Lucifer in the Sky With Diamonds - Highlow World

The pun in the moniker of Moscow double-guitar four-piece Lucifer in the Sky with Diamonds probably doesn’t need to be pointed out. Featuring The Grand Astoria collaborator Igor Suvorov, Lucifer in the Sky with Diamonds pull together touches of psychedelic impulsiveness and classic heavy rock structures with the production clarity and catchy songwriting of mid-era Queens of the Stone Age. There’s a danger underscoring the boogie of “How to Fix Things” from the band’s self-released debut LP, The Shining One, that seems to find payoff later in the big-groove hook of “Highlow World,” which provides one of the album’s most satisfying listens before shifting into an airier dreamspace and fading into the noisier “Lords of the Damned,” reviving the largesse of riff prior to the closing title-track. An intriguing debut for an outfit loaded with potential, the fullness of their sound boding particularly well for their confidence in their sound and the precision of their execution.  From: https://theobelisk.net/obelisk/2014/09/12/the-obelisk-radio-bong-space-mushroom-fuzz-desert-lord-lucifer-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-plunger/ 

Patti Rothberg - Shadows of Me

Rew Starr: For those who don’t know, can you give us a bit of your story? 

Patti Rothberg: 1994 was one of the wildest times of my life! I lived on 23rd Street next to the Chelsea Hotel. A LOT of changes. It was my last year at Parsons School of design, and my major was Illustration. I had NO plan, just figured one thing would lead to another.
My friends were all street people: A slide player with white hair who claimed to be from Paul Butterfield’s band…”Andy” I think, Shah who would bum cigarettes, perched outside my apt. (I found out he was an ex con who killed someone and was out on parole) but to me he was my friend…I would flit around and hang out with homeless people and street characters all the time… my old guitarist then, Lukasz, lived a few blocks downtown…when he said, “I just hung out with Kid Rock. I need a name what do you think of “Dr. Luke”!!!!? 
I was meeting so many people that year and I invented an excuse to paint portraits which I liked to paint best: A book called “Math 4 Artists the Wonder of Genetics.” I went to Sidewalk Cafe (RIP) and waltzed right up to Lach (now famous for starting and running “Antifolk” for years) and showed him my portraits (manic much?) Asked him for a show. He gave it to me. 1994. My commute back and forth from Parsons was between the 1 and 9, F and L tunnel on 14th Street and 7th Ave (which was later shortened to “Between the One and the Nine. I incorporated many concepts…the artwork on the album is like a rubik’s cube with one oil painting in the middle and 8 surrounding making a 1 and 9.

Rew Starr: You got married in 2020. So was your husband a fan of your music?

Patti Rothberg: Another amazing story… 25 years ago, right after my record came out, Micah was working as the assistant manager of a record store, Sam Goody. He wasn’t even supposed to come in at all that day. A rep for EMI came in with my promo and asked if he would play my record ‘Between 1&9’….We’re pushing this girl.’ He asked ‘what does she sound like?’ and the rep dutifully replied ‘Alanis.’ Miraculously, he put on my CD in the store anyway.
Track after track, he says he was waiting for it to sound like Alanis and it never did. He ended up liking the CD, and even selling 40 or so copies! The rep returned 4 days later to follow up. ‘I listened to Patti Rothberg’ Micah said. ‘She’s pretty good!’ And he said, ‘Well she’s playing tonight, we have free tickets! Long story short, he asked his friend, Monique to accompany him to my show, and by his recount, judging from my underlit cover painting, he was expecting a “less than attractive troubadour”!
Micah was bored, facing the other way from where I entered, and someone exclaimed, “There’s Patti.” He turned around, and confused said, ‘Where? Behind the hot chick (meaning ME!) Micah ditched his date for who was to become his queen and bride.

From: https://rockmommy.com/2021/09/patti-rothberg-comes-clean-about-love-art-life-beyond-the-1-and-the-9-and-those-alanis-comparisons/

Gevende - Anonim

One can’t help but notice a colorful blend of geographies and cultures coursing through Gevende’s music. They deftly incorporate motifs, instruments, and languages from all over the map, constructing what might be called a multicultural tapestry. Their personal escapades across far-flung locales set the stage for this: while prepping their first album Ev, they traveled from Iran to India, immersing themselves in local jamming sessions. The encounters they had—particularly with lengthy ceremonies and ritual music—opened their minds to new ways of experiencing time and sound. Some see this as one reason behind their break from conventional track lengths and their comfort with slow-building compositions, as evidenced in Sen Balık Değilsin Ki (2011).
They also aren’t shy about drawing from different languages and ethnic motifs. In Sen Balık Değilsin Ki, for instance, “Beboyin Yerkı” nods to an Armenian folk tune and features guest guitarist Eivind Aarset from Norway. If you fancy a kaleidoscopic portrait of musical cross-pollination, there it is—Armenian melodic notions laced with a cool Scandinavian jazz vibe. Song titles range from Turkish (“Sanki,” “Sustum”) to English (“Vigeland”) to Armenian (“Beboyin Yerkı”), highlighting the band’s inclusive spirit. Beyond that, vocalist Ahmet Kenan Bilgiç often opts for meaningless syllables or an invented language, making the voice into a universal instrument rather than a vehicle for standard lyrical meaning. Let’s call it “post-linguistic,” if you will, and it all stems from the group’s fascination with transcending the confines of spoken language.
Their numerous cross-border collaborations have only expanded this multicultural dimension. Amsterdam-based bass clarinetist Tobias Klein and French guitarist Damien Cluzel figure among those who have jammed with Gevende, injecting European experimental jazz flavors into the ensemble’s evolving sound. Then there’s the aforementioned synergy with Balbazar, seamlessly weaving Turkish and French musical sensibilities. From the global scene, look no further than Tinariwen, who marry Tuareg melodies from the Sahara with Western rock and blues. They’ve garnered worldwide acclaim for this so-called “desert blues,” which parallels Gevende’s use of Anatolian inspirations within more contemporary frameworks. Similarly, the Netherlands-based Altın Gün reimagines Turkish folk songs within a funky, psychedelic rock context. Where Altın Gün revisits the 1970s Anatolian pop repertoire, Gevende composes original material that merges a swirl of local idioms and broader influences. (For the record, “gevende” in Kurdish means “wedding musician,” a little cultural nugget tying them again to the region.) All told, Gevende’s music often feels like a sumptuous world tour without the hassle of booking flights.  From: https://www.turquazz.com/anatolian-alchemy-how-gevende-turns-folk-dust-into-sonic-gold/

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians - She

Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but I’m of the opinion that the clichéd phrase “one-hit wonder” is an overused and easily abused phrase, one far too often assigned to artists who are undeserving of such a dubious qualifier. It’s also emblematic of the average music consumer’s (and more than a few journalists’) lazy complacency in seeking out the fuller breadth of artists’ discographies, beyond what they’ve been force-fed, spin after spin after spin, on the radio or, at least back in the day, MTV.
Unfortunately, too many artists’ recording careers haven’t received the recognition and appreciation they arguably deserve because of this one-hit-wonder engendered myopia. A prime example is Edie Brickell, who, with her Dallas-bred band New Bohemians, struck gold back in late 1988 with their lyrically and sonically unconventional debut single “What I Am.” The album from which it came, Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, received plenty of critical applause on its way to reaching double-platinum commercial heights, largely as a result of its ubiquitous single’s warm reception.
However, three-and-a-half decades later, Brickell and her bandmates (drummer Brandon Aly, percussionist John Bush, bass guitarist Brad Houser—who passed away last month at the age of 62—and guitarist Kenny Withrow) are still rigidly associated with that one song by far too many folks. But for those of us who weren’t merely satisfied with “What I Am” and instead used it as fodder to dig deeper into the group’s debut album—and subsequent recordings including 1990’s excellent Ghost of a Dog and  2006’s Stranger Things, as well as Brickell’s solo fare (1994’s Picture Perfect Morning, 2003’s Volcano, and 2011’s eponymous Edie Brickell)—the rewards have been plentiful.  From: https://albumism.com/features/edie-brickell-and-new-bohemians-shooting-rubberbands-at-the-stars-album-anniversary

