Two new rock doc trailers for your viewing pleasure.....
A new documentary on The Doors titled :When You're Strange will arrive in selected theaters on April 9th. There are plenty of Doors videos out there, just look at this insane list on Amazon and you'll see what I mean.
Apparently, this one is different. Lots of new insight(more of Jim as shaman,poet-Less of Jim as drunk lunatic) unseen footage(from what I can tell some of it is from several films Jim made at UCLA including "HWY"....and from the words of Ray Manzarek: "This one doesn't star Val Kilmer playing Jim Morrison, it stars Jim Morrison playing Jim Morrison".(I always thought Harry Hamlin would have been better). Even John Densmore likes it...he showed up at Sundance in support, majorly under-dressed in his silkscreened poncho and moccasins. The film is narrated by Johnny Depp..while on a 20 minute break between Tim Burton movies. Check out the official website for more info here:
http://www.whenyourestrangemovie.com/
Fuck Keith Richards! Motorhead front man Lemmy is truly indestructable...He's the real deal. He'll be here after the bomb, after the roaches and zombies are the only things left, roaming the remains in his black cowboy boots, breathing out fire, disease and metal like a true sole survivor. For now, he survives by writing another song about war, jailbait or the bloody "road", preserving his Nazi memorabilia collection(true story), bathing in jack and cokes, playing video poker in his corner spot at the Rainbow Room, and rocking in his sleep. Even Ozzy runs from him! Lemmy the movie premieres at SXSW in March.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Seano at SXSW
I would like to announce (as well as warn the fine city of Austin,TX) that I will be attending SXSW 2010!
I plan on covering the festival as much as possible with interviews, reporting and blog posts via several websites including this one. For me, and many other music aficionados, SXSW is a mecca. It cannot be missed if you want to find new music to love/hype/bitch about. It cannot be missed if you happen to want to write about music for the rest of your life. Check out the line up so far, and notice all of the bands you've never heard of here: SXSW Band Schedule(so far).
As you may know, last year I attended as a performer(w/Bang Camaro). I was able to have enough free time between 2 showcases to see bands from afar, or to online RSVP for free showcases. The RSVP doesn't guarantee entry to the showcases, however. Access to shows (hundreds official and hundreds more unofficial) gets tricky. An official all access badge costs around 1K. No can do, this year. I'm too busy transitioning out of a life of hard labor.
Although my attempt to raise money (a SXSW Seanathon) here at Circle of Fits FAILED miserably, I have a good friend and benefactor(Thanks Alex!) who bought me a plane ticket in exchange for my contracting services.
I will still keep the Send Seano to SXSW thingy in the TOP RIGHT column open, however. Because a man needs 4 days worth of beer(fine Shiner beer), Emergence -C, breakfast tacos and a tie dyed Stevie Ray Vaughan t-shirt(size XL). There's only so much a homeless looking blogger is willing to do for a backstage pass..cavity search, crack beer or blumpkin not included.
I also need some supple greenbacks to pay the cover charge at various showcases I will be trying to get into.There were over 500 bands showcasing last year(officially) and hundreds more playing parties scattered around downtown Austin last year. So if you get a tax return and can't put a finger on which charitable donation brings you the most joy..put the finger on me....maybe.
I know how hard it is out there, so don't even sweat it if you can't donate. Just a comment here and there is all I really want...and thank you.
I'd like to personally thank daily reader Dan S. for the one and only donation I received. Dan, I will do my best to make you smile from Austin, I promise.
If there are any bands on that immense list that you want me to see and report on which don't include members who frequently wear skinny white denim jeans and glasses too big for their faces...let me know. I'll see what I can do.
But, for now, its......20 days to go and counting.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Sound Of Philadelphia Studio Survives Fire,
Sound Of Philadelphia Studio Survives Fire
But the rest of the place is in bad shape.
Sad news...from right here in Philly. All of that memorabilia is probably gone for good. At least the master tapes are safe. The "arsonist"(allegedly) is such an idiot, he started the fire(allegedly) while he was still IN the building. Maybe he was a disgruntled, dyslexic rapper who couldn't rhyme. We've got plenty of those here.
By Clive Young.
Philadelphia, PA (February 23, 2010)—A two-alarm fire ripped through the offices of Philadelphia International Records on Sunday morning; the company's studio, where acts like The Jacksons, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle and Chubby Checker recorded classic songs, was relatively unharmed.
The Broad Street offices and studio have been the working home to producers/songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff since the early 1970s. There, they recorded countless soulful singles that came to be known as The Sound of Philadelphia, generating more than 100 Gold and Platinum records and over 70 #1 hits, including “Love Train” by the O’Jays, “Me & Mrs. Jones” (Billy Paul), “If You Don’t Me By Now” (Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes) and “Enjoy Yourself” by the Jacksons. Prior to the PIR era, the facility was the home of the Cameo-Parkway record label, where Chubby Checker recorded “The Twist.”
The building was “severely damaged” according to PIR publicist Randy Alexander, who noted that police have found the blaze “suspicious;” an official ruling may come later today. Both Gamble and Huff were in New York City at the time of the fire.
When firefighters arrived Sunday morning, they had to rescue a man from a third-floor window; the floor houses the studio, offices and a merchandise storage room, where the fire broke out. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the man’s name has not been released to the public, and while no charges have been filed against him, he was reportedly “uncooperative” during police interviews as to why he was in the building.
According to Chuck Gamble, executive vice president of Philadelphia International Records and nephew of the songwriter, roughly 40 percent of the offices’ memorabilia, including photographs and gold and platinum record awards, is still unaccounted for; he told the paper, “It was dark in there, so at this point, we just don't know where they are. They could have been knocked off the walls or were melted."
The studio, however, was untouched by the fire, even including the original orange shag carpet covering the walls. Other than smoke damage, the recording facility reportedly appears to have survived the fire intact.
As a sign of the times, however, the studio isn’t PIR’s main revenue source these days; most of the company's work centers around licensing and marketing of its back catalog. The majority of PIR’s reported 10,000 master tapes were kept off-site.
But the rest of the place is in bad shape.
Sad news...from right here in Philly. All of that memorabilia is probably gone for good. At least the master tapes are safe. The "arsonist"(allegedly) is such an idiot, he started the fire(allegedly) while he was still IN the building. Maybe he was a disgruntled, dyslexic rapper who couldn't rhyme. We've got plenty of those here.
By Clive Young.
Philadelphia, PA (February 23, 2010)—A two-alarm fire ripped through the offices of Philadelphia International Records on Sunday morning; the company's studio, where acts like The Jacksons, Teddy Pendergrass, Lou Rawls, Patti LaBelle and Chubby Checker recorded classic songs, was relatively unharmed.
The Broad Street offices and studio have been the working home to producers/songwriters Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff since the early 1970s. There, they recorded countless soulful singles that came to be known as The Sound of Philadelphia, generating more than 100 Gold and Platinum records and over 70 #1 hits, including “Love Train” by the O’Jays, “Me & Mrs. Jones” (Billy Paul), “If You Don’t Me By Now” (Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes) and “Enjoy Yourself” by the Jacksons. Prior to the PIR era, the facility was the home of the Cameo-Parkway record label, where Chubby Checker recorded “The Twist.”
The building was “severely damaged” according to PIR publicist Randy Alexander, who noted that police have found the blaze “suspicious;” an official ruling may come later today. Both Gamble and Huff were in New York City at the time of the fire.
When firefighters arrived Sunday morning, they had to rescue a man from a third-floor window; the floor houses the studio, offices and a merchandise storage room, where the fire broke out. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the man’s name has not been released to the public, and while no charges have been filed against him, he was reportedly “uncooperative” during police interviews as to why he was in the building.
According to Chuck Gamble, executive vice president of Philadelphia International Records and nephew of the songwriter, roughly 40 percent of the offices’ memorabilia, including photographs and gold and platinum record awards, is still unaccounted for; he told the paper, “It was dark in there, so at this point, we just don't know where they are. They could have been knocked off the walls or were melted."
The studio, however, was untouched by the fire, even including the original orange shag carpet covering the walls. Other than smoke damage, the recording facility reportedly appears to have survived the fire intact.
As a sign of the times, however, the studio isn’t PIR’s main revenue source these days; most of the company's work centers around licensing and marketing of its back catalog. The majority of PIR’s reported 10,000 master tapes were kept off-site.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Infinite Awesomeness
I was having a super blah day, about as beige as can be. Sitting here with 2 ear infections, uninspired and coughing up unidentified gelatinous particles...when I came across this video on Stereogum..and my whole attitude, no..day..NO..LIFE changed. I have found the wholly holy grail of awesomeness...and a Christian band called Final Placement from Midland TX holds it in their pure white hands!
