Monday, January 18, 2010

Uptown Readers Take Note

Looks like Uptown has gone digital on CD reviews.
If you want to read my latest reviews online go to: http://www.uptownmag.com and click on CD Reviews. Also on that site you can check out the Archives: http://www.uptownmag.com/archives/archive.aspx for my older reviews. In any case, please let me know yr thoughts. Dialogue (do a log) is good fun. Peace.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Mick Green, guitarist - 1944 - 2010







Sad news this week on the passing of Mr. Mick Green, guitarist for the estimable Pirates from the U.K. I turned on to these guys back when I was a mere lad hoovering in all kindsa music. Green was regarded as not only a super influential guitarist but a guy that could be counted on to blow minds with his ability to play lead and rhythm structures at the same time. You need to have seen it to believe it. I never saw him play live but I was passed a live dvd of The Pirates live on German tv and seeing him play is something I won't ever forget. The Pirates were influential to an entire generation of players and ask anyone of his fans - from Lemmy (Ian Fraiser Kilmister)  to Wilko Johnson who their guitar god was and they would buy a drink and shout "Mick Green!" from any grimy rooftop in London you could point them to. Apparently he has already been chucked in the clay, never again to twang righteously except in a tough as nails band in Rock and Roll heaven. Green can never be replaced. You would do yrself a huge favour by checking out anything you can find on the old YouTube to see the late, great master in full flow. Trust me. I know what I am talking about. The world is now lighter by one majestic fellow. Mick, travel safe and trust that you will be oh so fondly remembered down here on this mortal coil. ROCK!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

A Film Review? Really?


What We Do Is Secret
directed by: Rodger Grossman
USA, 2007, 90 min

Back in the so-called “day” some of us were lucky enough to see Los Angeles film maker Penelope Spheeris’ excellent music documentary film about the first wave of punkers in Los Angeles “The Decline of Western Civilization” when it was still relevant and somewhat newsworthy. The most tragi-comic moments of that film came via the live and at home footage of Darby Crash, with his girlfriend and his band The Germs. Crash (real name: Paul Beahm) came across as a drugged out fool willing to do damage to himself in life and even more extroverted on stage with a band that in all honesty, sounded and played like rank amateurs.
This new biopic sheds some light on what drove Crash into punk rock as his individual chronicler of art and personal excess. The ninety minute film directed by Rodger Grossman has the look and feel of a slick rockumentary and offers a rather sterile look into the seething chaos that was the Los Angeles punk scene in the late 1970’s.
The film opens with pretty boy actor Shane West as Crash, in close-up, extolling on his plan for some kind of punk rock scene domination via “beer and personal damage”. We see him gather a few untalented folks together to create a band that eventually (after a few line-up shifts, usually centered on drummers) became 90% attitude and only 10% talent. Crash is loosely portrayed as everything from a soldier for personal expression, a fascist wannabe as well as in turmoil about his sexuality. Grossman and co-writer Michelle Baer Ghaffari seem to have sensed that if this film was going to have any chance at reaching anyone besides punk music archaeologists they needed to make Crash and his band seem somehow heroic in their quest. It works if you suspend disbelief and forget that Crash, while able to write cheerless, self-centered lyrics with the best of them, was eventually just another victim of a scene that accepted all societal outsiders as their own regardless of their demons or inability to function without some a stimulant or depressant close at hand.
“What We Do Is Secret” aims high as it attempts to concisely portray exactly what drove Crash to suicide at age twenty-two. His slow, purposeful, downhill slide, the concern of his friends and Crash’s complete disregard for anything but his own needs makes for some entertaining scenes. The music production by former member Pat Smear works wonderfully and the support actors all put in fine performances.
Perhaps it’s still too soon after thirty odd years to put paid to a music scene and the characters that it created. Many of the early punk bands are still performing or re-forming to good result. The temper of the times today – world food and energy crises, wildly unstable world leaders – is not too dissimilar to the stew that drove kids into musical revolt all those years ago. Shane West now fronts re-formed Germs. Whether you think this is a good idea or some kind of mockery matters not. With this film and others like it our recent past is being mined for new popular consumption. They may have released the first Los Angeles punk single but with the death of Crash and the ensuing flood of much better L.A. based hardcore groups The Germs really can’t be thought of as much more than a tragic footnote. This film aims to polish that footnote into a gleaming Iron Cross and does so with mixed results.
The MONk 2010 View - In all honesty, I think the Germs are horrible and have absolutely no redeeming social value whatsoever. Some "kids" worship the very ground that Darby Crash puked on and believe me I get it - he was a rebel, dude. He validated every fucked up  bad attitude, "my parents don't understand me" stupid kid antic ever created and by cashing in early made some kind of statement. Right. he is resting peacefully in loser heaven with all the rest of the live fast, die young poseurs. The real tough guys know how to stay alive while the events of life beat them about the head - and then some. Just a thought - it may be relevant, it may not.

