The Velvet Underground - Rock & Roll

#The Velvet Underground #Lou Reed #John Cale #experimental rock #art rock #avant-garde #proto-punk #1960s

Though there are many themes that keep reappearing throughout the history of music, few make for better songs than that of the "innocent" child hearing "great" music for the first time. In nearly every genre, some form of this song has been recorded, and while the details change, the spirit behind the song is always one that remind people of the great power of music. With a majority of these songs, the lyrics seem quite autobiographical in nature, while they can simultaneously be applied to nearly anyone, and this is often the reason that the songs become so legendary. While it is truly a countless amount of songs that are created in this manner, there are few that can compare, both musically and lyrically to the mood and power of The Velvet Underground's classic tune, "Rock and Roll." As an integral part of their legendary 1970 record, Loaded, the song perfectly captures these feelings, and yet it is easily one of the most joyous and inspiring songs ever recorded. Powered by the early punk sound of the band, along with the stunning vocal work of Lou Reed, the song instantly grabs the listener and the true genius behind the song remains in the fact that no matter how many times one hears the song, it still has the same level of impact. From the core riff to the iconic lyrics, there are truly very few songs that can compare to the sheer magnificence of the often imitated, but never even remotely duplicated, "Rock and Roll."
Truth be told, the song was actually recorded on the tail end of the bands' previous, self-titled record a year earlier, but it did not make the cut and was left "on the shelf" while the group changed record labels. In retrospect, this was a very good thing, as "Rock and Roll" fits far better with the songs on Loaded than with those of their 1969 effort. The song itself is driven by a brilliantly simple three-chord progression, making it a song that even the most novice guitar player could easily master. This uncomplicated musical approach is certainly one of the keys to the songs' appeal, and yet it also reflects the universal nature of the music which is being referred to in the lyrics. However, "Rock and Roll" also features The Velvet Underground's signature gritty, stripped down sound, and it provided a very stark musical contrast to nearly everything else that was being released at the time. While both Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison provide stunning guitar work throughout the song, one of the key aspects that sets both the song and album apart from the rest of the bands' work is the fact that drummer Maureen Tucker is not present. At this point, Tucker was gone from the band due to having a child, and throughout Loaded, the percussion is handled by a number of different people. Regardless, "Rock and Roll" presents an absolutely amazing groove, and it remains one of the most irresistible rock anthems ever recorded.  From: http://thedailyguru.blogspot.com/2010/03/march-4-velvet-underground-rock-and.html

Bent Knee - Catch Light

 #Bent Knee #progressive rock #art rock #industrial #baroque pop #avant-garde #music video

Bent Knee was formed at Boston's Berklee College of Music by Courtney Swain (Vocals), Ben Levin (Guitar) and Vince Welch (Production and Sound Design) out of a love of the epic and grand and has influences of Psych, Baroque Pop and Avant-Jazz. Their eponymous debut CD was released in 2011 and is mostly a study of Courtney Swain’s sultry voice, which sounds like an angry Shirley Manson (Garbage), fighting for attention from Ben Levin’s occasionally crunchy and frequently sporadic guitar. Their second album, 'Shiny Eyed Babies', released in 2014 was more of a full band effort with the addition of, Chris Baum (Violin), Jessica Kion (Bass) and Gavin Wallace-Ailsworth (Drums) and has a more diverse feel to it with jazzier moments, alternating with the starker sound of the first album. Fans of Tori Amos may enjoy Bent Knee as would fans of distinctive female driven, stark music.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=9175

When you think of a band made up of musicians who met at a prestigious music school, a certain image may come to mind. A group of highly skilled artists, hunched over their respective instruments in utter concentration, spooling out complex notes and unorthodox time signatures, producing music of tremendous difficulty and seriousness.
In the case of Bent Knee, you can put your preconceived notions to rest. Yes, all six members of the Boston-based band met while studying at the Berklee College of Music. Yes, they’re all tremendously talented musicians. But while their music may contain a multitude of music theory complexity, it can also be accessible, funky, tender, vulnerable, head-banging, and heavy on guilty-pleasure pop/rock tropes. Bent Knee’s latest album, You Know What They Mean, weaves together everything that made their four previous albums equal parts jaw-dropping and, dare I say, fun. For a band so good at smashing boundaries, they’ve managed to find a few more to tear down this time around.
Produced by their multi-instrumentalist/sound designer Vince Welch, the album is a typical Bent Knee stew of styles and dynamics. What they managed to achieve this time around is a remarkable sense of coherence between all the songs. Despite the music’s range, the songs literally flow together with little to no space between the tracks. It results in something of a throwback to the days of progressive rock concept albums. Labelling Bent Knee as prog rock, incidentally, is not entirely off the mark. They get a good deal of press in prog publications. But there are also plenty of avant-garde touches, art rock, bits and pieces of jazz (they’re Berklee grads, after all), as well as good old-fashioned metal, thanks in part to the pummeling riffs of guitarist Ben Levin.  From: https://www.popmatters.com/bent-knee-you-know-what-2640907574.html

Rosalie Cunningham - Ride On My Bike

 #Rosalie Cunningham #ex-Purson #psychedelic rock #art rock #neo-psychedelia #hard rock #singer-songwriter #music video

Rosalie Cunningham: The Soundtrack Of My Life

Singer-songwriter Rosalie Cunningham picks her records, artists and gigs of lasting significance, and reveals why Stackridge might be better than Genesis.

Having started out as a teenager with Ipso Facto in the late noughties, singer-songwriter Rosalie Cunningham emerged as the guiding force of Purson. The band’s billowy psych-prog sustained itself for two essential studio albums before Cunningham called time in 2017. She’s since embarked on a grippingly eclectic solo career. Her latest album, Two Piece Puzzle, is rich, dark, playful and wonderfully adventurous. We really wouldn’t expect anything less.

The first music I Remember hearing

I was exposed to a lot of cool music growing up, because my dad was a musician. But the first song I remember, when I was about three or four, was Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Grows) by Edison Lighthouse. I don’t know if it’s because the character in the song had a similar name to me, but something just sort of stuck.

The first song I performed live

My first proper gig was an underage rock night when I was thirteen. We did a short set, mostly covers, and a couple of very primitive songs that I’d tried to write. We opened with 20th Century Boy by T. Rex. The guys in the band were quite a bit older than me and were into punk, so we also played Ever Fallen In Love by Buzzcocks and something by The Misfits.

The singer

Different styles mean different favourites for me. As a frontman and singer, Freddie Mercury was just the best. When it comes to rock/soul, I’d say Steve Marriott. And for female vocalists it has to be Sandy Denny. She’s got such a rich voice, but I also love the vulnerability of it.

The songwriter

Lennon and McCartney are way above everyone else on the top tier, then it’s Bowie. He was so idiosyncratic and wrote so many great classics. He’s definitely a massive influence on me. Even if you strip him right back to just an acoustic guitar and vocal, the songs are still just as good.

The guitar hero

Mick Ronson’s signature sound had so much attitude, it was so badass. I think it’s just the best guitar sound there is. Musically, as an arranger, he was ridiculously intelligent too, which a lot of lead guitarists aren’t really known for. He was incredibly humble and understated in that sense. But when you listen to anything he was involved with, it’s quite clear he was a genius.

The greatest album of all time

My favourite Beatles album changes quite regularly, but I think Abbey Road, as a sort of final statement, is a masterpiece. It stands separate from the others. It’s so far ahead of its time, but it’s also completely timeless. My dad used to do music journalism for the live industry, and I actually met Paul McCartney backstage on his American tour in 2004, when I was fourteen. I freaked the fuck out, I couldn’t speak at all. I sat next to him eating lunch, for about an hour.

The best record I've made

I’m proud of all the Purson stuff and my first solo album, but I have to say the new one [Two Piece Puzzle], don’t I? The best is always the latest.

