Judee Sill - Live In London: The BBC Recordings 1972-1973
Water

I love the name of the label which has put out this fantastic Judee Sill album. It’s a helluva label name when you think about it. And don’t let them fool you. A rose by any other name would not have caught on. All these bands and hipsters who get creative with their label names ought to think about this one here: “water”. Something you need, right? Something you can’t live without, huh? Something that brings life! Water! Just like the music this label releases. Maybe I being going on and on, being facetious to some extent, but when a label is able to dig up something like this release, I believe said label is due some praise. Sill has long been a cult figure, though if more people had been paying attention there is no doubt she could have been a major player. Not only did she have great songwriting abilities, she had a passion and conviction which made you become invested in every word she sang. Oftentimes, passion so intense can only be acquired after overcoming tragedy and pain and unfortunately Sill carried more tragedy and pain around in her tortured soul than a group of people could handle.

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Sandy Salisbury - Do Unto Others
Sonic Past Music

Despite the slow deconstruction of the music business, the shuttering of CD stores across the country, the tightening of major label budgets and radio station playlists, and the general hopelessness most musicians feel when it comes time to figure out whether or not they should bother to record, tour, or keep a career going at all, there is more great stuff going on in music than ever before. Lest you feel I am being facetious, I can assure you that I am not. Just think about it: MySpace and YouTube are becoming great resources in finding great new artists, TV commercials are picking up where radio has left off and are constantly putting great indie artists in our faces, great internet and satellite radio stations like Pandora and Sirius have sprung up (tons of podcasts too) offering everything from the most cutting edge sounds to the rarest of the rare for your earholes, there are more indie labels than ever trying to give bands a chance and the music that is being released is some of the best ever. You’ve got labels big and small putting out not only the best of the new artists but digging up the most obscure of the obscure nuggets and reissuing them on an almost constant basis. Sure, pessimists will say all these labels are reissuing everything in their vaults because there isn’t anything new on the horizon that’s any good.

We all know what bullshit that is.

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These days, having a band create and put out a concept album, an album where all the songs create a storyline, is almost unheard of. But that’s just what Raleigh, North Carolina band The Rosebuds have done with their new release, Night of the Furies.

Husband and wife duo of Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp were trying to wait out tropical storm Ernesto in the summer of 2006 when they conjured up stories about “the furies”. The furies being Roman Goddesses who ‘were born of night and punish crimes on Earth that go unpunished.’ When everything was said and done, Howard and Crisp had created the story that became Night of the Furies, the latest release of Howard and Crisp as The Rosebuds.

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When you go to record an album, you must look at your strengths and decide what would best represent your sound and music. The Philadelphia band The Brakes decided that for their Hyena Records debut, they would take the unusual step of recording the album live in concert. The album that resulted from live recording is entitled “Tale of Two Cities”.

The Brakes is a rock band that is made up of five multi-talented musicians. The band is comprised of: singer-songwriter Zach Djanikian, who also contributes bass, acoustic guitar, and tenor saxophone; Matt Kass, who contributes guitar and bass; Derek Feinberg, who contributes guitar, bass and vocals; Adam Flicker, who contributes keyboards, trumpet and vocals; and Josh Sack, who plays drums for the group.
Although it might seem unusual to have a band record their first album live, The Brakes have the talent to do it. And with the album being live, the listener gets a good idea of what to expect when actually seeing the band live in concert.

“Tale of Two Cities,” the new album from The Brakes, is just that: an audio record of the time the band spent recording in two locations, Milkboy, a neighborhood listening room in Ardmore, PA, and The Knitting Factory, a concert club in New York City. Having spent a month in residence at the two clubs, The Brakes gave one concert a week at both locations and recorded each show. When the month-long residences were up, The Brakes went into the studio to collect “the best of the best” of the performances and ultimately came up with tracks that were assembled to create “Tale of Two Cities”.

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Squires of The Subterrain - Feel The Sun
self released

Though it seems from the name on this CD as if the Squires of the Subterrain are an actual band, the “band” is actually made up of one person, known in music circles as The Squire. Though the Squire physically hails from Rochester, New York, spiritually and mentally the Squire originates from about 1967-1972, as the music he creates is influenced quite heavily by pop bands from that era such as The Beatles, The Zombies, The Kinks, David Bowie and even The Beach Boys. At least, that’s the impression I get from listening to his music. The man behind The Squire persona is actually Christopher Earl (born Christopher Earl Zajkowski), a brillaint musician who, while playing in numerous bands in the Rochester area was creating some brilliant pop while sequestered alone in his basement (hence the derivation on “subterranean”) lair and releasing it on a series of acclaimed cassettes as the Squires of the Subterrain. As an XTC side project was called The Dukes of Stratosphere, there is now The Squires of the Subterrain.

