LORD SITAR — I AM THE WALRUS
101 STRINGS – KARMA SITAR
OKKO BEKKER — EAST INDIAN TRAFFIC
MEHRPOUYA — SOUL RAGA
THE FOLKSWINGERS — TIME WON’T LET ME
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
A TOUCH OF THE ORIENT JUMBLE
April 28, 2011THE NEW PSYCHEDELIA
November 12, 2010First of all I would like to apologize for the terrible neglicence i’ve had of IS YOUR CLAM IN A JAM? Series of things have made it hard for me to keep writing, but i’m glad to say we are back!
In the last few months i went to see two of the bands heralded for bringing psychedelia in the 21st century, one formed at Wesleyan University CT in 2005 and one in Perth, Australia in 2007: MGMT and Tame Impala.
MGMT are the first of the new wave of openly psychedelic bands to introduce a new element in the form of electronic instruments in their psychedelic odes to moons, birds and monsters. Their Album “Oracular Spectacular” was a breakthrough, with songs such as “Time to Pretend”, a deep view on the “crisis” that hits young adults and makes them become drones of modern society, accompanied by its video, a homage to Jodorowski’s “The Holy Mountain” filmed as a post-digital collage, portaying a post-apocalyptic young Utopia. Unfortunately though that song and “Kids” were spoilt into becoming mainstream monsters, what were conceived as philosophical views on youth, suddenly became songs that even the least musical person would know and love without realising or caring about the message behind it.
After the song becoming the opening anthem for Sarkozy’s speeches, MGMT felt that it was time to show everyone what they are really worth, making an album with no singles that flows all together like one long song. The musical odyssey that is “Congratulations” is what one may consider to be a psychedelic masterpiece of the modern age.
Psychedelic, a terminology used to describe music that actually makes you think and lets your brain flow and go strange places. Mozart is psychedelic, as his works certainly make you imagine things and take you in different worlds while you listen. Psychedelic is a terminology used to describe different states of mind, it is music that takes you on a trip, first pioneered in the late 60s with acid drenched bands that would see the light in a carton of LSD and then paint beautiful landscapes and dreams with their electric guitars.
The majority of the bands that made psychedelic music were connected with their third eye, and made it clear that there was nothing to pretend, the revolution is here and it’s inside my head.
That takes us to the second band, from Perth and already blogged about here previously, Tame Impala. As written in the previous post, Tame Impala are a young band that has opened a North American tour for MGMT, also psychedelic, but in a more traditional way, say if J Mascis replaced George Harrison in the Magical Mystery Tour-era Beatles. By cutting one of the best albums of 2010, “Innerspeaker”, songs such as “Lucidity” and “Alter-Ego” made it clear that these were very talented, young and passionate musicians, without a care in the world except the curiosity of what it these chemicals are doing to them, how they are expanding their minds.
Having seen both bands made me realise a few things, mainly that I fear society’s fast-chewing attitude to music. The MGMT concert was packed, tons of people were there to see them, people were wearing flowers on their heads, “Great, here we go!”.
But then as the band came onstage and started playing songs from their second album there was stupor in the air, most of the people there seemed to not have listened to the record, sporadic hits from the debut sparked interest whilst most songs from the second album could barely be heard because of the chatter in the audience.
Then “Kids” came on, suddently MGMT were a boy band, running around onstage singing to a wild crowd shouting the main riff and jumping in unison, as the song finished the shouts kept going until MGMT were forced to keep it going longer. Poor MGMT, I thought, Kids may haunt them forever. Deciding to break away from that mold with the second album, which portrayed their current musical interests, had no effect once taken into a live show.
After the concert MGMT were Djing at a nearby pub/club, filled with people that were there already there for other reasons and some that hoped that seeing their Psychedelic Smirking Worm Rock Freakout meant they would hear “Kids” five times, no flower children or freaks were there. Then they started Djing, which basically consisted of them playing songs they like with no flow and no order, “Lucifer Sam” made its way in there, but the rest of the songs played were often far from what i had hoped.
