Alice Cooper - Billion Dollar Babies

 #Alice Cooper #hard rock #heavy metal #shock rock #glam rock #art rock #classic rock #glam metal #garage rock #1970s

The title track off of Alice Cooper’s most successful album up to that point, ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ presents the dangers of overindulgence. The background falsetto is provided by Scottish singer/songwriter, Donovan. In spite of the oftentimes comically distorted and grotesque subject matter throughout the album, Cooper says that Chuck Berry provided the bulk of his inspiration while making the album: “Berry was my favorite lyricist. When I first heard something like ‘Nadine,’ or ‘Maybelline,’ I understood those songs told a story. As the lyrics went along, you really got a picture of what was going on. He took the girl out; he couldn’t get his seat belt off – things like that. I always wanted to write three-minute stories that were funny, or maybe not just funny, but also dramatic. The idea was to compact everything into three minutes, which is really hard to do.” 

Donovan, during a post-show interview, on adding lyrics to Cooper’s ‘Billion Dollar Babies’: “Alice was downstairs and I was upstairs at Morgan Studios when he was doing ‘Billion Dollar Babies’, I had heard this track and he asked me to put a vocal on it and I said ‘Sure. But it’s so big and so bouncy and so loud, I think I’m going to have to get into a falsetto!’ No one believed it was me!”  

From: https://genius.com/Alice-cooper-billion-dollar-babies-lyrics

Ouzo Bazooka - My Prince

 #Ouzo Bazooka #psychedelic rock #neo-psychedelia #Middle Eastern rock #garage rock #Middle Eastern psych rock #desert rock #psychedelic surf #Isreali #music video

Ouzo Bazooka was formed in Tel Aviv by Uri Brauner Kinrot, who grew up on the sunny shores of the Mediterranean sea and has been active in the music scene for over a decade, shaping the sound of influential local groups as well as the critically acclaimed mediterranean surf band Boom Pam (who collaborated with Turkish psychedelic-folk legend Selda Bağcan). Tel Aviv’s cultural diversity served as the perfect backdrop for Ouzo Bazooka’s formation and the maturing of their style; an exotic blend of middle eastern sounds and scales, moulded together with fuzzed psychedelic surf rock and garage. Following the release of their acclaimed self-titled debut album in 2014, the band was embraced by the local crowd and became somewhat of a local phenomenon. It was only a matter of time before their sounds reached the European front and after memorable high profile festival appearances, followed by two stellar releases, the media, critics and the international crowd took notice. The band’s position as the ambassadors of a new middle eastern rock sound was cemented.  From: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5067836177008380097/4507547854277938480

Orla Gartland - I Go Crazy

#Orla Gartland #indie folk #contemporary folk #folk pop #R&B #alternative rock #indie rock #singer-songwriter #music video 

Irish musician Orla Gartland combines singer/songwriter folk and elements of traditional Irish music with bedroom pop sensibilities. Hailing from Dublin, Gartland was taught to play violin, fiddle, and other traditional instruments at the age of 5, but she found her true calling when she picked up the guitar at 12. Within a year she was uploading cover songs online, eventually branching out and creating her own tracks. At 17, she had released her debut single, "Devil on My Shoulder," landing her support slots for Ryan O'Shaughnessy and Nina Nesbitt on their respective U.K. tours. Her debut EP, Roots, surfaced the following year, and she toured the U.K. with five headline shows. Later the same year, Gartland contributed the song "Cast Your Stone" to the Simple Things album in support of suicide prevention in Ireland. After the release of her second EP, 2015's Lonely People, Gartland relocated to London and stepped back from writing for a short period, returning in 2019 with a third EP, Why Am I Like This?. She joined Irish Women in Harmony in 2020, working with them to record a version of "Dreams" in support of Safe Ireland, a domestic abuse charity. Later the same year she released her fourth EP, Freckle Season, which she combined with her previous EP to create Why Is Freckle Season Like This. It led to placements on the BBC Three/Hulu series Normal People. Gartland's first proper album, Woman on the Internet, was recorded with help from producers including Tom Stafford and the Vaccines' Pete Robertson. It arrived on her label, New Friends, in August of 2021.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/orla-gartland-mn0003202129/biography