"Shine" by Final Placement from sharity world on Vimeo.
Let us drink from the cup of eternal Coke from the Food Court!
Let us find our way, reach the light in our lives after walking around aimlessly in a vacant downtown with a cellphone.
Let us rejoice and have a voice in the Lord's name, purveying his divine message...and double track them..until the pain drives the nuns to thrash themselves with their own rulers.
Let us abstain from within, but release goodwill and good judgement with a well placed guitar solo sounding like drunk angels having a midair collision, then use it as our soundtrack....doubletracked.
Let us pray...Pray for the guitar teacher, the videographer, the sound engineer, the parents who shelled out some serious coin for the Marshall stacks, the audience, the elderly, the sick and the poor.
I know I'm gonna "Shine",now Final Placement! Thank y'all.
"Shine" by Final Placement from sharity world on Vimeo.
Let us drink from the cup of eternal Coke from the Food Court!
Let us find our way, reach the light in our lives after walking around aimlessly in a vacant downtown with a cellphone.
Let us rejoice and have a voice in the Lord's name, purveying his divine message...and double track them..until the pain drives the nuns to thrash themselves with their own rulers.
Let us abstain from within, but release goodwill and good judgement with a well placed guitar solo sounding like drunk angels having a midair collision, then use it as our soundtrack....doubletracked.
Let us pray...Pray for the guitar teacher, the videographer, the sound engineer, the parents who shelled out some serious coin for the Marshall stacks, the audience, the elderly, the sick and the poor.
I know I'm gonna "Shine",now Final Placement! Thank y'all.
Friday, February 19, 2010
The One and Only Bon Scott: 30 Years Gone Today
Bon, We Miss You. 30 years Gone today.
Here's a few reminders of your one of a kind rock greatness........
Ride on, my friend.
Here's a few reminders of your one of a kind rock greatness........
Ride on, my friend.
Props to Johnny Firecloud
One of my favorite music writers in the blogosphere is Johnny Firecloud from Antiquiet.com. His wit, abundance of smack talk and knowledge is what keeps me reading. I am linking to an article he did on Crave Online called The Worst Music Genres Of All Time. It is a fantastic expose on the magnificent musical movements made that can never be taken back. It should be required reading posted up on the walls of every rehearsal space in existence. It should be taught to every 11 year old wielding a Peavey at the Schools Of Rock worldwide.
Teach your children well.
Here is the link, and thanks Johnny. The Worst Music Genres of All Time
Teach your children well.
Here is the link, and thanks Johnny. The Worst Music Genres of All Time
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Snagfilms
Snagfilms is just plain cool. If you've got the time, a comfy chair (preferably bean bag) and the needs and means to imbibe, you can chill out and watch music documentaries for free. Yes, free. This is THE place to go online if you want to watch a doc. I did a search on their main page..typed in "music" and it returned 183 results. Several of the documentaries I scrolled through I had heard of before...Kurt and Courtney, Dig!.
However. There was an impressive tally of films I had never heard of. And I'm smart. I'm informed, darn it.
But I was out of rock radar range with these titles:
A to Zeppelin:The Story of Led Zeppelin....
Becoming Queen (Freddy and Co.)...
Be Here to Love Me-The Life of Townes Van Zandt...
Girls Rock-The movie every daughter needs to see.....
Growing Up Metal- what happens when one’s mom and dad are in Death Metal bands.
There's more. The stash is very impressive. Sure you have to watch an Ad for Walmart(where you can't buy most of the music in the doc you have sat down to watch) or something else....but its free, dudes and dudettes.
This is a music centric site..so I talk about music. But I should let you know that Snagfilms has over 1000 documentaries in EVERY category. There is something there for every one of you shut-ins out there.
Looky here- They set up a little Widget for me with a Rolling Stones multi-part Documentary called Jut For The Record....just click on the link below and get yer ya yas out...... Check snagfilms.com out . Bring a date to the laptop tonight.
However. There was an impressive tally of films I had never heard of. And I'm smart. I'm informed, darn it.
But I was out of rock radar range with these titles:
A to Zeppelin:The Story of Led Zeppelin....
Becoming Queen (Freddy and Co.)...
Be Here to Love Me-The Life of Townes Van Zandt...
Girls Rock-The movie every daughter needs to see.....
Growing Up Metal- what happens when one’s mom and dad are in Death Metal bands.
There's more. The stash is very impressive. Sure you have to watch an Ad for Walmart(where you can't buy most of the music in the doc you have sat down to watch) or something else....but its free, dudes and dudettes.
This is a music centric site..so I talk about music. But I should let you know that Snagfilms has over 1000 documentaries in EVERY category. There is something there for every one of you shut-ins out there.
Looky here- They set up a little Widget for me with a Rolling Stones multi-part Documentary called Jut For The Record....just click on the link below and get yer ya yas out...... Check snagfilms.com out . Bring a date to the laptop tonight.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Err Way to Heaven
A short while back it was "My Generation" that was desecrated by ebonic graffiti (thanks to Wil I Am). This week it's "Stairway To Heaven". Apparently, a new version of this untouchable classic has been recorded by none other than The Queen of Unnecessary Emotion herself, Mary J. Blige. And of course, an unnecessary "supergroup" has been assembled to tear this remake down and rebuild it for no reason at all and paint it with hollywood gloss, clean it up with reverb and auto tune, wrap it up in a shit covered bow and deliver it to your mall kiosk or itunes playlist drowning in vocal gymnastics and crying spells.
I cannot stand Mary J. Blige, because of her gimmick. She has been riding that endless and played out wave of "look what I've been through, you 'been through it, too" for 6 straight albums. She's been washing her diamonds in her own river of tears and drowning in the money that she wipes her eyes with for way too long. She gives false hope every other year when she releases yet another one of those " rise from the ashes" ghetto anthems that her bus riding fan base believes in like a fucking Sunday sermon. It's a sin, really. She is the trailblazer of a new genre called R&B.S. Don't leave home without your shovel, believers.
So what the fuck is she doing with Stairway to Heaven?
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Stairway to Heaven. Besides Every Breath You Take(also redone and destroyed by another R&B.S.-er) its the most popular radio hit of all time, a classic rock staple...you don't really need to hear it again. Overplayed to death. Sonic wallpaper. It's just there.
But most "classics" are. They become foundations of a place in time, a song that reminds millions of a certain year or period in their life. A song that repulses or influences anyone who isn't a baby boomer. They never break. Encased in an impenetrable playlist. A classic wheel with impervious tread. So why try to FIX them? Why touch them at all?????? Does Damian Hirst(look it up) pull a Picasso off of a gallery wall and cover it with dead flies or shark guts and call it Art Part 2? Fuck no! Back away from the rock classics, R& B.S.-ers!
And where does Mary cull her "supergroup" from? Well she follows a Hollywood music studio script and gets Steve Vai to play guitar(Slash was overbooked), Randy Jackson on bass (he's full of credentials, Dawg!) Travis Barker to play drums(Tommy Lee was DJ-ing in Vegas).....by the way...can somebody please tell me what is so groundbreaking about Travis Barker? Why is he always "the guy"? Is it the neck tattoos? The sideways ball cap? The reality show? The plane crash survival? Somebody out there clue me the fuck in on why some inked- up stick hack from Blink- 182 is THE ANSWER TO EVERYONE'S DRUMMING PRAYER??!!!
But let's hear what Queen Mary and her peeps have to say :
"I think this song is not hard at all because it's based on pure emotion," Blige tell Spinner after a couple of takes. "You gotta get lost in the rock 'n' roll moment of it all, and once you get lost in the rock 'n' roll moment of it all you can do is scream to the top of your lungs or go as low as you need to go. It's not a head thing -- it's a spirit thing."
"In a room full of people, we were all asked what we thought the song was about and no one knew," Barker admits of one of the world's most renowned rock songs. "How Mary interprets the song -- she feels a stairway to heaven is how women might buy a bunch of things to make them feel like they are in heaven or in peace with all these materialistic things -- and then going back and looking at the words, I think she nailed it."
Did you just read that? Nobody involved in this re-make knows what the song is about.........
Nobody had their people call Jimmy or Robert's people....or Googled it, or asked ANYONE with some basic ROCK KNOWLEDGE what they may have thought the song was about??????!!!
So..........................
Mary has interpreted it as a Public Service Announcement for women who are addicted to shopping.
chirp...chirp....crickets....