Coincidence? I think not!

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North Mississippi All-Stars - Hernando
Sounds of the South Records

Taking Southern Rock to a new level, The North Mississippi All-Stars are a band who have been making great records and toiling away on the festival circuit for years now gaining more and more fans with every release and every appearance. By taking a marginalized form of rock music and making it relevant again, the All-Stars deserve all the credit in the world. Yes, Virginia, Hootie is not responsible for bringing the South back into prominence for being a great breeding ground for some of the best rock acts - the All-Stars are the reason. Of course, as hokey as some think the Southern Rock sub-genre is, you can’t fake it. You have to actually come from the South and have a great pedigree. Luckily, the All-Stars have it.

The All-Stars had it’s genesis from a punk group called DDT which was formed in the early ’90’s. Luther and Cody Dickinson (sons of the legendary keyboardist and producer Jim Dickinson), like seemingly all youthful musicians, seemingly had to experiment with playing grinding rock and roll as fast and as violent as they could possibly play it and started the blazing thrashy punk band. Though they won raves from the local punk community, they eventually realized their real love was in the country blues, R&B and soul native to the area they grew up in. The music their daddy loved so much that he took it, filtered it through his own sensibilities and helped everyone from Joe Cocker to the Rolling Stones create bodies of work envied by every working band today and, in the process, created his own legend for his sons to try to live up to. For The All-Stars, Luther (guitar, mandolin, vocals) and Cody (drums, samples), all’s okay because as large as their father’s legend looms, they are his lasting legacy and the ones most likely to make their father a household name. Which shouldn’t be too hard as where bands like The Black Crowes are mere dilettantes when it comes to the true origins of Southern Rock, the All-Stars have soaked up the past and added their own spin to create music with a depth those old Crowes couldn’t begin to figure out. With the All-Stars, not only do you get a huge helping of rock, but you also get blues, rockabilly, R&B and gospel elements are combined into a wonderfully thick, murky stew where all of these ingredients blend and become parts of each other as they combine to create one great tasty sound!

A sound they only happily share on the band’s new CD.

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Harry Manx & Kevin Breit - In Good We Trust
Stony Plain Records

A truer album title has not been created in many a moon! Duo Harry Manx and Kevin Breit up the ante on this, their second album as a duo following the incredible 2003 release Jubilee, a fantastic record which made music fans do happy headspins once they heard the incredible stringed-instrument playing on the album. While Manx and Breit excel at creating their own compositions, the killer cut on the album was an absolutely astounding cover of The Doobie Brothers’ “Takin’ It To The Streets” which smokes the original. Thank God the two decided their collaboration was worth a second edition as both are very busy with careers of their own. Manx is a successful solo artist with a bunch of excellent albums to his credit, Breit is a very much in-demand jazz session guitarist. On this new disc, as they did on their first disc together, they ply their blues-based (though what they play is much more intellectual than the usual cliche 12-bar blues burner) runs and jazz-flavored licks to perfection on various instruments, adding texture and depth to a great selection of songs infusing them with an incredible amount of soul inherent from their years of musical study.

Born on the Isle of Man, Manx took the formidable guitar-playing skills he gathered at an incredibly young age (by intensely studying his blues guitar heroes nearly ever waking non-school moment) and decided to travel Europe and the rest of the world extensively, learning new applications for his already-incredible technique and phrasing wherever he went. While traveling in Japan in the early ’90s Manx heard a recording of an Indian musical instrument called the Mohan Veena for the first time and was knocked out by the sound and tonal possibilities of the instrument. He so fell in love with the sound of the Mohan Veena he decided to travel to India to study the instrument under one of the Mohan Veena’s most well-renowned teachers, Vishwa Mohan Bhatt. He spent five years studying under Bhatt and also participated in several tours of India with his mentor.

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Gene Clark w/ Carla Olsen - In Concert
Collector’s Choice

Roots rock fans should bow down and give thanks to Collector’s Choice for this recent release. Not only will fans of the genre be absolutely thrilled with some previous unreleased live work from former Byrd Gene Clark but having ex-Textone Carla Olsen along for the ride is a double treat. Not only is Olsen a great singer/songwriter in her own right, but her work with Clark in the ’80’s was Clark’s most fruitful partnership since he left the Byrds. Clark seemed to shine whenever Olsen was nearby and both artists always brought their A-games whenever they decided to work together. Thanks to these newly discovered live recordings, we can once again marvel at Clark’s gifts and the fabulous interplay he had with Olsen, and though Clark always faired better as a team player than he did on his own as his history tends to bear out, he was a marvelous artist and one of rock’s best songwriters.

