Video: SWMRS – “Lose Lose Lose”
From Berkeley’s On Fire, out now on Fueled By Ramen.
Well it’s hard to argue with a sentiment like this:
2019 is a fucking disaster
Dear Vladimir Putin, stop fucking up my shit
‘Cause I know I can fuck it up faster
So it goes.
Video: ShitKid – “Grown-ups are KiDS!”
Video by Erik Pousette. From [DETENTION], out now on PNKSLM.
There are no guns or chickens in the latest video by our favorite Swedish troublemakers, but it’s still pretty good.
All of the grownups
Always think
Yeah think they know what’s best for me
Oh but they don’t
According to numerous posts on social media, SkitKid was kicked off their upcoming U.S. tour with the Melvins. Not a lot of details. Only explanation is “for being too bad ass” and that “we were also looking forward to it! But we will come over headlining next year for sure.”
Can’t wait.
Video: Andrew Bird – “Olympians”
Directed by Matthew Daniel Siskin. From My Finest Work Yet, out now on Loma Vista.
Andrew Bird is having way more fun in his new video than the lyrics of the song might suggest.
Why don’t you come to bed
Instead of stumbling into the light
Of medicine cabinets?
Shaking out pills left and right
Looks like it was “take your kid to work” day on the set. Good times.
Rolling Stone issue #38 had a cover date of July 26, 1969. 40 pages. 35 cents. Cover photo of Jim Morrison.
Features: “The Rolling Stone Interview: Jim Morrison” by Jerry Hopkins; “Crashers, Cops, Producers Spoil Newport ’69” by Jerry Hopkins; “Bringing it all Back Home” by Peter Giraudo; “Fuzz Against Junk: The Saga of the Narcotics Brigade, Installment Six” by Akbar Del Piombo.
News: “Columbia to Stay Above Ground”; “Grateful Dead Ungrateful; Sued”; “Tibet In The West” by Charles Perry; “Now the Action’s At People’s Pad”; “A Move to Curb Cambridge Rock” by Dennis Metrano; “Artists Get a Bright Idea”; “Big Joe Williams: Soul on His Face” by Don Roth; “Our Astronaut”; “Denver Festival: Mace with Music” by Jim Fouratt; “Christ, They Know It Ain’t Easy” by Ben Fong-Torres; “Hendrix Charged: Smack, Hash”; “Festivals” (first mention of Woodstock: “Twelve hours of music each, on August 16th and 17th…in upstate Wallkill, New York”); “Free Music”. And Random Notes on Phil Spector, marijuana laws, Eric Jacobsen, Moby Grape, English militant socialists, Sammy Davis, Jr. (“who is the sort of black man who makes you think it must be some kind of optical illusion”). Jann’s casual racism is something else, isn’t it?
Video: Michael Hurtt & His Haunted Hearts – “I’m Gonna Be Gone”
From an upcoming single on Swelltune Records. Filmed at the 2018 New England Shakeup festival.
On my first trip to New Orleans I got way too drunk and abused my host’s hospitality. She had one rule: no puking in her house.
We had been out all day with her New Orleans pals and at night we all went to see Tav Falco at a club called Muddy Waters. Her friends all dressed sharp in vintage suits. Me and my pals were sloppy drunks.
When I woke up in the morning on my friend’s floor I felt terrible. Like my skull was cracking open. I had no recollection of how we made it home. But Mike Hurrt was in the kitchen cooking skillet eggs for everybody. They smelled delicious and tasted wonderful but as soon as the food hit my gut I knew I was in trouble. I excused myself and barreled out the door and ran as far as I could down the street to find a safe place to barf. I knew I had to get out of earshot of my host or she’d be really mad. I emptied my stomach and walked around the block until my head was clear.
By the time I got back to the house everybody was done with breakfast and Hurtt was interviewing Tav Falco in a back room. I hadn’t realized that Falco spent the night too! But that’s the magic of New Orleans. At least it was back in the early 90s. I haven’t been back since Katrina…
Hurtt formed his Haunted Hearts in New Orleans (where they impressed Hunter S. Thompson one night), but he’s been based out of Hamtramck, Michigan, for a while now. I love their 2006 debut, Come Back To Louisiana, and enjoyed their 2013 Christmas single, but I just realized I completely missed the album they released in 2015, Struck With The Blues. Going to have to look for that.
Not only is Hurtt a fine singer and songwriter (and egg slinger!), but he is an absolute scholar of rock and roll. He’s been published in MOJO magazine, the Detroit Metro Times, and he wrote a ton of great stuff for Offbeat magazine.
