Thursday, September 28. 2006
Kill Rhythm - killrhythm.com
Location: Vancouver, British Columbia
Status: Unsigned
Style: Hard Rock/Metal
Releases:- KillRhythm (E.P)
- Double Platinum (E.P)
- KillRhythm III (E.P.)
- KillRhythm 4
Why they don't Suck: Over the course of their 4 recordings Kill Rhythm have evolved into a powerful band that writes great songs. Garth Allen is one of the most talented frontmen I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. "The Future Hurts" just grabs you by the throat and won't let go. What a great song!
See them in cyberspace: The Future Hurts
See them Live: They only seem to play once a month. Check their MySpace Page for upcoming dates.
Friday, September 22. 2006
I've never watched any of these talent/reality shows, like American Idol. I'm not so much on the television watching.
But there was a time I was hopelessly addicted to a campy, intoxicating show called Xena: Warrior Princess, starring former Miss New Zealand Lucy Lawless in the title role.
I knew Lawless ( Battlestar Galactica) could sing, since XWP had several musical episodes (I told you it was campy), so it makes sense that a B-list celeb fest like Celebrity Duets might include her. It pairs entertainers not known as singers with musical legends - usually code for "has-beens," and there are a few of those, but many genuine legends as well, including Smokey Robinson, Patti LaBelle, and Gladys Knight.
It's not hard to see where a show like this could suck. It's hard to see, in fact, how it couldn't. And if you're sitting there thinking I'm going to tell you it doesn't suck, you're wrong. Because it sucks so massively it's causing a disruption in the space-time continuum. It's sucking at Olympic levels. It's sucking like the last sucky thing in the galaxy.
Are you getting the picture?
Let me give you an example, much as it pains me.
Actor/comedian Hal Sparks ( Survival of the Richest, Queer as Folk, stupid VH-1 series I Love the 70s, I Love the 80s, and I Love the 90s) and Dee Snyder (Twisted Sister) singing "We're Not Gonna Take It." The sheer badness of this duet is, frankly, indescribable, although that won't prevent me from attempting to describe it for you. Sparks is notable for having been called "too white" by Celebrity Duets judge Marie Osmond earlier in the show, and when Marie Osmond thinks you're "too white," honey... you're too white. Not just to sing Motown, which he tried to do, not just to sing, but to GO ON LIVING.
But I'd rather see him singing Motown every day for the rest of my life than have to live through his duet with Dee Snyder again. It was tuneless and soulless and horrifying. He was wearing too much eyeliner, and in his case, any is too much.
And I must not be the only one, because despite much diligent searching, I can't find video of this nightmare performance on YouTube or anywhere else people upload these things.
I can, however, show you the following:
Lucy Lawless singing a pretty crappy song, "Footloose," with Kenny Loggins, but when you look that freaking hot in a fringed mini-dress who the hell cares?
Lucy Lawless singing "Oooh, Baby Baby" with Smokey Robinson - she looks like a trashy Vegas showgirl instead of a Warrior Princess, but just ignore that and think about the fringed mini-dress. I did.
As soon as someone uploads it, I'll show you Jai Rodriguez ( Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) singing "Lady Marmalade" with Patti LaBelle. She can still sing like some kind of goddess even though her wardrobe needs serious attention. And Jai looks like a debauched paperboy. Just listen but don't watch, because vocally? They owned me.
In the meantime, here is Jai singing "Still in Love With You" with Gladys Knight. It's almost as good. It might be better since you don't have to close your eyes during it.
And seriously, don't watch this show. Just don't. Not even the Warrior Princess can save it. Just look for her parts on YouTube.
So here the deal. I've stumbled across lots of great Canadian bands/musicians either at live shows or on that crazy little thing called the internet (they have it on computers now). What sets them apart is that they suck me in and leave me wanting more. They might be veteran touring acts, major label rockers, an indie act just finding their following or some kids in their parents basement. Inspiration and Innovation seem to be my keywords these days and again that's what I'm looking for.
Lets begin, shall we?
Jimmy Bowskill - jimmybowskill.com
Location: Bethany, Ontario
Status: Unsigned. Two independently released albums with another on the way.
