Party In The Pines - Big Sur

Thanks to my friend (whose more-professional-than-mine review is available here) I was able to attend this great event.

We arrived as Wooden Ships were playing. They were pretty cool - heavy instrumental psych-rock with the years there to do it quite well. Next there was Vietnam and Farmer Dave. Neither of them did it for me, personally, but with some good, but expensive New Orleans barbecue and some good, and modestly priced local beer who cares? Then, at last there was Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti. His set consisted mainly of new stuff and the obscure. Some of these highlights were "Bevery Kills (Freaks with the Golden Heirs)" and "Psychodrama City." The new stuff is fantastic and I really can't wait for the next LP, which if released on time could rank as one of the best of this decade. He also gave an obvious(ly great) rendition of "Among Dreams" and my wish from the last time I saw him of hearing "Higher and Higher" was granted.

Following Pink was Gang Gang dance. I had never heard them before, but they put on a really cool show, which even more than the other sets I wished had been in a different setting. I would not listen to their records, but when they play LA next I will attend that show, especially if it is at the Echo, where their sound would fit perfectly.

Dungen was the star of the show in my eyes, and while they played mostly cuts from he last two albums, it was everything I could have asked for. Gustav Ejstes' genius was in plain view as he demonstrated his skills on mainly piano, plus vocals, flute, guitar... and tambourine. Also on display was his amazing ability to find talented musicians who can play just like him. The band also matched the forest setting best and their sound on classics like "Festival" and "Panda" was more subdued, yet no less powerful than on Ta Det Lugnt. Never miss the chance to see Dungen.

Another star of the show was the DJ who gave us music during the painfully long transitions. Her set consisted heavily of Anatolian rock, even with a cut from Benimle Oynar Mısın - the awesome "Sen Varsin". Gustav Ejstes was enjoying it a whole lot and why not because many of those artists are a clear influence on him.

And of course, who could discuss Anatolian rock without Erkin Koray...

Starting as early as the late 50s, Erkin Koray was the definitive voice of the Anatolian Rock movement, which while less famous was as unique and strong as similar prog/psych rock movements of the time in West Germany and Japan.

Since I have been so unreliable lately, here are his first two solo albums, which despite the increasing availability of Anatolian Rock since the successful Obsession compilation are really not "widely" available. Both of them are very strong and solid and serve as a great introduction to the style which melded Western psych rock with traditional sounds from the crossroads of the Old World. The self-titled is the one that is most in tune with that side, while Elektronik Türküler, much cleaner, is a little but more on par with the West, despite the exotic language. Okay, enough words.


Erkin Koray - Erkin Koray (1973)


Erkin Koray - Elektronik Türküler (1974)

Have YOU Been to Stockholm?

Unfortunately, this month will continue to sag in posts as this weekend I will be going up North. The main reason is that for a second week in a row I will be attending a California region's second best music festival: Party in the Pines in Big Sur. I am pretty amped to not only see Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti again, but also to see a band I have wanted to for over three and a half years - Dungen.

A few months back I posted their follow-up to this album, and indisputable masterpiece. This one, originally released in 2002 made its way to the US in 2005 and in my experience stands up more than any of the following albums do. Hopefully the group's set won't rely too much on that stuff. More seventies-style psych-rock here, and quite a bit more pop-oriented than the harder, trippier Ta Det Lugnt. The album, which's translated title is "City Walks" kicks off with catchy title track that keeps your ears glues as much as the follow-up's "Panda" does. Urban tribute "Har du vart' i Stockholm?" makes it a solid one-two punch that makes the album as great a tribute to the band's home city as classics like Midnite Vultures and Marquee Moon did for Beck and Television, respectively ...and all without understanding the language!

Whereas later efforts show Gustav Ejstes trying to recapture the mastery of Ta Det Lugnt, this album is the sound of him honing his craft in creating the best vintage-style psychedelia, nay music of this decade while displaying his multi-instrumental virtuosity. His way with folkier European arrangements is remarkable as well with "Sol och Regn" being a fiddle and flute instrumental on par with the bonus disc included in the reissue of the follow-up. It is one of the album's finest tracks. Like most other music of the present half of the decade, forget about Dungen's later work - this is the next stop for them. Either way, though I am expecting a life-changing performance from the crew this weekend, and this should give anyone else who will be joining me similar expectations.


