both things are very crucial, I couldn’t agree more. Being a band from Philadelphia, what are your thoughts when it comes to performing in the Boston area like the show you have coming up at the Middle East?

To be fair, I think the last time we played in Boston proper was our first big tour, which was with Pilgrim. That must have been the last time we were up there, but we did play in Plymouth which was pretty fun. I’m excited to see what’s up, I’ve heard a lot of good things about Cambridge. I know there’s some record stores or whatever, but it’s been a long time so I’m excited to kick things off there.

From: https://medium.com/culture-beat/interview-heavy-temple-come-to-shred-the-middle-east-in-cambridge-fa07d4af2ffc 

The Innocence Mission - Wonder of Birds

Centered around the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Don Peris (vocals, guitar) and Karen Peris (vocals, guitar, piano), Lancaster, Pennsylvania natives the Innocence Mission crafted a tasteful, politically correct brand of collegiate folk-pop similar to Sarah McLachlan or 10,000 Maniacs (in fact, the Perises appeared on Natalie Merchant's 1998 album Ophelia). With a rhythm section composed of bassist Mike Bitts and drummer Steve Brown, the Innocence Mission released their eponymous debut album in 1989; Umbrella followed in 1991. Thanks to the advent of the adult alternative radio format, the Innocence Mission were able to break out to a wider audience with the release of their third album, 1995's Glow; material from the album appeared on the soundtrack of the film Empire Records and on the television show Party of Five.  From: http://www.alwaysontherun.net/theinnocencemission.htm 

Uni and The Urchins - Hold My Gun

Gunpowder was invented for fireworks. A spectacle of beauty. But somewhere along the way it mutated into The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Suddenly a village idiot could obliterate a Samurai without getting close enough to smell his blood type. A lifetime of training felled by a trembling finger. Video killed the radio star, but who killed JFK? Pop culture popping a cap as incels pop pimples and Kendall Jenner proffers soda pop to angry mobs. Semi automatic, autoerotic. A Glock as reproductive organ that inseminates life in reverse. Rap, country, cop and anarchist alike can all agree on one thing: the gun as penis.  From: https://www.chimeramusic.com/news/hold-my-gun 

Puscifer – Apocalyptical

Last year, after making everyone wait for about six eternities, Tool finally came back with the triumphant album Fear Inoculum. This year, they were touring behind it. That’s obviously stopped. (Fans at a tool show in New Zealand in early March may have been exposed to coronavirus.) So now frontman Maynard James Keenan has turned his attention elsewhere. Keenan’s Puscifer project has a new single called “Apocalyptical” out in the world, and they’re promising a new album, the follow-up to 2015’s Money Shot, coming this fall.
“Apocalyptical” is a tense, shivery synth-rocker that just sort of eats away at you over five and a half minutes. Over chilly bleeps and barely-there guitar, Keenan sings at the very top of his register, sharing vocals with bandmate Carina Round. The two of them deliver timely lyrics about watching the world end in front of you: “Go on, moron, ignore the evidence/ skid in to armageddon/ Tango apocalyptical.”
On Apple Music today, Keenan told Zane Lowe that he finished writing “Apocalyptical” back in September, so it’s not specifically about the situation we’re all facing. But the song’s video, which Puscifer co-directed with the animator Meats Meier, is explicitly pandemic-themed. Someone skateboards through empty Los Angeles streets, driven by a need that we only find out at the end of the clip. Keenan and Round wear suits and lipstick and plastered-on hair, like they’re the girls in the “Addicted To Love” video. CGI germs float across the screen. It’s pretty anxiety-inducing!  From: https://www.stereogum.com/2083764/puscifer-apocalyptical/music/ 

