Celebrating Alex Van Halen, born on this day in 1953. —Ed.

A couple of years ago the apartment my ex-wife and I lived in suffered a mouse infestation. We tried regular traps and glue traps, but they seemed terribly cruel, so we finally bought some catch-and-release traps. We lived on the third floor, and I got tired of carrying the traps down to the alley to release them. So I thought, why not release them on the balcony, where they’d be free to scamper along the rooftops to safety? So I tried it, but instead of escaping via the rooftops my frightened test mouse shot out of his little prison like a furry little bullet, promptly sailed off the edge of our balcony, and fell screaming (I may have imagined the screaming) to the concrete parking space below.

I’m not sure why—or actually I am—why that mouse never fails to remind me of Van Halen’s great “Jump.” I might as well have been singing, “Jump! Go ahead and jump!” as he plummeted earthwards. But anyway, the point I want to make is not that mice should look before they leap, although they should, but that I love Van Halen’s “Jump”—loved it even during those years when virtually all I listened to were SST bands, and admitting to liking a Van Halen song (at least amongst my crowd) was not so far from confessing to like that Seals and Crofts song about the summer breeze blowing through the jasmine in your mind.

I should add that my love for “Jump” did not extend to Van Halen itself. I had in fact never so much as listened to a Van Halen LP in its entirety, much less owned one. Honestly? I thought they were a band of morons. They dressed like Jose Feliciano was their haberdasher, and it was my considered opinion that Eddie Van Halen was a shameless showboater with his tapping (a technique he didn’t invent); single pickup, single volume knob guitar; and volume swells, or “violining.”

Then there was the perpetually mugging David Lee Roth, whom I considered the world’s oldest class clown. (I’ve come to love him over the years for the same reason.) As for bassist Michael Anthony, well, bassist Michael Anthony was just short. Too short. Like midget short. Then there was the drummer, Eddie’s brother, whose name slips my mind (Alex? Alek like Lee Harvey Oswald’s USSR name?) but it hardly matters because who pays attention to the drummer except other drummers anyway?

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | Fig Dish returned from hybernation in 2024 with two sold out shows in Chicago and the release of Feels Like The Very First Two Times, the band’s unreleased third album, recorded in the late ’90s before resting in a dusty, Chicago vault for 27 years. On August 1, they’ll reissue their debut album That’s What Love Songs Often Do on vinyl for the first time, 30 years after the original release on Forge Again Records. The officially licensed 2xLP is limited to 500 copies on translucent blue vinyl, reworked gatefold jacket art by Wall of Youth, and vinyl mastering by Carl Saff.

Fig Dish will celebrate the re-release with live performances supporting former tour-mates Letters To Cleo in Milwaukee at X-Ray Arcade on Thursday, July 24 and Chicago at Subterranean on Friday, July 25. Tickets on sale Friday, August 25 at 10 am CT via Kickstand Productions.

A recent Reddit thread was titled, “Fig Dish might be the least popular band of the grunge era according to Spotify.” Now, you should probably emphasize the “era” in the phrase “grunge era”—Fig Dish wasn’t grunge and were far more likely to be compared to midwestern bands like Cheap Trick, The Replacements, and Hüsker Dü. And like those bands, Fig Dish had a penchant for pop melodies, noisy guitars, and angsty lyrics.

So, who was this band that Chicago magazine called “the folkloric Chicago outfit”? Fig Dish were four high school friends: guitarists/vocalists Rick Ness and Blake Smith, bassist/vocalist Mike Willison, and drummer Andy Hamilton. In their day, they were known for catchy songs, memorable (often booze-fueled) live shows, and self-sabotage. But before the Illinois Entertainer could write a sentence like “I would walk through a sniper’s alley to see this band live,” the band had to start drinking after rather than before shows to avoid eliciting reactions like this one, from a Pittsburgh music critic: “they were so sloppy they made The Replacements look like Rush.”

