* Film: Monterey Pop [Sundance 10:45AM]
* Tom Petty: The Last DJ [Palladia Noon]
* U2: Rattle & Hum [Palladia 3:30PM]
* INXS: Live Baby Live [VH1 Classic 4:30PM]
* Led Zeppelin: The Song Remains the Same [Palladia 7:30PM]
Tuesday, December 22
* Coldplay: Storytellers [Palladia 9AM]
* Strat Pack: 50 Years of the Fender Stratocaster [Palladia 11AM]
* Jay-Z: Live from MSG [Fuse 3 PM]
* Nine Inch Nails: Beside You in Time [Palladia 4PM]
* Film: Woodstock [VH1 Classic 8PM]
Wednesday, December 23
* Film: Footloose [VH1 Noon]
* Live Aid: The Day the Music Changed the World [VH1 Classic 3PM]
* Classic Albums: Metallica, Metallica [VH1 Classic 6PM]
* Pink Floyd: The Wall [VH1 Classic 9PM]
* Spectacle w/Elvis Costello: Levon Helm [Sundance 10PM]
Thursday, December 24
* Classic Albums: Judas Priest, British Steel [VH1 Classic 11AM]
* Film: Wayne’s World [VH1 Noon]
* Kings of Leon: Live at Roskilde 2008 [Palladia 1:30PM]
* The Flaming Lips: Christmas on Mars [Sundance 1:15AM] ++
* Paul McCartney: Electric Proms [Palladia 2AM]
++ Christmas on Mars blogger note : If you want to watch the strangest Christmas movie ever made, check out the Flaming Lips in Christmas on Mars late on Xmas Eve on IFC. It took Wayne Coyne and gang eight years to make the movie, which comes off as intentionally bizarre. But if you are looking for something different to watch while you wait for Santa, this would certainly qualify.
Minneapolis-based electro/industrial/gothic band Thought Thieves have a distinct sound that wouldn’t be out of place on Top 40 radio, with lyrics that are worth a listen for grown-ups. Vocalist Mike Johnson’s declaratory style is reminiscent of the B-52s’ Fred Schneider; John Brekken (guitar and keyboards), Ariane Kokes (keyboards), Ryan Deacon (drums) and Jason Fleming (bass) lay out driving, danceable (or mosh-able) beats. Click the link above to listen to their forthcoming EP; iTunes link will be added when it’s available.
Mar 3 2009
New Music: “The End Is Not The End”, House of Heroes
House of Heroes is an Ohio-based alt/Christian rock band that’s been around since around 2003. Their album The End Is Not The End dropped today. For a limited time only, you can get an EP of the same name containing three of the album tracks for FREE from Amazon.com.
The EP includes “In The Valley Of The Dying Sun”, which has a delightful bass line. The middle is heavy in a way not often heard in modern music, then goes into church choir harmonies and a lighter melodic section, reminding me of the Beatles “She’s So Heavy/Golden Slumbers” for a moment.
“If”, another EP track, has a bouncy feel and prominent organ. It’s the first non-whiny love song I’ve heard in a long time, a catalog of all the things the protagonist would do or be or be capable of if she were his.
Twice recently, songs by Chantal Kreviazuk have come up on my Pandora pop station, and each time I was compelled to look at who was singing. (That’s only happened one other time recently, and it turned out to be Paris Hilton. Oh well.) The second time, I looked because I was certain it was Kelly Clarkson and I wondered why I didn’t know the song already.
Not to say that Chantal sounds like Kelly. “Time” does sound a lot like the sort of thing Kelly would sing, a piano-driven, edgy pop ballad… and in fact, she has written songs for Kelly, Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani and most recently David Cook. Pandora says similar artists are Colbie Caillat, Sara Bareilles and Michelle Branch. She’s a Canadian classical pianist-turned-pop star, and you can definitely hear those classical roots on her original songs. She has a pleasant, strong, diverse voice and as I listened to several different videos on her YouTube channel (all embedding is disabled, sadly) and her MySpace, it became apparent that she is an excellent interpreter. My opinion of her songwriting is that she has the skill of Carole King, which is about the best thing I will say about anyone’s songwriting.
