This review could not have been written without the formidable knowledge and translation skills of Martijn de Vries. Dank je wel, mijn vriend. Lang leve Louis-Ferdinand Céline! —MHL

Forget tulips, windmills, canals, and tall people (tallest in the world!)—what the Netherlands should best be known for are Rotterdam’s Lewsberg, the greatest rock and roll band (they’re certainly better than that decimated band of animated corpses the Rolling Stones) in the world. Lewsberg may sound like the name of a state penitentiary in Olathe, Kansas, but the band actually took its name from Robert Loesberg, notorious author of the scathing 1974 novel Enige Defecten (Some Defects).

Lewsberg are strongly influenced by the Velvet Underground during their jangly period, but Lewsberg are no one-track pony—their eponymous 2019 debut also includes some far stranger moments. Lewsberg’s members—English-speaking lead singer Arie Van Vliet, guitarist/keyboardist Michiel Klein, drummer Joris Frowein, and bass player/vocalist Shalita Dietrich (who bears a more than passing resemblance to Ulrike Meinhof of the West German terrorist organization the Baader-Meinhof Gang) forego slick professionalism, preferring to get by with sheer spunk. Van Vliet has said, “The idea was to start a rock band with really good songs, played very badly.” He’s also a big proponent of being “out of tune during a crucial guitar solo.” He’s my idea of a goddamn rock and roll hero.

As noted, Lewsberg have inherited the aesthetic of the Velvets and their acolytes, who include the Feelies, the Modern Lovers, and (why not?) England’s the Wedding Present. You can also detect the faintest whiff of Scottish twee heroes Belle and Sebastian in Dietrich’s vocals. But onto the album. Opening track “Vaan” is introduced by a chiming keyboard riff akin to the one on VU’s “Sunday Morning,” then dissolves into some aimless chit-chat between Frans Vogel (a Rotterdam poet and actor) and poet Cor Vaandrager (hence the song’s title).

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Bottle Rockets have been one of the greatest alt-country bands around for close to two decades.

Bottle Rockets leader Brian Henneman worked as Uncle Tupelo’s guitar tech for a couple of years before forming an alt-country band that rivaled his former bosses. Released in Atlantic in 1997, 24 Hours a Day represented The Bottle Rockets’ chance at the big time; it’s their sole major label release, and they pulled out all the stops for this one, hiring former Del Lord Eric “Roscoe” Ambel to produce and revisiting “Indianapolis,” the song that got Henneman a record deal back in the early ‘90s.

Alas, the record failed to break through commercially; but there will always be a place in our hearts for this kind of hard-driving, honest, tuneful rock and roll, best exemplified by “Perfect Far Away” and “When I Was Dumb.” For its LP debut, we’re pressing this under-appreciated classic in coke bottle (natch) clear vinyl housed inside an album jacket with inner sleeve—limited to 1000 copies!

Celebrating James Murphy in advance of his birthday tomorrow.
—Ed.

LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver—the only electronica LP you need ever own! You can forget about all the rest of them—they blow! It’s like the Beatles, and all those bozos buying all their LPs when the only one that conceivably matters is The White Album. The same goes for 2007’s Sound of Silver, so get rid of all your other dance-punk LPs. Just toss them in the trash; they’re nothing but rubbish cluttering your bedroom!

Okay, so everything I’ve just written is wrong-headed and absurd. Sue me! Because I mean every word of it. Sound of Silver gets my vote for best electronica LP ever, and I would hold that opinion even if it was nothing but 43 minutes of “North American Scum.” Why, just the other night I was in a car with “North American Scum” playing and I couldn’t help myself; I lowered my window and screamed at the crowds thronging 14th Street here in DC, “I need ecstasy now! Who has ecstasy? I want some fucking ecstasy right this instant!”

And I’ve never even done ecstasy! LCD Soundsystem just makes me want ecstasy. Anyway, LCD Soundsystem was, as everybody knows, the brain-child of New York City’s James Murphy, who spent some time in bands, then some time as a producer, before finally striking out in the early 2000s with his own take on dance punk. More or less a one-man band, Murphy turned down a paying gig to write for Seinfeld to produce mesmerizing and hard-edged dance tracks, starting with 2002’s underground hit “Losing My Edge.” When he wasn’t doing remixes or a long promotional piece for Nike he was writing irresistible dance tunes with great and frequently funny lyrics about life on the dance floor.

