Foo Fighters Record Release Party @Movida

6/14/05 28 Seventh Ave South, NYC

New but hardly noteworthy. I should be nice to these guys but…Oh, fuck it. This place sucks. Rock and roll and bottle service just don’t mix. Ever. Period. Did you ever see Joe Strummer with a $500 bottle of Hennessey? Exactly. Reaching, I could say that at least it’s not on Avenue A and I do like having a reason to be in the West Village at 3 am. In addition, the upstairs décor made me go home and rent Carlito’s Way. The Foo Fighters “night” differed only in the amount of lunkheads trying to impress their clueless blonde wives by introducing them to Dave Grohl, who didn’t want to chat up anybody. He simply wanted to be left alone to air drum his little guts out, bless his heart. [S.B.B.]

Death From Above 1979

The Bowery Ballroom 4/30/05

Behold the power of the Canuck! This duo from opposite sides of the tracks in Toronto clearly have the music press eating out of their sweaty hard-rocking palms. Up until this blistering show, I admit that I had the proverbial doubts that accompany a jaded rock mind. Their SXSW showcase at the fabulous Club DeVille in Austin was fun in a short-lived Crisco wrestling kind of way, but their NYC meltdown was a metal mania guilty pleasure to be savored for weeks. Guitar samples on the keys with overdriven bass AND a singing drummer! One with a special Mohawk and the other sporting a moustache that would even make Tom Selleck cringe and coo? Do yourself a favor and bear witness or at least spend a hot summer afternoon in your panties, cranking up their new rawk record in your bedroom and hold those horns high. A deaf person walking by your window will just think you really really love them. If this is over your head, look up the Sign Language for ‘I love you’ and therein lies the power of DFA 1979. YES. [S.B.B.]

Big Moe Live at R.C.'s Place

The Jones Label

From the same folks that brought the world the awesome and soul-tastic “Chains and Black Exhaust” compilation comes this gem. Shrouded in just as much mystery as the Chains comp. There are only 1000 copies pressed, and no track listings to be found. The story goes that Big Moe was a Memphis deejay for WJNS 30 or so years ago, and this is him spinning all the coolest Memphis soul out there at a place called R.C.’s. A tape of this show was evidently vaulted away all these years until now. 23 tracks in all, my personal faves would be tracks #6 and #18.

Neko Case

The Tigers Have Spoken

When I saw the lovely Miss Neko Case last summer, performing most of what's on this record with the Sadies, I thought to myself, What is with all the animal songs? And how long is this line for more beer anyhow? Then I kinda forgot about it 'til the fall when I was cruising a record store in Manhattan and they were playing this record. The songs were familiar and I really dug it. Then I forgot about it again til Christmas when I received it as a gift and liked it even more. I'm still not so sure about all the animal references, but good songs, good covers (including Train From Kansas City ) and definitely a good record to play while playing cards or just staring at the wall.

 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Lyre of Orpheus and Abatoir Blues

Mister Wonderful is back at it again, with a double record, a one-two punch. This is good stuff. The first record, at least the one marked, "disc one," Abatoir Blues is a rocker. He's got those gospelesque singers belting away in the background and it's got all the blues, grit, soul, and sweat you could ask for in a Nick Cave record. The Second disc (we'll call it "disc two,") Lyre of Orpheus is a much quieter, and more somber record. A little more of a heartbreaker than a hipshaker, but gorgeous just the same. The thing is, if you play disc one, followed by disc two, it's alot like drinking a dry red wine after a sweet white wine (little nod to the "Sideways" picture)..it just doesn't happen smoothly. So here's my advice....REVERSE THE ORDER. Sounds crazy, BUT IT WORKS!!

 Blanche and The Kills, Bowery Ballroom, Nov. 22,2004

(Live)

So, I'd only been losing sleep for a mere few weeks in restless anticipation of seeing the Kills again; spending sleepless night after sleepless night mindlessly scribbling things like, Mrs. Kills. Mrs. Haas-Kills Mrs. Haas-The-Kills, Mister and Missus Haas-Kills hardly giving a second thought to who was opening for them. but as it turns out, much to my added joy and frenzy, the Detroiters, Blanche were the openers. I'd never seen them before but their odd brand of creepy Victorian dressed country music, with the added bonus of Little Jack from the Greenhornes on Banjo was absolutely riveting. As soon as my ship comes in I'm definitely gonna buy one of their records. I just loved em. And now I'm going to refrain from gushing over the Kills' set until I get my grubby hands on their new-yet-to-be-released record and can really sink my teeth into a full review. In the meantime.Blanche Blanche Blanche .Blanche.