Tame Impala on the other hand were playing their biggest headline show in London to date, very nervous and meticulous, always checking if the instruments were in tune delivered an excellent show that showcased their music to a crowd that knew all the songs and seemed to understand what their music was all about. Combined with a psychedelic light show, the concert was an experience for the senses, just as the ones the band had felt while composing the songs.
MGMT were the pioneers of New Psychedelia, they have now grown out of the mold they created and have become poster-boys for the movement, perhaps forgetting their roots, while Tame Impala are certainly maintaining the spirit of their predecessors, by making music for the mind and the soul; let’s just hope that they’ll age like wine.
KLAXONS: EXTREME FLASHOVER
May 27, 2010After 3 years of mistery and a finished album rejected by their label, the godfathers of Nu-Rave and all the electro indie music that has filled the internet, the clubs and the “airwaves” have finally released a new song.
You won’t like Flashover if you are expecting another Golden Skans, it’s not poppy, it’s not radio friendly,it’s not day-glo and no one will be flashing glowsticks around when they hear it live; it’s dark, evil and rocks pretty hard.
It sounds like the soundtrack of a party in a dark and wet cave with the only lights being intermittent strobes flashing while a colony of ghouls and fiends jump around enough to piss off Gollum, who lives in the next door cave and keeps banging on the walls praying for less noise.
The long-awaited sophomore album, at the moment under the working title Surfing the Void should be released in the autumn and Flashover is a taste of what is to come. All I can keep wondering is when will we hear the album that was rejected by their label? Why weren’t Klaxons allowed to release what they wanted to do? Probably because their prog influences took them too far away from radio friendliness, but is that a bad thing? Maybe for their label..
TERMINALLY CHILLWAVE
May 10, 2010Chillwave is the latest musical trend to come out of the United States, an electronic version of lo-fi, it incorporates casio/toy synth sounds with melodically distant vocals, usually heavily processed together with synthetic percussion sounds and most of the time sounds like it could be the soundtrack to an underwater dance party in the summer of 1982. It is dreamy, catchy, emotional and fresh in a retro way. Chillwave is the soundtrack to your bummer in the summer.
NEON INDIAN – DEADBEAT SUMMER
Austin, Texas based Neon Indian aka Alan Palomo is one of the “founding fathers” of the Chillwave movement. Debut LP Psychic Chasms was produced in his apartment in a warm summer; Deadbeat Summer is a prime example of Chillwave, sampling Todd Rundgren’s ”Izzat Love” as well as distorted synths, video game beeps, processed lazy vocals and distorted fuzzy guitars.
TORO Y MOI – TALAMAK
Another one-man-band, this time from Columbia, South Carolina, Chazwick Bundick is another prime example of Chillwave again nodding to sun and summer in the sounds that could be the perfect soundtrack to waking up on a summer Sunday morning with the sun shining on your face.
WASHED OUT – FEEL IT ALL AROUND
Washed Out aka Ernest Greene is another founding member of the chillwave movement, from Perry, Georgia, and close friend to Toro Y Moi’s Chazwick Bundick, Feel It All Around is one of the most prominent chillwave songs, again it couldn’t be more summery if it was a surfing teacher called Summer Flowers who lived in Baja California.
SMALL BLACK – DESPICABLE DOGS
An emerging band from Long Island, Small Black fuse heavily distorted yet quiet Casio synths and guitars, with distant yet very emotional vocals that capture the vibe in which it was recorded, Small Black’s vocalist Josh Kolenink’s uncle Matt’s attic in Long Island. Uncle Matt, who is a surf-maker, is the main subject of the video for Despicable Dogs.
BIG SPIDER’S BACK – PERFECT MACHINE
Another solo project, this time from Seattle and coming from the mind and bedroom of Yair Rubinstein; Big Spider’s Back is surprisingly intricate be a one-man-band. A very emotional track with characteristically distant and echoed vocals and repetitive keyboards and synths.
I’VE GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGERS!!
May 2, 2010Just like Ringo at the end of ”Helter Skelter” ; I had blisters on my fingers after both times I saw Black Daniel live, and i’m sure I’m not the only one, as the cowbell I was hitting (hence the blisters) went around the ever so involved crowd several times, as did the microphone.
