Thursday, May 31, 2012

Wildy's World auctions - American Cancer Society

Keep your eyes open beginning June 1, 2012!

Wildy's World is teaming up with a host of Independent and established artists to offer up some interesting auctions on eBay to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life.

Auctions will include the opportunity to have a song written for yourself, about a subject of your choosen, or for someone you love from a host of independent artists, many of whom have been reviewed here on this blog.  To date I have confirmed participation from Kati Mac, John Mueller of Winter Dance Party, Andy Hawk, The Spanish Channel, Missed You At The Show, The Blisterz, BFF, Jodi Shaw, Skyler, Key Dragon, Deborah Crooks, Amanda Belardinelli, These Curious Thoughts. Crown Point Band, Steve Haggard and Beth Whitney.  I also have initial indications of interest from 18 additional artists who want to auction off a song for the winning bidder to shape, as it were.

In addition, several artists have stepped forward with items to raffle off.  Confirmed thus far are Marian Call, Styx, Ron Hawkins (Lowest of the Low), Winter Dance Party, Jerome Lee, Andy Hawk and Lee Alexander.

So keep your eyes on the eBay profile amherstcds beginning June 1, 2012.  Profits from these auctions will benefit the American Cancer Society, with a couple of the auctions splitting the proceeds between the American Cancer Society and other charities/projects.  Each will be specified in the auction listing.

This will be a great opportunity to win a one-of-a-kind auction from some of your favorite independent artists and help the American Cancer Society make a world with more birthdays!

And if you're an artist who'd like to participate in one of these auctions, it's not too late!  Drop me a line at wildysworld@gmail.com.  If you'd just like to make a donation to The American Cancer Society on behalf of Wildy's World, you can donate through Wildy's personal Relay For Life page.  Have a wonderful day, and be well!

...wildy

Source: http://wildysworld.blogspot.com/2012/05/wildys-world-auctions-american-cancer.html

James Husband Meg and Dia The Sea Urchins Pony Club

Capitalist Sooner On Why Republican

Fellow Oklahoma blogger Capitalist Sooner has written an excellent post titled "Why I am a Republican."

He made some really good points in this post, here is just a small excerpt from it that speaks on what I like to call the stepchildren of the GOP, the Libertarians:

"While I can appreciate the attraction to not being in a political party...it is not possible in this time to effect change outside the party system........I see the Libertarian Party as our long lost GOP brothers who just need to be welcomed home properly. They are a part of us. We should reach out to them and prepare a place for them, not fight with them. We need each other to defeat the combined forces arrayed against us. Our differences are minor and agreements major. The right leadership can heal this divide and I believe unity here is coming.

I suggest you give this post, as well as his other posts a good read through.

Source: http://otterlimits.blogspot.com/2012/03/capitalist-sooner-on-why-republican.html

Pony Club Good Shoes Sufjan Stevens The School

RhoDeo 1220 Beats


Hello, it's all about dodo book today, billions have been lifted from dodo investers accounts,  buyers of these shares epitomise 'a fool and his money are soon parted'.. The winners once again the big banks, a handful of backdoor investers (like Bono) and Zuckerberg and co naturally. Of cause for the US (zionist) Press it's all halulujah, interestingly the European press is negative and predicts disaster as banks already bought millions of shares today to prop up the $ 38 IPO price. It could well be that a share price collapse and all the negative press that goes with it, will drag Facebook itself down and start an exodus of members towards the many alternatives, by this time next year dodo book might have spiralled close to oblivion, that said.. if we make it that far.

Todays post links up to last weeks Aphex Twin as we explore his AFX moniker on his Analord series,  reinventing acid on 'A roland' machine or one of the many he scored after they got disgarded after the rise of digital machines.

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Although James continued making frequent DJ appearances, he released no more material until 2005, when Rephlex issued the first installment in a lengthy, 11-part series of 12" singles titled Analord. For the series James used his extensive collection of Roland drum machines which he bought when they were still at bargain prices.The singles' minimalist acid techno harked back to his Caustic Window/Analogue Bubblebath material of the early '90s. Chosen Lords, a CD compilation of some of the Analord material, appeared in April 2006.

Analord is a 3� hour, 42-track series of recordings on 12" vinyl . The first instalment, Analord 10, went on sale through the Rephlex Records website on 15 December 2004, and was packaged in a faux-leather binder with sleeves for housing the rest of the series. It was later re-released as a picture disc. Both pressings of Analord 10 were marketed under James' primary alias Aphex Twin, although other Analord recordings were released under the AFX pseudonym.

James has programmed a variety of analogue equipment throughout his career. Instruments on Analord include drum machines such as the Roland TR-606, TR-808, and TR-909; sequencers such as the Roland MC-4; and various synthesizers and polysynths, including the Roland SH-101 and Roland TB-303, a Synton Fenix Modular

The name refers to the analogue and digital electronic music equipment James used to perform much of Analord, as well as being a double entendre. Since James has a penchant for anagrams, it is noteworthy that "Analord" is an anagram for "A Roland", perhaps referencing the manufacturers of de facto industry standard analogue synthesizers. It has also been speculated that the term "Analord" is a portmanteau, being derived from combination of the words analogue and lord, referring to Richard James' previous analogue programming, and the talent and recognition he has in his industry. "Analord" is also the title of a Luke Vibert track from "Lover's Acid" on Planet Mu.

On 24 December 2009, the website of Rephlex Records was re-launched and began posting unreleased/bonus tracks for the ANALORD series in MP3 and WAV digital formats. To date, 20 bonus tracks have been added to the series.

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The key word for Analord  is "acid." James has the archetypal gurgly 303 working overtime throughout, crunching out the melody on the upbeat "Where's Your Girlfriend?", letting the layered tendrils of squelch crawl over each other like a pit of electric-powered snakes in the mid-track breakdown. The bouncier "Grumpy Acid" fulfils the promise of its excellent title by sounding like the amplified gastric system of a robot badly in need of Pepto Bismol. "Steppingfilter 101" is mid-tempo mellow, with gentle synth pads floating behind the zig-zag buzz out front. It's a seriously retro sound, channeling precisely one offshoot of early "classic" IDM. If an unknown had released the tracks on Analord 1 in 1995, he would have been accused of straight ripping the AFX acid style. But James pioneered this sound, so I guess he has the right to return to it if he chooses.

Analord 2 is a little better, keeping the same palate while toning down the tired acid textures and delivering more melody. The tuneful "Phonatacid" isn't exactly riveting, but it does manage to undergo some interesting transformations over its nearly 10-minute length. "Laricheard" references the famed Chicago house pioneer Larry Heard in its title but is the most drifting and contemplative track here. It all sounds nice enough, but no one introduced to James with these tracks would be compelled to investigate further.

Analord 3 is particularly strong, beginning with "Boxing Day", which places a John Carpenter/Gershon Kingsley spooky Moog melody on top of a thrusting electro beat. The various elements are in constant movement in and around each other, and "Boxing Day" is busy and energetic even if it never exactly goes anywhere. "Midievil Rave 1" is all heavy ugliness, with dissonant and out-of tune sequences and some herky-jerky stop/start action that allows me to picture James riding the fader from all the way across the ocean. And "Klopjob", with simple yet funky drum programming and a lovely pastoral melody, is perhaps the best single track in the series so far.