Can you just see the video???? Women bawling and blubbering through 4 layers of foundation, buried under a pink and white pile of boutique bags as wads of kleenex rain down from the sky, through a misty lens....cut to Mary shaking her hand as she sings (an R& B.S. Trademark) and belting out "there was a lady we all knowwwwuuuoowww ohhh hooouwwwwohhh oh uh ho uuwwww oh ooh oh ooh woowwww"
or
"Its just a spring clean for the mayyyyye yeeeeayyyy uuhhh uuhhayyyy que eeeeh uuyyeennnn."
Can someone please tell me where the trap door to hell is? Cuz, I'm not going up any stairway that Mary does.
Thanks to Spinner.com for the quotes from MJB.
I cannot stand Mary J. Blige, because of her gimmick. She has been riding that endless and played out wave of "look what I've been through, you 'been through it, too" for 6 straight albums. She's been washing her diamonds in her own river of tears and drowning in the money that she wipes her eyes with for way too long. She gives false hope every other year when she releases yet another one of those " rise from the ashes" ghetto anthems that her bus riding fan base believes in like a fucking Sunday sermon. It's a sin, really. She is the trailblazer of a new genre called R&B.S. Don't leave home without your shovel, believers.
So what the fuck is she doing with Stairway to Heaven?
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Stairway to Heaven. Besides Every Breath You Take(also redone and destroyed by another R&B.S.-er) its the most popular radio hit of all time, a classic rock staple...you don't really need to hear it again. Overplayed to death. Sonic wallpaper. It's just there.
But most "classics" are. They become foundations of a place in time, a song that reminds millions of a certain year or period in their life. A song that repulses or influences anyone who isn't a baby boomer. They never break. Encased in an impenetrable playlist. A classic wheel with impervious tread. So why try to FIX them? Why touch them at all?????? Does Damian Hirst(look it up) pull a Picasso off of a gallery wall and cover it with dead flies or shark guts and call it Art Part 2? Fuck no! Back away from the rock classics, R& B.S.-ers!
And where does Mary cull her "supergroup" from? Well she follows a Hollywood music studio script and gets Steve Vai to play guitar(Slash was overbooked), Randy Jackson on bass (he's full of credentials, Dawg!) Travis Barker to play drums(Tommy Lee was DJ-ing in Vegas).....by the way...can somebody please tell me what is so groundbreaking about Travis Barker? Why is he always "the guy"? Is it the neck tattoos? The sideways ball cap? The reality show? The plane crash survival? Somebody out there clue me the fuck in on why some inked- up stick hack from Blink- 182 is THE ANSWER TO EVERYONE'S DRUMMING PRAYER??!!!
But let's hear what Queen Mary and her peeps have to say :
"I think this song is not hard at all because it's based on pure emotion," Blige tell Spinner after a couple of takes. "You gotta get lost in the rock 'n' roll moment of it all, and once you get lost in the rock 'n' roll moment of it all you can do is scream to the top of your lungs or go as low as you need to go. It's not a head thing -- it's a spirit thing."
"In a room full of people, we were all asked what we thought the song was about and no one knew," Barker admits of one of the world's most renowned rock songs. "How Mary interprets the song -- she feels a stairway to heaven is how women might buy a bunch of things to make them feel like they are in heaven or in peace with all these materialistic things -- and then going back and looking at the words, I think she nailed it."
Did you just read that? Nobody involved in this re-make knows what the song is about.........
Nobody had their people call Jimmy or Robert's people....or Googled it, or asked ANYONE with some basic ROCK KNOWLEDGE what they may have thought the song was about??????!!!
So..........................
Mary has interpreted it as a Public Service Announcement for women who are addicted to shopping.
chirp...chirp....crickets....
Can you just see the video???? Women bawling and blubbering through 4 layers of foundation, buried under a pink and white pile of boutique bags as wads of kleenex rain down from the sky, through a misty lens....cut to Mary shaking her hand as she sings (an R& B.S. Trademark) and belting out "there was a lady we all knowwwwuuuoowww ohhh hooouwwwwohhh oh uh ho uuwwww oh ooh oh ooh woowwww"
or
"Its just a spring clean for the mayyyyye yeeeeayyyy uuhhh uuhhayyyy que eeeeh uuyyeennnn."
Can someone please tell me where the trap door to hell is? Cuz, I'm not going up any stairway that Mary does.
Thanks to Spinner.com for the quotes from MJB.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
DVD Review: Artie Lange- Jack and Coke
If you are a regular listener of the Howard Stern Show, or have been for the last eight years or so, then you know of the raw genius of comedian Artie Lange. He has shared his storied life and how he has managed to ride on the very edge of it, with honesty, and dark humor, all the way to the top echelon of stand- up comedy.
On his second live comedy DVD, Jack and Coke, filmed at New York's legendary Gotham Comedy Club, Artie solidifies his reputation as a rough and rumpled everyman with an irreverent and mercilessly dirty take on everything and anything. It appears that his material is endlessly toxic, but endless. There are tales of his own "degenerate" journey that are as funny as they are terrifying. There are hilarious and shocking hits to celebrities, sports figures and characters from a shadier side of life not often experienced by the fans that love him. This is the high life of low blows. There is brutal self -deprecation blanketed in layers of lawbreak and heartache. There is laughter throughout..Lots of it. Be afraid, be very afraid. But be prepared to bust a gut while running for cover.
To watch Artie's live show is to partially feel his pain, but to also witness it being soothed by the punchline that follows. Those punchlines hide tears and pain that have recently filled headlines and left many questions for all of Artie's fans and family. But on the night that this set was filmed, he was on top of the comedy heap, and not struggling from within. This DVD is a reminder of how bright that faded laugh track in Artie's brain can shine. There is pain within us all, and Artie Lange reminds us of how important, revealing and entertaining the companion of laughter can be.
Look for Artie Lange: Jack and Coke in stores everywhere now.
On his second live comedy DVD, Jack and Coke, filmed at New York's legendary Gotham Comedy Club, Artie solidifies his reputation as a rough and rumpled everyman with an irreverent and mercilessly dirty take on everything and anything. It appears that his material is endlessly toxic, but endless. There are tales of his own "degenerate" journey that are as funny as they are terrifying. There are hilarious and shocking hits to celebrities, sports figures and characters from a shadier side of life not often experienced by the fans that love him. This is the high life of low blows. There is brutal self -deprecation blanketed in layers of lawbreak and heartache. There is laughter throughout..Lots of it. Be afraid, be very afraid. But be prepared to bust a gut while running for cover.
To watch Artie's live show is to partially feel his pain, but to also witness it being soothed by the punchline that follows. Those punchlines hide tears and pain that have recently filled headlines and left many questions for all of Artie's fans and family. But on the night that this set was filmed, he was on top of the comedy heap, and not struggling from within. This DVD is a reminder of how bright that faded laugh track in Artie's brain can shine. There is pain within us all, and Artie Lange reminds us of how important, revealing and entertaining the companion of laughter can be.
Look for Artie Lange: Jack and Coke in stores everywhere now.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Happy Birthday, Heavy Metal
On Friday the 13th of February, 1970, Black Sabbath released their self titled debut album. It began with a thick and ominous tritone, a pitch -dark riff that reverberated with a wash of shivering fear... and the world of music would never be the same. Happy 40th, Birthday, Heavy Metal! And here's to the members of Black Sabbath, Pentagram, Blue Cheer , Sir Lord Baltimore and a cast of others for casting the spell, for turning their backs on flower power and plunging into a loud nightmarish curtain of sound...for turning it up and tuning it down simultaneously, for mesmerizing the misfits and miscreants, weaning them off of their faux hippie teets and turning them on to the bloody bosoms of the shrouded figures in black.
Here's to the people who may or may not have coined the term "Heavy Metal"...John Kay of Steppenwolf with his lyric "heavy metal thunder" or rock journalist and Blue Oyster Cult producer Sandy Pearlman who used it in an interview in Crawdaddy Magazine in 1968...or maybe Herman Hesse or William Burroughs who eluded to "heavy metal" within a passage from his novel "The Soft Machine"in 1964.
Here's to the blackened Brits of the stellar second wave of metal...especially Rob Halford who, through his own self exploration of his sexuality, and the costumes of its appropriate underground scene....brought the leather to the metal show by accident, and forever. It was he and Judas Priest who brought the soaring melodic screams to the genre, and buffered by bands like Budgie, Iron Maiden, Saxon, Deep Purple and Motorhead , sent metal into the stratosphere.
Metal has branched off into more subgenres than any other category of music..some embarrassing (hair metal, rap metal, crab core??) and some unintelligible (grindcore, funeral doom). It has made many men millionaires who blossomed out of their perspective and blessed genres with their cornerstone bands like Slayer, Metallica and Motley Crue. But when we venture back,and peruse the root... the fan can count on the blanketing themes of aggression, anger, fear and alienation that percolate in its core and present a purpose, maybe even a solution for the struggle, whatever it may be. It gave many millions of cast out kids who wandered into parking lots clad in denim, bumming smokes and clutching "Bad Wizards" a place to be..not just a place to go.