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On May 9, Sublime Frequencies gifts curious listeners a pair of diligently assembled compilations in accordance with the label’s norm. The first, Born in the City of Tanta – Lower Egyptian Urban Folklore and Bedouin Shaabi from Libya’s Bourini Records 1968-75, documents the productivity of a key independent Egyptian label, and the second, Tsapiky! Modern Music from Southwest Madagascar offers a dose of potent contemporary ceremonial music mayhem from the country of its title. Both LPs are mandatory listens for anybody seeking to keep solid tabs on the global musical scheme, historically and in the moment.

Born in the City of Tanta collects eight tracks originally issued on 45 rpm discs across the timeframe listed in the LP’s full title. These sides document the sound of the emerging shaabi style, which presented an edgier alternative to the “official” pop music dubbed “al-musiqa al-arabia” that was coming out of Cairo during the period.

Smooth, refined, and highly accomplished, al-musiqa al-arabia was also essentially a closed off realm, its stars untouchable, and when this circumstance arises anywhere on the planet it’s basically inevitable that a more relatable and more intense style will emerge to fill the void. When this happens, it’s almost always independent labels that harness the sounds heard in clubs and modest halls via recordings; this is exactly the impulse documented on Born in the City of Tanta, as Bourini Records released in the ballpark of 40-50 records in the titular eight-year span.

Compiled by Hisham Mayet and Gary Sullivan, the selections are varied in execution. There is the swirling full-band intensity of “Yana Alla Nafsa Masouda” (“Blocked from What I Want”) by Basis Rahouma and “Mould fi Madina Tanta” (“Born in the City of Tanta”) by Sheikh Amin Abdel Qader. There’s the lithe trio action (lyre/violin/percussion) of “Al Bint al Libya” (“The Girl from Libya”) by Abu Abab.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | There was a time, back in the ‘70s before it became the ubiquitous, mass-produced product it is today, that pornography made a bid to become taken seriously as an art form.

And it was this film, The Devil in Miss Jones, that made the biggest leap forward both commercially and artistically. Made by Gerard Damiano after his success with Deep Throat, and based on Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit, the film tells the story of a lonely spinster who, after she commits suicide, is denied entrance to heaven and is condemned to limbo. She then decides she’d rather go back to earth and “earn” her place in hell by practicing the deadly sin of lust. The Devil in Miss Jones wound up being the seventh highest-grossing film of 1973, and set new standards for production value and, yes, musical scoring.

Alden Shuman’s soundtrack wasn’t the usual monotonous wah-wah of the time, but a sweeping, panoramic, and plaintive score played by piano and full orchestra. It’s never been reissued on LP before; our Real Gone release comes in limited (to 900 copies) hellfire vinyl that you can watch spin…for eternity.

The ragged, raw, rough roots sound of blues is usually not thought of as a music suited to audiophile listening. However, it has spawned numerous recordings that have been released when new audiophile formats and companies have emerged.

Two recent releases have been given the full high-end reissue treatment by one of the most important audiophile companies around, Acoustic Sounds Series. One of the releases, Lightnin’ Strikes from Lightnin’ Hopkins, is, if not the best, then one of the best-ever recorded blues albums. The other one, It Serve You Right To Suffer, from John Lee Hooker, now has to be considered a blues audiophile must-have release.

Lightnin’ Strikes from Lightnin’ Hopkins was released in 1966 at the height of the blues revival, when many pioneering, post-war blues musicians were being rediscovered by young, scholarly folk and blues music purists in America and the emerging British rock artists of the blues and R&B boom.

A previous Lightnin’ Hopkins album called Lightnin’ Strikes was released in 1962 on Vee-Jay Records from recordings made in Texas of tracks different from those here. This album, recorded in Los Angeles in 1965, was reissued as part of the Verve Folkways roots imprint after Vee-Jay went out of business. Its original reissue title was Nothin’ But the Blues.

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Ready for Heaven is the latest record by Deradoorian, the mononymous project of Angel Deradoorian, the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter formerly of Dirty Projectors, out May 9 on vinyl, compact disc, and digital through Fire Records. It’s a fiesta of art-pop that embraces the weird while lacking miscalculations, the tight set of nine songs thriving on confidence in its assemblage and a clear vision of when to hit the brakes and when to lay on the gas.