Cat Stevens - Angelsea

 #Cat Stevens #folk rock #pop rock #album rock #singer-songwriter #1970s

Catch Bull At Four is a masterpiece of artistic creativity that saw Cat Stevens at the peak of his powers taking his insightful and introspective songwriting into a bold new direction. He was beginning to lean into his love of R&B, Soul, and even musical theatre with stunning results. Sonically, the album is bigger than the previous three records, introducing a broader array of instrumentation, backing vocals, and lush, multi-layered arrangements. Cat’s trademark impassioned vocals and percussive guitar style is combined with the sound of a new fuller backing band featuring Gerry Conway on drums, Jean Roussel on keys, and Alan James on bass, alongside the ever present force of Alun Davies on guitar. This heavier musical ensemble allowed the artist to inject a new level of drama into his work as is displayed on songs such as ‘Can’t Keep It In’, ‘18th Avenue (Kansas City Nightmare)’ and ‘Freezing Steel’. Even tracks such as the much loved ‘Sitting’ and ‘Angelsea’, that bare the hallmarks of songs from the Tillerman and Teaser albums, have a previously unheard intensity that is deeply hypnotic and entirely compelling.
Although Catch Bull At Four represents a progression beyond the classic Cat Stevens acoustic sound, thematically it is unmistakably a continuation of his earlier work. ‘O Caritas’ and ‘Ruins’ are both rooted in the prescient environmental and societal concerns found throughout his previous albums stretching back into the late 1960s. Similarly, ‘Sweet Scarlet’ and ‘Silent Sunlight’ emanate from the same sensitivity that informed many of his most beloved songs and that had already garnered so much profound devotion from legions of fans worldwide. And yet it is ‘Boy With The Moon And Star On His Head’, arguably the album’s crown jewel, that at once seems the most familiar song while simultaneously breaking new ground in terms of timeless folk storytelling. The song’s mystical narrative of a man’s transgression on his wedding day that results in a blessed child that grows into a wise sage who is revered by people from far and wide, feels as though it belongs in a collection of the world’s greatest epic poems or among the sagas and legends of a time now lost to history. This song, perhaps above all others, is a testament to Cat Stevens’ deep and transcendent spiritual awareness.  From: https://catstevens.com/catch-bull-at-four-50th-anniversary-remaster/

T. Rex - Beltane Walk

 #T. Rex #Marc Bolan #glam rock #hard rock #pop rock #folk rock #British folk rock #psychedelic folk #acid folk #garage rock #1960s #1970s

T. Rex (originally Tyrannosaurus Rex) were an English rock band, formed in 1967 by singer-songwriter and guitarist Marc Bolan, who was their leader, frontman and only consistent member. Though initially associated with the psychedelic folk genre, Bolan began to change the band's style towards electric rock in 1969, and shortened their name to T. Rex the following year. This development culminated in 1970 with their first hit single "Ride a White Swan", and the group soon became pioneers of the glam rock movement.  From:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._Rex_(band)

 Marc Bolan did not invent glitter rock, but he most certainly perfected it. With nothing more than a mass of corkscrew hair, a battered acoustic guitar and a barefoot hippy bongo player, the elfin young Bolan transformed from a late-60s coffee house warbler into an electrified sci-fi superhero in silver space boots, glittered cheekbones and bright pink feather boas. His music was pop-metal perfection; brilliant little bursts of rock flash and psychedelic poetry, the ultimate ear candy for the sex-saturated 1970s. And everybody loved him. Bolan fever swept the UK, nearly topping Beatlemania in its froth, and T. Rex enjoyed a few years of stunning success. After a murky year or two in the mid-70s when Marc experimented with short hair, vodka and disco, he returned to the spotlight with a smashing comeback album and a punk-friendly television show in 1977, but his resurgence was short-lived. On September 16, 1977, he died in a car crash in London, two weeks before his 30th birthday.

T. REX (1970)

This self-titled album came hot on the heels of their breakthrough hit Ride A White Swan. Still a guitar/bongo duo at the time, they had just shortened their name from the impossible-to-spell Tyrannosaurus Rex and had switched to an electric guitar - two moves which alienated the sandal wearers that had gotten them this far. They more than made up for the loss with the success of this one. Musically it’s the stop-gap between the flower-sniffing folk of their early days and the stack-heel strut of Electric Warrior, a warm and pleasant collection of electric pop songs like the elfin One Inch Rock and Beltane Walk.