If nothing else, his brief sojourns with The Byrds will bear this out.

While he was only with the band for two brief stretches, Gene Clark will always be best known for being a part of the earliest incarnation of the Byrds (1964-1966) for which he wrote and sang lead on some of the band’s best known songs (”Eight Miles High”, “Feel A Whole Better,” and “Here Without You”). But before his stint with the Byrds, he was a part of folk-pop group The New Christy Minstrels, who scored a few hits on the pop charts in the early ’60’s. Thankfully for fans of country-rock, he eventually became tired of the Minstrels constant touring and quit the band. He met Jim McGuinn (who later changed his name to Roger) and together they formed the Byrds, becoming forerunners of the influential country-rock sound which would eventually influence artists like Linda Ronstadt and The Eagles, among many others. As previously mentioned, Clark’s time in the Byrds was brief with contributing factors such as a fear of flying and growing resentment from the others for his dominant songwriting skills leading to his exit. Clark was immediately signed by Columbia as a solo act but his debut solo album did very little business, due to his teaming with the Gosdin Brothers for an interesting record. Seems the world wasn’t ready for a total rock/country hybrid at that point in time, though the album was brilliant in execution.

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Chesterfield Kings - Psychedelic Sunrise
Wicked Cool Records

It’s “wicked cool” indeed whenever someone with influence decides to help out a deserving rock and roll band which has been toiling in the trenches for years, earning rave reviews and converting everyone they play in front of into rabid fans. God bless Bruce Springsteen’s right-hand man and Soprano’s goodfella Miami Steve Van Zandt for starting his popular Underground Garage radio show a few years ago. Since then, a mini garage/freakbeat/psych-rock revolution has begun and both new bands and veterans like The Chesterfield Kings have benefited. It’s truly fitting the band is finally seeing their records in the large record stores and having reviews posted in the glossy magazines and on major websites as they deserve it for slogging it out for years and staying true to their musical vision.

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Nick Lowe - Jesus of Cool
Yep Roc

It’s about time! One of the greatest albums of the ’70’s is finally being reissued after years of being sadly out of print. Long spoken about in hushed tones, Jesus of Cool was the de facto beginning (after some unsuccessful singles) of pure pop tunesmith/producer/raconteur Nick Lowe’s solo career. Lowe, he of catchy melody and witty turn of phrase, busted out of the gate with this masterpiece in 1977 when punk was just gaining a foothold in England and other more musically inclined musicians were just beginning to start the New Wave movement. Where punk had the energy of garage rock times a hundred and little to no melody, New Wave had amped-up energy as well but proffered catchy, quirky melodies.

Lowe began his career as a member of British pop band Kippington Lodge with his friend, guitarist Brinsley Schwartz, in the late ’60’s. Soon tiring of playing disposable pop music (even though it was great disposable pop music) Lowe and Schwartz broke away from the Lodge, found some like-minded musical friends and formed another band and, in typical self-deprecating fashion, named the band after his low-key guitarist buddy, thus the band Brinsley Schwartz was born. Taking its’ cue from bands such as Crosby, Stills and Nash and The Band, Brinsley Schwartz’ music was a response to the thuddeningly dull pop and heavy metal music being made at the time by most British bands thanks to the plodding influence of bands like Yes, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. While one can agree both those bands were great at what they did, at the time many were yearning for a more melodic, less wanky alternative. Typically contrary to anything remotely considered commercial, Lowe decided the best path to follow was one filled with introspective country rock. For the next six years he led the always musically- evolving Brinsleys from their country rock beginnings to their end as one of the best pub rock bands ever. Of course, pub rock led to punk which led to New Wave and Lowe’s career after Brinsley Schwartz was as an originator off all of these genres.

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The Apples in Stereo have released a follow-up of sorts to last year’s New Magnetic Wonder and you can listen to a stream of the album now before ordering your copy.

Called Electronic Projects for Musicians, the album spans over 10 years and includes music from b-sides and rarities recorded between 1995 and 2007. It also features three previously unreleased tracks: “Stephen Stephen,” written for and originally performed on Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report; “The Apples in stereo Theme Song,” recorded for the band’s website; and the highly anticipated “Dreams,” a previously unfinished track from 1997’s Tone Soul Evolution.