Pom Poko - Leg Day

Pom Poko —named after a Studio Ghibli movie about a family of racoon dogs (tanukis) with prominent scrotums— was formed in Oslo in 2017 and has consisted since its inception of vocalist Ragnhild Fangel, guitarist Martin Tonne, bassist Jonas Krøve, and drummer Ola Djupvik, all of whom are jazz-trained musicians. In that sense, the band reminds me of New Zealand’s The Beths, another poppy-rocky-punky band whose members come from a jazz background. The bands are quite different, but I feel their familiarity with jazz shines through in unique, energetic and technically satisfying rock music. The Norwegians are famous for their astounding live shows, which was where the initial buzz for the band came from, eventually landing them a record deal with English label Bella Union, with whom they’ve released their three records.
Unlike their latest album Champion, where the band have given themselves ample space to explore the calmer side of their music, their first two records —Birthday (2019) and Cheater (2021)— are just chock full of noisy uptempo songs with supercharged guitars and mathy grooves, and it seems like for every calm moment, there’s an extra frantic one sort of to compensate. But even at their most chaotic, there is always a sense of measure, of an overarching vision or musical floorplan that keeps the music from total entropy but also never leads it into stale or sterile territory. What really does shine through no matter what aspect of the band any individual song is showcasing, is each member’s individual talent and the absolute tightness of their unit. The band is a true collective in its operations, sharing not only composition and arrangement duties in equal measure, but also matters of management, promotion, scheduling. Pom Poko is a band of friends who above all else love making music together, and that’s joyfully evident in the music they make together.  From: https://everythingisnoise.net/weekly-featured-artist/wfa-pom-poko/

PerKelt - Maybe You'll Get to See the Infamous Grouse

Formed in 2007, PerKelt is a unique and energetic progressive folk band based in London, UK. Inspired by medieval and Celtic music from across Europe, the band blends many different genres into the characteristic sound they call ‘speed folk’; their fast, complicated, yet powerful rhythms and joyful, Celtic melodies have become their trademark over the years; reminiscent of progressive folk pioneers Jethro Tull.
Coming from all corners of the globe, each member of PerKelt infuses their own cultural heritage into a unique musical blend. Founding member Paya Lehane delivers powerful, Eastern European chants, while Duncan Menzies adds his distinctive Scottish fiddle style and virtuosic improvisation. Rubén Yon’Ton, a sound healer from Mexico, performs otherworldly shamanic vocalisations alongside traditional Native American instruments, while Kaya’s impactful playing style on the drum kit enriches the band’s traditional folk instrumentation and celtic melodies with powerful new dimensions of psychedelic folk rock.
The band draws inspiration from paganism of all kinds, with their songs often telling stories from magic, nature and the borderless beauty of human hearts. Driven by the story-telling and visionary rhythmic approach of their frontman guitarist Stepan Honc and often praised for the energetic authenticity of their performance and the spiritual depth of the journey they take their audience on, the music of PerKelt reaches deep inside our soul to make us dance, laugh and love.  From: https://www.thewaterratsvenue.london/facebook-event/perkelt-live-in-london/

 

Nini - Homeland

Nini, a distinguished musician hailing from Taiwan, has dedicated over two decades to mastering and performing traditional Chinese folk instruments. Her extensive experience has taken her on tours across Europe, the USA, Canada, China, Japan, and throughout her homeland. Nini's innovative approach to music involves playing genres such as heavy metal, rock, and EDM on traditional instruments like the Ruan, Liuqin, and San Xian. She also performs on a unique electric lute known as the DaoYu, which she uses to create a distinctive and modern sound that bridges cultural and musical boundaries.  From: https://ninimusic.me/ 

Jesus on Heroine - Neu!comers

Hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark eclectic rock band Jesus On Heroine evolve around dreamy psychedelia, noise-rock and drone-based shoegaze. The group released their debut album entitled Tremolo Eastern Salvation in 2013 and now the time has come for the release of the second album Ardhanarishvara. The theme of the new album is “everything is a remix”. The idea is that the original piece doesn’t exist. The ambition is therefore not to create something unique beyond what is already produced. The hope is nevertheless to search the new in the old. To emphasise this the album is going to be released in three versions. Three different moods made by three different producers and DJ’ From: https://www.psychedelicbabymag.com/2017/03/its-psychedelic-baby-presents-jesus-on_10.html

What can we say about Jesus On Heroine? Well, the truth is, tracing down information on these guys is pretty damn difficult. They like to keep way under the radar. They are a mysterious psychedelic shoegaze band from Copenhagen. They are influenced by The Doors, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and, strangely, Kasabian, and they clearly want their music to speak for itself.
They’ve been around since 2011 and released their most recent album in 2013, Tremelo Eastern Salvation. The video for their song, ‘No Hard Feelings,’ presents a naked woman swaying from side to side against a backdrop of psychedelic rainbow jellyfish—it’s pretty trippy. This is music to get lost in, with more ambience and dream-like cloudiness than you can shake a stick at. 
They are venturing out from wherever they hide to play Berlin’s Psych Fest in April 2014, joined by a hearty line-up of international psychedelic bands. Here’s hoping for a live interpretation of the naked woman with jellyfish as part of their performance. If they can’t manage that, I reckon it would be a pretty decent show anyway.  From: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/jesus-on-heroine-no-hard-feelings/

