Atlas Sound- “Only Love Can Break Your Heart” (2007) cover.
I love dem Atlas Sound covers!
Category Archives: Art
Best of 2011- Chris’s Favorite Shows
I saw 30 or so shows this year, slightly more than usual. It was quite a year. Like Glen, I saw more basment/DIY esque shows than ever. I saw more Black Lips shows than any other year (3). It was hard making this list and it should be known that this list includes the greatest shows I have ever seen. Many, many are not included here, but are not forgotten at all.
1) Black Lips and Vivian Girls @ Paradise Rock Club
2) Black Lips, Davila 666, and X Ray Eyeballs @ Webster Hall, NYC
3) Best Coast, Wavves, and No Joy @ Paradise Rock Club
4) Black Lips and Night Beats @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC
5) Fucked Up and Wavves @ Royale
AND I can’t forget this one
6) Nobunny, Triple Thick, The Tampoffs, and The Party Pigs @ The Church
Best of 2011- Chris’s Favorite Songs
I like what Glen did for his end of the year song list, so I am following in this new direction.
Atlas Sound– “The Shakes,” “My Angel Is Broken,” and “Parallax”
The Beets– “I Think I Might Have Built A Horse”
Big Mess– “The Hook,” “No Good Time,” and “Gueule de Bois,”
Black Lips– “Family Tree,” “Spidey’s Curse,” and “Don’t Mess Up My Baby,”
Colleen Green– “Dance the Night Away”
Fat History Month– “Old Lady Smokers,” “Things I Enjoy,” and “Free As A Cat”
Girls– “Honey Bunny,” “Magic,” and “Saying I Love You,”
Hunx & His Punx– “Lovers’ Lane,” “Too Young to Be In Love,” and “Keep Away From Johnny”
Mark Sultan– “Just For a Moment,” “Axis Abraxas,” and “Song In Grey”
Natural Child– “Easy Street,” “Hard Workin’ Man,” and “White People”
The Orwells– “Halloween All Year”
The Pains of Being Pure At Heart– “Belong,” “Heart In Your Heartbreak”
Peach Kelli Pop “Eeenie Meenie Minie Moe,” “Do the Eggroll,” and “Doo Wah Diddy”
Shannon and the Clams– “The Cult Song,” “You Will Always Bring Me Flowers,” and “Sleep Talk”
Saralee– “Circle of Hands,” “Ceiling,”
Silhouette Rising– “Don’t You Hear Me Calling”
Smith Westerns– “Smile,” “All Die Young,” and “Weekend”
Those Darlins– “Screws Get Loose,” “Be Your Bro”
Ty Segall– “Comfortable Home,” “Goodbye Bread,” and “California Commercial”
Wavves– “Nodding Off (Featuring Best Coast),” “Bug,” and “I Wanna Meet Dave Grohl”
Nirvana: Nevermind 20th Anniversery Jon Stewart Interview
I know this is three months old, but I am just hearing it for the first time now. It is an interesting interview/Q & A session, but I wish there were more people asking questions that had a bit more knowledge about the subject matter beforehand OR was a fan of the undeground bands/scene that inspired Nirvana. What I like the most is hearing about all the amusing anecdotes that only the people present for the making of the album could tell you. Parts 2-7 are also available on You Tube.
Happy 50th Bday Bill!
On December 17, Bill Hicks would have turned 50 years old. Sadly, he passed away of pancreatic canceer at the age of 32, but his legacy is growing bigger and bigger each year. Kudos to Keith Olbermann for this special report. For what Bill stood for (or more appropriately stood against) having his material and his ideas presented on a national news station in America means a lot. RIP Brother.
Cool Interview With Steven Blush/American Hardcore
Here’s a sick interview with Steven Blush author of American Hardcore.
Concert Review: Mark Sultan & Sinbusters @ Magic Room Gallery (12/2/11)
Artists: Mark Sultan, Sinbusters, Squall
Date: Friday, December 2, 2011
Location: Magic Room Gallery (Brighton, MA)
Comments:
Act I: Squall (Unfortunately we missed :( )
Act II: The Sinbusters– The Sinbusters are a kickass garage inspired punk outfit from Lowell, MA. Their sets pretty much consist of balls to the wall, fun, rock and roll. Loud, noisy, but ultimately satisfying. Tonight they are a three piece: vocals/guitar, drums, keyboards. They rock pretty hard and get the stiff crowd moving at times. Nick, the lead singer, hops into the audience for a bit, whilst strumming away on his guitar. I am still getting into the band, but I really like what I hear, and they are definitely amongst the top live bands I have seen in Boston this year. They place artists such as Thee Oh Sees and Thick Shakes amongs their contemporaries, and I think that is pretty accurate. So, definitely check out The Sinbusters if you have not.
Act III: Mark Sultan– Mark Sultan is the real deal. What does that even mean? It means, there is no bullshit, what you get is real rock and roll, at least what I think is real rock and roll, and obviously I am not alone. Mark mixes it up a lot, diving through numerous styles: Doo Wop, Soul, Psychedlic, and Punk, rocking hard through all of them. Tonight he is feeling under the weather or “gonnorrhea in the throat” as he calls it, but when he sings you can hardly notice the difference, it is amazing. The Magic Room Gallery is a nice, little venue, and when he plays he looks right at home, or at least he makes everyone feel involved, often cracking jokes and encouraging the crowd to dance. Indeed, Mark plays several of his classic, danceable, rock and roll songs, many of which I hold near and dear to me. “Beautfiul Girl” from 2007’s Sultanic Verses (2007) is one of the highlights of the set, and perhaps my favorite performed live. The vocals are incredible in the studio version, but they get me pumped even more live. Some other cuts I really enjoy include “I Am the End” from $ (2010). Once again, the vocals are mind blowing, and in general I usually show people either this song or “Ten of Hearts” if I am introducing them to Mark Sultan, mainly because of the vocals. The set also includes a number of King Khan & BBQ Show tunes including everyone’s favorite “Shake Real Low,” a stellar closer for a stellar set.