 The Heartless Bastards

(self titled)

So, a couple weeks ago I got this package in the mail from a friend of mine in Ohio, (Cincinnati to be more precise). The package was chock full of recordings of young, newer, Cincinnati bands. The first thing I pulled out of the padded envelope was the 5-song CD by this band The Heartless Bastards...I immediately slapped that baby on the hi-fi, and it's been there ever since. I fucking love it. The inside notes on the cd say the singer is just 25 years old ...hard to believe since she sounds like she's been belting out the rock and roll for at least that long. It's just your basic guitar rock with kick-ass lady-vocals...but I gotta say, it's got that je ne sais quoi...I can't quite put my finger on it, just do what I say and look for them, they're bound to be everywhere before you know it...

 Devo

(live in Central Park)

Do you all remember a rainy Friday in July, when Devo played with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in Central Park? Yeah, I didn't go either. Haas doesn't stand in the rain to see any rock show, no matter who you are. (Well, maybe if it was just drizzling I might watch The Kills.)

 50 Foot Wave

(self titled)

This is Kristen Hersh's new rock outfit. She is still pissed off, still misunderstood...and this time she is really not gonna take it anymore. I've always been a huge Kristen Hersh fan.... Throwing Muses, the solo stuff and all...and I'll still never forgive myself for blowing my only chance to meet her by getting kicked out of the radio station she was playing at because I was caught stealing mini- quiches off the buffet table....All that said and done, I'm still really trying to like this EP. And I'm gonna keep trying 'til it hurts.

 The Kills

Where the hell are the Kills?? How is a person supposed to keep stalking a band that just disappears like that?? C'mon people...rock- gods or not, let's try to keep in touch alright?!

 TV On The Radio

 Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes

Who DOESN'T like these guys.... and if you haven't heard them then it is time to crawl out from under that rock you're living under.... Finally a twist on the same ol' same ol, with amazing vocals and beautiful lyrics. I play Ambulance and close my eyes and pretend that they're singing right to me, and think to myself... I am lucky lucky lucky.

 Chains and Black Exhaust 

 compilation on Jones label

There's been much hype and jibber jabber about this mysterious compilation that came out with virtually no liner notes or information otherwise.... just do a Google search for this record and see all the chat pages about it. A friend of mine pulled my coat on this one and sent me a burned copy of the one he found in Portland. Apparently, it's a limited pressing so it's near impossible to find (even on ebay.) One of the stories about this record, is that it was some unmarked mixed tape someone found outside a Chicago night club and put out on record...I find that unlikely but none the less it's an awesome compilation of 1960s funk and soul stuff...ranging from the old Funkadelic sounds to 1970s porn music. The recording quality on some tracks is pretty shoddy, but overall forgivable. If you search hard enough on the blessed Internet you can find most of the tracks and artists identified...but really who cares who did what? It's a great listen...and who doesn't love a record clouded by so much mystery??!!

 Shesus

 Friday April 25, Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY

Shesus is unstoppable!!.... These 4 gals and a fella, hailing from Dayton, Ohio took the stage at Southpaw with such a raucous and foxy fury, I couldn't help being reminded of the old Brainiac adage, "Fuck y'all, we're from Dayton!" The charismatic singer, Heather, belted through their 35 minute set, with thoroughly entertaining rock moves, backed by stage full of completely ROCK babes, tearing it up with seventies style guitar solos...backed by the hard hitting, on the edge drumming of the sole DUDE in the outfit. It was a mesmerizing performance, (complete with a cover of Deep Purple's "Space Truckin.") that left me and my friends with an Ohio size thirst for whiskey and beer, and a desire to tear up the streets of Brooklyn, Dayton style. Keep up the good work Shesus.

 Harlem Shuffle 45

 by Bob and Earl, Marc Records, 1966

I've always loved this song, but I never actually owned a copy of it until 3 years ago when a friend of mine put it on a soul compilation tape for me. So then it was a permanent fixture in the tape deck of my 1985 Chevy Citation...that is, until the tape broke from playing it over and over on a bad tape player. I must say, that for the whole summer of 2001, one of my favorite things to do on a Sunday was get a bag of Funyons and a Diet Coke and cruise around downtown Cincinnati in the Citation listening to this song. So when my friend recently got an original copy of this 45, I got to hear this awesome song again...making the world seem right again. I would encourage anyone to try to get a copy of this song somehow, sometime this summer...and you'll see how everything in your life seems to suddenly fall into place...

 Captain Beefheart and His Magic Band

Safe as Milk

I just got a copy of the CD version of this 1967 classic album, and BONUS, there's 7 extra tracks tacked on the end. Although this record is more than 35 years old, most of it has a sound exactly like what most of our modern day rocker peers are trying to achieve.... (For crying out loud, even the "can do no wrong" Kills covered a song from this record.) There are a few dated sounding songs, (such as, "I'm Glad") but there's even something refreshing about those numbers too. If you don't own this record, I'm sure one of your friends does, so tape it. Or at least play it on the jukebox at one of your more hip drinking establishments in the neighborhood....