Listen to the stream of Electronic Projects for Musicians at http://216.69.135.140/MP3Players/Apples/BSides/wimpy.html

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Andrew - 33: The Best Of Andrew
Hanky Panky Records

Andrew, he of the first name performing sobriquet, is actually Andrew Sandoval - erstwhile chronicler of all things pop music and author extraordinaire. I had read his book on the Monkees and had actually become a fan of his writing work before I had heard a note of his music. I must say he outdoes his written projects quite handily, which is no mean feat, creating sublime chamber pop music and notching up a decent body of work that includes four albums, a few eps, and a single or two. This new CD happens to be a sort of “best-of” featuring songs off of each of Andrew’s albums as well as some tracks gathered from other projects.

When most people think of critics, it is pretty much surmised critics are critics because they can’t do what they are critiquing. In most cases, they are right. Take myself, for instance. Frustrated musician for many years (drums, guitar) who actually has some credits on some albums (were one to scour the Goodwills and used music stores in Buffalo, New York, one might eventually stumble across a few of these…ahem, gems) but generally a sub-par musician who decided to quit before he was asked…..violently. Writing about music was a way to remain somehow connected to playing music. While Andrew may or may not feel the same way, he is the rarity of a music writer also being a great musician. I can only think of Ray Davies as an example of doing both with any kind of quality. And, yes, I am daring to compare the two. I love Ray Davies and his Kinks. I also love this new CD by Andrew.

Okay, I said all that to say this: you may find fault with Andrew’s opinions and his writing (though I don’t know how ’cause his musical taste and knowledge is almost without peer), but I seriously doubt you’d find any fault at all with his music if you like classic pop on a par with The Left Banke, Raspberries and Beatles. In other words, I believe he should quit writing straightaway (more jobs for me…) and concentrate on finding ways to expose his music to more people. It may be facetious to say such a thing but I have been extremely surprised with the passion and quality of his music. The fact is his albums are on a par with the first two artists of the three I have mentioned (The Beatles being too much of an iconic band to use as a comparison as far as quality) and are just a pure-pop joy to listen to. He has obviously used his good musical taste to his benefit and has taken the best of each of his pop faves and made a melange of styles which sounds at once both familiar and original.

Anyone who is into the vintage pop sounds of the late ’60’s when the emphasis was on songcraft and innovative instrumentation and song structure will definitely find a lot to like with Andrew’s latest release and hopefully it will encourage people to check out his other releases as well. All of Andrew’s work features the same great qualities as this collection and all of his albums are worth picking up.

http://www.myspace.com/andrewsandoval

Scott Homewood

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Blossom Toes - We Are Ever So Clean
Blossom Toes - If Only For A Moment
Sunbeam

Thanks to the fine folks at Sunbeam two rare, much-overlooked psychedelic treasures are once again available for all to enjoy. To be sure, Blossom Toes is a band you will never hear too much about, but after listening to these two albums you will wonder why the band’s name isn’t on everyone’s lips. The band has the distinction of putting out a psychedelic album as good as anything The Beatles, Small Faces or The Kinks had done, and then follow it up with an album so heavy Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin could have stolen ideas from it (and probably did).

Unfortunately, the band put out their whimsical, slightly-twee psych-rock album when there was a glut of like-minded music flooding the market and put out their heavier record before the taste of the public had moved towards heavier rock music. Much revered by fans of late ’60’s psych, these two Blossom Toes albums have been much sought after for years by collectors and music zealots who swear Blossom Toes were putting out some of the best music of the ’60’s.

Take a few listens and find out for yourself how right they were!

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Here are some more “Best of 2007″ from International Pop Overthrow Grand Poohbah David Bash:

II. Top Reissues Of Recent Vintage

1. Richard Snow-Richard Snow (Side B)
2. The Grip Weeds-House Of Vibes Revisited (Ground Up)
3. Favorita-Favorita (Popsicle)

III. Top 6 EPs

1. The Treasury-The Treasury (Teetering)
2. The Avenues-The Avenues (Self-Released)
3. The Waking Hours-How Does It Feel (Self-Released)
4. The Nice Outfit-Kissing Jocelyn (Self-Released)
5. Ian Axel-I’m On To You (Self-Released)
6. The Holy Fields-The Holy Fields (Self-Released)