This lineup of Haunted Hearts includes Mike’s brother Eric Hurtt on lead guitar, Rudy Varner on bass, Mitch Palmer on pedal steel, and Bobby Trimble on snare.
Michael Hurtt & His Haunted Hearts: fb, reverbnation, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.
Video: Pip Blom – “Tired”
Video by The Industry. From Boat, out now on Heavenly Recordings.
Pip Blom’s previous single, “Daddy Issues,” is one of my favorite songs (and videos) of the year so far. This new one has a similar ramshackle charm.
Video: Prince – “Manic Monday”
From Originals, out now on NPG Records.
I don’t remember exactly when I discovered that Prince wrote the Bangles hit “Manic Monday,” but I’ve been hoping to hear his original demo ever since. It was certainly one of the first things I searched for after I downloaded Napster. But of course it never came up.
Until now.
And it’s pretty much everything I’ve been hoping for. Prince’s vocal delivery is laid back and chill. The Bangles kept their arrangement pretty close to the demo. Prince was on fire at this time. It’s crazy how productive Prince was at this time, recording and filming Purple Rain, touring, writing hits for Sheila E., the Time, Apollonia, Vanity 6, and…Kenny Rogers. Dude was on a roll.
Rolling Stone issue #37 had a cover date of July 12, 1969. 40 pages. 35 cents. Cover photo of Elvis Presley.
Features: “You Won’t ask Elvis Anything too Deep?” by William Otterburn-Hall; “Pete Townshend on Tommy” by Rick Sanders and David Dalton; “Jefferson Airplane Today” by Ben Fong-Torres; “The Troubadour: Rick Nelson” by Jerry Hopkins; “Fuzz Against Junk: The Saga of the Narcotics Brigade, Installment Five” by Akbar Del Piombo; “A Short History Of Religion In California” by Richard Brautigan.
News: Beatles ‘Get Back’ LP Due in July; “Doors’ Movie Is a Feast for Friends” by Jerry Hopkins; Fleetwood Mac to Put Christ on Wax; “‘Back to the Bible’ For Californians” by Ben Fong-Torres; Brian Jones Leaves Stones; Jimi Hendrix Has a Brand New Bass; God Named Party In Property Suits; Cops ‘n’ Robbers For the MC5; Keep on Truckin’, Dopers–It’s OK; “100,000 Sons of A Preacherman” by Robert W. Neubert; Blind Faith Debuts: ‘Well All Right!’; Rock Unsafe at Any Volume; “Beethoven Was Black and Proud” by John Grissim, Jr.; The Wild West: a Wild S.F. Fest; L.A. Gives Dylan Gospel Treatment; Festival Notes. And Random Notes on Zig-Zag papers, Donovan, Manfred Mann, MC5, Mad River, Timothy Leary, Nicky Hopkins, the Supremes, and Pat Boone.
Video: Son Volt – “The 99”
From Union, out now.
I don’t spend a lot of time on negativity anymore, and that includes writing negative reviews. I mean, really…we’re surrounded by a shitstorm of Trumpist negativity and we are a music site of, by and for fans. So it pains me to write this:
This new Son Volt video is laughably bad. Jay and crew playing in front of a green screen while stock footage of the Great Depression is the No Depression version of phoning it in. And seriously, we can’t have that. This is a crucial time in the history of this country and we need Jay’s voice. It’s important. No half-measures, man. I am onboard with the sentiment, but you must try harder!
Video: Sharon Van Etten – “No One’s Easy To Love”
Directed by Katherine Dieckmann. From Remind Me Tomorrow, out now on Jagjaguwar.
I don’t know where she is or where she’s going, but Sharon Van Etten is a boss. How do I know? She walks with great authority. And you can’t be a boss without some authority. New single, “No One’s Easy To Love” is a clear statement of authority in relationships. Not that Sharon has all the answers–that’s not what authority or expertise imply. It’s that she has the experience and insight to speak to the complications that make up our closest connections.
I mean, the title itself is an authoritative statement. No one is easy to love. Humans have faults and flaws and they’re unique to each of us, which means they can be baffling to others. I have a very annoying habit of identifying and highlighting vocal inflections and regional accents. For example, many of my in-laws pronounce words that start with “un” as a prefix as “on.” They say things like “ONusual” or “ONcomfortable.” I notice it every single time. How annoying of me. I am not easy to love. And neither are you. The boss said so.
Sharon Van Etten: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.