Style: Blues
Releases:- Old Soul (2003)
- Soap Bars and Dog Ears (2004)
Awards and Nomintions:- 2005 Juno Nomination - Blues Album of the Year
- 2005 Canadian Indie Award - Favourite Blues Artist
- 2004 Canadian Indie Award - Favourite Blues Artist
- 2004 Canadian Maple Blues Award - Best New Artist
- 2004 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Galaxie Rising Star Award
- 2004 DareArts - Children For Peace Leadership Award
Why he doesn't suck: Jimmy may only be 16 years old but in him dwells the soul of an old blues man. His initial break came when, at the age of eleven, he was invited to sit in with Jeff Healey. Since then Jimmy has surrounded himself with other talented blues musicians (Jerome Godboo and Jack DeKeyser for example), maintained a fairly rigorous touring schedule (especially true considering he's still in highschool) and shared the stage with the likes of Dicky Betts.
Upcoming Dates:- Friday, October 13, 2006 - Algonquin Theatre, Huntsville, ON
- Saturday, October 14, 2006 - McKeck's Place, Haliburton, ON
- Saturday, October 21, 2006 - Uxbridge Music Hall, Uxbridge, ON
- Saturday, October 28, 2006 - The Orangeville Opera House, Orangeville, ON
- Friday, November 10, 2006 - Aylmer Old Town Hall, Aylmer, ON
- Saturday, November 11, 2006 - Victoria Jubilee Hall, Walkerton, ON
- Friday, November 24, 2006 - Showplace Performing Arts Centre, Peterborough, ON
- Saturday, November 25, 2006 - The Academy Theatre, Lindsay, ON
Protest The Hero - protestthehero.com
Location: Whitby, Ontario
Status: Signed to Underground Operations
Style: Heavy Metal
Releases:- Search for the truth EP (2002)
- A Calculated Use of Sound EP (2003)
- Kezia (2005)
Why they don't suck: I was immediately impressed when I listened to the songs featured on their MySpace page. Heretics and Killers is a hell of an introduction to this band. These kids can play. This is fast articulate metal with soaring vocals and flawless guitar work. Iron Maiden Evolved!
Upcoming Dates:- 10.01.06 Lake Buena Vista, FL - House Of Blues (Orlando)
- 10.02.06 Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
- 10.03.06 Day Off
- 10.04.06 Baltimore, MD - Recher Theatre
- 10.05.06 Norfolk, VA - Norva
- 10.06.06 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadeo
- 10.07.06 Worcester, MA - The Palladium
- 10.08.06 Montreal, QC - Le Medley
- 10.09.06 Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Hall
- 10.10.06 New York, NY - Nokia Theatre
- 10.11.06 Day Off
- 10.12.06 Buffalo, NY - Showplace Theatre
- 10.13.06 Cleveland, OH - Peabody's
- 10.14.06 Detroit, MI - Harpos
Thursday, August 17. 2006
Since everyone but me is at Daytona, it's time to write about dance music.
Back in the 80s, in my wild youth, I loathed dance music. My friends and I called it "dance fascist music" and sneered at anyone we knew who danced to it, and rapturously adopted the Smiths' 1986 song "Panic" as our anthem:
Burn down the disco
Hang the blessed DJ
Because the music they constantly play
It says nothing to me about my life....
Hang the DJ, hang the DJ, hang the DJ
Of course, we went out dancing every night (I don't believe I got a full night's sleep until sometime in the early 90s), but not even by the wildest stretch of language could anyone contemplate calling what we danced to "dance music." I was researching Johnny Marr's session work for this article, and stumbled over a review of The The's album Infected (which Johnny Marr did NOT play on, in case anyone out there is keeping track), which said something to the effect that despite the "danceability" of the music, "no one could possibly dance to anything this incredibly depressing."
Hell, I used to dance to a song called "Armagh" by a British band called the Au Pairs, that contained the memorable lines, "We don't torture, we're a civilized nation." They were talking about Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but gosh, someone oughta cover that song for today, ya think? But back to dancing. Yes, I danced to "Infected" (still the greatest anti-romance song ever written), but I never, ever danced to actual 80s dance music.
So what happened to change all that?
