Friday, May 23, 2008

Pop Ear Infection




















Even though "pop" is such an ambiguous term, marred by the stigma of it's association with commercialized music, I must admit that I am a sucker for a good pop song. Avril Lavigne is a "pop" singer, and she's horrible. Complete rubbish. But then, there's that London Bridges tune by Fergie that I can't get out of my head. Commercial "pop" music permeates our society at every turn and lulls the insipid consumer with it's homogenized hooks and melodies. Like television, Top 40 pop music has a tranquilizing effect on the public. It is the exact opposite of food for thought.

DON'T THINK! (Rock and Roll, Man!)

But that's that other pop music. Not at all like the melodic zeal of a song like, Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio? by The Ramones, or the lily-white melodies of The Cardigans. The kind of pop music I'm hooked on is pure, catchy, and un-pretentious. At times, it is the stuff of guilty pleasures. Yes, sometimes these simple songs are so perfect in their formulae that their appeal crosses over to the mainstream, and they truly become popular. It's inevitable, and no matter how betrayed we feel when the little groups we adore break free from the underground, secretly we can't help but root for them in the hopes that one day they might tip the balance of the popular music's vapid state in favor of music with spirit and originality. But seriously, FUCK THE RADIO, and have a taste of the candy my ears have been sucking on;




Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Notes From The French Quarter

Once again it's been awhile since I've posted anything. I was in a living situation that wasn't condusive to the kind of relaxed environment I require to work on this thing. But I'm in my own apartment now in the french quarter and I'm happy to be relaxed here and sharing some sounds I'm digging.



The Sess, Agendumb
Single Screen Records

Holy shit this is one powerful work. These guys are not pulling any punches and have given us an album that is a rollercoaster ride of aurally delicious garage hooks, technical twists and turns. This is rock and roll as a weapon. The guitar and bass melodies are jumping out my tiny desktop speakers like an army of bees and wasps. I cannot wait to hear this shit loud on a car stereo or on the sytem at the club. I imagine it sounding like The Who at Pearl Harbor. If the world doesn't blow up in 2012, this record could go down in history as one of the best punk records ever.

The Sess-Sheep City Mp3
The Sess-Mary Mp3

Statutory Triangle, Cajun Moments



Statutory Triangle skullfuck you with fucked up punk ju jitzu that sounds like Marc Almond on meth backed up by an alien with blasts of psych-damaged, freight train electronic drumbeats. These songs are fresh out of Quintron's Spellcaster Studio and I am privileged to be the first kid on the bloggerblock to give you:

Statutory Triangle-Fucking Famous Mp3
Statutory Triangle-Helen Anka Mp3

And I just can't seem to get enough of So What? by the Anti Nowhere League

So fucking what!

Well I've been to Hastings
And I've been to Brighton
I've been to Eastbourne too
So what, so what

Well I've been here
And I've been there
And I've been every fucking where
So what, so what

So what, so what you boring little cunt
Well who cares, who cares what you do
Who cares, who cares about you
You, you, you

Well I've sucked sweets
And I've sucked rock
And I've even sucked an old man's cock
So what, so what

Well I've fucked a sheep
And I've fucked a goat
I've had my cock right down its throat
So what, so what
So what, so what you boring little cunt
Well who cares, who cares what you do
Who cares, who cares about you
You, you, you, you

Well I've drunk that
And I've drunk this
And I've spewed up on a pint of piss
So what, so what

And I've had scag
I've had speed
I've jacked up until I bleed
So what, so what
So what, so what you boring little cunt
Well who cares, who cares what you do
Who cares, who cares about you
You, you, you, you

Well I've had crabs
And I've had lice
And I've had the pox and that ain't nice
So what, so what

Well I've fucked this
And I've fucked that
And I've even fucked a schoolgirl's crack
So what, so what
So what, so what you boring little cunt
Who cares, who cares about you
Who cares, who cares about you
You, you, you, you...




Anti Nowhere League-So What Mp3

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The King Khan & BBQ Show



The King Khan & BBQ Show consists of former Spaceshits, Mark Sultan (of Montreal, Quebec)and King Khan (of Berlin, Germany). They play soulful, unpretentious, humorous, romantic, low-fi garage rock and roll that harkens back to the good old days of boogie woogie rockabilly and punk. I could try and go off on a tangent about them but I really don't have much to write other than they're awesome and I'd like to share their awesomeness with you. If you want to know more, check The King Khan & BBQ Show Myspace.