Since leaving Dirty Projectors in 2012, Angel Deradoorian work has grown in scale and assurance. Ready for Heaven’s opener “Storm In My Brain” is art-pop with an ’80s tinge, never going overboard, with its rhythmic energies establishing a tropical undercurrent. “Any Other World” doubles down on the art-pop, bringing Laurie Anderson and Kate Bush to mind, but with a nod to the dancefloor that thankfully avoids trite maneuvers. Instead, it blends ’80s pop-R&B (or art-funk, perhaps) with flashes of the Neue Deutsche Welle.

Deradoorian is fond of programmed beats, but the good news is that she also leans into some primo organic rhythmic heat, as in “No No Yes Yes,” which turns up the dial on the ’80s R&B, and in large part through Deradoorian’s soulful vocal swagger (the temperature rises through the funky bass lines). Notably, the music maintains a disaffected basement dance party groove that’s very appealing.

If Deradoorian draws inspiration from the ’80s, there’s no mistaking the timeframe from whence Ready for Heaven derives. “Digital Gravestone” is as thick and sturdy as the best post-punk, but the cut works up a well-controlled momentum that’s very much of the moment. The guest saxophone by Patrick Shiroishi enhances the contemporary feel by nixing any throwback gestures.

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VIA PRESS RELEASE | This 3xLP box collects the complete discography of Washington, D.C.’s Swiz. The limited edition set is a joint effort between Dischord and the band’s original labels, Sammich and Hellfire Records. It features the quartet’s two full-lengths (S/T and Hell Yes I Cheated) plus a compilation of three 7″ singles (“Rejects,” “Down,” “With Dave”) all remastered from the original analog tapes, plus a 34-page 12×12 photo book with rare and unseen images.

This collection will be a one-time pressing manufactured to order and will be available via pre-order only. Pre-orders begin today with the window closing on May 30th. Delivery is expected late this summer. The music will be available for streaming on all platforms around the physical ship date. Pre-order the box now via Bandcamp or Dischord.com.

Swiz was a Washington, DC-based hardcore punk band that existed from April of 1987 through August of 1990, cutting their teeth and carving their place in the scene that birthed trailblazers and contemporaries like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Dag Nasty, and Fugazi.

Featuring original Dag Nasty singer Shawn Brown, Swiz’s faster, darker, and more aggressive take on the DC sound ran counter to the melodic, experimental, and poppy direction the scene had been leaning toward in the years before punk broke into the mainstream during the early ’90s.

In the thirty-five years since the group’s demise, Swiz’s popularity and infamy have only grown. Their short, sharp, sonic blasts still resonate and continue to inspire musicians, artists, and fans alike. Swiz was Shawn Brown (vocals), Jason Farrell (guitar), Nathan Larson (bass 1987–1989), Alex Daniels (drums), and Dave Stern (bass 1989–1990).

VIA PRESS RELEASE | GRAMMY® Award-winning progressive metal trailblazers Dream Theater released their massively successful Vol. 1 boxed set in 2024, covering the band’s 1992–1999 studio albums. Today, they are set to unveil the next installment with Dream Theater Vol. 2. Volume 2 notably includes the next four highly sought-after studio albums: Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence (2002), Train of Thought (2003), Octavarium (2005), and Systematic Chaos (2007). This 8LP boxed set is exclusively available on Rhino.com in North America and via select Warner Music Group stores internationally. Limited to only 2,500 copies worldwide. 

Vol. 2 highlights Dream Theater’s journey through the 2000s, reflecting not only their continuous sonic evolution but also their success in carving out space for progressive metal on international charts.

This volume includes the group’s iconic Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, which features the 42-minute title track that encapsulates their approach to redefining the boundaries of commercial music. This album also introduces drummer Mike Portnoy’s twelve-step suite with “The Glass Prison” and continues throughout the next four albums in their discography. The last chord of Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence serves as the opening chord to the group’s follow-up album, Train of Thought.

Expanding on the group’s heavier live sound, Train of Thought is the group’s most traditional metal album, using thicker guitar tones, heavier drums, and intensely targeted lyricism. The album features suites four and five of Portnoy’s twelve-step suite with “The Dying Soul,” a lyrical and musical continuation of “The Glass Prison.” Like its predecessor, Train of Thought’s final note rings through the beginning of the following, and one of Dream Theater’s most essential albums, Octavarium.