Black Daniel unleash all their fury onstage through a mix of electronic samples, distorted guitars and heavy drums. They are formed by Craig Louis Higgins Jr from New York on lead vocals and sampler, brothers Luke Ezra and Lamik on drums and guitar/vox respectively and sometimes feauture Japanese sample hitter “The Sweetness” Manabu from the Boicotts; i met them before their show last Tuesday at the Flowerpot in Camden to find more about this interesting band.
How did you guys come together? I know Craig worked organizing nights for Strictly Rhythm in New York and Luke and Lamik were in Medicine Eight
Craig: Yes, i worked for Strictly Rhythm but i got bored with what they were doing and actually started organizing my own club nights, and I booked Medicine 8 to come and play.
How did it all fold together? Were you guys just like “Why don’t we start playing together?”
Lamik: Well, we started recording the second Medicine 8 album and we wanted some quirky vocals for it, and because we like Craig’s way of doing things and had a lot of fun together, thought, let’s get him over in the studio and see what happens. We started doing a few things but it kind of turned to something, we started writing and basically turned into a band.
Craig, is this the first time you are in a band or were you in any other bands before?
Craig: Yeah, it is the first time, I’ve never been in a band before. Actually, I lie, there was one when i was 7 years old with a kid called Chris Harvey, we were called Uncle Harvey’s… something..
Were you singing or..?
Craig: I was playing the guitar and he played pots and pans (all laugh) and his favourite song was “It’s Me Again Margaret”, and we did a cover of that….
Did Black Daniel form because you (Medicine Eight) just thought of having Craig on board or do you have similar musical influences and similar bands you really like?
Lamik: Not so much, we have different sorts of influences musically, but i think it was more about, an overall common view of the world based on… really just partying a lot; it kind of felt like we were in a band already. We did a tour of the States as Medicine 8 and Craig came along as a “Tour Manager” which we didn’t really need as we were DJing, we just basically had a lot of fun on that tour.
As Black Daniel, have you played only in the UK or have you also played in the US?
Lamik: We did some shows in New York at Death by Audio..
Craig: This guy, Oliver from “A Place to Bury Strangers” used to, or still does build these guitar pedals called “Death by Audio”. We were all friends and started doing these parties in a big warehouse that they had in Williamsburg in Brooklyn..
Lamik: Yeah it was sort of like a commune.
Was the first Black Daniel gig in London or New York?
Lamik: It was here in London, at the Windmill, and the first one outside was supporting We Are Scientists in Stoke-on-Trent.
Luke: And there was this other band on the bill that night “She Wants Revenge” and they pulled a fast to say who was gonna go on second, this is like our second gig ever and we nearly ended up…. Well they were saying they wanted to have a fight to see who went on second
Craig: Sort of a West Side Story thing….
Luke: And then we were like, is this really what happens? Then luckily someone suggested flipping a coin which we did, and they won. The She Wants Revenge singer then came up and said “I’m so glad we flipped the coin, I really didn’t wanna have a fight!”
Craig: They all looked super mean and then they were like “I’m so glad!”
You supported Kasabian on their European Tour, how was that?
Lamik: Great, brilliant, we had done only a few gigs by that point, Craig was still living in New York; we had no idea of how it was gonna turn out, but in the end it was great, they really like us in France.
(To the “Sweetness”) What is the story behind your name and how did you get involved the band?
Sweetness: My surname is Sato which means sugar in Japanese, that’s why, maybe, Craig called me the Sweetness. I’ve been living in London for 3 years and am in a band called “The Boicotts”, i organized an event and we booked Black Daniel to come play because they had a drum kit and we didn’t..
Craig: He signed a “contract” if we’d let him use the snare drum, he’d have to be our musical slave for all of his life.. so now he sometimes comes along and plays the sampler for us!
Your live shows are outstanding and you always really manage to involve the crowd into having a good time every time you play
Craig: For me, personally, I just wanna have as much fun and as much energy as possible, we don’t wanna be boring.
