Talk about your inexplicable oversights—Netherlands’ Gore included a lyric sheet with their 1987 LP Mean Man’s Dream, but they forgot to sing them! Or probably not; certainly one of the metal power trio’s members would have said, as they were turning out the studio lights, “Aren’t we forgetting something?”

Which means Gore were expecting YOU, dear listener, to sing them! They invented at-home heavy metal Karaoke! They made you the star! It wasn’t like every other loser metal album in your record collection, where you have to compete with some Geddy Lee type capable of hitting notes so high you’d need a surface-to-air missile to hit them. Why, it was the greatest stroke of genius since Uriah Heep’s 1971 album Look at Yourself, the cover of which was a mirror allowing you to stare into it and say, “Fucking A, The Heep put ME on the cover!” And the lyrics are in Dutch and English. Which only sucks if you speak Swahili! (Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if they’d printed them in Swahili? Now that would have been a stroke of genius.)

The weird part about this is that Gore don’t strike me as pranksters. Their music is utterly devoid of humor. It’s also, in case you’re wondering, utterly devoid of color. And no wonder. Gore stripped metal down to its bare bone essentials. No vocals. No guitar solos. No harmonies. No irksome melodies even. All of that stuff is for decadent bourgeois types who can’t handle the brutal truth that life is a relentless and remorseless grind intent up grinding you into powder! Gore’s is a puritanical minimalism that brings them into the realm of the avant garde. Which is French for “no fun.” But who ever said you were supposed to “enjoy” music? Gore understood a simple truth: you’re its punching bag! And Gore wore brass knuckles.

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PHOENIX, AZ | Cage The Elephant is back on the road with support from Young The Giant, touring coast to coast this summer. Starting off in Salt Lake City, the Neon Pill tour made its way down to Phoenix, Arizona on the 4th of July weekend. Bringing some fireworks of their own, the show is brought to life by pyrotechnics and lasers.

Playing alongside legends in their own right, Young the Giant is just about the best opening bang you can bring with you. It takes a special band to come through Phoenix in the 110 degree July weather, let alone playing an outdoor amphitheater. Nevertheless, YTG absolutely rocked out on stage to a sold out 20,000 person crowd at the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre.

Young the Giant warmed up the crowd before CTE with some throwbacks of their own. Celebrating the 10 year anniversary of their 2014 album Mind Over Matter, YTG is reviving their old tunes to a newer crowd. They have come through the Phoenix Valley area three times in the last year. Once on their headlining 2023 summer tour, a festival in early 2024, and now opening for CTE’s 2024 Neon Pill tour. I have been lucky enough to see them all three times and they bring something new to every show.

It’s incredibly impressive how every concert feels like a completely different performance. Their setlist covers their entire six album discography highlighting how their alternative rock sound has changed throughout the years. Their setlist creates a perfect compliment to the alternative rock sound Cage has as well. Fans should not take for granted the fact they get to see a headlining caliber band open for Cage the Elephant.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Alanis Morissette’s multi-platinum album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, and Rhino is celebrating with a 2-LP reissue featuring newly reimagined artwork and a digital deluxe edition with rare bonus tracks plus a brand new remix of “Uninvited” by electronic duo, Freemasons.

​On September 6, Rhino will release Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (Thank U Edition) as a double album on black vinyl. Pre-order HERE. An ultra clear-vinyl version will also be available exclusively at select retailers.

​A new digital deluxe edition of the album is available through various DSPs. It has the original 17 tracks plus four bonus songs, including two B-sides, an outtake, and a demo and brand new Freemasons remix of “Uninvited,” a song written for the 1998 film City of Angels that won two GRAMMY® Awards.

Reuniting with Jagged Little Pill producer Glen Ballard, Morissette recorded Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie in Los Angeles. The album explores a range of musical styles and lyrical themes, including the Grammy®-nominated Top 20 hit “Thank U,” which was inspired by her recent trip to India.

​Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie reached No. 1 in several countries, including the U.S., peaked at No. 3 in the UK albums chart; lasting on the UK album chart for 23 weeks, and was a Top 10 hit on multiple charts around the world. In UK, the album is platinum certified, and once held the record for the highest opening-week sales by a female artist in America, where the album is certified triple platinum.

Celebrating Peter Murphy on his 67th birthday. —Ed.