Dungen - Stadsvandringar (2002)

Just Like Life, There's a Good Beginning, But There Is No Middle, So You Might as Well Skip to the End

I can't believe it toook me so long to hear classic Television Personalities. I was pretty up on things when My Dark Places was released a few years ago and knew and loved "Part Time Punks", but I did not really hear this gem until a few months ago at the home of my friends in the Brooklyn band Pow Wow!

The Television Personalities were Joe Strummer's favorite band. He said that they represented, to him, what punk rock was all about. Though, in many ways they are more "indie-pop" than punk, but hey, what does all that mean anyway?

The guitars are jangly, the structure is pop, and the lyrics are playfully dark and perversely innocent... if that makes sense? Either way it's one hell of a record. It has a few less pop culture references than their earlier work, but a little more high culture to keep it full of allusions. However, what may be this album's greatest strength is how well it captures the mind of a teenage boy. Not in some dumbed-down kind of mook way, nor over-dramatic and emo. Jsut real, sincere, and deep, yet naïve. Opener "This Angry Silence" captures that voice amid a tempestuous home life while the discomfortingly simple lyrics of "La Grande Illusion" show the darker side to perhaps the same situation as "Silly Girl." "The Glittering Prizes" is one of the best songs and captures the feeling of malaise with nothing both the future to daydream about and "Geoffrey Ingram" is the "David Watts" of the punk era. Changing to a third person look at essentially the same thing is perhaps the album's best track "World of Pauline Lewis," with a refrain that cuts to the bone. This is essential pop as only an original UK punk band could do it.


Television Personalities - ...And Don't The Kids Just Love It (1981)

The Hidden Door: Found

Forming in Riverside, CA, in the mid 60s, the Misunderstood made one big mistake. Instead of remaining in their home and probably being a big hit on the Sunset Strip they followed the current British Invasion and relocated to England where they became one of the great lost bands of the sixties.

This album, recorded in 1966 was not even released until 1982, when even with the rise of neo-psychedelia this could never have hoped for an audience. The group's move is also significant in how it tells their sound. The Misunderstood is to the Yardbirds what the Olivia Tremor Control was to the Beatles. That is to say that their sound is what the blues rockers could have become had they gone further and further into their psychedelic territory. That London blues sound never leaves their sound even though the band goes as far into the psychedelic whirlwind as the 13th Floor Elevators - the band with whom they warrant the most significant comparison, particularly the first album. Lead vocalist Rick Brown's soulful voice on par with Eric Burdon's adds an element not often heard in American psych-rock, even outdoing Arthur Lee. The steel guitar provided by Glenn Ross Campbell wail in a way that set the standard of masterful use of alternative instrumentation is both the psychedelic and progressive rock that would follow in the footsteps. That is not to say the regular guitars don't kick ass as well. The songwriting is as strong, perfectly creating some of the heaviest rock of the sixties on par with the Creation. Some of the best tracks are opener "Children of the Sun," I Unseen," "I Can Take You To The Sun," and should-have-been hit "I Cried My Eyes Out." The Misunderstood's splicing of bluesy British Invasion, far-out acid rock, and proto-punk/metal heaviness makes it perhaps the quintessential underground rock album of the era.


The Misunderstood - Before The Dream Faded (1966/1982)

New York's Alright If You Like Tuberculosis

Yesterday was the final show of the Vans Warped Tour here in Los Angeles and I was lucky enough to be comped a ticket. Of course, I have little to no interest in most of the artists playing, I had not even heard of most of them, but there was the Old School stage... There I caught U.K. Subs, D.O.A., and an amazing set from Fishbone. Yet, after a very weak and ungrateful band from Kansas City with the misfortune of playing after Fishbone I got what I was really looking forward to... FEAR.

While it was in the fallout of the most severe commercialization of punk rock, it was the most punk experience of my life. Lee Ving is as charismatic and acerbic as ever and the crowd was true L.A. hardcore. The whole set was very strong and the highlights, apart from "More Beer" were many of the same highlights as from the below album. They started off with "I Love Living In The City," and had a performance of "Beef Baloney" on par with the classic SNL debacle. Of course, "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones" resonated heavily for me at this point in my life, even as it lacked the saxophone part...