Adrian Sherwood, Again ... NTAH! ... words to live by ...


Adrian Sherwood
Never Trust A Hippy

(RealWorld)
Those enlightened folk that have followed the career of producer extraordinaire Adrian Maxwell Sherwood may find it difficult to believe that this exciting new Real World release is  actually his first solo outing. By aligning himself with the highly regarded world music imprint he practically guarantees more ears will hear this disc than some of the more obscure and hard to obtain works on his own On-U Sound label. This album gathers many of his mighty posse and, as is usual for the sharp-witted Brit, some heretofore unknown singers and players. The record is a heady mix of groovy styles-from the contemporary sounding dub and reggae space-echo excursions to harsh, compressed electro-beat and back to smooth and soulful flows. The nearly two-dozen artists involved all seem to share Sherwood’s eclectic vision, providing some of the most experienced and exciting musicianship available in the form. Plus, you need to buy this disc to read exactly why DJ Jesus believes that you should never trust a hippy. Very cool.
The MONk 2010 View - Adrian, oh Adrian. Still relevant I think, but I have kind of lost track of the guy. This album makes it's way back into my life every so often and when it hits the player it reminds me how creative this English bloke can be and how he manages to expertly craft "the studio" into all his work. Do check  him out and leave a space open in yr brain to accommodate his errant different-ness, yeh? Let me know yr thoughts in this regard!

Electrophonic Tonic Playlist! 2001 End of Year.

Excuse the tardiness and Happy New Year. Find attached, for your perusal dear reader, the ET Christmas Eve AND New Years Eve program plays. Xmas-eve was right off the playlist entirely-for reasons I can't divulge here. The last two shows of 2001 and the NYE programme even featured the one and only, the dude his-self, Mr. Colin (CoCo) Bryce co-hosting. We both presented (as best we could being the guys we are-stunned by the cold and the three flights of unaccompanied stair well upon our arrivals) our top picks for the year in no particular order. If you were there, you know what I'm talkin' 'bout, yeh?
Love Ya. MONk

Electrophonic Tonic Playlist December 24/2001
artist/track/cf
1. Sonics Rendezvous Band-Electrophonic Tonic-Motor City's Burnin Volume 1 (Total Energy)
2. Ry Cooder/Jesse James/Music by Ry Cooder (Warner)
3. Fairport Convention/A Sailor's Life/Watching the Dark: the Best of Richard Thompson (Hannibal)
4. Big Star/Kangaroo/Sister Lovers-Third (Ryko)
5. Spirit/1984/Time Circle (1968-1972) (Epic)
6. Spirit/Sweet Stella Baby/Time Circle (1968-1972) (Epic)
7. Bob Dylan/If You See Her Say Hello/Blood on the Tracks (Columbia)
8. Nikki Sudden/When Angels Die/The Last Bandit (Total Energy)
9. Soundtrack of our Lives/Love Song #3105/Extended Revelation (Telegram)
10. Soundtrack of our Lives/Jehovah Sunrise/Extended Revelation (Telegram)
11. Amon Duul II/Surrounded by the Stars/Wolf City (Mantra)
12. Rotary Connection/Rotary Connection/Rotary Connection(Chess)
*************the nine-o-clock DUB break*********************
13. Bim Sherman/You Are The One/Adrian Sherwood Presents the Master Recordings (On-U)
14. Prince Jammy/Dub is my Occupation/XRay Music (Blood & Fire)
*****************************************************
15. Cleaners From Venus/Clara Bow/Unknown Legends of Rock
16. George Harrison/Isn't It a Pity?/ATMP (EMI)
17. Love/Old Man/Love Story (Elektra)
18. Love/The Red Telephone/Love Story (Elektra)
19. Buffalo Springfield/The Hour Of Not Quite Rain/Last Time Around (Warner)
20. Derek and the Dominoes/I Am Yours/Layla (Polydor)
21. Leon Russell/Tight Rope/Retrospective (Shelter)
22. Syd Barrett/ Dominos/Would You...? (Harvest)
23. Bob Dylan/If Not for You (with George Harrison)/Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (Columbia)
24. Alex Chilton/I Remember Mama/Set (Bar None)
25. Jimi Hendrix/Belly Button Window/Voodoo Soup (MCA)
26. Yardbirds/White Summer/Little Games (EMI)