Why is LCD Soundsystem so great? It’s the beats, fool! And Murphy’s uncanny knack for finding subtle ways to dress them up. He also has the perfect voice for his material—cool as Nico on some cuts, and frenetic on others. Why, on Sound of Silver’s long opening track “Get Innocuous” he even manages to sound like The Talking Heads, mixed with some English band I can’t recognize. A funky groove that features the backing vocals of Nancy Whang, the snaky “Get Innocuous” throbs and percolates, thanks to some feisty percussion and who knows what else.

Read More »

You want the truth? You can’t handle the truth! Because the truth is that Truth, guitarist extraordinaire Jeff Beck’s 1968 debut solo LP is, well, a mere notch above meh. Truth—a collaboration of sorts with Rod Stewart aided by Ronnie Wood on bass and Mickey Walter on drums, has been lauded by fans and critics alike as a masterpiece.

But how great can it be when it includes covers of both hoary folk traditional “Greenssleeves” and 1927 show tune “Ol’ Man River”? To say nothing of a re-recording of “Shapes of Things,” a song first released by The Yardbirds during Beck’s stint with the band? Nor does it speak well of the LP that it includes only three Beck/Rod Stewart originals, supplemented by songs by Jimmy Page, folkie Bonnie Dobson, and three de rigueur covers of songs by Black American bluesmen. And have I mentioned that one of its songs boasts canned applause, much like the laugh track on The Brady Bunch?

Three things save the LP from mediocrity. The first is is its heavy sound—Truth has been lauded as a seminal work of heavy metal. The second is Beck, who despite his myriad faults shoots guitar shoots sparks and sounds like said guitar is powered not by an amp but by a large industrial generator. And then there’s Rod Stewart, the ex-Steampacket vocalist with the raspy voice who would go on to become one of rock’s greatest vocalists and songwriters with the Faces and as a solo artist.

Opener “Shapes of Things” is a much heavier lift than The Yardbirds’ original—sounds to me like Beck shot the this song full of steroids. And it works. Gone are the psychedelic pop overtones of the original, replaced with raw power and a higher excitement quotient. Beck joins Stewart on co-lead vocals on the powerhouse “Let Me Love You,” one of the three Beck/Stewart collaborations on the album. It doesn’t win any originality awards—truth (there’s that word again) is it could be a Cream song, with the exception that Eric Clapton is no Stewart, or Jeff Beck for that matter.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | The three-time GRAMMY-nominated guitarist and 25x Billboard chart-topper Joe Bonamassa has announced Tales Of Time, a sprawling and expansive live concert film and album featuring material from his latest #1 studio album, Time Clocks. Filmed at the breathtaking Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado in August 2022, with a stunning visual backdrop that served to highlight the beauty of the music, Tales Of Time captures a stratospheric performance by the blues-rock titan, as his virtuoso guitar style and unique technique and flair elevate the evening to an almost heavenly high.

This incredible undertaking produced by long-time collaborator and producer Kevin Shirley (Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, Journey). Tales Of Time will be released April 14th worldwide via Bonamassa’s J&R Adventures in CD/DVD, CD/BR, vinyl, and digital formats.

“This live show represents our most progressive and largest production to date, focusing on my most ambitious studio album to date, Time Clocks. The iconic Kevin Shirley once again has produced both wonderful music and a wonderful visual. My band was a force of nature on this show and it truly was a special night.” —Joe Bonamassa

Cited by Guitar World as “arguably the world’s biggest blues guitarist,” Bonamassa is known for taking risks and venturing into uncharted territory throughout his wide-ranging career. His latest studio album Time Clocks marked his most raw, rocking studio album yet, with American Songwriter sharing, “Bonamassa pushes into fresh territory while staying within a blues-based framework,” and “there is more than enough proof in this sprawling set that Bonamassa doesn’t intend to rest on his laurels or take his star status in the blues-rock genre for granted.”

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | After penning the Glen Campbell mega-hit “Gentle on My Mind” and appearing repeatedly both on Glen’s weekly variety show and on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, John Hartford could have taken the show biz glide path to financial security and ease.

Instead, the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist (and steamboat enthusiast) moved back to Nashville from L.A., signed a contract with Warner Bros., and proceeded to create one of the most influential and groundbreaking albums not just in bluegrass but in modern country music as a whole.