For those who may not be well versed in FEAR, here's a little background: They were one of the original LA hardcore bands formed in the late 70s and bridged the (slight) gap between the Germs, X, Screamers, and Weirdos and likes of Black Flag and T.S.O.L. They were also John Belushi's favorite band (one listen to this and that makes a whole lot of sense) and he would not agree to do the SNL Halloween special in 1981 unless they could be the band. They got to do that and made a mess of their much maligned New York City featuring slam dancers and thousands of dollars worth of damage to the studio. They played "Beef Baloney" and of course "New York's Alright If You Like Saxophones" but were cut off mid-song while performing "Let's Have A War." It was definitive punk rock, of course, and Lee Ving has not changed a bit since then... at least not publicly. So get ready to get offended and enjoy...


FEAR - The Record (1982)

Why You Wanna Go and Start This War?

While almost definitely the most maligned form of underground rock, in retrospect emo, at least the good stuff, could be seen as rock's last breath, and yes, last breaths can be pretty sloppy attempts.

I was never an emo fan, not even when I was fifteen, but of course, there were some exceptions. The big one of course being one of the last great rock bands to achieve (or at least come close to achieving) major mainstream success: At The Drive-In. Another was the Anniversary, particularly this album.

I first heard of them, of course, in 2002 when all the "real" emo kids I knew were going to see the recently sold-out Dashboard Confessional for this opening act. Something was intriguing about that, I must say. Eventually, after grappling with all the stigma around the style I picked up this CD and was pretty amazed. Granted it has its emo clichés for sure and it could get old, but after all these years I find myself going back to it and appreciating it. Of course, what I liked about it was what got the group ousted from emo royalty for sounding too much like a sixties pop group. Fuck that.

The Lawrence, Kansas group gives its audience what it craves while showing off their expansive talent that goes beyond said parameters. The record starts off strong with the drum intro to "Sweet Marie" and delivers one of the albums best classic pop tunes, the other being "Never Die Young" (though I recall having a preferred more emo version during the Kazaa era). The more typically emo tracks are great too like "The Siren Sings" and "Devil on My Side". The epics are some of the weaker ones, though with "Husam Husam" the notable exception. The arrangements all sound good and tight - even with the occasional strong harmony, even when the vocals and lyrics can get eye-rolling. In effect, of all emo music I've heard this is probably the most listenable, coming from from a classic rock/pop background, that is.

This album is an AWESOME guilty pleasure and of course, the only thing I ever owned that Vagrant released. It is a real shame the band broke up in 2004 before releasing anything else, but I heard they were junkies so what do you expect...


The Anniversary - Your Majesty (2002)

Over, and Over, and Over I'm Really Not Ready At All

Sorry It's been so long. Been feeling uninspired. However, I've been on a big post-punk kick. Specifically the branch of first-wave UK punk rock that really set the stage for "indie pop."

The Mekons have had one unique career and their legions of extremely dedicated fans and their highly unusual path from post-punk to more straightforward punk certainly prove this.

Often considered their masterpiece, this album is one of the first to be called "alt-country" - quite a feat for a British band. One member tells that prior to making this album he had been listening heavily to classic country and after a certain point the three chords of punk and the three chords of country became the same three chords. This album's sound is surely the result of that, and the addition to fiddle to the roster makes it even more prominent. This is not to say the punk has not been lost, particularly in the shambolic "Hard To Be Human Again." That song is the perfect gateway for the punk fan that will leaves them wanting more of this countrified mess.

Fear And Whiskey is also one of the great post-punk concept albums with the likes of Hüsker Dü's best works. The story here is one of a city in a somewhat post-apocalyptic world fighting a war (brought hauntingly to life in "Trouble Down South") and struggling to hold on to everything that makes life worth living: love, culture, community, and of course a good party. With that in mind, opening track "Chivalry," is the perfect intro as the ultimate anthem to a drunken, embarrassing night coupled with a hint of the depth that will follow on the rest of the record. "Country," perhaps the album's best sums up the album's whole concept as the lose souls of this city hold on.

People always make once-relevant political connections with this record about the Thatcher/Regan era. Honestly I don't hear it all that much, but that may just be because I neither really lived through that era, nor consider myself a liberal. So, if you see it that way,, great. You are probably all the more enlightened.


The Mekons - Fear and Whiskey (1985)

plus, for good measure, here's a classic early single.


The Mekons - "Where Were You?"

Classic Art has Had Its Day

Sorry it's been a while. Been busy for once and a little uninspired. Well, regardless, here's the Creation.

