The Moog – Razzmatazz Orfeum – MuSick Recordings

So I browsed these cats on the interwebs. They’re from Hungary. And they got some comparisons to Gogol Bordello. So I figures, “Hey. They’re probably a gypsy-folk-punk thing-a-ma-jig band too.” Nope. Not even.
These guys are pretty much what “alternative music” is today (and I’m still unsure what that is). Meaning? They sound like some new wave, pop-rock band like The Strokes or Frans Ferdinand with a touch more electronics involved. In fact, they will soon take the wrestling title championship belt as the heirs to the “Frans Ferdinand Crown For The Angst-y Young Black Clothing Crowd”. Their stuff is infectiously upbeat (even the slower stuff), has the correct influences (some Pulp, some Bowie, some of that 80′s new romantic stuff…you get the vibe), very slightly “gothically enhanced” (their 7-inch single of the tune ‘You Raised A Vampire’ has a b-side of the Bauhaus tune ‘The Passion Of Lovers’ and cover art by creepy-kids artist Gris Grimly) and they have the seemingly mandatory flouncy clothing. It’s a fine temporary listen for that week, y’know? Fans of those Twilight books and movies will be all kinds of fired-up.

Ciao My Shining Star:The Songs of Mark Mulcahy is a tribute to acclaimed Miracle Legion, Polaris front man, and Connecticut indie legend Mark Mulcahy, in memory of his wife Melissa who passed away in 2008. The interpretations of alternative songwriter Mulcahy’s music by Thom Yorke, Michael Stipe, Dinosaur Jr., Mercury Rev, The National, Frank Black, Josh Rouse, The Butterflies Of Love and many others will ease Mr Mulcahy’s financial burden of raising a family as a single parent. This collection of new music is available in three configurations: a 21-track CD, a 21-track digtal download, and a 41-track deluxe download on iTunes. I would strongly urge you to pony up the extra money and buy the 41 track download which has terrific not to be missed performances by The Gravel Pit, Dumptruck, Laura Veirs, and Buffalo Tom among others.

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On Sunday, September 20th, 2009 there was a benefit for Mark and his family at the Music Hall of Williamsburg, 66 North 6th St, Brooklyn, NY. Guests included Mark’s former Miracle Legion bandmate Ray Neal along with Frank Black, the late Vic Chesnutt, The Autumn Defense, David Berkeley, Chris Harford, The Butterflies of Love, BP Helium, The Gravel Pit, Winterpills and many more. Also on the bill was the World Premiere of the Thom Yorke music video “All For The Best.” There was also readings by Graphic Novelist Ben Katchor.

photo credit: RazingCulture

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
-Shakespeare

Ah, the elusive band name. Every musical outfit has the “what are we going to call ourselves ” moment. The Beatles solved it with a twist on Buddy Holly’s backing band, The Crickets. The Rolling Stones named themselves after a Muddy Waters song. Nirvana? What could be better than “a place or state of oblivion to care, pain, or external reality.?” Let’s take a brief look at the names of our musical muses.

My Bloody Valentine – Named after a 1981 Canadian slasher film. While we’re on the subject of blood I should mention that the sheer volume of this band may cause your ears to bleed.

New York Dolls – Sassy, trashy, and in yer face. God love ‘em.

Wu-Tang Clan - Taken from Wu Dang mountain in China, which was associated with Taoism, martial arts and medicine.

The Trashmen – When you’ve recorded the worlds trashiest song,”Surfin’ Bird,” then you deserve this name.

Bad Brains – I love this name. No explanation necessary.

The Sex Pistols – Originally called QT Jones and the Sex Pistols. There’s a lot to be said for brevity.

Sonic Youth – Combines the nickname of MC5′s Fred “Sonic” Smith with reggae artist Big Youth. They may have topped it with their one off tribute to Madonna – Ciccone Youth.

My Morning Jacket – Worst indie music band name ever. Guess all the good names were taken. Does not work on any level.

? and The Mysterians – From a Japanese sci fi movie. Lead singer Rudy Martinez legally changed his name to ? – really!

The Velvet Underground – Taken from the title of a kinky book. After all is said and done, it is SEX, drugs, and rock n’ roll that we’re talking about here.

Devo - Shorthand for de-evolution or the dumbing down of our world. True prophets.

Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes – Perfectly captures the hedonism of the 70′s. Their singer was a hairdresser named Monti Rock III.

Kraftwerk – German for Power Station. Although I like to think of their music as being very “krafty.”

De La Soul – When you’re known for masterful wordplay, rapping, and music it follows that you have a great name.

Gang of Four – A leftist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party officials who were subsequently charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The band was sorta political too.

Hootie & the Blowfish – Taken from a Bob Dylan song, “Only Wanna Be With You.” I guess Bob’s lyrics can’t all be as good as “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat.”

U2 – Inclusive, embracing, just like their rock music anthems.

ZZ Top – A sly reworking of BB King. When you consider their clever wordplay and singular take on da blooz, this name makes perfect sense.

Lothar & The Hand People – Taken from a dream in which an enslaved race called the Hand People are saved by a hero named Lothar. A name like this could only have happened in the 60′s.

Got yourself a favorite  band name? Then by all means, drop a line.

Three cats, 66.6% of whom used to be in a CT band called The Battlecats. Go to their MySpace page and hear the entire e.p. for free. Dude…free music does not suck nards. And actually, (oh the clever segue) neither does this. Yeah, it’s only two tunes. And yeah, you can hear little bits and pieces of other band riffs in it that sound a bit similar (brief Everclear and Stooges moments hitting my ears). But those musical glimpses (and slight White Stripes-y vibe) work pretty danged well together. The music is catchy, it’s got hooks, it’s snotty-sounding and has a healthy dollop of sweaty, R&B-ish basement rock which is never a bad thing. Lyrics? “I feel your worm hair creeping through my knuckles/It’s all so right now” from the tune “The Hock”.
Added feature; when you drop this disc into your ‘puter the tunes show up as a couple of Christmas songs by a band called The Blue Minkies. I dunno, I found that funny.