AFX - Analord 01, 02, 03   (flac 329mb)

Analord 01
01 Steppingfilter 101 4:45
02 Canticle Drawl 1:45
03 MC-4 Acid 3:47
04 Untitled 1:31
05 Where's Your Girlfriend? 5:06
06 Grumpy Acid 3:21
07 Analord 158b 1:40
Analord 02
08 Phonatacid 9:47
09 Laricheard 2:15
10 Pissed Up In SE1 5:14
11 Bwoon Dub 5:55
Analord 03
12 Boxing Day 6:36
13 Midievil Rave 1 2:44
14 Klopjob 5:24
15 Midievil Rave 2 4:00

AFX - Analord 01, 02, 03    (ogg 148mb)

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Analord 4 is comparatively spare and almost as good. The bouncy "Crying in Your Face" has what could be some heavily vocodered vocals (or James could be he's just making the machines talk) and a strong pop feel, while the quiet, menacing "Home Made Polysynth" gets same mileage from between-note beats in the manner of Analord 3's "Midievil Rave 1". The closing "Breath March" is a deceptively great tune. On the one hand it's quiet, with almost nothing happening in the midrange, but the power of the fathoms-deep bass hook could easily be missed without proper playback equipment.

There's not much to recommend on the two-track fifth volume. The peppy "Reunion 2" has a wickedly squelching acid line that creates its own light trails, and the stiff "Cilonen" is by-the-numbers Detroit electro, sounding a bit like Drexciya without the mystery. At the halfway point the conservatism of James' approach is the most notable thing about the Analord series.

Much of Analord 6 will be familiar to anyone who's heard its predecessors. "Batine Acid" plies rote acid lines with intermittent spookiness, "Snivel Chew" adds sawtooth synths and rapid handclaps, and "2 Analogue Talks" at least mixes things up with squeaky, high-pitched scales giving way to the monotonous, clock-like donging of what sounds like a horn sample. Standout "I'm Self Employed" suggests that whatever James is up to, he's not just going through the motions-- at least not always. Fragile, lonely melodies and countermelodies reminiscent of his ambient works build into a rust-eyed chorus and actually take it somewhere.

Analord 7 kicks off with the (deceptively?) straightforward acid-house of "Lisbon Acid", which bloops, thumps, fuzzes, squelches, and ultimately meanders for an entire side. The echoey off-key synths of "Pitcard" start and stop on a dime, which is better than a nickel (worth more, too!). The "AFX Acid 04" evokes almost an acid remix of Spoon's "I Turn My Camera On" with its slinky changes and martial pace, before giving way to ominously discordant skarronking.


AFX - Analord 04, 05, 06, 07   ( flac 369mb)

Analord 04
01 Crying In Your Face 4:25
02 Home Made Polysynth 4:07
03 Halibut Acid 6:07
04 Breath March 3:46
Analord 05
05 Reunion 2 5:10
06 Cilonen 5:34
Analord 06
07 Batine Acid 5:26
08 Snivel Chew 4:02
09 I'm Self Employed 4:26
10 2 Analogue Talks 1:47
11 Analoggins 7:17
Analord 07
12 Lisbon Acid 8:29
13 Pitcard 6:18
14 AFX Acid 04 5:37

AFX - Analord 04, 05, 06, 07  (ogg 165mb)

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With the release of his latest triad, James has reached a (temporary?) stopping point. Analord 10 actually came first last December, but it's been re-issued as a logo-bearing picture disc, and what does order matter when the man's latest sounds like his earliest? Each of the Analord releases adopts the AFX moniker, analogue synth sounds and even inscrutable titles he used in his early '90s Analogue Bubblebath acid-house recordings. (Except the original 10th, i.e. first, which was released as Aphex Twin. Got it?)

The tracks on Analord 8 are named for computer viruses, likely in an effort to discourage file-sharers. Then again, the pieces might have been so named because a few are among the series' most infectious so far. Awash in disco hi-hats, "PWSteal.Ldpinch.D" beckons with the type of decidedly non-digital lust, come-hither bass line, and slightly detuned hooks that a Kylie Minogue could have taken upchart. Blippy "W32.Deadcode.A" is almost as good once the bridge arrives like a between-storms rainbow. "Backdoor.Berbew.Q", meanwhile, rises and subsides with a burbling bass and choir-like synth chords, and "Backdoor.Spyboter.A" unfolds similarly over pings and more handclaps, but neither really goes anywhere. That's the disappointing crux of James's current collection of never-awful but rarely remarkable noodlings.

Analord 9-- comprising four tracks rather than the nine fakes originally leaked to file-sharing networks-- ups the BPMs, with skittering hi-hats galore. Bouncy "Backdoor.Netshow" is the highlight, panning left and right as a scratchy sawtooth eventually joins, then drowns in effects.

Analord 10 remains the best of the new EPs so far.  A-side "Fenix Funk 5" alternately buzzes and reclines, incorporating garbled, vocoder-like noises, and gently descending chimes along with energetic drum machines. The dense, dark seven-plus minutes of bell-tolling B-side "Xmd5a", still more melodic than most acid but playing hard to get, make it probably the series' best track. OK, some consensus, then.

Meanwhile, Analord 11 is colder, sadder, and less satisfying. Its two tracks, like those on the eighth and ninth outings, are named after viruses and spyware. A-side "W32.Mydoom.Au@mm" whines and moans over steady handclaps and padded cymbals like an electronic plea for help-- whether with musical ideas or personal life, it's far from clear. On the flip, "Backdoor.Ranky.S" layers drooping synths over a steady boom-pah rhythm, squelching lazily and unnecessarily toward the upper registers as the tune fizzles out.


AFX - Analord 08, 09, 10, 11  ( flac 382mb)

Analord 08
01 PWSteal.Ldpinch.D 3:43
02 Backdoor.Berbew.Q 4:57
03 W32.Deadcode.A 6:18
04 Backdoor.Spyboter.A 5:06
Analord 09
05 PWSteal.Bancos.Q 4:50
06 Trojan.KillAV.E 3:03
07 W32.Aphex@mm 3:52
08 Backdoor.Netshadow 4:49
Analord 10
09 Fenix Funk 5 5:07
10 XMD 5a 7:56
Analord 11
11 W32.Mydoom.AU@mm 8:47
12 VBS.Redlof.B 4:39
13 Backdoor.Ranky.S 6:00

AFX - Analord 08, 09, 10, 11   ( ogg 167mb)

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Source: http://rho-xs.blogspot.com/2012/05/rhodeo-1220-beats.html

McCarthy Gentleman Reg Suburban Kids With Biblical Names Milton and the Devils Party

Gaslight Anthem at Radio City: A Review

Photo Credit: Tony Cano

New Jersey favorites the Gaslight Anthem packed Radio City Music Hall Thursday night for a marathon set of nearly two hours. While the band showcased songs from their entire catalogue, their gratitude to fans was apparent as frontman Brian Fallon continually thanked fans when he could find the words.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Radio City went dark while ?Somewhere Over the Rainbow? played through the speakers. The band took the stage to screaming fans and powered through ?High Lonesome,? ?Boxer,? ?We Came to Dance? and ?The Diamond Church Street Choir,? an impressive variety of songs from their three full length albums before Fallon addressed the crowd for the first time.

?Radio City. We started playing in basements. Elvis might even show up. I know we?re in New York, but I imagine New Jersey is represented in the crowd tonight.?

For the complete review, visit BumperShine.

Related Links:
? You Sing, I Write's Top 5 Concerts of 2009
? Band of the Week: Gaslight Anthem
? Five Albums to Prolong Your Summer
? All Points West: Music, Mud Wrestling, and Beer Gardens

Source: http://yousingiwrite.blogspot.com/2010/10/gaslight-anthem-at-radio-city-review.html

Smoosh From Bubblegum to Sky Maria Taylor The Scene Aesthetic

New Heavy Metal CD Releases: June 7, 2011

Here are the new heavy metal CD releases for this week.

