Of the galaxy of stars at Chess Records, the grandmaster of them all was Rev. C.L. Franklin, pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan. Clarence LaVaughn Franklin (1915-84) was one of the greatest black ministers of the post-war era, a civil rights activist, and a friend of Martin Luther King. Many consider …
It’s Hard, impossible really, to cover “Baba O’Riley.” The original will always dominate the listener’s earmagination. There are four versions of which Iam aware, Pearl Jam, The Picketts, Blue Man Group and this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcfHjNTRSho&feature=share
When we were getting ready to do a session and record the soundtrack for the “The Girl I Married” episode of The Twilight Zone (below) which would air July 17, 1987, legendary rock guitarist John Cipollina and I were in the hallway at the coffee machine. John waited until I’d gotten through making up my …
I met with The Joy Formidable this past December prior to their last show of the year at the Vogue Theater in the Broad Ripple, Indiana. With my better half in tow, Pam and I sat down to a lengthy discussion with a band on what has been a very long and successful year for …
Electro-pop composer Yuksek (aka Pierre-Alexander Busson) has invaded the US, bringing a flurry of swooping, dance-pop anthem and a brand new record, Living On The Edge Of Time. Here’s “Off the Wall.” A press page with photos, MP3s, videos, and etc. may be found here: YUKSEK – Off the wall (clip officiel) by umusic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX-FYv_NG2k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gEXcrYjRpY
A longtime friend of mine, Timothy Riley, has just put out a record, Songs for Desperate Souls, which is excellent. Please listen well and share this link as far and wide as possible. : http://thesinners.bandcamp.com Here are some primo cuts from the record. The first tune, “That’s Why I Carry a Gun,” was written shortly …
This guy is fantastic. He’ll be at Sasquatch at the end of May. That’s the closest he’s coming to Portland or Seattle. He is introduced by Taraji P. Henson, who plays a detective on Person of Interest and looks much younger here than on the show:
Here is Dead Ship Sailing performing “Bad Luck” live at the Comet Tavern in Seattle. Filmed by Marlon Schaeffer.
Graig Markel‘s new video is a live performance of “The Disconnection” which was filmed live in Markel’s studio, the Recovery Room as part of a two night release show for his self-titled solo album, which he describes as, “a collection of haunted soul ballads.” Recorded on a vintage analog tape deck, Markel set out to …
Saw Beth Jeans Houghton last night which led me to this wonderful and affectionate depiction of Britain. If you Portlanders come over to visit, you will experience such delights. – Mike Hughes (The new address for Mike Hughes’ Catshoegazing Blog is Catshoe.org) http://youtu.be/1n6IPHFTH3s
Went to an Ash Wednesday service and Ashley Cleveland was in the congregation. She did not sing this song – but it would have been cool if she did. – Bob Smietana
I like Don Was’ comment that this song isn’t really in a key. Was tried to arrange it for Wilson, and noticed that the chords didn’t follow any normal chord logic. Brian explained that he was trying to make interesting/weird shapes with his hands, and then plunk them down on the keyboard. – Andrew Hamlin
As late as November ’67, the voice is still youthful:
It is usually a bad idea to cover any song recorded by Howlin’ Wolf. You’re likely to come out second-best. But there are the rare exceptions, and this is one of them. Do Etta and Harvey blow away the Wolf in this version of Spoonful? No, but they certainly put their stamp upon it. Issued …
I really like this new Santigold single, and the live action video for it is fantastic. Here’s Santigold’s follow-up single, The Keepers. Live action: Animated:
36 million views for this video for Domino? Wow, Jessie J has come a long way fast… I heard her being interviewed about how this was written as a riposte to a feeling anything but ‘sexy and free’ but don’t be fooled by the schtick. It’s totally fabulous but also very deeply conventional, which is …
Seattle’s latest and greatest baroque pop band, Tomten, will perform Thursday, 2/23 at Neumos with Pica Beats and Curtains for You. Tomten goes on at 9pm sharpish. KEXP describes Tomten, who hope to release a 10 inch vinyl EP in April and a full length work in June, in this way, “Well-crafted and steeped in …
This is the kind of stuff I listen to while driving sometimes now — YouTube files of Ted.com lectures and performances burned to MP3 CDs. This is a long file, but if you listen to a minute at the beginning, you’ll get the idea. Zoom to 16:38m, where Goldie Hawn picks some notes at random …
As I waited for the show starring The Presidents of the United States of America to begin, great music streamed from the break tape and I found myself hearing bands such as the Sweet, the Runaways and the Sonics. Then the show began right at nine as scheduled with some guy from LA called Mike …
As the son of a preacher myself, when Dusty Springfield first released this record, I fancied it was about me — which was pure narcissism on my part, to say the least. Aside from that, it’s still a great record, and Dusty was at her peak when she made it. – Rich Horton http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go7mSyRohII
Kidd Russell has two new videos. He describes She Feels Like Home in this way, “We Shot this video on the last day of summer in Wisconsin. We had no plans, a bootleg camera, our ladies and a few cases of beer so we decided to have fun and shoot something authentic and fun. I …
On Valentine’s Day 1985, he played this for, I don’t know, forever. A delicious forever… – Andrew Hamlin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIzzHHMLfd0&feature=youtu.be
I never read the Hunger Games books about which the lyrics of this song were written. That being said, this is an artistically well done video. It has an eerie, yet light, other worldly quality to it. The natural world potrayed in the video would seem almost heavenly, with Taylor looking mystical and wearing a …
The very DEFINITION of my very favorite Sludge Rudiment, “The Bryan Adams Part”, from a concert for Amnesty Int’l, no less! LOL And at Giants Stadium in ’86, the mullets, they ABOUND! Enjoy everybody, – Tom Kipp Bryan Adams – "It’s Only Love" – Giants Stadium on June 15, 1986
Scientists have just discovered a lost transmission from Planet 1975:
Last summer, Gordon Voidwell and his production crew created a music video which pays homage to Whitney Houston’s mid-80s “How Will I Know” video. He had been keeping it under wraps until the right moment, which unfortunately arose this week with the untimely passing of the legendary singer. Video director Steve Pristin says “Gordon Voidwell’s …