You may have already heard her without realizing it. Her cover of “Leaving on a Jet Plane” was on the Armageddon soundtrack, “Time” played over the credits of the movie Uptown Girls, and plenty of other songs and covers have been on piles of TV shows and movie soundtracks. Chantal has been hitting the Canadian charts for 12 years, her debut album sold well in the US back in 1996, she’s been on Leno, and she has an excellent reputation as a songwriter for some of the most popular American acts. Looking at some of her co-write credits on Wikipedia, it’s apparent that she’s been all over everything I love in pop (and, okay, some I don’t love). And yet, I had never heard of her before this week. How do these things happen?
Anyway, I am now making up for it by spreading the love to you all. Here are links to iTunes and Amazon so you can pick up some of her stuff. I already have!
A couple months ago, AgingHippie shared the site The Next Big Sound, a band-promotion site where you can play A&R man, with the NESP community. I checked it out, liked it, bookmarked a couple bands and subsequently forgot about it. (Hey, I’ve been busy.) Today, I’m going through my bookmarks to see what I can share with you and the first thing I came upon is Parker House and Theory.
I immediately remembered why I like this Boston-based band. Formed in 2003, the five-piece band cites among their influences The Police, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dave Matthews Band and Blues Traveler. I also hear a touch of (early) Barenaked Ladies, particularly in “November”.
They also fall occasionally into the Jason Mraz/John Mayer/etc. genre.
Speaking of Mayer, as of a few weeks ago PH&T had a chance at playing on Mayercraft. They’ve previously played with O.A.R. (already on the bill) as well as Robert Randolph. If you like PH&T and want to support them, go vote for them at playmayercraft.com.
I was first alerted to the existence of this (mostly-defunct) band via a passing reference in an old review of a Taylor Hicks concert. The reviewer mentioned that it would be cool if Hicks covered some “obscure Blodwyn Pig” tunes. Having never heard of such a thing as a Blodwyn Pig, I felt compelled to do a little research and see if I agreed.
A Google search turned up the snazzy website of founding member Mick Abrahams and, much further down the page, their mySpace. Abrahams, a former member of Jethro Tull, had left Tull in 1968 over creative differences and founded the Pig. At the time, Tull was headed into flute-loving folk-rock and Abrahams just wasn’t interested. Blodwyn Pig’s modern blues/jazz sound was fresh and exciting, compared frequently to such better-known musical pioneers as Frank Zappa, and was part of the 70s edge into Prog and Art Rock. Yet, in Europe at least, they managed to grow a mainstream audience as well, appearing on popular UK programs like Top of the Pops.
On their myspace and elsewhere, Abrahams tells some awesome stories of hilarity, madness and debauchery while on tour and in the studio. They released two albums, toured the U.S. twice, and were poised for big, big things. Unfortunately, the good times came to an end because of his crippling fear of flying (or rather, as he says, of crashing) and the other members unceremoniously booted him in 1970. Karma turned around and kicked them in the ass, and within seven weeks the Pig was no more. There was a brief, not-that-successful reunion in 1974, and since 1988 Abrahams has occasionally reconvened the Pig with various former members. He also plays with rotating band members as the Mick Abrahams Band.
Listening to Abrahams’ solo stuff on squirrelmusic.com, his guitar playing reminds me quite a bit of his contemporaries Eric Clapton and B.B. King. However, with Blodwyn Pig, the sounds and influences are varied and sometimes subtle. On 1969’s Ahead Rings Out the jazz groove of Jack Lancaster’s dual saxophones (seriously, you have to watch this to believe it) melds with Ron Berg’s crashing rock drums to create something that I’m pretty sure was out of the norm for that year: “The Modern Alchemist”.
“It’s Only Love”, from the same album, is very much a blues song but also has a strong Big Band influence, with an emphasis on the high-hat in the drums, and a prominent horn section, in addition to Abrahams’ excellent blues guitar. My grandparents would have no problem at all dancing to this song.
Blodwyn Pig took advantage of each technological advancement they could afford, recording Ahead Rings Out on 8-track and 1970’s Getting To This on 16-track. They were also creative in getting just the right sound, even when the recording and filtering equipment was not yet dreamed of. On “Dear Jill”, a song featured in the movie Almost Famous, Abrahams explained, “by double-tracking the guitar, which was an Ecko 12-string with only 9-10 strings on it (depending on my mood or how many strings I could afford on the day) it sounded akin to a modern chorus effect pedal.” (Liner notes to 2001 re-issue of Ahead Rings Out, via Wikipedia.)