June 7, 2011
AC/DC - Let There Be Rock DVD (Warner)
Amorphis - The Beginning Of Times (Nuclear Blast)
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here (The End)
Ancient VVisdom - A Godlike Inferno (Shinebox)
Arch Enemy - Khaos Legions (Century Media)
Avantasia - The Flying Opera Live DVD/CD (Nuclear Blast)
Barn Burners - Bangers II: Scum Of The Earth (Metal Blade)
Behemoth - Abyssus Abyssum Invocat (Metal Blade)
Black September - The Forbidden Gates Beyond Re-Release (Prosthetic)
Brent Hinds Presents - Fiends Without A Face and West End Motel (Rocket Science)
Cerebral Bore - Maniacal Miscreation (Earache)
Chrome Division - 3rd Round Knockout (Nuclear Blast)
Crashdiet - Generation Wild (Frontiers)
Dr. Midnight and The Mercy Cult - I Declare Treason (Season Of Mist)
Elevate: I Am - The Ghost Eclipse Sessions (ALF)
Engineer - Crooked Voices (Black Market Activities)
Falconer - Armod (Metal Blade)
Gigan - Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes (Willowtip)
Hammerfall - Infected (Nuclear Blast)
Iron Maiden - From Fear To Eternity: The Best Of 1990-2010 (Universal)
Job For A Cowboy - Gloom EP (Metal Blade)
Karma To Burn - V (Napalm)
Khann - Erode (Black Market Activities)
Looking For An Answer - Eterno Treblinka (Relapse)
Morbid Angel - Illud Divinum Insanus (Season Of Mist)
Origin - Entity (Nuclear Blast)
Pharoah - Ten Years EP (Cruz del Sur)
Sister - Hated (Metal Blade)
The Soulless - Isolated (Earache)
Tombs - Path Of Totality (Relapse)
Tyr - The Law Of Thyrm (Napalm)
Various Artists - Afterparty Massacre Soundtrack (Ibex Moon)
Whitesnake - Live At Donington 1990 (Frontiers)

Source: http://4metal.blogspot.com/2011/06/new-heavy-metal-cd-releases-june-7-2011.html

VV Brown Fat Tulips Farrah The Good Life

Sloan, Rural Alberta Advantage, Ohbijou, Bonjay @ The Great Hall, Toronto (December 21, 2011)


  Sloan @ The Great Hall: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [December 25/2011, 1:38 am]: Review now up. Merry Christmas! Now have to wrap some presents

Thinking back to 1995 when Sloan headlined CFNY 102.1 FM's Edgefest 3 festival at Molson Ampitheatre, billed as their farewell performance, Sloan had called it quits. Their most recent album at the time had been their second full-length Twice Removed, released a year prior in 1994, and arguably to the some was the band's finest album. But a year after Edgefest 3, the band reunited to release their third full-length, 1996's Once Chord To Another, and as they say the rest is history, with the band continuing to this day as one of Canada's most respected musical outfits. It was "Once Chord To Another" which Sloan chose to play front-to-back for Toronto charity COUNTERfit (an Ontario Ministry of Health and City of Toronto funded injection drug harm reduction program) at a show at The Great Hall organized by Toronto band Fucked Up. The promise of such a performance was more than a tantalizing factor for many who snapped up tickets for the sold out event. And as a bonus, the opening bands lineup was none too shabby itself, with an all Toronto supporting acts lineup featuring Bonjay, Ohbijou, and The Rural Alberta Advantage.

Electro-dancehall duo Bonjay featuring dynamite vocalist Alanna Stuart and programmer extraordinaire Ian ?Pho? Swain were definitely the odd man out on the bill and did their best to warm up the small yet devoted early attendees. I'd caught about half the set as I myself had been running late. I chose to hang back during the remainder of their set which may have worked to my advantage as the beats and vocals sounded superb from where I was standing. As soon as their set was over, I made my way to the merch table and ended up purchasing one of the limited edition show posters and then I ducked out of the venue to put said poster in my car before returning about 20 minutes later.

It's been a number of years since I've seen live nor paid attention to Toronto's Ohbijou. I was always a fan of the band's melancholy, string-laden, indie-pop sound but as a live entity had usually been disappointed with their laid-back stage presence. Now on album number three with this year's released Metal Meets, which I still have yet to hear although I'm assuming they were playing songs off of at The Great Hall, it seems the band is flexing a little more muscle these days. With the Mecija sisters, vocalist Casey and violinst Jenny, both wearing black (Casey wearing a black hooded cloak even), I'd swear the band had gone goth, and even they haven't they're definitely heavier, hence the album title Metal Meets perhaps. The band seems to strike their instruments harder, and play louder, Casey even going-into guitar-face and strumming her guitar furiously at times. Ohbijou still maintain their recognizable melancholy pop sound but this time with more oomph, and it's working wonders for them.

Since the release of their first full-length "Hometowns" in 2008, Toronto's The Rural Alberta Advantage have gradually been achieving a most fervent fanbase within Toronto, Canada and beyond. RAA were a band who'd in their early days regularly played shows at the tiny Embassy in Toronto but more recently have been headlining at midsized Toronto venue, Phoenix Concert Theatre. It'd been a few years since I'd seen RAA live when they played the third stage at 2009's Virgin Festival Toronto, the same year that American indie label rereleased their debut album Hometowns. Earlier this year, the band released their second album Departing which by my own procrastination had never gotten around to picking up. Given this gap in my RAA experience, it was nice to again see the band live. If you're familiar with the band's propulsive acoustic sound based around drums, keys, and acoustic guitar, then yes, not much has changed but that is a good thing. The band played a bit more ragged than usual ["Edmonton" in particular, seemed a bit more sped up and less rigid than on record] but overall reminded me why they're one of the best current bands in Toronto.

Beginning with Fucked Up's Damian Abraham announcing Sloan on to the stage, a la the beginning of One Chord To Another ("Will you please? welcome to the stage? SLOAN!"), the band erupted into lead off track "The Good In Everyone" and proceeded to play the entire album front to back. Second track "Nothing Left to Make Me Want to Stay", never a single but which should have been in my opinion, remains one of my favourite tracks on the album and I was singing along to much of it. You could feel the crowd energy surge on the punky "G Turns to D" and later on the urgent "Anyone Who's Anyone" (whose lyrics "Everyone who's played a part, We're all together now, Everyone who's played a part, stand and take a bow" sounded so appropriate that night). Other highlights included the three person horn section on "Everything You've Dong Wrong" and "Take The Bench", the former also benefiting from the crowd singalong. The Jay Ferguson-sung "The Lines You Amend" also garnered a favourable reaction from the crowd and a further crowd singalong. I cannot remember if I'd ever heard "Can't Face Up" live but regardless of guitar flub during the Patrick's solo which he freely admitted, hearing it that night was like listening to if for the first time, and when Patrick belted out the chorus it was sublime.

While the occasion of the night was to play One Chord To Another, the encore was a treat unto itself. Kicking off with one of my faves from Twice Removed, "Snowsuit Sound", then Fucked Up's Damian come on to stage perform a punky / hardcore number which I did not recognize which had Damian and Chris vocally playing one another then lead to some physical horseplay between the two. The next song "500 Up"(from their debut Smeared) was a pure joy to hear regardless of the mic problems that plagued drummer Andrew Scott's vocal parts. The piece de resistance to the encore and the night was the surprise appearance by Toronto's own Leslie Feist, who played added guitar for what was an energetic rendition of the band's song "She Means What She Says". Wow. What started out as Sloan agreeing to play a special charity show turned out for me in coming full circle with the band; the show revived, at least temporarily, the pure euphoric rush I once had for them. I guess that is what we call nostaligia but damn it sure feels good. After all, they are a band that has a song called "If It Feels Good Do It". Thanking the crowd at the end, Chris remarked that they came to Toronto as a Halifax band, but more and more are feeling like a Toronto one. And this another reason why Toronto is one of the best cities in the world.