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Celebrating Bob Seger on his 80th birthday. —Ed.

Through no fault of his own—or maybe it is his fault, I don’t know—Bob Seger has never gotten any respect. He’s the Rodney Dangerfield of rock, and this despite the fact that he’s written his fair share of memorable, and even great, songs. He’s always been the consummate journeyman—someone you might go to see, but without being totally psyched about it—but in the bicentennial year of 1976 he rose above his station to produce two very, very good LPs, Night Moves and Live Bullet.

The former included a couple of instant standards, while the latter made a convincing argument that seeing him live might just be a better bet than you think. I’ve liked him since I first listened to my older brother’s copy of Live Bullet way back in 1976, and I continue to have a soft spot in my heart for him, this despite the fact that he’s the force of evil who bequeathed us such awful songs as “Like a Rock,” “We’ve Got Tonight,” and the dreadful “Old Time Rock and Roll,” which to his credit he didn’t write but still recorded, which probably merits the electric chair. Why he even helped the Eagles write “Heartache Tonight,” a song that deserves to be burned at the stake.

But I forgive him, because he’s also given us such great tunes as “Get Out of Denver,” “Turn the Page,” “Beautiful Loser,” “Looking Back,” “Katmandu,” “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man,” “Night Moves,” and “2 + 2 = ?” And his version of “Nutbush City Limits” is almost as good as Tina Turner’s. As much a product of Detroit as the trucks he’s helped to sell via the suckass “Like a Rock,” Seger played in or founded a number of bands—the most notable being The Bob Seger System—without achieving much more than regional success before forming the Silver Bullet Band in 1974. Live Bullet finally propelled him to national stardom, and Night Moves solidified his status as a player in the big leagues.

Unlike fellow Detroiters the MC5 and The Stooges, Seger was never a firebrand; instead he was the epitome of Heartland Rock, which pays due respect to rock’s origins and doesn’t have a musically radical bone in its body. He was John Mellencamp before there was a John Mellencamp, a purveyor of meat and potato songs that told stories and that never veered too far from a relatively conservative template that fit neatly into the classic rock tradition. Which is undoubtedly why he’s been inducted into that den of iniquity, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

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The recordings of Berlin-based violist and composer Catherine Lamb are resonant extensions of contemporary classical chamber style. Lamb utilizes the tuning system Just Intonation and the conceptual discipline of Deep Listening as unifying structural principles, with these foundational qualities profoundly shaped by the work of composer Pauline Oliveros and brought to life on the new LP interius/exterius in collaboration with the nine-piece Ghost Ensemble of New York City. Drone enthusiasts will find much to love in this robust, engaging set, which is available May 9 on limited edition vinyl (300 copies) and digital through the greyfade label.

Catherine Lamb has openly acknowledged the centrality of Pauline Oliveros’ Deep Listening on interius/exterius, with the album’s longform composition in six segments realized through intense and extensive workshopping in New York City by Ghost Ensemble with Lamb in attendance. Their first achievement was a premiere performance at NYC’s Roulette Intermedium in December of 2022. The studio recording took place two years later.

A nonet, Ghost Ensemble consists of Margaret Lancaster on flute, Sky Macklay on oboe, Ben Richter on accordion, Lucia Stavros on harp, Chris Nappi on hammered dulcimer, Martine Thomas on viola, Tyler J Borden on cello, and James Ilgenfritz and Gregory Chudzik on the contrabass. The instrumentation is especially well-suited for the enveloping thickness of sustained drones as the group shares a collective mastery of Just Intonation with Lamb.

Specifically, for interius/exterius, the sonic bedrock is taken completely from the harmonic series of a theoretical 10Hz fundamental; that is, an inaudible frequency in which the overtones establish a rich interweaving of sound. To elaborate further, the 10Hz fundamental is a base-10 tuning system where every pitch can be grasped in connection with the others and creates a unified collective language that thrives in tandem with the individual voices in the ensemble.

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