My friend JD told me that it wasn't me that changed, it was the music. He said that 80s dance music really was just that bad, and dance music today is really better.
Another friend speculated also that the music changed, but his reason was that the drugs changed. He says that I only like "post-ecstasy" dance music, despite the fact that I gave up all my Wicked Ways at the age of 24 and have never done ecstasy on the dance floor, or off it.
My personal theory is that both those things are true, but probably the most important change in dance music had to do not with drugs but with technology. Modern dance music is very much about technology, both in its original conception and recording, and in the endless phenomenon of remixing that characterizes it as a genre. Dance music today, whether called by its rightful name or by its marketing alternative, "electronica," is simply more interesting, more layered, more complex, and more inventive than dance music of the 80s. It's also far more diverse. And at least in this country, incredibly unpopular. Which may also be part of why I like it now. I love an underdog.
I had to laugh at JeffB, who wrote in his post-SXSW music blogging frenzy that he did now and then like some dance music, naming the Chemical Brothers and Moby as examples. I didn't laugh because that's not dance music, but because it's dance music with street cred; hardly anyone is going to think you're disco trash because you like the Chemical Brothers or Moby - and I like them, too, but I also like honest-to-god-divas-of-the-dancefloor dance music, like Kristine W and Suzanne Palmer and Deborah Cox, who between them are responsible for three, count 'em THREE, of the most played songs on my iPod, Kristine W's "Fly Again," Suzanne Palmer's "Show Me," and the Hex Hector remix of Deborah Cox's anthem "Absolutely Not," which helps put the "fem" back in "feminism" and is thus a big hit with me.
There are some real problems with the way dance music is marketed, one of them being the fact that most dance CDs are six versions of the same song remixed six ways by six different producers and costing twelve bucks. The number of songs I like well enough to pay twelve dollars for six versions of is, let's be frank, very small. I have "In the End" and "Rapture" by Iio - two songs that are so good they make me dizzy, anything and everything Narcotic Thrust has ever done in any and every remix anyone ever made of their songs, and the remixes of "Stupid Girls" by P!nk, because as I think we've already more than established, I LOVE HER. That might be it, other than a bunch of 99 cent-dance-song-CDs I've picked up in the clearance bins.
Speaking of 99 cents, that brings us to the single thing that might well change all that: iTunes, where you can, for one penny less than a dollar, buy just one version of the song you like. At least half my purchases on iTunes are dance music, and they don't even have a very good dance music catalog (although for recent releases it's not too bad; it's just not very deep). Suddenly I can have almost every dance song I want for one-twelfth what it used to cost me. Sadly, this seems to mean I am spending ten times more overall on dance music; I have to think they had that in mind when they came up with their pricing strategy.
Budget aside, the days are over when I sneered at dance music. Now I'm a believer. And in the words of P!ink (did I mention that I love her?):
If God is a DJ life is a dance floor so
Get your ass on the dance floor now...
Before everyone comes back from Daytona and I'm in BIG TROUBLE.
Tuesday, July 18. 2006
Joining our staff is the UK's Dawn Porter.
From Dawn:
I discovered the joys of metal whilst in the States, and bought the love back to the UK with me in 1999. Bad Religion, Life of Agony, Downset, Madball, Type O Negative, Agnostic Front, Biohazard and Sepultura were getting big here, but I was already two steps ahead.
Nowadays my purchases are mostly metal, or more specifically misery metal as my mate calls it. If I do an iPod shuffle you'll certainly get some Staind, Alterbridge, Tantric, Cold, Incubus and Puddle of Mudd. But hey, you can still get all of the stuff from my past mixed in with that too. Life is supposed to like a box of chocolates, mine is a bit like a box of rattlesnakes! Read on!
Saturday, July 15. 2006
As we were getting our anniversary tattoos, I got to thinking (while my husband was getting his) how many of our members have tattoos of something music related. I have plans to get the brick ST for Suicidal somewhere eventually. I will always be Suicidal for LIFE! My husband was getting Primus' Skeeter tattooed on his forearm.
Metal, I have always said, is more than just a genre of music, but also a lifestyle for most fans. When we really love a band, we show our love. We want the world to know as well.
Show us your band ink in the photo gallery. I know there are some of you with it! Be Proud and show it.
BTW for those interested, my tattoos were my dogs paw-prints to start my back piece. I may be a reptile lover, but I also love my Bullies. Nothing totally rock 'n roll, but something special to my heart. Which is the true value behind anyone's ink. Pete at Altered Evolution did a great job on our work and boy do I have plans for him.
Saturday, July 8. 2006
I'm kind of a sucker for cover songs. There are songs I hate in their original version, that I love as a cover song - and of course, there are approximately four hundred million examples of the reverse, because, you know, bar bands. Wedding bands. Bad tribute bands. Shit, GOOD tribute bands. I'm just saying.
But still, I'm a sucker, like I said. So here is a totally bizarre collection of some of my favorite cover songs, from the "Just Covers" playlist on my iPod. I mean, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and I haven't actually refined this into a top ten or anything. I did skip multiple tracks by the same artist, but otherwise this is the first ten I got when I shuffled the covers playlist.
Ten Random Cover Songs from my iPod:
1. Gloria by Patti Smith
She is as a god to me. This is why. Well, this and all her other music. But seriously... what she does with this song is almost impossible, and quite possibly illegal in South Dakota. "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine."
2. Where the Streets Have No Name/Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You by the Pet Shop Boys
OK, so.... the Pet Shop Boys' "You Were Always On My Mind" routinely makes it onto "Ten Best Covers of all Time" lists, and it's good, it's really good. But I like this one better, a strange electro-dance version of the U2 classic mixed up with the old 60s pop hit. I've heard Bono really liked this, and so do I.
3. Lola by The Raincoats
Genderfuck to the nth degree. You can take the girl out of punk but you can never really get the punk out of the girl.
4. Sisters of Mercy by Sting and the Chieftans
This is from a tribute to Canadian songwriter Leonard Cohen called Tower of Song. This, and Peter Gabriel's cover of "Suzanne," are the standout tracks, but it's all good.
5. Helpless by kd lang
It was this or her cover of "What's New, Pussycat," but I went with this even though it was a big hit and you probably already heard it. But covers don't get any better than this, a great Neil Young original, a great cover, and one of the greatest voices ever. Her entire album of covers of songs by Canadian artists, Hymns of the 49th Parallel, is the only kd lang album I really like. Although if I weren't doing this randomly, but had been able to go in and pick and choose, Roxy Music's version of Young's "Like a Hurricane" would have been here instead.
6. Take Me to the River by Talking Heads
I've seen this once or twice on "Top Ten Cover Songs" lists and I don't know why it's not on all of them. It's scorching.
7. Hurt by Johnny Cash
I don't know, I was scarred for life by his cover of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus," although I love the Marilyn Manson version, but this cover of Nine Inch Nail's "Hurt" is devastating. In a good, someone please just leave me here in a darkened room in a fetal position sucking my thumb kind of way.
8. I Fought the Law and the Law Won by the Clash
Yeah, here's that 80s thing again. I can't help when I was born. I can't help loving the Clash. I can't help it that I ummmm kind of put this song on continuous replay while I clean the house sometimes.
9. Man in Black by Marc Almond
This is on a UK compilation for an AIDS organization called the Terrence Higgins Trust. It's a tribute album to Johnny Cash called 'Til Things Are Brighter, and it features a huge number of really good and really strange things, of which in my opinion, this is the best. If you can find it on Ebay or somewhere, you should get it. Other artists include Michelle Shocked singing "One Piece at a Time," Cathal Coughlan doing a kick-ass cover of "Ring of Fire," the Mekons' version of "Folsom Prison Blues," Tracey and Melissa Beehive's deadpan "Five Feet High and Risin'," and I don't know, it just gets better and weirder all the time.
10. Everytime We Say Goodbye by Annie Lennox
From the original Red, Hot, and Blue compilation, a tribute to the songs of Cole Porter and also an AIDS benefit album and video. (It was recently re-released on CD and DVD.) It's full of good stuff ... the video for Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop's version of "Well, Did You Evah!" is worth the price of admission alone ... but Annie Lennox's "Everytime We Say Goodbye" is particularly gripping. The video for this track was supposed to be directed by British filmmaker Derek Jarman, who was at the last minute unable to do it because he was dying of AIDS. Lennox chose to film it standing in front of a blank screen with home movies of Jarman's childhood being projected on her face. "Every time we say goodbye, I die a little."
Someone better post some thrashy hard assed cover songs now, because I am such a fucking girl sometimes.
Thursday, May 11. 2006
Want to be a music journalist but have no desire to wax poetic? How bout becoming a rock & roll photographer instead? With the flood of digital cameras in the hands of the general public, just about anyone with the desire and a free user account here can be a rock & roll photographer. If you want to publish your rock & roll photos and make your mark in music journalism, we have plenty of space available in our photo gallery for your pictures and it's free!
Concert pics, backstage pics, heck even pics of you holding your pet snake in your favorite rock & roll t-shirt are all suitable to be posted in our gallery. Check it out at http://clubpix.kingsnake.com
Sunday, April 30. 2006
Alice Cooper told me to start this webzine, telepathically. Some in the reptile industry, however, feel I need to adjust the reception on my aluminum foil hat.
Mention the name Alice Cooper to most people and they will tell you he was the world's first "shock" rocker, best known for a song hated by generations of teachers and parents everywhere, the infamous "School's Out," or for his extremely timely and incredibly vacant opus of wasted youth, "Eighteen," or for the infamous myth that he bit the head off a live chicken onstage in 1968. Ask somebody who owns a snake and they will probably tell you somewhere deep in their subconscious, Alice Cooper taught them that rock & roll & snakes were cool.
I know for me this imprint happened in Indianapolis in 1973 when I was 10 and saw a news story on TV about Alice. Politicians were trying to ban him from appearing because of stage antics where he appeared to behead himself with a guillotine. I remember watching the coverage of him onstage and he had this monster boa constrictor. To a ten year old the snake seemed huge. And Alice really seemed to piss the adults off.
I got three things out of this when I was 10: Rock 'n' roll was cool, Alice Cooper was really cool, and I wanted to own a really big snake. It was probably a good thing my mom turned off the TV just as Alice was sticking his head on the chopping block or lord knows what else I'd have gotten out of it or how I'd have turned out. No matter, what I did take away has kept me in fairly good stead so far.
Many, many songs, albums, tours, and years later, Alice Cooper is still the purveyor of cool to me, and he still takes snakes on tour with him. Last year he had one of Amazon Reptile Center's pythons on the road with him. His next tour starts in June and I'll be curious to see if the snakes go with him again. I don't think it swings through Austin, but if he makes it to Texas somewhere I'll try to catch up and give him a kingsnake.com T-shirt. ;)
Since then, many popular music stars have used snakes in their act or promotions, including Britney Spears and LaToya Jackson, or kept them in their personal lives, including Kerry King from Slayer. But certainly no other musician of record has influenced so many people to turn up the music, put on a black t-shirt and leather jacket, and take up the snakes like Alice.
Rock and roll has long been influenced by reptiles, whether it's the 1001 covers of the old blues standard "Crawling Kingsnake," a personal favorite, or Jim Morrison, the infamous "Lizard King," encouraging all to "Ride the snaaaaakkke." While most rock and roll has introduced reptiles subtly through lyrics, Alice's use of large constrictors onstage was essentially a cathartic progression that has resulted in a huge subculture of black-wearing, goth-influenced reptile owners wholisten to music with an alternative edge or message.
This webzine is basically for all the fans of rock & roll & reptiles. Thanks, Alice, for telling me to start it - whether you actually did or not.
Saturday, April 29. 2006
We can't promise you backstage passes, limousines, or groupies, in fact, we can't even pay you, but we can guarantee two things - someone will read what you've written, and someone will disagree with what you've written.
We are looking for a few good writers who want to blog about the alternative and indie music scenes from a variety of locations, perspectives, and genres. Applicants must enjoy music (of course) and be able to write good well.
If you're interested in blogging here, drop us a note and let us know where you're located, what kind of music you like, and what your background with music and writing is. Like we said, this is not a paying gig, you have to do it for the power and prestige alone.