The worst record I've made

Ipso Facto was my first sort of proper professional band. We never actually did an album, though, just a bunch of singles. And none of them were very good. It’s charming in a way, but it’s like having an old diary from when you were a teenager out on display on the internet. It’s so embarrassing. I was far too young to be in the public eye.

The most underrated band ever

Stackridge made some incredible albums in the seventies, particularly The Man In The Bowler Hat, which was produced by George Martin. If you like theatrical, psychedelic prog, it’s genius. I’d rate it above a lot of Genesis’s stuff. I had absolutely no idea that Stackridge were uncool, so maybe that’s why they’re underrated.

The best live album

In terms of heavy rock bands, I love Deep Purple the most, probably because of the organ sound. They were really on fire with Made In Japan. That noise coming out of the speakers is like going on a ride. It blows your head off. It’s just kind of outrageous.

My guilty pleasure

I have a soft spot for musicals. I’ll stick on the Grease soundtrack and sing along with all the different parts, which drives Rosco [Wilson, her partner] absolutely mad, because he hates it.

My Saturday night party song

Rosco and I haven’t been going out much lately, but we stay in and have party nights indoors. We always put on Down In Mexico by The Coasters and that’s when the party starts. It gets us dancing around the living room.

The song that makes me cry

Howlin’ Rain’s Strange Thunder is a really moving song. The subject matter is about suicide anyway, but it’s actually the way that the song progresses, musically, that causes this tidal wave of emotion by the end. It gets me every time. There’s also an Elvis one, If I Can Dream, that really moves me whenever I hear it.

The song I want played at my funeral

I’d have to go for Gotta Get Up by Harry Nilsson, because the lyrics – taken in that context against a sort of upbeat melody – would be a nice little black comedy moment to end on.

From: https://www.loudersound.com/features/rosalie-cunningham-the-soundtrack-of-my-life

Bad Keys of the Mountain - As It Is

 #Bad Keys of the Mountain #country rock #alt-country #Southern rock #blues rock #Americana #animated music video

The shuffling boogie and Southern-fried licks in the opening title track of “Together and Alone” are an indicator that there’s plenty of good old-fashioned American, down-home rock in the new album from Bad Keys of the Mountain. But it’s not long before it becomes apparent how deep the influences of this West Virginia trio get, as Beatlesque melodies wind their way into the song. “I am you, and you are me / All in all is all we’ll be forever,” vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter David McGuire sings. “Laughing as we pass the time / ‘til we can be together and alone.” True to the album’s title, Together and Alone was recorded in quarantine during the summer of 2020. The band, which also feature bassist Joey Lafferty and drummer Joey Reese, holed up in a studio in their hometown of Charleston, West Virginia. “As the Covid pandemic hit early in the year and brought all things music to a halt, we decided to put all of our creative energies into making a record that we feel is both timeless and of the times, and that both looks inward and outward,” says McGuire in the album’s press materials. “Capturing the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll ranging from the 1960s to the indie wave of the early 2000s, this record is the best example yet of who we are as a collection of musicians.”  From: https://www.popmatters.com/bad-keys-mountain-together-alone

Little Big - Hateful Love

 #Little Big #techno #EDM #rave #pop punk #satirical #surreal #Russian #music video

Little Big are a Russian rave band founded in Saint Petersburg in 2013. The band currently consists of Ilya "Ilich" Prusikin and Sonya Tayurskaya. Their first full-length album, With Russia from Love, was released in March of 2014. The group has released a total of four albums and nine singles. The band is currently based out of Los Angeles, California, following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The team calls itself a satirical art collaboration, which relies on the music, visuals, and the show. Little Big mocks various national stereotypes about Russia. All the videos are filmed by co-founder Alina Pasok. The band shoots and produces all of their music videos. Since the first concert took place as the opening act for Die Antwoord, the band was dubbed "The Russian Die Antwoord", and is often compared with this band. Vice also called Little Big "a Russian mental patient's answer to Die Antwoord". Other critics point out that while Little Big has an identity of its own, it also exposes the listener to Russian folk songs and Russian culture. The band was influenced by a variety of musicians from Cannibal Corpse, NOFX, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Rammstein, and The Prodigy to Mozart and Vivaldi.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Big_(band)

 His songs are fabulously popular, known for their furious dance beats, absurd lyrics and tongue-in-cheek videos that poke fun at Russian stereotypes, pop culture and trappings of wealth. But in just four months, Ilya Prusikin’s life has turned upside down — he is in self-imposed exile for expressing his horror at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He lives in fear that he will never again see his home. “They are depriving me of a right to say that I don’t agree with murder,” said Prusikin, the lead singer for the Russian band Little Big, speaking via Zoom from an apartment in Los Angeles. As Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in late February, Little Big posted a “No War” message on its social media channels in Russian and English. Less than a week later, Prusikin, 37, along with the band’s female vocalist Sonya Tayurskaya, 31, left their home in Moscow for the U.S. They faced the stark choice that many Russians opposing the war have confronted amid an unprecedented crackdown on free speech by President Vladimir Putin’s government. For most Russians who don’t agree with the war, new draconian legislation threatening jail time for any criticism of the armed forces has meant a choice between speaking out and leaving their homeland, or staying put and facing probable arrest and imprisonment. This intensifying repression, reminiscent of the Soviet era, clashes with the Western-influenced music scene that gave birth to Little Big, a self-described “punk-pop-rave band.” The four-person band’s viral hit “Skibidi” spawned a dance craze in Russia and around the world in 2018, and has nearly 620 million views on YouTube.  From: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-ukraine-little-big-ilya-prusikin-punk-rock-music-rcna36648

Gothic Voices - Verbum Patris Umanatur

 #Gothic Voices #medieval music #early music #Renaissance music #vocal group #Gregorian chant #a capella #ars nova #ars antiqua

A Feather on the Breath of God… This wonderfully evocative phrase of Abbess Hildegard of Bingen – chosen as the title of Gothic Voices’ groundbreaking and award-winning first recording – is a fine description of the sound world that the ensemble inhabits. For more than thirty years Gothic Voices has been world-renowned for the excellence, refinement and spirituality of its performances of medieval music and has appeared throughout Europe and in the Americas. Originally founded in 1980 by the scholar and musician Christopher Page, Gothic Voices has gone on to record twenty-three CDs for the Hyperion and Avie labels, three of which won the coveted Gramophone Magazine Early Music Award. Gothic Voices is committed to bringing medieval music into the mainstream. Their imaginative programmes use their voices in varying combinations to produce authoritative performances of great beauty which have won the appreciation of audiences all over the world. The ensemble also enjoys performing contemporary music, particularly pieces with medieval associations. Many of today’s composers are influenced by the medieval repertoire and its often experimental nature. Gothic Voices plans to give a renewed emphasis to the combination of old and new alongside its more traditional programmes.  From: https://gothicvoices.co.uk/biography/

Some aspects of being human must be "transhistorical," according to Christopher Page; sustained exposure to the music of the past opens a window onto how past humans experienced that music. Page has devoted a prolific corner of his life to using music to bridge the historical gap between human beings: Gothic Voices, the vocal ensemble he has directed since its founding in 1980. The group, clearly one of the world's leaders in the performance of medieval music, gives concerts quite frequently in England, as well as continental Europe, America, and Canada; their close relationship with Hyperion Records has resulted in nearly twenty critically-acclaimed recordings. Spanning musics from Hildegard of Bingen to the turn of the sixteenth century, they consistently present music of outstanding quality, with the highest standards of performance. Their vocal sound is a conscious blend of "scrupulously accurate" tuning, sensitive phrasing, careful rhythmic articulation, and a bright and clear vocal production.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/gothic-voices-mn0000501365/biography

Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding Company - I Need a Man to Love

 #Janis Joplin #Big Brother & The Holding Company #blues rock #acid rock #psychedelic rock #West coast sound #1960s