The King Khan & BBQ Show-I Love You So Mp3
The King Khan & BBQ Show-Fish Fight Mp3
The King Khan & BBQ Show-Take Me Back Mp3
The King Khan & BBQ Show-Pig Pig Mp3

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

The Post Traumatic Sound Of Billy Druid's Atomic Gospel

Since the break up of the Tori Cobras in 2003 I have spent most of my time travelling around residing in different parts of the United States and even Mexico. With the constant flux in residency, finding people to play in a band with has been difficult, to say the least. In lieu of having a solid band I continued writing songs with my home recording gear and played all the instruments, guitar, drums, bass, vocals, keyboards, percussion, etc. myself. The result is Billy Druid's Atomic Gospel.Two of the Songs are covers, Rod Stewarts's Maggie May and three songs by the late, great, Cranford Nix Jr.,Pray For The End Of Time, Pawnshop, and Spiders and Snakes. These songs are demos that were recorded in every corner of the country over the last five years. Right click and hit "save target as".

Bad Man-Mp3
Live Free Or Die-Mp3
Kali-Mp3
Last Call-Mp3
Atomic Sunset-Mp3
Maggie Mayhem-Mp3
Davey Jones-Mp3
Terribly Empty-Mp3
Carpe Nocturne-Mp3
Pray For The End Of Time-Mp3
Carpe Nocturne-Acoustic-Mp3
Spiders and Snakes-Mp3
Pawnshop-Mp3

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Tori Cobras- Running With The Red Light


In 2002 I released a cd by my band, The Tori Cobras on my now bankrupt label, Pure Noise Forever. Copies of the cd are so scarce I think I have ONE copy to myself. So I am giving the album away in it's entirety now in this blog. Right click on the red song files and choose "save target as". I hope you enjoy the music.




Tori Cobras- When Guitars Attack Mp3
Tori Cobras- Revenge Mp3
Tori Cobras- If I Die Today Mp3
Tori Cobras- Love And War Mp3
Tori Cobras- Get In The Van Mp3
Tori Cobras- Stoned Mp3
Tori Cobras- Six Minutes Mp3
Tori Cobras- Rohyphynal Mp3

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Nola



Last spring when I was not digging living in New Hampshire and Boston I got a phone call from an old friend of mine that some know as MC Trachiotomy. He told me New Orleans needs me. I felt the call pulling me south and began planning my exodus. It took a few months of work and travel back and forth between New England and San Diego, but I made it happen. A few days before Halloween I packed everything I had in my Chevy Corsica and left Boston on a mission to find my new home. I ended up in New Orleans, the Magic City, the Big Easy, Chocolate City, the only place that makes sense.

The talent pool in New Orleans is very impressive. The sense of community and comraderie here amongst the musicians in the 9th Ward is tight and refreshing, From The Spellcaster Lodge on St Claude, Mr. Quintron makes some swampy, groovy noise with his organs and his drum buddies and his puppeteer gal, Miss Pussycat, is leading the pack of cutting edge puppeteers with her latest endevour, Trixie & The Tree Trunks. Ratty Scurvics is a genius and plays more instruments than most people and plays them very well. Scurvics collaberates with Jeff Mattson (Crash Worship) and J? (Sex Hunter, Blort) in The Microshards. EYEHATEGOD has been inactive as of late with various members busy touring with Down and Corrosion Of Conformity but I don't think they've called it a day yet. To keep busy during EYEHATEGOD's downtime, when he's not doing time, EHG frontman Michael IX Williams has been busting out some chunky hardcore with Hank Willaims III and Phil Anselmo (Pantera, Superjoint Ritual, Down) in Arson Anthem, and Outlaw Order. Flesh Parade are the local heroes of grindcore. They've been around forever but rarely play live. King Louie and His Rock and Roll (ex- Persuaders, Exploding Hearts, Cajun SS, and a shitload of other bands) is a one man band who has a song about how much he hates chinese crawfish. Check out his 4-man homage to Thin Lizzy, The Black Rose Band (with Julian from Sex Hunter, Detonations, Flesh Parade) if you like guitar solos. Bipolaroid plays some real sweet Syd Barrett influenced psychedelic guitar-pop. Guitar Lightnin' Lee plays some down and dirty delta blues. Riff For The Riff Raff play a wonderful blend of folk, dixie, and country. Die Rotzz are fucking lunatics, The Buoyant Sea is one man with an electric mandolin and a shitload of pedals. Loose Marbles is pure dixie and have a beautiful singer. Ratzinger are pretty ridiculous and kinda rad. Julian gave me his old band's cd and I really wish The Detonations were still around.

After 4 years of roaming the country looking for a true connection with a music scene I have finally have a sense of belonging, and I couldn't be happier any other place but here.

I've seen alot of great shows since my move. King Khan & BBQ Show at One-Eyed Jack's. Andre Williams at Voodoo Fest on his 70th birthday. Miss Kitty Lynn and Guitar Lightnin' Lee at the Pearl. Static Static (ex-members of Detonations, Red Aunts) at The Saturn Bar. Followed Evil Army and Jay Reatard around for about a week and ended up in Austin for Fun Fun Fun Fest where we saw a rare performance by day one headliners Neurosis, Witchcraft (from Sweden), The Sword, Battalion Of Saints, Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, Against Me!, Lifetime, The Saviours and tons of other bands all weekend.