Additionally, on Getting To This, Abrahams says, “I did sing a verse of “Variations on Nainos” with my head in a bucket of water with a mike positioned over it!” (From Blodwyn Pig’s mySpace.) “Variations on Nainos” is an experimental jazz type song with a Swingin’ 60’s vibe (it could be in the background of an Austin Powers scene with no dissonance). The bucket verse — double-tracked “with the same bucket,” by the way — appears around the 3:10 mark below.
Again reinforcing the idea that Blodwyn Pig could not be pigeonholed, “Same Old Story” touches into psychedelia and the Indian rhythmic and melodic influences of the time, but in areas with a harder edge than taken by other bands.
If you’re interested in further listening, the mySpace page jukebox features four songs, and there is quite a bit more, I believe, on Abrahams’ own site, including his solo work. But between YouTube and imeem.com, it is possible to hear just about everything for free. There’s also quite a bit available on iTunes, should you be so inclined, although not the first two records–live albums and an anthology.
I think that, should Taylor Hicks choose to do the research and select from the more heavily blues-influenced Blodwyn Pig songs, he could indeed have a hit on his hands. What might be more useful to him is a songwriting collaboration with Abrahams, who is still active and whose current music I find more compatible with Hicks’ style.
So what is a Blodwyn Pig? I’m not really sure. Blodwyn is a Welsh first name meaning “white flowers” or “blessed flowers”, usually female although one site lists it as male. We all know what a pig is, but I’m not able to analyze the band name beyond this point. Abrahams does not explain the origins of the name (assuming he even remembers at this point), so it may be impossible to know.
For every singer who is signed to a major record contract, there are probably dozens more working in the trenches everyday trying to be heard. These days the internet, through sites such as myspace and music blogs such as OFTV, plays a significant role in getting independent music heard. This marriage of music and the internet has been a boon for the artists and the music lover. A world of new music is out there if you just take a look.
One artist capitalizing on this trend is Billy Redfield, a singer/songwriter from Baltimore, MD. Redfield released Made You Smile, a five-song CD in 2005, followed up by his first full-length studio CD, Two Steps Closer in 2006. He has sold nearly 15,000 copies of his music independently, including hard copy and digital sales. He has won a number of awards for his music, including honorable mention in the prestigious International Songwriting Competition for his track “Die for You.”
Redfield’s voice is unique, soothing and passionate at the same time. His lyrics are thoughtful and the melodies are catchy.
Two Steps Closer is filled with acoustic ballads, such as the heralded Die for You and Miss Melissa and a smattering of pop-friendly tunes, like Lost and Naked. On his myspace he writes, “I write from a personal point of view; it’s what I know best.”
Redfield encourages his fans, known as the Redheads, to spread the word about his music. He uses his myspace to connect with fans, and encourages them to stay in touch with him through his myspace, AIM, and email. He says on his site, “Most artists and bands have no connection with their fan base. I think this is ridiculous because it’s the fans that make the band. Without fans your music will get you nowhere. So please introduce yourself to me and I will get back to you.”
Recently, OFTV’s Uhadmeatwoohoo presented Redfield with a few questions:
What would you consider to be the biggest influence on your musical style?
I believe that would be Dave Matthews.
Where is your favorite venue that you’ve performed and why?
So far my favorite venue is The Recher Theatre (Towson, MD) because it’s the biggest one I’ve played at.
What is the first album/record/cd you ever purchased?
Not sure but I remember being into rap when I was younger. It might have been a Snoop Dogg record.
Who are your musical role models?
Dave Matthews, Bruce Springsteen, and Jimmy Buffet.
Who is your favorite musician that you’ve performed with?
I haven’t really performed with many yet. So to answer your question I don’t have one.
What do you think about iTunes and changes the internet has brought to purchasing music?
I think it’s great. It allows independent artists the ability to sell their music and it is very convenient for the customer.
What are your plans for the upcoming year?
Keep building, building, and building a bigger fan base. Try to get to the point where I am selling out venues. Keep trying to get to the next level. Always trying to further my career and get better at my craft.
What are some unique gifts that fans have given you?
Well one fan sent me a framed picture of an Atlas statue in NYC. I thought that was very interesting.
Tell us a little about the Redheads.
The thing about my music is that it relates to everyone. They come in all shapes and sizes.
Which song that you’ve written are you most proud of and why?
I think Die For You is definitely one of my best songs. I think it encompasses the idea of giving up ones life for love.
What is the best internet marketing idea that you’ve ever used?
I subscribed to a mailing list provider that helps me keep in touch with all my fans.
What is your favorite holiday and why?