Janis Joplin has the ain't-got-no-man blues in this psychedelic rock tune she co-wrote with Big Brother & The Holding Company's lead guitarist, Sam Andrew. He recalled to Goldmine in 1998: "'I Need A Man To Love' we wrote in about five minutes, backstage on a tuning amplifier. And that was a real sort of 'mission statement' from Janis, lyrically. And for me, it just popped out - it was a real kind of common riff, except for the bridge. We played it in A minor, and then it goes to the bridge, which is in F sharp minor. And there's a lot of chromaticism in there, so for me it was a departure that way. In a 1998 Gadfly interview, Andrew said the intro was based on Albert King's guitar riff from the blues song "Born Under A Bad Sign."
Joplin found it difficult to put her pain on display for an indifferent crowd, especially in her early days. She explained: "I had a couple of shows where I played the whole show really into it, completely giving all I had, and I was doing a freeform thing, talking, bring it all out, let it all go. Just talked about Janis and all the men that hurt her, and all the men that maybe she let down, and everything that you got to say; all of a sudden it starts coming out of your mouth, and you didn't even intend it to, and all of a sudden I heard them speak, I heard them talkin' in the middle of my fuckin' shit, man, and I stopped and I waited to see if they'd quit. They didn't quit, and I grabbed the microphone and said, I ain't cryin' my ass off for you! I put the microphone down and walked off the stage. I blew my contract and all that shit, but fuck that, man, I ain't gonna get out there and cry my soul out for people that are talking about 'How's your brother, did you get laid on Thursday, that's a cute dress.' I'm up there talking about my pain, fuck you!” (source: International Times, 1972)
This was possibly inspired by Joplin's breakup with singer Country Joe McDonald, her live-in boyfriend who left her the year before to marry another woman. McDonald wrote the song "Janis" for her. Joplin found love with both men and women. Aside from McDonald, she was romantically linked to Kris Kristofferson, and Peggy Caserta (author of the 1975 book Going Down With Janis, which she has since disowned), among others. At the time of her death in 1970, she was engaged to novelist Seth Morgan.  From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/big-brother-the-holding-company/i-need-a-man-to-love

Disappear Fear - Is There Anybody Here

 #Disappear Fear #folk rock #folk pop #alternative folk #indie folk #power pop #worldbeat #singer-songwriter #1980s #1990s

Beneath Disappear Fear’s veneer of catchy tunes, poppish folk rhythms, and the sophisticated harmonies of blood sisters Sonia Rutstein and Cindy Frank, beats a heart of hardcore social feminist consciousness. Born and raised in Baltimore, the sisters formed Disappear Fear in 1987. As the name implies, they call for unity and an end to injustice, and seek to break down the prejudicial barriers that keep people apart. Rutstein composes most of the songs and her compositions have been compared to those of Phil Ochs, Joni Mitchell, and Bob Dylan. Their harmonies and approach are reminiscent of the Indigo Girls. After three critically acclaimed self-released albums and an EP, the duo signed to Philo Records. In 1995, their self-titled album for Philo Records received a Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation award for Outstanding Album. In June 1996, they released Seed in the Sahara. That same year, Sonia also began pursuing a solo career, returning to Disappear Fear only for occasional guest appearances for almost a decade.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/disappear-fear-mn0000154744/biography

Dada - Bob, The Drummer

 #Dada #alternative rock #psychedelic rock #power pop #pop rock #1990s

Dada is no one-hit wonder. It had four solid albums in the 1990s and several great songs, one of which attained worldwide acclaim. The band broke with a unique sound at the time with Joie Calio (bass/co-lead vocals) and Michael Gurley (guitar/co-lead vocals) singing harmonies over catchy hooks boosted by Gurley’s supreme guitar playing. Calio calls it Jimi Hendrix meets Simon & Garfunkel. As a rock band in the early 1990s, dada was painted in the broad swath called alternative rock. “That meant you didn’t sound like Guns 'N' Roses or heavy metal of the ‘80s,” Calio said. Dada took a cerebral path to success. “It was never just a garage band,” Calio said. “It was serious. It was a life change when we made the move to start Dada.” Calio and Gurley were friends in high school and separately they landed in Los Angeles where they played in various bands. Coincidentally, they lived within walking distance of each other. “It was so easy,” Calio said. “We just got together every day or night after work or whatever and worked on music. Only a few weeks into it, we started realizing this was a really good idea. Before we’d maybe write 10 songs in a year and one of them was OK. Now we’re starting to write 10 songs every two weeks.” The epiphany was to stop working on being in bands and just work on songwriting. After about a year, a musical peer, Louis Gutierrez of Mary’s Danish, listened to one of their sessions and told them they needed to perform. The duo argued that they didn’t have a band, but Gutierrez insisted, “You guys are going to open for us” at an upcoming show. The duo played about a half-dozen songs before receiving a standing ovation. “I will never forget that moment because as we walked offstage, I said, ‘Maybe Louis was right. We don’t need a band for right now.’ Then Louis comes over and said, ‘Hey, you guys. Just stay on the tour.’ And so we went up the coast with them and it was it was great.” Calio had a most appropriate day job, working in the mail room at Geffen Records. “It was like going to college,” he said. “I learned the ins and outs of the music business, and after we made demos, I knew who to take them to rather than blanket the entire industry.” The band broke out right away after it added drummer Phil Leavitt. Dada was boosted by a dream.
In the early 1990s, television viewers saw exuberant Super Bowl and World Series winners exclaim they were going to Disneyland and then news reports of the Gulf War and the L.A. Riots. The juxtaposition weaved into Calio’s subconscious. “I woke up about 5:00 in the morning,” Calio said. “All I remember about the dream right now is a big bus went in front of me that had the word Disneyland on it and I heard the melody.” Before going back to sleep, Calio jotted down about 20 verses, such as, “I shot my gun into the night, now I’m going to Dizz Knee Land. I just flipped off President George, I’m going to Dizz Knee Land.” At noon he called Gurley, the two met and put the song together. “I had the peanut butter, he had the chocolate,” Calio said.  From: https://www.tahoeonstage.com/reviews/dada/

Brewer & Shipley - Don't Want to Die in Georgia

 #Brewer & Shipley #folk #folk rock #country rock #singer-songwriter #1960s #1970s

Michael Brewer & Tom Shipley began their careers as solo folk artists on the coffee house circuit in the early 1960s. Both native mid-westerns (Oklahoman and Ohioan respective to their billing), they first met in 1964 at the Blind Owl coffee house in Kent, Ohio.  It would be three more years before they would team up, and during those three years the two crossed paths at clubs on the folk circuit, and each tried their hand in other musical collaborations that didn’t pan out.
In 1965 Michael Brewer migrated to Los Angeles following the emerging west coast music scene. His initial duo Mastin & Brewer signed a record deal with Columbia Records but the group imploded before finishing their record. Brewer eventually accepted a job as a staff songwriter at Good Sam Music, a publishing offshoot of the newly formed A&M Records. Around this time, Tom Shipley arrived in L.A. and looked up his acquaintance from the folk circuit. Tom rented a house around the corner from Michael’s house, and soon they began writing songs together.  When Shipley was subsequently hired as staff writer for A&M in 1967, their partnership began as a songwriting collaboration.
As staff songwriters, their early songs were recorded by The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Glen Yarborough, H.P. Lovecraft, The Poor, Noel Harrison, and Bobby Rydell. A&M Records soon recognized that Michael & Tom’s demo recordings exhibited a unique sound and style of their own, so they green lighted them to record an album. A&M brought in the best musicians in L.A. to play on the album. But even with a soon to be released debut album and mutual friends who were starting to make it big in bands such as The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, and The Association, Michael and Tom so disliked their life in L.A. that they decided to move back to the Midwest as soon as the record was recorded.
In the last decade-plus, the duo has witnessed rejuvenated interest in their music, beginning with BMG's purchase of their Kama Sutra catalog and subsequent re-issue of the critically acclaimed Tarkio release in 1996. This was soon followed by the inclusion of "One Toke Over The Line" on the Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas motion picture soundtrack. A live record of classic performances from 1973, Archive Alive, was released in 1997, the same year they released an album of new material Heartland on their own One Toke Productions label.  From: http://www.brewerandshipley.com/bios&liners/bio_b&s.htm

