All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

Boston Counter Cultural Compass, Local Music, Music

The July Boston Compass Is Available!

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The Boston Counter Cultural Compass does a whole lotta describing: art, film, and show listings that go above (and definitely BELOW if you know what I mean) and beyond any other local resource. Also, inside the Compass you’ll find some Funnies and album reviews! I am very grateful – as are many that pick up the monthly newspaper – that such a thing exists; credit and appreciation goes to the many volunteers of the Boston Hassle, the organization responsible for producing the Compass and sponsoring and supporting many of the events listed within! Boston is a lively city with much to do, see, and hear every single night. If you are visiting, touring through, or even if you live in the area and somehow haven’t heard of the Compass, pick one up or read it online.

CHECK OUT JULY’S COMPASS (#54): http://www.bostonhassle.com/compass/54-july-2014/

Local Music, Music, PHAZE, reviews

Review: Phaze, Shame Thugs, John Flannelly @ Charlie’s (6/30/14)

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Bands: Soft Eyes, Phaze, Shame Thugs, John Flannelly
Date: Monday, June 30, 2014
Venue: Charlie’s Kitchen [Cambridge]

This was SHAMEFUL to admit it, my first Charlie’s Kitchen experience. Don’t get me wrong here, I always see the events, the spectacular musical parties thrown by some of the finest Boston bookers, FAST APPLE, on Monday nights. I was able to make things work, unfortunately not for the entire duration of the show. Very bummed I missed seeing Soft Eyes – the home spun psych ventures of Luke Goudreault (formerly of MMOSS, The MIGS!!!, and New Highway Hymnal) whose live band also includes Rachel Neveu (formerly of MMOSS), drummer Travis Hagan (Fat Creeps, NHH), and possibly some other members that I did not see roaming the venue. Do head over to the SE BC and stream Lazy Life in its mono White Fencian/Migsian chromatic splendor.

John Flannelly of Indiana got things started ground level as he worked on his keyboard and pedals set-up, delivering what sounded like an experimental combo of beats and loop effects. John’s take on music is certainly deeper in the sense that I had not a clue what he was going for and perhaps nobody did except for the performer himself. I found the unpredictability and non-conventional nature of his set-up somewhat more fascinating than the actual rhythmic collage. http://johnflannelly.bandcamp.com/

Next up was the bass/keyboard duo $hame Thug$, also from Indiana and on tour with John Flannelly. I don’t think I will be forgetting their set anytime soon at least not their first song which prominently featured a hip-hop sample of this guy shouting YEAH!. The keyboardist rapped with some voice modulated echo throughout the course of the set. I will say I haven’t really seen any band like SHAME THUGS – the taping of individual keys, the total surreal dreamy r&b mood – though maybe the closest thing to them I’ve heard is Kitty Pryde so take that for whatever, but the Thugs are rawer which I like.

PHAZE get ready KLYAMers, PHAZE is a band you’ll be hearing about a lot more. At least from me and hopefully beyond and beyond. Jesse DeFrancesco is at the helm of this rock ‘n roll band, which, live, we have Nick on drums. PHAZE is riffy rock ‘n roll, bluesy in some spots, anchored in all by Jesse’s prepunk singin and tenacity for going hard and going nuts. On recording PHAZE is chiller (real real neat, just wait and see), but with the drumming, these guys wallop. Being in the audience and hearing PHAZE for the first time was quite like when I first saw The Migs. All excitement, the ‘this is really special, I’m grateful I’m here right now’ feeling. Specially on “Backwards”. Ya know! http://allstontapes.bandcamp.com/releases

Music, Outdoor Vinyl Summer Series, Ty Segall

Outdoor Vinyl Summer Series: Lemons (2009)

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Band: Ty Segall
Year: 2009
Label: Goner Records

Lemons on this 93 degree sunny breezy day takes me to Costa Mesa, California. I don’t think it gets this hot down there but forget about the weather. Costa Mesa is where Ty recorded this raw rock ‘n ripper in January 2009. Speaking of raw, Lemons is not Ty’s first or second jab at garage punk; he’d been playing in this style and styles that approximate this style since 2005, possibly even before that. His fun ass shakers as part of the Epsilons, Traditional Fools, and Party Fowl can be mined on the Internet and on vinyl and tape. So Lemons is considered Ty’s second solo album. SIDE A, particularly the last three songs “Lovely One,” “Can’t Talk,” and “Cents” are cantgetchaouttamymind top tier, extraordinary, I gotta stop using generic adjectives, HITS. 2009 was the year that ‘Garage’ was being infiltrated by the SCION though let’s be real, it was an amazing time for underground rock ‘n roll. Ty was a part of the crispier, bare, sloppy, loveable punk universe that Goner and In The Red had been nurturing for years, though at that time he was a rather new figure.