I like Christmas the most. I like getting new stuff and the real reason behind it.
Redfield recently took the leap into forming a band, The Billy Redfield Band, and is now performing with drummer Damon Marrow and bassist Stu Lemley. He is currently working on a new CD, and told Uhadmeatwoohoo, “I have written many new songs which I think blows away my old material. I think you will think so too.”
Redfield’s website is currently under reconstruction, but directs you to his myspace. Or you can visit his facebook page. Visit, take a listen, and leave him some feedback. Who knows, you might even hear from him.
For about two months, my calendar for June 28 was marked “Martin Sexton at the LL Bean Summer Music Festival.”As the date approached and I had no volunteers to accompany me and gas prices rose, it started to look like I would spend another Saturday night at home.But one day driving home from work, I was listening to my favorite radio station, The River (92.5), when a commercial came on for a band called The Mystix.The grittiness of the lead singer’s voice and the driving guitar had me turning up the volume.I discovered that they were playing in the neighboring town of Londonderry, NH at a little venue called the TupeloMusic Hall.Interest piqued, I went home and checked out the band’s website, and immediately visited the Tupelo website to purchase tickets.
While this review is about The Mystix, I would be remiss not to talk a bit about Tupelo. Housed in unassuming old white farmhouse, it would be easy to just drive by. I had heard from friends that it was an intimate setting and a great place to get up close and personal with the music.What they didn’t tell me was that there is an absolute musical gem right in my backyard.Once inside, the atmosphere is warm and inviting.The night I visited, the venue was set up with about 30 tables for four lit with candles. They sell non-alcoholic beverages and food items and you can BYOB, paying $3 for each person who will be drinking.The one big surprise about the venue was the quality of the sound, which was amazingly crisp and clear.It did not overwhelm the small room but still allowed you to really feel the music.Owner Scott Hayward should be complimented on the full package he has put together here.It was recently announced that Hayward would build a new Tupelo in the neighboring town of Derry. After experiencing Tupelo, I hope he works to maintain this amazing quality in a new, larger venue.
Jo Lily, front man for The Mystix, said he visited Tupelo three years ago to see Jonathan Edwards and has been itching to play the room ever since.His itch was finally scratched on a cool New England summer night, when Lily and his band brought some hot, sultry, juke joint sounds to that small New Hampshire room.
The Mystix are an all-star band of sorts, comprised of journeymen musicians from the Boston/New York music scene.With roots in blues, rock, and country, their most recent CD, Blue Morning, has become a fixture on roots and country playlists around the country.
The evening’s entertainment started with a four song instrumental set, which included a playful, driving version of Duke Ellington’s Caravan, by three members of The Mystix – guitarist Bobby Keyes, drummer Marty Richards, and bassist Marty Ballou.Keyes is clearly the standout here.A longtime studio player at the legendary Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Keyes has played with everyone from Jerry Lee Lewis and Ben E. King, to New Kids on the Block and most recently, Lil Wayne and Robin Thicke.Keyes is also an accomplished songwriter, writing four songs for Thicke’s recent CD and co-writing with Lily for The Mystix.But it’s his guitar playing that’s on display here – he is a six string virtuoso.His play is inspired, passionate, and clean. His guitar comes alive under his gentle touch.This description, from a CD Baby review, hits the nail on the head.
He can switch from “Surf-style-spaghetti-western” to Django Reinhardt-style hot jazz to kiss-ass rock riffs in the blink of an eye and never break a sweat.
The trio was later joined on stage by keyboard player Tom West, and lead singer and guitarist Lily.Lily’s gravely, passionate vocals grabbed hold of the audience with Let’s Get Started and didn’t let go throughout their 14 song set.Some highlights included: the jumpin’ juke joint inspired Keyes/Lily original, Yolanda; the rocking Bourbon Street rhythms of New Orleans; and the Traveling Wilbury’s tune Rattled.
A taste of Yolanda at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2007.
I’ve read that they are a much tighter band since this performance – changing their drummer and adding a keyboard player.
Their country side was on display with their George Jones inspired original What Side of Heartache, which has risen to the top of the playlist on XM Country, and a cover of Porter Wagoner’s Nothing Between.They gave a couple of interesting nods to their interest in roots music.The first, Almost Down to the Shore was written by Jimmy Struthers, a blind axe murderer whose music was recorded at a penitentiary in VA by the Dust-to-Digital project.And the second, the encore, a song that they had never before performed live, Stephen Foster’s Hard Times Come Again No More.Yes, Stephen Foster – the “father of American music,” composer of Oh! Susanna, Camptown Races, and Beautiful Dreamer.Lily mentioned being asked to record this song by Keyes for a movie project, and how he was intimidated because it had been performed so perfectly by Bob Dylan. Having experienced Lily’s performance and watching Dylan’s performance, I’d take Lily’s version, hands down.