Sometimes I’m ashamed for my fellow music critics. Take their rude treatment of Bauhaus’ 1980 debut, In the Flat Field. An NME writer described the LP as “nine meaningless moans and flails bereft of even the most cursory contour of interest,” while a Sounds writer dismissed the LP for having “No songs. Just tracks (ugh). Too priggish and conceited,” before writing the LP off as “coldly conceited.”

I’m no Goth fan because I have a pulse, but I think the writers above are idiots. I will concede that In the Flat Field is cold, but I also happen to find it brilliant—one of the finest LPs of 1980. Clamorous and loud, it’s a wonderful example of the sonic possibilities of carefully controlled noise, and its wild sounds and angular riffs provide the perfect backdrop for the chilly vocals of Peter Murphy.

Take “Dive.” Daniel Ash’s guitar playing and saxophone work are brilliantly crisp and menacing, the tune proceeds at a breakneck pace, and Murphy’s vocals are a marvel; he stutters, shouts, does it all. Or take LP opener “Double Dare.” It commences with some heavily fuzzed out riffs, then the drums kick in, and this is metal, people. Murphy is as his dark best, producing nonsense noises when he isn’t shouting, the rhythm section is heavy as Flipper, and what we have here is a drone rocker as good as any by No Trend.

The title cut is a racing rumble of distorted guitar, with great percussion and Murphy singing about who knows what (“black matted lace of pregnant cows”???), although the chorus is clear enough: “I do get bored, I get bored/In the flat field.” My recommendation is to ignore the lyrics about “spunge stained sheets” and hone in on Ash’s shredding sheets of guitar noise, the wonderful percussion, and Murphy’s vocals, which climb to an apocalyptic pitch while Ash’s guitar howls and howls.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Uncollected Noise New York ’88–’90 is Galaxie 500’s first release of new archival material in nearly 30 years and is their most comprehensive collection of unreleased and rare archival material ever.

Due September 20 as a joint release via Silver Current Records and the band’s own imprint 20/20/20, its 24 tracks make up the complete Noise New York studio recordings of the band’s outtakes, b-sides and non-album output. Compiled by the band, it traces their career from among their earliest recorded moments in the studio to their last. Two never before heard tracks from the collection: “Shout You Down” from the Today album sessions and “I Wanna Live” from the On Fire album sessions have been released today and are available to stream.

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​”Opening up these tape boxes was like looking into an old journal or datebook. I had forgotten most of this happened at all, but it only took a few quick details to put me right back in the drum seat,” says drummer Damon Krukowski. “There are songs from all the Galaxie 500 recording sessions included here.”​
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​Uncollected Noise New York ’88–’90 sees the restoration and inclusion of no less than eight never-before-heard studio tracks culled from sessions throughout Galaxie 500’s career, chronologically sequenced along with previously released, but rare and long out of print studio material.

​​”There is a sweetness in hearing the progression of us finding our own sound, our own collective voice. The Proustian power of music,” explains bassist Naomi Yang. “Listening to these early recordings I can hear myself figuring out how I wanted to play bass—finding my way up the neck to where the notes would cut through, where there could be a counter-melody to the singing. Making the bass my singing voice.”​

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Featuring guitarist-vocalist June Millington, her bassist-vocalist sister Jean Millington, keyboardist-vocalist Nickey Barclay, and drummer-vocalist Alice de Buhr, Fanny was a groundbreaking and undersung band, with a profile that’s been raised in recent years, partly through Real Gone Music getting their four early ’70s releases for Reprise back into circulation. Worthwhile albums all, but the band’s sharpest, most rocking stuff was cut live in a German studio. After years of blowing minds on YouTube the material has finally hit vinyl and compact disc as Live on Beat-Club ‘71–’72. Available now, it belongs on any shelf dedicated to standout achievements in rock music.

It’s been clear for a long time that Fanny was a great band. Not a producer-molded girl-group, but an aggregation of individuals who were adept on their instruments and talented as songwriters and who worked hard at realizing their band reality. It’s also obvious from the historical record that a whole lot of people at the time who were rock inclined either didn’t know what to make of them or were (consciously or un) threatened by them.

Four records for Reprise, Fanny (1970), Charity Ball (1971), Fanny Hill (1972), and Mothers Pride (1973), established a penchant for pop hooks and the ability to rock hard without migrating into hard rock territory proper. They could dish out the boogie (smartly), not the thud and the bombast. But without precedent, nobody at Reprise (notably an artist friendly label) had the backbone to let Fanny call the shots in the studio.