The Sword put on a pretty powerful show but let's talk about Neurosis. Neurosis fucking slayed. They were simply awesome. Absolutely mind blowing! They sounded like a bleeding, dying, planet earth. It was pure, sonic-lava-overflow. They've honed their multi-media assault into an epic experience. They played a wide selection of songs going all the way back to Souls At Zero and pretty much totally crushed. I watched a quadroplegic guy that was totally entranced by their show slowly force his way through the thousand-plus crowd and make his way to the very front where he received a lapdance from a pretty punk sprite for his efforts. It was beautiful. Afterwards, Muscle and I looked at eachother and asked, "What The Fuck was that???". Convinced nothing could parallel Neurosis's show, we stumbled into Beerland in downtown Austin and caught an epic, spaztic performance by Milwaukee's HOLY SHIT!, and they lived up to their name. Again we asked, "What the fuck was that???".

I joined MC Trachiotomy's Moments and played a party at Mr. Quintron and Miss Pussycat's Spellcaster Lounge. I've got a lineup in the works for my Billy Druid project. I'm playing with Chad Booth (ex-Cajun SS) and Matt Muscle in a reunited Mangina. Matt and I also have a band called Snowman with Andy Rotzz (Die Rotzz) and Jason Panzer (Persuaders) .

Here's a sample of what we've been cookin';

Snowman- 40 Is My Lucky Number Mp3

These are pretty much the happening rock and roll hangouts in town;

The Saturn Bar
The Hi-Ho (where I do sound and might even book your band)
One Eyed Jack's
The Saint
Mimi's In The Marigny

I also do sound at the world famous, Tipitina's.


Walkmen- Louisiana Mp3
Quintron- Hurricane Mp3
Detonations- I Hit Mp3
Ratzinger- Sign Of The Cross Mp3


















Thursday, October 25, 2007

The Tumultuous Lives of The Cudas




The two journal entries below were lifted from the blog of Beehive and The Barracudas because this band rules and they crack me up and if you don't think this shit's funny then I don't know what I can do for you...

Monday, June 26, 2006

SELF IMPOSED EXILE

Hey fans and enemies of the Cuda's: I know some of you have been jonesing for some plastic soul music (live or new recorded tunes) but things have been are rough go for our dudes/lady this past year. Here's some info/explanation on their self imposed exile from the indie scene. After the cease and desist case with the Cock Ready ep, the Cuda's have been in a mental/artistic schizo-phrenia haze that has upended their radical approach to Southwest art noize. There dabblings with the SDPD and various county school boards has also limited there influence around the southwest. They have simply lost all sense of right and wrong because of others interpretations of their art. As most of you know, the Cuda's have never been ones to take themselves seriously but when others dub the 'terrorism' card on certain bandmembers....lives become exilic in nature...fear from the repurcussions of supporting causes that are no different than the principles of democratic humanism, etc, etc.....They have tried there best to get a show in SD...but to no avail. Apparently, the blackballing of bands that support social justice/amnesty/peace/drugs is rampant in California's last bastion of religio-conservatism. As you know, San Diego is one of the most militarized cities in the world therefore citizens of SD find themselves in a precarious situation. We are on the frontlines of a bogus immigration debate, not to mention the seriousness of a failed war policy (as if any war can be justified, right?). Let's keep both Republicrat's out next term. Rumor has it that Andy Flame will be running under the Movement for a Free America Party in next years El Cajon County School Board runoff. Dner is also actively recording tunes for various social justice movements (he even squeezed in a classic Clash cover "Know Your Rights" with nelly furtado and the dixie chicks). Traci Haze has been running a childrens' clinic for abused children. Commotion is also the co-director of a breakfast program in LA that feeds the homeless. Dirty is currently a juror in a highly classified priest-boychild rape case. The finishing touches are being mounted onto their next release "pure commotion" and should be out on swami records later this year. We'll keep you posted, gene the jean adams



Sunday, August 27, 2006
NOTES OF GNARLY DODE

Good Morning Friends:Caught myself in a morning daydream here in the Cayman Island town of Croix and decided to let you in on some magic. Our bi-ped gurus are desperate for any help with shows in the Caribbean. If any of you soldiers can pass down some promoter names/clubs by Summer 2008, we'd much appreaciate it.Turns out alot of stolen money, funds, etc,..are stashed in the booty tanks of the Caribbean floor. Being the pirates we are, we'd like to find it and report it to the UN as proof of corportate fascism in the face of a rotting planet. All is well with us. Still mounting the last nuts and bolts on the epic 6th Cuda release entitied PURE COMMOTION. Blast the bong,GEne "The Jean" ADams






The White Apes- Ghundi Crawl Mp3