Vibravoid - Om Gang Ganpataye Namah (Mushroom Mantras)

 #Vibravoid #psychedelic rock #space rock #progressive rock #acid rock #krautrock #heavy psych #1960s retro #German #music video

Vibravoid play psychedelic rock influenced by the early Pink Floyd. Their repertoire also includes some cover versions of Pink Floyd songs. The band describes itself as "Europe's number one psychedelic and acid rock band". In an interview with the magazine Eclipsed, singer and guitarist Christian Koch explained that there is no longer a psychedelic scene: "Everything that now calls itself psychedelic is mostly cheap, uninspired hard rock, stoner or heavy metal." Vibravoid's self-assessment as the leading psychedelic rock band is widely shared by the media. In addition to Pink Floyd, The Who and other bands from the late 1960s and early 1970s are also mentioned as comparisons.  From: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibravoid

Here is my latest discovery in the world of psychedelic and German inspired rock music (I really dislike using the term Krautrock, not wanting to offend anyone). The band Vibravoid hails from Dusseldorf, Germany and released their debut album in 2000 and have released fifteen studio albums thus far. As far as I can tell the band is heavily influenced by late ‘60s to early ‘70s psychedelia in the vein of early Pink Floyd. Being as Pink Floyd is my favourite band, who am I to complain?
“Mushroom Mantras” is all about retro psych, which they do very well, starting with the first track “Om Gang Ganpataye Namah”. Chistian Koch (vocals, guitars) has a mellow and calm vocal delivery when he sings, “all you need to blow your mind you will find if you just look around”. Yes, the lyrics match the music perfectly invoking the spirit of the ‘60s. It’s catchy, melodic and trippy, with a nice groove and whirling guitar and keyboards. A bit heavier is “The Legend Of Doctor Robert”; another fine example of retro psych with its biting guitar tones and weird echo effects on the vocals. “Echoes Of Time” is a cool space rock groove with cosmic sounding synths and deadpan vocals. I could imagine teenagers in the ‘60s listening to music like this while in a drug-induced haze. Although the songs do not change a great deal from one to the next there are enough subtle differences to make this album highly enjoyable and what this threesome do they do very well. “The Orange Coat” at almost twenty minutes has the band developing a great groove after a trippy intro of sitar and effects. It’s a laid back affair but the guitar still has plenty of razor-like bite. At the end of the disc you also get three bonus tracks that were recovered from a tape that was presumed lost. The band’s spacey synths and other-worldly sounds are at the core of these quite experimental tracks. More Pink Floyd influence can be heard, especially in the weird effects and synths. Very cool indeed.
From: https://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=21784

Transylvania Stud - Burn the Witch

 #Transylvania Stud #Andrew Godfrey #stoner metal #stoner rock #doom metal #desert rock #one man band #The By Gods #Queens of the Stone Age cover

Originally a side-project, Andrew Godfrey has made Transylvania Stud his primary outlet for all things rock n’ roll. With the renaissance of classic heavy metal coming to a boil, there isn’t much room for hooks or pop sensibilities. But this is where Transylvania Stud blows the competitions’ doors in.  On this surprise release, Godfrey has teamed up with Nashville’s finest, The By Gods, for a blistering cover of the 2006 would-be classic from Queens Of The Stone Age, “Burn The Witch.” While the original had it’s roots firmly planted in gnarly blues-rock thanks to ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, Godfrey and co. kick it up a notch, with an overall emphasis on groove and tension.  The music video for “Burn The Witch” is like a 1960s psychedelic reel of avant-garde horror imagery including (but not limited to) cemeteries, snake handlers, ominous cloaked figures, exorcisms, and of course, a witch!  From: https://www.50thirdand3rd.com/transylvania-stud-burn-the-witch-music-video/ 

 

Pink Floyd - Matilda Mother

 #Pink Floyd #Syd Barrett #Roger Waters #psychedelic rock #British psychedelia #progressive rock #art rock #space rock #experimental rock #blues rock #1960s

The original members of Pink Floyd met in an architectural college. The band started as a blues band. Later, under Syd Barrett's leadership, they played music that was psychedelic in style. After Barrett left the band, they started to play longer and more complicated songs, and to play at a lot of colleges and universities. Soon, they were famous as studio musicians who loved to experiment with music. On the album Atom Heart Mother, from 1970, they used a brass band and a choir. They used a lot of things to make their concerts interesting to watch. They had a round movie screen on the stage. They would show videos on the screen when they played. They also used lighting and lasers in a much fancier way than many bands do. They also had big balloon puppets. The most famous is in the shape of a pig, which first appeared on the cover for their album, Animals. The pig has since become a symbol of Pink Floyd. Another symbol that reminds people of Pink Floyd is a prism with light shining through it. This was on the cover of Dark Side of the Moon, one of their most popular albums.  From: https://kids.kiddle.co/Pink_Floyd

By the spring of 1967, Pink Floyd was at the forefront of the psychedelic rock movement that was pushing its way into mainstream popular culture. Fronted by lead guitarist and songwriter Syd Barrett, and including bassist Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason and organist Richard Wright, the band cracked the Top 20 in the United Kingdom with their catchy debut single, "Arnold Layne." In May 1967, they made an indelible impression with the Games for May concert at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, featuring a quadraphonic sound system, dazzling light show and bubble-generating machine. The band was fueled by the creativity of its frontman, known for his cryptic lyrics that mixed mysticism and wordplay, and an experimental guitar style that made use of echo machines and other distortions. Sadly, the same forces that drove Barrett to artistic breakthroughs also led him down the path of self-destruction, leaving him exiled from the group shortly after they arrived on the charts and rendering him a cautionary tale as Pink Floyd became one of the biggest bands in the world.  From: https://www.biography.com/news/syd-barrett-pink-floyd

K's Choice - Not An Addict

 #K's Choice #alternative rock #folk rock #hard rock #post-grunge #indie rock #1990s #Belgian

K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp. The band centers on siblings Sam Bettens (formerly known as Sarah Bettens) (lead vocals, guitar) and Gert Bettens (guitar, keyboard, vocals). They are joined by Eric Grossman (bass), Jan van Sichem Jr. (guitar) and Koen Liekens (drums). Their music can be described as guitar-based singer-songwriter rock or folk-rock. It ranges from very delicate and intimate singer-songwriter songs to songs that are stronger, more active and louder. Sarah's smoky, enigmatic voice is the band's best known characteristic. In the seven years between The Great Subconscious Club and Almost Happy the music changed from raw and guitar-based to a more subtle and delicate sound. Sarah and Gert write most of the music and lyrics. Most of it is written separately. Sarah mainly tries to express ideas in her songs, and has a hand in writing silly and tongue-in-cheek songs. Gert has one big theme: losing the one you love. While most of the songs are easily accessible and open, some others are strange and incomprehensible. This led Sarah to comment: "Listening to the lyrics for the first time, you may find it hard to understand their meaning. When you listen to them a second time you may sense a basic truth in these cryptic words. If you do so, please let me know." This band appeared in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Doppelgangland) with the song Virgin State of Mind, leading to a boost in popularity.Their most popular song 'Not an addict' can be heard in the movie 'Wild things'.  From: https://www.last.fm/music/K%27s+Choice/+wiki

