Get It Lit !

Now that the 2015 Oscars and in the books here's the follow up video from Doug Balmain's  newly released cut posted here last week. Looks like everyone was having some fun on this one.

Enjoy


PUSH THE BUTTON

This is Hot!

One of the best things about doing this blog is that I have been able to take it into many different directions. From blues to reggae, from surf to psych I have been able to bring what happens to be running through my mind at the time so others can get into it or pass. I have had the great fortune of getting many new artists looking for additional exposure.

One that I was contacted about the other day was from the promotion group that is working with the singer/songwriter Doug Balmain. I had not had the opportunity to hear his work before but am glad I have now. Today we are introducing the debut of the title cut from his soon to be released recording titled Burnin' Both Ends. It is scheduled for a March 3rd release.

It feels like everything about this EP is different from anything I’ve done in the past. It’s a much larger production and sound….it’s essentially a 10-piece band behind me. But that’s the sound I dig and grew up listening to: that big rock/soul sound with backup vocalists and horn sections. It’s more than just a style…when you bring all those pieces together well, and in the right context, you produce an energy and feeling that you can’t get any other way.

 

That’s singer/songwriter DOUG BALMAIN describing how his upcoming EP “Burning Both Ends,” set for a March 3, 2015 release, differs from anything he’s done before.

 

A rock ’n’ roller with the voice of a soul man, Balmain’s lyrics and vocals have all the power & tenacity of a man desperately fighting for what’s his while maintaining the honesty and sentimentality of a true storyteller. Rachelle Lacy of the Billings Gazette described his work by saying, “Balmain’s voice and guitar are extraordinary, and his songwriting ability is a super-power.”

 

Doug's musical diversity and eclectic range of influences are brought to light through his guitar work - which can echo with a haunting, acoustic sparseness reminiscent of the pre-war delta - flow with a rich, melodic voicing that’ll leave you thinking you've just heard The Edge and John Mayer’s unborn love-child caressing the fret board…while at other times it stabs through the heart of the song with a violent, electric wail evocative of an agitated, “Let it Bleed” era Keith Richards.

 

Not one to candy-coat his words, BALMAIN’s writing confronts life experience with an unyielding stare and attention to detail. “His is a very unique sound with stories that capture life from a different point of view,” said Marcus Walton - editor of L.A. based Music Arts Magazine. Having no formal knowledge of music, Doug relies on visceral instinct and his hemorrhaging vehemence to form his songs' compositions.

 

“Prior to this EP, I’ve never felt in my gut that I created something that truly expressed ‘me’ and who I am,” BALMAIN reveals. “But this time, I’ve created exactly what I wanted in voice that is my own. I think that energy and honesty will come through the speakers - the audience will hear and feel it for themselves and, hopefully, appreciate the songs even more because of it.

 

 After being asked what kind of music he plays, BALMAIN responds by saying, “I play rock ’n’ roll with soul in its veins.”

 
I liked the basic, stripped down sound along with the grit in Doug's voice. If this tune is indicative of this fellows output, we are due to hear a lot of Burnin' from Doug and company.

Give the man a listen and let me know what you think.

Video to debut next Monday.

Poppin' in for a peek

Damn!

I truly tried to get off my duff and begin posting again but once again found myself in the TwilightZone. (not @ rideyourpony though)

Through some travels to exotic lands and ones closer to home we have managed to both maintain a sense of order and get out of a few other ruts. I'll try to stay a little more active here with postings if I can.

The ears are always on though and there has been exceptional sounds out there.

So lets get on with the show!!

Shake It, Don't Break It Again!

Re-up!

Black Market Audio

Shake!

2006

For three years Bert Taken and Arjo van Loo of Black Market Audio worked on their second album ‘SHAKE!’. The result: 14 songs and 6 interludes that sound like TV-tunes, like pop songs that take the listener by a time-warp through time and space or like a soundtrack for a true Tupperware party. Their main motto is: ‘The sexiest words are those without meaning! Just sing along!’

With ‘SHAKE!’, the long expected sequel of their successful debut album Autorama, the guys finish the album they have been missing for a long time in their record collection. A cocktail (shaken!, not stirred) made according to the reliable and unique Black Market Audio-recipe: Yeh-yeh beats, Hammond-driven grooves, kinky schlager melodies, topped with tropical fruits from Tiki-Bongo land with some surprising twists of homage to Dutch Pop history.

Meanwhile the Band has not been idle. Bert and Arjo were the initiators of the compilation CD ‘Dutch Rare Groove’, released in 2005. While searching for rare and special music in archives and cellars they found hardly known vintage soul and funk jewels in the Dutch pop history. Together with funkjournalist Sjeng Stokkink they compiled a CD with 23 originals. Labelpartners C-Mon & Kypski made an additional cd with 11 contemporary interpretations. This 2cd is still selling well worldwide.

It is no surprise that their music is also doing well in the movie world. The music appeared in the Disney film trailer of ‘The Ice Princes’ and was in the final pitch of Austin Powers ‘Goldmember’, ‘Charlies Angels’ and ‘The Italian Job’.
Black Market Audio thinks making happy music is serious business. Whether it’s funk, disco or skank, it swings, grooves and pops in every way. The duo describes their music as "dance-classics, lounge, pop, big beat, easy tune, jazz, exotica, rare groove, skank, psychedelica, mood music, triphop, soundtracks and top 40". Well, gimme another cocktail like that!

*

Tracklist:

01 Waikiki Secret Service

02 Black Marketing

03 Our Consumer World

04 Gimme That Thang

05 Jetzt Geht's Los

06 Do you like Oscar Harris?

07 Well Allright

08 A Succesfull Party

09 Cha Cha

10 Shake!

11 Singalong Song

12 The Bongo Board

13 Bubble Up

14 300 All' Ora

15 Un Vibraphone

16 Bombay Beatclub

17 White Spy Black Cop

18 Johnny Tamboo

19 Sputnik Café

20 Sputnik Malfunction

 

Get it HERE

Empra - Strange Condition

Speaking of strange conditions, yes I'm still here, trying to be there. Things are improving all the time. Just having to get back on the horse again.