From: https://www.loudersound.com/features/how-to-buy-the-very-best-of-t-rex

Genitorturers - Touch Myself

 #Genitorturers #industrial metal #industrial rock #hardcore #electronic #hard rock #heavy metal #Divinyls cover

Led by outrageous frontwoman Gen, the Genitorturers are one of those bands far more well-known for their live shows and alternative lifestyles than for their music. Apparently the Genitorturer's live experience can include S&M, elaborate body piercings, sexual escapades, and who knows what else. As such, it's easy to focus on that aspect of the band and dismiss the music, and it might not be surprising if the music wasn't all that great, if that were the case. But on the contrary, the music is actually quite good, a catchy techno/electronic metal hybrid (a rough stab at their sound might be a cross between Rammstein and Marilyn Manson with female vocals) that is quite entertaining and effective. This is an odd band for a death metal bassist to end up in, but this is the precisely the case with David Vincent, formerly of Morbid Angel (though it makes somewhat more sense when one realizes that he is married to Gen). Quite the interesting band.  From: https://www.bnrmetal.com/v5/band/band/Geni

Sally Rogers & Claudia Schmidt - Ezekiel Saw The Wheel

 #Sally Rogers #Claudia Schmidt #folk #traditional #Americana #singer-songwriter #contemporary folk #Appalachian dulcimer

"Ezekiel Saw the Wheel" is an African American spiritual arranged by William L. Dawson. It has been recorded by such artists as Woody Guthrie, Paul Robeson, John Lee Hooker, the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Tillers, the Fisk Jubilee Singers, The Charioteers and Gold City. The song recounts the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel's divine vision, described at the start of the eponymous book.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezekiel_Saw_the_Wheel

 Merkabah mysticism (lit. Chariot mysticism) is a school of early Jewish mysticism, c. 100 BCE – 1000 CE, centered on visions such as those found in the Book of Ezekiel chapter 1, or in the hekhalot literature ("palaces" literature), concerning stories of ascents to the heavenly palaces and the Throne of God. The main corpus of the merkabah literature was composed in the period 200–700 CE, although later references to the Chariot tradition can also be found in the literature of the Chassidei Ashkenaz in the Middle Ages. A major text in this tradition is the Maaseh Merkabah ("Work of the Chariot")  In English the Hebrew term merkabah relates to the throne-chariot of God in prophetic visions. It is most closely associated with the vision in Ezekiel chapter 1 of the four-wheeled vehicle driven by four hayyot ("living creatures"), each of which has four wings and the four faces of a man, lion, ox, and eagle (or vulture).
According to the verses in Ezekiel and its attendant commentaries, his vision consists of a chariot made of many heavenly beings driven by the "Likeness of a Man". The base structure of the chariot is composed of four beings. These beings are called the "living creatures". The bodies of the creatures are "like that of a human being", but each of them has four faces, corresponding to the four directions the chariot can go (East, South, North and West). The faces are that of a man, a lion, an ox (later changed to a cherub in Ezekiel 10:14) and an eagle. Since there are four angels and each has four faces, there are a total of sixteen faces. Each of the hayyot angels also has four wings. Two of these wings spread across the length of the chariot and connect with the wings of the angel on the other side. This creates a sort of 'box' of wings that forms the perimeter of the chariot. With the remaining two wings, each angel covers its own body. Below, but not attached to, the feet of the hayyot angels are other angels that are shaped like wheels. These wheel angels, which are described as "a wheel inside of a wheel", are called "ophanim" (wheels, cycles or ways). These wheels are not directly under the chariot but are nearby and along its perimeter. The angel with the face of the man is always on the east side and looks up at the "Likeness of a Man" that drives the chariot. The "Likeness of a Man" sits on a throne made of sapphire.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merkabah_mysticism

Cut Glass Kings - Shadow of Your Love

#Cut Glass Kings #alternative rock #blues rock #indie rock #rock & roll #fuzz rock #animated music video

Bassists? Who needs bassists? I’ll tell you who doesn’t. Birmingham band ‘Cut Glass Kings’ have said ta-ra to the traditional line-up, and instead compensated with a fuck-load of fuzz pedals, and the most bass-face inducing drums I’ve heard in a long while. But does it work you ask? Of course it does. The band played to small Manchester venue ‘The Castle’ last Tuesday evening, with the conviction you’d expect only from an established rock ‘n’ roll band playing to a sell-out stadium. After wandering up to the foot of the stage, and after an incredibly flat pint at the bar, I was met with the leather-clad Cut Glass Kings, waiting to begin their set. Opening with 2017’s single ‘Here Comes the Light’, the band needed no introduction. Before I could utter the words ‘fucking hell, this is quite good’, the song was over. I’d immediately forgotten about the glass of disappointment in my hand, and wanted to hear more. ‘Pull You Down’ preceded their rowdy greeting, and immediately I was hit with a familiar sound. I must say, the temptation not to compare them to their rock-duo counterparts is strong, however unavoidable. Imagine a mix of The Black Keys, Royal Blood and Queens of the Stone Age all being swilled in to a dirty pint, aggressively downed and spat out by Miles Kane, you would arrive at Cut Glass Kings. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. The band’s bluesy aesthetic and heavy distorted guitar riffs combine everything we know and love about the genre, but in the most refreshing way possible. On the third track of the night, ‘Gonna Get in to You’, we were introduced to a volley of harmonics being passed back and forth between Cross and McMurray, giving a pleasant depth to the songs and adding to their already impressive stage presence. All in all, the gig was one to remember. In my book there will always be room in music for un-apologetically loud and in-your-face rock bands, and I was left totally confident that the genre has been left in good hands. I can say for certain that this won’t be my last venture in to their crowd. Hopefully next time with a better pint.  From: https://www.yuckmagazine.co.uk/reviews/cut-glass-kings-the-castle