Thanks to the blogs at All Songs Considered(NPR) and Doomed to Be Stoned in a Sludge Swamp for turning me on to this exquisite birthday bash. Now, please pass me a slice of Sludge Cake .
Friday, February 12, 2010
New Items at Circle of Fits
Everybody's not talkin' at me so I added some stuff to the blog, like it or not. I now have an email address!!! You can reach me with your hate mail, subpoenas, rock geek banter, gag orders, links,lists, and filthy pictures NOW at circleof fits@gmail.com. Use it wisely or with reckless abandon. Disclaimer: I have the best virus protection known to man..and spam will be retaliated against in swift crushing blows. I know people. Let's be friends. If you haven't already added that address to your contacts or tend to forget things...just look at the top of the right column.
I also attached an add this button to all of the posts here past, present and future. Located at the bottom of this post and every other will be a little button that you can scroll over and share/add the post to the social networking site of your choice...Digg, Stumbleupon, Facebook, etc. But don't do it if you don't think its worthy, K? Help me help you.....
Last but not least, I am now accepting band cd/mp3 submissions for review. If you are in a band or know of one and have something that you would like me to hear and review...email me with a request/some band info and I'll tell you how to get it to me. Be wary of my venom, be prepared to take a hit, be all you can be. I can tell in 2 notes if your guitar is out of tune or if your singer is flatter than a 4th grader.
If you have any hint of hip hop or Guatemalan flute instrumentals in your musical repertoire, don't even think about it. Go back to your little garage and start over. You should be ashamed of yourselves. We rock here. Period.
I also attached an add this button to all of the posts here past, present and future. Located at the bottom of this post and every other will be a little button that you can scroll over and share/add the post to the social networking site of your choice...Digg, Stumbleupon, Facebook, etc. But don't do it if you don't think its worthy, K? Help me help you.....
Last but not least, I am now accepting band cd/mp3 submissions for review. If you are in a band or know of one and have something that you would like me to hear and review...email me with a request/some band info and I'll tell you how to get it to me. Be wary of my venom, be prepared to take a hit, be all you can be. I can tell in 2 notes if your guitar is out of tune or if your singer is flatter than a 4th grader.
If you have any hint of hip hop or Guatemalan flute instrumentals in your musical repertoire, don't even think about it. Go back to your little garage and start over. You should be ashamed of yourselves. We rock here. Period.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
For All of You Hungry Death Metal Kids
Dave Grohl's Wedding Band
For those of you newly engaged and in the midst of planning for that special day (or chained to a wall in the basement crawlspace while your wife-to-be does it). Consider this...DJ's are cheap but so boring. You'll basically be paying a ground level schlub with a laptop to spin radio hits from the top 40 Clear Channel playlists of all time. Your guests will dance rhythm-free with bellyfuls of bottom shelf margaritas sloshing around on a parquet dance floor and get lost, bored or nauseous after three songs. The floor will clear and the dude behind the laptop with the 1984 style tux on will quickly spin "At Last"-by Etta James or Come On Eileen..depending on which direction he needs the mood to go to avoid more dead air and dead floor time.
Why go through all of that? Don't you want the memories from your wedding to go viral via someones flip camera while you're still on your way to the hotel for your first "legal" bang with the new missus? Here's your answer!! Dave Grohl has a wedding band! Not satisfied with touring with Them Crooked Vultures and the Foo Fighters back to back year round, Mr. Grohl is now filling in his odd remaining weekends with gigs with his old band Crisis of Conformity. Below is the promo video for your consideration....
Please contact B. Balzhanioux Productions at 555-277-5425 for inquiries.
Why go through all of that? Don't you want the memories from your wedding to go viral via someones flip camera while you're still on your way to the hotel for your first "legal" bang with the new missus? Here's your answer!! Dave Grohl has a wedding band! Not satisfied with touring with Them Crooked Vultures and the Foo Fighters back to back year round, Mr. Grohl is now filling in his odd remaining weekends with gigs with his old band Crisis of Conformity. Below is the promo video for your consideration....
Please contact B. Balzhanioux Productions at 555-277-5425 for inquiries.
Raw Power: Recharged
Raw Power,the immensely influential 1973 album by Iggy and the Stooges, will be re-released this spring as a two disc deluxe package. A FOUR disc "box set" edition of this punk cornerstone will also be available for all of us way over 20- sumthin' fanboys and streetwalkin' cheetahs.
"A double-disc "Legacy Edition" of the album, due April 13, will come packaged with a one-hour live CD, recorded in Atlanta in October 1973, as well as two previously unreleased studio tracks. The quadruple-disc "Deluxe Edition" includes everything that comes with the "Legacy Edition," as well as a CD of rarities taken from the "Raw Power" era and a DVD on the making of "Raw Power." It also includes a 48-page book and is packaged in a 7-inch square slipcase and will be released April 27th."
The first disc of the box set will contain the newly remastered Raw Power, featuring David Bowie’s original mix for the album that was previously out of print, while the second disc boasts the Georgia Peaches bootleg, comprised of an unreleased soundboard recording of a 1973 concert the Stooges performed in Atlanta, Georgia. Two more unreleased songs will grace the second disc: An Iggy Pop/James Williamson-penned outtake called “Doojiman” and a rehearsal performance of “Head On.” The third disc features four more outtakes — “I’m Hungry,” “I Got a Right,” “I’m Sick of You” and “Hey, Peter” — and alternate mixes of four tracks: “Shake Appeal,” “Death Trip” “Gimme Danger” and “Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell.”
Apparently, The box set will only be available thru The Stooges web site. OK, well... . shit..can you "get in line" at a web site? Or can I just hire some mall punk poisoned teenager to be my Stooge and man the phones for me on April 27, in exchange for me reprogramming he or she with a punk history lesson 101, thoroughly stripping Green Day and Fall Out Boy from the corners of their minds and replacing it w/ Iggy, the MC5 and The NY Dolls? I wanna be first..I wanna be their dog. so sign me up...This is gonna be a Stooges year...First, a 2- decade overdue induction to the RRHOF...one year too late for the dear departed Ron Asheton, then a "tour" with Raw Power guitarist and co-writer, punk pioneer and former recluse James Williamson who has spent the last 30 or so years as an electronic engineer and worked in the computer industry. Williamson recently retired as Vice President of Technology Standards with Sony Electronics, Inc.
I do prefer the severely distorted and over-driven remix of Raw Power that Iggy remixed himself and released in 1997, but have never heard the version with Bowie's production, so this will be a treat. Gimme danger, little stranger.
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Vids That Make You Go Yeah!... then Huh?..then Yeah! Again
I came across 2 fairly new videos today. I needed something loud enough to scare the snot out of my sinuses and into the stratosphere(don't worry, I'm alone and won't infect you, your brood or the horse you rode in on). I have a black do- rag hanging out of my back pocket making me look all heavy metal parking lot-ish, that I can wipe up my schnozz with after I watch 'em.
The first one is from a band called White Wizzard. This band is from LA, formed in 2007 after itching their scratch for old school metal and tiring of all the small- balled screamo bands that dominated the scene at the time. They have a new album called Over The Top which has just been released! Meanwhile, sit back,check your leather and enjoy the video for the title track "Over The Top" This video rocks full on solid with three guitar solos, an apple juice curse, and a red Honda. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why they needed to find a snowy ghost town to film it in. But I give it two horns up anyway.
The second video is from one of my favorite hard rock bands of the last decade, Priestess. One of the best things to come out of Montreal since Elisha Cuthbert, and a close second being Leonard Cohen...Priestess have overcome their label problems and signed with the great NYC label Tee Pee Records and finally released their second album Prior to the Fire here in the states. It's out now! Here is their video for "Lady Killer" Its chock full of taxidermy, stalking random women via station wagon and the band rocking out as posing cavemen deep in a museum diorama. Yep, that's right. I don't get it either, but it sure does rock hearty!
Well, its time for the do-rag! I just sneezed on the screen. Rock/Achoo/On!
The first one is from a band called White Wizzard. This band is from LA, formed in 2007 after itching their scratch for old school metal and tiring of all the small- balled screamo bands that dominated the scene at the time. They have a new album called Over The Top which has just been released! Meanwhile, sit back,check your leather and enjoy the video for the title track "Over The Top" This video rocks full on solid with three guitar solos, an apple juice curse, and a red Honda. For the life of me, I cannot figure out why they needed to find a snowy ghost town to film it in. But I give it two horns up anyway.