 I get many promo types of e-mails containing videos, tracks etc. To be honest many are just not my type of tunes or groups. I say " thank you" and hit delete. This one is from a group that I've never been exposed to and I liked the videos animation and thought the tune was a little catchy.

 What do you think?


Here is what they have to say:

With a Vanda & Young songwriting award nomination, recent shows abroad with Fall Out Boy and global LiveNation band competition win under their belt, Australia’s EMPRA are stepping up to the next level with ‘Strange Condition’ and a national tour.

Not many bands have been banned from their home country. A tirade of swearing on stage, resulting in a riot shutting down a music festival is enough to do it in Singapore and for EMPRA’s Sanny Veloo, it was an interesting introduction to the music industry with his first band Boredphucks.

Banished from performing with them in his home country and heading to Melbourne (because it was the home of AC/DC of course), the scene for EMPRA’s creation was set. Veloo’s early years in the Australian scene were equally eventful, with the death of a best friend and bandmate, the embezzlement of his life savings by an unscrupulous studio owner, the shattering of his elbow after a fall off a Marshall stack and a number of false starts with various lineups, before EMPRA was born in 2010.

Obviously taking the easy way out with learning names, Veloo found three guys on an internet forum all called Matt (bandmates Matt Agius, Mat Gault, and Matt Cattanach) and EMPRA was born.

Their first self-titled LP turned heads, with its single “Doesn’t Make Much Sense” getting spins on radio across the country and resulting in showcases in the US. In April, it was announced that the band were the global winners of band competition hosted by global promoters LiveNation, pocketing some cash and international representation.

The band headed quickly into the studio with Haydn Ing (Calling All Cars), laying down what would become the new EP Strange Condition. With the band’s songs showing a new depth, while retaining the hooks and accessibility of their previous work, the EP is a new beginning for a band breaking free of the shackles of their influences and creating a sound based on great songs and the experience of relentless touring around Australia and beyond.

Strange Condition has already made waves, even before its release, with EMPRA shortlisted as a finalist for the prestigious Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition. The video for the track has been created by Oh Yeah Wow (Gotye, British India) and is an immediate head-turner.  

Can't Keep A Good Zombie Down

World War Z: An Oral History of The Zombie War

Max Brooks
2006

Thought with the new movie coming around the corner that I would set this one back up on center stage again.

Something tasty in keeping with the recent Zombie theme.

World War Z is a novel by Max Brooks which chronicles the fictional "World War Z" or "Zombie World War". It is a follow-up to his previous book, The Zombie Survival Guide. The book was released on September 12, 2006, with a movie based on it scheduled for release in 2008.

The book charts the war against the undead from global pandemic to mass panic, and then to the eventual armed struggle to reclaim the planet. Rather than a grand overview or a single perspective, World War Z is instead a collection of individual accounts, each revealing an aspect of the larger plot and simultaneously presenting a very personal tale. These different accounts take the form of interviews. The book draws from post-apocalyptic and zombie literature. "The Great Panic" chapter describes the rout of civilization in a similar manner to H.G. Wells's The War of the Worlds. The tales cover many genres -- the story of a Chinese admiral who spent the war on a submarine would fit easily among techno-thrillers. The viewpoint is not exclusively American, but focuses on the global nature of the struggle. This use of small personal tales creates a patchwork tapestry of the larger events unfolding in the book. Brooks addresses current issues such as environmentalism, the War on Terror and international health care. He also offers an interesting juxtaposition between the modern world and that of postwar Earth. For example, Cuba becomes the world's leading economy, Great Britain becomes a major producer of oil, and Tibet becomes the most populous country. This vision of a postwar Earth is startling in its contrast to that of today. It is implied that tribal groups such as South American Indians, Zulu of Southern Africa and Māori of New Zealand fared surprisingly well. One character relates an anecdote about the Māori taking on half of the Auckland horde, using traditional tribal weapons, did much better than the world's various military forces or Western civilians. Wikipedia



http://rapidshare.com/files/42805405/World_War_Z_D1.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/42806780/World_War_Z_D2.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/42808264/World_War_Z_D3.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/42810166/World_War_Z_D4.rar

http://rapidshare.com/files/42813246/World_War_Z_D5.rar

A Little Vinyette

Straight From The Beach

The weather is getting warmer, even in Chicago. So it's time to get back to the beach. Echo Beach that is. My friend The TurnTableTerrorist is at it again, just like he does every week at 2:00 am on Fridays. If your like me and sleeping at that time you can always catch the replay on TTT's new MixCloud channel. Just get it!

Echo Beach Radio Broadcast from Chicago, 04-05-13 by Echo Beach on Mixcloud

Artist – Track – Album – Label – Year (Time)
Set 1 -------
1. Echo Beach Intro – TurnTableTerrorist – Unreleased - 2011 (1:28)
2. Dub Rifles – Jamaican Sprinter – Layer by Layer, Pt. 2 – Ape Choons - 2013 (4:25)
3. Earlyworm – Big Common – Hi Fi Hustlin’ EP – Renegade Media – 2013 (3:05)
4. Dubosmium – Waragine A Ragine – Horizontal Plane Polar Dub – Fresh Poulp net label – 2006 (5:22)
5. Dubatech – Transcendent – Demo track produced in 2008 (6:26)
6. Mungo’s Hi Fi – Play Dub Selecta – 12” release on Scotch Bonnet Records – 2011 (4:07)
7. Shockman – Shockout (Dubmatix Electrocution Remix) – Shock the Sound EP - Voltage Music – 2011 (4:14)