Frente! - Ordinary Angels

In the early 90s, Melbourne's Frente were little fish swimming against the tide. Guitars were loud, vocals were raw, bands were angry and Nirvana were rock's reluctant, tormented heroes. As grunge swept the world, Frente bravely arrived with gentle, rhythmic folk pop songs which instantly struck a chord with noise-weary audiences and took them to the top of the charts for their debut LP Marvin The Album.
Although singer Angie Hart was still a teenager and Frente was her first band, the songwriting partnership she formed with guitarist Simon Austin was unique. Frente had a freshness and innocence about their music that was starkly different to the disaffection of grunge. The band's sweet first single 'Labour Of Love' placed in triple j's Hottest 100 of 1991 and, all of the sudden, Frente were everywhere. They quickly followed up their debut single with their ARIA award winning 'Ordinary Angels' and a platinum selling EP Clunk. 
As the band began touring overseas, Frente looked to create international interest with reworked versions of 'Ordinary Angels', released on a limited edition 7" single called Ordinary Angles. The song was given three new dance-pop remixes by producer George Dracoulias, a big name at Rick Rubin's hip hop empire Def Jam Records. It was a big leap for the band and a song which Angie Hart says began in fight brought on by the pressure of their early success.
“Simon Austin and I wrote 'Ordinary Angels' together kind of on a dare. We were trying to get signed to a record company and it was all very big time and very exciting. We stupidly promised them that we would deliver a brand-new song over the course of two days of recording. That was disastrous because we just panicked as soon as we said we would do it.
We were staying at a friend of Simon's mum's, in her apartment in Sydney, sitting on the floor on the carpet, petting the cat. And we just flipped out and had a massive argument. It was almost the end of the band before we started. We were in tears. Just as we were about to give up, this song just began and we wrote the whole thing while we were sobbing. It was very dramatic. It came out line by line, like a jigsaw puzzle. I think with really great songs often there's like this kind of earthquake before they happen.
It was it was built from the bottom up starting with the first line 'You get the world for your birthday, baby'. The song is really about giving ourselves such great expectations. We were pushing ourselves really hard. We began writing and we were just looking at each other and knowing that we were writing about it being okay to be kind of ordinary. So, we were writing about the world being fantastic and us just being human.
Before this, we'd released the Labour Of Love EP and we were definitely getting some attention at that stage. So, we were feeling like something was happening. Simon and I both love words. We were rhythmic in our writing style, so every syllable mattered. We really liked hip hop and I think we really liked the idea of being rhythmic without words. I guess that was my way of creating some sort of an instrument for myself.
Simon put down a very strong rhythm right from the start of the song, which really keeps the whole song very positive and light. The single was produced by Daniel Denholm and it was really fancy for us.  He's a really great producer and he'd worked with string arrangements and really understood quantizing complex beats together with the music. He and Simon nerded out like you wouldn't believe. But it really took us up a new level.”  From: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/doublej/music-reads/features/frente-ordinary-angels-ordinary-angles-remixes-single-7-inch/13474142