Photos: Sloan, Rural Alberta Advantage, Ohbijou, Bonjay @ The Great Hall, Toronto (December 21, 2011)
MySpace: Bonjay
MySpace: Ohbijou
MySpace: Rural Alberta Advantage
MySpace: Sloan

Source: http://mligon08.blogspot.com/2011/12/sloan-rural-alberta-advantage-ohbijou.html

Phoenix (band) Zero 7 Sondre Lerche Half-Handed Cloud

Lady Antebellum, Amos Lee Dazzle for Musicians On Call


Lady Antebellum Fan Club Party
2009 CMA Music Festival
Photo Credit: Wendy Hu

Lady Antebellum filled fans in on the meaning behind their hits Wednesday night during the sixth annual benefit concert for Musicians On Call at New York's City Winery. Having volunteered at St. Jude's in Nashville, Lady A's Hillary Scott explained how much the non-profit, which brings live music to the bedsides of patients at hospitals, means to the band.

"We're very excited about helping the cause and raising money," Hillary tells The Boot. "Music is so healing. Whether you're in a hospital bed or you're driving down the road just broken up with your boyfriend, it has such a healing power. What better way than to go into hospitals and equip musicians to sing for these patients who are just looking for a smile?"

Though Lady A have yet to perform at hospitals for Musicians On Call, with a chapter in Nashville, band members Charles Kelley and Dave Haywood say it's a cause they plan to get involved with. "We're not curing diseases or anything, but to be able to put a smile on somebody's face during a tough time can always be a cure as well," Dave says.

For my complete review of last night's show, visit The Boot. Stay tuned for my exclusive interviews with Lady Antebellum and Amos Lee in the coming weeks!

Source: http://yousingiwrite.blogspot.com/2010/10/lady-antebellum-amos-lee-dazzle-for.html

Uffie The Tidy Ups Oasis (band) Small Factory

New Music Review: Jack White-Blunderbuss

Jack White-Blunderbuss
Third Man/Columbia
Grade: 9.20 (A)
Available At: emusic, Amazon MP3 & CD

In the past decade, I'm having trouble thinking of someone that everyone can agree has as hip a persona (or cool) as Jack White. He does it all. He wins Grammys, acclaim and allegiance of fans with the now sadly defunct White Stripes. He goes off and starts successful super-groups like The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. He's got a sturdy history of producing (Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson and the embarrassing Insane Clown Posse one off come to mind first) and collaborating (well, with just about anyone) with a wide array of artists. He acts. He pops up on television interviews when you least expect. If Hollywood Squares still had new stars taking seats, I wouldn't be surprised to see Jack White in the Upper Left Hand corner. For people considering themselves the generation after the millennium, has their been a bigger rock star than Jack White? Is he so hip that it's time to start thinking of him as un-hip? I'm sure there are naysayers that have fallen off the Jack White wagon. But as Jack White accomplishes another first in releasing his first solo LP, I can safely say there's no reason to jump ship. "Blunderbuss" turns out to be a joyful listen anyway you try to spin it.

As he goes solo for the first time, Jack White has decided to get out of his comfort zone but still has the knack of delivering goods to fans of  his previous bands.The studio is littered with musicians playing upright bass, fiddles, pedal steel guitars, a Rhodes piano and female vocalists who accompany White around unknown corners of songs. Because these things are at his disposal, "Blunderbuss" comes off as roller coaster of an album. Sure you can tell it's Jack White but you never know for sure what is coming down the track next. There's a whole lot of swagger on the nasty "Trash Lounge Talker" and "Hypocritical Kiss". There's atmospheric pieces like the thoughtful "On And On And On". There's meditative simple R & B songs like on the winning first single "Love Interruption". White tickles the Rhodes piano with great success on the opener "Missing Pisces" and the nursery like rhyme of "Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy". He covers Little Willie John's hit "I'm Shakin' and even throws in a little of his own flair replacing "noyvous" for "nervous". And if you miss the White Stripes or Dead Weather's heavy handed guitar stomps, White provides you with the burst of energy that is "Sixteen Saltines".

And all the while, White sounds more confessional than he ever has before. Listeners can read into the songs however they like but for the most part White sounds a bit nasty and on edge with his lyrics.He's lost faith in the female gender and he's here to hark about it. On the bitter "Freedom At 21" he harks about how he perceives a woman that's done him wrong in the new century: "She don't care what kind of wounds she's inflicting on me, And she don't care what color bruises that she's leaving on me, Cause she's got freedom in the 21st Century". And on "Sixteen Saltines he declares "I hear her whistle, that's how I know she's home/ Lipstick, eyelash, broke mirror, broken home." And that's really just the tip of the iceberg.White plays the blues man with a broken heart like a true blues-soldier.

"Blunderbuss" has the kick to make you want to listen to it repeatedly while knowing when to sidestep when you least expect it to. I love the way the Rhodes piano sounds on this thing. It sounds like White's new toy and he is picking it up very well. In a decade where a rock star is considered someone that is way past their prime and poised for that BIG comeback, thank goodness we still have Jack White showing he still has the chops to be what a current rock star in his prime should be. "Blunderbuss" is a fantastic solo album from a guy who already had nothing to prove. If you find White passe because he's been all over the map for a decade now, you're missing out on album I'll gladly enjoy the rest of 2012.

JHO Picks: Sixteen Saltines, Freedom At 21, Love Interruption, Hip (Eponymous) Poor Boy, On And On And On

Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2012/05/new-music-review-jack-white-blunderbuss.html

Rose Melberg Sleepy Township The Organ Rilo Kiley

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Interview With Liam Gallagher In This Week's NME













The Stone Roses played their first gig in over 17 years last Wednesday (May 23) and this week's new issue of NME offers you the complete story from that night.

The issue, which is on newsstands tomorrow (May 30) or available digitally, features all the gossip from backstage at Warrington Parr Hall, including an interview with the Stone Roses' number one fan Liam Gallagher and an exclusive chat with the 'fifth Stone Rose' Cressa.

More details can be found here.

Source: http://stopcryingyourheartoutnews.blogspot.com/2012/05/interview-with-liam-gallagher-in-this.html

The Smiths White Rabbits The Lovely Sparrows Pernice Brothers

RhoDeo 1220 Goldy Rhox 72


Hello, today the 71st post of Goldy Rhox, classic pop rock. In the darklight a UK band first popular in Europe, the band quickly became successful in North America during the British Invasion of the mid 1960s. Having released 22 studio albums in the UK(24 in the US), nine live albums (ten in the US), and numerous compilations, their worldwide sales are estimated at more than 200 million albums. In 1971 they began a string of eight consecutive studio albums reaching number one in the United States. Their most recent album of entirely new material, was released in 2005. In 1989, the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2004, they ranked number 4 in Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked the them at number ten on "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists", and as the second most successful group in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

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Most of the albums i 'll post made many millions for the music industry and a lot of what i intend to post still gets repackaged and remastered decades later, squeezing the last drop of profit out of bands that for the most part have ceased to exist long ago, although sometimes they get lured out of the mothballs to do a big bucks gig or tour. Now i'm not as naive to post this kinda music for all to see and have deleted, these will be a black box posts, i'm sorry for those on limited bandwidth but for most of you a gamble will get you a quality rip don't like it, deleting is just 2 clicks...That said i will try to accommodate somewhat and produce some cryptic info on the artist and or album.

Todays mystery album is the 14th British and 16th American studio album by todays band. It peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200, and became one of the band's biggest-selling albums in the United States, and has been certified by the RIAA as having six million copies sold as of 2000. With the advent of punk rock, the band, among many of their musical contemporaries, were being targeted by some in the movement as cultural dinosaurs, compromising their standing. The singer felt invigorated by the provocations and was determined to answer them lyrically. It helped, however, that almost all the punks had, openly or not, idolised them in the 1960s and were heavily influenced by the band's rebellious records from that era.