The second video is from one of my favorite hard rock bands of the last decade, Priestess. One of the best things to come out of Montreal since Elisha Cuthbert, and a close second being Leonard Cohen...Priestess have overcome their label problems and signed with the great NYC label Tee Pee Records and finally released their second album Prior to the Fire here in the states. It's out now! Here is their video for "Lady Killer" Its chock full of taxidermy, stalking random women via station wagon and the band rocking out as posing cavemen deep in a museum diorama. Yep, that's right. I don't get it either, but it sure does rock hearty!
Well, its time for the do-rag! I just sneezed on the screen. Rock/Achoo/On!
Sick As Dog, What's Your Story
Something evil, green and unforgiving broke through a 3 month wall of echinacea today and bitchslapped me all over the place. I'm literally running on faith today..which holds no water because I'm a proud atheist. I'm sick, sick again, sick as a dog on a Tuesday in February. Is there anyone on earth who likes February for any reason? This month is like a pause button stuck on the Static Channel...as the year decides which way its gonna go..with all of the color character and movement washed out of it. There are noreasters coiled in cold corners like cobras calling on the faux gods above to exhale their deadly dandruffs. There is the bitter wind of no change that blows through one ear and out the other, shuffling your thoughts into a phlegm coated pile of Scrabble letters.......and here I sit..a blurry victim of it all...facing the page as white as the storm to come.
Send me your remedies...curses and chants
as my mood freezes over and icicles dance
from the tips of my tears as I blog in a fury
as my post veers from poignant to bitchy to blurry
as I shovel a cough from a drift in a lung
and dream of the anthems here, together we've sung.
Send me your remedies...curses and chants
as my mood freezes over and icicles dance
from the tips of my tears as I blog in a fury
as my post veers from poignant to bitchy to blurry
as I shovel a cough from a drift in a lung
and dream of the anthems here, together we've sung.
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Everybody's Right, Everybody's Wrong
I got pulled into a great discussion thread (as a lurker) at the Huffington Post by Googling a name found on a tweet by fellow blogger Kevin " Skwerl" Cogill over at Antiquiet. His tweet says:
"author / singer-songwriter" nathan harden, you are human garbage.
Seems Mr. Harden is another one of those geniuses who proclaims that Rock and Roll has died, then points fingers at the "Generation" that killed it in an article/op ed piece at The Hufffington Post(well...there goes my republican audience) Here is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-harden/the-generation-that-kille_b_444428.html
He burps up some %s and #s and how it symbolizes the crumbling state of the industry..and continues with some opinions that we've all heard before ad nauseum. He happens to be a musician as well which may or may not add to his credibility as critic/cretin/pundit/pussy... If you check out the link, after the jump there is a lengthy discussion on who is responsible for this long and painful "death of Rock and Roll"
I rant often here at Circle of Fits, especially about the music I don't like and the whores and sheep who sell and devour it...It is painful to see what is fed to the mainstream as music...but I only have one foot, no...one gangly little abcessed toe in the mainstream...so I shouldn't really care, right?.especially if the rest of my rock blogging time is split up between raving about new rock and roll that I found..dug up..excavated, stumbled upon, was turned on to and shined a light on....AND pining for the times of rock yore...a simpler chunk of years where misfits and aficionados sat in their bedrooms fawning over album sleeves and mix tapes, where basement bands could get a good opening slot with some hard work and good flier distribution..and nobody was distracted by technology.
But true rock fans need what they need, and they will dig deep to pluck a diamond from the coal. They are a smart, resilient, opinionated bunch of people of all ages, races..and languages who number in the many millions.....
Rock and Roll is far from dead. It thrives. It has been splintered off into so many genres that even the most storied rock critic cannot keep track of them. Just pick one, find a song to relate to, sing it on the bus with ear buds on in a whispered hush,or scream it in the car on the way back home from detention... buy the t-shirt, go to an all ages show on a Sunday afternoon in a church basement somewhere..support local music. It happens every day.
It lives through word of mouth via websites that bands built all by themselves. It is downloaded illegally(or given away in little digital files) and deemed worthy enough to buy or discard, depending on your preference or how hard the economy has hit you.
You can go see a rock show in almost every city or town on any night of the week in any country. Take your pick...no cover, pass the hat around,10 bucks for three bands or 275 dollar nosebleeds at your local stadium(50 of which are service charges). You can still walk into a guitar center on any day and find an 11 year old kid struggling through the chords to Smoke on the Water or 21 Guns or Sanitarium while he tries out his first Mexican Strat.You can still go sneaking through your big brother or sister's music collection out of curiosity when they're not around..and you might have to log on to their Itunes to do so, now..but the rock will be there for you to 'dis or discover, then go run and tell your friends about.
Rock is everywhere. That will never change The system by which we learn about it, listen to it and buy it has changed. The value that big record companies once attached to it has changed. But the hunger for rebellion, release, expression and volume that we get from rock and roll preserves itself, like a fossil re-blossomming purged from the earth. like the most virulent strain of sounds you were ever infected with, like the endlessly growing and entwining branches and vines of the rock family tree from which it comes.
We can't escape it.
"author / singer-songwriter" nathan harden, you are human garbage.
Seems Mr. Harden is another one of those geniuses who proclaims that Rock and Roll has died, then points fingers at the "Generation" that killed it in an article/op ed piece at The Hufffington Post(well...there goes my republican audience) Here is the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-harden/the-generation-that-kille_b_444428.html
He burps up some %s and #s and how it symbolizes the crumbling state of the industry..and continues with some opinions that we've all heard before ad nauseum. He happens to be a musician as well which may or may not add to his credibility as critic/cretin/pundit/pussy... If you check out the link, after the jump there is a lengthy discussion on who is responsible for this long and painful "death of Rock and Roll"
I rant often here at Circle of Fits, especially about the music I don't like and the whores and sheep who sell and devour it...It is painful to see what is fed to the mainstream as music...but I only have one foot, no...one gangly little abcessed toe in the mainstream...so I shouldn't really care, right?.especially if the rest of my rock blogging time is split up between raving about new rock and roll that I found..dug up..excavated, stumbled upon, was turned on to and shined a light on....AND pining for the times of rock yore...a simpler chunk of years where misfits and aficionados sat in their bedrooms fawning over album sleeves and mix tapes, where basement bands could get a good opening slot with some hard work and good flier distribution..and nobody was distracted by technology.
But true rock fans need what they need, and they will dig deep to pluck a diamond from the coal. They are a smart, resilient, opinionated bunch of people of all ages, races..and languages who number in the many millions.....
Rock and Roll is far from dead. It thrives. It has been splintered off into so many genres that even the most storied rock critic cannot keep track of them. Just pick one, find a song to relate to, sing it on the bus with ear buds on in a whispered hush,or scream it in the car on the way back home from detention... buy the t-shirt, go to an all ages show on a Sunday afternoon in a church basement somewhere..support local music. It happens every day.
It lives through word of mouth via websites that bands built all by themselves. It is downloaded illegally(or given away in little digital files) and deemed worthy enough to buy or discard, depending on your preference or how hard the economy has hit you.
You can go see a rock show in almost every city or town on any night of the week in any country. Take your pick...no cover, pass the hat around,10 bucks for three bands or 275 dollar nosebleeds at your local stadium(50 of which are service charges). You can still walk into a guitar center on any day and find an 11 year old kid struggling through the chords to Smoke on the Water or 21 Guns or Sanitarium while he tries out his first Mexican Strat.You can still go sneaking through your big brother or sister's music collection out of curiosity when they're not around..and you might have to log on to their Itunes to do so, now..but the rock will be there for you to 'dis or discover, then go run and tell your friends about.
Rock is everywhere. That will never change The system by which we learn about it, listen to it and buy it has changed. The value that big record companies once attached to it has changed. But the hunger for rebellion, release, expression and volume that we get from rock and roll preserves itself, like a fossil re-blossomming purged from the earth. like the most virulent strain of sounds you were ever infected with, like the endlessly growing and entwining branches and vines of the rock family tree from which it comes.
We can't escape it.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Surf City : Friday Links and Vids
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Now this is how fans should react.. This guy is Heavy Metal Parking lot Chris Farley-ish on a meth/Red Bull speedball...just add Heaven and Hell and a not worthy bow. I like how the tween ahead of him gets Dio to do a live "ringtone" for him. Dio is standing up, BTW.
I wish they would play this video instead of an overproduced pompous spectacle that will be the Superbowl Halftime show with "The Who"....The spectacle coming this Sunday should be re- named....The Halftime Show with Half The Who.
Heres a link to a super cool Tumblr site called Fuck Yeah Cool Instruments I'm still working on my whammy bar/time machine and my steering wheel drum machine....look for pics soon.