 Scene Creamers

I Suck On That Emotion

These guys (and gal) have always had the coolest hair in whatever band they're in... there's no exception here. A natural progression from their previous incarnation, the Make Up, the whole record is groovy and punchy, and a little goofy. Any band that can keep a serious groove going with all the passion of a Baptist preacher, while singing about wet paint, for four minutes is pretty damned good in my book. "Wet paint, it looks the same, but it ain't." Now there's something to chew on for a while...

 The Kills

Live at Mercury Lounge, Tues. April 1st

First of all, apparently only the tallest people in NYC go to the Mercury Lounge...so us little people have to try to see the show thru the spaces between people's ever-moving elbows...Second of all, since the new smoking laws took effect in NYC, apparently you're only allowed to smoke if you're on stage, so you're feeling taunted the whole show...thirdly The Kills need a new sound guy...and lastly, they were so sexy, and foxy, and rock and roll and had all the right moves, and they still remain my favorite band of the year.

 White Stripes

Elephant

This is a no brainer.... of course this record rocks.... I think it's a worldwide consensus...stay golden White Stripes....

 Pearlene

So I think these guys had this record kicking around for a while before Sympathy for the Record Industry finally put it out...which means they're gonna have another record out lickity split.... Any how...when I first put this finished cd on the hi fi, I immediately slipped into a flashback of a new year's eve party in Cincinnati, OH, where, as I was rockin' out to Pearlene, who was playing in the corner of someone's apartment, more and more people kept passing out and collapsing around me....Little did I know that while I was delicately sipping keg beer out of a giant plastic Red's mug, the rest of the party (so it seemed) had eaten some kind of super charged pot brownies...hmmm...memories.... Anyhow, if you get the chance, climb up on this bluesy rock gem and firmly plant your ass on the Mason Dixon line, get yourself some hotdogs and whiskey and have yourself a rollicking good time...

 Saturday Night Fish Fry

(Soul Jazz Records, New Orleans Funk and Soul Compilation)

So I'm brand new to this Soul Jazz Record label, in fact my friend told me about this label and this compilation, because he'd just gotten it and loved it. I was in the process of looking for a new record that I could steal some new drumbeats from, and the way he described this compilation, it sounded perfect. So then it took me almost two weeks to actually get a hold of the record...who knew it was easier to find in Cincinnati, OH than in NYC? ...Anyhow, this is the deal, it's great! 22 songs, and a cool booklet to go with it. The Dixie Cups singing "Iko Iko" is worth the price of the record alone. Imagine yourself in the thick of summer...when it's so hot that all you can do is drink beer in someone's back yard, (or if you live on Olive street, you have to settle for the fenced in trash area out back) All the kids in the neighborhood are outside with their boom boxes and fire crackers, and you're grimy, and your thighs are sticking together, and you get even stickier as you fire up the Webber.... This, people, is the record you should be playing at a moment like this. It's hot and sticky, and dirty behind the neck, a little drunk, and sort of sexy, and really stir crazy. " You can have my husband but please don't mess with my man" pretty much sums it up.

 Latin Playboys

So, I was going to write a review of another of my favorite new bands, The Raveonettes, but I just don't have a lot to say about them except maybe...get it, they rock, and they're cute. Anyhow, instead I decided, what with summer on its slack ass way to the city, it's time to pull out this 9 year old gem and slap it on the hi fi. There's a couple guys from Los Lobos in this band, and I think some famous producer or something... All's I know is that it's the perfect album to play when you're delaying getting out of bed in the morning (maybe because there's some cutie there with you) and the sun is out and the windows are open, and there's a soft breeze carrying the faint jingle of the Mister Softee truck wafting across the room...you put on this album and things really can't get much better.... my personal favorites are the songs, "Manifold de Amour," and "Crayon Sun."

 The Kills

Keep On Your Mean Side

So by the time I finally got my grubby little hands on this gem, I'd built up my anticipation to the point that I actually thought this album alone would drastically change my life. So even though that didn't happen, (that is, I'm still not driving cool cars with the cool kids) this album kicks ass. As soon as you put the cd on you wanna don your terry cloth wristbands and start cruising through the nicotine and motor oil grooves. The dirtiest rockers are the songs that were on the Black Rooster EP (including the song, "Black Rooster" which has the coolest drum beat on the album) Then of course there's the boogie rumble on "Hitched" that's creepy in a way that makes me feel super dirty. The album wraps up on a quieter note, pretty chords and the words, "there's a monkey on my back that makes me talk like that" (if I had a nickel for every time I've used that excuse!) All in all, even though it won't actually change your life as you know it, this is a must-have album, and I can't wait for all my friends to own it.