The inspiration for the record was really based in New York and the ways of the town. I think that gave it an extra spur and hardness. And then, of course, there was the punk thing that had started in 1976. Punk and disco were going on at the same time, so it was quite an interesting period. New York and London, too. Paris?there was punk there. Lots of dance music. Paris and New York had all this Latin dance music, which was really quite wonderful. Much more interesting than the stuff that came afterward.


Important to the band's reinvigoration was the addition of Ronnie Wood to the line-up, as this was the first album recorded with him as a full member. His guitar playing style meshed with, and was similar to, that of Keith Richards. Wood's slide guitar playing would become one of the band's hallmarks, and his unconventional uses of the instrument are prominent here.


There was some controversy surrounded the lyrics to the title song, an extended musing on women of various nationalities and races. The line "Black girls just wanna get fucked all night" drew strong protests from various groups. The album cover for Some Girls was designed by Peter Corriston, who would design the next three album covers as well, with illustrations by Hubert Kretzschmar. An elaborate die-cut design, with colours varying on different sleeves, it featured the band in garish drag alongside select female celebrities and lingerie ads. In 2003 it was ranked number 269 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was re-issued on 21 November 2011 in a 2 CD Deluxe edition, including 12 previously unreleased songs from that era. 


Goldy Rhox 72   (flac 284mb)

Goldy Rhox 72 Bonus  (flac 269mb)


Goldy Rhox 72   ( ogg 186mb)


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elsewhere

Goldy Rhox 16  (106mb)

Goldy Rhox 46   (ogg 89mb)

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Source: http://rho-xs.blogspot.com/2012/05/rhodeo-1220-goldy-rhox-72.html

The Trolleyvox Immaculate Machine Tahiti 80 Talulah Gosh

Dave Matthews Band - Austin, Texas 2009

This is the Dave Matthews Band, live on Austin City Limits, Austin, Texas, USA, back on August 10th, 2009 and subsequently broadcast on November 3rd, 2009.

For those unfamiliar with the band Wikipedia tells the following - Dave Matthews Band, abbreviated DMB, are an American rock band that was formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was added to the band as a violinist soon after the band was formed. Moore died suddenly in August 2008 due to complications from an ATV accident. Grammy Award-winner Jeff Coffin, of B�la Fleck and the Flecktones, has since filled Moore's spot as the band's saxophonist. Rashawn Ross and Tim Reynolds have also become full-time touring members of the band. As of 2010, Dave Matthews Band has approximate sales between 30 and 40 million copies worldwide.

The band is known for their annual summer-long tours of the US and Europe, featuring lengthy improvisational renditions of their songs, accompanied by an elaborate video and lighting show. This portion of the tour has become a stamp of DMB and has grown with the band since Fenton Williams began in the early 1990s. After twenty consecutive years of touring the band announced that it is going to take the summer of 2011 off. The band's most recent album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King (the first since Moore's death) debuted at number one on Billboard 200, giving the band their fifth consecutive number one debut, making them the second band behind Metallica to do so.

The band has won one Grammy Award, and was awarded the NAACP Chairman's Award. According to Julian Bond, "they sell out the largest arenas on Earth, but frequently give their music away."

Source: PBS-HD Pre-broadcast.

Sound Quality: Very good stereo mp3@192kbps.

Genre: Rock, bluegrass, world music, funk rock.

Set: Full set.

Set List:

01 Intro
02 Funny The Way It Is
03 Spaceman
04 Squirm
05 Lying in the Hands of God
06 Seven
07 Gravedigger
08 Shake Me Like A Monkey
09 Sister
10 You and Me
11 Why I Am
12 Dave Speaks Big Whiskey

Web: Official HERE.

(download link in comments below).

Source: http://www.beehivecandy.com/2012/05/dave-matthews-band-austin-texas-2009.html

The Submarines Jason Mraz Fishboy Luzer

Listen: Lost Radiohead Track Surfaces Online

A possible ‘lost’ Radiohead track has surfaced online. Titled both “Putting Ketchup In The Fridge”…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rockonthestreetsnews/~3/tpiWdHc9h3E/

Free Energy SoKo The Softies Reverie Sound Revue

RhoDeo 1221 Roots


Hello,  last time we landed on an island with a huge place in the global music catalogue, Jamaica. A production hothouse and they say the Weed makes you slow and lazy-go figure. Without the ganja driven reggae music Jamaica would have remained a Caribbean backwater and dare i say would never have given us Bolt, the fastest man in the world.

These last months there's been plenty of reggae & dub from Jamaica,  we kicked off with a man who's name became synonymous with Jamaican Reggae, Bob Marley, together with The Wailers  It makes sense to me to finish our 9 months stay at Jamaica with a couple of posts of the man who in a sense made it all possible, and dragged a niche music into the global mainstream. And when I say global i mean truly global not just the ' West' , but from South America and Africa to the hights of the Himalayas his voice can be heard and all this expansion predating the Internet, truly remarkable.

Todays post concentrates on what was to become Marley's great breaktrough albums first and foremost the live album that seemed to feature on every party i visited in the late seventies and on through the eighties, a standard floorfiller. It was to be followed by two great studioalbums that cemented his status in the musicworld here presnt in their extended remastered versions.

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Most of Bob Marley's early music was recorded with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, who together with Marley were the most prominent members of Bob Marley & The Wailers. In 1972, Bob Marley had his first hit outside Jamaica when Johnny Nash covered his song "Stir It Up", which became a U.K. hit. The 1973 album, Catch a Fire, was released worldwide, and sold well. It was followed by Burnin' which included the song "I Shot the Sheriff", of which a cover version by Eric Clapton became a hit in 1974.

Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left The Wailers in 1974. Bob Marley proceeded with Bob Marley & The Wailers, which included the Wailers Band and the I Threes. In 1975, he had his first own hit outside Jamaica with "No Woman, No Cry," from the Natty Dread album. His subsequent albums, including Rastaman Vibration, Exodus, Kaya, Survival and Uprising, were big international sellers. Between 1991 and 2007 Bob Marley and The Wailers have sold in excess of 21 million records. These statistics did not begin to be collected until ten years after his death

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As the title implies, this is indeed Bob Marley & the Wailers captured in performance at the Lyceum Ballroom in London during the final U.K. leg of the Natty Dread tour. Passionate and symbiotic energies constantly cycle between the band and audience, the net result of which is one of the most memorable concert recordings of the pop music era. With the addition of lead guitarist Al Anderson during the recording sessions for their previous long-player, Natty Dread, the Wailers took increasing strides toward a seamless transition into the consciousness of the rock music audience. Anderson's bluesy guitar runs liberate "Burnin' and Lootin'" as well as "Trench Town Rock," the only new composition on Live! Anderson bobs and weaves his supple-toned fretwork among the somewhat staid rhythms common to reggae.

The mutual affinity that binds Marley with his audience is evident in the roars of approval that greet the opening notes of "Them Belly Full (But We Hungry)," "I Shot the Sheriff," and "Kinky Reggae." Likewise, "No Woman, No Cry" elicits a group singalong as the sheer volume of the audience challenges that of the amplified musicians. With this evidence, there is no denying that Bob Marley & the Wailers were becoming the unlikeliest of pop music icons. Additionally, Live! underscores the underrated talents of the Wailers as musicians. Recorded at the Lyceum, London 18th July 1975 recorded by Island employee Danny Holloway using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. Mixed at Basing Street Studios. Remastered from the original tapes at Barry Diament Audio, NYC.


Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live ( 316mb)

01 Trench Town Rock 4:22
02 Burnin' And Lootin' 5:08
03 Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) 4:29
04 Lively Up Yourself 4:32
05 No Woman No Cry 7:00
06 I Shot The Sheriff 5:15
07 Get Up, Stand Up 6:35
Bonus Track
08 Kinky Reggae 7:35

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Live (ogg 116mb)

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Bob Marley had reached critical mass as an international star when he came to make Rastaman Vibration in the winter of 1975-1976, having scored a Top 40 hit in the U.K. with "No Woman, No Cry" and seen his and the Wailers' last three studio albums belatedly enter the U.S. charts. Marley was acutely aware of his increasing status and its value. "We bubbling on the Top 100, just like a mighty dread," he sang in "Roots, Rock, Reggae," which indeed became his first American chart single when it was pulled from the album, while Rastaman Vibration itself spent four weeks in the Top Ten of the Billboard charts, the highest-charting LP of his career. Marley used his soapbox to emphasize his religious/political concerns in socially conscious songs like "Johnny Was," "Want More," and the musicalization of one of Haile Selassie's speeches, "War." The result was one of his most substantive collections. This vastly expanded reissue adds more than an hour and a half to the original 34-minute album, providing a musical view of the entire period in Marley's music. "Jah Live," the single that preceded the album, and "Smile Jamaica," which followed it, are included, along with six previously unreleased alternate mixes of songs from the album .

This was a key point in Marley's life, marking the consolidation of his international renown and prefacing the assassination attempt that exiled him from his native country. It is chronicled here. Although the album's liner notes list multiple songwriters, including family friends and bandmembers, all songs were written by Marley. Marley was involved in a contractual dispute at the time with his former publishing company, Cayman music. A decde later Marley's widow and his former manager Danny Sims sued to obtain royalty and ownership rights to the songs, claiming that Marley had actually written the songs but had assigned the credit to Ford to avoid meeting commitments made in prior contracts. A 1987 court decision favored the Marley estate, which assumed full control of the songs


Bob Marley And The Wailers - Rastaman Vibration ( flac 403mb)

01 Positive Vibration 3:34
02 Roots, Rock, Reggae 3:38
03 Johnny Was 3:48
04 Cry To Me 2:36
05 Want More 4:14
06 Crazy Baldhead 3:12
07 Who The Cap Fit 4:43
08 Night Shift 3:10
09 War 3:36
10 Rat Race 2:50
Bonus Tracks
11 Jah Live (Original Mix) 4:15
12 Concrete 4:21
13 Roots, Rock, Reggae (Single Mix) 3:37
14 Roots, Rock, Dub (Single Dub Mix) 3:35
15 Want More (Alternate Mix) 5:08
16 Crazy Baldhead (Alternate Mix) 3:06
17 War (Unreleased Alternate Mix) 4:01
18 Johnny Was (Alternate Mix) 3:40

Bob Marley And The Wailers - Rastaman Vibration  ( ogg 162mb)

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Recorded in London following an attempt on his life, Exodus shows Bob Marley mellowing a bit. Despite some powerful political tracks, Marley adopts a less fiery, more reflective approach than his previous outings. Still, it's hard to find reggae as good as this. Exodus has all one would expect from a Bob Marley album: rumbling statements like "Exodus" and "The Heathen" as well as poetic love songs like "Turn Your Lights Down Low." Considering how good these tracks are, Exodus does not stop here. Marley also unleashed the huge international hits "Jamming," "Waiting in Vain," and "One Love/People Get Ready." These inspired tracks, perhaps more than any others, came to define Marley around the world. They are irresistible no matter how many times they are played. Never one to dodge innovation, "Exodus" hints that Marley was taking cues from the emerging dub scene. Exodus, even though it contains some of Marley's best work, has an underlying nostalgic feel to it, hinting that Marley was getting a little formulaic.

Exodus has been recognized by music critics as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 1999, Time magazine named Exodus the best album of the 20th century. In 2003, the album was ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time


Bob Marley And The Wailers - Exodus ( flac 409mb)

01 Natural Mystic 3:28
02 So Much Things To Say 3:08
03 Guiltiness 3:19
04 The Heathen 2:32
05 Exodus 7:40
06 Jamming 3:31
07 Waiting In Vain 4:16
08 Turn Your Lights Down Low 3:39
09 Three Little Birds 3:00
10 One Love/People Get Ready 2:52
Bonus Tracks
11 Roots 3:42
12 Waiting In Vain (Alternate Version) 4:43
13 Jamming (Long Version) 5:52
14 Jamming (Version) 3:04
15 Exodus (Version) 3:08

Bob Marley And The Wailers - Exodus ( ogg 158mb)

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Source: http://rho-xs.blogspot.com/2012/05/rhodeo-1221-roots.html

McCarthy Gentleman Reg Suburban Kids With Biblical Names Milton and the Devils Party

Review -- Canadian Musicfest (Thursday March 22, 2012)


  Cold Specks @ The Music Gallery: photo by Michael Ligon

The second night of this year's Canadian Musicfest had even milder weather than the night before, so nice in fact that on top of me not having to work the next day, it made me long even more for summer to come. Surprisingly, though I wasn't working the next day, I surprisingly had a very light Canadian Musicfest planned for the evening. My night was centered around the Cold Specks show at The Music Gallery at 9 pm and I'd also planned on checking out Chinese singer-songwriter Helen Feng's electro dance-pop solo project Nova Heart at 11 pm at Comfort Zone but had nothing else on tap for the rest of the evening.

I figured after work I'd head down to Sonic Boom for their Canadian Musicfest instore sessions. I was almost certain that I'd miss most if not all of Miss Martha Wainwright's set (which in fact I did miss all of it) but coming up next after her was a set by Upstate New York's Simone Felice of The Felice Brothers, a band I'd vaguely heard of and had heard good things about but had not ever heard. With a few hours to kill before the Cold Specks show I headed to Sonic Boom and arrived just a little in to Mr. Felice's set. From Mechanical Forest Sound's account, there'd been a good crowd on hand for Martha Wainwright, so it was a real shame to see how sparse the audience was for Mr. Felice. With two drummers, and members on backup vox and slide guitar, and Mr. Felice on acoustic guitar, the group performed a good set of melodic, country-rock tunes. Felice's backup vocalist Simi Stone (who also performed with Felice in his more recent band project, the more glam / soul influenced The Duke and The King) was a particular highlight, especially on the last song of the set, with her expressive, bright, vocal style. And as the last song winded down, and Felice and Stone smiled and made eye contact with each other, I couldn't help feel how terrific that was. Too bad more people weren't there.

I figure I had another half hour or so before heading down early to The Music Gallery for Cold Specks so I decided to stick around for Toronto's Great Bloomers who were up next. I'd never seen the band live although I'd had an opportunity several years back when they performed at an NXNE kick-off party at the Distillery District which I'd not stuck around for. In my mind, I'd pegged them as a country-rock act (I think based on reviews I may have read about the band in the past) akin to say Oshawa's Cuff The Duke but that isn't entirely an accurate description of the band's music. Although they were all new songs to me, Great Bloomers' vocalist Lowell Sostomi did inform the crowd [which had inflated to a healthy size almost without me noticing] that much of their set night were new songs. There was certainly a countrified pop sound to some of it but also a certain heaviness - this ain't no bluegrass. While the band looks young, they were surprisingly tight and competent musicians and even moreso was I impressed with the songwriting and melodies. I also loved that they performed a cover of Television's "See No Evil". I look forward to seeing the band live again and with their recent signing to Canadian indie label Dine Alone Records who are set to release their sophomore full-length this year, I wish them much success. Look out for Sostomi on the streets of T.O. - he said he lived in the neighbourhood and offered some advice of how well plopping a hundred bucks on some records can help one feel better, rightfully giving props to the store for sponsoring the festivities that day.