IV. Top 5 Compilations-Single Artists

1. The Sails-Drum Roll Please (Fabtone)
2. Splitsville-Let’s Go!: The Best Of Splitsville (Zip)
3. The Afternoons-Baby, You Know The Deal (Rock Indiana)
4. John Wicks And The Records-Rotate: An Anthology (Kool Kat)
5. The Pillbugs-Monclovia (Rainbow Quartz)

V. Top 5 Compilations-Various Artists

1. International Pop Overthrow Volume 10 (Not Lame)
2. Sweet Relief-Various Rock And Power Pop Artists (Jam)
3. Hook Heaven2-22 Tracks From The Pop Underground (Not Lame)
4. Shake Some Action (Not Lame)
5. Unsigned, Sealed & Delivered V 2.0: In Pop We Trust (Bullseye/Frontline)

VI. Top Tribute Discs-Single Artists

1. The Smithereens-Meet The Smithereens! (KOCH)
2. Jeremy-Yesterday, Today And Forever (Jam)

VII. Top Tribute Discs-Various Artists

1. Sensory Lullabies: The Ultimate Tribute To Jellyfish (Burning Sky)
2. The Young Idea: A Pop Tribute To Anthony Meynell And Squire (Twist)

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David Bash is both a top notch journalist as well as the man behind the ultra-coo International Pop Overthrow series of concerts that go on from Liverpool to Vancouver, Boston to LA and beyond. Every year David provides me with a comprehensive list of CDs he thought were highlights from from the year just past and this year is no different so over the next few days I will be posting his various choices in Top 125 Contemporary Albums, Top Reissues, Top EPs, Top Compilations and more. Here is his Top 125 Contemporary CDs of 2007:

1. Ice Cream Hands-The Good China (Dust Devil)
2. The Fast Camels-The Magic Optician (Neon Tetra)
3. Peachfuzz-Catch Your Snap (Teenacide)
4. The Nines-Gran Jukle’s Field (TAS Gold)
5. The Scruffs-Pop Manifesto (Self-Released)
6. David Brookings-Obsessed (Self-Released)
7. The Resonars-Nonetheless Blue (Get Hip)
8. The Red Button-She’s About To Cross My Mind (Self-Released)
9. Fountains Of Wayne-Traffic And Weather (Virgin)
10. Mark & The Spies-Mark & The Spies (Screaming Apple)
11. Nushu-Nevermind Lullaby (Self-Released)
12. The Singles-Start Again (Sound Artifacts)
13. The Orchid Highway-The Orchid Highway (Self-Released)
14. The Tripwires-Makes You Look Around (Paisley Pop)
15. Paul Starling-Ghost Waltz (Self-Released)
16. The Procession-Music Magnifique (Retone)
17. Sparkwood-Kaleidoscopism (Excellent)
18. The Fore-Black & White (Beatnik Geek)
19. Graham Day And The Gaolers-Soundtrack To The Daily Grind (Damaged Goods)
20. Jackdaw 4-Bipolar Diversions (369)
21. Switches-Heart Turned To D.E.A.D. (Atlantic UK)
22. The Len Price 3-Rentacrowd (Wicked Cool)
23. Black Tie Revue-Code Fun (Gearhead)
24. The Peaces-Is/Are/Was/Were (Cherry Bomb)
25. Third Of Never-Moodring (Jam)
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It has been awhile since I have featured some record reviews from the Rock and Roll Report’s “European Rock Correspondent” Gérard Girard, host of Pop Dreams on the Continent but despite the fact that he is super busy he took some time out to fill me in on his “Top 10″ of 2007. Check ‘em out:

-SIGNAL HILL TRANSMISSION “an empty space“/www.signalhilltransmission.com/Pop at his best!!

-JUNIOR LEAGUE “catchy” Released in 2006 but only arrived in my area in 2007!! Joe Adragna is a one man band and this guy rocks!!! Powerpop at this best! www.myspace.com/juniorleague

-ANGIL 1 THE HIDDENTRACKS “oulipo saliva” Unique Records/www.uniquerecords.org. Frenchy guys but universal music!!!! Popelectrojazzfolk at his best!

-FOUNTAIN OF WAYNE “traffic and weather” Virgin records/ kings of Pop! http://www.myspace.com/fountainsofwayne

-SINGLES “start again“/www.thesingles.us/www.soundartifacts.com/ Yes the return of this greatpowerpop60s from Detroit!! and yes it’s a 2006 release but don’t forget I live in France!!