Traveling to Germany from England to record for the television program Beat-Club, Fanny was presented with a hands-off approach, so that they turned up loud and played with raw edge and enthusiasm. First cut “Charity Ball” is raucous enough that hard rock isn’t inappropriate as a descriptor, but Fanny’s really hitting the sweet spot where boogie crunch overlaps with rockin’ soul (it’s those vocal harmonies).

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CHATAUQUA, NY | Wilco played their final show of the summer this past Friday at the historic Chautauqua Institution Amphitheater with opener Cut Worms. It was their Chautauqua debut and a special treat for the historic educational and recreational community celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

Of all the venues I’ve seen Wilco perform at through the years, this one was the most uniquely personal, as I spent my childhood and adolescent summers on the idyllic grounds, never dreaming that one day I’d be given the opportunity to photograph a favorite band in my favorite place. A great American band in a great American place over the 4th of July weekend? It doesn’t get more red, white, and blue.

The band, who coincidentally just held this year’s rendition of their own Chautauqua-like creation, Solid Sound Festival, was in full shred fest mode from the moment they kicked off the night with “Misunderstood,” to their banger of a finale cover, The Grateful Dead’s “U.S. Blues.”

There was a little something for everyone, as thoughtfulness takes up a good portion of the band DNA. They’re generous—to their crew, to their fans, to their tourmates. And it doesn’t hurt that their musicianship is otherworldly. This time around, I was particularly enamored with the live version of their newer “Bird Without a Tail/Base of My Skull.”

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | John Fahey’s Takoma label is best known for pushing the envelope when it comes to acoustic guitar playing, but in 1967 it released a record that has become one of the true cult classics of the ‘60s free jazz movement.

Charles Martin Simon was an aspiring writer whose artist wife died in 1965. When he tried to pick up the torch and become an artist using her art supplies, he was, in his words, “reduced to nothing,” and thus created an alter ego or “psyche fragmentation,” Charlie Nothing.

Under that moniker he became most famous for creating “dingulators,” working guitar sculptures made from parts of American cars; in 1967, though, he recorded The Psychedelic Saxophone of Charlie Nothing/In Eternity with Brother Frederic, an album consisting of two separate saxophone improvisations accompanied only with gong, tabla, and ukelele.

Its cover adorned by Nothing’s own hand-drawn art, this record has since become not only something of a “secret handshake” among free jazz fans, but also a classic of outsider art, fitting right next to your Moondog records if not in sound than in spirit.

For its first ever reissue in any format, we’ve gone back to the original tapes to present an all-analog release of The Psychedelic Saxophone of Charlie Nothing/In Eternity with Brother Frederic on black vinyl with the original art intact, offering an unfiltered experience of this man’s cracked genius. A memorable look ‘n’ listen to say the least.

Nektar was a ’70s progressive rock band that never quite achieved the success it so rightly deserved. While bands like Yes, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Genesis and even groups that weren’t strictly Prog, like Jethro Tull and the Moody Blues had enormous success, Nektar never really had that one breakthrough song or album.

Also, it was a UK group who was based in Germany, but who had a sizeable following in the US. The group went through many lineup changes and never really had the chance to galvanize its following with a consistent sound. Regardless, two recent fulsome box set reissues of perhaps the group’s two most popular albums make the case that this is a band destined for a reevaluation.

Remember the Future, the group’s fourth album and second to be released in 1973 was its most popular and most well-conceived album. It should easily be included on any list of the best Prog albums of the ’70s. It’s a conceptual work, but one that is not bogged down in ponderous thematic narratives or over-wrought musical noodling. It’s a concise work with lovely vocals, shimmering guitar, atmospheric, yet forceful keyboards, and a tight rhythm section. This foursome wrings a lot of musical depth out of a fairly stripped-down musical setup. There are echoes of Pink Floyd at the beginning, the warmth and autumnal shadings of the Strawbs, and some of the jagged intricacies of Yes.

The box is a beautiful package with a striking and sturdy slipcase. There are four CDs and one Blu-ray. CD one is a 2023 remaster of the album, that also includes a live bonus track. CD two includes a 2023 stereo remix of the album and two bonus single releases. CD three and CD four are of a concert at the Stadthalle in Muenster, Germany from January 1974. The entire concert was previously unreleased.

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PHOTO: DEAN KARR | In the world of rock and roll, few names resonate with the same gravity as Michael Hutchence. From the unmistakable voice that defined INXS to his enigmatic stage presence, Hutchence left an indelible mark on music history.

