Monthly Archives: April 2018

When it comes to the 1975 John Lennon compilation album Shaved Fish, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Here Apple Records went to the trouble of collecting all but one of Lennon’s post-Beatles solo singles, and what do we get? A bizarre melange of primal screams, fuzzy-headed idealism, weak-kneed political rants, and a fucking Christmas song. Oh, and a couple of also kinda fuzzy songs that demonstrate the fact that, even though Lennon was a lost man, he still had some magic in him.

Plenty of people think very highly indeed of Lennon the solo artist. Me, I think he was a confused man, and the mishmash that is Shaved Fish only reinforces this belief. This odds and sods collection of singles tells me that Lennon never came close to realizing his Beatles genius. It’s a kind of cabinet of curiosities, many of which sound dated in a way that his work with the Fab Four never will. His Beatles work was timeless; the same can’t be said for such creaky antiquities as “Give Peace a Chance,” “Power to the People,” “Woman Is the Nigger of the World,” and “Happy X-Mas (War Is Over).”

None of this should come as a surprise. Lennon hit a creative peak with 1970’s Plastic Ono Band and 1971’s Imagine, and it was straight downhill from there. Only hardcore fans will attempt to sell you on 1973’s lackluster Mind Games, 1974’s almost as lackluster Walls and Bridges, or 1975’s failed attempt at roots revivalism Rock’n’Roll. All three were the work of a man who was at loose ends creatively and going through the motions, and you can count the number of truly memorable songs on this unholy trio with one hand. And don’t even get me started on 1972’s Some Time in New York City.

The first of the ragtag assortment of tunes that constitutes Shaved Fish is “Give Peace a Chance.” Now the best I can say about “Give Peace a Chance” is that it inspired the Bonzo Dog Band to record “Give Booze a Chance,” and to make matters worse Shaved Fish only gives us a 57-second excerpt of the damned song. Next up is the powerful “Cold Turkey” (nothing mushy about it), which is almost certainly about Lennon’s withdrawal from heroin even if former gofer Fred Seaman claimed it was about a case of turkey-related food poisoning. Watch out for those Thanksgiving leftovers, people; not only will they have you on the run, they will give you the runs.

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Brooklyn’s BOYTOY consists of guitarist-vocalists Saara Untracht-Oakner and Glenn Michael Van Dyke, drummer Chase Noelle (who replaced Matthew Gregory Aidala), and bassist Lena Simon. Of records, they have a few, but their Kyle Mullarky-produced new one Night Leaf registers as their strongest effort yet. Prior, one could discern elements drawn from the ’60s to the ’90s, and as they integrated those influences well, this was just dandy. The multi-decade breadth hasn’t disappeared, but the music’s developed a timeless quality, which is perhaps just another way of saying they’re hitting their stride. The vinyl, 300 on black, 200 on pink, is out April 27 through PaperCup Music. Burger Records has the tape.

Initially a dual guitar-vox-drums trio, BOYTOY made their recording debut in 2014 with a 7-song self-titled 12-inch that was equal parts punky, poppy, distorted, and vibrant. Wielding intertwining guitar dynamics, harmony and thump, the three points of the triangle were adept while collectively eschewing the flashy. Weighty without tilting over into downright heaviness, the sweetness in their attack also never registered as cutesy.

A few months later they issued “Visits” as half of a 45 shared with the electronic duo Pleasure Curses. This made for an unusual combination, as BOYTOY deepened a similarity to the melodically raw side of the indie rock ‘90s. The resemblance persisted on 2015 full-length Grackle, their first for PaperCup, as Aidala delivered vocals in a few spots and the confidence and songwriting chops strengthened.

2016 was quiet on the recording front, but last year brought the “Putty” 7-inch on the Little Dickman label, which is where Noelle (ex-Thelma and The Sleaze) comes in. It’s also where their sound undergoes a tangible uptick. Previously, they could sometimes strike the ear as an improved variation upon the essence of Veruca Salt that could additionally bring the occasional smile to the mugs of Muffs fans, but on A-side “Want” they offered a gem of slightly druggy pop guitar-vocal layering.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Apple Music today released the new trailer for the feature documentary Horses: Patti Smith and her Band.

The film directed by Steven Sebring and executive produced by Jimmy Iovine was acquired by Apple Music earlier this year. Horses: Patti Smith and her Band will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and will be available to stream exclusively on Apple Music beginning Tuesday, May 22, 2018.

Horses: Patti Smith and her Band documents one of the last concerts of the fortieth anniversary of Patti Smith’s seminal album Horses performed in full in sequence at the Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles. Horses: Patti Smith and her Band includes intimate backstage footage and features Patti Smith and her band, Lenny Kaye, Jay Dee Daugherty, Tony Shanahan, and Jack Petruzzelli, who are joined with her guitarist Jackson Smith and Flea.

“Like most things taken for granted, we tend to notice only after they’re gone.”