BoDeans - Good Things - Live 1992

BoDeans were formed by Kurt Neuman and Sam Llanas who met in high school in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The band would operate from Milwaukee and were perhaps the best example of a roots-rock band. Says Neuman on the band's website: "I've always thought of the BoDeans as a truly American band," says the founder, primary writer and current frontman of the veteran Milwaukee-based group. "We were blue-collar kids straight out of the heartland-how could we be anything else? ‘Roots rock' was a label I fought when I was younger, but I came to realize that if by ‘roots' you meant blues, rock, country and soul all slammed together into one sound, then I'd say yes-that is the sound..."
Their first album, Love & Hope & Sex & Dreams (1986) was produced by T-Bone Burnett and good enough to earn the distinction of being voted "Best New American Band" in Rolling Stone's readers poll that year.  The song "Only Love", made #16 on the US Mainstream Rock charts. They toured extensively with U2 on The Joshua Tree Tour, increasing their fanbase. That year, they also contributed to Robbie Robertson's debut solo album alongside U2 and Peter Gabriel.They would record two more albums before  recording with David Z. (producer and sideman of Prince) at Paisley Park Studios, and released their 4th studio album Black and White that year. The album's electronic-influenced sound was a sharp departure from most of their previous efforts, with more emphasis on synthesizers, drum machines, and processed guitar tones. The album also explored darker and grander lyrical themes. Though not a single, the album's first track "Good Things" achieved some success and became one of their best-known songs.  From: http://monahanssong.blogspot.com/2012/12/bodeans-good-things-1991.html  

Beautify Junkyards - Cosmorama Moving Images

Beautify Junkyards presents “Cosmorama Moving Images” a live performance movie project conceived and produced during the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022, in a new period of seclusion to which we were all subjected. Facing the difficulties of playing live and touring, the members of the band decided to channel their energy and creativity into the production of a very special movie of a live performance, that can be viewed by fans all over the globe.
Inspired by Victorian London’s “Cosmorama Rooms” and works such as “Movie Drome” by American experimental filmmaker Stan VanDerBeek, the band performs live in a room where multiple video projectors show several specially made videos in parallel. The environment becomes labyrinthine and the band’s vibrant performance seems to induce the formation of spatial and temporal portals that spectators are invited to cross.
As interludes to the band’s performance, visual-surrealist-poems were created with the special participation of American (UK based) writer/performer Justin Hopper, author of the acclaimed “Old Weird Albion” and regular contributor to Ghost Box. Records, the British cult label to which Beautify Junkyards are also linked.
It should be noted that the audio of the band’s performance was entirely captured live, on multi-track, without any additional recording. The movie was made by the Lisbon production company Maus da Fita and the sound was captured and mixed by engineer Artur David.  From: https://www.ghostbox.co.uk/news/cosmorama-moving-images

James Gang - Rides Again - Side 2

01 - Tend My Garden
02 - Garden Gate
03 - There I Go Again
04 - Thanks
05 - Ashes The Rain And I

May I be so presumptuous to assume that it’s been years, maybe decades even, since you sat down and actually listened to The James Gang 1970 second album, Rides Again? Sure, you know “Funk #49” backwards and forwards, and you know Joe Walsh graduated to great things after only one more studio album with the Cleveland/Akron/Canton trio. But the other rockers “Woman” and the guitar spectacular,”The Bomber”, are perfectly balanced by melodic, intricately-arranged songs “Tend My Garden”,”There I Go Again”, and the stunning orchestral “Ashes, the Rain, and I”.
Rides Again  was the reason I hitched a ride with friends in 1971 to Denison, a small Central Ohio college, to sit in the dirt infield of the indoor track fieldhouse: to see & hear Cleveland/Akron band The James Gang on a low riser stage, the spotlight reflecting blindingly off the guitar of singer Joe Walsh. Up until then we had heard radio ads on Akron station WHLO most weekends inviting the public to see the band at an Akron-area high school dance for 50 cents. Precious few outside the Northeast Ohio Cleveland-Youngstown-Akron triangle had purchased their first album, but their follow-up Rides Again was both a critical and popular success. Sure, radio stations then and now play “Funk #49” (yep , there’s a “Funk #48” on their debut, Yer Album), but songs like ” Woman”  and “The Bomber” influenced American hard rock well into the 1980s, and “Tend My Garden”, “There I Go Again”, and the melancholy “Ashes, the Rain, and I ” are all surprisingly timeless more than half a century later.  From: https://www.inthestudio.net/online-on-demand/james-gang-rides-again-55th-joe-walsh/  

Maria McKee - Live at The TLA, Philadelphia, PA 1998

 Maria McKee - Live at The TLA, Philadelphia, PA 1998 - Part 1

 Maria McKee - Live at The TLA, Philadelphia, PA 1998 - Part 2

 

01 Intro
02 This Perfect Dress
03 Magdelaine
04 Everybody
05 Smarter
06 Carried
07 Panic Beach
08 Shelter
09 Breathe
10 I'm Awake
11 Human
12 What Else You Wanna Know
13 If You Were Still Around
14 I'm Not Listening
15 Absolutely Barking Stars
16 Scarlover
17 Life Is Sweet

 

Two years ago, celebrated roots-rock singer Maria McKee startled her longtime followers when she put out a biting, alternative-rock album, “Life Is Sweet.” The Bowie-esque project featured not only abrasive guitars but also some songs with complicated, art rock-type arrangements--a stark departure from the traditional folk and country-rock music that had made her a critical darling and cult favorite in the ‘80s as the leader of Lone Justice and later as a solo act.
“Shock! Horror!” is how McKee laughingly says some responded to her metamorphosis on “Life Is Sweet.” And that wasn’t just fans. Her record label, Geffen, initially was reluctant to release the album because of the dramatic shift it represented. When Geffen did release it, it did so with little fanfare. McKee, however, remains unabashedly proud of it, despite its lackluster sales. “I love it. It’s like the high point of my career,” she said in a recent phone interview.
When she performs Wednesday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana, playing an acoustic guitar and with support from bassist Jim Akin and keyboardist-guitarist Dennis Roche for a relatively spare performance of her recent and older songs, it won’t be a retreat into her past. Indeed, she cautioned fans not to read too much into the concert’s acoustic format, saying her next album will explore terrain similar to “Life Is Sweet,” with more streamlined arrangements.
“If I were a new artist and I had made ‘Life Is Sweet,’ it probably would have been a big alternative-rock record,” the 34-year-old Los Angeles resident said. “But because I’ve been around and people expect a certain thing, it’s difficult. . .  A lot of people don’t understand. They think, ‘You were this and now you’re that--which one are you?’ I can understand that. A lot of artists find a niche and they stick with it.”
For McKee, “Life Is Sweet” represented a personal and artistic declaration of independence. She’s long been a fan of such alternative-rock forebears as David Bowie, Patti Smith and the Velvet Underground. But until recently, she lacked the confidence to express those influences in her music because of outside expectations. McKee is no stranger to high expectations. She was still in her teens in 1983 when she became the singer in Lone Justice. The media and industry hype surrounding the country-flavored rock band was enormous when its debut album was released by Geffen in 1985.
The group was lauded by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, Tom Petty gave the group a song, and it toured with U2 as an opening act. McKee was considered the crown jewel in Lone Justice largely for her rich and soulful vocals and commanding stage presence. So when the “Lone Justice” album flopped, the industry rethinking kicked in. Band members were fired and new ones hired.
“People were scared and people were impatient,” she said. “People [around the band] thought that record would sell more, and when it didn’t, they began to say, ‘Maybe this guitar player isn’t good enough’ or ‘Maybe this person isn’t a good enough songwriter.’ It just turned into a mess.” Not long after the group’s second album, “Shelter,” was released in 1986, McKee was the only original member left. She went solo with her “Maria McKee” album in 1989. But that effort and the 1993 follow-up, “You Gotta Sin to Get Saved,” also failed to make her the star many expected her to be.
She now says that before “Life Is Sweet,” she was either too stubborn or too compliant in her dealings with people who were trying to help guide her career and work. “For instance, I would make an album where people would influence what I was doing more than they should have,” she said. “Then once I realized I had given up too much, I would pull in the reins a little bit. But I wasn’t able to find the right balance. I was either completely terrified and fighting my way through things when I didn’t have to,” she said, “or I was allowing people to influence me regardless of what I thought.”
When Geffen balked at releasing the “Life Is Sweet” album, McKee tried unsuccessfully to get released from her contract with the company. When she returned to Geffen recently with her latest batch of similarly styled demos, the label agreed to make her a free agent. It was clear that the old country-rock Maria McKee wasn’t coming back any time soon. “It’s not like I’m making Young Gods punk records,” she said. “Some newer songs like ‘Life Is Sweet’ could be by a Lilith Fair artist.”
Her immediate plans are to find a drummer and, with Akin and Roche aboard, to begin recording a new album in January. She probably will finance the recording herself, but she said she’d like to find a label to distribute it. Next year she also is planning to marry Akin, a Laguna Beach native. McKee is confident that there is a substantial audience out there for her new sound.
“There are people who may never listen to me again,” she said. “But people who used to say, ‘Yeah, Maria McKee is really talented, but I never really hooked into her,’ a lot of those people are suddenly fans. Previously, they may have thought I was lacking the sense of adventure that’s evident on ‘Life Is Sweet.’ “Even a lot of my old fans,” she said, “once they got over the shock, are starting to learn to appreciate the new songs more.”  From: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-dec-01-ca-49315-story.html