Federal Charm - Gotta Give It Up

Soulful, aggressive, yet direct and controlled – Federal Charm erupted onto the blues rock scene in 2011.  Originally a duo, when Nick Bowden and Paul Bowe hit the studio they expanded into a four-piece tour de force.  Relying heavily on thick, dirty guitar riffs and fast rhythms, the cathartic energy on Federal Charm’s self-titled debut feels uncontainable.
The four-piece sound like they learned at the knees of the likes of Led Zeppelin or Free, but with a modern sensibility that demands attention.  Nick Bowden’s vocals sound eerily like Owen Thomas of The Elms, having a certain a dynamic, young quality.  Some of Federal Charm’s best moments come from the way the vocal takes stand out against multiple guitar layers and pulsing, constant beat.  Nick Bowden and Paul Bowe’s guitar play almost battle each other at times, contrasting dirtier grunge-type guitar play with technical speed work.  Occasionally Bowe’s instrument lets loose with high-pitched squealing textures, making for an effect that sounds as though he’s channelling Joey Santiago.
The lead-off single, “There’s a Light,” captures southern rock in a frenzy of fast guitar riffs and quick, manic drumming, and the album opener “Gotta Give it Up” alternates a similar formula with a slower, body-rocking progression.  Anytime the speed-riff card is pulled, Federal Charm screams its allegiance to the blues and classic rock groups of the seventies.  The foursome can draw influence from their contemporaries as well.  Structurally, “Somebody Help Me” sounds not unlike something that could be found on a Black Keys or Cold War Kids record were it not for the ever-persistent pulse of Federal Charm’s explosive guitar work.
Amidst all the noise and energy, Federal Charm still takes time to show off their knack for traditional bluesman song construction on the slow jam cover “Reconsider” (perhaps Bowden’s most vocally demanding track), even if the track is periodically interrupted with heavier guitar riffs and on one occasion a time change.  If anything, this goes to highlight Federal Charm’s restlessness – the group toys with an idea briefly and, as though quickly growing bored of it, moves on to something new.  Nothing on Federal Charm has been given enough time to become old or cliché.  This is the type of record to keep in your car stereo on repeat.  From: https://bluesrockreview.com/2013/08/federal-charm-federal-charm-review.html

Echobelly - BellyAche

Even without having listened to any of the sound Echobelly produced, you could see this was not your everyday band. Formed in 1992 by Sonya Aurora Madan (vocals and main lyricist) and Glenn Johansson (guitars), the band was a rare multinational and multi-ethnic collective: Sonya Madan was born in Delhi, India, although she moved to the UK at the age of 2. Still, the Indian appearance is still somewhat there, which gave her a lot of extra attention in the media. Glenn Johansson, who briefly dated Sonya (they remained close friends after the break-up and were actually the core of Echobelly), is a native of Sweden. In Sweden he had the rather dodgy job of editing an adult magazine. Obviously tired of such career, he took his bags and took off to London with the hope of finding a band. Echobelly was totally formed with the addition of Alex Keyser on bass guitar and Andy Henderson on drums. However, the band took an even greater diversity with the addition of Debbie Smith on guitar from 1994 on. Debbie Smith, previously in a band called Curve, was a rarity in many ways in the rock scene those days: she was a female, black and lesbian guitar player. She has actually been named very often as a core role model for women in similar situations, and has become a local icon for those reasons. But above all, she was a quality guitar player. When Glenn had injured his hands, Debbie fill in for him and did so well that "de facto" she became a permanent member of the band.
Echobelly were always somewhat the different one when the Britpop scene was booming and female-fronted pop/rock bands were big. There was Elastica, there was Republica (remember the hits "Ready to go" and the extremely catchy "Drop dead gorgeous"?), there was Sleeper, … I am probably forgetting some more. However, Echobelly (who by the way seem to have invented the term as I cannot find it in any dictionary… the band explained the name as a metaphor for "Hunger for change" or "Desire for a change") were much more openly political than the other named bands who lyrically never went too far on thin ice. Echobelly never shunned politically outspoken lyrics, even when the band and lyricist Sonya Madan said that she didn’t want to be a politician or try to force her views on people. Nonetheless, the debut album "Everyone’s Got One" (1994) had some tracks with a clear society-critical undertone, tackling subjects such as feminism, alienation, boredom. The song "Insomniac" with its kitch-esque video (Sonya wearing a blonde wig and some others wearing Union Jack-shirts) became somewhat of a hit.
The band caught attention and a lot of praise, up to the point that even nobody less than former Smiths frontman Morrissey was impressed enough to personally invite Echobelly to open for him during a tour. Sonya’s vocal style has some slight similarities with Morrissey’s style of singing, leading to some press dubbing her the "female Morrissey".  From: https://thepathslesstravelled.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/gone-but-never-forgotten-echobelly/

Black Bonzo - Because I Love You

Can you catch the readers up a bit on your musical history?

That's a tough one, we have all played in a lot of different bands with lot of different sounds. Punk rock, heavy metal, death metal, plain pop, progressive metal, jazz, blues and stuff like that. No point in namedropping any of the bands as they didn't make any bigger impact. But the first time we all did play together as a band was in Gypsy Sons Of magic, a sort of 70's groove oriented rock outfit. We only recorded a couple of demos as Gypsy Sons of Magic, and it didn't sound anything like Black Bonzo.