I decided to head down a little early to The Music Gallery to secure a place in line for Al Spx aka Cold Specks. With the 23-year old recent signee to Arts & Crafts, who'd been hyped up by the British music press and has already performed live on Later With Jools Holland in the UK, I was expecting the show to be one of the hotter tickets (well actually it was a wristband-only show, but you know what I mean). Having arrived at the venue about a half hour before the 8:30 pm doors, I was surprised to find a small random group of people loitering around the courtyard. A proper line hadn't even formed. As 8:30 approached more people did arrive and as the buzz of the crowd arriving seemed to louden, they let open the doors letting people in finally. We we corralled in the lobby area of the building to enjoy a drink or two, seemingly until capacity for the show was reached and then we were let into the church to fill the pews, waiting with anticipation for the show to start. With only a few samples available on the internet, I'd like what I heard, her old-time, gospel/spiritual influenced blues. I hadn't expected it but she had a bad in tow, including a drummer, guitarist, cellist and a saxophonist. Full-sounding at times, but at others skeletal fragments of percussion and strings, what remained most impressive overall was Cold Specks soulful, spiritual vocals made all the more stunning within the pristine acoustics of the church. This is what shows at The Music Gallery are made for. Although her banter was minimal, she was also charming and humorous at times, even hamming it up for the crowd with a surprisingly soulful yet still playful version of "The Theme From Fresh Prince of Bel Air". She finished off the night with a quick encore done accapella, solidfying her as my highlight and perhaps the highlight of many others in attendance, of this year's Canadian Musicfest. Having performed a good amount of songs throughout the hour-or-so long set, I'm guessing these will appear on her debut full-length in the future.

Nothing may have been able to top that set that night but the set by Nova Heart at the Comfort Zone was a worthy closer to my evening. Led by vocalist Helen Feng, with a guitarist, a bassist and pre-programmed dance beats, it was an enticing set of sinewy guitar, pulsating bass lines, and sultry vocals and dance beats. While it was a small crowd on hand, it was a little less noticeable perhaps given how dark it was inside the venue, with only a bit of blue/red light illuminating the trio onstage. Of all the frontpersons of the acts I'd seen during this year's festival, Feng practically outshined all of them with her energy and stage presence, her writhing to the beats, her at-times cooing vocals and other-times banshee-like screams. Book-ended on either side of her were her guitarist and bassist, the guitarist who seemed to be in perpetual shoegaze stance and her bassist in robotic bass plucking mode. It was the latter playing off the dance beats quite nicely which provided the groups' songs their groove. Quite a disappointment that there weren't more people on-hand for this. I'd have imagined they'd have rocked the Wrongbar crowd had they been booked at that venue instead. Props to Dan Burke for bringing them to Comfort Zone anyway.

PHOTOS: Canadian Musicfest (Thursday March 22, 2012)
Myspace: Simone Felice
Myspace: Great Bloomers
Myspace: Cold Specks
Myspace: Nova Heart

Source: http://mligon08.blogspot.com/2012/03/review-canadian-musicfest-thursday.html

Seventeen Evergreen Iron & Wine Thomas Tantrum Memphis

Sloan, Rural Alberta Advantage, Ohbijou, Bonjay @ The Great Hall, Toronto (December 21, 2011)


  Sloan @ The Great Hall: photo by Michael Ligon

Update [December 25/2011, 1:38 am]: Review now up. Merry Christmas! Now have to wrap some presents

Thinking back to 1995 when Sloan headlined CFNY 102.1 FM's Edgefest 3 festival at Molson Ampitheatre, billed as their farewell performance, Sloan had called it quits. Their most recent album at the time had been their second full-length Twice Removed, released a year prior in 1994, and arguably to the some was the band's finest album. But a year after Edgefest 3, the band reunited to release their third full-length, 1996's Once Chord To Another, and as they say the rest is history, with the band continuing to this day as one of Canada's most respected musical outfits. It was "Once Chord To Another" which Sloan chose to play front-to-back for Toronto charity COUNTERfit (an Ontario Ministry of Health and City of Toronto funded injection drug harm reduction program) at a show at The Great Hall organized by Toronto band Fucked Up. The promise of such a performance was more than a tantalizing factor for many who snapped up tickets for the sold out event. And as a bonus, the opening bands lineup was none too shabby itself, with an all Toronto supporting acts lineup featuring Bonjay, Ohbijou, and The Rural Alberta Advantage.

Electro-dancehall duo Bonjay featuring dynamite vocalist Alanna Stuart and programmer extraordinaire Ian ?Pho? Swain were definitely the odd man out on the bill and did their best to warm up the small yet devoted early attendees. I'd caught about half the set as I myself had been running late. I chose to hang back during the remainder of their set which may have worked to my advantage as the beats and vocals sounded superb from where I was standing. As soon as their set was over, I made my way to the merch table and ended up purchasing one of the limited edition show posters and then I ducked out of the venue to put said poster in my car before returning about 20 minutes later.

It's been a number of years since I've seen live nor paid attention to Toronto's Ohbijou. I was always a fan of the band's melancholy, string-laden, indie-pop sound but as a live entity had usually been disappointed with their laid-back stage presence. Now on album number three with this year's released Metal Meets, which I still have yet to hear although I'm assuming they were playing songs off of at The Great Hall, it seems the band is flexing a little more muscle these days. With the Mecija sisters, vocalist Casey and violinst Jenny, both wearing black (Casey wearing a black hooded cloak even), I'd swear the band had gone goth, and even they haven't they're definitely heavier, hence the album title Metal Meets perhaps. The band seems to strike their instruments harder, and play louder, Casey even going-into guitar-face and strumming her guitar furiously at times. Ohbijou still maintain their recognizable melancholy pop sound but this time with more oomph, and it's working wonders for them.

Since the release of their first full-length "Hometowns" in 2008, Toronto's The Rural Alberta Advantage have gradually been achieving a most fervent fanbase within Toronto, Canada and beyond. RAA were a band who'd in their early days regularly played shows at the tiny Embassy in Toronto but more recently have been headlining at midsized Toronto venue, Phoenix Concert Theatre. It'd been a few years since I'd seen RAA live when they played the third stage at 2009's Virgin Festival Toronto, the same year that American indie label rereleased their debut album Hometowns. Earlier this year, the band released their second album Departing which by my own procrastination had never gotten around to picking up. Given this gap in my RAA experience, it was nice to again see the band live. If you're familiar with the band's propulsive acoustic sound based around drums, keys, and acoustic guitar, then yes, not much has changed but that is a good thing. The band played a bit more ragged than usual ["Edmonton" in particular, seemed a bit more sped up and less rigid than on record] but overall reminded me why they're one of the best current bands in Toronto.

Beginning with Fucked Up's Damian Abraham announcing Sloan on to the stage, a la the beginning of One Chord To Another ("Will you please? welcome to the stage? SLOAN!"), the band erupted into lead off track "The Good In Everyone" and proceeded to play the entire album front to back. Second track "Nothing Left to Make Me Want to Stay", never a single but which should have been in my opinion, remains one of my favourite tracks on the album and I was singing along to much of it. You could feel the crowd energy surge on the punky "G Turns to D" and later on the urgent "Anyone Who's Anyone" (whose lyrics "Everyone who's played a part, We're all together now, Everyone who's played a part, stand and take a bow" sounded so appropriate that night). Other highlights included the three person horn section on "Everything You've Dong Wrong" and "Take The Bench", the former also benefiting from the crowd singalong. The Jay Ferguson-sung "The Lines You Amend" also garnered a favourable reaction from the crowd and a further crowd singalong. I cannot remember if I'd ever heard "Can't Face Up" live but regardless of guitar flub during the Patrick's solo which he freely admitted, hearing it that night was like listening to if for the first time, and when Patrick belted out the chorus it was sublime.