It’s too easy to assume, as so many already have, that the ’90s classic anthem “Not An Addict” by Belgian rock band K’s Choice from the album Paradise in Me, is simply about the denial of drug addiction. However, according to an interview with Billboard magazine, the song’s meaning takes on a more nuanced perspective of (formerly known as Sarah), transgender lead singer Sam Bettens’ view of controlled substance dependence, and the criminality of what he considered “soft drugs” like cannabis at the time.
Even though most ’90s rock bands proudly wore their ‘sex-drugs-rock-and-roll’ personas unapologetically on their sleeves, Bettens was fairly open about having made a valiant effort to avoid “hard drugs.” He was nonetheless still forthcoming about using cannabis and experimenting with psychedelics. In his interview, Bettens fully acknowledges, “I was addicted to cigarettes really bad,” also admitting, “I’ll smoke a joint once in a while and I might try acid or mushrooms, but I’ve never done any hard drugs, and I don’t think I want to.” The reason he explained was, “I like being in control of myself, and doing certain drugs makes you lose touch. That’s what scares me.”
Bettens was also adamant about clarifying that “Not An Addict” is neither anti, nor pro-drug use, and that the song’s meaning is by no means black or white, much like competing opinions about cannabis dependence. Bettens’ perspective, and song lyrics if anything, reflect modern-day cannabis use debates, captured in the form of a hauntingly melodic internal conflict.
From: https://trauma.blog.yorku.ca/2022/08/not-an-addict/

Laboratorium Piesni - U Lisi

 #Laboratorium Piesni #world music #folk music #European folk #Eastern European folk #ethnic #traditional #polyphonic chant #Slavic folk music #a capella #white voice #Polish

Laboratorium Pieśni (Song Laboratory) is a group of female singers from Poland, created in 2013. Using traditional, polyphonic singing they perform songs from all over the world: Ukraine, Balkans, Poland, Belarus, Georgia, Scandinavia and many other places. They sing a capella as well as with shaman drums and other ethnic instruments (shruti box, kalimba, flute, gong, zaphir and koshi chimes, singing bowls, rattles etc.), creating a new space in a traditional song, adding voice improvisations, inspired by sounds of nature, often intuitive, wild and feminine.  From: http://laboratoriumpiesni.pl/en/about/

There is a song that is always waiting for you. It reminds you of the simplest things. Open your heart, expand your understanding, open yourself to the primal memory of who you really are. You are the song and the song is you. Take a deep breath and release it. It will become a wild river that will fill your life, taking you to the source. This song is your life.
Our Tribe! We invite you to the world of our newest album “Hé Oyáte”, filled with polyphonic traditional songs of different cultures, as well as original intuitive compositions in dreamed up words, melodies and stories, in the rhythm of shamanic drums, nature sounds and Earth’s pulse.  From: https://laboratoriumpiesni.bandcamp.com/album/h-oy-te-2

Author & Punisher - Night Terror

 #Author & Punisher #Tristan Shone #industrial metal #drone metal #doom metal #art metal #one man band #drone machine #dub machine

Author & Punisher is an industrial doom and drone metal one man band utilizing primarily custom fabricated machines/controllers and speakers called Drone/Dub Machines. The devices draw heavily on aspects of industrial automation, robotics and mechanical tools and devices, focusing on the eroticism of the interaction with machine.  From: https://authorandpunisher.bandcamp.com/community

If you or I wanted to mess with the pitch of an electronic bass signal, we’d probably plug in the nearest $50.00 MIDI controller and have at it. But we are not Author & Punisher. When Tristan Shone, who has made music under that justly severe moniker since 2005, wants to mess with such a pitch, he gears two high-torque motors to a pair of throttles, giving them autopilot and force-feedback functions. When he performs, it looks like he’s trying to fly an X-Wing with a bad steering rack into the Death Star.
Though he had already issued a few albums of moody industrial music before 2010, those throttles were the first “drone machines” the San Diego-based robotics engineer with a master’s degree in sculpture designed and fabricated. Shone literalized the idea of sonic sculpture, fusing the ethereal and the physical into an industrial metal vision. This tension characterizes Shone’s cursed soundscapes, too, which rampage between rhythm and randomness, melody and mayhem, infernal depths and screaming heights.
Eight years and a half-dozen releases later, Shone has released his Relapse Records debut, Beastland. His arsenal has grown to include so many forbidding prosthetics and devices he’s like a Rube Goldberg war machine stamping out arty Godflesh songs in stainless steel, his industrial core sprouting tumors of doom, drone, noise, and, covertly, pop. Metal vocals are recessed inside demonic sub-bass, concussive percussion, and skirling frequencies. Whether simmering or exploding, these eight three-to-six-minute tracks are exercises in perpetual combustion, a burning darkness expending some unnaturally limitless fuel.
Most of Shone’s creations are not instruments, per se. Some merely capture vocals in the most ominous sense of the verb, portending torture to follow - his elephantine drone mask, his fetish-y trachea mic, his Bane-style headgear. Others control electronic sounds. His “Linear Actuator” is visually suggestive of both a railgun and a tank tread, while “Rails” looks like some cruel factory press poised to remove a machine worker’s arm. These devices are not just for show; they meaningfully shape the sounds Shone makes. Instead of being designed for ease, his controllers fight back, offering physical resistance and semi-predictable outcomes, sewing chaos instead of order.
From: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/author-and-publisher-beastland/

Cellar Darling - The Prophet's Song

 #Cellar Darling #progressive metal #folk metal #folk rock #doom metal #Swiss #Queen cover

Cellar Darling are a three-piece Swiss progressive metal band from Winterthur and Lucerne, founded in 2016. The group was formed by Anna Murphy (vocals, hurdy-gurdy, flute), Merlin Sutter (drums) and Ivo Henzi (guitars and bass). Cellar Darling incorporates heavy metal, folk, classical, and progressive influences. Notably, the band uses a hurdy-gurdy and a transverse flute. The trio were previously part of the Swiss metal band Eluveitie.   From: https://musicbrainz.org/artist/8291df18-f05a-46ea-93dd-64f55d976ff2 

We want to unleash feelings and experiences by telling stories and drawing symbols, in the way mankind has done since its existence: through legends, folk tales, theatre, drama, spirituality - and through songs. We reinvent folk tales for our age as the very essence of what they once were: stories of everyday life. We may sing about the future, we may sing about the past - for essentially, they are the same. If you come to experience our show, you will not know what to expect. If days are bright, our performance shall be bright. If they are dark, it will be dark. In any case, we will tell you stories: those you’ve missed in a world where no bed time stories are told anymore, or those which have never been told before.

Cellar Darling was formed by Anna Murphy (vocals, hurdy-gurdy), Merlin Sutter (drums) and Ivo Henzi (guitars & bass) in the summer of 2016. The trio has previously been part of the core of Switzerland's most successful metal band to date, Eluveitie, touring the world in 45+ countries on 6 continents for over a decade, and forming a bond that could overcome any adversity.
Anna, Ivo & Merlin have turned the departure from their old band into a new beginning, and have moved on to make their own music, while continuing the spirit of musical innovation they have become known for. Cellar Darling’s music is an epic, theatric combination of Ivo’s grand, heavy riffs, Merlin’s energetic drumming, and Anna’s unique, both powerful and fragile voice. Their sound is shaped by the hurdy-gurdy, with its signature folky, earthy tones, and their lyrics tell stories and tales both old and new, true to the band's stated mission: the reinvention of folk tales for our modern age as the very essence of what they once were.   