Anyhow, Ty – specially considering his solo performance (Lemons is in the full band, Ty on everything mold) – shows his colors as a dude with several sides to him, a harbinger of what would be: mellow (see Goodbye Bread and Sleeper) as on “Rusted Dust,” a midtempo tinkerer as on “Die Tonite,” and as a sludgy screamer on “Johnny,” which is in my ears a precursor to 2012’s Slaughterhouse. The assortment of sounds and approaches on Lemons is different from Ty’s more directed material meaning he probably had more solid ideas for the later albums. Regardless, everything he had done prior to this LP, up to it, and including 2010’s Melted (my sure favorite collection of fuzzy tunes) makes for a daunting discography! Ty is so deserving of the attention he’s received over the past few years and you can see he’s so comfortable playing the shit out of rock n roll. This is reflective of his live shows (also high high up there on funnest experiences). If he doesn’t make ya just want to mess around to your liking on your guitar, you might as well bop your head and move about. I know that can be equally exciting.

Music, Outdoor Vinyl Summer Series, The Modern Lovers

Outdoor Summer Vinyl Series: The Original Modern Lovers

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Band: The Modern Lovers
Year: 1981
Label: BOMP! Records

The Modern Lovers, I tell you, if you didn’t find this one among your dad’s record stacks plus you have no idea what these dudes were even about, I’ll try to explain a little bit. The back cover liner notes by Kim Fowley and Jonathan Richman shed size six font mounds of text, but basically here goes: Fowley comes upon The Modern Lovers, brings them to a studio, and the group finishes these recordings in one day under Fowley utterances like “think Sun Records! Think history!” Says a New York Rocker critic, had these recordings come out in 1972, “it would have changed everything that happened in the ’70s.” Richman – who is aided on here by Jerry Harrison, David Robinson, and Ernie Brooks – is a good deal more unassuming when it comes to The Original Modern Lovers. He notes that this LP was neither truly recorded in the Spring of ’72 as is advertised nor all recorded in a single session. I remember listening to this outside last summer (I believe for the first time… at least in a long while) and my mom commented ‘who is that kid singing? Sounds awful.’ Sheez I said, if this sounds awful how do I sound? She said better. I guess that is partially what moms are for. To me OML is gold. These songs aren’t ’60s garage fratters, they aren’t heavy, certainly not pop-polished. Instead, they stand firmly on their own, some truly rockin’ numbers like the MassFamous ‘Road Runner #1/#2’ with references to Stop and Shop, ‘Astral Plane’ and ‘Girlfren’. Inspiration – Iggy and Lou – that’s the inspiration Richman cites. You’ll hear figments of those guys on here. But beyond that, The Original Modern Lovers is an “i don’t care what anyone thinks, i’m gonna have fun and do what I do in my own way, with my voice and the tons of inflections and manipulations that I can think of” situation. That way of thinking is wilder than a lot of music that sounds wilder, it allows wasteful youths to sucker in rock ‘n roll history without taking abridged shortcuts. A silent trailblazer into some DIY musical landscape that started with punk and runs riot today. I like that people could be fronting all like what is this shit, he doesn’t know how to sing, is this even music. Jonathan Richman is content, somewhere. I’m down with that.

Music, Outdoor Vinyl Summer Series, Thee Oh Sees

Outdoor Vinyl Summer Series: Thee Hounds of Foggy Notion (2008)

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Band: Thee Oh Sees
Year: 2008
Label: Castleface Records

This is an islandy (deserted, of course) heck of a record that if you’re down with the style, you’ll be satisfied thru and thru. I am. Minimalism dominates, but there are some fleshed out moments resulting in more of the rock ‘n roll side of the group we’d see on later releases. Brigid and John’s vocals are angelic/psychedelic, matter of fact this might be more like a Jandek in his prime LP if it wasn’t for those two absolutely delighting our ears. The arrangements are pretty sparse with light, eccentric folk guitar and a Beets esque rhthym though Thee Oh Sees do just fine with little or no drums. Like an Island Carnivale wax export from Bermuda, there’s a real personal charm that’s directly connected to nature. The birds are singing along, perhaps fully aware that this group is primitively San Franciscan. Thee Hounds capture an endearing phase of chilled out Oh Sees that your I SAW EM SHRED HARD AT PITCHFORK FEST newbie would probably be surprised and hopefully glad to hear about. Perfect for outdoors vinyl spinning – your neighbors won’t be disturbed, grandma can sneak a nap in, mom will water the plants, and you’ll be there sitting with your shirt off (or on), pen in hand, gentle breeze, and green cup of iced water. Fuck you waited eight months for this moment. BUT this is conversely ideal, winter by the fire, loved ones in full existential quarter life crisis mode. Enjoy the sun while it’s out, you island raiders.