-JON AUER “songs form the year of our demise” Feet music/ the best Posies album of the year!!! http://www.myspace.com/jonauermusic

-AXE RIVERBOY “tutu to tango” Atmospheriques Records/ My fav french pop artist (in fact the singer of Tahiti 80) www.myspace.com/axeriverboy

-THE SHINS “wincing the night away” Sub Pop Records/brilliant Portland pop at his best! http://www.myspace.com/theshins

-LEN PRICE 3 “rentacrowd” Wicked Cool Records/www.wickedcoolrecords.com/ English power pop at his best!!! Thanks to the Jam and the Who!!

-Eric BROWN “now that you’re fed” Simply the best pop album of the year!! www.chrsbrowntunes.com

-honorable mentions : Keene Brothers/REM live/the hard left/Wellingtons/Pernice Brothers/Steven Mark/Break Up Society/

By Gérard Girard

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“The point of a music revolution is not to replace today’s pop stars with a new slate; it is to kick out the jams! Riot in the streets! Do it now! Etc. It’s all about direct engagement, and the result of all that activity should be a better time for all, a party that will keep everyone coming back to do it some more. This is what rock & roll at its best can provide – leading to the idea that perhaps rock & roll itself should be seen not as a genre, not as a mere noun or even a verb, but also as a process.”

Greg Shaw

Prophetic words from a man that embodied rock and roll, with all of its contradictions and complexities, pure and simple. I have actually quoted these words on this very blog before and it always gives me solace to read them in this day and age of niches and genres and sub-genres. That it was uttered by Greg Shaw, a poster boy for independent rock and roll if there ever was one makes it that much more poignant.

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If you are a bug fan of power pop and you looking to see what some of the best that 2007 has to offer, go check out Absolute Powerpop and their Top 50 of 2007, a list put together as of July 8th. I was just listening to Shake Some Action today!

Later.

Mark

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Mystique. My copy of the Oxford Illustrated Dictionary defines it as “an atmosphere of mystery and veneration attending some activity or person. Any skill mystifying to the layman.” This is certainly an appropriate word to describe Jimmy Page, the mercurial magician behind Led Zeppelin and a man whose mystique has often overshadowed the person who is after all just a man.

It is somewhat appropriate that I received Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man: An Unauthorized Biography by George Case amidst the current rumours (again!) of a Led Zeppelin reunion, rumours flatly denied by Robert Plant himself. Love them or loath them, you cannot deny Led Zeppelin their due as one of the biggest rock and roll bands on the planet and at the center of the maelstrom there lived one James Patrick Page. Case does a good job of covering Page’s life, especially before and after Zeppelin since he was rarely in the limelight before he hit the big time and he seemed to shun it after the demise of Zeppelin upon the death of John Bonham.

Any rock and roll history buff will know the general outline of Page’s life. From his incredible success as a studio sideman in the mid-sixties playing on everything from the biggest hits of the Kinks, the Who and Them to his relationship with Jackie Deshannon and then his joining the Yardbirds and combining with Jeff Beck for an incredible but brief twin guitar sonic attack, Case adds some details and clarification to Page’s otherwise little publicized life in “swinging London.” It was his tenure in the Yardbirds, as brief as it was, that to me is where things get interesting. Page began the process of molding the Yardbirds, even with Beck still in the fold, into this incredible psychedelic raving tour de force that he was never able to fully realize due to the implosion of that band but he managed to take everything he learned from that experience and transfer it to the very young, very green (in Bonham and Plant) Led Zeppelin.

The whole concept of Led Zeppelin was always to integrate the light and the dark, the soft and the heavy into a mythical musical partnership that would go beyond the incessant psychedelic noodling of bands like Cream and Iron Butterfly. Page had as much of an ear for Joan Baez as for Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon and he wanted the band to integrate both influences equally. Today when we think of Zeppelin, we tend to think immediately of Black Dog, Whole Lot of Love or Stairway to Heaven, conveniently forgetting the regal beauty of songs like Thank You, Tangerine, Your Time is Going to Come or Babe I’m Going to Leave You, songs that are as important to the Zeppelin canon as the heavier, classic rock friendly songs we hear on the radio today. Unfortunately for Page, despite his brilliant production, exquisite musicianship and revolutionary business practices (courtesy of uber-manager Peter Grant) Led Zeppelin were always somewhat tarnished by their excessive reputation, a reputation that seemed to obscure what the band were capable of doing in the studio and on stage and which only now they are getting a grudging respect for.