The Mystix are currently in studio working on their third CD which, according to Lily, will be more focused on roots music.If you get a chance to see the Mystix, I would highly recommend that you do, and you too will believe that the south has indeed moved to New England.
You can find The Mystix CD’s on CDBaby and iTunes online, and at Newbury Comics and Dyno Records in Newburyport, MA.
In recent interviews, the new American Idol, David Cook, has been predicting that his first CD will be “anthemic”. This week he talked to John Melendez of the Jay Leno show, after Cook says that his CD will be a rock record, Melendez asks him about playing with ZZ Top on the AI finale and asks:
is it going to be more that kind of rock, like a bluesy-based… ?
Cook replies,
Nah, It’ll be still kind of anthemic, I think for me, it’s just gonna be a matter of putting out songs that have something to say..
Is that an actual genre of rock music? Why does it give me visions of hair bands in large arenas full of my male classmates who thought that “2001: A Space Odyssey” was deep, their bics alight..
In more recent years, think U2, possibly the most pretentious rock band of all time. Or Spinal Tap.
Here’s a definition that doesn’t give me a lot of comfort:
Music is a pretty manipulative art-form at the best of times, but even so, Anthemic Rock is a particularly manipulative musical genre. The whole point of Anthemic Rock is to tug at the guts of the listener: to instil in him or her a peculiar sense of yearning for something that can’t quite be defined. It’s a stirring feeling, but also a slightly queasy one if you stop to think about it too much (as is my wont). But perhaps the most disturbing aspect of Anthemic Rock is the fact that, when you actually stop and listen to it, the lyrics are so often working at cross-purposes to the music: while the music of Anthemic Rock is, by definition, designed to be played loud, through speakers, and heard by large groups of people at the same time to create some kind of communal experience, the lyrics are often, in fact, about cutting off the listener from the rest of the world.
I thought some more about what makes a rock song anthemic:
Accessible melody, sing-a-long chorus “We Don’t Need No Education”, “We Are The Champions” The simpler the lyrics, the easier the chorus is to learn, the more likely the band will create the massive communal experience that only loud familiar music and lots of beer and/or secondary inhalation of illegal smoke inspires. Power chords and an insistent 4-4 beat are a must.
The lyrical theme must be Serious. No little deuce coupes, endless summer nights or honky tonk women.
Living on a prayer, and Not getting fooled again are fine themes. It’s also fine to sing about “Only Rock & Roll”, “I Love Rock n Roll”, “Rock and Roll All Night” or “Old Time Rock N Roll”.
If it’s a song you danced to at weddings, or made out to in high school, it’s probably not anthemic rock. However, a rock anthem may well have been your prom theme in the 1980s:
If your neighbor played it every night in the dorm while you tried to sleep or study, then it probably is anthemic rock.
I love the communal aspect of rock music. The thrill of classic rock concerts is sitting in a hockey rink with 18,000 of your closest friends, Paul McCartney in the Garden, “Back in the USSR” with that driving beat hardwired into our collective brains, and for three minutes he was just seventeen, if you know what I mean… and so were we. At the beginning we really did think rock music would change the world, because it made us feel like we could.
While I usually like my music with sophistication, funk and groove and soul, or at least an awesome beat, I respect the power of anthemic rock. A few years ago I finally got to see one of my favorite late 60s bands, the Guess Who, with its founding members Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings. Mr. Bachman was also in another major band, Bachman-Turner Overdrive. So naturally the concert included a few of BTO’s big hits including this:
Since TCB was not one of my favorite songs, I didn’t have a personal emotional connection to the song, but a good portion of the crowd certainly did. I couldn’t help but get swept into the party.
I say you can be anthemic without sacrificing the beat and the groove. These are tunes that make you want to dance the night away and kick some butt all at the same time..
So to the Newest American Idol I say, go write some rock anthems, and bring us all together with raucous glorious noise. But remember the words that Emma Goldman didn’t actually say, “If I can’t dance I don’t want to be in your revolution.” Power chord ballads have their place, but you can’t find redemption without a saxophone:
