This record is a great place to start if you don’t have any Neil Diamond in your collection… and trust me, you NEED some. Don’t be scared of Neil! Homeboy has laid more pipe in his lifetime than an army of plumbers. Plus it’s impossible not to feel happy when a Diamond tune is on… check out my two favorites, "Solitary Man" & "Thank The Lord For The Night Time". But the whole thing is SOLID man, check out this video of Neil lip-syncing to "Cherry, Cherry" way back in 1966. Anytime I’m feelin’ down or like a got a case of the blues… I throw on my buddy Neil and I feel like a million bucks again.
Also… next Saturday October 7th in Downtown LA is the first annual LA Weekly Detour Festival that Queens Of The Stone Age, Redd Kross and a bunch of other bands are gonna be jammin’ it out. I’ll be playing records with Troy Boy in the "St. Vibiana’s church from what they’ve told me. I have no idea what time or for how long. All I know is we’ve got a bottle of Jameson on our "rider" waiting for us, so not much else matters. Someone invite Rob Zombie. YEAP!
Speaking of big concerts in LA… did anyone get to check out Tom Petty at the Hollywood Bowl this past week? I was pretty pissed that I didn’t have a ticket as I drove past the bowl on my way home the other night… looked and sounded like a good time!
Oh, and we just threw some old Buddyhead swag up on Ebay… click here if you’re interested in that sort of thing.
So I guess Depeche Mode is gonna put out another Best Of record… yeah, it’s called MILKING IT. Anyways, "The Mode" took time out of their busy routines (of fixing their hair, slaying mass chicks, wearing crazy bird costumes around and whatever else is it that weird old rich English dudes do) to record a new song for it called "Martyr" that’s not half bad. Anyone heard anything good from a new band? (Download - "Martyr")
I’ve been on a serious Arthur Lee kick lately… The first three Love records: "Love" (my favorite), "De Capo", the legendary "Forever Changes" have been in constant rotation as of late. I’ve also been getting into "Vindicator" too, which was homeboy’s first post-Love solo record. It’s nowhere near as good as (or maybe I should say "as cool as") Love… but it’s defiantly got it’s moments. Arthur sounds a lot like his friend, one time band mate and fellow "black hippy"… Jimi Hendrix on this record. I think they both claimed to be the first black hippy… Does anyone reading this have the official word on who really was the first black hippy? Speaking of, one of the bonus tracks on this reissue just so happens to be Arthur’s take on the Hendrix song, "EZ Rider". My favorite song on here is "Everybody’s Gotta Live" ("You Want Change for Your Re-run" and "Love Jumped Through My Window" are also worth checking out), the version I posted is a bonus track and was the first take of the song… I like this version cuz it’s a bit more on the raw side of things. For shits & giggles, check out this bizarre video some weird people made for the song. Sadly, Lee just passed away this August from leukemia. I feel lucky to have caught three or four of his LA shows a few years ago when he was fresh out of jail… Dude killed it. RIP Arthur Lee.
"Express" is the second Love & Rockets record and probably my second favorite as well. It’s right under "Sweet F.A." on my list of favorite Love & Rocket records. The song that I heard first and was the one that really got me hooked on this record was "Kundalini Express". It’s got killer guitar sounds, train sound effects and David J and Daniel Ash trading off vocals about getting "spiritually higher"! That’s a fuckin’ winner in my book. BUT… do you think David, Daniel and Kevin are into Kundalini Yoga? They do sing "Alcohol is your yoga baby" on the song "Yin And Yang The Flowerpot Man"… Check out the video for that jam here:
"Holiday On the Moon" is my other favorite song from this album, sign me up for that trip. I also like the uber-happy "All In My Mind" and their rad cover of The Temptation’s song "Ball Of Confusion". I guess Tina Turner, Anthrax, Duran Duran and a few other people have also covered that song too… Has anyone reading this heard that shit? Here’s the video for the Love & Rockets version:
On a totally unrelated note… we just got The Cassette’s "Neath The Pale Moon" Cd’s today in the mail from the pressing plant and they look/sound killer. I’m really excited about this band and the record they’ve made which will be Buddyhead #23. It comes out on itunes any day/week now and hits stores November 14th. Click here for a banner, post it around the internet if you feel so inclined. I’ll post a song from the album on this page soon for you to all check out, but in the meantime hit their myspace page to stream some songs and check out the Buddyhead label media page for some solo live videos of Shelby doin’ his thing. On another totally unrelated note… I just posted a few new photos from on my extremely neglected and disorganized photography page. It’s nothing mind blowing, but if you’re bored check it out. I have tons more photos to upload and I’m going to get to that as soon as I finish with up my first photography book which is set to be Buddyhead #25. I’m also going to have some limited edition prints for sale really soon (each print will be limited to 50 and hand numbered) so if you’re interested in sort of thing email me at traviskeller @ gmail dot com.