Set 2 -------
8. Dub Chairmen – Soldier – Moscow, The Sex The City The Music – Petrol Records – 2005 (5:01)
9. Stephane Lefrancois – BL142 – The Vault, Session 1 EP – Balanced Records – 2013 (5:57)
10. Stalag Mix: The Techniques – Stalag 17 & Stalag 18 – The Techniques in Dub – Pressure Sounds – 1997 and Scientist – Stalag 17 – Scientist Meets Roots Radics: Dubbin’ With Horns – Burning Sounds – 1996 (9:17)
11. Bobby Kalphat – Dub Hill – Zion Hill – Upcoming release Pressure Sounds – 2013 (3:23)
12. Eating Betty – Dubbin’ 2 Hard – Single release from acetonestudio.com - 2008 (4:14)

Set 3 -------
13. Elvis – Suspicious Minds (Reggaesta Redub) – Reggae Versions – Reggaesta Productions – 2012 (3:31)
14. Aldub feat. Longfingah – Cool Down – Upcoming 7” release on the Irie Ites label – 2013 (4:10)
15. Bungalo Dub w/ Zion Train – Why (Official Mix, featuring Marlene Johnson) – Demo produced in 2008 (4:39)
16. Below Bangkok – Distress Call – Octopus 3 – Fresh Poulp – 2010 (5:05)
17. Loan – Social Living (Hubwar Remix) – Grigri Breakers 2013 – I.O.T. Records – 2013 (5:13) 18. WangTone – Kouai – Wangtone – Jarring Effects – 2005 (6:41)

Set 4 -------
19. Fred Locks – Wheat and Tears – Fred Locks: Reggae Legends Box Set – Upcoming release Greensleeves Records – 2013 (4:55)
20. Noble Society – Living the Life (Subatomic Sound Roots Remix) – Living the Life Remix EP – Subatomic Sound – 2013 (3:49)
21. Atarras – Cool Fire Version – 7” release on Pressure Sounds – 2010 (3:03)
22. Stand Hi Patrol – East Bond St. – 12” release on Stand Hi Records – 2013 (4:20)
23. Bones ft. Gregory Isaacs – Number One Sound – Single release on Junglist Sound – 2013 (5:47)
24. Makaron meets Dubsalon – In A Dream – Digital Warriors EP – Upcoming release on the Original Dub Gathering net label – 2013 (5:36)

"Can I Have Some More Please?"

I hope you noticed these postings over the last few days. Brian James Freeman, among many other occupations such as editor, writer, and generally a nice guy,  has taken on a task to point us to a great many heavily discounted or FREE e-books out there. This particular site is Horror eBook Bargains which obviously deals with the scary, weird and macabre. The other is eMystery Bargains . Books are offered FREE and at limited price for several days only so these are two worthwhile sites to have on your reader.

 

One of todays offerings is musically related so is definitely one to jump on.

 

Let me know what you think.

 

Enjoy

 

 

 

Deep Blue by David Niall Wilson: FREE eBook Edition For April 4 and April 5!

from Horror eBook Bargains by Brian James Freeman

Brian’s Note: Normally $3.99, this eBook is FREE today and tomorrow!
“Crossroads or crosshairs, it’s all the same. There’s only one way through the pain and that’s through the music.” – Old Wally
Brandt is a down-and-out guitarist and vocalist who believes his life has hit rock bottom. He can barely make the rent on his apartment, he drinks so much he can barely make it to the crappy gig that keeps his band afloat, let alone play when he gets there. When he leaves the bar one dark night with a bottle of Jose Cuervo in one hand and his guitar case in the other, he finds he’s locked out of his apartment with nowhere to go.
As he stands alone in the dark and feeling sorry for himself, he hears a lone harmonica being played in the distance. The sound is deep and powerful, and something in the music draws him away from his doorway and into an old alley where the homeless gather around garbage-can fires.
In that alley, Brandt meets the harmonica player, Wally, an old black man who can play the music that Brandt dreams of – the blues. Not the blues as you hear them on the modern radio, but they way they were once played – filled with an extra “something” that can’t be taught. Despite Wally’s warning, Brandt begs the old man to teach him the songs he is playing, and in the ensuing encounter, Brandt is gifted – or cursed – with new abilities. He feels the pain building up around him and inside him. Not his own pain, but the pain of others, the pain of those who have passed away, the pain of those who died with no one to hear their stories. Wally explains it. The music will release the pain, and it is the only thing that will release the pain. Brandt must play, or the pain will build up inside until he destroys his own mind from the weight of it. He becomes a conduit for the pain of the world, and then he is left alone.
Brandt plays one last concert with his band, and his performance draws them all, audience and musicians alike, into another world. They witness a panoram of pain and horror, and Brandt plays it up and out of himself, then walks away from the bar and the band, leaving them to wonder what just happened.
What follows are a series of revelations, one for each member of the band, and one for a young girl named Liz, drawing them together, and ultimately reuniting them with Brandt. Together, Brandt, Sinthia, Shaver, Dexter and Liz take off to the mountain town of Friendly California for a date with pain, destiny, and a silver haired Reverend who would like to see them dead. In the final showdown, they must meet the challenge of the music, the pain, and their mingled histories and stand, or fall, with the pain of the world in the balance.

(Pricing and discount accurate as of the time of posting, but most deals are for a very limited time only.)
PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS DEAL BY USING THE “SHARE THIS” BUTTONS. THANK YOU!

 

 

 

 

Countdown Baby, 84, 83, 82, 81

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Baby 81

2007
@ 320

*

During the last album, time couldn't save their souls. Here and now, they can't wait for time to save themselves. Welcome back BRMC.

Welcome back Nick Jago. There's no doubt, the countrified corner that BRMC found themselves painted into during Howl was pretty much down to his errant behavior, so it's not a surprise to find his restoration marking a return to the sound with which they made friends and influenced people.
It's what we want them to do and ultimately, it's what they're best at. Which isn't to say that the time that Robert Been and Peter Hayes spent getting in touch with their acoustic side has been forgotten. Howl showed that Black Rebel Motorcycle Club could be more than just fuzz and the feedback, and Baby 81 takes that idea and runs with it. Ok, it's (very) slightly at the expense of some of the nihilistic snarl which first endeared them to us, but in exchange we get an album with charms that run deeper.
Charms such as the wide open spaces of American X, patrolled by the same Killer Droid Prog Bots that have been most recently coursing through Muse's nightmares. Yeah, it's three minutes too long, but for six, rages with intergalactic anger. Then there's Lein On Your Dreams, which manages to reinvent Word Up by Cameo for the "whatyarebellinagainst waddayagot" generation - keeping the funk, but bringing the alienation.
They even manage to find enough time to get all reflective. Twice, actually, on Not What You Wanted and All You Do Is Talk. It's the second of those which the most successful, despite a beginning worryingly like a U2 ballad. It's almost as if all the shit BRMC have suffered over the past few years has caused them to, wait for it, lighten up. A bit.
Not that they've forgotten the joy of the grind. Opener Took Out A Loan railroads along on a riff which grates like Trent Reznor's teeth after someone replaced his Candela with industrial strength speed; Berlin has a back'n'forth glam-rock melody which sounds like someone dragging Noddy Holder across broken glass; the wiry, claustrophobic Need Some Air is like they've captured a feral Interpol song and are slowly choking the life out of it with an oily rag.
All grimy, ragged, top drawer stuff. But it's Weapon Of Choice which is the best song here, the best example of the joining up of old BRMC to new BRMC: pissed-off and indignant, but more eloquent with it; steeped in layers of swirling guitars, but applying them with more sophistication.
Given it's gestation, it's fairly amazing that Baby 81 wasn't stillborn. To find it's kicking with such vigor is little short of remarkable. Oh, welcome back BRMC.- Tim Lee

*

Tracklist

1. Took Out A Loan

2. Berlin

3. Weapon Of Choice

4. Window

5. Cold Wind

6. It's Not What You Wanted

7. 666 Conducer

8. All You Do Is Talk

9. Lein On Your Dreams

10. Need Some Air

11. Killing The Light

12. American X

13. Am I Only

*

Get it HERE

Give Your Ass A Kick Start

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

B.R.M.C

2000

I've noticed quite a bit of action on this offering lately so thought I would re-up closer to the top for those not inclined to dig to much. As many hits as this file has had over the last 5 years, not one comment,  good or bad.

Biography
by Bryan Thomas
The seed that became Black Rebel Motorcycle Club — or B.R.M.C. for short — was planted back in 1995, when Robert Turner and Peter Hayes met while attending high school in their hometown of San Francisco. They formed a solid friendship and camaraderie based on a mutual love of early-'90s U.K. bands like Ride and the Stone Roses and a few on the successful Creation Records label (the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine). They ultimately decided to put their as-yet-unnamed project on hold, and joined other bands while still attempting to keep in touch with each other; frequently they would attend each other's gigs. In 1998, after both had fled their previous groups, they rejoined, this time adding new drummer Nick Jago. (Jago, originally from England, had finished art school to move to the States in 1996). They began performing live in November 1998. Originally calling themselves the Elements — they quickly changed it after discovering many other bands had shared the same title — they purloined their new name from the Marlon Brando-led biker gang who stormed into that dusty California hamlet in The Wild One.By 1999, B.R.M.C. had recorded a polished 16-track demo CD that began making the rounds (they sold all 500 copies at their shows), and relocated to Los Angeles. Local Santa Monica-based KCRW (a well-known FM station that compiled and released yearly Rare on Air CD compilations) jumped on the band's demo first, giving them their initial airplay, but soon interest in the band spread across the Atlantic, where BBC Sheffield even named the demo their "Record of the Week." Oasis' Noel Gallagher heard it and wanted to sign the band to his new Brother Records imprint, telling MOJO magazine that they were his favorite new band, but after inking a lucrative Warner/Chappell publishing deal, they were fielding offers from interested major and indie labels, ultimately choosing to sign in March 2000 with Virgin Records. After a short U.S. tour with the Dandy Warhols, the band entered the studio and produced a self-titled debut, B.R.M.C., which was issued in March 2001. Two years later, the trio returned with a slicker edge; Take Them on, on Your Own appeared in September 2003. They severed ties with Virgin Records eight months later. A deal with RCA surfaced within months, and the acoustic, Americana-influenced Howl arrived in August of 2005. The band moved back to the loud rock & roll approach favored on their first two albums with 2007's Baby 81.

Review
by Bryan Thomas
This L.A.-based band (originally hailing from San Francisco) came along just when they were needed most. This self-produced major-label debut boldly plunders a reverb-and-white noise course previously trampled underfoot by long-gone British bands of the late '80s and early '90s (the Jesus & Mary Chain, the Verve, Ride, the Stone Roses, etc.). It all sounds very British, on many levels, despite the fact that only one band member is an Englishman living in exile in the States. On some songs, however, the driving, over-amped guitars (often buzzing with "VU needles-in-red"-type feedback) and pounding drums have a swaggering primeval feel that rivals solid Detroit rock outfits, both old and new (including the Stooges and the Go, to name two). A few have dark, introspective lyrics, with subjects like impending death ("Rifles" at their heart, while others have a positive, more uplifting feel (cf. "Salvation"), but it's really the group's cohesive, solid production overall that captures a shoegazing, blustery rock vibe not heard for nearly a decade or more. Highlights abound on this astonishing disc, including the bitter opening salvo, "Love Burns," the diaphanous space pop of "Too Real," and the flurry of sawtooth guitar scree that is "Whatever Happened to My Rock n' Roll (Punk Song)," a track recalling the manic intensity of the Stooges circa Fun House.

1 Love Burns
2 Red Eyes and Tears
3 Whatever Happened to My Rock 'N Roll [Punk Song]
4 Awake
5 White Palms
6 As Sure as the Sun
7 Rifles
8 Too Real
9 Spread Your Love
10 Head up High
11 Salvation

Get it HERE

 

Dig it!

Stumbled over and landed hard on this one. As they say:

About OfficialHeavenandEarth

Taking up from where iconic bands like Deep Purple and Bad Company have left off, Heaven & Earth is on a mission to resurrect the sanctity of classic rock to its purist, most accessible form. Heaven & Earth fuses elements of hard rock, blues, even bits of classical, to create a potent blend of high-powered anthems, melodic rockers and introspective ballads that evoke the spirit of a magical era.

Mighty bold statement.
But they do a respectable job of putting on the rock, gotta hand it to them for that.

New album, Dig out April 2013 - features guitarist Stuart Smith, singer Joe Retta, bassist Chuck Wright, drummer Richie Onori and keyboardist Arlan Schierbaum, along with special guests Howard Leese (Heart, Paul Rodgers) and David Paich (Toto) and Richie Sambora (Bon Jovi

Dig it!

Mas Gratis!!!!

Shock Totem 2: Curious Tales of the Macabre and Twisted: FREE eBook Edition For April 2 and April 3

The long-awaited second issue of Shock Totem features new fiction from David Jack Bell, Cate Gardner, Vincent Pendergast, Leslianne Wilder, and others. Also includes nonfiction from Mercedes M. Yardley, a conversation with James Newman, reviews, and more.
Shock Totem Publications is an American small-press publisher specializing in dark fantasy and horror. It was founded in 2008 by author K. Allen Wood. He is assisted by John Boden, Tom Bordonaro, Mercedes M. Yardley, Sarah Gomes, and numerous staff writers.
 
(Pricing and discount accurate as of the time of posting, but most deals are for a very limited time only.)

FREE!!! No Foolin'

Vermin: A Short Story by Allison M. Dickson: FREE eBook Edition For A Limited Time Only!

Brian’s Note: Reader Jeff R recommended this FREE horror short story, but I don’t know how long it’ll stay free, so grab your copy while your can. I don’t know about you, but I’m always willing to check out a free short story about an infamous mansion with big pest problems.
Someone has purchased the infamous Martindale mansion, long abandoned following an unspeakable murder. And it has a pest problem. A very big pest problem.
Originally published on Reflection’s Edge.com, Vermin is a classic horror story designed to get under your skin. Read it with the lights on. And a can of Raid.
  
(Pricing and discount accurate as of the time of posting, but most deals are for a very limited time only.)

Be Careful With These Loaded Pistolrays

About Pistolrays Zagrebačka četvorka Pistolrays proizvode zaprljani garažni zvuk isprepleten melodijama inspiriranim prvim i drugim valom surf rock glazbe iz 60-tih godina, a začinjavaju ga grmljavinom reverb unit. Od osnutka svirali su po svim važnijim zagrebačkim klubovima sa bendovima poput Threesome, Dykemann Family i Latex Willer, a njihov nedavno snimljen debitantski EP Moon Riot proglašen je albumom tjedna na stranici potlista.com

Pistolrays Zagreb Four Pistolrays produce dirty garage sound interwoven melodies inspired by the first and second wave of surf rock music from the 60-ies, and seasoned ga afternoon reverb unit. Since inception played at all the major clubs in Zagreb with bands like Threesome, Dykemann Family and Latex Willer, and recently recorded their debut EP Age Riot declared the album the week on page potlista.com

I like it all. Each of the tracks hit some of my favorite sounds and grooves. Made my reverb happy bone go all tingly. Words hardly fit for these guys. Definitely worth the time to grab this disc.

Get em HERE

Guitar - Vibor Vlainić
Guitar - Ivan Bjelajac
Bass - Domagoj Kos
Drums - Nikola Baras

Don't Fuck With Joe

This tasty gem come to us from the folks down south....way south - Brisbane Australia. The group's called The Blackwater Fever and this tune is from their new album, The Depths due to drop for all this coming week.

Here's what they say about that:


When you have critical acclaim, two successful albums, played festivals like Big Day Out, Bluesfest and Peats Ridge and opened for the likes of The Black Keys, Tame Impala, Birds of Tokyo, Jon Spencer and Violent Soho, how do you set yourself the next challenge?

 For The Blackwater Fever, the answer is that you take the production reins of your third album The Depths, spending almost a year evolving your sound and songwriting in ways only time and commitment will allow you to explore. Already known for their dark and brooding, yet hard-hitting sound, The Depths delivers on the promise of the band's previous releases, melting an even more diverse genre pool into their trademark garage blues sound.

 "The Depths is our best release yet and the first we have made entirely under our own steam. It was a huge learning curve with much trial and error but in the end I think the result has vividly realised our ideas and vision. This is how we will make albums from now on."
 - Shane Hicks (Vocals/Guitar)

 The 14 tracks journey through blues, soul, trip-hop, story telling, instrumental and rock n' rock, all forged together with their unique, dark, atmospheric sound. The album also marks the duo becoming a three piece, bringing bass and organ into the fold.

The Blackwater Fever have considerable radio airplay to their name with Triple J, Triple R, PBS and internationally in the USA and Europe. Their music has featured on the HBO and ABC television networks and been the soundtrack for various ad campaigns and Australian feature films, The Tunnel and The Crossing.
 


The Depths is instore and online through MGM Distribution on March 22, 2013.


I think you'll dig it the most.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Man Wil NOT Rest in Peace

Ten Years After
Essential Ten Years After
1991

After hearing this morning of the passing of Alvin Lee, lead singer and guitarist of Ten Years After I had to pull this one out. For those not familiar (shame on you) this is a very fine example of the kind of driving rock n roll this group put together. I saw them perform locally about 10-12 years ago and it was a mind and ear blowing experience. Sitting right in front of a HUGE stack of speakers I was one happy camper as my ears rang for days.

Like I said, this man will not rest in peace, he will be rockin' the nations of the world with his hard driving sound.

We will miss him greatly.