 

The O'Jays - When The World's At Peace

The O’Jays are one of America’s most beloved old school soul and R&B groups. You no doubt know the songs from radio play and television commercials: “Love Train,” “I Love Music,” “Use Ta Be My Girl,” and “Backstabbers.” Perhaps their 1973 hit, “For The Love of Money,” encapsulates their career looking back all these years later — more fame than money as things turned out.
The O’Jays got their start in the Cleveland, Ohio market under the name The Mascots and then The Triumphs. “Basically, everyone was singing in the clubs there, like The Music Box, and places where a lot of the Motown acts would come,” said O’Jays founder Eddie Levert of the Cleveland music scene, “like The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Miracles, and James Brown. That was basically the music scene. That automatically inspired a lot of younger people in the neighborhood.”
Younger people like Levert and O’Jays members Bobby Massey, Walter Lee Williams, William Powell, and Bill Isles. Levert said there were small recording studios in Cleveland attempting to model themselves after Motown, but his group decided to seek their fortunes out west. By 1963, the group was known as The O’Jays and they released the song “Lonely Drifter.” 
After The O’Jays departed Cleveland for California, they recorded a number of minor hits on Imperial Records including “Lipstick Traces,” “Look Over Your Shoulder,” and “One Night Affair.” Being stargazers of Motown superstars and motivated to reach that level of popularity drove The O’Jays members’ towards fame, but not necessarily fortune.  
“With every record we recorded in the 1960s and early ‘70s before we went to Philly International that was the idea — that we were going to have a hit record and become major stars,” said Levert. “That’s all we thought about. We were focused on being stars, not songwriters, not producers. The people that we were in business with in those days only thought of us as (performing) artists, not songwriters or producers. Now, I know I should have spent a lot more time producing and writing,” Levert continued. “I might have been much richer now.” 
Signing with Philadelphia International Records was a game-changer for the career of The O’Jays. It was during this period — 1972-79 — that the O’Jays scored all of their Billboard Top 20 chart success. The label produced what was known as the Philly International Sound and the majority of the songs recorded by the label’s artists were composed, produced, and published by the ownership songwriter team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
“They were writing such great songs,” said Eddie Levert of working in the studio with Gamble and Huff. “And you felt like, my little song, I probably should not even mention it. They were such great producers that you were almost intimidated.” Levert said that while some songs such as “Backstabbers” were essentially brought to the group to sing, “Love Train” was written in the studio as they were making the album.
“In hindsight knowing that when we recorded those songs we had a lot of input on our vocals that became identifiable with the song, that should have been part of songwriting (credits).” But it was not. The popularity of the songs, however, propelled The O’Jay’s success with concert promoters and television appearances on programs such as “Soul Train” and “American Bandstand.” 
“We got more gigs and more gigs in high profile places because of the popularity of those songs,” Levert said, “because those songs were played everywhere. We became universal.” The music of The O’Jays had an impact on many people of all walks of life, serving as a soundtrack for the lives of those music lovers. This is not lost on Eddie Levert. “A lot of that music people use in their everyday living and apply it in what they’re doing in their lives. Having that kind of affect on people with your music, you’re grateful that you had the opportunity to record those hits, but, in hindsight, you wish that you had your mind more on the business instead of just being the artist.”  From: https://veermag.com/2024/03/lessons-from-the-ojays/ 