>>>Electrophonic Tonic Playlist December 31 2001
artist/track/cf
1. Sonics Rendezvous Band-Electrophonic Tonic-Motor City's Burnin Volume 1 (Total Energy)
2. Voit/The National Health/The Moon Hour (Moon Hour)
3. Telepathic Butterflies/Yearbook/Nine Songs (CanIndie)
4. Flashing Lights/Never Let You Live It Down/Elevature e.p. (Outside)
5. The Kim Band/Valentine's Day/Girlology (Madacy)
6. The Nostrils/Justice/Nostrophilia (Black Rose Digital)
7. Scales/Rock Against Reason/Magnum Opus (Black Rose Digital)
8. The Guess Who/It's My Pride/This Time Long Ago (Ranbach)
------2001 THE BEST OF 2001------------
9. Scott Morgan/Full Of Fire/Medium Rare 1970-2000 (Realomind) cb/jm
10. Andre Williams/Detroit Michigan/Bait and Switch (Norton) cb
11. The Sights/Talk To You/Are Your Green? (Fall Of Rome) cb
12. Nomads/To Make a Short Story Long/Up Tight (White Jazz)jm
13. Graham Parker/Dark Days/Deepcut to Nowhere (Razor & Tie)jm
*************the nine-o-clock DUB break Best of 2001*********************
14. Ken Boothe/Is It Because I'm Black?/Soul From Jamdown (Blood&Fire)jm
15. The Techniques/There Comes a Time/By Special Request (Heartbeat) cb
**************************************************************
16. Phrogs/Turn Around Top/Beatroots and Arty Jokes (Indie)cb
17. Billy Preston/Billy's Bag/Billy's Bag (RPM)cb
18. Deviants/God's Worst Nightmare/On Your Knees Earthlings (Total Energy)jm
19. Bob Dylan/Summer Days/Love and Theft (Columbia)jm
20. The Barons/My Baby's Gone/Street Corner Essentials (Hip-O)cb
21. Max Falcon/Money Back Guarantee/Fraternity Story Vol.2 (Ace)cb
22. Yardbirds/No Excess Baggage/The Ultimate (Rhino)cb,jm
23. The Birds/Say Those Magic Words/The Nuggets Box 2 (Rhino) jm
24. Mickey Finn/The Garden of My Mind/The Nuggets Box 2 (Rhino) jm
25. Co Real Artists/What About You?/Funky 16 Corners (Stones Throw)cb
26. Jimmy Holiday/The New Breed/New Breed R&B (Kent-Ace)cb
27. ELO/In My Own Time/Zoom (Epic)jm
28. George Harrison/Awaiting On You All/ATMP (EMI)jm
Have a Super 2002, all. Make that move!

Welcome Back My Friends ...

Well, all two of you.
Maybe in 2010 I'll be discovered but I somehow doubt it, and really, I don't care.
Not that I am being pessimistic. The interjet is filled with shitty blogs from parents telling us about every gurgle and oogle and diaper-filling movement of their sweet baboos so why would a plain English music reviewer get noticed?
It's 2010 my sweeties and hopefully (don't live in hope - do something about it) you are well and have a plan.
You'll need it.
I have been AWOL and fear that is bad but I will be posting a few tidbits today that should make up just a little bit for my slacker nature of late. It was Christmas dontcha know.
Peace.