Our new bass player Anthon Johansson did a record with a band called Moon Safari before he left his guitar duties with them and became a bass player in Black Bonzo. Our original bass player Patrick Leandersson decided to leave the band after Lady of the light due to personal reasons.

MSJ: I know artists are not crazy about having their music pigeon-holed, but how would you describe your sound?

It's not that we don't like it, it's just a little hard to be objective when you are talking about your own music, but i would say we play a sort of heavy rock with progressive influences.

MSJ: Who do you see as musical influences?

We are mainly influenced by bands such as Queen, King Crimson, Uriah Heep, Jethro Tull, Yes and The Beatles and many many bands from that particular era. And of course each other, when everyone within the band are quite a songwriting talent it's hard to ignore the fact that it becomes like a competition, where we always attempt to outdo each other songwriting-wise and musically, but in a friendly manner. So, i think that's what keeps us on edge.

MSJ: Where did the name for the band come from?

Despite what everyone thinks it got nothing to do with the late great drummer of Led Zeppelin. I just thought that The Bonzo Dog Do-Dah band was a really cool name so we lifted Bonzo out of there and added some color, and there you go - Black Bonzo was born.

MSJ: What's ahead for you?

We have a mini tour coming up in September. After that we are going to start recording our third album, which hopefully will be released May / June sometime next year. We've already written all the material and it's going to be a little different. Then we are going to Philadelphia to play The Rites of spring festival in March next year. That's gonna be our first visit to USA so we are really excited about that.

MSJ: Are there musicians you'd like to play with in the future?

I wouldn't mind playing some riffs with Brian May, or do some organ/guitar dueling with Ken Hensley.

MSJ: Do you think that downloading of music is a help or hindrance to the careers of musicians? It's been said by the major labels that it's essentially the heart of all the problems they are having in terms of lower sales - would you agree?

I think a little bit of both, I mean it's easier to get your music out there but it's harder for the record companies to actually make some money. But there's no point in whining about it, it was the same thing with cassette tapes. Maybe not in the same extent as it is with downloads. You just have to learn to get around the problem, which I think the musicians are doing but the record companies are not, they are stuck in their well oiled machine. They are making themselves obsolete when focusing only on the problem rather than, like the musicians, focusing on the solution. From where I'm standing, as a musician, the only real losers are the record labels that refuse to see the possibilities with the internet. The times change, you can't do anything about that, just try to keep up.

MSJ: In a related question how do you feel about fans recording shows and trading them?

It's fine by me, if they like the music that much to go through all the trouble of sneaking in recording equipment and what not, they deserve it. Even if they do it only for the money it's still fine because someone who likes the music will buy it or trade it in the end. We don’t do this for the money; it would be nice to make some money but the thing we want the most is that people listen to our music.

MSJ: What was the last CD you bought, or what have you been listening to lately?

Hmmm? I think the last albums I bought were Queen - Hot Space and Flash Gordon soundtrack on LP. Rarely buy CD's I have been listening a lot to Steve Marriott stuff like Humble Pie and Small Faces, a little Ten Years After and Riot's Narita and Fire Down Under. Robert Johnson have had quite a few spins on the turntable, too.

MSJ: What about the last concert you attended for your enjoyment?

Man! I can't remember, you don't really have time to attend concerts when you’re out on the road all the time. But I can tell you about one of the best concerts i ever attended was Saxon - '97 they played in a small club in Umea (a town in the northern part of Sweden) what a show - they played for 2.5 hours and since they have always been hard-rocking heroes of mine it was fantastic.

MSJ: What has been your biggest Spinal Tap moment?

I don't know where to begin, perhaps when we forgot half our gear and the PA system at home and didn't realize it until we were about to do the soundcheck. Or the time we couldn't find Stockholm (capitol of Sweden!) - we drove past it several times. I mean, how can you miss a whole city of that size. I even lived there for almost a year so I should be able to find it!

From: http://www.musicstreetjournal.com/interviews_display.cfm?id=100022

Ginger Baker's Air Force - Beat-Club 1970

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

 

 

 

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

 

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

 

Heavy Temple - Extreme Indifference to Life

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

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

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

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

That’s awesome.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Innocence Mission - Wonder of Birds

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

Uni and The Urchins - Hold My Gun

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

Puscifer – Apocalyptical

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

Pom Poko - Leg Day

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

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

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

 

Nini - Homeland

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

Jesus on Heroine - Neu!comers

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

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

Frente! - Ordinary Angels

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

BoDeans - Good Things - Live 1992

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

Beautify Junkyards - Cosmorama Moving Images

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

James Gang - Rides Again - Side 2

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

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