Asteroid No.4 – “Honeyspot” and “California” via Rainbow Quartz.
Farrar, Jay
Jay Farrar – two new mp3s, alt takes of “No Rolling Back” and “Out on the Road” via jayfarrar.net
Radio, Radio
If you’re like me, when it comes to quality musical entertainment, the first thing you think about is Pam Anderson. That’s right, she of the pneumatic torso and plasticized pouty lips. The human (OK: maybe she’s a cyborg; you can’t be too sure nowadays about things like that) Barbie doll who has shown a proclivity to attach herself to monosyllabically monikered performers (e.g., Lee, Rock). The woman who has proven that method acting is profoundly overrated if you can wear very little while emoting. In fact, it could be argued that Pam has proven that talent is overrated as long as you are, well, talent.
The Gits – Frenching the Bully
The Gits – Frenching the Bully (Broken Rekids)
A fierce, powerful, slash and burn punk unit who hailed from Seattle via Ohio, The Gits were defined by the steely barbs and arresting passion of vocalist Mia Zapata. The tube-shattering electricity that surged through guitarist Joe Spleen and bassist Matt Dresdner’s instruments was matched and throttled only by the exposed nerve of their singer, who delivered first-person, hardcore-style rants that galvanized an entire generation of riot grrrls, but left her personal identity and desires honestly, brazenly exposed. In a sick and impossibly sad twist of irony, The Gits’ rock revolution was shattered on July 7, 1993, when Zapata was raped and murdered outside a Seattle pub. She was 27. Zapata’s death ended The Gits’ promising rise, which had begun with 1992’s Frenching the Bully and was set to continue with Enter: The Conquering Chicken. But it also rallied a shaken music community. The Home Alive organization was formed to foster awareness and education of self-defense. 7 Year Bitch paid tribute through angry tears to their fallen friend on 1994’s Viva Zapata! And the women of Sleater-Kinney and Le Tigre, to name only a few, continued to make vital music that furthered Zapata’s legacy in a flurry of power chords and pointed lyrics.
Now, in the wake of an arrest in the case (thanks to DNA evidence), Bay Area indie Broken Rekids has reissued The Gits’ landmark debut. The back cover bears a simple statement: “Frenching the Bully – Remixed, remastered, and back in the hands of The Gits.” Drummer Steve Moriarty has said news of the arrest prompted him to play The Gits’ records really loud; this spectacular reissue makes that experience even more rewarding. Never a grunge band per se, The Gits always cut a line between street punk and hardcore – the former in the music, the latter in the lyrics. “Another Shot of Whiskey”, “Absynthe”, and “Slaughter of Bruce” kick with renewed kinetics, while “It All Dies Anyway” recalls Patti Smith while Zapata’s words burn with renewed passion. “Is death the only way to get attention?”
The renewed Frenching the Bully includes nine live tracks, culled from a 1993 date in Portland, Oregon. Its additional studio tracks are telling reminders of Zapata’s power. The hardcore screed “Spear and Magic Helmet” burns like white phosphorus on exposed skin, but it’s the single version of Bully‘s “While You’re Twisting, I’m Still Breathing” that’s left tellingly until the end. “I’ll keep coming back slightly stronger…I’ll keep breathing,” Mia Zapata sings. “I’ll keep breathing.”
JTL
Dandy Warhols: Pure Buoyancy
The Dandy Warhols
Bowery Ballroom, New York, September 14, 2003
If at times the Dandy Warhols’ music seems to have the quality of a machine with their smooth, trancey beats and seamless musicianship, they undercut that effect by their response to the thuddingly cliched yell for “Freebird” at their Sunday night gig at the Bowery Ballroom. They played it. “Do you come to all our shows?” keyboardist Zia McCabe cried impishly to the fan while Courtney conferred on the chords with fellow guitarist Pete Holmstrom and then launched into a decent version of the Skynyrd tune, bandmates singing along supportively. The moment was one of many where Taylor showed an unpretentious humor, often hidden behind his haughty, carefully dandified manner.
Muse.net
Muse.net – listen to your music anywhere.
The Decemberists – Her Majesty the Decemberists
The Decemberists – Her Majesty the Decemberists (Kill Rock Stars)
Colin Meloy, with his lovely languid voice, his daunting vocabulary and his baffling knowledge of 19th-century European history, accounts for a considerable amount of the Decemberists’ allure. The Portland ensemble’s new album Her Majesty the Decemberists, a fitting successor to 2002’s Castaways and Cutouts, is rife with the front man’s less-than-rock-and-roll pet themes of soldiers, sailors and downtrodden proles. Reappearing too, on tracks like “Shanty for the Arethusa” and “Chimbley Sweep” (respectively, the band’s second pirate- and chimney sweep-themed songs on record) is the jaunty cadence that made the best Castaways tracks so compelling.
On the songs that work best, the Decemberists bring all of their unusual instrumentation – Wurlitzers and vibraphones, pedal steels and glockenspiels – to bear, and craft vibrant melodies and sailing crescendos. Too often, however, the band seems to use Meloy’s always-excellent vocals as an excuse to avoid fleshing out the songs, leaving promising tunes such as “Los Angeles, I’m Yours” and “The Gymnast, High Above the Ground” feeling… lite. Her Majesty is a literate and engaging work, though not all of its elements carry Meloy’s inventiveness and tenacity.
MP3s of “Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect” and “The Soldiering Life” via killrockstars.com.
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees
2004 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Nominees include Stooges, Pistols, Prince, George, Sabbath, Skynyrd, Gram Parsons, and the Five Royales.
White Stripes make triumphant live return in San Francisco
O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? O Grave, Where Is Thy Victory?
I originally wrote this piece in November 2002 as a review of The Man Comes Around for Doog Magazine. It is reproduced here with permission from Doog.
Johnny Cash is on his way out. He is dying. But so are you. And so am I. We all are.
Rock and roll is rife with tales of death and mortality. Hank Williams said it best with “I’ll never get out of this world alive.” And then Jim Morrison paraphrased this sentiment with “No one here gets out alive.” Both of those guys were dead by thirty. But Johnny Cash has lived to be an old man. He’ll turn 126 this year and he just released the fourth album in his American Recordings series, produced by Rick Rubin.
Continue reading O Death, Where Is Thy Sting? O Grave, Where Is Thy Victory?