Tracklist

1		Rock And Roll Music To The World
2		I'd Love To Change The World
3		I'm Going Home (Live)
4		Choo Choo Mama
5		Tomorrow I'll Be Out Of Town
6		I Woke Up This Morning
7		Me And My Baby
8		Good Morning Little Schoolgirl (Live)
9		Goin' Back To Birmingham
10		50,000 Miles Beneath My Brain
11		Sweet Little Sixteen
12		I'm Coming On
13		Love Like A Man
		Baby, Won't You Let Me Rock 'N' Roll You                                                              Get it HERE

If Your Hungry Take A Bite of This Sandwich

Black Cat Bones
Barbed Wire Sandwich
1969

Barbed Wire Sandwich is a heavy blues rock album released by Black Cat Bones in November 1969. The original vinyl version of the album is now highly sought after by collectors of rock and heavy blues music of the late 1960s and 1970s. The right place at the wrong time. That could be the epitaph on the gravestone of Black Cat Bones. Having acted as unofficial house band for a number of visiting US artists during the British Blues Boom of the mid to late Sixties and survived a potentially fatal line-up change into the bargain, they finally made it to vinyl rather late in the day. This, their first and only album, reached the racks in the last months of the Sixties, just as progressive rock was in the ascendancy.
Such imperfect timing may have adversely affected their chances of commercial success and consequently their number of column inches in the history of popular music, but in no way diminishes the excellence of their music.
That Black Cat Bones remains a known name is due to two musicians whose names remain stubbornly absent from the credits. Celebrated guitarist Paul Kossoff would go on to superstar status as a founder member of FREE, but started his musical career in earnest in these ranks. And though neither he nor drummer Simon Kirke appear on the album, Koss's featured replacement Rod Price, a player of no mean ability who would later take his axe-wielding skills to Stateside fame and fortune with Foghat.
Buy lets backtrack now to the events that led up to November 1969, when Barbed Wire Sandwich was released on Decca's progressive Nova lael. Though retaining semi-professional status for some time, Black Cat Bones had enough going for them to catch the eye of legendary Blues producer Mike Vernon. His patronage brought them their first recording session, backing Champion Jack Dupree for a Bue Horizon album, "When You Feel The Feeling You Was Feeling" meanwhile, they made a reputation in their own right touring Germany and Scandinavia. Kossoff and Kirke jumped ship, in 1968 after seeing singer Paul Rodgers fronting the similarly unrecorded Brown Sugar; hence by the time Black Cat Bones entered Tangerine and Decca Studios the following year with recording stardom in mind the existing nucleus of brothers Derek and Stu Brooks on rhythm guitar and bass respectively and vocalist Brian Short had been augmented by Phil Lenoir (drums) and Rod Price (lead guitar).
The album kicks off with Chauffer - a dead ringer in both pace and chord sequence for FREEs Walk in my Shadow from their debut, released moths before. And the well-worn blues metaphor of riding (Free rode ponies, Black Cat Bones a car such is progress)indicates the overtly sexual inclinations both shared. Elsewhere, there's a welcome touch of acousticity (on Four Women) to leaven the mixture - owners of well worn originals will thank heavens for non clicky CD here! but overall, the album very much reflects the electric blues of the stage set, as you'd expect for a band that played live so often.
It was producer David Hitchcock, who later guided the careers of Caravan, Camel, Genesis (circa Foxtrot) and more, to supply the studio expertise they needed to give Barbed Wire Sandwich respect, the band fading in and out around the barrelhouse piano of Robin Sylvester. This would have been impossible live, since the BKB's line up didn't feature keyboards (Sylvester was the sound engineer a Tangerine), so was clearly an attempt to diversify and use the studio to greatest advantage. Steve Milliner lends further ivory-tickling skills to Feelin Good and dont forget, FREE eventually added the keyboard talents of Rabbit Bundrick to give them a route to progress.
Talking of progression, the middle section of Save My Love For You, along with the other dramatic mood and/or tempo changes throughout the album suggest that the growth of progressive rock had not passed them by. Rod Price was quite different in approach to Kossoff, his fast, fluid style contrasting with the howling sustain of his predecessor - but he was clearly no slouch either, as he proved on the final track. The self-penned Good Lookin Woman is the one song on which Price tackled lead vocal. More importantly, its a guitar tour de force, fading out prematurely and leaving the listener wondering exactly what would have happened next.
Leaving the audience wanting more was just one of the lessons learned on the boards, so its hardly surprising that those who saw BKB live retain approving memories. One such spectator was Stuart Booth, now a publisher, who caught a show at Londons Marquee Club as the album was readied for release. 'They were a good live band who missed the boat' he recalls. 'The album came out long after other British blues bands' and sunk without trace, so no-one was interested. I was pleasantly pleased to see people still playing that sort of thing. I though it would all come around again - and, of course, it did.
Many years after witnessing Black Cat Bones at the Marquee, Booth had the pleasure of publishing Blues - Thbe British Connection, a definitive rundown of the scene by one Bob Brunning (to be reissued by Blandford as Blues In Britain: The History 1960s-1990s in February 1995). Brunning, as blues scholars may recall, was the original bass player with Fleetwood Mac, the man who deputised for John McVie until he could secure his release from John Mayall's Bluesbreakers.
He enters the Black Cat Bones story, albeit tangentially, at this point - because when the album flopped and the band threatened to fall apart, it was a couple renegades from the Brunning Sunflower Blues Band, Pete French and Mick Halls, who were drafted in to make up the numbers after Price, Short and Lenoir left the ranks. (Short, incidentally, cut a hard to find solo album, Anything For a Laugh, for Transatlantic in 1971). With a new drummer, Black Cat Bones metamorphosed in Leaf Hound, Zeppelin-esque heavy rockers who, like their predecessors, produced one excellent album before disbanding. This was Growers Of Mushroom - and in 1994 it joined Barbed Wire Sandwich in the See For Miles catalogue.
So there endeth the story of Black Cat Bones, a band whose mere footnote in the annals of British rock seems a mite ungenerous, given their musical legacy. Even Bob Brunning only rated them a couple of sentences - but as Barbed Wire Sandwich will hopefully prove, music often speaks louder than words.. Mick St. Michael

Track listing

1. "Chauffeur" – 5:15 (Andy Stroud)
2. "Death Valley Blues" – 3:52 (Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup)
3. "Feelin' Good" – 4:58 (Anthony Newley, Leslie Bricusse)
4. "Please Tell Me Baby" – 3:10 (Harrison D. Nelson Jr)
5. "Coming Back" – 2:32 (Rod Price)
6. "Save My Love" – 4:50 (Black Cat Bones)
7. "Four Women" – 5:09 (Nina Simone)
8. "Sylvester's Blues" – 3:45 (Price)
9. "Good Lookin' Woman" – 7:16 (Price)

Take a bite HERE

Surf From The Land Of Teisco & Ryp

Krautsurf  

2006

Re-Up from 2008

Brought to you by Teisco del Mar, from the Fatherland.