Wovoka Gentle - Small Victory

Wovoka Gentle (now Voka Gentle) is a British folk/acoustic trio comprising twins Imogen Mason and Ellie Mason together with William J. Stokes. Their name comes from the titles of two poems in the collection Flying Over Sonny Liston by American poet Gary Short.
“Wovoka Gentle is constantly evolving project. Our roots are in traditional soil - we love the structure and soundscape in folk songs - but we wanted to work from those foundations to develop a new vocabulary, a new kind of songwriting."
Having formed in the summer of 2014, the band wrote and performed the score for avant-garde physical theatre company Stasis' production A Table, directed by Aniela Piasecka, and went on to provide music for the world premiere of Alex Howarth’s stage adaptation of What's Eating Gilbert Grape at London’s Bridewell Theatre. Informed by such collaborations as these, the use of performance art, installations and projected visuals has made its way to the heart of Wovoka Gentle’s live shows.
Wovoka Gentle launched their first EP, Wovoka Gentle , via Yucatan Records in July 2015 with a sold out show at London's Cecil Sharp House. Their next EP Wovoka Gentle followed in November 2015 with a sold out show at Electrowerkz. Third EP Wovoka Gentle , produced by Gareth Jones (Grizzly Bear, Depeche Mode, Interpol) was released on October 7th 2016.  From: https://www.last.fm/music/Wovoka+Gentle/+wiki

Stardeath And White Dwarfs - The Chrome Children

 

Oklahoma indie-poppers Stardeath and White Dwarfs are due to unleash their dreamy sounds on us Brits next month, with the release of debut single ‘Toast and Marmalade for Tea’ via Half Machine Records on 3rd March. The artwork for the single is by The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, who just happens to be the uncle of Stardeath frontman Dennis.

That’s a rather unusual name you’ve got there - would you care to explain it for us?

I had a dream that me and Casey were flying on a dying star through the centre of the Earth. We came out of one side, and we were at the dawn of creation, getting ready to play a show in front of God and the Devil that was set to open up the new universe. Once we realised that a dying star was a white dwarf, the rest was easy.

More specifically, why is it ‘dwarfs’ and not ‘dwarves’?!

Dwarfs are dying stars and dwarves are little people, and I don’t think I would tell people if we would have been riding a little person in my dream.

To those who’ve not taken time to listen to you, how would you best describe your sound?
Loud and psychedelic.

Your recent single was called ‘Toast And Marmalade For Tea’. Us Brits have toast mostly for breakfast, have Americans not caught on to this?

Sorry, but you can’t blame that on us! That song was written by a band called ‘Tin Tin’ in 1968, and I believe they were from your neck of the woods. But I prefer toast for breakfast as well.

The flip-side was called ‘Chemical’; does that mean you’re all one-time science geeks?

If by ‘science’ you mean drugs, then yes.

You’ve already toured with a pretty hot list of bands - who has been your favourite to play alongside?

Without a doubt, The Flaming Lips.

Oklahoma is (to us, at least) best known for the musical of the same name. What do we also need to know about your home state?

It’s the home of The Flaming Lips, Chainsaw Kittens and The Starlight Mints, and I’m pretty sure this is Kylie’s favourite place to hang out.

From: https://diymag.com/interview/stardeath-and-white-dwarfs

Following in the footsteps of Oklahoma City's most famous freaks, the Flaming Lips, psychedelic rock outfit Stardeath and White Dwarfs have been exploring the boundaries of rock music since forming in 2004. Made up of Dennis Coyne (nephew of Lips' frontman Wayne Coyne), Casey Joseph, Matt Ducksworth, and Ford Chastain, the band's sound finds spacy pop and ethereal atmospherics colliding with a fuzzed out, lo-fi aesthetic, feeling at times like a blown-out, acid-drenched take on the early work of David Bowie. Stardeath and White Dwarfs made their debut in 2005 with the EP That's Cool before eventually signing with Warner Bros, where they'd release their first full-length, The Birth, in 2009. The band would also become frequent collaborators with the Flaming Lips, appearing with them on their remake of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, as well as their 2012 reimagining of King Crimson's In the Court of the Crimson King, Playing Hide and Seek with the Ghosts of Dawn. After signing on with David Sitek's (of TV on the Radio) label, Federal Prism, the quartet returned with their sophomore effort, Wastoid, in 2014.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/stardeath-and-white-dwarfs-mn0001041890#biography 

The Cosmic Trip Advisors - Going Down (Jeff Beck Group cover)

Here’s an interesting tale to tell. Rock band, The Cosmic Trip Advisors fly from native Scotland to a “fancy ass” studio in Sweden to record an album, to be done in double quick time. The band are not young whippersnappers, they are (ahem) well worn experienced musicians.
They want to release it on vinyl, so the next step is to convince 90 of their fans to stump up £20 for an advance order (in fact to order several months in advance), and they offer various inducements such as a hand numbered signed copy or even a namecheck credit on the album cover. This is how it is in COVID life 2020.
Well, happily they managed to sell out the first vinyl production run of 500, and subsequently another run thereafter. It keeps selling! Just then a long forgotten rehearsal tape was re-discovered, and the idea ignited to release it as a double CD, the original together with this live run through where the red record button was on “play”.
The band describe it as what it would have sounded like at a keg party done in one hour, six months later – ie no second takes, no cheats, no overdubs. Put an album cover together with a beautiful Tanya Shatseva painting and “bingo” ! And if you like that heavy rock Hammond based sound, with more than a tinge of Vanilla Fudge era type psychedelia, this could be for you.
“Shy and Retiring” vocalist Lesley McGonnal is very remisicent of Debbie Bonham, and that’s a compliment! Debbie Bonham (John’s sister) fronts a similarly heavy ass kicking sound. The Cosmic Trip advisors are a very good band (a great live experience too). Prior to this album it’s well worth checking out their covers of Blind Faith’s ‘Can’t Find My Way Home’ and Merle Haggard’s ‘Sing Me Back Home’. You won’t find 1M views for any of their online content. In fact you won’t find more than 300 sometimes, but if you’re a sucker for that classic rock organ-based sound give it a try.  From: https://getreadytorock.me.uk/blog/2021/04/album-review-the-cosmic-trip-advisors-wrong-again-albert-2-cds/ 

Sly & The Family Stone - Hot Fun In The Summertime

"Hot Fun in the Summertime" is a 1969 song recorded by Sly and the Family Stone. The single was released just prior to the band's high-profile performance at Woodstock, which greatly expanded their fanbase. Thematically, "Hot Fun in the Summertime" is a dedication to the fun and games to be had during the summer. "Hot Fun in the Summertime" was intended to be included on an in-progress album with "Everybody Is a Star" and "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)"; the LP was never completed, and the three tracks were instead included on the band's 1970 Greatest Hits LP. This song is known for its rare use of strings in a Sly and the Family Stone song, featuring violins being played in the upper register. The B-side to this single is "Fun," a song taken from the group's third album Life.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Fun_in_the_Summertime

Rubblebucket - On the Ground

I first saw Rubblebucket in college — they toured through Saratoga Springs at least twice while I was at Skidmore and put on the most exulted, raucous show I’d ever seen. The horn section parading through the crowd with a giant robot puppet, the whole crowd singing along to uniquely catchy songs. Everything they do strikes me that way: familiar yet foreign, and always delivered with wild energy. 
Survival Sounds begins with a reverbed-out drone vocal, a warbley synth playing a simple/strange melody, and then quickly explodes with a very satisfying drum hit, into joyful horns and claps. Kalmia, the lead singer and sax player, comes in singing “leave me on the ground.” To me, the song captures the exhaustion and excitement that comes with being a human. “Please don’t shake us around” like she’s requesting a little breather from the whirl wind that is life.
If you ever need a song to lift you up when it feels like you’re going around and around, making the same mistakes, blast “Carousel Ride,” the second track, and let Kalmia compel you to “dance in the fire.” The fat, crunchy guitars invite you to head bang on the choruses, while the verses call for more of a step-touch-snap. One of my favorite moments in the whole record is on this song when Kalmia sings “oops… do do do do!” A little humor and self-awareness go a long way when you’re stuck in a cyclical bummer state.
Rubblebucket has dynamism on lock. They get all the way serious, then all the way fun. The production too, often swinging from one end of the spectrum to the other in a single song. There’s this section in the middle of “Rewind,” which is an overall funky jam, that melts into a dreamy swirly reminder that “fear is a lesson,” and then swells back into the run-through-the-streets-naked groove from the beginning.
This record has such reverence for the messy process of self-discovery, love, loss, and mortality. The giganticness of the production reflects the immensity of the concepts they cover. The horn parts get so complex and there’s so many little noises that come in to ping your ears, never to be heard from again. I think I could listen to it ten times a day for years and still hear something new every time. It’s a sound track for survival, bitter sweet reflections on the past, and courageous declarations for the future set to a beat you can let toss you from side to side until you give in and dance.  From: http://www.offyourradar.com/issues/160-rubblebucket/