From: https://www.heavymetal.ch/artists/3676/cellar-darling

Tenebra - Moon Maiden

#Tenebra #stoner rock #psychedelic rock #blues rock #hard rock #hard psych #heavy metal #punk metal #occult rock #doom metal #noise rock #Italian

Tenebra are an Italian quartet offering Stoner and Psychedelic Blues sounds with retro references and a modern twist. Formed in October 2017, Claudio (bass), Emilio (guitar) and Mesca (drums) come from the hardcore and post-hardcore scene in Bologna, whereas vocalist Silvia is steeped in the underground rock of the ’60s and’ 70s. Together they create music that is not only the sum of their influences but pushes those influences outwards, adding odd tempo changes and nods towards Misfits, June of 44 and Love Battery into their strange brew.  From: https://maximumvolumemusic.com/band-of-the-day-tenebra/

The city of Bologna in Italy has around 400,000 inhabitants with 150 different nationalities. In 2019, out of this melting pot rose Tenebra, who are now releasing their new album Moongazer. Their music is an instant throwback, while being securely rooted in the here and now. Mesca’s accomplished drumming is garnished by Claudio Troise’s booming bass and Emilio Toreggiani’s filthy, smoky guitar. And then, on top of this deadly but sexy sonic concoction, come raspy incantations from Silvia Fennino. Sylvia Fennino’s voice is something to behold. It’s almost an event all by itself. She sounds as if she has just finished a pack of cigarettes while drinking straight scotch and gargling gravel. All while being able to sing VERY well. I could just imagine the 3 guys having a totally different sound – until they heard Sylvia sing. Then the lightbulb went on above their heads - “Stoner Rock. Definitely Bluesy Stoner Rock!” Her singing sounds effortless, while at the same time sounding like it takes all the power she possesses to wail her siren song.
I couldn’t imagine watching this band in the modern age. Their brand of melodious noise invokes a bygone era of smoke-filled bars filled with people whose wardrobe primarily consists of leather, and have a penchant for vehicles with two wheels rather than four. You could imagine them playing a set and then hanging out backstage with the likes of Jim Morrison or Marc Bolan.
From: https://www.metalepidemic.com/tenebra-moongazer/

Beck - Devil's Haircut

 #Beck #alternative rock #folk rock #anti-folk #psychedelia #lo-fi #art rock #indie rock #underground rock #experimental #electronic rock #1990s

American musician Beck is a difficult artist to define. With a career that spans four decades, Beck’s music has encompassed every genre imaginable, including folk, funk, soul, hip-hop, electronic, alt-rock, country, and psychedelia. Unhindered by the expectations set upon him by previous releases, Beck has released 14 studio albums, each showcasing a distinct crevice of his creative identity.  From: https://happymag.tv/best-of-beck/

Beck himself has talked about the meaning of "Devils Haircut" on a few occasions. In one interview, he claimed that it was "a really simplistic metaphor for the evil of vanity". He said of the song: I don't know if I ever had any youthful purity, but I can understand that you might be tempted to make commercial shit and compromise to do it. I try not to compromise on anything. I think we associate becoming an adult with compromise. Maybe that's what the devil is. In "Devils Haircut", that was the scenario. I imagined Stagger Lee... I thought, what if this guy showed up now in 1996... I thought of using him as a Rumpelstiltskin figure, this Lazarus figure to comment on where we've ended up as people. What would he make of materialism and greed and ideals of beauty and perfection? His reaction would be, "Whoa, this is disturbing shit".  From: https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/9579/

Aman Aman - Sien Drahmas Al Dia

 #Aman Aman #world music #folk music #Sephardic music #Mediterranian music #Greek folk #Turkish folk #traditional #neo-medieval #Ladino

Aman Aman are a group of skilled world musicians and ethnomusicologists who came together to explore the traditional music of the Sephardi, the Jewish people of Spain. This mixture of Jewish heritage with Spanish language, customs, and music created a fascinating culture that is seldom recognized. With a wealth of knowledge between them (many of the band members teach music at the university level), the ensemble reproduces music from many Mediterranean countries, including Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, and Spain.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/aman-aman-mn0001533419/biography

We are used to hearing the Sephardic repertoire interpreted from the perspective of the world of classical musicians, with all its tics: fake voices, musicians playing with sheet music and no room for improvisation. Aman Aman prefers to approach it from the perspective of the traditional music of those countries that welcomed the Sephardim, which is, after all, the source from which they drank when they arrived from their diaspora. In some cases, we have even dared to mix the music of the Sephardim with Turkish or Greek pieces, with which they are very similar.
The sound of Aman Aman is based, as can be heard in various field recordings, on the sound of strings, winds and percussion from the Middle East, with the more "current" contribution of the cello, although played as in the modern orchestras of the Maghreb, Turkey or Egypt.
The ensemble is made up of Aziz Samsaoui (qanun), Diego López (bendir, darbuka, zarb, doira and riq), Efrén López (ud, bağlama, lavta, cümbüs and tanbur), Eleni Kallimopoulou (politiki lyra), Hristos Barbas (ney and kaval), Mara Aranda (voice and bendir) and Matthieu Saglio (cello).
In the year 1492 the Christian kings Fernando de Aragón and Isabel de Castilla decreed the expulsion or conversion of all Spanish Jews who had inhabited the peninsula since the first century AD. In a few months, more than 160,000 Jews left for the Ottoman Empire, Provence, North Africa, the Balkan states, and also Italy and the Netherlands. Diaspora Jews passed on their medieval Spanish past to their children: customs, music and language, and thus, from generation to generation, these elements were preserved to this day.
The traditional songs of the Sephardic Jews were, and continue to be, the romances in the Judeo-Spanish language (judezmo or haketía), which is currently incorrectly called “ladino”. There are no written examples of this popular music, but a large part of this wealth has come to us by oral transmission. In the interpretation of traditional Sephardic music, the female voice predominates. Men who knew Hebrew participated in the synagogal liturgy. The women generally did not know Hebrew writing and they sang in Jewish-Spanish, which is the daily language, the songs that refer to the cycle of life: birth, growth, marriage and death. The Sephardic lifestyle was merging with that of those places where they lived. And thus they integrated new melodies, rhythms, instruments, cadential formulas and ornaments to their repertoire. Also words from these new languages and any element that served the purpose of the song.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the Sephardic colonies of the western and eastern Mediterranean constituted two clearly distinct and independent cultures: that of the eastern Mediterranean (Turkey, Greece, the former Yugoslavia and Bulgaria) and that of the western Mediterranean (clearly influenced by Moroccan elements, and Spanish). Currently the Jewish community of the Spanish State is about 15,000 members. In addition, there are thousands of descendants of converted Jews who do not know their ancestry. Knowing and spreading these songs is knowing a part of the history of the place where we live and enriching our own human and cultural identity.
From: https://www.womex.com/virtual/aman_aman

The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Manic Depression

 #The Jimi Hendrix Experience #hard rock #psychedelic rock #blues rock #R&B #heavy metal #British psychedelia #acid rock #1960s Mitch Mitchell #Noel Redding

There has been a lot of speculation that Hendrix had bipolar disorder based on some erratic behavior and mood swings he had. A big part of this, I think, is because he wrote a song called “manic depression” (an older term for bipolar disorder) with some assuming it was based on personal experience. My answer to this is that so far as I know Hendrix was never diagnosed with that disorder during his lifetime. I’ve never heard of him having either characteristic manic or depressive episodes, either. There are potentially other explanations for his behavior (including more mundane substance abuse). The description of “Manic depression” in his song of the same name doesn’t really correlate well with current understanding of that disorder. So my answer is that absent a contemporary psychiatric evaluation, I don’t think anyone can say for sure that he did or didn’t have bipolar disorder, but I think evidence for it is pretty thin.

I believe he did in fact suffer from Bipolar Disorder Through his lyrics, his drug/alcohol addiction, his mannerisms, the depression that he suffered from and from his clothing. Mental illnesses including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder gives away physical symptoms, such as the sufferers wearing bright colors and strange patterns. On top of that, there’s a significant loss in his weight from the time he entered the military and the time that he was discovered. This disorder makes them unable to even get out of bed to eat. Then again, this could have been caused by the lack of money he had at the time, when he was traveling in the chitlin circuit. But, his weight got even lower and according to his close friends, not the hanger-ons, they stated that he hardly ate. Another concern would be his sleeping pattern. He often said that he had trouble sleeping and that he either slept too little or slept too much. Sometimes he would go days without sleeping. There was even an incident where he was scheduled to appear on the Dick Cavett show the day after Woodstock, I believe. But, he ended up missing. It probably had something to do with exhaustion because he had to be carried back to his dressing room. Dick asked about Jimi about twice during the interview, it was poignant and kind of creepy.

From: https://www.quora.com/Did-Jimi-Hendrix-have-bipolar-disorder

The Jimi Hendrix Experience was an English-American rock band that came together in London, in 1966. Composed of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Jimi Hendrix, bassist and backing vocalist Noel Redding, and drummer Mitch Mitchell, the band was active until 1969. During this time they released three successful studio albums. After Redding left the band in mid-1969, Hendrix and Mitchell continued to work together on other projects. The Experience reunited in 1970, with Billy Cox on bass, until Hendrix's death in September. Widely recognized as hugely influential in the development of the hard rock and heavy metal music genres during the late-1960s and beyond, The Jimi Hendrix Experience was best known for the skill, style and charisma of their frontman, Hendrix, who has since been called one of the greatest guitarists of all time by various music publications and writers. In his brief four-year reign as a superstar, Jimi Hendrix expanded the vocabulary of the electric rock guitar more than anyone before or since. Hendrix was a master at coaxing all manner of unforeseen sonics from his instrument, often with innovative amplification experiments that produced astral-quality feedback and roaring distortion. His frequent hurricane blasts of noise and dazzling showmanship - he could and would play behind his back and with his teeth and set his guitar on fire - has sometimes obscured his considerable gifts as a songwriter, singer, and master of a gamut of blues, R&B, and rock styles.  From: https://rock.fandom.com/wiki/The_Jimi_Hendrix_Experience and https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-jimi-hendrix-experience-mn0000088906/biography

Reggie Watts - Fuck Shit Stack

 #Reggie Watts #comedy #comedic music #electronic music #trip-hop #soul #alternative comedy #music video

Reginald Lucien Frank Roger Watts is an American comedian, actor, beatboxer, and musician. His improvised musical sets are created using only his voice, a keyboard, and a looping machine. Watts refers to himself as a "disinformationist" who aims to disorient his audience in a comedic fashion. He appeared on the IFC series Comedy Bang! Bang! and leads the house band for The Late Late Show with James Corden.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reggie_Watts

The dude is hilarious. I’ve been on this Reggie Watts kick for almost four months now, ever since my friend sent me a link to his music/comedy video, “Fuck, Shit, Stack,” parody of his view of hip-hop. Aside from the crazy hair that he said, “adds to his look,” Reggie was wearing a fitted Montana t-shirt, suspenders, and blinged out triple rings when he met me at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan last week. Watts is currently the opening act for Conan O’Brien on The Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour and recently recorded material for his Comedy Central special Why Shit So Crazy? He’s most noted for his improv comedy, but has dipped and dabbled into music, theatre, and performing arts. Not only that, he’s Alice Walker’s second cousin (although he admits to never reading any of her work). Reggie’s currently in New York for a string of performances over the next several weeks, and we were lucky to catch up with him for a brief moment. Check out our exclusive interview with the man who makes profanity totally okay.

I heard you’re a fan of our site.

Yea, someone told me about the site and I like the idea of it highlighting an under represented phenomenon.

Phenomenon?

I mean, it’s just that it quantifies alternative black culture in a way where its in a place. It’s nice to pull it all together.

How do you fall into the odd mix of things?

I guess I do because I don’t carry on in my comedy and when I perform, like here is a black person. I never really think of it that way. It’s just me and I’m kind of just doing stuff. Often times, people remind me and then I’ll be like, oh yea. But I’m going to do the same thing. A Latino guy with a bandanna gets up on stage, I’m going to immediately go, okay, and then when he starts talking about particle physics, then I’m like, wow. That’s really cool. I like that getting what you don’t expect. So in essence, I like the celebration of getting things that you don’t expect when you think you know what’s about to happen.

Let’s talk comedy. What’s funny to you?

Anything absurd. That’s my favorite form of comedy. Making it irrelevant by making it silly.

Is that what your song, “Fuck Shit Stack” is all about? I know all of the dance moves.

The song developed organically because I haven’t really written anything. Sometimes things stick and I start repeating them in my routines. So I think that was over two years of development and growth. I was just fucking around with it, not really taking it seriously. Then Comedy Central wanted to put out my record so I decided to do “Fuck Shit Stack” as my single. So I had some points I wanted to hit in the video. It was awesome.

What was the meaning behind the video?

The song was me playing on the cliche of hip hop. I love the beats, but sometimes it’s just so stupid. They’re just repacking the same shit over and over again.

Is that what the fuck shit is stacking?

I’ve never really given the title a definition because everyone kind of gives it it’s own thing and I kind of like that. The tangible lyrics are pretty basic and it’s fun to use swear words.

Are there any hip-hop artists you want to share this song with?

I call it pop hop. Like Jay Z, it didn’t come from that but that’s where it is. Not saying that it’s not heart filled, but its Hollywood, its glossy, it’s lifestyle music but no one lives that lifestyle. So its catchy but its irrelevant because it’s someones ideal of what life is like which is unattainable to the masses. Its not adding to the good to life.

From: https://afropunk.com/2010/09/fuck-shit-stack-up-with-reggie-watts/

Poco - C'mon

 #Poco #Richie Furay #Timothy Schmidt #Jim Messina #Randy Meisner #country rock #folk rock #ex-Buffalo Springfield #pre-Eagles #1960s #1970s #Beat-Club

The great Southern Californian country-rock group Poco can take a large amount of credit for forging a path through the roots and heartland of their chosen sound. Richie Furay and Jim Messina already had the reputation and the chops since they’d been fundamental to the success of Buffalo Springfield. The multi-instrumentalist Rusty Young added a flavour of pedal steel and six-string virtuosity while George Grantham’s drums and Randy Meisner’s lucid bass and distinctive harmony vocals completed a panoramic view of contemporary Troubadour era rock culture with an eye on the mythic Western past.  From: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/artist/poco/

Poco’s first two studio albums and Deliverin’, the live set from 1971, represent some of the best country-rock laid down to wax.  The tracks were taken from two recorded live shows: Boston’s Music Hall and New York City’s Felt Forum.  If you’re into this kind of music, Deliverin’ represents a kind of peak or pinnacle for the genre.  If only for the powerful playing, tight performances and Rusty Young’s brilliant, often underrated steel guitar work.  It’s easily one of the best live discs of its time; a better played and more enjoyable listening experience than say the Rolling Stones’ Get Yer Ya Ya’s Out.  Furay and Messina are in great spirits too, often lifting the mood and interplay between the musicians.  That’s what makes Deliverin’ so essential; the positive attitudes and vibrant mood of the musicians.  This music soothes the soul and lifts spirits; it’s good listening when you’re having a bad day or going through the motions.  But there’s also depth here too, these tunes will stick in your head for days.
Deliverin’ is high energy, hard hitting country music that mixes new group originals with tracks from Poco’s first two albums and a few Richie Furay penned Buffalo Springfield era gems.  “Kind Woman”, a great, great song, is given a 5 minute rendition while “A Child’s Claim To Fame” is the center of a brilliant medley which also includes “Pickin’ Up The Pieces” and the awesome “Hard Luck.”  They rock the hell out of album opener “I Guess You Made It” and nearly burst into flames on an acoustic version of “You’d Better Think Twice,” which was one of their all-time classics (a small radio hit too).  Deliverin’ ends with another great medley that is mostly comprised of songs from Poco’s superb debut. Not a wasted moment here.  This is Jim Messina’s swan song with the group as he would leave shortly after, forming the Loggins & Messina duo with Kenny Loggins of course.  Deliverin’ shows us why Poco was one of the great American bands.  From: https://therisingstorm.net/poco-deliverin/

First Aid Kit - It's a Shame

 #First Aid Kit #indie folk #Americana #country folk #folk rock #folk pop #singer-songwriter #Swedish

First Aid Kit is a Swedish folk duo consisting of the sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg.  They are from Stockholm, Sweden but their music sounds like a slice of Americana: acoustic guitar, autoharp and lots of vocal harmony. First Aid Kit is known for sweet melodies paired with lyrics that are often dark.  https://www.firstaidkitband.com/

