The next generation of rock bands is here, and like non-pasteurized milk, the creamiest of the creamy good music is bound to rise to the top of the mish-mash of mediocrity flooding the scene these days.
Few freshman bands show more potential and promise than Alberta Cross, a British/American hybrid of a rock band which recalls early My Morning Jacket in the best way possible. Releasing their debut album Broken Side of Time in '09, these guys pack a punch both live and on wax, and you can feel that they are going to just get better and better as time goes on.
Sharing a bill with grungy space-sludgers Dead Confederate, Alberta Cross proved their staying power with an affecting show last week in SF. Here is my coverage of these up-and-coming rockers:
Starting a new trend, this is the first article in a series to celebrate a number of underrated, classic albums that deserve a closer look (featured on the rock website dirtyimpound.com).
Aside from their hit "Whip It," DEVO has always been sort of a cult band, as their weirdo, pin-head on-stage persona and tounge-in-cheek lyrics are quite bizarre and jarring. They truly broke the mold of rock/punk/new wave music with their first album, which rocked harder than their later albums, which leaned more towards programmed synthy electronic sounds. Bottom line, one of the finest debuts in the history of rock and roll. Here is the article:
This past weekend saw Golden Gate Park be overtaken by around 50-60,000 music fans, 65 bands and 4 stages, over the course of two days. The result was a huge party in the park amongst the eucalyptus. Check out my review of the madness over at Jambase:
After this past weekend's epic, mind-melting Phish shows at the intimate Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA, those that are familiar with this band's musical journey back into relevance can now all agree that the phab four are now playing at a level of musicianship which has not been achieved in years.
For the first time in over ten years or so, Phish's live show now once again holds in it a consistently real possibility of transcending past its role as a "live concert" and achieving a status of "profound life experience." This band is currently able to reach such levels of synergy and musical transcendence regularly, thanks to their new-found commitment to musical precision, as well as all four band members' incredible chops. All this combines to create a musical stew of telepathy: the now-ness which is achieved when things are locked in with band and audience makes time stand still.
As an homage to Phish's much-welcome return to form, here is a compilation of the best freaky funk jams this band has thrown down since their return from retirement in 2009. One reminder for you: listen to this shit LOUD!!!!
Everyone who's ever listened to Thriller (and that's pretty mucheveryone on the planet) knows of "The Girl is Mine," the catchy, cheeseball collaboration between Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. At any rate, though it's one of the weakest tracks on the album, it deserves some credit for using a chorus with the word "doggone" in it (that takes balls). The song was bafflingly released as Thriller's first single, and was soon overshadowed and overcome by every single other track on the album.
But few know of the extent of the relationship that formed between Macca and MJ during the early 80's. It began with the song "Girlfriend," which McCartney wrote specifically with MJ in mind. McCartney recorded it in 1978, and MJ followed suit with his far superior version, which was included on Off The Wall in 1979.
Paul McCartney - "Girlfriend"
Michael Jackson - "Girlfriend"
This seems to have eventually blossomed into a beautiful friendship by the 80s. In a recent interview, McCartney recalls how it began:
“He called me up on Christmas Day one year and asked, 'Do you want to make some hits?' SoI said yeah, sure, you know, being of the hit-making variety. So we did, and it was really nice. He came to my house, and he got to know the family and stuff."
After they recorded "The Girl is Mine," MJ returned the favor to Macca by singing on a lost McCartney classic "Say, Say, Say." This song is better than "The Girl is Mine" in almost every way, but somehow few know much about it.
What follows is this song's long-lost music video, which features Paul, Linda and MJ as Depression-era Southern con-artists, getting into all sorts of zany adventures with their wild antics. Check out the borderline-racist vaudeville act at 3:30:
Now that's a satisfying romp of a music video!
This lovely friendship between two of the biggest pop stars in the world was not to last, however, as MJ stabbed his buddy in the back in 1985 when he outbid McCartney himself to own the rights to the entire Beatles catalog for $47.5 million. Though many thought this action unforgivable and sacrilegious (he gave the legacy of John Lennon a big "F U" by selling "Revolution" to Nike), it turned out to be the best business decision that MJ ever made, reaping him enough money to buy millions of pet monkeys. Regrettably, Macca and MJ never spoke again. The End!
