June 2009

  • There's No Justice in Life: Snakefinger's Journey with the Residents

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    Coming of age at roughly the same time as some of those proto punkers in England, Philip Charles Lithman found himself so in love with the British take on electric blues, he snagged a guitar and tried to come up with something on his own. At the age of twenty two, Lithman would make his way across Atlantic to San Francisco,though. And of all the people he could have in fact come into contact with during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Lithman met a few guys who would eventually become the Residents. Since most write ups of this guitarist usually veer towards some history of that weirdo group, I’ll refrain. But the connection made upon that initial meeting would probably be the most important relationship in Lithman’s career. Read more

  • The Seeds' '60s Psych

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    As much as Sky Saxon has been deified – and not just in the last week or so – it doesn’t sound, from his discs during that first phase of the Seeds that the band was too much more or less than any other garage act of the time. Maybe it’s because I hear Roky Erickson in Saxon’s voice as much as Mick Jagger. It might be that most of the instrumentation on each of the group’s three proper full lengths could be relatively easily duplicated by any number of groups. Or it might just be the fact that he hit on a girl I knew at a show and left her a dirty old man message at three in the morning. Admittedly, the band was good. And those singles are on par with anything from ’65-’67. Read more

  • Svenonius Enlists the K Recs. Crew

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    After twenty years of making music for ears set to pick up under ground tones, it’s shocking to think that Ian Svenonius has anything at all left to say. It would seem, though, that with his new disc, that there are a few things that he feels needs to be restated, because after the eight proper long players from the Make Up and Nation of Ulysses, most would think otherwise. Perhaps though, taking up a crew of left coasts musicians to back him up served Svenonius’ purposes. For being an individual so tied to Washington D.C. and the Dischord roster, it’s almost startling to figure that Svenonius enlisted folks from Dub Narcotic Sound System, Saturday Looks Good to Me, Bad Thoughts and Seahorse Liberation Army. He did, though. Read more

  • The Cowsills: A Familial Gravy Train

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    It’s always weird when knock offs end up gaining more notoriety than the originators of whatever schtick. And for the Cowsills, it must have been doubly bothersome considering the musical and theatrical implications of their career. Instead of becoming one of the first cross over stars, each of the group members eventually moved on after the group to lead relatively normal lives if not for a few brief stints with the Beach Boys’ travelling band. But that’s show business. And unfortunately, a few chance decisions probably led the brothers and sisters that made up the Cowsills to their end. Read more

  • 39 Clocks: Aural Protests

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    I believe what we have here folks is the last proper studio disc from German weirdoes 39 Clocks. Oddly, out of all the bands from the father land that have gained some tread in underground psych circles, these guys usually go unmentioned. The principal duo making up the group, J.G. 39 and C.H. 39 are joined by some additional players to fill out this disc, which doesn’t really sound too far detached from earlier offerings from the band. And while nothing on here is shocking any longer – the disc was released in ’87 – it’s a manageable amalgam of low fidelity pop, some folk, whatever passed for punk at the time and out of tune warbling. Read more

  • No Neck Blues Band Get Elemental

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    dafsddafsdIt’s odd to think of the way in which different bands gain notoriety. Some do it with creepy stage shows that owe as much to shamanistic life as rock and roll while others just rave up a racket, only scarcely associate with the press and release foggy, dense forests of sound that not only deride melody, but find only little use for regular meter or time. No Neck Blues Band has been at it, this latter way, for the better part of fifteen years. And after ingratiating themselves to Sonic Youth as well as John Fahey at the end of his life, the purposefully distant group has, as of late, been on a tear, releasing a disc per year over the last half a decade. Read more

  • Subway: Folk Down There

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    Busking usually gets a bad rap from the perspective of not just the performers, but the transient audience passing by, mostly out of tune and uncaring about what’s going on right there on the side walk. Some groups have made it off the streets – the Libertines and Pete Doherty most notably of late – but for the most part, it seems to just be a way by which to gain a few bucks for a drink or a piece of pizza. You don’t make millions with your guitar case open as a seemingly talented beggar. That’s not meant to dissuade you vagabonds from attempting it, but ya know… Read more

  • Moe Tucker and her Arsenal of Instruments

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    The Velvet Underground are the most important band in rock music – that kind that matters at least, not the trite garbage littering the shelves of Best Buy, or whatever other retailer is daft enough to stock physical discs of that nature any longer. The musical background that each player brought to this group – whether academic or self taught – served to inform everyone from R.E.M. to U2 and even bands that were good. The way in which the guitar was plied in the group by Lou Reed is usually one of the first things mentioned after the trumped up charges of members being junkies. And while Maureen ‘Moe’ Tucker is usually referred to as the androgynous drummer, she was more than that. And kinda cute in a tomboy kinda way. Read more

  • Pentangle is Acutally Less Than its Parts

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    Coming late to the folk revival party that could be understood to have begun in the late ‘50s, Pentangle was made up of an immense array of talent that, somehow, when congregated never full reached the zenith of some of its members’ other endeavors. Mostly, I’m thinking about Bert and John. While not generally mentioned in the States as an important milestone in the folk resurgence, that duo’s disc can be seen as some rebirth on that bejeweled isle, England. There were certainly some missteps – mostly tied to the vocal led numbers, but those slighty blemished moments seem to surpass most of the Pentangle catalog. Read more

  • The Chocoloate Watch Band vs. the Studio

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    The recorded life of any ensemble is and should admittedly be accepted as something separate than what the group actually was. Confining a group of players to a studio with it’s gadgetry and the often stifling affect of having no audience provides for an odd setting to capture music that’s meant for dancing and freak outs. The Chocolate Watch Band aren’t the only group to have suffered from this dichotomy, but its story is still a mighty strange one. Helmed by producer Ed Cobb, the San Jose based psych act formed in ’65 and made a decent name for themselves on the local club circuit. Read more