Susanna Hoffs - Feel Like Makin' Love

 #Susanna Hoffs #ex-Bangles #singer-songwriter #alternative rock #folk rock #pop rock #jangle pop #power pop #paisley pop #Bad Company cover #live music video

The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs will release a covers album, ‘Bright Lights’, on November 12, 2021 via Baroque Folk Records. On it she covers songs by Nick Drake, Syd Barrett, The Velvet Underground, Chris Bell, Prince (who wrote The Bangles' hit "Manic Monday"), The Monkees, and more. “The artists on Bright Lights approached songwriting from a deeply emotional place and with a profound sensitivity to the world around them,” says Hoffs. “Sadly, many of them died too young. I didn’t actually see the big picture of that until I looked at the whole tracklist. It was subconscious. Yet I’ve always been drawn to songs that were intensely emotional.” The first single from the album is a cover of Badfinger's "Name of the Game," which is a duet with Aimee Mann. ‘Bright Lights’ recalls the 1984 covers album credited to Rainy Day that was led by the late David Roback (of Rain Parade, Opal, and later Mazzy Star), and featured members of L.A.'s "Paisley Underground" scene, including Hoffs and members of The Three O'Clock, The Dream Syndicate and more, with their versions of songs by The Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan, Big Star and more.  From: https://www.brooklynvegan.com/the-bangles-susanna-hoffs-preps-covers-lp-shares-badfinger-cover-ft-aimee-mann/

K.D. Lang - Pullin' Back the Reins

 K.D. Lang #alt-country #cowpunk #country rock #folk rock #country pop #alternative rock #singer-songwriter #Canadian #1980s #1990s

When K.D. Lang released her first major-label album in 1987, she caused considerable controversy within the traditional world of country music. With her vaguely campy approach, androgynous appearance, and edgy, rock-inflected music, very few observers knew what to make of her or her music, although no one questioned her considerable vocal talents. Her self-reliant stature has never wavered over the course of her career, even when she abandoned country music for torchy adult contemporary pop in 1992 with her fourth album, Ingénue, which featured her biggest hit, "Constant Craving."
Born in Alberta, Canada, Lang was first drawn to music while she was in college, when she became acquainted with Patsy Cline while preparing to star in a collegiate theatrical production based on the vocalist's life. Soon, Lang immersed herself in Cline's life and music and decided that she would pursue a career as a professional singer. With the help of guitarist/co-songwriter Ben Mink, she formed a band named the Reclines in tribute to Cline, in 1983. They recorded a debut single, "Friday Dance Promenade," which received some positive notices in the independent press. Their album A Truly Western Experience followed in 1984 and received even better reviews and national attention.
All of the Canadian attention led to the interest of a number of American record labels. Sire signed lang in early 1986, and she recorded her first record for the label later that year. The resulting Angel with a Lariat was produced by Dave Edmunds and appeared in July 1987. The mix of '50s-styled ballads, kitschy rockabilly, and honky tonk numbers on Angel with a Lariat had heavy support from college radio as well as cutting-edge country stations. Though it was a mainstream hit in Canada and an underground smash in the U.S., Nashville resisted Lang, especially because of her tongue-in-cheek concert appearances.
Shadowland, her second Sire album, made her debt to Patsy Cline explicit. Recorded with Cline's producer, Owen Bradley, the album lacked the campy humor of Angel with a Lariat, which helped it succeed in traditional country circles. Shadowland became a sizable word-of-mouth hit, both in modern country and alternative music circles. The following year, Lang released the harder-edged Absolute Torch and Twang, which increased her mainstream American country audience in addition to being a college radio and Canadian hit. The attention made lang a minor celebrity, which meant that when she launched a protest against meat eating in 1990, it became a media sensation.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kd-lang-mn0000852997/biography

Counting Crows - Omaha

 #Counting Crows #alternative rock #roots rock #country rock #blues rock #folk rock #contemporary folk rock #1990s

It's amazing the difference a year makes. Upon its release, Counting Crows’ ‘August and Everything After’ sounded remarkably fresh, a welcome change from the crunch and screech of grunge. Blending the vocal athleticism of Van Morrison with the moody rock of The Band, the Counting Crows turned on a whole legion of fans turned off by modern rock. But what sounded fresh soon became stale as dozens of bands flocked to the radio with euthanized versions of the Counting Crows' sound. But you shouldn't hold that against the Crow boys. ‘August and Everything After’ is a fantastic rock album. Though "Mr. Jones" was the moneymaker, the disc features such standout cuts as the dark lilt of "Anna Begins," the morose "Rain King," and the outstanding U2-meets-Grant Lee Buffalo anthem "Murder of One." Maybe time, and another listen, will heal the damage wrought.  From: https://www.amazon.com/August-Everything-After-Counting-Crows/dp/B000003TAP

Counting Crows lead singer Adam Duritz is eloquent. Especially when talking about his songwriting and nuanced singing ability, for which he’s earned great accolades and acknowledgment. Talking to Under the Radar several months back, the frontman said: “I think I realized at some point that I had a nice voice but that wasn’t the same thing as singing. Being a good singer was a craft and I think I felt unable to really properly express the emotions of the songs. So, I wanted to push myself and be able to do more that way.
“I remember doing some recording sessions for Immer [David Immerglück], who is our guitar player now. But he was just a friend of mine then; he was producing some stuff and I remember getting really, really pushed in some sessions for him to sing stuff that was difficult for me. And realizing that there were a lot of textures and dynamics in a voice that I wasn’t really using and pushing myself to kind of become aware of that and learn to be a singer, as opposed to just a voice.”
Duritz continued: “I just remember realizing that it was possible to sing much, much better than I was and that I was just singing melodies but there’s all this emotion and things that could be in there too. And I remember thinking how limited I was and how, you know, much I needed to get better and then really trying to do that. Really—I mean, I’m very, very, very, very self-critical, which I think is good.
“That’s how you get good at things, you demand a lot. And I think I do that in my writing, I do that in my singing. I’m trying to push everything through a very, very critical lens. And I think that helps after a while. Taxing? I guess it is. But, I mean, this isn’t supposed to be easy! Making art of any kind at a high level, there’s a thing that separates people who have hobbies from people who do it, who really do it. It’s the work.”
From: https://americansongwriter.com/omaha-counting-crows-behind-song-lyrics/ 

The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting For The Man

 #The Velvet Underground #Lou Reed #John Cale #Nico #experimental rock #art rock #avant-garde #proto-punk #Andy Warhol

American rock band The Velvet Underground released "I'm Waiting for the Man" in 1967 on their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. Like many of the band's other songs, "I'm Waiting for the Man" focuses on the dark underbelly of life in New York City. The track, written by singer Lou Reed, tells the story of a man in New York traveling to Harlem to meet his drug dealer, who is never referred to as anything other than "the man" in the song. He brings $26 uptown, where he stops at a brownstone at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, which is currently the home of a 4/5/6 subway station. ("Up to Lexington, 1-2-5"). The Velvet Underground were one of the first groups to openly write songs about drug use and its catastrophic consequences (heroin, in the case of "I'm Waiting for the Man"). The accounts often came from the personal experiences of the band members.  From: https://www.musicbanter.com/lyrics/Velvet-Underground-I-m-Waiting-for-the-Man.html

The Rolling Stones - Jumpin' Jack Flash

 #The Rolling Stones #Kieth Richards #Mick Jagger #blues rock #hard rock #classic rock #British blues rock #rock & roll #folk blues #garage rock #R&B #British invasion #1968 music video

Long before the advent of MTV, music videos (then referred to as promotional films, or “promos” for short) were few and far between, with very limited outlets to air them. The most popular bands, such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Who, made these “promos” with the intent of allowing broadcast in several different countries without the bands having to travel to perform in TV studios where there were “genuine security issues” according to Michael Lindsay-Hogg, who directed pioneering videos for all three acts. Top of the Pops, the aforementioned Ready Steady Go!, Shindig!, Hullabaloo and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour in the US were early participants in broadcasting such materials. The Rolling Stones, who were already international superstars by the mid-1960s, now had another tool to help push a single such as “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Before capturing The Rock and Roll Circus on celluloid, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg had helmed many of The Rolling Stones’ promotional video clips: “She’s a Rainbow,” “2000 Light Years From Home,” “Child of the Moon,” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” as well as The Beatles’ “Paperback Writer,” “Rain,” “Hey Jude” and “Revolution.” Lindsay-Hogg is the legendary music video director behind The Beatles’ Let It Be feature film and many of The Rolling Stones’ seminal video clips.  From: https://www.musicconnection.com/kubernik-the-rolling-stones-jumpin-jack-flash-restored-in-4k/ 

Jethro Tull - A New Day Yesterday

 #Jethro Tull #Ian Anderson #progressive rock #folk rock #hard rock #blues rock #English folk rock #art rock #classic rock #progressive folk #1970s

Much of the Stand Up album is about Ian resenting the constant travel and work-load of being a rock star. This song talks about how he's constantly away from his new girlfriend (and future ex-wife), Jeanine.

"It was a new day yesterday but it's an old day now"

It was kind of thrilling not knowing when or how long the two would see each other, but now it's growing old and Ian just wants to be with his new love.

"Oh I had to leave today just when I thought I'd found you"

Even when the two are together, it's an all-too-brief moment as Ian has to go back on the road again.

From: https://songmeanings.com/songs/view/3530822107858514097

Jethro Tull (baptised 30 March 1674 – 21 February 1741) was an English agriculturist from Berkshire who helped to bring about the British Agricultural Revolution of the 18th century. He perfected a horse-drawn seed drill in 1701 that economically sowed the seeds in neat rows, and later developed a horse-drawn hoe. Tull's methods were adopted by many landowners and helped to provide the basis for modern agriculture. Influenced by the early Age of Enlightenment, he is considered to be one of the early proponents of a scientific – and especially empirical – approach to agriculture. He helped transform agricultural practices by inventing or improving numerous implements. Tull made early advances in planting crops with his invention of the seed drill – a mechanical seeder that sowed efficiently at the correct depth and spacing and then covered the seed so that it could grow. Before the introduction of the seed drill, the common practice was to plant seeds by broadcasting (evenly throwing) them across the ground by hand on the prepared soil and then lightly harrowing the soil to bury the seeds to the correct depth.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jethro_Tull_(agriculturist)

Cosmic Rough Riders - The Gun Isn't Loaded

 #Cosmic Rough Riders #alternative rock #folk rock #alternative country rock #psychedelic rock #power pop #jangle pop #Scottish

It's hard to describe the Cosmic Rough Riders without mentioning Teenage Fanclub - both are Scottish, both rely on mellow guitars, soaring harmonies, and tuneful choruses; both draw from a similar well of Big Star and the Beach Boys. But the Cosmic Rough Riders have plenty of memorable tunes of their own. Who exactly the Cosmic Rough Riders are is a complicated story. The studio band was originally just singer/songwriter Daniel Wylie with help from guitarist Stephen Fleming. Yet when Wylie left, Fleming kept the band going under the Cosmic Rough Riders name, kind of like Doug Yule's Velvet Underground. The first post-Wylie album (2003's Too Close To See Far) actually managed to sound like a Wylie album, though a later one did not. Meanwhile, Wylie issued a number of solo albums before, more recently, recovering the band name and issuing a few albums as Daniel's Wylie's Cosmic Rough Riders. Anyway, Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine is the key release from the original incarnation of the band. It's a bit of a cheat, a compilation of sorts, mostly compiling tracks from an independently-released album called Panorama joined by a couple tracks from a prior release and a few new tunes.  And it's pretty damn great. You've got a few absolutely stellar singles, most notably "Glastonbury Revisited," "Revolution In The Summertime," and "Have You Heard The News Today?" Seriously, each one of these should have made the band a monster. The rest may blend together a bit more, but it's never less than lovely.  From: https://www.jitterywhiteguymusic.com/2019/06/cosmic-rough-riders-enjoy-melodic.html

Whippersnapper - Lizzie Wan

 #Whippersnapper #Dave Swarbrick #British folk #British folk rock #contemporary folk #acoustic #folk supergroup #ex-Fairport Convention

Whippersnapper were a four-piece acoustic band formed by Dave Swarbrick, Chris Leslie, Kevin Dempsey, and Martin Jenkins in Northamptonshire during 1983. Although none of the others could quite compare with Swarbrick's long experience or near-legendary status, each of the others brought something substantial to the table at the outset of the group's history - Chris Leslie was a musical instrument maker as well as an experienced violinist (who had Swarbrick's playing as a model); guitarist, singer, and percussionist Kevin Dempsey had played in Dando Shaft, and had experience with Latin music as well as Celtic and English folk repertory; and multi-instrumentalist Martin Jenkins had played with Matthews Southern Comfort and was also an ex-member of Dando Shaft, as well as a Bert Jansch alumnus. As a result, the group's work was highly anticipated by folk enthusiasts, as a unique all-acoustic supergroup. The group made its debut in January of 1984 at the Burnt Post in Coventry and subsequently played the Cambridge Folk Festival, a performance that was captured on video as well.
Their music was a deceptively complex brand of progressive folk, driven by the presence of four full-fledged virtuoso players. Whippersnapper spent most of their first year honing their sound and repertory, which started out fully formed, drawing on the song-bags of all four members. As a result, their debut album, when it came time to do it - recorded for their own Whippersnapper label - came together very quickly. The Promises long-player was recorded in December of 1984 and in stores just about eight weeks later, and well received by fans and critics. A second LP, Tsubo, didn't appear until 1987, and it was similar in form and structure to the first. A third studio album was intended, but in the interim the quartet issued These Foolish Strings, a compilation of four years' worth of live recordings. The fourth album, Fortune, was released in early 1990, and also marked the end of Swarbrick's involvement with the group. The group continued as a trio of Leslie, Dempsey, and Jenkins, and Leslie and Dempsey recorded the LP Always with You, released in 1996. Dempsey eventually teamed up with Swarbrick anew, while Leslie joined one of the latter-day lineups of Fairport Convention.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/whippersnapper-mn0000247625

Shooting Daggers - Manic Pixie Dream Girl

 #Shooting Daggers #hardcore punk #riot grrrl #metalcore #feminist punk #post-hardcore #thrash metal #queercore #European

‘We are queer, and we’re gonna live!’ roars Shooting Daggers’ singer Sal Salgado Pellegrin, on We Will Live, the penultimate call-to-arms on the band’s fearless new EP, Athames. It’s a lyric that sums up the steely eyed attitude behind the band’s brutal, yet triumphant, hardcore punk. Heavy music is a place where people can find a home, when they feel they don’t belong anywhere else. But for a community that prides itself on inclusivity, metal and hardcore can still be unwelcoming spaces for women, the LGBTQ+ community and people of color. It’s those intolerances that the trio - made up of French vocalist and guitarist Sal, Italian bassist Bea Simion and Spanish drummer Raquel J Alves - are determined to eradicate. Inspired by the riot grrrl movement, G.L.O.S.S and Black Flag, alongside queercore peers Sharptooth and Pupil Slicer, they’re fiercely and noisily taking their own space in metal’s traditionally white, cis-het male scene.
“We’re vegan, we’re feminist, we’re women, we’re queer, we’re political, so we’ve got a lot to say,” says Sal. “Our music shares our perspective on our place in the scene, and in the world. I feel like you still have to prove you’re worth something and you’re not a poser when you’re a woman in the scene. Sometimes people come to us, and they say, ‘When I saw you going onstage, I didn’t expect you to be that hardcore, that heavy,’” adds Bea, arching an eyebrow. “And I’m always like, ‘Why wouldn’t you expect us to be heavy?’”
Sal and Bea formed the band in London in 2019, releasing their debut demo EP that October with a different drummer. After a line-up change, Raquel, a long-time London resident and band booker on the local scene, joined the ranks in November. “I’ve noticed people are more open to booking different bands,” says Raquel of the progression she’s noted since she started working at shows 15 years ago. “At least you have some representation on the stage. It’s changing, really slowly, but now there are a lot of bands speaking up with their views. When I was younger, you wouldn’t see a black metal band that was anti-fascist, or a queer doom band like Vile Creature.”
“But even though hardcore is a safe space for us, there is still a lot of work to do,” Bea cuts in. “It’s still very white. It’s still very misogynistic. A lot of girl and queer bands still don’t have a space. You still need to have male respect: when men respect and like you, that’s when other people like you too. Men for sure still own the scene and they decide who is cool and who is not.”   From: https://www.loudersound.com/features/shooting-daggers-the-politically-charged-hardcore-band-who-will-not-be-silenced

Needshes - One Day

 #Needshes #Otabek Salamov #alternative rock #indie rock #pop rock #soul #blues rock #funk #singer-songwriter #multi-instrumentalist #Uzbekistan #animated music video 