While Case covers both the sublime and the excessive, the story certainly could have benefited from the participation of Page, not so much to refute some of the infamous urban legends as to expand on the ideas and ideals behind the music and the symbolism often intertwined throughout the band and their music. While Case does an admirable job with an exhaustive amount of research and interviews of those around Page, despite his best intentions he was not able to convince Page to participate.

One of the biggest questions for me was always around the issue of plagiarism, a controversy that has dogged Page and the band for years. While Page has always come clean on giving credit where credit is due, although somewhat grudgingly, he essentially pins the blame on Robert Plant in the end. While he maintains that the music may have been influenced by some of the Blues greats of the past, he insists that it was Robert Plant who was suppose to alter the lyrics of the songs in question somewhat more than he did. “Robert may have wanted to go for the original blues lyrics, but everything else was a totally different kettle of fish.” While I wouldn’t say outright that Page is a thief as all rock and roll borrows from its past, I would hesitate to call him a naïve musician innocent of all charges.

Perhaps save for Jim Morrison, nobody else has managed to remain such a rock and roll enigma and Morrison only pulled it off because he managed to die before he got old. I mean we have all heard the rumours of a wasted Page being led from limo to stage back to limo to the Starship and we all have seen the pictures of him on stage with those huge aviator glasses, silk scarf, jack boots and Nazi SS cap but we never really knew that much about the guy. George Case certainly brings an interesting and balanced portrait of Page and I am definitely able to appraise him in a more informed light now than before but the air of mystery that Page has worked so hard to cultivate still remains. Sure I might know the names of his wives and kids and now I have a bit more details about Boleskin House and what happened to his post-Zeppelin band The Firm but at the end of the day, James Patrick Page still remains somewhat of a mystery to me and frankly, in this day and age where we can seem to Google out every mundane lifestyle detail of the rich and famous, I kind of like it that way.

Even if you are not a fan of Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page: Magus, Musician, Man: An Unauthorized Biography is well worth the effort to read because there is no doubt that Jimmy Page was the engine behind an incredible rock and roll machine and it just might get you to dust off that old copy of Led Zeppelin III and listen to it again in a new light. And somehow I think that would make Mr. Page crack his crooked smile just a little bit for he is still a believer that what he created was perhaps the finest rock and roll band to ever grace the planet.

Later.

Mark

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The incomparable Shindig Magazine has a new batch of record reviews up. Check them all out here.

Later.

Mark

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My initial reaction when listening to “Define Reality” off of the self-titled debut by Awakening Stick was of early R.E.M. if Peter Buck had plugged into a pair of Marshall Stacks and a distortion pedal instead of his little Vox AC30. But as I made my way through the CD I started thinking more of somebody like the Stooges and the great garage bands of the ‘60s like the Standells and the Haunted.

Raw but tuneful, loud but well produced. These are the hallmarks of this CD and it was nice to spend some time amongst the raunch and roll of songs like “Revelations From the Porcelain Altar” (we’ve all been there!), the very cool “Jetway Honey” (click to listen) and the excellent “Stonehenge” (no relation to the Spinal Tap classic).

With a cover of the Hellacopters “Like No Other Man” thrown in for shits and giggles, Awakening Stick certainly understand the primitive urge underlying truly great rock and roll. A fine addition to your CD collection and a great CD to pump out loud at a party once the first keg has bit the dust. Great fun.

Later.

Mark

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Steven MARK “Racing Grey” (Basset Records)
www.stevenmarkmusic.com
www.myspace.com/stevenmark

3e album de ce songwriter new yorkais et sans connaitre les deux précédents, j’ai été extremenent séduit par les compositions tout en douceur de ce dimpomé de l’école de journalisme de Columbia. Les harmonies vocales sont le point d’orgue de cet album en référence à ses albums d’adolescence (Mamas & Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, CSN & Y) Sa reprise de “always something there to reminds me” très acoustique et apaisée est délicieuse. Racing Grey se déguste d’ailleurs comme un thé et les petis biscuits du five o’clock. Album cohérent aux textes construits, le genre d’album qu’on réecoute sans s’en apercevoir

This is the third album from this New York-based songwriter and without being familiar with his previous two releases I was seduced by all the songs of this graduate of the journalism program at Columbia University. The vocal harmonies on this album point to albums of Mark’s youth from artists such as the Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills Nash & Young. His refrain of “always something there to remind me” is very acoustic, uplifting and beautiful. Racing Grey is enjoyed much like a wonderful afternoon tea. This album is cohesive in its approach and features the type of music that is quite difficult to find these days.