I saw a drunk guy fall on those stairs..he managed to play the five note theme to Close Encounters on the way down. ...he saw aliens long before that,though. Fun for everyone!...now I can get up the escalator quicker.
Here's a link to some great Frank Zappa Quotes. I miss old Frank. There's a big snowstorm coming here....I want to go pee in a morning drift and tell someone not to eat it in his honor.
Last but never least...Here is an isolated guitar track from Eddie Van Halen from the song "I'm The One". The brown sound dominated then and dominates now 32 years later....I would have personally plucked every Brown M&M from the backstage bowls in the dark just to have been a brown fly on a brown wall BITD.
Have a good weekend. I'll be shoveling out with the only shovel we have..a half scale kids novelty snow shovel given to my son a year ago. We're supposed to get 2 feet. Send out a St. Bernard with some whiskey if you don't hear from me.
Now this is how fans should react.. This guy is Heavy Metal Parking lot Chris Farley-ish on a meth/Red Bull speedball...just add Heaven and Hell and a not worthy bow. I like how the tween ahead of him gets Dio to do a live "ringtone" for him. Dio is standing up, BTW.
I wish they would play this video instead of an overproduced pompous spectacle that will be the Superbowl Halftime show with "The Who"....The spectacle coming this Sunday should be re- named....The Halftime Show with Half The Who.
Heres a link to a super cool Tumblr site called Fuck Yeah Cool Instruments I'm still working on my whammy bar/time machine and my steering wheel drum machine....look for pics soon.
I saw a drunk guy fall on those stairs..he managed to play the five note theme to Close Encounters on the way down. ...he saw aliens long before that,though. Fun for everyone!...now I can get up the escalator quicker.
Here's a link to some great Frank Zappa Quotes. I miss old Frank. There's a big snowstorm coming here....I want to go pee in a morning drift and tell someone not to eat it in his honor.
Last but never least...Here is an isolated guitar track from Eddie Van Halen from the song "I'm The One". The brown sound dominated then and dominates now 32 years later....I would have personally plucked every Brown M&M from the backstage bowls in the dark just to have been a brown fly on a brown wall BITD.
Have a good weekend. I'll be shoveling out with the only shovel we have..a half scale kids novelty snow shovel given to my son a year ago. We're supposed to get 2 feet. Send out a St. Bernard with some whiskey if you don't hear from me.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Top 30 "Ass In Gear" Songs
I had a fight with a bottle of wine last night. I ended up taking everything she had, but she ended up winning. It sounds ridiculous, but when there's no beer in the house...bad things happen. I sat down to watch the LOST premiere like a good fan should and started to extend the region of my tolerance for the Jesus Juice as a reaction to the entire hour of backstory that was rolled out before the premiere.....The next scene I remember being in was laying on the kitchen floor next to the cat bowls in the dark with my slipper in the vittles. Did I go to pet the cat while he was snacking and did the varmint leave my hand hanging there? Did I pass out mid- pet? I guess I'll never know unless he starts talkin'.
I'm not a wine drinker..but when desperate for a drink or forced to impress some snooty neighbor, I like my wine tasting as close to juice as possible..so I can just get it over with, you know.
And that's the problem.
I drank the whole bottle. Kind of tasted like Apple Juice way past its freshness date. Bad move, rookie.
Today I needed all sorts of help getting going. Not in a hair of the dog sort of way, but in a "need coffee, blood transfusion or a redo on the last 12 hours" sort of way.
My music brought me out of the cursed crushed grape fog, though. Which brings me to today's list.
The Top 25 Ass In Gear Songs.....audio adrenaline so to speak. The next morning go- to tunes that put your spine in line and set your attitude back to its default presets....Some people favor a little Bobby Mcferrin/Phoebe Snow/anything Motown/Jason Mraz/Chick Rock to start their inner motor. Fuck that..I go right for the jugular with a swift injection of balls to the wall riff juice. ...Here's my list:
1) Supernaut-Black Sabbath- immense, just immense.
2) Evil- Cactus--massive, overlooked boogie rock from the early 70s
3) The Soapmakers-Clutch
4) Waiting Room-Fugazi
5) Flight of Icarus-Iron Maiden
6) That Song-Big Wreck- seek out this now defunct Canuck band...will be worth yer while.
7) Black Country Rock-David Bowie
8) Regular John/Avon-Queens of the Stone Age-never been able to separate this uppercut/knockout.
9) Hooker With a Penis-Tool "If I'm the man, then you're the man and he's the man as well"
10) My Ghettoblaster-Brant Bjork and the Operators
11) Speed King-Deep Purple
12) I Just Want To(Make Love To You)- Foghat
13) Mother Puncher-Mastodon- music to start apocalypses to.
14) California Uber Alles-Dead Kennedys
15) Destination Diamonds-Diamond Nights- where did NYC's Diamond Nights go?
16) Green Machine-Kyuss- "I've got a war inside my head"
17) My Morning Song-The Black Crowes
18) The Tweaker-Moistboyz-balls out Dean Ween side project
19) Jailbait- Motorhead
20) Breed-Nirvana
21) Travellin' Riverside Blues-Led Zeppelin
22) Bulls on Parade-Rage Against the Machine
23) Prehistoric Dog- Red Fang- One of the loudest bands I have ever heard.
24) Rip This Joint -The Rolling Stones
25) Low Self Opinion- Rollins Band
26) Tales of a Scorched Earth-Smashing Pumpkins
27) Kyle Petty,Son Of Richard- Soundgarden- The live version from Self Pollution Radio 1995
28) Deadbolt- Lady White Noise- a song from my old band Lady White Noise
29) Dead End Friends- Them Crooked Vultures
30) Sinner's Swing-Van Halen
This should be your playlist if you want to join a front line with no weapon , dabble in duck duck goose using electric chairs,burrow a hole to the earths inner core using your fingers and a plastic spoon or just to get your ass in gear.
Feel free to add/subtract/dispute my list while listening to the Dave Matthews Band box set.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
No Ace in a Hole for Bang Camaro
There was news from my friends and band mates in Bang Camaro recently that they had been offered an opening slot on (former Kiss guitarist) Ace Frehley's upcoming tour. Alas, they couldn't do it and remain on indefinite hiatus. They will definitely field future offers from Mini-Kiss, Cold Gin, Kissnation, Destroyer...any of the bands listed here http://www.kissfanshop.de/TributeBands/TributeBandsenglisch.htm ,Wicked Lester, Union or The Vinnie Vincent Invasion.
I am kidding. The BC bunch is way too busy with their own projects. Co- Founder Bryn Bennett is writing code and chugging Joose right now but will rock again for sure. Co- founder Alex Necochea has taken his Frankenstrat and joined Boston's own Family Township. Choir member Rodrigo Van Stoli is busy with a band called Brownboot..and still shares the studio and stage with Choir member Richie Hoss in Noble Rot. Choir member Glen Fant now plays guitar in a beantown band called The Fatal Flaw. Choir- member( and the better half of the duo known as "Seandre") Andre Coles is always busy being Boy Wonder right here in Philly. I will wait patiently for members Nick Given and Steve Trombley to reform The Vershok, a band whom I hail furiously and never got to see........and I'm sure Pete McCarthy, Doz, and Morgan Brown are all famously up to no good with whatever they're doing.
I am famously anti- Kiss here at Circle of Fits. Their antics, greed and repackaging releases that have previously been repackaged kind of make me hurl in my mouth a little by just thinking about it. But it would have been cool to tour with 'ole Space Face. Being the recovering addict that he is would have made us enablers in his midst. Maybe it's better this way.
Insane As He Ever Was
I stumbled upon a fascinating website and link via the great blog Glorious Noise the other day while filing down a bunion(getting much better at multi-tasking, thank you). Letters of Note is an alluring site that attempts
"to gather and sort fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos." Most of the material that they dissect and illuminate come from famous or infamous sources. And their latest discovery is a walloping doozy.
Essentially it is a letter written by Rock Villain Numero Uno, Mark David Chapman in 1986, to a memorabilia expert......and for the rest of the bizarre story, I leave you the link... Go directly to it and read immediately..it will leave you breathless..and very very angry.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/02/john-lennon-signed-my-album.html
"to gather and sort fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes, and memos." Most of the material that they dissect and illuminate come from famous or infamous sources. And their latest discovery is a walloping doozy.
Essentially it is a letter written by Rock Villain Numero Uno, Mark David Chapman in 1986, to a memorabilia expert......and for the rest of the bizarre story, I leave you the link... Go directly to it and read immediately..it will leave you breathless..and very very angry.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/02/john-lennon-signed-my-album.html
Deranged Human Being: Article No.1
I am almost at a loss for words.