Also a very nice booklet that has excellent info on each of the groups involved in this stellar parade of surf tunage.

***Make sure to grab the "Mystery Tracks" link for the elusive tracks # 16 & 17.

On this CD compilation NPR records presents the cream of the German Surf scene. Feat.: The Orgaphonics, Surfpatrouille, Leopold Kraus Wellenkapelle, Way Out West, Los Twang Marvels, Achtung Rakete, Stronzo Gelantino & The Boo-Men, The Razorblades, The Sidemen, The Kilaueas, Cave 4, Robert & The Roboters, Pozor Vlak, Commando, Birke Maier Trio, The Cruncher. "Herbert Hooke, aka The Cruncher, assembled this monster compilation for NPR Records with two tracks apiece from 15 current German guitar bands. Unfortunately that left room for only one track from The Cruncher himself, but with his new album due in the summer we won´t have to wait long for more inspired reverb surfers like In My Chair. Yes, in the hands of a master the Status Quo hit does work as a surf guitar instrumental. The other contributors to Krautsurf share Herbert´s love of genuine reverb surf sounds in varying degrees. Although not as it is in America, it seems the term surf music has a broadening definition in Germany. Still, with 31 tracks and a CD-busting 78 minutes there´s plenty here to make this a desirable collection and the following tracks that surf fans can approach with some confidence. - Leopold Kraus Wellenkapelle´s Draussen Am Grossen Riff has a repetitive guitar motif underpinned by cheesy organ but explodes into life with ist driving surf chorus. - The Razorblade´s Longboard Queen is a melodic twang rocker but Headshaker nods in the direction of surf with ist slides and staccato picking. - Surfpatrouille´s Eskalator has an expressive lead with distortion effects. Slot Car Racer buzzes with fuzzed up reverb in a modern take on traditional surf. - The Orgaphonic´s Hot Rod is a fine pre-surf style rocker driven by damped echo picking. Sunset Rider an atmospheric ballad with slide and tremelo used to good effect – sounds a little like Blue Hotel. - The Kilaueas – Two fine selections from their excellent Professor Volcanova CD (see Pipeline 6). Tunguska Blast! surfs up a traditional East European theme while Stranded is a great surf ballad in traditional ´60s style with damped picking, tremolo and reverb to the fore. - The Cruncher´s In My Chair succeeds due to ist fine guitar sounds. - Pozor Vlak´s Crazy Krüger is a catchy, pre-surf style rocker - Cave 4 – Boulevard Patrol bubbles along but comes to life with ist crashing chords. Hot Ride is a more relentless and more rewarding rocker. - Way Out West´s Motorhula slips and slides around over a ska rhythm. Evolution simply drips fabulous reverb guitar over everything – a wonderfully moody slowie. - The Sidemen – I´m a sucker for The Persuaders theme and a splash of surf from The Sidemen adds a fascitanting new twist for this little gem of a track. Havanna is an exotic slow roller. - Birke Maier Trio´s Banzai Oranke is a rather piecemeal reconstruction of old surf references but the band show they can cut it by twisting up Baja. I´ve focussed on the surf tracks as, let´s face it, people who don´t like surf are simply not going to by an album titled Krautsurf. But that´s not to dismiss the others as there are some fine none-surf instrumentals on board too. Achtung Rakete have an excellent original in the Euro styled Ojo Misiles, as do Robert & The Roboters with Der Sonne Entgegen, and Los Twang! Marvels knock out a stirring Carioca plus their own Rancho Cucamonga. There´s plenty of surf here captain, but not all as we know it." (Pipeline 71)

1. Hot Rod - The Orgaphonics 2:15

2. Escalator - Surfpatrouille 2:22

3. Draußen am großen Riff - Leopold Kraus Wellenkapelle 1:57

4. Motorhula - Way Out West 3:29
5. Carioca - Los Twang Marvels 1:57

6. Ojo, Misiles! Achtung Rakete 2:35

7. Lonesome Stronzo - Stronzo Gelantino 2:29

8. Longboard Queen - The Razorblades 2:03

9. Persuaders - The Sidemen 1:51

10. Tungasta Blast - The Kilaueas 1:57

11. Boulevard Patrol - Cave 4 2:07

12. Der Sonne entgegen - Robert & The Roboters 3:36

13. Crazy Krüger - Pozor Vlak 2:09

14. The Emperor - Commando 2:33

15. Slot Car Racer - Surfpatrouille 2:03

16. Banzai Orange - Birke Maier Trio 2:15

17. Evolution - Way Out West 2:55

18. In My Chair - The Cruncher 2:55

19. Oh, My Deer - Leopold Kraus Wellenkapelle 2:50

20. Rondo Venezuela - Achtung Rakete 3:30

21. La Mosca - Stronzo Gelantino 2:56

22. Feuerland - Robert & The Roboters 2:34

23. Havanna - The Sidemen 2:04

24. Headshaker - The Razorblades 1:57

25. Fresh - Pozor Vlak 2:13

26. Hot Ride - Cave 4 2:11

27. Sunset Rider - The Orgaphonics 3:06

28. Stranded - The Kilaueas 2:29

29. Lost Boy - Commando 3:36

30. Baja - Birke Maier Trio 3:02

31. Rancho Cucamonga - Los Twang Marvels 1:52

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

***Mystery Tracks 16 & 17

 

Look What Washed Up From The North Shore

Mark Brodie & The Beaver Patrol
The Shores of Hell
1994
@320

Here is one from the first year of Trustar Vibrations. Always a great one.