This song was written in the car going back to our rental house in LA after spending a beautiful day at El Matador beach. It’s a song about having to get used to being on your own after being with someone for a long time. How desperately lonely you can feel. How you wish you were stronger and how ashamed you can be of the fact that you’re not. When we traveled to LA we had lots of expectations of what the trip was going to be like. It didn’t really turn out the way we had planned. We were both very sad. “It’s a Shame” came out of the frustration and guilt we felt at the time. We were listening a lot to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours when recording this song in the studio. There’s a bouncy quality to that record that we love. We wanted the song to feel alive and upbeat, in stark contrast to the lyrical content.  From: https://genius.com/First-aid-kit-its-a-shame-lyrics

The Byrds - It Won't Be Wrong

 #The Byrds #Roger McGuinn #David Crosby #Gene Clark #Chris Hillman #folk rock #psychedelic rock #country rock #jangle pop #classic rock #1960s

Although they only attained the huge success of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Beach Boys for a short time in the mid-1960s, time has judged the Byrds to be nearly as influential as those groups in the long run. They were not solely responsible for devising folk-rock, but they were certainly more responsible than any other single act (Dylan included) for melding the innovations and energy of the British Invasion with the best lyrical and musical elements of contemporary folk music. The jangling, 12-string guitar sound of leader Roger McGuinn's Rickenbacker was permanently absorbed into the vocabulary of rock. They also played a vital role in pioneering psychedelic rock and country-rock, the unifying element being their angelic harmonies and restless eclecticism.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-byrds-mn0000631774/biography

"It Won't Be Wrong" was composed in 1964 by the Byrds lead guitarist Jim McGuinn and his friend Harvey Gerst, who was an acquaintance from McGuinn's days as a folk singer at The Troubadour folk club in West Hollywood, California. The song originally appeared with the alternate title of "Don't Be Long" on the B-side of a single that the Byrds had released on Elektra Records in October 1964, under the pseudonym the Beefeaters. By the time the song was re-recorded in September 1965, during the recording sessions for the Byrds' second Columbia Records' album, its title had been changed to "It Won't Be Wrong". Both the band and their producer Terry Melcher felt that the 1965 version included on the Turn! Turn! Turn! album was far more accomplished and exciting than the earlier Elektra recording of the song.
Lyrically, the song is a relatively simplistic appeal for a lover to submit to the singer's romantic advances. Musically, however, the guitar riff following each verse foreshadows the raga experimentation of the band's later songs "Eight Miles High" and "Why", both of which would be recorded within three months of "It Won't Be Wrong". The Byrds' biographer, Johnny Rogan, has described the difference between the earlier Beefeaters' recording of the song and The Byrds' Columbia version as remarkable. Rogan went on to state that the "lackluster Beefeaters' version was replaced by the driving beat of a Byrds rock classic, complete with strident guitars and improved harmonies, that transformed the sentiments of the song from an ineffectual statement to a passionate plea."  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Won%27t_Be_Wrong
 

Lemon Sky - Ash and Bone

 #Lemon Sky #psychedelic rock #progressive rock #heavy psych #hard rock #1970s retro

Lemon Sky is a Cincinnati based psych-rock/prog-pop quintet that creates a heavy yet highly-melodic brand of psychedelic garage rock that combines the classic rock pomp and stomp of Led Zeppelin with the paisley pop melodies and modern musicality of Queens of the Stone Age for a forward-thinking sound rooted in the past.  From: https://www.bandsintown.com/a/2381083-lemon-sky 

“We’re all living in a world I dreamed,” croons Lemon Sky lead singer Aaron Madrigal in the chorus of “Dos”, which shares the same name as the latest release from the Cincinnati, Ohio quintet. The world that Lemon Sky has dreamed is one of rich harmonies, heavy guitars and hard-hitting beats that mold together to form their own brand of “citrus rock”. Pulling in influences from rock greats Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, Lemon Sky’s aptly named sophomore release, Dos, offers up phantasmagorical arrangements that take you on a psychedelic jaunt beginning with the soft chill of “Err” to the cumulative chords of the 8 minute finale, “Ash & Bone”. While it’s been five years since their debut release, Dos is worth the wait as Lemon Sky reaches for new heights in their pursuit of rock n roll.  From: https://midwestaxn.com/music/review/dos-by-lemon-sky/

Tardigrade Inferno - How Nightmares Die

 #Tardigrade Inferno #avant-garde metal #alternative metal #dark cabaret #dark circus music #Russian #animated music video

Coming from the musically rich city of St Petersburg, Russia is the extraordinarily zany and creative band Tardigrade Inferno which formed somewhere around 2016 and released one self-titled EP and has been somewhat quiet for a few years. The year 2019 has barely had time to warm up and the band finally unleash the very first debut full-length MASTERMIND which displays the band’s unique mix of alternative metal with dark cabaret circus music. Add in sprinklings of death metal, thrash and power metal and you have one of early 2019’s most promising new acts.
The word “Tardigrade” can refer to either a variety of slow-moving microscopic invertebrates or it can simply be an adjective that means slow-moving or slow in action. I have no friggin’ idea how this applies to this band since this is high energy metal and there is relatively little info about this band on the net as i can’t even find any sort of biography whatsoever, however i can say that this band has found a unique sound right off the bat. However if i had to compare Tardigrade Inferno to any other band it would definitely be Diablo Swing Orchestra as it has the same cartoonish feel and the singing style of lead vocalist Darya Pavlovich sounds a lot like both AnnLouice Lögdlund and Kristin Evegård of DSO.
Musically though, this band doesn’t break out the jazz instrumentation or even circus accordions but rather delivers a metal music heft piled on top of dark cabaret and circus melodies alongside the bouncy festive rhythms that are associated with the greatest show on Earth. The metal bombast is mostly carried out by the power chord slapping staccato style accompanied by circusy keyboard runs but different metal variations come into play however mostly in an alternative metal down-tuned power chord rampage. While Darya Pavlovich’s vocal range stays more in clean vocal cabaret mode, she occasionally screams in metal style reminding me of Arch Enemy for short stints but unfortunately not nearly enough! The circus bounces are always under the surface despite heavy metal thunder stomping fast numbers or slower subdued moments.
While i’m constantly reminded of Diablo Swing Orchestra, Tardigrade Inferno isn’t nearly as daring and out there and is rather restrained in comparison. While the music is definitely quirky and playful it doesn’t change the sound up nearly often enough although there are moments such as on the title track where death growls and guitar solos enter the picture, otherwise Darya is pretty much on cutesy Gwen Stefani mode and reminds me a bit of the 90s band No Doubt only with more metal bombast. While a band to look out for as the members become more comfortable with this stylistic fusion approach, this debut is a great start with elements of ska, gypsy swing and the dominant dark cabaret sounds keeping the album infectiously catchy and light-hearted without skimping on the metallic angst.  From: https://www.metalmusicarchives.com/artist/tardigrade-inferno

Nina Hagen - Ziggy Stardust

 #Nina Hagen #new wave #Deutschrock #post-punk #synthpop #David Bowie cover #music video

Also known as the Godmother of Punk, Nina Hagen is a German singer and actress famous for her eccentric singing style and appearance. She has experimented with a vast number of different styles and genres throughout her career including reggae, punk, gospel, big band, swing and even Hindu devotional music.  From: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/bands/Nina-Hagen/44592/

‘I never said I am doing punk music. I never said I am a punk. They said that. I wanted to do rock music since I was 12 years old. It touched my heart to hear Tina Turner, the Beatles. And they were all my singing teachers because I made cassettes. And I sang along. And I wanted to make music like that.’ Born and raised in Berlin, East Germany, CBS Records signed Hagen in 1976 when she was 21. They knew she could sing ‘like a walking volcano,’ as she says, but they wanted her to learn live performance. So they gave her a lot of time and some money to go to London. ‘I saw all the punk bands and when I came back to Berlin I cut my hair short and made black lipstick’, Hagen says. ‘And then they said I’m a punk. I am an entertainer. I sing political cabaret and spiritual cabaret and I write songs about anything concerning life. So it’s just maybe one aspect of my art, punk art.’  From: https://www.maramarietta.com/the-arts/music/neo-classical-and-contemporary/nina-hagen/