I did not recognize all of the songs, but here are the ones I did, in order of album:
Tie Your Noose (2005):
“Waddlin’ Around”*
“Shake Real Low”*
“Out of Time” (The Rolling Stones)
* Also can be heard on The King Khan & BBQ Show (2004)
The Sultanic Verses (2007):
“Beautiful Girl”
“Spinning Ceiling”
The King Khan & BBQ Show- Invisible Girl (2009):
“Third Ave”
“I’ll Be Loving You”
$ (2010):
“I Am The End”
“I’ll Be Loving You”
“Nobody But You”
Grade: 8/10
Check out Mark Sultan’s two current records, Whatever I Want and Whenever I Want and/or the compilation Whatever/Whenever.
Sinbusters– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usIbLYaiMFc&feature=related
Squall- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGXGZcFDeWg&feature=related
Review: Fat History Month, Florida=Death, Big Mess, SARALEE @ Gay Gardens (11/19/11)
“Is this G.G. Allin’s broken dick?” Glen shouted as we stumbled upon our desired location. Upon hearing the confirmation that it was in fact G.G Allin’s Broken….you name it, we entered the Allston venue, hoping to see some kick ass local bands, and as always we did.
Artists: Fat History Month, Flordia=Death, Big Mess, Saralee
Date: Saturday, November 19, 2011
Location: Gay Gardens/G.G. Allin’s Broken Home/Nose/Dick (Allston, MA)
Comments:
Act I: Saralee– Ahh I saw this cute duo before and they were pretty sick that first time. I remember truly enjoying their set, but for whatever reason I never really checked out their material, a high crime indeed. Anyway, when I heard they were playing this show (which was only news to me like an hour before their set!) I was excited. When their set began I was still upstairs, but as I was walking down the steps, they were kind of fucked up steps as one other G.G. Allin disicple had noted, the music sounded incredibly familar. I recognized the song from their last set, which is weird because that never happens, unless I check it out again, but I knew it and I loved it! The song is called “Circle of Hands,” and it is fantastic, my favorite Saralee song by far. The song exemplifies what is great about this band. Just really warm, almost comforting music; simple, steady drums from lee and Sarah’s amazing, unique voice. Her vocals are probably my favorite part of the band because they are simultaneously in the background, but also in your face. At least that’s how I hear it. Anyway, it was a chill set, and has stuck with me since the show. I listen to them frequently now, one of the best bands in Boston. See them live if you get a chance.
Act II: Big Mess– Big Mess is another highly notable local band. This instrumental trio hails from Lowell and I have seen them four times now and they get better each time. Big Mess is easily one of the tightest bands I have seen recently, just no fucking around, here we go, let’s rock kinda music. Both live and on studio recordings, but especially live, the band evokes various thoughts in my brain. Firstly, I always think these guys are fucking badass, like this is the soundtrack to what it is like to be badass and/or live a badass lifestyle. You know those horrible car ads with terrible country rock/overly masculine singing, well it is nothing like that, but it is just as badass, if not more. Just take the cheesiness out of that formulaic music and insert the pulsing guitars and pounding drums of early metal greats like Black Sabbath and AC/DC at their prime and you have Big Mess. The purest style of badass rock, like Shellac. Get up, crack open a beer, and crack some skulls. Well, maybe not that harsh, but you get the picture hopefully.
Act III: Florida=Death: First off, wonderful band name! I dug these Connecticut natives, but I did not feel as big of a connection to them or their music than the other bands. I feel like they were going for an electronic sort of thing, not sure, maybe I have to give them another chance. They were decent, just did not stand out to me at the end of the day.
Act IV: Fat History Month– Fat History Month is definitely the best Boston band I have seen this past year. I saw them for the first time a few months ago and I could tell from that performance that they were pretty special. I did not fall in love with them right away, but I got the impression that they were a band I could not keep my eyes off. So, I started listening to their music more and more. Saw them again and really dug it. Now, they are one of my favorite bands from twenty eleven. So yeah, I was really pumped for this performance. At the two previous Fat History shows I attended, the crowd was small and people were not overly enthusiastic, but this time around the audience seemed pretty into it and rightuflly so. There was a decent amount of moshing and it was pretty awesome, just the kind of reaction I was looking for. The duo rocked out per usual and I think it is safe to say this was the best show I had seen from them. In particular, “Old Lady Smokers,” was a pleastant experience, as it is a KLYAM favorite for sure. When the set hit its finale, vocalist/guitarist, Sean walked right through the crowd as if we were ghosts, it was pretty cool. Fin.
Grade: 7/10
Fat History Month-Things I Enjoy from Michael Wissig on Vimeo.
Music Vid of the Day: The Beets- “I Think I Might’ve Built a Horse”
One of the best songs, bands, and videos of twenty elven. Some real fucking music is brewing in Jackson Heights that’s for sure.
P.S. I love the home movie style of this video!
The Barbaras on TV!
Bit of a flashback video here. Footage of Memphis legends and future Magic Kids members, The Barbaras, playing the classic “Flow,” followed by a brief interview. The audio is pretty shitty, but still I thought this was a neat little ditty, worthy enough for the wolrd to see. Unfortunately, no Stephen Pope or Billy Hayes, off rocking and rolling with Jay!
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 