HIGH WAISTED, Music

HIGH WAISTED Acid Tapes Vol. 1 / Rough Trade NYC Show

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Won’t you look what we have here – HIGH WAISTED from New York City. Legend has it that they went to Nashville, recorded in a haunted house ON ACID, and lived to tell about it. Legends are reality for these four. I’m glad because they are performing very gripping surf rock ‘n roll in the big city. The Acid Tapes are as noir as you might imagine plus dreamy, slimy, and ramshackle. What fine traits to possess in 2014! Git on listening and hey if you are around, trip yourself to Rough Trade in a few weeks (Saturday, July 12th) to catch them performing on a bill that also includes Rose Windows.

ACLU Benefit, Local Music, Music, reviews

New ACLU Benefit Release: “FINALLY”

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They travel far and wide to see him play and when he does, it is a show experience they do not forget. True T-shirts and postcards in his back pocket I can only assume – Noah Britton is back with a new album (which follows, as order has it, his really spectacular release Love and Fame that I wrote about last year) entitled yes I know you know FINALLY! because these songs finally sound great. Those aren’t my words; I’ve had my way with Benefit’s Bandcamp and I recognize some of FINALLY! from his recorded live sets. Check those out if you have not. The souls of sing-a-long staples “Love of my Life,” “Riding” and “Love Your Family” are kept in tact and beaming. The arrangements and production are courtesy of Dane Filipczak. Such dynamics push these songs further into beautiful abyss – pianos, toy instruments, percussion, extra voices. Noah is quite the minimalist, a master funny man, funny by way of bona fide lyrics. “Let’s sing to chickens, They like cock rock!” on new-to-me you say “You give me hope,” I sing these funny lines. Humor is not the case on “We Forgive You” well I mean it could be but I’m going to go with no. Flinty and affectionate. The cowshed burner, the closer,  is that which I mentioned earlier: “Love Your Family”. If I knew anything about ’50s musicality, I would go on about that, but here we have a dreamy oldie with a striking sense of modernity. It is perfect for feeling bad about missing an ACLU Benefit set in the name of leaving early to attend to family functions and longing for the next. Well well this six songer impresses me further. Noah’s been going at it for decades, knows his capabilities, and rolls the dice – in this case working with an arranger who by the end of it seemed to have just as much fun. Cease and resist.

Link: http://aclubenefit.bandcamp.com/album/finally

klyamrecommended

Ben Katzman's Degreaser, BUFU Records, Local Music, Music

Introducing Ben Katzman’s Degreaser

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Ben Katzman’s Degreaser is cummin’ 7/4/14 but I think we all know BK’s Degreaser is already here. BUFU Records royalty’s solo album drops on that date and yeah yeah what a fine Fourth is in store. I didn’t really know what to expect from Ben – the dude has some deep-rooted metallic tendencies, although anything is seemingly possible with him. “Dance With A Hopeless Romantic” is a possible preview of what’s to come here and it sure is slick. Like THE LOCOMOTION subverted, powered into a spunky anthem. True fun and that’s what Degreaser is all about.

Band of the Week, Goner, Music

Band of the Week/Recommendation: NOTS (Memphis)

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Look at what we have here – a new Band of the Week (but by all indications it will be months upon months and beyond) and that is Memphis trio NOTS. These three women play ain’t no messing around PUNK rock. A noisy, shouty force of goodness. Their debut 7″ came through on Goner (streaming below), their next 7″ is also coming on Goner later this month, and yes yes yes in November there seems to be an LP heading our way. Courtesy of Goner Goner Goner. Clearly that venerable label knows what’s good in their backyard! Can’t wait to post more NOTS here on KLYAM!

They’ve got a 7″ Release Show with Buck Biloxi and the Fucks and Nervs on June 21 at The Buccaneer Lounge.