Oh and if you need more mp3 downloadage, go check out one of my favorite bloggers, Aquarium Drunkard. That dude has not been fuckin’ around lately and has been posting some really dope shit including some Dylan outtakes from "Blonde On Blonde" (part 1 & part 2) and "Freewheelin".
I found this randomly one day and it made me laugh. It’s a song by the singer from CAN, Holgar, gone solo. A little number called "Cool in the pool"… An absurd funky tune with great over-pronunciation. I don’t know too much about Can really but I did see Damo Suzuki (the other singer) play solo once a few years ago and it was incredible and mezmerizing. Unfortunately there was like only 7 people there because it’s at this club in DC that has shows at ridiculously late times so everyone has to leave to catch the last train. Serious bummer. At any rate, here’s Holgar… getting cool in the pool. A great song to blast at parties.
I’d bet money that these dudes are totally into "Funhouse". I’m also pretty sure, but not positive, that they’re really stoked on pizza and skateboarding too… but there’s NO WAY these guys don’t know the second Stooges record is the best rock record ever recorded. As far as new bands go, "Awesome Color" are one of the few I’ve heard lately that I can actually listen to. Their sound is somewhere between Mudhoney (if Mark Arm and the boys weren’t so much cooler) and Comets On Fire (if they wrote actual songs and didn’t have a dude who only played hair whips). I don’t know much else about these cats, cept that they’re from the Midwest and live in Brooklyn… I’m full of information, I know. Check out these two songs and stream another one on their myspace page. Are you freaks feelin’ this shit or what? Has anyone reading this seen these dudes live? Let’s talk about it…
So I’ve been out of town for a while and haven’t had time to update this page… Hey man, it’s hard to want to be on a computer in Hawaii. BUT… I have some new stuff to post up here and I’m gonna get on that real soon… in the meantime check out this clip from that soap opera "All My Children" where they talk about Mike Patton, Tomahawk and Guns N’ Roses. Can you say POSERS? I’d love to know which one of their writers included these rock references…
I really don’t know too much about this guy other than he is on Barsuk and a bunch of people like him. A few years back I really stopped reading most music press other than Buddyhead and online zines like Bornbackwards and Lost At Sea… It left me in a comfortable and weird enclave of just waiting for the information to eventually surface up to me or someone to just suggest something to me. Working at a record store for years in the 90s already left me with tons of vinyl that I still have never listened to plus the whole dance punk and neo-hair-metal revival of 2000s "emo" never appealed to me so I figured I’d wait out some generational trends. So, onto this post… I like some of John V’s songs, haven’t heard a complete album but my pals really dig him and I heard he has a recording studio. He seems like class-A nerd with some talent. These tracks are enjoyable, in particular "Pale Horse" which has great lo-fi meets hi-fi contrast in the sound. His voice reminds me of a non-conflicted more confident Jeremy Enigk. A great track! The second one "Bill Gates Must Die" is a confusing one to me as I don’t really think Bill Gates should die, of course he is a shrewd businessman but he also gives lots of money to help unfortunate people. If anything Johnny boy can say "all corporations can die", I think it would be a more positive attempt at spectacular statements. And finally the track "Trance Manual" is good tune with layered keyboards and vocals.