I don't believe he had gone through a period of remorse from 1980-1986.
I don't believe he has changed at all .
I believe he is still a recluse in prison though..because he would be gutted if he ever came out. A quick shiv to the solar plexus is all he needs.
If you follow the comments after the article, somebody found a link to a pic of the actual album..for sale of course..and labeled as the "most important piece of historic rock memorabilia ever".
What do you have to say about this?
Chapman is never getting out, but how about checking his mail every once in a while.
Can we put some limits on what is defined as "memorabilia"?
Should we let the guy who stabbed George Harrison or Elliott Smith's "girlfriend" sell their "knives" on E-bay?
I thought the man who sold two of Jerry Garcia's toilets was bonkers...but it seems there are no limits.
Monday, February 01, 2010
You Didn't Think I Forgot The Grammys, Did You?
Award shows are easy to pick apart with a mix of confident guffaws and headscratching..but to me..they're exercise. There's a lot of aerobic activity..pacing, throwing snack items at the TV, writhing on the floor in pain(3 sets of 20) and lifting 12 oz. weights with pain and gain.
Last night's Grammy Awards were no different and I'm going to give you my summation in two parts: What I did see and what I didn't see. Let's start with what I didn't see:
I didn't see AC/DC win their first Grammy(best hard rock performance) beating out behemoths like Linkin Park and Nickelback.
I didn't see Neil Young win his first Grammy(for.. ahem...album packaging for his Archives Vol. 1 box set)
I didn't see Jeff Beck win his(best rock instrumental performance)
I didn't see Derek Trucks win his....I didn't see Judas Priest win theirs...I didn't see Brendan O'Brien win his....
I waited for Leonard Cohen and Loretta Lynn to come out on stage or to be be reached via simulcast when they won their Lifetime Achieve Awards that were given 15 seconds of attention...but I didn't see either one of them.
I didn't see any of that, and sadly...no, criminally...neither did you.
Here's what I did see....
I saw Lady Gaga and Elton John duet. One new queen of shock and one old queen of shock. Lady Gaga can play piano and wardrobe change very well. That's a fact.
I have been impressed with Gaga's methods of achieving fame. She never fails to be lively in appearance, outlandish, yes...calculated, yes. She manages to portray herself as one big question mark to her fans. She is heartfelt in interviews, yet rarely shows emotion in her eyes. She pokes fun at the whole concept of fame and is self- deprecating at the same time. Her music is bland and generic as dance pop music goes and at times, the images do not seem to fit the provided sounds. But I think she knows it..keeps twisting and tweaking her approach...and that is the most brilliant thing about her.She knows exactly what she's doing. And we don't.
I saw Green Day crawl backwards even further into rock's primordial soup with their canned Broadway/Idol number...awful..cheesy..I could hear their last puffs of credibility get wheezed out into the ether. PFSHHHHHHH!
I saw Beyounce keep her streak of award appearances going(11) with another one of her empowerment songs..complete with a dancing SWAT team....Beyounce is the "Oprah of Pop" in my opinion. Cmon..lets get that catchphrase out there, people!!!! She's an extremely powerful and heralded force in music(media) who preaches(in song) about things(bad relationships, self esteem, size issues) that have not and will not ever affect her while she sits on her white polar bear fur couch in an ivory tower eating bon bons and stroking Jay-Z's inflated ....ego even further.
I saw Pink prove that she was by far the best female singer of the evening.
I saw the Black Eyed Peas solidify themselves as the biggest farted-out farce in popular music in the last 30 years with another over produced (and heavily borrowed from Gaga's school of shock/schlock) performance. They steal, they re-introduce, they write lyrics only a 4th grader with average ebonic skills would appreciate..and its all one big loose stool of an act.
I saw Jamie Foxx finally hang up his acting career and trade it in for 3rd rate MC work layered in auto-tuned come- ons and club hyping. His shit show vomited out opera, a large woman looking like Missy Elliott's fat suit doppelganger who was introduced and did nothing, 117 uses for the word "Yeah", and Slash.(who I have now crowned the biggest whore in rock..they guy has been reduced to a caricature..a temporary tattoo..an ass pustule. )
I saw Lil Wayne, Eminem and a Chia pet- looking douchbag named Drake dig a deeper hole for all of the hip hop casualties to come... by picking a number that actually was censored so much that the length of dead space felt like technical difficulties. Whole chunks of vile, moronically auctioneered verses bleeped out...you could have fit a commercial break in there,no?
I saw 100 million Bon Jovi fans prove themselves wrong.
I saw Taylor Swift finally drop kick me over the edge. Her sweep made me realize that Grammy credibility is finally dead and buried and those golden Gramophones that they give out are no more valuable than a 4th place bowling trophy from Fairview Lanes summer bumper bowl league. They are a place to stick your gum, a mini- spittoon for lazy afternoons by the infinity pool.
Taylor Swift cannot sing. Taylor Swift writes songs for 'tweens in trailer parks and the last kids picked in gym class. Taylor Swift couldn't hold a note if it was implanted on her voice box. Taylor Swift should not have ever shared a stage with Stevie Nicks unless she was an assistant hired to tie her scarf to the mic or replenish her tea.
Taylor Swift wouldn't even get to go to Hollywood, Idol fans. She'd be cut from the gag reel. Sent back to the Pennsylvania open mic circuit from which she came. The 'tweens must be stopped at all costs. It starts today.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR, PEOPLE.
ALBUM
OF
THE YEAR.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR.
I'm done here. I just felt a blood vessel burst someplace on my body.
Last night's Grammy Awards were no different and I'm going to give you my summation in two parts: What I did see and what I didn't see. Let's start with what I didn't see:
I didn't see AC/DC win their first Grammy(best hard rock performance) beating out behemoths like Linkin Park and Nickelback.
I didn't see Neil Young win his first Grammy(for.. ahem...album packaging for his Archives Vol. 1 box set)
I didn't see Jeff Beck win his(best rock instrumental performance)
I didn't see Derek Trucks win his....I didn't see Judas Priest win theirs...I didn't see Brendan O'Brien win his....
I waited for Leonard Cohen and Loretta Lynn to come out on stage or to be be reached via simulcast when they won their Lifetime Achieve Awards that were given 15 seconds of attention...but I didn't see either one of them.
I didn't see any of that, and sadly...no, criminally...neither did you.
Here's what I did see....
I saw Lady Gaga and Elton John duet. One new queen of shock and one old queen of shock. Lady Gaga can play piano and wardrobe change very well. That's a fact.
I have been impressed with Gaga's methods of achieving fame. She never fails to be lively in appearance, outlandish, yes...calculated, yes. She manages to portray herself as one big question mark to her fans. She is heartfelt in interviews, yet rarely shows emotion in her eyes. She pokes fun at the whole concept of fame and is self- deprecating at the same time. Her music is bland and generic as dance pop music goes and at times, the images do not seem to fit the provided sounds. But I think she knows it..keeps twisting and tweaking her approach...and that is the most brilliant thing about her.She knows exactly what she's doing. And we don't.
I saw Green Day crawl backwards even further into rock's primordial soup with their canned Broadway/Idol number...awful..cheesy..I could hear their last puffs of credibility get wheezed out into the ether. PFSHHHHHHH!
I saw Beyounce keep her streak of award appearances going(11) with another one of her empowerment songs..complete with a dancing SWAT team....Beyounce is the "Oprah of Pop" in my opinion. Cmon..lets get that catchphrase out there, people!!!! She's an extremely powerful and heralded force in music(media) who preaches(in song) about things(bad relationships, self esteem, size issues) that have not and will not ever affect her while she sits on her white polar bear fur couch in an ivory tower eating bon bons and stroking Jay-Z's inflated ....ego even further.
I saw Pink prove that she was by far the best female singer of the evening.
I saw the Black Eyed Peas solidify themselves as the biggest farted-out farce in popular music in the last 30 years with another over produced (and heavily borrowed from Gaga's school of shock/schlock) performance. They steal, they re-introduce, they write lyrics only a 4th grader with average ebonic skills would appreciate..and its all one big loose stool of an act.
I saw Jamie Foxx finally hang up his acting career and trade it in for 3rd rate MC work layered in auto-tuned come- ons and club hyping. His shit show vomited out opera, a large woman looking like Missy Elliott's fat suit doppelganger who was introduced and did nothing, 117 uses for the word "Yeah", and Slash.(who I have now crowned the biggest whore in rock..they guy has been reduced to a caricature..a temporary tattoo..an ass pustule. )
I saw Lil Wayne, Eminem and a Chia pet- looking douchbag named Drake dig a deeper hole for all of the hip hop casualties to come... by picking a number that actually was censored so much that the length of dead space felt like technical difficulties. Whole chunks of vile, moronically auctioneered verses bleeped out...you could have fit a commercial break in there,no?