It wasn't just their heaviness (probably the heaviest until the MC5 came around, IMO) that made the Creation so ahead of their time. It was also their postmodern take on performance and their un-pretentious artiness of which today's artists' minds are not even capable of dreaming. Well, that and playing the guitar with a bow. Naturally, only the Germans got it.

Most informed people today know "Making Time" from the classic film Rushmore, but until then, "Painter Man" was their best-known song. These are two of their best and show the band at their peak with Kenny Pickett on vocals. The band was a staple of the original mod movement along with the Kinks, the Action, and the Who (Pete Townsend even offered guitarist Eddie Phillips a spot, which probably would have made the Who a better, yet less commercially successful band.) The band really re-wrote the rock format. With that in mind plus their loudness I would consider them beginning of "proto-punk." They do, however, keep in touch with the trends of the time with numbers like "If I Stay Too Long" and clovers like "Cool Jerk" plus the best cover I have heard of "Like A Rolling Stone." "Nightmares" and "For All That I Am" may be the quintessential mod tracks and forget proto-punk, "How Does It Feel To Feel?" is basically heavy metal in its most original form. A change of pace, "Ostrich Man"'s arrangement is a classic that shows the Creation had as much power to go in the baroque direction as their contemporaries. This is essential listening, plus one of the most bad-ass album titles which I was lucky enough to find at Barcelona's (where it is easily available) Révolver Records.


The Creation - Our Music Is Red - With Purple Flashes

Well, If I Get Drunk, Well That's Alright, If I Sleep On the Floor All Night

It's hard to believe those lyrics are the Verlaines, but it's a good reminder that even Graeme Downes is in fact one of us, if you know what I mean.

Here are their humble beginnings - before big arrangements and production, and even deep lyrics, but still the same great band. One of Flying Nun's first records, the Dunedin Double EPwas a lo-fi, creative format (2 45 RPM EPs) spotlighting the burgeoning talent of locals the CHiLLs, Sneaky Feelings, the Stones, and the Verlaines. Allof them were off to a great start. The CHiLLs tracks were wonderfully transferred onto the Kaleidoscope World LP, but unfortuantely the others were not put on similar compilations. The three songs Downes and company contribute are all great, and despite their many rough qiualities hint at the majesty of their later career. The similarities between "Crisis After Crisis" and their greatest all-time track "C.D.,Jimmy Jazz, and Me" are inmistakeable, proving this band always had it. I include only the Verlaines tracks because, I can't stand the way you need to file compilations to get them all up here together. The rest later?


The Verlaines - Dunedin Double EP (1982) (Side 4)

Hopefully I'll see you Angelinos this weekend!

What About The Problems of Our Society?

Ever since I first acquired this via New Jersey's Vintage Vinyl I had wanted to attend a dance party featuring the music of A Certain Ratio. Sunday I will finally have my way. So, if you are an Angelino and already a fan, or I am just about to make you one, be at the Echo Sunday night at 10 for Factory Night. I will no doubt be there (as well as Funky Sole the night before).

The initiated often have a poor idea of ACR based on their portrayal as Tony Wilson's boy band in 24 Hour Party People but they are actually contenders with the rest of the bunch. Appropriately named after a Brian Eno song ("The True Wheel"), ACR sounds like that artist making a Latin funk album and succeeding (although their LPs are admittedly not strong). This band put a dark ambiance around percussive dance music and pulled it off with impeccable musicianship - especially from drummer Donald Johnson. A Certain Ratio was in many ways the most definitive Factory band that ushered in the transition from atmospheric Joy Division and Durutti Column into New Order and eventually the burgeoning rave scene. This is most evident in their longer, loosely structured dance tracks like "Knife Slits Water" and "Sounds Like Something Dirty." Their more pop-like tracks are some of their best work such as the classic "Du the Du," "Shack Up," and my personal favorite "Faceless (Graveyard and Ballroom)." The explosive intsrumental, "Blown Away," is so great I am tempted to put a second pun in this sentence. White (well, 80%) funk does not get any better than this, and all for one reason: they never lost touch with the fact that they were teenage Bowie/Eno devotees from Manchester. That and an unbelievably creative sense of rhythm.


A Certain Ratio - Early (2002)

"B-Sides, Rarities, & Sessions" is not another album, but simply the second disc.

It is an enhanced CD that includes this video, which by request of poster I am not allowed to imbed, but is absolutely worth watching.

See you Sunday!