Opening with the sectionalist anthem "Frogs Can't Surf," Canada's Mark Brodie & the Beaver Patrol go on to double-pick their way through a varied, authentic, and fun instrumental surf album.
Captured with a bare minimum of studio effects, Mark Brodie et al come across with the spontaneous energy of a live show, but with a clarity of sound not often heard live or on old surf records. The packaging is very 60s, and borrows from the "Living Stereo" logos used on classical and experimental electronic recordings at that time, offering an interesting speculation about what those Chantays records could have sounded like if they, too, had been utilizing the breakthrough stereophonic technology of the early 60s. The Beaver Patrol make no attempt to update the surf sound, and attack the genre with reverence rather than modernist irony used by other contemporary surfers like Man or Astroman. Still, even with the trademark reverb, double-picking, and guitaar runs used as break beats, the the album is remarkably good: a wide variety of tempos differentiates the 16 songs, the occasional toy organ brings other 60s garage styles to mind (the Pacific Northwest's Kingsmen and Wailers, in particular), and all the musicians display great talent for surf music. The percussion on tracks like "Theme From the Old West" is especially deft and original. For fans of Dick Dale et al, The Shores of Hell sits very comfortably next to the original masters of the genre. It is a rare piece of nostalgia that manages to transcend its derivative origins and add flesh to old bones. Tim Mohr

Tracklist

1. Frogs Can't Surf

2. Jezebel

3. Scratch

4. Bitch Stole My Board

5. Death At Mile Zero

6. Wedgie

7. Day The Surf Stood Still

8. Spin Cycle

9. Banzai Rider

10. Scarlett O'hara

11. Theme From The Old West

12. Bad Hair Day

13. Suicide Ride

14. Meltdown

15. Phantom Wave

16. The Shores Of Hell

Get it HERE

The Only Place To Get It This Raw

The Bamboos
Rawville
2007

Sophomore album from the Australian band who have received critical acclaim across the board from Jazz, Funk and Hip Hop enthusiasts. The Aussie Funk six piece are big Funk collectors and inspired by artists such as The Meters, Mickey & the Soul Generation, Jimmy Smith and Reuben Wilson but have a contemporary Deep Funk sound too. Rawville still embraces the deep raw organ based Funk aesthetic of their debut album Step It Up, but it also embraces different flavors. The album is half vocal based tunes and half instrumental. Vocals include those from label mate Alice Russell as well as vocalists Kylie Auldist, Tyra Hammond, Fallon Williams and Ohmega Watts.

Tracklist

1. The Bamboos Theme
2. Bring It Home
3. Get In The Scene
4. The Witch
5. My Baby’s Cheating (I Sure Got The Feeling)
6. I Don’t Wanna Stop
7. Head In The Clouds
8. Happy
9. Rockin’ It
10. Pussy Footin’
11. Rawville
12. Tongan Steel

Get it HERE

These Guys Are Bosch!

Hieronymus Bosch
Lookin' Good, Soundin' Good
2004

*WHAT THEY SOUND LIKE*
Heralded as musical historians by Steve O'Rourke, The Bosch claims The Pixies and Frank Black, Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, the Ventures, Link Wray, Man... or Astroman?, and The Gun Club as significant influences. In other words, it's a furious and melodic mixture of surf, garage, and punk rock.
*PERSONNEL*
THE BOSCH, smarmy surf rockers extraordinaire, claim the two most prominent Williamsburgs as their home. Originally hailing from Williamsburg, Virginia, erudite and visionary guitarist MATT HARRISON and super-charged sociopath HOLT RICHARDSON met in their tedious years at a tiny white-bread private high school. After they developed a disturbingly telepathic musical rapport, they began a professional affair with the Sound of Music in Richmond, Virginia, and more specifically, with engineer Jonathan Demaio, who, when not touring with Southern Culture on the Skids and other top-notch Southern bands, has cut "The Bosch Sound" onto analog tape on many occasions.
In the past few months, The Bosch has been fortunate enough to admit two new players into the fold. ANDREW RAFF, a legal eagle, tickler of ivory keys and blower of hot and cool on the tenor sax, means the music up real good. BRETT BEYER, darling of the Williamsburg loft-party scene, frequenter of his own custom-built darkroom, and all around hipster extraordinaire, recently joined The Bosch as four-stringer. Holt and Matt are wringin' their hands, eagerly anticipating Brett's successful sneakin' of The Bosch tunes into the most magnificently coiffed circles of hipsterdom.
*
CRED AND LIVE SHOW*
The Bosch boys, having sexed-up audiences with their surf rock and twang, have begun seeing the fruits of their labours: substantial airplay for their latest release, "Havin Fun Soundin Good," as well as a residency at the Lower East Side's Luna Lounge, keeping alive the dream of a future filled with champagne, cocaine, and the chance to hunt whales in a hovercraft. The Bosch has won the annual battle of the bands competition at the College of William and Mary, booty-rocked the bulk of downtown New York clubs, and helped many unwed mothers get their start.
The Bosch only desire a few things: to electrify the stage with gluteousmaximusshakinus tunes, and perhaps cause you to crack a smile, or at least break a sweat. The most poetic thing they'd ask of their fans is to ponder their place in a world of violence and lust.
The Bosch perspire and strain, jump and howl, bump and grind, armed frequently with go-go dancers and always with total recall of Steve Martin's routines and the film UHF. You can't lose.
Give the Bosch a chance to rock the joint and no one will leave unhappy.

 

Tracklist

	1	Borg Warner, Four-On-the-Floor
	2	Metronome
	3	Worst Thing
	4	1776
	5	Movie Director
	6	Timetables
	7	Love Is Just a Cloud
	8	Underground Get it HERE