By Gérard Girard

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“You come across like a whipped cream top
buy you ain’t nothin’ more than an edible oil product”

So kicks off the first song Get Real off of the brand new CD by Altered State of the same name and it is just a tiny example of some of the wonderfully surreal lyrics from this fine disc. From the fantastic War (”make big balloons out of empty body bags, all of us would wear a happy face toe tag”) to I Need a Vacation which will get you nodding your head in sympatico to lines like “parking spots hard to find, you son of a bitch that one’s mine.”

The band certainly has their chops down pat and are a great counter-point to the vocals of Lorna Dowell who has this fascinating effect on me which is hard to describe. And I mean that literally as every word I come up with to describe her vocals just doesn’t do her justice, she is that original. With a cover of Alice Cooper’s Only Women Bleed thrown in for good measure, Get Real is a great record because it does something that I have always enjoyed by everyone from Frank Zappa to The Tragically Hip. They will chug along locked into a great hooky riff and then throw in a cool left hook with either a melodic change of pace or a strange riff that keeps things interesting. This is not paint by numbers rock and roll and it benefits from repeated listenings for full effect. Another fine export from Saskatoon! And no, that’s no joke.

Have a listen to the song links above. I am sure you will be convinced. If not, get real!

Later.

Mark

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I am happy to welcome back to the new Rock and Roll Report our correspondent from France, Gérard Girard with a new record review to kick of the week. Merci Gérard!

JORGES “possibly now” www.jorgesmusic.com/www.myspace.com/jorges

Attention talent! ce garçon est brillant!!! la Pop telle que je la conçois depuis toujours, faite de mélodies, d’harmonies, de vraies chansons qu’on a envie de fredonner toute la journée. De toutes les façons on est obligé de le faire vu que la majorité des 11 titres présents sur cet album sont des tubes en puissance!! Jorge Gonzales Graupera a à peu près tout compris à l’idiome Pop. Il écrit, joue, produit et chante tous ses titres et on comprend que “girlfriend” apparait dans des séries tv tellement cette chanson est EVIDENTE. Rine à rajouter, j’exige simplement que tous les lecteurs de Rock’nRoll Report achète ce disque : c’est un ordre!!!

Attention fans! This guy is brilliant ! I have always believed that good Pop should consist of strong melodies, harmonies, real songs that one ends up humming all day. In any case one comes to the realization that the majority of the 11 tunes on this album are a tour de force! Jorge Gonzales Graupera is ready to take on all aspects of the Pop genre. He writes, plays, produces and sings all his songs and we now understand why “Girlfriend” appears in shows on TV, that much is evident. Nothing more has to be added, I implore that all readers of The Rock and Roll Report buy this CD. That’s an order! (translation by Mark)

By Gérard Girard

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Variety is the spice of life. We all know that then why do music fans often get all up in arms when a band decides to explore different musical directions in an attempt to broaden their horizons and not be pigeon-holed into some specific niche or genre? On their self-titled CD, Toronto, Ontario based Kasablanca Blvd have taken the road less traveled and repeated listenings bear out the wisdom of their ways.

The CD starts out with the swagger of prime Oasis on the track Strange and it’s singer and main songwriter Damien Eaton who sets the bar as he possesses that same cocky swagger to his vocal delivery as Liam Gallagher, I mean you can almost hear the sneer as he spits out lyrics like “Sometimes I feel like I’ve got poison in my veins, Make a sonic noise for all the world to embrace.” The Angel and the Anarchist on the other hand sounds almost “progressive.” I hate to use that term because it carries such heavy baggage but it definitely conveys that Light/Heavy vibe that Jimmy Page was always so proud about in Led Zeppelin along with stylistic and melody changes that compliment the music rather than being too jarring like on some of the most pompous compositions by a band like Yes. And that’s just the first two tracks!

From the retro vibe of Girl in the Dirty Jeans to the monochromatic Idiot Savant and the beautifully surreal Charlie and His UFO there are enough twist and turns to make you want to go back and have a second, third and fourth listen so that you can better appreciate the various nuances in both instrumentation and vocal delivery that all these songs convey. For me one of the stand out tracks though is The Ghost. Almost pastoral in its instrumentation and delivery, this is big rock and roll delivered with a touch of grace. Wonderfully morose, beautifully subdued, it is a highlight from a band that has embraced a multitude of rock and roll influences and put together a CD that is as multi-dimensional as the band. Love it.

Have a listen to some tracks at their MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/kasablancablvd

Later

Mark

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