Thursday, April 27. 2006
I believed Apple when they told me I have to take all my music with me everywhere I go, and thus have taken on a Herculean task: Putting all my CDs on my iPod. Daunting though this may seem, it does have its payoffs, one of which is now and then hearing music as if for the first time. And that happened to me last night when I decided it was time to load up all my Velvet Underground.
I originally discovered the Velvet Underground around 27 years ago, listening to a bootleg of Patti Smith singing "White Light, White Heat" live. My friend said, oh, that's a Velvet Underground song, and I said, the who? So she played the original of "White Light/White Heat," and I just lay on the floor and thought: This is unbelievable. Who knew? And then she played "Pale Blue Eyes" and I was lost, lost, lost.
The Velvet Underground got their start as proteges of Andy Warhol, who designed the cover of their first album, 1967's The Velvet Underground and Nico. The lineup was Lou Reed on vocals, guitar and songwriting duties, John Cale on crazy electric viola, Sterling Morrison on guitar, Maureen Tucker on drums (girl drummer in 1965, how cool is THAT?), and for their first album only, Nico singing on three tracks ("Femme Fatale," "All Tomorrow's Parties," "I'll Be Your Mirror") of the cool dark pop Reed was writing then - if you can write pop songs about heroin and sadomasochism, which he could. And did.
Nico didn't stay with the band, Warhol lost interest, and in 1968, with Reed handling all the vocals, they released their second album, White Light/White Heat. And this time, they unleashed something primal and hard and cacaphonuous, that got rough in a way that still sounds modern today, unlike the music of many of their contemporaries who were, at the time, better known. They used feedback and distorted sound, and "Sister Ray" clocked in at SEVENTEEN AND A HALF MINUTES LONG - not even the most Ecstasy-drenched, mindnumbing electrotrancedance song gets away with that. This stuff was just weird and out of step with the 60s and anything remotely acceptable or marketable back then; this is the song that gave birth to punk rock.
Cale left after a huge feud with Reed, and was replaced by Doug Yule. The group released their third album, The Velvet Underground, in 1969. This one was more muted and less "anti-beauty," with a couple of standout rock tracks and a handful of chiming pop songs ... "Pale Blue Eyes," "Candy Says," and "Jesus," three of the best songs Lou Reed ever wrote. And of course, "Sweet Jane," possibly one of the most covered songs ever.
It made me absolutely crazy to see Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side" listed on a "One Hit Wonders" playlist on iTunes, although I suppose the real problem is that "hits" are a piss-poor way to define the impact of a musician or a group on the music world. Reed and the Velvet Underground could have never had a "hit," and they'd still be more important than groups that churned out top forty hit after hit during the 60s. They influenced Patti Smith, Brian Eno, David Bowie, and so many others it would be impossible to list them. (Eno is supposed to have said that almost no one bought their first album, but everyone who did went out and started a band.)
If you have never heard them, and you're a fan of punk, post-punk, indie, lo-fi, or any other possible genre or hyphenation of alternative music, go find their stuff and listen to it. Then see if you can believe this music is forty years old. I was in kindergarten when it came out. You might not have even been born. Then tell iTunes to choke on their "One Hit Wonders."
Wednesday, April 26. 2006
When I quit clubbing in my late 20s, I started snake hunting. Let me tell you that the one thing that kept me from driving off of numerous cliffs in the middle of the night in Davis County was loud screaming rock and roll. Joe Forks always used to say that the reason I rarely saw graybands was that the bass was shaking my eyeballs too much. Snake hunting and music go well together, the music often acting as a soundtrack or mood enhancer to what was usually a long monotonous drive.
I remember driving east on 90 between Sanderson and Langtry listening to the Doors' "Riders on the Storm" as I dashed from rain shower to rain shower, parking at 5:30am overlooking Lake Amistad watching a lightning storm over Mexico, the sun dawning to the east and "Dark Side of the Moon" providing an aural backdrop, or dodging 18 wheelers and weekend boaters zipping down 277 on a hot friday night with some Soundgarden to help keep the pace.
Music and snake hunting are a natural.