I saw 100 million Bon Jovi fans prove themselves wrong.
I saw Taylor Swift finally drop kick me over the edge. Her sweep made me realize that Grammy credibility is finally dead and buried and those golden Gramophones that they give out are no more valuable than a 4th place bowling trophy from Fairview Lanes summer bumper bowl league. They are a place to stick your gum, a mini- spittoon for lazy afternoons by the infinity pool.
Taylor Swift cannot sing. Taylor Swift writes songs for 'tweens in trailer parks and the last kids picked in gym class. Taylor Swift couldn't hold a note if it was implanted on her voice box. Taylor Swift should not have ever shared a stage with Stevie Nicks unless she was an assistant hired to tie her scarf to the mic or replenish her tea.
Taylor Swift wouldn't even get to go to Hollywood, Idol fans. She'd be cut from the gag reel. Sent back to the Pennsylvania open mic circuit from which she came. The 'tweens must be stopped at all costs. It starts today.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR, PEOPLE.
ALBUM
OF
THE YEAR.
ALBUM OF THE YEAR.
I'm done here. I just felt a blood vessel burst someplace on my body.
The Review Process Following 8 Heavy Bevvies
The internet is back on at home. I'm gonna miss the library and the world weary cretins that nest there, but this keyboard is clean..no dandruff, shea butter or snake oil on it. This screen is clear..no phlegm drops or stank breath clouding up the web pages on it. This room is empty, no Aqualungs(THX Perplexio!) or crusty smoke ogres crowding my mind... so I can get back to my ranting business...
I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in NYC with two close friends wandering around the steel towered tundra of downtown and Brooklyn like pickled penguins for the past few days...We saw a few shows...a benefit at an old haunt called Union Pool which left me congested with disgust and confusion for what the newest sect of hipster show- goers deem as acceptable listening and fanfare. I was crushed into a corner, pissing off steam as 2 hyped bands desecrated their way through a set of dischordant, yelped out puke. My blood was only kept from boiling over by the fine brewcrafters of Brooklyn Lager and the arctic air.
Moving away from that unhappy accident, we made our way to a place called Brooklyn Bowl, a very well designed Bowling alley/bar/live music venue hybrid hidden in an old warehouse on the other side of Williamsburg. Lots of over perfumed non- Brooklyn girls, a halo of text lights, bowling birthday parties complete with balloon bouquets and a confusing bill of bands loud enough to finish off a 7/10 split via a downstroked power chord. I had researched the bands beforehand and was confident that we would be entertained. I decided to review the show in hopes of sending it to one of the websites I write for.
Scratch that. Really.... take that out of any consideration. Ain't gonna happen.
I will now show you the process of what it is like for a reviewer to write down how he or she feels about a band who makes no good argument for their own existence, makes horrible use of machinery, and throws hundreds of dollars into thin air every month if they are actually paying for practice space..
here are excerpts:
...dirty druids wielding plastic strats that cast dead spells and rearrange festive moods into spiraling arrays of contemplative doom......
...anticipating a scenario where the crowd scatters as if running from an earthquake and all that can be heard are fierce crickets dropping and dying in front of the humming amps...
...just coughing vocals out in a monotone drawl that wet slaps your face with a three Ambien punch...
....an endless painful one note blanket drained of any emotion, wrapping me in sleepy time.....
....opium den buzzkill music where highs are lost and junkies are cleansed by the detox of a strummed out void...
....Stop singing! Every word sounds like you've been hurled down a crevasse and are screaming for help.....
....methadone rock buried under over reverb-ed waves of nothingness....
....underlying wrong notes rolling slowly on and on like drugged Clydesdales chugging through a river of tar and sludge in slo-mo....
....middle of the ditch bearded basement band that can pack a bowl much better than it can pack a room....
...just because you have a Vol. 4 tee shirt and some mangy dreads doesn't prove to me that you can prove it to me.....
Am I frighteningly bored with music? Do I give off the air of a jaded hateful fuck? Am I a well researched and experienced musician with something to say? The answer is yes.. all of the above. Some good reviewers give almost every band something to feel hopeful for in 500 words or less. Not me. Not easily. Or never. My style gets cold cocked in the back of the head in the doorway while exiting the arena, and then gets back up again..looking for that one musical explosion ticking away in the shows I've yet to see.. in the hands of the bands I've yet to hear...
Reviewing on my blog will always be different than reviewing in the outside world. I can say what ever comes to the cracked surface of my flooded thoughts here. Out there almost every review is meant to sell something. Gone are the days of the free form long art pieces as reviews as they once laid in the pages of the glossy music monthlies..the entries left by the Lester Bangs/Nick Tosches/Richard Meltzers are hanging on a literary wall somewhere and great rock historians visit the exhibits for reference or pleasure. I know this. I respect this. I know attention spans of even the most yearning earnest music lover have dwindled to half a page. linked to a tweet and sharing the space with a million more..but still I trudge on clinging to the dirty wings of discovery...the pangs gripping me..aiming to feel something new every day.....it is why I am here. It is who I am...
Thanks for coming...
I was lucky enough to spend the weekend in NYC with two close friends wandering around the steel towered tundra of downtown and Brooklyn like pickled penguins for the past few days...We saw a few shows...a benefit at an old haunt called Union Pool which left me congested with disgust and confusion for what the newest sect of hipster show- goers deem as acceptable listening and fanfare. I was crushed into a corner, pissing off steam as 2 hyped bands desecrated their way through a set of dischordant, yelped out puke. My blood was only kept from boiling over by the fine brewcrafters of Brooklyn Lager and the arctic air.
Moving away from that unhappy accident, we made our way to a place called Brooklyn Bowl, a very well designed Bowling alley/bar/live music venue hybrid hidden in an old warehouse on the other side of Williamsburg. Lots of over perfumed non- Brooklyn girls, a halo of text lights, bowling birthday parties complete with balloon bouquets and a confusing bill of bands loud enough to finish off a 7/10 split via a downstroked power chord. I had researched the bands beforehand and was confident that we would be entertained. I decided to review the show in hopes of sending it to one of the websites I write for.
Scratch that. Really.... take that out of any consideration. Ain't gonna happen.
I will now show you the process of what it is like for a reviewer to write down how he or she feels about a band who makes no good argument for their own existence, makes horrible use of machinery, and throws hundreds of dollars into thin air every month if they are actually paying for practice space..
here are excerpts:
...dirty druids wielding plastic strats that cast dead spells and rearrange festive moods into spiraling arrays of contemplative doom......
...anticipating a scenario where the crowd scatters as if running from an earthquake and all that can be heard are fierce crickets dropping and dying in front of the humming amps...
...just coughing vocals out in a monotone drawl that wet slaps your face with a three Ambien punch...
....an endless painful one note blanket drained of any emotion, wrapping me in sleepy time.....
....opium den buzzkill music where highs are lost and junkies are cleansed by the detox of a strummed out void...
....Stop singing! Every word sounds like you've been hurled down a crevasse and are screaming for help.....
....methadone rock buried under over reverb-ed waves of nothingness....
....underlying wrong notes rolling slowly on and on like drugged Clydesdales chugging through a river of tar and sludge in slo-mo....
....middle of the ditch bearded basement band that can pack a bowl much better than it can pack a room....
...just because you have a Vol. 4 tee shirt and some mangy dreads doesn't prove to me that you can prove it to me.....
Am I frighteningly bored with music? Do I give off the air of a jaded hateful fuck? Am I a well researched and experienced musician with something to say? The answer is yes.. all of the above. Some good reviewers give almost every band something to feel hopeful for in 500 words or less. Not me. Not easily. Or never. My style gets cold cocked in the back of the head in the doorway while exiting the arena, and then gets back up again..looking for that one musical explosion ticking away in the shows I've yet to see.. in the hands of the bands I've yet to hear...
Reviewing on my blog will always be different than reviewing in the outside world. I can say what ever comes to the cracked surface of my flooded thoughts here. Out there almost every review is meant to sell something. Gone are the days of the free form long art pieces as reviews as they once laid in the pages of the glossy music monthlies..the entries left by the Lester Bangs/Nick Tosches/Richard Meltzers are hanging on a literary wall somewhere and great rock historians visit the exhibits for reference or pleasure. I know this. I respect this. I know attention spans of even the most yearning earnest music lover have dwindled to half a page. linked to a tweet and sharing the space with a million more..but still I trudge on clinging to the dirty wings of discovery...the pangs gripping me..aiming to feel something new every day.....it is why I am here. It is who I am...
Thanks for coming...
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