“Records were these old, musty smelling things that lined our shelves the same as books. Occasionally my mom (who grew up collecting records) would put one on, and we’d all listen. We’d sing, dance, shake the floor and cause the music to skip. I’d try to scratch like the DJs and get yelled at. Then, at some point, vinyl was gone. We no longer had a turntable. My mom had packed her records into milk crates and put them in the attic. I was born into an era that had already ended, and the future took over.

Somewhere in my teens I discovered DJ Shadow. I loved hip hop, so his music resonated quickly. Often brooding, gritty, imperfect beats laden with vocal and instrumental samples transformed, chopped, and screwed. This was Endtroducing…., a 100% sample-based album, all pulled from vinyl records. I memorized it, studied it, analyzed it—curious to learn how he’d made this landmark and widely influential masterpiece.

I knew nothing about sampling, but quickly discovered it’s at the root of most of the music that I grew up loving. One of the most special things about Endtroducing…. is how vast the ingredients are. DJ Shadow spanned samples from Björk to Metallica, and avoided using popular (obvious) material, opting for obscure ingredients with which to build from. The cover of the record is from Rare Records, one of many shops he’d scour meticulously searching for records to cut from and with. He’d hit estate sales, garage sales, online ads—anywhere that could have a stash of strange and obscure records that no one else could get.

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It’s should (hopefully) be no secret that the politics and social climate of the USA has undergone a troubling turn. Thankfully, large segments of the population have been in no mood to keep their mouths shut about it, and by extension, no shortage of artistically gifted folks have created work speaking to the tenor of the times. Add to the list guitarist Marc Ribot, bassist Shahzad Ismaily, and drummer Ches Smith, together known as Ceramic Dog. Genre eclecticism has always been a major ingredient in the band’s recipe, but the sense of irritation expressed on their third album YRU Still Here? reinforces their effectiveness as a power trio. The record’s out on LP, CD, and digital April 27 through Northern Spy.

After the 2016 Presidential election, there was an idea floated that “punk rock was going to be so good now” (and no need to pinpoint who said it, as it was said by more than one person). This prediction was frankly rather annoying, as it presented a “look on the bright side” scenario to individuals that, no matter how sympathetic to progressive politics they happened to be, were ultimately buffered from the harsh realities of the way shit was going to unravel.

Don’t look on the fucking sunny side; instead, get angry. It means a hell of a lot more than merely consuming someone else’s rage. And yet a problem with expressing anger in our heightened environment of social connectivity is an oft-fatiguing echo chamber of ranting, yelling, and disgust. That’s when the individual perspective and spark of societal engagement, in combination with sharpened creativity, can usefully serve as a tonic in the continuation of the good fight.

It helps when the artist’s political awareness is more than a couple of years old. That’s the case with Marc Ribot, though many would primarily describe him as a versatile extender of the avant-garde. Make that extremely versatile, as he’s as comfortable expressing his punkish side (in a manner comparable to his frequent associate John Zorn) as he is exploring jazz’s multiple angles (both inside and outside) and building upon an extensive résumé as a collaborator and session player.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | “Scream For Me Sarajevo touched on something far beyond the confines of a mere music documentary.” —Nick Ruskell, Kerrang!

During the longest siege a capital city has faced in the history of modern warfare, and amid the mortars and grenades, a heavy metal band agreed to play a concert… Scream for Me Sarajevo is the astonishing story of the most unlikely of rock concerts, performed by Bruce Dickinson and his band Skunkworks in 1994. Risking their lives, they were smuggled into the besieged city to play a concert for its citizens amidst the chaos of war.

The film is far from a straight concert movie and provides an insight into a wider story of the people of Sarajevo taking drastic measures to endure the privations of war and pushing the boundaries to survive. It reflects a thriving underground arts community who were living their lives in the shadow of war and making music in the face of devastating loss, and the huge impact the concert had on the people of Sarajevo at a time when they thought they had been forgotten by the rest of the world.

This must-see documentary includes footage of the gig and the war itself, as well as recent interviews with Bruce and his bandmates. The documentary also follows Bruce making an emotional return to Sarajevo, “War turns the world on its head, but this is an optimistic message.” Speaking of his experience Bruce said, “It changed the way I viewed life, death, and other human beings.”

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“My parents were into their soul, jazz, and blues. They used to play James Brown, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Otis, Jimmy Hendrix, and so much more.”

“I remember when I was little, stealing a Billie Holiday record off my mum—I was mesmerised by her voice and her look. I felt her pain when she sang. Actually, all of the singers I latched onto had that lived-in voice, tortured soul, and raw emotion, that’s that shit you don’t get a lot of nowadays. Raw honesty, real life.

I think life forged these amazing singers’ voices and I feel that, looking back on my life, I’ve probably had the same crap happen in mine—hahaha! Someone once said to me, “Girl you gotta have lived the blues to sing the blues,” and I guess it’s true ‘cause life’s thrown everything and the damn kitchen sink my way. But, oh well.

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