The Hi-Nobles

Suits, Soul and Shades.

If you are really, overly concerned with who is in a band and you feel that musicians should never stray from the style of music they started playing back when they were 18 or whatever, first?…you need to stop that mess ’cause that’s dumb (change is constant. Get over it and yourself). And second you can stop reading right now.

The singer who used to “grrrrr” it up for San Francisco funk metal band Mordred back in the late 80′s-early 90′s (Scott Holderby) and the guitarist who started out and is still playing in L.A. punk legends The Avengers (Greg Ingraham) grabbed some other band dudes and slapped together this crew. And what, pray-tell, do these guys sound like, you may wonder ? This is a disc of solid, R&B, garage soul living in CA with a groove address in Detroit. Real fun stuff. All sixties fuzzy sound complete with that distinct keyboard backing and heavy usage of the word “baby” and the lovin’ is always sweet. Oh…and they mean it. No frontin’ the soul on this disc. “Soul Sister”, “Red Eye”, “Shake”…hell, the whole disc (even the slower tunes) will make you wanna find a dark, smoky, steamy club and shake what your Momma gave you with some hot stranger while hitting the well bourbon. Old school party soul.

The 10th annual Latin Alternative Music Conference held in New York was an amalgamation of styles ranging from rock, reggae, cumbia and pop to more forward looking sounds which incorporated trance, ambient, crunk, zouk, and grindcore. Here is a quick overview of some of the standouts from the LAMC.

Juana Molina is amazing. Her hypnotic sound incorporates ambient loops with low-key vocals. “Un Dia” and “Vive Solo” are standouts, but realistically, the quality is so high, that it’s hard to leave any of her songs out.

Los Hollywood hail from Los Angeles and San Diego, California. Think 80’s powerpop, Blondie, The Motels, with a hint of Pat Benatar style rawk. Not necessarily nutritious, but not overly sugary either.

Bomba Estereo from Columbia play danceable reggae, with dub and cumbia. The infectious singing and rapping of Liliana Saumet is a real pleasure. Dancing is the main focus with Bomba Estereo. Don’t just sit their, get off your butt and move!

Natalia Lafourcade from Mexico has a great poppy sound with a desirable influx of the quirky. Hints of Kate Bush and Bjork inform her work.

RH+ from Chile clearly show the widest range of pop influences. With a mixture of electronic sounds and indie rock and just a trace of stadium rock thrown in. Their musicianship is impressive.

The Domino Saints from Puerto Rico are pretty much straight up reggae with a hint of ska. Giselle Ojeda’s spirited vocals along with some nice James Bond style twangy guitar make for good sonic fun.

Monareta from Bogota and Brooklyn play Electro /Tropical / Breakbeat. Or as their MySpace listing states: EXPLOSIVO//EXOTIC//TRONCHO//DANCEABLE//[[with some hiss and glitches]] Monareta comes to the party with a wide ranging sound palette. An emphasis on dance grooves with some b-boy rapping make for a good time.

Obviously, this is a quick run down of Latin Alternative music. Do yourself a favor and check out the links. A treasure trove of excellent music is out there for your listening pleasure.

photo credit: duziem

At first I saw Yoko Ono as a slightly nutty artist who had attached herself to a Beatle. I’ll admit that what initially drew me to her were her caterwauling shrieks on the song “Don’t Worry, Kyoko (Mummy’s Only Looking For Her Hand In The Snow)”, the b-side to John Lennon’s “Cold Turkey” a song on many a jukebox in the early 70’s. Being the obnoxious teenage twerps that we were, nothing was more fun than to go to our favorite pizza place and harass the other diners with Yoko’s collection of shrieks and screams.

Then, a funny thing happened. I realized what Yoko was attempting had honesty, bravery, and commitment. Whether fighting for woman’s rights with “She Hits Back” and “Woman Power” or melding the avant garde with rock in “Mind Train” and “Why” or calling for peace and understanding with “We’re All Water” and “Starpeace.” A readjustment of my viewpoint was in order.

By the early 80’s artists Lene Lovich and the B-52’s with a nifty Ono impersonation on “Rock Lobster”, were showing a clear indication that they too were listening to Yoko. Coupled with tributes from Sonic Youth and Elvis Costello, something new was in the air. Yoko Ono was commanding respect on her own terms.

In April 2003, a remixed version of “Walking on Thin Ice” went to number one on the dance charts. She followed this with “Everyman…Everywoman…” which also topped the charts as did “No No No”, and “I’m Not Getting Enough.” February 2007 saw the release of “Yes, I’m a Witch,” a collection of remixes and covers by artists including The Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Antony, DJ Spooky, Porcupine Tree and Peaches. Another compilation “Open Your Box” followed in April of the same year.

An invitation to the 2009 Meltdown Festival in London saw the unveiling of the new Plastic Ono Band which features her son Sean as well as Cornelius and Yuka Honda. A new Plastic Ono Band collection “Between My Head And The Sky” is due for release in September of 2009.

On June 11th, 2009 Yoko was honored with the Mojo Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award. At the presentation, MOJO editor Phil Alexander commented:

“Yoko Ono helped change music as we know it, first by introducing avant-garde sensibilities to her husband and secondly, just as significantly, by continuing to push the boundaries of what was deemed the normal way after that. She is a huge influence on modern music and this award recognizes her inspirational qualities and ongoing questing.Yoko Ono is unique and we are thrilled to commemorate her lifetime on the front line.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.