The second night of my Skalloween celebration took me to Tim’s Tavern in north Seattle where three fabulous local ska bands were slated to play. Headlining were Wyoming transplants It Gets Worse, preceded by a band I saw for the first time, Smoking Bill, and opening the entire night was my own beloved Natalie Wouldn’t. …
Here’s a song for every musician whose songs never got played on KEXP:
My skalloween weekend began Friday night, Halloween Eve at Seattle’s Highline Bar on Capitol Hill. Headlining was Seattle’s own ska legends the Diablotones. After a fun-filled performance by the Skablins, the Diablotones hit the stage for a mix of funky, raunchy rock and roll ska. Singer/bassist Timmy Profit sang with a throaty growl, often sounding …
John Renbourn never enjoyed the 20-something beard-driven renaissance of his pal Bert Jansch in Ballard, Brooklyn, Silver Lake or Oakland – but this new 20 song collection of all unreleased early 60’s recordings should help – Beverly Martyn (John’s wife) sings on a few cuts, while Davy Graham and Mac MacLeod sit in on a …
In 1971, Porter Wagoner recorded this perfect description of “The Rubber Room.” You might describe it as “psych-country.” It’s certainly not a pop song. As Waylon Jennings once said, Porter “couldn’t go pop with a mouthful of firecrackers.” – Pat Thomas is the author of Listen, Whitey! The Sights and Sounds of Black Power 1965-1975.
Bobby Whitlock was a member of Derek and the Dominos and played keys on the legendary Layla album. He’s still got the touch. This was always my favorite tune on that album– Wikipedia says Whitlock helped Clapton to finish this song– and Bobby, CoCo and Moses Mo don’t disappoint here. http://www.bobbywhitlockandcococarmel.com/
back in the early 60’s, when ‘Swingin’ London’ was in full flower, it was quite popular to photograph popular british rock bands (and later, american rock bands) to use as “props” in fashion photography. the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, Pink Floyd and even The Who were decorative elements in the back of fashion …
https://youtu.be/RLM9lAHu7H4 “When I was younger I wanted to be a witch, but then I realised you can’t really do that for a living…” Claudia Kane might not have fulfilled her childhood dream of caldrons, black cats and magic books, but the Londoner is about to start casting an impressive spell via the medium of velvet-draped …
Come Naked by Black Market Aftermath Black Market Aftermath is a band with great talent, varied sound, and what I would describe as “formula” skills. The songwriting is good. The list of songs is long. I didn’t mind listening to the album and was vaguely intrigued by it. I, however, want to be kicked in …
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True confession #1: At first glance I was fully prepared to strongly dislike Etham. He’s young, good looking, and just smacks of many things I disdain about humanity, music and the fancy monkeys that swing on the strings of the pop scene. However, True confession #2 is that he is amazingly talented, his lyrics and …
Moon is a rockin band with all the tools necessary to build a wall of sound. On their track “Sidewinder” this is exemplified by a layered, driving, throbbing urgency that unfolds into layers of tasty riffs and rhythmic chapters. The evidence of “Sidewinder” suggests that Moon has plenty of red meat left swinging in their …
You can trace the cultural landscape of the 70s – by mirroring it to the music of Rod Stewart – the decade begins with the sublime British folk and American ‘roots-music’ influenced solo albums running parallel with the blues based swagger of his Faces recordings (a good time was had by all) – then he …
Below is a list of worthy anti-colonial (#anticolo) movies—perhaps the best ever made. A cursory Google search has not uncovered a single list of the best anticolo flicks of all time. The aggregated minds of East Portland Blog have come together to generate a list and potentially be the first website to broach this subject. …
A band of bratty banshee best friends, Kitten Forever believes in each other, pets, magic, and you! Here’s a documentary about the band: http://www.kittenforeverforever.com https://www.facebook.com/kittenforeverrr http://kittenforever.bandcamp.com
