On Easter Sunday when I was 12 I woke up with the mumps. Had a really high fever and couldn’t move my head without severe pain. My Mom said “Since you can’t have candy, what can I get for you?”. My answer was quick. “At Sprouse Reitz, in the middle row of the “Rock Albums,” …
Overheard at a restaurant: “that’s the thing about rock ‘n roll… It makes you feel like the future is endless… And we all know that isn’t true.” Soon thereafter, The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” comes on the restaurant sound system. Very surreal and telling moment for me. – Marco Collins is currently working at JetCitystream.
Sarah Jarosz may only be twenty-one years old, but she’s already on her way to stardom. She also holds more talent than almost any pop star of today combined. Jarosz plays an honest and pure form of country music that spills over into a more folky sound also. She not only writes all her songs, …
When I was a child, a friend and I found two baby field mice. We promptly named them “Pudding” and “Pie”… Their eyes were still closed, and they weren’t much bigger then a thumb nail. We tried to save them of course, but they died. I remember when they died, it …
I heard this for the first time today on NPR’s Talk of the Nation (yes they played a song on a talk show) and chortled as Neal Conan referred to Ben Gibbard as “Dave Gibbard” and said the rocker grew up listening to Dave Niehaus describe Ichiro. Au contraire, Ben was an adult and already …
Above is an interesting version of “Stairway to Heaven” which was sent my way by Mark Erickson. It’s amazing how a diligent Australian tribute band can make any song sound like a Doors song. Jim Morrison died July 3, 1971 and Led Zeppelin IV was released November 8, 1971. In strange mind related music news, …
Continuing FOE‘s slight obsession with things deathly, occult and nightmarish, this track “Frankenstein” is the B side to new single “The Black Lodge.” I like B-sides, the way they give the chance to do something as a one-off with no pressure to make it fit a larger strategy. This is quite touching, and the lyrics, …
I remember laughing my head off when this first came out in the late seventies. I was in high school and knew little to nothing about Patti Smith at that time. I don’t think I’ve ever watched any Patti Smith vids from that era so I can’t state how accurate Gilda Radner’s portrayal is of …
Sunday Night July 22, Seattle’s tiny Chop Suey club hosted New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls. Chop Suey sits on the southern end of Seattle’s diverse Capitol Hill neighborhood and this night right on the edge of the annual Capitol Hill Block Party. The aforementioned is a musical event where several streets are cordoned off and several …
I had no idea that “The Wave Speech” from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas had been given a name and taken on a life of it’s own amongst Thompson mavens and literary academics. I had wrongly assumed that I was the only one to find beauty in these six paragraphs and to excerpt them …
After seeing Poorsport on Friday the 20th of July, I headed to West Seattle to The Skylark Club. Seattle’s legendary ska masters, Easy Big Fella had reunited for their twentieth anniversary and were doing a few west coast shows. I arrived just as openers, Seattle’s Natalie Wouldn’t were being introduced. I was familiar with Natalie …
Friday afternoon July 20, I headed to the Seattle Center (home of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle) to witness Seattle’s Poorsport perform at The Bite of Seattle festival. The rain had finally stopped after dumping buckets all morning, but the clouds were still ever present and threatened to dump again at any moment. But this is …
I’m sending out a challenge out with this one. Sit totally still while listening to this! Ain’t happening. Foot is gonna be movin’ or you’ll be up outta your seat like me dancing wildly, as if no one is looking – hey, there IS no one watching me! Excellent, I’ll dance even more wildly! – …
I’ve never fully bought into the mythology of Gram Parsons, I prefer to lay my head at the shrine of Gene Clark with LPs like No Other and White Light. Years ago, a friend of mine was working at Neil Young’s ranch and several ’employees’ were discussing the Byrds. Neil walked in, and said “it’s …
Wow. Can’t stop crying. This is so powerful on so many levels. – Marco Collins is currently working at JetCitystream. http://youtu.be/xUD_c9MqtEU
Best-selling author and onetime publisher of legendary Northwest music magazine, The Rocket, Charles R. Cross, is throwing a reunion for all of the writers, artists, phographers, staffers and anyone who ever contributed to the publication. The soiree will take place Sunday, August 5, 2012, from 2:00pm until 7:00pm at the Feedback Lounge in West Seattle. …
http://youtu.be/_Xdy6T1DurY
This Sunday, New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls headline a show at Seattle’s Chop Suey on July 22. The Bouncing Souls play a unique brand of punk/pop that now many other bands try to copy, but few pull it off as well as the Bouncing Souls do. Their light-hearted songs transfer onto their stage performance with just …
Sunday July 15th, 2012 was a day I looked so forward to and now it’s gone. I wish it could have lasted forever. July 15th in Portland, OR was Ray Davies Day. The entire city, by decree of the mayor, designated this worthy affair to be so. The first event was at Portland’s historical Hollywood …
Portland, Oregon has done what no other US city has ever done (as far as I know), and that is declare by decree ad signed by the mayor, that July 15, 2012 was to be declared Ray Davies Day. To authenticate this, a ceremony was held at Portland’s historic Hollywood Theater, where the honored man …
Just found this – always been one of my favorite Tom Petty songs and this is a cool dedication to Levon Helm. The other member of the Band that he mentions is Richard Manuel who sang back up on the original recording back in 1986. It might be the last recording Manuel ever made… – …
When I learned there was going to be a fabulous ska show on the same night my hero, Ray Davies was playing, I was caught in a real dilemma. Of course I couldn’t NOT see my god, but the ska show was The Pietasters with Georgetown Orbits and Skablins opening. Solution: Pay for a choo …
Lol Coxhill has left earth for the great gig in the sky; the free improvising saxophonist collaborated with many others, including Kevin Ayers, Steve Miller (of Caravan), Mike Oldfield, Morgan Fisher (of Mott the Hoople), Chris McGregor’s Brotherhood of Breath, The Dedication Orchestra, Django Bates, The Damned, Hugh Metcalfe, Derek Bailey and street theatre performance …
I’ve discussed the incredible musical and vocal arrangements of “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” to death – and never tire of it. However, so much is said of Brian Wilson’s studio wizardry, the Beach Boys’ lyrics are often overlooked as key components of timelessness. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older Then we wouldn’t have …
This may be the only Holy Modal Rounders, or Unholy Modal Rounders, song you know. Check out more of them. The Moray Eels Eat The Holy Modal Rounders is an excellent way to expand your collection. – Dennis R. White http://youtu.be/Iwq55kt8x4g
Look out, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Real McKenzies, you’ve got competition. The Roughneck Riot’s new record, This Is Our Day, starts out with the catchy yet powerful “Ignorance Is Easy,” a song that seems so apropos in these times. This six-piece band hailing from Manchester, UK is one to look out for. The band mixes …
Happy accidents are a rare pleasure in music. However your marginal propensity of discovering a good new band are roughly multiplied by a factor of 100 when you attend a major music event like SXSW. So luck was running high when my colleague Mike Hughes and I were midway through a solid week of bands …