Today, we sit down with legendary music producer Danny Saber whose collaboration with Hutchence produced some of the most hauntingly beautiful tracks of his career. We delve into the creative process, untold stories, and lasting legacy of a true musical icon through the eyes of one of the industry’s most respected producers.

Danny, how did you initially get your start in the music industry?

I basically broke the business with a group of guys that were all managed by Guy Oseary, currently the manager of Madonna and former manager of U2. When we started, Guy was still in high school and he was building a small stable of artists. During those early years, I was the “de facto” producer for the group. Guy went to high school with Freddy DeMann’s daughter, and Freddy gave him an office in his building. Then when Maverick Records launched, Guy was well-positioned to take the next step in the industry and I was fortunate to be right there by his side. My initial relationship with Guy opened up a lot of doors which ultimately gave me my start in this amazing business, one I have been a part of for over 30 years.

Who were your earliest musical inspirations?

Well, it all started with Jimi Hendrix when I was 11. I saw a poster of him in a store that sold records and guitars—do we even have those stores anymore? I wasn’t sure what it meant at the time but found myself fixated on an image of him with a white Strat and those blue crushed velvet pants. I said to myself, “I want that.” As many do, I went through a number of phases as a kid. There was the gnarly Hendrix phase, and then one where I wanted to be Jay Graydon, an amazing session guitarist who did the solo on “Peg” on Steely Dan’s Aja. And then I realized I was never going to be that good of a player, but I knew always had a knack for sort of putting stuff together behind the scenes.

So, those legends inspired you to be a musician?

At first. I initially got my hands on a guitar, drum machine, one of those little portable studios. Then I grabbed a keyboard pretty early on in my development. And I think I was very fortunate, because when I could start to afford things, I would be the first in line to jump on the latest technology. And these were things that I could touch, feel, and hide away for use at a later date as I saw fit. Juxtapose that with today tech where everything’s at your fingertips in a world of plugins. Regardless, I was very fortunate at an early age to learn and master as much technology as I could get my hands on.

Looks like the technology began to win you over, right?

I had my first sampler around the age of 18 years, and that’s really what changed my life. Something inside of me knew that that was the future. And it was the very early days of this technology, I’m talking in the mid-eighties. So, initially I was just a guitar player, but ultimately learned how to do all this other shit so I could play my guitar on my record. But in the end though, I finally realized if I was the producer I ultimately got to hire the guitar player!

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Born in Israel and based in New York City, guitarist Eyal Maoz has played with, amongst others, Asaf Sirkis, John Medeski, Eric Arn, Tim Berne, and John Zorn. With the Infrequent Seams label’s July 12 release of The Coincidence Masters on CD and digital, Maoz adds Greensboro, NC’s genre-bending avant string-titan Eugene Chadbourne to his list of collaborators. A full-on improvisational plunge recorded without amplifiers, the duo’s excursions are frequently abstract yet consistently welcoming.

Eyal Maoz has released two discs on John Zorn’s Tzadik label, Edom (2005) and Hope and Destruction (2009). Additionally, he’s a member of Abraxas, a band assembled to record selections from Zorn’s second book of Masada compositions, The Book of Angels, on two CDs, Abraxas (Book of Angels Volume 19) (2012) and Psychomagia (2014). Abraxas also recorded Gevurah (2019) from Zorn’s third Masada book, The Book Beri’ah.

It was in neo-klezmer outfit The Lemon Juice Quartet (alongside bassist Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz of Abraxas) that Maoz first began to draw attention. He’s also heard on Open Circuit (2012) as a member of 9Volt alongside trombonist Rick Parker, drummer Yonadav Halevy, and alto saxophonist Tim Berne, and on the eponymous album Hypercolor (2015) as part of a trio with bassist James Ilgenfritz and drummer Lukas Ligeti. To spotlight Maoz’s range, he also played on Zohove (2015), a surprisingly terrific cassette of inventive Led Zeppelin covers by the group Beninghove’s Hangmen.

There are also Maoz’s duos to consider. The first, Elementary Dialogues (2007) found him partnered with drummer Asaf Sirkis, while the second, Kost Nix (2022) was a two-guitar affair with Eric Arn that was recorded live in Vienna in 2021. Naturally, The Coincidence Masters has a few characteristics in common with Kost Nix, though the inspired energies of Maoz and Eugene Chadbourne are ultimately quite distinct. The set finds Chadbourne in excellent form.

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