Monday, April 24. 2006
Via Dave at Line Out, a 2003 gem from the Onion (need I say more?):
(M)y mind has features your iPod will never have. Does your iPod have real-time remixing? No?! Well, if I don't like the original lyrics to Kansas' "Carry On Wayward Son"â€â€zip, zip, zingâ€â€my mind can change them! Adding a cool bass line or a rocking keyboard flourish to any piece of music? No problem! Adding images of myself performing on stage with the band? Done!
Saturday, April 8. 2006
I recently rediscovered my love of music. It wasn't a new band or a concert that did it, though; it was our new radio. A year ago hubby and I made the switch to Sirius Satellite radio. I used to think it was a joke to pay to listen to music. So what if there are no commercials? Well, you know, commercials must make the difference.
Now, I have heard Motley Crue on the radio, but I have never ever heard C4, Deicide or Cannibal Corpse on the radio. Nothing wakes you up on a long drive home like "Hammer Smashed Face," let me tell ya. And I can honestly say I am really looking forward to Buckcherry's new release - and I can promise you won't hear many of their songs on terrestrial radio.
If you have a deep seated love of music no matter what style, I would seriously suggest satellite. Yeah it costs. Yeah you have to pay 12-15 bucks a month, but honestly, when you can choose from a selection like these companies are offering, I would never turn back. At this point I would rather sit in silence than be with out my new lover, My Sirius. Between the music and My Bubba the Love Sponge I am never alone.
Sirius
http://www.sirius.com/
XM
http://www.xmradio.com/
Wednesday, April 5. 2006
I liked the Smiths as much as anyone, in fact, I liked them to the point that I saw them 20 times in six different countries. I loved them, OK?
But that was a long, long time ago baby, and they ain't comin' back. Plus, you know, I grew up and everything. You can only be Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now for so long.
So I just don't get why people were so frigging disappointed when Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr released his snakily-named solo album Boomslang a few years ago. It's not like he hasn't done anything and everything since the Smiths broke up, from playing with the Pretenders and Bryan Ferry to the Pet Shop Boys (what that chiming guitar did to "Birthday Boy" could make a stone weep).
I also don't get the criticism of his voice. Does someone, somewhere, think MORRISSEY has a great voice? PSB's Neil Tennant? The The's Matt Johnson? Distinctive voices, yes, but great? Not so much. Marr's voice is fine, neither great nor bad, and fits the music well. Do we need more, when he plays guitar like that?
Boomslang came out to great expectations and decidedly mixed reviews. Rolling Stone hated it, Guitar Player loved it. And I'm damn glad I heard it before I read the forty-plus reviews on Amazon, because I probably would never have bought it if I'd read them first, and that would have been a shame. Because I really don't care if I'm in the minority, I think Boomslang is terrific. And I think the reason the legions of Smiths fans didn't like it is because it's a straight-up progressive rock album and it doesn't carry even the tiniest little tinge of angst or agony.
If you like your guitars to thrash and scream, you won't like Johnny Marr's guitar playing. It's subtle, layered, textured, and yes, can definitely be poppy. It's also technically astonishing, and a lot of musicians think so, too, given that he's played with the Pretenders, the Talking Heads, the Pet Shop Boys, The The, Kirsty MacColl, Bryan Ferry, Billy Bragg, Beck, and his group with Joy Division/New Order's Bernard Sumner, Electronic.
Electronic has produced some very good albums, but they're definitely not for your average rock fan .... which I suppose is fairly obvious from the name of the band. If you are allergic to dance/electronica but want to check them out, start with Twisted Tenderness, their third album, as Marr's guitar comes to the forefront (and it was criticized by many New Order fans as being "too rock").
But Boomslang isn't going to send rock fans into shock. There are no synthesizers, and Marr is backed by Zak Starkey (the most recent drummer to put his butt in Keith Moon's seat behind the Who, as well as current drummer for Oasis, which I try not to hold against him since he's a much better drummer than his father, Ringo Starr) on drums and Kula Shaker's Alonza Bevan on bass.
I'm not trying to mislead you; this is not a rock classic, and you won't die if you never hear it. His lyrics are kind of bland, and his voice is average at best.
But oh, that guitar.
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