Luke: So many times, from starting to play gigs when we didn’t know what we were doing at all and every band we were playing with seemed to be the most boring, serious, head-up-their-arse band as possible. At first we were like “Oh.. maybe we should be serious and give nothing to the crowd”, but soon we said fuck it, we will! And ended up having so much fun since figuring that out that was the way to go.
Craig: Yeah, we just fucking go for it, why not?! Whatever comes natural, just go with it, as long as everyone’s having a good time.
Lamik: We come from a party background in the first place so we keep the party going onstage, where there’s nothing sacred!
How did the sound evolve? Mixing samplers with guitar driven rock, was it just a natural evolution?
Lamik: We (Medicine Eight) were electronic, although we were also into Acid House and into bands with guitars so we always fancied doing a bit of both somehow, and we always keep that in mind.
Craig, you were saying how The Big Black are one of your favourite bands, are you trying to bring any of that into Black Daniel’s sound?
Craig: No, I mean that’s on of the many bands i love, I’ve never seen them live but i love their sound, and it all makes sense, because i love Suicide so it’s all sort of connected. I love James Brown old soul music, that’s sort of punk, it’s all punk to me, the rebellion of the soul singers. Anyone that’s out there saying “fuck you” and being passionate about what they’re doing, that to me is punk rock.
Would you say your surroundings have influenced you? I mean, obviously the partying influenced the way you make music and portray yourselves but do you think London and New York had an influence?
Luke: Definitely, massive influences on both the albums that we’ve done; loads of it has come from shared kind of experiences and most of them have been in New York.
Lamik: Yeah, stuff that gets referenced, things that we do, characters that we meet..
Luke: We would go out as Medicine 8 3/4 times a year to New York to play and then we’d go to Miami for the WMC, so we were always going to America, mostly New York and always spending a lot of time up having fun….. So there’s probably four or five albums left in terms of brain, that’s all quickly disappearing… (All Laugh)
The new album’s title is “Let’s Get Sued!” how did that come about?
Luke: It’s just a way of saying “fuck it”, you know, everyone is so afraid of doing a mistake so people are restricted in taking risks and doing maybe things that might be a lot of fun. Everyone’s afraid of getting pounced on by angry lawyers or whatever, and I just hate that. Ans so that’s our way of saying “Fuck it, let’s do it anyways!”.
How did you come up with the name Black Daniel?
Lamik: I was reading the Bible, the Old Testament, I’m a very big admirer of, you know the……. hmmm I’m joking! (All Laugh) The Robin Hood character that saved the Hebrews or something..
Luke: I don’t know where it came from
Lamik: There’s the Black Jesus in the Madonna video and it’s kind of like that, but maybe “Black Jesus” is too much, so Black Daniel will do..
Luke: Short answer is we don’t know.
I thought maybe it was Black from the Big Black influences and maybe Daniel from Jack Daniel’s?
Luke: That will do! That’s what it was! Yeah we used to tell people the letters were spelled out on a Ouija board when we were in a hot tun with 7 girls…
Craig: It might be the pedophile gym teacher “Black Daniel” (All Laugh) Yeah, i think it’s the new one: there was this guy, Black Daniel, from a small town in Georgia and he was a gym teacher and a pedophile and….
Lamik: … we all really admired his work.. (All Laugh)
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Lamik: We’d like to send our love to everybody in this world, and hope everyone can join us in this sense of serenity and peace and love and happiness before we all die because of 2012 or whatever!
