1. “Union Song” – The Nightwatchman – I haven’t listened to this guy in a year, at least. This is a refreshing song, not one of his best, but politically meaningful at least.
2. “Pick Yourself Down” – Gangbang Gordon – (Warning: this is my own song). I wrote this song on a night that I just wanted to write a song. I made a decent chord progression and then just ad-libbed for five minutes. So lyrically it’s a piece of shit…example: “Might as well call your lawyer. Take a seat in the foyer. If you think you’re gonna wait long, better write a fuckin’ song to help you through the times, to help you un-wind, amount of stress you’re in it’s not even worth telling your kin.” Yeah, for real. One more example, if I may: “She doesn’t get English. She was born in Spain. Bilingual education won’t even give her a reign. All she is is hot, I ain’t talkin’ looks. Just look at her face, you will give her a book. She ain’t nothin’ but a reader. She ain’t nothin’ but Aretha. When she stretches her chords.” Okay, I’ll stop. If anyone wants to listen to this song, let me know.
3. “Hippys” – Black Lips – One of their best non-album tunes. I like its southern country punk slime like a Sherman in a Suuuuuueeeeeeeeebaaaaaahhhhhhruuuuuuueee.
4. “Red Red Wine” – UB40 – Also another song that I don’t play too much. It gives me too much ’90s nostalgia. Good and bad. Usually bad things were associated with song like the show COPS. I definitely appreciate it, though.
5. “Hang On, Siobhan” – The Walkmen – A downer of a song. Beautifully written and meaningful. Nice if I want to get all introspective and shit, but I rarely do.
6. “Losing Feeling” – No Age – I bumped this heavy last year around this time, I think. One of the most ambient-yet-catchy No Age songs pre-Everything In Between. The sped up punk towards the end is pure awesomeness.
7. “Imagine Pt. 3” – The Smith Westerns – I added this song on a limb a couple of weeks ago. They are similar to Magic Kids (at least on this song), but more British and Beatles sounding. Also, pretty MGMT like. I do like this. Not so sure their debut album stuck out, but this next one is shaping up to be a little better. We’ll see.
In what seems to be a biennial pre-record release show, Black Lips played in their hometown of Atlanta on Saturday night at The Variety Playhouse. Their impending record is untitled as of right now, but will most likely be released in April. Perhaps this was just an early treat. The Lips put together a similar show at the Playhouse in February 2009, the month that they released 200 Million Thousand. That show surely was fun as can be for all that attended — the Lips played a mix of rarely played oldies and a few new songs that would quickly vanish from their typical set-list. For example, they played four songs that had a little lasting power back in 2009, but are rarely played nowadays: “Take My Heart,” “Starting Over,” “I’ll Be With You,” and “Elijah.” The tunes that have stuck from 200 Million Thousand are “Drugs” and “Short Fuse.” As far as rare classics go, they played “Ain’t No Deal” (which I must note has been played more than usual in 2010), “Workin,” and one of my personal favorites, “Fad.” Getting back to Saturday night, they played six new songs, a few of which have been debuted recently. These include “Dumpster Diving” (Ian St. Pe on lead vocals), “Raw Meat” (the whistle one they played frequently on their ’10 US tour), and “New Direction” (not the official name, but sung in the chorus). Notably, though, Bradford Cox was in attendance and he played drums (as he did in the studio back in ’04) on “Notown Blues”. Accomplished multi-musician Joe Bradley played the organ during that song.
Christmas in Baghdad, it can be such a drag
Don’t wanna come home in a body bag
No candles, no cheer, just all violence here
Well I hope I can see you this year
Not a reindeer in sight; this ain’t no holy night
They’re putting up a hell of a fight
Guess there’s nothing we can do about it
Learn jingle bells in arabic
Hope I can make it home alive
‘Cause I’m sure missing Christmas time
Not a chance of snow
Pretty sure my heart beat will go
But please don’t let that bullet go
Face down in the sand
Fighting strangers in a foreign land
Well I hope that you can understand
Take a look inside the MetroSonic Recording Studios in Brooklyn, New York where the Black Lips recently finished recording with Mark Ronson. Inside you’ll see Cole’s infamous human skull and a boat load of analog equipment. For those confused about the Lips pairing with Ronson, Ronson says it’s not like he came in and said “hey, I’m going to clean up the Black Lips!” From the video, it looks like there’s a new song with what I like to call the “Dirty Hands” arrangement — a D-A-G chord progression and Cole’s vocals. The last song that is played sounds absolutely fantastic, an ode to the production techniques of Brit Invasion rock and roll.
Watching this documentary, you might feel like you are reading this website. There are shots of living and deceased (literally/not literally) KLYAM regulars like Black Lips, Jay Reatard, King Khan & BBQ Show as well as shots and interviews with other great musicians and performers like Ty Segall, Thee Oh Sees, Davila 666, The Dirtbombs, The Magic Kids, Hunx and His Punx and Box Elders. What is garage rock? For Jay Reatard, it was about grossing people out. For Joe Bradley, “it’s about keeping it simple, stupid. That’s what we’re [Black Lips] are trying to do. It’s about fun and entertainment.”
VICE goes around interviewing some of the most notable and downright prolific names in garagerock. Part 1 examines the scenes in Memphis and Detroit.
After a fairly extended break from touring (only a few one-off shows and festivals since April), the Black Lips played the first of two November Georgia shows last night in Savannah at the Jinx. They played a brand new song, which will probably be released on their new album due out in April 2011. I’m not a master decipherer, but it sounds like the chorus goes something like: “I’ve been looking at a new collection.” Ian has a nice solo.
