MOG - JohnJ's Posts

Country fried soul

JohnJ — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:00:19 GMT

Just got back from Nashville where you can hear bands pick out great honky tonk even as you try to drink away your hangover at breakfast. Picked up some Bobby Bare, Tammy Wynette and Charlie Pride LPs at this record shop downtown (they do mailorder), where for about 40 minutes as I browsed, it was just me, the indifferent owner and a store full of vinyl and a smattering of cassettes left over from past decades. Record dust makes me sneeze.

I was down for the Americana Music Association's conference where for three days people did their best to define "Americana" to those of us who persist in saying, huh? For me it can be tough to keep track of all the names, all the singer/songwriters, but after a few days of club shows, I was getting my bearings. Some highlights: The (still living?!) Charlie Louvin, Chatham County Line, Dale Watson, and Tim Easton.

But the act I've been telling everyone about is the Hacienda Brothers. Their live show has a bit more grit to it than the album, and on first listen it might sound a little like parents' music (apologies to the parents) but to me it's more like Sam Cooke meets Bob Wills. Or something. There are samples on their MySpace page, though that doesn't include one of my favorites from the album, Midnight Dream.

Time travel through video

JohnJ — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 17:48:42 GMT

By now, who hasn't experimented with YouTube, testing the boundaries of internet groupthink by typing in the names of obscure bands to see what turns up. More often than not, paydirt. Like this footage of Lemmy abusing a hotel room for the benefit of French TV. But sometimes you want your ephemera served up on a platter, especially when it comes to bands long buried in memory. For the most part, I'm no fan of 80s pop. But interspersed with the loads of Bananarama and Paula Abdul music videos posted here are some great artifacts from the hardcore and punk underground of the decade. Thrill to the (grainy) sights and sounds of the Angry Samoans, Bad Brains, Black Flag and the Butthole Surfers. And that's just the top of the alphabet. Watching them, you have to wonder what outlets these music videos were intended for. I guess we now know the answer, even if they didn't back then.

JohnJ — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 14:35:13 GMT

Here's video evidence of a previous incarnation of the rapper Kool Keith: his Black Elvis period. Now he's resurrected his most infamous alter ego, Dr. Octagon, unloading typically nutjob rhymes about ants, aliens and masturbating operators on the new album. Though he pre-dated MF Doom and other hip hop misfits, Keith still hasn't returned from orbit, lyrically. But the backing tracks are somewhat earthier and funky than the clinical jams stitched together about a decade ago by producer Dan the Automator on the landmark Dr. Octagonecologyst.

JohnJ — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 12:09:56 GMT

I'm sure some egghead has written a dissertation on the subject, but what is the deal with metal's obsession with hessian themes? Swords. Mythic battles. Wolves. Vikings and their ilk. Even the current crop of new metal bands, many of which I love, can't resist the call of the norsemen. Here you have a cool newish band from Austin, favorites of the indie metal set, with a debut album featuring songs like Ebethron, March of the Lor and Lament for the Aurochs. Are they just dipping into a shared language of the genre? Or is there some sliver of irony at work? I don't think so, at least not to the extent of the robed members of Goblin Cock. I guess when it comes down to composing and executing thundering riffs, it's more compelling to sing about Iron Swans and Horned Goddesses (in the case of The Sword) than going to the mall or having a crush on a girl.

A lethal beat

JohnJ — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 21:56:21 GMT

This record is not a joke...he can kill you with his guitar.