While the occasion of the night was to play One Chord To Another, the encore was a treat unto itself. Kicking off with one of my faves from Twice Removed, "Snowsuit Sound", then Fucked Up's Damian come on to stage perform a punky / hardcore number which I did not recognize which had Damian and Chris vocally playing one another then lead to some physical horseplay between the two. The next song "500 Up"(from their debut Smeared) was a pure joy to hear regardless of the mic problems that plagued drummer Andrew Scott's vocal parts. The piece de resistance to the encore and the night was the surprise appearance by Toronto's own Leslie Feist, who played added guitar for what was an energetic rendition of the band's song "She Means What She Says". Wow. What started out as Sloan agreeing to play a special charity show turned out for me in coming full circle with the band; the show revived, at least temporarily, the pure euphoric rush I once had for them. I guess that is what we call nostaligia but damn it sure feels good. After all, they are a band that has a song called "If It Feels Good Do It". Thanking the crowd at the end, Chris remarked that they came to Toronto as a Halifax band, but more and more are feeling like a Toronto one. And this another reason why Toronto is one of the best cities in the world.

Photos: Sloan, Rural Alberta Advantage, Ohbijou, Bonjay @ The Great Hall, Toronto (December 21, 2011)
MySpace: Bonjay
MySpace: Ohbijou
MySpace: Rural Alberta Advantage
MySpace: Sloan

Source: http://mligon08.blogspot.com/2011/12/sloan-rural-alberta-advantage-ohbijou.html

Lightspeed Champion The Russian Futurists Fire Through the Window The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Top Artists Of All Time: Division 4-Alternative Hip-Hop

The voting continues for the Top artists Of All Time. Each Friday, station to station is showcasing the top artists of all time. The panel is nineteen friends and com-padres of music who pick their favorite 6 arists out of a division of 32. The top 8 artists receiving votes move on to a semifinal round-which looks like it will be slated in October. Out of 20 voters, 16 (80%) cast ballots for Division 4: Alternative Hip-Hop.

Out of 32 artists, 23 received at least one vote. A Tribe Called Quest pulled ahead of Cypress Hill for the top spot in this division. Of the 16 ballots, 7 cast A Tribe Called Quest number 1 on their ballot. What's the Scenario? On the overall standings board, A Tribe Called Quest moved ahead of Bob Dylan (for seeding purposes) into second place. Also receiving the love this round was Fugees, De La Soul, The Roots, Arrested Development, and Digable Planets. Like last week, the final ballot put Common in the number 8 spot leaving Everlast and Mos Def behind. The tiebreaker? Common was on 4 ballots while the other two artists were only on 3.

You can keep up with The Top Artists Of All Time (32 artists, 32 Genres) by clicking the tab at the top of the home page to see who's moving on to the semi-final round of 256. Below are The Top 8 artists from the Alternative Hip-Hop Division (with total points and votes received) the artists who just missed or had votes cast, and the ballots randomly placed at the bottom. Thanks again for the votes! 
______________________________________________________________________________
Division 4: Alternative Hip-Hop (16 Ballots)
Top 8 (Points and Votes)
_______________________________________________________________________________
1. A Tribe Called Quest 62.5 (14)
Key Albums: The Low End Theory, Midnight Marauders, People's Instinctive Travels and The Paths Of Rhythm
5 Essential Tracks: Bonita Applebum, I Left My Wallet In El Segundo, Check The Rhime, Scenario, Electric Relaxation
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Cypress Hill 51.5 (13)
Key Albums: Cypress Hill, Black Sunday
5 Essential Tracks: Hand On The Pump, How I Could Just Kill A Man, Insane In The Brain, I Ain't Goin' Out Like That, Can't Get The Best Of Me
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3. Fugees 33.5 (10)
Key Albums: The Score
5 Essential Tracks: Nappy Heads ,Fu-gee-la, Killing Me Softly, Ready Or Not, Zealots
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4. De La Soul 33.5 (9)
Key Albums: 3 Feet High and Rising, De La Soul Is Dead
5 Essential Tracks: Me, Myself and I, Eye Know, Say No Go, A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturdays", Breakadawn
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5. The Roots 29 (7) 
Key Albums: Things Fall Apart, Phrenology, How I Got Over
5 Essential Tracks: You Got Me, The Seed 2.0, Don't Say Nuthin', Game Theory, Now Or Never
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6. Arrested Development 24.5 (7)
Key Albums: 3 Years, 5 Months and 2 Days In The Life Of....
5 Essential Tracks: Tennessee, Mr. Wendal, Revolution, People Everyday, Ease My Mind
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7. Digable Planets 12 (3)
Key Albums: Reachin' (A New Refutation Of Time and Space)
5 Essential Tracks: Rebirth Of Slick (Cool Like Dat), Nickel Bags, Where I'm From, 9th Wonder (Slicker This Year), Dial 7 (Axiom Of Creamy Spies)
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8. Common 11 (4)
Key Albums:Like Water For Chocolate, Be
5 Essential Tracks: I Used To Love H.E.R., One Nine Nine, The Light, The Corner, Universal Mind Control (UMC)
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Missed The Cut: (Total Points and Number Of Votes Cast)
Mos Def 11 (3), Everlast 11 (3) , House Of Pain 9 (4),  Missy Elliott 7.5 (3), 3rd Bass 7 (2), DJ Shadow 5 (2), Nas 5 (1),  Kid Cudi 3 (1), Queen Latifah 2 (2), The Streets 2 (1), Gang Starr 2 (1), Jurassic 5 4 (2), PM Dawn 1 (1), The Pharcyde 1 (1), Q-Tip 1 (1)

No Votes:
Aesop Rock, Black Sheep, Brand Nubian, Dialated Peoples, Dizzee Rascal, Jungle Brothers, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Talib Kweli, Urban Dance Squad 

Ballots:
1- 1. The Roots 2. Fugees 3. Cypress Hill 4. De La Soul 5. A Tribe Called Quest 6. Arrested Development
2- 1. A Tribe Called Quest 2. Cypress Hill 3. Mos Def 4. Common 5. Gang Star 6. The Pharcyde
3- 1. De La Soul 2. Fugees 3. The Roots 4. Cypress Hill 5. A Tribe Called Quest 6. Arrested Development
4- (5 Votes) 1. Mos Def 2. The Roots 3. A Tribe Called Quest 4. Common 5. House Of Pain
5- 1. Arrested Development 2. House Of Pain 3. Cypress Hill 4. A Tribe Called Quest 5. Fugees 6. Missy Elliot
6- 1. Cypress Hill 2. A Tribe Called Quest 3. De La Soul 4, Kid Cudi 5. House Of Pain 6. Queen Latifah
7- 1. A Tribe Called Quest 2. The Roots 3. DJ Shadow 4. De La Soul 5. The Streets 6. Cypress Hill
8- 1. A Tribe Called Quest 2. Cypress Hill 3. De La Soul 4 3rd Bass 5. The Roots 6. Fugees
9- 1. Arrested Development 2. Fugees 3. Digable Planets 4. Everlast 5. Cypress Hill 6. PM Dawn
10- 1. A Tribe Called Quest 2. Cypress Hill 3. Common 4. De La Soul 5. Arrested Development 6. House Of Pain
11- 1. A Tribe Called Quest 2. The Roots 3. Fugees 4. Cypress Hill 5. Common 6. DJ Shadow
12- 1. Digable Planets 2. Arrested Development 3. A Tribe Called Quest 4. Mos Def 5. Jurassic 5 6. Q-Tip
13- 1. Fugees 2. Cypress Hill 3. A Tribe Called Quest 4. Missy Elliot 5. Everlast 6. Queen Latifah
14- 1. A Tribe Called Quest 2. Nas 3. De La Soul 4. The Roots 5. Jurassic 5 6. Fugees
15- (No Order) A Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development, Cypress Hill, De La Soul, Missy Elliot, Fugees
16- 1. Everlast 2. Cypress Hill 3. 3rd Bass 4. De La Soul 5. Digable Planets 6. Fugees

Source: http://www.jhostation.com/2012/04/top-artists-of-all-time-division-4.html

Oh No! Oh My! The Go-Betweens The National Yo La Tengo