i remember holding this record in my hands and almost buying it when it first came out. now it’s rare as hell. it’s a bootleg record of jimi hendrix playing with johnny winter and buddy miles in a french (?) club, jamming. a totally sloshed jim morrison steps up and sings a few songs. the …
This tune is from the recently released Samm Henshaw EP, The Sound Experiment. Samm commented on this video saying, “This song is all about having the freedom to do what you want. The video features multiple versions of myself, living freely.” https://www.facebook.com/SammHenshaw https://twitter.com/SammHenshaw https://soundcloud.com/sammhenshaw
i have seen the future of rock and roll and it’s name is SLEAFORD MODS… – Art Chantry
What a gorgeous piece of music. “Goodbye, Pork-Pie Hat” is a 1959 composition, written by jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus, as en elegy for saxophonist LESTER YOUNG (“Pres”), 1909-1959. Mingus wrote and recorded it immediately after Pres died, for one of his peak albums, Mingus Ah Um. It is full of love, loss and …
Is Grimes Too Punk to be a Pop Star? She started as an experimental electronic musician and drew a devoted online following. Now she wants to infiltrate the mainstream. BY KELEFA SANNEH – NewYorker.com I’ve been writing a lot of music lately, so the New Yorkers have fallen by the wayside. But I did manage …
Imari Tones, “The First Christian Heavy Metal Band from Japan”, is releasing their new album, Revive The World on October 20th. This album is a result of their years of touring and playing both in Japan and USA, including their independently executed “We Are Okay, We Rock Tour 2011”, their inclusion in USA nationwide Christian …
Thursday nights aren’t usually nights that draws large crowds to a concert, but Seattle’s Neptune hosted soon to be British legend, Frank Turner. Frank Turner, after playing to sell-out crowds in England, has finally made the breakthrough into the US. Imagine the poetry of Bob Dylan with the voice and charisma of Bruce Springsteen and …
in the 1950’s, portland, oregon, had their very own horror movie hostess – Miss Tarantula Ghoul!!! sure, she was a lame ass rip off of Vampira (the woman who actually BEGAN and invented the whole ‘TV horror host’ schtick in the early 50’s). but, TG had a lot of style on her own. she was …
This is as wonderful as it is weird… – Mike Hughes
Dreamy, punky noise pop with a riot grrrl bent, TÜLIPS is set to release their debut album Doom & Bloom November 13 via Lolipop Records. TÜLIPS is: Angie Bloom (vox/guitar), Taleen Kali (vox/guitar), Miles Faster (bass), Travis Moore (drums) Angie & Taleen’s friendship blossomed as they sent each other mixtapes between L.A. and Chicago. When …
Helvetia is the project of Built To Spill bassist Jason Albertini, along with his former Duster bandmate Dove Amber, Zeke Howard (formerly of Love As Laughter), Samantha Stidham, and Jim Roth, (the greatest Northwest guitarist of the last 25 years and also of Built To Spill, the Delusions, Voodoo Gearshift, etc…) The band released their …
“Love Ain’t A Prize” was written by Donica Knight, her producer, Jim Huff, and Chris Vos (The Record Company.) Recorded at Fox Force Five Recorders and Huff’s home studio in Los Angeles, CA, the track is taken from her forthcoming EP, Can’t Buy A Southern Girl, slated for early 2016 release. The single is already …
John Berg died last night. he was the art director of Columbia records through most of the 1960’s and 1970’s. as a result he designed most of the important record covers of the modern era. a small list would include most of the record covers for bob dylan, chicago, neil young , elton john, the …
Tvärvägen, which means “the Crossroad” in English, returns with the album This River So Red. Neo-classical chamber pieces for strings and piano are at the center on the new album, recorded live at Atlantisstudion in Stockholm. Tvärvägen has a unique voice, which has developed off the beaten track. The debut Sånger från Tvärvägen was an …
In Taeyeon’s newest video, the former Girls Generation star plays a young woman in search of her true self who is stuck in a dead end job as a beverage server in Portland, Oregon. Though this was actually filmed in New Zealand, they are seeking a Portland vibe as the quirky cafe in which the …