Here is the video for their song “I Love You But Don’t Touch me Cos’ You’re Sick”
If you’d like blisters on your fingers too, or just see the most fun band in London at the moment here are their upcoming gigs:
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The Buffalo Bar w/The Indelicates & Helmholtz Resonators | London, GB | |||
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JUNKSHOP @ 12 BAR w/MILK KAN | LONDON, GB | |||
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2Art Limited @ Miss Q’s | London, GB | |||
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CLUB 333 | LONDON, GB | |||
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FISHTANK FESTIVAL @ QUEEN OF HOXTON | London, GB | |||
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The Cannon with JON FAT BEAST STAND UP FALL DOWN TOUR | Newport Pagnell, GB | |||
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BINGO MASTERS BREAKOUT KARAOKE EXPERIENCE | London, GB | |||
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HOPE FESTIVAL | TBA, GB | |||
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IVY SINGLE RELEASE PARTY @ THE PLAYGROUND @ 93 FEET EAST W/ Johnny Foreigner | LONDON, GB | |||
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POTTY MOUTH LIVE @ PROUD GALLERIES | LONDON, GB | |||
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THE GLADES FESTIVAL | Winchester, GB | |||
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SECRET GARDEN PARTY 2010 | ????, GB | |||
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THE PORCH OF FLEEBUS PRESENTS BLACK DANIEL WITH MARTIN REV of SUICIDE & GUESTS | TBA, GB |
SPRING TIME’S HERE KIDDIES, IT’S TIME TO TAKE A TRIP!
April 18, 2010I apologize for the lag between the last post and the new one, but as most of you in the northern hemisphere have experienced in the last few days the weather has been gearing up towards the glorious summer.
As a result I have been enjoying the weather, as many of you; but at the same time have compiled a list of some of my favourite summer songs (in no particular order) to accompany you in the (sunny) days to come.
DONOVAN – SUNNY SOUTH KENSINGTON (1967)
A psychedelic gem from Donovan’s 1967 album “Mellow Yellow”. Similar in subject to Sunshine Superman’s “The Trip”, as it was a tale of a night on acid out in Los Angles with Bob Dylan and Mama Cass amongst the others, Sunny South Kensington is a song about the vibrant scene in South West London in the mid 60. Lyrics such as “Mary Quant and Jean-Paul Belmondo/Got stoned to say the least,/ and Ginsberg ended up dry/So he too a trip out East” tell the tale of what Swinging London’s finest were doing at the moment; and it’s not only drugs!
If you’re interested in another sunny part of London sung about by Donovan, here is “Sunny Goodge Street”
THE YOUNG RASCALS – GROOVIN’ (1967)
“Groovin’ ” is a step away from the blue eyed soul that predominated the Young Rascals sound towards more afro-cuban rhythms that at the time intrigued lead singer and main songwriter Felix Cavaliere.
The song was a massive hit in the US in May 1967 and has reappeared in the charts in later years through various reinterpretations.
THE BUBBLE PUPPY – I’VE GOT TO REACH YOU (1969)
The Bubble Puppy were label mates to the pioneering 13th Floor Elevators in the massively influential International Artists label. This epic 7 minute song starts off with a hard-bluesy riff that leads to a melodic flower-power guitar verse followed by a majestic chorus. (Unfortunately the version on the video was recorded from a faulty turntable resulting in a slower-than-normal sounding song).
OS MUTANTES – A MINHA MENINHA (1968)
Os Mutantes, together with other Brazilian greats such as Gilberto Gil, in a time of military dictatorship in their home country created a sound that blended typical Brazilian sounds together with psychedelic rock resulting in one of the most interesting genres in South America, Tropicalia. Os Mutantes split in 1978 and have since influenced many artists, Kurt Cobain was a massive fan and in the early 90s wrote a letter to the three founding members begging them to reform.
LOVE – MAYBE THE PEOPLE WOULD BE THE TIMES OR BETWEEN CLARK AND HILLDALE (1967)
Taken from Love’s 1967 psychedelic masterpiece “Forever Changes”; Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark and Hilldale describes Arthur Lee’s peace of mind when on Sunset Strip in L.A. in the mid/late 60s.
The legendary Whiskey a GO-GO club was situated between Clark and Hilldale and the song describes the LA subculture through a spanish flamenco guitars fused with a more electric West Coast Sound, backed by Lee’s generation-defining lyrics:
“What is happening and how have you been
Gotta go but I’ll see you again
And oh, the music is so loud
And then I fade into the…
Crowds of people standing everywhere
‘Cross the street I’m at this laugh affair
And here they always play my songs
And me, I wonder if it’s…
Wrong or right they come here just the same
Telling everyone about their games
And if you think it obsolete
Then you go back across the street
Yeah, street, hey hey
When I leave now don’t you weep for me
I’ll be back, just save a seat for me
But if you just can’t make the room
Look up and see me on the…
Moon’s a common scene around my town
Here where everyone is painted brown
And if we feel that’s not the way
Let’s go paint everybody gray
Yeah, gray, yeah”.
