Thursday, April 26, 2012

Skinny Puppy gets down....

This may possibly be the best music video ever... ok maybe not the best ever, but it's WAY up there.  Nothing has made me want to revisit an 80's trend more than this video has.
Skinny Puppy is not exactly a household name, but absolutely deserves to be.  The fact is that pretty much all of our darker, more industrial leaning musical celebrities (think Nine Inch Nails, and Marilyn Manson, among countless others) were inspired by these guys, and if you haven't seen this video yet, you may not see this coming.  This was off their "Greater Wrong of the Right" cd, released in 2004 (the tour in support of this was outstanding, and completely insane...).  A come back album if ever I saw one.



Incidentally, here's the same song, live on the aforementioned tour...







These guys have boatloads of stuff out there, and it's all worth looking into.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The Doors do whatnow?

So, I ran across something a few weeks ago that I really liked, but alot of people I know thought was blasphemy... today I found a video clip of it, and had to put it up here... the remaining members of the Doors and Skrillex, the grammy winning, dubsteppin' dance floor hero of the year.  I really like it...  while I'm at it, I'm gonna point you to this blog where I posted some stuff that's sort of associated with Skrillex.  I appreciate the energy he's got, and the fact that he can make tons of money making what would have been called noise just a few years ago... go figure, right?... Anyway, this video with the Doors actually shows them playing, and then goes into a bunch of shots of Skrillex doing dj spots.  Honestly, I wish there was more Doors action on here, but the crowd scenes are fun and energetic, and that is what this music is supposed to be about... so here it is, check it out.
By the way, does anyone else think he looks a little like a long haired Corey Feldman?...
.... whoa... just googled "Corey Feldman Skrillex" and it looks like other people have definitely had the same idea....

... well seems I missed the boat on this one. Even though I figured this one out on my own, I'm a little late to the party.  Apparently people were going on about his Coreyesque appearance quite a while back, and though I'm unsure of where this one originated so I may not be able to give credit where due,  check out this post from I Like To Geek, note the date... curses... I'm so behind on this one...

The real Jane's Addiction

Found this today... really brings me back. It's off the amazing "soul kiss" video, which to me really defines what "alternative" rock was bringing to the table in the early 90's. It was vibrant and alive and fresh and wasn't afraid to cross boundaries or to just be silly... they weren't trying to be too serious and they weren't pigeonholing themselves into needing to achieve a certain sound.  Albums from this era tended to be all over the place sonically and philosophically, and I think the best bands still manage to fit this aesthetic into their recording today. Mind you, there are VERY few who pull this off today, everybody's too worried about trying to be something specific, and they always tend to overshoot.  Jane's seemed to be one of those bizarre bands that defined themselves based on their scattered efforts.  Beautiful stuff.
I don't believe this track came out officially until Kettle Whistle (by which time Jane's had really lost some of their flavor), and this version is different from that in some noticeable ways, but best of all, this one's got some other footage from the video intact beforehand, which really brings out the feel of it.  I'm gonna go listen to Nothing's Shocking...

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Bruce Dickinson runs around.

I was raised on metal.  I saw the genre develop into what it was today, and though it is now but a shadow of it's former self, it still has much of the same style that made it great back in the day.  My earliest memories of metal are of epic stories of horror and high fantasy with long haired dueling guitarists in tight pants and high tops, and nowhere was this closer to the truth than in the music of Iron Maiden, an undisputed classic of British heavy metal. They went through a series of member changes, losing much of their appeal when the bands iconic singer Bruce Dickinson left in 1993.  However, just like almost all other "legendary" bands of that era, they have since reunited with their classic lineup (1999) and gone on to release a string of albums that continue the good name of Maiden.
It has often been joked by me and my friends that every song (every song, whether sung by Maiden or not) has a "run around part." That's the part of the song where,  if it were Bruce Dickinson performing, he would stop singing and run around the stage, climbing up ladders, jumping from catwalks above the set, and flashing outrageous metal poses at the crowd while a giant Eddie Mummy or Dragon or Demon or whatever shot fire out over the sea of fans.  To illustrate the authority with which he runs around, I've decided to post a video which is nothing but Bruce running.... Different World, from the 2006 release "A Matter of Life and Death"
  

Enjoy.

Gogol Bordello wears purple...


These guys really know how to have a good time.