1971’s Aereo-Plain assembled a veritable supergroup consisting of fiddler Vassar Clements, dobroist Tut Taylor, guitarist Norman Blake, and bassist Randy Scruggs to play a set of mostly original tunes that were unlike anything the staid bluegrass community had ever heard before.

Fresh, irreverent, funny and always—except for the hilarious Dr. Demento favorite “Boogie”—tuneful, and played by an absolutely scintillating band, the songs on Aereo-Plain pointed to a new stylistic direction for bluegrass, one quickly coined “newgrass;” as Sam Bush of the New Grass Revival says, “Without Aereo-Plain, there would be no ‘newgrass’ music.”

We’re reissuing this essential album on LP for the first time in 50 years; it includes lyrics and liner notes by John Hartford expert Skip Heller. Bone vinyl pressing limited to 1000 copies!

Referral: https://readwrite.com/gambling/casino/new-york/

It’s no mystery that the banjo originated in Africa, but the specifics of the instruments beginnings are less well known, at least until now, as on February 3 Smithsonian Folkways releases Ears of the People: Ekonting Songs from Senegal and The Gambia. Across 25 tracks, the sounds on this CD are as enjoyable as they are enlightening.

Ears of the People spotlights participants from West Africa vocalizing and playing the ekonting (or akonting), a three-stringed gourd instrument popular with the Jola people in Senegambia. Thanks to the research of Gambian ethnomusicologist Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta, the ekonting is now acknowledged as the most probable antecedent of the banjo.

It’s often the case with the passage of time, the opportunity to establish historical connections diminishes until the chances ultimately vanish, but occasionally, diligence and intelligence prevail over the ceaseless ticking of the clock. That’s exactly what happened with Ears of the People, as it was once supposed that the halam (or xalam), a 1 to 5-stringed instrument common in the Senegambia region, was the “grandfather of the American banjo,” and idea propagated by Wolof Music of Senegal and the Gambia, a Folkways LP from 1955, and a notion shared by Pete Seeger.

It’s necessary to emphasize that Daniel Laemou-Ahuma Jatta’s research isn’t definitive, though the music on Ears of the People does make a compelling argument in favor of the ekonting as the banjo’s precursor. But with that said, even as the players on this nearly 80-minute disc employ a strumming technique that’s essentially the same as the enduringly popular “clawhammer” method utilized by many U.S. banjoists, the sounds here are distinctive from the banjo as the selections are varied across the set.

Read More »

VIA PRESS RELEASE | The Pernice Brothers will release Overcome by Happiness: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition on May 19, 2023, via New West Records. The original mixes were remastered by John Golden and will be available on vinyl for the first time, 25 years to the day of its original issue by Sub Pop Records on May 19, 1998.

The 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition includes a 13-track bonus LP featuring 8 unreleased home demos (often recorded minutes after the songs were written by Joe Pernice). The 2 LPs will be pressed on orange-and-white splatter vinyl and packaged in a hardbound, full-color, 52-page book featuring extensive liner notes written by Stephen Deusner, an introduction and track-by-track written by Joe Pernice, the Overcome by Happiness lyrics printed for the first time, and countless unpublished photographs. A 5×7 print autographed by Joe Pernice is also included in every copy.

The story of Overcome by Happiness is one of great risk and greater payoff. It’s the story of a songwriter just finding his voice, an artist so desperate to express himself that he scrapped one band (the alt-country-adjacent Scud Mountain Boys) to form another, a frontman who jeopardized his contract with Sub Pop Records so that he could put what he heard in his head onto tape. It’s the story of a musician embracing the sounds of his childhood: AM easy listening, sophisticated chamber pop, baroque lounge music, Bread, the Carpenters, Bacharach, Manilow. The album was widely praised upon its release.

The New York Times said of the debut, “Overcome taps an all-American yearning that recalls neon-lighted fairgrounds and lovers’ cars parked at the edge of a Great Lake… Beneath the beauty, each song is haunted by bitterness, but its fatalism is characteristic, too, of a land—and a season—in which dreams can be won or dashed at a sideshow roulette wheel.” AllMusic called Overcome by Happiness “…a near-perfect modern songsmith swoon album” while The Sunday Times in London exclaimed, “Let the Pernice Brothers overcome you.”

Read More »