THE SONICS WILL MAKE YOU JUMP, THEY WILL MAKE YOU SHOUT, THEY MIGHT EVEN KNOCK YOU OUT!
April 7, 2010The Sonics aren’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of fame, they did not have number one records, and they weren’t loved by parents and children alike. The Sonics were raw, they were loud, they sabotaged their amps in order to sound more distorted, they screamed, they shouted, they incited their listeners to poison themselves and influenced every punk/grunge/garage band in the years to follow; and still do every single one of those things to this day.
Formed in Tacoma,Washington in 1963, in the wake of other Pacific Northwest bands such as The Kingsmen and the Fabulous Wailers, the Sonics took the whole raunchiness and loudness the Northwest was famous for to another level combining it with an obsession with Little Richard and Chuck Berry, resulting in some of the most powerful music to have ever been recorded at the time.
The Sonics were brought back to life a couple of years ago by the Cavestomp festival in New York, quickly followed by their first ever performance outside their native soil, at London’s Le Beat Bespoke Weekender in 2008, after which they had a sold out European tour, only to return to London again this year for the same festival.
Performing to a crowd of garage-heads of both young and old, The Sonics ignited the audience with their fierce and relentless rock and roll, that would leave your ears bleeding, yet begging for more.
The first chords of set opener “He’s Waiting”, one of their baddest songs, ignited a furious roar from the crowd, which from then onwards never ceased to move. What is most impressive about this band is that notwithstanding their age (mid-60s) they still are so tight musically and can unleash more energy than most young bands around today. The fullness of their sound, with guitar, organ, and sax all turned up to 13 made sure that my ears were still ringing well into the next afternoon, to remind me of an unforgettable evening in company of Tacoma’s finest.
Playing a set with all their classics, from “Cinderella” to “Psycho” to their infamous rendition of “Louie, Louie” (a critic at the time it was recorded commented that the song has only three chords, and they can’t even play them right).
Perhaps the highlight of the night was “Stychnine” one of their classic songs, a garage punk standard, tonight doubled in length; and re-vamped with a fantastic and more psychedelic (the Sonics were around before psychedelia and stuck to their straight forward dirty brassy R&B) guitar solo courtesy of the great Larry Parypa.
The Sonics to this day remain one of the most influential bands in the rock and roll world whether directly or indirectly and will always continue to inspire younger generations with their music as well as their antics.
Larry Parypa once stated “Everything you heard people say about us is true”; just think of all you haven’t heard about them.
A SONG A YEAR: The UK in the 1960s (Part 2)
March 30, 20101965: The Yardbirds – For Your Love
If, as Andy Warhol once said, “Everything went young in 1964!” then everything went a little naughty in 65. The Yardbirds were a nest to three of the most important British guitarists, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page.
Started as blues band, like many at the time, the Yardbirds stated experimenting with different sounds, as well as different substances, giving birth to a movement that would later be called psychedelia. For Your Love is particular for its eastern feel, groundbreaking at the time, and for the fact that Eric Clapton hated it so much (it was pop in his eyes, not blues) and quit shortly after its release; only to form one of the most important hard rock psychedelic bands, Cream, a couple of years later.
1966: Donovan – Sunshine Superman
Donovan also started innovating the British music scene in the mid-60s when he went from his acoustic folk work to a more electrified, experimental and “far-out” sound. Having visited California in early ’66 where a whole new movement was starting to grow, from the Laurel Canyon bands in LA that performed on the Sunset Strip, to the more psychedelic Haight-Ashbury early hippies in San Franscisco performing at the Filmore West. At his return, and while in LA Donovan recorded what can be considered one of the very first psychedelic albums, Sunshine Superman, which ushered a generation into love, flower power and mysticism.
* i know it’s meant to be a song a year, but this song from 1966 must also be heard, by Wimple Winch, a band from Stockport that had a brief career, spawning this excellent freakbeat gem, best enjoyed played LOUD!
1967: The Deviants – Charlie
We all know that 1967 is one of the most important years in music, mainly because of The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, which would spread the psychedelic movement across the world and let everyone know that it was ok to do whatever you wanted to. In London though, at the legendary UFO Club, where Pink Floyd moved their first lysergic steps, a young band fronted by Mick Farren would take being outcasts to another level. The (Social) Deviants, were championed by guru DJ John Peel and have since been an inspiration for Punk, Metal and any sort of music that involves rebelling and being as loud as possible.
1968: The Pretty Things – Walking Through My Dreams
In 1967 at the Abbey Road studios in London, while The Beatles were recording the generation defining Sergeant Pepper’s, Pink Floyd were recording their glorious debut The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and the Pretty Things, a raw and aggressive R&B band whose founding members were in a band with Jagger and Richards in the early 60s, recorded the highly underrated S.F. Sorrow.
Poor Pretty Things, when they were playing R&B, Mick Jagger, intimidated by the Pretties’ rawer style, made a call to famous music showcasing TV program “Ready, Steady, Go!” telling them to choose between “us or them”, needless to say the Stones were chosen. A couple of years later, after they had recorded S.F. Sorrow, a concept album telling the story of a man’ s life and death through songs (considered the first “rock opera”) Pete Townsend stole their idea and with the Who recorded Tommy, stealing the limelight from the excellent SF Sorrow.
Here is a great non-album track from those sessions, released in 1968.
1969: The Zombies: Time Of The Season
The Zombies were one of the most influential British Invasion bands of the 60s, inspiring millions of American teens in forming a band, they had sold-out stadium shows in the Philippines but when they broke up no-one seemed to care. Odessey and Oracle, their last album, released after the band had already split would be ignored at its time, the band didn’t tour and promote it as they had already broken up and the masses were listening to more acid-drenched heavy rock, such as the Grateful Dead, Cream, Led Zeppelin and the Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Quickly becoming a favourite amongst critics, O&O stands out for its baroque feel, unbarred emotions and fantastic execution. If you don’t already own and love Odessey and Oracle, well it’s the time of the season to get and fall in love with it!
A SONG A YEAR: The UK in the 1960s (Part 1)
March 25, 20101960: The Shadows – Apache
John Lennon once stated that “before Cliff and The Shadows, there had been nothing worth listening to in British music.” The Shadows were the biggest british band before the Beatles hit the airwaves in 1963,formed by Cliff Richard, they were an instrumental 4 piece who pioneered the 4 piece rock band format that would later become a standard for bands worldwide. Recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, Apache was a breakthrough in rock music, for using an echo chamber combined a vibrato effect achieved by Hank Marvin’s Fender Stratocaster giving it a typical surf rock sound that would later boom across the Californian beaches.
1961: John Leyton – Johnny Remember Me
Produced by visionary record producer Joe Meek, “Johnny Remember Me” was a No. 1 hit for John Leyton in 1961.
The eerie musical landscapes of the song reflect its theme, a haunting call from a dead lover to be remembered by her survivivor.
1962: The Tornados – Telstar
Another great instrumental, and another one produced by Joe Meek. Telstar was the first british song to top the US charts. Named after the first AT&T satellite to go into orbit, Telstar ushered a generation into the space race and kept them looking athe sky at night. George Bellamy’s guitar skills as the Tornados’ rhythm guitarist have since been transmitted to his son, Matt, frontman of Muse. Telstar has also been claimed by the Iron Lady (Margaret Thatcher) as her favourite song.
1963: The Beatles – She Loves You
And here they are, the ones that changed the face of rock and roll forever. Before them girls didn’t scream and pull their hair when they saw a band live, people didn’t faint if they caught a glimpse of their musical heroes across the street and the whole world wasn’t obsessed by the same band at the same time. Thanks to the Beatles all these things happened, and more.
1964: The Four Pennies – Black Girl
“Black girl/Where Did You Sleep Last Night/In the Pines”, is a song that has a cycle. It first was written in the late 19th century and was first recorded by influential southern-blues man Leadbelly. Revived in 1964 by blues-obsessed british beat/R&B band The Four Pennies, this emotional and dramatic tale of twisted love and jealousy came back again in the early 90s with Nirvana’s very emotional-in-retrospect version that closed their Unpugged in New York performance.
(I know it says 1965 on the video, but the song was actually recorded and released in 1964)
NO ONE LIKES SLOPPY SECONDS.
March 3, 2010The second album is always the most challenging for any musician. For as long as recorded modern music has been available, artists have either soared to greater heights with innovation and experimentation, or sunk into oblivion or shame for blandness and repetitiveness on their sophomore effort.
In the latter category we could place a copious amount of recent indie bands from the past decade, starting from those who innovated the whole genre in 2001, The Strokes.
“Is This It?”, the band’s debut sparked a whole new trend in an otherwise stagnant rock panorama that ranged from nu-metal to cheesy pop punk. Inspired by seminal New York bands such as The Velvet Underground and Television, “Is This It?” was a breath of fresh air in rock music. Unfortunately, their second album, “Room on Fire” lacked the innovation of its predecessor, resulting in an album which itself is very good, but not up to the standards set by “Is This It?”
The same unfortunate fate has followed Bloc Party, who in 2005, with “Silent Alarm” contributed to what The Strokes had started by adding more angular guitar riffs and more dancey basslines reminiscent of Gang of Four to their indie rock; but then released a weak second album in 2007 which played on the same sound that they had started with, but failed to excite as the previous one did.
The same thing can be said for a myriad of bands, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, The Futureheads, and going a little further back even the Strokes’ ”muses” themselves, Television.
Luckily, many others have had the luck to reverse the process and go from a mundane debut to a glorious sophomore album.
This phenomenon has happened since rock music has existed, starting all the way back to when it was in its teenage years.
Jefferson Airplane had released a good debut album, 1966′s “Takes Off” but it would be eclipsed by to the psychedelic breakthrough which ushered a generation into the summer of love; the following year’s seminal “Surrealistic Pillow”.
Nirvana released their lo-fi debut in 1989, “Bleach” which itself is also a good record but not quite 1991′s “Nevermind” which saw them catapulted into the mainstream and made them the voice of the grunge generation.
In the last year, several bands have made stunning second album comebacks which have set them apart from the rest of their peers, such as the Maccabees, Jamie T and more importantly the Horrors.
The Horrors, a band started almost as a joke, having only had two rehearsals before their live debut, but came a long way from the garage punk of their first album to the shoegazy krautrock of their latest release “Primary Colours”.
This trend is fortunately continuing in 2010 with the year’s first musical surprise, Foals’ new single.
Foals formed in Oxford in 2007, and backed by a fair amount of media hype released their first album, “Antidotes” in 2008- as with Jefferson Airplane and Nirvana, this was a good effort. The math-rock influences from singer/guitarist Yannis’ former band The Edmund Fitzgerald combined with the dance/funk/punk rhythms of the rest of the band resulted in a catchy and jumpy album, fronted by single “Mathletics”.
After a year of absence from the airwaves, Foals returned to the public eye on March 1st 2010 when their new single “Spanish Sahara” was played on Zane Lowe’s Radio 1 show.
A total departure from their previous sound, “Spanish Sahara” is a four minute emotional crescendo of ambient sounds at first more disperse, then consolidating into an enrapturing chorus in which Yannis sings “I’m the fury in your head/ I’m the fury in your bed/ I’m the ghost in the back of your head” as the keyboards and guitars form an intricate and intertwining pattern.
The song, accompanied by a stunning video shot in Inverness is a clear sign of maturity and departure from the languish second album fate that a few could have expected from Foals. “Spanish Sahara” is a predecessor of what we are to expect from Foals’ new album “Total Life Forever” that will be released on May 10th 2010.
It looks set NOT to be a sloppy second!
Gio Arlotta