  If you're not familiar with Gogol Bordello, but love gypsy music, or punk, or gypsy punk... you'll love 'em.  Here they are a few years back at Coachella.  They're an embodiment of all that is rock and roll in the world, wrapped up with every ethnic flavor you could think of, and drowned in alcohol.  It's wonderful.  I especially like the fact that with all the great instruments, there are ways to fill every corner of the track with notes from a billion different sources.  Here they are live, and there's plenty more where this came from.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Nathan Adler, where are you?

   As it turns out, I'm not talking about the rabbi or kabbalist, but the Hero of David Bowies 1.Outside, 1995s brilliant concept album. This was supposed to be a murder mystery set in the future where "art murder" was beginning to be commonplace.  Nathan was a detective who was trying to solve the murder of Baby Grace Blue.  Now, this was meant to be a trilogy of albums, spliced together with cryptic liner notes and "segues" of the characters talking.  It was very theatrical, and a bit disturbed... in a good way, of course.  
   However, the second and third parts never saw the light of day, although rumor has it that Bowie did write some of them.  Such a pity... Really, although it really didn't click hard with the folks that grew up with Bowie in his early years (I know, I was front row at the show, and the older folk just looked plain confused... contrast that to the confused young folk who didn't believe me when I told them "The Man Who Sold The World" was NOT a Nirvana song), it was absolutely the best thing he had come out with in years, and in fact is far better than anything he's done since.  He had a totally different atmosphere here,  
best noticed in this amazing video for the "breakout" single "The Heart's Filthy Lesson." If you've never seen it, it's a treat.

Lana Del Rey?

So, this chick's been getting alot of press lately, and I'm not sure it's all entirely deserved, but I have to say that this track's been in my head for a few days, and it really speaks to me.  It's pretty, and has groove too. Definitely worth your time.  Down tempo, but good for cruising on a nice day.  I dig the live hard sort of aesthetic it's got.
Yeah.
Live hard.


Saturday, April 21, 2012

caravan palace... swing it...

Oh yeah, new Caravan Palace....

Who are Caravan Palace? Only the greatest electro swing band e-ver. Yup. Really, you've got to check these amazingly brilliant people out. Listen. See the spectacle that is their videos. Enjoy the floaty UFO's one their website, caravanpalace.com, check out all their stuff, and then buy the hell out of it. You will not be disappointed.  Those kooky french folk have done it again... style and sound... this is the total package.
Check the video on the above site, but my god, here's a smokin live version of their track "Clash."
Love it.  I especially like how you get a good look at their gear, and how much FUN they look like they're having.... I have GOT to see them live...

Swans... Love will tear us apart.

       I really, really wish this needed no introduction, but alas it does.  The Swans were a punk/post punk band that recorded throughout the bulk of the 80s and 90s.  They were really very good.  They have some stark, beautiful tunes, most notably "Failure"(not posting that one here, look it up), among others..
       This is a much loved version of the Joy Division classic "Love Will Tear Us Apart."  I love everything about this track, and in fact, would probably say I like it much more than Joy Division's version.  Talk about praise... anyway.... here it is.
I've been taught over the years to call shenanigans on anyone who says "I listen to everything." It usually means that they listen to a handful of radio friendly genres, and a few things that they learned from their parents or an ex girl/boyfriend.  However, I am one of those people who genuinely does listen to everything.  New, old, unusual, mainstream... I'm the guy who doesn't get down on musicians for making music that I wouldn't make, or for selling out, insisting that there's always something to be gained by listening.  We're gonna test that out here.  We're gonna wade through every possible nook and cranny of the music world.  It's all great stuff... hopefully you can bear with me and try to see what's in the sound, even if it bores you, hurts your ears, or just plain pisses you off. I'm gonna start off just giving you youtube videos and maybe some soundcloud stuff, but who knows, maybe we can get some other goodies up once in a while.

Thought I'd start this off with a track that's been in my head for a week or two now. It's a bit obscure, but kicks ass in way most stuff can't.  The Cycle Sluts From Hell's, "I Wish You Were A Beer." It's great driving music, great party music, it's hard, pushes the limit, screams for more.  Most folks don't remember these chicks, but honestly they've got one of the best sets of names in all of made-up-rock-name-dom.  My favorite is definitely Venus Penis Crusher, but Honey One Percenter gets props for being currently relevant.  See their wikipedia entry and educate yourself here.  Enjoy.