The Central Asian country of Uzbekistan is the homeland of Otabek Salamov (Bek), songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, producer, and founder of the alternative rock/indie-pop band Needshes. Currently based in Moscow, the band – rounded out by Ivan Petukhov (guitar) and Alexey Manakhov (drums) – continues to expand their eclectic style rooted in David Bowie, Queen, and James Brown in 2020. Bek started his musical journey in early childhood. He attended the music academy in his hometown, Tashkent, where he was awarded the first national prize for his precision on clarinet at the age of 13. As a teen, his interests varied, and he was drawn to compose and perform metalcore in night clubs with cross paint on his face. At that time, Bek was working as an assistant audio engineer in local studios, so he quickly adapted to recording and producing his own music. One day he decided to dilute it with melodic undertones. In the process of creating this transition, he realized that the switch was something that gravitated to his liking. In 2013 he founded a melodic rock project, Needshes, and moved to Moscow. His biggest influences stemmed from The Killers, Jack White, James Brown, David Bowie, Queen, RHCP, U2, a-ha, Coldplay, and Nirvana. Otabek gathered a full traditional formation around his brainchild with the intent to create authentic rock music. In 2016 after several line-up changes, Ivan (guitar) and Alexey (drums) joined him and made it possible for the sound created in the studio to fully sound live.  From: http://syncsummit.com/needshes/

Sheryl Crow - Maybe Angels

 #Sheryl Crow #country rock #folk rock #blues rock #alternative rock #heartland rock #roots rock #singer-songwriter #1990s

Hiring noted roots experimentalists Tchad Blake and Mitchell Froom as engineer and consultant, respectively, Sheryl Crow took a cue from their Latin Playboys project for her second album - she kept her roots rock foundation and added all sorts of noises, weird instruments, percussion loops, and off-balance production to give the eponymous “Sheryl Crow” a distinctly modern flavor. And, even with the Stones-y grind of "Sweet Rosalyn" or hippie spirits of "Love Is a Good Thing," it is an album that couldn't have been made any other time than the 1990s. As strange as it may sound, “Sheryl Crow” is a postmodern masterpiece of sorts - albeit a mainstream, post-alternative, postmodern masterpiece. It may not be as hip or innovative as, say, the Beastie Boys' “Paul's Boutique,” but it is as self-referential, pop culture obsessed, and musically eclectic. Throughout the record, Crow spins out wild, nearly incomprehensible stream-of-consciousness lyrics, dropping celebrity names and products every chance she gets ("drinking Falstaff beer/Mercedes Ruehl and a rented Leer"). Often, these litanies don't necessarily add up to anything specific, but they're a perfect match for the mess of rock, blues, alt-rock, country, folk, and lite hip-hop loops that dominate the record. At her core, she remains a traditionalist - the songcraft behind the infectious "Change Would Do You Good," the bubbly "Everyday Is a Winding Road," and the weary "If It Makes You Happy" helped get the singles on the radio - but the production and lyrics are often at odds with those instincts, creating for a fascinating and compelling listen and one of the most individual albums of its era.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/album/sheryl-crow-mw0000075511

Donovan - Wear Your Love Like Heaven

 #Donovan #folk rock #psychedelic folk #psychedelic rock #acid folk #British psychedelia #singer-songwriter #1960s

Rock music's first two-LP box set, Donovan’s A Gift from a Flower to a Garden overcomes its original shortcomings and stands out as a prime artifact of the flower-power era that produced it. The music still seems a bit fey, and overall more spacy than the average Moody Blues album of this era, but the sheer range of subjects and influences make this a surprisingly rewarding work. Essentially two albums recorded simultaneously in the summer of 1967, the electric tracks include Jack Bruce among the session players. The acoustic tracks represent an attempt by Donovan to get back to his old sound and depart from the heavily electric singles ("Sunshine Superman," etc.) and albums he'd been doing - it is folkier and bluesier (in an English folk sense) than much of his recent work.  From: https://www.allmusic.com/album/a-gift-from-a-flower-to-a-garden-mw0000691015

This very psychedelic song is a nod to the divine, conjuring up images of nature's colors and invoking both God and Allah. Heavy stuff. In our interview with Donovan, we asked how he came up with the vibrant images that appear in the lyric. Lines like:

Color sky Havana lake
Color sky rose carmethene
Alizarian crimson

Donovan explained that like many great songwriters - Joni Mitchell, John Lennon, Bob Dylan among them - he dabbled in art and thought in terms of paintings. This song is an example of translating images on a canvas into words. "'Wear Your Love Like Heaven' was really a paint-ily song - watching a sunset go down," he said.

From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/donovan/wear-your-love-like-heaven