November 14 marked the last day the Black Lips recorded in the studio with Mark Ronson. According to Ian St. Pe’s twitter: “We now have roughly 30 songs to choose from for our next record. This new one is gonna be the Shit!”
I always love hearing that kind of stuff. They should include ’em all on a double LP. Whatcha think about that, Vice?
A little later than Ian St. Pe’s original estimate of “when school gets back in” (September 2010), but it looks like they’ve been spending time in New York with Mark Ronson finishing it up.
Bands: Erland & The Carnival, Paul Weller Venue: Apollo Theater Date: November 6, 2010
Act One – Erland & The Carnival – A very respectable UK folk/post-punk revivalist group. As Erland said, they were simply warming up the stage for Weller. With that said, their set was quite modest in length — not more than thirty minutes — but very effective. They reminded me of a more eclectic/James Bond theme music version of Editors. When they jammed, they jammed. I found myself recognizing a number of their tunes from the video of the gig they posted on their MySpace page.
Act Two – Paul Weller – Over the past several months, I’ve gained much more appreciation for the Modfather. It was a quite a treat to see him perform last night at the historic Apollo Theater. Weller has quite a catalog to choose from in selecting his night’s set-list. Last night, he incorporated a bunch of tunes from 2010’s Wake up the Nation. What made up the rest was a fine variety of relatively recent material, a little bit older stuff, and classic Jam and Style Council tunes. The sound was excellent. The aid of two keyboardists/effects performers and an extra rhythm guy contributed greatly to Weller’s backing. What I love about Weller is when he really rocks out. The drum solo in “One Bright Star” and the pure magic of “All I Wanna Do” were just some of the many highlights. Weller gave off the impression at the end of his second encore that the near sold-out crowd would be back to hear him for a second time in a row the next night. Those people are in for a double dose treat.
Set-List
1. “Aim High”
2. “Into Tomorrow”
3. “7 to 3 is the Striker’s Name”
4. “Pretty Green”
5. “From the Floorboards Up”
6. All I Wanna Do (Is Be With You)”
7. “Sea Spray
8. “Paper Chase”
9. ??
10. “No Tears to Cry”
11. “Shout To The Top”
12. “Trees
13. “How Sweet It Is”
14. “One Bright Star”
15. “Andromeda”
16. “Fast Car Slow Traffic”
17. “Start!”
18. “Echoes on the Sun”
19. “Wild Wood
——Encore One——
20. “Broken Stones”
21. “Pieces of a Dream”
22. “Wake up the Nation”
23. “Art School”
24. “Come On, Let’s Go”
—-Encore Two—-
25. “The Changingman”
26. “Porcelain Gods”
—————————————————–
Bands: Fergus & Geronimo, K-Holes, Cerebral Ballzy, Black Lips Venue: The Shank Date: November 6, 2010
Comments on the Venue: Where do I even begin? I just want to clear something up, first. Hipsters, individually, are not necessary bad people. Talking to a few of them and sort of mocking them (“Are shows in a big warehouse the new thing?”), I realized there are some good apples in the bunch. Not so much for the case for the hoi polloi of Williamsburg hipsters. Damn, these people suck so much! As Rich said, they are people with a lot of money, but love to act like they don’t have any. These hipsters wait in long lines for port-a-potties and $4 beer. Making loads of money off of the cheapest brands of beer is suddenly relevant. These people have no respect for the bands and care solely about themselves. Shocker! The venue itself was the complete opposite of the Apollo. I didn’t expect some first-rate DIY “soundspace”, but…this?! Every process after the most basic (checking IDs, buying tickets) was actually pretty laughable. There are shit-loads of people just standing around, smoking whatever they feel like. In front of the stage are hipsters yelling at each other and pushing each other. The stage itself is pretty legit, but the sound system is quite awful.
Act One, Two, and Three – I wasn’t really paying attention much to any of these bands. Fergus & Geronimo sounded really good. I caught the tail end of their set. K-Holes were the same K-Holes I saw in July and August. Cerebral Ballzy sounded not so good, but I couldn’t really hear them all that well from where I was standing.
Act Four – Black Lips – After avoiding the pit area for a while, I made up my mind. I was going to stand in front like I usually do. The moment Black Lips come on, they sound-check jammed to something that sounded like “Stone Cold.” A soft rocker to test out the waters. This was all well and good. They then got the night going with “MIA,” the frantic opener from excellent live album Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo. After that was a new song. After that was “Make It,” “O Katrina,” and another new song. “Make It” and “Katrina” were both listenable and very well played. This was a good thing. It was very down-hill from here. A bunch of idiots stormed the stage after like five minutes and, like on the boat cruise, all the amps became unplugged. Jared’s microphone also fell from its stand multiple times. Some asshole started talking into it all the while Jared thought it was still there. The Lips ad-libbed, while the sound “crew” was trying to fix things, a cover of Elvis’ “He Touched Me.” Parts of “Dirty Hands,” “Ain’t No Deal,” and “Fairy Stories” were played. Keep in mind “parts.” Nothing was complete about the Lips set. I blame it on the “fans”…these self-righteous douche-bags who wanted all the attention. At least the Lips got paid $10,000 to play this shit-show. The second to last song was “Sea of Blasphemy,” which almost was a valiant attempt for them to restart their set…except it was the second-to-last sosng. You know shit has gone wrong when I think “Bad Kids” is “Ghetto Cross” for a complete minute. Damn, son.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 