30db is a sideproject/supergroup which was formed by Jeff Austin of Yonder Mountain String Band and Brendan Bayliss of Umphrey's McGee. It can be assumed that this musical relationship began during the period when their two bands were touring as a co-headline act. The band's music is good rock songwriting, with great harmonies and nice mandolin flourishes. Here's my review of their recent show in San Fran:
Today, Ronnie James Dio died of stomach cancer. He will be missed. Dio was one of the best Heavy Metal vocalists that ever lived, belting out lead vocals and hitting the high notes every time with a powerful tremolo. Along with Robert Plant, he was the one responsible for imbuing Hard Rock and Metal music with mythological tales of witchcraft and medieval lore. He was responsible for Black Sabbath's 80's comeback, and helped the world realize that Ozzy really did have a shitty voice, if you think about it. He was also one homely mofo. Which made him all that more awesome onstage, belting it out while wearing a big cross and leather. Also, he invented the devil horns hand sign, for god's sake!
Here he rocks out as lead singer of Richie Blackmore's Rainbow in 1977.
But he was certainly most badass in the frontman role for Sabbath.
He had that voice to the end, hitting every note with gusto, and still playing with Sabbath (now called Heaven and Hell so as to not piss Ozzy off).
For musicians that have been playing music for as long as the members of the Grateful Dead, it is interesting to see how their current musical identities have been shaped by their collective musical output from the past 45 years or so. Considering the vast range of music that has come in and out of vogue through the years, you would think that old men like Bob Weir, who have experienced more in their lifetimes than we could possibly comprehend, have musically collected a little bit from each decade they've lived and played through.
This is certainly the case with the 60s and 70s, which was the period in which the Dead formed their musical identity. Having crafted their blues/R&B/psychedelic/folky/boogie-woogie sound in the 60's and early 70's, the band added a more funky and jazz fusion edge to their music as the 70's progressed, even touching into disco grooves come the late 70s.
But then came the 80s. The prominent synthesized, slick musical trends of the 80s couldn't have possibly been more out of sync with the Dead's homegrown musical aesthetic. As the band relentlessly toured the country throughout the decade, it was apparent that the Dead kept their music contained in a protective bubble which kept the plastic, artificial musical trends of the time at bay (not counting Brent Mydland's cheesy MIDI keyboard sounds in the mid-80s). It seemed that the Dead willingly rejected the superficiality which 80s music had to offer, refusing to be influenced by the times. Well, there are a few exceptions which I'm sure these guys would prefer to forget...
Case in point, this amazingly awful/awesome 1984 timepiece from Bob Weir's 80s side band, Bobby and the Midnites. This pop document is made even more astounding by the fact that the drummer is Billy Cobham, one of the finest Jazz Fusion drummers of his time playing drums on a silly, silly song. Bobby's crazy eyes are priceless on this one. Can you spot the acid-head in the group?
Meanwhile, in another musical universe, future Dead keyboardist Bruce Hornsby was a struggling L.A. musician, taking whatever gigs he could get at the time. This resulted in his joining Sheena Easton's band as a synth/keyboardist, and playing on some fairly popular pop hits of 1984-85. This selected track is entitled "Sugar Walls." Here are some selected lyrics from this lovely little love song:
Blood races to your private spots, lets me know there's a fire You can't fight passion when passion is hot Temperatures rise inside my sugar walls (My sugar walls) Oooh (my sugar walls) Come inside (my sugar walls) , my sugar walls (my sugar walls) Come spend the night inside my sugar walls (my sugar walls)
Such a beautiful ode to love could only be written by one man. The author of "Sugar Walls"? Prince!!! Yes, that's right, the Prince. And playing keys on this ditty by Prince, Jerry Garcia's future musical cohort, Bruuuce Hornsby! Who would have thunk? There's a good shot of him at 2:11:
When the Dead were finally accepted by MTV and the masses in '87 with "Touch of Grey," they did it tastefully, on their own creative terms. While his musical peers and cohorts from the 60s were out there stinking it up and selling their souls for the Regan dollar, Jerry never pandered to such things like catchy synth-pop and music videos. He was way too busy doing H-bomb and tinkering with his Steinberger headless guitar and personal computer to be bothered with any of that stuff. Or was it the 80s' bankrupt musical landscape that was driving him to the junk? The world may never know...
The next generation of rock bands is here, and like non-pasteurized milk, the creamiest of the creamy good music is bound to rise to the top of the mish-mash of mediocrity flooding the scene these days.
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